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chiliiscereal · 3 years ago

Note

May I offer a prompt of how the turtles would be with a mom friendTM? you know the type I mean? like.... I think they might benefit from that kind of friend in the group lol (also I love your stories, your such a cool writer keep up the awesome work!)

Rottmnt headcanon: mom friend TM

And thanks so much!

Mom friends are severely underrated XD

——

-Okay these boys need a mom friend badly

-but that’s where you come in!

-as the mom friend you keep them safe in many ways

Donnie💜

-starting with this guy, he never really wanted a mom friend

-when April first brought you over he was cold

-didn’t even bother talking to you

-you were determined to befriend him, even though he left whenever you tried to talk to him

-you became comfortable with the turtles quickly and the others accepted your mom friend nature

-not Donnie though

-he didn’t hate you, sure, but you were too much

-you were too overbearing and too nervous for his safety!

-you’d make him wear a helmet when he used his jet pack

-you made him put on SUNSCREEN whenever he went outside

-you told him to be careful when rewiring a project even!

-it’s like you wanted to ruin his bad boy image

-he hated it and wanted you to stop being so smothering

-…

-…until he realized that attention and moral support comes with the smothering

-the moment he realizes that he’s all for it

-he’s no longer hiding his inventions from you so you won’t bug him, but he’s seeking you out for your advice and praise

“Hey so I made this and… I don’t know…”

“Wow you built that? It’s awesome!”

“Really? I mean, I know, I just wanted to show you that it was.”

-praise ain’t something this boy has

-have you SEEN how his brothers react to his ideas?

-he needs this

-with praise comes affection

-I’m talking homemade snacks and questions that his brothers never ask

-you’re there if he needs a cup of coffee or if he hasn’t eaten in a while or taken a nap

-“don, it’s been two days since you slept go to bed.”

-“*hissssss*”

-“I’ll make a cup of coffee for you after...?”

-“*hisses but less intense*”

-you may be good at making snacks and everything

-very good in facts

-but the questions are probably his favorite part

“Woah what’s that supposed to do?”

“Well it’s a device that’s meant to fix all the broken McDonald’s ice cream machines.”

“That’s amazing! What did you use to build it? How does it work?”

-you’re actually trying to learn about his work!

-you’re trying to learn about him!

-he loves it

-and he loves that you’re careful to

-it’s a nice change from his brothers

-you’re someone he can depend on

-doesn’t matter if it’s missions or just being a good friend

-and I mean it when I say depend

-you’re there when he needs help rewiring something or just to simply talk about his dumb dumb brothers

-honestly April isn’t even mad that Donnie stole one of her best friends

-she knows he needs this

-Donnie fully learned to trust you after the purple dragons mishap

-you told him they were untrustworthy but his heart was dead set on that satin jacket

-when he came back to the lair, late at night, with no satin jacket and a handful of his missing tech, he found you raising an eyebrow at him from where you had sat to wait for him

-he knew from then on to trust you and your opinions, even though his often got in the way

-you can often be found sitting on Donnies bed while he works, offering your company and comments

-Normally no one else is allowed in while he works but that’s just because they don’t have anything positive to provide

Raph❤️

-Raph IS the mom friend

-your mom friend energy and his mom friend energy just work together so well together

-I’m talking planning missions together, figuring new ways to trick his brothers into being responsible, cleaning the dishes, and even making snacks together

-“so the mission is tomorrow right?”

-“yep! Should we bring apples with peanut butter or pretzels with hummus?”

-“well Donnie doesn’t like peanut butter, but Mikey does, so both?”

-“awesome! And you’ve got the water covered?”

-“dude I even have caprisuns packed so we’re ready!”

-the others find it to be too much with the two of you but Raph really appreciates the help

-especially during the pizza puff episode

-oh that part nearly set you on fire with worry

-Raph had never seen you that worked up

-you had a fan for Leo, a bowl for Mikey, and a bag of fruit snacks for Donnie

-Raph has to activate his supreme mom friend energy to get you to stop hovering over them

-that meant literally dragging you away from them so they could figure things out on their own

-he’s seen you be a mom friend to them all the time

-but never once for him

-you two were like... co mom friends working together to stop the younger irresponsible three

-until Raph got separated in the sewer

-oh man you were torn with worry

-you nearly destoryed the place looking for him

-and finding him all savage like that... ack that was enough to practically shatter your heart in two

-once he stopped trying to barbecue villains and destroy his brothers you took him to the lair and helped him calm down

-you even turned on a movie for the two of you so he could relax

-it was nice to have your best friend and partner in stopping crime back

-Raph of course was embarrassed because it’s HIS job to help everyone, not the other way around

-after much assurance you had him convinced that you didn’t mind

-he was grateful to have you and your help

-he just wished you didn’t worry quite so much

Leo 💙:

-this boy is soaking it all up from the start

-someone to compliment him?

-someone to help him out?

-someone to admire his achievements?

-oh he’s all for it

-he’s showing off skateboard stunts, he’s doing flips, and he’s randomly pulling you to him and creating a portal

-usually you end up somewhere sketchy but sometimes it works out

-you always have to be ready though

-one minute you’re walking to the projector room and the next you’re in New Jersey with a sheepish looking red slider

-his only problem is now he has to be more careful with skateboard tricks

-he’s fine with a helmet but when it comes to you hovering next to him while he’s going down the skate ramp...

-eh he’s not so fond of that

-praise?

-sure

-home made gifts and cards?

-always appreciated

-but you constantly trying to protect him from things he knew how to do?

-no

-just no

-now he only feels like he can skate if you’re not there or if he goes to a skate park without telling you

-you figure out quickly and still worry that he’ll mess up a flip

-doesn’t matter if you’re watching or not

-you’re the mom friend

-your job is to worry

-you promised that you’d stop worrying about him if he can back

-you didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable in his own home!

-he agreed and you did your best to keep your promise

-...

-until he actually messed up a flip

-you don’t know WHAT he landed on but it must have been sharp because there was a LOT of blood

-maybe you thought there was a lot because you were so worried but still

-you hadn’t even been in the room but you heard his shout (and crash) and you came running

-oh he was lucky you carried gauze and everything in your bag because other wise they’d have to go buy some

-you chewed him out while patching him up, much to his displeasure

-you’re both sweet and sour about it

-“I’m fine! Look, nothing’s broken!”

-“I TOLD you that you could get hurt! I TOLD you it wasn’t safe! Why did you not listen- I’m sorry does that hurt? I’m sorry!”

-“yeah it does hurt-.”

-“than you should have listened to me!!”

-for a while he’s bitter that you were just waiting for him to mess up

-clearly you thought he was just a big clutz to you

-but after a while of him avoiding you and pouting you brought it up again

-“I’m not just waiting for you to fail you know. I just want you to be okay.”

-“that’s not what it feels like! You clearly don’t trust me!”

-“life happens, Leo! Doesn’t matter how skilled you are! You’re an amazing skater but sometimes mistakes are made!”

-ha that changed his tune quickly

-“you think I’m an amazing and skilled skater?

-you just rolled your eyes and left, not saying anything about his comment

-didn’t matter

-this boy is all smiles for the rest of the day

Mikey🧡:

-he was on board from the very start

-he’s got cuddles, piggy back rides, and his own art fan/critic

-lots of baking and cooking together

-maybe even drawing if he’s lucky

-only problem?

-you don’t trust him to go out on his own

-even if it’s just to grab a video game from the store or pick up pizza

-“I’m just going down the block!”

-“what if someone sees you?”

-“I’ll be careful!”

-“just let me go with you.”

-“no! I can do this on my own!”

-you’re always offering to give him a ride or tag along just because you don’t want anything to happen to him

-that means, of course, sneaking out

-not for a long time, just enough to get some air

-but that also means you’re staying up late waiting for him to come back

-he’s your buddy!

-you can’t let anything happen to him!

-he didn’t know about it until he found you cashed out on the couch with the lamp still on

-normally you gave him an excuse about why you were still up, such as a late night snack or a movie

-but your phone and the tv were both off

-he decided to think nothing of it until he noticed that you were grumpier in the mornings

-he didn’t want his actions to affect you so he started coming back earlier

-even texting you and telling you he was fine

-you two talked and set up a deal

-he could go out by himself and you wouldn’t stay up late waiting for him as long as you had his location on your phone

-it was easier for both you from then on

#rottmnt mikey #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt raph #rottmnt oneshots #rottmnt leo #rottmnt imagine #rottmnt headcannons #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt #rottmnt incorrect quotes #rottmnt movie #nickelodeon #tmnt fanfiction #rise of tmnt #tmnt x reader #tmnt headcanons

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calpalirwin · 4 years ago

Text

Painted Pink Room

Summary: Cake adopts a kid.

Word Count: 3.1k

And away, and away we go!

It started with Ashton and Michael introducing them to Wyatt. Wyatt was a spunky little guy of two and a half years old with a mop of wild curls and an infectious little laugh that had Luke looking over at Calum with big pleading eyes and a small pout. And all Calum could do was give a small nod. “So, uh,” Calum started, clearing his throat. “Ash, how did you and Mike… you know?”

“Decide to adopt? Why are you and Luke thinking of doing the same?”

“I mean…” Calum shrugged nervously. “There’s a lot to figure out and whatnot. But uh… kinda hard to deny that this,” he gestured out to the yard where Michael was dying a dramatic death for the benefit of his son who, at Luke’s coaxing of “get him Wyatt!” pounced on Michael, “doesn’t look half bad,” Calum concluded.

A shriek filled the air as Michael roared and started tickling the boy, yelling “Ahahahaha! You fell right into my trap! Now the tickle monster got you! Oh no! Say ‘Uncle Luke help!’”

“Help, help!” Wyatt pleaded with more giggles, pulling at Luke’s hand.

Luke immediately jumped into action, whispering something in the boy’s ear that made him light up before hollering “Attack!” and both Luke and Wyatt started tickling Michael back, all three of them gasping for air amid the storm of giggles.

Ashton and Calum shared a laugh, and then Ashton sighed longingly. “Yeah, it’s gonna be a process. And lots of talking before anything gets done. But the end result is pretty fuckin’ great.”

“Yeah. So how did you and Mike decide that this is what you guys wanted?”

“I mean for me it was easy. I always wanted to be a dad. To prove I could do it without making the same mistakes. But I was afraid of those mistakes, too. Still am. Absolutely scared shitless.”

Calum nodded understandingly. Ashton’s parental history was significantly more fucked than his own had been, but he understood more so than Luke and Michael could about not wanting to repeat mistakes their parents had made. “And Mike?”

Ashton giggled, “Mike is like a big kid himself. He’s great with Wyatt. But he wasn’t sure he was ready for the responsibility that comes with all this. Cuz it’s a lot. I won’t sugarcoat that for ya. But, I dunno. It’s hard to explain how despite all the what ifs and worries, you have a kid anyway. It’s like a blind leap of faith. You just do it and hope for the best.”

“Mhm, and uh… sorry for all the questions, but how did you guys know you wanted Wyatt and not like… adopt a newborn, or try a surrogacy so the kid shared DNA with at least one of you?”

“Well, for one, DNA doesn’t make a family. You know that as well as I do. I mean, look at us, we all found family in each other. But we thought it’d be an easier adjustment with a slightly older kid. Like we wanted them relatively little to have all those experiences. But a newborn felt like it would be too much. And then we met Wyatt and everything just clicked.”

“He’s a cute little thing, that’s for damn sure. Has the coolest dads I know, too.”

Ashton grinned and wrapped an arm around Calum’s shoulder for a sideways hug, “Thanks man. And any kid would be lucky to have you and Luke for dads, you know that right? And you’d have mine and Mike’s support the whole way. Plus it’d kinda be cool if you wanted to give Wyatt a cousin.”

Calum laughed. “Alright, alright. It’ll be a serious discussion now. Gotta make sure it’s not just a bad case of baby fever.”

“Oh, for sure. That’s a conversation all on it’s own.” As he unwrapped his arm from Calum, he glanced at his watch. “Shit.”

“What?”

“Nap time. Ready to see if it’s just a case of baby fever? Mike!”

Michael’s head popped up, and Wyatt took the small distraction to tackle Michael again, the man falling on his ass with a small oomph! “Huh?!” he asked as he wrapped up Wyatt to keep the boy from climbing all over him.

“Time to wrap it up.”

Michael nodded once, standing up and taking Wyatt with him. “C’mon you. Nap time.”

At the word “nap” Wyatt let out a piercing wail and started squirming against Michael’s hold on him. The wail had all four men wincing, and Luke shot Calum a quick glance as if to say “Ooof, could you imagine?” “Ow, Wyatt, we don’t hit. It’s not nice,” Michael scolded lightly, simply adjusting his grip to limit the boy’s protests.

“No!” he wailed, big crocodile tears running down his face.

“Hey,” Ashton said softly, stepping in to help, a thumb brushing away the tears on his son’s face. “Take a breath for me,” and when Wyatt let out a blubbering huff of air with only a sniffle, Ashton smiled at him. “That’s my boy. Now, do you want Daddy to read you a story, or Papa?”

Wyatt sniffed again before making grabby hands for Ashton. Michael kissed his hair before passing Ashton Wyatt. “We’ll play more later. You gotta rest first. And so does Daddy. Love you, bug.”

Ashton chuckled softly as he took Wyatt on his hip, the boy’s head snuggling into his neck. Ashton gave Michael a quick kiss before saying he’d be down in a bit and disappeared inside the house.

“How’d you decide who was Daddy and who was Papa?” Luke asked as the other three men filed inside and settled on the couch in the living room.

Michael shrugged. “Not sure really. It kinda just happened. I mean, it doesn’t really mean too much right now.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well we’ve only had Wyatt a month. Ashton and I try to refer to each other as Daddy and Papa for his sake. To make it more commonplace. I mean, that’s what they said to do. Them being the agency, and the support groups, and all that. But, it’s all new to him. Like he knows I’m Daddy and Ashton’s Papa. But he doesn’t say it yet.”

“Oh… Well, he’ll get there, yeah?”

“Oh yeah. I’m not worried about it. I mean we got to spend plenty of time with him while everything was getting finalized, so he feels safe with us which is what really matters. Everything else is just details. So, Cal, what were you and Ash talking about?”

“Yeah, love, what were you guys talking about?” Luke asked with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

“Oh, I was just asking Ash some questions about how you guys came to decide on having Wyatt. Just curious was all.”

“Curious?” both blondes pressed.

Calum shrugged a little shyly, taking Luke’s hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “We’ll talk about it later, yeah Lu?”

Luke broke out in a grin while Michael laughed loudly. “Not so loud,” Ashton hissed as he came down the stairs.

“Shit, my bad,” Michael apologized. “He go down alright?”

“Out like a light. You and Luke really wore him out. So, what I’d miss?” he asked as he plopped down next to Michael

“Oh, nothing much. Just apparently Cal and Luke are thinking of following our footsteps.”

Ashton nodded. “Yeah, and Luke I’ll tell you what I told Cal outside. It’s a lot. But whatever help or support you guys need, if this is what you guys decide you want, Mike and I are behind you a hundred percent.”

“It’s definitely a conversation I want to have if Cal does,” Luke said, his hand resting on Calum’s thigh.

Calum rested his own hand on top of Luke’s squeezing it reassuringly. “Course, Lu. And thanks guys. The support means a lot.”

“Course, mate,” Michael told him. “Plus, Ash wouldn’t it be cool for Wyatt to get a cousin? It’s like a sibling with less stress.”

~~~

Later that night, Luke rolled over to his side in bed, propping himself up on his elbow, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. “Were you serious early?”

“Serious about what?”

“Us having a baby.”

“Course I was serious. We both wanna be dads, don’t we?”

In a burst of excitement, Luke pushed himself to sit with his legs crossed facing Calum, who mirrored the position, their knees pressed against the other’s. “You’re dead serious? Cuz I swear if you’re fucking with me I’ll never forgive you.”

Calum chuckled softly. “You think I’d joke about something like this? What do you think I was pestering Ash for?”

Luke shrugged and looked away shyly. “Figured you were asking all the stressful stuff so you could talk me down…”

Calum let out another soft chuckle, reaching out to guide Luke’s face back up to look at him. “I mean, Ash did mention that it’s a process, and a lot of discussions, and decisions to make. Like this doesn’t happen overnight. And that’s the easy part. I mean, we’re talking about the end result being us being responsible for a whole ass human.”

“Whoa… yeah that’s kinda scary putting it that way, huh? But…?”

“But if there’s anyone I’d wanna do this with, it’s you, Lu.”

“Yes!” Luke cheered before kissing Calum deeply. “Okay, so how did Ash and Mike get started? Do we wanna do what they did and adopt like a toddler? Or do we wanna go older or younger? Oh newborns are so cute! But it’s kinda cool when they can talk, and actually play too like Wyatt can. Oh, and imagine if we get a little girl? We can learn to do her hair and we can have salon parties all the time! Wait! Do you think we should look into surrogacy? A little mix of you and me? Is that possible you think?” Luke spewed out all the questions he had in a rapid fire barely taking time to breath between words. He paused to suck down a giant gulp of air, his face flushing. “Fuck, sorry, that was a lot.”

“There good questions, Lu. Definitely things we need to talk about. But maybe we start slower. Talk to Ash and Mike about getting in contact with the adoption agency they went through. See what all our options are and go from there?”

“Yeah that’s probably the smartest way to go about this. Just do what feels right each step of the way. Fuck… but we’re really gonna do this? We’re gonna try to have a baby? You and me?”

“Me and you,” Calum smiled.

It was quiet for a moment as they settled in for bed, their decision slowly sinking in. Then, just as Calum closed his eyes, Luke whispered out in the dark. “Hey, love?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I be daddy, and you be papa?”

“Sounds perfect, babe.”

~~~

The process, as Ashton had warned them, was a lot. There were interviews, home inspections, background checks, and seemingly endless piles of paperwork. And that was just for Calum and Luke to get cleared.

Several times they wondered if they should have gone the surrogacy route, but after a few meetings when they were shown some case files, it had been a no-brainer.

They sat side by side as they shifted through file after file, fingers knocking against each other as they pointed out whatever caught their eye. It was the file of a little girl, a baby really at thirteen months old, that had them both gasping at the same time. Brown eyes met blue and there was the briefest of nods. “Um, excuse me, what’s the story on this one? There’s not a lot here,” Luke asked the adoption agency clerk helping them.

“That’s McKenna. She came to us when she was a day old. Safe haven surrender. Sweet little girl. We can arrange a meeting if you’re interested.”

“That would be great, yeah.”

~~~

“So you guys are meeting her today, yeah?” Ashton asked.

“Yeah,” and even though both Calum and Luke were beaming, their voices shook. “Been waiting like what? A month for this?” Calum went on.

“I thought you guys were already four months into this?” Michael questioned.

“Yeah, we are. Shit has it been that long? But since we saw McKenna’s file and now it’s been a month. Longest month of my life…” Luke let out his breath in a small huff, raking his hands through his hair.

“Well, good news is that once you guys get approved to adopt, which you will, the actual adoption process won’t take as long,” Ashton pointed out. “That’s how it was with Wyatt. We got to know him for… what was it Mike? Like a little less than a year while all the processing shit happened. Because they’ll keep scheduling visits so everyone gets comfortable. Makes the transition easier. And then because we had that background established, the adoption process was like… 2 months I wanna say? And that was just waiting for the court date.”

“Something like that yeah. But hey, don’t sweat it if you and the kid don’t click. Like it’s okay. Take your time with it,” Michael jumped in.

“Yeah, definitely. No rush.”

“How did you guys know with Wyatt?” Calum asked.

“You’re just gonna know, mate. I promise. Instinct will take over and you’ll just know.”

Calum understood exactly what his friends meant when two hours later McKenna was set in his arms. Big brown eyes peered up at him full of confused wonder, deciding how she felt about the man holding her and the tall blonde smiling down at her. “Well, hey there, McKenna. I’m Cal, and this is Luke.”

McKenna watched Calum carefully as he spoke, before shifting her attention to Luke who was waving at her. She reached a small hand out towards Luke. Luke held out his index finger for her and her small fist wrapped around it. “Hey, sweetheart,” he cooed softly. “Oh, Cal, she’s beautiful isn’t she?”

“Yeah she’s a beaut, aren’t you, darling? Do you want Luke to hold you?”

Luke held out his arms warmly and McKenna wiggled a bit in Calum’s arms so he started to pass her over, but her free hand bunched itself in Calum’s shirt, not letting go, causing both men to laugh. “Alright, that’s okay. We’ll just hold hands,” Luke told her scrunching up his nose at her and tickling at her ribs, giggling when she giggled.

“This is the quickest I’ve ever seen her warm up to a family before,” one of the workers running the meeting mentioned. “Normally she’s way more shy than this.”

“Does that mean you like us, darling?” Calum asked. “Cuz I really hope it does.”

~~~

Eleven months. Eleven months of having to be content with limited visiting time with the little girl who stole more of their hearts every time they were with her. Eleven of the longest months they’d ever experienced before they got the phone call that everything had been approved and they could finally get in front of a judge to formalize the adoption.

“So, when can we schedule a court date?” Calum choked out over the phone.

“We can get the three of you in front of a judge in three weeks.”

“And that’s when we’ll be able to take her home?”

“Barring any complications, yes.”

“Complications? Um… Sorry, could you explain that?” Calum asked, holding up a finger at Luke who’s eyes went wide with worry.

“Usually it has to do with paperwork that wasn’t processed properly, or waiting the right amount of days, and in some rare cases biological parents popping out of the woodwork.”

“And, do you…” Calum faltered with his question.

“Foresee any complications with your case? No. Everything’s been processed, waiting periods have been waited, and safe haven surrender terminated the biological parents rights.”

Calum let out a small laugh of relief. “Okay. Awesome. That’s great. So three weeks?”

“I’ll forward you the information.”

“Great. Thank you so much.”

“Well?!” Luke demanded as Calum ended the call, chewing on his thumbnail.

“Three more weeks, Lu. Three more weeks and she’s all ours.”

“YES!” Luke whooped, wrapping Calum in a tight hug. “Our daughter’s coming home in three weeks! Three weeks, love! That’s nothing! We can do three weeks, no problem. Plenty of time to get her room set up.”

“Better get to work then.”

~~~

If asked, Calum and Luke couldn’t answer what happened in the courtroom, what with their shaking hands, and pounding heartbeats drowning out any other sound. The words that filtered in were muddled and slow. “Accepted” and “congratulations” before the gavel was pounding and they snapped out of their haze, tears free falling down their faces.

What they did remember in sharp focus was the drive home, with McKenna in the backseat. Luke kept turning in his seat and Calum kept peering through the rearview mirror, each one grinning every time she was still there when they looked, as if they expected each time to find the backseat empty like this had all been a figment of their imagination.

They remembered the way she started yawning and rubbing her eyes as Luke’s voice crooned a soft lullaby at bedtime. The hushed goodnights and I love yous, and the soft glow of the night light. And not sure of what else to do, they turned in for the night themselves.

The alarm clock on Calum’s nightstand said that it was a little after midnight when someone tugged at his hand.

Calum jerked awake, finding McKenna peeking up at him. “What’s the matter, darling?” he rasped.

“I scared.”

“You’re scared? Aw, c’mere, darling.” He peeled back the covers and helped her up into bed beside him. “Everything’s new, huh?”

She nodded, curling her body into him.

“That’s okay. Daddy and I will keep you safe, I promise.”

“Hmm?” Luke mumbled in his sleep. “Love, who are you ta- oh hey sweetheart,” Luke’s eyes blinked open to find Calum cradling McKenna. “Everything okay?”

“Just a little scared is all,” Calum explained.

“Mmm, well don’t worry, sweetheart. You wanna sleep in here with me and Papa?”

McKenna nodded before crawling over Calum to sandwich herself between her dads. “That’s our girl,” Luke smiled, kissing her forehead and drawing the blanket up snug. “All nice and cozy?”

“Mhm,” she nodded with a small yawn.

“G’night, darling. We’ll be right here if you need us,” Calum told her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “We love you.”

“So stinking much,” Luke added.

As they settled back down themselves, Calum and Luke heard the softest, “Night, wuv you too,” from McKenna, causing both men to fall asleep with grins on their faces, their little girl protectively snuggled between them. Perfect.

Tag List

@aquarius-hood1996 @creator-appreciator @philthepegacorn @myfavfanficsever @cxddlyash @youngblood199456 @stormrider505 @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @hoodhoran @metalandboybands @maybeememez @major5sosstan @1weekago @kaitieskidmore1

#painted pink room #calum hood #calum hood fic #luke hemmings #luke hemmings fic #calum hood x luke hemmings #dad!cake #5sos #calpal irwin

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detectiveguapo · 5 years ago

Text

Choke

Summary: Miguel doesn’t like it when you ghost him.

Pairing: Miguel Galindo x Reader

Words: 2905

TW: language, sex, consensual angry sex (but kinda has shades of non-con), physical violence, choking

---

The roar of the engine rips through the quiet of your suburban street. Two wheels ignite the pavement as you steer the bars left, your modest bungalow finally coming into view. Everything is as you left it except for a pair of black cars with tinted windows parked on the adjacent street. A visit from the president, you think wryly. A window rolls down and you spot those clear-framed sunglasses and a salt and pepper beard (just begging to be sat on). “Shit,” you mutter, and it reverberates within the confines of your helmet. The moment you turn to your driveway and your engine sputters to a stop, the driver to the Bentley steps out. The kickstand scratches on the concrete as you pull the helmet over your head, your hair flowing out to fall down the small of your back. You don’t look behind you, but you can hear the set of footsteps encroaching upon your space.

“I know where you’ve been.” His voice is deceivingly placid, but you can sense the dark clouds and looming thunderstorm. The click of Italian shoes stops a few feet from where you’re standing, then you hear his men retreat a safe distance — far enough so they’re not privy to your conversation, but close enough to intercept if you decided to hurt a hair on their boss’ precious, pretty head. “You’re tracking me now?” “I wouldn’t have to if you were honest with me.” You chuckle at the irony of it all. Miguel Galindo — the man who keeps more secrets than the United States Treasury — is telling you to be honest with him.

The statement is infuriating, but it’s low on the list of things he does that make your blood boil. The demand to be truthful when you can’t expect the same in return is, frankly, unsurprising since you know what you got yourself into when you started sleeping with him. But it’s still bullshit. There’s also the possessiveness, the jealousy, the refusal to acknowledge you want more from him than he’s willing to give. You know it’s like diving in quicksand getting involved with the leader of a drug cartel, but you can’t help it. Reason flies out the window the second he shows up in his perfectly-pressed shirts, expertly-coiffed hair, and that stupidly gorgeous face. The fucking nerve.

He’s not even your type. He’s wound up tight, doesn’t have a speck of dirt under his fingernails, and can’t hang and have a beer with your friends. At least, that’s what you tell yourself when you try to resist the biological need to mount him. He’s not what you go for, seeing as you’re the kind of girl who gets around town in a Harley and makes a living tinkering with engines. But his infuriating way of getting whatever he wants works on you, because you’re really not that different from the other girls. You may be one of the boys, but you’d still be a hoe for Galindo if he asked nicely. And the fucker’s really good at that. He’s got a way of smoothing out your rough edges (with his tongue).

The door doesn’t slam behind you even though you have every intention of slamming it in Miguel’s face telenovela-style. He follows you inside the house, through the living room, into the kitchen, cornering you between the fridge and the hard wall that is his body. “Why haven’t you been answering my calls?” You take a swig from the orange juice carton and swallow hard, the citrus burning your throat. Putting it back in the fridge, you turn around and duck under his outstretched arm to move out of the claustrophobic space. “Stop walking away from me” he calls after you. “And stop ignoring my questions.”

You’re in the narrow hallway on the way to your bedroom when you feel a tight grip on your arm and your body slammed onto the drywall. It nearly knocks the wind out of you. Wincing at the sudden impact, you blink a few times before you see Miguel’s reddened face inches from yours. The knot between his brows is deep and his eyes are so intense you can’t bear to return his stare. There are moments when Miguel can be on the aggressive side when you’re having sex, but it’s something you’ve both consented to and discussed. You love it when he’s rough, sometimes egging him on to push your limits. But he’s never been like this outside of sex even when he’s angry with you; he’s never let any form of physical violence take over. A little part of you is scared as you’re suddenly reminded of who he is and what he’s done. You’re not oblivious. You’ve heard the stories. You know about the yellow raincoat deep in his closet. And yet, another little part of you located between the apex of your thighs is awakened. The shallow breaths between you in such a cramped space is the only sound that exists for a long, drawn-out moment. The rise and fall of his chest stretches the perfectly-pressed shirt until it forms creases around the buttons. He runs his hand through his hair in frustration with himself, then he takes a step back and groans. “Fuck.”

“I think you should leave,” you say with a crack in your voice, unsure of whether or not it’s really what you want. “Please go.” “Tell me why you left.” “Miguel.” “Why did you disappear without telling me?” he asks, almost pleading. “We were fine up until a week ago, then all of a sudden you don’t want to see me, you don��t want to talk to me, you want nothing to do with me. What is it? What did I do?” “I don’t want to do this right now.” Miguel slaps his palms against the wall, forearms on either side of your head. You close your eyes like you’re bracing for impact but it never comes. “You bailed on our arrangement, and I’m not leaving until I have answers.” “Our arrangement,” you repeat with bitterness laced in your voice. “The arrangement where you only crawl back to me whenever it’s convenient for you — only when you’re looking for a warm body to share your bed. But the rest of the time, you’re cool with the rest of the world thinking you’re some hotshot bachelor. You have no clue, huh?” “Is that why you’re running from me? Because of a fucking label? Because I don’t think it benefits either of us to make you my fucking girlfriend?” “Please,” you say. “This last week, I’ve come to realize I deserve more than to be Galindo’s puta.” “What do you deserve?” His mouth close to your ear, his breath trailing fire on your skin. “To be the Mayans’ puta?”

“Fuck you, Miguel.” You push him off you, but in a second he’s cornered you against the wall, his hands firmly gripping your shoulders. “You can’t speak to me like that.” “Fuck. You.” He grabs you by the chin, forcing you to look at him. “Try that again and —“ “— And what?” You spit back. “You’ll bash my head in? Cut my arm off? Choke me to death with your shirt?” He backs off a little like he knows he’s on the verge of doing something unspeakable, even for him. This is what you find so confusing about him. He has these moments where he’s compassionate and loyal, where he uses his brilliance for the benefit of others, and then there are moments where he’s too immersed in the terrible things he’s done that he isolates himself. He won’t let anyone he actually cares about see that part of him. He won’t let anyone he loves see him when he’s the man on the other side of that wall. But something vicious inside you sees that moment of vulnerability and decides to stab it with a knife and twist until he bleeds out. “Don’t tell me what to do. Don’t tell me who I can’t hang out with,” you say about your friends. You know it works because his expression darkens with anger the moment you bring it back to the Mayans; something about your relationship to the club is like picking at an old wound for Miguel. “I tell you what to do because I own you.” He presses his forehead against yours, his hands restraining your hips so you’re trapped with nowhere to go. “I even own the Mayans. I own every single fucking person on either side of this border. They work for me and they fall to their fucking knees for me.”

“If you own me then claim me.” Miguel looks into your eyes, his brows creasing and his lips parting. If he doesn’t want to be with you, then he’s not worth all of the pain. Even if he makes you feel good, it’s not worth the hurt when he leaves and pretend you don’t exist. “Make me yours, Miguel.” He thinks about it a second too long, and you push him off.

Miguel retaliates in a flash with his hand around you throat and his whole body slamming into you. He chokes you. He doesn’t even slacken his hold when his eyes give away how startled he is by the force he’s inflicting upon you. His grip stays the same even as you gasp for air and your eyes are wide in horror (and arousal). Your face is pointed to the ceiling as you feel the anguished cry from your lips turn into something along the lines of a mischievous smile. You buck your hips into his, and when he doesn’t change course, you spit in his face.

Miguel chokes harder. He’s crushing your throat so tight you feel your eyes bug out of your skull, and now you’re legitimately terrified you’re going to die of asphyxiation. Everything goes blurry and all you remember is the onyx gleam in his eyes and the bright white canines that you wish would scrape at your skin until you’re bleeding crimson for him. But then he lets go. His breaths are ragged while you’re coughing up a storm, trying to take in as much oxygen and save what’s left of your lungs. You’re doubled over, palm over your chest when you see him standing on the opposite wall. His fingers are running through his hair, his mouth muttering curse words in Spanish. You stand a little straighter as you let your fingers trail along the side of your neck, throwing him a challenge by smiling slyly in his direction. Shoving you against the wall and forcing his thigh between your legs, he kisses you. One hand wraps around the front of your throat while the other caresses down your cheek. It’s violent and tender at the same time. It’s infuriatingly Miguel.

He continues to strangle you but no longer with the same merciless force as before. Not when he’s simultaneously distracted by the taste of your tongue tangling with his, or the sensation of you rubbing on his thigh. His deft fingers loosen the buttons of your jeans and pulls them swiftly down to your knees. You kick them off, but not far enough. Miguel pulls away from the kiss and his chokehold to bend down and slip your jeans entirely off your legs, throwing them down the hall. He kisses and licks and bites your inner thigh on his way up then all the way down as he slides the lacy thong out of the way. Hands slide up under your white t-shirt, grabbing a handful of your tits. He squeezes with the same force he had on your neck and you gyrate onto his clothed erection. Hands wrap under your jaw, tilting your head up so he can kiss you. It frees you up to work on his trousers and his underwear, getting them out of the way so you can feel the hot, thick length that you’ve craved. As much as you’ve missed the feeling of being filled up by Miguel, the memory doesn’t come close to the real thing. He bucks into your hands as he cradles your face, his head buried in the leather-clad junction of your shoulder. “You feel so fucking good, baby.” He jerks into the tight ring formed by your fingers. “Don’t ever try to leave me again.” You loosen your grip and let your hands fall to your side. “You’re not going anywhere.” “You can’t make me —“ He wrings your neck in both hands and, this time, he lifts you off the ground. You claw at him in your state of panic, heels kicking against the wall so you can get down. Fear is coursing through every cell in your bloodstream. He’s going to kill you. Miguel Galindo, your lover who also happens to be a murderous cartel boss, is literally going to be the death of you. He buries his cock inside you. The tilt of his hips alleviates some of the pressure around your throat, allowing you to balance precariously on his length. He saves you by fucking you. You’re up against the wall, one hand tight around your throat and the other slides down to your hip as he pounds into you. Each stroke a ferocious testament to his bond of ownership.

The lights begin to dance in front of your eyes and the narrow hallway becomes a never-ending spiral. It might be from the lack of oxygen to your brain, or the merciless fucking, or a wicked combination of both. Miguel is in some sort of daze, laser-focused on one thing and one thing only and that’s claiming you so you’re at his mercy. His eyes are the darkest they’ve ever been and you wonder, in a brief moment of lucidity, if this is what he looks like when he’s ordering a kill. You slide down the wall as his grip loosens and his legs give out. Falling on the floor, you feel his weight on top of you, never disengaging his cock from your slick walls. He drives into you a few more times while he tries to catch his breath, and while you try to get some long, deep breaths of your own before he’s got his hands choking you again. He kneels. He pulls your ass off the floor so your back is arched, and he impales you to the hilt. You’re so wet and wired for him, but this new angle is hitting a new spot and it hurts (but in the best way.) Your body tries to rumble out a moan but he’s stifling it down and all it can do is simmer inside of you. This position opens you up and makes you even more vulnerable. While he keeps one hand on your neck, squeezing with every downward stroke, he takes his other hand to your clit. He doesn’t even give you time to adjust to the sensation as he circles and pinches with his fingers. He sticks a couple fingers in his mouth and lubes them up, positioning them over your over-sensitized clit. At this point, it becomes too much and your muddled brain doesn’t know if it’s experiencing immense pleasure or pain. You just know you’re going to die if you don’t get your release soon. “You’re mine.” He pants with deep, hard strokes. “You will always be mine.” There’s nothing about the way he says it that makes you feel comforted or makes you feel like you’re getting what you want. Being his girlfriend is a silly thing to ask of him — you know that, but you can’t help your heart from wanting what your head knows is a terrible idea. For a long time now, you’ve wanted to hear Miguel say those words. You dreamed to belong to each other. You just never expected those words to come out as a threat. Rolling your clit between his fingers and fucking you faster and stronger, you feel the wave crash over you and your whole body convulsing from the base of your belly outward. When you come, you lose your breath and pass out.

All you remember next is a haze. You’re gasping for air like you’ve just woken up from a nightmare as you feel Miguel pulling out. He’s still kneeling over you but he shoves your legs on either side of him. Still on his knees, he sits up so he’s towering over you. He grips his length with the hand he used to choke you and he jerks off, finishing in milky hot streaks all over your stomach.

When it’s all over, you roll to your side, clutching your bruised neck and coughing weakly. Everything hurts. There’s an ache nestled within the left side of your chest, right below your ribcage, and it makes you wonder if you’re having a heart attack. Chin on the floor, you blink a few times to see Miguel on his feet. He’s straightening his clothes — buttoning his trousers and smoothing down the wrinkles of his shirt. He walks toward the door, but before he leaves he looks at you with a mix of pity and an empty sort of affection. The kind one has for an object they desire, not for someone they love. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says quietly then adds, “answer your fucking phone this time.”

#mayans mc #mayans fx #miguel galindo #danny pino #miguel galindo x reader #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fic #mayans mc fanfic #fyna #choking #angry!miguel #to balance out the soft!miguel i gave you last time

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monstersdownthepath · 5 years ago

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Milestone Spotlight: Deskari, Lord of the Locust Host

Chaotic Evil Demon Lord of Chasms, Infestations, and Locusts

Domains: Chaos, Destruction, Evil, War Subdomains: Blood, Catastrophe, Demon, Tactics

The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 42~43

Obedience: Meditate while allowing insects or worms of any type to crawl upon your body. If no such vermin is available, you must instead lie facedown in a trench dug into soil and mouth prayers to Deskari into the dirt while scratching yourself with sharp bits of bone or wood. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against disease and against effects caused by Vermin.

Have a buggy familiar? Done. Don’t have one, but a party member does? Done. No one have a buggy familiar? Keep some bugs as a pet; done. Can’t? Well then this gets a little harder. Plopping yourself down besides an anthill is unfeasible for multiple days in a row, not to mention dangerous to your health if they believe you’re a carcass that must be scavenged. Sometimes, you can just dig straight down a little bit to find some nice worms to plop right onto your chest for an hour, though heaping loose soil on yourself every day has dangers of its own.

Not as many as the secondary option, though. The wording here implies that you can’t use mud or sand, though your DM may be a bit more lenient here because it also requires you to scratch yourself to pieces with sharpened wood and bone. Thankfully you don’t need a carved knife or anything so complex, you can just snap a branch off a tree or somesuch if you need to (and bones are always available for adventurers!), but covering yourself in bleeding scratches every day will likely get people wondering what on earth you’re doing each time you vanish for an hour, which can lead to numerous uncomfortable questions. Unlike many Demon Lords, Deskari is known all across the Inner Sea Region because he’s responsible for the Worldwound, one of the greatest threats to life on the entire planet, and as such if you’re publicly found to be one of his followers? Roll up a new sheet, bud. It only gets harder if you use literally any of Deskari’s Boon abilities in public, too.

The added danger of worshiping one of the most prominent Demon Lords in the setting can make for an experience that’s both interesting and potentially hair-pulling, because you’ve got to make extra sure not to have your faith revealed to the authorities of a given settlement. At the very least, dropping bug-infested soil onto your body each day to perform the first ritual could be explained away as you communing with nature or the earth, rather than the insects within the earth, but carving up your own skin while laying facedown in a hole is a pretty big red flag. ... Also, now that I think about it, if you’re facedown in a hole, it’d be pretty difficult to scratch anything but your back and sides, right? Hm.

The benefit is low-tier. Diseases are rarely too much of a danger if you have any sort of caster in your party, though stopping them before they begin will save you a bit of gold in the long run. A universal saving throw bonus against the abilities of an entire creature type would be fantastic if that creature type wasn’t Vermin, who are known for A) disease and B) poison and little else. In Deskari’s favor, this bonus does indeed apply to the Distraction ability of most swarming Vermin, so a bit of extra help to avoid being Nauseated is always welcome.

Boons are acquired slowly: the first once you reach 12 hit dice, the second at 16, and the third at 20. However, the Evangelist, Exalted, and Sentinel Prestige Classes can be entered as early as level 7; doing so grants you the Boons at levels 10, 13, and 16 instead. Servants of demons may also take the Demoniac Prestige Class; you don’t get the Boons any faster than E/E/S, but you may select which Boon set you get, and you get cool demon-related powers!

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EVANGELIST

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Boon 1: Locusts’ Gifts. Gain Jump 3/day, Acid Arrow 2/day, or Fly 1/day

Why bother looking at Jump when Fly is an option? Granted, getting affected with Jump at level 10 (the earliest you can get this spell) means you can, among other things, clear a 30ft gap with no effort and get yourself an Eight Foot Vertical Leap... But flight will always be infinitely more useful. The biggest difference is that, while they last the same amount of time (1 min/level), you get Jump 3/day. It’s really up to you if Eight Foot Vertical Leap three times a day would be more useful for your character than a 60ft fly speed once a day, though to me, staying out of an enemy’s reach is always preferable.

Acid Arrow is alright in that respect. The damage it deals is pathetically low, but it’s repeated damage that cannot be resisted once it begins (unless the victim can jump in some water immediately) and both castings of the spell can stack together to make the damage stack on. I personally can’t think of a reason you’d take it over Fly, though.

Boon 2: Avatar of the Locust Host. 1/day, you can cast Verminous Transformation as a spell-like ability; the swarming parts of your body are comprised of locusts, and your swarm attack deals double damage to Plant creatures.

For 1 round/level, you transmute portions of your body into swarming locusts that can chow down on up to four Medium targets (or one Large+ target) within 10ft of you, automatically dealing 4d6 damage and forcing the victim to make a Fortitude save (10+1/2 your HD+Cha mod) or take 1d3 Con and Str damage from poison. Spooky! It also forces you into melee range more or less, but your swarm form also means you only take half damage from piercing and slashing attacks!

Also, it hits four targets for automatic damage. If you find yourself in a melee you want no part of, suddenly exploding into locusts and harrying your foes can break their morale in a hurry. Slapping four enemies at once means you can easily chew through smaller foes while damaging larger ones without the usual dangers of using AoE magic (like hitting allies), and 4d6 is a nice sweet spot of being a good chunk of damage without it being overpowering. And, again, it’s automatic; no attack roll needed, with the only interactions being the enemy HP going down and them rolling versus your poison. Being stuck in melee while your bugs are literally eating the enemy’s Str bit by bit doesn’t sound so bad, all of a sudden!

I like the touch that it deals double damage to Plant monsters, because if any intelligent Plant creature sees you turn into a swarm of locusts, they’re probably going to stop fighting immediately. The downside to this ability is that it lasts only 1 round/level and can only be used 1/day, so it may fall into Too Awesome To Use territory, though I’d personally unleash it any time I was facing a group of enemies that was even slightly challenging.

Boon 3: Infestation of the Flesh. 1/day as a standard action, you can transform into a Hellwasp Swarm for up to 8 hours. You gain Swarm traits (including immunity to weapon damage), a swarm attack, and the Hellwasp’s poison, Distraction, and Inhabit abilities. While in this form, you cannot perform any actions that the swarm could not perform; this includes casting spells with somatic components and wielding weapons or items. While not using the swarm’s Inhabit ability, you can return to your normal form as a full-round action. This is a Polymorph effect.

Heurghh, nasty. For your enemies, of course! You’re perfectly fine.

The fact you gain these abilities rather than just replacing your statblock with that of the Swarm makes me think that this means it runs largely on how other Polymorph spells in PF works; namely, your statblock largely remains the same, but new stuff is stapled onto it. If this is true, it means that your swarm damage is 4d6 rather than 3d6 (and increases to 5d6 once you hit 20 HD), and your poison and Distraction have a save of (10+1/2 your HD+your Con mod) rather than what a Vanilla Hellwasp Swarm possesses. Nice!

The real important bit here, though, is that you have the swarm’s Inhabit ability. Suddenly, any enemy that’s not outright killed is an unholy vessel for your power. Your poor victims are eternally Dominated by your presence until an outside source either kills them or expels you, or you finally eat their Constitution to 0 after a few hours. Even then, though, you continue puppeting their corpse around like a second skin, shielding yourself from attacks as you march to find a better body. If you don’t really need your spells or items, you can spend a full adventuring day walking around inside other people’s skin

Dominating your victim means you can use all of their powers for your own evil benefit, so if that wizard you just knocked out still has spell slots left? If that troll is still kicking? If that dragon just recharged its breath weapon? All yours to command. Plus, even if your other foes kill your new shell, you continue to animate their corpse to use as a beatstick or an extra mountain of flesh to protect your insectoid form.

It takes a full minute to inhabit a victim, so you can’t just jump from shell to shell in the middle of a pitched battle, but you know what you can do? Jump from shell to shell all day until just before you reach the final boss, and then hop out and reform, basically fresh as a daisy with all your resources ready to tear into them. It’s very hard to take meaningful damage while inhabiting a shell, so while the rest of your party is nearly tuckered out and running on fumes and what few resources they could cling to, you’re likely barely below 75% health and have spent exactly one (1) of your dailies for the current session.

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EXALTED

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Boon 1: Swarming Susurrus. Gain Inflict Light Wounds 3/day, Summon Swarm 2/day, or Summon Monster III (Vermin only) 1/day.

Inflight Light Wounds has already fallen off by this point, useful only to patch up any Undead allies you may have to keep them on their feet, Summon Swarm can be dangerous to use unless you conjure it at maximum range, as the swarms are indiscriminate in their tide of destruction. The Vermin-only restriction on Summon Monster III means you’re likely going to be stuck summoning Fiendish Giant Ants or a pair of Fiendish Giant Centipedes to aid you. In either case, their usefulness in combat is minor if you’re fighting foes of a similar CR to your level, with the main selling point being that their mindlessness means an enemy Enchanter cannot control them and turn them against you.

All three of these are fairly underwhelming, but Summon Swarm is fun to drop directly on an enemy’s space, because it will continue to pursue the closest source of flesh it can--just make sure it’s not yours!

Boon 2: Swarm-Walker. You can walk through any swarm without taking damage or suffering any ill effects—swarms recognize you as one of their own. As long as you stand within a swarm, you gain a +4 profane bonus on initiative checks and saving throws.

Well... I guess that’s alright? I like the idea of monkey swarms, swarms of Beheaded, and masses of Grey Goo all leave you be just as a swarm of ticks or locusts would.

Taking advantage of the Initiative bonus requires conjuring or finding a swarm beforehand, or being ambushed by a swarm that falls upon you. You should be trying to summon things before combat begins anyway (due to most summoning spells taking a full round), though if you have no means of doing so beyond what Deskari has granted you, Summon Swarm is a pathetic way to reap this ability’s benefits as your shield of vermin crawls off to go eat an adjacent ally. You’ll want something more reliable, such as Vomit Swarm or Mad Monkeys (the former even scaling better with your level than Summon Swarm) to invoke this ability, not only making creatures in melee with you regret it, but bolstering your saves against everything by an additional +4.

... But only as long as the swarm lasts, and only while you don’t move outside of it or it moves away, and only as long as your enemies don’t blast you with AoE that kills the swarm instantly, and so on and so forth. It’s a very difficult ability to really take advantage of, and half of its usefulness is completely lost if you’re only inundated in a swarm before combat begins.

Boon 3: Swarm Master. 1/day, you can cast Quickened Insect Plague.

No, no, no no no! Awful!

Yes, it lets you take better advantage of Swarm-Walker, but this is by no means a good final Boon! Come on, Deskari, if you want our assistance in your fiendish goals, you need to sweeten the deal a little bit here! No one’s going to want to be your Exalted if all you have to offer them is a 1/day wall of wasps!

That’s more or less what this ability is, by the way. It may as well be literally called Wall of Wasps, because your summoned swarms (all five of them) can’t move from the spot they’re summoned in. While they can act as obscuring cover, their low HP (31) will rarely survive a single Fireball or Cone of Cold from a level-appropriate enemy, and the DC 13 save on their poison and Distraction abilities will rarely land on any target you need them to. Both their damage and their poison deal so little damage (2d6 and 1 Dex, respective) that they’re unlikely to keep anyone from just walking through the storm of wasps to get at you,

It’s more for intimidation than anything else, making an enemy rethink coming closer. Intimidation and using the Wasp Ocean to take advantage of Swarm-Walker, and that’s just not good enough in my book.

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SENTINEL

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Boon 1: Split the Earth. Gain Stumble Gap 3/day, Create Pit 2/day, or Spiked Pit 1/day.

I’ve stated my love of the usefulness of Create Pit and Spiked Pit in the past (under the Sentinel Boons), with them being pseudo Save-or-Sucks that can take anything without a decent Strength score or some Climb skill ages to clamber back out of the pit, while you and your allies either deal with other foes, or rain destruction down on them from above. Even if the victim makes their initial save, the pit doesn’t go anywhere, letting you push your targets in one at a time if need be. Since it’s literally just a huge hole in the ground, you can even hurl multiple enemies inside!

Which leaves a unique spell in Stumble Gap. It’s a cute spell, essentially cursing a single 5ft tile with a mobile, extradimensional gap that tries tripping up everyone who enters it. Anyone in the square when you first cast the spell or who enters the square while it’s still in effect must succeed a Reflex save (11+Cha mod) or fall prone into an adjacent square and take 1d6 damage. The real kicker, though? Even succeeding your save against the gap makes you stumble ever-so-slightly... which, for some reason, gives you a -1 penalty to ALL ROLLS AND CHECKS for a full round. Everything from attack rolls to damage rolls to saving throws to Knowledge checks (somehow) suffer a -1 penalty for a full round.

It’s not much, but it’s an interesting consolation prize and a very interesting line of text in what is otherwise a very simple spell. The penalty to every roll they make even on success makes it almost worth taking, if just for the possibility of making a 1-point success into a failure. It’d be difficult to make use of it more than once per casting, but I can see some amusing scenarios arising if you cast it three times in a row to either cover a single 15ft hallway, or in a long line in a 5ft hallway as a crowd of foes behind you trips all over themselves and each other.

Still, for all its potential (comedic and otherwise), I’d stick with the more reliable Create Pit or Spiked Pit.

Boon 2: Planar Wound. 3/day as a standard action, you can strike the ground with a scythe to open a fissure under your feet or the feet of an adjacent Medium or smaller creature (if you target yourself, the rift opens just enough to let you—and only you—through, regardless of your size). This fissure is a planar rift that sends the creature to the Rasping Rifts in the Abyss, as per Plane Shift, except the fissure can transport only one creature and closes instantly after doing so (or after being avoided). An unwilling target can attempt a Reflex save (DC = 10+1/2 HD+Cha mod) to evade the fissure and negate this effect. Flying and levitating creatures are immune to this effect, and a creature capable of flight that is standing on the ground can avoid this effect if it succeeds at a DC 20 Fly check (it can still attempt a Reflex save to avoid the spell if it fails this Fly check).

im sorry what

did. do you just. you just... you just send them to the Abyss? Like straight up?

There are Save-Or-Die effects in Pathfinder, and then there’s this. This is a step above Save-Or-Die, this is Save-Or-Be-Personally-Delivered-To-A-Demon-Lord-As-A-Plaything. This is Save-Or-Wish-You-Could-Die. If you manage to hit an enemy with this, they have a limited time to Plane Shift anywhere but where they are right now or they’re done. That’s it. On the best of days the Abyss is a hostile place to be, but the Rasping Rifts is close to the Worldwound and thus crawling with demons eager to pounce on the first non-demon creature they see. It’s also the personal realm of Deskari and is flooded with a hive-mind of verminous beasts, and as a level 13 servant, he’s likely to be paying attention to you and everything you do. He’ll know when you’ve sent someone to him.

He may even ask you to. Knock them unconscious or strike them with some form of paralysis and they can’t make their Reflex save, so they’re helplessly delivered right to the Lord of the Locust Host, who himself is a CR 29 horror beyond the hope of a single mortal to beat. The lack of a restriction beyond size means you can make extra use of effects which shrink your enemies down to ruin their lives even further. At the very least, since it operates like Plane Shift, the delivery point isn’t exact; it may take some time for the Demon Lord to find out where its new toy has gotten off to.

A DM wishing (justifiably) to rein this ability in may have Deskari command the Sentinel to hold off on sending just any old victim to the Rifts, and instead focus on specific targets. Of course, a DM can also point out that this ability carries with it the risk of losing out on loot, as your victim takes everything with them when they go. Be wary about using this on someone who’s carrying the Plot Device!

... using it on yourself, by the way, isn’t recommended. I doubt Deskari would tolerate cowardice. Could be an interesting roleplaying opportunity, though, bargaining with the demon horde of the Rasping Rifts, offering to lead them out. Just make sure you do have a way to get back out, because Planar Wound only goes in one direction. I wonder what happens if you use it while already in the Rasping Rifts?

Boon 3: Welcome the Rasping Rifts. 1/day, you can cast Rift of Ruin as a spell-like ability. When the rift closes, each creature still present within the rift must attempt a Will save (against the spell’s save DC = 18+Cha). Creatures that succeed at this save are expelled violently (as normal for the spell), while those that fail are expelled violently into the Rasping Rifts in the Abyss. If you close the rift early to summon creatures, you summon one additional creature of the same type.

For those who don’t know what the Rift of Ruin spell does, the short version is that it’s a souped up Spiked Pit spell. The hole is 5ft wide, 5ft/level long (so 80ft when you first get it), 60ft deep, and loaded with chewing mouths, acidic mist, starving fiends, and all sorts of other Abyssal nasties that make it painful to stay inside the rift. Everyone and everything inside takes 6d6 damage that’s randomly selected from bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, Electricity, Cold, Fire, or Sonic upon entry to the rift and each round they begin inside of it. If the spell ends and everything’s shot out, they take double damage that round and are knocked prone as the rift spits them back out.

So, every good thing I have to say about Pit spells? Say them bigger and louder here. But, that’s not all! Because you can end the spell early to instead call upon an Abyssal denizen, summoning two Bebeliths or two Vrocks, 1d3+1 Shadow Demons or Succubi, OR 1d4+2 Babaus or Brimoraks. Two Bebeliths or two Vrocks is usually the correct choice, as they’re resilient and dangerous in their own rights (especially Bebeliths, with their ability to shred armor like paper), but swamping stronger foes with smaller enemies can quickly finish a fight... if it wasn’t finished in the first place by the Rift of Ruin vomiting the victim into the Rasping Rifts.

One fun thing to try is to sit at the edge of the rift and waiting for an enemy to almost, almost climb their way back out before snapping the thing shut and either sending them to the Abyss, or stranding them on your side where they’re prone, tired, and now surrounded by demons.

Deskari is kind to his Sentinels.

You can read more about him here.

#Milestone Monster #Spiritual Spotlight #Sinister Spotlight #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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sinister-bob · 5 years ago

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Truthfully, each time there is some sort of outbreak (namely from foreign countries because the racism really jumps out), I get irritated. If there’s nothing you can do, have hope, keep clean, and monitor yourself/surroundings. That’s it. That’s all you can do.

I have a chronic illness, and with that comes a compromised immune system, which means that even flu shots are out for me. But for the most part I live like this, since a common cold can lay me low for a month or longer. So it’s more so a drudge, and seeing people panicking like this feels like an overreaction, though if I care to be empathetic enough, I know why. You’re not used to the thought of all this, or the great finality of it all.

It’s going to get better, guys. Just like it always has before. Yes, there are risks, but that’s for the people with the compromised immune systems, IE., people like me, pregnant folk and the elderly. You are going to survive. Remember that.

But, people are scared. Just like they always are. Which makes sense, so okay, you want to be healthy along with your friends, family, and other people. But, in doing so, people are buying out stores, using not really necessary things that are bad for the environment, and buying hand sanitizer, which was found years ago to be BAD on a whole other level because it makes super-bugs that can’t be killed by antibiotics.

There are things, though, that you can get, that you can make, that will work in place of them. All it takes is a little effort, so in the long run, these things will probably be cheaper too.

Wet wipes 2

Disinfectant 2 3

Thieves oil 2 mix it with oil based hand lotion, or a carrier oil, like coconut oil, which is antibacterial in itself.*

Four thieves vinegar 2 3 4 (white vinegar is fine, don’t believe their lies. You can also eat this, unlike the thieves oil.)

Then there are the things you can buy, which are a little off the beaten path, but are still good.

Carbolic soap: It’s antibacterial, kills acne, and is good for open sores.

Coconut oil: As stated above, it has antibacterial properties, and as well is good for open sore. Don’t over do it, though, because it can clog pores. (It’s also good for healing tattoos.)

Honey: it’s antibacterial and antifungal. I once made a mix of this and coconut oil of equal measures, and it’s wonderful for cuts and the like. Honey is also good for getting rid of acne.

Edible plants 2 3 4: Because, oh shit, there’s a lot of them! The ones linked are actually lists that give their properties, but they are all either antibacterial/antiviral. Check to make sure you aren’t actually allergic to anything. You can’t be healthy if you’re dead.

Capsicum: Eat spicy foods. The spice helps your immune system, and helps keep you healthier longer. At least one meal every day. Even if you don’t like spice, start small. Start with paper-thin garlic, and work your way up the peppers, starting at something like an anaheim. It looks like a giant jalapeno, but it is pretty much a green pepper.

*Essential oils: This one is tricky. You have to make sure that you are getting the right ones, and you will have to do some research. They can be harmful to pets, especially small ones like rodent, birds, lizards, ETC. But you have to make sure the ones you’re getting are the antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral ones, like tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, cinnamon . . .

Lemon concentrate: Lemon helps boost your immune system, and if you catch anything, it can help you get better quicker. It also helps loosen phlegm stuck to the walls of your lungs. So, if you have asthma or bronchitis besides, this would be a good thing to keep in your fridge.

Ginger: Ginger is like lemon only a 100 times better. It does so much more, like help with blood flow and is an anti inflammatory. Tastes great with lemon and pretty much everything else. Fresh or dried, it doesn’t matter for the most part, but fresh always tastes best.

Turmeric: It’s again anti everything, including anti-inflammatory. Good for both the inside and outside of you.

Then there’s prep.

Soap

Take the carbolic soap, melt it in a double boiler with some water. Once it’s dissolved, you have a choice: either you can make liquid soap, or you can make some small hard ones so you can take it wherever you’re going. If you are making it liquid, you add some more water, and once that is done, you add it to the bottle. If you’re making hard ones, use an ice cube tray or the like. I don’t suggest using a plastic one, because it can melt it as well as the soap scent will linger.

Either way, you can add things to it to either make it pull double duty or to make it stronger. Things you can add?

Baking soda: About a teaspoon per bar. Warning: It foams a lot when you introduce it, so make sure the walls of your pot are high enough to keep it contained. Mine went about twice the volume. It makes it a better cleaner.

coconut oil: About a tablespoon. It retains it’s antibacterial properties.

Honey: About a tablespoon and a half. It makes it lather well. It keeps it’s properties as well.

Essential oil: For the most part, I don’t suggest adding more than 30 drops (a tablespoon). You can do more, I just think you’d be wasting it at that point. This would be a good use for the thieves oil, too.

*Note* Always vent, especially if you have pets or small children.

Antibacterial ETC ETC ETC Hand Lotion

All you need is coconut oil, wax, and your choice of essential oil.

Depending on how hard you want the lotion, I would say about 1/3 wax to 2/3 oil. Use a sliding scale to see where you want it, but remember, you cannot tell when it is in a liquid state. If you are unsure, you have to let it completely cool before checking. To add your essential oil, add it by the drop and stir. You have to experiment, rather than just dumping stuff in. Always add your scent last, otherwise you’ll kill it while smoking yourself out.

As for wax, believe it or not, you can use most anything. I recently made hand lotion with the wax that comes off baby bells. Certain candles work too. You can even use crayons. You dilute them so much, that they don’t really leave a colour on you, but that said, you might want to stick to colours that are complimentary to your skin tone.

You can steep a couple teaspoons of turmeric in the oil while keeping it over a low heat, and you’ll get the added benefit of it. Steep it for about 4-5 minutes. You can later throw the bundle in your bath for your health. *Turmeric can dye things including you, so be careful. I would more so suggest this step for people who have naturally occurring yellow or gold tones in their skin, unless you don’t mind looking like a Simpson.

Honey Lemon Ginger Drink

1/4 c. lemon concentrate

2/3 tsp. powdered ginger

2 tsp. honey

3/4 c. water

Optional: 1/4 c. gin (Decrease water to 1/2 cup)

Add all of the ingredients (except gin) to the pot. Bring to under a boil. Pour into cup and drink when cool enough to handle. Tastes great cold, so you can make it a few days ahead. Strain if you don’t want to contend with the sludge in the bottom.

Sage and Thyme Tea

1/2 tsp. powdered sage

1/8 tsp. powdered thyme

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. water

prep like regular tea. Let steep for 6-8 minutes. Strain before drinking to get rid of the sludge. Sweeten to taste.

Fermented Milk

Yes, it sounds weird and gross, but it is good for you and boosts your immune system. It doesn’t taste bad. Kind of creamy and nutty.

1 c. warm milk

1/4 tsp. bakers’ yeast

1 tsp. honey or sugar

Combine all ingredients in a jar, shaking until the honey is dissolved. Put the lid on loosely, not even barely closed, so that if you were to tip the jar, the contents would spill out.

Let sit for four hours, checking on it occasionally. Sometimes you need to agitate it a little. Once the time is up, you can drink it. Leave it any longer, and it will turn to alcohol. Don’t drink the dregs.

Wash your hands. It’s a little terrifying that that has to be a reminder, since I got that drilled into my head as a child first from my mother and then by countless kid shows and ASPs. Didn’t that happen with you guys?

20 seconds right?

Have a soliloquy:

Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw.

Have a poem:

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet?

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kaneowldust · 5 years ago

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Report 14: Uninteresting Fathoms Below

Real talk I don’t remember anything from the last time I went to Celestia. Well almost nothing. Really the only things that ever stuck with me were that it took almost four hours to download (with all the crafting some monster updates plus the Astral Spells), there were underwater levels, and these really annoying robot things that I for some reason remember them having spherical heads. But that is just about it. Unlike the first five worlds, Celestia never stuck in my memory and there was a LOT I could recall from even Grizzleheim and Wisteria more than seven years ago. I don’t know. You’d think exploring what is essentially the game’s version of Atlantis would be an interesting world to explore.

I think one of the problems is that it cribs a LOT from Dragonspyre; a dead and abandoned world overrun by wilder creatures and ghosts, connections to being doomed by a Titan, and mostly speculation about the kind of world it used to be. The biggest difference, of course, is that it IS being explored by the Marleybonians who inadvertently have opened the door to evil. Because of course that is something that would happen. Guess they didn’t really learn from Krokotopia, huh?

Admittedly I kinda did this a bit backwards. See, before the big update two dungeons became available in short succession of each other: Briskbreeze Tower and the Spiral Geographic Society Archives. You were supposed to be sent to Balthazar who was testing out new equipment to receive signals. You get a mysterious coded message and need to get the Mazzaroth Stone to translate it. Basically it is an SOS from an expedition party in Celestia and that they were under attack from someone named ‘Mor’. From there you are sent to the Marleybone Royal Museum to get the key to the door. Or course it is stuck at the top of the archive tower and you must fight your way through four party enemies until you face an insectoid sorcerer who breaks the key upon defeat. Balthazar says he can fix the key and that is when you waited for the new world update. This isn’t anything new. They usually would send out minor dungeons to give players something to do and possibly get some good gear in preparation of the new world. I still hate tower dungeons.

Of course in this particular world they give you three new Schools of magic to toy with called the Astral spells: Sun, Moon, and Star magic. Sun magic boosts individual spells. Star magic is an all-around boost that generally last for about 4 turns. Moon lets you transform into various creatures that have their own special moves and playstyles. So as you can see you can really mix things up and add a bit more individuality to your own playstyle which is pretty cool. My only real issue is that the Celestian Codex trainers are scattered through the world and some are in dungeons as opposed to the main seven (with the exception of Balance) that are generally all in one spot. It’s honestly a real pain if you want to train unless there is a much more streamlined training system I am not aware of yet. Then again I have seen many spells from helpers I’ve never seen before. Oh and I did finally get Snow Angel and Mammoth. Mammoth was surprisingly a LOT easier than getting the snow angel though I have gotten much more use out of Snow Angel then Mammoth of recent. Funny how they both have times to Grizzleheim.

I think one of the things that hurts this world is there really isn’t any story per see. Sure you have the overall background mission of find Thurston Plunkett who sent you the SOS signal initially, but otherwise each area is more “hey figure out this mystery for us” or “go and fix the problem we initially caused because we keep walking up dead civilizations that were dead for a reason”. I suppose I should give them SOME slack as they are technically explorers and scientists and not fighters but really guys. Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever having to go against a canine enemy yet. Pretty amusing as you fight Marleybonians quite early on in Pirate101. Granted to my knowledge none of them are magic users (or the voodoo class in Pirate101). I would like to see SOME dog enemies at some point just to make things fair. I mean, Mooshu had a pretty varied assortment of enemies. Back to base, there just wasn’t anything to get me invested in this world especially when compared to outside Malistaire arc worlds like Grizzleheim and Wisteria. Granted, from this point onwards all the worlds will be very new to me though I have heard there had been changes to some of the worlds since their initial launch. That’ll be fun.

On topic of the environment itself, it is a least a LOT more varied than Marleybone though I couldn’t tell you exactly what area is what. Half the place is underwater while the rest is vacant hallways that kind of an alien water look to them. Granted the Celestians do look like modified versions of those common bug eyed big head little green men, though I suppose that was the point. From what I had gathered from the Tomes quest and various other side quests where you have to read something in a dungeon as part of the main quest, the Celestians were a very enlightened race that came under attack because they would not give away the secrets to Astral magic to Morganthe. Morganthe attacks with an army of insectoid wizards and human soldiers and neither side was budging. In a last ditch effort they called upon the Storm Titan for help and the Titan did help them…by dragging the entirely of the civilization under the sea and drawoning everyone. This is kinda what I meant by it copies a LOT from Dragonspyre though granted the Celestian doom was not brought about by their own hubris as the Dragonspyre empire was. Then again it also reinforces what the Titans are real pricks and should never be trusted. But we also had you dealing with the offspring who are more of a chaotic neutral then anything else. As long as it benefits them in some form they’ll help you.

It is kinda funny the crab enemies call it the Crustacean Empire and claim they built it themselves when they’re just using the ruins of Celestia. Rather both cute and condescending when Plunkett says it’s not much but at least they’re trying. You also deal with Sharks, Angler Fish, and palette swapped Dragonspyre ghosts. Also the Sharks and Fish people are being used by Morganthe to keep the crabs distracted for…some reason. No really, I don’t know what her plan was. You needed the three pieces to activate the Trial of Spheres to get to the innermost secrets (BTW I hate that dungeon though it is not as patience dragging as the Waterworks). You only really see her just once and that is before the last boss of the Crustacean Empire segment where you fight a shark of all things. But this might also be a preview.

I don’t know at this point because it has been seven years and if I keep saying that I should just wear green and dye my hair blonde because Bartleby almighty. Huh, how come there hasn’t been a Time school yet now that I think about it. Weird.

Anyway got some mysterious Krokotopian ruins to explore and maybe get the heart of a helephant…or FINALLY beat that cursed Buckingham Palace segment… *sigh* Take to the sky my friends!

#wizard101 #celestia #w101 #kane owldust #wizard 101 celestia

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myforeverforlife · 6 years ago

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love me, love me (part one).

In your line of study, you were always reminded that there’s more than meets the eye. A skilled sociologist should be able to look beyond the basics and look for the hidden clues. A single event, a single word could hold an immense amount of hidden meaning if you were lucky enough to find it. To your benefit, you were actually pretty good when it came to analyzing other people’s personal lives. However, you were absolutely blind when it came to your own.

Word Count: 4,719

Masterlist

Series masterlist: ( 1 ) ( Final )

It could have been hours, it could have been days and you wouldn’t even know.

You pulled out your earbuds, letting them fall to the table as you rested your head on top of your arms. It was already pitch-black outside the confines of your university’s library, but you still had an agonizingly large amount of pages left to read in your textbook. Your third year had just started, and your classes were kicking your ass, for lack of a better term. Homework had been piling up since the first week, and you were determined to stay at least one step ahead of the game. But for now, you reasoned that it wouldn’t hurt to rest your eyes for one second. You had barely gotten your eyes closed when you heard a soft rustling of jeans nearby.

“More homework?”

Lifting your head, a lazy smile found its way onto your face as you recognized who it was. “Dae,” you greeted him, voice heavy with sleep. Your best friend was still wearing his backpack, and you vaguely remembered him telling you that he had one late class until 8:30.

“Hey, sleepyhead. Or maybe Bookworm?” he added, nodding towards your book.

“How about dead-tired.” Stretching out your arms above your head, you gave a small groan as your muscles finally got the rest that they had been craving for so long. “What are you doing here, Dae?”

“Is it a crime to check up on my best friend?” he asked, wearing his usual grin as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I figured you’d still be here. You know, it wouldn’t hurt to take a break every once in a while.”

“Yeah, but it’s the third week of classes and I’ve already got so many things to do, and projects that I haven’t even begun thinking about, and —” Your rambling was cut off as Jongdae came closer, reaching out to close your textbook.

“Dae!” you hissed in a strained whisper, struggling to hide the full extent of your annoyance in such a quiet environment. “I’m gonna lose my page!”

“No, you’re not. Knowing you, you’ve probably been keeping track of which page you’ve been on.” Jongdae chuckled as you looked away, letting out a huff of irritation.

“Still. I’m busy, and I don’t have time to slack off.”

Jongdae raised an eyebrow at this, his grin fading away as a genuine look of concern replaced it. “Okay, now you really need a break. Come on, when’s the last time you ate?”

“Umm...” You glanced at your empty Ziploc bag, leftover crumbs from your cookies left from where you had finished eating hours ago. “It’s been a while,” you finally admitted.

“I bet.” Jongdae stood up, pulling down the straps of his backpack as they began to ride up on his shoulders. “Let’s get out of here, what do you think about that new burrito place?”

“You mean the one that Jun and Chanyeol won’t stop talking about all the time?” you asked with a small giggle. It was true, your other two friends had made it a habit to grab burritos from there at least once a week. Their efforts to get you to come along had failed, with you always using school as an excuse to stay holed up in your dorm.

“The one and only,” Jongdae replied. “We can go see if it lives up to its reputation, and get you out of here.”

“Okay,” you finally gave in, fighting back the small part of you that was begging to turn down Jongdae’s offer in favor of working. “But as soon as I get back to the dorm, I’m picking up where I left off.”

Jongdae rolled his eyes playfully, waiting while you packed up your things. “I honestly wouldn’t expect anything else by now.”

The two of you left the stifling confines of the library, visibly relaxing once stepping outside. The cool night air was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air. You took in a deep breath, a smile of content on your lips. Turning to look at Jongdae, you found him staring at you with a worried expression. “What? What is it?” you asked, even glancing behind you to try and figure out what was throwing him off.

“Please tell me this isn’t the first time you’ve been outside since you came to the library,” he asked, voice tense as he realized what your answer would be.

Feeling your cheeks heat up, you began to stammer, too flustered to form coherent words. “And what if it is?” you asked, voice high as you took on the defensive.

Jongdae sighed, running a hand over his face before peering over his fingers to glare at you. “You can’t stay holed up all day, even if it is for school!” His hand dropped back to his side, and you were shocked to see the full extent of his anger — not anger at you, but at what your actions were doing to you.

“Dae, I’m fine. See?” You gestured towards yourself, even wiggling your toes in your sneakers for good measure. “You worry about me too much.” Without even waiting for him, you started to walk towards the parking lot.

“I worry because I care about you,” he retorted, his steps heavy as he followed after you. “God knows someone has to, since you barely take care of yourself.”

You turned around with a flash, and even Jongdae knew that he had gone too far. “I don’t need you to be my mother, Jongdae. I’m perfectly fine, so stop bugging me about every little thing. Just because we’ve been friends for a couple of years doesn’t give you the right to worry about me like... like we’re dating or something!”

Jongdae’s eyes widened at this, his mouth falling open as you continued to speak.

“You know what, this was a mistake. I’m going back to the dorm, you can do whatever you want. Good night, Jongdae.” You hiked your backpack further up and clutched onto your laptop bag, gaze focused on the path ahead as you walked past Jongdae.

“Y/N, wait!” he called out after you.

Not even caring to glance behind, you continued on your way, a determined wrinkle between your brows as you heard Jongdae jogging to catch up with you. A hand suddenly gripped your shoulder, holding you in place as he moved around to stand in front of you.

“Y/N, I’m sorry, please don’t be mad at me,” he gasped out, eyes frantic as you made a pointed effort to look away. “You... you’re right about what you said, and I shouldn’t have said what I did. But..” His voice softened, and you gave in, eyes coming to meet his.

“But what?” you asked, weariness in voice and posture.

“But you can’t keep tiring yourself out like this,” he answered. “You’re practically a zombie, and you only leave your dorm for classes or for studying. I miss having my best friend around. I miss seeing you happy.”

A lump rose in your throat, and you bit down on your lip. “And what if I am happy?” you countered, a tremble slipping into your voice.

Jongdae’s whole body seemed to deflate in on itself, the usual fight in his eyes snuffed out as he gave you a knowing look. “Are you really?”

Something in those three words finally broke down your defenses, and you felt your eyes begin to prick with tears. Sure, you were happy to be pursuing your dreams and learning as much as you could, but you couldn’t deny the fact that this semester had been extremely taxing on you. Bringing a hand up to wipe at them before any tears could fall, you shook your head, answering Jongdae’s question.

He quickly enveloped you in a hug, clutching you tightly to his chest as you finally let yourself cry. All of the stress from the past couple of weeks that you had kept stored up and bottled away was finally running free, leaving you worn out from the whole ordeal.

Jongdae continued to hold you as you cried, his nose pressing into your hair as he tried to keep himself calm as well. It wouldn’t help for both of you to start crying, and the last thing he wanted was for you to worry about him as well.

It could have been ages, or only a couple of minutes, but neither of you cared. Jongdae waited with you until your cries started to die down, your face damp with tears and a headache starting to come on. You pulled back a little, wiping at your face with your jacket sleeve as Jongdae watched you, that same sad expression still on his face.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked, one of his hands coming up to wipe away the tears that you had missed. Even as he caught the last couple of tears, he let his hand rest against your cheek.

“Yeah,” you spoke with one final, shuddering breath. “Sorry about all that.”

“Hey, don’t apologize. You don’t have to be sorry about that,” he told you, tone firm with conviction. “Okay?”

You nodded, eyes still glazed over with the remnants of your tears. “I just want to forget about school for a while,” you admitted.

Jongdae’s hand slipped away from your face, only to grasp onto your own hand as he twined his fingers with yours. “I can help with that.” He gave you a tiny smile, along with a small chuckle when you returned it with one of your own.

True to his words, Jongdae kept your mind off of school as he drove the two of you to the infamous burrito place. You found yourself laughing at the most recent tales of him and his roommates, Baekhyun and Yixing. You liked his friends — they always made him laugh, caused him to break out into boisterous laughter with their antics. Not everyone was as lucky to have a friend as full of life, as luminous as Jongdae.

You could hardly believe it yourself sometimes.

As Jongdae pulled into the drive-through, both of you waited as the car in front of you ordered. “Do you want to just take these back to my dorm?” you offered. You had the luxury of living in a single dorm on campus this year, even though Jongdae had practically begged you to move in with him. As much as you loved your silly friend, you needed your space as well. Plus, once you saw how noisy he and his roommates could be, you were glad that you had chosen to live alone.

“Sure,” he piped up. “I’ll just tell Baek and Yixing that I’ll be home a bit late.” The three of them lived off campus, and often carpooled together to drive the couple of blocks to school.

“You can stay over, if it gets too late. Do you have any early classes tomorrow?”

“Nah, just one in the afternoon, and I can run back to my place and get changed fast enough to make it in time.” He flashed you a grin, his excitement infectious. “Another one of our legendary sleepovers?”

You gave a small snort at this. “The only thing legendary about those is the fact that you always end up squishing up against me when we’re sleeping. I should just push you onto the floor the next time that happens.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Jongdae spoke in mock surprise.

“Yeah? Try me,” you teased, sticking your tongue out at him. You gave a small shriek of laughter as Jongdae’s hands shot out, tickling your sides and causing you to explode into giggles.

Jongdae was laughing too by this point, too focused on tickling you that he didn’t notice the car in front of him moving up until the one behind you honked impatiently. The two of you were soon the happy owners of a bag of burritos, the smell of freshly cooked food filling the car and making your stomach grumble every couple of minutes. Luckily, Jongdae was a speedy driver, and he had you guys parked close to your dorm in a matter of minutes.

“Let’s go get some food in us,” he murmured hastily as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

As you struggled to keep your enormous backpack on and to carry your laptop bag and jacket while holding onto your keys, Jongdae swooped in, hand offered out to you.

“Dae, you’re carrying stuff too,” you argued, nodding towards his own backpack and the bag of food that he held.

“Yeah, but I can carry something else.” Seeing as he wouldn’t let this go, you reluctantly handed over your laptop, grateful for his help.

The two of you walked in peaceful silence, the soft glow of the tall lightposts lining the path watching over you and Jongdae. There weren’t many people out this late, seeing as it was almost 9:30 on a Tuesday night. You only hoped that you would be able to get Jongdae into your dorm undetected.

It wasn’t that your hall had a thing against boys staying over, there were even some boys living there as well. But whenever your RA or your roommates caught sight of Jongdae staying over, they were sure to tease you relentlessly the next day about your “secret boyfriend”, no matter how hard you denied it. Jongdae liked the people on your floor, however, and never took offense at their jokes. If anything, he got a laugh out of them too.

You readied your keys in your hand as you got closer to the familiar double doors of your dorm building. After punching your passcode in the keypad resting on the wall, the doors gave a small click and began to open. You glanced over your shoulder, raising a finger to your lips. Jongdae nodded once, keeping silent despite the urge to joke about you sneaking him in once more.

Making sure to take slow, careful steps, you led Jongdae through the building until you made it to your hallway, slipping past the communal kitchen and bathrooms. The lights of some of your roommates’ TV screens shone from under their doors as you continued on, casting a faint glow over the worn carpet of the hallway. You could even faintly make out the familiar voices of Yoo Jae Seok and Kwangsoo as your across-the-hall neighbor binge-watched “Running Man”. The keys jangled slightly in your hand until you reached your door, and you stood with bated breath as you oh-so-carefully unlocked it. As soon as it was open you rushed inside, Jongdae following suit. You got the door closed and locked, only to lean back against it once the whole ordeal was over, the racing of your heart refusing to slow down from the excitement.

Jongdae fell back onto your bed, a grin gracing his face as he stifled a laugh with his hand. “Do you think they heard us?” he asked in a tiny whisper.

“Most likely. It was worth a try though, right?” you asked, your expression mirroring his own. You managed to get your things stuffed in a corner of your room, pages of required reading long forgotten.

If luck and Jongdae’s wishful thinking would have it, you’d end up spending the rest of the night away from your homework. He covered your bags with his own backpack, just for good measure. The idea was juvenile, sure, but Jongdae was pretty confident in his entertainment skills to keep your mind away from school for the remainder of the night.

Jongdae’s movements went unnoticed by you as you searched for your stash of paper plates and napkins. “Aha!” you exclaimed in a stage whisper, holding up the half-empty pack of disposable ware you kept in your room for occasions such as these.

In a matter of minutes, you and Jongdae sat facing each other, sitting on the floor with legs stretched out and plates balancing precariously atop them. Jongdae had dug into his burrito immediately, not caring about anything else as he ate. The two of you sat in silence, eating away until you became more and more unnerved by the mess Jongdae was making.

“You’re such a messy eater,” you told him, tossing a napkin over to him.

He mumbled out a quick thanks, mouth still full as he wiped at his face. Making quick effort to chew and swallow the bites of burrito, he glanced up at you tentatively. “Y/N?” he asked, voice tiny as he waited.

“Yeah?” You were in the midst of taking a bite when you noticed the change in the room, the serious look in Jongdae’s eyes. “What is it, Dae?” you asked, letting the burrito rest on your plate as you gave him your full attention.

His fingers played at the edges of his plate, lifting it up and down as he thought. “I... I applied for that job. The one as the new writer for The Elyxion.”

“The Elyxion?” you repeated, mouth falling open as the meaning of Jongdae’s words hit you. “Really?!” you gasped out, eyes growing wider as Jongdae’s cheeks took on a pink tinge of pride. “Dae, I’m so proud of you!”

The Elyxion was an online website consisting of articles and forums where aspiring journalists like Jongdae often only dreamed of being able to participate in. To be asked to write a piece for a respected and credible site such as that one was a big honor, and you could already picture Jongdae’s name on one of their pieces. It wasn’t often that they were looking for new, creative writers to join their team, and you were glad that Jongdae had been lucky enough to seize the opportunity. You were sure that his work would fit in perfectly, Jongdae’s love for investigative pieces and bringing light to unsolved questions compatible with the thirst for adventure often found in The Elyxion’s articles.

“Hey, all I did was turn in the application. I still have to wait a week or two for them to send out the results. I was even going to wait until the results came out to tell you that I even applied.” He sighed as he leaned back against one of the legs of your bed. “I just hope I get the job.”

“I know you will,” you reassured him. Setting your plate down, you scooted over so that you were sitting beside Jongdae. “Your writing is beautiful, Dae. Anyone who reads even one piece of yours can tell that you’re really passionate about what you do. Plus, you’ve got the experience from working for the campus newsletter. They’d be dumb not to hire you.”

“Yeah, but it’s my first time applying for a position with a major company. What if they think I’m too young, or something?”

“I’m pretty sure we’ve both seen pieces on there written by people younger than us,” you countered. “And besides, talent doesn’t discriminate by age.”

Jongdae gave a bashful chuckle, shaking his head at your words. “Stop, now you’re embarrassing me.”

“You’ve been writing professionally since we first met, and Baek told me you’ve been writing even since you guys were kids. The talent’s always been with you, Dae.” You playfully bumped his shoulder with your own, stifling a chuckle when he bumped you back in return. “Have some more faith in yourself.”

Jongdae nodded, a sheepish smile on his face as he played mindlessly with the sleeve of his hoodie. “You’re right, thanks. Ever thought of being my own personal cheerleader?”

"Shut up,” you replied, ready to come back with another retort. A sudden yawn cut you off, your hand coming up to cover your mouth as well. “Okay, if I thought I was exhausted before, I am definitely way past that point now.” You stretched your arm out to try and grab your forgotten plate of food, groaning as your fingers barely brushed against it.

Shaking his head, Jongdae got up, picking up your plate along the way before setting them down on your desk. “I’m gonna go use the restroom. You better not fall asleep before I get back,” Jongdae said over his shoulder, already halfway out the door before closing it behind him silently.

“I won’t,” you called out after him. Bringing your legs in closer to your body, you rested your chin on top of your knees as you thought. Jongdae had been right, as he often was about your study habits. As much as you hated to admit it, you really did need this night away from homework and everything study related.

The door opened back up, much more quickly than you would have anticipated. Jongdae’s head popped out, eyes wide in realization. “Hey, do you have an extra toothbrush?”

“Bathroom stuff’s over there,” you pointed at a small basket of toiletries resting on top of your dresser.

“Got it.” Jongdae was in and out before you knew it, leaving you alone once more.

Determined not to slip into your gloomy thoughts from earlier, you got up as well. You wrapped up the leftover food, changed into some comfy pajamas and pulled out an extra blanket. Whenever Jongdae slept over, it was always a battle for control of the blanket while you two slept. Having one blanket for each of you made the whole ordeal of staying warm throughout the night a lot easier.

Your door opened once more with a slight squeak, only to reveal Jongdae, shoulders shaking with stifled laughter.

“What is it?” you asked, Jongdae’s giggles lifting the corners of your lips as well.

“Turns out the whole floor heard us coming in,” he choked out, a hand coming to rest on his stomach as he continued to laugh. “I ran into Kyungsoo in the bathroom, and he told us to stop trying to sneak around. Apparently, we’re horrible at it.”

You let out a groan of disbelief, rolling your eyes as Jongdae continued to laugh. “Why do I even try? You know, we should just hang out at your place more often. At least we wouldn’t have a whole floor of people teasing us.”

“Uh, you forget that I live with Baek and Yixing? They’d tease the hell out of us too, if not more.”

“Yeah, but two guys compared to ten people? I think I’ll take my chances.” You took the basket of toiletries out of Jongdae’s hand, heading out along the way.

Kyungsoo was just stepping out of the restroom, a towel draped over his shoulders as he rubbed at his hair. “I ran into your boyfriend in the restroom,” he told you with a small smirk.

“He’s not my boyfriend, and you’re an ass,” you told him despite the grin already forming on your face.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Y/N. See you tomorrow.”

It wasn’t that you had never been attracted to Jongdae before. In fact, the first time you had met him, you had thought that he was actually pretty cute. You had been living in a different building on campus during your first year, sharing a room with two other girls. Chanyeol, your next door neighbor, had been in an intense match of MarioKart with some guests, one of them being Jongdae. When their screams and yells had finally been enough to drive you crazy, you had stomped over and knocked on their door as loudly as you could. Every sound in the room was hushed immediately, and Jongdae had been the one to open the door. He later told you that he thought you were the RA, ready to come and admonish them for playing so loudly. Every thought of yelling at Chanyeol and his friends had been wiped from your mind as soon as you laid eyes on Jongdae, and you meekly mumbled out a “Keep the noise down, please,” before retreating back to the safety of your room. Since Chanyeol and Jongdae were close friends, and you and Chanyeol were pretty good friends, it was almost a given that you and Jongdae would become close as well.

But somewhere along the way, you had become self-conscious of your mini-crush on Jongdae. He was kind to everyone, even borderline flirtatious with some. Jongdae was just a big people-person, and everyone who met him fell in love with him. How could you stand a chance? And so, your crush had fizzled down to a small ember, barely alive but still hanging on to a tiny shred of hope.

The light was already out in your room when you came back, the leftovers already gone from your desk and most likely safe in the fridge. Jongdae lay in bed, focused on his phone as the light of his screen shone down on his face. “Hey,” he greeted you, patting the empty side of the bed.

Leaving your toiletries on your desk, you climbed onto the end of your bed, maneuvering around pillows and blankets before laying down beside Jongdae. You snuggled into the depths of your blanket, arms wrapping around a pillow as Jongdae watched you with a fond smile on your face. “You should go to sleep too,” you told him, looking up at him from your cocoon of warmth.

Jongdae set his phone down, copying you and covering himself with his blanket as well. You rolled over, facing away from him as he scooted closer so as not to fall off the bed. Or at least, that’s what you believed.

You lay there, facing the wall as Jongdae lay beside you. In the quiet of your dorm room, it was easy to pick up every hitch in Jongdae’s breathing, every shift of the bed as he rolled over only to be greeted by your back.

“Good night, Y/N. Thanks for always being here for me,” he murmured, the softness of his voice like a soothing lullaby to your ears. The sound of a rustling pillowcase soon followed after, and you could sense Jongdae moving even closer.

Reaching behind, you searched for his hand and pulled it across your waist so you could hold onto it comfortably. “Same goes for me, Dae. Good night.”

When you awoke, you weren’t even sure what day it was, never mind which class you were supposed to be going to. You reached over Jongdae for your phone, plucking it off the nightstand before dropping it onto the bed with a loud gasp.

Jongdae startled awake, eyes shooting open as he struggled to push himself up. “Wh-what is it?” he asked, voice groggy with sleep.

“I’m late!” you exclaimed. “My class just started, oh my fucking god!” You threw your blanket off, not even noticing that it hit Jongdae in the face as you ran to your dresser. Pulling out a quick outfit and taking your morning bathroom essentials, you ran to the restroom with all of your items in hand.

Jongdae fell back onto the bed, running his hands over his face as he tried not to fall back asleep. Maybe he could convince you to skip class just this once, just to get a couple more hours of sleep. He hadn’t gotten far in crafting his plan, however, before you were back, already looking much more awake.

You grabbed his hoodie from where it lay draped over the back of your chair, pulling it on and getting your backpack slung over your shoulder. “You know where all my stuff is, and Kyungsoo will help you with anything you need. See you later, Dae!”

“Have a good day, babe.”

You froze where you stood, already halfway out as his words echoed in your mind. Babe? “Uh, yeah. See you later,” you got out lamely, slamming the door shut behind you.

As you hurried to your first class, you couldn’t help but think that you had been imagining things. Sure, Jongdae was playful with his nicknames: Bookworm, Smarty Pants, Sir-Sleeps-A-Lot, and your least favorite, Short Stuff. But not once had his nicknames ever slipped into something more... intimate?

Maybe it had been a slip of the tongue, something uttered aloud while still influenced by the drowsiness of an early morning. Or maybe Jongdae had truly meant it, had wanted to call you his own. And maybe, just maybe, you wanted him to be yours as well.

Series masterlist: ( 1 ) ( Final )

A/N: i’m also dead-tired at this point, but i really wanted to get at least one part of this up before jongdae’s birthday! the next (and last) part will hopefully be up in a week or two. happy early birthday jongdae, i love you! i hope your birthday is full of fun!

#happy birthday jongdae i love you!#exo #jongdae #jongdae scenario #chen scenario #jongdae fanfic #chen fanfic #exo scenario #writings

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jennycalendar · 6 years ago

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regarding honor and honesty in the workplace (15/?)

read on ao3!

this chapter: jenny takes faith and tara out, and runs into an old...well, “friend” definitely isn’t the right word.

from the personal files of Jenny Calendar:

I know that things with Lilah are very obviously more complex than they seem, and I know that I should give her the benefit of the doubt, especially since she was the one who hired me. I guess it’s just difficult for me to handle the fact that Lilah’s guilt doesn’t seem to weigh her down as much as I think it should. It’s not fair for me to make those arbitrary decisions on how she should and shouldn’t behave. I know that. I’m going to call her in a little bit and apologize, and maybe we can talk this out, because we both want the same thing in the long run.

Right now, though? Right now I’m taking a much-needed, much-deserved day away from case work. It’s been a long and exhausting few weeks.

“Yes, I am relaxing, but I can’t relax when I’m being fussed over,” said Jenny patiently, sticking her head into Faith’s room (Faith and Tara were doing a jigsaw puzzle on the air mattress and giggling at how difficult it was) and giving both girls a big grin. “And if you want, you can come over and relax with us. Isn’t Dawn off school early today?”

“You Americans have too many holidays,” said Rupert matter-of-factly. “And if I come over, we’ll just start working on the case again, and I want you to have a truly relaxing day.”

“So what, I can’t relax around you?” Jenny laughed incredulously. “Rupert, you’re the most relaxing thing in my entire life right now.” Behind her, Faith started making kissing sounds. “Stop that,” Jenny added over her shoulder.

“No,” said Faith.

“That’s—very sweet,” god, it was a mark of how well they knew each other that Jenny could hear Rupert cleaning his glasses, “but still—I don’t want to run the risk of distracting you from relaxation with case work.”

“Then I will just keep you on the line for six hours,” said Jenny promptly.

“Jenny, you are supposed to be taking a break from being a detective—”

“And what, just because our breaks coincide, we’re supposed to spend them apart?” Jenny immediately volleyed back.

There was an awkward pause. Then Rupert said, “Considering—how things are going with Lilah, Jenny, I rather want to become a bit more used to being by myself. You, ah, take up a significant part of my life without realizing it, and, and goodness knows I prefer it that way, but your life seems to be going in a different direction, and I want to make the transition easier on me.”

“Nothing with Lilah is even close to set in stone right now,” Jenny pointed out, not sure why she felt the need to clarify that to Rupert, who should know that fact better than anyone. “I mean, god, the woman on a so-called path of redemption still hasn’t called Professor Burkle back to tell her—”

“You should keep in mind that Lilah is still at great risk,” Rupert reminded her gently. “It seems more than likely that personally notifying all these people of her change of heart isn’t something that she can easily do while she still works for the company that hurt them.”

Jenny exhaled. “Yeah,” she said, “but why are youthe one telling me this? Why not her?”

“Because I am significantly more in tune with the way your mind works,” said Rupert simply, “and because I know what you need to hear in order to understand. Lilah, unfortunately, doesn’t have the same luxury.”

Jenny felt a warm flutter in her chest. “Thank you,” she said softly, almost without thinking. “God, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I’m sure you’d manage,” said Rupert awkwardly. “I think you’ll do quite a fine job of managing with Lilah, once you two get over the new-relationship bumps in the road.”

Something about his answer made Jenny feel disappointed; she’d been waiting for some kind of reciprocation, or at least some warmth in return. “Yeah,” she said, laughing uncomfortably. “So, um, I should get back to actual relaxation, huh?”

“I expect so.” Rupert sounded a little sad too. “Take care of yourself?”

“You bet,” Jenny agreed, and heard the dial toneless than a second after she’d finished speaking. “Gonna be hard to relax now, though, now that he keeps on hanging up on me,” she muttered.

“Hey, Mom, does this puzzle have all the pieces?” called Faith from the bedroom.

Jenny, very grateful for the opportunity to be a mom and not a disaster detective, entered Faith’s room. Faith was lying on her stomach, staring with a frown at the half-finished jigsaw, while Tara hunted through the puzzle box. “You know,” said Jenny, “it might help if you guys didn’t do the puzzle on an air mattress. Just a little.”

“Takes all the fun out of it,” said Faith. “Besides which, we didn’t want to bother you if you were on the phone. Tara’s idea,” she added, nodding to Tara, who looked up with a small smile.

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like you,” quipped Jenny, sitting down next to Faith and looking down at the puzzle. “Are you two already committed to this puzzle, or do you both want to go out somewhere?”

“Oh, I’d love to go out!” said Tara excitedly. At Jenny and Faith’s surprised looks, she blushed. “Um,” she said, “I really like your apartment and all, but hiding out in here is getting a little bit—and Faith keeps telling me about how nice LA is—”

“I gotcha,” said Faith, who was blushing too, though Jenny suspected that it mostly just had to do with Tara’s soft, reassuring smile. “That actually sounds pretty cool. Where’d you have in mind, Mom?”

“Honestly?” said Jenny with relish. “Absolutely no idea.”

Faith and Tara were in the backseat of Jenny’s Bug, watching cat videos on Faith’s phone and giggling. Tara was wearing her hair up and tucked under a large sun hat, as well as a pair of quite nice sunglasses that Jenny was pretty sure had once belonged to Buffy. Technically, it was something of a risky move, taking Tara out of the house, but Jenny was very much of the mind that the girls needed an outing, and there wasn’t anywhere safer than the Magic Box.

From behind the counter, Anya looked up, surprised, when they entered the shop, beamed at Tara, and then scowled at Jenny. “This isn’t safe,” she said, “you all should know better, and that disguise is absolutely pointless, I can already tell it’s you, Tara. You have a very distinctive mouth—somewhat pointy but still round.”

“More soft than pointy,” said Faith, realized what she’d said, and winced.

“I missed you,” said Tara affectionately to Anya, crossing the room and ducking behind the counter to give her friend a hug. Anya hugged Tara back, sending Jenny a death glare that most likely held the power to murder someone and then smirking at a now-visibly-blushing Faith, who busied herself with examining some of the novelty magic items.

Jenny decided to take this opportunity to step outside for a breath of fresh air, trusting that Anya would keep her eagle eyes trained on the girls and knowing that Tara could probably use a little bit of space to enjoy time with her friend. It was sunny out, and warm, and it felt incredibly wonderful to not be worrying about a case or a girl and just be Jenny. Rupert, frustratingly, had been right about her needing a day off.

Smiling a little to herself, Jenny gazed across the street. The Magic Box was in a surprisingly nice part of town, complete with hipster cafés and an expensive-looking clothing store right next door, out of which was exiting a well-dressed blonde who almost looked like—

Holy fuck.

Jenny should have backed off and away and gotten back into the store, because that would have drawn less attention. But she couldn’t handle the thought of just hiding in the Magic Box with her girls, and if she blocked the door, there’d be no way for anyone to get to her girls anyway, so she flattened herself against the front door and hoped like hell that she wouldn’t be noticed.

Over the tops of her expensive designer sunglasses, Darla looked up, smiling in that slow, predatory way that Jenny was pretty sure neither she nor Rupert had ever forgotten. “Goodness me,” she said. “You’re like a scared little bunny rabbit, Calendar. Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” snapped Jenny, crossing her arms tightly against her chest and glaring at Darla, “the last time we saw each other in a non-court scenario, you tried to shoot Rupert’s daughter.”

“Purely personal,” said Darla, waving a hand. “Besides which, that little tiff didn’t involve you in the slightest.”

“Buffy was in therapy for almost two years after that stunt you pulled—”

“Are we really going to rehash all the stuff you already yelled at me in court over?” Darla asked with a long, irritable sigh. “Because I was hoping I’d be able to manage a few more shopping excursions before the day’s done.”

“Get out of LA,” said Jenny.

“Oh, sweetheart, you can’t keep me out of the city,” said Darla, sounding genuinely amused. “You more than anyone should know now that Wolfram and Hart’s protection can let me do absolutely anything I want.”

Jenny, very ready to come up with another angry retort, froze. Not at all willing to admit that Darla had caught her off guard, she said coolly, “So you know I’m working on a case involving Wolfram and Hart.”

Darla snorted. “Please,” she said. “You’re on Wolfram and Hart’s payroll, Calendar, and I don’t like that at all. That’s why I’m here.”

“Your intel fucking sucks,” said Jenny matter-of-factly, then remembered belatedly that no one but Lilah Morgan (and Calendar-Giles Investigations, plus kids) actually knew about the plan to take down Wolfram and Hart. It did seem possible that Lilah might have come up with some kind of cover story for all the time she was spending with Jenny.

Darla, surprisingly, didn’t look fazed. “She told you some sob story about how you’re not like the other girls, huh?” she said, smirking. “Told you that you’re the only detective she trusts to help her take down Wolfram and Hart?”

Jenny faltered. “I don’t—”

“Amazingly,” said Darla, “I’m here to help you. Hard as it is to believe, I don’t want you up in arms against Wolfram and Hart once this thing with Lilah inevitably breaks bad.” She waited, but when Jenny (still unable to find words) didn’t respond, she continued, “You’re a dedicated detective, and even though Wolfram and Hart is obviously going to rip you and your cute little family business to shreds, you’re definitely going to do some serious damage to them before they manage to take you down. Hell, the only reason I didn’t get jail time was because Wolfram and Hart bribed the judge, the jury, and some of the witnesses—I don’t want to see what you can do to that firm with some actual evidence from honest people.”

Jenny stared, then scoffed. “You’re trying to cover your own ass,” she said, half-relieved by the revelation. “You just want me to drop the case so that Lilah and I don’t destroy the only thing keeping you out of jail.”

Darla didn’t look troubled by Jenny’s statement. “Ask yourself this,” she said. “How much of herself has Lilah Morgan really let you see?” Without waiting for an answer, she swiveled, turning on her heel with the shopping bags and striding gracefully away.

#fic #regarding honor and honesty in the workplace #darla!!!

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bynkii · 6 years ago

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It’s all right there

(originally published on 18 Nov. 2015)

If only you’d look to the side once in a while

Somewhat odd fact: I’ve never been really anywhere outside of the U.S. Not that I’m anti-travel, it just seemed to never work out. I mean, I’ve been to Toronto, spent a summer in Mississauga with my cousin Diane and her family, and technically went near Nassau on a night-time cruise, but I was so obliterated that I don’t know if I left the boat.

I was in the Air Force, but at a B-1B base in the mid-80s to early-90s, and so we didn’t really even start going overseas for air shows and exercises until I was fixing to separate. Then came a marriage and a kid and it kind of just never happened. Which I do think is a shame, but I can’t say I’ve not done anything cool, I just did it all…here.

This came up because I was talking to a good friend of mine, N., who is much smarter and well-traveled than I, (and for a Cali transplant, still understands why Waffle House is amazing.) I was commenting how a mutal acquaintance, who is my age, seems to have just woken up to the reality that non-honkies in the U.S. have very different lives than honkies do. I said I didn’t get how someone could be as well-traveled as he is, (he has literally traveled the globe) and still be so…blind…to the world outside of his somewhat narrow set of interests. This legitimately puzzled me until N. explained it.

She said, (paraphrased) that if you’re traveling on business, to a conference or on a book tour or what have you, that it’s easy. You get off the plane and go to the hotel. Which is probably a Marriot or other chain, and where the club sandwich in Tokyo is exactly like the club sandwich in Des Moines. You are driven to where you need to be when you need to be there, you go out after to a restaurant, maybe a bar that is tourist-friendly, and then back to the hotel. After a few days, home you go. Maybe you take a day for being a tourist, but you’re going to do fairly standard stuff.

You do that enough, and there’s no difference between anywhere.

I can’t argue her point, I literally don’t know, but it struck me as sad. To be somewhere totally different, but wrap yourself in a cocoon of home, like some kind of odd warp bubble.

Because while I’ve never really left the U.S., there’s always been this “walkabout” impulse. I probably got it from my mom, who as a single woman, lived in Tokyo immediately following WWII for some years, (and evidently spent enough time near Hiroshima to come home rather sick for more than a few months), and then in the 50s and 60s, literally traveled everywhere in this country where a train would go. I’ve pictures of her in D.C., at Gettysburg, Monticello, San Francisco, you name it.

In an era where being an independent woman was somewhat frowned upon, she was independent. Mind you, she never learned to drive. This was all public transit and trains.

My dad helped too, he’d been in Japan & Korea in the early 50s, trying not to die during a war, and getting into marvelous trouble in Japan on leaves and furloughs.

One of his better stories, one that fascinated me was about how he and his friends would go to a restaurant in either country, and just blindly order. Whoever got the ugliest dish paid. He thought he was safe when a friend got the squid. Until a WHOLE OCTOPUS, eyes and all, broiled in its own ink was placed in front of him.

That always seemed like the coolest thing: go to a restaurant you’ve never been and just order something. How cool a way to learn new food? Sometimes, you get the octopus, sometimes you get amazing malaysian food. Amazing wins over OMG WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT more than you might think. Food is a great introduction to different cultures.

As I’ve mentioned, I grew up in Miami. My family moved down in 1970, and I didn’t really leave until 1986, when I joined the Air Force. I was there for some shit. Mariel, Liberty City, Murder Capital of the world, Cocaine Cowboys, (I still can’t really watch “Scarface”. Because too much of that movie isn’t some gorefest story, it’s what was happening in my world. There’s not a lot of exaggeration there), all of it.

It’s easy to fall into the tropes. Miami’s a pit, it’s a crimefest, it’s nothing but Cubans. But that’s the saddest way to look at it. Because Miami showed me so many things. ¿Qué Pasa USA? Pastelitos. Pecadillo. A properly made Cuban sangwich. The smell of the wall of ovens baking Cuban bread in an Imperial Supermarket just off 8th Street and Salzedo. The bizarre joy that was the Bed Race. Goombay, where I discovered a host of carribean food and music. Tito Puente. Gloria Estefan before she was Gloria Estefan. Guava. Flan. Materva. The Red Room. The Kitchen. Coconut Grove when there were still more hippies than hipsters. The Friday night Hare Krishna Drum Party in Coconut Grove, where you’d have a hundred people dancing along with the Krishnas and they would just play their asses off. The guy who sold small crabs and palmetto bugs dipped in gold.

It’s actually hard for me to talk about Cuban Culture like it’s some separate thing, because I grew up in it. I’m not Cuban, not even close, but that culture was a part of my youth and my adolescence. It’s not “other people’s” culture. It’s a part of me as much as it can be. You grow up in Miami, your first concert is P-Funk, it’s hard to live in The Honkie Zone™.

Here’s an example of how it affected me. One day, after I’d gotten out of the Air Force, my boss takes me to a Cuban place in Pinellas Park, La Terecita. (AmazingCuban food, BTW.) The waitress seats us, sees we’re a table of superhonkies, and gives us menus. With the food in english. I literally had no idea what any of it was, because you order Cuban food in spanish. What the fuck other language even makes sense? So I ask the waitress, when she returns, “Is there a spanish menu? I don’t know what any of this is in English.”

She looks at me and asks “Where you from?” I tell her Miami, she laughs and says “Okay baby, let me get you the menu.” (If you know what a Cuban accent sounds like, then you get more of the picture.) She comes back with a Spanish one, aka a real one, and at last, I can order my Picadillo y maduros y Materva. Fuck me, english, what use is that?

You also never understand why people are puzzled at children drinking coffee, because you start kids on cafe con leche as soon as they’re off the tit. I mean it. Non-Miamians don’t really get how central Cuban coffee is to life down there. Water is minor, cafecitos are critical.

As a kid in Miami, this was my “community pool”, Venetian Pool. It’s an old limestone quarry converted to a pool. To be able to use the diving boards, you had to swim across the pool without stopping, watched by the lifeguards. That was what turned you from a little kid to a big kid. Swimming is a necessity, because half your elementary school field trips are to the beach. Yeah, yeah, education, starfish, the stingray shuffle. I’m still convinced it was how the teachers wangled free midday beach time. As they should.

Some places brag about how you can watch the sun rise and set over the ocean by just walking a few miles. In Miami, on the highway out to Key Biscayne, you could do that just by turning around. Then there’s Stiltsville, and a not-long drive away, things like Pennekamp and Key West. Along with treasures now gone, like Ocean World, and Miami Marine Stadium, where you could see unlimited hydroplanes, and watch concerts with the stoners on rafts in the middle.

I was also there for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew. My biggest memory of that is just after the hurricane, when shit is still fucked up and Gloria Estefan, who unlike most celebrities, grew up in Miami, and is a hometown girl, holding a benefit in the Orange Bowl, to raise money to help folks out. It’s kind of fucked up, power is still wonky, she is a bit of a sweaty mess, (we all were), and yet there she is, singing “Coming Out of the Dark”, and somehow, everything was going to be okay. Gloria Estefan will always be okay in my book for that.

I don’t think you can grow up with my parents in that town and not look to the side every so often. Or all the time. And it helped me see, not just the bloody obvious truth, like the lives lived different of non-honkies in this country, but all the things.

Like driving between base and town in Grand Forks on highway 2, happy to be off early, (at 2am) and it’s one of those snowstorms where it’s not a blizzard, but the flakes are coming down big, wet and noisy. You can actually hear them hit, and as I come around a curve, there’s this explosion of light, and two two trucks pulling a semi out of the ditch. As Toccata & Fuge in D Minor is blasting in my Civic. Pipe organ version, of course. There is something perfect about that, along with Bach at 2am during another snowfall in the middle of nowhere.

Or another night, same highway, same time of day, only it’s summer, and there’s this flash of light and a roar I only hear because my windows are down, and as I look up, I see a metor blasting through the sky overhead, on fire, big trail of smoke. I pull right the fuck over because if it hits, fuck yeah, i’m gonna get a piece. (No, the obvious downsides didn’t occur to me, because ROCK FROM SPACE.) It burned up completely before it hit, but I got to see it.

You look to the side, and you find things. Like malaysian restuarants in Kansas City. Or how, in Biloxi, just outside of Keesler AFB, if you and your friends go to the same Chinese place enough, and keep ordering “something with beef, something with pork, something with chicken, and surprise us” enough, eventually the family that runs it starts making you the non-gweilo versions of things. Or that there’s a fantastic Dim Sum place not a half-block from the Moscone in S.F., an amazing cajun place in Knob Knoster, MO, and one of the best southern restaurants ever is near Binghampton, NY, (THEO’S4LYFE!)

You see things that other folks miss. Like a tango club performance in Union square, where the guy in his 70s is shaming all the younger men. Because he may be old and slow everywhere else, but he is the Tango grandmaster and the youngin’s best just step back, this is his show.

Walden Pond. It’s not just where Thoreau lived, (with lots of help from his friends. He may have wrote about self-reliance, but he was not so good at practicing it) it’s a place. It’s a swimmin’ hole. Kind of cold, but very beautiful, and a great place to take slow walks with friends. The whaling museum in Peabody. Realizing that on multiple occasions, a pre-fame/pre-Gaiman Amanda Palmer made you milkshakes and sundaes (and she was very good at it.)

You become best friends with everyone in a ten-meter radius at a crawfish festival, because you just can’t suck head, and so you give away heaping plates full of the nasty things to anyone within reach. For this, you get a lot of free beer. Some years later, at Bad Medicine Lake in MN, you gorge on the biggest crawfish you’ve ever seen, (LOBSTER-SIZED) because people up there think they’re gross, and the bottom of the lake is covered with them. It is totally worth the hypothermia you risk, and pissing off a plethora of plastered, pulchritudinous sorority sisters because if they reject crawdads, they can’t be worth your time.

You meet people who aren’t like you, and learn at a young age, just how full of shit you are, and maybe you should fix that. You pick up foul words in multiple languages, (profanity starts both fights and friendships. Often simultaneously.) You learn that the “stripper paying her way through college” isn’t just a trope, and she amazes you both with her pole work and her analysis of pre-Revolutionary War America.

You discover, if you’re open to it, that there are amazing people everywhere in all walks of life, doing all kinds of jobs you aren’t, and they are just fascinating. That there are former adult stars on Twitter who build amazing models of Star Wars ships from metal because that’s what they do, when they aren’t losing their minds over the San Jose Sharks or making beautiful art. They talk about their work too, and that’s even neat because you learn about the behind the scenes stuff. “Inside baseball” is fucking fascinating when it’s about porn. (Ed. note: this person checked out a few years ago. I genuinely miss her, and presence on Twitter.)

You learn that two authors you admire who have become friends have forgotten more about food and culture than you’ll ever know. You learn the history of Switzerland that’s about just how terrifying the Swiss are, “…I’m from Northern Ireland, I don’t do well with unannounced gunfire.”, and that a description of dinner eating between two members of old Russian Royalty can be far, far more…intense than any non-porn writing has a right to. (Seriously, hie thee to wherever you can find them, and read all of “Tales of Old Russia” by Peter Morwood. DESCRIPTIONS OF DINNER SHOULD NOT HAVE THAT EFFECT ON PEOPLE.)

Actually, if you see anything with either Peter or Diane Duane as authors or co-authors, just read it. Trust me on this.

It’s not hard to see the world as it is, good and bad, awesome and terrifying. You don’t even have to leave the country. You just have to look around every so often.

#movedoverfrommedium

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tomhollandarling · 7 years ago

Text

This Isn’t You

Request: Anonymous said: ok but like what if a villain is controlling peter and the villain makes him fight (name) who is also his gf and after he regains possession of his own mind and actions he apologizes to her swearing he’d never lay a finger on her and peppering her with kisses!!! pls make this happen?

A/N: This request was such a cute concept! I tried my best to make it realistic with the situation so I made the reader (girlfriend) have powers too. I’m not that familiar with writing action scenes or kiss scenes, but I did try my best and this was a good way to start developing those skills and practice writing it. Sorry its kind of long! I wanted to give enough time to create a reasonable fight. I may write a short drabble or would include of “Laying in Bed with Peter Parker” to make up for it.(also hopefully the perspective switches aren't that confusing) wow im a mess im sorry if you hate it

Word Count: 4561

Warnings: cursing, reader gets harmed

Masterlist

Ever since Vulture had the nerve to mess with alien technology, more and more criminals and thieves alike began to jump on the bandwagon. It was months after Vulture’s capture but some of his weapons were still hiding in the nooks of New York waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. When discovered with the wrong hands, it was only a matter of time before crime rates surged again.

The setting sun marked another day gone as Peter Parker swung from rooftop to rooftop trying to catch rogue convicts. He halted along the blank concrete surface of an apartment complex, finally catching a break. Making his way to the edge and settling down, his back against the stone, he carefully lifted off his mask. The cool breeze of the nearing dusk instantly hit his exposed skin, soothing him as his chest heaved up and down.

It was quite an eventful night of crime. Already, Peter had ceased an attempted assault, robbery, and car theft. But what he didn’t expect was another electric blue explosion coming from his right in the distance; it was all too similar from months previous. The commotion reminded Peter of the ATM robbers and the night of Liz Allan’s party. It had to be the same tech. He pulled out his phone, tapping it a few times before bringing it up to his ear and speaking.

“I got another one. You up for it?” He paused for a few seconds, listening to the response before adding, “I’ll get there first, just track me.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed on the fading glow as he equipped the infamous mask once again and ended the call, swinging off in the direction the explosion spawned from. He stealthily neared the site: one of New York’s many parking garages, and waited out the remaining time in the shadows, just outside the entrance, until his backup arrived.

It was a surprise to get a phone call from Spider-man, but everything was a surprise when it came from him nowadays. You’d only recently learned about his true identity: Peter Parker. Being a vigilante yourself, you two had met fighting a band of gangsters one night. He’d saved your life that day. Without his quick thinking, there would’ve been a bullet lodged into your brain.

Deciding to keep your identities secret from each other was a compromise necessary for protection but eventually trust got in between that. It was careless as much as it was reckless but that didn’t stop you two. He knew your name and you knew his. Many of your nights ended with you falling asleep wrapped in his arms, him admiring the way your eyelashes fluttered.

Still, the both of you reasoned to fight crime separately, unless extra help was needed, in order to preserve the working relationship that had developed. Peter didn’t want anyone to use you to get to him and you’d thought the same for him. The two of you would take every other night off, one always going out while the other took a rest day.

Tonight was an exception. Slipping off your couch, you paced back to your room and closed your door as lightly as you could, turning the handle just before it made contact with the frame to avoid the click of the lock. It was only a matter of minutes before you had transformed into your other persona. Similar to Peter’s suit, yours was thin and skintight to achieve quick and fluent movements, only you didn’t have a full face mask and yours wasn’t designed by Tony Stark. Your mask solely covered around your eyes but it still did the job of concealing your identity.

You strapped on your heat protectant gloves and zipped up a hoodie to hide your suit before sneaking out of your apartment. Luckily, your father was working late and your mother didn’t pay much attention. Thanks to a mishap at the wrong place at the wrong time with supernatural energy, science gifted you the ability to manipulate and partially create fire.

“Hey, mom? I’m going over to (friend’s name) to finish up our project.” You lied without waiting for a response.

Traffic was heavy tonight, the city lights blinding, but you managed to get to Peter quicker than expected. He’d given you access to the tracking device located inside his suit for cases like this. Alien tech was tricky to take down so he needed the backup.

It was dark now, the sunset fading as the moon woke up and the first stars appeared. “Hey.” You said simply, squeezing his shoulder. “What’s the plan?”

He turned and embraced you in a quick hug, greeting you. “Hey!” He smiled from under the mask, “I know there’s at least one alien gun, maybe two. Could be dangerous-actually y-yeah. It’s dangerous.” He seemed to be regretting calling you for help.

You smirked, folding your arms across your chest. “I’m always up for a challenge, Spidey. Don’t think I can handle danger?” You faked offence, stepping backwards.

His head tilted side to side in sarcasm. You could only imagine his eye roll. “I just get this vibe. Why would they be shooting their guns like this? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

You pulled your mask from inside the sweatshirt pocket, right before you discarded the garment, and smoothed it over your face. “I got you and you got me. Don’t worry about it. We’ve done this before, remember?”

Just then, another explosion set off, emitting blue light once again. Residual waves of power spread from the source, forcing both of you backwards before Peter could respond.

“I know.” He checked his wrist web status.

“Okay, okay.” You said, becoming more serious. “You swing up there but stay hidden. Maybe I distract them and you can web the guns?” You improvised a plan. There wasn’t much time and you wanted to stop this childsplay as soon as possible. “Just don’t do what you did at the ferry again. We don’t need this car garage coming down on us.”

“That was one time! I got this.” Peter looked determined and he pressed a few buttons on his wrist. “Alright. You okay going up there?” He asked, stepping closer towards the building.

“Yeah, I got the stairs.”

Maybe it wasn’t the best of plans, but it would have to do. While you were weaving your way between the levels of the garage, Peter used the time to scope out the scene. He positioned himself on the outside of the building but in a place so he could see the level where the weapons were being fired. There were two men messing around with a few different guns, firing them at the walls of the garage, oblivious to the scene they were causing. To his surprise, they weren’t hurting anyone or holding someone hostage. Something’s off. Over the few months that Peter had experience with alien tech, the users usually had a motive. The gadgets were expensive and in most cases the risks outweighed the benefits.

“He here yet?” Another man appeared from the shadows. Peter instantly recognized him. This was one of Vulture’s original workers, one that got away months ago. Was he still selling weapons?

“I dunno boss. It’s only been like, ten minutes. Besides, these guns are sick. New designs?” The man looked to be in his late 20’s and didn’t seem to be too bright as he was handling the gun without care.

“These things are freaky, man.” The other commented, shooting a beam through a Ford truck, blasting a hole through the front door. It sizzled and sparked as smoke started pluming from the impact. The two chuckled giddily like they were getting away with something.

“Do you remember the plan?” He said with authority, ignoring the question. “We didn’t come here to have target practice, Marcel, Austin. Act like you care.” He spat.

Marcel, the man who had just shot the truck, spoke in defense, taking a few exaggerated steps closer towards him. “You think I don’t remember the plan? You think I don’t realize what shit I’m in? Why else would I agree to help your ass and risk mine?”

“Why? Why.” He repeated in disbelief, “That bug of a teenager ruined my life. Our lives. I had to sell all my shit in order to keep designing these weapons” He pulled out a smaller gun from his hoodie, waving it rudely in their faces. Were they talking about me? I’m not a bug dude!

Austin, the other man, mockingly nodded, “What’s in it for us?”

“Yeah. All you do is use us for your petty revenge plans. Remember Logan?” Marcel was referring to a previous job, Peter assumed. Probably one that went south.

“8 years! 8 years without a word from the feds or the Avengers and then that makeshift hero showed up and...well, you saw what happened to Vulture! It took some time but now I know how to ruin him.” He paced around angrily. Yep, they were definitely talking about him. This is a trap. Shit.

Peter quickly tried to find a way to alert you but he couldn’t move without the men noticing. Come on come on come on! There wasn’t anything he could do in time.

“Don’t you two remember how much you had before all this went down a few months ago?”

“We had Logan.” Austin hissed back.

It wasn’t too hard to locate where the commotion originated. Three men were fighting about something—not that you cared—and it was time to bring it to a close. They were on the 6th level and you’d taken the stairs so it took a bit to reach the men.

“Sorry to interrupt this family feud but...those weapons gotta go.” You confidently strode up from the stairwell, folding your arms, and facing the criminals. “You know those are illegal right?”

Marcel aimed his gun at you but their leader held up a hand to prevent him from striking. He grinned, “Now, what is a pretty girl like you doing out on a night like this?”

Your eyes shot daggers as you scoffed. “Oh, you know, just maybe, I’m here to take you fools down for those guns. Just a thought. You can’t shoot things off without someone noticing by the way.”

“Three against one isn’t that great of chances.” Austin spoke as a warning, his hand gripping his weapon.

“No Spider-man with you?”

“I’ll take that bet.” You eyed the smoking Ford in disappointment. “Someone’s gotta pay for that.” You taunted just for the fun of it.

“Shame.” He spoke, “Marcel! Now!”

As if on command, Peter swung in already focused on webbing Marcel’s weapon, while you evaded his blast and hurried over to take on Austin. It only took a second for the men to react; shots fired from the various alien guns filled the parking level as you and Peter dodged most of the attacks. The waves of power bouncing around were jostling but you balanced yourself as best you could.

Conjuring a ball of heat from your palms, you aimed it towards Austin’s hand and the gun which was now pointed at you; the metal from the gadget quickly heated up which forced him to drop the weapon. He grabbed his burned hand in agony, stumbling over his own feet.

“Bitch!” He yelled as you kicked the weapon towards Peter who was currently in the middle of trying to web Marcel. He webbed the contraption down to the concrete, making sure to leave some webbing clear of the barrel; he didn’t need another experience like the ferry.

The combat continued for another few minutes without any progress. Mostly, it was a continual cycle of dodging and shooting. Peter had performed a few flips during the action in attempt to get to a higher advantage point and you were searching for the other man who you assumed was the boss of Marcel and Austin. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen and there weren’t many cars in the lot besides the Ford and a smaller Toyota along with some maintenance vans. Where was he hiding? Did he flee? Austin charged towards you out of anger as he’d recovered from the shock of the burn. It took a while for your powers to warm back up again so you had learned hand-to-hand combat to make up for your disadvantage.

“Flare!” Peter called out your cover name. Peter was now using the destroyed Ford as a shield, periodically shooting webs towards Marcel. To his disadvantage, Marcel switched settings so the gun was acting as a shield. Peter’s webs weren’t helping him in the slightest.

“Yeah?” You called back, kicking behind Austin’s legs, bringing him down to his knees. Austin attempted to hit your face but you diverted his blow.

You finished Austin, successfully knocking him out, and turned to see what Peter needed help with. Rushing over to hide behind the truck where he was, you had another fire blast ready and waiting. He motioned for you to throw it under the vehicle where Marcel’s legs weren’t protected.

“You can’t hide forever!” He tisked, moving closer.

Peter held up three of his covered fingers, counting down. You nodded in a silent response. Once only one of his fingers remained, you rolled under the Ford and used the opportunity to hit Marcel’s knees. Simultaneously, Peter jumped over the truck and webbed the second gun down as well as Marcel. He was caught off guard and upset groans were filling the air.

“Enough!” The third man reappeared, pointing his gun towards Peter and shooting. The turquoise blast startled the both of you as you were still focused on the previous victory. He was knocked back, his head slamming onto the concrete with a loud thud while the lightning-like lines of energy swarmed around him. Luckily, he was still moving. “This wasn't the plan!” He spat uselessly at his two unconscious men.

A piece inside of you tore open once you’d realized what happened. “Hey!” Immediately, you rushed over to the man, attempting to get a hit in but before you could succeed a web struck your arm, the momentum of the shot causing you to miss.

“What the hell, Spidey!” You yelled in frustration but another shot hit you again. Turning your attention to Peter, you had flames burning inside. He simply ignored your comments, attempting to hit you again.

You dodged his third attempt in shock, sliding to the right just in time. “What did you do to him?” You yelled towards the boss as you realized this wasn’t the Peter Parker you knew. He didn’t respond, only simply stepping out of Spider-man’s way and watching the scene unfold, smirking. “Hey! What did you do!?” You repeated.

Whoever was attacking you wasn’t your Peter, at least not at the moment.

“Just a little invention of mine. Nothing too special.” He finally responded.

The Toyota’s car alarm went off from behind you as Peter shot another web, missing. “Hey! Spider! Stop it, it’s me!” You cried out in desperation. How were you supposed to fight your other half, your partner? You dodged as many attacks as you could but soon Peter had you cornered. His powers and his suit were much stronger than yours as it was designed by Tony Stark. How could you beat that?

No matter the amount of times you called his name, no matter the amount of times you escaped his webs, he still pursued you. You were freaking out, panic was setting in, and you had no idea how to react. You’d lost the cocky confidence you displayed when fighting earlier. Now you were trapped and the only thing left to do was fight back.

“I-I’ll shoot!” You warned, manipulating another fireball, your arms outstretched in front of your face for protection.

He sauntered over, his head tilted to one side as he webbed your wrists to the wall in a split second before you could fire, not that you had the strength to fire at him anyways. You struggled, trying to twist your hands out from the sticky mess but it did no good. The durability of the webs were impressive. Damn it, Stark. You mentally cursed. Peter stopped right in front of you, his masked stare burning holes into your face.

“Stop for a moment, would you, Spider-man?” The boss came back into the picture, wiping down his gun with a cloth as if he couldn’t get any more comfortable. Peter stood still like a dog commanded to sit.

He towered over you with a gleam in his eyes. “I could make this stop you know. I just need some information.” He spoke, choosing his words carefully he added, “Who is Spider-man, really?”

A laugh bubbled over, making you crack a smile, giving you a boost of confidence. “Why don’t you take off his mask for yourself?”

As quick as your words left your mouth, the back of his hand left a burning mark on the side of your face. “I’m no idiot! Stark’s tech isn’t that easy to hijack!” He hissed as harshly as your face stung.

“Well apparently you can tell him what to do, so why don’t you tell him to take it off himself?” You desperately wanted to rub your cheek to soothe the pain. Your arms were starting to go numb from where they were bound above your head.

“Who is he?”

“You really wanna know?” Your voice was cracking, fear was slowly seeping in again, the coolness of the concrete consumed your remaining body heat.

He took a harsh step forward, a hand wrapped around your arm, his fingers digging in. You could already feel the bruises forming. “Yeah. Yeah, I do, Flare.”

“Go fuck yourself.” You whispered softly, voice breaking.

He whipped out a long blade, pointing it at you before handing it to Peter. Your stomach dropped from the fear and sudden realization of what was about to come. Your mind was scurrying to find a way out like a mouse trying to escape from a cat.

Peter played with the knife in his hands, running his gloved finger along the blade. He pressed the cool surface against your cheek but without enough force to break the skin. His mechanical eyes narrowed as his right forearm pressed against your collarbones to push you further into the wall. The pressure was immense. The fact that it was Peter fighting you made it a million times worse. This isn’t you, Peter. Come on! He was like a robot, soulless and unresponsive.

You longed to call out his true name aloud but you couldn’t risk it. You were heating up, beads of sweat were collecting at your hairline.

“Who is he?” He said a second time, enjoying watching you struggle.

You didn’t answer and in return the blade’s tip found its way to your jawline, dragging a thin stream of blood behind its path. You could feel Peter’s hot breath against your skin as he unconsciously followed orders.

Your hands started to burn, it was your body’s way of trying to protect you. Summoning another fireball, your palms started to melt through the webbing, allowing you to break free, knocking the knife out of Peter’s hands on your way down. Fed up, you used your charged hands to shoot a blast at the boss, hitting his right bicep. The flames bursted once they made contact. He laughed in surprise.

“Oh so she does fight back?” He commented, brushing the charred matter off.

“Stop this!” You screamed, trying to conjure enough energy for another hit. It was useless.

Dodging more webs coming from Peter and waiting for your fire to recharge, you managed to land a few blows on the man. He didn’t have any weapons as he’d given his knife to Peter and you assumed the gun was only for his sick and sadistic mind control. You were stronger than him, quicker than him, but with Peter trying to hurt you, it was impossible to take him down.

His gun clattered to the floor once you finally landed another blast, its impact echoing off the walls and pillars of the parking garage. Scrambling to reach it, you dove forward before anyone else could. There has to be some setting on it to undo this. The glowing orb inside of the metal casing was mesmerizing. Pastel lavenders and blues swirled together creating an oval of energy.

Peter charged towards you, forcing you to kick his legs out from under him at the last second. Guilt coursed through your veins.

You turned the gun on the man. “Turn. It. Off.”

“Or what?” He sassed back, unfazed by your threat.

Going on a whim, you forced your heat and energy onto the foreign orb. It was shaking you violently, but it seemed to be breaking down. Small fractures appeared on the surface, spreading quickly.

“I wouldn’t do that if--”

Everything was fuzzy. It was like he’d just woken up from a drug induced dream. His vision was hazy, clouded, and his ears were ringing from where he was positioned on the ground.

As if in slow motion, everything came rushing back. His image became crisp, sounds weren’t muted. A chunk of time had been stripped away from Peter’s consciousness. Then he remembered the pain occuring from the back of his head. He lifted his arm hesitantly, barely touching his head. He winced, feeling the tender spot.

The heat being forced onto the gun ultimately caused the device to explode, shattering the pillars of concrete. Dust and particles filled the air, inhibiting Peter’s sight. The building was coming down, car alarms going off, sirens wailing in the distance. Cracks in the foundation were getting deeper and small chunks of concrete were free falling from the levels above. The boy coughed and wheezed trying to gather his wits.

“Y/n.” He called, ignoring the dangers of using your real name.

He shifted his weight to his feet, steadying himself and peered through the rubble that was quickly gathering as each wasted second passed.

“K-Karen.”

“Yes?” The voice in his suit responded. “I’ve detected severe structural damage. Complete failure will occur in two minutes.”

Peter stumbled over his feet, “Find Y/n.” He inhaled sharply, his ribs were definitely bruised but all he cared about was you.

His sight was overridden as Karen used heat sensors and thermal vision to locate your inert body. Peter tried his best to maneuver his way through the concrete jungle. His dizziness was overbearing and as each fraction of time passed by, the building only became more and more unstable.

“Peter?” You rasped.

Your head ached and your body screamed for medical attention. Coming to your senses, you realized you were in a bed, Peter’s bed, with various blankets wrapped around you and a damp towel on your forehead to wake you up. You flinched, noticing Peter, and backed away out of temporary fear.

“You-”

He cut you off, “Shh, shh. I know. I know.” His face was pained, blood had dried around his lip and above his eyebrow.

“He-the gun-you.” You struggled form a proper sentence. “I thought you were gonna….”

“It’s my fault.” He interjected. “I should’ve been better. I let my guard down for one second and look what happened.” Peter sighed. He was still in his Spider-man suit, mask off with messy hair and puffy eyes. Had he been crying?

“Peter, it’s not your fault.”

“Then whose is it? Y/n, I hurt you tonight. Not the bad guy! I didn’t have possession of my own damn mind. I could’ve killed you!” He was shaking, his hands unable to stay still.

“But you didn’t. I handled it…” You trailed off, remembering what only happened hours before.

He stood up, pacing around the room nervously now. “Y/n, I cut this close to your neck.” He used his fingers as a reference to show the small amount of distance. “I-I should've been stronger.” He broke. “This is what I was scared of.”

“Peter, it's alright. We just have to learn how to handle alien tech. I think we both jumped into that situation too fast. It was a half-ass plan.” A small laugh escaped your lips.

You motioned for him to come nearer and you embraced him, wrapping your arms around his neck. Your eyes pooled into his, capturing his attention. “I feel like a failure.” He admitted. “What if there’s a next time? What if I had used taser-webs? Or-or web grenades? Instant-kill mode? ”

“Hey, hey.” You calmed, “You didn’t. We’re lucky that guy didn’t know too much about your suit. We’ll be better next time. The both of us.” You reassured, enjoying his presence. He snaked his arms around your waist as you rested your head in the crook of his neck. Despite all of the fighting he did tonight he still smelled faintly of laundry detergent and fresh linen. You smiled into his suit.

“You didn’t fight back.” He whispered, tears threatening to leave his eyes.

“How could I?”

“Y-you didn’t fight back, Y/n. That’s what scares me. It-it wasn’t me in there--that man. You have to--I wouldn’t ever hurt you I promise-just…” He was lost for words. “I didn’t know this was possible.”

You left the comfort of his neck, looking back into his eyes. You wiped the blood off of his upper lip with the dampened towel. “Peter, as scared as I was, I knew I could find a way to get you back and I did. Some part of me knew. That gun is gone now.”

“What about the guy? We didn’t even get his name. He-he probably still knows how to make them!” He was panicking.

“Peter, look at me.” You said, gripping his shoulders. “We will heal and we will figure this out, but right now we just need to rest.” You pulled him down into the covers, your back pressed into his shallowly moving chest and stomach.

“I’m so sorry, Y/n.”

“Shhh.” You closed your eyes and let the darkness consume you. Peter’s hands made their way around your waist again to hold you close in an apology. His lips found the soft skin of your neck, his hot breath fluttering from spot to spot creating a swirling sensation within you.

“Peter.” You said breathily, entranced by his motions.

He continued his way along your jawline and cheek, delicately placing more and more. “I’ll never let that happen again for as long as I live.”

Your eyes met for the third time and you begged for more of him. He obliged, leaning in to capture your lips. So much emotion was flooding throughout your body, yet you were unable to move. It was as if time stopped and all that mattered was him. Peter continued to place small and light kisses across your face and neck, both of you giggling and breathing heavy. The warmth of the blankets and Peter’s embrace was enough to fill you completely with bliss. The compassion of his lips melted your resistance to sleep and you were quickly fading.

His fingers danced across your forehead, gently brushing strands of hair away. “Peter?” You slowly whispered, not wanting the moment to end.

“Hm?” He hummed, peppering more kisses along your hairline.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“Always.”

Masterlist

#peter parker #peter parker fic #peter parker x reader #peter parker fluff #peter parker x you #action #marvel #marvel fic #spiderman #spiderman homecoming #spiderman x you #spiderman x reader #reader insert

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monstersdownthepath · 5 years ago

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Spiritual Spotlight/Theme Finale: The Monad

True Neutral Overseer of Creation, the Infinite, and Truth

Domains: Artifice, Darkness, Knowledge, Void Subdomains*: Toil, Night, Aeon, Stars

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 11

Obedience: Spend 30 minutes in meditation, clearing your mind of needs and prejudices. Then briefly wander and observe your surroundings, seeking a source of excess, accomplishment, or emptiness. Spend at least 30 minutes counteracting that phenomenon in some way, such as by creating something where nothing exists, providing comfort to a morose stranger, or thinning the excess population of ants in a field. Benefit: Upon completing the Obedience, select two Knowledge skills; gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus to the selected skill checks.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals. Anywhere!)

What a delightful Obedience! Meditate for a bit, and then help balance out the world! Awwww :)

Don’t worship the Monad if you’re a Ranger, or any other class with a Favored Enemy-Esque mechanic, because it won’t end well. I do enjoy that the Monad still allows its followers to pursue wants, though I’m sure that wasn’t the designer’s intention and likely just me toying with loopholes I see in sentence structures. Such as the loophole that you can view just about anything as excess, accomplishment, or emptiness.

Destroy a building, or help build a new one. Steal from the rich and give to the poor, or do the exact opposite (and be hunted down by me, personally). Kill bugs or introduce new ones to an environment. Destroy someone’s most prized possession, or give your own to someone in need. Comfort a stranger, or antagonize an ally whose ego is becoming unbalanced. Help to grow a crop, or take a torch to the whole thing. Really your imagination is the limit here, which could potentially lead to choice paralysis... but this also makes it incredibly easy to just Background Detail it without a need to elaborate. If your DM rudely demands details, you can turn it around and ask them details about the environment in order to find something you could correct. Two can play at that game!

Don’t be needlessly rude to kind or curious DMs, though. That’s not cool!

What IS cool is that benefit. While it’s not outstanding, becoming just a bit better at being a smart guy is always nice. Choosing Arcana and/or Dungeoneering is usually the way to go, but you can tailor your Knowledge bonuses day by day if needed. Heading into the wilderness? Pack Nature. Going into town? Might as well get Local and Nobility! The possibilities are endless! (actually there’s only ~45 combinations but y’know)

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons.

Boon 1: Aeon Arbiter. Gain Unseen Servant 3/day, Spectral Hand 2/day, or Gaseous Form 1/day.

Well right off the bat, Gaseous Form is painful to use most of the time. It reduces your speed to an agonizingly glacial 10ft, making it useful for getting into or out of a sticky situation but basically nothing else. You can’t really properly scout with it since you still look like a you-shaped gas cloud, but the defensive bonuses it confers means that if you get trapped in a tiny room or with a monster you don’t want to be with, any space that isn’t airtight can’t contain you. The fact it has no components also means you can cast it while grappled or restrained, so if you think you’ll end up snatched up and/or tied up, surprise your enemies by changing matter states!

Unseen Servant was, is, and always shall be one of my favorite spells in the game, even if it’s not a particularly useful one when you’re facing down a dragon, or even a single bandit. Your invisible buddy can perform all your menial tasks you require since it has an enormous 1 hour/level duration, and there’s a LOT of items that weigh less than 20lbs you could have your pal cart around. If you can’t foresee needing them later in the day, conjuring all three of them at once and setting them out on various tasks will multiply your own productivity immensely. I recently read a cute little guide online that pointed out a shovel weighs only 5lbs and a shovelful of soil will rarely surpass 3, so having a team of invisible workers digging trenches can help fortify any positions you hold. It’s just a fun spell! And it rewards knowing exactly what you can do with 2 Str and understand the limits of the servant’s manual dexterity.

Which leaves Spectral Hand, which is probably the most useful thing on this list, if less fun than UnSe. Using touch spells that aren’t Save-or-Suck is always dangerous when you’re a squishy caster, but Spectral Hand allows you to stay safely at a range to deliver them. With a range of Medium (100ft + 10ft/level) and a decently lengthy 1 min/level duration, Spectral Hand can likely last through one to three encounters to let you slap multiple foes with spells you’d otherwise never get to use. Don’t forget you can also use it to deliver buffs and healing to your allies, too! At 2/day, the only reason NOT to take Spectral Hand with this ability is if you adore Unseen Servant as much as I do, or are already in a situation (like a prison) Gaseous Form could save you from.

Boon 2: Immaterial Flesh. You gain the constant benefits of the Moderate Fortification armor special ability. If you already have a similar defensive ability, you increase that ability's chance to negate the additional damage by 10%.

This means that critical hits and Sneak Attacks have a 50% chance of doing no additional damage, for those who can’t keep track of all Pathfinder’s wild armor enchantments. It’s a boring ability, but a lifesaving one that can shear hundreds or thousands of points of damage off incoming attacks over the course of your adventuring career. Most creatures armed with Sneak Attacks have low damage on their normal attacks, so this ability can mean the difference between taking 4 damage and taking 40. Sure, it’s a coin toss as to whether or not it works, but a coin toss is better than having no way to avoid it at all!

I like the fact that if you’re already fortified or have some other method to dodge precision damage (it works on SIMILAR powers, not just fortification!), it’s increased. If you can get your hands on some Armor of Heavy Fortification, the chance to block the incoming damage becomes 85%.

I’m sad that no flavor details are given regarding what this power does to your physical body. It says ‘immaterial flesh,’ but what does that mean? Do you become a gaseous nebula or crystalline formation like the other Aeons? Do you get all swirly and galactic like the Monad? I wish it gave us more details, because it’d lighten up an otherwise bland but useful ability.

Boon 3: Creative Destruction. 1/day as a standard action, you can touch two creatures adjacent to you, or yourself and an adjacent creature. One takes 150 points of damage (Fortitude half; DC=10 + half your HD + your Cha modifier), and the other regains a number of hit points equal to the damage taken by the first target.

Ever wanted to just reach over and slap someone hard enough to kill them instantly? 150 damage--150 untyped damage, I should clarify--is not something to be taken lightly. That instantly kills most humanoids at that level and severely damages hardier monsters, with CR 16 creatures rarely exceeding 280hp at the highest. Hitting a squishy enemy caster with this power can end a battle faster than Power Word Kill, though with the downside that you must get close enough to boop them on the nose... but you aren’t required to make a touch attack. No, no attack roll is required. The only way this ability can miss is if you can’t physically touch your target, meaning incorporeal enemies are immune, and a DM may rule that certain gaseous creatures are, as well. While this ability may also intend for you to use your hands to do the touching, it simply says “touch two adjacent creatures.” You can technically use this ability by tackling someone, kissing them, or just poking them with your foot!

Now, this ability grants a saving throw for half damage, negating some of its burst potential... But that’s still 75 untyped damage that works against ANY CREATURE you can touch. Constructs, Undead, Outsiders, demigods, Great Old Ones, creatures with resistance or immunity to every element in the game and every negative condition you can think of, anything! 75 is less impressive but still impressive! It’s an enormous chunk to shave off any foe and you can indeed shave it off any foe, and they don’t have the option to avoid or lessen it at all! The fact it bypasses all forms of immunity and requires only a touch is AMAZING, and we haven’t even covered the fact that the second target regains HP equal to the damage the first victim took!

Like... 75 HP is big enough by itself. It can take a normal encounter two or three rounds to deal 75 damage, and you only need one action to undo it. And 150 HP? That’s typically enough to take someone with a d8 or smaller hit dice from 0 to full in an instant and restore anywhere from half to 75% of a Fighter or Barbarian’s health bar. But, here’s something else important: much like the destruction, the healing is also universal! Constructs are notoriously difficult to keep running due to their specific healing requirements, and Undead are similarly finicky, but Creative Destruction’s health transfer is accepted by ANY creature with an HP bar. Even yourself! That’s the best part! Even without an ally or another enemy nearby to transfer the health into, you can siphon it into yourself to beat down a bad guy!

And I suppose you could also transfer your own health into an ally that really needed it, but uuuuhhhhh 150 damage is a lot. That tactic should only be use if you have no other option!

And all you need to do to obtain all this power? Remove all your prejudices and help keep the world running smoothly. Perfect for a character of any alignment! except probably chaotic evil.

You can read more about it here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Neutrality Notes #pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons #Theme Week 19

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csykora · 7 years ago

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heya ! first of all sorry for spamming your motifs like crazy but a. i find your posts incredibly fascinating and b. you love alexander semin even more than i do which i didn't think was possible. OKAY so actually i have a question about How To Find A PT--i'm a figure skater and i want my knees to Not Do Bad Things anymore and i'm wondering if you might know how to find a PT who could help me from the perspective of making me a stronger skater and not just like. able to walk normally

hello—

No need to apologize! All I ever ask is that people add really great and/or dirty tags to my posts for me to laugh at on long shifts, and your Kuzy tag game is fuckin outstanding

(This goes out to everybody—I want to write for fans in the back, so even if you’re not up for talking directly, go ahead and engage however much you like. Yeah, I do usually take a peek at your tags or your blog if I see you interacting with a post, because it’s fun to see what you all are into, and sometimes if it looks like you have questions about something I’ll pounce, because I want information to be available. Please don’t worry about me peeking though. And also know I really won’t notice if either of us do something Tumblr-rude.)

b. Thank you! I do love him a frankly baffling amount. Your love is also lovely and I love seeing all of it. I vote we be friends and the circle of Sasha-love will only grow

(Listen I’ve been on tumblr for 5 minutes and I tried to fight this being my Thing for 2 of them, but what the hell. I’ve got a batch of new followers after last night and this is as good a way as any to warn you all)

He’s a thoughtful and a kind and a happy human being

or possibly a husky in a hockey sweater. We just don’t know. I love anyway.

How To Find a PT

Congratulations on moving forward on strengthening your skating; I think this’ll be a lot for fun for you. This was a pretty cool question, because I’m not as familiar with figure skating resources and I got to do some exploring. A lot depends on your needs and wherever you are, but I think you’re going find more options than you might expect.

First, I agree that looking for a PT with experience working with skaters is probably right for you. You have a clear goal for yourself, and like I’ve discussed before on this blog your baseline posture/mobility and the ideal posture/mobility for what you want to do are gonna be different from a non-skater’s.

A good PT will do their research and be able to help you even if they haven’t seen exactly your case before, so if it turns out there isn’t a skating specialist around that’ll work for you, you can certainly get some benefit from a general sports PT. But if you can, filtering for skating specialists will save you time and trouble.

Use your networks

Figure skating is figure skating. Somebody is gonna know somebody.

Figure skating culture can also really convince you that you the skater are not supposed to ask for things, though, so it’s a good idea to sit down with a notepad for a minute and think about:

what have I tried and what’s worked for me?

Have you had injuries or conditions that required medical care?

Were you given those little paper sheets with rehab exercises to do and did you try them?

Have you noticed any patterns or tricks like, “hey, it really hurts when I do ___ but if I ice before I do it that helps.”

What are my goals?

Are you thinking in terms of rehabbing to get back to your earlier level, or preventing further injury, or both?

What’s your time frame? How much time can you spend, and how much do you want to?

Do you want to be in-and-done to get an official opinion and then work by yourself, or do you want more hands-on guidance and a working relationship?

What kind of person are you looking for—a strict coach’s attitude to drive you, or someone who’ll give more encouragement?

Then you can tuck that away and start poking around. I recommend a 50/50 of googling and talking to people, but go with whichever you trust and are comfortable with.

If you go to a rink, you can ask basically anyone there for their ideas. (You don’t have to tell them anything personal, you can just say, “So, skating, huh. You know any folks that’d help a fellow skate better?”) Any figure skating coach should be cross-trained, and they should know their resources. Rink managers will also know the names of local providers and may have deals worked out. If it’s a university rink, there’ll be an in-house sports med department who’ll often offer some services even if you’re not a competitive athlete for the school and will know your options. The skate mothers will Know.

Ask providers you’ve worked with in the past. If you have a primary care doctor, let them know you’re interested in PT. If you’ve ever had surgery on your knees, check in with that provider and see if they have any names to refer you to.

If you’d rather internet, you can search the American Physical Therapy Association database at MoveForwardPT by region.

(I’m offering US resources based on your profile. If you or anyone else wants suggestions for other countries, let me know.)

It’ll then offer you the option to filter by Practice Area—you’ll want to try Fitness and Wellness and Musculoskeletal.

Each provider will then show up with their “practice focus” like this:

They write those themselves, so there isn’t really a standard meaning. ‘Sports Physical Therapy’ suggests that they do relatively acute, focused rehab. Seeing ‘Athletic Training’ and/or ’Sports Performance and Enhancement’ suggests that they work longer-term one-on-one as you train. (A lot people say both. Again, these just give you a sense of what they want you to know about them.)

If you then select a provider, you’ll see more on their professional experience, facility, and availability, with their contact information.

If you’re a member of US Figure Skating, you should be able to search for local providers and referrals from other skaters through the U.S. Figure Skating National Medical Network.

I personally wouldn’t trust USFS with a piece of string, and I don’t know how useful the database is outside of, like, the skating hub cities. But the PTs in the network are independent providers—they don’t all work for USFS, and most will work with any clients. You just need a membership ID to search the database, so if you aren’t a member you could find someone at your rink who is and ask them to help you search.

Once you’ve got a name:

Go ahead and contact them in whatever format you prefer. Their contact info is on their bios for a reason! You want to know if you’re a match before you start working together, and so do they. Just like a therapist or a surgeon or a tattoo artist, a good PT will want to tell you about their experience, the kinds of problems they see, and their particular style. They should be telling you about their privacy policy, and their non-discrimination policy, before you even ask.

When you meet:

Bring your notes

Go ahead and count the little things. We keep personal things in our offices on purpose to tell you about us. If you don’t like how much Chicago gear they have on the wall or how they talk to you or how they carry themselves around your personal space, count that. If you can chat comfortably with them, count that too; that’s worth a lot more than their degrees or how many other skaters they’ve seen.

Look for signs of respect. Look at where they sit: all healthcare providers are supposed to be trained not to get between you and the door, so if you see them deliberately moving, that’s a good sign.

PT have to get their hands all up on patients, and the good ones are great about it: you should hear them say exactly what they’re going to do before they touch you, explaining while they work, and see them deliberately warming their hands, only moving your clothes as much as they have to for each assessment, and covering you back up as soon as they’re done with something.

If it’s an office practice, talk to the nurse! They see all the patients that the PT sees, and their clinical judgement informs the whole practice. Ask them about the practice and tell them about your goals. The PT is a specialist, while the nurse is there to provide holistic care: they know a little about all the different resources that might be able to help you. And they also know or have worked with or know a nurse who’s worked with everybody in the area—they’ll be the one to say, “hey, water therapy really worked for our last client, maybe try that,” or “Dr. Bronner over on Spring Street does more work with clients like you, maybe give him a call.” They’ll also be able to help you with scheduling, which is a pretty big deal for long-term PT.

If one PT isn’t a match for you, it’s very appropriate to ask for them for recommendations!

Last:

Keep what you want in front of you, but be open to trying things you don’t expect. It’s very possible that a good PT will look at you and say, “I hear that your knees are bugging you, but that’s only happening because your hips are fucked up,” or “We’re going to start by relaxing your lower back and building strength in your core so you can use a posture that stresses your knees less.” Or you’ll go in wanting exercises to do on the ice but what ends up working for you is heat therapy or strength training. Try stuff, give it some time, and if that one thing isn’t the thing for you (including the first PT you work with), you can move on and something else will be.

Good luck and you should let me know how it goes!

#sports medicine #figure skating

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lovesyllabus · 4 years ago

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Romantic and Cool things to do at home for Couples

This quarantine has separated a lot of us from our loved ones and if you are still living with your families, then consider yourself as the lucky ones. We understand that living with your partner comes with its share of problems or confusion. Couples should try new things to do indoors for keeping their romance alive.

And with all the days blending and seeming as if all the days are just a repetition of the previous one, it can get boring (a lot boring in fact) and soon enough that feeling of being bored can morph into frustration and anger at your partner. So, we bring you some amazing romantic things to do at home for couples especially!

It can sometimes be a little difficult to make that spark in your relationship last longer but we have something for you guys. This thing could solve your problems and before you ask, no it’s not something big or costly after all it’s always the little things and the effort that counts.

Here are some romantic things to do at home for couples to rekindle that beautiful feeling of butterflies, your heart skipping a beat just at the sight of them:

1. Write Sweet, Short Letters and Notes

You probably wrote random letters for your partner at the beginning of your relationship but don’t do it anymore.

Well, start doing it again. It doesn’t have to be big paragraphs of you declaring your love for your significant other, it can just be a small, sweet, honest note like “you make me feel cherished, thank you.”, Or maybe something a bit playful like “You make my mornings less grumpy”. Try doing these and see the magic yourself.

And if you don’t want to write a note, just say it in front of them or maybe to keep things a little interesting message them.

We know that messaging somebody who lives with you seems dumb, but messaging someone when they are standing or sitting across you and watching their face light up with love and happiness as they read your message and seeing all the joy on their face would make everything so much perfect.

2. Communicate

Remember when you used to stay up all night with them and talk about nothing and everything at the same time, it felt nice right? We want you to start doing that again. What a lot of couples of this generation lack today is a bit of communication and understanding.

Communication can make or break your relationship. We know that since you’re living together, you believe that you’ll soon run out of topics to talk about and it is completely true because it seems dumb to keep talking all the time. The best romantic things to do at home for couples is communicate.

A lot of you don’t understand what communication in a relationship stands for. It’s not always talking to each other and constantly blabbering about yourself.

It’s also listening to their silence and treating silence as a form of communication. I’ll call this epic“comfortable silence”. It’s a beautiful phase and I love this phrase because “comfortable silence” suggests that you’re so comfortable with a person that you guys don’t need to talk to each other just to keep things going between you, you are as much in love with their quietness as you are in love with them talking to you.

3. Movie Nights

I understand and empathize with you when you say that you have work to do because we all have jobs and work doesn’t stop for corona but you have to take some time off and give a little bit of the attention that you’ve been giving to you work, attention to your partner.

You can do this by scheduling movie nights at your home. Be it during the night or the daytime, basically whenever you’re free from your work. This can majorly help in solving your communication problems, provided if you have any.

Select a genre that both of you like or maybe do it like the first movie is of your choice and the second one is your partner’s preference.

Get some popcorns ready or some cookies or whatever you like which is easily available. We recommend popcorns because they are so easy to make and nobody will have to fuss about what to cook.

Now, all you have to do is set up some cushions, get a big, large blanket and hop on the couch or the bed and watch that movie as you cuddle or maybe have a popcorn fight over who ate more.

4. Date Nights

How can you have a date at your home!? Wondering that right? Don’t worry, I’ll tell you and help you with what to do.

Okay, so what happens on a typical date? You dress up, go to a restaurant, eat food, talk to your date, and spend time with them.

It sounds so fun and in actuality is so much more fun. Imagine having a date at your own home. Here’s what you do.

You tell your partner to dress up and show up in the living room or the terrace or wherever you want to have your date, You decide a time convenient for the both of you (preferably evenings), order food from outside, set up some candles and a cozy sitting area.

Do and act how you’d probably act on a date and try to make your partner feel special. Another special romantic things to do at home for couples.

Date nights like these are so important and interesting because they add a bit of magic to your relationship. Plus, it gives you something new, basically a change from your same, boring days.

5. Creative Dates

Basically, the main idea behind creative dates is doing something different than the typical dates and being thoughtful about what your partner likes and dislikes, and then deciding to do stuff based on that.

That’s it, it’s that simple. Here are some of my personal favorite creative date ideas:

Painting Date Nights:

If your partner likes to paint or draw then we’d highly suggest this fun and cute date that you can have at your home. What you need is some paint and some old t-shirts.

All you have to do is try to paint your partner on that t-shirt. It’s so fun, cute, and low on costs. You can even get the t-shirts framed or store them for the sake of memories.

2. Rooftop/Terrace Date Night:

Remember when we were teens and used to stay up all night looking at the stars and just dreaming and thinking about anything that came to our minds.

You can turn that into a date. If you have a terrace or a balcony, then these are the perfect places for your date. Here’s what you need for this date: A mattress, lots of cushions, a music system, and a big, comfy blanket oh and a mosquito repellent for those nasty bugs.

Try to make the sitting area as comfy and cozy as possible because stargazing isn’t fun if you’re not comfortable. Select some lo-fi playlists from YouTube or Spotify and you’re all set to dream and talk about your insecurities, dreams, and wishes with your lover like you used to when you were kids. Sounds like a dream

3. Cooking Dates:

The name probably explains everything and if you don’t know how to cook then maybe you could learn something. Your partner might even feel grateful that you finally decided to help them. You could decide a day and select something to cook or bake like cookies or cupcakes.

I mean every girl reads Wattpad and all of us have wanted to bake with the boy that we love at least once in our lives. Well, it’s time to turn that dream into a reality.

6. Lots of Cuddling

Cuddling is an absolute must in a relationship and if for some reason, you and your partner are growing cranky and fighting a lot over little matters and you are probably cuddling less than that explains why you have been fighting and getting irritated so much.

Cuddling is something so intimate and this is the best romantic things to do at home for couples and aside from the fact that it adds cuteness and the adorable factor into your relationship, cuddling has health benefits.

When we cuddle with someone that we love, our body releases a hormone ‘oxytocin’ which lowers your blood pressure, calms you down, helps you deal with stress easily as it lowers the levels of the stress hormone ‘cortisol’ in our body. Cuddling is one of the known things to do for lovers

Cuddling can give you moral support but it also said that it can even help relieve pain because oxytocin can block pain signals in our body.

Oxytocin is often called the “love hormone” and it helps to keep things between you and your partner spicy and lovey-dovey.

It is stated that couples who cuddle more tend to be happier, healthier, and less stressed.

If you have sleeping issues, it is said that cuddling can help you sleep efficiently because oxytocin has a “calming effect” on our body.

It’s a win-win situation that benefits both of you and I see no reason why you shouldn’t cuddle.

7. Start and Grow a Garden

If you have the time and space for a garden, then I suggest that you try to grow a garden of your own. It can help you guys become a bit more responsible and can even help in mutual understanding of one another.

It will also make both of you a bit more physically active and your time will be invested in doing an activity together and spending time together. These are the things to do for lovers.

It’s fun and why not grow your vegetables and some flowers. You won’t have to eat marketed vegetables which are a great health benefit for you and your partner.

Spending time and creating something like a garden can increase a different sense of intimacy in your relationship which probably wasn’t there before.

8. Redecorate your House Together

Quarantine has given us ample of free time and isn’t it better that you try and learn something new in this free time. One of the romantic things to do at home for couples is to redecorate home!

You can try and redecorate your home. The key factor in this is that you take inputs and criticisms from your partner and do this together, not single-handedly. When you do something major with your partner, it builds a form of trust between you guys because they will feel that you trust them enough to include them and take help from them in these activities.

It increases love and trust between couples.

9. Try Yoga or Aerobics Classes Together

What’s better than getting fit while spending time with your partner. Enroll yourself in a yoga or a dance class online or search something on YouTube, there are loads of videos available on the internet for beginners for free. All you have to do I search for it.

There’s something called “naked yoga” and I highly recommend all couples to try it. You should try it even if you’re single.

Naked yoga is exactly what the name says, doing yoga without any kind of clothing. It can help you to put your vulnerabilities and insecurities in front of your partner more openly and vice-versa.

It can spice up your intimate life but it can also make you love and accept yourself more and when we love ourselves completely, only then are we able to love other people around us in a healthy way.

You could even try working out together if you’re the kind of couple that likes to stay fit and you can look for awesome inspirational videos on various social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, etc.

10. Give them Some Space and Privacy

One of the most liberating and the most loving things that you can do for your partner is to give them some space and let them have their privacy.

There’s this quote from one of my favorite movies and it says that the more you try to hold on to people, the more they want to slip away and I could not agree more with this.

If you’re too clingy or your partner is too clingy then the chances of trust issues being developed are extremely high. What do you get out of being clingy? You get to spend time with someone who doesn’t want to spend time with you. Sounds ridiculous right but it’s the truth because as much as somebody loves you, they still need some time off and be alone.

Don’t Be Clingy:

Imagine yourself in the same situation and your partner is too clingy. In the starting, you’d feel nice but soon enough you’d feel suffocated. And this is not something subjective, it is what always happens. And trying to hold on too tight is wrong because you’d make the person you love feel suffocated. What kind of love is that? It can’t be love, it’s toxic for you and your partner.

Remember that there is a difference between being clingy and being affectionate for someone.

Being clingy can ruin your relationship because one wants to run away and the other one is holding on too tight.

Try to give your partner some alone-time and just let them be as they are. Try to give yourself a break and take some time out to love and care for yourself. It will be like a breath of fresh air for your relationship.

If you love someone, all you can do is let them go and see if they come back. If they do, you get your answer and if they don’t, you get your answer then too.

Don’t be clingy or if you feel your partner is, then the best option is to first talk it out. Try to communicate with them about how it makes you feel and what they can do to solve this problem.

11. Do Absolute Dumb, Child-like things Together: Fun Games for Partners

Sometimes doing things that sound senseless to others is the kind of therapy your relationship needs.

Dance in the rain, paint on each other’s body, try coloring books together, read books together, play board games, etc.

The basic point is to try to keep the joy and the playfulness of you and your partner alive. These little things help so much in the long run.

For example Dance in the rain, doesn’t even have to be the slow, romantic kind of dance. It’s okay if you’re just jumping around with your partner, in a puddle, with wide smiles etched across your face, splashing water everywhere as both of you are completely soaked but neither of you seems to care

It’s much fun or it could be you guy are enjoying delicious, hot coffee as you are sitting on your porch wrapped in blankets lost in each other, as a calm, warm feeling spreads across your body and all that you can hear in the background is the rain hitting the ground furiously. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

You could even have a body painting competition where you guys paint each other’s body and decide who wins and losses and whoever loses cooks dinner.

Play board games and have tea, draw each other as ugly as either of you can.

It’s not that difficult to do stuff with each other or for each other, all it takes is a little bit of thought, love, and efforts. You probably noticed that everything that I have talked about does not require a lot of money or special things. It’s just you and your partner spending quality time together.

12. Have a Treasure Hunt: A Fun Game for Partners

Now this one is a really fun way to cherish your memories and your journey as a couple. Here’s what you do:

You select all of the things that hold some kind of common sentimental value for both of you and hide them, you also create some sort of hints that will help them to find the objects.

You decide a prize which could be on the lines of whoever wins gets to choose their dessert or you can create your prize.

This is a really fun and cute game because as soon as your partner finds an object, he/she will remember the memory associated with it. It is an amazing way to rekindle things between you and your partner or to simply cherish the memories that you guys have made together on this beautiful journey.

13. A Spa Night

This is a great way to bring intimacy into your relationship. Decide and schedule days when you will give your partner a spa-like treatment at home which will include everything from massage, manicures, etc. and on another day your partner will do the same for you.

We all deserve to be treated and cherished for who we are and all our efforts. This is a great way to express gratefulness and love to your partner.

Spa is one of the best things to do as a couple.

This will also decompress you if you have been a bit overwhelmed recently.

14. Create a Scrapbook of all your memories

This is another beautiful way to cherish your memories. Creating a scrapbook can be extremely relaxing for both you and your partner and can take you down that memory lane.

Add some of you and your partner’s baby photographs in there because why not?

Yeah they are cute now but they were cuter as a child and why not add some of these photos to tease them about it.

Ha-ha, I’m mean, right?

15. Start a Weekly Journal

This won’t be a regular journal. Here you’ll write what you did with your partner and include every small thing and behavior of your partner and how it made you feel. You’ll also include how you currently feel about them. Your partner will create a similar journal but instead of writing about themselves, they will write about you in that journal.

At the end of every week, both of you will swap journals and read them.

This will help both of you to understand yourself from the perspective of your partner.

– This will help you and your partner hugely in solving communication and understanding problems between both of you.

16. Have a Question and Answer session

Have a Q&A session with your partner and ask questions that you have always wanted to ask them but never could.

This will solve the same problems as creating a journal would, i.e. your communication problems.

17. Make Music Videos and Karaoke Sessions

Remember as a kid, whenever you used to sit in the car and a song played, you’d act like you were in the video. Then make that a reality.

Try recreating a music video with the help of your partner. Don’t take it too seriously though, it’s just for fun.

Create dumb lip-sync videos or TikTok as everybody calls it and just have fun with your partner.

Have karaoke nights with your partner where you just sing or shout even if you don’t know the song and have the absolute best time with them.

18. Netflix and Chill

Binge-watch everything that you once thought you’d watch but never actually succeeded in watching.

This could be like a movie night except for its longer and more fun.

Everybody loves Netflix and there is something or the other on Netflix for everybody.

You get to spend time with your partner and watch a movie or TV series that you love. Sounds super amazing right? Netflix and chill has become the most common indoor couple activities.

Final Note

So, here were the best things to do as a couple. Not just you or not just them but both of you. Yeah, you can sometimes do things that they like or they could do things that you like but in the end, the relationship is a two-sided coin and both the people have to put in their efforts.

All the activities that I have talked about above are extremely simple and random, they are not at all unique.

This proves that all it takes is to your heart and listen to your partner, understand them, cherish them. You are lucky that you have someone to spend your whole life with, make sure you let them know how lucky they make you feel.

And if you do things for them, there is nothing wrong in expecting them to make efforts for you but if they don’t its always better to communicate rather than letting it eat you up from the inside. A relationship is built on trust and communication and it is high time that this generation understood this sentence and acted upon it.

Read more How To Know If You Are Ready For A Relationship

How to Avoid Being Used by a Cancer Man

#signs of true love in a relationship #signs of true love from a man #signs of true love from a woman #romantic games for couples #relationship advice for women

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atomicsuperhero · 4 years ago

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How to Save Your Favourite Outdoor Plants: Bring Them Inside!

Many of the flowers and plants we grow in Alberta are annuals here. But many of those plants are technically perennials, in other parts of the world. They just really can’t hack those 10-14 days of -30ºC to -40ºC that we get in February. It's only a few days in Central Alberta anyway. They get many more -40 days up north.

We buy these gorgeous flowers in the spring, tuck them into our pots and hanging baskets and flower beds, and then sadly send them to the compost bin come September or October. But we don’t have to. Many of the flowers we mourn when the frost hits (like it has the last couple of days here) are tender perennials. So they would survive through the winter just fine in warmer regions of the continent. Heck, even warmer parts of Canada, like the west coast (best coast). With its growing zones of 7-8-9. It's Canada’s gardening mecca.

I’m not bitter or envious at all over here in chilly zone 3. Definitely not. Why do you ask?

Many of these tender perennials are plants that we could overwinter indoors and set them back outside next spring, bigger and better than ever.

First, it's essential to know which plants are tender perennials and which are annuals. Annuals are designed to grow hard and flower profusely for only one season. They are not going to reward you next year if you bring them in for the winter. Plants like petunias, calibrachoa, and pansies won’t bloom as beautifully next year, so there’s no point in overwintering them.

Plants to Overwinter Indoors

There are a surprising amount of plants you can overwinter indoors. Here is a list of plants that I know you can bring inside for the winter: geraniums, coleus, begonias, impatiens, fuchsias, dracaena, hibiscus, hot peppers, herbs, and most succulents.

I’m sure there are plenty more that you can bring in, but those are the ones I’m most familiar with. A quick google search about your plant should tell you whether it's perennial or annual. If it's a perennial, you should be good to bring it in. This year, I’ve brought my Lemongrass indoors because I rooted them from the grocery store pieces, so I don’t want to let them die. We’ll see how it goes.

Taking Cuttings vs. Overwintering the Whole Plant

There are two main ways to overwinter your tender perennials. You can bring the whole plant indoors, or you can take cuttings to start new clone plants. It depends on the amount of space and how many bright sunny windows you have.

Got lots of south-facing windows and lots of space? Maybe you want to bring the whole pot in.

What are the benefits of overwintering the whole plant? Your plant will keep getting bigger and bigger every year. We used to do this with dracaenas. I don’t know what variety, we never paid attention. But, we’d bring them inside in their pot every fall. Eventually, they got so big that they wouldn’t fit in our house anymore.

We ended up donating them to a local college, and they lived in their science building for many more years. I’m sure they were nearly 15 feet tall by the time they finally died. I assume they died from lack of nutrients, as I don’t think they ever got repotted after leaving our house.

So, if you’ve got the space, and you’d love to have some large statement plants on your patio in years to come, this is a fun way to grow the biggest version of a plant in your neighbourhood. You do have to take a little more care to get them ready for coming inside. I’ll cover that later.

If you have significantly less space, the other common way is to take cuttings from your plants. Most plants can be propagated by cuttings. Propagating involves cutting a little slip of a plant, 4-5 inches of stem from a healthy young branch of the plant, and rooting it for next year. Check the underside of leaves and the stems for pests and remove them if you find them.

Taking cuttings is the best bet if you have a smaller place or less window space. I have done this with geraniums and silver nickel vine this year. I took 2-4 slips from each geranium, trimmed off most of the leaves and have placed them in pots of soil, near a sunny window. The other benefit of this method is that you’re less likely to bring unwanted pests indoors. Which I’m about to get too.

Dealing with Pests

Outdoor potted plants are likely to have some critters living with them. We don’t notice pests on outdoor plants as quickly as we do on indoor plants. Things like aphids and gnats and mealybugs and scale may have established themselves in your outdoor plants.

You may also have ants building a cozy home in the bottom of your pots, entering through the drainage holes, and slugs hiding out under the cool, damp base of containers. There’s probably spiders building safe, dry homes under the rim of your pots, too.

Here’s the thing to keep in mind, PESTS AREN’T BAD.

Bugs are critical to our environment. Yes, they can potentially cause damage to your plants, but we don’t want to rid the world of them, or we’ll rid the world of us too. BUT, you’ll want to deal with them as best you can before you bring your whole potted plants inside.

How to Address Pest Infestations on Outside Plants

First, give all the pots a thorough cleaning. Wipe down all the sides, under the rim, and the bottom of the pot. If it's a bigger pot, you may even want to give it a spray off with the hose before you wipe down with a cloth, brush, or sponge. Check under the rim and the bottom of the pot for pests. Then clean the drip tray too.

Was your plant in a huge pot with a bunch of other plants for the summer? You may want to consider repotting it into a smaller pot for the winter. This will also allow you to give it some fresh soil.

Once your pots are clean, check the plant itself for pests, look at the underside of every leaf.

Yes, every single leaf.

Check the stems, particularly where smaller limbs branch out from the main stem.

Start dealing with any pest infestation you find, however you prefer. If it's small, you may be able just to use rubbing alcohol and q-tips to kill the bugs. If it's big, you might want to try the dish soap method or Safers insecticidal spray (I assume there are other brands, but Safers is what I’m familiar with).

How to Bring Your Whole Plant Indoors for Winter

There’s a big difference between outdoor growing conditions and indoor growing conditions. What follows is the recommendation that all the big gardening sites and books make.

This process should take about 5 days before your plants are fully acclimatized to indoor living. And then, ideally, you’ll want to keep them quarantined indoors for another 2 weeks, away from all your houseplants, to make sure all pests are dealt with and don’t spread to your other plants.

Day 1: Get Shady & Clean

Move the plants you want to bring indoors to a shady spot in your yard. They need to adjust from bright light to lower light levels, so group them all together somewhere that they’ll be in the shade all day.

Start your cleaning, repotting, and inspect pests. Prune back any plants that need it, quite a bit. You can safely take off up to 1/3rd of the total volume. Cut off any browning or dying leave, trim brown tips off of things like dracaena.

Prep a place indoors that you can quarantine your outdoor buddies away from your houseplants. Ideally, it should be easy access to the door, so you can bring them outside.

Got a garage? Perfect!

But, you’ll want to do indoor quarantine somewhere else, because your garage likely doesn’t have enough light to keep your plants happy for 2 weeks, unless you’ve got large windows in it.

Day 2: Garage Sleepover

Bring all your plants indoors for the night. If you have a garage, and some garden carts, or steal your kid’s wagon, set your plants on the cart, pull them in at night.

Day 3: Back Outside in the Shade

Take your plants back out in the morning, to the shady spot, put them back inside in the evening, just before dark.

Days 4-7: Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Repeat this process. Put them back in the garage or house in the evening just before the sun goes down. Repeat this process every day for 3-4 more days. Shorten their outside time by an hour or two every day, until they’re not going out at all anymore.

Now you’re safe to bring your outdoor plants inside to your quarantine space.

Days 7-14: Daily Inspections for Stowaways

Check your plants daily and keep your eyes peeled for pests. Treat as needed. Once your plants have been quarantined for 14 days, and you don’t see any new signs of pests, you can move them to a more permanent winter location, ideally near a south window.

Full Disclosure: I do not do this whole process... I still have successful plants, but they’d probably be even better off, and I’d have fewer pest infestations than if I did this.

Tips For Keeping Your Plants Happy Over Winter

Don’t fertilize

Don’t water too often (check the soil with your finger, but don’t water until it feels dry to a depth of an inch or to your first knuckle.

How to Taking Cuttings for Propagation

If you decided to take cuttings instead, you can root cuttings in two ways:

You can put the stem cuttings in water, and let them grow roots, then plant them into pots.

You can put your cuttings straight into fresh potting soil.

I used 4-inch square nursery pots for my geraniums, and I put a cutting in each corner of the pot. The thing about taking cuttings and putting them directly in the soil is that you need to make sure the soil stays damp until they root. So don’t let the soil dry out, but don’t make it saturated wet either, because that will just cause rot.

I’m rooting my silver nickel vine cuttings both ways. I have 3 cuttings in a pot with soil, and I have a few rooting just in water. I don’t know how the roots are doing in the soil ones. I haven’t checked yet. The ones in water are starting to grow tiny roots.

If you’re doing the water propagation method, be prepared for it to take awhile. Like, a few weeks. Change the water for fresh stuff every few days.

I took the geranium cuttings on October 7. I brought my lemongrass indoors, too, a few days before that. The lemongrass was all in individual pots around the yard, so I dug out all 4 plants and stuffed them all in one pot together. This is probably not ideal, because it means it’ll be nearly impossible to separate them next year, but I’m ok with that.

Anyway, if you haven’t done this yet and in Central Alberta, I’d recommend getting at it ASAP. We had -4 last night, and it started snowing today. So if you want to save them, get started on it today if you can.

If you’ve gotten frost and the leaves on your plant are all brown and wilty already, it might be too late. But, you could try cutting back the dead foliage and moving the pot it inside anyway. The roots may still be viable, and they may come back if you bring them inside.

#gardening #plants #houseplants #perennials

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