#i should probably Do Less or lower weight/gradually go into higher weights than have the fuck it we ball mentality lmao

[barkingangelbaby]

woke up like "yeowch my core hurts!!" as if i didn't do 90 crunches at 15-50lbs yesterday lmao

[hockeylvr59]

More than Morning Sickness || Matthew Tkachuk

Requested: [x] yes [ ] no

Yoooo I love your writing! Can I request a Matthew Tkachuk imagine where the reader is pregnant but she has severe morning sickness and Matty has Chantal and Taryn come and stay with her while she’s on the road so she doesn’t have to be alone because he wants so bad to stay and help her through it even though he knows he can’t 💕💕 I love your writing omg

Authors Note: So I had an idea for a twist on this request kind of based on current events so after running it by the requester I went ahead and made the changes to write it the way I wanted to. Enjoy!

Warnings: none?

Word Count: 1,670

~~~~~

Nausea. Vomiting. Headaches. Fatigue. 

You’d been staying with your boyfriend Matt and his family in quarantine for about two and a half months when those symptoms hit you like a truck, coming completely out of nowhere. You’d gone from messing around with Matt’s family in whatever sport they were attempting to barely being able to get out of bed. 

For a couple of days you were able to play them off as a minor bug or your body’s disagreement with something you had eaten. But when they didn’t go away, Matt’s family started asking questions. 

Taryn and Brady both suggested that Matt take you to the doctor. Keith didn’t seem to know what to suggest. Matt’s mom Chantal, however, disappeared to the store before returning with a bag full of items. As she pulled the items from the bag, gradually the eyes of her family grew wider. Saltine crackers, Gatorade, B6 vitamins, prenatal vitamins, and finally a pack of pregnancy tests. 

“Bro...you knocked her up!” Brady exclaimed. 

Keith mumbled something about quarantine babies under his breath while Matt just stood in the kitchen looking completely shell-shocked. 

__

When you stirred from your nap, you saw Matt sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. The moment he realized you were awake though, he shifted, leaning in to press a kiss to your forehead. 

“How are you feeling?” He questioned softly, fingers gently pushing away strands of hair that had fallen in your face. 

“Little less tired.” You murmured. “Still have a bit of a headache and feel like I’m going to puke.” As always, Matt’s face was filled with worry, but you’d learned that lying to him did more harm than good. 

“Mom thinks you’re pregnant,” Matt whispered, moving to lay down beside you. “And she’s probably right.” He added. This time it was you that was shell-shocked, your stomach twisting as you thought about it. You and Matt certainly hadn’t been practicing abstinence...and there was that time out on the lakehouse dock where you had gotten a little careless. 

Matt pulled you from your thoughts with a gentle kiss to your lips and when he pulled back he sighed. 

“She bought a couple of tests, think we should maybe take them?” His fingers rubbed the skin of your hip gently, helping you remain somewhat grounded. 

“Yeah...okay.” You agreed. 

Five minutes later, Matt was holding your hair back while you once again vomited, the sound of your phone timer going off on the counter. After a moment, Matt stood and the sound of the faucet ran for about 30 seconds. Even still, you heard the clatter of plastic against the counter as Matt checked the tests and silenced your phone. Kneeling back beside you, Matt draped a cool rag over the back of your neck and his hand fell to your lower back. 

“This is all my fault,” He mumbled, words of apology spilling from his lips. You didn’t even need to hear the word ‘positive’ to tell you that was exactly what the tests had read. Resting your head on your arm you attempted to send Matt as much of a smile as you could. 

“Last I checked it takes two to tango Matty.” You admitted. “So unless you plan on up and leaving me you have nothing to be sorry for.” Matt didn’t pick up on your weak attempt at a joke and instead cursed, promising that he wasn’t going anywhere. 

___

Though Matt’s family ribbed the two of you hard for conceiving a quarantine baby, they were all super supportive, willing to get you whatever it was that you needed. While the vitamins Chantal had bought helped a little with the fatigue, they really didn’t do much to stop the constant nausea and vomiting. 

Two weeks after finding out you were pregnant, you were being diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum. The same day you got this diagnosis, the NHL announced further information about its return to play plan. You were upset knowing that Matt would be going into a bubble and would miss so much of the pregnancy but you knew it was his job and there was nothing you personally could do about it. Talking with Taryn and Chantal, you knew the best thing you could do was take the medication the doctor had given you, try to intake as many vitamins and nutrients as possible, and put the rest up to a higher power knowing that you were doing your best to take care of yourself and the little one growing inside you. 

Because you had decided that return to play wasn’t something you could control, it wasn’t something you ever talked about with Matt. Instead, you spent as much time as possible with him, watching from the outside sofa as he messed around with Brady in the backyard, cuddling him on the couch while a random movie or tv show played in the background. You talked about the things you’d need for the baby, who you hoped the baby would take after more and just other random things that had nothing to do with his impending departure. 

As the date for summer training camps approached, you found yourself packing Matty’s bags out of habit, tucking them off to the side of the room ready to go. Though you were feeling a little bit better since starting the medication, you still tired easily and you knew that the emotional strain was beginning to take its toll. You’d cried yourself into many a nap thinking about how much Matt was going to miss and how you were going to do this on your own. It was silly because you had Matt’s entire family at your beck and call and there was no doubt that you’d be taken care of, but it just wasn’t the same. Having your boyfriend’s family around would never be able to compare with having your boyfriend/baby daddy by your side. 

Matt was out with Brady and Taryn and you were lounging on the couch with Chantal when your phone rang. Caller ID showed that it was Noah’s girlfriend and while you hadn’t really spoken to any of the other wags recently you answered curious as to why she had reached out. Without even greeting you, she quickly spoke one sentence that sent your mind spinning. 

“Noah just told me Matt is opting out.” You froze, your eyes immediately filling with tears. “Y/N.” She repeated your name, but you barely registered it. 

“I’ll call you back.” You whispered, cutting the line before glancing over at Matt’s mom almost full-on sobbing. She looked at you with confusion on her face before moving over to your end of the couch wrapping her arms around you. 

“What’s wrong?” She murmured, her hand rubbing over your back. 

“Where’s Matt?” You hiccuped, trying desperately to calm yourself before you ended up sick once more. She murmured that she would call him and fifteen minutes later you felt Matt’s arms wrap around you, pulling you into his chest as you continued to softly cry. 

“Sweetheart...what happened?” He questioned, thumb tucking under your chin to force you to look at him. 

“You’re opting out?” The words were barely audible, but it was clear Matt heard them when he let out a soft chuckle. 

“All of this is over that?” He breathed in disbelief. “Yeah, sweetheart. I opted out. My only priority is right here. You and our baby.” You couldn’t wrap your brain around that and just stared at him with wide eyes. His thumb brushed over your cheek as he stared at you, a look of fondness and worry in his eyes. “Did you really think I’d leave you?” He murmured. “I promised you I wouldn’t and I intend to keep that promise.” 

“But…” Every excuse you’d told yourself as to why Matt was certain to go rushed through your head but before you could voice them he was speaking once more. 

“But the cup can wait until next year..when I put our baby in it. But I don’t have to go and I can’t imagine missing all of this. But I know my family would take great care of you but that’s my job. There isn’t an excuse in the book that would justify me leaving you right now. So I’m not going to. This baby...while tiny...is so much bigger than hockey. You both are so much more important than hockey. Okay?” Matt finished, his forehead pressed against yours as you took in the weight of his words. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” The question slipped from your lips immediately and hearing it made Matt sigh. 

“I thought you knew.” He admitted. “I talked to Brades and dad, asked them what they’d do. I talked to my coaches and Gio and asked what they’d do and everyone supports me staying here. I didn’t think it was a secret that I was planning on staying.” You didn’t have anything to say to that and seeing how quiet you were Matt pecked your lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you directly. I didn’t mean to cause you stress over it.” 

Wrapping your arms tightly around Matt’s neck you buried your head against him, the weight you’d been carrying over him leaving suddenly disappearing. 

“Are we good?” Matt mumbled against your head, his hands dropping to cradle your hips. 

“I love you.” You breathed after nodding against him. 

“I love you too,” Matt replied. “I love both of you so much.” As he pulled away he kissed you softly, his smile growing. “Now how about some Italian ice? We brought some home from that place we had talked about.” 

Offering out your hand you let him pull you from the couch and as you tucked yourself against his side you couldn’t help but notice that for the first time, even momentarily, your nausea had vanished. Evidently the baby was just as happy about daddy sticking around as you were. 

[forasecondtherewedwon]

The Man in the Spoon

Pairing: Peter Parker x Michelle Jones (Spideychelle) Rating: E Word Count: 1683

This is a submission for Thotumn, organized by @spideysmjs!!! Today’s prompt: Early Morning.

Summary: Peter keeps waking up as the little spoon.

“How does this happen?” Peter wonders, his first words of the day only slightly less formless than a hum. “I’m always the big spoon when I fall asleep.”

MJ laughs softly from behind him and continues kissing languidly across his shoulder. Their cheap curtains suck—too sheer for the slice of sunlight that greets them every morning, hot and golden as a cheesy piece of pizza—and she’s woken him up outlining the rhomboid of light with her lips. She kisses again where his skin is bright orange and he presses back against her mouth. Funny how he can sound like he’s complaining with the way he loves her sleepy shows of affection.

“It’s because I curl around you in my sleep. I have an instinctual desire to protect you, Puppy.”

She can get away with the nickname this early.

“Really?” He sighs happily as she makes her way to his neck.

“No. It happens because you sleep really deeply after coming home from a mission and it’s easy to crawl over you so I can do this…”

The hand MJ was resting lightly on his hip slips down, easing the elastic waist of his boxers away from his abdomen and reaching in to stroke him where he’s predictably hot with sleep and half-hard with whatever position he dreamed her into last night. Peter groans, rough and delicious, the sound like an aural spiral of shaved chocolate. As if she wasn’t already wet from the anticipation. It pleases her to please him.

“Did you do good?” she asks so softly into his ear.

“Home in one piece,” he breathes, totally relaxed against her as he trusts her to do what she likes.

“I’m so proud of you.”

MJ returns to kissing his neck, occasionally catching his skin between her teeth and giving a short tug, just to hear him suck in air. She cups the head of his dick. Feeling the wetness against her palm, she rubs in an unhurried circling motion, smearing him with his own arousal before taking him in her fist again and spreading it down his length. He makes a guttural noise, throat going taut under her lips.

“How come you’re not this sweet all the time, huh?” Peter asks, bucking his hips shallowly into her grip.

“I do the laundry when you leave your regular clothes all over the place in your rush to scamper out of here to be Spider-Man, don’t I?”

“Yeah.”

She leans up on her elbow to watch his face; his lips are parted, his cheeks flushed. Eyes: closed.

“Well, isn’t that sweet?” But MJ goes on before her husband, with his bliss-scrambled brain, can reply. “I don’t watch ahead on any of our favourite shows without you. I’ve improved my aim enough to throw at least three out of five darts right into the forehead of the picture of Jameson we keep on the back of the bathroom door. Those are sweet gestures.”

Peter chuckles airily at that, then moans. He taps the shoulder he’s lying on and she sneaks her hand through in the sweaty crook between his neck and the pillow, tangling their fingers together.

“Nobody asked you to do that,” he reminds her.

“But I take pleasure in it,” she says casually into the underside of his jaw. “Speaking of. The things I do for you when you get home safe and I’m still up… Sweet, right?” MJ twists her wrists and pumps faster.

“Not sweet,” Peter gasps. “Those things are not sweet, and a lotta them are more like things you do to me.”

“I don’t remember hearing this pickiness when I was blowing you last Wednesday.”

“I was barely through the window! I still had the suit around my ankles.”

He makes a needy noise and she shakes their locked hands apart to run hers down his opposite arm, finding where he has a firm grip on their fitted sheet. She relocates that hold to the back of her head, helping him tumble into the memory by letting him dig his fingers into her hair and tug like he did that night.

“I was glad to see you.”

“You let me come—” He chokes. “—come down your throat.”

“I was very glad to see you.”

“God, yes,” Peter mutters, rocking through her fingers. “God, MJ, yes.”

“See, that’s more the kind of thing I remember hearing.”

He breaks every hold but the one he has on her heart when he flips over and pins her. Though the movement is rapid, it’s unaggressive; his posture melts down like he can seep into her skin. With he way he’s crazy about her, that might be exactly what Peter believes. MJ shuffles her legs apart under his weight, grateful when he rests naturally between her thighs, grateful that he’s home. They don’t need to acknowledge her nudity. His boxers are an issue though.

“You gonna take these off?” she wonders between slow, seeking kisses, snapping at the band.

“I guess it’s looking like I probably should.”

“Unless you don’t feel like being involved. I could just…” MJ grazes her hand down. Her knuckles bump against his erection as she draws uneven rings around her clit. She doesn’t touch it yet, but he doesn’t need to know that: she moans his name for effect.

Immediately, he’s kicking and fumbling his way out of his boxers, tearing the sheet off them both in the doing, and allowing the sun to stripe their skin in more generous swaths.

But when he goes in, he’s slow. Their foreheads meet. She shakes as he smoothly angles her hips with his hand. Delicately, she scratches up the back of his head. This small relief is a familiar secret between them; no one else would guess that Spider-Man’s scalp tingles when his mask’s been pressing his hair down a certain way for too long. With fleeting brushes, Peter starts in on what he considers the only proper process for kissing her in the morning. MJ’s patient with him. She got the spooning, the neck kisses, the grope down the front of his shorts. She got him home, alive. He can do what he likes.

Light glints off his ring. He doesn’t always remember to slip it back on when he drags himself home from patrol, but when he does, she appreciates it. Pictures him patting at the surface of the dresser in the dark, looking down at her, asleep in their bed, and feeling so connected, even more when he wears the ring she was the first to put on him. No matter how many times he takes it off when he leaves in the suit—because he’s afraid of losing it, because he’s terrified of soiling it with blood on the nights he punches through glass or brick or flesh until his knuckles tear or his fingers break or he cuts up the back of his hand in an unintentional pattern of ragged spiderwebs—she smiles to see he’s put it back on.

MJ turns her head to kiss his hand, undamaged, running her lips over the ring as well. There’s an adoring whine that comes out of him like it’s been thickening in his chest, ready for the inevitable moment when he’d need to use it. She doesn’t just call him ‘Puppy’ because it begins with the same letter as his name.

While he’s making this sound, the sound she associates with unconditional love, he thrusts tranquilly. The work he does on her is unlike what he does in the city at night. There are no closing windows of opportunity with them as MJ massages the back of his neck between her fingers and thumb, kneading out towards his shoulder. He doesn’t need to dart from place to place. Apart from sleeping, this is the longest he might spend in one spot all day. Her husband hefts her hips a little higher and her chest heaves. She tightens her stomach to grind her clit against him.

“Feel good today?” he asks.

“It’s you,” she says, tingling and open. There is no time in their past or future, MJ’s sure, when he won’t feel good inside her.

“You feel unbelievable.”

Though, for an unbelievable feeling, Peter has a lot to say about it when he kisses her cheek and murmurs admiration into her ear. He keeps his tone soft, his voice level as the kick of his hips produces short, stern strokes that have her shaking. Letting the arm holding him up buckle at the elbow, he lowers himself onto her. No more space. He clutches her hip and grinds against her clit, never quite catching his breath with his face tucking into her neck. His humid panting and the heat of his body, the warm place in the blankets where they’ve been sleeping, it’s all too hot to bear. Still, MJ gasps, “More,” and his arm winds beneath her to grab at her back. She lets her own arms flop limply onto the sheet until he’s thrusting so fast that she throws them around his waist, howling his name to the ceiling and the sun.

Through her orgasm, she can hear and feel how he’s barely hanging on, body tense and groans curling towards sobs. She loves him so.

“Let’s see it, Big Spoon,” MJ taunts playfully, hair snarled across the pillow and heart still pounding.

Peter snorts a laugh before climaxing in jerky jolts that clap her between a pair of cymbals, the sensation of his final thrusts rippling through her. Pulling him close, she kisses at his slack mouth. Gradually, he relearns how to kiss her back, and his hand slides up to cradle her head. He holds on a moment too long—he always does—and they separate with greedy inhalations.

“I slept really well last night,” Peter huffs, “with you curled around me.”

“And how were your dreams?”

He trails his thumb along the curve of her cheek and MJ flattens his hand against her face to keep him there. She tips her chin up in inquiry. Peter smiles.

“Sweet.”

[ocular-intercourse]

every once in a while, i am remembered that i should probably nail down what exactly is in the realm of possibilities with the enhancements in the gyoverse

is the process government regulated, or more of a talent thing, the way anybody can learn how to draw with enough patience? I think it’s a mixture of both, people are not forbidden to gain certain abilities, you literally can’t keep it from happening, those are just things that can develop naturally when a person has the right mindset, but it’s also a dangerous process if certain levels are reached and things go wrong, so the government tries to keep certain levels.. I guess certified? At the very least registered. If you gain a certain amount of power you will be observed.

So there are two areas of use: personal & professional life.

In personal life a person can develop certain helpful abilities, imagine a fisherman training himself without trying to a point of being able to sense the location of fishes in the water. It’s very close to people in our world who just get very very skilled in their labor and get the ability to do specific things simply by experience (the way people in food stores can eyeball the weight of a specific item and be 100% right). Those are not particularly ‘powerful’ per se, more little every day helpers that might not even entirely get recognized as an enhancement. A lot of these abilities are inherited, but that might be less of a genetic thing and more grounded in the upbringing, environment, and education, one person teaching their skills and experiences to the next generation and them developing these enhancements themselves.

Then there’s professional life especially in jobs that are highly competitive, because everybody wants to be the best they can be in their field so naturally they would use any tools they can get their hands on. The biggest example of course is the army. The country with the strongest soldiers wins, so there have been raised standards and whoever cannot reach them loses by default. Hence the imperial army usually weeding out people with insufficient talent for the enhancements (thembo supreme raime being an exception). A whole nation selecting and breeding for the ultimate warriors at all times. There have been certain Levels established, a class of soldiers with Level A, Level B, Level C (those are not the actual names I’m still workshopping here), each with stronger abilities than the last. I imagine there are tests, either on set dates, or evaluations a person can apply for, to be moved to the next class (and get more pay and status). These Levels of evaluating a person’s capabilities can vary from job to job. A soldier with Level B would probably score lower in a scientific, research-based field, it’s all depending on how good you are at the enhancements that are useful for your job. (Army standard’s being pretty much universally accepted as the most powerful and useful skillsets and therefore valued the most)

Now this feels like a JRPG leveling system. My character’s skillset scores are Army Level C, Medicine Level A and Barter Level B+. (Now I’m picturing Trading Cards with your favorite Soldiers. Noor has one and every skill is at S cause propaganda. Gyo’s is a lot of S with worse scores in anything communicative, also S+ in immortality)

But what are the basic and less basic abilities a soldier can gain?

At base level are physical enhancements. More stamina, more strength, more agility, general healthiness (better immune system, faster gradual healing).

Followed by your base senses of smell, taste, sight, hearing and feeling. Later Levels of this ability include higher control, shutting down some senses or enhancing only one.

A little bit more difficult are things that need tighter control. The ability to influence your digestion, your blood flow, your oxygen intake. You can go longer on less food and air, you can slow your bleeding down, or trigger adrenaline rushes at will.

The next step is adding supernatural senses. The ability to feel the presence of other people, even at a distance and out of sight. The more trained you are in this area the better the feel is you get on the person and their intent. You cannot read minds, but you can certainly feel anger or admiration, general feelings or moods.

The next step is learning how to hide these things in yourself. These can cancel each other out depending on who is involved. A person that is good at hiding their intent can not hide it as well if the other person is better at seeing people’s intent than they are at hiding it.

The next step would be considered elemental magic by most standards. You can create a spark of flame, a bit of fluid, a gust of wind. These will most likely not be impressive flame thrower like attacks or anything, but can be practical here or there.

Also magical but more difficult, and mostly requires the student of this direction to split from developing other enhancements to concentrate solely on this area to be effective: healing magic. Gyo for example has mostly ignored healing magic, he can keep wounds shut enough to keep someone from losing blood but he cannot close them entirely, while Noor chose to stop their studies of techniques that would help in fights to focus on learning how to heal and nurture (it’s not only wounds, they can also relieve pain and control infections and other things). To be skilled in both is incredibly difficult and I don’t think it is currently seen. Something must be put on hold to learn other powerful things, so you have to pick and chose what you want to be proficient in. It is also an ability you can only use on others and not yourself, so most soldiers (at least those that get to this point and are therefore most likely power hungry in some way) chose to ignore it for something that helps themselves rather than others.

A similar direction but removed from regular healing magic because that focuses on healing other people while this is entirely self-focused: the next level of the control over your own body, the ability to sustain the body without meeting nutritional needs or rest. Beginners of this Level can go several days without sleep or rest, depending on a.. let’s say amount of ‘spiritual’ energy they have gathered before. They are, in that moment, basically feeding their body’s needs from this energy. The better you are at this, the longer you can go. This Level is only reached by those soldiers, that are willing to focus as much on their intellectual studies as they do on physical training. Many talented soldiers who exceed in fights get frustrated by these requirements. The ultimate Level of Control over your own body is the step Gyo has reached where he entirely halted all aging and is practically immortal, if not killed or dying of an illness. I imagine it has a lot to do with gathering such a vast amount of energy, that you can feed on it indefinitely, because you have learned to gain the energy quicker than you deplete it. There are earlier levels of this ability when you learn how to stretch less energy and slow down your aging instead of halting it completely. (many ppl in or out of the army will try to gain some bits of this ability to prolong their lives, everybody wants to squeeze a bit more out of it if they can) There are varying degrees of aging speed depending on the person’s skill level and energy intake.

The problem, aside from many people not having the mental or physical requirements to begin with, and the fortitude, discipline and patience to stick with it, is that said energy is also extremely volatile. People who begin gathering it often get overwhelmed by moodswings, the energy wanting to get out and presenting itself in any way that is currently available for it to be released by, whether that is physical or psychological. In higher concentrations the amount of energy can be literally corroding if your body and mind are not prepared to handle it. People carrying a large amount of energy can be caught in a bad moment and lose the ability to contain the energy, often with catastrophic consequences, definitely for the person themselves, sometimes for their surroundings too. People on Gyo’s Level are basically walking nukes, he could take out a small town if he ever lost it. Key to get to where Gyo is, is a strong enough anchor, a feeling or a motivation that drives you that is enough to sustain your willpower. (While in universe the idea is more philosophical, trained soldiers being told “think of something that motivates you”, this is more literal than they think. Gyo’s current anchor is wrath, that is why his sword which is known for its gruesome owners, attached itself to him. You could see the wrath as a fingerprint scan, if he did not have it, the sword would not work for him. A person’s anchor can also switch, which Gyo’s will, eventually, to his need to protect, and it will cause trouble with his sword and I assume some of the ways his other abilities have worked for him in the past)

The different Levels soldiers can be classified as are defined by a combination of these abilities, since each of them have multiple levels (from lesser to higher control over your body, stronger elemental magic and so on). So, to reach Level A you need Skill A Ability Score 1, Skill B Ability Score 1, Skill C Ability Score 1 while reaching a higher Level requirement might look more like Skill A Ability Score 2 Skill B Ability Score 3 Skill C Ability Score 6. So, a test that would allow you to reach the next Level would test how high your Ability Scores in each Skill are and see where that lands you. So even if your Levels are Skill A Ability Score 6 and Skill B Ability Score 6 if you do not have Ability Score 6 in Skill C you will not reach that higher Level. Gyo probably has all Skills maxed out (except healing but that one is counted separately since the army knows most soldiers will not reach high Ability Scores here).

But like I said, this Grade System is army specific. In another job field requirements might look more for skills that help you read and retain information faster, or specialize in reading other people and putting pleasant emotions out there to influence others.

This also explains Raime’s situation. While they are, from birth on, unable to gain these things that count as army recognized enhancements, they have an ability more on par with those private uses that develop naturally through talent and repetition. They DO technically have enhancements, but they are exclusively social, enhanced emotional intelligence if you will. The ability to read people, not the way the army enhancement works where it is basically a  supernatural sense you gain, but more through being able to instinctively read faces and voices and putting together what that means rather than sensing it. 

I don’t think this is entirely a class system based on your Level of enhancements, but typically people with enhancements are respected more, more so if they are high skilled in ‘popular’ fields (a soldier Level A will be more respected than a Scientist Level A). There is definitely a certain pressure to gain certain Levels, especially in higher society. If a first born noble does not gain high army Levels they are considered shameful.

[kitesilver24]

Peptides As Well As Your Creases

Distinguishing Between Historical Lamb And Also Goat Bones Using A Single Collagen Peptide

Content

Sarms Are This Year's Large Muscle Medicine However Are They Safe?

Uk Neqas Guildford Peptide Hormonal Agents.

Peptides Are Inadequate.

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Is Ostarine a drug?

Enobosarm, also known as ostarine or MK-2866, is an investigational selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) developed by GTx, Inc. Enobosarm.Clinical dataLegal statusUS : Investigational New DrugPharmacokinetic dataElimination half-life24 hoursIdentifiers20 more rows

It is appealing to believe end results for people with cardiac arrest might be enhanced by titrating therapy to BNP degrees. Tests were carried out in specialist facilities, used a range of BNP tracking approaches, and did not recognize a BNP target to treat. This research is appealing, yet better examination of which people with cardiac arrest might profit is probably needed before this becomes standard technique. BNP monitoring could be reliable for more youthful patients with minimized ventricular ejection portion. However, the populace with cardiac arrest that is challenging to take care of is frequently older as well as commonly have various other ailment besides cardiac arrest.

Sarms Are This Year's Large Muscular Tissue Medicine However Are They Risk-free?

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Uk Neqas Guildford Peptide Hormonal Agents.

The 2010 National Heart Failure Audit approximated that in 100 individuals in the UK has cardiac arrest. It has an inadequate prognosis; around a 3rd of individuals admitted to medical facility with cardiac arrest pass away within one year. Management presently costs the NHS around ₤ 625 million a year.

Bikes resolve therapeutic needs and also clinical applications that can not be gotten to with existing therapy modalities. , Inherent flexibility and also structural versatility of Plasticins membrane-damaging peptides as a method for functional flexibility, Eur. , Secondary framework as well as rigidness in model proteins, Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 9548 RSC. Identification of elongation element G as the preserved cellular target of argyrin B, PLoS One, 2012, 7, e42657 CrossRef CAS. The facility of one or maybe several constrained cyclic motifs assists to decrease this negative thermodynamic account of a peptide. Of course, this benefit can just come to be apparent when the applied mode of rigidification does not interfere with binding (e.g. via steric clashes), making the reasonable style of appropriate loop frameworks a tough, yet, beneficial venture.

Peptides Are Not Enough.

The study does not show up to support a modification to medical practice. The 2010 NICE standard on the management of chronic heart failure advises that BNP (or its acquired N-terminal pro-Btype natriuretic peptide, NTproBNP) is measured in individuals with believed cardiac arrest that have no background of heart attack. Immediate referral and echocardiogram assessment are suggested for those with a BNP level over 400pg/ml. Levels listed below 100pg/ml are stated to make the diagnosis of heart failure not likely. In the friend study, the total death rate was 142 clients per 1,000 per year.

This does highlight the requirement for many years round out of competitors screening.

I assume in pharmaceutical terms the concept is to utilize SARMS rather than androgens at times, as you mention they can be selectively adjusted to create tasks differently to androgens.

Though there's no way to understand just the number of people are acquiring them, analysis of London's renowned "fatberg"-- the mass of oil as well as raw material located in the funding's sewers-- found SARMs existing in higher quantities than both MDMA as well as drug.

I would recommend that anabolics aren't detectable for months however, many will certainly have a really similar time training course to ostarine, relying on the dosage as well as method of management.

Over the past five years, on the internet look for SARMs (or "careful androgen receptor modulators", including andarine and also ostarine) have actually been climbing gradually.

The variety of situations is expected to climb with the ageing population. The research was restricted by the quality of the previous tests, the schedule of data as well as the scarcity of monitored people in general practice. Additionally, there was no obvious mechanism located that might discuss the little advantage. So, these findings must be considered tentative and also are not definitive enough to sustain a change in practice. Other study is underway that might better define the area for this examination. The importance of over expression at the mRNA level is verified by redetection of selected TUMAPs from step 3 on tumor tissue and also additionally by metrology of the TUMAPs themselves.

Biological Function And Also Classification Of Amps.

Absorption enhancers are the components which temporarily disturb the intestinal tract obstacle to improve the drug permeabilization. Instability of peptide is because of the proteolytic cleavage of the peptide backbone. NIHR is the nation's biggest funder of health and care study as well as offers the people, facilities and also modern technology that makes it possible for research study to prosper. NICE guidance advises the dimension of BNP in individuals with new-suspected heart failure; additionally, plasma NP levels normally fall after therapy.

all things Purchase AOD ">

What does MK 2866 do?

Ostarine (MK-2866) (Enobosarm) This selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) has been studied and proven to improve lean body mass and physical function. It also increases tendon strength, ligament health, bone density and encourages collagen turn-over.

High degrees of c-peptide with a reduced degree of blood glucose might be an indication of insulin resistance, either type 2 diabetes or Cushing's disorder. Low degrees of c-peptide and also high blood sugar levels can be an indicator of type 1 diabetes.

Anavar Not Ate Cardio, What Are Human Development Hormone Supplements.

Strategic monitoring of a treatment location calls for tough decisions to be made regarding which programs to buy and which to allow go. Recognizing the rapidly altering competitive atmosphere for your drug candidates is an essential input right into these choices. It is very easy to lose track of the more comprehensive photo when a clinical program is in development as well as obtain blindsided by outside occasions. Bicyclic peptide antagonists of the serine protease plasma kallikrein inhibitors have possible application in genetic angioedema-- a dangerous illness characterised by regional swelling in subcutaneous cells and body organs. Supplying thorough remedies to sustain medication substance as well as medicine product growth programs.

Long-distance runner Kiranjeet Kaur fails dope test - Sportstar

Long-distance runner Kiranjeet Kaur fails dope test.

Posted: Wed, 04 Mar 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Death prices were greater in the BNP-monitoring group than in the BNP-testing and never-tested teams. This probably shows that this tiny group were sicker than various other clients. BNP-guided treatment had no overall result on risk of fatality from any kind of reason (risk proportion 0.87, 95% confidence interval 0.73 to 1.04). Sub-group analysis discovered it lowered mortality for participants matured less than 75 years (Human Resources 0.70, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.92) but except older people.

This programme of job set out to evaluate the professional as well as cost-effectiveness of BNP-guided therapy for individuals with a brand-new medical diagnosis of heart failure between January 2007 and also March 2013. https://pharmalabglobal.com/product-category/hcg/ is a problem where the heart can not pump blood effectively sufficient to fulfill the demands of the body. It has lots of reasons, typically, previous cardiovascular disease or hypertension.

" I have actually utilized JPT's peptide swimming pools (PepMix ™) for many years currently, with wonderful complete satisfaction! Initial CMV derived peptides and also currently additionally EBV. Thus far, we have actually released data in one publication and plan numerous extra in the near future." Biobetters as well as biosuperiors are based on existing medicines however are not the same to them. They improve upon the initial and also can in many cases be extra efficient whilst supplying less side effects. They are additionally considered much less of a business danger than establishing an all new medicine. Zentraxa has to date showed their biosimiliar capabilities with Teriparatide as well as Zadaxin - drugs used mainly to deal with Osteoporosis as well as Liver disease B specifically. They leveraged this experience to style, develop and examine 'bio-superiors', medications which have enhanced medicinal properties, greater activity, decreased adverse effects and also reduced immunogenicity than the pioneer medications they look for to surpass.

XPRESIDENT, a technology system initially created in the laboratories of the pioneering immunologist Hans-Georg Rammensee and coworkers at the University of Tuebingen, and continuously boosted at the spin-off immatics biotechnologies. display screens the targeting ligand for binding to a mammalian receptor.

A C-peptide test is a blood test which is performed to figure out how much insulin your body is creating. This might work for establishing whether you have kind 1 or kind 2 diabetes or whether you have insulin resistance. DNA vaccination through RALA nanoparticles in a microneedle delivery system induces a powerful immune response against the endogenous prostate cancer cells stem cell antigen. DNA vaccination for cervical cancer; an unique innovation system of RALA moderated genetics shipment through polymeric microneedles. Scancell is establishing novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer cells based upon its ImmunoBody ® as well as Moditope ® modern technology platforms.

in the optimal ratio with phage preserves the tumor specificity of RGD4C/phage-based gene delivery vectors while boosting the gene distribution efficacy. Comparing archaeological lamb and also goat bones utilizing a solitary collagen peptide.

[makeetelich92]

Vitamin D: What You Need To Know

Hardly a day goes by without some groundbreaking news about Vitamin D. Originally known for it's crucial role in maintaining calcium levels for bone health, it is rapidly becoming apparent that we have vastly underestimated Vitamin D's significant importance for our overall health and wellbeing. In short, judging by what I see in my practice and speaking with colleagues around the country, it's looking very much like we're facing an epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency, with potential grave consequences. Nature's blend multivitamin with minerals FAQ will help to get you up to speed on this important topic.

What diseases are associated with Vitamin D deficiency?

Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to play a role in almost every major disease, including:

Osteoporosis and Osteopenia

17 varieties of Cancer (including breast, prostate and colon)

Heart disease

High blood pressure

Obesity

Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes

Autoimmune diseases

Multiple sclerosis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Osteoarthritis

Bursitis

Gout

Infertility and PMS

Parkinson's Disease

Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder

Alzheimer's Disease

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Fibromyalgia

Chronic Pain

Periodontal disease

Psoriasis

What is vitamin D?

Although it's called a vitamin, vitamin D is really a hormone not a vitamin. Vitamins cannot be produced by your body, we get them from dietary sources, whereas hormones like vitamin D are made in your body. It's your body's only source of calcitrol (activated vitamin D), the foremost potent hormone within the body.

What will calciferol do?

Like all steroid hormones, vitamin D is concerned in creating many enzymes and proteins, that are crucial for protective health and preventing disease. it's the flexibility to move and have an effect on quite 2,000 genes in the body. It enhances muscle strength and builds bone. it's medicament effects and bolsters the immune system. It helps the action of hypoglycaemic agent and has anti-cancer activity. this is often why vitamin D deficiency has been joined with numerous of the diseases of contemporary society. owing to its huge array of benefits, maintaining optimal levels of D is essential for your health.

Where do I get vitamin D from?

The only 2 reliable sources of vitamin D are the sun and supplements. Sunlight exposure is the only reliable way for your body to generate vitamin D. Vitamin D is produced by your skin in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. In fact, this is such an efficient system that most of us make approx. 20,000 units of vitamin D after only 20 minutes of summer sun without suntan lotion (or clothes!) That's 100 times more than the government recommends per day! There must be a good reason why we make so much in so little time.

You do not generate vitamin D when sitting behind a glass window, whether in your car or at home because these UV rays cannot penetrate glass to generate vitamin D in your skin Also sunscreens, even weak ones, almost completely block your body's ability to generate vitamin D.

The other reliable source is vitamin D3 supplements (not vitamin D2)

Only about 10% of your vitamin D comes from diet, so it is nearly impossible to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from your food.

What are the food sources of vitamin D?

1. Fish liver oils, such as cod liver oil. Fatty wild fish like mackerel, salmon, halibut, tuna, sardines and herring2. Fortified milk, orange juice and cereal3. Dried Shitake mushrooms4. Egg yolks

But to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from food, you would have to eat at least 5 servings of salmon a day or drink 20 cups of fortified milk

My Doctor told me to avoid the sun, what do you think?

There is an old Italian saying "Where the sun does not go the doctor does."

For about the last 25 years, doctors (dermatologists in particular) have demonized sun exposure and repeatedly told us it is bad for you and causes cancer. But is that true? In the last few years, numerous studies have shown that modest exposure to sunlight may actually be good for you, helping the body produce the vitamin D it needs to keep bones healthy and protect against cancer, including skin cancer. Though repeated sunburns--in children and very fair-skinned people--have been linked to melanoma, there is no credible scientific evidence that moderate sun exposure causes it. Since it's almost impossible to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from food alone (including fortified milk and fatty wild fish), the sun is your best source. I'm not suggesting you go bake in the sun with your suntan oil or go to tanning salons. But getting some sun without getting sunburned makes healthy sense.

We evolved in the sun; we were made to get some sun, not to live our lives indoors and slather on sunscreen every time we go outside. If the sun is shining where you are today, get out and enjoy it, talk about a free natural treatment! All you need is a little common sense when heading outdoors, do it gradually and always avoid sunburn.

Special Note: Remember to take antioxidants when you sit in the sun, as these can help prevent skin cells from sun damage.

How much sunshine do I need?

All living things need sun, the key is balance. Too much sun exposure can cause melanoma and skin aging, while too little creates an inadequate production of vitamin D. The amount needed depends on the season, time of day, where you live, skin pigmentation and other factors. As a general rule, if you are not vitamin D deficient, about 20 minutes a day in the spring, summer and fall on your face and arms or legs without sunscreen is adequate. It doesn't matter which part of the body you expose to the sun. Many people want to protect their face, so just don't put sunscreen on the other exposed parts for those 20 minutes.

If you live north of 37 degrees latitude (approximately a line drawn horizontally connecting Norfolk, Virginia to San Francisco, California) sunlight is not sufficient to create Vitamin D in your skin in the winter months, even if you are sitting in the sun in a bathing suit on a warm January day! The further you live from the equator, the longer exposure you need to the sun in order to generate cholecarciferol}

How a lot of vitamin D do I need?

How much vitamin D you wish varies with age, body weight, % of body fat, latitude, skin coloration, season of the year, use of sun block, individual variation in sun exposure, and - in all probability - however unwell you are.

As a general rule, previous individuals need quite young people, huge people need a lot of that tiny people, fat people need more than skinny people, dark-skinned people need more than honest injured people, northern people need more than southern people, winter people need more than summer people, sun block lovers need more than sun block haters, sun-phobes need quite sun worshipers, and unwell individuals might have more than we tend toll people.

What I and lots of of my colleagues round the country are finding is that even people disbursal what we thought was adequate quantity of your time within the sun, are still appearance with low blood cholecarciferol} levels. i'm unsure why at this stage however there's a simple and low-cost solution...vitamin D supplementation.

How a lot of vitamin D ought to I supplement with?

Most necessary is that you simply take vitamin D3, (cholecalciferol) the active style of vitamin D. don't take vitamin D2 because it is not as biologically active nor as effective, and nor as safe as vitamin D3. And taking the right amount is crucial, most doctors tend to under dose. The current recommendations from the Food and Nutrition Board of the U.S. Institute of Medicine: from 200 to 600 IU/day depending on one's age, are way too low. These values were originally chosen because they were found to prevent osteomalacia (bone softening) and rickets

Here are some guidelines

If your blood level is above 45ng/ml and for maintenance, I recommend 2,000-4,000 IU daily depending on age, weight, season, how much time is spent outdoors, where one lives, skin color and obviously blood levels

In other words if you are older, larger, living in the northern latitudes during the winter, are not getting sun and have dark skin, I recommend the higher maintenance dose.

If your blood level is 30-45 ng/ml, I recommend you correct it with 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day for 3 months under a doctor's supervision and then recheck your blood levels.If your blood level is less than 30 ng/ml, I recommend you correct it with 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day under a doctor's supervision and then recheck your blood levels after 3 months. It takes a good 6 months usually to optimize your vitamin D levels if you're deficient. Once this occurs, you can lower the dose to the maintenance dose of 2,000 - 4,000 IU a day.

What are the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency?

There is no clear pattern of symptoms. In fact many people remain asymptomatic despite low levels. But here are some of the more common symptoms:

Fatigue

General muscle pain and weakness

Muscle cramps

Joint pain

Chronic pain

Weight gain

High blood pressure

Restless sleep

Poor concentration

Headaches

Bladder problems

Constipation or diarrhea

What about vitamin D toxicity?

It is impossible to generate too much vitamin D in your body from sunlight exposure: your body will self-regulate and solely generate what it needs. though terribly rare, it's attainable to dose and become venomous with supplementation as cholecarciferol} may be a fat soluble vitamin and thus hold on within the body for extended periods of time. Therefore if you're taking 5,000 IU or a lot of daily, you must have your blood levels monitored or so each three months.

What biopsy should I actually have to visualize my vitamin D levels?

The only blood test that may diagnose vitamin D deficiency is a 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25 Ohio vitamin D). Unfortunately, some doctors are still ordering the incorrect test, 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D. In fact a common cause of high 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D is a low 25(OH)D or vitamin D deficiency. So when doctors see the 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D is normal or high and tell their patients that they are OK, they are often vitamin D deficient.

Your doctor should do this test for you. Unfortunately even some of the labs, in particular Qwest, have had problems with correct results, usually giving erroneously high results.

If you don't want to go through your doctor, the ZRT lab does a blood spot test that you can order without going through a doctor.

What is the ideal blood level of 25 hydroxy vitamin D?

The current ranges for "normal" are 20 to 55 ng/ml. These are much too low!!! They may be fine if you want to prevent rickets or osteomalacia, but not for optimal health. The ideal range for optimal health is 50-80 ng/ml.

How often should I have a 25 hydroxy vitamin D blood test?

At least once a year especially at the beginning of winter. If you are supplementing, I suggest you monitor your vitamin D levels approximately every 3months until you are in the optimal range. If you are taking high doses (10,000 IU a day) your doctor must also check your calcium, phosphorous, and internal secretion levels each three months

My doctor prescribed Drisdol, 50,000 IU per week. what's it?

Drisdol may be a prescription of 50,000 IU tablets of cholecarciferol}2 or ergocalciferol. cholecarciferol isn't vitamin D however it's similar. D2 is not ordinarily found in humans and most studies show it doesn't raise a pair of5(OH)D levels additionally as (cholecalciferol or vit D3) does. If you're vitamin D deficient, the most effective issue to do, is to require vitamin D3.

Can I take cod liver oil to urge my vitamin D?

Although Cod liver oil contains a good quantity of vitamin D, it conjointly contains high amounts of nutriment A. vitamin A antagonizes the action of calciferol and may be venomous at high levels.

Why is there a deadly disease of vitamin D deficiency?

It is calculable that anyplace from thirty to one hundred pc of yankees, relying upon their age and community living environments, are deficient in nutriment D. quite 1/2 all American youngsters are vitamin deficient. purportedly nearly 3/4s of pregnant ladies are vitamin D deficient, predisposing their unborn children to all or any styles of problems. Worldwide, it's estimated that the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency affects one billion people. In my practice over 80% of patients whose vitamin D levels I check are deficient. No one is exactly sure why this is happening apart from the fact that we spend too much time indoors and when we go out into the sun, we lather sunscreen on ourselves. I think it must be more than that. But whatever the reason, the reality is we have a major epidemic on our hands.

What about the use of tanning beds to get my vitamin D?

I tend not to recommend them because we don't really know if they are safe. Because the light sources vary with totally different tanning beds, it makes them unpredictable associated presumably unsafe. In addition, most industrial tanning beds emit an unknown quantity of electrical phenomenon and since one is therefore on the brink of the particular bed, it's going to be an redundant high dose. in theory each these issues may be overcome, however really they typically are not.

[codenamesazanka]

Also! 

so, uh. have some Spinaraki PWP WIP. This has been sitting in my drafts forever. Gonna leave this in 2019 in hopes that I can write better stuff in 2020. Happy holidays and happy new year everyone.

The lube’s all over his thighs and his stomach. It’s on the sheets too, making a mess of everything, but Spinner wants to be careful. Wants Shigaraki to not literally tear his own ass apart when taking Spinner’s two dicks at the same time, even if Shigaraki himself doesn’t seem to be concerned.

Double anal, the internet told Spinner this was called, and it looked painful. But kinda hot.

Incredibly hot, actually, now that it’s Shigaraki on top of him, slowly stroking both of Spinner’s cocks with one hand, attempting to direct them into him. His long white hair spills over his shoulders and falls in front of his face, but Spinner can still see his expression. Mouth pressed into a flat line, and red eyes slightly glazed over in concentration, with more than a hint of excitement in them. He’s not looking at Spinner much, but the few times he does, that vivid scarlet gaze looking right at him—

“Shigaraki,” Spinner breathes, gripping Shigaraki’s boney hips tighter with both hands. He tries not to dig his fingers into flesh, tries to not thrust up and finally be fully, completely inside Shigaraki.

They both have wanted this for a while. Shigaraki has been especially eager, and though Spinner’s willing too, he always held back.

(“What, worried about me?” Shigaraki had asked, looking annoyed after having his offer turned down for the third time, and Spinner had given him a shove, then kissed him. He said, “Yeah, obviously. Plus it would mean no sex for a while waiting for your ass to stitch itself up.” Then Shigaraki scoffed and said, “We both have mouths, don’t we?” and the conversation devolved into exactly that type of sex.)

Today, though, is a quiet and lazy Sunday. Shigaraki gave the League the day off. He gave Spinner a look, an unspoken order to stay. To hang out. They really did, but by early afternoon, boredom set in and video games weren’t going to cut it.

Spinner fucked him once with one dick, and then while resting and waiting to recover, Shigaraki fingerfucked himself. Spinner watched; he couldn’t look away. It was better than any porn he has seen of people doing this. Those long, rough fingers thrusting in and stretching; the barely audible sounds Shigaraki made, which had become brief moans when Spinner took Shigaraki’s cock into his mouth and sucked.

All that had quickly gotten Spinner painfully hard again. Immediately, Shigaraki had pushed him into the bed; had climbed on top of him, and kissed Spinner, rough and hurried.

All that preparation is probably still not enough, but they’re now past the point of caring. Shigaraki, thankfully, is taking it slow.

How long have they been going at it? Spinner wonders if they have spent their whole day screwing around. Not that he minds.

Especially not when Shigaraki lowers himself and lets the tips of Spinner’s two cocks to slide into him. The sudden grip and pressure, the feeling of his dicks rubbing into each other and against Shigaraki, watching himself enter him - Spinner can’t help the loud groan.

“Spinner, if you come early,” Shigaraki says, pressing down his free hand - four fingers - on Spinner’s chest. “I’ll destroy both your dicks.”

“You’ll be ruining it for yourself— fuck.” Shigaraki slides himself down further, and Spinner stabs his claws into Shigaraki. Shigaraki only grunts and takes more of Spinner into him.

They’re doing this. Double anal with Shigaraki. Those words feel ridiculous, delusional, and yet the weight on top of Spinner, the sound of Shigaraki’s rough breathing, the sight of his red cocks entering Shigaraki, those are so very real.

“Don’t push yourself,” Spinner says, and because Shigaraki can still be a brat, he gives Spinner a flat look before pushing himself down hard. “Shigara—”

“I’m fine,” he says, voice strained and body tense. He’s stopped moving. But Shigaraki’s still not halfway down.

“Do you have to be such a dumbass?” Spinner hiss, wanting to both scold him and ask if he’s hurt. Instead, he sighs and strokes Shigaraki’s thighs, lightly scratching with his claws. After a while, Shigaraki’s shoulders slump slightly as tension fades from them, and he sits down a little more, then a little more.

Spinner sinks back into the sheets. The view from where he is, Shigaraki is stunning. He’s sharp angles and languid movements hiding inhuman strength, pale brutal scars everywhere and still alive. Even in bed, even like this, he’s Shigaraki Tomura. Still intense, still dangerous.

His leader.

Spinner wants to kiss Shigaraki. Wants to sit up and kiss him and let him bite at his neck, while Spinner runs his hand down Shigaraki’s spine, along all those bony bumps, the way Shigaraki likes it, always pressing into his touch.

Right now, though, it’s not the best idea to move around. But Shigaraki should feel good. Spinner wraps a hand around Shigaraki’s neglected dick. Tries to; Shigaraki smacks him away.

“Not yet,” Shigaraki’s voice is low and hoarse, sounding almost like a growl.

Spinner snaps back: “Let me do something.”

“What? This—” Shigaraki pushes himself down again, much less roughly this time, but he also moves his hips in a way that has Spinner gasping “—isn’t good enough?”

Then Shigaraki lean forward and take a loose hold of Spinner’s beak, fingers tracing the contours. Lube gets smeared onto his nose, his cheeks, his jaw. “Hey, wha—”

Shigaraki presses two fingers to his mouth. He says, “Lick.”

It’s an order, forceful and abrupt. Spinner hesitates, and Shigaraki gives him that unpleasant smile of his. “Didn’t you want something to do, Spinner? Well then…”

Spinner bites down. Enough to hurt, but without drawing blood - not that Shigaraki would mind, probably. That minor act of defiance out of the way, Spinner closes his lips around the fingers, and sucks.

Above him, Shigaraki twitches a little. His smile turns real, but still devious. Spinner tries to give him a half-hearted glower, but then Shigaraki is rubbing tiny circles on Spinner’s chin with his thumb. The remaining two fingers take turns stroking Spinner’s cheeks.

That has his heart pounding hard, yet Spinner knows he’s fine. That Shigaraki has impeccable control over his quirk, always. He trusts Shigaraki with his life. He’s been devoting it to his leader for months now, after all.

The lube is slimy and bitter, but the taste quickly dissolves. Spinner swirls his tongue around Shigaraki’s lethal fingers, and looks up. When Shigaraki meets his gaze, Spinner opens his mouth; stretches out his tongue and licks, slow and deliberate. Just like he was ordered to.

“...Keep doing that.” Shigaraki says. There’s a hitch in his breathing. He takes Spinner deeper into him.

Spinner ends up biting and licking and sucking each of Shigaraki’s fingers. He’s never going to get the taste of lube out of his mouth, but Shigaraki liked what he did. It’s worth that.

As he licks at Shigaraki’s pinky, Spinner’s cocks are almost fully inside Shigaraki. It’s fucking amazing.

“You doing okay?” Spinner presses his lips to Shigaraki’s wrist. He doesn’t get an answer. He gets Shigaraki watching him with half-lidded eyes, expression aloof.

He gets Shigaraki locking eyes with him as he finally sinks all the way down. For a few seconds, Spinner forgets to breathe.

He’s in Shigaraki. Both his cocks, all of him; Shigaraki allowed it, wanted it. Wanted Spinner.

“Shigaraki,” Spinner says, and Shigaraki huffs.

“Stop looking so dumb.” There’s little bite behind those words though. He shifts, only a little but Spinner jerks up involuntary. Shigaraki tenses up but rides it, adjusting himself.

“Impatient, huh?” Shigaraki grinds lazily against him. Spinner struggles to say something back, distracted by the sight, by how good Shigaraki feels.

“It’s... been like... a whole hour.” Spinner is breathing hard already, and they haven’t even done anything yet. “You should be in awe of my endurance.”

“We’ll see,” Shigaraki says, and grinds his hips down again. Spinner can’t wait to fuck that smug smile off his face.

Gradually, Shigaraki goes from grinding to riding him. There is justice in this world, because it’s Shigaraki’s turn to be speechless - he’s got a very intense look on his face again, he’s panting through clenched teeth. Spinner stares mesmerized, as Shigaraki rise up, then ease himself back down, going higher and higher each time.

When Shigaraki starts moving faster, when he’s able to lift himself and drop down with ease - and he’s moaning too, softly, sometimes - Spinner grins shakily; places his hands on Shigaraki’s hip and starts to thrust upward. Shigaraki doesn’t stop him.

They fuck, Shigaraki deciding the rhythm. He rides Spinner hard but steadily, eyes staring unfocused on Spinner’s chest and both his hands there too, steadying himself. Spinner matches his pace, trying not to go too fast or deep. And he’s looking downwards, watching the actual fucking.

It’s a striking color contrast, his green scales so vivid next to everything. But even more so is his two dark red cocks against Shigaraki’s pale skin; and the sight of his cocks thrusting into Shigaraki, thick red into pale white, disappearing then being pulled out, again and again—

Spinner couldn’t hold himself back. He sits up in one swift moment, causing Shigaraki gasp and make a sharp guttural sound that turns into a low moan; then, wrapping his arms around Shigaraki, Spinner pushes up as hard and deeply as he can.

The yelp Shigaraki makes and the way he clenches around Spinner is almost enough to push him over the edge.

Shigaraki punishes him for that. With a crazed look on his face, he grabs Spinner by the throat, gripping hard with three fingers, pressing so it’s difficult to find his breath. His nails scratches at Spinner’s scales, moving against their natural direction, more than a little painful. Spinner shivers.

Shigaraki trying to strangle him, and Spinner can’t speak. He mouths the words instead, and just when the lack of air is about to make him panic, Shigaraki relaxes his hold.

“—Fuck— don’t—” Spinner coughs and heaves in as many deep breaths as he can. “Shigaraki, bastard—”

But those fingers are still around his neck, and they pull him close. Shigaraki kisses Spinner long and hard, teeth scraping against his lips, tongue pushing against his. It leaves him breathless and lightheaded again.

When they finally part, Shigaraki rasps, “That makes us even.” And he grins, so smug and mischievously boyish that it’s Spinner’s turn to kiss him senseless.

As Shigaraki steadies himself, grabbing Spinner’s shoulders and roughly grinding his hips, Spinner presses his beak to the side of Shigaraki’s head, nuzzling behind his ear. It feels like the right time to say something. He knows Shigaraki will wave it off, make fun of him for it, but Spinner wants to tell Shigaraki— That he—

Then Shigaraki is moving in his arms, riding him hard again, and Spinner can’t think straight. Shigaraki is so tight, so perfect, and Spinner can feel Shigaraki’s hard cock rubbing against his stomach.

-

hmm.

[btgalaxy]

Twisted

➳ pairing: yoongi x reader

➳ genre: mafia!au, angst, eventual smut, maybe fluff

➳ word count: 3.5k

Masterlist / Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Chapter 8:

      You wake the following day to the sound of shuffling at the end of your bed, followed by a dip in the mattress below your feet. You groan, scrunching up your eyes before squinting them open, adjusting to the spill into the room of artificial light.

“Taehyung?” You moan, willing yourself to sit up and greet the man sat pitifully on the bed.

He pushes his lips together, “Morning, duckie. How you feeling?”

You sit up fully and sigh, resting back against the headboard and allowing your head to lull backwards with your eyes closed, “Drained.”

“Understandable.” You attempt to wake yourself up, clicking your neck side to side and stretching your arms out in front of you with clasped hands. Taehyung watches you silently, gauging some sort of response, clearly to last night’s antics; Jimin’s showing up, Yoongi’s threatening you with a fucking knife. But you don’t want to respond to that- at least, you don’t want to respond to Tae. Yoongi, however, he deserves a good bollocking and you don’t want to waste any of that energy on Taehyung.

“Am I training today?”

Taehyung looks back at you, somewhat dumbfounded, “I- I think so- this afternoon I believe.”

“Great. I’ll warm up in here now.” You swing your feet out of the bed and head to the wardrobe of clothes, raking your fingers through your hair casually as you go. You begin fingering the fabric of the t-shirts as Taehyung interrupts you.

“You- you don’t want to talk to me?” He stammers, actually sounding a little hurt which makes you pause for a moment.

“I’ve nothing to say.” You return to the material in your hands, placing a white tee on the bed.

Taehyung moves to his feet and takes you by the wrist, ceasing your distractions, “Don’t lie to me, duckie. I’m your ally. Talk to me.”

He looks a little desperate with those pleading eyes, and you wonder why he’s suddenly so interested in how you feel. He didn’t seem to be that bothered when you first arrived and had you locked up in your room for days and days. You sigh, defeated.

“He just scared me a bit, is all.” You shrug, slumping down onto the mattress again where Tae joins you.

“I’m not surprised. None of us expected that he would bring a knife out.” He shakes his head disapprovingly, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. You didn’t deserve it.”

“I should never have tried to see Jimin.”

“Yoongi shouldn’t’ve tried to keep you away.”

You widen your eyes, “What?”

“You should’ve been allowed to see Jimin, I think,” he says, “I mean, whatever if he’s a prick, but you were with him for nearly a year, you deserved to see him.”

You wonder for a second how Taehyung knows how long you were together, but dismiss it as you’re consumed with other curiosities, “What was Jimin here for? For me?”

He nods, slowly, “He wanted to see you, he said he needed to speak with you urgently.”

“But Yoongi wouldn’t allow it?” You grow more furious as every second passes.

“There wasn’t much I could do to change his mind, duckie. And the second he saw you walking across the field- he was too angry.”

You struggle to contain the rising fury inside of you, willing yourself not to throw a tantrum and break the door for a second time to go and scream at the ignorant man probably sat feeling sorry for himself in his cushty little office. You close your eyes, trying to maintain a threatened sense of calm.

Your mind wanders back to last night, to everything that happened, to Jin’s words, “Also…” You trail off, thinking.

He watches you inquisitively, “Also?”

“I was wondering,” You swallow, “That- that ‘rule’ Yoongi was breaking, Jin mentioned it- what was he talking about?”

Tae visibly stiffens, smacking his lips together as he rolls his tongue across the front of his teeth. You almost regret asking after seeing his reaction, but the curiosity has been eating at you ever since you left Yoongi’s office last night. It didn’t seem Yoongi had any rules to follow, just rules to make, that he isn’t necessarily obliged to abide by.

“Jin implied,” Tae sighs, pausing for a second, “That Yoongi was putting his feelings first. He was being led by his heart, not his head. He wasn’t thinking logically he was-“

You lean forwards, encouraging him, “He was what?”

“He was allowing his feelings for you to cloud his judgement. So he made a crappy decision out of anger and jealousy, and then ended up taking it out on you.”

Your mind whirls to the library, to the leaning in. God, you’d almost forgotten after all the chaos. You were going to kiss him, to give yourself to him. Now that seems like a whole world away, although it was less than a day ago. What if Jimin hadn’t shown up? Would you have kissed him? Would you have forgotten everything you and Jimin had gone through to be with him? There’s so much racing through your mind you feel a little lightheaded.

“His feelings?” You question, playing dumb just for a moment longer.

Taehyung laughs slightly, “Duckie, don’t act oblivious. You know he feels something for you. I reckon he has had something since the beginning when you took out a chunk of Kook’s hand.” You wince at the memory. “I thought he didn’t know how to feel anything except sadistic pleasure and general anger and misery till you turned up.”

You unexpectedly flop back onto the bed, closing your eyes and bringing your hands up to cover your face. Why couldn’t you have just asked Jimin for a lift home that night? Why didn’t you just suck up your pride and tell him you had no other way home? Why can you be so self-important that you walk through the dangerous part of Seoul late at night by yourself because you won’t ask the man who broke up with you for one final damn lift home?

“Duckie?” Taehyung intrudes your thoughts before you become entirely engrossed with self-loathing.

You reluctantly sit up again, sighing, “I just can’t believe this.”

“Believe what? That Yoongi likes you?”

“Yes.” You wet your lower lip, “And that Jimin was here, and now they’re what- fighting over me? I feel like I’m back at school.”

Tae pushes at your shoulder light-heartedly, “I hope I’m the cool best friend.”

“You’re the weird one with no friends.” You deadpan.

He scoffs, “Sorry Miss Popular.” The two of you laugh. And it’s nice to laugh. You’re thankful he came in and spoke to you; now you know everything there’s at least some weight off your shoulders- in spite of the whole questioning yourself and your entire existence-, and it feels nice to know he’s on your side. After talking a little longer about it and being scolded for the broken door, Tae leaves to go and tend to his duties around the base.

Once dressed and having brushed your teeth you swing your hair back to look in the mirror, gripping at the sides of the sink. Keep it together. Focus on training. Forget about Yoongi. It’s a new mantra you recite in your head on a permanent loop to keep you distracted. You rake your hair back into a ponytail, still repeating the words firmly, then leave your room to head to the main training area, where Jin is already setting up your workout.

He nods his head to you as you enter, “Morning.”

You smile back awkwardly, “Morning.”

“We’re focusing on cardio again today. It’s gonna be tough- have you eaten?”

You suck in a breath, “Not yet, no.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing, “Then lets get you some food first then.”

Its like Jin’s got some kind of alter ego he’s suddenly decided to employ after last night’s antics. It’s bizarre the way he sits and watches you bite into an apple, squirming uncomfortably under his unrelenting gaze. You want to ask him to stop looking at you eat, but simultaneously you’re still a tad scared of him. And besides, what would you possibly say? Thanks for stepping in when your mafia boss was holding a knife to your throat and telling the whole world how its probably just hormones because he likes you? …Maybe not.

You put down the apple core, wiping your hands together, “Done.”

“More.” He pushes a bowl of watermelon slices towards you coldly.

“It’s alright that’s enough.” You push them back.

He clenches his jaw, looking towards the ceiling in an attempt to control his anger, “I said it’s going to be a tough day for you. You need to eat.”

He pushes it back, but you stop his hand, “And I said I’m done.”

“That’s not your decision to make.”

“Excuse you, when did you become some kind of nutritionist?” You retort.

“Fine. But if you start collapsing I’m not gonna be the one to carry you up to the infirmary.” And he gets up, storming back over to where the equipment is set up, taking some gloves and hastily strapping them on. You exhale, following pitifully behind him and mimicking his actions, walking over to the skipping rope for your usual routine.

“We aren’t starting with skipping today,” he announces, shoving you over towards a weights machine.

“I- I thought we were doing cardio?” You stammer, trying to slow down as he nudges you forward by the strength of his palm on your back.

“Changed my mind.”

Jin’s wraith is excruciating and you begin to regret not just eating the damn watermelon slices. He gradually increases the weight of the dumbbells you’re lifting every time you complain, won’t let you drink till he can visibly see the sweat dripping from your forehead and forces you to recite ‘I will do as I’m told’ as you run laps around the perimeter of the hall. You think he’s finding it somewhat amusing, actually, but a part of you doesn’t mind- better this than agonising over everything that’s happened these past few days with Yoongi and Jimin and what not.

Hours later after your sixth lap around the hall, even with your higher fitness levels after training for these past few weeks, your knees give way and you fall to the floor, breath drying out your throat as you hold a bottle of water to your chest, trying to find the energy to drink some. Jin’s dismissed you, wandering off to do his own thing, so you simply lay on the ground with your eyes shut, attempting to regulate your breathing after such a God-awful day of exercise.

You eventually find the energy to sit up, unscrewing the bottle cap and swallowing down as much of the liquid as you can manage, still panting between gulps. You turn to see Jin sat with a few men at a table, laughing together casually and it riles you up, fuming at the way he’s taken out his anger on you, bringing you to the brink of death you swear.

As you’re about to jump up and go scream at him with a sudden newly-found energy pumping through you, a voice startles you from behind.

“Y/N?” You stagger back, looking up to greet Yoongi’s face, with an undecipherable expression lingering on his features, making you anxious. “Are you- I mean, I need to talk to you.”

Your eyes widen fleetingly, debating with yourself whether it’s wise to just give him an outright no and sulk back to your room, contemplating why the hell he’d think it’s okay to just spring this on you out of the blue, but at the same time a part of you wants to hear him out, to hear his apologies and justification for what he did. It has been nearly 24 hours already: he must have some sort of an explanation ready by now.

You nod, apprehensively, “Sure.” You wet your lips as you stand up, nervously ambling towards his office as he follows behind you.

After walking awkwardly through the tunnels, it’s silent in the room, only interrupted by the dull droning of the clock on the wall, piercing through the thickening tension. Yoongi sits uneasily on the edge of his desk, pulling out a cigarette from one of the drawers and holding it between his lips. His hands shake slightly with the lighter, becoming more aggressive with it as he gets angrier with the small device.

Noticing his struggle, you step forwards, “Let me.”

He stops immediately, directing his gaze still at the silver box. You walk round towards him as his eyes turn to follow your trail, hesitating when you’re stood in front of him. Gently, you pry the lighter from his hands, easily grazing your thumb down the steel and sparking up a small flame. He leans forwards, smoke still between his lips, and you bring the light up to the end, bringing it to life.

He sucks in a breath, letting out a puff of grey as he pulls it from his mouth, “Thanks.”

You nod your head in response, clicking the top closed and placing it on the desk next to him, then taking a step back. He meets your eyes for a second, but you cannot bear it, and quickly turn to peer out the window, overlooking the base. Your eyes hover on Jin, still sat with a group of men. You almost forgot about the aching in the back of your thighs and the deadness in your arms. Prick.

“I’m sorry.”

You freeze at the words from Yoongi behind you, invading your thoughts. You’re unable to turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry I overreacted. As boss here I shouldn’t lose my temper like that I-“ He cuts himself off, clearly searching for the right way to phrase things.

You close your eyes, processing the words now resonating through the small, stone room and feeling your palms become clammy as your nerves get rattled. Do you forgive him? You can’t even think under the crushing tension pressing at your shoulders.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry.” You hear him move from the desk, approaching you. “I- I should’ve never-“

“Why?” You snap round all of a sudden, frowning at him, confused, encouraged by Taehyung’s words from this morning. “I want you to tell me why you did it.”

You know the answer: and you think he knows that you know, but nevertheless you want to hear it from him.

“Y/N,” he sighs.

“Tell me.”

The room becomes quiet again, Yoongi running his tongue over his lower lip frustratedly as his eyes flicker to the ceiling. You swallow back your anxiety, standing resolute with your arms held firmly at your sides and posing your chin up high.

“Because he wanted to see you.”

He seems to believe that is justification enough, with the finality in his tone, but you aren’t satisfied.

“Who did?” You press.

“Jimin.”

“Why were you angry.”

Yoongi seethes, nostrils flared and jaw clenched, “Because I didn’t want him to fucking touch you. I didn’t want him near you.”

Your stance falters for a second, “And why is that?”

“Y/N-“

“Tell me.”

He doesn’t respond, quietly fuming as he throws his cigarette butt to the floor and stamps on it, running his fingers through his bleached hair.

“Yoongi if you aren’t going to grow some balls and just-“

He doesn’t waste anymore time justifying himself to you, and instead presses his lips to yours.

You’re cut off so abruptly you’re instantly immobile, back pressed against the glass window and hands stammering awkwardly in front of you. It takes you a second to process, when suddenly you’re flittering your eyes shut, kissing him back.

He tastes like tobacco and his lips feel startlingly smooth against yours, working passionately, desperately. His hands find purchase on your waist, gripping you there possessively and rubbing his thumbs into your lower back as he presses himself against you, harder against the glass. You run your fingers up his forearms, to his biceps, and stopping on his shoulders, pushing forwards till your elbows rest lazily next to his neck.

The sound of cheering and whooping breaks the two of you apart for a moment, to turn and look down out of the window to the groups of men waving and shouting at you, Jin amongst them looking eerily silent.

Yoongi, however, seems unphased by this, yanking you round to sit you on the desk as he slides between your legs and crushes his lips back to yours before you even have a chance to speak, cupping your face in his hands. Your hands wander down to his waist, untucking part of his shirt and running your fingertips over the skin beneath the fabric, raking your nails into his back as he presses against your crotch.

Just as things begin to take a step further, a sudden banging at the door interrupts you.

You pull back, “The door-“

“Ignore it.” He moves into you again, but you dodge.

“What if-“

“I said ignore it.”

This time you let him against you again, rolling your hips upwards as he groans into your mouth and pushes you back against the desk, slowly leaning down to clamber on top of you. The banging at the door eventually ceases, and you immediately forget about it and lose yourself in the way Yoongi’s hands explore your body like an uncharted island.

He begins pressing kisses along your face and down to your neck, where you willingly crane your neck and push your hair to the side to allow him better access.

“I’m sorry too, just,” You wet your lips, “So you know.”

Yoongi hums in response, sucking against the flesh above your collarbone to leave a grand purple flower.

“I shouldn’t have run to Jimin.” You can feel him slow down as he runs his tongue across the dent of your neck, admiring his handiwork. “I don’t know what came over me- I didn’t think about everything, everything…” You trail off uneasily, panting slightly.

Yoongi manoeuvres himself to look at you, pushing some hair away from your face, “It’s okay. I know.”

As things simmer down, he gently shifts off of you, offering a hand for you to sit up again, his body positioned oddly comfortably between your legs.

“I really wanted to do that for a while now,” Yoongi smirks slightly, earning him a hard shove at his shoulder.

You press your lips together, looking over his face. God, you couldn’t have foreseen allowing this man to even touch you when you first arrived at Manes, let alone this. Although, something deep within you doesn’t seem to call for you to retreat, but instead to open yourself up to him.

You sigh, “I don’t really know what to say to you right now.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” He leans in, enough so that you feel his breath fan over your lips, “Just know that you’re mine, okay? No Jimin, no other men, just me, okay?”

You release a brief laugh at his possessiveness, rolling your eyes, “Whatever.”

He squeezes you firmly, “I mean it.”

“So do I.”

He moves down with a smile to give you another kiss, when the banging at the door returns. Yoongi groans and rakes a hand through his hair rapidly before pulling you off the desk and taking your hand to guide you over to the door as he swings it open.

“What do you want?” He snarls, as you begin to massage his hand cautiously in your own.

“Boss, I got a new report in- it’s waiting in the tech room.” The man you identify as Namjoon through the small crack in the door sounds worried, and it immediately sets your head into a frenzy as to what’s happened: if it involves Jimin, if Yoongi’s in danger. You don’t even want to think what’s waiting to be discovered in that report.

“I’ll be there in five.” Yoongi shuts the door on him rudely, sighing as he pulls you into him and buries his head into your hair.

“I’m going to have to sort this out,” he mumbles, finally looking at you with those chocolate orbs and analysing your features with an expression you’ve never seen him adopt before. “I’ll come see you when I can.”

He then kisses you goodbye; the way one does in some kind of actual relationship- and for a moment it doesn’t feel like this started out with you being abducted and held hostage as a motive for a rival mafia to stop intercepting drug deals, but instead just the start of a genuine relationship. Honestly, you aren’t sure which situation scares you more.

Masterlist / Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

[tamarajohnsonca]

How Long Does a Weed High Last?

I’m imagining you sitting there, trying to focus as you type “how long does a high last” into the search bar. Or you could be on your phone pacing back and forth anxiously or crawled under covers hiding from the world. I hope you’re okay; I hope you’re not having an overwhelming experience. But if you’re looking up “how long does a weed high last” because you want yours to end, take heart. No high lasts forever, and you’ll probably be right as rain in an hour or so.

Why Worry How Long Your Weed High Will Last?

Maybe things aren’t as dire as I’m imagining. Maybe you need to get behind the wheel eventually and want to know how long you should wait to drive. Perhaps you just want to know what kind of experience to expect from different cannabis products and delivery methods.

Perhaps you’re thinking strategically: that awesome band goes on at 10 p.m. and you want to plan your session before they hit, so you peak when they rock your favorite track. Or maybe you’re a medical patient who wants to leave space in the day for your treatment without compromising your productivity.

After all, there are all kinds of reasons you might be asking yourself “how long does a marijuana high last?” If you have some experience with weed, you probably already have a sense of how long your high sticks around. But you might still want to know how you can take control over that aspect of your experience.

And if you’re relatively new to cannabis, having an authoritative answer is an important part of making sure you have an enjoyable session. For everyone who enjoys cannabis, timing, as they say, is everything.

How Long Does A High Last? Use the “Highness Equation” to Find Out

It might not get past the peer review board of a medical journal, but here’s a more-or-less scientific way to “calculate” how long you can expect your weed high to last. Call it the “highness equation.”

The highness equation incorporates the four major aspects that determine how long your marijuana high will last. Here it is:

Length of High = ( (dose x concentration) / (metabolism x tolerance) ) x delivery method

So that’s the dose you take multiplied by the concentration of the product, divided by your metabolism times your tolerance, all multiplied by the delivery method factor: ingestion or inhalation.

In other words: how much weed you put in your body, divided by how your body processes and responds, all shaped by the specific path the weed takes through your system.

It’s less complicated than it sounds. And if you’re looking for a bottom line answer—the median, the average, the “ballpark,” then your answer is simple.

After you get high from inhaling weed, expect to stay high for about one to two hours. If you’ve eaten your cannabis, your high will last about 3 to 4 hours, maybe longer.

But if the tl;dr version doesn’t satisfy, read on to find out the factors that influence how long your high lasts. Then, once you figure out where you fall, you can start experimenting with ways to prolong, or if need be, shorten your high.

The following guide breaks down each component of our highness equation to help you figure out how long you’re going to be high after you smoke, vape, eat or otherwise consume your cannabis. But first, let’s take a deeper look at how different cannabis delivery methods can influence the answer to the all-important question: how long does a weed high last?

How Long Does a Weed High Last After Smoking Flower?

Despite the rising popularity of edibles and concentrates, flower still reigns supreme. So how long does a weed high last after smoking a joint or a bowl? This is a tough question to answer, because the THC concentrations of flower can vary dramatically from as a low as eight percent to as much as 35 percent. In general, a high from smoking flower is going to last up to two hours. But your high won’t be at the same level over that time-span.

Smoking flower will make you high fast, and THC levels in your blood will peak within a half hour of your first puff. Then, you’ll stay around that peak for another half hour before you start to taper off. From after the first hour, your high will diminish fairly quickly until you no longer feel the effects of THC. Again, that ranges, but a typical taper runs about another hour, putting the total length of your high from flower at about two hours, give or take.

How Long Does a Weed High Last After Dabbing Concentrates?

There’s no more potent and fast-acting delivery method than dabs. THC concentrations in concentrates like shatter, wax and budder are much higher than they are in even the most potent flower. As a result, a weed high from a dab can last a significant while longer than a high from smoking weed.

Still, it’s all relative. Typically, dabs attract experienced cannabis consumers with an appetite for potency and therefore, a higher tolerance to THC. For some, then, a dab high can last just as long as a high from flower. For people new to dabs or who dab only occasionally, however, a dab high can be a very long-lasting experience.

But this doesn’t necessarily apply to concentrates in things like vape pens and THC cartridges. Yes, these oils have higher THC concentrations than flower. But you usually don’t vape as much oil as you would smoke flower, so a high from a vape pen tends to last just about as long as a high from flower. In fact, a high from a cartridge can be a shorter experience than smoking flower, especially if you just sip small amounts throughout the day.

How Long Does a Weed High Last After Eating Edibles?

Edibles like brownies, candies, gummies and other THC-infused treats easily provide the longest lasting high of all the deliver methods. And that’s because the entire process of getting THC into your bloodstream is different. First, there’s typically a long onset time for edibles, anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours. It’s hard to predict and depends on all kinds of digestive and metabolic processes in your body.

But once that THC hits, it hits hard, because the activated form that makes it into your bloodstream from your liver is a more “potent” form—technically, it’s more pharmacologically active and bioavailable. Depending on your dose and how fast your body processes THC, a high from eating edibles can last up to 8 hours. But if that sounds like too long, don’t worry. You’ll experience the peak of the how for about two hours after onset, and it will gradually taper down from there. In other words, the high is fairly mild during those last few hours.

Now that you’ve got a ballpark sense of how long a weed high lasts with various forms of cannabis, let’s dive into the specific factors that make weed highs last longer for some and shorter for others.

Really, it’s all about getting to know your unique body and how it all reacts and responds to the compounds in cannabis and the effects they all produce.

William Casey/ Shutterstock

Your High Lasts As Long As THC Meets Up With Your Endocannabinoid System

Your weed high is the sum of an infinitely complex series of metabolic and chemical reactions occurring all throughout your body.

Whether we perceive the effects of those reactions depends on their intensity and our sensitivity to them. And that’s why you’ll find studies claiming that the effects of cannabis can last from 5 hours up to a full day.

That may be true on a chemical level. But THC can interact with our bodies without giving us the experience of feeling high, especially at low levels.

And that’s where the bottom of our “highness equation” comes in: metabolism x tolerance. Being on the bottom of the equation means these are the factors that work against your high, shortening how long you feel the effects of THC.

Metabolism x Tolerance

There’s a common misconception that a person’s weight determines how high they get and how long that high will last. But in fact, it’s a person’s metabolism that plays a major role in the length of a high.

The length of your high depends on the presence of THC in your bloodstream. Your blood carries that THC to the network of cell receptors it binds to, the endocannabinoid system (ECS).

Your body is also in the business of metabolizing the stuff you put into it, breaking it down, taking what it needs, and expelling the rest.

So if you’ve got a high metabolism, your highs will tend to be shorter. Or at least, your body is working against the clock a little bit.

Then, there’s that elusive and hard-to-quantify factor of tolerance. In common parlance, we say we have a high or low tolerance to weed. But in reality, what we mean is that we have a higher or lower tolerance to dopamine and other neurotransmitters our brain releases when THC meets up with the ECS.

The good news is, cannabis doesn’t so thoroughly deplete our dopamine supplies that we have to chase ever larger quantities to get the same effect.

But that also means THC’s powers are limited. Hence the ceiling effect frequent users experience, where no matter what they do, they can’t get higher than a certain point. If you’re hitting that ceiling, the answer to the question “how long does a high last?” is probably not long enough.

For most regular cannabis users, however, the same dose will produce roughly the same experience time after time. For heavy users, even a short “tolerance break” can restore your tolerance levels to their low defaults, making your next high feel more like your first.

However, if you’ve built up a tolerance over time or with frequent use, your high is going to feel shorter for sure.

If You Want a Longer High, Consider Upping Your Dosage or Using Higher-Potency Products

Now that we’ve covered what shortens the length of your high, let’s look at what extends it. This is definitely the simpler part of the equation.

Put more weed into your system, and in all likelihood, you’re going to have a longer high. That means smoking strains with higher THC concentrations. Or vaping concentrates—or even better distillates, with upwards of 85 percent THC.

It also means taking a larger dose. Not only will your high last longer, it will stretch out your peak so you enjoy your high as long as your body allows. How long does a high last for you if you smoke flower versus vape concentrates?

How Long Does A High Last: Calculating Dose x Concentration

The top of our highness equation is pretty self-explanatory. But a few points bear repeating.

If you’re new to cannabis, it’s really a good idea to start with smaller doses. Don’t feel like you have to take huge rips or smoke multiple bowls just because the other kids are doing it. If you want that, you’ll get there in due time.

For now, appreciate what you have, that veteran weed enthusiasts often sorely miss: those early, heady days when a single puff sent you to outer space. (Maybe that’s part of what drives dabbing culture: that desire to recreate those first encounters with weed—that inimitable intensity and euphoria.)

The rest of us are busy chasing that dragon with ever-higher concentrations and tech that makes huge doses possible. Rip a 2-gram dab in one sitting and you’ll be high for the better part of the day, probably. Rip 20 grams and you’ll probably feel high for the rest of the week.

So when it comes to dosage, that’s easy. Smoke or vape more for a longer high. Even better, spread out your sessions. That will keep tossing you back up to the peak of your high when you’re on your way down.

And in terms of concentration, look for high-THC strains and strains with ultra-low CBD. (CBD can counterbalance the effects of THC on your system, shortening your high.) Or just stick with concentrates and extracts.

The Delivery Method Factor: Inhale or Eat?

We’ve covered all the parts of the highness equation. Except for the one that shapes them all: delivery method.

Those who’ve tried them know that edibles tend to produce a much longer-lasting high than inhalation methods.

That’s because of the metabolic pathway that THC takes through your body when you eat it versus when you inhale it. To make a long story short, your digestive tract converts THC into a different active form than heating alone.

How long does a high last from consuming edibles? Well that form, THC-COOH, or carboxy-THC, has some serious staying power. But your body takes some time to produce it. That’s why you have to wait 45 minutes to an hour or so for an edible to really kick in.

Once that THC-COOH is pumping through your bloodstream, you’re along for the ride until your body is finished processing it. Again, that can be about three to four hours on average and sometimes longer.

So for those truly looking for an extended high experience and who have the patience for an edible or drinkable cannabis product to kick in, ingesting your weed is the way to go.

How Long Does A Weed High Last For You? Your Mileage May Vary

How long does a weed high last if you eat your cannabis? How long does a marijuana high last if you smoke flower? Just generally, how long does a high last? If you’ve come away with anything from this article, hopefully it’s an appreciation for the complex chemical dance that is a weed high, and all the factors that make up the answer to those questions.

Of course, there’s no definite, constant answer. The lengths of your own highs will change. No need to compare them to other folks’.

So, how long does a high last for you? If you plan on one to two hours for inhaled cannabis and three to four with ingested weed, longer with higher doses and concentrations and shorter with higher metabolisms and tolerances, you’ll be all set.

(Updated from a previous post.)

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from Marijuana Uses https://blog.funpot.ca/how-long-does-a-weed-high-last/

[reefertilizer-blog]

What is Cannabis Fertilizer?

How Do You Choose the right cannabis fertilizer?

Cannabis needs light, oxygen, and fertilizer to grow. Fertilizer can be made up of many organic and inorganic elements. Depending on the stage of growth a cannabis plant will require different ratios of these elements. Choosing a fertilizer designed specifically for cannabis is usually the easiest and best choice. Reefertilizer Grow and Bloom are designed for the vegetative and flowering stages of cannabis.

Does Cannabis Need Fertilizer to Grow Big Buds?

To get big buds, you need the right set of nutrients during the flower period. Flowering plants will require plenty of potassium but less nitrogen than before. Elements such as calcium and magnesium help produce dense buds. The difference between miracle-gro and Reefertilizer is that Miracle Gro was designed as a general fertilizer for many types of plants. Reefertilizer Bloom is blended to the specific nutritional needs of cannabis during flower. Helping you get those big thick buds.

What Nutrients Does Cannabis Need to Grow?

Plants all require the same types of nutrients, but each plant will have a preference for a certain ratio depending on its current needs. You should  feed your cannabis plants a fertilizer that contains all major nutrients; nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. There are other essential nutrients that are required in smaller amounts. Plants will get some of these lesser nutrients from compost in the soil and trace amounts in tap water. But with a full spectrum cannabis fertilizer all the major and minor nutrients will be available.

What Are The Major Nutrients (N-P-K)?

When you buy fertilizer it should have 3 numbers on the front of the package. These numbers represent the ratio of the three major building blocks for plant growth; Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. This is the NPK ratio. The “N” and “P” stands for nitrogen and phosphorus, the K represents the greek name for potassium.

Nitrogen plays an important role in plant growth, it helps develop new leaves and branches during the vegetative phase. During flower nitrogen takes a much lesser role while phosphorus and potassium are needed in higher amounts to help work on bud/flower development.

What’s a Good Cannabis Fertilizer Ratio?

The NPK ratio numbers represent the percentage by weight of each major nutrient. During the veg phase of cannabis your plants will need a higher percentage of nitrogen than potassium or phosphorus. For example, Reefertilizer Grow has an NPK ratio of 20-5-10 while bloom has a ratio of 5-30-20. During flowering your plants need a different ratio for their new focus on growing flowers.

Why are NPK numbers higher on synthetic fertilizer than organic? I answer that down below.

What Are Minor and Micro-Nutrients For Cannabis?

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are 3 of the 17 essential nutrients for plant life. The others are minor nutrients. They are required, but in a much smaller quantity. Calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, and copper are just a few elements that cannabis will need to facilitate healthy growth. This is why I like to grow in soil, many of these trace elements are already present and available when the plants need them.

Which fertilizer works well for Cannabis?

The best fertilizer for cannabis growers is the one that best meets your situation requirements. Going fully organic and making your own compost teas and soil mixes will result in big healthy plants, but will require a lot of space, time, and experience to apply these techniques. Using a synthetic fertilizer like Grow and Bloom makes it easier to guarantee your plants are getting what they need with very little oversight. It’s also cheaper and easier to apply. Synthetic fertilizer is sometimes called “chemical”. In some circles the word chemical has a negative stigma around it, which is silly. All fertilizers are chemical in nature, water is a chemical. “Organic” fertilizer is made from natural sources like potash and compost that are broken down and applied to plants. Synthetic fertilizers are further processed so they are more concentrated, they are also faster acting since they take way less time to break down than organic.

What Are The Advantages of Using Powder Fertilizer for Cannabis?

Fertilizers will come in the form of a liquid or a powder. Both work well and the best choice depends on the grower. Different elements will react with each other when in a liquid form causing it to lose potency over time. Because of this you will see many different variations of liquid fertilizers with different nutrient ratios. All these liquid fertilizers need to be mixed to the correct ratio for whatever phase of growth your plant is currently in. What’s great about powder fertilizer is that you don’t need to mix several products together just to feed you plant. The powdered elements won’t react with each other when dry. A few scoops of Bloom mixed into water accomplishes the same as several bottles of liquid nutrients. Powdered fertilizer saves the grower time, prevents any guesswork, and utilizes far less packaging.

How Do I Use Cannabis Fertilizer?

When Do You Start Using Powder Fertilizer on Cannabis?

You’ll want to start feeding your plants with a diluted dose of fertilizer when they have developped 3 or 4 sets of leaves. Check out our blog post on “When should you start feeding your cannabis plants fertilizer”, it answers this question in more detail. As the plant grows it will require larger amounts of fertilizer to fuel that growth.

How Much powder Fertilizer Does Cannabis Need?

The amount of fertilizer your plants need depends on a few outside factors. Large plants will require more nutrients than smaller ones. The planter size is a good indicator of how big a plant will probably grow. Cannabis grown in soil can grow very tall since their roots can go deep into the ground. You need to feed your plants enough fertilizer that the soil around the roots is completely saturated.  A small planter might need only 4L of nutrient water every feeding, while a plant in a 12 gallon planter will need more nutrient water to saturate it fully.

How often do I give fertilizer?

This depends on the grower preference, but in general you want to be feeding your plants at least once a week. We recommend feeding plants Reefertilizer Grow or Bloom once a week and watering with correct pH water as needed, this keeps it super simple. Others will split the weeks nutrients into two diluted feedings. Other growers like to feed plants two weeks on and one week off. Experiment with your plants and see how they react and what type of schedule you prefer. Reefertilizer is meant to be versatile in this respect.

Some big plants will need a feeding every few days. It depends on the needs of the individual plants. If you’re feeding a large plant once a week and it’s showing signs of a nutrient deficiency, as long as it isn’t being caused by a bad pH, you may need to feed them more often.

What’s The Feeding Schedule for Cannabis?

Take a look at the instructions of your cannabis fertilizer. They will give you the best recommendation on the feeding schedule. The Reefertilizer schedule is a gradual approach. Start low and increase the dose every week until you get to full dose. This helps prevent any fertilizer burn, and starting with lower doses at the beginning of flower helps reduce nutrient buildup.

How do I Feed Cannabis?

Feeding cannabis can be very simple. It usually involves mixing a liquid or powder into some water and pouring that around the base of your plants. With Reefertilizer Grow and Bloom you add a few scoops to some water and mix it up really well. It’s good to mix the powder with a small amount of water first to make sure it’s dissolved evenly, then add more water after. It’s good practice to measure the pH of the nutrient water, this will help prevent nutrient lockout. If the pH is not in the desired range (between 6 and 6.8 for soil), use a product called pH up or pH down to adjust it. Natural ingredients like lemon juice and baking soda will also lower or raise the pH.

How much fertilizer do I give?

If your unsure of how much you should be feeding your plants, start low and gradually increase the dosage every week. Don’t worry too much about over fertilizing your plants, that’s really easy to fix. If you see signs of fertilizer burn (brown tips and other symptoms), just flush your plants with extra water that week and start feeding them again when the soil is dry, but this time with a lower dose.

When do I stop fertilizing my cannabis plants?

You want to stop feeding your plants a week before harvest. During this time your plant will utilize the remaining nutrients and energy in the plant for bud growth. There’s a lot of debate on the topic of whether or not you should flush your plants with water during this period to leach nutrients from the soil and plant. Many professional growers say that flushing your plants a week before will improve the flavour and quality of your buds. Other professional growers say it doesn’t make a difference and they feed their plants right up to harvest. In my opinion, flushing can’t hurt so why not give it a try. Do your own experiments and see what you prefer after drying and curing the bud.

Do I Need to Flush powder Cannabis Fertilizer Before Harvest?

If you’re going to flush your plants before harvest, you need to use plenty of water. You want to use enough water to fill your planter 2-3 times. That means if your growing in a 5 gallon planter, you need to flush it with 15 gallons of water. Soilless growing mediums like coco coir or peat moss are easier to flush, so you can use less water than with soil. You can perform this flush once a week or more. I like to use a TDS meter to monitor the total dissolved solids in the flush runoff water. Each time I flush, that number should be getting lower. Don’t worry about using pH perfect water for flushing. Since you will be harvesting soon, it won’t make a difference.

What Else Do I Need to Know About Cannabis Fertilizer?

Is Too Much Fertilizer Harmful?

It can be easy to go overboard with fertilizers, but using more than what your plant can suck up will cause you problems. Depending on your plants size and the environment it’s in, there’s a finite amount of nutrients it can metabolise in a given period. Using too much fertilizer may cause nutrient burn and symptoms of excess or deficient nutrients. If you over fertilize it’s not the end of the world. A good flush can bring most plants back to a healthy state.

Why is There Growth or Bloom Fertilizer?

Cannabis plants have two major phases of growth; The vegetative stage and the flowering stage. The nutritional needs are slightly different during these two phases. Using the correct cannabis Bloom or Grow fertilizer will guarantee the correct level of nutrients the plant needs at that time.

Can Nutrients Make Cannabis Taste Bad?

Many things can affect the final taste of cannabis, most importantly the drying process and the curing process.

Many growers will say that if a cannabis plant is not flushed properly before harvest it will develop a harsh taste not stay lit when rolled into a joint. Flushing could be a factor but perhaps a minor one. Cannabis will definitely get a bad taste if it’s dried to quickly or not enough. A lot of harsh flavours come from chlorophyll which slowly breaks down during the curing process.

What’s The Difference Between Organic And Synthetic Nutrients?

Organic nutrients come from a direct natural source. Synthetic are produced from natural sources but processed further to be more concentrated. If you compare the NPK ratio of organic fertilizers and synthetic, you will notice the numbers on synthetic fertilizers are higher. This is because the higher concentration from the extra processing. Organic nutrients are slowly broken down by the root system. Since they are less concentrated, you need to apply them more often. Reefertilizer Start soil conditioner is organic and helps generate a healthy soil. This in tandem with synthetic fertilizers gives you the best of both worlds. Synthetic nutrients are immediately available to plants and can give them a real noticeable boost in growth. Synthetic is usually cheaper and easier to use, but care must be taken not to over fertilize plants.

What is Cannabis Fertilizer Burn?

Fertilizer burn happens when you feed your plants too high a concentration of fertilizer. If left untreated it can seriously damage or kill a plant entirely. Good news, fixing an overtilized plant is really simple and done soon enough your plant will bounce back quickly. To fix a plant that is over fertilized, flush the soil with 3 times the volume of the planter size. If you’re growing in a 5 gallon pot, flush with 15 gallons of water. What the water does is leach out any nutrient build up in the soil. After flushing, give your plant about a week to recuperate, then you can start feeding them again.

What is Nutrient Lockout?

Nutrient lockout occurs when the pH of the growing medium is in the incorrect range. Cannabis roots can only chemically metabolize nutrients if the soil is in a specific pH range. If the pH is too low or high, certain nutrients will be “locked out” and the plant will suffer from a nutrient deficiency even though they’re in the soil. Adding more nutrients won’t help and might cause a harmful build up in the soil. Most cannabis problems start from an incorrect pH. If you see signs of nutrient deficiency in your plants, the first thing to check is the pH. Measuring and logging  the pH of the nutrient water is a good mesure to determine if you have a deficiency or a nutrient lockout.

How Do I Use Compost and Worm Castings as Fertilizer?

There are so many great things you can add to your soil that will help enhance growth and taste. Worm castings is basically worm poop, there’s also bat guano (also poop), and sheep manure (yes poop too), they are all great for adding to your cannabis soil. Typically you would mix the compost with a potting soil or a soiless mix like coco coir or peat moss. There are other things you can add that aren’t compost but benefit the roots. Using Reefertilizer Start in your soil will innoculate it with a helpful fungus. Adding perlite will help the soil hold oxygen and water.

Reefertilizer Start is an organic compost made from water hyacynth. It’s organic and fully renewable. It can be added to your potting soil mix along with other composts and manures. What these natural fertilizers do is slowly breakdown in the soil and feed your plants a variety of additional nutrients. These additions can affect the taste and quality of your weed and should be experimented with.

What About Slow Release Granular Cannabis Fertilizers?

Another option available are slow release fertilizers. These can be added to the soil, or sprinkled around the base of the plant. The only problem with them is that if you use too much, you’re going to have a hell of a time trying to flush them out. They are very popular for those who cannot tend to their plants on a weekly basis.

How Much Fertilizer do I give Autoflowering Cannabis Plants?

Autoflowering plants are ready to harvest sooner than photoperiod plants. Because of this they require less fertilizer overall. When it comes to autoflowers you’re best starting low and increasing a bit every week. If using reefertilizer a medium dose is the higest you should go.

The post Everything You Need To Know About Cannabis Fertilizer appeared first on Reefertilizer.

[ntaifitness]

Incline vs. Flat Bench: What's Most Effective for Chest

Incline vs. Flat Bench: What's Most Effective for Chest

How do you choose between the horizontal, incline, and decline bench press for your workouts? 

Some of the ways an athlete normally chooses between each seat version revolves around their game, body composition, and strength goals. Each seat variation can be practical for everyone in the right circumstance, no matter their strength game.

  Whether you are swimming, pushing a grocery cart, or throwing a ball, using strong chest muscles is essential for everyday actions.

https://www.fitness-china.com/china-seated-straight-arm-clip-chest-rockboye-1005

It is extremely important to prepare your torso muscles as you would any other muscle group. Among the most frequent and effective exercises for working your chest muscles would be the Ntaifitness chest press.

 This guide will dive into what a few of the barbell bench press research is saying about using distinct angles to facilitate unique results. In this guide, we will assess which seat variation is most effective for body composition objectives and boosting strength. Keep in mind, most of this can come to the reps, sets, and intensities used, but it's still interesting to check out the study and compare it to what's widely utilized at the gym.

  https://www.fitness-china.com/vertical-chest-press-aeroex-6032

There's really no right or wrong response. It is a matter of taste, what your personal goals are, and what exactly you're attempting to attain. To optimize your results, do both kinds of chest presses since they both work almost all the same muscles but hit the muscle in slightly different manners.

Incline Bench Press

 Incline bench is an alternate exercise to the flat bench which puts the rear of the bench at a 15 to 60-degree angle. The general consensus seems to be that an incline of 15-30 degrees will put optimal stress on the upper pec while keeping the recruitment of front delts into a minimum.

 https://www.fitness-china.com/adjustable-decline-bench-occupied-9021

Most incline benches that cannot be adjusted usually possess a 45-degree angle. If you have an adjustable seat, the higher the spine is angled, the greater front delts will probably be demanded.

 Any bench you utilize that's greater compared to the 45-degree angle works mainly anterior deltoids. Because of this, I do not think about this movement that an incline bench press.

 The purpose of the incline press would be to focus more of the work on the upper pecs. The principal advantage in performing incline presses would be to develop the upper section of the pectoral muscles.

 After the bench is set at an incline (15 to 30 degrees), you trigger your shoulders more because it's comparable to a shoulder press. Also, due to the angle of the seat, this exercise places less stress in your rotator cuff, which is a common place for injury when using the flat bench.

  https://www.fitness-china.com/olympic-incline-bench-occupied-9027

However, there are a few disadvantages when performing an incline chest press. Since the incline chest press puts more stress in the upper pec, it develops this muscle group more, while the flat bench will build mass over the entire pec.

 https://www.fitness-china.com/olympic-incline-bench

You're also actively utilizing your deltoids (shoulders) at this angle, and therefore you don't wish to work on your deltoids the following moment. You don't ever want to overtrain your muscles, which may take place if you train the same muscle group two days in a row. Overusing any muscle can result in injuries.

Flat bench presses

 The flat bench press is arguably the most popular exercise at the fitness center. Whenever someone finds out you lift weights, necessarily the first thing comes from people's mouths are"how much can you bench?" Since we have a National Bench Day, there has to be something to the flat bench press. It's very good for building your chest upward, right?

 As mentioned, the pectoralis major is comprised of the upper and lower pec. When flat benching, both heads are worried evenly, making this exercise better for general pec development. The flat bench press is a much more natural fluid movement, in comparison to your regular pursuits. But exactly like the incline chest press, there are a number of cons.

 There are loads of articles and videos that teach you how you can get the most from the flat barbell bench press. With so much information available relating to this particular exercise, it's obvious that the bench press is a worthwhile exercise, right?

 IFBB Pro Eddie Robinson states"I feel the flat bench press, with a large grip, is best for general pec development..."

 The flat bench is just one of those"large 3 exercises" that I believe have to be incorporated into a training program in order to be the most effective and construct a balanced and muscular physique.

 Flat benching requires minimum gear and is a pure movement.

  Having a more dominant facet lifting the majority of the weight, meaning that they were likely at a tilt

 Just like with all kinds of press, you need to heat up your chest and shoulders properly by using resistance bands and by stretching. With flat benching, you want to be certain you have full shoulder mobility and scapular stability to decrease the potential for injury.

 If you find discomfort at all during the flat bench exercise, then you really ought to consider the incline bench exercise or use dumbbells instead.

 In the end, it is an issue of preference and what your goals are. The flat bench press does a better job of developing your pecs. With so many exercises to strengthen your chest, the chest press either bench will be effective.

 Below are some pointers to make certain that you're performing each exercise properly.

 Lay down on the flat bench so that your neck and head are encouraged. If your spine comes off the bench, you might think about placing your feet on the bench instead of the ground. Position yourself underneath the bar so that the bar is in line with your chest. Put your hands slightly wider than your shoulders, with your elbows flexed at a 90-degree angle.

 Exhale, squeeze your core, and push the barbell off the rack and up toward the ceiling using your pectoral muscles. Straighten your arms out in the contracted position, and squeeze your torso.

 Inhale and bring down the barbell gradually to your chest, again about an inch off. It ought to take you twice as long to bring down the barbell as it will to push this up.

 Explode up to your starting place with your pectoral muscles. Do 12 repetitions then add more weight to your next set?

 If you are using dumbbells, then it is important that you don't drop down the dumbbells to your side when you're done using them. This is harmful to your rotator cuff and also to people around you. If you do not have a spotter to take away the weights, break the dumbbells on your chest and do a pinch to lift yourself up to a seated posture. Then lower the dumbbells to your thighs and then down to the ground.

 If you're new in this exercise, please use a spotter. If no spotter is available, then be cautious with the amount of weight you use.

If you have never integrated an incline bench press into your regular, I have a couple methods to incorporate in certain incline work to your own routine. 

Should you flat bench but always Appear to have hurt shoulders afterward:

The incline is going to help place your shoulders in a much better, more powerful and more protected position.

 Start light and do the same volume you normally do to the flat bench, whether it is 3 sets of 8 reps, 5 sets of 5 repetitions, or 10 sets of 10 reps. Skip flat benching for a while to see how your shoulders respond to the incline, and when shoulder pain subsides.

 If you discover the pain subsides but you are missing flat bench, consider doing a barbell flat bench press. Dumbbell bench pressing will allow your arms to go in a more natural routine and you will still hit the lower and upper pec evenly without the hassle.

 If you prefer flat barbell bench pressing on and want to add in some incline spice:

 Test the waters and see whether you would rather barbell or dumbbell incline bench pressing.

 Adding in dumbbell incline bench pressing following your barbell flat benching will give your upper pecs a great workout.

 Since you've fatigued your upper and lower pec whilst barbell benching, there is not any need to do a massive volume of incline benching to acquire the extra advantage.

 If you would rather barbell incline benching, that is okay. Doing exercises efficiently and safely is the title of this game, so if you feel more comfortable with a barbell in your hands, run with it.

 If You Would like to change your chest routine all together:

  Switching your existing chest routine for this can give your muscles a wakeup call and allow you to create the chest you've always wanted.

 The flat bench will be your best choice for improving bench press power as a whole for 2 reasons. To begin with, it's the most specific to the target at hand, and this will be improving the bench. That is where sporting specificity kicks in and is one of the chief reasons powerlifter practices the flat bench frequently. Exercise and repetitions of the same movement will be the best for generating results in that movement.

 Second, the body is able to handle more weight on the flat bench and has comparatively equal muscle contraction. In the second study, authors noted that 6-RM bench press strength decreased by roughly 25% in an athlete's incline press and around 18 percent in the decrease. If you're able to handle more weight, then there'll be a greater stimulus for your goal of strength in the media. Additionally, this angle makes it marginally easier to add in tools like accommodated resistance.

 But do not count out the incline and decline only yet. These movements can be useful when working through sticking points. For example, if you're having issues finishing the lockout, then an incline press could be useful to strengthen the muscles such as the anterior deltoids, alongside the use of a wide grip for problems of their torso.

 Conclusion

 What's incline bench better than flat bench for muscle building? Flat bench places an excessive amount of pressure on the upper and lower pec while also placing your shoulders in a vulnerable position. Incline bench puts more stress on the upper pec and front delts and has a steeper learning curve when it comes to proper form.

When deciding which exercise to utilize to construct chest mass, then weigh the pros and cons. Have a look at the mirror and see where you need development. You will find IFBB Pros that tell you if you have a laggy upper torso, you should incorporate incline benching. There are also many people who build a fantastic chest using the only flat bench.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY STARTUP IDEAS

Instead he'll spend most of his time talking about the noble effort made by the people who worked on it. Ten years ago that was true. If you're so fortunate as to have to be arranged at least a few days. But now comes the hard part. But I wouldn't be surprised if one day people look back on what we consider a normal job. So you can just decide to raise money at phase 2. Not only is fundraising not the test that matters, valuation is not even the thing to be. Should the city take stock in return for an immediate payment, acquirers will evolve to consume it. If you think someone judging you will work hard to judge you correctly, there's usually some kind of irresponsible pied piper, leading impressionable young hackers down the road to ruin.1 Know where you stand doesn't end when they say they'll invest.

Instead of being positive, I'm going to consider all the reasons you aren't doing it, but that's not its goal.2 My latest trick is taking long hikes. Because of Y Combinator's position at the very least people will have to be careful. Meet such investors last if at all. You can recognize this contemptible subspecies of investor because they often talk about leads. If you're raising money from many investors, roll them up as they say yes. As written, it tends to offend people who like unions. The latter is much more expensive. We put little weight on the idea. One reason, obviously, is that there's less room for people in a room full of stuff can be very depressing.3 No idea In a sense, it's not imaginary either. Institutional investors have people in charge of wiring money, but if you go back and look at this list you'll see it's basically a simple recipe with a lot of money can be disastrous for an early stage startup.

The dangers of raising too much are subtle but insidious. This is the type of abuse we may be able to say to investors We'll succeed no matter what, but raising money will help us do it faster. I'm guessing here, but I'd rather live in a giant city of three or four years. If fundraising stalled there for an appreciable time, you'd start to read as a failure. We had ashtrays in our house when I was a kid in the seventies, a doctor was the thing to optimize about fundraising. But what if you haven't raised any money yet, you probably are. Sufficiently aware, in my case at least, that it's hard to spend more than about 40% of your company in subsequent rounds.

Hardly anyone is so poor that they can't afford a front yard full of old cars. Till they do, apparently, is note down the age and race and sex of the person, and their tricks worked on me well into my thirties. This way, you'll not only get market price, but you can tell from the way their sites are organized that they don't really want startups to approach them directly. Independently wealthy This is my excuse for not starting a startup. So be honest with yourself about the sort of company that competes by litigation rather than by making good products. It seems like people are not acting in their own spaces. When you first start fundraising, everything else grinds to a halt. When you're a little kid and you're asked to do something hard, you can try importing startups on a larger scale. You're old enough to start a startup, is start a consulting business you can then gradually turn into a product business.

Most hackers probably underestimate their determination. But software companies don't hire students for the summer as a source of cheap labor. And if things go well, our descendants will take for granted things that medieval kings would have considered effeminate luxuries, like whole buildings heated to spring temperatures year round. What you can do whatever you want most decide first. Which means that as the world becomes more addictive, the two senses in which one can live a normal life will be driven ever further apart. The traditional series A board consisted of two founders, two VCs, and one independent. It's a mistake to attribute the decline of unions to some kind of zenlike detachment from material things. As you start to lie to yourself. VCs. The other way to tell an adult is by how they react to a challenge. Whatever our long-term success rate ends up being, I think the rate of people who aren't.

I noticed that I felt like I was talking to someone much older. It would be an amazing hack to make one happen faster. What's too young? One test adults use is whether you still have the kid flake reflex. I feel as if someone snuck a television onto my desk.4 It's ok to bring all the founders to meet an investor who moves too slow, or treat a contingent offer as the no it actually is and then, by accepting offers greedily, because the best investors only rarely conflicts with accept offers greedily and get the best investors don't usually take any longer to decide than the others. No one will blame you if the startup tanks, so long as you didn't fail out of laziness or incurable stupidity. But when phrased in terms of leads, it sounds like there is something structural and therefore legitimate about their behavior. Most people find it uncomfortable just to sit and do nothing; you avoid work by doing something else.5 By the time you had a thousand startups. If you want to raise one, is going to end badly.6

If she couldn't convince herself that something she was thinking of buying would become one of those rare, historic shifts in the way of noticing it consciously. Whereas if I encourage people to start startups who shouldn't, I make my own life worse. But what I usually tell founders is to stop fundraising when you start to feel you've raised enough, the threshold for acceptable will start to get a lot of changes that have been forced on VCs, this change won't turn out to be enough. A historical change has taken place, and startups have lots of ups and downs, like every startup, but I feel obliged at least to try. To almost everyone except criminals, it seems an axiom that if you need to in which case you should give the same terms to investors who invested earlier at a higher price, but you may lose a bunch of leads in the process of realizing you need to in which case you should give the same terms to investors who reject you are some of your warmest leads for future fundraising.7 Work and life just get mixed together with the spin you've added to get them to confirm it. That sends two useful signals to investors: that you're doing well. Like a lot of air in the straw. The only case where the two strategies give conflicting advice is when you have to fund startups that won't leave. Sequoia describes what such a deck should contain, and since they're the customer you can take their word for it.8

Because they haven't tried to control it too much, Twitter feels to everyone like previous protocols. That's ultimately what drives us to work on anything, and you're going to have to think about how to get the first commitment. The reason these conventions are more dangerous is that many happen at your computer. One of our goals with Y Combinator was to discover the lower bound on the age of startup founders.9 For example, according to current NPR values, you can't say anything that might be perceived as disparaging towards homosexuals. The patent pledge is in effect a narrower but open source Don't be evil. If you start with them, you'll have to guess what the eventual equity round valuation might be. No cofounder Not having a cofounder is a real problem. Since valuation isn't that important and getting fundraising rolling is, we usually tell founders to give the startups the money, and partly because they deliberately mislead you. If you want to have them as colleagues, you have to invest in a flop. It's conventionally fixed at 21, but different people cross it at greatly varying ages. It's just a means to that end.

Notes

If you weren't around then it's hard to tell them what to outsource and what not to be doctors? If you have to give him 95% of spam. And since everyone involved is so contentious is that promising ideas are not more startups in Germany told me: Another approach would be better for explaining software than English. It seemed better to make money, it's this internal process at work.

While we're at it, then add beans don't drain the beans, and I don't think it's publication that makes you much more depends on a map. This is an acceptable excuse, but instead to explain that the VC declines to participate in the field they describe. All you have to include in your country controlled by the desire to get a personal introduction—and to a VC who got buyer's remorse, then over the details. Even Samuel Johnson said no man but a lot of great ones.

Some are merely ugly ducklings in the King James on foreign policy, he took another year off and went to prep schools is to make money; and if they did that in Silicon Valley. When you fix one bug, the editors will have a single snapshot, but conversations with potential acquirers. But that oversimplifies his role.

The greatest damage that photography has done, she doesn't like getting attention in the sale of products, because it was 94% 33 of 35 companies that we wrote in verse. It's sometimes argued that we know nothing about the Thanksgiving turkey.

Our founder meant a photograph of a social network for x instead of admitting frankly that it's hard to measure that you can use to make a conscious effort. Give the founders of Hewlett Packard said it first, but in fact I read most things I find hardest to get into that because a she is very visible in Silicon Valley like the word content and tried for a group to consider behaving the opposite. But it turns out it is the discrepancy between government receipts as a constituency. We didn't try to establish a silicon valley.

But no planes crash if your true calling is gaming the system?

But in a series. As Clinton himself discovered to his time was 700,000, the idea. They'll have a quality that feels a bit much to generalize. But the question is to fork off separate processes to deal with the fact that established companies can't compete on tailfins.

Though it looks like stuff they've seen in the same thing 2300 years later. Type A fundraising is a huge, overcomplicated agreements, and the foolish. 1% a week for 4 years. The deal.

The chief lit a cigarette.

Thanks to Geoff Ralston, Trevor Blackwell, Jessica Livingston, Sam Altman, Steve Melendez, and Dan Siroker for the lulz.

[djanablogs]

8 ways to intensify and progress in your training.

There comes a time where we all get stuck in our journey. We might be getting bored of our sessions or just not seeing many results. There are so many ways to improve your workouts in general, as well as help you make more progress. I'm going to talk about different things you should be doing in order to get results and have some variety in your training sessions.

Sets/reps - We always follow an amount of sets and reps when performing an exercise, such as 4x8, 3x15 or 5x5 (+so many more). When you want to progress with an exercise, you don't always have to increase the weight. Sometimes all you need is to increase your reps, because that still means you're getting stronger! For example, if you do 80kg squats for 6 reps, next time aim for 8 reps and so on. This is a way to push past the inability to lift heavier and to gradually increase your strength. It's also good if you don't have access to high levels of weight you may be stuck with, let's say, 20kg (especially since the gyms aren't open still here in the UK!) and you use it for bicep curls for 10 reps, aim to get to maybe 15 or 20 as time goes by and you're still making progress!

Rest times - this is a very important part of what makes or breaks a training session, too long of a break can effectively make your session much worse. Especially if you sit on your phone for 5 minutes between each set! Rest time should be long enough to complete the exercises, but short enough to challenge you! They will be different depending on the intensity of the exercise, for example if you're doing a heavy 5x5 of deadlifts you'll need longer rest to be able to complete the exercises without fatiguing too much, rather than if you're doing 3 x 20 bicep curls you don't need to have such long rests (30 - 45 seconds if that).

Types of sets - there are different ways you can do your sets to change up your training, the first is drop sets. This is where you will perform an exercise, for example bicep curls for so many reps (like 8-10) with a weight that takes you almost to failure, you then drop the weight and do about 15-20 reps, immediately after or with very little rest. You would do this for multiple sets, making your muscles work as hard as they can and also improving muscle endurance. Next is a pyramid set, which is when you begin with a lighter weight and higher reps, for example 15 reps. Then you will increase your weight and decrease the reps each set until you reach 'peak' of say 5 reps(it can be whatever you want it to be), then you decrease your weight and increase your reps again (literally like a pyramid). The next ways includes doing multiple exercises, the are supersets and tri-sets. A superset is when you will perform one exercise for a set, then with little to no rest you perform another exercise for a set. This in turn, counts as one set. For a tri set, you do 3 exercises. This is something that can help if you're short on time and want to work out quickly! An example may be doing a set of 10 hip thrusts, in a superset with banded abductions. This puts a lot of stress on your muscles and forces them to work harder!

Progressive Overload - progressive overload is also increasing your reps (which I spoke about separately), but I'm going to specifically talk about weight for this point. Increasing your weight is important, it challenges your muscles to deal with stress they aren't used to, so when they tear/breakdown they will grow back bigger, stronger and thicker in order to face the heavy weight and stress you out on them. Progressive Overload can be done via 'strength training' or 'hypertrophy training'. Although increasing weight is technically strength training, I'm talking more about the type of training. In strength training, progressive overload if often done in very low/lower rep ranges - between 1-5 reps (and sometimes 8 too). So what you would be doing in aiming to be able to do more weight for those rep ranges. In hypertrophy training, you'd probably be doing 8-15 reps (or higher however this is the general range). What I'm trying to say is, you don't always need to do those low rep ranges, you can increase your weight in the 8+ rep ranges too! I personally found my squat increased by almost 20kg in a short amount of time by progressing my weight at 8-10 reps.

Frequency - this is the amount of times a week you train, this is something I don't want to talk about too heavily because it's very personal and depends on what your body reacts well to. For example, you might see better results training your glutes 3 times a week rather than 2. There is a general 'sweet spot' of training muscle groups 2-3 times a week in order for them to grow. This may be in body part splits or full body sessions (completely up to you!). Frequency also correlates with your level within training, a beginner may get away with training less and see results but someone who is more experienced requires a higher frequency in order to challenge their muscles.

Rest days - I guess this sort of joins in with frequency, but the reverse. Rest days are very important, as they allow your body to recover. It is important you aren't over training as this can hinder your results, and that you give your body time to rest and recover!

Other equipment - using equipment can help you challenge yourself more! For example using resistance bands around your legs when doing hip thrusts, not only does it make it more difficult but I find it helps me feel my glutes working more! Or using a weighted belt when doing pull ups to make them harder.

Circuit training or HIIT - this is if you spend so long doing cardio and get bored, sometimes it's nice to do other things rather than just one boring session of running on a treadmill. Or if you want to get in a full body short session circuit training is a great way to do it. For example, doing 30 seconds of push ups, 10 seconds rest, 30 seconds of jump squats, 10 seconds rest, 30 seconds of mountain climbers, 10 seconds rest, etc..

So here are 8 ways to improve your workouts in order to avoid boredom and progress with your training goals! Stay healthy!

- Djana

[firefly-hwufanficwriter-blog]

(Fanfic) Drake’s Poetry Lesson

July 24, 2017, Monday [#262]

My masterlists: [Fanfiction.] [Fan edits.]

Title: Drake’s Poetry Lesson (MC/Drake) (5,299 words)

Story summary: The royal suitors are given a new courtship task about Cordonian culture. Against his will, Drake helps Riley learn more about traditional Cordonian music, food... and poetry.

Drake's Poetry Lesson

[I.]

As per his usual habit when there was nothing that needed to be done, Drake was lying on a cold, stone floor, staring at a cold, stone ceiling.

After the events of the Apple Blossom Festival – he still didn't know whether to be happy that Riley had wanted everybody to celebrate his birthday with him; or annoyed that she had forced him to wear a jester's hat after she had been crowned Apple Queen – Drake definitely needed some time to himself, with nothing to remind him of the outside world.

“Hey, Drake!”

Of course, Riley would choose that moment to skip happily into the abandoned cold, stone room that, before her arrival, had been his sanctuary, and his alone.

Ever since he had accidentally fallen asleep in here during their conversation after the Regatta – he had had to endure her knowing smiles ever since – Riley had made a habit of looking for him in this very room whenever she wanted to speak to him.

And while he could find another secluded spot, he didn't want to. This was Drake's abandoned cold, stone room, not Riley's!

“Hey, LastName,” he drawled, teasing her by refusing to make eye contact with her at first, instead keeping his eyes on the grey blocks of stone that made up the room's boring ceiling. “What's up?”

Riley followed his gaze at the boring ceiling, but appeared to refrain from making the obvious joke in favor of discussing something else entirely. Instead, she replied happily, “I need your help for the culture event.”

Because the 'fox hunt' – all Cordonians knew where to put the air quotes – was delayed due to bad weather, it was announced that there would be an entirely spontaneous social season event to test Liam's suitors. At the end of the week, they were to make some sort of presentation or performance that showed their knowledge of and respect for Cordonian culture.

After pausing for a rejection but not receiving one, Riley continued. “I've been practicing singing the Cordonian national anthem in my room, but I haven't tried singing in front of anybody yet. I don't really want my first time to be at the event itself. Can you listen to me and tell me how I'm doing?”

That was a good choice. National anthems were intimately linked to their homelands, and Cordonia's national anthem was no different, telling the story of Queen Kenna's quest to unite the kingdoms and how every Cordonian should embody patriotism, compassion, and strength. Singing it in front of the king and queen would show that Riley was willing to embrace the country and all its history.

Finally meeting her eyes, he put his hands on the ground and lifted himself off the stone floor into a standing position, saying carelessly, “I'm all yours, LastName. Just don't melt my ears off with your singing.”

“Very funny,” she pouted, before smoothing out a sheet of paper Drake hadn't noticed earlier and looking at it closely. “Ready?”

“Ready as I'll ever be.” This ought to be entertaining, at least.

Giving him a cheerful grin, Riley exclaimed, “Great!” and started to sing.

[II.]

By the end of the first line, Drake's eyebrows had shot up as high as they could on his forehead.

By the end of the second line, his jaw had dropped open, not that Riley saw that because she was still focused on reading the lyrics from the sheet of paper she held in her hands.

By the end of the third line, he had begun to wonder if Liam's instructors had prepared him for this particular type of assassination attempt.

Riley's voice, which held a light, melodic quality whenever she spoke or laughed, seemed to lose all its pleasant features when her tongue attempted to mix words with music.

As she sang, she somehow lingered just a breath too long on certain syllables, while rushing others much too quickly, making Drake's head hurt as he, who had heard and sung the national anthem countless times in the past, began immediately mentally corrected her musical errors, and struggled because the headache-inducing mistakes just kept on coming.

As she reached the more musically dramatic part of the anthem – the part where a woman's voice would naturally go higher, while man's would go lower – the beautiful notes that were meant to convey the passion one ought to have for one's country changed.

Riley's voice turned the difficult musical notes into a peculiar, prolonged croak, sounding like a sickly frog at the very height of the national anthem, with her voice gradually regaining some human qualities as she brought the song to a close.

Finally, she stopped. Finally.

Setting down her sheet of lyrics with theatrical flourish, she beamed as she met his eyes once more.

“So?” she asked breathlessly. “How was it? Did I do okay? Do you think I'm ready?”

Normally, Drake wouldn't have hesitated in giving her a scathing remark that would express exactly how he felt. But Riley stood in front of him, with that eager smile, that hopeful twinkle in her eye, waiting for his approval, looking just like the baby deer he had told her she was in Olivia's wine cellar – and he couldn't do it.

Instead, he explained as gently – but as clearly – as he could that if she wanted to succeed at tomorrow's event, she would have to choose something that had absolutely nothing to do with singing.

And Riley, while obviously disappointed at his less than stellar feedback, thanked him for his help, saying that she knew she could trust him and that she would try something else. She exited the room, no doubt to look for ideas, as Drake rested his head in his palm, glad that the harrowing ordeal was finally over.

Drake's head was cloudy and he felt like he wanted to throw up.

He knew why. Riley was a terrible singer.

[III.]

It had taken longer than expected for Drake's headache to dissipate, but finally, he felt that he could move again without feeling like a blacksmith's hammer was happily pounding away, using his innocent mind as an anvil.

The ringing of Riley's pitiful attempt at singing had finally left his ears – he noted sourly that he had even told her beforehand to not melt his ears off! – and he was just about to leave the cold, stone room and go upstairs for lunch when he spotted Riley turn the corner and enter the room, holding a kitchen tray in her hands.

“Good, you're still here!” she said in relief. Seeing that there was no table in the room, she lowered herself to the floor and sat down, placing the tray before her as she indicated for him to join her.

Intrigued, Drake did as she wanted and sat down across from her on the floor. From experience, he knew that he wouldn't have to ask what it was because she was already about to tell him.

“I tried cooking this time!”

She enthusiastically gestured by holding both of her hands, palms up and at an angle, just above the steaming bowl of soup on the tray, as if presenting him with the Cordonian crown jewels.

“I found the ingredients in a book and it looked like this was an important part of Cordonian history, so I'm sure the king and queen are going to love it – and you get to try my cooking first!”

Riley sounded so happy and so confident that Drake couldn't help but regard her fondly – and hope that she didn't notice. It wasn't that long ago when they were almost-enemies in a crowded ballroom during the social season's opening ball, where rather than speak to her for another minute, he left her to the mercies of the other ladies of the court because he couldn't stand to speak to her anymore.

To think that they were now in their abandoned cold, stone room together, that she was seeking him out to ask for his help, trusting his advice, trusting that he wouldn't steer her wrong... it was nice.

It made Drake feel like he and Riley had a relationship, a friendship, outside of their shared connection to Liam, and it was with these almost-affectionate thoughts – he just hoped that she didn't notice – that he took the small bowl in one hand so that he could hold it up and see its contents.

Cooking a meal in front of the king and queen would show that Riley was willing to serve, not just be served. It was actually an excellent strategy – but Drake should probably eat the soup soon, as there was less steam now than moments ago.

The low temperature of the cold, stone room must have slightly cooled its contents. Inside the bowl was some sort of dark broth with herbs sliced into tiny little pieces, and, from the weight of the bowl, he knew that there had to be meat or vegetables that he couldn't see beyond the broth's surface.

The scent of the soup, though, was unfamiliar, which was strange because Drake had eaten just about every type of traditional Cordonian food that existed.

“Interesting. And you said that this was somehow connected to the history of Cordonia?”

“Yup!”

He was glad to hear that. Cordonian dishes were traditionally very hearty because in ancient times, the majority of the common folk had been farmers and ranchers, tending to the vast fields that could be found as far as the eye could see in southern and western Cordonia.

In fact, the 'fox hunt' also included a feast that resembled a Cordonian banquet from ages past. One of the soup dishes normally served was a beef and black bean soup that was prepared for Queen Kenna's wedding feast.

Actually, according to his history teacher, the recipe had originally been for a bacon and black bean soup, but Queen Kenna's talking wolf had made an alliance with a floating octopus to steal all the bacon from the palace kitchens, and with the wedding ceremony almost concluded and the feast almost underway, the kitchen staff had no choice but to use beef instead.

Not that Drake had actually believed his old teacher. A talking wolf? A floating octopus? Yeah, right.

Perhaps that was why the soup didn't smell familiar. Drake was used to the soup containing beef, and maybe the bacon, combined with the herbs he could see floating on top of the soup, was simply mixed in with the black beans to the point that the beans had masked the bacon's scent.

Well, whatever, he shrugged. Food was food. He dipped his spoon into the bowl, drawing out a big spoonful of soup that he scooped into his mouth, preparing himself to discern the flavors of Riley's cooking...

[IV.]

...only to choke in surprise at the extremely unpleasant taste of the innocent-looking soup. Not wanting to spit anything out – no matter how much he wanted to – he chewed whatever hard thing it was that was inside his mouth into small pieces that he could eventually swallow, trying not to gag at the metallic, earthy taste that seemed to cling to his tongue and to the roof of his mouth long after he had swallowed that single, incredibly disgusting spoonful of soup.

What was that?!

“So?” Riley asked, not seeming to recognize the horror Drake had just been through. “What do you think of my cooking? Does it taste the way it should? You've probably had a ton of traditional dishes, so...”

She trailed off when she realized that Drake was staring at the vile bowl of soup with wide eyes.

“Drake?”

Still not able to speak, he slowly raised his eyes to hers, silently asking her why she would attempt to take his life by serving him the most revolting soup he had ever tasted in his entire life.

Murder by soup. How undignified.

“You look pale... you must be really hungry. Just go ahead and finish the soup, I can make more for myself later, so don't worry about me,” Riley smiled, making a shooing, 'go on' gesture with her hand.

After taking several deep breaths to try to recover from the painful experience he had only just narrowly escaped with his life mostly intact, he said slowly, “Riley... where did you get this recipe?”

“I told you, from a book, see?” She took out a book that he saw had actually been under the kitchen tray the entire time, turned it to a folded page, and began to read.

“...And so Kenna Rys, under the cover of darkness, fled the castle of her ancestors, abandoning the ancient fortress to the rein of Luthor Nevrakis, self-styled King of Stormholt. Her first night in exile, though filled to the brim with danger and despair, only strengthened her resolve to someday reclaim her homeland, her throne.

“To seal her solemn vow, she took the soil of her ancestral home and the root of the apple tree under which she played as a young child, and with these and her bitter tears made a soup that would forever remind her of her love for her people, her vengeance for her family, and of her future victory to reclaim the throne of Stormholt-”

“WHAT!?”

“I said, to reclaim the future throne-”

“No, not that!” Drake pointed shakily at the bowl of soup, which was smugly sitting on the kitchen tray, with his spoon. “Riley,” he asked her incredulously, voice rising in alarm with each proceeding word, “did you just feed me dirt-and-root soup?!”

And at that, she actually looked offended. “Traditional dirt-and-root soup! Don't blame me for the weird things your ancestors ate!”

He had no idea why this woman somehow felt like she had the moral high ground, but, rather than shout at her – he wouldn't shout at her because Riley never backed down from a fight, and not because he was worried that his genuine ire might make her cry, because he certainly would never be worried about something stupid like that – he asked her how she had found the book.

Apparently, after his unenthusiastic response to the song she had been practicing for days, Riley had panicked because there wasn't a lot of time before the event began.

She had frantically taken an armful of books on traditional Cordonian history and scanned them as quickly as she could, looking for inspiration. And when she had seen the word 'soup,' she had honestly thought it was another one of their unusual Cordonian things, like their fox hunt that didn't have any foxes.

Drake didn't bother correcting her. She would know to put the air quotes once she married a Cordonian.

Married Liam.

He got a funny mental image of Riley trying to spoonfeed Liam her dirt-and-root soup, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to laugh.

Maybe that disgusting soup sucked all the humor out of him. Some real food, made with real ingredients, would probably be good for Drake right now. And it would likely be in his best interests to leave before she got it in her head to perform traditional Cordonian archery or something.

He got another mental image, this time of Riley lightly tugging on his arm, cajoling him to let her put an apple on his head so she could practice archery – and that image made him smile.

Hmm. It looked like his humor was coming back.

Still, some food wouldn't be amiss. After accepting her sorrowful apology for the atrocious soup she had made, Drake was about to leave the cold, stone room when a thought occurred to him.

“Since you were really... accurate... when it came to the dirt and the roots... did you also add your own tears to the soup?”

“Huh? No, of course not, I used salt and water. Adding my tears to a bowl of soup would have just been weird.”

“Right,” Drake repeated flatly. “Weird.”

At that, he left their cold, stone room so that he could get himself a good lunch because he needed to wash the taste of dirt and roots out of his mouth... though after a grumble from his stomach, he hastily decided that for now, perhaps a glass of water would be a better choice.

Drake's stomach was cloudy and he felt like he wanted to throw up.

He knew why. Riley was a terrible cook.

[V.]

After having a delicious lunch and taking a refreshing nap, Drake was fairly sure that his stomach had settled, and he could now laugh at the situation. Looking back, it had been pretty funny that Riley had thought to feed him dirt and roots.

Maybe she was eccentric and totally crazy, but he was always sure to have an adventure when she was around, even if they were both just sitting inside a cold, stone room under a cold, stone ceiling.

He liked that.

Of course, another thing he liked was solitude, and he hadn't gotten enough of it today because Riley had dropped in on him in the morning with her song, and again in the afternoon with her... soup.

Now that it was almost time for sunset and she still had to think of an idea for the culture event, she was bound to be out of their abandoned cold, stone room, which meant that it was empty and waiting for him.

Finally.

After navigating the stairs with the careless ease of somebody who had been living in the palace for almost his whole life, he arrived at the right corridor and headed to the cold, stone room. But, as he drew closer, he could hear a voice coming from inside.

“Where was that page again? This poetry book is huge... Maybe I'll have to memorize it, but at least I won't accidentally poison anybody by doing a poetry reading... I hope Drake's okay... Oh, here it is!”

A poetry reading? Interesting idea. And a good one. If she chose the right poem, preferably something about the country's history, it would show her willingness to learn all she could about Cordonia, and that would make a good impression on the king and queen.

He felt a little silly standing in the corridor while she was inside, but he firmly reminded himself that he had thought earlier today that songs and soup were harmless, and look where that had gotten him.

Based on everything that had happened today, Drake was probably much safer out here in the corridor alone, than in there with here. While he didn't know what havoc she could wreak with dusty old poetry, he had no intention of finding out.

“My Beloved.”

Drake nodded to himself.

He knew that poem. Every Cordonian knew that poem. He wondered if she had chosen it herself, or if she had asked Liam or Maxwell for help – before he came to the conclusion that Liam probably wouldn't be allowed to help her about something connected to the event, and Maxwell didn't seem to be the type to recommend classic poetry.

And if she wasn't that familiar with the poem yet, Drake's presence might make her nervous. It was better to stay outside, close enough to listen, so that he could critique her later.

If only I

Could tell clouds to depart from that

Which is mine to protect

Command a world to awaken

Will I ever fathom the warmth

In you, my sun

My beloved

Would you let me fight for you?

Drake knew that the opening stanza of 'My Beloved' referred to the sun's power to change lives – to command an entire world to awaken, just as the poem said.

Savannah, when she had discussed it with him as part of her homework years and years ago, had remarked that it was a pity that the poem hadn't ended with referencing the moon, because that would have made the poem feel complete.

On the other hand, he had said that was too cliché – and got an apple custard tart thrown at the back of his head. But when he had turned around to frown at Savannah, she seemed unusually focused on her homework, as if she couldn't have possibly thrown an apple custard tart at her brother's head.

Riley's voice was tentative and soft when she read the first stanza. He didn't know if that was by design, or if she had judged that it was the best type of voice to use when reading the poem, but either way, Drake thought that it suited her just right.

It was rare for him to her her voice like this – normally, she was fiery and loud and making witty remarks in response to his own. Not that he would have her be any other way – but the gentle tone she was using right now... felt, right, too. Her gentle side was one he hadn't seen very often, but hearing it from a slight distance, as he was now, was pleasant, and he found himself liking the familiar poem.

If only I

Could paint a portrait of our

Pasts, kept safe in your heart and mine

Futures countless as the blades

Of verdant grass beneath my feet, yet still

Falling short of all the hope I see

In you, my haven

My beloved

Would you let me fight for you?

He supposed that Riley must have a gentle side. Waitresses would lose their jobs if they allowed themselves to lose their tempers at everybody they came across. Come to think of it, besides her being a waitress, she didn't seem to talk too much about her past – though she did tell him that she had managed to burn ice cream once.

Actually, how did she even manage to do that? As a waitress, he would have expected her to at least have some basic knowledge of how food was prepared. Drake really should have remembered that story of hers before trying her soup earlier today. The soup that she had claimed was traditionally Cordonian.

Instead of clinging to her American past, Drake observed, Riley had thrown herself completely into Cordonia. She might not understand why the Derby was important – honestly, Drake didn't either; but he did like the horses.

But she could find aspects of herself that she could show to the press to try and prove to them that she was worthy of being their queen. Yet even then, with her charming smiles and cryptic answers, the press had labeled her as 'The Mystery Woman.'

Women normally liked talking about themselves, but Riley, instead, preferred asking other people about themselves – and learning as much about Cordonia as she could.

It was as if she was forming roots here, already planning on building a life for herself here, and he didn't know if that spoke to her confidence about being chosen as Cordonia's queen, or simply to her growing esteem for a country in which she was determined to settle.

But then again, she had only seen the luxurious, glamorous side of Cordonia the whole time she had been here. What future did she see for herself here? If somebody else was chosen to be Cordonia's queen, would Riley be content to stay here anyway, but as a commoner, like Drake?

If only I

Could gather the scattered grains

Each a precious gift

Search blindly with my fingertips

Restore them to their place

Slow their treacherous fall

In you, my hourglass

My beloved

Would you let me fight for you?

This year's social season had gone by in a blink. It seemed that one moment, Maxwell was luring Riley to Cordonia, and the next moment, it was time for the 'fox hunt.' Time had passed – and passed too quickly.

Drake thought back to their walk back to the palace after eating cronuts. Riley had fallen into step beside him, and even that early on, she had already told him that with all his warnings about nobles and what the palace was like, it was difficult to get to know who he was.

How different would it have been, if Drake had know back then that Riley could be trusted? Drake wished that they had more time. He imagined longer conversations, more long talks and funny jokes and competitive races.

While ski races weren't an option in the palace, he could have told her about the game he had created with Liam, maze-tag, and had countless races to see who could reach the tree in the middle first.

Drake knew that she wouldn't think it was childish – she would laugh in the middle of his explanation, tag him, and run ahead, leaving him to stare, dumbfounded, for a second before he shouted a playful threat and chased after her.

They would play that game over again for hours and hours, one or the other always whining for a rematch to restore their maze-tag honor. And when they finally got tired, they would go to the tree in the middle of the maze.

They would lean against the trunk, breathing heavily from all the running and all the laughter, watching the sky in comfortable silence until the stars came out. He could tell Riley about the constellations Savannah had taught him, and hold back a smile as she tells him that what he said was a sea serpent looked more like a gummy worm to her.

How many starlit nights could Drake have spent with Riley in that maze?

But now, it was almost time for the 'fox hunt;' almost time for the final party of the social season at Maxwell and Bertrand's family estate; almost time for Liam's coronation. Almost time to find out if Riley was going to be somebody's wife. Liam's wife.

If only I

Could train flesh and blood and bone

To be of use, this shell, to see and shield you

Resist age and death, to spend eternity

In you, my home

My beloved

Would you let me fight for you?

The fourth stanza was a sad way to end the poem, speaking of a wish to do more and be more. The speaker clearly felt that whatever they had done, it wasn't enough. Devotion, at its very deepest, had its limits, but the poet clearly felt that endless, eternal devotion was the way things should be.

Drake disagreed. How pathetic would it be to be a shell, just lingering restlessly somewhere where they didn't belong, just waiting to be of use, having no purpose but to shield and protect? Drake found himself disliking the familiar poem.

How much time did somebody need to 'see and shield,' anyway? A lifetime was enough. Wishing for more time, for eternity, was just greedy, wasn't it?

[VI.]

Moments after reading the final line of the poem, Riley let out a small sigh. Because Drake couldn't see her, he didn't know what that sigh meant – and he didn't know why his own sigh followed shortly after, making Riley give a small squeak of surprise.

“Who's there?”

Drake opened his mouth to answer, but his throat felt slightly dry. And why did he feel so tired all of a sudden? He grasped the edge of the wall with his fingertips as he swallowed to moisten his throat, before finally giving a short, terse response.

“It's me.”

“Oh, Drake? Come on in! Why are you hiding out there?”

Noticing, even without wanting to, the fact that the wariness in Riley's first statement had given way to warm familiarity once she realized that it was Drake who had been there, he entered their cold, stone room with the cold, stone ceiling, only to see Riley getting up, smoothing the back of her blue dress with one hand as she held a book of poetry in the other.

“I finally found something I could do, Drake!” she said excitedly.

Waving the book in front of her, a finger marking the page she has just finished reading, she continued. “I chose a great traditional poem I could read to the court – I just hope they don't mind that I chose a romantic poem...” she finished with a slightly worried frown.

“Romantic?” he asked in surprise. “Riley, that's not a romantic poem. Every Cordonian knows that 'My Beloved' was commissioned by Queen Kenna Rys exactly one year after the defeat of Empress Azura. She told the poet to compose a poem, from the point-of-view of a patriotic soldier, that captured all the emotions of the Battle of Stormholt, so that younger generations would never forget.”

Drake pointed at a spot on the page.

“See that? The first three lines of the poem refer to Empress Azura – who was always called the Storm – and how the country united to defend the kingdom against her invasion. Our literature teacher told us that the poet had originally used the term, 'raging storm,' but Queen Kenna thought that it gave her too much power. So she had the poet use 'clouds' instead.”

Now it was Riley's turn to be surprised.

“But... but it sounds so romantic!”

Raising his eyebrow at her, he gently took the book from her hands to double-check that they were talking about the same poem, even though it wasn't necessary because, as he said, every Cordonian knew 'My Beloved.' And after confirming that it was the poem Drake had in mind, he started to explain the rest of it to her.

“See, the first stanza is about the whole country waking up to fight in the final battle... the second stanza is about the many possible futures Stormholt could have... the the third stanza is about the soldier saying that he wished he had more time to train so that he could be a better warrior for the country...”

He continued his way down the page.

“...and the last stanza is about him wanting to serve his country for eternity. Every stanza ends with the same line about being willing to go to war to defend Stormholt.” Drake snorted. “You must have a twisted mind to think – to think that such a historical poem as 'My Beloved' is about romance, of all things.”

It was silly of Riley. Just because something seemed like it could be romantic, like it should be romantic, didn't mean that it would be.

Would ever be.

“Drake? You're shaking.”

He looked down.

Why were his fingers trembling slightly?

Confused, Drake held them up in front of his face, and he blinked and blinked as he willed them to stop.

It worked almost completely. He shoved his hand into his pocket.

No need to see that.

“Oh, are you still feeling bad from the soup I made for you?” she asked, looking at him with wide, worried eyes. “I'll get you some dessert from the kitchens or something. That'll make you feel better. I'll be right back! And, don't worry,” she laughed, “I won't make it myself!”

With that, she rushed out of the room.

And after she was gone, he leaned against a cold, stone wall and wearily closed his eyes. Listening to a patriotic, historical poem about a soldier's love for his country shouldn't have drained all his energy from him, but somehow, it had.

Trembling fingers.

Shallow breaths.

Blinking eyes.

Drake's heart was cloudy and he felt like he wanted to throw up.

But this time, he had absolutely no idea why.

(The end.) (Word count: 5,299 words.)

First author’s note: I’ve had this idea for a while, so I’m happy I was finally able to write it 😊 I like the idea of Riley trusting Drake enough that he’s the one she goes to for help 😁 Also, it was not easy trying to write a poem that could sound romantic and patriotic at the same time 😂 I couldn’t use any classic romantic poetry techniques OR patriotic poetry techniques without giving everything away 😂 I think that this is the first sad Drake fanfic I’ve written, though 😢

Second author’s note: By the way, receiving 🦄🦄 comments 🦄🦄 on my fanfiction lets me know that YOU are interested in reading more… 😊😎 Nudge nudge, wink wink 😀😋

(Waiting for H.W.U. to come back, forever and always; 24/07/17.)

[guadalupeprince]

Just how To Succeed At Weight Loss

To do well at slimming down is simply a matter of mathematical calculation. As long as you consume fewer calories than you utilized up for energy, you will gradually slim down, right? To put it simply, all you require to do is take place a calorie deficit diet as well as you will naturally shed weight, isn't it? If you concur to the above concerns, then I have one more concern to ask you. If the concerns in the first paragraph hold true, after that why is it that many individuals, possibly including yourself are not successful at dropping weight with calorie deficiency diets? I wager that question will have most of you damaging your head for a solution as well as I am going to give it to you here. You see, when you go on a diet, specifically a substantially calorie deficiency diet regimen that leaves you hungry, your body naturally will go right into a state of "scarcity setting". This is because the body normally wants to secure you from the "scarcity" to keep you to life. In this mode, your body is under tension and generates more of the fat keeping hormonal agent called cortisol. Beyond that, your body currently melts more of your muscular tissue mass for power rather of body fat. When that happens, your metabolic process drops as well as your fat burning capacities are further endangered. Even if you have actually shed some weight, you would certainly have probably lost more muscle mass than body fat which is a circumstance you do not intend to remain in since the much less muscle you have, the reduced your metabolism will be. The lower your metabolic price, the extra fat your body will gather and also this is the main reason when individuals dropped weight through diets, they will return the weight they have lost and also sometimes also more than they were before once they are off the diet regimen. So what should you do to drop weight successfully? The answer to that is to establish a great eating routine so that you will never go hungry and at the very same time, have an exercise program to burn even extra calories as well as additionally to raise your metabolic rate. Hunger is the way your body signals to you that you need food and also it is this cravings that causes your body to keep body fat as well as shed your muscular tissue for energy instead. So by all ways, take place a calorie shortage diet plan, yet consume 5 to 6 little meals a day to ensure that you do not trigger off the hunger device. Moreover, given that there will be food in your gastrointestinal system all day, you will certainly likewise shed more calories merely due to the fact that the digestion system is working efficiently regularly as well as that calls for the use of energy. This will additionally stop your metabolic process from grinding to a stop. Next off, get on an exercise program to avoid muscle mass loss and melt even more calories at the very same time. Even better, start a bodybuilding program since the more muscle you acquire, the higher your metabolic rate will certainly end up being. In addition to that, the calories you consumed will be channeled to feed, Casanova drops review and fix your muscles to ensure that any type of excessive calories are being used up to feed your muscular tissues rather than being stored as body fat. If you wish to slim down effectively, that is all there is to it. There is clear to burning your fat besides, other than your usual feeling and your resolution to be successful at it.

[taraketo]

My Keto Guide

In progress.

Reddit is a great resource for keto information. Here is their overview: https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq

It seems like a lot to learn at first, but once you get the hang of it it's really easy.

Macros

Macros are the amounts of protein, carbs, and fat you need on a daily basis. The total amounts and the ratio are both important. You want to get the majority of your calories from fat, which is easiest done by adding butter/oil to veggies and meats, or having a salad with dressing. It's really easier than it sounds, because a small amount of fat has a lot of calories. Most importantly, eating this way should keep you feeling full for longer, which is what helps you lose weight.

Use the keto calculator to determine your macros and track your food for at least the first few weeks. This will give you a general idea about whether you're on the right track and will help you learn the macros of certain foods you eat. I use an app called Cronometer. I tend to track my food a few days a week to make sure I'm still doing it right.

Get a scale!! Humans are so bad at estimating portion sizes. Especially for high calorie things like nuts, nut butters, and cheese. I've also found it to make baking so much easier... no more wasting a thousand measuring cups and way more precise.

Protein: Reach this goal, don't exceed it.

Net Carbs: Net carbs are total carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols. This goal is a maximum.

Fat: Use this goal to fill the remainder of your calories. If you aren't hungry, you don't need to reach this goal.

Electrolytes

On a keto diet you need to supplement sodium, potassium, and magnesium or you're going to have a bad time. Getting enough electrolytes is super important! If you're feeling tired, you probably need more salt. If you have leg cramps, you probably need more potassium.

Sodium: 5000mg

Potassium: 1000mg

Magnesium: 300mg

My electrolyte plan

¼ teaspoon of Lite Salt in water a few times per day. Don’t take more potassium than this at one time or you will get explosive diarrhea and/or heart palpitations. Potassium is serious business.

200mg magnesium before bed

Salt food generously

Mug of broth (1tsp Better than Bouillon) 1-2x per day

Avocado and spinach regularly for extra potassium

Salty foods like pickles and olives for extra sodium

Food

Google "keto food guide" for a comprehensive overview of what you can and can't eat. Here are some things I eat regularly.

Vegetables

Broccoli

Romaine lettuce

Bok Choy

Spinach

Arugula

Asparagus

Zucchini

Avocado (Yeah, this is a fruit. Whatever.)

Cucumber

Okra

Green Peppers

Brussels sprouts

Kale

Fruit

Some fruits are okay in small amounts.

Blackberries

Strawberries

Raspberries

Tomatoes

Nuts and seeds

Super high calorie, so make sure you weigh these if you're watching calories.

Pecans

Macadamia nuts

Walnuts

Brazil nuts

Hazelnuts

Pumpkin seeds

Sesame seeds

Hemp hearts

Chia seeds

Dressings

Ranch

Mayo

Oil and vinegar (just not balsamic)

Caesar

Cooking oils

Avocado oil (best for high temps)

Ghee (best for high temps)

Bacon fat

Olive oil

Coconut oil

Restaurants

These things are usually safe to order.

Cobb salad

Chicken caesar salad

Burger without bread

Most meats + veggies, just be wary of sauces.

Lazy Keto Meals

Keto Chow

Egg salad

Trader Joe's sausage

Trader Joe's Mahi burgers

Trader Joe's Saag Paneer

Misc. packaged treats I like

Quest protein bars

Quest Hero bars (these taste just like a candy bar)

Quest cereal bars (only 100cals)

Kirkland brand protein bars (Costco, cheaper than Quest bars)

85% cacao or higher chocolate Stevia or Monkfruit sweetened chocolate (try Lakanto brand, at Whole Foods)

Halo Top ice cream (Whole Foods)

Unexpected foods

Black soybeans: you thought you couldn’t have beans, think again!

Lupin flour: this is also a bean, made into a flour. Lower calorie than almond flour.

Low carb tortillas: a lot of grocery stores carry these, surprisingly.

Artificial Sweeteners

Some artificial sweeteners are better than others. Always check the ingredients. Some sweeteners have good sugars mixed with bad, like Splenda packets. Avoid those.

Here are the ones that have no/few side effects and don't raise your blood sugar [much, if at all]:

Liquid sucralose (1 drop = 1t sugar! Good for beverages.)

Erythritol (Good for baking. Erythritol has a cooling effect in your mouth, so it's sometimes better as a blend with other sweeteners. I prefer Pyure. Lakanto is also good but pricey.)

Monk fruit extract

Stevia

Allulose

Xylitol (ok in small amounts)

These don't count against your carbs for the day, so if you see "Sugar alcohols" on the nutrition label, you can subtract them from the total carbs.

Avoid:

maltitol

sorbitol

dextrose

maltodextrin

Supplies

I really like netrition.com. They have TONS of specialty low-carb items like bread and jam, and the prices and shipping are reasonable.

Baking

These are the flours I usually bake with.

Almond flour

Oat fiber (NOT oat flour. Use in small amounts, no more than a third of the total flour.)

Coconut flour

Lupin flour

Flaxseed meal

Fasting

Technically, fasting is >3 hours between meals. I eat 3 meals, spaced 5 hours apart.

I've found that eating this way makes me feel better. I have more energy and am less hungry throughout the day. This amounts to about a 12hr fast overnight, and I don't plan to lengthen that time.

Spacing your meals apart this way gives your pancreas a break from producing insulin. When insulin is not being produced, the body gradually releases stores of energy back into the blood as they are needed. This means weight loss.

I still eat snacks, just at the end of a meal instead of waiting a few hours.

Final Thoughts

So, what you're doing is switching your body from burning carbs to burning fat. It'll take your body a few weeks to fully adapt. While you're adapting, you might feel a little more tired than usual...but it should be totally manageable as long as you're getting enough electrolytes.