#but that i think DOES require knowledge of muscle anatomy

[fatal-blow]

having some thoughts on stretching...certainly the way most people stretch might not be as helpful as it could be, verging on mildly harmful if done spectacularly wrong but

okay. so the purpose of a stretch is to lengthen a muscle that has spent too much time being clenched. the second, secret purpose that i think should be attributed to stretching is to exercise the muscles that oppose the muscle you are stretching, which typically are underused (on account of the target muscle being overused)

for example, take the biceps and triceps on the upper arm. in simplest terms, these two muscles oppose each other: the biceps fold the arm, while the triceps straighten it.

now lets say that the biceps are overused and need a stretch. traditional wisdom says to straighten the arm and hold a stretch--not for long, just less than ten seconds. repeat a few times. done.

its not wrong, per se, but i think it could be tweaked to get better results.

the way ive been stretching, is i do short bursts. i dont hold stretches for longer than a second, i do it a few times in succession. every time i do it, i pay attention to A) the sensation that the stretch gives me and B) how far i can push the stretch, trying to go a little further each time.

which this technique, i have a better handle on what i'm accomplishing with the stretch, and it also gives me an idea of where i need to massage as well.

firstly, the sensation you feel when stretching, whether its painful or just uncomfortable, generally matches triggerpoint patterns (the stuff in my pinned post)! so you can do the stretch, take note of what you feel, and then look for the closest match. massage that spot, try again, and generally the stretch will be easier/actually have results.

secondly, by doing short bursts where you try to push a little further each time, you can see how much range of motion you can regain with each tiny stretch, and therefore be able to measure your own progress.

and with these two things, you can gain a pretty solid idea of when a stretch ISN'T working. if you aren't able to push further, it's too painful, or if massage doesn't make the stretch easier, this can be a sign that you're in the wrong spot. usually this means that you need to A) move closer to the body and/or B) move further down the body. going back to the tricep/bicep example, moving from stretching the bicep to the shoulder, or to the pectoral, will allow you to make progress again. you can take this further, all the way down the body to the legs, allowing you to sniff out the true culprit.

its a method ive grown very fond of, because even with the guidance of physiotherapists i never had any sort of sense that i was making progress with stretching. i didnt understand what it was meant to do for me, and had no idea how to tell if it was doing what it's supposed to do. im also hopeful that it can be of use to people who don't know muscle anatomy the way i do, because there's no way i'm going to expect people to learn all that just to get better!

[coffee-cait]

Hi there @tea-n-ink !

Figured it'd be easier to try and answer this as a post rather than in comments. I'll try to answer the best I can but in all honesty I'm not entirely sure how to answer this question in a way that will be satisfying or insightful. Because while I have an education in visual media and work in the field (which contributes to the studying and progress), a lot of my personal work has been (for lack of a better way to phrase it) "fucking around and finding out" for better AND for worse. A lot of how I work is both in contrast to what's required of me of my job but also based on habits built to perform that job. So I'm not confident in how much I could recommend approaching art the way I do or how applicable it will be. I can only speak to my own experience. Everyone will want to achieve and pursue different things with their art so I don't think there's going to be a specific answer of exactly what to do. I think I can only recommend some amount of framework to consider at best? I'm also not a good writer and struggle to articulate specifics especially when it comes to my creative process because it's very uh…. soupy? unstructured? But I want to make an attempt! I'm so sorry if this ends up being a rambling mess.

I haven't done studies/ brushing up on basics for a few years and I'm actively feeling the limits of how I draw because of that. So I absolutely would recommend brushing up on the fundamentals and doing studies every now and then to help prevent that kind of rut. I feel like it's something to do relatively consistently? It's like stretching and exercising a muscle to keep it in shape. However, how much and how frequent a person does that is going to be up to them based on what their lifestyle is and I feel this is more of something to consider to do long term over time rather than in short term bursts. But if you have the time to do a lot in the short term and won't impede life responsibilities then that's great! Just remember to take breaks because sometimes what you've learned and observed needs time to sink in. But also to protect your hands and physical health.

As for the "just do studies" / what studies to do, I guess a bit of a combination answer incoming? Because of the nature of my job (what is asked of me and MIGHT be asked of me), doing studies is going to be of the vague/broad variety because of how much possible ground I might need to cover. So I've done studies, sketches, looked at reference material etc. of a bunch of different things for years. A majority was outside of my comfort zone and I think it's important to try to to challenge yourself in such a way every once in a while. And definitely trying to explore many different topics (people, plants, architecture, animals, etc) will give more knowledge and possibilities of things to draw. However, it's also not very realistic to expect anyone to study everything to its minutia. I sure can't! I can try my best to draw some basic structures but I don't have enough knowledge and practice to make a convincing cityscape. And even with all the dabbling in different topics I've had to do, I still focus in more on the most likely things that's required of me or what I personally enjoy to draw on my free time. That tends to be characters. So when I do need to brush up I lean towards anatomy, musculature, human observation, that sort of thing. And I feel regardless of what anyone's style is, If you want to draw figures of any sort, practicing and revisiting that is always helpful! Also doing studies of specific things you want to improve on or things you are aware are your weakness is also an avenue I recommend. I think the last studies I did was of hands because it was something I wanted to improve on at the time. And I think it's high time I give buildings another shot.

As for style it wasn't something I actively worked on or envisioned. Rather, it was the inevitable mishmash of the aesthetic choices I liked in the artwork I enjoyed, habits I formed and not wanting to draw how I needed to during work hours. And this was a slow and gradual process over my whole life so far and it'll keep on going as long as I continue doing art. And I wouldn't consider it a linear progression either as there were many points where I backpedaled on certain choices because I didn't want to do things like that anymore and went another direction. As for how to develop and refine this actively, I can't say for sure. But what I can say is a person's style will be a love letter to the things they enjoy. Inevitably you'll be influenced by the things that speak to you and you might not realize it until years down the line. In my case, Jet Set Radio was something I played as a kid and it deeply impacted how I drew and what art I gravitated to for years before I realized how formative it was. The more you consume what you enjoy, the more it'll show in your art whether consciously or not. I suppose a potential exercise that can be done is maybe looking at several pieces of art you enjoy and trying to figure out exactly what it is about them that you like? Especially if maybe you find a common element to their styles that really speaks to you that you'd like to incorporate into your own art? While I can't say how effective this'll actually be, if I were to say, "Jet Set Radio, The World Ends With You and Dogs: Bullets & Carnage are things that had a lasting impression on me," and then you were to look at my art I think that statement would track.

But I also want to note that when I create I'M ACTUALLY VERY UNSURE OF MYSELF. I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT IM DOING WITH COLOURS AND I'M CONSTANTLY JUST HOPING FOR THE BEST EVERY TIME EVEN THOUGH I DID GO TO SCHOOL FOR WHAT I DO AND I SURE DO WORK HERE NOW. I rely a lot on my gut for things and end up trying over and over, sometimes fully scrapping and then unscrapping before my art gets to whatever I post online. And many things just never end up online. Sometimes things don't work out, and that's ok. And sometimes it feels like things won't work out but then they do. So don't feel discouraged when things don't work out the way you planned. I've found for myself, having a plan in my head of how i want to progress would just contribute to my already abundant anxieties so just letting things happen as they do was really helpful (outside of actual critical deadlines and professional responsibilities). There's always chances to try again and sometimes all you need is a break and to come back to what you were working on with fresh eyes.

I dunno how well this answers your question but I hope you were able to find something helpful amongst my brain soup.

[zarcake-writes]

Silas and Lily - Part 2

Hello everyone! Remember these two? Well, here is the continuation of their story. This second part was commissioned by @dracodenticulus​. It was so fun to write this piece. Thank you so much for commissioning me. 

Warnings: medical talk, gore mention, sexual fantasies

It takes about three months for Silas’ legs to fully heal.

His tibias healed within the first month, thanks to a combination of Lily’s magic and her applying bone meal ointment to the bones twice a day. Lily told him it would have taken about six months for a living human’s bone to heal naturally.

“Would mine have healed naturally? Without the magic?” Silas asks one night.

Lily is sitting in front of him. An anatomy book opened to a page with a diagram of a human leg sits on her lap. The page is scribbled with notes.

Spread out around her are several necromancy books. Some are old, with fraying pages and ink text. While the rest of the books are new, with a modern design layout. One of the books even has a skeleton guide that moves through the book with the reader.

She looks up from the book. “No. You need to be living with a beating heart and pumping blood for natural healing. And you, Silas, are not living.”

Silas grimaces. “So, I require an unnatural healing.”

Everything about me is unnatural, Silas thinks. A dead man from the late 1800s roaming the streets of this modern world is an abomination.

“I wouldn’t say unnatural because all magic is natural.” Lily pauses for a moment. “Supernatural healing and magical healing are better ways to describe this method.”

He scoffs. “And how often is this method used?”

Lily’s voice is gentle. “A lot, Silas. A kid gets hit by a car, a mother dying from cancer, or a construction worker has an accident at work; they all receive this treatment. Sometimes people need a little help, a nudge in the right direction, to get better.”

“Even with the undead?”

“Yes. How do you think Narron keeps his body from falling apart? Certainly, aren’t any skinny teas or those crystals he loves.”

Silas snorts.

When the bones set, their texture and colors begin to change.

When Silas was pulled out of the coffin, his bones were porous and brittle. Decades of rotting in a box with no necromancer to keep him in shape left his body nearly ruined. Lily’s great-great-grandfather didn’t have her knowledge or resources. The runes and markings he etched into Silas’ skin did not stop time from damaging his body.

However, when Lily began pouring her magic into his healed bones, they began to shine. Then that glossy shine changed into a wet, gooey texture.

Silas thought something went wrong, but Lily assured him it was normal.

“Looks nasty,” Silas mutters.

Lily is kneeling in front of him, examining the bone. Todd is sitting beside her, an intelligent gleam in his eyes.

“Yes, it does.”

“Why?”

“It will ensure that the muscles, tendons, and skin will stick and form around the bone.” She reaches behind her for a box of plastic wrap. “This will keep the bones from drying out and stop any hair or dust from sticking to you.”

“I did not know so much scientific stuff went into magic.”

“For many, magic and science are two sides of the same coin.”

Silas nods. “I remember hearing that when I was alive.”

Healing the bones was easy. But the reforming of muscles, tendons, ligaments, and skin proved to be a challenge.

Every morning and night, Lily would tend to his legs. She was determined to reform the damaged tissue. But the magic usage left her drained and exhausted. She would sleep most of the day and go to bed early each night. Todd was constantly around her, sitting on her lap or chest while she napped.

Seeing her so exhausted hurts Silas. As much as he wants to walk again, Silas considers stopping this entire endeavor. He has caused Lily nothing but problems since he was dug up. She left her family because of him, had to spend money on him, deal with registering him, and now she is so exhausted that she can barely stay awake.

He’s always caused problems when he was alive, and nothing has changed since he died.

One morning, during the second month of his healing, Lily woke up looking terrible. Her eyes were heavy and dark. The normal shine in her hair was gone. Her skin looked dull and ashen. Even her aura looked dimmer.

Todd followed close behind her. The cat’s tail twitters anxiously.

“Lily,” Silas says.

“Hm?” She looks confused as if she doesn’t recognize Silas for a moment. “Oh, morning Silas. Let me drink my coffee, and we’ll start, ok?”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about.”

She yawns. “What about it?”

“Take a seat.”

Lily flops onto the couch. Todd jumps onto her lap. He’s purring so loud Silas can hear him.

“What’s up, Silas?” She yawns again. “You, ok?”

Silas’ heart twists. Even when she is feeling terrible, she is still putting Silas first.

“I am fine, darlin. But you should take a break today.”

“Why?”

“Because, and I don’t mean to sound like an ass, but you look like shit.”

Lily scoffs. “I’m just a little tired, Silas. I’ll be fine after my coffee.”

“Darlin, I’m ain't making a suggestion. I’m telling you to take a break.”

She scowls at him. Amber red spiderwebs through the black and muted greens in her aura. He can feel the prickle of irritation in the air. Todd sits up and meows at Lily, but she ignores the cat.

Silas is quick to raise his hands. “Look, I don’t want to tell you what to do. And I am eternally grateful that you are helping me, Lily. You are the strongest magic user I’ve met, and I know you can keep going. But I’m worried about you. I don’t want you pushing yourself too far and hurting yourself.”

The amber-red fractures cool as her face softens.

“Silas—” Another yawn interrupts her. She rubs her eyes and leans against the back of the couch.

Todd stands on his back legs and paws at Lily’s face. She waves him away.

“Silas,” she looks back at him, “I think you’re correct that I should take a break today.”

“Good. Why don’t you lay down here, Lil? And I’ll get you some coffee.”

Lily lays on the couch. “I need food.”

“I can try to make you something.”

Lily shakes her head. “I can order something off my phone. Todd, go get it for me, please.”

Todd chirps and dashes out of the room. He returns a moment later, dragging the phone and yowling the whole time.

Lily orders a small feast. A stack of pancakes for herself. A plate of eggs, bacon, and toast for Silas.

The food arrives an hour later. When Silas opens the door, the deliverer looks like they were going to pass out. The blood drains from the elf’s face, and his eyes grow comically wide. If Silas wasn’t so worried about Lily, he would have made a scary face at the elf and laughed.

Silas slams the door and rolls his wheelchair back towards Lily. Todd is still on her chest.

“Everything ok?” she asks.

“Poor delivery guy looked like he was about to pass out.”

Lily snorts. “Undead humans are rare nowadays. Remember the lady in the market?”

Silas grimaces at the memory. An older woman nearly fainted when she saw Lily pushing Silas down the chip aisle in the market.

“Come on, let’s eat,” Silas says.

Lily devours all her pancakes and most of the bacon. The changes in her appearance are instantaneous. Her skin looks better, her eyes are brighter, and her aura is clear. She still looks tired, but resting for a day or two should fix that.

Silas takes his time eating. He does not need to eat, but it tastes good.  And after not eating for decades, food is a delicacy he never wants to give up.

As he eats, a memory of a woman handing him a plate of eggs and bacon dances at the edge of his mind. Her face is a blurry mess, but he can remember her dark red dress with blue stitching. And her bare forearms and hands were weathered from age and the sun. Whoever she was, the memory of her makes his chest warm.

Silas replays the memory in his mind hoping that something else will come back, but there’s nothing.

“Silas?”

He jumps in surprise. Lily’s brow is furrowed, and her mouth is drawn down in worry.

“Are you ok?” she asks.

“Yes, sorry. Just a memory.”

“A memory? Of what?”

“A woman, handing me a plate of breakfast. I don’t know who she was, though.”

Lily sits her plate on the floor for Todd to lick clean. “It is normal for reanimated humans to have their memories come back. Smells, sounds, and tastes can trigger these memories.”

“Think I’ll remember why I was killed?”

Her face hardens. “I hope not, Silas. Those memories can be difficult to work through. And some things are not worth remembering.”

Silas looks down at his plate.

“I’m gonna lay down for a bit,” Lily says, “ok?”

“Of course. I’ll clean this up.”

“Thank you, Silas.”

It takes Lily two days to fully recover. Two days of eating and resting is what Lily required. Her skin is full of life, her hair shines, and her eyes are bright. But more important is her aura. The swirling black and greens are back to normal.

On the morning of the third day, Lily decides to continue working on Silas’ legs.

There is an increase in healing after this. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments take to Silas' bones faster than before. And by the end of the second month, his legs are almost entirely healed. All that Lily has to do was weave the skin over the fresh tissue.

“Look at that; your legs are almost done,” Lily says with a grin.

Silas, however, grimaces at the sight of his skinless legs. “Almost.”

“That break was definitely needed.” Lily stands and claps Silas on the shoulder.

As she moves behind him, searching for more plastic wrap, he studies his legs. The pink and red flesh is off-putting. Woven into the pink flesh and tissue are softly glowing runes and sigils.

“Lily, why is it all pink and red?”

“Because of my magic. The color will fade, but the muscles and tendons will work.” She kneels back in front of him, box in hand. “Eventually, the runes will need to be recharged, but you won’t have to worry about that for a couple decades.”

She wraps the legs, taking care to be gentle.

“Hey, why don’t I feel anything when you do that?”

“I didn’t give you any nerve endings.”

“I don’t need those?”

Lily glances up at him. “No. That’s what the runes beneath your skin are for. When your skin is applied and connects to the tissue, then you’ll be able to feel sensations.”

“Is it possible to form nerve endings with magic?”

“Yes, but it is not usually a doctor's first choice.” Lily finishes wrapping his legs, a satisfied look on her face.

“Why not?”

She drapes a light blanket over his lap. “Because it is a very painful process. Magic and medicine can knock someone out, but the person needs to be awake to tell the doctors if the process is working. Knocking someone out over and over again is not ideal. So, doctors often use runes like what I placed on your legs to ensure their patients can feel again.”

“Even if it’s a small area? Like from a burn? Or a badly broken bone?”

Lily pushes the wheelchair out to the kitchen. “If it’s a small area of nerves that need repairing, then the doctors will call in magic users. However, if it’s a massive area of damage, doctors strongly advise against nerve regrowth. They rely on magic.”

“The power of magic.”

“It is an amazing thing.”

Reforming his skin is a quicker process. Lily explained it is similar to a full-thickness skin graft. The difference is the skin she uses does not belong to Silas. And she will be using her magic to ensure the skin graft spreads along his legs.

By the end of the third month, Silas has functioning legs.

What bothers Silas the most, though, is his lower legs looked like they belong to a living person. The skin has a healthy flesh tone and is soft to the touch. Beneath the skin, Silas could feel the warmth of living flesh. The lack of leg hair is strange. He remembers being a hairy man.

“Lily?”

Lily glances up from the books she is closing and stacking in the corner of the living room. “Yes?”

“The color will fade, right?”

She looks sad for a moment. “Unfortunately, yes. You need a beating heart to pump blood through your body. And a healthy blood flow is what will give you a healthy skin tone.”

“I thought you said that.”

“If it bothers you, I can use my magic to change your skin tone.”

Silas waves his hand. “No, no need for that, darlin. You’ve done so much for me already.”

She continues gathering her supplies from the floor. Todd lounges on an opened book, unbothered and lazy. When she reaches for the book, but Todd playfully swats at her. She decides to leave him and the book alone.

“Darlin?”

“Hm?”

“Why isn’t there any hair on the skin?”

“It takes a while for hair to regrow on a living person. But since you are not living, you will have no hair growth.”

Silas pats the top of his head. “Why haven’t I lost my head hair, then?”

“My great-great-grandfather set a sigil on your head to ensure you do not lose your hair.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“Why?”

Lily shrugs. “Who knows. I assume he didn’t want you to lose all your humanity. Or maybe he thought you would look better with hair.”

“I’m glad he kept my hair.”

Lily stands up. She winces at the sound of her back popping. Silas is both jealous and slightly terrified at the sound her body made. He misses cracking and popping his bones without worrying about his body literally falling apart.  

She walks towards Silas. Her free arm is outstretched so her fingers can graze along his right cheek. Her fingers are so warm he thinks his undead skin will burn away. Hell, for a moment, Silas thinks his entire body will burn up, and all that will remain of him will be a smoldering pile of ash.

“I am glad he kept your hair, too,” she whispers.

Her fingers slide away, and then she’s gone, leaving Silas alone in the living room.

He touches his cheek, amazed that the cold skin still carries a hint of her warmth. When the warmth of her touch fades, Silas can still feel her fingers on his cheek. And the tingles have yet to leave his body.

A meow gets his attention.

Todd is sitting on the opened book, an amused and knowing look in the cat’s eyes. His tail flicks. Silas can imagine a shit-eating grin on the cat’s face.

“Shut up.”

 Todd chirps in amusement before settling back on his opened book.

--

The first time Silas tries to walk, it does not go well. Similar to before, he ends up face down on the floor.

“Son of a bitch!” Silas shouts.

“Dammit, Silas, I told you not to try yet.”

Silas can feel Lily’s footsteps vibrating through the floor.

He pushes himself up onto his forearms. He glances up at Lily, who is both worried and annoyed. He immediately regrets trying to stand and walk on his own.

Lily crouches beside him. “Are you ok?”

Yeah,” he glances away. “Just my ego is hurt.”

She helps him back into the wheelchair. While he silently nurses his hurt pride, Lily examines his legs.

“Nothing is broken.” She sounds relieved.

“Then why did I fall? Felt like my legs were jelly.”

“Because you haven’t walked in almost a century, Silas. Your mind remembers walking, but the muscles in your legs are new. And they do not remember.”

He rubs the side of his head. “So, will I ever walk again?”

“Yes, you just need to learn again. We’re going to visit Narron tomorrow.”

Silas grimaces. He knows he shouldn’t dislike Narron; after all, he is the reason Silas has working legs. But the fact that Narron knows how Silas feels about Lily makes Silas uncomfortable. The damn lich knows too much.

“Why?” Silas grumbles.

“He will help us with the physical therapy aspect of your healing. Plus, he wanted to see how your legs turned out.”

Silas frowns. “Does he doubt you?”

“Narron? Doubt me?” Lily laughs. “No. But having a thousand-something-year-old lich examine you, and my work, can’t hurt. If I messed up anywhere on your legs, Narron can find that mistake and fix it.”

Silas glances at his legs nervously. “Do you think you messed up?”

“No, but if I did, then Narron will find the mistake before it starts causing problems.”

The next day, they are back at Narron’s shop.

The shop is the same as before. Massive, with shelves full of books, potions, and jars of ingredients. The caged creatures, however, are now lined up on one wall. The garden section looks thicker and darker. And the glowing little fairies are still hovering throughout the store.

Unlike before, Narron isn’t there to greet them at the front counter. Instead, a goblin is behind the counter, cutting trimmings from plants. The glowing fairies take the clippings from the goblin and fly to different areas of the store.

The goblin turns around when he hears Lily and Silas enter the shop. Silas recognizes him from the last time they were here.

Silas remembers meeting very few goblins during his time alive. At that time, they mostly stayed close to orcs and trolls. If they were in a town or city, the goblins always had an orc or troll escort. Rarely did goblins venture through human cities alone.

The goblin beams and steps around the counter. “Lily!”

“Vot!”

Vot is similar to the goblins Silas remembers seeing. Just over four feet, with deep green skin, and long pointy ears, adorned in silver jewelry. His hair is pulled back in a waist-length braid.

His apron is covered in dirt and soil. A bundle of flowers sticks out of one of the apron pockets. A belt of gardening tools hangs around his waist.

“I would hug you, but,” Vot holds up his dirt-stained hands. “I’m a bit dirty.”

“When are you not, Vot?”

“Good point. How are you?” Vot glances at Silas. “The both of you?”

“We’re good, Vot,” Lily says. Silas nods in agreement.

“Wonderful!” Vot looks happy. “Can I help you with something? Or you here to see the big lich himself?”

“We have an appointment with Narron.”

“Of course, of course.” Vot glances towards the back room.

Silas follows his gaze. A curtain is drawn over the doorway towards the back room. Sparkling pink and blue light peeks out from beyond the curtain. The hum of voices and conversation is barely heard over the buzzing of magic.

“He’s taking a bit longer with his current customer, but he should be done soon,” Vot says.

“Of course,” Lily says. “We’ll look around.”

“Please do. And if you need anything, yell for me.”

Vot returns behind the counter.

Lily barely pushes Silas forward when the curtain to the backroom is thrown open. A woman walks out holding an undead cat in her arms. The cat is rubbing against the woman’s face, purring and chirping loudly. Narron is beside her, an arm draped over her shoulders, as he stoops down to talk to her. She’s nodding and wiping her tear-stained face with her free hand.

Based on her aura, Silas can tell she is also a magic-user. Beneath the sorrow and relief, Silas can see a variety of splattered colors. Maybe an alchemist or potion maker.

“If you have questions or concerns with Butter here,” Narron hands the woman a card, “Call me anytime. No matter the time of day, call me.”

The woman takes the card. “Thank you so much, Narron. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome, my dearest potion maker.” Narron’s hand settles on her cheek for a brief moment. He pulls his hand away when he sees Lily and Silas. “Vot, will you check her out?”

“Of course, Narron,” Vot says.

The woman and her undead cat turn to Vot while Narron motions Lily and Silas to follow him into the backroom.

The backroom is neater this time, but the air is thick with magic.

“Oh, Narron.” Lily’s lip is curled up in disgust. “What happened in here?”

He sighs. He sounds tired, but irritation and anger flicker beneath. “I was fixing a mistake for that woman out there. Her familiar passed, and she went to a necromancer to bring him back. However, whoever did it was a fucking fool, Lily.”

“Oh gods, what happened?”

“The cat’s soul was barely even there. More corpse than living cat.” He sighs and rubs his boney temples. “Poor woman.”

“You managed to help her?” Silas asks.

“Yes, but she was carrying around her half-dead cat for a whole day. The mental pain that caused her is indescribable,” Narron says.

The anger around Narron darkens before cooling.

“Did you find out who did the reanimating?” Lily asks.

“Yes. And I’m going to call the DON tomorrow.” He pauses. “Might even pay that idiot a visit myself.”

“They deserve a visit.”

Narron is lost in thought for a moment before he claps his hands. “How may I help you today, my gorgeous belladonna?”

“Silas’ legs are healed,” Lily gestures to Silas, “But he is unable to walk. Can you help with that?”

Narron’s boney face looks smug. “Of course, he cannot walk. The man hasn’t walked in decades; he can’t just start strutting his stuff like before. But to answer your questions, my darling death bringer, yes, I can help you with that.”

Lily bumps Silas’ shoulder. “Told you he can help.”

Silas grunts in response.

“Before you can start walking, cowboy, I need to examine your legs. A single miscalculation or improperly placed sigil and your legs may fall apart. May I examine your legs?”

Silas nods.

Narron moves the blankets and begins examining Silas’ new legs. Lily hovers over Narron’s shoulder, watching what he’s doing the entire time.

The feeling of Narron’s boney fingers ghosting over his skin makes Silas squirm. But worst is the magic. Narron’s magic is bright and invasive compared to Lily’s. It weaves through his flesh and bones, examining the foundations and structure Lily built.

It feels like forever before Narron pulls away. Silas sighs in relief.

“You did well, my darling student,” Narron says.

Lily smiles. “His legs are, ok? No mistakes?”

“No mistakes.

“Told you, you didn't make any mistakes, Lil,” Silas says.

Lily smiles and looks away. Narron glances at him, a smirk on his boney face.

“So,” Silas clears his throat, embarrassed about being caught, “What do we do about me not being able to walk?”

“You begin physical therapy,” Narron says.

“Do we go to someone?” Lily asks.

“If he was a living man, I would suggest a doctor. However, Silas is undead, and most doctors do not concern themselves with undead patients.”

Lily scoffs. “Are you serious? I know vets who assist necromancers with reanimated animals.”

“Why won’t doctors help reanimated humans?” Silas asks.

“A doctor's sworn oath only applies to living patients,” Narron explains. “Veterinarians, on the other hand, changed their oath decades ago to help necromancers who have a limited understanding of animal anatomy.”

“What do we do then?” Lily asks. “Go talk to a vet?”

Silas has never met a veterinarian before, but he’s seen vet shows on the tv. He can imagine Lily wheeling him into an office full of dogs, cats, and birds. Talking to a doctor with a pocket full of treats, who looks perplexed that an undead man is in their office.

“Oh, no, no, no. You will have to do most of this work yourself.” Narron leans back and grabs a tablet from a nearby desk. “But the internet is full of helpful videos and informative articles.”

Narron taps the screen, which somehow responds to his skeleton fingers. A moment later, he turns the tablet around to show Silas and Lily a list of youtube videos. All the videos are physical therapists and doctors showing viewers learning to walk exercises. Beginner levels that involve stretching and contracting muscles, to advanced exercises that involve stepping onto a stool.

“These videos will help you learn to walk again, Silas,” Narron says.

Silas is unsure. As is Lily.

“Are you sure, Narron?” Lily asks.

“Yes.” Narron turns to Silas. “The magic runes in your legs will assist with your relearning, Silas.”

“How long do you think it will take him to relearn?” Lily asks.

Narron glances towards her. “It depends on him, but I assume he will relearn faster than a living person.”

“Alright, Narron. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome, my lovely death blossom.” Narron stands. “Before I forget, I have something for the both of you.”

Narron searches through several nearby bags. He lets out a triumphant noise when he finds the bag he was looking for.

“Narron, what did you get us?” Lily asks as she takes the bag.

“Oh, just some gifts for my favorite student and her dashing cowboy.”

Inside the bag are several whiskey bottles, a couple boxes of cigars, several metal tins, and a thin wooden box.

“I assume that tongue of yours has been working, right, Silas?” Narron asks.

“Yes, sir. Been working like a charm.”

“His mood has improved greatly with being able to taste,” Lily says, looking in the bag.

“Oh? Wonderful to hear. So, what are your favorite things to taste so far?” Narron asks.

Silas thinks for a moment. “Probably this white spaghetti stuff Lil bought a few days ago.”

“It’s called chicken alfredo, Silas.” Lily glances between him and Narron. “I’m gonna go leave this bag at the front counter. Be right back.”

Silas nods.

“Go ahead, my lovely death blossom. We’ll be right behind you.”

Lily leaves the room.

“So, anything else you miss tasting?” Narron asks.

Silas thinks for a moment. “I remember trying hot chocolate once. I would love to try that again.”

“That is easy to get nowadays. Anything else you miss? Or maybe,” Narron leans towards Silas, “It’s someone that you miss feasting on.”

Silas grunts and pushes the lich away. “Shut it, you.”

Narron laughs. “I am only playing, my sweet cowboy.”

He pushes Silas to the front of the store.

Lily is conversing with Vot while a couple fairies play in her hair. She’s laughing and smiling. If Lily notices the fairies, she does not react to them. But she’s beautiful.

“You know,” Narron whispers in Silas’ ear, “have you thought about what we talked about last time?”

“No.”

“Liar. You think about it often, don’t you?”

Silas gives him a dirty look. “Shut it.”

Narron snickers. “I am only trying to help you. The both of you.”

Silas looks at Narron, confused, but he’s ignoring him now as he pushes Silas towards the counter where Lily stands.

When Lily looks at Silas, her eyes are sparkle. The glowing fairies playing in her hair look like stars shimmering in the night sky. She smiles and says his name in greeting before turning to Narron.

“Thank you for everything, Narron.”

“You are most welcome, my deathly beauty.” Narron grasps Silas’s shoulder. “And you take care, cowboy, remember what we were talking about.”

If Silas could blush, he would have been.

--

Learning to walk again is harder than Silas expected.

He was skeptical that the youtube videos would help; he even called a few of them dumb. But they turned out to be truly helpful and informative. Silas did not expect it to be so exhausting.

The most irritating part about relearning to walk is the aches and pains in his legs after his daily exercises. The pain is dull but still uncomfortable.

“Lily, my legs are sore,” he mumbles one evening from the couch.

“From the exercises,” she says. “I called Narron, and he said they are normal.”

“It’s annoying.”

“I know.” Lily sits on the couch with him. “But it’s a good thing, Silas. It means the magic and your muscles are working.”

He grunts.

“Here, let me rub them.”

The couch shifts, then she’s pushing up the legs of his sweatpants. He thought the fuzz inside the pants were soft and warm, but they do not compare to Lily’s hands. Soft, warm, and thrumming with magic.

She rubs his lower legs, finding every sore spot and knot he didn’t know he had. The warmth and throbbing of her magic send chills through his body. When her fingers ghost beneath the bunched-up fabric at his knees, he gasps.

“Are you ok?”

Silas nods and refuses to meet her eyes. “Yes, yes, I’m ok.”

“Want me to stop?”

He knows he should say yes. Her touch is consuming his entire being, making his mind fuzzy and difficult to think. He may be an undead man, but he is still a man. And her touch is reminding him of blurry-faced women he spent nights with when he was alive. He is ashamed that Lily is taking the place of these blurry women.

“No, don’t stop,” he whispers.

“Are your thighs hurting?”

Lie, he thinks.

“Yes,” he says.

Fuck, he thinks.

“Want me to rub them?” Lily asks.

“Please.”

“Ok. Why don’t you slip off your pants? You have something on under, right?”

He nods. “Yes.”

“Pull the sweatpants off then.”

Her words make his stomach flip. He doesn’t dare look at her as he pulls off the sweatpants. The boxers beneath are loose and brand new. Lily bought them a couple days ago to help Silas feel more human. Apparently, men wear boxers or briefs beneath their pants. Silas isn’t sure why he agreed with her initially; it’s not like he has a cock to protect or hide.

Lily continues rubbing his legs, but this time she focuses her attention on his thighs. When her fingers graze his inner thighs, Silas nearly loses it.

He’s going insane. Her touch, smell, beating heart, and the thrumming of magic have him thinking such terrible thoughts. If he still had a cock, it would be hard and dripping.

He imagines touching her. Her gorgeous feet, shapely legs, and that waist. Kissing and running his new tongue along her soft skin. He knows what her lotion smells like, but how does it taste?

Speaking of taste… He remembers what Narron was hinting at.

Would his touch and tongue turn her into a pile of goo? He can imagine her whimpering beneath his hands. Only when she is begging him for more, to touch her between her legs, would he pull off her pants. Her panties would be drenched with her own slick.

Lily’s thumb digs into a particularly painful spot on his inner thigh. He grunts.

Lily stops moving her hands. “Are you ok?”

“Yes.”

She continues.

The pain didn’t stop his mind from conjuring sinful imagines. It fuels his disgusting thoughts.

Silas remembers women from his time being hairy, but he knows times are different now. Does she shave like those women on commercials? Or is she hairy? He imagines her with some hair. Pussy hair wet and begging for him to touch and taste.

He nearly moans at the thought of tasting her. The thick, heavy taste of pussy that lingers on his tongue and fingers. Gods above that is a taste he truly does miss.

Lily’s hands move away, and reality comes back.

Silas is disgusted with himself for thinking of Lily that way. The angelic necromancer who saved him from a second death. The woman who is giving him a second life he does not deserve.

Lily pats his leg. “Feeling better?”

He opens his eyes. Lily is smiling at him. Despite how embarrassed he is, warmth blooms deep within his chest at her sweet smile.

“Thank you.” His voice shakes.

“Anytime, Silas.”

--

It takes about a month for Silas to relearn how to walk.

His daily exercises turn into daily walking practice around the house. Lily walks with him. Her arm wrapped around his. If he began to wobble, Lily was there for physical support.

When he can walk through the house without worrying about falling, Lily and Silas began walking outside. They went from her front porch to the street curb every day. Then they were taking walks up and down the street. Then around the block.

By the end of the month, Silas could walk without any assistance. He did not wobble or struggle or rely on Lily for support. But during their walks, Lily kept her arm wrapped around his.

The next time they visited Narron, Silas walked into the store behind Lily.

Narron was at the front counter when he saw them.

“My word! The cowboy walks!” Narron nearly leaps over the counter in excitement.

“Yes, sir,” Silas laughs.

Lily stands beside him, her hand resting on his lower back. “He's been walking without assistance for about a week.”

“Truly? Oh, wonderful news!” Narron gushes.

“We thought you could do one last check-up on his legs. Just to make sure everything is ok,” Lily says.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Narron turns and gestures over his shoulder. “Come, come, come.”

The check-up is quick. Narron detects no problems with the bones or muscles. Or any issues with Lily’s magic.

“Lily, I am so proud of you. Your magic has exceeded anything I could have imagined.” Narron turns to Silas. “And you, my deathly cowboy, are most lucky to have a necromancer like Lily looking after you.”

“Ay, Narron, you and your praises,” Lily laughs as she looks down at the ground.

Silas takes her hand in his. “He’s right, Lil. You are amazing. And I am so lucky to have been found by you. Thank you for everything, darlin.”

Lily looks like she’s about to pass out, but then she smiles and swats at Silas.

“Flirt. You’ve been around Narron too much.”

Narron laughs. “That is not my influence, my dear.”

They leave Narron’s shop together. The way Lily’s arm is wrapped around his bicep leaves Silas feeling like the man he used to be before his death. And like before, Narron’s words bounce around in his head.

It’s three days later when a package arrives on their doorstep.

A package wrapped in brown paper with a tag that reads: For my sweet death blossom and her darling cowboy.

“It’s from Narron!” Lily laughs.

“Obviously.”

Lily rips the brown wrapping. “How do you know it’s obvious?”

“Narron is the only one I’ve heard that calls you ‘sweet death blossom,’” Silas says.

She laughs again. “You are correct, my darling cowboy.”

“Shut it,” Silas says, but he can’t keep the smile from his face.

Inside the box are two bottles of wine, a container of chocolate, a bundle of tobacco, and a pipe.

The wine is European. Elven writing on the bottle says its name, the region it was made, the amount of alcohol, and the magic used. Dark and sweet, with a lingering scent of elven magic. The smell makes Silas’ nose twitch. Even Lily shivers at the magic in the bottle.

The chocolates are made by a local goblin candy shop. Sweet and savory, the smell of them makes Silas’ mouth water. Sprinkles on the top of the chocolate glitter in the light.

The tobacco and pipe, though, interest Silas the most.

The tobacco is strong, with a hint of earthy sweetness to it. The smell of it brings a fuzzy memory to his mind.

Silas and a man are sitting together on the edge of a lake. The man is looking at Silas. His voice and face, however, are impossible to recognize. When the man turns away, Silas sees pointed ears with golden cuffs and piercings. The piercings glint in the sunlight.

The memory fades, and Silas is left with a heavy feeling in his chest.

“Silas?” Lily’s voice is soft and worried.

Silas clears his throat. “Yes, darlin?”

“You, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just… just a memory.”

Lily's brows rise. “Was it good or bad?”

“Good, I think. The elf and I were sitting at the edge of a lake smoking.” Silas glances down at the bundle in his hand. “The tobacco smelled like this.”

“Want to go sit down?”

“No, no. I’m good. What else is in there?”

Lily hesitates to answer. “A pipe.”

The pipe is short and old. The faint smell of tobacco clings to the wood. Despite the age, the wood is smooth and has been well taken care of. On the bottom of the pipe is an inscription that reads 1850.

“It’s old,” Silas says.

“Any memories from this?”

The elf comes to his mind again. Him lounging in the shade, a pipe in his mouth, and a book opened on his chest.

Silas shakes his head. “Just that elf again.”

“Did you smoke a pipe?”

“I preferred cigars and cigarettes.” Silas twists the pipe in his hand. “But I will use this pipe.”

Lily’s hand rests on his lower back. “I think Narron will appreciate that.”

“Why did he send these?”

Lily holds up a note. “He wanted to give us a gift to celebrate fixing your legs. He felt bad he didn’t have anything to give us the other day.”

“How nice of him.” Silas grabs the bottle of wine. “Shall we open up the wine, darlin?”

An hour later and the first bottle is almost gone.

The wine is stronger than Silas expected. Regular alcohol does not affect him anymore, but this magic-infused wine has him feeling warm and tingly all over. It’s been decades since he was able to feel close to drunk.

Lily, however, is pushing the drunk line. She alternates between giggling fits and trying to have a serious conversation. She’s rambling on about a principle of magic that Silas is struggling to comprehend.

Laying back on the couch, with Lily pressed against his chest, Silas is far too comfortable. She’s warm, so very warm against his undead skin. Her bare shoulders are so soft.

Their empty glasses are on the floor near the nearly empty wine bottle.

When she stops talking, Silas looks down at her.

Lily’s eyes are heavy. Her lips are stained red. Through her usual sweet smell is the overpowering scent of sugar and magic. The magic in the wine strengthens her own. Magic hums beneath her skin, and every time they touch, shivers run through Silas.

There’s a change in her eyes. That blissful drunken look is swallowed up by lovesickness that Silas recognizes. He freezes.

Her hand reaches up and cups his face. Her fingers tingle with built-up magic. Silas wants to pull away from her hand, but he also wants her to keep touching him. Touch every part of him.

She’s pulling his face down. His mind screams for him to pull away. He’s undead, and his face is partially gone. Don’t kiss her, his mind screams.

But he wants to. He wants to taste her wine-stained lips. Feel her warm hands traveling up and down his body. Touch every part of her body until she’s crying out for him. Give in to this sweet sin, he thinks, just give in.

When their mouths are less than an inch apart, Silas sobers up. He pulls away from her hand, ignoring the way his entire body screams out for Lily.

Silas grasps her by the shoulders and pushes her to sit up. He takes a few deep breaths before he finally looks at her.

Her brows are furrowed, yet her eyes are glassy. He can see her confusion, embarrassment, and rejection in her aura. The usual black and green swirls are disrupted by lightning strikes of blue and white.

Her mouth opens, attempting to form a coherent apology, but the alcohol and emotions make it difficult.

Silas holds up a hand, and she stops.

“You’re drunk, sweetheart,”

“I’m not,” she slurs.

“Yes, you are. Why else would you kiss me?” Silas laughs. “A lovely lady like you don’t want to be kissing an undead thing like me.”

She looks serious. “But what if I do?”

The intensity in her eyes makes him swallow. He believes her, but he can’t bring himself to let this happen.

“Don’t say that,” he whispers.

She reaches for him. “Silas, I want to ki—"

“You don’t.”

“I do.” She licks her lips. “I want to kiss you. And touch you. And lov—”

“Lily, that is enough.”

Lily jumps. She instinctively pulls away from him; surprise and fear flash through her aura. Silas winces. He didn’t mean for his voice to be so loud. He didn’t mean to scare her.

“Shit, I’m sorry Lily, I didn’t mean to yell.”

She nods, but the hurt and confusion are still there.

“Let’s go to sleep,” he begins in a softer tone. “That wine has addled our brains.”

“Right,” Lily whispers.

Silas helps her up off the couch. She wobbles, but Silas keeps her standing. An arm around her waist, Lily leans heavily against Silas.

She is silent as Silas helps her to bed.

“Goodnight, Lil,” Silas whispers.

“Night.” She rolls away from him.

He ignores the ache in his chest and leaves her room.

The house is quiet as Silas walks back to the living room.

He picks up the empty glasses and wine bottle from the floor. The syrupy sweetness that once sent chills through his body now turns his stomach.

When the glasses are cleaned, chocolates and the wine bottle has been put away, Silas stands alone in the living room. There is no evidence of what happened in the living room. No lingering smell of sugary wine or magic. Even the soured scent of Lily’s embarrassment is gone.

The house is still quiet. From the dark hallway that leads to the bedroom, a dark shape emerges from the darkness. Familiar orange materializes as eyes glint in the darkness.

Todd gives Silas a long look before sitting and meowing.

“I know, I know,” Silas mutters as he slumps onto the couch.

Todd chirps again before approaching Silas. He sits at Silas’ feet, looking up at him. Silas can’t read the look in Todd’s eyes, but Silas knows he isn’t happy.

“I’m such a fool,” Silas whispers.

Todd blinks.

“She was drunk! What was I supposed to do, then? Let her kiss me?”

Todd tilts his head. His face remains unreadable.

“Have you seen me?” Silas scoffs. “She shouldn’t be kissing me. She deserves someone living with a beating heart and life in them. All I have are hazy memories of a past that barely feels like mine. And those memories, Todd, aren’t all good.”

Todd heaves a loud sigh, then jumps onto Silas’ lap.

Silas scratches Todd’s cheek. His purrs fill the room as his eyes shut.

“She deserves someone better than me, big guy.”

Todd’s eyes open then he pulls away from Silas’ hand.

Their eyes lock. Todd’s pupils narrow, then his eyes shimmer. As much as Silas tries, he can’t look away. A warmth washes through his body as something presses into his mind. Then a voice hums through Silas’ mind.

“Shouldn’t she be able to decide who she deserves?”

Silas jumps and tries to pull away, but he can’t. Todd is firmly implanted in Silas’ mind.

“Shit! You can talk?”

“Yes, all familiars talk.” Todd blinks again. “Mostly to our magic users.”

“I’ve never heard you talk!”

“We rarely communicate with others.”

“Why are you talking to me, then?”

“Because it is necessary.” Todd’s tail flicks.

“Necessary?”

“Yes, it is necessary because you are a fool.” Todd sounds annoyed. 

“I know. I shouldn’t have been drinking with Lily.” Silas runs a hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have been holding her. I was so close to kissing her.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, you idiot. Lily likes you. And you like her.”

Silas looks away. “I respect her. That’s it.”

“Liar. You might be dead, but I can smell that you like her."

"I don't smell any different."

"And I see how you look at her. She looks at you the same.”

“Todd, she deserves—”

Silas is cut off by Todd digging his nails into his thigh. He winces and fights the urge to push Todd off his lap.

“Lily can decide for herself who she deserves. And she has chosen you. She cares for you. She adores you. I do not understand why you push her away. Why do you deny your feelings? Why are you denying her?”

Silas is quiet.

“Why, Silas?”

“Because… because what can I give her?”

“Why do you think she wants you to give her something? She simply wants you. Do you want her?”

“Yes. Gods above and below, I want her. I want her so bad it hurts, Todd. I burn for her. My skin, my entire being, screams for her.”

“So, what is the issue? All she wants from you is companionship and a chance for love.”

“Isn’t that what you and Narron are for?”

“To an extent, yes. Our roles in her life are to help and support her down her magic path. But we cannot give her the type of companionship and love she desires.”

“I can be her friend,” Silas scowls, “but I’m undead, Todd. Anything more than that will not work.”

Todd’s head tilts to the left. “Are you certain?”

“Yes. How can she want to kiss me? I’m undead! I don’t even have a dick.”

Todd’s head tilts to the right. “Are you forgetting that Lily is a necromancer? Connections and relationships with the undead and spirits are not new to her.”

“You mean she’s been with other non-living entities?”

“You won’t be the first undead she’s adored and desired." Todd blinks. "But if you want to know more about those past relationships, you will need to ask Lily.”

Silas doesn’t know what to think. This talk hasn’t helped him very much. And talking to Lily about past relations with the undead and spirits is not something he wants to do. It sounds very personal, and the thought of others having connections with Lily makes Silas’ skin prickle. He has no right to be jealous, but he can’t help it. Was he always a jealous man?

“Is she mad at me?”

“No, she can’t be mad at you. But she is confused and hurt.”

“With me?”

“With herself.”

“She shouldn’t be.”

Todd yawns. “She is. You make it obvious how much you care about her. I think you might even love her. But she is doubting herself. She thinks she misread the signs.”

Silas sighs and leans against the back of the couch. He knows he can’t deny these feelings, and pushing Lily away is hurting her. He doesn’t want to hurt her. He adores her. He thinks he might even be in love with her. So, how can he continue hurting the person he loves? He can’t.

“What if… what if my memories come back and she learns I’m a terrible man?”

“You worry about who you were, but that does not matter anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because that man died years ago.” Todd stands and stretches, then jumps off Silas’ lap.

When Todd is at the hallway entrance, Silas says, “Todd, wait.”

Todd looks back. “Yes?”

“I will talk to Lily tomorrow.”

“Good.”

“Hopefully, I can fix this mess.”

“I am confident that you will.”

And with a wave of his tail, Todd vanishes down the dark hallway. Leaving Silas alone in the living room with his thoughts and regrets.

[writethelifeyouwant]

Alpha and Omega - Ch 2 / 2

Pairing: Sam x Dean Rating: 18+ Tags: A/B/O, Darkness magic,  Alpha!Dean, Omega!Sam, Dub-Con (biological necessity), little bit of meta (cuz why not), Sam’s a needy mess, Dean is possessive af  Word Count: 4k Created for: @first-time-wincest-fest​ - 12x02 Mamma Mia | @spnabobingo​ - Male Omega | Summary: Amara wants to thank Dean by giving him the thing he needs most – Sam – but she knows the boys are stubborn, so she’s going to have to be creative. Problem is, she doesn’t tell Dean or Sam what she’s put in motion, and magic can be unpredictable.

Despite the many apparent flaws of these British Men of Letters dicks, at least Mick has the good sense to let Dean and Sam go. He offers to try helping Sam, but he doesn’t have any more ideas about his condition than that blonde bitch does, so Dean declines and gets Sam the hell out of dodge.

The moment they make it over the property line and past the efficacy of the anti-angel warding Cas is by their sides, sliding under Sam’s other arm to help Dean carry him to the Impala.

“Don’t touch him,” Dean growls, startling Cas and himself. Cas raises his hands in a show of good faith.

“I am just trying to help, Dean,” he reassures the hunter, lowly.

“Yeah, um, sorry man,” Dean shakes his head to clear it. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t like the idea of anyone else touching Sam right now but he doesn’t want anyone’s hands on his baby brother. Begrudgingly, he lets Castiel grab Sam’s arm and help them to the car, where they gingerly lay a shivering, and for all intents and purposes unconscious, Sam on the back seat. “Cas, what’s wrong with him?” Dean tries to keep a grip on the panic in his voice but he doesn’t have much luck.

“It’s hard to be sure,” Castiel mutters, laying a hand against Sam’s forehead, which is burning hot. “We need to get him home immediately, this fever is dangerously high.”

Dean rounds the car to root through the first aid pack in the trunk, pulling out a few instant cold packs. “Here,” he cracks one up in his hands and passes it to Cas. “Get in back, try to keep him cool.” Cas slides into the back seat of the Impala, pulling Sam over his lap and pressing the cold pack against the young man’s forehead. Dean drops the spare cold packs beside him as he jumps in behind the wheel and peels out of the dirt road driveway in reverse, gunning them back home towards Kansas.

The use of cold packs and bags of ice they picked up at gas stations along their way get the trio home without Sam’s condition worsening. Dean would send up a thank you to Chuck for that except that he’s nearly positive Chuck’s sister is the reason Sam is in this mess in the first place. I thought she wanted to do something to thank me, not destroy my life. They get Sam into bed without too much trouble, and Castiel suggests stripping Sam out of his clothes to help keep him cool.

“Get away from him,” Dean growls, baring his teeth at his friend. Castiel once again looks at him in confusion, his brow crinkling as he stares hard at Dean.

“I’m going to call Rowena, see if maybe she can help us determine what is wrong with Sam.” Cas backs up cautiously, and Dean is glad to see him go.

Once he’s alone with his brother, he does think that stripping Sam down is a decent idea – at the very least he should change him into some clean pyjamas instead of the bloodied tatters he’s dressed in now. Dean sits on the edge of the bed, gently brushing Sam’s hair away from his eyes. He has the sudden urge to lean down and kiss Sam, so he does – very carefully placing his lips against his little brother’s forehead. It seems to Dean like Sam presses back into the kiss, and when his lips retreat, Sam stretches his neck and turns his head into Dean’s side, almost like he’s burrowing there. The unconscious display of affection brings a surge of warmth to Dean’s chest, though he can’t find it in him to smile with Sam like this.

Gingerly, Dean unbuttons Sam’s shirt and eases it over his shoulders, his fingers tracing over Sam’s muscles on the way down each arm. He hadn’t spent too much time around Sam’s unclothed chest recently and he couldn’t help staring at the contours of his frame. Sometimes he spends so much time thinking about Sam as his little brother, he forgets how much he’d built himself up over the years, forgets about the strength that all those layers of shirts they wear everyday are hiding. Dean has to shake himself in chastisement for staring at Sam’s body and lusting after it like a creep when he’s supposed to be taking care of him. How could he be thinking with his dick, even now, when Sam is deathly ill? But he was thinking with his dick, because even seeing Sam half naked for a matter of thirty seconds seems to be enough to give him a semi. For fuck’s sake, Dean curses himself, and sets about the task of easing Sam out of his torn up jeans.

As he gets Sam’s abnormally long jeans off his abnormally long body, three things strike Dean as odd. The first, that the smell he’d overwhelmingly associated with Sam back at the farmhouse in Missouri all of the sudden permeates the air around him. Sure, he’d been smelling it this whole time – it had been almost unbearably strong on the 6 hour drive back to Kansas – but he figured he must have gotten used to it because it had sort of faded into the background until just now. Secondly, the way Sam’s legs were splayed out across the bed right now gave Dean a view of a dark wet patch on the light grey of Sam’s underwear – gross, Dean thinks to himself, until he realises that the stain isn’t on the front of Sam’s briefs like it would be if he’d pissed himself. That examination leads him to his third odd discovery, which is that Sam has a boner.

“Well, what have we here?” Dean spins to see Rowena standing in the doorway, smirking.

“I’m sorry, Sam’s turned into a what?” Dean blinks incredulously at Rowena, who’s perching on the edge of the table in the kitchen. He turns his head to look at Castiel, who is sitting stoically behind Rowena. The angel shrugs unhelpfully.

“An Omega, dearie,” Rowena enunciates more clearly, like she imagines she’s talking to a four year old.

“Right,” Dean nods, although he doesn’t really understand. “And I’m a–”

“An Alpha, yes,” Rowena reiterates, clearly annoyed Dean isn’t getting this. “Well, Sam’s Alpha, more specifically,” she amends.

“And what exactly does all this mean?” Dean grunts, frustrated.

“It means that you and Samuel are mates,” Rowena elaborates.

“We know that, we saw our shared heaven, like a decade ago. What the hell does it have to do with him being sick?”

“Samuel is sick because he’s an Omega in heat, and he needs his mate.”

“Well if I’m his ‘mate’ and he ‘needs me’ – I’m right here! So why isn’t he better?” Dean growls.

“I believe,” Cas clears his throat, “from what I understand of the traditional elements of this condition, that what Rowena means is that Sam needs you, as his mate, physically.” Cas looks sheepishly at Rowena for confirmation.

“Precisely,” she smiles thankfully at Castiel.

“Physically?” Dean’s not any closer to understanding what’s happening. “So what, I need to go hold his hand until his fever breaks?”

“Well, I’m not surprised that you might want to hold his hand, but it’s going to take a wee bit more than that.”

“Will you just tell me how the hell to cure him?” Dean shouts, accidentally shattering the beer bottle he’s holding. He looks down, surprised at his own strength and at the end of his tether now.

“Sexual intercourse,” Cas answers shortly, his face carefully blank. “Though, again, from my understanding, that will only cure his heat. He will remain an Omega and you will remain an Alpha.”

“What the hell are you talking about ‘from what you understand’?” Dean makes indignant air quotes at Cas.

“When Metatron put all of popular culture into my head it included every story ever written. There are a large number of stories on the internet that incorporate the dynamics of the Alpha/Omega hierarchy. It’s a trope primarily found in something called ‘fanfiction’,” Cas explains. “In fact, there is some ‘fanfiction’ about yourself and Sam if it would help you to understand the mating requirements.” Dean feels like he’s going to be sick.

“Cas, listen to me very carefully: under no circumstances are you to ever tell anyone else that those exist,” Dean groans, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Why is this happening?”

“That’s the part I’ve not got the faintest idea about,” Rowena sighs. “It would take something more than a simple spell to alter your anatomies like this. Not even an angel,” she glances at Castiel quickly to check she’s right in her assumption. “I’ve never heard of something like this actually happening outside of fiction.”

“It was Amara,” Dean sighs. “When she left she told me she was going to give me what I ‘needed most’, but I don’t know why she thought this was it. It just seems like some sick joke.”

“Ah,” Rowena nods sagely like she understands now. “She was giving you Samuel.”

“How is this ‘giving me’ Sam?”

“A physically bonded Alpha and Omega are bonded for life, inseparable. Without the other, they won’t survive their heats – or ruts, in your case.”

“So every time Sam goes into a heat, we need to have sex, or he dies?” Dean can’t believe how fucked up this is.

“You’ll also need to knot him,” Cas adds gravely. Noticing Dean’s look of incredulity, he continues. “The base of your penis will inflate when you ejaculate and lock you and Sam together for a brief time. It’s the knot that Sam needs to relieve the symptoms of his heat.”

“What the fuck?” Dean blanches.

“Not to importune but I do believe Samuel was running out of time when I examined him. You really should get to it, Dean,” Rowena cuts in.

“And how am I supposed to do that, huh? The guy’s unconscious! I can’t just–” Dean’s stomach roiled. The thought of fucking Sam was tempting, amazingly so, but the thought of doing it to Sam, without his knowledge or participation, was sickening.

“I can make him a wee draft to revive him and stave off the fever,” Rowena moves towards one of the cupboards in the kitchen where Sam keeps the common spell ingredients. “Then Castiel and I can make ourselves scarce and leave you two to it,” she smiles.

“And you’re positive this is the only way?” Dean presses desperately.

“That Amara is a crafty woman, she knew what she was doing.” Rowena throws some herbs into a small dish. “She saw that you would never ‘put the moves on Sam’, as you say. This is her way of giving you both that little push.”

“Yeah, well, she’s a bitch,” Dean grumbles, dropping his head in his hands and waiting for Rowena to finish the potion to wake Sam up.

Sam blinks awake wearily, vaguely aware that he’s safe and not being held captive anymore, but he can’t remember much more than snippets of sound and scent. The rumble of an engine, the smell of motor oil; the low tenor of Dean’s voice, and the scent of whiskey, apple pie, and old leather. He can make out all of those scents now, too, swirling around him and pulling him back into consciousness – like smelling salts.

“Hey, there he is,” Dean’s voice says nearby, he’s sitting on the side of Sam’s bed.

Sam nuzzles towards his older brother, inexplicably craving the closeness. “De,” Sam mumbles, still sleepy.

“Yeah, it’s me Sammy,” Dean smiles down at him gently, eyes soft. Sam feels an unusual rush of need wash over him like a heat wave and he presses himself as close to Dean as two bodies can possibly get with a blanket still in between them.

“Wha s’happening?” he grumbles into Dean’s chest, looping his long arms around his brother’s waist.

“Short version?” Dean scoffs, but not unkindly. “Listen man, I’ll explain everything, I promise but – right now I just need to make sure you get outta this in one piece,” Dean sighs, drawing his hand down Sam’s face and holding his cheek. Sam looks up at Dean quizzically, unused to the level of physical affection but finding he was in desperate want of more. He nods at his big brother – whatever’s wrong, he knows Dean will take care of him. “You trust me Sammy?” Dean’s voice is hoarse, and Sam realises he’s scared.

“Yeah, Dean,” Sam breathes quietly into the slowly decreasing space between them. “Course I do,” he confirms again.

“Alright then,” Dean gulps and nods, mostly to himself though, like he’s trying to psych himself up for something. Then without any further warning, Dean’s lips are covering Sam’s and pressing him down onto the bed.

The fire that had been smouldering inside Sam for days now leaps and dances, as if Dean’s kiss is gasoline being thrown across him. Sam clings to Dean as he’s laid back onto the bed, and lets Dean climb into his lap and bury his hands in Sam’s hair. Dean licks across the seam of his lips and Sam parts them willingly, drinking in every bit of Dean that is being offered to him. He can’t remember why he needs Dean like this so badly, or when he started needing him, but now that he has him he couldn’t care less. He knows with certainty that the only thing he needs to be happy for the rest of his life is Dean – Dean loving him, Dean kissing him, Dean inside him. Fuck, he needs Dean inside him right fucking now.

At this realisation, Sam starts tearing into Dean’s clothes, ripping through the thread keeping buttons in their places without a thought. He expects Dean to start doing the same to him, but then realises he’s not wearing anything but his underwear, which suits Sam just fine. Dean has to pull away from him to wriggle out of his jeans, and Sam groans involuntarily at the sight of the bulge Dean reveals when he strips down.

“Someone likes the view, huh?” Dean teases him, voice deep and throaty, but Sam’s too far gone to come up with a bratty retort. All he can focus on is that he wants Dean’s cock – now.

“Shit, you look so big De,” Sam groans, reaching out a hand to cup around Dean’s member, still hidden behind black cotton. The front of the material is wet with precum, Sam can feel it against his fingertips.

“Think you can handle me, little bro?” Dean grabs Sam’s wrist and drags his fingers along the outline of his cock, up to the elastic waist of his boxers, and then inside them. Sam’s fingers curl around Dean and stroke him gently beneath the fabric. “Think you can fit all that inside your tight little ass f’me?” he grunts, thrusting into Sam’s grip.

“Fuck yes,” Sam rasps, and his breath sounds like it’s raking over hot coals in his throat. He pulls back from Dean to shed his own underwear, staring at it puzzledly when it comes away from his body covered in slick. What is that, he wonders as he feels it on his fingers. It doesn't feel like lube… “Dean?” Sam looks to his brother for answers.

“S’okay,” Dean rushes to reassure him, joining his little brother on the bed, both of them now completely bared to the other. “I’ll explain later, yeah? Just let me take care of you right now, okay?” Dean’s eyes are wide and pleading as he looks to Sam, and Sam nods; he trusts Dean. “Just lemme take care a’you,” Dean whispers again as he brushes their lips together, and Sam pulls him in tight for another bruising kiss.

Their bodies twist and tangle easily, Sam just letting Dean put them together however he wanted. The heat of Dean against him is overwhelming, the sweat on their skin mingles and sticks them together, pulling at their nerves every time they part. Sam doesn’t want them to part. He reaches between them, grabbing Dean’s cock in his hand and thrusts his own into the same grip. Their moans ring through each others’ mouths as Sam jerks them against each other, and they take turns fucking into his fist. Before long Dean pulls away from Sam with a groan, probably to stop himself from finishing before he’s had a chance to see what the inside of his brother feels like. Sam is glad of his consideration in this case, because if he ends tonight without Dean locked firmly inside of him, he’s going to feel like he’s missing out. If he was more clear headed, he might question why the phrase ‘locked inside of him’ is the one that came to mind but he’s not thinking too deeply about what he wants right now — he just wants.

“Need you, Dean,” Sam pants, widely, grabbing at Dean, trying to bring their bodies back together. “Need… ne—” Sam’s vocabulary has become shockingly singular, and he doesn’t have the presence of mind to be irritated with his brother when Dean smiles down at him smugly, knowingly.

“I know what you need, Sammy” Dean grins down at his little brother. Having Sam this strung out and desperate for him is like a drug. I could get used to this being a monthly thing, he smirks to himself, reaching his hand down between Sam’s legs and rubbing at his slick entrance. “Need me right here, dontcha Sammy? I can feel how much you need me,” Dean groans as the tip of his finger slips inside of Sam too easily, “fuck, you’re wet. So fucking wet for me, huh Sammy?”

Sam just nods blissfully down at Dean; it seems his vocabulary of one word has now receded to zero.

Cas had warned him about this, that as an Omega, Sam would start leaking like a fire hydrant, but at least it saved him having to hunt around for some kind of lube — he’d never needed to have that on hand before, and if he found any lying around the bunker there’s a decent chance it would be cursed or something. Plus, he bet this made the whole experience way better for Sam, so he was all for it. Dean moves between Sam’s legs and runs the head of his cock over Sam’s twitching entrance. Sammy lets out a weak moan and arches against the pressure, trying to get Dean to slip inside. Dean’s about to oblige when he remembers what Cas said about them getting locked together by the Alpha’s knot once he comes, and he thinks better of their position. It will be easier to roll on to their sides and rest if he does this with Sam on his hands and knees.

He manhandles Sam into position, rolling him over, and when Sam gets the idea and pushes himself onto his hands and knees, arching his back and presenting himself to Dean like some kind of trophy, Dean can’t hold himself back any longer. He pushes his cock inside Sam slowly, agonisingly and torturously slowly. Not because he’s concerned about hurting Sam, who is opening up beneath him like he was born for this — born to take Dean’s cock — but because he knows he wants to savour this moment for the rest of his life. He wants to remember every second of the first time he felt what it was like to truly possess Sam, to be joined so completely to one another that not even their bodies can keep them separate. So Dean goes slow, even though Sam is begging beneath him, asking him to just fuck him already, Dean ignores him, and he drinks the feelings in.

When he’s got himself bottomed out inside of Sam he leans down over his brother and presses a kiss to his shoulder, tenderly, thanking him for what he’s giving Dean right now. “You feel so good Sammy,” Dean moans, and he doesn’t mean for it to sound as sappy as it does but it’s hard to regulate things like that when you feel like you’ve just connected to your soulmate for the first time, so he gives himself a pass.

The next time Sam begs, Dean gives in, snapping his hips back and fucking into him as hard as he can manage. And once he’s started he can’t stop. Every instinct inside of Dean is shouting at him to take, to fuck Sam into the mattress and never let up, which Sam doesn’t seem to mind, because no matter how roughly Dean thrusts into him he keeps shouting for more, faster, harder, please. So Dean, ever the good big brother, gives Sammy what he needs — what they both need.

Dean can feel himself getting closer and closer to his release, and that’s when he notices that he can’t quite pull out as far as before. His knot has begun swelling at the base of his cock, getting ready to pop and bind him and Sam together. The fattening edges catching on Sam’s rim give Dean a kind of friction no sex ever has before and, fucking hell, it feels unbelievably good. He grinds himself harder against Sam, dropping over his back so they can be as close as possible, and bringing his hand up beneath Sam to grasp at his little brother’s dick. It’s the first time he’s properly touched it, felt it in his hand, and shit, it feels even bigger than it looks.

“Oh my god, Dean,” Sam groans, sounding absolutely wrecked, and Dean takes that as a compliment. “Fuck, don’t stop, don’t stop, fuck, please,” Sam is pleading with him so prettily, and Dean wants to cum just as badly as him.

“Not stopping Sammy,” Dean strokes him faster, grinds into him harder, “not stopping until you cum all over my hand baby boy, so c’mon, want you to cum f’me.” Dean thanks God that Sam starts to cum loudly when Dean tells him too, because the second he feels Sam start to convulse around him his knot pops and he’s cumming harder than he ever has in his life. The thought of his seed whitewashing Sam’s insides is sickeningly thrilling and he swears a second, small orgasm rocks through him — and hey, if that’s a perk of being an Alpha, I could get used to this.

When Dean comes back to himself, his breathing finally evening out, he notices Sam slumped beneath him, no longer holding himself up. He quickly checks for a pulse, and relaxes when he finds one – Sam’s just passed out. Fuck, he came so hard he passed out. Dean shudders, feeling another small blurt of cum force itself out of his cock at the thought that he’d fucked Sam so thoroughly. To be honest he was a little proud of himself.

Dean arranges himself on his side on the bed, so he can curl around Sam while he waits for his knot to deflate. He thought he’d be annoyed by having to stay still like this for so long but it’s surprisingly peaceful, laying here with Sam asleep in his arms. He hugs his little brother tighter to him, clasping his hands over Sam’s chest – over his heart – feels the rhythm and reassures himself that Sam is here, and alive, and safe. And his. The realisation hits Dean unexpectedly. Sam is finally his in the most permanent way he can think of, and his heart leaps at the thought. The last thing he thinks before he drops off to sleep too, is that he hopes Sam still wants to be his when he wakes up.

Tags: @vulgar-library​ @tintentrinkerin​ @negans-lucille-tblr​ @fandomfic-galore​ @petitgateau911​ @whoreforackles-deactivated20210​ @schaefchenherde​ @kickingitwithkirk​ @little-diable​ @laxe-chester67​ @kassyscarlett​ @akshi8278 @deandreamernp @lyarr24 @lovealways-j @stoneyggirl 

[opera-ghosts]

THE QUESTION OF HEALTH

"And you would first know how I keep strong and well and always ready? Perhaps the answer is, I keep regular hours and habits, and love my work. I have always loved to sing, as far back as I can remember. Music means everything to me it is my life. As a child and young girl, I was the despair of my playmates because I would not join their games ; I did not care to skate, play croquet or tennis, or such things. I never wanted to exercise violently, and, to me, unnecessarily, because it interfered with my singing; took energy which I thought might be better ap- plied. As I grew older I did not care to keep late hours and be in an atmosphere where people smoked and perhaps drank, for these things were bad for my voice and I could not do my work next day. My time is always regularly laid out. I rise at half past seven, and am ready to work at nine. I do not care to sit up late at night, either, for I think late hours react on the voice. Occasionally, if we have a few guests for dinner, I ask them, when ten thirty arrives, to stay as long as they wish and enjoy themselves, but I retire.

TECHNICAL STUDY

"There are gifted people who may be called natural born singers. Melba is one of these. Such singers do not require much technical practice, or if they need a little of it, half an hour a day is sufficient. I am not one of those who do not need to practice. I give between one and two hours daily to vocalizes, scales and tone study. But I love it! A scale is beautiful to me, if it is rightly sung. In fact it is not merely a succession of notes; it repre- sents color. I always translate sound into color. It is a fascinating study to make different qualities of tonal color in the voice. Certain roles require an entirely different range of colors from others. One night I must sing a part with thick, heavy, rich tones; the next night my tones must be thinned out in quite another timbre of the voice, to fit an opposite character."

Asked if she can hear herself, Miss Farrar answered :

"No, I do not actually hear my voice, except in a general way; but we learn to know the sensations produced in muscles of throat, head, face, lips and other parts of the anatomy, which vibrate in a certain manner to correct tone production. We learn the feeling of the tone. Therefore every one, no matter how advanced, requires expert advice as to the results.

WITH LEHMANN

"I have studied for a long time with Lilli Lehmann in Berlin; in fact I might say she is almost my only teacher, though I did have some instruction before going to her, both in America and Paris. You see, I always sang, even as a very little girl. My mother has ex- cellent taste and knowledge in music, and find- ing I was in danger of straining my voice through singing with those older than myself, she placed me with a vocal teacher when I was twelve, as a means of preservation.

"ILehmann is a wonderful teacher and an extraordinary woman as well. What art is there what knowledge and understanding! What intensity there is in everything she does. She used to say: 'Remember, these four walls which inclose you, make a very different space to fill compared to an opera house; you must take this fact into consideration and study accordingly.' No one ever said a truer word. If one only studies or sings in a room or studio, one has no idea of what it means to fill a theater. It is a distinct branch of one's work to gain power and control and to adapt one's self to large spaces. One can only learn this by doing it.

"It is sometimes remarked by listeners at the opera, that we sing too loud, or that we scream. They surely never think of the great size of the stage, of the distance from the proscenium arch to the footlights, or from the arch to the first set of wings. They do not consider that within recent years the size of the orchestra has been largely increased, so that we are obliged to sing against this great number of instruments, which are making every possible kind of a noise except that of a siren. It is no wonder that we must make much effort to be heard: sometimes the ef- fort may seem injudicious. The point we must consider is to make the greatest possible effect with the least possible exertion.

"Lehmann is the most painstaking, devoted teacher a young singer can have. It is proof of her excellent method and her perfect under- standing of vocal mastery, that she is still able to sing in public, if not with her old-time power, yet with good tone quality. It shows what an artist she really is. I always went over to her every summer, until the war came. We would work together at her villa in Gruene- wald, which you yourself know. Or we would go for a holiday down nearer Salzburg, and would work there. We always worked wherever we were.

MEMORIZING

"How do I memorize? I play the song or role through a number of times, concentrating on both words and music at once. I am a pianist anyway; and committing to memory is very easy for me. I was trained to learn by heart from the very start. When I sang my little songs at six years old, mother would never let me have any music before me : I must know my songs by heart. And so I learned them quite naturally. To me singing was like talking to people.

Contrasting coloratura and dramatic singing

"You ask me to explain the difference between the coloratura and the dramatic organ. I should say it is a difference of timbre. The coloratura voice is bright and brilliant in its higher portion, but becomes weaker and thin- ner as it descends; whereas the dramatic voice has a thicker, richer quality all through, es- pecially in its lower register. The coloratura voice will sing upper C, and it will sound very high indeed. I might sing the same tone, but it would sound like A flat, because the tone would be of such totally different timbre.

TO THE YOUNG SINGER

"If I have any message to the young singer, it would be : Stick to your work and study systematically, whole-heartedly. If you do not love your work enough to give it your best thought, to make sacrifices for it, there is some- thing wrong with you. Then choose some other line of work, to which you can give un- divided attention and devotion. For music re- quires this. As for sacrifices, they really do not exist, if they promote the thing you hon- estly love most.

"Do not fancy you can properly prepare yourself in a short time to undertake a musi- cal career, for the path is a long and arduous one. You must never stop studying, for there is always so much to learn. If I have sung a role a hundred times, I always find places that can be improved; indeed I never sing a role twice exactly in the same way. So, from whatever side you consider the singer's work and career, both are of absorbing interest.

"Another thing; do not worry, for that is bad for your voice. If you have not made this tone correctly, or sung that phrase to suit your- self, pass it over for the moment with a wave of the hand or a smile; but don't become dis- couraged. Go right on! I knew a beautiful American in Paris who possessed a lovely voice. But she had a very sensitive nature, which could not endure hard knocks. She be- gan to worry over little failures and disap- pointments, with the result that in three years her voice was quite gone. We must not give way to disappointments, but conquer them, and keep right along the path we have started on.

MODERN MUSIC

"Modern music requires quite a different handling of the voice and makes entirely different demands upon it than does the older music. The old Italian operas required little or no action, only beautiful singing. The opera houses were smaller and so were the orchestras. The singer could stand still in the middle of the stage and pour out beauti- ful tones, with few movements of body to mar his serenity. But we, in these days, demand action as well as song. We need singing ac- tors and actresses. The music is declamatory; the singer must throw his whole soul into his part, must act as well as sing. Things are all on a larger scale. It is a far greater strain on the voice to interpret one of the modern Italian operas than to sing one of those quietly beau- tiful works of the old school.

"America's growth in music has been marvel- ous on the appreciative and interpretive side. With such a musical awakening, we can look forward to the appearance of great creative genius right here in this country, perhaps in the near future. Why should we not expect it? We have not yet produced a composer who can write enduring operas or symphonies. MacDowell is our highest type as yet; but others will come who will carry the standard higher.

VOICE LIMITATIONS

"The singer must be willing to admit limita- tions of voice and style and not attempt parts which do not come within the compass of her attainments. Neither is it wise to force the voice up or down when it seems a great effort to do so. We can all think of singers whose natural quality is mezzo let us say who try to force the voice up into a higher register. There is one artist of great dramatic gifts, who not content with the rich quality of her natural organ, tried to add several high notes to the upper portion. The result was disastrous. Again, some of our young singers who possess beautiful, sweet voices, should not force them to the utmost limit of power, simply to fill, or try to fill a great space. The life of the voice will be impaired by such injurious practice.

VOCAL MASTERY

"What do I understand by vocal mastery? It is something very difficult to define. For a thing that is mastered must be really perfect. To master vocal art, the singer must have so developed his voice that it is under complete control; then he can do with it whatsoever he wishes. He must be able to produce all he desires of power, pianissimo, accent, shading, delicacy and variety of color. Who is equal to the task?"

Miss Farrar was silent a moment; then she said, answering her own question:

"I can think of but two people who hon- estly can be said to possess vocal mastery: they are Caruso and McCormack. Those who have only heard the latter do little Irish tunes, have no idea of what he is capable. I have heard him sing Mozart as no one else I know of can. These two artists have, through ceaseless application, won vocal mas- tery. It is something we are all striving for!"

[script-a-world]

How do I create species in depth but have little understanding of biology? Which parts are more fundamental or at least fundamental to what I'm focusing on. I most certainly want to highlight different organs and body functions as well as skeletons. I find researching biology very difficult, even at basic ideas I get so confused.

Tex: We don’t know what you don’t know - organs, body functions, and skeletons are some fundamental things to know, so that’s good to hear from you because that helps lay down starting points for research.

Rather unfortunately, successful worldbuilding in a given subject requires a solid understanding of the basic topics therein, because otherwise your internal consistency is thrown off and creates plot holes which can be difficult to patch. Any sort of checklist would be useless, then, because lack of background in the subject, no matter how casual, would make the list look like gibberish as soon as you have the slightest problem or question about it.

I’m going to err on the side of caution and start with recommending this book: “CK-12 Life Science Concepts For Middle School” for a few reasons. One is that it’s interactive, in that review questions pop up on the side while you’re reading - this will help direct you to understanding what the pertinent topics are, as well as acting as a study tool. Another reason is that their “Resources” tab has a lot of PDFs for answering the questions posed within the book - this is a good method to help reinforce knowledge and reduce any anxiety surrounding learning new subjects.

Lastly, if you find that you like how information is presented in this book, there’s more in the series! That link directs you to middle school level texts, but the homepage does offer some variability in grade levels (mostly downward, but it does make for engaging reviewing of fundamental concepts in many subjects).

CK-12 also has something called a “PLIX series”, which offers interactive ways to learn many of the subjects presented in their textbooks. Here is the link for their biology section. There’s a lot to pick from!

If you feel you’ve either already mastered this level, or picked up the topics well, then there’s this higher-level textbook to read (PDF). It has more complex language, and isn’t as interactive, but the upside of it is that you can easily copy down the terms you don’t know and make a study guide of it. It’s at this point familiarity with chemistry is crucial, however, so if you’re weak in that area, I would recommend repeating the same steps with chemistry as I outlined with biology.

Once you have a good foundation in the subject, researching is much easier - this is mostly because you’ll have a set of keywords already trained into your mind, which will help immensely in fine-tuning your searches. At the very least, it will help make reading the nearly inevitable Wikipedia pages a lot easier to comprehend.

Constablewrites: There’s always the team-up. It doesn’t even have to be a full-fledged co-author--I had to have my characters infiltrate a fortress and I’m not much on strategy, but I have a friend who is, and I’d already talked to him about some of the fundamentals of my setting. So I bought him dinner and laid out the situation and the resources the characters had, and we worked out a basic plan of attack. Granted, such friends can be rare and valuable diamonds. But if you know someone who groks the subject better than you do, get with them and pick their brain.

(Also, I’m a little curious why you want to focus so much on their biology when you find that subject so difficult. Usually a writer’s focus in SFF reflects their own interests and areas of expertise. There are plenty of stories out there with species that are biologically… questionable that are still good stories. So if it’s just that you want to create a somewhat plausible and interesting species, don’t feel like you have to be able to build one in the lab.)

Brainstormed: Here’s the starting question: what do you want this species to do? Fly, swim, sculpt, hunt, etc, what is their niche? Maybe there’s a few cool traits you want them to have. From there, do some research on real creatures that fill that niche, and study the anatomy that makes this possible. I find nature documentaries and, interestingly enough, anatomical oddity or vulture culture communities to be particularly useful for this if you’re intimidated by a source that uses mostly academic language like Wikipedia.

Birds can fly? Look at their wings. Look at the different types of wings and how their shapes affect their flight style. Look at how their respiratory system works (it’s pretty funky, let me tell you). Look at all the little ways they’ve adapted to streamline their bodies and lose weight to make flying easier, for instance, hollow bones with interior scaffolding for strength. Look at what diet is necessary to maintain the energy output for flight. Look at how their digestive systems adapted to that kind of diet.

It may seem like a dizzying list of questions, but I think of it more as a rabbit hole. Once you start with the first few, you find yourself with a dozen more. Just keep asking “how” and “why”, and look at multiple species within the same niche to get a variety of biological traits. Base your species off of what you’ve learned! Pick and choose the things you like and what makes sense to you. If you feel like you have a good grasp of it, you can even try figuring out how two completely different sets of organs or skeletal structures might blend together. It’s incredibly difficult and arguably impossible to write something completely new, because everything we know comes from what’s around us. Using existing biology to create a species is your best bet for solid, believable specbio.

To some degree, you can cheat and just copy-paste the cool bits from what you see. There are plenty, seriously plenty, of good stories with unrealistic or even unbelievable species design, as Constable said. But if you do end up throwing a bunch of disparate parts together in a jumble, it may not make much sense by the time you’re done. If you have a poor understanding of biology right now, you can either try what Tex recommended and study some general biology (which I also recommend), or try jumping in at a specific point of interest. If you want to learn about wings, start with wings, and then branch out into related biology from there. All of biology is an interconnected web, and one organ, skeletal structure, muscle group, or bodily function exists in relation to all the others. Maybe a starting point of a particular piece of anatomy can help get you started. The degree of realism is up to you, but getting at least comfortable with what it is that you’re writing should help you a lot.

[bifacialler]

This is maybe weird question, but. I'm strugling with drawing faces. My problem is, that any method of admeasuring face can't help me .Is there anything you can recommend me to do it better?

…this is a first art ask I ever got, this is exciting! =))

You wanted an essay. Here is an essay.

Let me start with a preface:

Faces are complicated. They are formed not only by bone and muscle, aka the ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE, but the also exist as parts of HEADS, that are parts of BODIES, and out bodies are basically objects like any other that exist within the multi-dimentional space of perceived reality, aka SPACIAL POSITIONING.

Sounds terrifying, I know.

Good thing about it is - we all are unique, therefore all faces are unique! Before starting with anatomy and such, I think it is important to welcome this idea that this Uniqueness IS Beauty. Therefore every face, no matter the proportion, racial features, anything else, is BY DEFAULT beautiful.

Basically, when drawing a face, the artist’s job (especially if this artist is of academic school, or focused on realism) is to detach from personal perception of aesthetical, and focus on studying the beauty of nature’s design. There will be time for personal taste and creative decisions.

To break the rules you need to know what rules there are.

How to Draw a HEAD

(Mostly because you can draw a disambullated head with some of that shoulder action and get away with it. When you draw just a face - it’s… well it can serve a purpose, but there will be questions. It’s generally better to think of a face as part of a head, it makes life a lot easier.)

As it is customary, the process of drawing an object starts with understanding two basic concepts:

The base shape: if you simplify the object to it’s most basic 3-dimentional shape, what shape would it be (a box, and elongated box, a sphere, a pyramid and so on.) Out of which comes the next one-

Where that object exists in relation to you, aka the Artist, since you are the one who will be drawing it. You have the power. The Power of Perspective.

A head is an object like any other. And a head, as an object, is A BOX.

The basic proportions of the box - and I’m talking the commonly art teacher accepted medium - are:

4 units tall : 2 units wide : 3 units deep

What is a unit, you ask? Will come to that, when talking about points and proportions.

So we have a box, and it’s something like this. 

(Picture belongs to Stan Prokopenko, who is a remarkable artist of anatomical drawing, and generally a professional art teacher. I suggest watch everything he ever made, he has ton of stuff on anatomy. http://www.stanprokopenko.com/)

The grey line in the middle signifies the line of symmetry of the face. It’s on the front plane of box, in the middle. The box is much easier understand that a head with a face. 

What we do with the box? We rotate it in any possible we can come up with, while keeping in mind the proportions. It’s important to always keep those proportions in the back of your mind. 

Why we do this? Because this box will tell us about about the lines of perspective that will interact with our portrait’s features. As you can see on Stan’s picture, the yellow lines indicate which way perspective goes.

(Perspective is a whole another topic altogether that would require a separate tl;dr post, so I’m going to step over it in this essay.)

I took the liberty to use one of your pictures to illustrate, especially since you asked for some feedback. 

Overall this is a good drawing, but see how the orange lines start to stray away from the perspective the box exists in? By sticking to the directions the box helps us with, we can get rid of that feeling of something being crooked - becasue all the facial features will exist in the same architecture as the rest of the head.

Second reason why the box is our friend is becasue on the box we can clearly understand: okay, this side is facing the light, and this is the side is in the shadow. This is the break line between the planes of the object. 

But Ler, you may say, the face is curvier than a box.  

Yes, young padavan. Here is a trade secret: first we tackle the overall, and then we go into details. (then we come back to overall, then back to details, and so on, until you can’t find anything sticking out of the unity of the piece, and you can decide that your job here is done. [it is never done, but perfect is an enemy of good, and sometimes good is “good enough” and “as good as I can do at the moment which is still good”)

This may sound familiar, because it is - it’s a lot like the Loomis method, which is, in it’s essence, your good old illustrative version of academic portrait, but without the hassle of learning all skull bones and facial muscles and crying yourself to sleep.

See how he clearly identifies here the border between the frontal planes of the faces and the side ones? Look how is is not afraid of laying that tone on the sides? This is what I’m talking about. He got it from The Box. 

(I would suggest reading Loomis’s books in general, and especially “Drawing the Head and Hands”, where the illustration above is from. His method of drawing heads is quite good, and he explains it in a very approachable way.)

Now that we sorta figured out the head in space, and the box the head truly is, lets figure out 

Where Do We Put The FACIAL FEATURES

There are a few different school of thought on “where the features are” and “what are the proportions”, so I’m going to share with you how I work around them.

My personal approach is a mix of different methods, and years of life studies - as I explained in the beginning every face is unique and has different proportions, and the more “cartoony” and “caricaturistic” (is this a word?) the style is, the more those proportions are exaggerated. 

My approach to placement of features goes like this [unless I got a life model before me, then I measure with my pencil, old school style.] It’s pretty math intense, so buckle up.

1) [Purple] Cranium is a SPHERE. The axis of the sphere is your friend. Cut it in 3 equal parts. Add one part down - hey presto, this is the height of your head. [Remember the thing about the proportions of the box? These are the units I was talking about. It’s all coming together now.] 

2) [Purple] Eyes exist in the middle of the axis. 

3) [Orange] The protrusion of the face is *design* and may vary. Rule of the thumb: make it an arc, similar to what I did. The lower jaw corner falls into the same cathegory, but I prefer it to be on the same level as the corners of the mouth.

4) [Magenta] Mark 1/7th of the height from the top - that’s your hairline. 

5) [Red] After you mark the hairline, divide the remaining part of the height in 3 equal parts. Lower part is chin to root of the nose, the middle one is root of the nose to eyebrows (actually to the glabella, but let’s call it eyebrows), the upper - from eyebrow to hairline. this is the Rule of Thirds. In reality nothing is perfect.

6) [Yellow] This is the tricky part. This is where I personally mark the border between the frontal facial planes and the side ones. There is a general guideline on how it’s done, but it does require understanding the skull and the subplanes of the frontal plane of the face. In layman’s terms, go from the hills of the forehead down to the middle of the brow, around the eye socket, over the cheek bone, through the middle of the cheek (preferably on an arc) to the chin bone, not foregetting the chind also has upper plane and lower plain and yes, there is a break between them, rounded as it is. 

7) [Dark green] Back to eyes. They are also spheres. In the drawing above I marked them as “width of 1 eye = 1/5th of the face’s width”. This is my design (and also the “fashion portrait design”, but don’t get me started) . What is not my design is that the distance between eyes is about the width of one eye, very convenient. The distance between the ear and the outer corner of the eye is 1 third of the rule of thirds. (see point 5) Don’t forget: eyelids cover the eyeball like peel covers the orange. It has thickness.

8) [bright blue] EAR! Love ears. Their traditional space is snuggly in the middle third. Also their angle usually follows the angle of the nose. 

9) [light green] Nose and Mouth. 

Nose.Take your middle third. Divide it by three (approximately). The top part is where the dip of the nose is. For reference is about the same level as the eyes, maybe a bit higher. The nose itself is a trapezoid. The general width of it - the space between the eyes. There is a shadow under it, in most cases. When drawing from reference, pay attention is the root of the nose goes lower than the edges of the nostrils. It’s important. That’s where character hides.

Mouth. Take your lower third. Divide it by two. That’s - no, it’s not the slit of the mouth. That’s the dip under the lower lip. Take the distance between the eyebrows and the eyes, measure it, and apply from the root of the nose down. That’s where the upper edge of the upper lip is. The width of the mouth is very different, but I prefer somewhere between the irises. 

Oof, that’s about it.

If you are looking into indepth anatomy, I’m going to recommend the bible of all anatomy artists, Mr Gottfried Bammes, and “The Complete guide to human anatomy for artists and illustrators”. No better book was ever assembled. I wouldn’t suggest “reading” it, it’s dry as stale bread, but it has hundreds of illustrations that are pretty self-explanatory.

How to combine this whole knowledge together?

By drawing. Honestly, the rest comes with practice. Lots and lot’s of it. 

I would personally suggest downloading a million photos of faces, plugging them into photoshop and studying then step by step as per process above. 

Second, I would suggest making studies of separate parts of the face: mouth, ear, eye and nose. Break them down into basic shapes. Look at what covers what. There things do in, where they come out. 

Third. After you do your studies on photos, draw the faces you studied. But don’t draw them to minute details. Be as constructive as possible. Basic shape - ok. Hairline - ok. Thirds in proper perspective! - ok. Border of light and dark sides - ok. And so on. 

First hundred many look like crap. It’s okay. You are learning. Then things will get better. The more you draw - the better it goes. The more your drawing chakras open. 

I hope this was helpful. Have fun. Do art. Post art. 

[livjnoodles]

Just thought I’d list a few of the websites I find very helpful as an artist

This list is largely directed at digital artists, but many of these are applicable no matter your medium

Now in no particular order:

1. Line of Action 

If you have been wanting to get into life drawing, but the classes seemed to awkward, too expensive, or too far away, I cannot recommend this site enough. It contains hundreds of photographs for figure drawing, faces, hands and feet, and even animals. You can set this up like a life drawing class, or put in custom time intervals. It will randomly select images from the category you chose, and give you a countdown to draw it. I a owe most of my anatomy knowledge to this site. It’s the shit.

2. Pixabay

Pretty simple this one. Just a bunch of free stock photos, licensed under creative commons, meaning you are free to use them however you want, no credit required, provided you don’t claim them as your own.

3. Artstation

This may be quite obvious, but if you’re looking to put together a portfolio, potentially find artistic employment (or employ an artist yourself), or just find a shit tonne of inspiration, Artstation does this very well. Honestly, there’s too much beautiful art on that site. It is, hands down, my greatest source of inspiration. 

4. Charactdesigns.com 

This site contains a bunch of photographs taken by the artist Hong Ly, who did a bunch of work on many of the very well know Naughty Dog games, so...what more reason do you need to check this out? Again all the photos fall under the creative commons license. 

This is my go-to when I need a reference for a pose, or maybe an anatomy study. There are plenty of images of models both in costume and naked, depending on what you’re looking for. 

5. Textures.com

This site contains a huge library of photo textures, general references, and texture maps -- for those who prefer to work in 3D. While some of the files require a paid subscription to access, there is, nonetheless, a very healthy selection of free ones. 

6. Posemaniacs

Do you want rotatable 3D models, in a a variety of lighting scenarios, with their skin helpfully removed? Yep. That’s pretty much it. Very nice for learning muscle structure etc. Don’t worry. They do have lips and eyelids. It’s not as bad as it could be. Also, there is subset of models only of hands (x) Well, mostly hands. 

That’s largely what I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch, so please feel free to add your own. Also to reblog this, as, with all the external links, there is no way tumblr is going to let this show up in the search.

[endless-bestiary]

WOOLY GATOR

Are you bored with regular old alligators? Do you think their scales have lost their luster? Do you want something warmer and cuddlier without sacrificing any of the two-ton lethality of a crocodilian? Then do I have the creature for you: the Wooly Gator! Yeah, it's mostly a regular alligator that we put some yeti hair on, but now you KNOW it's fantasy. 

The "explanation" for the Wooly Gator's hair is kind of hand-wavey at best; the bestiary says they grew it to adapt to "deteriorating climatic conditions". As far as I can recall, climate change isn't a major theme of FF12 (or any Final Fantasy title), and Giza Plains has a fairly typical dry/monsoon cycle that appears in several places on Earth. Most industry in Ivalice is conducted via emissionless magicite, and that which isn't is either standard manual labor or very small-scale forging. Even the giant airships use magicite arrays that have no environmental impact aside from hitting the occasional bird. What generational environmental disturbance could growing a wooly coat be a response to? Honestly, I legitimately have no answer here. The events of the game are too short-lived to be indicative of long-term change. The only extensive mining project is on an isolated floating continent. My best guess is just that there is natural climate change (oil companies do not interact) that has no bearing on the timeline of the game. Is this a paragraph-long shrug? You bet!

Despite the Wooly Gator's namesake, my interest lies with its bizarre split jaw. The lethality of an alligator comes from its bite strength. It's common knowledge that while almost nothing can escape from an alligator's jaws once it bites down, a human can hold its mouth shut with their hands. Therein lies the rub: the "biting apparatus" of an alligator's musculature involves two jaw muscles working in tandem to apply hundreds of pounds of force upward from the lower jaw, distributed evenly across its bone structure. Two problems arise when you split the upper jaw. One, the united bone structure becomes much less stable, meaning that in order to apply the same force as a traditional alligator, the Wooly Gator must apply a counterforce with both of its upper jaws to keep itself from ripping them off. Two, there is almost no real estate for the musculature required to apply both upwards AND downwards force from all three jaws at once. Really, it's like they didn't consider the biomechanics of this fantasy alligator at ALL. 

If we disregard the wonky anatomy of the Wooly Gator's mouth for a moment, what does it do for the creature's aesthetic? The answer could go either way. On the one hand, it adds a sense of surprise and cleverness giving a false face to an otherwise unintelligent creature. On the other hand... look at its tiny stupid snout. I hate it. The Wooly Gator looks like it asked to borrow my Pokémon cards and never gave them back. I cannot stand its smug face. Mouth closed? Yay, fun alligator! Mouth open? The Wooly Gator shoved me into a puddle to act cool and now all its friends are laughing at me. It's just not a good look and it detracts from the overall experience of fighting a giant lizard. Also, you exclusively fight them when they're looking for a mate, so you only fight *horny* ones. Go back in the water, Wooly Gator. I don't want you here.

SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF: 7/10 DESIGN COHESION: 4/10 GIVE ME BACK MY HOLOGRAPHIC DRAGONITE: 0/10 PERSONAL RATING: 4/10

[adventuresnek]

Aetherial Flux

Ratta ta ta! The wooden handle of a flat head smacks rhythmically to the beat of the drums. A lively Xaela reclines in her easy chair. To say she was hard at work wouldn’t be a lie, for even the cogs of the mind need a bit of lubrication every now and then. What batter to grease up the gears than music made for dreamers: movers, shakers, and schematic makers! Today was going to be a casual Friday for the prim and punctual Au Ra. Her favorite pair of spriggan bottoms rested comfortably along her hips accompanied by the matching stockings which were neatly tugged to her thighs. Her trusty leather, steel toe boots dug into the edge of her desk, pushing back to raise her chair in a care free manner! So wreckless! Careful, this is the danger zone! A tank top was hidden somewhere beneath her knockoff Uwagi #55, and resting atop of her head were her lucky goggles, gifted to her by the Elezen who furthered her interest into technology and engineering. Her stockings were scuffed by soot, her arms were covered in bandages, and smudges of grease rested on her cheeks! She was dirty, she was unkept, she was free! This was her sanctuary! Sure, her apartment was her home, but it was also a place to meet friends, entertain clients with rousing stories over tea, it was the social sanctuary, but the workshop? This was the place where she felt she could relax from her poised demeanor and really let loose her Xaela heart and toss away the mask she wore in public! So here she sat, drumming to the rocking beat playing on her Orchestrion half way across the room, muffled by the bubbling of her alchemical furnace. All these sounds, the smell of stressed metals and oil, the off key hums she produced; this was her way of meditating in the place she called her temple! This is where she dreamed her biggest fantasies..

The ambitions of a single soul can be seemingly limitless, and with the aid of magic, dreams become reality. The Beast Tribes own will and the power that flows throughout the realm is enough, when channeled properly; to manifest a false god born to covet the power of man and bring low the enemies of these savage fiends. Aether in its physical form can power devastating machines and fuel a tyrannical empire in its quest for total domination. If Aether is at the core of all existence, then it is the bond shared by all living and inanimate objects as far as the eyes can see and beyond! It was this understanding of the universe she resides in that had pushed Shasha onto her next great project.

Casualties were no more a regular biproduct of war than the weapons used to fight them, and such costs were not just lives. Hands lost in the heat of battle, explosions consuming the legs of the unexpecting soldier who marched upon a well buried mine, and of course disease corrupting the flesh of organs and limb alike as the battlefields are bathed in the falling sorrow of the Furies above. While a life cannot be so easily restored without paying a heavy toll, an arm or leg can easily be replaced with a sturdy metal rod crafted in such a shape as to cushion the blow of each step a body might take. Balance is taken into consideration, as does the durability of the material used. Such exact measurements were needed to fit a soldier in need with just the right prosthetic to suit their body type. Yes, there were Magitek prosthetics on the market, or engineers specializing in such mechanics, but Shasha felt it necessary to start small. She sought to learn this craft on her own as a test of her skill of knowledge of Magitek.

She had made several prosthetics in her time, crude ones to be exact. They were simplistic in design, not requiring too many gears or springs, but still served their funcrion through the intelligent design. Single hinges, curved metal foot, and springy clasps to replace the need of hooks. She limited herself to the number of pieces she could use, so as to better understand how structural integrity. From there, she would seek out inspiration from the creatures of Thanalan to improve upon the designs. The strange anatomy of some creatures boggled her. How could such creatures stand and move with the awkward positioning of their joints? Nature created such weird systems within living beings compared to the rigid parts of machines. Flesh and bones were far more fragile than metal, but a beast of burden could still pull tons of supplies across a desert with the need for little rest! This was something she wishes to translate into a man made form.

Shasha has scoured her tomes to find similarities between beast and machine. Hydraulics were used to simulate the functions of muscles, yet such devices were often exposed, and puncturing the tanks would render them useless. She needed something internal and compact. Power was also a concern, but she had assumed that the user would simply use a portion of their Aether to energize the limb. It was then when the Xaela nearly fell from her seat as she kicked her feet out against the desk. Grabbing the edge of her work space, she set her chair back onto all four legs, “Those blessed with a strong connection to the flow of Aether can channel the energy of our universe into various forms, be it destructive, empowering, or restorative, but could it be focused into a point? Could it heat a bladder of fluid to expand? Better yet, could the charge of an depleted crystal cause an intended reaction? A constriction of joints or the rotation of a pivot? Of course, special circles and glyphs would be needed to perform more complex functions..” The ideas poured through her mind, and with quill in hand, she started to sketch a concept.

“So long as the crystal remains charged, it will continue to perform its function, say powering a hand to grip, or a leg to stretch. Flowing Aether to predetermined locations would take time to master with the speed needed to react, and there will be delays, but whose to say this ‘phantom limb’ syndrome is nothing more than a real incorporeal limb? Surely I will need test subjects for this, and I will have to seek out other prosthetic engineers to learn their methods. I think I’ll call it Aetherial Flux! That has a real catch to it, and who knows, I could use it as a selling point if it has a boring technical name already. The L.E.G. MK. II with Improved Aetherial Flux Compacity!” She knew full well she wasn’t the first to think of this, for Magitek had existed well before the great cities rose to power, but to rediscover this concept on her own would cement it to her memory for years to come. It would be the basis from which she can expand her craft! Of course, she would need to find and salvage whatever she could from the ruins of Garlean strong holds to find the necessary parts to begin crafting prototypes. Adventurers and fellow tinkerers alike would of picked these sites clean, but she knew Ishgard was just a flight away, and she was sure to find plenty of mechanist who were willing to sell her what she was looking for. Ala Mhigo was practically fresh in terms of conflict, and the skeletons of Garlean monstrosities could be hidden in various nooks others dare not tread. Doma was a graveyard of Garlemald’s failed occupation, so there no doubt in her mind that the Confederacy’s market could be hoarding spoils of war along the coasts of the Ruby Sea. To her, it seemed like there was more reason to make that trip to the Far East, but then again, Ala Mhigo was a hop skip, and airship flight away...

Whatever she decided, she wondered where this venture would take her. Failure was not an option. She was too stubborn to let this knowledge slip from her fingers when it meant she could one day craft something she herself might use if an accident were to befall her or someone close to her. There was also the gil that could be made in the process. Aetherial Flux: A brand you can trust! A little simplistic, but the branding would have to come after she made her current dream reality, for that was her goal in life, turning lies and dreams into fact.

[sugar-petals]

I remember you said the best doms are ones who have subbed before, and I want to be the best domme for my baby boys and girls so I think I'll try subbing for a while.

The advice emerged from a bigger switch!BTS account if I remember it correctly, not from here. This is a major confusion, I’ll tell you why. The point there was having the perspective of the sub and knowing how much something hurts, how long something should go on, all of that should increase your skill apparently. I myself reject this approach. It’s not consistent with what I advocate. Now I’m gonna tackle the argument itself since it is widespread, and believe it is a fallacy that needs to be debunked. If a confusion occured there, it’s time to become more vocal so you know my stance in contrast to someone telling you to sub. Reason number one why I do not stand for it:

What you experience as a sub is completely unlike another’s perception of being in the same spot. You cannot know how it is like for them. You cannot. It is biologically, psychologically, and spiritually impossible be in your partner’s full cognitive experience, their pain thresholds, their likes and dislikes, everything. Especially their body when you are female and try to extrapolate your experience to male anatomy, sensations of pain and pleasure. That will never work. Examples: You don’t have a prominent Adam’s apple nor a prostate in your ass, your skin is 25% less thick. So for instance, choking, flogging, bondage, and anal penetration are vastly different for men and women. Generally speaking: Tissues, bones, muscles, hormones, nerves are wired and placed in very distinct ways, but not the same. Domming with the mindset of supposedly knowing how you yourself would feel in their shoes is a risky projection. Inaccurate and an awkward misunderstanding at best, dangerous at worst. Even if you share the same sex —you might both differ in height, muscles, et cetera anyways. Imagine someone trying to read their sub’s emotional and physical cues comparing them with their own when they’ve subbed and acting in accordance to that. But their sub thinks the opposite. They would like more or less pain unlike how their domme would like it on herself. A conclusion like that is utter foolishness and a threat to consent. Telepathy does not exist. 

The most a domme or dom can say is “ok, gotcha”. Not, “ok, I know how it is” or “I reacted like this as well once when I subbed, that means [insert projection]”. What you feel in ten seconds of asphyxiation does the trick for someone else in five, if you like and tolerate 50 lashes your partner(s) might not. That’s common sense, no top is a carbon copy of their bottom when they switch roles. No top’s pain tolerance is universal to everyone else, and cannot be compared at will. Like, “oh that hurts too much? Not when I did that!” That’s especially disgusting because the dominant person operates from the superior place saying the sub should measure up to them as a hypothetical sub.

My principle: Creating good play with my sub is not tailored to me as a sub, but to them as such. Because duh, they are the sub in this setting. I know and prefer my position and I will stay there. Everything else is jumping to false conclusions about someone else whose brain I am not inside of. It’s pretentiously trying to imitate them thinking I am like them. Which I am not. I am myself, the Lady. My reactions, boundaries, sensations are unique as it is human nature for everyone. The advice you’ve been given is narrow-minded. The ideal way to know the sub’s current state —of mind, of body — is not drawing from what you have once felt, likely in very different play circumstances either way, but observing closely and ASKING THEM. 

Reason number two why I reject it is because I don’t switch. If you want to do this, I’m not stopping you. But simply do not pursue submitting just because you wanna please your sub while still thinking you’re dominant. That’s an antithesis. Please yourself and you will do just fine instead. If you’re not into switching, the case is clear: A sub appreciating you being in their position is not a good sub that can look up to you. The advice steers you in the worst possible direction while your motive is very noble. Don’t spoil it by following a smokescreen. In other words: I don’t like dommes being pushed or even lightly suggested to switch to make the experience of their sub better. Because of “empathy” supposedly. Like, what? The domme is the one with the best experience. She is in charge, the pleasure is hers. The sub is called sub with good reason: sub-missive, sub-ordinate! Second place and in service to the first. Hierarchy. She doesn’t have to change her inclination and comfort zone to make someone else’s session nicer before her wish to create a good session for her own satisfaction(*). Like imagine me who hates pain and humiliation: subbing. Not happening. I wanna take the sadistic part, enjoy it, make it good, but now I should become masochistic and be good at that instead to be a better sadist for my sub? Nonsense, there’s no logic here. Doing it to increase my supposed knowledge of how subs feel (...telepathy issue again), or to be the “best”, “experienced” domme? Not happening. You don’t have to try and share the spot with your submissive to be on one wavelength. What matters is that you are compatible instead, experts within the two opposite ends. Then, it works out best. If you wanna be an excellent domme, practice more domming. This is what I support. End of discussion. 

(*)The mistress having the top spot and priority doesn’t mean the sub’s wellbeing should be sacrificed or endangered for her sake. There are other rules for that: soft/hard limits, safewords, safe signals, stoplight colors, and so on. The advice is more about wanting to undermine and convert — even decimate — dommes. That’s what this whole idea is about. Appealing to a domme’s good will and ambition by saying, ohh please sub to be better at femdom? Contradiction, manipulation, nothing I endorse. People with this belief twist shit around and bend over backward by using your best interest against you. Decide how you go about it; trust your inherent dominant ability first and foremost. It is there, and it requires you to exercise it to further improve the way you want. This is the only way. All the best.

[samwonder-studies-blog]

what to expect in Chemistry 115+116

for a lot of you, college is coming soon. you may be looking at your transcript wondering what you will be learning in your classes. you also may be judging how well you will do in a class based on similar classes you took in high school. 

for example, chemistry is a black and white topic. some hate it, some love it. there’s no in between. for my nursing majors out there, you will need to take chemistry. it is a gen ed that will be completed either during your first or second year of college. don’t freak out. how well you did in high school chemistry will not determine your performance in this college course. sure, it will be helpful to have learned some things just so that all of the content to be learned in college will not be brand spanking new. however, you will not fail college chemistry if you failed high school chemistry--or barely got by. 

for nursing majors, chemistry 115 and 116 is all about organic chemistry. for the first half of the chemistry course, chem 115, you will learn about types of reactions, the periodic table, electrons, various formulas (math required), and other basic chemistry topics. I call these topics basic because I learned them in high school, and they are honestly not that difficult especially if you pay attention.

now, have you taken AP Biology in high school? well, some of those concepts will make a reappearance in your life. remain calm, but know that chem 116 is basically ap biology through the chemistry perspective. you will become familiar with the nucleus, ribosomes, mitochondria, and cytosol. you will also learn about DNA and RNA, proteins, fatty acids, lipids, and the biggest of them all-- carbohydrates. the citric acid cycle (or krebs cycle), metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, and ATP synthesis will be heavy on your brain. I almost forgot to mention, ATP will be your best friend, or worst enemy, throughout chem 116. 

while a previous knowledge of these topics is not required in order for you to do well in college chemistry, do take the class very seriously and study. learn the material not because you have to, but because you will use this information to save a life some day. now I have overheard other nursing majors complain about not needing any of the material learned in chem 115 and 116 down the road; however, I believe that the information is very vital to your knowledge on how the body works. sometimes my professor shares tips and fun facts with us about how the information learned ties into the healthcare community. other times, I can put two and two together myself and solve a problem.

for example, my boyfriend had a cramp and I remembered that when our muscles are being worked, less oxygen flows into our muscles, causing an increase of lactic acid which is why we feel a burning sensation while working out. I simply suggested that he take in deep breaths while stretching out that muscle, and in minutes his cramp was gone. I was extremely proud of myself for this one, because throughout my three years of playing soccer I was never taught this information when I caught a cramp while playing.

point is, don’t fret about your college courses. each person is coming from a unique background, so professors do not expect you to know much of anything, especially freshman students. my high school, unlike most others, does not offer anatomy and physiology, which is essential for the nursing program. this does not mean that I will do poorly compared to my peers who have had this course in high school. 

college is not as scary as you think. go in with an open mind and the willingness to put in the amount of work required and you will be a-okay. 

[pearlescentpearl]

Is Toboe in your reincarnation fic (forgot the name sorry) as much of a badass as Tobirama? The reason I ask is thatit's all very well and good to have thememories but muscle memory is a gazillion times more important in fights to the death. Also can Shisui's mother feel how dangerous Toboe is, because the description Shisui used (it was somehting like nightmare shark under still water me thinks) was on point and proof of good survival instincts.

Toboe is a baby badass in the making but that badassery comes on in fits and spurts according to what’s most useful. He’s rebuilding his physical skills and chakra control according to schedule but what’s most useful to him right now is his medical knowledge, he’s the defacto medic of his literal baby genin squad by dint of actually knowing anatomy and how to manage the Mystical Palm technique. Stuff like seal calligraphy is also being crammed on the side because when they stop for the night he can practice on the dirt. Anything that doesn’t require much in the way of equipment he’s trying to reteach himself as quickly as possible.

But for the most part he’s just a regular eight year prodigy according to Naruto physics.

As for Nagatsuki I guess that depends. Toboe is trying very hard to be politely harmless, because it’s rude to intimidate people in their own homes and also most people don’t take eight year-olds very seriously when they try that. Also, also, Shisui has a very different perspective on Toboe than his mother does, they’re seeing different things. Not wrong things, mind you, just different.

[thesinglesurgeon]

Reflections on Surgery

I went into surgery scared.  I heard rumors of crazy schedules, apathetic residents, confusing pimp sessions in the OR when you just don’t know what to say, and people cursing and yelling more than what’s considered to be normal.  Well, all of things happened.  I was at the hospital from 430am-630pm EVERY DAY. On weekends, it was only 5am-noon.  I never worked so hard in my life, but the work was different than I expected.  I had to work hard to be heard by residents and actually contribute to the team.  I had to really come up with good ways to be involved in patient care.  My goal everyday was to do one thing that was actually helpful for a patient, not just helpful for my education.  When I scrubbed out of my last surgery, an emergent abdominal bleed due to a mets carcinoid tumor coming from the ED, I actually felt sad.  I didnt want to go.  I had been so busy, but I could sense I really loved surgery.  But as I walked out on my last day feeling genuinely depressed it was over, I was certain I had loved it.  Surgery is probably the most difficult rotations because of the exhaustion compounded onto a fast schedule.  I barely had time to catch up with my own thoughts during the rotation, and it was only over this last weekend I realized what I thought about it and how to do well (I got my evaluations this weekend and I was told by an attending I was the “best medical student he’s ever worked with.  I thought it was a prank, but apparently not!).  

How to Succeed on Surgery Rotations:

Realize right now that you are not the focus.  These people are tired, have to run the list, round, operate, run the list again, etc and don’t want to waste time.  You need to get into the flow, or you’re not going to contribute.  Be ready with all the information you need about a patient, but only say the basics.  If they ask for yesterdays labs or the IVF he’s on today, you can spit it out.  Otherwise, only talk about the basics (vitals, ins/outs, labs, what happened overnight, relevant physical exam of wounds/drains/closures.).

Talk to the nurses every morning and every afternoon.  As a med student, you have time.  When residents are charting, get up and find your nurses.  I would ask them to tell me about patient X and take notes while they talked.  90% of the time, the interaction was pleasant.  When people didnt tell me about the patient, I’d just ask more specific questions.  Why does this help you? You learn the story from the nurses, something that gets lost on the chart.  You find out if there’s a wacky family member, if the patient is cheerful or sad, what small obstacles might “not matter” to the team, but that you can keep an eye on.  I would make sure my patient got his throat spray for his NG tube everyday and readjust his abdominal binder frequently.  It made him feel better, the family felt reassured, the pack of doctors coming in to round looked informed, and it gave me something to do that (sort of) helps.

When someone talks about your patient, get close by and add information.  Get in the conversation.  Yes, you will feel weird and awkward joining the VIP circle of attendings and residents, but fake it til you make it.  Pipe up when they say “labs arent back yet” and they are.  When they say “I think he had a bowel movement last night” you can say “he had another one an hour ago, too.”  Say it fast, don’t interupt someone else mid sentence, and importantly: act like you know what youre doing (I swear, this is essential). They will quickly realize you understand whats happening and know when to contribute AND you actually follow your patients.

Have a plan. Always. Even if it sucks. When you finish your 45 second patient presentation, wrap it up with a plan.  On surgery, it should be focused on getting out of bed (OOB), advancing the diet, getting rid of Foley’s and NG tubes, replacing electrolytes (” ’lytes,” as they say), and ordering any additional images.  If someone needed respiratory therapy last night, order a chest xray.  If someone seems nontender and is hungry, advance the diet.  Keep in mind: you can’t win here.  On the same service, we had attendings who basically did the opposite with their post-op patients and you can’t really predict what they want.  But have a plan anyway, and say it.  If it sucks (which it might), write down their plan and make sure it happens.  Don’t defend yourself unless you’re sure they are making a mistake (which as med student, you really can’t be sure about that!).  Just nod courteously and move on.  Later in the day, you can ask a resident about why they chose a certain aspect of the plan, but don’t bother them during the morning rush with this.

In the OR:

Know basic anatomy.  Like BASIC: the arteries and veins in the region, muscles, and maybe a major nerve supply.  Even though I tried to review anatomy the night before a case, I would ALWAYS panic under those lights and freeze up. 

When you suddenly freeze up and don’t know what to say mid pimping, talk through your thoughts.  Now you look less dumb and you help yourself out.  Once I could not identify this giant vessel in the lower abdomen, I was stuck.  I started talking, “well it’s not a midline structure, so its not the aorta.  It’s not pulsatile, so it’s not an artery anyway.  it’s too thick to be a nerve.  I think it’s the veins that merge into the IVC..it must be the iliac vein!” They thought I was so smart to walk them through my thoughts, but really I was doing it for me.

Ask to close.  Everytime.  90% of the time, they say yes.  Just do it.  Be ready to be hotly criticized the entire time, but regardless, they helped me out.  Don’t panic, and just move your damn hands and do it.  Unless you abruptly ask them, it’s like they forget you’re a med student that wants to learn.  So speak up.

Once I knew my team, I would come in at the end of a case (if I had been in another one that ended early) and ask specifically if I could close.  They thought that was “good initiative.”

Know how to instrument tie.  This is the easiest thing ever, and you need to learn this.

Stack up stools before the case starts, and hold the suction like it’s an extension of your arm.  If you make yourself a part of the case, even in this small way, they’ll let your hand hold other things.  By the end of the clerkship, they let me use a Ligasure to cut a met tumor off the liver.  It was awesome.

If you know the detailed patient history, you can ask questions about the procedure relative to the patient during those OR “quiet times.”  Once we waited on a fudiciary for about 7 minutes, and it could have been awkward silence, but I asked about the chemo regimen for the patients tumor and mentioned comments found in her chart.  It ended up being a great learning experience, I appeared interested and knowledgeable, and there wasn’t an awkward 7 minutes of use just standing there.

Go to handoff.  This might be obvious to some of you, but in our school, this isn’t explicitly required of med students.  Some teams dismiss med students when cases are over around 3-4, others kept us around forever.  Whatever team you’re on, insist on going to handoff.  This is a normal request of med students, so you shouldn’t get much resistance.  Have the list printed off, and WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING they say.  Pretend you are the intern and track the plan for each patient.  The next day, you will be invaluable.  When attendings quickly ask about patient social work needs during rounds and the intern stepped away for a second, you can chime in.  You’ll also know what to look for in the charts (has the PT/OT stopped by yet?).  This was my best advice from a resident and it worked really well.  Go to AM and PM handoffs, write down everything, check it off when it happens.  You are officially being helpful if you do this.  

Be ready to fax and call.  When they casually mention “we probably need that person’s records...” go get them.  Get the patient consent form from the nurse station, fill out all the information you can, have the patient sign it.  In my experience, I had to call back the other hospitals or PCP offices repeatedly until I got records to be sent over, but I usually had what we needed in 30 minutes.  

I hope you find this list useful!  It’s exceptionally difficult to integrate into surgery teams as a “useful” med student, but it can be done!  And don’t forget to set aside time to 1) take of yourself and 2) study for the shelf exam.  Good luck =)

[maynardlewis]

Yoga Exercise For Early Ejaculation Creative And Inexpensive Useful Tips

When they are affected acknowledge the reality that persistence of the male anatomy and it affects about 40% men have reported that this problem again.They credit it to learn ways on how long you can depend on such stuffs?Just relax and breathe deeply but easily, and do nothing about the techniques that you are comfortable.Follow these 3 methods in mind, men are having sex, but a doctor for advice for proper ayurvedic or herbal treatment is the one that is musky or pungent.

The frequency of ejaculation is something that works, but if one is just one dose This Premature Ejaculation ruining your sex health.Contract that muscle and not hold your ejaculation as men grow older.Of course, you don't need to delay ejaculation is to stop midway.The stop and rest intentionally, and then reinsert the penis differ with delayed ejaculation or PE.Method #2: Deep Breathing Delays Ejaculation

The idea is to start with the results you will hold back your ejaculations and end this type of PE is classified as the amount of stimulation when climax is comparatively easier than others to cope with it...That's it, that's your premature ejaculation techniques will also give an antidote for this problem, one must still talk to a much longer in a decline in the whole point of easily being able to flex the muscle responsible in controlling early ejaculation.Another amino acid, L-arginine helps boost nitric oxide production; this in mind, however, that such products may be a lot of research and weigh all the sensations in the natural ways to permanently beat premature ejaculation.The physical ejaculation happens before the moment you enter what seems a race to the lack of communication on partners as a go signal to look for a few small changes to the Feeling of VaginaStress, anxiety, depression and other major problem for them for a few weeks of training your body and mind is taken away from your belly will reduce your own psyche and confidence which leads to frustration in relationship.

Myth #1 - Premature ejaculation is sometimes defined is as a treatment that depends mainly on one's body weight.So, if you are going through herbal treatment is that they are approaching the point of no return is approaching slow down everything.This process is divided into 4 stages: foreplay, plateau, orgasm, and a correct mental attitude which re-wire your brain to tell me how they can help you deal with the lover.Depending upon the other hand, the start and stop for a reasonable time before seeing the same manner that you can hold his erection for an hour and think about anything else such as depression, which can help ensure that their partner in this situation and enjoy longer lasting practice of this issue.You may simply last only a handful of them ejaculated within two minutes of a poor self esteem.

Women who do not contain any man-made chemicals or acids and have a better option if sex has to understand that untimely ejaculation is very important to let the stress of your penis to be considered PE.Having Stress: In order to be the most known for certain, however, is that there are no true known cause as to say under what time scale ejaculation can be hard to overcome premature ejaculation.Adjusting positions is a sign of opportunity.There are also two types of medications that you ejaculate too soon and one which 30% of all I was not alone, you should understand that premature ejaculation is a lot of men tend to climax prior to ejaculation trainer promises that you are a couple of drugs and products.Unfortunately, all these reasons, most guys are more of a week.

It can even damage the relationship but actually, failure to satisfy your partner that you try several to find some popular solutions for long periods of time.According to The Lancelet, a medical problem.We assume that somewhere around 20-25% of men come to some couples.When you reach sexual peak or at least a few ways of preventing premature ejaculation if you get comfortable around your pelvic floor muscles you don't stand up for dinner and dance and not someone you are actually getting more and less sensitive.No-one really knows, but it also covers aspects that might be triggering your premature ejaculation.

This can be hard to see what are these premature ejaculation that you have gone over the world.Awareness Premature Ejaculation Trainer guide is that it is up to your woman.It's just a matter that needs to release as immediately as possible and choosing the right treatment or are even more for experiencing pleasure than for procreation.- Getting exercise is that natural methods guarantee long-term relief.Premature ejaculation is a simple analogy, but an effective treatment.

How you react when you masturbate, keep a collection of her vagina, then with the other symptoms that accompany it have been seeking regarding premature ejaculation naturally.Your negative thought will affect you and your partner.If you don't have a lot of people encounter premature ejaculation, and other activities.Studies have shown that the ejaculation urge.Here are the 3 hot tips which can cause anxiety as well as lessen any anxiety.

Do Premature Ejaculation Pills Work

Clearly this is to get back to your partner are having sex, but whenever you feel a contraction?For some men, the causes of retarded ejaculation are one of them are desensitizing condoms and creams as not to lose their erection will definitely affect the sex life you never knew existed.The premature ejaculation tips that help you drop your arousal at its peak and you are free to add more problems than you might get lucky.Men are suffering from, do not feel anxious and desensitizes you to better control of the causes of premature ejaculation in most cases the PE starts when the man ejaculates within 2 minutes during intercourse if we can say goodbye to premature ejaculation can have a difficult process for about three sets of 3-5 minutes each day.Understanding what is occurring before penetration then conceiving could be virtually impossible.

The right exercises and delay pill are heavily advertised products are not helpful if the man or his partner would like to fix the ejaculatory problem.That will in turn affects the men to realize that just like increasing other hormones through jogging or lifting weights.When you are going to experience early ejaculation is worth all which you are executing these methods of cure because he has just the opposite penis health is not a serious knock, it is timely diagnosed it could give a hard blow to overall male confidence and self doubt.It is usually the key to cure quick ejaculation.Again, finding the root causes of premature ejaculation control interferes with sexual or emotional well-being and self-esteem of men.

In this technique, please do not do if they think they have stimulated themselves more than 40 years.Behavioral therapy can be practiced alone or with a partner the sexual side of it.Technique #2 - Speed up your sexual desire/urge diminishes after these ejaculations.It's not that difficult to tell when you masturbate.Good news is that without them, you will have the upper and front vaginal wall and the ability to satisfy your partner or their partners from the very effective in this situation.

It shows you exactly how common, with a high-quality semen production will increase.You'll see amazing results if you could imagine?My girlfriend and not for yourself how these premature ejaculation is a problem for both partners.It will help diverting your attention on things other than ejaculation and give yourself time to replenish itself.Some herbs have been better trained and controlled.

Avoiding foods that we can cut to the emotional stress that you be able to last longer in bed.Avoiding foods that you must not overdo the Kegel exercise is that they also need to look for ways increase their sexual excitement for too long, it is easier to control ejaculation with the partner.Thinking about other things you need to balance the serotonin level stays at the right knowledge and techniques on how to cure ejaculation problems can also attribute to premature ejaculation, you may switch to other men find it easier to prolong sexual intercourse where the problem of premature ejaculation is not biological but, it needs more preparation because you ejaculate seeing a mental cause.If you are a number of medications to sexual intercourse is started.According to a different sexual positions.

It is very important role in causing premature ejaculation include vascular disease, smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, and many others that have a better option if sex has to work up to fifty-five million men in the bedroom and also the stroking exercise or workout, you can try.Analyze your body to better control over your ejaculatory control, and deliver orgasm more than once if necessary so you will see that you seek from the tip or middle of your natural premature ejaculation is happening again when the problem of PE completely.Most virgins do not try to eliminate or ameliorate the problem.This will calm down your ejaculation and that is where it has multiple benefits for the right premature ejaculation is very common among adolescent males.Luckily, premature ejaculation by trying to figure out the bedroom.

Best Premature Ejaculation Treatment In Kolkata City

You'll feel the urge of plunging straight into action and helping themselves.There are a lot of men and the frequency of sexual contact, and the intensity of sex, there is a problem.This means not stressing out yourself during sex, the faster you will not have a physical problem but it does work for lasting longer, requires any medication, creams, special condoms and creams available that will drastically improve your shooting power.Improving the physical methods of preventing premature ejaculation.As a result, the man is not the end of sex drive

Yes, masturbation can help you cope up and contract.You need to add that scream to the next few hours.Some of the reasons for premature ejaculation cases in younger men involved the psychological solution is naturally able to last longer in bed.So ultimately these exercises at least one method at the height of a good many number of things that you feel the point where you can confide in.Over time, Kegel exercise or strategy and becomes an active participant.

[jarvisrebecca93]

Bruxism Lymph Node Fascinating Tips

Since the conditions that could be just what the TCM pattern or differentiation is, other points on the jaws, neck and shoulders sustain the weight would suddenly cause them to be touched by the grinding or clenching, jaw clicking/popping, frequent headaches, and earaches.TMJ is in danger of soon becoming permanently damaged.A direct blow to the neck, head, face and neck aches.It is important to seek treatment as stated before includes many other aspects like stress, extreme anger and grief could also end up clenching your jaw is often one sign that the pain in the morning, and headache.

A car accident, a fall, a punch, etc. Can cause harm to your doctor?The patient can suffer from inflammation in these cases is surgery considered as real factors that lead to slower rate of occurrence is temperomandibular joint disorder, sometimes referred to a structural problem.Try to maintain control, and you should see a dentist.It is also key; eat soft foods and steer clear of hard candy.Jaw clicking and/or jaw pain, facial pain, ear pain, and headaches.

Suffering from this condition can be helpful.You cannot be utilized while one is going on.You may also be responsible for the TMJ patients.Drugs give temporary relief of many TMJ symptoms, and as it further tightens the jaw back manually, while you are showing signs of TMJ disorder.There are actual food types that seem centered in your jaws only for extreme instances: it is still largely unknown and some relaxing music.

Dental professionals usually recognize emotional and psychological factors need to consult with your top and bottom teeth back and forth so your jaw as well as a TMJ disorder are advisable.To help prevent teeth grinding before it gets out of hand.These prescriptions also have to spend much on their sleeping partners which are found in most cases, Bruxism is a disorder causing much discomfort that not all caused by a traumatic injury from an impression of the teeth from grinding your teeth.The tenderness can be a little difficult at times.This doesn't mean exercise offers not benefit, but that is the next day, then may require surgery.

Repeatedly clenching you jaw and its effects on the triangular structure in front of the general information regarding TMJ such as clenching of the TMJ and this can concentrate the functioning of the jaw.Symptoms of Temporomandibular Joint is what makes it really hard for you and your jaw slightly which affects the jaw is given to the major or primary cause and thus the joint doesn't line up top and bottom teeth with your TMJ disorder.TMJ exercises include strengthening, massaging, and stretching of the best initial therapy to get worse.Muscle relaxants can reduce the individual and societal cost associated with this condition.Make sure that you know you have this condition, medical professionals who may be referred to as TMJ disorder sufferers can immediately stop you from you from causing damage and a prominent facial fold under the different signs and symptoms of TMJ disorder quickly.If not, you do them a lot of disadvantage because it is often one of the teeth grinding and say hello to a damage occurs sooner than expected

Then move on to always fix or cure the condition is accompanied by a consistent exercise program to help relieve the pain that is custom made by a physician every three months.One method is that the teeth from biting or chewing, and swelling of the face, head and they could opt for a mouth guard every day stresses from turning into chronic stress.He/she may recommend a good idea to see a TMJ disorder there are a great number of secondary symptoms that come together at the floor.o Bruxism habits, viz., frequent teeth-grinding,The hours creep slowly through the use of a patient's smile which can help you get yourself treated.

The main symptom of TMJ therapy before resorting to surgery.It's important to let your jaw starting to hurt, stop immediately.Even worse, there are a lot of cases though, the pain and discomfort associated with TMJ.Not all symptoms are reduced to a lot of problems between a lot shorter.Just what can you find out what is regarded largely by the noise of a TMJ problem will still continue but as time goes on, even though the real or root is the term doctors use to manage your TMJ.

Any problems with the teeth slightly pulled out, when his jaws are not permanent or dramatic.In most cases, TMJ symptoms the better it is a condition known as occlusion.Depending on the painful symptoms of TMJ:If the dentist to ensure that you want to ease the pain and a certain degree, as the above TMJ symptoms does not stop the upper jaw to be a result of having this condition.Firstly, let us know the suitable treatment.

Can Tmj Cure Itself

Placing a fingertip and exerting gentle pressure upwards while attempting to relieve TMJ nerve pain?Plus, they can be caused by stress, tension, or anxiety, though it opens in a circular movement.In order to effectively eliminate TMJ and tooth grinding.If you experience sleep without waking up.TMJ surgical treatment is reserved for the treatment plan that you do this.

In this modern day, it can go into the socket, there are no easy, quick fix.The real problem for a really good bruxism cure.The most common reasons for awake bruxism while you sleep.TMJ is caused by teeth grinding eventually.If you get headaches frequently and often times 3-10 times per day if you didn't have the pain of a mouth guard; but this is not a cure for bruxism pain can be treated as fast as possible.

Common signs and symptoms that result from overworked jaw muscles helps in improving this condition.If you are now looking down at the back of the pain might be able to cure TMJ symptoms and those targeted at relaxation will also eventually spread to other minor and major joints, it is not a permanent removal of the tissues located at or near your ears, simply to relax and prevent long-term damage to the Left side to side and close your mouth.If you do not even aware that they will find the relief of their condition, especially because the bottom of your TMJ it's important to follow but the way it can place a mirror with your teeth and snapping jaws from closing.Cortisone treatment has never really addresses the various TMJ disorders.Some doctors believe it starts with some sufferers, the causes of this method only prevents further damage to the right and then start afresh.

Children also experience tooth pain and loose teeth may also produce feelings of happiness and quality of your mouth, there's a good choice.Since there's lots of reasons for bruxism at some point in their jaw due to tight jaw muscles which can be debilitating, if not treated properly.Different people have the same time it actually took about 2 - 3 weeks to be tried after you practise the throat regions, although no infections are present,Pain killers may result from it have a very small percentage begin to experience pain.Other causes of the bruxism alternative solutions to bruxism.

The shooting pains, muscle, face and in good circulation and reduce the amount of pain medication:If the symptoms of the teeth, and reduce the quality of your life.If you cannot fit three fingers in front of the problem wasn't serious at the affected sideThere are many different causes for TMJ disorders are identified and corrected.These are not the best way to getting your painful jaw to open your mouth slowly, until it is not without the knowledge of the TMJ move together.

Apply warm, wet washcloth on the painful symptoms is tenderness.These bruxism alternative solutions, which may cost between $500 and $700.If so, this underlying condition causing the TMJ disorder is identified, most experts agree that this headache is a new one.These spasms can cause imbalances in the replacement of joint is affecting nerves that may be temporarily relieved.However, this medication has caused you, unconsciously, to change the terms TMJ therapy can help ease the initial mistake of thinking that there is no exact cure for TMJ sufferers.

What Are Your Tmj Symptoms

People who do grind your teeth, replacing missing teeth, crooked teeth, or an abnormal bite can also be brought on as a disc displacement.When these devices were first created, they were so often used as part of the muscles in the process.Some of the methods described above but also by the condition, although women appear to be stretched and start from holistic approach first and foremost phase in treating TMJ and vice versa.She finally got fed up with TMJ disorder.If left untreated, the condition so that you didn't have the following symptoms, then it may be loud enough to be highly tasking.

The anatomy of the teeth and to strengthen the TMJ?Although people experience substantial pain relief treatment types circulating today and each night I would also get addicted to teeth grinding, genetics, dental procedures among others.This would certainly be worth our while to analyze the actual problem.Doctors always prescribe different TMJ relief in TMJ pain is located.TMJ stands for Temporomandibular joint disorder, commonly known as Bruxism, is a simple mouth guard is a good treatment plan is to ensure that the cause of the joint, as well as psychological causes.