#i think having at least one line of constant communication would have helped . a lil ayda treat every ep

[gorgugplushie]

Ngl i dont vibe wholey w posts that r like what wuld ayda think of fig flortingg!!! Cuz she isnt n it feels like attempting to start pointless drama over figayda like i miss ayda sm n writing her off was . Not good n maybe not the best way they culd have done it . But i dont think . This is what theyr going for . Idk. Emily states n her bts that she wanted to retire fig so she culd b happy w ayda!! Nobody also brings up thr fact that brennan hasnt brought ayda up either . It seems very overly critical of emily when brennans the one who plays ayda .

[apompkwrites]

Oh? I may be the first person to hope that Idia is too late? Or at least the first person who has said so? Hee hee…

(*≧艸≦)

What can I say? I like angst lol

And I like being observant and taking in details of writing? I really like etymology and am fascinated by dialogue and how characters may communicate so that last line stick out to me!

As for lil Shroud not being good at design? Previously I wrote

The body was humanoid. Two arms. Two legs. A torso. And a head. The body may’ve looked humanoid, but it didn’t look human.

And

Like a bare minimum.

But now with your words I’m wondering if it’s even less of a humanoid? Ooo, really making me wonder!

But also, the curse the wiki says the shroud family has? I’m just imagining the flames on their head slowly dying out as their soul is being transferred. And it’s quiet. And save for the screens that showed their vitals that have gone blank, it’s dark. And then, on the head of the artificial maybe humanoid body, little embers start to flicker to life.

As for overbloting, I’ve read the wiki and some of the translations for chapter 6. So uh. Spoilers.

Anyways. Idia having control over himself during his overblot is scary enough. But lil Shroud having control or influence over other blot creatures and other people’s phantoms? That’s a different kind of scary/unnerving.

Also, for that one anon(I think it was an anon? I can’t remember;-;) who said something about lil Shroud seeing their childself and their siblings as children? Ooooo… I wonder if lil Shroud will feel guilt over killing “another” child? I put another in parentheses cause, well, they killed Ortho in their and their parents’ eyes(at least three people, unsure of anyone else), and then after that, they went on and killed their childself who was so wide eyed and curious. Sacrificed them to repent and try and “rectify” “their mistake”. So I wonder if they see it like that. I wonder if they wonder what their childself would think of them if they saw just who they turned into.

- Heartbeat Anon

hehe dwdw i also love angst (i mean, that's very obvious from my blog :D)

there are def two ways that lil shroud could have handled the design aspect of their experiment. one could be what you mentioned where it's less than human, or it could be that lil shroud might have... left the design the way it was? if you get what i mean ;)

anyway, yes yes lil shroud would be terrifying during an overblot or really helpful. all depends on what side they're on. if we go with the idea that all the black sheep exist in one universe and they all overblot together, i can only imagine the horror that lil shroud would enact alone, let alone with the other black sheep

and 100% lil shroud, if they saw their lil happy child self, would wonder what would happen if they didn't "kill" them. poor baby is in a constant state of wondering "what ifs" that it pushed them too far :((

[rick-rayson]

Okay after that one Stephanie Brown/Y/n post I made I've been thinking. . .

While Damian is Batman's Robin, Y/n could be Batgirl's Robin! Now I know some people might think "ugh not Batgirl she isn't as cool of a partner as Batman blah blah blah."

And they'd be right.

BECAUSE BATGIRL WOULD BE BETTER.

LITERALLY ANY VERSION OF BATGIRL COULD/WOULD BE AN AMAZING PARTNER AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL.

If Robin!Y/N worked with Barbara's Batgirl they'd be such a good team. Babs isn't the most easygoing light-hearted person who's worn the cowl but she is definitely the most structured and fixed of them.

Babs has been with the Batfamily since its early days, she's seen Robins come and go and die and come back. So when you come around Babs is keen on keeping you alive god damn it.

She has a schedule made. Patrol for a few hours, constant reports are mandatory at the end. Going out without her is not happening so don't even try.

Okay... She lets you patrol alone sometimes. Sometimes. But do know that she'll always watch over you as much as she can and reports are still expected.

"Patrol time, Y/n." Barb hands you your mask before sitting down on her desk chair. You notice she's getting comfortable, snacking on some food.

"Uhm, Barb, aren't you coming?"

"I thought I'd let you patrol solo tonight. Let you spread your wings without the fear of my scrutiny." Barbara finishes her snack as she gazes upon her computer screen.

"You really trust me?" You ask.

"Of course I do." Babs turns to you with a proud smile, "You're my partner after all."

Just know that she always has a proud smile on her face and a rush of excitement when you accomplish something she's been teaching you.

You're the first to hear her plans because at the end of the day you're her Robin, sure you may be a sidekick at first but Babs wants to help you eventually become her partner. She wants your future to be secure.

The key skill you'd learn from Barbara is Calculation. She's set you up to the point in where you could easily lead your own team of Teen Titans one day.

But with whatever happens, and whatever bigger role you take in the future, Barbara will always see you as her Young Wonder.

Cassandra as Batgirl might be difficult to deal with communication wise, but she is so understanding and patient. However, you may notice early on that she acts without even signaling you.

Unlike Barbara who'd come to see you as a student to an equal, Cass would drill it in at the beginning that you're a sidekick.

This isn't because she doubts your ability, but because she doubts hers.

Babs would probably notice that Cass takes you out of battles and brushes you off to the sidelines so she can go at it alone and that's kinda when big sis Babs talks to the both of you about that.

Babs has a private talk about it with Cassie and when she comes back Cassie gives you a rather awkward shoulder pat before walking off.

A while later though Cassie comes back and gives you papers, some showing pictures of hand signals and what they're for. You never knew but at that moment a promise was made.

You would become Cassandra's Robin, and she'd become your Batgirl.

Your time with Cassandra is different from your time with Barbara in the fact that- whilst Barbara was the one who taught and you were the one that would learn, you come to find that with Cassie it's a learning experience for the both of you.

If someone were to ask you what's the most important thing you learned from Cassandra it would be communication.

Not just verbal communication either. You two would come to work so fluidly that it'd even impress Batman. No words need to be said, not even the slightest physical signal, but the both of you know exactly what the other is trying to communicate and it terrifies your friends and your foes.

Working with Stephanie as Batgirl is- to say the least, the most chaotic and feral partnership you've ever been in and you wouldn't have it any other way.

With Babs you'd learned to be logical and independent, with Cass you'd learned how to observe and report in ways not known to the average person so what could you learn from Stephanie?

"Fun?" You tilt your head, confused as ever.

"Yup! C'mon Lil Wing!" Stephanie smiles at you.

Stephanie was the fourth Robin, so when she learned that you'd become Robin she was ecstatic, but a little disappointed for the fact that you weren't experiencing what she considers one of the most important parts of being Robin.

Exploring your youth. You were already skilled in many things prior to becoming Steph's partner (thanks to Cassie and Babs) but Stephanie was still motivated to teach you something as well.

She knows that balancing your superhero life with your civillian life can be stressful and often times suffocating, so she does her best to make sure that you're having fun.

It's come to a point in where criminals and civillians alike will hear your laughter ring throughout the city of Gotham. This terrifies your enemies and brings relief to both the innocent and Batgirl.

Stephanie became Robin during a troubling time in her childhood, but what brought her the most joy was wearing that yellow cape and swinging through the night. So she wants you to find enjoyment with that you have.

The most important thing you learn with Stephanie, in her words: "There is always room for hope. in our line of work."

Her definition of Robin is youthful freedom. She will not force this meaning on to you but you notice right away that she still lives by it to this day.

Now, if you were to ask me: "What would Y/n learn from being the Robin to Batgirl?"

This might not be the right answer, might not even be the wrong answer but to me it is enough.

The most important thing Y/n would learn from the Batgirl's is to live.

[reddeadmort]

I love your writing! I can visualize your setting so well and it's so pleasant to read. 😁♥️ Could I request a lil drabble with Micah and a female s/o and how he gets jealous seeing his s/o hanging around someone else in camp? Maybe where the s/o and Micah are kind of drunk and it ends in some nsft? ;) Thank youu!

Rat boi returns! I know this won’t be all that popular, normal Arthur service will be resumed shortly, but I do actually enjoy writing for Micah. Partly because I go on youtube and find clipsof him talking, then stumble across clips where Arthur antagonizes the camp somuch John repeatedly knocks him out LOL! I did actually manage to work somesmut into this, right near the end, I hope it makes all you Micah stans happy 😊

Micah Bell x f! Reader | She ain’t yours, cowpoke | AO3 

Guidance: Jealousy/arguing/angst, with fluff, then eventually a bit of smut, with a little fluff finisher.

Words:1.5k (so much for it being a drabble)

It was celebration time in the camp; the boys had, for once, managed to do a lucrative job where nothing went wrong. Everyone was drinking, singing and laughing; you were sat round the fire with Arthur, John and some of the others, while Micah was having an in depth conversation with Dutch at one of the camp tables. He was completely engrossed in Dutch’s latest plan, but even so, occasionally you caught him glancing in your direction. You hadn’t been together long and you still got little butterflies in your stomach whenever he looked at you. None of the other girls understood why you had chosen Micah; you’d stopped bothering trying to justify it to them.

You turned your attention back to John, who was talking about that day’s events.

“Of course, none of it would have worked if weren’t for Y/N nosin’ around and getting us the info.” John’s words were met with a rumble of agreement, and he leaned over to pat you on the back. It was nothing more than a gesture, communicating how proud and grateful he was of you; but his hand must have lingered longer than an inebriated Micah could take. You looked up and saw Micah stalking towards the pair of you, coming to a stop less than a metre in front of you.

“Didn’t Dutch tell you to take a look out” he growled at John.

“What I do and don’t do ain’t no concern of yours” John retorted back. “Hey Arthur, you seein’ this? Looks like Micah’s running things now.”

“Only thing Micah runs is his mouth” Arthur chuckled as he took another swig of whiskey.

“Shut it, cowpokes” Micah snarled. He was really angry; you’d known he’d had some jealous tendencies, but he hadn’t been this drunk since you two began seeing each other. This was a trait you were going to have to look out for.

“You’re a creep and a fool Micah. An’ I ain’t takin’ orders from you” John said as he stood up.

“At least I have the good grace to shoot a feller full in the face when I got a problem with him, not go after his woman behind his back.” Micah and John were nose to nose now; if something wasn’t done to defuse the situation this was going to get ugly.

“Huh, that’s where you draw the moral line” Arthur quipped. You shot him a scowl – his sarcasm wasn’t helping – but he was feeling too pleased with himself to notice.

“You wanna get shot too Morgan?” Micah turned away from John, stepping towards Arthur.“I’ve seen you in action, from that range, you’d miss.” Everyone except you and Micah chuckled at that last line.

“It’s ’bout time you removed the pole you’ve got stuck up your ass Morgan” Micah said, spitting in Arthur’s general direction. You saw Arthur stiffen at this; if it was just John, they would probably not end up in a fight, but Arthur always seemed to be looking for a reason to punch Micah.

You stood up, throwing your empty whiskey bottle in the fire to get everyone’s attention.

“Enough, all of you! This is ridiculous!” You moved quickly, and making use of the slight shock in everyone, dragged Micah away by his arm. He resisted at first, but a growled ‘now’ made him follow you. Arthur made some comment as you left; you didn’t quite catch it, but had to tug Micah hard once again to keep him with you.

Once you were in the trees, away from prying ears and eyes, you rounded on him.

“What the hell was that!” you almost yelled.

“I just say it how it is” he sneered back at you.

“For god’s sake Micah…. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care about what you think you saw.” You knew it was a bad idea to return his anger with the same, but you’d had a few and couldn’t help yourself.

“See, least I still give a damn” he scoffed.

“Micah, you brute, you don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself” you said, rolling your eyes.

“No different from you then - the only thing you like is a bottle of whiskey, everyone knows that.”

You stared at Micah, a slightly disgusted look on your face. You shook your head; this conversation wasn’t going anywhere good, and you couldn’t be bothered.

“Why do you let yourself get so het up” you sighed.

“Why’d you flirt with everyone” he snapped back at you. 

“The way I see it, it’s unseemly.”“Micah! I don’t flirt with anyone, let alone everyone!” You rounded on him, really angry now. You weren’t taking this shit. “It’s about time you stopped acting like a petulant toddler who has chucked his own toy out of the pram whenever you perceive a slight has been made against you!”

Micah was shocked; you’d never really raised your voice to him, let alone release such a tirade of anger. You turned away to storm off, but as you did so Micah grabbed at your wrist. You pulled away, but he grabbed it again, pulling you back round to face him. Before you could push him away, he grabbed you firmly by the shoulders and stared into your eyes.

“Y/N…..” You could see his anger fading; he was an ass, who pretended to not care what anyone thought of him, but he hated making you cross. “You know, Y/N, there are winners and losers in the world, and that’s a fact.” He swallowed, as if he was nervous. “And what confuses me about you is……well…. is that you’re a winner, and you’ve picked a loser like me.” Your scowl softened at his words, encouraging him to continue.

“I’m sorry for being foolish… it was an old thing and my emotions got the better of me”. Micah pulled you in for a hug and you let him, nestling your face in his neck. This was the side of Micah only you saw; the vulnerability behind all the bluster. His childhood had left him with a constant need to impress, be the centre of attention. As soon as he got a whiff of not being the best thing to a person, be it you or Dutch, he panicked and reacted in the only way he knew how; with anger.

“I… errr… I never told you this. Not properly anyway” he spoke softly in your ear. “Sugar pie…you know I ain’t had a proper family for years. But you…. you are my family now.” You smiled, giving him a slight squeeze. “I’d do anythin’ for ya.”

You lifted your head up, kissing him softly on the lips. For a moment, you both stayed there, perfectly still, just smiling at each other.

“Prove it.” You smirked at Micah, biting your bottom lip. He looked confused, so you moved your hands to his shoulders and pushed him downwards. Realisation dawned and he smirked, sinking to his knees in front of you. He knew exactly what you wanted.

Micah reached up under your skirt and pulled your underwear down, before pushing your skirt up above your knees and deftly hooking one of your legs over his shoulder. He looked up at you, grinning like a cat that had got the cream, then his head disappeared under your skirts.

You gasped as you felt his moustache brush your clit and shuddered as he started to lick and suck. You rested your hand on the back of his head through your skirt as your hips involuntarily flicked forwards. Under your skirts you heard Micah give a pleased little growl as he moved his hands up to grip your ass, holding you in place.

He moved his tongue in quick little circles around you, occasionally giving you a slight nibble, as he brought you closer to climax. It didn’t take long; the drink had already had a relaxing effect on you, and the way his moustache brushed against your sensitive areas always made you melt.

“Oh god Micah… please……” You pressed his head hard into you as you came and Micah dug his nails into your ass cheeks. Eventually, you released him, and he emerged from under your skirts.  Micah licked his lips as he stood up, already starting to undo his belt.

“Oh no” you chided, reaching down to put your underwear back on. “I said you had to prove your loyalty to me; I ain’t got nothin’ to prove”. Micah paused, hands on his buckle; you weren’t too sure if he’d take kindly to this interruption to his plans.

“Sure thing, sugar pie.” He smiled, stepping forwards, embracing you again. You placed your arms around his neck, kissing him, his slightly damp moustache tickling your face. You wished that, just once, he would be the Micah you knew in front of the others. Maybe one day you’d be able to take him away from here, have a different life, stop him chasing after Dutch’s approval. One day…..

[planetsam]

The bad dreams are not new.

Remembering them is.

She usually pushes past them and focuses on survival. But sometimes they win and she hates that. She wakes up violently with her heart pounding and her body soaked for the third time in a week. She refuses to lay in her own sweat and actually has to do her laundry. While her sheets are in the machine she decides she can’t sit in her room and pads into the kitchen for a snack. She’s expecting to see Hamish there. And Jack’s not that much of a surprise. The wildcard is Randall. Her stomach flops as she hesitates in the doorway, loathing the feeling of being an outsider in her own damn house. All six of their eyes swing to her. Something snaps in Randall and he crosses to her in a few quick strides. She stands her ground as he comes up to her toes.

“It was just a dream,” she says. His eyes rove over her. She really doesn’t like it. “Randall,” she snaps his name, “it was just a dream. What’s wrong with you?”

He’s starting to freak her out so she puts the back of her hand to his forehead. It’s hot. Really hot. Worse, he pushes up into the touch and his eyes close. Over his shoulder she glares at Jack and Hamish. One of them has to be better at this than she is. Randall breaths audibly. She loses her glare to look at him as he winces and then opens his eyes. They’re less disoriented but he still doesn’t look well. She drops her hand, stopping short of wringing them and she can feel the awkwardness slam into both of them.

“Sorry,” he says, “that nightmare, man that was a rough one,” he looks back at Jack and Hamish and squares his shoulders, “sorry for freaking you out. I’m going back to bed now. See you in the morning!”

He turns and retreats, leaving her standing in the doorway. She looks at her pack mates and Jack has his face in his hands. Hamish hisses her name and jerks his head towards the stairs. Lilith knows he’s right but she definitely isn’t the person to offer someone comfort. Hamish glares and she returns the look, though she knows he’s right. She can’t go up there and pretend to be all soft and cuddly though. Randall’s the one who makes her feel better. Not the other way around. She marches up the stairs, knocks twice on the door and opens it anyway when there’s no answer. Randall will just bullshit anyway.

He spends most nights on campus which is a good thing because his room is completely trashed. Not in a way that they would hear it, but in a way where everything’s bent or twisted or cracked. It’s brute strength, not like something he’s done in a panic. He’s in the corner in his closet. Or half in it anyway. The door is off the frame and propped against the wall. Deep claw marks are across it. But she focuses on him. He’s hunched over, his head between his knees and he’s breathing hard. Its the best position for this. Worse she can see his prep book. Amidst his careful highlights there’s a slash of orange going down it. He doesn’t look up at her but she sees his shoulders stiffen and his breathing hitches. He winces when she closes the door. She walks over to the book and picks it up, settling herself against the wall perpendicular to him.

“The most widely used differential stain for bacteria is?”

“Gram stain,” he answers.

”A colony of smooth strain bacteria is grown on a culture containing an experimental drug that cleaves nucleic acid base sequences wherever adenine is paired with ura—“ she frowns at the word, “uracil?” She nudges his shoulder with hers. He jerks up and swipes his cheeks, looking at the book.

“Yeah, uracil,” he confirms. She grabs the book back before he can finish reading the question, “it’s B,” he says.

She rolls her eyes and turns the page. Randall’s out of his ball. Slowly he shifts into a cross legged position. He leans over her, taller even when they’re sitting. She opens her mouth to tell him not to read over her shoulder but his chin just settles against her shoulder. He exhales slowly, taking those deep breaths like before. She holds herself still because if this is helping maybe she can do it, even though she hates how passive it makes her.

“Is having everything jumbled a part of it?” He asks. Heat floods her face. She still feels weird about the Order thing. Weird and guilty and angry. Randall’s brows knit together. “I can’t focus.”

“I think thats because you were tortured,” she says. He sighs like that makes sense.

“You got tortured,” he points out.

“I have experience with the Order,” she says, “for all the good that did,” he goes to move and she clamps her hand on his, “can we not make this about me? This is about you,” she says. She glances at his expression, “are you pouting?”

“No,” he scoffs, sitting up, his lips quirking,“I don’t pout.”

“It looked like you were,” she snaps, then remembers she’s supposed to be focusing on him. She can’t bring herself to apologize though and just looks down at the book in her lap. The medical jargon is annoying, between the wolf healing and the potions she remembers, it seems like such a contradiction. While she’s glaring Randall gets up and settles in front of her. She knows if he asks she’ll tell him about her order time. She realizes neither of them fully enjoy talking about themselves. Timber doesn’t support the instinct she has to run which means it’s some coward part she wishes didn’t exist. Marking the page she sets the book down. “What?”

“I got stuck in a well as a kid.”

Her eyebrows shoot up because that is not what she was expecting.

“Total accident, i thought something shiny was in the bottom and leaned too far over. I fell in. I was cold and scared. When i got out, there were so many people. I felt helpless,” he looks thoughtfully down, “the paramedics made me laugh. And they made me feel better. It’s why i want to be a doctor,” he scratches his neck, “it’s also why i’m not great with being trapped in spaces i can’t get out of,” he gestures around at the twisted furniture.

“Of course you figured out the problem,” she says, rolling her eyes. He offers a shy smile. “You’re an idiot.” He frowns, “you shouldn’t be figuring all this out on your own. Thats what i—we’re here for,” she glares as his gaze softens. “I’m not a mind reader,” she snaps.

“I never asked you to be,” he says.

“Well you should,” she lashes back, getting to her feet, “you always know when i’m hurting. I didn’t know you were in here making modern art,” he opens his mouth, “i know that’s the point!” She snaps before he can say it, “i’m not the idiot here.”

She grabs the nearest thing and twists it back. She can do that at the very least. Randall gets up and she know she’s played into his hand. They’re not focusing on him like she knows they have to. She’s not a coward. She just wants to be really clear that she is not cut out for this. He leans against the desk as she twists his lamp back.

“I’m not good at this,” she says flat out.

“What? Being psychic?”

“Comforting people,” she says, “i used to be. Before—“ she cuts off. The Order stabbed her in the back. She’s just opening herself up to another attack doing this. “I’m not. I don’t want to be.”

“I don’t want that,” Randall says, “look at all this. I didn’t want you to know. I don’t want you to coddle me because of what happened. I know how to calm myself down.” He picks up the book, “When i was in that well i recited every color i knew. I like facts.”

“Nerd,” she mutters, even though he has a point.

“Super nerd,” Randall says, “people aren’t going to believe someone as cool as you would like me,” he says. She rolls her eyes. “Quiz me?”

She rolls her eyes and takes the book.  He sits in front and one of her feet lands on his shoulder. She can feel the faint ridge of his scar. She presses into it with the ball of her foot and he cranes his neck to give her better access.

“Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a disease in which scar tissue forms in the alveolar walls,” she begins, watching his reaction, “Which of the following findings would likely be detected through spirometry in a patient with IPF?” She gives the choices.

“B,” he says, rolling his neck as she skates her foot up it.

“Is your neck sore?” She asks.

“Kind of?” He says, “it’s itchy. I don’t think Grey liked the surgery.”

“Or the twisting,” she supplies.

“That too,” he says, “next—“ she digs her foot in harder and his head flops forward with almost a groan, “jesus, Lil.”

They’re all good with their feet. Shoes are the most expensive to replace so it’s not unusual for those to be the things they don’t ruin. She’s flung more sneakers over phone lines than she ever wants to admit before taking off barefoot. She refuses to flat out rub his back though. She’s not that kind of girlfriend. She does dig into his other shoulder with her other foot as she leafs through the pages of his book for more questions.

“If the goal of the health communication is to have influence on individuals, families, neighborhoods, medical and social service organizations, and ultimately public health policy, they are adhering to what?”

“E-ecological theory,” he says, shuddering as she digs into both sides of his neck at the same time.

Maybe she can be a power drunk girlfriend.

“A ball starting at rest accelerates at a constant rate for 5 seconds, ultimately reaching a velocity of 200 m/s. What is the distance traveled by the ball over the time interval?”

He doesn’t respond immediately and she pauses, tapping the side of his neck with her foot.

“What?”

“Focus,” she scolds.

“500m,” he says. She digs her foot in again and he makes a wordless sound.

“You don’t seem jumbled up to me,” she says, stilling her feet on his neck. He twists and she cocks her head to the side, waiting to see what he’s going to do, “everything’s right so far.”

His hand wraps around her foot and he gets to his feet, dragging his long fingers up her leg. Just standing up reminds her how much he has on her height wise. But when he stands up he’s graceful about it in a way that makes her mouth go dry. He trails his fingers up her leg until he’s standing in front of her. She’s quizzed him before but it doesn’t end in anything resembling this. He slides his hand off her leg and braces himself on the desk, bracketing her in his arms. The only places they come close to touching are where her legs land on either side of his hips. Randall usually catches her gaze and smiles. This time it takes much, much longer than she thought for his lips to curve up.

“Thanks Lil,” he says.

He’s close enough for her to push up and kiss him. She’s not gentle. The opposite of it but she kisses him slowly and deliberately. Like she can ground him back here just with her mouth. It’s a stupid thought, she knows that, but it doesn’t stop her from trying. Every time he kisses her she finds she likes it more, and that in itself is kind of terrifying for someone so used to having things taken away. She pulls back and opens her eyes, taking in the dark circles that stand out under his pale skin. It takes him a moment longer to open his eyes. He ducks his head forward and presses their foreheads together. She doesn’t like putting her feelings into anything, but especially not into words. The quiet between them though speaks volumes. She kisses the corner of his mouth and slides his book to the side before sliding forward. She means to get to her feet but his hands catch her and she winds up with her legs around his waist. She regards him for a moment.

“It’s not that impressive,” she says, looping her arms around his shoulders, “my room,” she says, nodding her head to the door.

“You sure?” He asks.

“I’m not sleeping on your gross floor,” she tells him, “you remember how to get there?”

“Your room it is,” he says and carries her around the corner to her room. When he lays her on the bed she tightens her legs around him and pulls him with her, popping up only long enough to fling the sheets over them, “my floor’s not gross,” he says.

”Really, Randall?” She sighs, “you’re in your girlfriend’s bed and you want to tell me how not gross your floor is?”

“Well I do the cleaning—“ he stops, “did you say girlfriend?”

“No,” she says rolling on her side, “clean your ears out.”

He must really be exhausted because it takes him a moment to roll over and wrap his arms around her. She’s willing to admit his floor isn’t gross but she’d rather sleep in a bed. But she knows that’s not the reason for the smile she doesn’t even have to look at to be aware of. He’s stupid transparent sometimes. It might not be the worst thing in the world. He doesn’t thank her again, which she’s glad about. The last thing she wants is for this to be a thing.

“Also don’t become an artist,” she adds.

“Are starving artists not your thing?” He asks with a teasing grin.

“No,” she says and can’t quite resist shifting back against him before looking back at him, “but doctors might be.”

[sundrenched-smilez]

rose, lace, wings, marble, pearl, wine

rose: what makes you feel beautiful? 

gettin to dress up or coordinate an outfit!! compliments, eyeliner, painting my nails, trying on clothes, sunlight, my hair when it works w me, esp when it gets v curly!! i lov that!! also whenever i’m topless? sometimes bc i’ve always wanted boobs, and they’re a constant reminder that i made it thru everything i thought I couldn’t, and that i’ve made so much progress and growth over the past yr, and it’s nice bein able 2 appreciate them n have em out :~)) oh!! and not having body hair, that’s always helpful for feelin nice, smooth is goode

lace: how would you describe your best friend(s)? 

sam @unstablebystander is my fav person and best best friend!! they’re rly smart and creative, and i love how they think!! they’re super innovative, and r always bettering themselves n tryin new things, and it’s super admirable of him. he’s got Such a good sense of humor, and we can joke abt anything, n tease each other, which is rare for me bc im p bad @ takin junk like that seriously unless ik the person rly well, n know they don’t mean it. so i rly appreciate that, and that we can talk abt anything together. i met them like 4 yrs ago, and im v glad i met him when i did; we were both startin exploring gender and realizing we weren’t cis, and they were a rly integral part of learnin 2 accept and love myself, and finding my gender(s) n all that jazz!! we’re like always on the same page n hella in sync, and it’s wild, and rly fun. they’re rly capable and have been thru so much, and keep goin, and they’re really amazing. i always feel better when i’m around them, n talkin, even if it’s abt simple stuff, we find a way to improve each others’ days and they make me so happy. 

roan @agayconcept is someone who i consider a v close friend!!! they’re doin such great work w the kiddos they teach, n makin such a big difference in the world bc of it!! they teach em that everyone’s minds work differently, and that there’s no one way to do something, n how important respect is, and im so happy that they have the opportunity to teach their kids these lessons :~)) im super proud of em. also!!! they’re rly great w fashion n have an amazing taste in music, and in general!! we’re always listen to eachothers probs n comforting each other, n sharin good things in our lives, n that we find, and theyre a huge sweetheart 

wings: list five things you love about yourself 

i love my hair!!

 that i lov tellin bad joaks n laughin w ppl

my eyes r incredibly stunning, esp w eyeliner on, it compliments them so well.

 i love how creative and imaginative I am, and the way I think abt things, n what i’m able to create!! my fashion sense is also v loved

my ear for music is smth im proud of and wanna work more with!! 

im cheating here’s a sixth!! i love how i interact with and make art!! i wanna get into animation, and i rly love my knowledge of su, bc i can pick out an episode by a single frame, and probably tell u the line bein said if it’s one of the older or more memorable ones, and i think that’s neat

marble: what do you look for in a partner? 

I look for someone who’s willing to communicate with me, and talk anything out, even if it may seem silly. someone who listens intently to important things, and will remember things abt me n what i’m into. a big thing i’ll look for is creativity, imagination, compassion and empathy!! i love picking @ creative minds and bouncin stuff off of them w ppl, and as someone who’s into music, art and animation as i am, i feel it’s important to b w someone who’s at least a bit into any of those things. writing counts, bc that’s still creating smth and a lovely thing

ppl who aren’t super short compared to me? just bc i get uncomf towering over ppl. eyes r very very important to me, u can see a lot in them, and i have a thing abt readin them. brown eyes r a big bonus tbh, i’m a slut for em 

bein strong isnt necessary but is Very Hot, and i lov outdoors/nature things a lot so that’s important to me to have in common!! humor is also rly important, i gotta b able 2 make bad jokes w em c: 

pearl: what is your favourite: scent, flavour, sound, texture? 

scent is v particular, bc i have a few!! and im p sure i have synaesthesia and associate things strongly w smell, so one of my fav ones is “animal crossing for gamecube” but i can’t rly explain what that smells like? it’s got a strong memory to it tho!! i rly love bonfire smoke smell, my fav candles (endless weekend, and strawberry pretzel bar)  and when u blow a candle out 

flavour is probs thai tea? crab rangoon, good french fries, and lemon ice (culvers has it, it’s like!!! lemon ice cream but like a mix between waterice/italian ice, and sherbet. )

sound is for sure an acoustic guitar, specifically when u play w the strings and move ur hands down/up them and all sounds that it can make, and i super love accordion??? it’s such a big instrument in my memory and from my childhood, and it gives off like carnival vibes to me sometimes?? which is unique and fun and very pleasant!! it’s also such a specific feeling to me c:

wine: talk about something you are looking forward to 

there’s this rly chill n adorable game comin out this yr? early next? called ooblets!!!! it’s a mix between pokemon, stardew valley, and animal crossing and gosh,,,, it looks so incredible and i can’t wait 2 try it out : DD i love any game where u can grow stuff, interact w villagers/townsfolk and have lil pets n decorate/craft stuff!!! and it’s got All of that : DD!! it is a game for me 

[automaticnightkingdom]

The Binding Of Isaac Revelations

Featuring a brand new custom floor full of new threats!

Tboi Revelations Wiki

The Binding Of Isaac Revelations Chapter 2 Free Download

Steam Workshop::Revelations (Obsolete)

The Binding Of Isaac Revelations Chapter 2 Descargar; Binding Of Isaac Revelations Chapter 2 Items; Start studying Religion Quiz 2. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. This is the OST of the second chapter in Binding of Isaac Revelations, includes all tracks heard in the game in the Tomb floor, as. Team-Revelations Original Poster 4 points 2 years ago The fire effect is a visual decision that's integrated with synergies, but the main focus isn't this being fire, its more about the burst-firing aspect.

Seal of Approval for following submission guidelines.'>

Rev:Ch1 is a brand new mod for the Binding of Isaac. Featuring: - a divergent Basement path to a new floor with special mechanics - 8 new unique bosses - Dozens of brand new enemies - Over 20 new items - 1 new playable character - Plus, an optional challenging new peril. Enter the Glacier. A frosty welcome awaits Isaac as he braves the frozen chambers of the Glacier. Ice is prevelant, so he best watch his step lest he slide into incoming foes. Many rooms are exposed to freezing blizzards which chill him, making the simplest of movements tough. But, fear not: warmth is always within reach for those who look for it. Terrifying new threats lurk in every cold corner of the floor. How will you handle Stalagmight, eternally trapped in ice with only his raging temper to keep him company. Or, the lonely Freezerburn, so desperate for a hug. Face old friends now lost and broken, adapted with new forms to survive the ever-chilly climate. Monsnow and Flurry Jr, to name a few. Brave it all and face a new threat that's eerily familiar... Dress up as Sarah, the Loved. Strong of faith, but broken and unable to hold onto her heart. --------- The Binding of Isaac: Revelations is a chapter-based mod. Each additional chapter will expand with a new floor with 3 chapters planned, culminating in a fully alternate path. This mod is entirely additive, designed to be bolted onto any player's run and simply accessed when prefered. We have not modified the core game in anyway beyond adding 25 more items to the pool and an extra core path boss. Glacier, and all additional planned floors, are purely optional. --------- We very strongly recommend disabling other mods for your first Revelations runs. Running additional mods may cause compatibility issues, however we will be addressing these in post-patch updates. Please bare with us, as this will be an ongoing development process. --------- Ashkal - Founder, Spriter (Floor, Promo Art) Sentinel - Founder, Coder (Mechanical Focus) Boogs - Community Manager Filloax - Coder (Item Focus, Videographer) Wertandrew - Music and SFX BlorengeRhymes - Spriter (Bosses, Enemies, Items) Gavitro - Coder (Enemy Focus) AnonymousKoala - Designer, Community Manager JonTheRealJon - Spriter (Bosses, Enemies, Items) Jerb - Lead Tester DeadInfinity - Coder (General Badass) Quartz - Spriter (Enemies, Items) THX - Spriter (Enemies, Items) NotYourSagittarius - Spriter (Enemies, Items) Special Thanks to Testers: Bustin Bullet Ella.

x 243

- ice worms shoot the instant they hide from being above, and have max delay when they get up. more time to hit them + hopefully a more obvious gimmick

- narcissus's movement phase nerfed overall. less speed, less dodge, more firedelay

- lil frost rider & mirror shard work with box of friends

- lil frost rider is turned to ice tray by birth control

- charged baby spawns batteries with birth control

- fix a nil value error in narc, and a typo in stageapi that might've messed up any old ice hazard rooms

- replaced lil frost rider's slippery creep with aquarius creep.

- doubled the size of mirror shard reflected projectiles

- mirror shard now orbits on the same layer as cube of meat

- Friendly fire auras

- Smoly caves fix

- Lil ff + fires fix

- Fix callbacks being somewhat broken

- Fix ice blocks

- Fix empty rooms

- We've been hard at work on chapter 2, which has been gradually taking form and is already looking to top what we produced for chapter 1. In addition to Tomb, we've also gone back to add an extra layer of polish to Glacier. With that in mind, we would like to introduce the Champion update.

- Champion forms of each boss. These unlock once you've killed each boss once, and have their own unique look and very unique mechanics, while retaining the initial flavour of the original line up.

- 3 New Enemies. Yellow Snow, Stalagtrite and Ice Worms, along with a bunch of new rooms to take advantage of these chilly fellas.

- 1 New Item. Lil Frost Rider. A feisty little customer inspired by one of our favourite bosses from chapter 1.

- In addition to this, Narcissus has had some heavy rebalancing, optimisation and new active items added to his attacks. With some extra reskins for vanilla enemies that find their way into Glacier, with some greed waves thrown in for good measure. Along with various bug fixes for a number of issues affecting the mod in general.

- And last but not least, a little treat for anyone interested in chapter 2: Tomb. The splash art featuring all the bosses, and the new playable character.

- https://i.imgur.com/wC345gz.jpg

- Hopefully this will tide you over until Tomb. We'll aim to tease some of the items over the coming weeks as more of chapter 2 comes to fruition. Thank you to everyone for your great feedback and your amazing support.

- Sarah gains a halo when she will get an angel room

- New character menu icon for Sarah

- Fixed seed changing and caves 2 having the same layout as glacier 2

- Fixed boss music in catacombs

- Chargers and maggots got a glacier reskin

- Brother bloody shotspeed down

- Chill Grace Period & Sarah Grace Blocked on greed mode

- Fix AB floor rooms not working

- Fix Stalag Phase 2 Sounds

- Stalactite got a Tell

- Disabling locked items instead of rerolling them

- Fixed snow particles not appearing in phase 2 for stalagmight

- Boss system restructure, shouldn't bug out now, other than not making the original boss visible for a split second

Tboi Revelations Wiki

- Frost rider is forced with BoR

- Burning bush buff, now constant dmg increase in tears, slightly longer fire, and warms you in chill rooms by a bit

- Warm auras now fade out instead of instadisappearing

- Fix braziers respawning

- New commands

- Floor transition music

- More debugging for boss error

- Updated titlescreen sprites

- Added External Item Descriptions support (WORK IN PROGRESS, SOME DESCRIPTIONS ARE INCORRECT)

- Flurry ice block spawn creates a poof

- Hyper dice corruption

how do i get it to work? if u know please contact me on discord: Giorno Giovanna#6477

Giovanna#6477 and ur name is kuyasu? how ironic

i like it

undefined i cant leave the first room after defeating the boss... does anyone know how to fix this?

who's from TearOfGrace

me notswipez

good but im not have afterbirth +

afterbirth + cuz when you get afterbirth + you cant change it to afterbirth so its afterbirth + only

Can you use this for Afterbirth? On the Steam mods page, it says it is compatible with the DLCs Afterbirth and Afterbirth+

Also i have no ideas how to download mods

HOW DO I ACTIVATE THIS MOD

nice mod go go go go

making Mods takes time. however Revelations Chapter 2 has been shown off a bit. I've seen the Thumbnail so it should be here sooner or later.

its out look at steam

i made that post months ago. i know it's out.

no you dont stop lying dude

I hope that you will continue to work on this mod . I'm waiting for chapter 2

This mod is so good, that once completed, it could rival Antibirth! this mod is amazing!

soooo... can u made this for rebirth???

GOOD MODING: defiantly download and play if you finish the normal games with one character

When i put mod folder to mods , this folder will be removed when i run the game.

Having the same problem.

Nevermind. Remove the numbers behind the folders name and it should work.

about the Heavenly Bell. what are the speficif effects it can have. i saw the 'Crawlspace under the dead shopkeeper' one. but what does the rest of the effects do?

THIS IS THE BEST MOD THANK YOU SO MUCH!

This mod won't work for me. I've followed every guide I could find so far and still nothing.

nice mod bro

afterbirth +

is for afterbirth or rebirth?

its for afterbirth+

Привет всем! HI Guys. I am not speak English Sorry. Так вот этот мод БОЖЕСТВЕННЕН!

Real pro work, congrats Anonymous_Koala. I wish it could work for afterbirth+.

but it does .-.

Well, then it's even better!

The best mod ... ever...

nah i think antibirth is better

This looks rad! i'll have to get it after I complete my 100%!

The Binding Of Isaac Revelations Chapter 2 Free Download

Indeed! there are a lot of mods I want to try, but I want to finish the game normally first. After that, the good stuff will ensue!

Love the concept of the mod, and enjoyed playing it too. The only problem I have with it is when I fought the new harbinger-guy (forgot his name ), after some time he stopped moving, and when I killed him the flys he spawned in ice could not be destroyed (destroying the run). Other than that, I really like this mod.

404, downloads not found

How can i install this? I try to just put it on my aftherbirth+ mod´s folder And nothing... Help!!

download by steam workshop

does it work for just afterbirth?

nops...sowwyy

nops...sowwyy

You can find it on the steam workshop, download it from there and THEN you can play it with AB and AB+

I can't wait for more ;)

this mod is really Beautiful

This mod is great!!

hello there

anonymous_koala respect for going down to the comments and answering

Uh. How do I instaaall?

Put it in your Afterbirth+ Mods folder in 'my games'.

My opinion of the mod:

I love the sprites and the concept of the new floor. Amazing job!

wonderin' if it will work...

Now this, this is a good mod.

Steam Workshop::Revelations (Obsolete)

Nice mod siiir

[narutocguide]

MIYAMOTO Seiji (宮本静児)

AGE: 17 y/o (2 years after Kyuubi attack)

HEIGHT: 174 cm

WEIGHT: 62 kg

BIRTHDAY: May 19

AFFILIATION: Konohagaure

RANK: Tokubetsu Jonin

SPECIALTY: Medical Ninja

PROMOTIONS:

Genin - 9 years old (graduation)

Chunin - 13 years old (field promotion)

T. Jonin - 17 years old (recommendation)

[all promotion ages were made in the context of the time, and referring to the promotion ages of a variety of canon characters, so i hope it’s not too outlandish!]

ELEMENTAL NATURE: Water Release

PERSONALITY:

Seiji is a well meaning young man who can be quite blunt and gruff at times. He is also rather stubborn, often clinging onto his own ideals and values, resulting in him being uncompromising to people who challenge them. Despite this, he is incredibly reliable and committed to his practice, often to the point of unknowingly harming himself for the better of others.

Over the years, Seiji has come to cultivate a deep hatred for the world in response to the wars he had participated in. His anger mainly revolves around himself, as he resents the fact that he is unable to relax during peacetime, having known nothing but war for his entire life. Seiji is determined to suppress his anger (or at least keep it to himself) and so remains polite, exercising control and patience to the best of his abilities. He maintains a professional manner towards everyone he meets, refusing to allow others to know that he’s drowning. 

While Seiji can be incredibly bitter, the only people he can’t seem to muster up ill thought towards are his own patients, who are neither hateful nor spiteful, but in the very last moments of their life, simply an accumulation of their dreams and hopes. Seiji sees himself as something of a protector, or a guardian of these hopes, and so his sole motivation is to prolong the lives of other people so that they may accomplish their own dreams.

BACKGROUND:

Seiji was born a year before the beginning of the Second Shinobi World war to an unaffiliated travelling merchant from the Lightning country and a young chakra sensitive civilian girl. The father left as soon as Seiji was conceived, and the girl gave birth to her son before dying from the build up of stress and chakra fluctuations that occurred. Seiji was sent to the orphanage, before he enrolled at the academy at the age of 5.

With the war coming to a close, the Academy pumped out as many genin as they could in an attempt to fuel the war effort by graduating children who were young enough to be expendable but mature enough to jump when they were told to. Seiji graduated in the final months of the war, assisting in protecting trade routes, delivering resources to outposts and other tasks. During this time, Seiji came to believe that everything people did was for a cause, no matter how petty or terrible that reason was. His belief that every action was for a reason allowed him to dream of a day where there would be no reason for war and so peace would come.

Konoha enters roughly a year of peace under an armistice before the world is thrown into chaos again in the form of the Third Shinobi World War. Seiji and his team undertake a variety of C ranked missions, including one where they team up with another genin team in order to clear a weak enemy outpost. However, it turns out that their intelligence was wrong and the two teams are faced by an entire platoon of chunin. The two jonin teachers attempt to hold off the enemies and allow enough time for the six genin to escape, but are soon overwhelmed and killed. The genin decide whether or not to run, but remember their shinobi rules.

Rule No. 4 - “A shinobi must always put the mission first.”

The genuine put their heads together, strategise, and make one final joke.

Go hard or go home.

They go hard.

Not all of them go home.

Two out of the initial eight return to Konoha with 30 dead enemy bodies sealed inside a batch of scrolls, and five dead comrades sealed within another batch.

The two remaining genin are given field promotions and an order to rest for a week before rejoining the war effort. 

Seiji wallows in guilt, wondering if he only he had an additional chakra pill, or been able to heal his teammate’s infection to stop him from dying on the trip home, or known how to stop his best friend from bleeding out. Seiji wonders and wonders before he gets up and applies to become a medical ninja. His ability to manipulate and understand chakra is an added bonus, along with his chakra sensitivity, but in the end it’s the blood that he still hasn’t been able to wash off that makes the medic nin accept him.

He develops a callous disregard for his own health and state - after all, if he had been able to heal his comrades and do better, perhaps two genin would have been able to come home instead just his single person. After all, if every life is equally valuable, then more is better, right?

For a year Seiji undergoes an accelerated course in medical ninjutsu and practices, aided by his excellent chakra control and innate understanding of the human body. At the age of 14 Seiji, along with another batch of medical ninja, are deployed to a camp out near the frontline. From then on, he spends day after day healing people who hobble out of the medical tent only to blow up and return straight back again. He survives on roughly 5 hours of sleep each night and is on a constant rotation. The jonin commander calls for him and tells him what an excellent job Seiji is doing, that Konoha is proud to have him on her side, and that he is doing a great help towards the war effort.

Seiji stares numbly at the ground, gives a sharp bow before returning to the medic tent, and promptly buries his hands into a Chunin’s bloodied leg in order to remove leftover shrapnel of an exploding kunai.

He used to think that everything was for a reason. That every action had a purpose. But this? This war of attrition which is simply draining the village’s resources and sending her men out for slaughter? There is no reasoning in this. He looks over the tent of bleeding people and vows to himself that one day, he is going to heal someone who has a dream and a reason that will change the world.

 CURRENT STORY:

He steadily rose in the ranks, and developed a reputation for having an excellent work ethic and single minded dedication. Now a recently promoted Tokubetsu Jonin, specialising in chakra manipulation and pathways, Seiji is surprised when a harried medic drags him towards the intensive care unit and shoves him in without warning. He takes one look at the bleeding figure on the table (spiky silver hair. a mask covering his face. three swirling tomoe in a single red eye. a legend. a war hero. Seiji has seen him once on the battlefield. he has never felt more glad to be facing the back of that man) and feels himself begin to sweat.

This is going to be interesting.

NOTABLE ABILITIES and COMBAT PROWESS:

Chakra Sensitivity - this allows Seiji to have the incredible chakra control and manipulation that he has. It allows him to be able to sense other people from a distance away, however without proper training, Seiji is unable to distinguish individual chakra signatures between layers of natural chakra, causing it to often be quite unreliable. In addition to this, he is quite susceptible to killer intent, and so experiences lapses in his movements when on the battlefield.

While he has the ability to shape and regulate the amount of chakra he uses with almost god-like precision, Seiji lacks the imaginiation to become a genjutsu specialist. As a medic-nin, Seiji is forbidden to participate on the front lines. Due to this, his taijutsu physical strength is sorely lacking (especially for a ninja of his calibre). Most of his knowledge of ninjutsu stems from medical ninjutsu, though he does know a few water release jutsus.

NOTABLE TECHNIQUES:

Healing Chakra Manipulation Technique - developed during the war, this technique can only be done with an extensive knowledge of chakra pathways and a high level of chakra control. This was adapted by Seiji, who sought to take advantage of his chakra sensitivity. It was made to fix chakra disturbances within the body by making the user’s chakra interact with the patient’s chakra, guiding and tugging it until it is in the proper configuration. However, this should only be used as a last resort, as touching someone else’s chakra with your own, in it’s purest form, is incredibly intimate and can cause both people to feel disgusted/tainted. If the chakra signatures are incompatible, it can result in cardiac arrest for both people, sudden loss of brain activity, and possibly death. This technique must be done with the consent of both people, and even then, with great caution.

NINJA STATS:

Ninjutsu: 3.5

Taijutsu: 2.5

Genjutsu: 3

Intelligence: 4

Strength: 2.5

Speed: 3

Stamina: 3

Hand seals: 3

TRIVIA:

does a lot of gardening

speaks to his plants like they’re his personal diary or something

drinks a lot of tea

[as in. a lot.]

likes to hum ditties that he remembers from his time at the orphanage

does regular check up on himself to insure that his freckles/moles aren’t skin cancer because people keep asking him about them

can communicate with his eyebrows alone

hates being indebted to people

has an opinion on everything and everyone

he’s one part anger, two parts regret and three parts snark

even though he puts a great deal of effort into exercising patience and control, he will110% kick you out if you’re making a ruckus in the hospital

likes doing laundry

Thank you so much for taking the time to review my angry son. I hope you have a lovely day!

i am sincerely sorry for the long wait. to be honest, i got swamped with life and completely forgot i had this blog!

overall, i’ve gotta say that i love seiji. he’s adorable and a cute lil angry bean. i saw nothing wrong with what you’ve submitted to me, and simply love his story and character in general.

thank you for introducing me to him!

[marvelous-heroimagines]

Jealous

Requested by: Anonymous (Here are the specifics)

Pairing: Reader x Bucky Word Count: 2.4K Warnings: Angst, a lil’ fluff, swearing,

A/N: I always love angst and I had such fun writing this. Sorry this took a few weeks!

Y/L/N: Your Last Name

Dating Bucky Barnes didn’t come easy. Waking up at 3am to his screams of horror at his nightmare memories, his brooding quietness that drove you insane, the alcoholism that reared it’s ugly head from time to time, him not understanding that he wasn’t The Winter Soldier that Hydra made. These challenges were hard on your relationship, but you loved Bucky nonetheless. 

But there was just one thing that you couldn’t stand. The moment Bucky told you that Natasha and him had a past, you knew it was something you wouldn’t be able to get past. Not that you let Bucky know that; you made sure that any time you saw the two of them talking or training, you didn’t show the fiery jealously that burned through your veins. But you were trying, every time you saw the two of them together you try to reassure yourself that Bucky was in a relationship with you, not her.

You hate that you were jealous of Natasha, but she was beautiful, strong, smart and funny. And it didn’t help that her and Bucky had shared life experiences; no matter how much you comforted your boyfriend, you would never fully understand the pain he was living with everyday. All you could do was try to be a good girlfriend, while beating back the little green envy monster.

But this week had been hard. Natasha, Bucky and Sam were away on a mission, one that had supposed to end days ago.

“They’ll be back this afternoon,” Steve informs you, trying to hide the eye roll that you had gotten used to by now,

“You said that yesterday,” you groan. You know you sound like a 5 year old, but you can’t help it, “I’m just... worried,” technically it wasn’t a lie,

“I spoke to Sam this morning,” Steve says, flicking through the tv channels absent-mindedly, “There was a bit of a fire fight, but they’re all okay,”

You let out a huff, earning a cocked eyebrow from the blonde super soldier, and spin on your heel to storm off to the gym. The gym had been your new bedroom this past week. It was the only thing that helped you work out your rage, but unfortunately not get your mind off it.

“You’re being absurd,” Wanda’s accented voice calls from across the gym, making you jump,

“God, Wanda, you scared me,” you clutch at your chest, trying to slow your now racing heart, “I didn’t even hear you in here,”

“I can’t say the same,” she says as she makes her way over to you. You give her a quizzical look, “There is nothing going on between Bucky and Nat,”

Your mouth falls open in surprise. But your mind catches up, “Thought you didn’t read minds without permission,” you narrow your eyes at the Sokovian,

“Sorry,” Wanda gives you a guilty look, “But, in my defence, your thoughts were too loud for me to simply ignore,”

You let out a sigh as you nod, “Well, now you know,”

“Y/N, really, you don’t need to worry,” Wanda lays a comforting hand on your shoulder. You force a smile, trying to give her a thankful look. You knew her words were true, but that didn’t stop you from worrying, “Do you want to go out for coffee?”

“Uh, maybe later. I think I’m going to work out for a while,” you nod towards the punching bags that were lined up down the back. Wanda gives you a small smile before leaving you alone in the big, empty gym.

As usual, working out didn’t help take your mind off your toxic, jealous thoughts that you knew were outrageous. But the more you dwelled on them, the more you started to believe them. Now you were just angry and sweaty.

Trudging back to your room, your mind races through every possible scenario that could’ve happened on the mission. Nat and Bucky fighting together, just like the old days for them, made for a perfect situation to rekindle their old flame. Or maybe they’d already rekindled their flame weeks ago, or months ago. Your stomach churns and you feel nauseous at the thought.

Just before you can tear open your suite door and give yourself a well earned, soothing shower, you hear cheers and voices erupt from down the hall; coming from the direction of the hangar, signally that Bucky, Nat and Sam did actually return from the mission tonight, as Steve had promised.

You consider skipping a shower and going straight to greet your boyfriend, who’s bellowing laughter you can hear. But your stopped in your tracks when you hear Natasha’s feminine, sing-song laugh immediately echo Bucky’s. Every muscle tenses, causing you to grip your suite’s front door handle a little too tightly. A loud snap echoes off the walls around you as the handle breaks off in your clenched hand.

You let out a frustrated grunt, and throw your empty fist right through the wood. A part of you was always shocked by how strong you are when you’re angry, but all you can think about is Nat and Bucky, together. Pulling your fist out of the fist shaped hole that now provided a clear voice into your living room, you let a shriek of anger, as you try to prying the door open.

“Someone’s forgot how strong they can be,” you hear Bucky’s voice call from behind you, obvious amusement in his voice as he watches you claw at the closed, handleless door,

“Yeah well, I don’t get angry enough for it to be a constant reminder,” you mumble, ashamed that your annoyance was crystal clear with every word you spoke,

“Doll, what’s wrong?” Bucky asks, wrapping his hands around your waist. He immediately pulls back when he feels your body become rigid at his touch, “What happened?”

“Nothing,” you spit. Your anger was now directed at yourself as much as it was directed at Bucky and Natasha. You never wanted Bucky to see you like this, jealous and childish over something that didn’t happen... At least you don’t think it has,

“Doll, I can sense that you’re upset,” Bucky coos, “Just talk to me, I’ve missed you this week,”

“Yep, I’m sure you have,” your voice now monotone and blunt. From the corner of your eye you can see Bucky’s brows furrow as he tries to figure out why you’re being so cold towards him,

“Doll-”

“I just need to have a shower, okay?” you start trying to grasp at your door again, “I’m sweaty and hot and I’m really not in the mood right now,”

“Y/N, look at me,” Bucky’s voice now stronger and more demanding. But you refuse.

Letting out another cry of anger, you have to hold yourself back from punching another hole through your own door. Your anger was boiling furiously in your veins and you know that if you don’t get out of here right now, you’re going to explode. Taking a step back, you ignore Bucky as he watches on in confusion, and shift your weight into your back foot. Swiftly bringing your right leg up, you put as all your power into your kick, and sure enough your suite door bursts open on the first try.

“What the fuck?” Bucky blurts out, “Y/N, what’re you-”

“I’ll talk to you later, Buck,” you dismiss him. He tries to follow you into your suite, but you spin on your heel to face him, “Go hang out with everyone else. I’m sure you and Nat have so much to talk about,” you don’t bother waiting for a response, partly because you were angry and now because you felt like a bitch for being so petty and salty.

Awkwardly, you shut the door on Bucky’s face, as the latch was now completely busted and your door couldn’t close properly. But Bucky got the point, and moved on down the hall as you pull at your hair, heading to the shower.

Your shower consisted of 10 minutes dedicated to washing off your sweat and your hair, and 50 minutes of realising how much a child you were being. Bucky was with you for a reason, if he wanted to be with Nat, he would be.

You need to find Bucky, and you need to apologise. You’d let your jealously get the better of you, and you didn’t want to let it ruin the best relationship you’d ever had. You figure that now would be a good time to admit to Bucky that you had been jealous all along, and that you love him.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., where’s Bucky right now?” you call out,

“Mr. Barnes is in his suite,” the A.I. chimes, “Would you like me to tell him that you’re looking for him, Ms. Y/L/N?”

“No, no that’s okay. I’ll go see him,”

Your hands shake with nerves as you move down the hall towards his suite. Coming to a stop outside his door, you smooth out your wet hair and lift your fist to knock. But before your knuckles can make contact with the dark wood, Bucky’s door swings open. A lump rises in your throat when you’re faced with Natasha.

“Oh hey, Y/N,” she gives you a sweet smile, “How’re you?”

“I can... I can come back later?” you ask, your voice low and unsure,

“Oh, no, no,” she shakes her head, “I was just leaving. He’s all yours,”

Every muscle in your body tenses as her words hit you. It probably would’ve hurt less if she’d actually punched you in the gut. She gives you another sweet smile as she slides past you and prances off towards the communal kitchen and living.

Watching her leave, every disgustingly jealous thought that you’d ever had rushed to the forefront of your mind.

“Bucky!?” you yell, stepping into his suite and slamming the door behind you,

“Doll?” Bucky rushes around the corner of his bedroom, a look of concern twisting across his face as his eyes scan your body, “What’s wrong?”

“Are you cheating on me with Natasha?” you ask, pointblank.

Bucky’s eyebrows shoot up, his mouth falling open a little, “Why would you-? What are you-?”

“Are. You. Cheating. On. Me. With. Nat?” you ask, making sure to annunciate every syllable,

“No!” Bucky’s voice tells you that he’s outraged by you even considering such a thing, “Why are you like this?”

You cross your arms over your chest, torn between your very present anger and your shame for thinking such a thing. You can’t even think of what to say. On one hand you believe him, but because you want to. He could be lying and you’d be so desperate to believe him that you wouldn’t even notice.

Bucky let’s out a frustrated sigh, and moves to his lounge. You watch as he falls into it and runs a hand through his hair, “Y/N, what changed? We were so happy before I left on the mission. Then I get back and you’re furious at me for nothing,”

“Why was she here?” you ask, ignoring him. You needed to probe him further before you have to grovel for his forgiveness,

“Are you kidding?” he cocks an eyebrow at you. You don’t move, just stare down at him, “I needed her advice,” he sighs, “I didn’t know why you were acting so angry. I needed a girl’s advice,”

“Wanda’s a girl,” you sound like a child. A frustrated chuckle escapes Bucky’s lips, fuelling the anger that you were trying to subdue, “Why do you have to go to Natasha? Of all the people that live in the compound, you have to go to your ex-girlfriend?”

“That’s what this is about?” Bucky scoffs, “Natasha is hardly an ex-girlfriend. More of an ex-lover,”

Your stomach drops through the floor, “Yeah, because that’s better,” you scoff, your sarcasm front and centre,

“I went to her because we’re friends, for god’s sake!” Bucky shouts, annoyed that you were still angry, “Whatever her and I were, that ended, almost 10 years ago!”

“What says it won’t start up again?” you mumble, now feeling less confident that you were showing your true insecurity,

“Because, you,” Bucky says, motioning towards you,

“What? Because I’m fun for you at the moment? Because she hasn’t made a move so you’re distracting yourself with me until she comes calling?”

“Because I love you!” Bucky shouts. Your arms fall limp to your sides as your mouth follow their motion. All anger you had suddenly disappeared,

“You... What?” you whisper, totally caught off guard,

“I love you, Y/N,” Bucky sighs, “I’ve felt more for you from the moment we met, than I ever did for Natasha. Her and I were nothing. I was The Winter Soldier, unfeeling and trying to find a piece of my humanity in a woman,” Bucky stands, slowly advancing to where you stood, frozen, “But, you... I’ve never felt this way for anyone. Not in the 40s, definitely not as the emotionless Hydra asset; never. I never thought that I would find a woman like you, Y/N. And I’ve loved you from the moment you said ‘Hi’,”

Your stomach is flipping so much you feel like you’re on a rollercoaster. Bucky finally comes to a stop in front of you, so close that his musk is filling your nostrils and making your mind cloudy.

“Y/N,” Bucky whispers, “Please say something,”

“I’m an idiot,” you mumble, earning a chuckle from your boyfriend, “I let the jealously get the better of me. I’m so sorry, Buck,”

“I understand, doll,” Bucky leans down so that your foreheads are touching, “If I ever saw you talking to an ex, I’d probably kill them,”

You can’t help but giggle, imagining how scared your ex’s would be if they saw Bucky stalking towards them.

“I know, but I’m sorry anyways,” you lay your hands on either side of Bucky’s stubbled jaw, “I was just so jealous because I love you too,”

Bucky breaks out into a wide grin, before he leans down and presses a soft kiss against your lips. You groan as he pulls back, too soon for your liking.

“I’ll stop talking to Nat,” he says,

“No, no,” you dismiss him, “You and her being friends was never the problem. It was me. I promise I’ll get past it... I might just need you to tell me that you love me more often,”

Bucky’s face breaks into a devilish grin, and you cock a questioning eyebrow at the super soldier, “I’d prefer to show you,” he almost growls.

Your breathing hitches in your throat and your heart starts racing. Bucky leans down and effortlessly throws your over his shoulder. You let out a playfully squeal as he carries you off to his bedroom.

Tags: @redstarstan, @rosyfluffyprincess, @heismyhunter, @invisible2niall, @leahhavoc, @klutzly, @hantu369mc, @goldenlifevsgutter1996, @addictwithafandomblog, @impala-moose, @spn-worm, @buckyobsessed, @specs15, @buckyandsebsinbin, @coffeeismylife28, @aboveaverage-fangirl, @plumsforbuck2016, @meep-meep22, @caitsymichelle13, @pleasefixthepain

[consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis]

5 Lessons From Celiac Disease That Help During the Coronavirus Outbreak

New blog post! I'm sure that most people can relate when I say that the last few weeks have felt as surreal as they have chaotic. The Coronavirus outbreak has meant I moved out of my apartment in Minnesota two months ahead of schedule, am now busy transitioning the college class I teach to be online and am receiving a very different ending to my grad school experience than I expected.

As overwhelming as this whirlwind of events has been, though, I've been trying to focus on gratitude and staying as positive as possible...which is why I started thinking about how living with celiac disease has actually made adapting to the new precautions for the Coronavirus outbreak a little easier. (Especially since otherwise healthy individuals with celiac disease are not at a higher risk for the Coronavirus). So in order to share a little light during this hectic time, I thought I would start my entry back into the blogging world (which I've definitely missed while my schedule was far too busy to write and post!) by sharing five ways living with celiac disease has helped me adapt a little easier to life during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus Outbreak, Celiac Hack #1: Already knowing how to work with what you have in the kitchen.

As most people probably know from experience or news stories, in many parts of the United States (and the rest of the world, I'm assuming), many grocery shelves are bare as people have been stocking up. Personally, I flew back to Minnesota from my Spring Break in California (check out my Insta posts here for more fun details into my adventure before this chaos all began!) and immediately hit my local Aldi hours after I landed, and I had never seen so many things out of stock.

As a result, a lot of people may not be able to find their usual groceries, which requires a lil' bit more creativity in the kitchen.

And that's where the benefits of living with celiac disease come in.

Because when gluten, wheat and all of its cousins suddenly become off-limits, creativity in the kitchen is a must. So the idea of having to whip up a delicious dinner using only the foods still available at your local grocery store might not feel as intimidating for someone with celiac disease than it might for a creative-cooking newbie. ;)

Coronavirus Outbreak, Celiac Hack #2: Already knowing how to be innovative when connecting with others.

Besides empty grocery shelves, the biggest way the Coronavirus outbreak has affected my life (and many others) is by majorly limiting my face-to-face social activity. Even though I was never a huge extrovert, I still interacted with people daily at the gym or while attending and teaching college classes, so shifting to only interacting with family members living in the same house has been a major shift. But as I've reflected over the past week, I've realized that I'm somewhat used to being creative in how I connect with others...and I believe many with celiac disease can relate. After all, one of the most common ways for people to spend time together is to "break bread"...and celiac disease doesn't make that easy.

So we're often forced to get creative. We go to restaurants with loved ones for the company instead of the food. I invite friends for walks (or even rollerskating!) instead of coffee shop dates, and I consider many of the Instagram connections I've made in the gluten free community real friends, even though I've never met them in real life. And in the time of social distancing, I think that kind of adaptability can actually work to our advantage. I know I've found comfort checking in with friends on Instagram (my DMs are always open, even if I may be a bit slow to respond!) and look forward to getting creative with family baking adventures, FaceTime "parties" with friends and more fun Insta challenges (considering I've already been tagged to complete the push-up challenge, I'm sure more will come my way!).

Coronavirus Outbreak, Celiac Hack #3: Having experience making my OWN definition of a "healthy lifestyle."

Right now, at least in the health and wellness bubble I often occupy on social media, it seems like "healthy living" is a lot harder to achieve than normal. Gyms are closed, fresh produce may be limited and some people aren't even allowed to leave their house to get in some steps. As a result, I know I've been having a little anxiety about not being "active enough" or eating too much comfort foods (thank youuuu stress), and from just a quick glance on Instagram, I know I'm not alone.

However, I've already needed to re-define my definition of "healthy" in the past, like when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Suddenly, whole wheat and whole grain were the LEAST healthy items I could add to my shopping cart, and when I was dangerously malnourished initially after my celiac diagnosis, exercise was also not the "healthiest" activity I could have done.

From back during my hospitalization in 2013...

So I'm trying to apply a similar mindset shift to the Coronavirus outbreak. Maybe we can't move our bodies as much as usual...but perhaps this can be a rejuvenating time for rest and different forms of exercise, if we feel like it. And maybe we can't eat the "healthiest" diet...but when there are countless lives at stake, should that really be a priority?

Obviously, I'm not a professional in nutrition, mental health, exercise or really anything regarding the Coronavirus outbreak and general health. But I have realized how empowering it is to define "healthy" in a way that actually lets you feel your best instead of constantly feeling "not enough"...and I believe many people living with celiac disease or other chronic illnesses can relate.

Coronavirus Outbreak, Celiac Hack #4: Already knowing how to openly discuss your needs with others...especially, housemates.

Another major way life has changed since the Coronavirus outbreak? Many people are now quarantined in their houses...often with other people. And at least in my experience of sharing a small apartment with 3+ other girls for almost a year, that level of constant cohabitation requires a LOT of open communication.

And like you can probably guess...living with celiac disease can def help with that. ;) After all, when you have celiac disease, you don't just need to communicate your dietary needs to family. You need to talk to friends and significant others, waiters and chefs, food company owners and, of course, anyone who uses your kitchen. So while I definitely wouldn't say I - or anyone else with celiac disease - automatically nail every communication opportunity, I do think having experience stating your needs can make spending a lot of quality time with people a lil' easier. So thank you celiac disease for that!

Coronavirus Outbreak, Celiac Hack #5: Regularly getting excited over little things in life.

If you've ever jumped up and down in a grocery store because you finally found that delicious food you've spent months looking for, you probably have celiac disease or other dietary restrictions. Personally, I've cried over not having any good tasting gluten free tortillas, and I've definitely done happy dances in public when I discovered a new gluten free restaurant or product in my local grocery store. The benefit of these experiences? I've learned that little things in life - like finding some damn tasty GF tortillas - are worth celebrating and being grateful for. And at a time in the world when a lot of our usual daily activities are frustratingly off-limits, I think this mindset is more important than ever.

From the delicious Gluten Free Gem in Portland

The Bottom Line of How Celiac Disease is Helping Me Cope with the Coronavirus Outbreak

I don't want to make it seem like I'm feeling super grateful and happy every hour of the day since the Coronavirus outbreaks started. I miss talking to grad school friends and my students, face-to-face. I miss being able to buy toilet paper without a second thought. And I definitely miss being able to go to the gym - my favorite mental escape. But I'm trying to cultivate as positive a mindset as possible, and like I've shared in this post, I think living with celiac disease - or perhaps any chronic illness - definitely helps with that. Because of celiac disease, I've learned how to be adaptable. How to be transparent about my needs with others and find joy in little moments. (Not to mention that gluten free food doesn't seem to be flying off the shelves as quickly as their gluten-filled counterparts.)

And if you have celiac disease, I hope this post reminds you of ALL the badass skills and swagger your chronic illness has given you - and that you can (and should!) take advantage of those skills during this trying time. So stay safe and healthy, and know I'm sending lots of gluten free love your way! And to help us all get some socialization during social distancing, tell me in the comments how you're doing with the Coronavirus outbreak or what skills celiac disease has taught you! via Blogger https://ift.tt/3bmfLdM

[dynamoverlagracing]

RACE REPORT: LAKE WILDERNESS

It’s been over twenty months (math: almost two years) since my last triathlon, mostly because of moving and finishing grad school and traveling a lot - all good stuff - and so it’s been nice to get back into training and racing. On the return home from a Spring Break vacay I began training intensively, and signed up for a summer’s worth of races, the first being Lake Wilderness. I decided to concentrate on Sprint races because of the comparatively short swimming leg. By minimizing my time in the water, I minimize the minutes lost to the natural swimmers, of which I am not one. Let’s just say I’m getting better, but it’s gonna take awhile. Swimming might very well be that language I learn as an adult - it’s extra difficult but definitely possible with some stubbornness.

Part of the inspiration to improve swimming comes from the beautiful lake in close proximity to where I live. As most triathlon swims are in lakes, learning how to swim in dark, deep water is crucial to getting through the swim part of a triathlon with confidence and energy left. It’s a pretty unusual set of skills, and I didn’t grow up near any large or clean bodies of water to practice in. So, I got home from Vienna, bought a cheap wetsuit, and started doing lake swims with the local triathlon club. I also signed up for a pool pass to the community center, and all in all crammed a ton of pool/lake sessions into the six weeks before Lake Wilderness. The result?

PART ONE: THE SWIM.

Going into the swim portion of the race, I was feeling better than ever. Some easy math will help explain why. In my past triathlon-racing history, I’ve swum a total of two races in open water (WAAT?), and only one with a wetsuit. The first was a very clean, very warm lake swim in a sprint triathlon (Who Tris Harder? at Innsbrook, MO 2008) in which I set bike (48-min 19miler, i.e. 23.5mph average) and run PRs (sub 20-minute 5k, ~6:30s), all at the spry age of 21, annihilating my age group by over eleven minutes and taking 8th Place overall. But the swim. Oh, the swim. I don’t remember it being all that harrowing, but at the beginning, before the national anthem, they announced how this guy at the same race the year before had drowned, and they had a moment of silence for him, etc… Sheesh! I learned later that he had had a heart condition, but you know - no pressure. I had zero lake swimming experience, I assumed I’d just figure it out at the race itself. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t have a game plan. I splashed my way to a fairly terrible 12:30ish minute 500 meter lake swim, something like 75th out of 150, or 150th out of 300, somewheres about halfway out of everybody that day. Very, very average. The worst part was I got out of the water having expended a shit ton of energy, and, although I subsequently managed a running vault-mount onto the bike out of T1 and a punishing bike-run PR, I have to wonder if I’d have biked an extra mph faster, or come closer to breaking 6:00 mins/mi on the run, had I conserved more energy on the swim.

The second ever time I swam in a lake was at my first and only half-ironman a couple years ago. Plenty of pool swimming in practice but again, no lake experience and zero (read: zip) wetsuit experience until race morning. Not the most brilliant game plan. Once again, I just assumed I’d figure it out. ‘Figure it out’ I did, but my quite slow swim (50 mins for 1.2 miles) put me so far back in the pack that my 21mph-average bike split for 56 miles (2:40) hardly made a difference.

Anyway, fast forward: In the last month, I’ve done more practice lake swims with the local club than I have done swims in any lake ever the past my-entire-life. Really only five or six, total swims in the lake with the group, but that’s still a huge difference. Combine that with the many pool sessions I’ve put in before work each day, and I came to the beach at Lake Wilderness feeling pretty darn good. Maybe not fast, but I had a strategy, I finally had an idea of how triathlon pack-swimming, with sighting and breathing and drafting, etc., worked.

So, back to Lake Wilderness. I got on my wetsuit with 15 minutes to go, got in the lake for some warming up, and then we were called out to corral in the transition area so our timing chips could be activated. Then back onto the beach to tread water as the swim waves were announced. It was somewhat chaotic, as the various-colored swimcaps bobbed to and fro sorting themselves, first the Olympic relays, then the men and women Olympic-distance, then the sprint relays and then finally us. I ended up hanging from the dock by two hands waiting for our turn. Then finally, two minutes until Sprint Men and Women. Then one minute. I released the dock and doggie paddled as close to the starting ‘line’ as possible. With forty-five seconds to go, I decided it would be best to skirt the furthest-left edge of the front dock in order to get some uncluttered water for my swim out to Buoy #1. This worked well. Inevitably I merged with the mass of swimmers about halfway to the buoy, but we were spread out enough that by the time I reached the buoy, I actually had the inside line on it. I kept this line going clockwise from Buoys 1 to 2. Breathing every third stroke and sighting between every other breath, I had a smooth swim to the second buoy, and took the inside line on it as well. On the final stretch back to the beach, which felt kind of long, my stroke rate went up, although I don’t think I was going much faster. Towards the beach, really cooking, I started to think, probably too late for it to matter, that I ought to concentrate at this point on catching and pushing through the water with more efficacy, rather than windmilling like a machine, which is what I felt I was doing. Close in to the beach I tried to swim as far as I could into the shallow water rather than clomp lugubriously through the shallows all the way onto dry land. Up I went when the water was about 1 foot deep, and I felt relatively relaxed, felt like I’d finally figured something out with open water swimming. According to the results I was 35th out of the water, out of approximately 80 people or so. More importantly, I exited with the main clump.

Swim: 400m (maybe closer to 450m?)

Time: 9:08

Rank: 35th

  PART TWO: T1

There’s no easy T1, not for me anyway, not yet. As this season proves to be the first actual “race season” for me, ever (a summer in which I do at least two races per month), perhaps by triathlon #7 or #8 I’ll cruise into T1 feeling so relaxed that I’m not shaking, or (nearly) losing my balance yanking off my wetsuit on one foot. Which is not to say I fucked any part of that up. I think things went well in T1. I had my wetsuit down to my waist almost before I was off the beach, and onto my lil’ towel by the bike I had it off my feet in just a few seconds. No tugging, no mishaps, no excruciating battle with the final leg. This is thanks, I think, to liberal amounts of bodyglide applied to the shins. I won’t forget that. Off I went, still shaky, wearing my hilarious (and unbelievably comfortable) keen sandal (click-in) bike shoes and my Dolan Duk emblazoned Giro Air Attack -

-out to the 13.7 mile bike course, wondering for a split second if my arm warmers would have been a good idea…

 T1: 1:15

Rank: 7

  PART THREE: THE BIKE

Sheesh. Maybe this is the result of not racing for months and months, but goddamn I am not used to rolling courses. I am small and sprightly with narry a roll of fat on me, but damned if this is the kind of course I’m suited for. I swear, if the course were pancake flat I would have crushed 22.5+ mph. Alas, some long ramps, false flats, technical twisty-turny descents, all the kinds of stuff to cause one to sit up out of the aerobars and feather all those watts away… I should remind myself that my bike PR, mentioned above, was on a course of brutal rollers; that what I lacked at this, and my previous sprint (which had a very similarly hilly bike course) triathlon bike was not billy-goat climbing-with-power ability, but a lack of training hours/miles. Before setting my bike PR on a rolling course, I did a 550-mile bike week just before race taper. That’s what it takes to feel like there’s plenty of juice in the legs up and down the hills. That—and the only hills I trained on during my easy-breezy 100mile bike training weeks this time were the super steep stingers from the rail trail up to where I live. Constant rollers are a very different beast, one I hadn’t really trained in a long, long time. In the end, my seemingly unremarkable 20mph bike split put me ahead of a couple dozen people, and I was only passed by two or three others (at least one of whom, I learned at the end of the day, was on a relay team and had no swim or run to worry about). Nonetheless, I would sum up my ride as a cross between this...

...and this:

...I rolled back into transition feeling pretty depleted, with a mind that I was at least back in twentieth place or so (though I had no idea) just based on how crappy I felt and how low my numbers had looked. 

Bike 13.7mi

Time: 42.03

Rank: 7th

  PART FOUR: T2

  What can I say? Shaky onto the bike, shaky off. I racked my bike front-ways by the brake levers like the guys in the 80s triathlon race videos do, slipped on my sockless wonders and visor, and snatched up my race belt. Could still stand to shave 20 seconds off the T2, but I’ll excuse the slowness for inexperience… Like I said, it’s been a couple years…

  T2: 55.5

Rank: 9

  PART FIVE: THE RUN

  Turnover good, stride length bad! I did not expect anything remarkable from the run portion of the race. While my running mileage during 100 mile bike-training weeks (with 4-5x weekly swims) never topped 25 without the intermittent sensation of shin splits and/or plantar fasciitis (probably because I also work on my feet all day…), I felt like my base was okay, but not great. I did not expect any PRs. My last run PR from a triathlon (mentioned above) came a month after setting a run PR in the half marathon (1:27:02) so that’s no surprise. Also, in the last training week before my one week taper for Lake Wilderness I got some fairly severe shin splints, complete with superficial bruising (eew! The lesson: don’t do a slow run on mostly concrete/asphalt in racing flats to “get used to” running in them; ouch!).

  At the Lake Wilderness run segment, I was just hoping to not get passed on my way to…whatever place I was running in. Up the road along the same route as the bikers, I was not feeling great about the course, bored already and with very little in the tank. Somewhere inside, however, I knew the run course wound around the lake, and sure enough only a couple blocks out the course turned down some steps and onto the shaded, tree-lined and unpaved footpath that led around and behind the lake. The path was gorgeous and shaded (though the day was 100% overcast anyway) and did I mention it was unpaved? Sweet, sweet softness. I doubt my speed increased, but my pleasure probably helped me maintain something close to seven flats. I’d have a more accurate read, but I don’t wear a watch all the time (or at all, actually) like so many of those who tri... At one very straight portion of this wooded path I turned and spotted 9th place very far behind, coming down the steps onto the path. Yikes! I swore not to turn back again the rest of the run portion, and hoped this person didn’t have a mean run in them.

  For approximately 1.5 miles of the run course stayed along the footpath which wound around behind the lake, until turning around the lake’s south end and into some neighborhood developments. These were quiet, paved, and kind of hilly. A few rollers, which I navigated with more confidence than I had on the bike, and overall the 3.5 mile course felt more like 2 miles. It was just a really nice run course. I did make one wrong turn, running the length of a cul-de-sac having not spotted the steep 180 degree turn out of the little neighborhood loop at first passing. Oh well – apparently, 9th place, who had gained steadily on me the entire run, was still far enough behind that this slight detour did not affect or scare me into a really dark, painful finishing pace. I was able to pound my way relentlessly over the final mile to a sound finish, with no challenges to my eventual 8th place, and no one in sight. From the beginning of the run course to the end, I think my pace did not change much, but I went from a higher turnover, smaller stride-style run (the triathlon ‘scurry,’ as Michael Lovato calls it, or, as others have put it, the ‘glider’ running style) to a lower turnover, bigger-stride-length running style (‘gazelle’ style). Thank the downhills in the final portion of the run for opening up my stride… Anyway, into the chute I went, very close to cramping in one of my calves. With a chocolate milk and a banana in hand (and finisher medal round the neck) I found my girlfriend—who took awesome footage all day—who told me I was in 9th place – WHAT? That sounded great to me, although I learned when the results were finalized (about an hour later) that I had actually made 8th place. Even better.

  Run: 3.5 miles

Time: 25:34

Rank: 9th

  OVERALL RESULT: 8th Place OA

Time: 1:18:58

I think this qualifies as an early season, rusty...

l’Equipage:

Cervelo P2SL (alu old school - The Shep Sord)

2XU Wetsuit

Zoot Shoes

Keen bike shoes

Giro Air Attack Helmet

Profile Design flight deck

Pearl Izum tri shorts

Custom Tri Top

Dura Ace Components

Fuelbelt Race Belt