#being suffocated by a $30 plastic bag would feel better than that

[skelliethorn]

This is part of a bigger piece.

[whumpster-fire]

Safety in a World of Daemons

So one really scary thing about a world of corporeal daemons is just how vulnerable it makes you. Everyone basically has two bodies, one of which is often much smaller and more fragile than a human body, and a lethal injury to either of them will kill you, and also you can’t be more than a certain distance apart or you’ll suffer excruciating pain / lose consciousness. Now, while Lyra’s world has a decent amount of modern technology like internal combustion engines, electric lighting, plastic textiles (aka coalsilk), and nuclear power (atom bombs and “atomcraft” get mentioned it seems like it’s socially The Good Old Days when child labor was widespread and OSHA didn’t exist. But what safety measures would a more modern society develop to keep humans and daemons safe?

Seatbelts developed and came into wide use earlier in Lyra’s world compared to ours, compared to the development of motorized vehicles. The myth of being “thrown clear” of a crash could never take hold to nearly the same extent, because people may not understand the forces involved in being flung through a windshield and skidding a hundred feet across pavement and the damage that does to your body, but everyone has an intuitive understanding that if your smaller/lighter daemon sitting in the front passenger seat bounces off the windshield, or ends up in the footwell, or gets “thrown clear” a hundred feet across pavement in a different direction, you’re probably going to be lying unconscious in the middle of the road. Cars typically have modular restraint systems to accomodate different daemon forms. Daemons should NOT stand on the dashboard, on the seat headrest, on their human’s shoulder, or on their human’s lap while their human is driving.

The “Drybox.” This is a device which can be used to keep small daemons with non-cold-tolerant forms safe from hypothermia in water survival situations. It’s basically an airtight container or bag you can put your daemon in and seal off, that’s connected to a pair of one-way valves with the inlet valve connected to a mouthpiece. This is meant for situations like airplane (or zeppelin) water landings. The way it works is you breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth into the tube. This will push air out the outflow valve, and completely replace the air in the container in a few breaths. Yes I’m aware that you breathe out CO2 which is toxic. Exhaled air is about 18% oxygen and 4% CO2, and breathing extra rapidly might result in more oxygen and less CO2 in exhaled air. 18% O2 is roughly equivalent to going up 5,000 ft in altitude, and 4% CO2 is below the levels that cause suffocation, so a daemon shouldn’t die from breathing air that’s been through human lungs once for a few hours. It would definitely feel awful to use one, but it’s safer than a daemon in the form of a small animal being soaked to the skin and half-immersed in cold seawater while bobbing up and down in the waves. Some versions can be connected to an oxygen supply or a manual pump instead.

If you are on an airplane or helicopter and the oxygen masks deploy (not a zeppelin, they don’t go high enough to need them), put your own mask on first, and put your daemon’s mask on second before you mess with anybody else’s. If only one of you has oxygen then you’re going to pass out but the one who has oxygen will be functional for a bit longer; therefore it is in your best interests for the one with opposable thumbs to get the mask first. People with monkey daemons please stop arguing with flight attendants about this. If your daemon has a form that can’t easily wear an oxygen mask, there are quick-connect adapters available, as well as containers that a smaller daemon can climb into, but these may be slower to use. In some cases it is best to form a “Buddy system.” If you have a trusted friend or family member seated next to you whose daemon can easily wear an oxygen mask, it may be safer to put their daemon’s mask on before your own to make sure they remain capable of putting your masks on. Yes, you will have to break the taboo to do this, but that’s better than death or brain damage from hypoxia. Some bird forms can get enough oxygen at high elevations that they don’t need a mask. For your safety, most national aviation regulations require that you declare your daemon’s species when purchasing a ticket and only sit in your assigned seat, so that you can be placed in appropriate seating and be provided with any specialized safety equipment you need prior to the flight. Children with unsettled daemons must demonstrate that they have the ability to memorize and follow an evacuation plan that includes changing to an appropriate form.

Daemons have no need to ever wear collars to identify themselves, but it’s surprisingly common to see larger daemons that can’t be carried by their humans wearing a harness and a brightly colored leash. This isn’t a fashion statement, it’s a safety device. Most humans and daemons are always careful to keep track of where each other are, but it’s not foolproof, and when boarding a train, or an elevator, or a bus or streetcar, in a crowded place where you might be distracted and everyone else is distracted, there is a risk of your daemon being caught on the other side of a door from you. If you are boarding or getting off a bus or train or elevator or anything like that, and you see a leash caught in a door, you slam the nearest emergency stop button IMMEDIATELY.

There are a lot of other environments where people and daemons need to be physically strapped or tethered together - e.g. whitewater rafting, boating. If they can’t be attached to your life jacket, then unless they can fly they need to have their own life jacket and be tethered to you, because otherwise getting swept apart by rapids or current could pull you out of range, and falling off a motorboat going at, like, 30 mph or faster could pull you 50+ feet away from them faster than either of you can even react to jump off after each other, and even with a life jacket being in the water and unconscious or incapacitated from pain is really fucking dangerous.

Same goes for climbing. I don’t care how good a climber your cat or squirrel daemon is, or if they can survive massive falls without injury, because if they free-fall five stories then either you will lose your grip and fall, or end up dangling limply from a rope.

Lockout Tagout systems are designed so that anyone accessing dangerous machinery has two keys, one for themselves and one that their daemon has to wear at all times. If your daemon is too small to wear the key, then they have to be in a locked cage that is physically attached to you, and the key to the cage is attached to the lock that you lock out the machine with. Mechanics’ daemons have a habit of crawling into tight spaces to look at things their humans can’t see or reach, or retrieve dropped tools, and at some point at least one idiot took their lock off while their daemon was still in a hazardous area and got a safety regulation made in their honor when somebody else turned on the machine.

Yes, your daemon needs eye/ear/respiratory protection in the shop/construction site. Unless your daemon’s shape completely prevents you from performing essential job functions (like a crocodile daemon and you need to climb ladders) your employer cannot terminate or refuse to hire you based on your daemon’s form, and they are legally required to provide you both with appropriate safety equipment.

[alecmagnuslwb]

Home Is Where the Heart Is - @doubleredweek Day 2

Read on AO3

Jason is bleeding, he’s bleeding and delirious and yet still somehow finds the time to complain as Roy pulls into the lot of a bright, nightmarish looking motel.

“We are not staying here,” Jason grumbles from the passenger seat of the, let’s call it borrowed, Honda Civic they’ve been driving in for the past twenty minutes.

Roy turns his head giving Jason a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look as he pulls into a spot as far away from the main lobby of the motel as he can.

Tonight had gone almost entirely tits up with what should have been a fairly routine stakeout becoming an all-out battle of them versus a crew of creepy human traffickers.

The traffickers will be spending the rest of their days either in jail or thanks to a few bullets from Jason six feet under. However, Jason had taken a bit of beating along the way, enough of one that he doesn’t get to do anything more than get better right now.

“You are bleeding from about seven places on your body that you shouldn’t be bleeding, you don’t get any say in where we lay our hats for the night,” Roy responds as puts the car in park and moves to get out. “Plus, the next motel isn’t for another fifty miles and you’ll probably get sepsis because of the blade sticking out of your shoulder before we could get there so deal with it.”

He doesn’t wait to listen to Jason’s strained arguments he just slams the door shut and heads for the trunk. He pulls the first sort of clean thing he can find in thre from one of their bags and slips it on to cover up the majority of his Arsenal costume and the few cuts and bruises he’s sporting himself. It’s an old Gotham Knights hoodie of Jason’s, for a moment Roy considers looking for something else his Star City Stags blood crawling wearing enemy colors, but decides against it considering his boyfriend is bleeding in the passenger seat.

He half jogs his way to the main lobby where the front desk sits. The electric bell on the door jingles a variation of that little boxes song that’s accompanied one too many suburban horror movie trailers over the years as Roy walks in. Roy’s eyes practically have to squint at the colors inside. The bright lurid pink paint of the exterior has nothing on the mix of greens, yellows and pinks inside.

“Welcome to the Home is Where the Heart Is Motel, how can I help you?” an old woman behind the desk says. She looks like someone’s grandmother, like she has her dinner at four in the afternoon, Jeopardy! At 7:30 and then she’s promptly off to bed. She doesn’t look like she should be working a front desk at nearly two a.m., but she definitely looks like she designed this place.

Roy puts on his best I’m a good, respectable young man smile and asks for a room without incident. The old woman just smiles not missing a beat when he asks for the room furthest away or a do not disturb sign that he tells her will be up probably their entire stay, she doesn’t give him the questionable looks or the bored disinterest that most people in her position give them. She doesn’t even bat an eye when Roy asks for just one bed for he and his boyfriend. When she tells him to have a lovely stay, he actually believes her.

The place may be atrocious to look at, but it’s not all that bad Roy decides, Jason’s just being extra judgy with his blood loss.

The next forty minutes blur past him so quickly he doesn’t really even pay attention to what their room looks like. He tosses their bags on the bed and quickly settles Jason on the closed toilet seat and gets to work stripping him of his bloodied gear and bandaging up every injury.

The bright pink garbage can and the canary yellow sink look like crime scenes by the time Roy is done cleaning every wound Jason has and removed the small blade that had been stuck in his shoulder.

Jason seems more awake once he’s been patched up and Roy’s given him a cursory wash so he settles him down on the bed while he takes care of himself. By the times he’s done washing the grime out of his hair and finishing off yet another bottle of peroxide on cleanup Jason is upright on the bed cleaning his guns his eyes scanning the room every so often.

“This place is ridiculous,” he says eyes concentration never straying from the task at hand. Now that he has the chance Roy really takes in the decor. The bathroom he’d just cleaned up is subtle with its yellow and pink tile and floral shower curtain compared to this.

This is your grandmother’s dream home. The bright pink and green walls are lined with decorative plates mostly covered in poppies, but with a few Princess Diana memorabilia pieces mixed in. The bed is covered in horridly yellow sheets with a clearly handmade quilt in a kaleidoscope of prints on top, the bed frames an elaborate wooden nightmare that Roy is truly concerned if you slipped and fell would impale you immediately. There’s even a couch in the corner covered in plastic, perfectly preserved in its original condition.

Passingly Roy thinks maybe he should have just cleaned up Jason’s wounds on that instead.

Okay, so maybe judgy blood loss Jason wasn’t totally wrong, but they’ve definitely stayed in weirder and way more unsettling places. The Elvis isn’t dead themed motel in Arkansas comes to mind.

“It’s fine,” Roy says falling onto his side of the bed jostling the components of Jason’s gun he’s yet to reassemble. Jason throws him an annoyed look that Roy just smiles cheekily back at.  

“Good thing I’m feeling better because there’s no way I’m going to be sleeping with the color of these walls,” he says swiftly piecing the last of his guns back together. “Either that or I’m going to have terrible dreams of evil suffocating plastic couches.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, the lady up front was very sweet, it’s like spending the weekend at grandmas!” Roy says with a smile.

“I never had a grandma,” Jason says with a shake of his head falling backwards onto the bed guns discarded off to the side with the safety on. “And you didn’t either for that matter.”

“Aw, Jaybird come on, this place is all about home, look at the name!” Roy defends as he leans over the bed and switches his crystal bedside lamp off.

“If this is what you consider homely you shouldn’t be allowed to own a home,” Jason says gesturing around the room in a general manner. He leans over turning off his own bedside lamp before shuffling under the covers curling up against Roy careful of his tender ribs.

“You’re welcome by the way, for not letting you bleed to death,” Roy says into the dark, that okay, isn’t fully dark he can definitely still see some pink and green even with all the lights out.

“I wouldn’t have bled to death,” Jason huffs. “But thanks.”

Roy rolls his eyes even if Jason can’t see it and pulls him close snuggling in comfortably under the ugly, but warm grandma quilt for the night.

[radiorenjun]

Lavender Antics

→ Pairing: Han Jisung x Reader

→ Summary: Shooting in a drama with him was your absolute nightmare. Working with your enemy and pretending that you were love interests has been the most frustrating experience of your life. Though, after saying your farewells, the scent of lavender never leaves.

→ Genre:enemies to lovers au, idol au, romance, angst, slowburn, comedy.

→ Warnings: Explicit Language. Antics. Mentions of insecurity. Alcohol, Making out. Suggestive?

→ Chapters: 3, 4, 5

"Okay, so, today we went out for some onigiris and lemme just say. These things are literally to die for!" you groaned exaggeratedly, taking out a packaged onigiri from your bag which you bought earlier. You were video chatting with your members, making them suffocate as they watch you devour the rice treat.

"Man, I wish we could've snuck in some back when we were there for our tour." Kiyeon groaned, wiping the drool off the corners of her lips. "Fuck you, y/n! I'm hungry now, and I just had lunch! Not even 30 minutes ago!" Haneul whined.

You laughed, almost choking on rice. "Look at the bright side. When someone asks what did I eat to become so attractive, I could just say 'rice'" you say with a smug shrug. "You did not just quote Jackson Wang while eating an onigiri." Jaehwa huffed with a shake of her head.

"And on the other side, package us some onigiri. Watching you eat in such an ASMR way is making me crave Japan food," Cheonsa chuckled. You took a big bite of the rice treat in your hand before shaking your head, "bitch, you wish you were me right now. But for unceremoniously embarrassing me-"

"Well we attempted, you ran away."

"Embarrassing me! I think y'all don't deserve this exquisite treat." You rolled your eyes when your members cut you off in the middle of your sentence. "Jesus Christ, I'll book a ticket to Japan right now and-" Kiyeon grumbled angrily, opening her phone to pretend as if she was purchasing a ticket.

"Don't be such drama queens. There's onigiri in nearby supermarkets, you could just buy some. Or even better, make some!" you laughed, throwing away the plastic wrapper in the dustbin. "Make some? Girl, who do you think we are? Gordon Ramsey? This ain't Masterchef. I ain't cooking shit if it doesn't mean I ain't getting some cash." Cheonsa sassed.

"Well, I-" you started before you heard a loud obnoxious groan that could be heard from the inner cores of the earth. "OH MY GOD," the male voice groaned in annoyance. Your eye twitched in annoyance as you let out a sigh, looking back at your co-star as you leaned back against your makeup chair.

"Y/n? Who's that?" Haneul asked. You didn't answer her as you continued to glare a hole into the boy, across the room from you,'s head. "Could you keep your masturbation down?" you snarled in annoyance.

"Y/n!" you heard your members scold in a motherly tone at your sexual insult but you ignored them. "ME? You're the one practically blasting your friend's voices up the roof, I could feel blood begging to ooze out of my ears." Jisung shot back.

"What's gotten your panties up in a twist, asshole? Forgot to take your daily dose of warm milk like a baby?" you hissed. "Okay, you two. Before you two start World War III in this here trailer I'm going to cut you both off and tell you that you guys have another scene to shoot." Your stage director chuckled.

You ignored Jisung's loud groan as you look back at your friends with a sympathetic look, "you guys heard the man. I gotta go," you smiled, your thumb hovering over the hang up button. "You better call us tonight, for real this time, y/n." Jaehwa jokes.

"Of course, even though you all treat me like shit, I miss you guys!" you exclaim with a giggle. "It's our job as members to treat you like shit. Plus you treat us the same." Kiyeon responded with an innocent nod. " What she meant was we miss you, too." Haneul gave the older girl a hard glare before waving goodbye at you.

"Bye!" you waved as your members did funny poses as they, too, waved. You giggle as you pressed the hang up button, putting your phone down on the table before walking out of the trailer.

As you arrived at the scene, your makeup artists touched you up with some small blush and brushes to adjust your hair and gave you your school bag. Jeongin standing with a bright smile next to you, "good to see you, y/n." he greeted.

"Jeongin, I literally saw you two minutes ago back when you were playing with your switch in your trailer." you chuckled. "Is it wrong for me to say hello to my little friend?" he smirked, holding the strap of his bag. "Little? I'm older than you." you laughed. "Older? Yes. Who debuted first, exactly? Me. So treat your senior with respect." Jeongin giggled as he got his props on.

"Alright guys, this is the scene where you two are just casually talking to each other and then Jisung runs up and etcetera. You know the drill, you read the script, now focus." your director announced through the speaker as he sat down on his chair.

"Lights! Camera! And Action!"

You clutched your phone as you layed down emotionlessly on the couch in your trailer. You just got news from your family that your grandmother had passed away a couple hours ago. Your mother called you to tell you the news in distraught.

Your sweet grandma that always forced you to eat whenever you were under the pressure of sustaining that perfect idol body. You felt numb and you didn't want to get up to shoot scenes anymore. You just want to be buried under layers of blankets and get up when all the sadness evaporated from your body.

But yet again, this is life. You gotta do what you gotta do. And you can't even go to her funeral considering you were hundreds of miles away and you have an extremely busy schedule ahead of you.

You heard the door open, your make up artist bowing politely at you. You sighed, getting up to sit on the chair infront of the mirror. "Miss. You okay?" they asked as they applied on some concealer underneathe your eyelids.

You hummed sadly, your eyes half lidded and looking down as you fidget with the script in your hands. You lazily flipped through the pages, trying to revert your mind away from the sadness in your gut so that you could memorize your lines.

When you were done, you head to the changing room to put on your costume before going to the makeup room to get some touch ups. Some of the staff questioned your silence and gloomy aura considering you would always joke around on set or make a member of the staff hault their movements to make some witty comments bout the script.

As you got your hair done, you saw your costar come in with a cup of Starbucks in her hand. "Rough day?" she asked, looking at you with hooded eyes as she sipped on her caffeine drink. You nodded slightly, trying not to ruin the hairstylist's work on your hair.

"Mood, girl. Director-nim says that we'll be shooting the next scene in ten so you have quite some time to pick yourself up." she informed as you gave her a weak smile in response. "Honestly, I wanna go back to sleep. Maybe go around to eat some mochi, I heard there's a mochi store nearby and it's to die for."

For the next ten minutes, you continued to hear her suggest all the good cheap snackstores around the area. When you finally got called, you forced yourself to get up from your chair and put down your phone and script on the table.

"I'm going to head out to buy those takoyaki balls outside. I'll buy you some if that'll cheer you up, my treat." she nudged you side with a soft smile which you gave her a small chuckle before shaking your head sadly. "No thanks. I don't feel like it." You walked out of the make up room and onto set.

You were immediately approached by the director telling you what to do in the following scenes, you just gave him a small hums and nods whenever he finishes his sentences.

"Looks like little y/n is out of it, today." Jisung snickered behind your back, making you let out a small huff before clenching your fists to calm yourself down. "Wow. No comebacks? Must be my lucky day!" he exclaimed.

You ignored the smug boy before walking infront of the camera and nodding at the directors that you were ready.

"Are you on your period or something?" Jisung asked as he stood beside you near the bus stop on the way to the hotel. You've been tormented through the day with his harsh remarks and the sadness in your gut just deepened.

You couldn't wait to be engulfed in the warm sheets and cry your frustrations out. You felt like you were bout the burst out sobbing at any moment. "Fuck off, Han. I'm not in the mood." you muttered under your breath.

"Oh, so you finally started talking again? What's got your panties in a twist, Huh?" he chuckled.

It may be because of pure exhaustion, but your vision blurred shortly and for a split second, you saw your grandmother smiling at you with a tray of your favourite treat in hand. Her voice crystal clear as she spoke the words "Y/N, come and eat!" which lingered in your mind.

You shook your head as you felt your eyes tear up. You can't just stand here and wait for the bus and continued to be harassed by this donkey any longer. "I said, fuck off, Han. I'm not in the mood." you said in a much bolder tone as you started to walk away.

And it didn't take long for Han Jisung to catch up on your tail. "What's up with you being all sad and shit the whole day? It's funny to see you like this. Did sad hours open early for you? Seriously, you're acting like somebody died or so-"

"I SAID, FUCK OFF, HAN. IM NOT IN THE MOOD."

You turned to look back at him with your eyes bloodshot red and your bottom lip trembling pathetically. You gazed at his shocked expression before relaxing your gaze and sniffed, covering your face with your scarf as you shivered at the cold wind.

"Leave me alone, Han Jisung. Please. " you sniffed before walking away from the baffled bou who stood there frozen in shock. He didn't even notice the bus that he was waiting for the past ten minutes had finally arrived.

"Hyung!" a voice snapped him out of his trance, making him look back to see his little maknae waving at him in line of the bus. He turned, hoping to see your small figure slowly disappearing but you were long gone.

He sighed as he walked towards the bus and sat next to Jeongin who continued to babble about who knows what. But the only thing Jisung couldn't stop thinking bout was your form trembling on the brink of tears.

this was so bad lol

[blancheharrington]

One Shot #19(ish)

Jo and Alex have their first ultrasound and find out some unexpected news.

On Friday morning, Jo unintentionally woke up an hour and a half earlier than she typically does on every other average day. However, she had a feeling that her body somehow must have known that today was not every other average day.

It was five o'clock in the morning and even the harmonies of the morning birds were still only tired, lonely, hums. She laid still for awhile in the darkness of the loft trying to will herself back to sleep, but found herself more alert with every imaginary sheep she counted jumping over their imaginary fence. When all of her sheep had been herded, and she found herself still wide awake, she continued to stare blankly at the ceiling. In an effort to entertain herself as well as pass the time, she began twiddling her thumbs. She tried breathing in deeply and she tried breathing out slowly. She tied and re-tied her hair, she switched positions, she tried flipping to the cool side of her pillow, she tried switching positions again. She tried everything she could possibly try in order to fall back asleep, aside from drugging herself, which she considered. She didn’t want to be awake any longer than required, because any moment longer than necessary was another moment of inextinguishable nervousness and if Jo hated anything, it was being nervous. It made her sick.

So, in acceptance of her fate Jo remained flat under the covers, wide awake. She could feel her stomach start to bubble and her heart start to beat faster than it should. She started picking at the skin around her thumbs knowing that by the end of the day they would be raw and sore and bloody. She told herself to stop. She knew it would sting later on when she had to rub in hand sanitizer for the thousandth time, but her fingers kept picking. Unraveling the skin on her fingers like a loose thread on a dress. Eventually the entire dress would come undone. Her nerves were spreading quickly and she knew that she could not stay in their bed for a single second longer. She felt as though she might actually suffocate. Still sitting in silence, Jo wondered if she would actually be the first person to suffocate while all of their airways were unblocked and intact. She gave up. Jo quickly rid her body of their duvet cover and rolled over to sit up on the side of the bed. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was 5:10 AM. This was going to be a very long day, she thought.

By 6:30 AM when Alex finally woke up, it had felt like an entire week had passed. Jo had already watched the sun shift it’s way into the loft, fought the urge to vomit, started a load of laundry that she would forget about until later that night, made a pot of coffee, dusted off their CD rack, wondered why they still had a CD rack, brought their CD rack to the side of the curb, made herself breakfast, ate her breakfast, made Alex breakfast, ate Alex’s breakfast, watched an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, squeezed in a quick shower and fought the urge to vomit again. By 6:55 AM, Jo was shoving a piece of toast into Alex’s mouth as he slipped on his shoes while simultaneously tried pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“I know it’s a big day, but what’s with the rush?” Alex had asked Jo as she was driving them to the hospital a few minutes later, a piece of dry toast still scratching at his throat.

“I just want to get there already.” She said. Alex glanced over to the speedometer which indicated Jo was going 67 miles per hour. He sat quietly in his seat and glanced out the window. The speed limit was 45. Or, at least he thought it was. They were going so fast that he couldn’t quite catch the sign in time.

When they reached the hospital, Jo parked in Alex’s spot even though they were in her car. It was closer to the entrance, it would be quicker, she told him. Parking ticket be damned. Alex attempted to keep up with Jo as she rushed inside the sliding doors, practically pushing an orderly out of her way. He barely caught up with her as she flew inside elevator, the doors almost closing before he slid his way inside.

“Jo, will you slow down?” Alex called out to her moments later when she exited the elevator and made a beeline towards the prenatal/maternity unit. He tried to follow in her footsteps as she swerved around medcarts and laboring women in wheelchairs and bassinets with sleeping babies.

“Will you speed up!” She turned and yelled back to him while continuing on her way. Hardly registering herself cutting directly between a pair of elderly cheerful grandparents carrying flowers and balloons.

When they finally made it to the waiting room, Jo had Alex fill out her paperwork. She told him that she forgot their insurance information, but when she had taken the forms from the receptionist she noticed her hands were uncontrollably shakey. She was unsure if she had attempted to write if her words would even turn out legible. Instead, she scanned through various maternity magazines, not making any attempt of absorbing the words on the pages. However, she couldn’t help herself from staring at the happy mothers with their happy babies and the occasional happy dads thrown into the mix. Once more she felt her heart rise and her stomach sink. She felt like she was simultaneously at the top of the rollercoaster while also plummeting towards the bottom. Jo noted the trash can in the corner of the room. That would be a good place to throw up, she thought. For a moment she considered letting it just happen, release it all like a rollercoaster going over it’s peak, until a nudge from Alex pulled her focus.

“We’re up.” He said, pointing towards the smiley nurse waiting in the doorway.

“Dr. Karev?” The nurse called out again while scanning the room. Jo stood quickly and followed her through a hallway.

Moments later, the nurse reached into a cabinet and pulled out a thin paper gown and handed it to Jo who couldn’t quit pacing in the examination room. “Alrighty, Dr. Karev. Just slip on the gown and saddle up onto the table. The drape’s right next to you when you’re all set. Just open the door when you’re ready and Dr. Tozer will be in in a moment.”

“Thank you.” Jo flashed a quick and nervous smile as the nurse quietly exited the room. Jo held the gown out in front of her, letting it unravel. “This is crazy.” She said to Alex who had been sitting relatively calmly in the corner of the room while Jo and the nurse had gone to check her weight. She glanced at her husband who had simply smiled back at her comment while she hastily rid herself of her shoes and clothes. Somehow the hours had passed, but time was still moving so slowly. It felt like it was taking an hour just to remove her own clothes. “Are you nervous?” She asked him while slipping her arms through the holes of the gown.

“A little. But, I think you’re nervous enough for the both of us.” He said as he watched her fumble to tie the back of the gown closed.

Jo gave up her fight with the plastic strings and moved onto removing her underwear and shoving her clothes into her bag. She shuffled her bare feet across the cold floor towards Alex who instinctively stood up as she turned around. Without words, she signaled for him to help her knot up the back. As she faced away from him, and without a minuscule task to complete, she realized she had nothing to do to fill the remaining time with but words. She gave in.

“I’m really nervous, Alex. Like, really nervous. I’m so nervous that I want to barf. I’ve needed to throw up all day. I need to. I do. It’ll make me feel better. I think I’m going to, okay?” Jo fiddled with her wedding ring on her finger, twirling it around, pulling it off and putting it back on. Trying to occupy herself with anything besides the thought of vomiting at Alex’s feet. But all she could come up with was how good it would feel just to do it and get it over with. Not because she particularly enjoyed the feeling of vomiting but because she wanted to think of nothing else besides the contents of her stomach for a whole thirty second. To not be nervous for thirty seconds. To not be worried. If her head was in a bucket she wouldn’t have time to focus on what may or may not be happening inside of her and what may or may not occur in nine months and how she may or may not have the ability to raise a decent human being.

Alex pulled tightly at his knot, signaling that he was done. He squeezed gently at Jo’s shoulders and spun her around to face him. His calm demeanor quickly turned to concern as he noticed Jo’s face begin to lose color and her eyes begin to glisten with tears. “Don’t barf. You’re going to be fine. Everyone’s going to be fine. We’re going to have a baby!” He caught her off guard with a kiss, followed by a tender peck to her forehead. When he pulled away, she appeared anyway but relaxed. As he went to lean in to hug her tightly, she spun away from him and walked towards the door of the exam room. He wondered for a split second if she was going to walk out of the room and never come back.

“You don’t know that.” She quipped back to him as she pulled open the door to let the doctor know that she was ready for her.   

Alex put his hands on his hips in that certain way he always does when he starts to get anxious himself. “Know what?” He asked.

“That everything is going to be fine.” She said while climbing onto the exam table and swinging her legs into the stirrups.

“Jo.” Alex said with a sympathetic twinge. A tone that made Jo want to vomit even more. He stepped to her side and reached out his hand to grab a hold of hers, but she quickly moved it away from him and began busying herself with something else.

Jo pulled the drape over her legs and smoothed it along her bare thighs. She picked at the edges of the paper, tearing small pieces off and letting them fall into her lap. “You don’t, Alex! You don’t know! I could miscarry at any moment. I might not even be pregnant. Maybe the tests were wrong and I actually have some strange cancer instead. Maybe I am pregnant but the baby doesn’t even have a head. We could have a headless baby. Or maybe I could just die.” She tore another strip away from the paper and let it fall to the floor. She looked up to Alex just as a tear fell from her eyes. “I could die, Alex. This could kill me. I’ll die and I’ll just be another statistic for Arizona’s U.S maternal mortality rate study and you’ll be a widower and you’ll be married again in a few years because look at you of course you would and I know that cute nurse, Connie in Peds, has been into you for years because Janet in Ortho tells me every damn time I see her about how much Connie talks about you at their dumb Tupperware parties.”

Alex reached for her hand again, finally catching it. Her hand instantly relaxed in his grasp. “Will you stop it. You’re not going to die and I’m not going to be a widower and I’m not going to marry Connie.” He smirked as he ran circles along the topsof her hand with his thumb, “Besides, if I was going to remarry anyone, it would be Lisa in plastics.”

Jo ignored his attempt at lighting the mood. “I could, though! She showed me all of her graphs and charts yesterday. A lot of women die Alex! A lot!”

Alex made a mental note to yell at Arizona for her overbearing desire to share the statistics of her deeply depressing project to everyone she passes in the halls. “But you won’t be one of them!” He tried to assure her.

“But I could be. And then our baby will be motherless just like me.”

Alex went to speak again but was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Are you guys ready for me?” The doctor called out as she entered the room without pause.

“No.” Jo mumbled through a groan, pulling her hand from Alex’s grasp.

“Yes.” Alex blurted out after her in order to correct any confusion.

Dr. Tozer quickly washed and dried her hands and tossed the paper towel into the garbage, oblivious to the parental nerves in the room as they had become normal to her over her many years as an obstetrician. “I assume you guys know the drill? We’ll do a transvaginal ultrasound, make sure everything is peachy keen, take some measurements, grab a couple of picture, and then go from there. Sound good?”

“Yea.” Alex enthusiastically shook his head whereas Jo gave a nervous eyebrow raise as she laid her head back and shut her eyes. She heard her doctor slap on a pair of gloves and squeeze a bottle of lubricant. Can I throw up now? Jo thought to herself.

“Okay, Dr. Karev, some pressure.”

Jo flinched at the uncomfortable pain of the ultrasound. Somehow she wanted to vomit even more so than before. She started to feel lightheaded at the pressure until she suddenly realized that she had been holding her breath.

“Well, you’re definitely pregnant! About 6 weeks, I’d estimate.” Dr. Tozer assured the couple.

Jo, realizing again that she had been holding her breath, let out a huge sigh of relief.

“See, I told you you didn’t have cancer!” Alex cheered. He grabbed Jo’s hand once more and leaned down to kiss her cheek. The pair laughed in unison. In excitement. In disbelief.

“Oh, wow. Okay!” Dr. Tozer exclaimed, interrupting their moment as she began clicking more purposefully at the buttons. “It looks -” She began to speak before Jo quickly, awkwardly, and painfully leaned forward to the best of her abilities.

“Ectopic? No head?” Jo slapped Alex in the arm, “I told you something was wrong!” She looked back towards her doctor. “What’s wrong with it? Is it dead already? Does it have three arms? Is it -”

“Four, actually.” The doctor interrupted.

“Four arms!?” Jo gasped. She really, really needed to throw up. And she thought time was moving slowly before. Now it felt like time had completely come to a halt. “Alex, our baby has four arms and you won’t even be allowed to operate on it!”

Alex looked humorously between the doctor and Jo. He tried to reach out to sweetly glide his hand through Jo’s hair, but it seemed that any attempt at comfort to her was going unnoticed. He glanced at the doctor again and the pair shared a quick smile.

The doctor interrupted Jo’s tangent once more, “And four legs.”

“Oh god.” Jo threw her head back and began to sob. She blindingly reached out through her watery eyes for any part of her husband's body. “Alex. We have an octopus for a baby. A freakin’ baby octopus. I told you I felt off today. I knew something was wrong!”

Dr. Tozer smirked as she turned the monitor towards Jo, knowing it was time to end all of Jo’s worries. “Dr. Karev. Your babies are going to have the most entertaining life with you as their mother.”

Jo sniffled and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She breathed in heavily and uncontrollably, gasping for air while trying to catch the snot from her nose. “I hope they do.”

Just then, everything seemed to click. Jo’s hand fell away from her face and into her lap. “They?” She turned to Alex who had been trying so hard to contain his laughter. “They! They as in two? Two as in twins?” She put up the number two with her hands. “Two...babies? In me? Right now?”

Alex beamed with enjoyment as Jo awkwardly reached out to kiss him, she wouldn’t realize until the drive home that in that moment, she actually witnessed a few tears fall from his eyes, too.

“Twins!” He reassured her. The couple gently braised their foreheads against each other, unable to hide their blatant love and joy.

After a moment, their doctor returned their attention to the screen and pointed at the two grey blobs. “Baby A is right here. And we’ve got Baby B right there. No octopuses.” She reassured Jo.

After noting to herself that she was indeed carrying two individual, completely separate, and two armed, two legged babies, Jo leaned her head backwards and stared at the ceiling. “Twins.” She said in disbelief. She would say it many more times throughout the next eight months just trying to get it through her head, to get used to the sound of it. Suddenly, after a day where time was moving so slowly, everything seemed to blast into overdrive. Now it seemed that there couldn’t ever possibly be enough time.

Her and Alex were having two babies. But they had only planned for one, she thought! And now they needed to plan for two! Two babies that would turn into two toddlers and two children and two teenagers and two adults. They would need two cribs and two college funds and two cars and twice the amount of diapers and twice the amount of attention. How was she going to feed two babies at once, she wondered. How was she going to make sure one doesn’t fall off of their bike while she’s steering the other one? Or make sure they’re not conspiring against her and Alex. Or switching places in their classrooms and taking the SAT’s for each other. How will she tell them apart? What if they accidentally switch them at birth and they lead totally different lives with the wrong names? When she thought she might be having one child, she wondered if she would forget it at the grocery store. Now she wondered, would she forget them both? How would she make sure to differentiate them? In the few minute span of knowing she was having twins, Jo already wanted to make sure that they were always their own persons. That one wasn’t always referred to as the smarter twin, or the more creative twin, the funnier twin, the twin that listens better than the other. Even if she didn’t feel it in that moment, she was already thinking like a mom and a mom of twins at that.

Her spell broke when she heard Alex’s voice whisper into her ear while the doctor finished up. “Can you believe we’re having twins?” He asked her.

And just then, without warning, Jo leaned to the side of the examination table and finally gave into her desire to throw up. No, she could not believe it, and it would take her until the day they were born to do so.

[12miraenie]

Insouciant

Paring: Jungkook x Reader 

Genre: Angst 

Word Count: 2.4k 

A/N: I still can’t get over Kook’s new hair in the comeback, it looks absolutely amazing. 💕 

✾ Link to Masterlist 

Insouciant 

adj) free from worry or anxiety 

                                                    Jungkook didn’t know when exactly everything started falling apart. He was deprived of your smiles, your kisses and your touch for the past two months, and he thinks he’s going crazy. The pit of emptiness kept piling up when your traces and presences seemed farther and farther back in history. Jungkook couldn’t even remember when the last time he went home to the smell of your cooking, or the last time you visited him in the office, or the last time you two went to the same place. All he could see and what’s left of you is your clothes hanging next to his, and a few drawers of your things.

It took about a week for the symptoms to show. He would get these headaches or lightheaded feelings out of nowhere, and his stomach hurt. Jungkook knew it was because of the all-nighters and barely eating at all. He couldn’t even remember the taste of actual food, only alcohol. Jungkook used to hate drinking. He never liked the dizziness of being drunk and hangovers. He always thought that there’s always a better solution than drinking your problems off. But he was never logical, or smarter enough to deal with you.

It was one beer at first. Late night after work, he roamed around the Han River park and found a good spot to sit down and drink. He thought about you. The smile on your face when he surprised you at the train station with a bouquet of your favorite flowers. The feeling of your fingers on his hair when he leaned on your thigh to watch a movie together. The scorching kisses on his lips when you came back after a family trip. Those memories that seemed so far away, along with the beer in his hand left a bitter taste in his mouth. It gradually became two, three, and eventually a pack of six. When he couldn’t think of any good moments, Jungkook recalled when your relationship cracked. It was huge, ugly, and Jungkook knew that he was the cause of it.

Jungkook’s thumb hovered over his phone when a familiar caller name appeared on the screen. It’s you. You were calling him for the first time in two months. For a second he thought about hanging up. Not because he didn’t want to talk, but because he had no idea what to say, or how to face you.

The ringtone went dead. Jungkook realized he had been arguing with himself long enough for you to hang up. He sighed out in relief, at least he didn’t have to face you when he’s not prepared in the slightest way. Although secretly he had been hoping that you could call again. Disappointment grew when you didn’t, and Jungkook slammed the lid of his computer down in frustration. A coworker tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around in slight annoyance.

“Jungkook, there’s someone here to see you.”  

In reality, he’s in no mood to deal with any visitors now, but Jungkook chose to go. If it’s work, at least he could take his mind off of you. What he didn’t expect though, is you in the corner of his company’s lobby, with your back facing him.

“Jungkook.”

It was you who turned around and said something first. Jungkook was still in a trance with the way you look. Your hair down to the shoulders and the pastel yellow checkered dress that made you look absolutely breathtaking. Your newly dyed hair complimented your features so much that he almost thought your skin was glowing. Jungkook barely recognized you. He could already sense some of his colleagues’ eyes on you. It made his blood boil, even though he knew that he lost that privilege a long time ago.

“What?”

His didn’t intend for his voice to come out so blunt and distant, but the gap in his heart since the last time he saw you were hurt too much, and seeing you this happy and unaffected like this angered him. Did he mean nothing to you? Were you not hurting like he was?

Your smile slowly disappeared into an indifferent stretch of your lips. He noticed how the light in your eyes dimmed slightly and instantly felt guilty. He wanted to say sorry, or come up with an excuse but his heart was in knots, and somehow the words just couldn’t come out.

“I want to tell you I’ll come to pick up my stuff tomorrow. If you wanna help you could clean up some of it, but it’s really no matter.”

His heart clenched. So this is it, you’re finally leaving him. You’ve finally stopped being so considerate after these two months of ‘time to think’. You've finally decided to leave him.

“I’m also here to give you this.” You unclasped your necklace and put it on your extended palm.

“It belongs to you anyway. You should have it back.” Jungkook stared at the necklace wordlessly, but inside his heart was breaking. He gave you that on a birthday, right after your sixth month anniversary. He spent half of his monthly salary on that when he was still a newbie in the office and barely went through his days with that money. Jungkook remembered how he started saving money long before that, even cutting his daily expenses to none. He didn’t care if he had one meal a day, or had to bike to work every day. He was happy to see you happy. And that’s what mattered the most. It meant so much to him, to you, and to your relationship, He didn’t think you would be returning this to him.

“Oh no. You keep it.” However indifferent he sounded, the shaky breath at the end of his sentence betrayed how Jungkook was feeling inside. He forced down the bitterness in his throat. He wanted you to have it. At least that means you could still cherish the good memories before everything fell apart.

However, you grasped his hand and let the necklace drop onto his palm. Unconsciously Jungkook clenched his fist and felt the cold, hard metal press into his palm. You weren’t even willing to keep one part of him?

His sad, angry eyes met your calm ones. A gentle smile graced your lips, but he noticed it’s a sad one. You took a step back and held on to the strap of your handbag.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The bell rang when Jungkook came out of the convenience store with a plastic bag in hand. He sighed and stretched his arms. He listened to the fizzle of beer and hesitated. Maybe he shouldn’t drink today, especially since he hadn’t eaten anything besides a bag of biscuits. Drinking this much would give him both a headache and a stomachache, and he didn’t want to go to work like that tomorrow. But your words suddenly echoed in his head.

Jungkook took a huge gulp. Doesn’t matter now. As long as he could get his mind off of you.  

Jungkook shrugged off the suit jacket and let his suitcase drop onto the floor. Right now, he had not a trace of energy or willingness left to do anything. His mind was hazy and chaotic, the alcohol taking in its effects. Not bothering to turn on the light in his bedroom, Jungkook sat down on his side with a tired groan and lay down to face the ceiling. Soon after the shuffling of bedsheets and comforters, he was securely under his blankets, left with a ringing in his ears and a suffocating silence.

It was easy for him to fall asleep, the only time he could waste away without thinking about you. Ever since you left, Jungkook had been working his butt off, completing almost twice his workload every day. It was almost impossible at first, but Jungkook kept going so that when he comes home, every ounce of his energy would be spent. You would be out of his mind.

Jungkook didn’t know when exactly he fell asleep, but he woke up with a sheen of sweat on his body and excruciating pain in his stomach area. He remembered the look of dismay on his doctor’s face the first time he went to the hospital for the pain. Jungkook knew it was because of his bad habits. But somehow the pain felt better than the thought of you leaving.  He panted heavily and turned on the bedside lamp. Just this one simple action made him groan out in pain.

He still managed to stumble into the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet, Jungkook cursed when he found an empty bottle. There’s nothing left to ease his pain now. Jungkook stared at his reflection in the mirror, at how ghastly he looked. Face pale with reddened eyes, and the sweat on his forehead. Stealing a glance at the clock, Jungkook clenched his teeth. It’s 3 in the morning. There’s no way he could catch a cab now. And he didn’t have the strength to even walk out the door.

Curling into a ball on the bed, Jungkook clenched his teeth and fists to fight off the pain. He bit his lips and tasted blood. This is when he hates himself the most. Getting drunk because of you, hurting alone because of you. His bottled feelings had no outlet to be released.

He reached out to his phone and squinted his eyes at the bright screen. Somehow, as if he got possessed, Jungkook scrolled through the contacts and pressed down your name. He wanted to end the call as soon as it went through, but an urgent sense of desperation held him back. The constant beeping kept going on, one after another. You still didn’t pick up. Jungkook shut his eyes when hot tears streamed down. Right, why would yo you pick up anyways? You must hate him so much now.

The next time he regained consciousness, Jungkook found himself under a warm blanket. And surprisingly, the pain in his stomach had reduced to an almost nonexistent level. Groggily, he sat up and grabbed his phone. Jungkook widened his eyes. It’s 10:30 already? Did he sleep for that long? Suddenly remembering he’s late for work, Jungkook scrambled up into the hallway despite the dull aches and tiredness.

He halted at the sight of you asleep on the couch in a terribly uncomfortable position. Jungkook rubbed his eyes a little too hard. Is he hallucinating now, too? Jungkook couldn’t believe what his eyes perceived. How in the world are you in his house, on his couch now?

Jungkook cursed under his breath when you stirred and opened your eyes. The moment your pupils focused on his own, you moved to stand before him.

“Jeon Jungkook.” You looked more serious than ever. “What the hell have you been thinking?”

Jungkook looked at you in confusion when you shoved a diagnostic report in his hand. Scanning the page, Jungkook realized it’s an analysis of his problems. You must have come and sent him to a hospital. Your tone, although accusing, was laced with worry. It made him felt guiltier and more worthless than ever.

“Thank you. You should leave now. You’ve wasted enough time on me. I have work too.” Jungkook screamed to himself in his head. This is not what he wanted to say. He cast his eyes onto the floor and threw the report on the table. He knew exactly what problems he had, but they were really not on the top of his priority list.  

“Wasted? Jeon Jungkook, you could have been dead by now if I’m not here!”  

How he wished he could tell you his pain, his frustrations, so you could stop giving him this judgmental and pitied look. How he wished he could just tell you that you were the reason he’s suffering. He didn’t want you to look at him that way. He won’t let you look at him that way. Jungkook turned away in the direction of his room.

“So you’re just gonna leave, huh? Like you did every fucking time there’s a problem between us.”

You muttered out the last sentence, but Jungkook still caught onto it. He wanted to argue that he’s not the one that left. He wanted to say that he’s always been here, at the same place wanting to apologize but is too prideful and cowardly to do so. He couldn’t find the resolve to take another step away.

Maybe you took notice of his slumped shoulders or the way he’s trying hard to hold himself together. Or perhaps you realized it’s not a good time to argue because you tugged him gently to sit on the couch and pushed a glass of water to him.

“I called your office and explained.” You paused and spoke in a softer voice. “I’ll get your meds and some food.”

You came back with some soup and a bowl of rice with a fried egg on top. It tasted like heaven, but the bitterness in his mouth didn’t disappear. Why won’t you stay if you still care about him enough to remember his food preference?

He watched you taking out the remaining of your stuff and zipped the bag up. Jungkook felt the knot in his heart getting tighter and tighter until he couldn’t breathe anymore. Abruptly he stood up and wrapped you tight from the behind. Your body stiffened, and your hands grabbed his arms, trying to remove them.

“Please. Just this once.”

You froze because he starting sobbing by the end of the sentence. His whole body was shaking when you turned around and hugged him back. You felt Jungkook breathe out in relief instantly.

“Can you stay, please?”

Your heart clenched at how broken he sounded, how desperate he looked. You know how much you love him, and how much he loves you. It took almost a hundred percent of your resolve to push him away. The words rehearsed a thousand times in your head got stuck in your throat the moment Jungkook’s tear-brimmed eyes focused on your own.

“You know I can’t. We both made mistakes and need to learn from them. I am not leaving because I don’t love you anymore, Kook. So don’t blame this on you. Don’t skip meals, don’t stay up too late, and cut down the alcohol. When we meet again-when you think you’ve matured enough, when I think I’ve matured enough to understand what responsibility means, maybe we can start again.”

Jungkook stood in the foyer until the echoing of your footsteps could no longer be heard. No matter how many regrets he had, how heartbroken he felt, you were right. At least you ended on a good page, or maybe a new beginning for the future.

[nuttystrawberrysalad]

Are Blankets the New Going-Out Accessory?

From Sarah Jessica Parker’s monogrammed Burberry poncho to Norma Kamali’s Sleeping Bag Coat, fashion has long embraced blanket-inspired styles. During a time when most socializing takes place outdoors, would you wear one outside the house?

A weighted blanket is exactly what it sounds like - it’s a blanket with extra weight in it. Weighted blankets are unique as instead of being filled with cotton or down, it contains materials like glass beads to make them heavier. This weight is evenly distributed across the body for a feeling of being gently hugged. The deep touch pressure offered by the weighted blanket is supposed to make you feel safe, relaxed, and comfortable.

Blankets, a symbol of coziness and warmth usually relegated to the indoors, can also be a great piece to layer for fall and winter outfits. Though temperatures are just starting to drop in New York City, WSJ. staffers have spotted a few in the wild—mostly while outdoor dining, which New York City recently extended permanently. (It was originally set to expire ahead of the winter months, on October 31.) For the first time in recent history, the preferred environment for socializing has become “anywhere outside.” And during a pandemic and period of worldwide unrest, most people are seeking comfort more than ever. As a replacement for the timeworn going-out top—obviously better suited to the indoors—the going-out blanket suddenly makes sense.

Over the years, blankets have inspired fashion, from the upscale double layers blanket poncho that Sarah Jessica Parker wore in 2014, personalized with her initials, to Norma Kamali’s famous blanket-adjacent Sleeping Bag Coat, which she first designed in 1973. In 2012, Lenny Kravitz went viral after being photographed by paparazzi while ensconced in an enormous scarf on his way to buy groceries. Six years later, he defended the accessory on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “But Lenny,” Fallon said, “this is not a scarf. This is a blanket.”

After my sister gave me a weighted blanket for Christmas, it became the gift that I didn't know I needed. It's one of the best things ever to happen to me.

As someone with anxiety, I've struggled with restful sleep: Falling asleep can take up to two hours, or I wake up at least twice during the night.

The first night I started sleeping underneath a 15-pound flannel blanket, I slept straight through the night for the first time in months and felt more rested during the day. After a few days of good sleep, I learned that my sister had done her gift research — she had read that people with anxiety tended to feel more grounded when using the blankets.

Fascinated, I asked experts on mental health and sleep to explain why these heavy blankets — which are filled with plastic, glass or metal particles and layered with extra fabric — have eased the, ahem, weight of some people's anxiety-related sleep struggles.

Weighted blankets, which range from 5 to 30 pounds (2.27 to 13.6 kilograms), have been used by special needs educators and occupational therapists since the late 1990s, but have become mainstream in the last few years. Regular blankets can weigh around 3 to 5 pounds.

The dominant theory is that weighted blankets provide deep pressure stimulation, a feeling that resembles a "firm, but gentle, squeeze or holding sensation and ... triggers these feelings of relaxation and of being calm," said pulmonary and sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Feeling relaxed is what decreases cortisol, a stress hormone that typically runs high in people with chronic anxiety, stress and other disorders, he added.

There is evidence suggesting that deep pressure stimulation reduces sympathetic nervous system arousal — that's our fight-or-flight response — and increases parasympathetic activity, which may cause the calming effect, said Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, the director of sleep medicine at Millennium Physician Group in Florida.

Pressure to stimulate the sensation of touch to muscles and joints is the same proposed mechanism behind massage and acupressure, added Abbasi-Feinberg, who is also a neurologist on the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's board of directors. "This calming (effect) can promote better quality sleep."

If you're interested in using a weighted blanket to aid sleep problems related to mental or sensory disorders, here's what you should know about their effectiveness, any caveats and how to choose one.

Weighted blankets have been growing in popularity, but there isn't actually much research on their effectiveness. That may be due to the newness of weighted blankets, their relative harmlessness and that other health issues are more urgent for researchers to study, Dasgupta said.

Some people with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or insomnia have reported improved quality of sleep and feeling more restful during the day, a few recent, small studies have found. Many study participants experienced a decrease of 50% or more in their Insomnia Severity Index scores after using a weighted blanket for four weeks, in comparison to 5.4% of the control group, according to a small study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine last September.

In the follow-up phase of the study, which lasted one year, people who used fleece blanket continued to benefit. People who switched from lightweight control blankets to weighted blankets experienced similar effects. And those who used weighted blankets also reported better sleep maintenance, a higher daytime activity level, remission from insomnia symptoms and alleviated symptoms of anxiety, depression and fatigue.

Researchers who studied the effects of weighted blankets on children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or autism have found either some positive associations or no associations with better sleep or reduced symptoms.

"A 'grounded feeling' due to the use of weighted blankets may be attributed to the psychoanalytic 'holding environment' theory, which states that touch is a basic need that provides calming and comfort," Abbasi-Feinberg said via email. "Weighted blankets are designed to work similar to the way tight swaddling helps newborns feel snug and secure."

Many, if not all, of the available studies on weighted blankets used participants who had a psychiatric, developmental or sleep disorder such as anxiety, depression, autism, ADHD or insomnia. That's likely because of "the fact that these segments of the population are the ones who could benefit most from touch- or sensory-related therapies," Abbasi-Feinberg said.

However, given how weighted blankets might work to reduce cortisol levels, they could help to reduce general stress, too, Dasgupta said.

People have shared their fondness for weighted blankets in studies and online, but people with the same psychiatric disorders may not have the same relaxing experiences with weighted blankets. One person in the follow-up phase of the 2020 study discontinued their participation due to feelings of anxiety when using the blanket. People who are claustrophobic may also not fare well. More studies on factors that make individuals more or less helped by weighted blankets are needed, Dasgupta added.

A weighted blanket's calming abilities may help to regulate breathing, but some health professionals are hesitant to recommend weighted blankets to people with obstructive sleep apnea, asthma or other respiratory conditions. "You'd have to be pretty brittle and pretty sick if a blanket's going to stop your breathing," Dasgupta said. But if you're not sure, he added, be careful and talk to your pulmonologist first.

Children should be assessed by occupational therapists or pediatricians before they try sherpa blanket, as many weighted blankets haven't been tested for the effectiveness and safety for children.

"Weighted blankets shouldn't be used for toddlers under 2 years old, as it may increase the risk of suffocation," Abbasi-Feinberg said. "It's important for parents to always consult their pediatrician before trying a weighted blanket."

Dogs sometimes benefit from pressure-applying garments during storms or other anxiety-inducing events, but weighted blankets can be dangerous for pets, said Dr. Douglas Kratt, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

If you're looking for a weighted blanket, there are multiple options in terms of weight, materials and size. A blanket that weighs 7% to 12% of your body weight is typically the range to choose from, but that may depend on personal preference. "Some individuals might want a heavier weight to feel a sense of 'hugging' and calmness, while others might want something lighter," Abbasi-Feinberg said.

And there are weighted blankets for year-round use, she added — some are made with a higher proportion of fabric layers made from cotton, which is lighter than other materials and allows air to pass through its fibers, therefore better managing your body temperature.

Dasgupta thinks of sleep as a puzzle, and sometimes people with insomnia or mental disorders are missing some of the pieces needed for great sleep, but "no one really knows what puzzle pieces are missing."

Weighted blankets could help, but they're not a cure-all — a healthy sleep routine is still necessary for getting enough of both sleep time and the deeper stages that leave you refreshed. If you think that a weighted blanket could be your missing puzzle piece, "it's worth a try," Dasgupta said. The downside is that these blankets can be pricey.

During the pandemic, "sleep really took a hit" when it comes to insomnia, altered circadian rhythm and nightmares, Dasgupta said. "A weighted blanket is something that might have a role during this pandemic. ... That sense of the basic need to be touched and hugged could actually provide some comfort and security. Maybe that's why some people benefit from a weighted blanket."

[lindyhunt]

The Best Things FASHION Editors Bought, Read and Watched in 2018

Come December, there’s nothing quite like looking back at a year gone by and reflecting on the various things that brought us joy. Here, FASHION editors share the favourite things they bought, read and watched in 2018.

Noreen Flanagan, Editor-in-Chief

The Best Thing I Bought This Year A pair of “Spectator-ish” two-toned shoes at a little shop I like to go to in Milan, called Marco. These shoes attract more attention than a golden retriever puppy when I’m out on the street. They even charmed Manfred Mugler when I interviewed him in Montreal in the fall for an upcoming feature. I walked in the room and he got up and started tap dancing in front of me after declaring he loved my shoes.

The Best Thing I Watched This Year I had to chance to catch Network on Broadway starring Bryan Cranston and former FASHION cover star Tatiana Maslany. In this age of #fakenews who doesn’t love to be in a theatre and be asked to yell out: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

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The Best Thing I Read This Year I just finished reading Educated by Tara Westover. Like The Glass Castle—another fave—this memoir is a compelling and ultimately inspiring story about survival and re-invention. But more than that, it’s a testament to the power of knowledge and the importance of seeking out the truth.

Benjamin Reyes, Video Editor

The best thing I bought this year It’s hard to tell if I’ve become complacent or if Netflix’s good movie selection is getting more diminutive every year, but I was looking for a change. That’s when I discovered (a.k.a was Facebook-ad-targeted by…) a new streaming service called Mubi, which is a catalog of 30 foreign/indie/ciritically-acclaimed films constantly on rotation. While not every film is a hit, it’s been a great way to open myself up to new cinematic experiences.

The best thing I watched this year I’m a sucker for coming-of-age films so Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, Mid90s, definitely makes my list this year. In the counter-nostalgic vein of The 400 Blows or Dazed and Confused, it focuses less on story and more on causality, while giving precedence to world-building and atmosphere.

The best thing I read this year National Geographic’s “Planet or Plastic?” issue was one of the most impactful things I’ve read concerning our plastic consumption. The scientific articles are accompanied by hauntingly beautiful photographs, including collages made from plastics found in dead animals.

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Hey! I'm @zooeydeschanel and on behalf of @farmproject, I'll be guest curating the @natgeo Instagram feed throughout the day to help launch #PlanetorPlastic—National Geographic’s multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic waste that gets into the world’s oceans. Learn what you can do to reduce your own single-use plastics and take your pledge at natgeo.com/plasticpledge (link in bio). Doing so will not only benefit the thousands of marine animals that become entangled in or suffocated by plastics each year but will also contribute to the overall health of the planet’s marine ecosystems and all who rely upon them. Check the feed throughout the day to see more of the amazing pictures I’m posting.

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on May 17, 2018 at 5:00am PDT

Pahull Bains, Associate Editor

The Best Thing I Bought This Year I’d been wanting to add a Céline handbag to my collection for ages but it was only this year, after it was announced that the brand’s feminist creative director, Phoebe Philo, would be replaced by Hedi Slimane, that I decided to dip into my savings and nab a Philo-era bag for myself. I went with the classic ‘Belt’ bag in grey, and every time I swing it over my shoulder I feel like I’m carrying a piece of fashion history with me.

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CÉLINE & 24 SÈVRES // Belt bag • Delivery sneakers • Belted dress • link in bio

A post shared by 24 Sèvres • 24sevres.com (@24sevres) on Mar 15, 2018 at 9:15am PDT

The Best Thing I Watched This Year It’s a two-way tie for me between the independent film Mouthpiece and Nanette, a comedy special on Netflix.

Every year at TIFF, I watch dozens and dozens of films, up to five in a single day. Which means, by the end of the 10-day festival, it’s hard to keep track of which ones I loved or enjoyed the most. Despite that, there are always a few that stand out, usually the ones that deeply moved or intrigued me. This year, one of those films was Mouthpiece. Based on a play by two Toronto female playwrights, and directed by legendary Canadian filmmaker Patricia Rozema, the film focuses on a young woman in the days following the death of her mother, as she grapples with the fresh wounds of grief and also begins to reflect on the complex lineage of feminism she inherited from her mother. It’s a powerful, thought-provoking and deeply emotional film that stays with you long after you walk out of the theatre.

I am very late on the Nanette train, because this comedy special by Hannah Gadsby arrived at Netflix over the summer to massive acclaim and I only watched it, like, last week. After months of every single person in my social circle, not to mention all the culture critics I follow online, raving about it, I flicked it on thinking it would never live up to my expectations. But WOAH. By the end of Gadsby’s one-hour set, which was filmed live at the Sydney Opera House last year, I was in tears. Unlike any comedy set I’ve watched before—heck, unlike anything I’ve watched before—Nanette is a searing indictment of toxic masculinity, homophobia, and the self-deprecating practice of stand-up comedy itself. It’s funny, it’s clever, but it’s also heartbreaking in its honesty, and I genuinely think you will walk away a better human being for having watched it.

The Best Thing I Read This Year This year has been quite the rollercoaster for women. The Harvey Weinstein exposé last October set off a chain reaction, ushering us into a new year and a whole new world. A world in which women were DONE—done playing nice, done staying quiet, done following the rules of a misogynist system. Yep, women were angry. And Rebecca Traister, writer-at-large for New York magazine, captured the angry, righteous energy of the zeitgeist and distilled into a potent book. Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger traces not just how women’s anger is ridiculed—because it means we’re overemotional, unstable, and oh you know, hysterical—but also the ways it has shaped history, powered revolutions, incited change. The book’s release was fortuitous—a week after the Kavanaugh hearings, when women’s anger had reached boiling point—but its message is poignant and timeless.

Greg Hudson, Features Editor

The Best Thing I Bought This Year I know I spent my money on stuff other than rent, food, and energy drinks. And yet, I’m having some trouble coming up with one purchase that could rule all of my other purchases. I guess I’ll mention the Rolex Submariner I bought this fall. I got it for a steal of a deal, too. Only $60, when a Submariner usually goes for about $12,000. You just need to know where to shop. Like for instance, a random junk shop on Canal Street in New York City. And so long as you aren’t that familiar with real Rolexes, this one looks pretty good! (It feels like it’s made out of tin though.)

The Best Thing I Watched This Year You know when you hear a song, and you fall hard and fast, and so you listen to it on repeat for a week, until you’ve memorized every lyric and internalized every chord progression? That’s how I am when I find a TV show or movie that speaks to me. This year, I can’t count how many times I re-watched The Good Place and John Mulaney’s Kid Gorgeous stand up special on Netflix. It’s a little annoying, even to myself, that I can’t talk for more than three sentences without quoting one or both. But at least the quotes are forking hilarious.

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Hi, we're broken! #TheGoodPlace

A post shared by The Good Place (@nbcthegoodplace) on Nov 5, 2018 at 8:00am PST

The Best thing I Read This Year

As soon as I was done reading Motherhood by Sheila Heti, I wanted each of my sisters to read it. Heti’s novel (of sorts) is like having a conversation with a funny, brilliant thinker about the pressures women face and put on themselves. So naturally, I wanted to know what my four funny, brilliant sisters thought of it. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Hungover: The Morning After and One Man’s Quest for a Cure by Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall. Yes, he’s a friend. But as a friend I saw how challenging that book was to write, and I want everyone to see how sharp, wise, well-researched and fun the end product is.

Meghan McKenna, Associate Editor

The Best Thing I Bought This Year Nespresso pods. After 22 years of avoiding mocha chip ice-cream, tiramisu and Tim Horton’s Iced Caps, I — once a proud non-coffee drinker — was gifted a very fancy Nespresso machine. At the beginning of 2018, it was collecting dust on my counter top. In early spring, I decided on a whim to give double espressos a try. My reaction: WOW, why didn’t anyone tell me what I was missing out on?! I HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY NOW!!! And I’ve been starting my days with one ever since.

The Best Thing I Watched This Year I wanted to choose A Star is Born, but my colleagues told me that was too predictable. So then, I thought I’d choose another song-filled performance that moved me to uncontrollable tears in 2018: the Broadway musical Come From Away. But technically, that came out in 2016, so it doesn’t work either. So in this same spirit, I’m going with Mary Poppins Returns. I haven’t seen it yet, but I already know it’s going to be my favourite feel-good film of the year.

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You’re on the brink of an adventure! #MaryPoppinsReturns is now playing in theatres.

A post shared by Mary Poppins Returns (@marypoppinsreturns) on Dec 20, 2018 at 9:48am PST

The Best Thing I Read This Year We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby. It’s a collection of essays, which means it is the kind of book I could keep in a miscellaneous tote bag and come back to various points throughout the year. The first essay is a faux application to be on The Bachelor, and in another, she recounts a romantic road trip to Nashville where she scatters her estranged father’s ashes. All of this to say, Irby is wildly funny and wholly unabashed, and for these reasons, you should already be following her across social platforms at @bitchesgottaeat and @wordscience.

Lesa Hannah, Beauty Director

The Best Thing I Bought This Year Thinx period underwear and a Keepcup for coffee to go. Both enabled me to put less garbage out into the world.

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Who loves Hi-Waist? 🤩 With two tampons worth of periof-proof protection plus shmexy mesh, there's never been a better time to Netflix and chill on your period 💆‍♀️

A post shared by THINX (@shethinx) on Dec 10, 2018 at 5:50am PST

The Best Thing I Watched This Year A Quiet Place: I’m not a horror movie watcher per se, but I randomly chose this on a flight and was curled in a ball from the moment it started. I didn’t finish it by the time the flight ended, so as soon as I checked into my hotel, I downloaded it because I HAD to finish.

RBG: The inspiring, ass-kicking life story of Ruth Bader Ginsberg should be required viewing for all. If you don’t walk out of this wanting to assume plank position then something is wrong with you.

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Attention #RBG fans! #RBGMovie is now available on iTunes! Link in bio.

A post shared by RBG (@rbgmovie) on Aug 3, 2018 at 8:18am PDT

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: Though I had to stomach Ricky Martin and Penelope Cruz’s weak performances, Darren Criss had me riveted as serial killer and scam artist Andrew Cunanan. Bonus points for the scene of him dancing to Devo’s “Whip It” in a red leather jumpsuit at an ’80s house party.

GLOW: Aside from the weird way it handled the AIDS plotline, season 2 was just as hilarious as the first. The inclusion of a Harvey Weinstein-esque incident was a reminder that this shit has been going on forever and thankfully Marc Maron’s Sam does the right thing and stands up for his gorgeous lady of wrestling. Also Annabella Sciorra’s ’80s look was nothing short of glorious.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Another show that was so consistently gut wrenching, it kept me curled in a ball. Elisabeth Moss was an absolute baller this season. And the scene where Moira successfully crosses the border and wipes away the dust on a license plate to have it reveal “Ontario” never made me more proud to be Canadian.

***Honourable mention With astoundingly terrible poofy hair and a smattering of rosacea on his cheeks, Matt Damon’s portrayal of Brett Kavanaugh during his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Saturday Night Live was the balm I needed after an emotionally exhausting two weeks. It was an amazing send up of Kavanaugh’s OTT white male privilege outrage slash absurdly choked up description of his beloved calendars.

[mredwinsmith]

The Types of People You Meet At An Ultimate Pick Up Game

As I’ve written about here and here, I started playing ultimate in 1989.

After close to 30 years of experiences playing across Canada, the US and in many other countries in the world, the same type of people keep showing up at pick-up games again and again and again.

Here are the people you will meet at your next pick-up ultimate game.

You will meet the…

Masters Player

Wears a well-worn jersey from the early 90s and a salt-stained visor

Takes forever getting ready as he covers every joint with athletic tape, puts on his ankle, knee, and elbow braces and downs a handful of ibuprofen

Looks visibly hurt as he goes for the slowest warm up jog anyone has ever witnessed

Does 15-45 minutes of dynamics loudly groaning the whole time

Name drops players he played with and against in the “good old days” that no one under 35 has heard of

Constantly calls for everyone to dump the even when the disc is 20 yards upfield and he is lagging way behind the play

After getting scored on, will remind his team of his laundry-list of injuries he’s currently dealing with and how he would have definitely stopped that guy 10 years ago

“The Rules Police”

Initially comes off as relaxed and cool, but is actually one of the more intensely, condescending and passive-aggressive people there

Knows. Every. Single. Rule. Period.

Can quote the exact rule complete with page number and edition the rule first was added and carries at least one paper copy of the rules in his bag

Will state “No, that isn’t rule 10.5.1a, that’s rule 10.5.1b!” while shaking his head with frustration followed by muttering “idiot”

Impossible to discuss/debate/argue with as they are 100% right and have never been wrong about anything which partially explains their asking everyone if they need a guy for their league team

Young Couple in Love

Shows up late heavily alluding to last night’s bedtime escapades with slightly too much detail

Excessive and disgusting amount of hugging, kissing and touching during warm-up, while on the sideline, on the line awaiting the pull and during any stoppages in play

Loudly calling out “sweetie”, “honey”, “sweetheart” and other pet names almost to make everyone else feel worse about the current state of their own love life

Constantly looking to throw to each other regardless of how open the other is or how wide open anyone else is

Each point scored via the lovers connecting on a pass elicits a mandatory “awwwww” or else you risk coming across as bitter and unhappy

Dude Who Doesn’t Talk

This guy just doesn’t talk…to anyone…at all

“A Little too Amped up on D” Person

Will get at least one Callahan often on a beginner and will completely taco the disc in his aggressively intense celebration

Will bark at and mercilessly berate teammates who aren’t giving 110% the entire time

Consumes between 3-5 energy drinks during the game attempting to crush them against his head after drinking each one even when they are in plastic or glass bottles

In timeouts will use words such as “relentless”, “smothering” and “suffocating” causing everyone to be slightly concerned and afraid to not play better defense

Others will worry that he will incidentally break their hand in an exuberant on-field celebration

At least one person will say “chill dude” followed by “what are you on?” followed by “are you bleeding?”

Guy Looking to Score in Every Sense of the Term

From the moment he arrives, he will constantly flirt moving from female to female as if a bee looking to pollinate flowers

Will use as many risqué double-entendres, juvenile spoonerisms and sexual euphemisms as he can while maintaining his dual focus of playing ultimate and hooking up

Offers up-close-and-personal hands-on help for all women with their grips, how to pivot and how to use your hips and shoulders when throwing for distance

No endzone celebration is complete without his hugging each woman on his team for slightly longer and tighter than is socially acceptable

College All Star

Does wind sprints and core workout during warmup while all others are chatting

Literally does not stop running the entire time even when off the field

Breaks the mark with impossibly low, precise throws as if that is her sole mission

Scores literally every single point causing other team to change their entire defense to attempt to contain her, which they can’t

Will D most of the guys on the opposing team repeatedly until they wonder if they somehow offended her or start to cry for their mommies or both

Would come across as a robot if not so smiley and cute

Spirit “Cheerleader”

Plays with such an extreme level of unbridled enthusiasm that everyone keeps their distance and is slightly worried about her mental health

Wants to high five everyone on both teams after every point even going as far as gleefully chasing after someone who “isn’t in the mood”

Will call at least 3 spirit timeouts that include spirit games, sitting cross-legged in a circle and literally suggesting singing Kumbaya and a teary-eyed story about “where has all the spirit gone?”

Is “all about spirit”, something she will mention somewhere between 35-60 times during the game

After the game, she insists that the team perform a detailed, politically correct and overly-rehearsed song parody to the tune of American Pie, I Will Survive or Fight For Your Right (to Party)

“Cares too Much About Winning” Guy

Hyper-aware of the score the entire time

Glares for an uncomfortably long time at anyone who doesn’t seem like they totally care about winning

Talks about all of the results of previous pick-up games from weeks and years past swearing about “the utterly depressing” losses

Celebrates scoring or throwing for a point so much so that it is awkwardly embarrassing for all

Takes far too much credit if his team wins and doles out the blame on all of the newbies who “should have been looked off no matter how open they were” if his team loses

Guy who Wandered in off the Beach

Long, sun-bleached graying hair in a ponytail – will be wearing a bandana

Wears ripped jean cutoffs and tank top and may play barefoot

Weathered, bronze skin and appears that he may have slept at the field overnight

Smells “interesting”

Throws beach throws, has zero field awareness including where the endzone is and what defense means

Consumes somewhere between 3-6 cans of beer during the game and somehow his play will improve

Will launch into some long, rambling story loosely involving a Frisbee from the 70s that will have no point or conclusion

Tanned Muscles Guy

Shows up in the smallest tank top and short shorts so as to show off his impressive collection of well-oiled muscles causing at least one person to ask “are those real?”

Speaks monosyllabically and possibly with a hard-to-place accent when not flexing

Will find multiple, mostly nonsensical reasons throughout the game to remove his shirt displaying a six-pack that others will find both impressive and infuriating

Plays the entire game wearing sunglasses causing teammates to wonder “what is he looking at?”, “what is he thinking?” and “is he thinking?”

Lower Division League “Star”

Shows up in brand-new cleats and decked out in elite club team gear

When doing a team name circle, inserts a non-ironic “The” before his name before dusting off his shoulders

Exudes tons and tons of confidence complete with an annoying laugh and complicated high five routine

Loudly lets everyone know of his team’s incredible record this season conveniently never addressing the question of what division he actually plays in

After throw aways or being burned on D will come up with excuse after excuse as to why he “didn’t bring his A game”

At the end, when reality has finally set in, he will be the last to leave the field as he stares vacantly off into the distance as a single tear slowly rolls down his cheek

Uber-Athlete

This woman biked here straight from the gym where she just completed “only 90 minutes” of weights after she either did an early-morning 20 mile run and/or a triathlon “just for fun”

Drinks a water bottle full of what can only be described as brownish-greenish sludge

Complains that the points are too short and the time between points are too long and that if this keeps up she won’t get her 50000 daily steps in

Regardless of what anyone else mentions, she will trump any exercise story with her own athletic feat that no one will doubt the veracity of

Club Team Buddies

A gasp will escape the lips of others as these two “famous” players show up

Will only throw to each other regardless of how open anyone else is or how well covered either of them will be

Throws will be hucks or give and go passes where no one else on the team even comes close to touching the disc

Will only play on the same team even when splitting up would make the teams more fair

Won’t run at all when not involved in the play

Don’t play any defense at all and instead race back to the line for the next point so they never have to come off the field

“The Lower-level Older High School Coach”

Wears glasses, a whistle and knee-high socks

Shakes his head repeatedly at the “amateurish” offensive strategy being utilized by “kids these days”

Calls timeouts and, using his clipboard, insists on diagramming overly-detailed-completely-confusing plays involving no-fewer than 9 cuts

Constantly offers advice to everyone on their throws, their grip and their form for catching despite his inability to do any of these himself

Super-Fast Youth

Totally and completely unguardable

Barely breaks a sweat, breathes hard or looks like they are putting in a full effort as they ease around the field repeatedly getting open by huge amounts

Will make all defenders feel older, slower and depressed while maintaining a youthful joie de vivre and obliviousness

Doesn’t stretch, drink water, wear sunscreen or look up from their phone when not playing

Yoga Instructor/Student

Arrives wearing the newest and trendiest yoga wear

Drinking a non-fat, almond milk, kale smoothie or kombucha and eating a Greek yogurt, chia seed, acai berry bowl

Stretches before the game demonstrating unreal flexibility that makes all others either gape with jealousy, drool uncontrollably or both

Will demonstrate so many yoga poses while at the game while constantly dropping the name of her studio that others will rightfully wonder if she was here to play ultimate or just recruit new yoga students

Total Newbie

Has been dragged out by their friend/love interest, something they will repeat ad nauseum

Has never touched a disc before and is visibly scared when thrown to

Regardless of what positions are called, will pick the disc up on turnovers every time and promptly throw the disc away

Somehow throws the disc with zero spin regardless of any pointers anyone gives

Will spend much of the game standing in one spot often waving their arms in the air or slightly keeled over with hands on hips saying “I thought this only involved throwing to dogs”

Which one(s) are you? If I missed one, let me know.

The post The Types of People You Meet At An Ultimate Pick Up Game appeared first on Skyd Magazine.

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[sandigirl-blog1]

Zero Waste

Lately, I have been reading a lot of depressing news about our beautiful oceans. There are stories about whales consuming 30+ plastic bags and suffocating to death, turtles confusing plastic bags for jellyfish, and drinking straws getting stuck up their noses.  Hundreds of animals are also getting caught up in plastic netting and plastic waste is washing up on the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. Does this infuriate anyone else? America alone throws away so many straws a year that they could fill Yankee Stadium over 50 times. That is billions of straws. I work in a restaurant and I see, first-hand, just how many straws humans waste. From testing a customer’s drink with a straw (which we immediately throw out after), to serving customers multiple drinks with a fresh, new straw each time, we’re putting hundreds of plastic straws in the trash each day – just from one establishment.

The truth is: our trash will out-live us all. I don't know about you, but this is not how I want humans to leave their mark on the world -- by literally killing it with plastic.  Did you know that most of the world’s oxygen comes from ocean plants? According to earthsky.org, scientists believe that 50 to 85% of the Earth’s oxygen is contributed by phytoplankton - which are tiny plants that live near the water’s surface and drift with the currents. Think of the ocean as the heart of the planet, pumping blood that distributes oxygen to all the rivers, streams, and ecosystems in between. Without the ocean, the human race and our planet would die!

All of this can seem pretty overwhelming, and you may think there’s little we can do…we’re simply consumed by plastic. But Rome was not built in a day, and there are steps we can take to lead a life where we produce less trash! It all starts with us, and what we choose to BUY! There are tons of documentaries, Ted Talks, Youtube videos, and blogs like this through which you can educate yourself about zero waste or a minimalist life style. I am going to share with you some changes I have made, that I’ve found quite simple and realistic, to help reduce my plastic footprint on this planet.

First thing’s first, stop buying plastic water bottles! Please do the world (and yourself) a favor and buy a canteen. Not only are plastic water bottles bad for your health and known to cause cancer, but they are also a HUGE factor in pollution. With so many cute canteens on the market and at your fingertips, like S’well and Hydroflask, there is no reason why you shouldn't be using one. Not only will it save you tons of money in the long run; it is healthy for everyone and our fragile ecosystem.

On a similar note as canteens, another great way to reduce your trash is to buy a reusable coffee mug. I don't know about you, but I definitely feel a ping of guilt every time I go into a coffee shop and use a plastic cup. Most of them (like Starbucks) sell adorable, reusable ones right there, and even give you a discount when you bring your own! Plus, I know I’m not the only one who has a mug obsession and can never have too many cute travel mugs.

Another thing I have incorporated into my routine is bringing my own Tupperware/ Bento Boxes for leftovers at restaurants. You can buy them on Amazon or at stores like Marshall’s or Ross, and they’re not expensive! Marshall’s always seems to have Tupperware on sale. It feels so good leaving a restaurant knowing my leftovers won’t spill in the car, will most likely keep longer and fresher in the fridge, and, of course, I am producing less trash!

Now, back to straws. I always keep my Brush with Bamboo Drinking Straws in my purse where ever I go. As soon as I order my drink, I tell the server I brought my own straw. I, then, hand it to them so they don't accidentally bring me a drink with a plastic straw in it. I have tried metal and glass straws in the past and love these ones the most. They feel more natural and don't hurt your teeth like a metal straw might.

Lets move on to shopping. When out and about, I always carry a tote bag in my car  just in case I have an impulse buy. A lot of states in America are now banning plastic bags or putting a charge on them (which is awesome!), but sometimes it’s not enough. You might be feeling lazy and buy one that you just end up tossing, so don't be caught without your tote! For groceries, produce bags and reusable jars are also a must! I found really cute produce bags shaped like different fruits on Amazon! There are so many brands to fit your individual style, so let’s make zero waste cute like I know we can. Also, do your research and shop at bulk grocery stores! A lot of stores have bulk sections for things like pasta, nuts, granola, and grains that you can store in mason jars. Jars definitely make your pantry look a lot more home-y than plastic bags and plastic bottles do.

Here's a plot twist for you. Did you know that clothing is one of the biggest forms of waste on the planet?! According to the Huffington Post, 22.3 billion pounds of clothing were thrown away in 2010. With millennials being bombarded 24/7 with ads and celebrities endorsing the latest fashion, there is constant pressure to keep up with the trends. No wonder we feel the need to consume consume consume, and to constantly impress our friends. But something that I love to do is shop at second-hand stores. I am fortunate enough to live in a city where second-hand stores, like Buffalo Exchange, keep up with the latest trends. But I have also found beautiful clothes at GoodWill for ridiculous prices -- like 3 dollars! Nothing beats the thrill of buying cute clothes for cheap and creating my own, unique styles. It is honestly a hobby and so rewarding to express yourself through clothing that you find second hand. Just walk into a store and try it; you wont regret it. And don't forget your tote bag!

Now let’s focus on personal care for a second. I LOVE beauty products but I definitely appreciate when I find something that truly works. For example, when I decided to try minimum waste, I switched from shampoo bottles and conditioners to bars. I can honestly say that I will never go back. I get my bars from Lush -- and my hair has never looked healthier, more shiny, or longer! They smell amazing and last forever -- each bar lasts 80 washes or more! Lush also has “toothy tabs” that are a great substitute for toothpaste and come in a cardboard box that can be recycled or composted. I’ve also switched from buying plastic razors that are way over priced, to a metal one that lasts a lifetime -- all you have to do is replace the blade every so often, which is recyclable!

Lastly, for feminine care, I use a reusable menstrual cup, which I love. The Diva Cup is more sanitary than using tampons or pads, and so much cheaper, as you can imagine. All you do is put it in in the morning, take it out when you get home at night, and wash it with a mild soap. It provides protection against leaks for up to 12 hours, meaing you can even sleep with them in (they have SLIM to NO chance of causing toxic shock syndrome, which we can all agree is a terrifying part of using tampons). And for all you mamas out there! -- it even comes in two different models – one designed for women under 30 years old and/or have never delivered children, and one for ladies who’ve given birth or are over 30. There are also brands like THINX who make “period-proof underwear”, which I have never tried, but I’d love to hear if anyone has or recommends them!

Like I said, Rome was not built in a day, and there are many other steps even I need to take to live a completely zero waste lifestyle, but at least it’s a start. I would love to hear your tips on zero waste and about your journey to a better future for our Earth!