#we might need to pinch this with a grain of salt | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

peachsayshi · 2 months

Note

Hello can I request a part 5 for the inexperienced reader where they finally do the deed? Thank you and I really love all your writings. You’re amazing!

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄ playboy geto x inexperienced female reader (part 4) ⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

wc: 7,712

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰ previous parts: 1/2/3/4

minors / ageless blogs / blank blogs - do not interact.

notes: hi, nonnie! I haven't posted the official part 4 for playboy geto x reader, so here is an update! part 5 is the final part of this mini series and I am still figuring out the scenario for the big moment. I had this idea in my head and really wanted to write out. I hope you enjoy the update!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ tags: other jjk characters are mentioned, virgin reader; lovesick geto & reader; hurt/comfort; the first fight; making up; smut; oral (f receiving); nipple play; overstimulation; fingering; practice makes perfect *wink wink*

There’s a downpour outside - a peaceful shower trapping you in a cocoon of stillness. Grey clouds collide, orchestrating a rumble of thunder to disperse across the horizon. You squeeze the glass of tea in your hand and breathe out a heavy sigh as you continue observing the waves crashing onto the shore in the distance.

Standing in pensive thought, you find yourself contemplating why the sky isn’t a saturated blue, and why you are not wiping away grains of sand between your toes while tasting the salt in the air and getting kissed by the sun in the red bikini that you are wearing.

This is your first weekend away with Suguru and it was supposed to be perfect…magical even, but…

You haven’t exchanged more than a few of sentences with him in two whole days.

The truth forms as a discomforting lump in your throat. At this point you’re convinced that the turbulent events of this week is what conjured up such a dreadful storm to hijack your mini vacation, and you’ve been a bundle of nerves ever since because you’ve never had a fight with him before.

Not a real one, anyway.

Whenever a situation got remotely tense, your boyfriend would be the first person to jump in to talk things out. Suguru hated having petty arguments and always relied on strong communication to put out any fires before they set everything ablaze. You know it’s entirely unfair to put that expectation on him but, the truth is, you’ve grown used to him mediating, and depended on him to squash potential disagreements without question.

What you weren’t expecting was for things to escalate between you two because it’s never happened before, and now you aren’t sure how to proceed.

What if he leaves me?

The nauseating thought of a potential break up twists your gut, but you brush off your anxiety as you lift the cup to your lips and take another sip of soothing chamomile.

Couples fight, you think, it’s normal to fight.

Your fingers pinch the ceramic so hard, you feel it might crack from the pressure. You’ve tried to reach out since then, but Suguru remained unresponsive to your little gestures of peace.

Why is he still ignoring me?

You lean your head against the window and exhale, eyes fixated on the storm’s dramatic performance. A bolt of lighting crackles across the sky, channeling you back to the night on Suguru’s sofa just two weeks prior.

His fingers were trailing the outline of your thigh, keeping your body tucked perfectly into his frame. You were twirling a strand of his onyx hair between your fingers, listening to him proposition the idea of the weekend trip away.

“Yuki is one of my oldest friends. She lives in a beach house, so that’s where we will all stay…” he casually stated. “We visit her a couple of times a year, and I know she would love to meet you.”

You said yes without hesitation.

At the time, there was no need for you to question who Yuki was or how Suguru knew her. There was no need for you to pry deeper into the memories of his past because you were just living in the bubble of present happiness.

“We used to spend every summer at her beach house while I was in university,” Suguru informed you a few days later, slipping in that tidbit of information right after describing all the places he was excited to take you to. “I love that her beach house is so far away from the city. Plus, they have the best soba in the village. You’ll love it, I just know you will…”

This deep infatuation you shared for Suguru had your heart swelling up more often around him. Your valves were arrows to a compass that always spun directly towards him, your shining North Star. Your eyes were glazed over in a rosy shine of deep romance, making it hard for you to blink away the hue of its affection, but you should have taken a breath to catch yourself.

Maybe then you wouldn’t have reacted so harshly later on.

The ”problem”, as Suguru dubs it, happened two days before the trip.

Shoko invited you to join her and Utahime on a shopping date to pick up some new swim suits for the occasion. However, you weren’t expecting to see Mei Mei upon arrival. Your friendship with Shoko made it easier for you to blend in with the rest of Suguru’s group, but Mei always kept you at an arm’s length. For the most part, you approached any interactions with her with caution. You made sure you were nice and didn’t try to pursue anything beyond cordial conversations. Despite your attempts at playing cool, Mei continued making snide remarks about you being “Suguru’s Girl” and enjoyed addressing you condescendingly.

Truthfully, she treated you as if you were simply a stranger with one foot out the door and not the person who was in a committed relationship with her friend.

Your eyes, powdered with pink infatuation, had you feeling indifferent about her sharp tongue on this particular outing, and it made you loosely speak up about how excited you were to go on this trip with your boyfriend.

Your walls were completely down when Mei went in with a new attack while you were all having dinner together.

“It’s adorable how excited you are. Besides, I think it’s about time that you met Kiki…” she giggled, earning a glare from both Shoko and Utahime.

“Kiki?” you replied like a naive child, all wide eyed with an innocent pinch between your brow.

“Suguru didn’t tell you?” Mei coos as she proceeds to take a sip of her milkshake. “That’s his special nickname for Yuki. The two of them used to spend their summers together getting high and fucking. She was his first, you know…”

Your cheeks were stinging with embarrassment. You glanced over to both Shoko and Utahime, praying that one of them would denounce Mei’s confession.

Instead, Shoko shook her head with disapproval and simply added, “we all know that it wasn’t serious…”

“Wasn’t serious?” Mei interjected, her cruel eyes fixed on you. “Suguru was in love with her…”

“He wasn’t in love with her,” Shoko sternly answered. “They were friends. Don’t make up stories in your head”

Mei swirled her straw around her vanilla milkshake. “We are his friends too but that didn’t stop him from hooking up with us either. The only difference is that Yuki is the one who broke his heart afterwards. Suguru didn’t speak to her for an entire year...”

“How about you don’t stir up problems for no reason, Mei.” Utahime bit back, and Mei responded by rolling her eyes with mild disinterest.

“I’m not saying anything that isn’t true. Everyone at this table, except Shoko, hooked up with Suguru at one point,” she let out a pretty laugh, one laced with wicked intent. “Maybe this is something we can all bond over at the beach house. Compare notes and what not…”

“How about we dial back the bitchy attitude and put the subject to rest” Shoko interjected, and Mei merely huffed before sipping her milkshake with nonchalance.

Hot, heavy jealousy coiled around your skin, and you used every ounce of restraint not to pick up Mei’s drink and toss it right in her face. By the time your brain was able to connect the dots to formulate even a single sentence, the conversation swiftly moved onto another subject.

You reached for your soda, slurping the icy beverage in an attempt to cool yourself off.

This isn’t the first time that Suguru’s friends have made teasing comments about his past, but Mei took it too far.

The worst part about that god-awful interaction is that it was working out in her favor.

Why didn’t Suguru tell you?

The question sat in your head up until you returned home. You were in a bitter state, choosing to curb Suguru’s calls and ignore Shoko’s messages.

She still called you the next morning with a heartfelt apology.

“We’ve all known Mei for years so we put up with her attitude,” Shoko explained, “But you owe her no allegiance and what she did was uncalled for. I’m really sorry about that…”

“It’s fine, Shoko…” you insisted, but your tone was hard and defensive because it wasn’t fine and you barely got any sleep thinking about what she said.

“I had a long conversation with her last night, and she’ll be backing off from now on,” Shoko consoled.

“Great,” you answered through gritted teeth, trying your best not to hurl the phone at the wall.

“Look,” Shoko added on with a sigh, “I know Suguru doesn’t have the best track record and I know we all give him shit for it, but we also all know that we’ve been too hard on him. He really, really cares about you.”

Tears pricked your eyes. You wished those words were enough to sway you back but they felt just as empty as the space in your chest.

Why didn’t he tell me?

You couldn't stop wondering why.

The day before you left for the getaway, you were giving Suguru the coldest shoulder. He had come over to help you pack your things, but instead was left puzzled by your behavior.

You leaned away from his kisses, always tilting so he aimed for your cheek. You shrugged off his touch, pretending to busy yourself with searching through your closet and picking your outfits. You could feel his piercing stare from over your shoulder, those dark eyes dissecting the softest parts of you to get to the root of the problem. You tried to focus on the music from gently playing through the speakers, but as you walked over to your bag to pack another dress, Suguru quickly reached for your hips to drag you onto his lap.

“What’s wrong?” he asked seriously, his voice the tip of a sharp blade pressing into your heart.

You shook your head, caressing the fabric between your fingers. “Nothing, I have a headache,” you repeated firmly, sticking to the same excuse that you had given him earlier.

“Sweetheart,” he replied tenderly, your body stiffening when he brushed his lips over your shoulder to leave a contemplative kiss. “What’s actually wrong?”

You froze, your anger scalding your insides as it bubbled to the surface. You squeeze the dress between your hands, creasing the smooth surface. Suguru rests his chin on your shoulder, patiently waiting for you to at least acknowledge him.

“Is it true that you were involved with “your friend” Yuki?”

You hid your hurt with sarcasm, her name rolling off your tongue with a hint of disgust.

Suguru lifted his head from your chin, his fingers pinching against the fat of your hip while his other hand moved to reach for your jaw. He angled your face towards him, a pained expression masking over his breathtaking features.

“Who told you?”

“Mei,” you answered sharply, “apparently Shoko and Utahime know all about it too…”

“Look,” Suguru sighed, “it’s…it’s not what you think…”

“Did you to spend your summers getting high and fucking?” you interrupted harshly, mimicking the cruelty in Mei’s voice as you posed your question.

Suguru closed his eyes. “Yes.”

“Is it true that she was your first?” you asked, your voice wavering slightly this time.

“Yes, but…”

You rolled your tear soaked eyes as you stood up on your feet, tossing the dress into your bag as you folded your arms across your chest to give Suguru your back.

You weren’t sure what hurt more. The fact that Mei had all the ammunition in the world to hurt your feelings, or that she knew that your doting boyfriend would keep this from you.

Suguru stood up, carefully approaching you from behind as he extended his hand out to find your waist once more.

“Mei’s a gossip,” he contended, “I told you that when we first met…”

You spun on your heel to meet his anxious stare, drilling your fury right into him.

“That’s not the point,” you argued. “The point is that you lied to me! The point is that you spent weeks going on and on about “your friend” without even warning me that you were both intimately involved…”

“We put that shit behind us years ago. I didn’t want to bring it up, and I didn’t think I had to. Mei shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Didn’t think you had to?” you repeated with confusion.

“There was no reason to,” he replied with annoyance, his fingers digging into your waist. “Because you and I are supposed to trust each other, and considering how things have been going between us, I thought we did.”

Your heart raced at the fact that Suguru was still keeping his mouth tight lipped over what happened with Yuki, which did little to help your own dramatized theories on their relationship.

If he was being secretive about something as serious as this, then who knows what other tales he might have been spinning with that honeyed mouth of his.

The knot that’s wrung itself around your mind finally snapped.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have an inventory of people I slept with to keep track of…”

Suguru winced, the involuntary grimace an unusual sign of hurt. Your apology shot to the tip of your tongue, and you were ready to jump right into his arms and plead for forgiveness. This brutish commentary was so unlike you, but you didn’t know how to keep a handle on your own insecurities this time around.

“Keep track, huh?” he answered softly, the faintest hint of distress coming through and making you nip at your bottom lip out of guilt. “Must be hard having a boyfriend who is so used up…”

“No...you're not. That's not what I mean, I’m…I’m just saying that it’s different,” you retracted, easing your delivery to try and explain yourself. “You just don’t have to worry-”

“Is there a reason for you to worry?” he rebuked, quirking his brow in genuine surprise.

You scoffed, “You told me about everyone else you’ve been involved with but with her you are suddenly keeping quiet-”

“Please, tell me you’re fucking joking right now-“

“You can’t-” you interjected, clearing the catch in your throat as your voice warbled uncomfortably. “You can’t just expect me to be okay with this, Suguru. I have to be able to trust you and that’s only going to work if you are honest with me. Keeping something like this from me doesn’t help…”

Suguru dropped his hand away from your waist, and folded them over his chest tightly. There was a twitch in his jaw, and the disappointment in his eyes spoke volumes. You both stood there in silence, studying the other in deep concentration.

“I thought you did trust me. You were practically naked in bed with me when you said it. So what is it then? Do you trust me or not?”

Your face grew increasingly hot recalling his birthday, the way you were soft, vulnerable and pliable sprawled out against his chest...

“I do…” you replied with very little confidence. “Sort of…”

You swallowed your regret to stare down at your feet shamefully, and allowing your pride to fight the battle for you. If you can waver his insecurity even a little then maybe you might find some equal footing with the discomfort.

“I can’t change my past. I can’t erase the people I’ve been involved with. Yes, we both had different opinions about how we viewed relationships, but we aren’t going last long as a couple if I’m the only one that has faith that this is going to work,” Suguru informed calmly, using his fingers to gesture between you both.

Hearing those words from your lover’s lips felt like surprise blow. You parted your mouth to exhale quietly, clenching your hands tightly by your side as you naively waited for him to attempt to turn things around.

“I’ve given you everything. I’m not going to force you to trust me,” Suguru adds on, his tone morphing into a cold, cruel note. “And if you fucking can’t, then I’m done.”

Your head shot up in surprise, the front of your brows upturning sorrowfully but Suguru had already turned on his heel to walk out of the room, slamming your bedroom door right behind him.

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★

The car ride to the beach house was terrible.

Neither you or Suguru said a single word to one another. He kept his focus on the road, while you kept replaying the words “I’m done” on repeat in your head.

It was disappointing to start off on such a sour note because Yuki’s beach house was the perfect getaway spot as Suguru described. The location was rural, and the building was quaint and cozy. The size is big enough to fit your entire group, but not to the point where it was gaudy. Suguru mentioned that the property belonged to Yuki’s mom, which she eventually inherited after she passed away.

Meeting Yuki took your breath away. From the moment you laid eyes on her you understood how a young Suguru would be infatuated. She was striking - tall, with long, golden hair that cascaded all the way down to her butt. Every part of her was perfect, from her toned tummy revealed by her short black cropped top, to her legs that seemed to go on forever which were covered in only a pair of loose denim shorts. She had a naturally cheeky grin, like there was something up her sleeve that no one could quite point out, and sharp brown eyes that were simply inviting.

She pulled Suguru in for a warm hug, and ruffled his hair like a sister would.

“Sug! Your hair’s getting long! I like it!” she chirped with a big smile, while Suguru held an effortlessly casual stance to play off that the two of you haven’t been ignoring each other this whole time. Yuki instantly turned to face you, “And you must be the girl that stole his heart! I’m so glad to meet you! This guy never shuts up about you…”

You felt small against her, and it wasn’t just due to her height. You could feel yourself shrinking into your own shame hearing her talk about your lover. Whatever doubts that sparked due to Mei’s burning statements were quickly turned to ash.

Yuki gave you a house tour and explained that Shoko was sharing a room with Mei and Utahime, while Satoru and Nanami bunked in another.

“If you’re comfortable you can stay in Suguru’s room. He kind of has his own bedroom from how often he’s stayed with me. If not, I’ve got a pull out sofa in my room,” Yuki informed, while you were trying your hardest to undo the tight knot in your belly.

Getting to know Yuki over the course of the two days only fed into your regret. You couldn’t help but watch her interactions with Suguru, only to conclude it was no different than how he behaved with Satoru and Shoko.

Even when he addressed her as “Kiki”, it came out with a level of comfort that felt a familial familiarity. If it wasn’t for Mei and her devious manipulation games, you would never have even have assumed that the pair were intimately involved with each other.

As your stubbornness started chipping away, you decided to at least try and make amends with your boyfriend.

On the first night, after getting ready for bed, you broke the long hours of silence by asking him where he was going after watching him get ready to leave the room that you both were supposed to be sharing.

“I’m staying with Satoru,” he curtly responded, and slammed the door behind him before you could get another word in.

Yesterday was painful to say the least. You attempted to sit down with him and Satoru for breakfast, but Suguru excused himself only a couple of minutes later. By mid-morning you texted to ask if he would like to join you and Shoko to walk around the village. You even brought up his favorite soba shop, but found yourself left on read.

His behavior was harsh and quite obvious. By lunchtime Shoko pulled you aside to ask if everything was okay.

“We’re fine,” you answered breathlessly, your worry sending tingles to the tips of your fingers and toes. “We got into a bit of an argument in the car, but we’ll talk things over”

Dinner last night was supposed to be a fun get together at one of the local omakase joints, but it turned into you and Suguru sitting on opposite sides of the table barely acknowledging each other.

You were trying to steal his glance, but he wouldn’t stop avoiding yours. Afterwards while all of you were standing outside, you found the courage to reach for Suguru’s hand to grab his attention.

“Hey,” you whispered low enough for only him to hear to avoid making it obvious to the others. Your heart fluttered when you noticed that Suguru didn’t let go of your hand, but instead pressed the pads of his fingers lightly against your palm to return the gesture.

Almost like he was saying hello.

“Do you maybe want to go for a walk?” you asked, eyes hopeful and desperate. “It’s nice outside tonight, don’t you think?”

You couldn’t gauge what he was thinking, but you paid close attention to his reactions. Like the way his eyes dipped to your fingers slightly interlaced with his own, and how his digits were merely tracing yours in the most featherlight touch.

Did he miss you too?

“I’m going out with Yuki tonight,” he announced, his tone sharp and daring.

Your heart winced.

You weren’t used to this side of Suguru at all.

You let go of his hand, and nodded your head to feign acceptance but your throat was tight and tears were glazing over your woeful irises.

“Oh, okay!” you answered with as much confidence as you could muster up. “I guess…I guess I’ll see what Shoko is up to. And-”

Your voice cracked when Suguru let go of your hand. The emptiness a cold touch against your palm.

“I-I hope you guys have fun catching up tonight-“

Suguru nodded his head, taking your breath away for only a second when he leans forward to leave a chaste kiss on your brow. Not giving you a chance to finish your statement.

The gesture shatters you, because you know that it wasn’t genuine.

He was simply putting on a show, keeping up appearances so that the others don't suspect that something is wrong.

You cry yourself to sleep all alone in bed, all the while holding onto the hope that he might just show up to remind you that everything is okay.

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★

You’re still staring out the window, watching the droplets trickle down the glass. Lost in the peaceful moment, you barely hear Suguru enter the bedroom, which is why you jump in shock when you suddenly notice a large hand press firmly against the glass by your side.

“It’s pouring, huh?”

His voice, smooth like velvet and soft like storm clouds sent a tremor of desire in your belly. You steadied the cup in your hand, sensing your body trapped between the window and your boyfriend who was now standing prominently right behind you.

“Yeah,” you whisper quietly, your chest rising and falling with anticipation.

You watch him tap his index finger against the glass, your gaze falling to the bracelet on his wrist. It was the other gift that you gave him on his birthday, and he hasn’t taken it off since. The rain patters outside, the white noise your safety barrier against the awkward tension, but you can feel it brewing behind your spine as you steady your breathing.

“Where did you stay last night?” you ask with a mousy voice, hoping that your tone wasn’t coming across as accusatory but simply concerned for wanting to check in on Suguru’s whereabouts.

“Yuki’s room, we were up late talking…” he responds gently, a hint of amusement in his voice but not one that was cruel. “She told me I could sleep on her pull out only after admitting that I’m acting like a little bitch…”

Your mouth naturally ticked into a smile at his playful tone, and you sink your teeth into your lower lip with relief from the casual delivery.

He huffs out a small laugh, "in case you're wondering, I just so happen to agree with her."

“It’s not just you,” you acknowledge, finding the courage to slowly spin on your heel so you can face him. “I started all of this…”

“Yeah, but you’ve been trying to fix it and I’ve been difficult about it…”

Your body crumples when your eyes met his, the power of his gaze forcing you to press your back against the window to stop yourself from buckling at the knees. His yearning matches yours, and the tension in your shoulders relaxes slightly when you note that he might have actually have been missing you too.

The ease in his expression is a white flag of surrender.

You place your tea cup on the table by your side. “I shouldn’t have let Mei get to me,” you admit, “I was caught off guard, and I took my anger out on you…”

“I shouldn’t have put you in that position,” Suguru adds on, shaking his head in disbelief over his own decision. “I should have been upfront with you about Yuki from the star, I just-” He drops his hand away from the window to find yours, and takes both of them between his fingers. His thumb smooths over your knuckles, his grip firm and protective.

“I just didn’t want to give another reason not to trust me”

Your brows furrow with confusion, and Suguru sighs.

“My family were in a bind financially. Even though I got a full scholarship to univerisity, there still wasn’t enough money to put both Mimi and Nana through school. I've known Yuki since I was sixteen. She told me to spend the summers with her and hooked me up with well paying jobs ,” he explains solemnly, almost like he is ashamed by the situation entirely. “So, that’s what I did. Her mom never stayed during the summer break. And yeah, shit happened between us. We’d get high, fuck around, drink, party…but it was just…a release. It didn’t mean anything else. I swear…”

“Mei said that you loved her,” you fill in, piecing together parts of your own personal indignation. “I think that’s what really got me. Especially when you didn’t tell me yourself. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the secrecy…”

Suguru scoffs, “Mei says that only because I went back summer after summer. I didn’t let anyone else know the real reason why. They had no fucking clue what was going on with me and my last summer with Yuki is when we decided to stop but I-I fucked it up…”

You could see the strain on Suguru’s face, and you squeezed his hand reassuringly to let him know that he could share whatever he needed to say.

“There was this girl that Yuki liked. I mean, really liked. She wouldn’t shut up about her. She was the reason why we stopped sleeping together. One night while we all went out, I got…carried away. I drank too much, I smoked too much, I wasn’t fucking thinking. I don’t even really remember what happened, but when I woke up the next morning…the girl was in my bed. When Yuki found us, she was…heartbroken. She didn’t speak to me for a year, and…I was devastated because her friendship means everything to me. She was the only person who knew how bad things were, and I returned the favor by…well, being myself, I guess…”

“Suguru, don’t say that…” you blurt out, your hands letting go of his as you eagerly clasp his jaw with equal protection. “I see you with your friends. You’re so loyal, and would give them everything if they asked. For somebody whose always so put together, what you did…is so out of character…”

He winced, his eyes narrowing with humiliation but it only taps into your empathy.

You bring his face closer, press your forehead to his own and notice him flutter his eyes close.

“You rarely talk about how hard it was with your family,” you mumble so close to his lips, keeping the conversation as private as possible even though it’s only the two of you in the room together. “I can’t even imagine the kind of pressure you must have been feeling. If you and Yuki are as close as you say are you, I’m sure she came around because she must have seen it too…”

His hands find your your bare waist. “She was the only one who could see it. Satoru, Shoko…it went over their heads…”

The quiet loops in right then, a rumble of thunder echoing in the distance. The hurt in Suguru's voice was loud and clear. The fact that he's always been there, but is so easily forgotten in the long run.

“I need to know,” Suguru confesses, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “I need to know what else it’s going to take to get you to trust me because the odds are stacked up against me, sweetheart. And if I can’t make it happen, then I don’t have a single fucking shot at making us happen…”

The sting of regret burns your cheeks once more, and you extend your arms out to circle around your boyfriend’s neck. You want to kick yourself for making him doubt himself, especially after he working so incredibly hard to earn your favor.

“I swore I would never throw your past in your face. I’m so sorry that I did. You’re not the same guy that the people in your life paint you out to be, and I shouldn’t have let them try to convince me otherwise,”

You seal your apology with a small kiss to the corner of his lip, goosebumps pebbling your skin from Suguru’s thumbs tracing tiny streaks up and down your belly. “For whatever reason we don’t seem to make sense to anyone around us…”

When Suguru finds your eyes, you lose yourself into a dark abyss, sinking back into the depths of his soul.

“Is that how you feel too?” he questions seriously, “that we don’t make sense?”

You shake your head instantly to disregard the claim.

“Being with you is the only thing that I seem to understand, and I think that’s why I’m so scared to let you in,” you admit, the past forty eight hours of desperation formulating the next statement on the tip of your tongue. “I’m falling in love with you, Suguru. And-And I can’t seem to stop it from happening…”

Your breathless at the proclamation, your heart hammering so hard in your chest like it’s ready to burst out and bury itself into Suguru’s instead.

You watch your lover pull back slightly, his brows raise with astonishment.

“In love…” he breathes, like he can't believe the words himself, “with me?”

You nod your head, your hands roaming back to the front of his chest where you can feel his own stammering heart against your palm.

"Yeah, with you."

Suguru withers into your touch, his hand cradling your jaw as he dips in to press his mouth over yours. He parts his tongue to deepen the kiss, the weight of his body pushing yours into the surface, where behind you lightning bolts across the sky and grey clouds envelop you both in a shadowy cocoon.

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★

You freely unravel, your joy sparking from the tips of your toe as to the top of your head knowing that your lover has chosen not to abandon you, knowing that you both are desperately seeking forgiveness.

You swear to yourself that it’ll never get this far again.

Suguru baptizes you with his kiss; it was a long reminder of your submission, of fully surrendering your feelings towards him. In between he moves your body, away from the glass and across the room, until you're pinned underneath him on the bed. He uses one hand to undo the wrap skirt around your waist, leaving you clad in your bikini to bathe under the light of his love instead.

His index finger loops around the string of your bikini top. He pulls away from the wet kiss, the tip of his nose lightly brushing your own, with the heat pooling in those dark irises enough to singe your skin.

“I’m not done with you,” he confirms, going back to the statement that ate away at you like a parasite. “Truthfully, I don’t think I’ll ever be…”

A lock of his hair brushes his brow, and you move it aside to kiss the space.

“Even if you were, I’m not willing to let you go that easily,” you counter because you need him to hear it. You need him to understand that you see what he’s put into this relationship and that you are more than willing to return the effort.

He smiles, and it’s devastatingly perfect it makes you want to scream at the heavens for allowing someone to be this beautiful.

“Still think I’m worth the trouble?”

Your fingers trace down the bridge of his nose, your heart gooey and soft in more ways than you can understand.

“I’m the luckiest girl in the world to have you, Sugu.”

His head tilts with curiosity, eyes drooping in contemplation. He doesn’t say it but you can hear him asking “are you sure?”, but his doubt is enough for you to seal the truth with a kiss, and when Suguru returns it, you’re once again dissolving in his affection.

Your limbs tangle into one another, your bodies pressed so close that you can feel every hard muscle. The bed sheet rumples, is lifted away from the corners as it gathers messily. Suguru’s hand glides up your torso, over the swell of your breasts, and he hooks his fingers around your throat to tilt your neck to the side and allowing him the access to kiss the column.

You thoughtfully sigh, your eyes fluttering close at the sensation of him sucking on your delicate flesh. He leaves a trail in his wake, and you shiver when his hot breath fans your ear.

“Can I ask you something?” he questions in a hush tone, his voice dipping down an octave and sprinkled with desire.

You nod your head.

“Can I go down on you?”

Your body seizes, every single cell on fire. There’s a catch in your throat, and your thighs clench together nervously at the suggestion.

You tilt your head back to face him, your noses and lips bumping in the process. “I-I can do it for you-”

He interrupts you by shaking his head, his mouth carefully kissing your cupid’s bow. “You’ve gone down on me three times already…”

You can feel yourself soaking through your bottoms. A mixture of pleasure and shame heating your cheeks.

“But...what if-what if you don’t like it? I read somewhere that not all guys do...”

Suguru scoffs, baring his teeth as he gives you a full grin. He prods the tips of his nose onto yours, wiggling it teasingly from side to side.

“You’re so fucking cute,” he confesses before adding, “I promise you, I’ll like it”

Your heart is beating so fast you can’t think, but your body speaks another language as your thighs naturally spread a little wider to invite him in.

“Okay, yeah-” you consent, “yeah, you can…”

He smirks, his hands tracing to the strings of your bottoms. You lift your hips, watching him shimmy the fabric down your legs. He stuffs the material in his back pocket, his palms spreading your inner thighs apart.

You sit yourself up on your forearms to study your boyfriend with intrigue.

“God, you’re so fucking pretty…” he sighs, his attention focused on the triangle between your legs, and your belly flutters at the direct compliment.

He doesn’t move for a second, his hands adding the slightest bit of pressure on the meat of your thighs. He licks his lips and breathes out once more, taking just a second to compose himself.

“It’ll only feel good, no pain,” he informs, “but if it’s too much for you, just tell me and I’ll stop, okay?”

Your hips relax further into the mattress, his assurance easing some of your apprehension. Your boyfriend knows how sensitive you are at this point, but you nod your in head in acknowledgement while gratefully appreciating that he regards you with such consideration.

He kisses up the apex of your thigh, carefully avoiding your sex to find a path to you hips. His tongue is sof and warm, tasting every part of your skin as it travels across your lower belly and further down your pubis. You gasp at the sensation of his breath so close to your cunt, your calf twitching when he finally places a gentle kiss on your lips.

And another kiss.

And a fourth until your toes curl and he finally flattens his tongue along the slit.

“Oh,” you coo, the sensation so delicate and delicious. Suguru drags his love between your folds, up and down, and side to decide, his mouth circling around each lip as he sucks on them in between returning to glide his tongue around.

Your legs clasp around his neck, your heels resting comfortably on his back. The sound of Suguru sucking and licking up your pussy reverberates along with the storm outside. He reaches one arm to find your hand, and you intertwine your fingers to hold him tightly. His other hand slithers up your torso, and slips underneath your bikini top. He pushes the fabric above your breast, his thumb and index finger finding your tender nipple which he massages steadily as his uses his mouth to pleasure you.

The sensation builds, filters throughout your body in waves that roll over and over again. You squeak when he sucks on your clit, your heels pressing into his back but the weight of his body holds you in place to keep you from wandering away.

Your brows furrow, little tremors shaking your collar bones and your belly. “Suguru,” you whine sweetly, a moan following after when he pinches your nipple and nibbles on your clit. He lets go of your hand, his touch traveling down to your legs. He spreads your pussy, giving himself more access to bury his soft tongue deeper, further, to taste more of your nectar as it dribbles down his chest like he’s biting into fruit.

He groans into your cunt.

He grazes his tongue over your weeping hole, and your body thrashes with anguish and rapture. Your eyes spark in white, glittering like the lightning as it bursts and recedes into the ceiling above you. The band in your core is a tight spring that finally unfurls quickly and quite suddenly, your orgasm unfolding throughout your stuttering body.

“Oh, god…” you cry out, your back arching as Suguru keeps his mouth over your cunt, his hand holding you down by your lower body.

You gasp, panting heavily trying to cope with the aftermath. You think that Suguru might stop, but instead you feel him paint kisses all over your sex, rolling your nipple between his finger and moving to suck on your throbbing clit.

“Sugu?” you call out, your spine shuddering.

“Hmm?” he answers, his tongue massaging across the bud.

“You’re still…” you whimper, “you’re still going?”

He releases you with a pop, blowing air over the swollen bud before smiling into another kiss.

“You have no idea how long I can keep going”

Suguru only manages to keep his word by delivering another orgasm with his mouth buried against your cunt. You had tears in your eyes when you came, panting out “no more” with desperation because you couldn’t handle the detachment you were feeling in your own skin.

It feels so fucking good, but all too much at the same time.

Suguru doesn’t push. He won’t test his boundaries right now. Not when you’re just a vulnerable kitten in his eyes. No, the stamina will require time and patience, and for you to get used to him in the bedroom as well.

His disappointments sits between his brows when he pulls away, his hand smoothing over the curve of your pelvis as he kisses your hip and lower belly. He crawls over you like a panther, his shoulder blades rising with each calculative moment. You can smell yourself against his lips, savor your own arousal when he dips in for a kiss.

“Taste like heaven, baby girl,” he mumbles, his balmy words running over your skin like hot oil. “I could eat you out all night…”

He traces the column of your neck with his lips, and grins into your skin. You’re too shy to say anything, and he knows it. He presses his mouth against your neck, pecking over the marks that he’s imprinted.

Your hands fumble to reach for his jeans, your body desperate to do something for him too but Suguru grabs your wrists and pins them to your side before standing upright and undoing his jeans himself.

“Relax,” he insists.

Your eyes fall to his large hands undoing the button, and then unzipping the front of his pants. His grey boxers have a noticeable wet spot, and your pupils dilate when he pulls his dick out for you to see.

You tuck your bottom lip between your teeth, waiting to see what he’ll do next. He pumps his cock a few times, sighing heavily as his thumb runs over the slit. To your surprise he shifts his position, and adjusts himself until he’s perfectly aligned with you.

He taps the fat, mushroom head over your clit. “You just open up for me, don’t you?” he whispers deviously, “Let’s practice…”

He slides his dick back and forth over your slit, supports his movements by holding both your knees as he grinds his length against your cunt.

“See how far I’ll stretch you out?” he mumbles, eyes hazy with hunger. “See how deep I’ll go?”

He slides his hands up and down your thighs, rocking back and forth and using you for friction. Soft grunts and moans escape him, and in between he halts for only a second when your quivering hand finds his length. His hips stutter when you start to lightly jack him off, your thumb teasing over the head.

Your eyes fall close, imagine the burn of him spreading you apart, of him making love to your body as you mold into his frame. To feel him in all his glory, for your bodies to become.

The image is raw, vulnerable, and so, so perfect.

There is nobody else you would rather give yourself too.

Suguru is the one.

“I can’t wait,” you beg dreamily, “Need you inside me, I can’t wait-”

His grip on you tightens out of surprise upon hearing your words, and he suddenly thrusts harshly as he curses out a broken “fuck”. Ribbons of white spurt out of him, painting your belly and tainting parts of your chest.

The both of you freeze as you look down, caught off guard by what just happened.

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★

Suguru cleaned you up using a wet towel to wipe his cum off your belly and chest. You discarded your bikini top afterwards while he removed his jeans, with the two of you then choosing to snuggle up against one another under the sheet.

“That’s never happened to me before,” Suguru confesses, finally breaking the silence. There was a slight blush tinting his cheek bones, and you giggle as you cradle his face in your palm and trace the shade of red.

“You’re usually so in control,” you playfully remark, and Suguru simply rolls his eyes.

“Not with you, I’m not,” he admits, his arm clenching around your waist as he closes the gap of space to tuck you into his chest.

You breathe in his scent, nuzzling your nose into the fabric of his tee.

"I'm glad we're okay now."

"I am too"

You curl your fingers around his shirt. “On your birthday, and just now…we could’ve…just gone all the way. You could’ve just-”

“Not here,” Suguru states seriously, the intensity in his voice prompting you to tilt your chin up and meet his stare. He plays with your ear, traces the shell thoughtfully before gently tugging on your lobe.

The butterflies flutter once again, your irises tinting in pink. You lean forward to kiss the sharp angle of his jaw.

“What was it like for you? Your first time?”

Suguru sighs, and purses his lips as he contemplates the memory. “Yuki was good to me, and it was nice,” he admits, but you’re entranced with the way he holds your gaze. “I sure as hell wasn’t as nervous as I am now…”

“Is that why you keep holding back?” you question innocently, apropping yourself on your elbow to rest your head on your hand. The bed sheet falling and exposing your chest.

Suguru’s eyes fall, his touch tracing the slope to outline the curve of your breast. “Do you want your first time to happen after a petty argument?”

You pout your lips with amusement. “Does it matter?”

“You’re not the only one who might be in love, sweetheart,” he responds, his words greeting the shining sun peeking through the clouds. “Of course it matters.”

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ ┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊ ⋆˚ ✧. ┊ ⋆ ★

tags: @sellenite @kiwibao @allofffmypeaches @sugurussbby @kunigamisbaby @pandoraium @brownskinnedgirll

my works are available on tumblr and ao3 - any fics reposted on other platforms or other Tumblr blogs have been plagiarized. do not share my works on social media (tiktok etc.) © peachsayshi

#playboy geto x inexperienced reader #geto x reader #geto x y/n #geto x you #suguru geto x reader #suguru geto x you #suguru geto x y/n #geto smut #suguru geto smut #geto angst #suguru geto angst #hurt/comfort #jujutsu kaisen fan fictions

500 notes · View notes

heretichromia · 5 months

Text

Unit Evaluation - Gladiia

(And also the Abyssal Hunters as a whole.)

Gladiia became available once again today, this time permanently (through Record Restoration). There's a lot of buzz happening around her right now, so I feel like I should throw my hat in the ring.

Mostly because...I disagree with most of the takes I'm seeing.

Gladiia is a very good unit, if used in the right scenarios. I'm certainly biased, but I would encourage anyone who's interested in using her to build her. However, I need to stress that the hype surrounding her is overblown.

Compared to the premier units in this game, she is not by any stretch of the imagination broken. This is not a Młynar or Texas the Omertosa-level unit who'll instantly warp the way you play the game with her awesome might. Don't build her thinking you'll get an obscene powerhouse, especially if you don't have her best partner, Specter the Unchained.

Beneath the cut, I'll break down her strengths and weaknesses, and give you some tips on how to play with her. It gets a little long-winded, so I'll give you a TL;DR:

As a standalone unit, Gladiia's module elevated her from "incredibly mediocre outside of niche use cases" to "decent, but inferior to other 6* options for most players." As the lynchpin of the Abyssal Hunter squad, Gladiia offers you the opportunity to play with some reasonably powerful generalist units whose power largely lies in their mixture of solid damage and self-sufficient durability (with one noteworthy exception). Their power, however, is often overstated; they don't excel in either category, and in many cases are sidegrades or downgrades to other options.

I've also included small TL;DRs for each subsection, if you're just interested in my conclusions.

I don't have a ludicrous Risk 27 Abyssal Hunter CC clear to show to prove that I know what I'm talking about, but mid-risk CC (18-24ish, unsure with the new CC system since I wasn't a fan of Pinch Out and so didn't bother doing above 600) is generally the area of difficulty I like playing around with. Keep that in mind when I'm talking about these operators, so you can take my words with a grain of salt if your personal goals for using them are different!

—

Solo, Without Module

TL;DR: Gladiia has shift power that can't be replicated by any other unit, but without her module is a fragile, low-damage pseudo-Guard that isn't worth using for general content unless you're as stubborn as I am.

Before we talk about her ludicrously-hyped module, it's probably helpful to recall what Gladiia was like before her module came out.

Without her module, Gladiia is a fairly unimpressive unit outside of a very narrow set of use cases. Her power is largely concentrated in her pulling strength, and in those cases, she's completely invaluable:

Her S2's wide range and good shifting power (strength 2, the same as other shifters' S1 at M3) makes it a very flexible skill for things like shifter stalls. Her S3, as well, has some good niche shifting utility that can't be replicated by other operators (though note that the actual max risk clear used S2). Her S1 is also worth using in some situations, as it can store multiple charges, but it's by far the most niche skill in her arsenal.

The issue is that, if you're the average player, you'll almost never be taking advantage of that power. She's like Weedy: Queen in Contingency Contract, but most players will never be doing hard enough content to need to take advantage of the power she has at her disposal.

In terms of general use, she's...not very good by the standards of 6* lane-holders or crowd control units. She'll be a valuable roster addition for new players, acting as a pseudo-Guard. As she's cheap (13 DP), she might be good to shore up holes in struggling rosters.

She doesn't do a whole lot of damage. She's not particularly durable—in fact, she's only slightly less squishy than Pioneer Vanguards, and less durable than Bagpipe. Her cooldowns are relatively short, but her power on-skill isn't very impressive.

She's not useless. I, stubbornly, brought her to almost every map anyways. Her regen passive means she'll be able to handle waves of weak enemies by herself without the need to babysit her with a Medic. Her S3 provides some decent crowd control in terms of a single-target Bind and an AoE pull, though you'll need to get used to how it works to make good use of it. The issue is that she doesn't really do a lot compared to other 6* units, which is...what you'd generally expect from a welfare unit, unfortunately. If you lack lane-holders or cannot use more powerful sources of crowd control (e.g. Gnosis' Freeze), you'll still likely get good use out of her.

—

Solo, With Module

TL;DR: Gladiia's module fixes her fragility and helps her low damage output, but is not itself a magic bullet that'll make her a unit on-par with the stronger 6*s. She becomes a reasonably defensive crowd control-focused unit that can help hold weaker lanes.

Gladiia experienced the single most phenomenal upgrade a unit's ever gotten from a module. That much is undeniably true. Her module gave her pretty much everything she needed to become a solid generalist, and...she is!

The damage reduction and enhanced regen makes her reasonably bulky, but keep in mind that without it she's squishier than off-skill Bagpipe. Putting 30% damage reduction onto that fairly fragile frame isn't going to make her a tank, but while she won't be replacing your Defenders anytime soon, you don't need to worry much about her dying. Her damage increase is nice, too. If you don't have or want to use the other Abyssal Hunters, Gladiia with her module is perfectly fine on her own. She's still not a unit that I'd recommend over a dedicated 6* lane-holder for that role, but can be used to very good effect in conjunction with other units.

I personally prefer using her S3 for general content. It's a solid mixture of crowd control and pretty considerable arts damage on a short cooldown. Others tend to favor her S2 for lane-holding, and I've seen a few recommend putting Mastery points into that first. I've personally...never really been impressed with her S2's performance in these general cases, and only switch to it if I'm using her for pulling, or in specific scenarios where it'd be good in a particular map.

—

With Specter the Unchained

TL;DR: Gladiia is a great unit to support the already quite good Specter the Unchained, and both make each other a good deal more effective. There's a cute synergy between the timings of Gladiia's S3 and Specter's S2, as well.

Here's where I should talk about the unit I effectively always pair her with in some capacity. These two are a match made in heaven, and complement each other very well. If you don't have Specter Alter, then Gladiia is still a perfectly fine unit, but if you do, you'll notice a significant boost to their performance when you use them together.

First, Specter's own Abyssal Hunter faction buff helps considerably with Gladiia's survivability. At max level, even without Specter's Mod-Y, it'll get her to slightly over 3,000 HP. Coupled with her damage reduction and regen, this means she can withstand a good amount of punishment. The only thing holding her bulkiness back is her relatively low DEF, which does sometimes mean she melts faster than you'd think.

Second, Gladiia's module makes Specter Mod-Y (S3)...legitimately decent. She turns from an S2 machine into a more than competent lane-holder capable of tanking and dealing respectable damage to elites and bosses. Nearly 4,000 HP off-skill translates to over 10,000 on-skill, and her middling DEF is offset pretty heavily by Gladiia's staggering 30% damage reduction and over 350/s HP (on-skill) regen. As a bonus, with Specter's Mod-Y, Gladiia's skills have even shorter cooldowns, letting you spam whirlpools.

Third, Gladiia has very nice synergy with Specter's other skill—her most powerful and specialized one, which can't be replicated by Gavial Alter. There's the obvious synergy: Gladiia's damage reduction and regen means that Specter can survive more punishment between her skill cycles, keeping her cycling between periods of invulnerable onslaughts and AoE burn. The less obvious one comes in how well their skills are synced. Specter's skill timings are 20/20/20 at max investment. Twenty seconds off-skill, on-skill, and in her substitute. Gladiia's S3 lasts for 8 seconds, and then has a 35-second cooldown. This means that you can use Gladiia with Specter to consistently lock enemies in overlapping arts damage AoEs between cycles of Specter's blender. I like placing Gladiia 1-2 spaces behind Specter for these purposes.

—

Full Squad

TL;DR: The Abyssal Hunters as a full squad are fun, but do not necessarily or even often represent the strongest thing you can be doing with a selection of 4-5 units in your already limited squad.

...I don't think the Abyssal Hunters are that strong.

I feel a little crazy saying that, since the ubiquitous opinion that I always hear is that they're overpowered. It's everywhere on Twitter, on Tumblr, on Reddit. Even fucking Yii made a video calling them broken.

I really don't agree with that assessment. They're good. They're definitely very good. But in my playtime being stubborn about using the Abyssal Hunters as often as I can in the hardest content I can tackle, I've never really felt like they were the strongest thing I could be doing. When I'm stuck on a stage, I switch off of the Hunters so I can take it seriously. That's not the most objective analysis I can give, though, so...here goes.

The Abyssal Hunters kind of suck.

Individually. They kind of suck individually.

I don't think I need to convince anyone that Guard Skadi is a joke of a 6* by herself, and while Specter is great by 5* standards, she doesn't exactly hold a candle to the 6* lane-holder options when you're not abusing her invincibility. Andreana...

Andreana isn't real. I'm sorry. I wish she was. She's not.

The only one of them that's powerful—not just decent, but actually strong—as a standalone unit is Specter the Unchained.

It's not relevant to this analysis, but it is relevant to the general point of this post to point out that Specter the Unchained is a limited unit from a year ago that a majority of the people just newly picking up Gladiia won't ever have.

Gladiia, Specter the Unchained, and Specter can all be very specialized units who offer very strong roles in specific scenarios. But most of the time, if you're taking the full squad, they're not going to be used in those windows of power. At best, you usually just have Specter the Unchained using her blender optimally. They're just...Guards.

They all do the same thing. They're Guards. You place them in lanes, and they hit things. And none of them besides Specter the Unchained are even particularly good at that. Specter (5*) is great when you're using her to tank unsurvivable damage. She's not so great when you're just using her as a nun-flavored Mountain whose skill options are a reasonable DPS boost that stuns her for 10 seconds and fucking ATK Up γ.

And...yes. I get that stacking enough buffs onto a vanilla stick will eventually make the stick strong enough to break anything. The issue here is that the teamwide buffs are largely defensively-focused. There are some offensive parts of those buffs, but they're the ones with the strongest opportunity cost. They're—likely intentionally—found on the most individually mediocre members, Skadi and Andreana. Skadi feels great to bring when you're using her to 1v1 incredibly strong enemies, but when that's not a great option for the map you're bringing, she feels useless. The worst part is that if you're bringing her for the team buff, you have to choose between her modules, because the one that provides the strongest buff is her worse module by a considerable margin. Skadi Mod-X almost makes her feel like a worthwhile unit, by reducing her redeployment time to 40 seconds, making her (with S2) a decently tanky medium-redeploy unit who can square up against units that would make other helidrops falter.

Andreana gives 20 ASPD to the entire team, which is great—but you can only bring 12 Operators to your mission.

Is that really worth a slot in your team? What are you giving up by bringing someone who's weak enough that she's not even worth deploying?

Yes, with all of the buffs combined, Specter the Unchained does become a monster. But with all of the obscenely powerful units we have in the game, is it ever actually worth it to bring two to three dead weights to use her more effectively? Especially when the most potent buffs, the defensive buffs, will usually only be effective on her for a third of the time when she's equipped with her strongest skill?

Is that worth not bringing Texas? Yato? Surtr? Ines? Bagpipe? A real Defender? A secondary DPS? A plan B, in case something goes wrong?

...Maybe? Maybe that's been the experience for you, and these units actually have felt overpowered in your hands. But that hasn't been my experience. These units are clearly powerful. If this review has seemed largely negative, it's only because it exists in the face of endless praise or even complaints about how strong the Abyssal Hunters are.

The Hunters are tanky. They're really, really tanky. Not quite Hoshiguma or Nian tanky, but...well, nothing is. But we're in a metagame where people are (incorrectly, in my opinion) calling Hoshiguma a bad unit because she doesn't provide much utility other than her tankiness. Which is...almost exactly the same as what the Abyssal Hunters as a full squad bring to the table. They're big meatballs that are largely unimpressive in terms of damage or utility.

What content are the Abyssal Hunters optimal in, exactly? They're not meta in Contingency Contract; while Gladiia and Specter the Unchained are CC mainstays, the full squad is never brought, and Gladiia's "gamebreaking" module isn't utilized at all. They're not meta in Integrated Strategies. They're not even the strongest units in SSS, and that's a game mode that has a dedicated buff for them.

At best, they're optimal units for middling difficulty content—and I'd contest that, but we don't have leaderboards to look to for what units are best for clearing story stages. But even if that were true, to get them to that state, you need to invest large amounts of resources into getting full level 3 modules for each of them—and you inarguably need a year-old limited unit!

Stacking teamwide buffs is a great way to bring mediocre units up to playability, but you really need a critical mass of them in order to make them a serious metagame contender. And I...just don't think we're there. I don't think we're that close, honestly.

...

—

Conclusions?

In summary, build Gladiia!

...Look, she's neat. She's one of my favorite units and I use her all the time. And she is good, just...don't expect her to revolutionize the game for you.

And build the other Abyssal Hunters, too. Just...do it because they're a neat thematic squad that's decently powerful as a whole. They work fine without Specter the Unchained, too. They'll be weaker, of course, but they're still perfectly usable. All you're really missing on the other units is her HP buff, and they're still pretty strong without it.

Build them because you like them, and so Gladiia is surrounded by her family. Not because you think they'll crack the game in half, or something.

#arknights #gladiia #abyssal hunters #arknights analysis

40 notes · View notes

coffecake-andcats · 2 years

Text

Heat Help

Hello!

I know this is an unusual post for me, and it probably won't reach very many people. But I’ve been seeing news about the really bad heatwave in Europe.

I live in a very hot area, where summer temperatures are regularly over 100 degrees F (40-ish degrees C). Last summer I had a job where I had to regularly work outside in the summer sun for hours and I thought it might be a good idea to post some of the things that helped me survive!

Of course this is all personal advice, if you think you’re in a medical emergency, contact a doctor immediately.

Hydration and Electrolytes

Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, we all know that. But also make sure you’re getting enough electrolytes. When you sweat, your body loses electrolytes, and that can make you feel sluggish, dizzy, and tired.

You can drink sports drinks like Gatorade or solutions like Pedialyte. Some people also find that salt tablets help, but you should only take salt tablets if your health allows for it. If you’re not sure, ask your doctor first.

The best indicator of how hydrated you are is your urine!

Gross but important! Your urine should be somewhere in the first four squares. If it's not, take a break, drink some more water, and make sure you're out of the sun.

Another good hydration test is the skin pinch!

My mom taught me about this one, she used to work in the hospital and used it all the time. You can also use it on animals.

In children and infants, dehydration can look different than it does in adults. Often, the easiest symptom to see in children is diarrhea or vomiting.

Sun Exposure

Often, sun exposure is unavoidable. So when you absolutely have to be in the sun, it's important to wear clothes that help your body breathe. By that I mean you want your sweat to evaporate fast so it can cool you down effectively.

The best clothes for this are loose fitting, natural fiber (especially linen or cotton), light colored clothes that cover plenty of your body.

The most important thing is to not wear something that's too restrictive or uncomfortable. I like to wear loose flowy skirts and t-shirts. My sister wears basketball shorts and tank tops. My dad has a manual labor job and has to wear full length pants but always wears loose cotton t-shirts. It depends on where you are and what you're doing.

Hats are important, the best ones have wide brims and breathe well. Straw sun hats are my favorite, but anything that keeps the sun off of your head and lets you sweat will work.

My dad and I used to take dish towels, wet them in the sink, and wrap them around our necks and faces. It will both keep the sun off your head and neck, and cool you down.

Sunscreen. Is. Important. Sunscreen is important even if you don't think you need it. Sunscreen is important no matter your skin color. Anyone can get skin cancer. Everyone should be wearing sunscreen.

If you can, try to stay out of the sun when it's at it's peak. Here, that's usually from about 10 A.M to 3 or 4 P.M, but that might change depending on what time of year and where you live. If you have to be outside, try to stick to early in the morning or later in the evening.

Food

What you eat is important, especially in a situation like this.

Personally, I find that the heat makes me nauseous, so I tend to eat small, hearty meals throughout the day. I tend to stick to fruit, nuts, and whole grains because that's conducive to my diet and my body seems to like it.

Fruit particularly tends to have a lot of water, and some electrolytes. So if that's an option for you, I recommend it.

Foods with dietary fat and complex starches (certain fruits like avocado, whole grains like oatmeal, nuts, fish, etc.) are more filling, and they tend to give you more energy throughout the day.

Try to stay away from empty calories. And try not to drink too much alcohol, alcohol will dehydrate you.

Rest

Sleep is difficult when it's hot out, I know. I used to keep a spray bottle next to my bed and I would spray down my neck and face to help keep me cool until I could fall asleep.

Sleeping with a fan on helps. I know some people say you'll catch a cold if you sleep with the fan on, but I've never had that happen as long as it's not on the fastest setting.

When it's ridiculously hot outside, I like to sleep with wet or damp hair, it helps keep me cooler at night. If that's too much for you, you can also put a couple of ice packs in your pillowcase a few hours before bed.

Sleep is important, your body uses a lot of energy to keep you cool.

Comfort

More specifically, airflow.

If you're not outside, you're at home and there's no air conditioning, your biggest ally is good airflow.

Ideally, you want as many windows open as you can. I understand that sometimes that's not practical because of safety. Even if you can't have your windows open, turning on any fans in your house and keeping the interior doors open will still facilitate some airflow and help keep you cooler.

Particularly if you live alone, make absolutely sure you close any windows and doors at night before you go to bed.

If bugs are an issue where you live and you don't have screens on your windows, you can buy or make adjustable window screens.

youtube

If you live in a building that does have an air conditioning unit, but it's broken, try seeing if there's a 'circulate air' option, that will keep the fan on even if it's not cooling the air.

I often see people give the advice to take cold showers. Ugh. Don't start off with a cold shower. Start off with a comfortable lukewarm shower and slowly turn it colder and colder. It'll be less of a painful shock.

If you do plan on getting an air conditioning unit for a space that doesn't have one, your best bet is probably one of those chunky box ones that sits in the window.

If you live in a very dry area, a humidifier may also be a good idea. My parents went to college in Arizona (the middle of the desert) and they had this thing called a swamp cooler, which was like an air conditioner and humidifier combined.

Other Helpful Resources

THIS GUY!!! He has a lot of useful stuff in his 'how to stay cool without AC' playlist. If there's anything I forgot to put here, he's probably got it there

#heat wave #extreme heat #survival #safety #heat #not death note #heatwave #Youtube

1 note · View note

barbieidol · 9 months

Note

his eyes were really mean .

" that jerk... if he comes back, i will chuck one of my heels at him, just watch me. " she was in the bathroom for two minutes ! it happened so fast, it's like he was waiting for her to leave to make his move. her body leans forward as she subtly looks around the coffee shop, one of her hands reaching for barbie's across the table. a couple of months ago, she would've immediately confronted the man's behavior, no self preservation skills developed whatsoever. now, her words must be taken with a grain of salt. because as hard as it is to ignore her immediate instinct to stand up for her friend, she remembers one crucial thing – he might make them regret it. & she'd hate to repeat the scary stalker situation she found herself in back in new york. no need to engage. not if absolutely necessary. " some guys are unbelievable. they take a polite no like a kick in the head, it's stupid. " & scary. brows pinch together, concerned gaze pinned on the other. she tries to round up the positives – this is a small space. crowded. it's the middle of the day. much better than a dark alley. " b, as much as i don't want to give a creepy guy the satisfaction of ruining our catching up session – we can leave if you feel uncomfortable. just say the word. "

#dollidea #crying just a lil #( v; close your eyes & feel )

0 notes

mariolandavid · 2 years

Text

Gili Trewangan

Gili Trewangan Bali continued on with a short stop in Ubud before the planned trip on to the Gili Islands. We were so excited. We turned up to the Ulun Ubud resort just down the road from the monkey forest in central Ubud. This place was beautiful, set in the jungle it was cut into a hillside looking out across a valley ridge off from the Campuhan ridge. It's stunning, it felt like being cut off from society and living in a rainforest hut. Hell it was good enough for Mick Jagger and the Reagan's but at £40 a night. Where else are you staying somewhere a US president & a Rolling Stone once stayed for that? This felt like living and we deserved a boujie comfort break.

At least that's how we felt before the juice. Come dinner time, Mariola wasn't feeling right. We went to Naughty Nuri's the famous local BBQ joint but something wasn't right. Even plain white carbs (a normal Mariola staple) couldn't cut it. After I valiantly tried to eat my way through the 800 pigs it seemed like (to me, the one eating) we had ordered before Mariola stomach turned, we left and the way home brought the first of many voms. Skip forward two hours, the scene in the hotel room was not pretty. My metabolism had caught up and I was now doubled over too. Neither one of us really able to do much besides vacate every piece of food, fluid, internal organ or anything else that could forcibly jettison from one end or the other, there we were. Thank God Mariola’s dad, and many of his friends, are neurotic hypochondriacs (otherwise known as Doctors) and packed us with enough medicines, pills, ointments, and potions to stock a small refugee camp. Frantically throwing pills into our mouths until enough stuck to plug us up, this was not the smoothest night of the trip for either of us. It was however. Only the beginning.

Some might say, get through the night, take it easy the next day. It'll pass. Just rest and drink plenty of fluids. Those people are arseholes and know where they can go (sorry it was a bad day). What actually happened the next was was, I woke up, evacuated my body, meekly pushed a limp cornflake around a bowl while attempting not to vomit. Promptly vomited & then despaired at the realisation that there was an impending 2.5 hour taxi ride to the port followed by a 2 hour fast boat ride to look forward to. A GOD DAMN BOAT WHEN I COULDN'T HOLD DOWN 6 CORNFLAKES. Stomach muscles aching, head pounding, this was gonna be a bad day. Some tips for dealing with food poisoning from me: 1.) Embrace being anti-social. Do not talk to anyone, do not engage with social niceties, these take energy, valuable energy you need to use to not vomit or die.

2.) Pick a spot, stare at it, don't stop staring at it. The spot on the floor that stops you hurling is your best friend, look at it like Miss World is looking back at you.

3.) Whatever electrolytes are, get them inside you. Lucozade Sport, Pocari Sweat, whatever you can get your hands on, inject it in your veins if you have to. You need it or the dehydration will take you down and you're not coming back. In a pinch this can be substituted by a fuck ton of lime juice and a lot of actual salt which miracuously does a similar job. Trust me. The 7000 hour drive to the port completed, we hauled with bags to the boat station. There's a funny thing about Bali time. You can ask three people what time the boat leaves and get three different answers, they all contain a grain of truth but ultimately exist to baffle you. The same boat might leave at 11, 11:30 or 12 depending on whether the boat company or the port decides the time, whether its busy enough, or just whether they 'usually go then'. It's a minefield. Just arrive at the earliest time someone tells you and you'll probably leave earlier than you thought, but this is one that's anathema to the a-type organised western Europeans amongst you. This isn't a Swiss mountain train leaving at precisely 11:02. Live with the chaos. Embrace it.

The boat is not a million miles away from going to a theme park. The feeling of a hot sticky queue for a long time. A succession of stalls and people trying to sell you overpriced junk food. Your stomach taking twists tumbles and turns as the maniacal captain tries to get more air with every wave that hits the boat. It's an experience that if you hate theme parks, probably means you won't enjoy the boat. I didn't. Again. Thank god for pills. When we did make it to Gili T, it is actually quite a serene little place right now, with it not being 100% COVID recovered, and therefore possibly shedding a little bit of the full on party vibe that it's renowned for, what greeted us was a sandy old town where the only modes of transport were horse drawn carriage or bicycle. Like a Dickens novel but with pina coladas. The entire island is about 30 minutes across so it's not big. We got to our hostel The Mad Monkey on the quieter side of the island (with the sunset views) and unpacked and unwound. At this point, god knows the last time I had absorbed a calorie, so we limped off to the sunset beach club down the road to chew on some plain white carbs before turning into bed at 19:51 with our overear headphones firmly on to cocoon us from the music of the normal, not dying and sick people in the hostel having a nice time. Tomorrow was a new day, what's important is we made it...

The next day we were back baby. Poison banished we geared up to go snorkelling around the reefs, hunting turtles and fish in the crystal clear blue waters surrounding the Gili's. A little thing about me. I can't ride a bike. I never properly learned and besides 2 days attempting to do so in busy london parks with enormous heavy bikes, I have not made a huge effort to learn. I'm sufficiently belligerent that that makes me now consider cyclists 'the enemy' and removes me from smypathising with them as if they were some creature like an ant or a fly. While all participants in snorkelling were given bikes, I stubbornly proclaimed my intention to walk because I could explore the island better and that I would catch them up. I have no apologies to give for this, as I am a stubborn bastard but in all honesty, I really did enjoy my little walk through the dusty back streets, stumbling on little old men painting walls, chickens and cows roaming the street, shops and laundromats and a village football pitch. All this and even only being 5 minutes behind the cycling gang (turns out due to the treacherous nature of sand dunes to amateur cyclists)

My pig headed ego satisfied, we embarked out on our boat. Abi and Andi leading us out with a set of pumping 90's R'n'B tunes with a sprinkling of later 2010's bangers we set out, a motley crew of Aussie and Kiwi miners on weekend leave, more aussie girls from queensland, a poorly seasick scot who lasted 5 minutes in the water in total and a couple of 21 year old english boys, one of whom was mine and Mariola’s roommate (yes we were in a 3 person dorm... it was only a little weird). After some initial difficulty with my mask that caused only mild drowning, we got the go-pro up and running and got some unbelieveable shots of the wildlife here. The turtles were incredible to see underwater and the speed and serenity of their movement is something it's hard to describe the beauty of without seeing it. The fish darting around you in all colours and sizes and the sun on your back makes you feel at peace. Just you, the sound of your breathing and the ocean. It's an amazing feeling and an experience you have to have to see the beauty hidden underneath the sea waves.

On the boat, it was less about the beauty and more about Abi's one man quest to get australian girls drunk. Wheeling out the shots every 2.5 seconds, amidst his wife's nasi goreng which was actually delicious, he really kept the buzz going and the trip, organised through Mad Monkey our hostel, was really enjoyable and vibey as snorkel trips go. Despite obeying every rule in the book, re-applying factor 50 suncream (twice!) I still burnt my back, but such is sods law and British skin. We ain't built for this, but pack your aftersun and you'll live. We wound down that night with a traditional british activity. A pub quiz. The hostel organised one and we were forced by the team limits to quickly make friends with a group of europeans Mario the german, David the swede, martin and Jakob the two guys from Prague working in tech. Together we formed a band of quizzing that could only manage 2nd (Mariola furiously unhappy with this, went up to the quiz organisers to vociferously dispute the answers to 3 separate questions) but had a good time flying the flag for traditional pub passtimes.

As the evening evolved into those around us comparing scooter scars (everyone has one) and deciding whether they were going to have mushrooms or speed that evening. There's a readily available powder "Joss" and a Gili tradition of having this with a vodka shot. Joss is essentially methamphetamines and having it is like drinking 6 Red Bulls. David the swede took the opportunity here to take the platinum lounge pass card out of his wallet to really look the part of the Swedish financier as he cut the Joss up on his menu in particularly expert fashion as the european lads proceeded to get hyped for the night. Not keen to bounce back from a brush with food poisoning with a sweaty speed fuelled rave, Mariola and I declined and just stayed up drinking with these guys until some California girls arrived and we turned in for the night about midnight. Turns out, most of these Cali girls were in the room above us, and our ceiling was made of something perhaps even thinner than paper because we heard an astonishing amount of unironic phrases that only Americans perhaps can say. A choice selection of these being: - Using the word "gnarly" without irony or shame, upwards of 8 times - "The best cocaine isn't even powdery" okay Pablo, you do you hun. - "Let's journal for an hour tomorrow". Right... well... do you have to say it like that? - "We're actually J chillin', do you want to be a millionaire, this is it, this is living". I think hearing this gave me a nosebleed. Once they stopped herding elephants and pounding jackhammers on the floor inbetween screaming how much they loved each other, we got to sleep. We had a nice change of pace in Gili T. It was cool, serene, with great sunsets but also a party vibe and plenty of beach bars and food spots if you needed them. There's a real great energy here for groups of friends to enjoy a relaxed beach break but litter it with snorkelling, water excursions and trips to other islands. If you want the Australian equivalent of going to the Carribbean, this is it.

The port on our return was equallly chaotic on the way back but soured more by the aggressive predatory taxi drivers at the other end of the port circling around. We'd been warned that there's something of a taxi mafia in Padang Bai. The local taxis have driven out Grab and Gojek and follow, harrass and even sometimes threaten people not wanting their services (as we experienced, and saw several other people experience). A recommendation we would make here is either - Book a cab or transport before you return from the port. One to Ubud should cost around 300k Ringgitt - Order one from an official office, such as a ferry ticketing office. The local drivers followed us on mopeds, shouting and refusing to take no as an answer before following us and shouting to other drivers in Indonesian. We can only speculate about what they were saying, but I don't think it was with the intention of helping us get home easily. Lucky for us we found a friendly driver in the Ekajaya office willing to take us back for a reasonable amount and we made it back. We were ready to hit the rainforests in Ubud!

0 notes

frogtanii · 3 years

Text

℗ me and my husband

atsumu x fem!reader (poker face ending)

series masterlist

♡´･ᴗ･`♡

wc. 3.2k (holy shit)

warnings. NOT PROOFREAD, v v soft domestic, marriage :00, smut!! (is marked off!!), soft dom!tsumu, hair pulling (giving), unprotected sex, slight praise kink, pretty vanilla ngl

an. can be read as a one shot but u might be confused lmfao also this took SO LONG OMFG also also heavily unedited, take things w a grain of salt lmfao anyways don’t forget to feed me ahaha m rlly proud of this so i hope y’all like it <33

it was moving day and atsumu was about to lose his mind.

today was the official day of the hyper house disbandment and while most of the members were still figuring out new living arrangements and thus remaining past the deadline, you were one of the few trying to get out as soon as possible.

makki and mattsun were so excited to have you move in, they showed up early that morning to help you pack. now, it was around 1p and it was almost time for you to go. you still had a few more boxes to go but things were speeding right along.

normally, atsumu would be right by your best friends helping you out but he was currently in the middle of a breakdown.

you were leaving. leaving. he had no idea when he’d see you again (even though you promised to meet up weekly to catch up), if he would ever see you again. for all he knew, makki and mattsun would just hide you away forever, never to be seen again.

okay, so he was panicking.

it was just... atsumu was in love with you. he’d known for a while (way longer than he’d like to admit) and he selfishly thought he’d have more time with you so that he could work up the courage to confess. but now? you were like three boxes away from a distance that he didn’t know if he or your relationship could recover from.

it wasn’t that he was bad at long distance but the tragic events that the house brought, brought the two of you closer together and he didn’t want to lose that.

atsumu let out a groan and dropped his head against the wall, his mind running with scenario after scenario, all ending in failure and utter embarrassment.

“hey, you okay?” you called out, a large box cradled delicately in your arms. as atsumu turned from the plaster in front of him, he allowed himself a moment to take you in.

you were wearing short athletic shorts, worn converses, and his t shirt. a thin sheen of sweat covered your skin, the lights above reflecting off of it, giving you a warm glow.

of course you looked hot moving boxes.

you called his name again in concern and he immediately felt his heart clench in guilt. you’d already been through so so much and here he was fantasizing about you instead of being there for you like a good friend would.

atsumu let out a sigh and shot you a wide, albeit empty, smile before walking over to you and taking the box out of your hands. the furrow in your brows told him you saw through his expression but he ignored it and made a show of lifting your box above his head and carrying it to mattsun’s car.

“see, what would ya do without these guns angel?” he joked, placing the cardboard into the trunk. you rolled your eyes and poked him in the side playfully. “die, probably.”

the butterflies in his stomach kicked up at the underlying sincerity in your voice but he tried his best to overlook it. it was much harder than it seemed, especially when you looked at him with such fondness in your gaze that made him want to kiss you senseless.

gulping hard, he quickly turned away from you, busying himself with fitting your things in the truck like a game of tetris.

“atsumu.” your voice was firm but pleading and he didn’t dare look at you for fear of spilling everything right then and there. “wow, ya sure got a lot of stuff, huh? wonder how much of this was bought with ushijima’s money,” he started to ramble but thankfully he was interrupted by makki whooping as he walked out of the house.

“last box bitches!” you shot atsumu one final worried look before running over to makki and mattsun, yelling the whole way there.

atsumu was grateful your back was to him because he couldn’t hide the affectionate look that overtook his face, a soft smile spreading across his lips as he watched you hip bump your friends while cackling wildly.

god, he was so in love with you.

what was he going to do when you moved out and away? what if you found someone, someone how loved you as much as he did (not possible)? he would wish for your happiness even at the expense of his own but... what if you both could be happy?

caught up in his thoughts, atsumu didn’t register you saying your goodbyes to the remaining members until you were finally in front of him.

“i’m gonna miss living with you tsum.” you unceremoniously launched yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his waist and burying your face in his chest. his heart leapt violently at the contact and he prayed to every deity above that you didn’t hear it underneath your head.

he barely managed to hug you back before you pulled away, your eyes slightly teary and red. “um, well, makki and mattsun are waiting for me so uh,” you trailed off looking back at the van and your friends who were so (im)patiently waiting for you to join them.

atsumu’s breath quickened as you scooted a bit away from him, truly getting ready to leave. no, no, it couldn’t end like this, awkward and distant. no, he wasn’t going to let it.

“atsumu?” you asked worriedly, reaching out a hand to touch him when he didn’t respond but he couldn’t hear you. he felt hot all over, like he was going to explode or magically combust if he didn’t get the words out into the air.

“tsum, are you oka-“ “i’m in love with ya.”

you paused, shock written clearly all over your face. the fear of rejection slammed into atsumu like a brick, the feeling settling in the pit of his stomach like a rock but he still didn’t stop.

“i’m in love with ya and i have been for forever. yn, yer beautiful but yer face and body aren’t even the best part of ya, even though they’re pretty damn great. yer just-“

“tsum-“

“-yer so kind, especially when ya don’t need ta be. yer badass but ya care fer others so deeply and ya make me wanna be a better person. ya make me a better person. i know ya-“

“tsumu please-“

“-ya probably don’t feel the same and that’s alright but i needed ta tell ya, before ya leave and fall in love with some other scrub, just in case we can be happy together and-“

all of a sudden, your hands were buried in his shirt and you were pulling him close to meet your lips with his, your mouths meshing together in a soft and passionate kiss.

bliss. atsumu was in sheer bliss. your lips were as soft as he thought they would be as they moved with his, his hands coming up to grip your waist and pull you even closer to him.

sooner than he would have liked, his lungs started burning for air so he pulled back but not very far, instead resting his forehead against yours.

“i was trying to tell you i liked you too, idiot,” you muttered, your eyes still closed as you spoke. he chuckled, a wide grin overtaking his entire face as he really took in what you were saying.

you liked him back. you liked him. holy shit.

but instead of saying any of that, he decided to tease you a bit. “just like? if i recall, i just confessed my undying love for ya.”

you pulled back with a faux scoff, hitting him in the arm with a huff. “shut up you ass. of course i love you too.” you couldn’t keep your real smile off your cheeks while you confessed, your soft expression bringing another wave of desire over atsumu’s body.

“can, can i take ya inside angel?” he allowed his true intentions to be heard in his words, your eyes widening when you figured out what he meant. you nodded vigorously before shooting a look to makki and mattsun. mattsun just waved you off and got into his truck while makki yelled, “get that dick!”

you heated up horribly, grabbing atsumu’s hand and pulling him towards the house and to his room. he allowed himself to be dragged along, sending winks to the other boys as he went until the two of you were standing right in front of his door.

“i love ya,” he whispered, lifting your hand to his lips to place a gentle kiss there. you grinned. “love you too tsum.”

that must have been the final straw because the minute the words left your mouth, he was on you.

••• smut begin•••

pressing you up against the door, atsumu ravaged your mouth, his tongue tangling with yours as he walked you backwards into his room, laying you down on the bed so that he was hovering over you, his hips pressing hard against yours.

instinctively, you ground up into him, rewarding you with a loud groan and a gasp of your name. “fuck angel, yer killing me here,” he laughed breathlessly, rolling his hardness against your thigh. you let out a breathy moan and tangled your hands in his hair to bring him back down to your lips.

as you continued to kiss him, his hands scrambled at your waist, pushing his hands under it to grope at your chest. you giggled at the cold of his fingers but he didn’t pay it any mind, moving down from your mouth to your neck, sucking dark marks into the sensitive skin there.

“ah, shit tsumu,” you tilted your head to the side to give him more access, just as he reached under your bra to tease your nipples. a startled gasp left you, your back arching into his careful touch. “that feel good angel?” atsumu asked, voice low and gravelly as he pinched the delicate bud, drawing another noise from your throat.

you nodded, not trusting yourself to speak. you bit your bottom lip while he pulled your shirt and bra off, tossing them somewhere in the room. as he scanned your half naked body, he noticed you quieting yourself and he lightly shook his head. his thumb found its way to your lip, carefully pulling it from between your teeth.

“wanna hear ya angel, let me hear yer pretty noises, yeah?” without letting you respond, atsumu dove back into your chest, suckling one of your nipples into his mouth while toying with the other, a sigh of his name sending a bolt of arousal straight to his loins.

he grinded against you absentmindedly, losing himself in you, eventually switching sides to give the same treatment to your neglected bud.

while atsumu seemed to be having the time of his life attached to your tit, you were getting impatient, your arousal completely soaking through your underwear. you needed more.

tangling your fingers in his blond locks, you attempted to tug him away from your chest but his reaction was unlike anything you could’ve expected. “aahh!” he let out a strangled whine, his hips bucking against your side.

“please, tsumu, need more,” you breathed, his needy reaction not lost on you as pulled his hair a bit harder. you were not disappointed as his eyes rolled back and his mouth opened in a silent moan before dropping his head to your shoulder.

“fuck, fuck, okay angel, i got ya, i got ya.” atsumu swiftly disposed of both yours and his bottoms and underwear before lifting your leg and positioning himself at your entrance.

“tell me if i hurt ya, alright? i love ya,” he smiled down on you, your heart swelling two times at his carefulness. “i love you too,” you replied, watching as his pupils grew and a low groan broke free from his chest.

“oh angel, ‘m gonna ruin ya.” that was the last thing he said before he pushed into you, both of you letting out whimpers as he stretched you open, the blunt head of his cock just a few centimeters shy of your cervix.

your back arched in pleasure, both of your hands scrambling until they found purchase on his back, your nails digging in just when he started to thrust shallowly into you.

“f-fuck, how’re ya s-so fuckin’ tight?” atsumu growled through gritted teeth, every word punctuated with a roll of his hips. you couldn’t respond as you were too overwhelmed with pleasure, his cock rubbing against your g-spot with every slow movement.

speaking of slow, he was moving way too leisurely for your tastes. you needed him to move faster and you knew exactly how to do it.

sliding your hand up from his back, you grabbed a good chunk of hair from the back of his head and pulled. his reaction was immediate and oh-so gratifying.

an honest to god whimper poured from his lips and he instantly thrusted all the way into you, his length driving into your g-spot perfectly. you both let out twin moans as he started rocking into consistently, every movement bringing you closer and closer to your peak.

“i love ya, i love ya so fuckin’ much, angel—shit—yer so amazing, i love ya,” atsumu rambled while pounding into you, deep curses and whines of your name interspersed with his declarations of love. if you could speak, you would reciprocate but you were too busy holding on for dear life as he fucked you into oblivion.

desperate for some kind of anchor to reality, you grasped onto his locks again, gripping tightly as drawn-out cries of his name slipped from your open lips. you were close, so close and he knew it too.

“feel ya clenchin’ around me like a good girl, ya gonna cum fer me? gonna cum fer me angel?” atsumu’s hand snaked down between your bodies to rub fast circles on your clit, a shaky sob finding its way out into the open air.

“oh shit, yeah, ‘m g-gonna cum for you tsum, ‘s all for you,” you moaned, clamping down on him sporadically as you started to cum, your vision whiting out and your thighs trembling while you gushed around him.

your mind was floating off when you felt him cum with a shout, his warmth flooding you and spilling out as he collapsed onto your chest.

••• smut over •••

the two of you lied there for a while, attempting to regain your brain and feeling in your legs. you vaguely made note of the wet rag cleaning between your thighs and the following weight falling down beside you but it was only after a few more minutes that you really came back to yourself, rolling over to lay on atsumu’s bare chest.

“holy shit, tsumu,” you said in awe, your boyfriend (!!) laughing at your reaction. “i’m just that good angel, what can i say?”

you groaned and hit him in the chest but you couldn’t keep the smile off your face if you tried. “you are such a menace!”

“only fittin’ that i picked a gremlin ta be with then,” atsumu teased while playing with a piece of your hair. mock offense filled your chest as you sat up, fixing him with your ‘angriest’ glare.

“is that the kind of language you’ll be using in your vows, mister?” you were only joking but when atsumu’s eyes widened and a blush spread across his cheeks, you realized your mistake.

you opened your mouth to apologize or to make some kind of excuse but he beat you to the punch. “ya wanna marry me angel?” he asked, looking so vulnerable with hope shining in his brown irises. you couldn’t bear to lie.

“of course tsum, you’re it for me,” you reached out a hand to caress his cheek and he leaned into it, his own coming up to cup yours and hold it against his face.

“good.” and that was the end of that, that evening’s... extraneous activities having thoroughly tired to the point that you fell completely asleep with your face against one of his pecs.

if you had stayed awake a little longer, you would’ve seen atsumu pull out his phone and start a new note titled, “my angel.”

if i just said i loved you, it would be an understatement. it would be like saying the sun’s surface is just a bit warm or that the arctic is just a little chilly. it would be an injustice to you and to how i truly feel about you. love—

“-is a word that is much too soft and used far too often ta ever describe the fierce, infinite and blazing passion that i have in my heart for ya angel. ya acknowledge my strengths and ya accept my faults. ya make me wanna be a better person every day. so, today i vow ta laugh with ya and comfort ya during times of joy and times of sorrow. i promise ta always pursue ya, ta fight for ya, and love ya unconditionally and wholeheartedly for the rest of my life. ya are my best friend and i’m the luckiest person on earth ta call ya mine- wait are ya crying?"

the audience burst into laughter as you frantically tried to wipe away your tears, punching atsumu softly on the arm. “of course i am, you ass.”

the officiant cleared his throat, grabbing both of your attentions. “it is the bride’s turn to give her vows. if you may?”

you nodded and atsumu already felt like crying. again. he’d cried that morning while getting dressed and then again when you walked down the aisle in the most beautiful dress he had ever seen. now, as he watched you pull a folded piece of paper out of your bra, he knew he’d made the right decision in confessing to you, all those years ago.

he also knew he was definitely going to cry again.

“atsumu, falling for you wasn’t falling at all—it was walking into a house and knowing that you’re home. today, i want to make you promises that i will always keep. i promise to never stop holding your hand or accepting your kisses. i promise to not hit you too hard when you insult me or call me a gremlin. i promise to share my food with you, to never go to bed angry, and to try and understand your obsession with professional men’s volleyball. i promise to love, respect, protect and trust you, and give you the best of myself, for i know that together we will build a life far better than either of us could imagine alone. i choose you. i’ll choose you over and over and over, without pause, without doubt, i’ll keep choosing you.

i used to never truly enjoy moments because i was always waiting for what's next. the next thing horrible thing to happen. now that i have you, i enjoy the moment. every moment.

today seems like it's the start of a new journey, but i already belong to you. falling for you wasn't falling at all—it was walking into a house and knowing you're home. i love you.”

and at least in this lifetime

we’re sticking together

me and my husband

we’re sticking together

taglist - if your name is in bold, i cannot tag you

@boosyboo9206 • @geektastic84 • @elianetsantana • @trashy-simp • @infinitebells • @6mattsun9 • @suhkusa • @katsulovee • @kotarosbabygirl • @fucktheworlddude • @insomniacwreck • @calumsfringe • @saltylettuce • @chai-blu • @al3x1ss • @hawksyoongi • @jooleuuh • @loubells • @kissungjae • @liberhoe • @tetsurocore • @animeoverdosee • @duhsies • @saiKishaircLip • @afire24 • @premiyagi • @kit-kat428 • @doctorspencereid • @daphnxy • @kyomihann • @maer-333 • @sinoflust19 • @peteunderoos • @peachiikichu • @iidanotlida • @yongboxerrr • @kac-chowsballs • @tanakaslastbraincell • @memorableminds • @risjime • @starry-magicshop • @sugavwara • @smuttyanimeslut • @kiwibirbs-library • @haijkk • @airybnb • @crybabygumi • @iwaisa • @decaffinatedtealover • @notameera • @kawaii-angelanne • @rintarovibes • @urlocalsimp • @keiarma • @shrimpypenis

the rest of the tags will be in the replies!!

3K notes · View notes

zoethebitch · 3 years

Note

Zoe pls drop ur shrimp etoufee recipe

Okay so first we need to talk about Creole seasoning. You can use a store bought blend if you want that's fine but if you have a well stocked spice cabinet you can probably make your own. I like to use this recipe. But in the ingredients I'm just gonna list Creole seasoning and you use whatever blend you want

2 lbs of fresh raw shrimp with the shells on

2 ribs of celery

1 red bell pepper

1 large yellow onion

3 cloves garlic

1 stick (8 tbs) of butter

1/4 cup of all purpose flour

1/3 cup heavy cream

4 tsp Creole seasoning

3 bay leaves

Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste

Worcestershire sauce to taste

Cayenne pepper to taste

thinly sliced green onion for garnish

1 cup long grain rice

Alright we're gonna make shrimp stock. Take your shrimp and peel all the shells off and drop them in a medium sauce pan. Cover with 4 1/2 cups of water. season with salt, 1 tsp of Creole seasoning, and 2 bay leaves. Bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 25 min.

While that is simmering, dice your vegetables and melt the butter in a large pot or dutch oven. you wanna use medium heat here we don't want brown butter and we especially don't want to burn the butter so keep an eye on it. drop the onion, celery, and bell pepper in and season with salt. Cook until soft, about 5 min. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Oh also you wanna get some rice going so just start cooking a cup of rice around this time. I'm not gonna give you directions for that you can make rice.

Your shrimp stock may be done by now. If it is go ahead and strain the shells and bay leaves out and set the stock aside we'll need it in a minute.

First we need to make a roux. Drop your flour into the pot with the butter and veggies. Stir vigorously. We're gonna make a brown roux it should take about 15 min or so. Again keep an eye on it and don't let the heat get too high. Roux is easy to burn. You're looking for a peanut butter shade of brown. When it reaches that color it's ready.

You should have about 2 maybe 3 cups of shrimp stock by now, the water would have reduced down quite a bit. Measure out 2 cups of your shrimp stock and add it to the pot a little at a time and stir continuously so it emulsifies into the roux. You should have a thick sauce that's gently simmering. This will take time. Be patient. Don't get in a rush and dump all the stock in at once.

Next, add the cream, the 1 remaining bay leaf, all of your raw peeled shrimp, a couple big pinches of Kosher salt, a lot of black pepper, the 3 tsp of Creole seasoning you have left, the cayenne pepper, the hot sauce, and the worcestershire, however many dashes you want. Stir to combine and simmer until the shrimp is cooked thru, about 5 min.

Give it a taste and add more salt or Creole seasoning or hot sauce or anything else you think it might need. If you're satisfied, plate some up and garnish with some of the rice you made and some green onion slices.

24 notes · View notes

sevendeadlyvices · 3 years

Text

Poker Buddies AU: Max and Memories Notes

Something I compiled for @i-cant-thinkof-anything-new Poker Buddies AU they have going. Now I used the Poker Night wiki to get this and I thought this would be helpful for any Sam and Max or Poker Night at the Inventory Fans in general. That and I have my own Poker Night At The Inventory AU and headcannons that I need to work on too. The first information is generally Max’s poker strategy in Poker Night At The Inventory:

When it comes to reading the opponent's strategies, Max's will prove to be a big problem. Due to his lack of knowledge on the subject, his poker strategy seems non-existent. His choice of whether to call, raise, or fold tends to come out of nowhere. Sometimes, Max will or will not have a good hand, so he will be very hard to read. His strategies are completely random; he might bluff, be cautious, or be aggressive. Sometimes he will just keep on betting or keep on folding.

I would call Max an unpredictable poker player at times. There’s this tell he has that if his left hand quivers, he’s bluffing, but other than that, you’re on your own with him.

Next is his relationships with the characters of both Poker Nights:

Heavy: Max seems to have a good strong friendship with the Heavy, asking him about how his career is going and what kind of weapon he could recommend.

Strong Bad: Mostly casual, having the odd talk with Strong Bad when Max is compelled to tell some sort of story.

Tycho: His relationship with Tycho seems to be, again, a casual friendship. They share many of the same interests, although from time to time Max will be slightly put off by Tycho's odd behavior.

The Player: Max often thinks The Player plays too conservatively, especially when not calling a huge bet of Max's.

Sam: Max very much loves the big guy. Max is Sam's long-time partner, best friend, husband, and sidekick.

Brock Samson: Brock finds Max annoying like Claptrap, but also finds it much easier to ignore him, even when Max is physically attacking him. He also has some level of respect for the lagomorph for everything he and Sam overcame as members of the Freelance Police.

Claptrap: Much like Sam, Claptrap is a fan of Max for their games and comics. He seems closer to Max than Sam due to the fact that Max isn't as annoyed by him as Sam is. Max's love for violence makes the robot think he would fit in very well on Pandora. If Claptrap is knocked out before Sam, he will often sit next to Max for a while. Also, during a Showdown, Max will stand right next to Claptrap, wondering what the next card will be.

Ash Williams: Ash has considerable respect for Max and Sam's career and is otherwise "okay" with the lagomorph. However, Ash also displays a few moments of apprehension and even downright concern when Max' insanity acts up, usually in his theme eliminations.

GLaDOS: Max doesn't seem to mind the murderous AI as much as the other characters and occasionally joins in when she insults or annoys the other characters (primarily Sam).

This is from the wiki, so take this with a grain of salt.

And finally, with spoilers in the cut:

The Memories I would focus on for the Epic Texas Hold Em Matches! Note that it’s not all the conversations from both games, but here’s the ones I found so far that might be interesting to incorporate for the AU. I’ll bold the ones that would seem more angsty for the AU:

Max: I don't know a lot about card games, truth be told. But, I take it you're a little bit of a beginner, yes? Strong Bad: Are you talking to (pronounces it as moy) moi? Max: You betcha. You're as green as the bologna in Sam's mini-fridge. Strong Bad: (angrily) Shut up, Stitch. Max: (cheerily) It's OK. It just means you have to adopt a wanton strategy of wild deception. Strong Bad: Hmm... Not the woist idea I ever hoid. Max: (furrows brow) Get into their heads.

Max: You know what I love? Tycho: What's that? Max: Destroying wave after wave of the undead. Tycho: WORD UP! How do you roll? Max: With my trusty side arm of course. Tycho: I'm more of an auto-shotgun guy. Max: Oooh! Heavy: This is good weapon no? Max: Sam and I had to resign ourselves to pistols when our cleaning bill started going through the roof. Tycho: Yeah, its like ichor? Oxyclean ain't cuttin' it. Max: This pelt is dry clean only.

Tycho: Max, how'd you learn to play cards? Max: Funny you should ask! This one time, Sam and I were busting up a crime syndicate down in Atlantic City. A road job. Tycho: Indeed. Max: Yeah! So we're tailing this low level mafia bum for an hour and he pulls up outside a casino and before he can go in Sam says, "Well little buddy, we better nab this guy quicker than a Pittsburgh driver taking a left on a green in rush hour." I couldn't have agreed more. So I grab a tire iron out of the back seat, right, hop out of the Desoto, and pummel this guy like a piñata. Tycho: Yow! Max: Blindfold and all! Tycho: ...That doesn't really answer my question. Max: You asked me a question?

Tycho: Hey Max, how do you like being a freelance police officer? Max: It's the best. Tycho: I bet it is. Max: Oh, but that's not all I do. I'm also available for babysitting, bat mitzvahs and general shakedowns. You know anybody who needs work? Tycho: See, this why I think we get along. You're a Renaissance man. Max: You need anybody roughed up? Tycho: There's a bird at the pet store that's been giving me a little beak, yeah. Max: Oh ho, putting a wise acre in his place is my specialty!

Heavy: I will make hat from you, little bunny. Max: How 'bout I just sit on your head and shoot people? Heavy: (thinks about this) ...This is good idea.

Heavy: Tiny Heavy, who is your favorite to kill in war? Strong Bad: Hmm, in WAR? Probably those Green Helmets. You know, the guys who don't have any cool weapons or gimmicks, and come in a discount three-pack. Heavy: To kill spy is glorious thing! How about you, Max? You are killing type. Max: My favorite enemy? {gasps} That's like asking me to choose between my children! Heavy: {laughs heartily} You crack me up, little bunny!

Heavy: You look very familiar, bunny. Max: How closely do you follow the Manhattan crime blotter? Wait, you didn't go the Spiro Agnew School of the Arts, did you? Tycho: You attended? Didn't take you for the book learnin' type. Max: No, but Sam and I pinched their gym teacher in a black market jock strap ring in the 80's. I'd be surprised if any student didn't remember a dog choking out a large man with a unibrow.

Strong Bad: I don't trust you one bit, ra-bbit. Max: It's ok, I don't trust myself. Strong Bad: How do we know that you don't have a never ending stack of aces wherever you put your gun? Max: Well, you don't, but you're welcome to look!

Strong Bad: So... Max. You're like one of those (pronounces as poke mons) poke-mons, right? Max: (narrows eyes) My genus and phylum is a mystery to all mankind. Strong Bad: Because I'd love to see some prepubescent pointy-haired kid run in here and stick you inside of a baseball (laughs). (in a high pitched voice, with a smile) That would be hilarious. Max: Are you talking about the red-capped kidnapper who terrorized the fauna on the Upper West Side for months? Strong Bad: Maybe. Max: Because Sam, Flint, and I caught him trying to stuff a chimpanzee into his knapsack, and made him cry for his mommy.

Strong Bad: I wonder if this dump is haunted? Max: (cheerily) Ooh, I hope so. There's something about being able to terrorize a spectral being without it up and dying on you that (furrows eyebrows) I just love. Heavy: (sadly, lowers his head) I do not like ghost. Max: It's OK Mr. Weapons. I've got extensive experience with zombies and vampires. (points toward himself) I can handle a little ghost. Heavy: (with large eyes) You will take care of ghost for me? Max: (cheerily) You betcha. Heavy: (cheerily, nods his head) I like you, tiny rabbit.

(Brock) GLaDOS: Brock Samson is eliminated. Max: GERONIMO! (lands on Brock's head and starts to gnaw on it, to no effect) Die, die, die! Brock: (gets up) I'll be at the bar.

(Claptrap) GLaDOS: Claptrap is eliminated due to lack of funds. Max: Wet willy, wet willy! (sticks a finger in his mouth and inserts it into a hole in Claptrap's side) Claptrap: Hey! That's not my ear, it's my... (both are electrified and fall from chair)

(Ash) GLaDOS: Ashley Williams is eliminated. Ash gets up and reaches for his chainsaw, only to realize it's not there. Max is holding it, standing a foot or so behind him. Max: (grinning maliciously) Looking for something? (looks at Sam normally) Hey, check it out, Sam! I'm a tree surgeon! Sam: (whispering to Ash) He's not really a tree surgeon...! Ash looks worried. Max: (revs up chainsaw) Open wide and say "ah!" (chases Ash away)

#Sam and Max #Sam and Max AU #Poker Buddies AU #Poker Night At The Inventory #Poker Night 2 #Max #tycho brahe #strong bad #Heavy #Ash Williams #Brock Samson #Claptrap #just wanted to share some interesting things that would make your AU better #now I'm obsessed #but Jessica you have your own Poker AU to worry about #but I like this one a lot #I hope this is okay

38 notes · View notes

lorei-writes · 4 years

Text

Little Happy Memories

Weeks - Months - Years

Masamune x MC Fluff Family AU

Some self-indulgent fluff. A thing to note: take this with a grain (or fistful) of salt. It’s just some happy snippets - three short stories connected all in one.

Content Warnings: none

A whimper, but not yet a cry.

Masamune woke up instantly, his one eye opening to pale lights of the dawn. He blinked fast, somewhat confused after what seemed like a short nap, and turned onto his side, another complaint pushing him far into the reality. He propped himself on his elbow, his other hand reaching towards the edge of the basket lying by the futon. A pair of blue eyes, so seemingly huge, stared at him, as if she was a little surprised. Me too, he could say, the thought of having a daughter still being hard to believe in. “ What is it, kitty?” he asked softly, rocking this crib of sorts. She squirmed in her little bed – and he watched carefully, all too aware that being indecisive might result in a crying, unhappy baby. Was it hunger? Was she cold? Did she want Mai? Questions circled through his mind as he looked for any clues. Was he worried? It was – most likely – nothing to… But how could he know that?

Wind howled outside violently, erasing some of his doubt. She whimpered again, visibly more concerned with what was happening in this strange, wide world. As gently as he could, Masamune picked her up, soon cradling her against his chest. “ It’s all good, Iroha, it’s all good,” he hummed, his voice but a low whisper – and she seemed to have relaxed, clumsily snuggling into him. She beamed at him from her place, her tiny face lighting up. Was… Was this enough? He lifted his hand, fully intending to boop her nose, but he stopped himself. What if his fingers were too rough? Regardless, her eyelids were already becoming heavy... Rustling of sheets – Mai turned to face them. “ Masamune..?” she whispered, rubbing her eyes. “ Is everything all right?” “ Yeah, kitty opened her eyes and went back to sleep. You should too.” “ Look who’s talking…” Mai laughed lightly, her lips turning into a smile – that gorgeous smile he loved about her so much.

***

Days stretched into weeks. Masamune walked down the corridor, hoping the cold lingering in autumn air would push tiredness out of him. Somewhat distracted, he made a mental list of tasks yet to be completed, the very thought causing him to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation. He opened his eye, familiar voices catching his attention. Upon hearing his title, he got closer to the door, sounds beginning to form into words.

“ Princess, if young lord comes for my head, please, take part of the blame.” “ I’m sure Masamune will understand we’re doing it for a good reason.” Oh? So his very wife and head vassal were plotting against him? Unforgivable, truly. Amused by the situation, he strode inside, a grin on his face. “ You’re doing what for a good reason?” The plotters looked at each other, caught red-handed. They nodded in agreement, their gazes meeting. “ My lord, please, sit down.” “ We need to talk,” Mai added – and he barely managed to stop himself from laughing, the expression on her face being adorably full of determination. He did as she asked, curious of what could possibly be so important as for inner-castle alliances to be formed. “ My lord, you need to take a nap.” It was too much, he couldn’t hold it back any longer. “ Kojuro, are you feeling nostalgic? I’m a bit too old for that.” Mai frowned, her lips forming a pout. “ You too, kitten? Come on, I have a meeting later today.” Kojuro stood up abruptly. Hurriedly, he walked towards the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest. “ Rescheduled,” he stated without turning back – and the very next moment he was gone, much to Masamune’s surprise. In search of answers, he looked at Mai. “ You have to rest, tiger. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard,” she sighed, sitting closer to him. “ We’re worried.” “ It’s not like I wasn’t this tired before, kitten. It’s all right,” he tried to calm her, his hand reaching to pat her head. “ Yes, you were… But it’s not the same, is it?” she questioned, a shadow sweeping over his face. “ Masamune, nobody in our castle would ever hurt Iroha. It must be hard not to stay on guard, but… Lean on us a little more.”

A sudden dryness overtook his throat, burning sensation spreading up his windpipe. He propped his elbows on the table, letting his head rest over his hands. Her cheek pressed to his nape, Mai hugged him from behind. Her breath tickling his neck, her warmth seeped through the fabric of their kimonos, soon grounding him enough for them to talk again. “ I am that easy to read, aren’t I?” Masamune chuckled, shaking his head. “ I think that anybody who saw you both could guess that much.” A moment of silence. He straightened his back and she shifted, her chin resting atop his shoulder. “ I’m worried too, tiger. But we aren’t in it alone. Kita’s looking after Iroha now, Kojuro already cleared the rest of the day for you… “ she trailed off, tone of her voice changing. “ So go take a nap, Masamune Date.” Masamune snorted out. “ You’re too cute. I can’t reason with that.”

***

Masamune opened his eye lazily, sun already hanging high over the sky. Yet it was not light that woke him up – he listened in closer, heavy steps sounding off in the corridor… Or was it a run? A pair of feet, two pairs of feet… The door to their room creaked, a tiny girl pushing it with all her might. “ Princess..!” somebody called after her, but Iroha was already inside. In a dishevelled yukata, with her hair sticking to all sides, she hurried straight to him – and he barely managed to sit up, her arms already hooking behind his neck. “ Dad, you’re back!” she exclaimed, snuggling into him. “ I told mama to wake me up. But she forgot!” “ It’s good to see you too, kitty,” he laughed, a glimpse of her nanny getting caught in the corner of his eye. He turned his face towards her and nodded to dismiss her silently.

Iroha pulled back from him, her blue eyes shining brightly. “ Mama is in the garden. She said we can eat in the garden. We can? Right?” she asked expectantly, barely able to stop herself from jumping. “ We can, but first let’s fix your yukata, okay?” “ But dad!” Iroha protested. “ I found a new kind of bug. I have to show you. Fast!” “ Then let’s hurry up.”

Somehow, for a moment, she managed to stand (somewhat) still – yet it was enough. Masamune was just about to get up, her hand pulling at his sleeve to keep him down. He looked at Iroha quizzically as she cupped his cheeks. “ One thing. Important. Are you listening, dad?” He nodded in reply – and suddenly, her face lit up. “ I love you big much.”

And so, she was out, already sprinting down the corridor. He? Masamune could only shake his head and try to catch up to her.

Tag list: @datenoriko, @nad-zeta, @tsubaki3192, @jiyuu-chan, @missjudge-me, @ikemencrossedmyth, @plumpblueberry, @i-sleep-like-napoleon, @nimeryaa, @nuttytani, @thesirenwashere, @milas-imaginarium, @kisara-16, @yukas-clover, @alerialumina , @cheese-ception If you want to be tagged under my future works, let me know (any way works)! ^^ Also, if you have some preferences (for example: you’d rather not be tagged under some series, etc.), please, tell me. If you don’t want to be tagged anymore - please, do not feel bad about it, just say so :)

#masamune date #ikesen masamune #ikemen sengoku masamune #ikesen #ikemen sengoku #ikemen series #my ff #my writing

95 notes · View notes

bookbornexiv · 3 years

Text

the sea at the bottom of the sea

(wol and hythlodaeus check out azem’s apartment. warning: unedited and full of shadowbringers spoilers up to 5.5, despite which i clearly retained absolutely zero knowledge of any lore)

You heard it sitting on the docks south of Wright, a fishing rod in your hands and sea-spray salting your dangling feet and the mad cries of gulls in your hair; a story told through mouthfuls of sandwich by one dock worker to another, drifting to you like a thin thread of destiny over the pounding heartbeat of the sea in your ears and in your bones. You were thinking about fish and other such things, you had your eyes half shut to better feel the sun's warm kiss on your face. To better ignore that you should probably be actually doing or preparing for some important duty right now instead. To better forget that there was something you came here to remember.

"There's a sea at the bottom of the sea, and another sea at the bottom of that sea, and another sea at the bottom of that one. But below all of that, if you swim hard enough, you might see a city..."

You can see it now on the back of your eyelids, the shadows of spires and spirals like arms unfurling to welcome you, that city at the bottom of the sea. But you know it's not really a city, that the tale-telling dock workers are right. What looks like a city is just another sea, emptied of water and filled instead with memories so fluid, anyone could be forgiven for thinking them the real thing.

And you find yourself wondering, what's at the bottom of that?

You find, without much surprise, Hythlodaeus waiting in the lobby of the building when you eventually locate it. You fold your arms as you crane your neck back to gaze accusingly into his masked face. You really could have used his help three or four bells ago, at the front desk of the city council, or at any of the departments they eventually relayed you to like a ping-pong ball. At any of the points in time which you found yourself explaining over and over again, to a different face wearing a very slightly different mask, that you didn't have any identifying documents, you didn't have any legal or law enforcement credentials, but all you wanted to know and didn't see the harm in them telling you was Azem's mailing address. A PO box would have been fine. Finally, your patience wearing thin, you had to withdraw and hide in a back alley to surreptitiously make some coffee biscuits on your portable stove, craft a cute little paper box to put them in, and then - wearing your most winsome smile and the Amaurotine robes you'd kept from the first time you'd been run around doing errands here - rocked up to the concierge of the first residential building you could find, intending to say you had a cookie delivery for Azem but you'd forgotten the unit number exactly. To your crestfallen surprise, the lobby is entirely empty of staff and residents alike, and only Hythlodaeus is there, beaming at you in your cleverness.

"I didn't do anything," you say.

"Azem was always moving. When you're never in town and very charming but also very bad at arranging for bills and rent to be paid on time, you can't keep a place for long," Hythlodaeus explains. "Landlords get fed up and somehow Emet-Selch or I would end up with the eviction notice, we'd have to come around to make sure everything was safely put away in storage for the time being... Azem never even remembered how to get to any of them either. You're doing better. Very impressive."

You give him the box of biscuits. You're not sure how he's going to get any use out of them, but he looks delighted anyway, and tucks it carefully away somewhere in his robes.

"Shall we go up? You'll need me to press the lift buttons. You can't reach them."

You also end up needing his help to reach the lock on the apartment door, which you are completely unsurprised to find out he has a spare key to. For a moment, as he fumbles with the stiff lock, you find yourself backing up a little bit, holding your breath, as if that locked door were a rock over the mouth of a volcano already in the throes of an eruption. Later you'll ask yourself why you were so nervous, so anxious, what you were thinking you might see when he opened that door. For now your mind is a blank - one that, mercifully, remains so as Hythlodaeus wiggles the doorknob free and pushes the door open. "Welcome!" he says, brandishing one long arm gracefully to usher you in. "Watch your step. And your hands."

You don't take a step towards the open doorway. "Watch out for what? For cubus? Did Azem keep cubus as pets?"

"No, no, I mean it might be dusty. I don't remember if anyone arranged for weekly cleaning."

You finally let go of that long breath you had been holding. Dust you can deal with. You are the Warrior of Darkness. The Warrior of Darkness. The Warr- You clear your head, nod gratefully at Hythlodaeus and step past him, into the apartment.

It honestly is a bit of a disappointment. If you hadn't known the occupant of this unit to be a person of fairly major importance and influence on, like, an international scale, then you might have thought it pretty neat in a sterile, showroom kind of way. High ceilings and big glass windows and sleepy beige and grey accents on sleek and featureless furnishings, generic abstract paintings alongside boring black shelves on the walls, and lush plastic plants scattered about as if the designer had run out of ideas and just slapped a wall planter here or a flowerpot there to hide chipped varnish or distract from a glaringly empty spot. It isn't particularly dusty, or at least, the recreator of this physical illusion had neglected to include it, so it couldn't have been a terribly integral part of the experience. You wonder vaguely if Emet-Selch - if Hades - had been tempted to improve upon the reality of the past, even for just a little. You imagine him sneezing violently as he walked in, lifetimes ago, planets ago. The hood flying back off his head, him stomping around irritably resolving to do something about it. Does this count as doing something about it? Leaving the dust out of his recreation of a place he would have had absolutely no reason to come back to? Had he been tempted to come back to it?

"I don't know," Hythlodaeus says, as if he can read your mind. "I mean, I know what you're thinking. You're wondering if - if a memory of Azem might be here." There are more closed doors, leading out from this main room; there's a sliding door to a balcony, but you don't see anyone on the other side of that at least. "If everything was remembered into being so faithfully, so perfectly, then surely, you think, one of the most important people in this city should be here too. How could one of the Fourteen be forgotten? By another of the Fourteen, no less?" His masked face tilts to regard you in a way you want to interpret as tenderly, even though you can read absolutely nothing from its smooth, blank surface. "You're free to look. I'll just dust everything a bit and check the bathrooms. You know there's always a pipe leaking or something when you're not around to see to it."

He leaves you, disappearing into a small room which, you assume, is not hiding a snoring recreation of Azem, since he makes no startled exclamation. You think you know him well enough by now that he'd pop back out again, all excited, and wave you over to come look at Azem, if he'd found anything. If he'd found his new, old friend.. You breathe a little easier and muster up the courage to step forward, poke at a stack of books that looked like they were lifted out of the box they'd been stored in and plonked down upon a low shelf to never move again until the next time Azem forgot to settle the rent. You can't actually reach most of the stuff in here, but there's nothing that you actually feel worth taking a second look at, let alone trying to climb the bookshelves for. No portraits of loved ones, masked or unmasked, no trinkets or souvenirs one might have expected of a constant traveler, nothing that looked like a notebook or journal or even a grocery list. Nothing personal. It looks and feels like a place that had been carefully arranged to look homely and welcoming, but in reality is no one's home. You do eventually climb the coffee table and stand upon it, looking around, trying to imagine yourself about ten times taller, to no avail. No skull-splitting flash of light, no rush of memories, no sense of deja vu assaults you as the Echo had seen fit to do everywhere else. This place doesn't mean anything to you. Perhaps it never had.

You sit on the table, shoulders slumping a little, and wait for Hythlodaeus to come back. He looks at you, goes to the kitchen and re-emerges with two cups of tea, although the cup he plonks down in front of you might better serve you as a bath than a beverage. You sit on the balcony together and eat the coffee biscuits, Hythlodaeus pinching each one delicately between thumb and forefinger as one might pick up a grain of sand, and craning his neck back as he lifts it to his mouth so you never quite see the face below his mask. When you look down into the box and find it empty, Hythlodaeus says they were delicious. You remember making six biscuits and you remember eating six biscuits. But you don't mention it. It has been such a peaceful afternoon.

"Did you find what you were hoping to find here?"

You shrug.

"I suppose we can't always find what we set out to find," Hythlodaeus says. "But sometimes, you know, you find something you absolutely weren't expecting or even thinking to find. Sometimes it's something you had no idea could even exist. That's what Azem always said traveling was like, you know? It can happen even at home, but I suppose when you're on the way to somewhere else every day, it happens all the time."

You point out that that unknown 'something' could be something as bad as it could be nice. But, you concede, it's probably better to be prepared for it to be bad, while hoping for it to be nice. Otherwise, you can't imagine that anyone would ever want to leave one place for another.

"That is something Azem would say," Hythlodaeus says with great satisfaction. "You know, I think we never quite managed to meet up here and have a chat like this. It's nice to be able to sit here and talk nonsense together at last."

You look at him, wondering if a crack might have appeared on his mask somewhere, if something in this city is programmed, triggered, coded to unravel the minute someone finally acknowledges who you are and who you were in the same breath - the new old you, the old new you. You can't say in words what exactly you're expecting. Perhaps you'll hear your true name, Azem's true name, perhaps even spoken in Emet-Selch's voice rumbling from the speakers in the walls, from the waves high above the city's spires. Perhaps you want the city to crack and crumble and fall to pieces around you, only to reveal the true city at the bottom of this remembered city, the city at the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the sea. Perhaps all you want, every time you return here, is to truly be home.

"I'll finish your tea, if you're not going to drink it."

Hythlodaeus puts the cups away when he's done, wipes the crumbs from the empty box and deposits it gently in a massive bin. You make a mental note to come back and check on it later. Can a remembered garbage disposal or recycling system actually dispose of very real cardboard, made from real pulp from real branches you cut yourself, a world away - fourteen worlds away? - in the quiet forests of the North Shroud?

"Did you know Azem wasn't going to be here?" you ask him, later, when you've taken the lift back down to the building's lobby. He is poised to see you off, standing at the exact spot he was waiting to welcome you in, long limbs arranged in exactly the same position. You wonder how much longer this simulation of Amaurot, sundered from its creator, will stand, can pretend to function, pretend to live. Is it beginning to loop things to conserve resources? Is that even close to a guess at how this place works?

"I wasn't sure," Hythlodaeus replies. "We didn't open any of the other doors, after all. And Emet-Selch complained about Azem being absent almost as equally as he complained about Azem... Perhaps he felt it was more true to memory not to recreate Azem in Amaurot. Perhaps he was stubborn enough that he didn't care and did it anyway... In the old days I'd have offered to bet on the outcome. But these aren't the old days any more and anyway, you're here."

"I am," you agree. "But I gotta go."

He lifts a hand to wave you goodbye. For a moment your heart leaps to your teeth, but it's not the same way you remember Emet-Selch waving at all. But it's also, excruciatingly, bone-meltingly painful and endearing and wonderful all at once. You don't want to stop looking at him, and you don't want to leave. And yet, and yet, and yet, you find your feet turning and then you're facing the doors, walking out into the emerald light of the sea-sky over Emet-Selch's Amaurot.

It turns out there really is a city at the bottom of the sea at the bottom of the sea, but it's not your city any more.

#been sitting in drafts for 1000 years #now free #ffxiv #i forgot my ao3 login its also been 1000 years

4 notes · View notes

tosikoarts · 4 years

Text

SFW Alphabet | Light Yagami

Haven’t seen anyone doing this alphabet thing so here we go. Warning: there’s a lot. Check tosikowrites tag for more.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Light is not the best when it comes to affection. It usually served him as a method of manipulation so in the beginning it might take some time for him to separate affection as a tool from affection as a sincere feeling.

When he finally does his affection will depend on the point of timeline:

If it is before the L’s death, he would be extremely cautious with everything and everyone. Nobody would know about relationship and all of affection would be in virtual form. Morning texts, good nights, deep conversations or just a daily check-ups – Light would try hard to show that he cares through words since he can’t do it in any other way. He would occasionally send flowers with a box of chocolate or other traditional gifts when circumstances allow him to do so. After the memory loss, Light probably would find one calm evening for a candlelight dinner in inconspicuous but cozy restaurant.

If it is somewhere between the L’s death and rise of his successors, he would shower his dearest with affection, both verbal and physical. He would stay classy but choose more expensive gifts like wristwatch, or bracelet, or book, or box of ideal fruits. He never asks what someone wants, but will pick every single hint to make a guess. Light prefers kisses to hugs, particularly hand kisses and kisses in the corner of the mouth. He would be the ideal traditional dating type, sweet-talker, but only where all his plans for day are accomplished and Misa is not around.

If it is after the rise of successors, Light would become distant. He would get back to texts. They would be rare, short, but full of reassurance everything will okay soon. Light would send single “I love you” before going to before going to Yellow Box Warehouse.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

That smartass friend that knows they have to stop you from doing stupid thing but still watches you doing it. Then they help you to deal with consequences and tell you how dumb you were but they wanted you to learn on your own mistakes. Yes, that’s Light.

It’s difficult to become friends with him unless he is truly interested in your personality, skills, or social position. Friendship with Light has to be built on mutual benefit of some sort.

If he helps you, you must help him as well. No excuses. Even though he is demanding, he is ready to do a lot for his best friend too.

Also, he is the type that still talks to you like nothing changed after a long pause in communication. Once you get to some level of trust there’s no turning back. Oh, and he will make sure to keep his best friend as far from all Kira-related stuff as possible.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Light doesn’t initiate cuddles ever. The chance of him initiating cuddles is around 5% on the day when all stars lineup and both of your horoscopes say something grandiose is about to happen.

Nevertheless, if someone else decides to cuddle him in private, he will not reject them. Prefers spooning and being big spoon for sure.

Definitely needs cuddles after stressful day but, again, will never admit it. The best cuddle session has to include rainy day, cold room, and freshly washed sheets.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

He doesn’t think about settling down. Light may be mediocre at cooking but, boy, he won’t leave a single speck of dust in the house. Not on his watch. Laundry? Nobody does it better. Not a clean freak, Light just likes to keep things in order where he can find everything in seconds. Probably has specific schedule for cleaning too. He hates doing dishes and still does it anyway. Can you imagine what power of will he possesses?

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

It doesn’t really depend on circumstances. Light will do it tête-à-tête somewhere where person feels comfortable and safe. He is cold and blunt with explanation, very convincing too. Light’s words turn everything upside-down so in the end you think it’s only logical to break up with him. How does he feel? Nobody knows. He probably suppresses all feelings, emotions, and dives into killing criminals with even more passion.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Well, if we talk about serious commitment, not a temporary contract for the sake of New World, it would take from 5 to 8 years for someone like Light to propose. He wants to be sure it is the right person by his side. At some point, he also will confess about him being Kira and make sure his loved one is okay with that. If they’re not he would try to manipulate them into accepting his mission. If it doesn’t work he will eliminate them. They don’t have to support his actions but they have no right to get in his way. After hearing “yes” and putting proposal ring on their finger, Light will go and finish all his previous affairs i.e. with Misa.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Oh, he can be gentle if he really wants to. It is a luxury few can afford. Pecks on the cheek, holding hands, back rubs – he is more about physical side of affection and gentleness. He will be extra caring and loving if his loved one did something special for him (like present for a Birthday) or made him proud. Anniversaries are another reason for Light to shower them with love.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

He is not really into hugs due to the constant need to keep everyone at arm's length. If he sees that a person can go without hugs, he will prefer to avoid them. If they are needy, he may give up and wrap hands around their waist for a brief moment. His hugs are tight at first but he will loosen them as soon as he feels person is satisfied.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Not a single time until the Yellow Box Warehouse meeting. At least in the way it is meant to be. Until then he sticks to “I really like you” or cheesy “you make my heart skip a beat”. He expects person to understand his feelings from everything he does for them and sticks to “actions speak louder than words” philosophy. If he had another chance he would go back in time, pull them closer, and whisper every single thing he fell in love with them for in their ear.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Why would he get jealous? You have to try really hard to make this man jealous, he is too arrogant to even think that you can choose someone over him. Moreover, even if you do, he can always pull a piece of paper from the inner pocket and erase another poor soul from the face of the earth.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

That’s an interesting topic. Kisses are perfect choice for Light: they are faster, more diverse, and way more symbolic. As said, he is fast kisser. Sometimes his kisses may feel empty or light as a flap of the butterfly's wings, however, the angrier/stressed he gets the more demanding they will become. He prefers hand kisses, kisses in the corner of the mouth or cheek pecks during the daytime, and lips/neck kisses during the nighttime. If we talk, where he likes to be kissed, the answer is everywhere, especially when the whole process is accompanied by merciless teasing and/or flattering.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

To everyone’s surprise, Light is great at babysitting and will keep kids entertained for hours. It doesn’t mean he will have tea parties with them or run around playing tag, but more likely give them a specific task and an exciting reward for finishing it. The best option for him would be working on the laptop while kids are doing something by themselves in his field of vision. He never screams at child not matter how annoying they may be, he never recourses to physical punishment either. That one person who reads every reachable book about parenting and strives to be The Best Dad in the eyes of his children.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Morning is the most productive time of the day in the Yagami’s house.

By the time you’re awake, Light has already got ready for a day, watched morning news, and wrote down some names too. Kitchen smells like freshly brewed coffee. If he has to leave early in the morning he would put a sticker note on the refrigerator with grocery list or anything important you need to know. If there’s no reason to hurry, he would greet you with a morning kiss to the temple and cup of coffee with savory tamagoyaki.

On the weekends, morning routine is a little different. Light gives himself half of hour to stay in bed to enjoy mild drowsiness and warmness of person next to him. Expect some neck kisses and burnt coffee.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

They are very… normal. Most of the times he will ask you if you want to stay inside or go out to eat. When he is too tired or just not in the mood he will suggest watching movie together until you both start feeling little drowsy. Sometimes he will start asking you random questions that lead to deep conversations and additional material for him to analyze.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Light and opening up do not go in one sentence. He gives you information he wants you to believe, in the form that suits him at the moment. Is it truth? Is it lie? You never know but it always feels like he is frank with you and it is all that matters. There is a pinch of sincerity in his words but you still have to take everything with a grain of salt.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

So, have you ever seen picture with a breach in the dam? This breach is critical and dam will fall under the water pressure in minutes, right? This is Light’s anger control. It is difficult to piss him off, but it does not mean that he forgets your wrongdoing. His anger fills a cup of patience drop by drop and once it’s filled to the brim, catastrophe is irreversible. Until then he is great at self-control and keeping a cool head.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Light remembers the most important pieces of information you give out about yourself. His brain keeps filtering your words, connecting them to your facial expressions, slight changes in tone, previous conversations so day by day he learns new ways to excite you. In his head there’s a huge detective board with your name in top of it. Red threads spreads from photo to date to quotes to another photo and whenever he sees blank space he is a little confused. Did he forget anything?

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

The next evening after he finishes all the business with L, his assistants (Aiber and Wedy), and Yotsuba group. An intoxicating feeling of freedom and all-encompassing power got to his head so fast he had to share overwhelming euphoria with someone. He would take you out to secluded romantic place like Meguro River where he will be unusually talkative and cheerful. He will constantly cling to your hand, squeezing it playfully, and stroking your knuckles with his thumb. At some point, he will just stop and plant a sweet slow kiss on your lips. Future that finally starts to look like he always wanted it to be will never feel complete without you.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

People who decide to threaten his loved one are those who need to be protected. Light starts acting like a personal guardian angel only in situation when he clearly sees approaching danger though. Even with the precautions taken, he always remembers the possibility of an unforeseen situation, and if it comes, he doesn’t mind putting few more names in his Note. Also, no, no one can protect Light better than Light himself and bunch of his fanatic minions, so we’ll leave it up to them.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

His everyday effort goes from 0 to 100 and back in a second like metronome needle. Today Light gives you everything and tomorrow he will send you few messages just to check how you are doing, but, generally, you both try to keep it 50/50.

Goes 100% and beyond spoiling you rotten in the most elegant ways on special occasions like Birthday, Christmas, anniversaries. Always tries to find new ways to surprise you. He doesn’t have this huge detective board in his mind for nothing, you know.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Even if you do not know that he is the notorious Kira (which makes him so full of himself obviously), sooner or later Light’s bloated ego will become noticeable. He won’t rub his genius into your face. It’s the small things in your chats that constantly point to his superiority, and, honestly, it can be really annoying.

Besides his screaming megalomania, Light is prone to periodical ghosting. Not because he lost interest but because intricate schemes occupied all of his time once again. After few days of radio silence, a message with the deepest apologies would pop out of nowhere, slightly embellished with details to make it more believable. He always tries to warn you about going mute but sometimes he simply forgets.

I don’t know, if it can be considered bad habit, but he is, like, Kira. Just saying.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Light wants to look presentable so it’s not uncommon for him to stare in the mirror in search of imperfections. He is not obsessed with being Mr. Handsome but he tries to be always clean-shaven, with his nails short and his clothes well ironed.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

So let’s be clear:

If it is not related to Kira’s case, he would be shocked. Light is not used to rejection so it would confuse the hell out of him. After keeping poker face for a whole day, he would eventually have a huge temper tantrum at home, making Ryuk say “aight, I’m out” while he flies out of window for an hour-long trip around the block. For a few weeks he will feel like someone tore a part of him, mad and disappointed, but this feeling would fade away after 2-3 months.

If he has to end relationship because of Kira’s case, for example, they still didn’t agree on his views after exquisite persuasion, Light will have to eliminate them. In this case he can’t get rid of unpleasant thoughts swarming in his head for almost a half of year, he tries to convince himself it was right decision but some doubts keep emerge now and then.

If they were killed because of their association with Kira, someone will have to pay. He may drag responsible person into his scheme and play them until the perfect execution time comes. Probably will feel mix of sorrow, dull rage, and incompleteness for indefinite time.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Light prefers long distant relationships to regular ones. They do not require a full commitment from him and do not occupy his free time: he can send a compliment + heart emoji while serving justice at the same time.

For a long time I have a headcanon that Light is asexual. He just… doesn’t feel like it. He doesn’t care about sex, and the scene where he reads adult magazine is awkward not only for his father, but for him too.

He wishes his loved one could see Ryuk, but since he has to explain it somehow, he will never allow them to touch Death Note or a page from it. Ryuk needs new people in his life, goddamit.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Stupidity. Inability to understand obvious things drives him up to the walls. Not in Matsuda or Misa style, but hopeless stupidity in which person fails to use their logic and imagination in everyday life.

I can see Light rolling his eyes at double texts. Any form of clinginess kind of irritates him.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

Сonstant stress, world's best detective on his tail, responsibility for someone's life migrated to his dreams in the form of nightmares. He often wakes up in a cold sweat and stays up for quite some time, discussing different topics with Ryuk in complete darkness.

In addition to this Light has problems with falling asleep. He usually goes to bed after his partner, so he can prepare the room (turn off everything, leave the window wide-open) and himself (take some pills) to sleep. It takes him up to hour to stop thinking and finally drift off.

#death note #light yagami #death note headcanons #light yagami headcanons #death note headcanon #tosikowrites

125 notes · View notes

detectivedreameater · 3 years

Text

Margarita Monday || Camille and Marley

TIMING: Mid October PARTIES: @carrionxcamille and @detectivedreameater SUMMARY: Camille comes over to Marley’s for margaritas but ends up sharing a little more than drinks. CONTENT: Alcohol

Relaxing just...wasn’t something Marley really did. Ever. Sure, she took time off and had nights off, but just doing something to do it for, well, fun? Was strange. Having another woman over and not having intentions to sleep with her was also very strange for Marley. But, here she was, setting out ingredients to teach someone how to make margaritas the right way, just to...do it. No ulterior motive, no reason other than to just be normal. Readjusting herself, Marley set out the ingredients-- Dragones tequila, triple sec, cognac, lime juice, and a little bit of simple syrup. Oh, and ice. Marley had had to go to the store and actually buy a bag of ice, considering the only fridge she had was a small drink fridge, and it didn’t make ice. Was that weird or suspicious? Did she care? If this Camille was anything other than what she said she was, Marley could easily get away or fear gaze her. She was in no trouble here. Still, she jumped a little when there was a knock on the door. She looked over, straightened herself out, then went over. “Welcome to Casa Del Marley,” she said in a cheesy tone, even if she did know proper Spanish. “It’s Margarita Monday today, so please come in and make yourself at home.”

Right, this was good. Meeting people, getting out of the house, making connections. Camille was making progress, and it sure was better than spending another tuesday night parked in front of the tv barely focusing on trashy reality shows. She needed more friends, and margaritas certainly seemed like a good way to curb any first meeting awkwardness, even if it was a little college to get drunk on a weekday. Whatever, it’s not like running the park was hard. This would be good for her. This wasn’t her threadbare allyship with Regan, and she couldn’t rely solely on Cece for company either. The greeting at the door made her laugh a little as she stepped in, toeing her boots off by the door, “thanks for having me, I needed an excuse to get out the house.” And an excuse to have a drink a little stronger than a glass of wine, honestly. “You earn points already for the alliteration.” She grins, “teach me your ways, margarita master.”

Marley moved around to the kitchen quickly once Camille was inside, trying not to let the strange feeling in her stomach take too much hold on her. “Yeah, sure,” she said, setting out two glasses and the mixer. “Anything to have an excuse to make margaritas, honestly.” She gave an awkward smile. “Not that I need one, but, you know.” She cleared her throat, gesturing to the ingredients she’d laid out. “Well, first of all, you need the right ingredients. None of that cheap shit, okay?” she pointed at the tequila. “This is the best kind, hands down. People might try and tell you Cuervo or Patron is good enough, but they’re wrong,” she tapped on it, “plus, my girlfriend would gut me if I said anything otherwise.”

It was a long time since Camille had tried to make friends, honestly. With Jace the way he had been she didn’t want people around at the house and eventually being lonely was just easier than trying to make yet another excuse for why the girls couldn’t meet her husband or see her home. But Marley had offered to have her over, she wanted the company too. Of course, Camille couldn’t really afford high shelf tequila right now, but they’d- unsurprisingly- had a well stocked liquor cabinet at home, and she did one day plan to have a set up like it again. “Right.” She nods sagely, laughing a little, “honestly I can’t drink Cuervo anymore anyway, it just tastes too much like terrible college decisions.” She grins, “does your girlfriend work for the company or is she just a big believer in high shelf tequila?”

“As it should,” Marley said, scrunching her nose. “Cuervo is for college frat kids who want to get drunk fast. You need a nice fine tequila to truly appreciate the art of the margarita.” She cleared her throat, trying to move past the awkward feeling in her throat, even if she’d said the word first. “She’s a lady of fine taste, what can I say?” grinned before sweeping her hand to the next ingredient. “Now, some people might also try and tell you that you can use sweet and sour mix. It’s cheap, it’s faster-- blah, blah. But they’re wrong. You gotta do it yourself if you want the best flavor. I use lime juice, salt and simple syrup. 2 parts lime juice, half part syrup. Pinch of salt,” she explained, finding talking about alcohol was much easier than talking about Anita being her girlfriend and what she liked. “Lastly, my special secret ingredients,” she moved down the line again, “triple sec and cognac. Add to taste, of course, but I usually do a shot of each. Really brings out the other flavors. You can add a little orange juice as a spritz sometimes, too, if you’re feeling citrusy. But, yeah--” she nodded to herself as if to congratulate herself on a job well done. “That’s all there is to it. So, shall we try and make some?”

College frat kids who want to get drunk fast? Camille almost winces. That had sure been Jace. Perhaps this whole thing really was her own fault, in a roundabout way. How had she not seen the signs of it when they were younger? Sure everyone liked to get messed up at parties when they were kids, but Jace was always looking for another party to get messed up at. She’d thought- stupidly- it was the social aspect. Jace was a jovial guy, he loved to be around people, that was why he loved parties. Maybe even back then he’d loved drinking more. Uh oh, yeah, she was not going to admit it to Marley but Cam had definitely made a few sweet and sour mix margaritas in her time. It was easier. But then she hadn’t been sure how easy the real method was too-- and honestly it didn’t sound like rocket science. She liked listening to people talk about a passion of theirs, and Marley clearly had this down to a T, so seeing her in her comfort zone made Camille a little more relaxed too, and they weren’t even drinking yet. “So you go pretty sour then? That’s good. I make cosmos sometimes and I always add more lime juice than recipes say too, I just like them sour.” She nods, “doesn’t sound like I’d be able to fuck it up too badly,” Cam grins and picks up one of the glasses, “assuming you start with tequila?”

“Oh yeah,” Marley said, nodding, “the more sour, the better. What can I say? I’m a sour woman.” She stacked two glasses on the counter in front of them and motioned to the ingredients. “It really is hard to fuck up a margarita, it’s more about getting the right proportions so that you can enjoy all the flavors at once. And, of course, making sure you have good tequila,” tapped the bottle again, “yeah, sure. Start with that, I’ll uh-- supervise,” she said stepping back and letting Camille approach. This was still...strange and knew for her, but she was learning that it was nothing to be awkward about. Maybe this was just how normal people interacted. Maybe if she kept trying, she’d actually get used to it one day. She gave a smirk. “Go on, then,” she motioned, “don’t fuck it up.”

Camille laughed a little- actually, she’d been called a sourpuss once, by an older guy at a club trying to grind on her. The memory amused her to this day. Maybe they were both a little sour, but she didn’t think that was a bad thing. “I’m the same with wine, I never like it overly sweet.” She says, stepping up to the counter to start by pouring some tequila in one of the glasses- hey, she was still young enough at heart to know roughly how to pour out a shot. “I’ve known people to use triple sec before, but I’ve never come across cognac. Hey, I’ll trust the master though.” Cam shrugs, adding in plenty of lime juice and salt before pouring some syrup into a measure and adding that too. “I will admit to hating it when people put stuff on the rim of a glass though, salt or sugar or whatever. I’ve never gotten that.” She was sure that too was something about flavor, but the grains just irritated her mouth. Camille knew she liked triple sec, so after a full shot of that she measured out a little less cognac- she’d never been a huge fan- and added that too. “Looks like I managed to avoid total disaster… Or I didn’t make a mess at least.” Obsessively watching bartenders in college to make sure they didn’t mess with her drink had paid off, it seemed. She raised the glass, “cheers.” And took a sip. “Wow. Okay, you’re right. I’m adding cognac to every margarita I make from now on. Damn, that’s good. I don’t even like brandy.”

Marley watched Camille fill up her drink, talking herself through the process. “Cognac just gives it a little extra bite, you know?” she shrugged, “I’m not a big fan of the alcohol on its own, but the slightest touch really does spruce up the most basic cocktail.” Mostly, she didn’t like it because it wasn’t an alcohol she could consume copious amounts of in a small amount of time in order to get drunker quicker. But she didn’t need to say that outloud. “Ah, see! You’re amazing at it already,” she said, leaning back against the counter. From around the corner of the kitchen table came JD, sniffing the air and the new scent in the house. Marley observed him for a moment, before realizing that his horns really weren't anything that normal people would expect on a hare. Or, really even, expect a hare. She went forward to shoo him away, but he scampered under the table and around into the kitchen, right up to Camille. “Uhh, he’s got-- a mutation,” she said, staring wide eyed.

It was all going well and everything was very normal, which Camille was pretty pleased about because since waking up in town she kept getting hit across the face with weirdness. Killer mimes and vampire neighbors and an eyeball where the goddamn sun should be. It was nice to kick back with a new friend and have a drink, and talk about normal things like cognac. She’d been into cocktail making for a while when she was younger, but then Jace’s problem had gotten worse and keeping high percentage alcohol in the house just… Didn’t seem smart. She took another sip and tried not to think about that. “Well it helps to have a good teacher.” Camille laughed, only the slightest of a bitter edge to the sound, “I would know, I used to be a- ah!”

Camille startled when the creature scurried up to her, pressing her body back into the kitchen counter. “Holy hell.” It was, in essence, a big weird looking rabbit. Which would probably not have garnered much of a reaction if it were not for the horns. Horns! Every day something new and totally out of left field. Is it the weirdest thing she’s seen? Well… There were eyeballs coming out of her taps at one point, that was probably weirder. But this-- Camille didn’t quite see how a mutation could give a rabbit horns. Which meant this was the supernatural kind of weird, which meant Marley knew about the supernatural kind of weird. “...Right.” She takes another sip of her drink and sighs, weighing the pros and cons. Camille could pretend to believe her, but there would be an awkward air over the rest of the night. She had enough secrets already. “Y’know, you don’t have to… I- look, here’s the thing, I’m not an expert. Like, I don’t know a lot about it all but I do know that there’s stuff in this town that is…” She waves a hand vaguely in the air, trying to find a good word for it. “Let me put it this way, when I lived in the motel my neighbors were vampires. So, don’t bullshit me. That’s not a normal rabbit.”

Marley watched Camille closely, as she started down at JD. She could see the cogs turning in her head. Most people who wanted to remain ignorant would wave this away and be happy to accept the “mutation” explanation-- but when Camille didn’t, Marley felt herself slowly warming up to the idea that maybe she wasn’t half bad. She came over around the counter and picked up the large hare, hoisting him onto one arm and holding him so his legs dangled below her arm. He sniffed the air, wriggled once, then settled in. “You’re neighbors were vampires? Gross,” she muttered, scrunching her nose, “vampires are so broody and angsty. Oh, my life is so tragic,’ she sighed, putting a hand to her forehead, “I’m doomed to eternal life and I must feed on the blood of innocents! Or...whatever.” She remembered the last vampire she’d known, and how much his disposition to drink blood tortured him. Vampires, for all their monstrosity, could be so human sometimes. “Glad you got out of there, then,” she replied, feeling the awkwardness hang in the air a bit. She cleared her throat. “He uh--” glanced down at JD, “--he’s a Jackalope. Supernatural hare, basically. But I swear he’s nice! Usually.”

Camille wasn’t going to wander around the whole town with her eyes closed. She was in White Crest because she’d died. If she wanted answers about what the hell had happened to her and didn’t want those answers to totally freak her out it would probably be a good idea to embrace everything else weird and wacky going on in town. It was just so… Exhausting. Nothing was normal. She couldn’t even make a new friend and drink margaritas without some not rabbit thing becoming part of the evening. Maybe she just had to get used to it.

It was almost comical the way Marley handled the thing, and how quickly it settled into her arms like it’d been there a dozen times before. It probably had, she seemed to be keeping it like a domestic pet. That was almost… Sweet. And her vampire impression did make Cam laugh. “They were broody!” She agreed, “those walls were thin, I could hear them complaining. Didn’t stop the parade of pretty young girls always going in and out of their room though, so they can’t have felt too put out.” Once she’d found out what they were Cam had started watching for those girls- some of them went back again and again, but what mattered to her was making sure they walked back out. She nods, “yeah. Cece really did me a favor.” Oh how much she had come to rely on the kindness of strangers as of late, it was new. “He doesn’t seem not nice. He just startled me. I’m still getting used to all this stuff, and I don’t really feel like getting into why I’m here in the first place but it.. Yeah, it’s part of my life now, so.” Camille shrugs, staring at the jackalope… She’d heard of them, but it hadn’t occurred to her that they might really exist in this new world. “He’s almost cute. Does he have a name?”

“All vampires are,” Marley said with a little roll of her eyes. “They’re pretty dramatic.“ At least, all the vampire she’d met were like that-- she felt like it almost came with the territory, just like how most mara liked the strange and horrific. Most of them even shared Marley’s love for insects, because unlike most mammals, they didn’t run away scared. “Oh, you know Cece? Like Cece Bishop, Cece? I work with her sometimes.” And somehow knowing Camille knew Cece made Marley all the more relieved. At least she didn’t have to skirt around things anymore. “He’s very nice, usually. Just spooks easy, which is funny, considering--” she paused, frowned, “he’s pretty scary looking.” Marley rustled her arms, cinching her brows. “Almost cute? He’s extremely cute, actually. I mean, lookit his face!” she exclaimed, holding him up. JD responded by thumping his legs against her and leaping out of her arms and over to the couch. “Well...I think he’s cute,” she muttered, looking back over at Camille. “His name’s JD. Short for Jack Daniels.” A pause. “I swear I’m not an alcoholic, though.”

Sometimes Camille worried she was taking all of this too well. But then she remembered her first few months here, the icy cold that had settled over her the second she realized she was supposed to be dead, sitting in that motel room and staring at the wall for god knew how many days without being able to move. Trying to accept it all had practically rendered her catatonic, and she was still struggling, but Camille was no idiot. Even with all the additions the world was still the world and she was still a living thing that needed to make money and survive and carry on.

“I haven’t actually met any vampires, so I couldn’t speak for all of them.” Cam shrugs, and then her eyes widen, “at least… I don’t think I have. I suppose that’s rather the point.” Wow, maybe she had met vampires. Marley could be one for all she knew. It was probably rude to ask. “Yeah, it’s her I live with. We met out at Dell’s Tavern one night and when she found out I was staying at that creepy motel she insisted I stay with her.” She nods, “right, it makes sense that you’d know her too.” The morgue and the police department probably worked closely. They’d probably done that in Boston, when she’d died. Camille chuckled a little at the contradictions, how Marley thought something could look scary and cute at the same time. Though she managed not to flinch when it- JD- was brought closer to her face. He had regular rabbit eyes, all big and innocent and shiny. She did jump when the beast moved suddenly though, clutching one hand to her heart and laughing despite herself. “He can leap like a rabbit, huh? Is he- do you just keep him, like, as a pet?” Cam smiled, “I like JD. When I was in college my roommate had a hamster and we called it Khalua.”

“Count yourself lucky, then,” Marley said with a small chuckle. “Oh, trust me-- you’d know.” It was a strange thing, to find someone so...okay with all this weirdness. Even Erin had been a little freaked out by everything at first, but maybe Camille had just skipped past it all already. Or she just hadn’t seen the freak out and was getting the after effects. She shrugged. “Yeah, Cece’s like that.” She didn’t know Cece all that well, but from what she could gather, the woman liked to feel useful and help others. And was a bit nosey. “He’s a hare, actually. Common mistake. Hares are bigger than rabbits.” She scratched her chin. “I mean, yes? He’s pretty harmless. He mostly just follows me around and chews on things. Animals don’t normally like me, so it’s kinda nice to have one around that, you know, does.” A chuckle. “Khalua, ha. That’s a good name. I’m gonna steal that if I ever get another pet. I was considering getting another tarantula, they’re pretty low maintenance.” She gave a short pause, before prodding her next question. “So...how do you know about all this stuff?”

“Oh, would I? Well that’s… Reassuring, I suppose.” The only thing that’d tipped Camille off about her neighbors at the motel was how loudly they talked about it. Perhaps they’d been trying to scare her. Honestly at the time they’d been the least of her worries, and she’d even briefly wondered if any attempts to kill her would actually work. Jury was still kind of out on that one, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t going to ask anyone to try it and find out.

Camille nodded, “right, a hare.” The difference wasn’t enough to bother her, but she’d try and remember it. “Ah, I hear most animals are a little bit destructive like that.” She chuckled, it was one of the things that had stopped her from getting a dog with Jace, being too precious about her house. “He was a real hit whenever we had dorm parties, that’s for sure. Even the dean thought he was too cute to tell us off.” The idea of a spider as a pet was… Really not Camille’s cup of tea, but if Marley already had a weird supernatural hare it probably wouldn’t seem so odd to her.

Right. How did she know about all this? Marley was a cop, it probably wasn’t smart to tell her too much about how she didn’t have a legal identity and there was a man in prison for her murder. But… Well, Marley was a cop with a jackalope, and wouldn’t it be a good idea to have as many useful people helping her figure this out as possible? If Marley had a strong enough link to the supernatural stuff, maybe she’d have some information no one else did yet. “Well…” Camille sipped her drink, tapping her fingers against the side of the glass. “How do you know about this stuff?”

.Marley ruffled her nose. “Hey, I asked you first,” she pointed out, frowning. It was strange to not feel affronted by the question, however, and she had to take a minute to pause and decide if that really was one she wanted to answer. A few months ago it would have been a solid and definite no, but now that things had changed in Marley’s life, she wasn’t sure anymore. She waffled on it for a moment, confused by her own indecision. “I’m a cop in White Crest,” she finally answered with a shrug, “how could I not know about this stuff? I know most of the precinct will like to make you believe everyone around there has their head in the sand, but you can’t judge us all because of that.” Even if Marley did. She knew most of the other cops didn’t believe in any of this shit. “I also sort of grew up with this kinda stuff.”

She leaned back against the counter again. “Okay, so now that I played my cards, are you gonna tell me yours?” she asked, nodding at her. “You seem pretty normal, so what could’ve happened to you to clue you in to all this shit?”

Camille lounged back against the counter, tapping her nails against the almost empty glass in her hand and waiting. Whatever Marley had to say she was willing to bet the other woman had been around this kind of stuff a lot longer than she had. The reasoning of being a cop was sound enough, she was willing to bet they all saw some weird stuff. But Regan worked in the morgue and had wings and still managed to be disbelieving of the whole thing. Growing up around it, though, that made Camille relax just a little.

She set the glass down to pull back the sleeve of her shirt and show the sigil on the back of her hand. “I died a while ago.” Camille said, trying to sound more nonchalant about the whole thing then she felt. “Woke up in White Crest earlier this year. With this thing-” She tapped a finger against the mark- “which I did not have in my first life. A lady told me it means I was resurrected and the mark keeps my soul in my body, or something.” Camille tugged her sleeve back down. “So I am pretty normal. Or I was, but it’s kind of hard to deny all this stuff when you know there’s an autopsy report with your name on it.” She shrugged, twisting her hands together, “I figure for now this town is the best place for me, while I’m still trying to get it together.”

Had Marley been drinking something, she would have spit out her drink. Instead, it came up as a cough that felt as if it stuttered and stuck in her throat, and she turned to look at Camille with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, did you say you died? And then-- came back?” That wasn’t really all that uncommon, but Marley had been sure Camille wasn’t a zombie or a vampire-- her tastebuds were too on par. But then she showed Marley the marking on her hand and it clicked-- someone had brought her back to life using necromancy. Marley didn’t know much about it, only that only very powerful spellcasters could do it, and that it was some sort of taboo-- Peter had informed her of this, and reminded her that they were not vessels of death while doing so-- and that Bea had likely also been resurrected. She’d told Marley she’d died after Marley had pestered her about not calling back.

“Yeah, well, I guess that’s fair,” she answered, scratching the back of her neck. “Normal is-- relative, I guess. Even though you’re, well, you know…” she motioned towards her, “you can still live a normal life.”

Marley’s reaction was… Almost comical. Especially in comparison to others. Nell had been matter of fact, Regan in denial. Marley was much closer to what Camille had expected of people. The tequila probably helped, but she actually didn’t feel all that exhausted by talking about it for once, which was a nice change. Perhaps because she hadn’t gotten into the details of her ex husband and the whole ordeal that had brought about her death. She didn’t want too, it wasn’t like she owed Marley anything. Part of normal was moving on. “It’s kind of a lot to process.” She said, nodding. “So I’m trying to take it easy. Just… Getting out into the world again, y’know? Steady job, making new friends.” Camille shrugged, “not perfect but better than nothing.”

She smiled,“actually, it makes me feel much safer knowing we actually have cops who understand exactly what is going on in this town, even if you can’t convince the entire squad.” She laughed softly, moving to set her glass down by the sink and pick up her bag. “It’s getting late. I shouldn’t keep you up all night. But we should hang out again, now that I know I don’t have to watch what I say with you.”

For a dead woman, Camille was pretty casual. Marley didn’t know what that experience was like, but she could understand wanting to make a normal life for yourself. “You really should quit the Cryptid Corner,” she said after a moment, but it was with a sly grin and not a judging one. “I heard that place is haunted.” Marley gave a sheepish shrug. “Well, glad I can help out, then. I’ll certainly do my best to keep this place clean, but White Crest is certainly a...dangerous place. Don’t um-- do anything to get yourself killed again, alright?” She started heading over towards the door with Camille. She wanted to quip about how the night was her time, but she kept her mouth shut for now. She’d already given away too much, and even if Camille had been more forthcoming with all this than she’d originally thought, she still felt exposed in some way. Even though Camille had spilled her entire story, Marley kept hers much closer to her chest. “Uh-- yeah,” she said, confused for a moment. People didn’t often ask to hang out with her again, let alone as just friends. Was this really how the world worked? She furrowed her brow. “Yeah, let’s do this again. Maybe with snacks next time, too.” That’s what people offered, right? She brushed the thought away. “And uh-- thanks for trusting me enough to tell me. You don’t have to worry, either. Your secret’s safe with me.” And if Camille turned on her somehow, it would make for some good blackmail. Not that she wanted that to happen. But old habits die hard.

Camille snorted out a laugh and shook her head, “the closest thing that place has ever gotten to haunted was the one time we had a possessed toilet. A nightmare to deal with but we’ve had nothing since. It’s too lame to haunt.” She nods, “yeah… Yeah I know this place can be a bit wild. Hell, when I woke up here people were being attacked by mimes, so.” It was almost scary how quickly she’d gotten used to it all, but maybe waking up dead could numb you to experiences like that a bit. “Trust me, I don’t have any plans to put myself in harm's way.”

It was true, she certainly wasn’t going to go looking for trouble. She’d even stopped walking around the forest at night, so things were looking up. Another friend who knew her secret, someone else to trust. Camille was sick of being lonely, see, she’d decided this life was going to have friends. “Right. I appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your night, I’ll see ya.” She gave a cheery little wave before heading out the door, to return to her own home feeling a little more optimistic than the day before.

#chatzy #chatzy: camille #wickedswriting #margarita monday #camille

5 notes · View notes

dolly-decadatia · 4 years

Text

Notes 12/1/20 s.c book

Incorporate altered consciousness into practice as soon as I move to Nevada.

Reach state of ecstasy during rites- incorporate Invocation of Lust rite from LaVey?

Eww so much gender binary bullshit... kind of toying with the idea of pop culture paganism using Spike and Drusilla but grossed out by the gender binary and heteronormativity of the god and goddess and I don’t want that ickiness all over my comfort characters. Something to ponder further.

Reincarnation is brought up. Not sure how I feel about that either. This all made so much more sense to me when I was like 12.

Magic is the practice of moving natural energies to effect needed change.

I’m like 2 pages in and he’s annoying me already. I was definitely remembering Scott Cunningham with a nostalgia lens.

Next chapter is The Deities. Skipping this completely.

Chap 3 Magic:

2 main sources of energy: personal power, earth power.

Personal power- is the life force that sustains our earthly existences. We absorb energy from the moon and sun, from water and food. We release it during movement, exercise, and sex. Even exhaling releases some power, though we recoup the loss through inhaling. In Magic, personal power is aroused, infused with a specific purpose, and directed toward its goal.

Earth power- is that which resides within your planets and in it’s natural products. Stones, trees, wind, flames, water, crystals, and scents all possess unique, specific powers that can be used during magical ritual.

No matter the magical system, personal power must be infused with the need and then released.

I am more than comfortable incorporating negative Magic in my practice. Scott is super judgmental and priggish and I am not feeling his sanctimonious ranting on the topic.

You don’t need elaborate rites every-time. If nothing else, light a candle, settle down before it and concentrate on your magical need. Trust yourself.

Chap 4 tools

The broom- oh lawd he really thinks there were Wiccans during the burning times before Gardner was born. I can’t with him....

Anyway the broom is used for spiritual cleansing (don’t let the bristles touch the ground). Visualize the broom sweeping out the astral buildup that occurs where humans live. This purifies the area to allow smoother ritual workings. Since it is a purifier, the broom is linked with the element of water. Thus it is also used in all types of water spells including those of love and psychic workings. To make your own broom the classic formula is a ash staff, birch twigs, and a willow binding. The ash is protective and the birch is purifying. The willow is religious and therefore non applicable. A tiny broom of pine needles can also be used. There are many old spells involving brooms 🧹. In general the 🧹 is a purificatory and protective instrument used to ritually cleanse the area for Magic or to guard a home by laying in across the threshold, and under the bed, in windowsills, or on doors 🚪.

I personally like cinnamon brooms 🧹. I used to customize them for the sabbaths when I was Wiccan with colored ribbon and sprigs of the appropriate herbs or flowers. I miss doing that.

The wand:

Instrument of invocation. Also used to direct energy, draw magical 🧙‍♂️ symbols or a circle ⭕️ on the ground, to point towards danger ⚠️ while perfectly balanced on a witch’s hand ✋ or even stir a brew in a cauldron. The wand represents the element of air.

Traditional woods used for wand: willow, elder, oak, apple, peach, hazel, cherry 🍒 and more.

Can even use a wooden dowel and carve and/or paint it.

Crystal can also be used.

Any stick you find will be infused with energy and power.

Censer:

Incense burner. I liked the gold swingy ones because they remind me of Spike but I’m uncomfortable with the concept of a breeding pair of deities and don’t want to taint spike and Dru by pigeon holing them into those gross roles. Really really like that censer though... will have to ponder.

When no specific incense is called for in rituals and spells, use your own intuition and creativity in determining which blend to use.

Spirits can be called to appear in visible form in the smoke rising from the censer. He said “command” which seems rude and I don’t vibe with bullying spirits. I want to be their friends. He also said this is not a part of Wicca. I’m not Wiccan sooooo. C’mon incense ghosties. It’s party time at my place .

Sitting while breathing slowly and watching the smoke can be an entrancing act, and you might slip into an alternate state of consciousness.

Cauldron- ancient vessel of cooking and brew making, steeped in magical tradition and mystery. (Grain of salt- he’s talking about Wicca which is not ancient at all.) the cauldron is the container in which magical transformations occur; the sea of primeval creation. The cauldron is often a focal point of ritual. During spring rites it is often filled with fresh water 💧 and flowers 💐; during winter ❄️ a fire 🔥 may be kindled within the cauldron but the reasoning behind this is very religious so.....

The cauldron should be should be iron, resting on 3 legs, with its opening smaller than its widest part. It can be used for scrying by filling it with water and gazing into it.

Athame:

Used for directing energy not cutting. Often dull, usually double-edged with a black handle because black absorbs power. When the athame is used in ritual a bit of energy gets stored in the handle for later use. A sword can be used (like in Church of Satan rituals) if space permits. My trailer is so small it’s tempting to temporarily use a pocket knife until I move 😂. Scott says knives are phallic but pre op trans men aren’t shaped like knives. Coming out has really opened my eyes to how bullshitty concepts of yonic or phallic are. Not feeling it.

Bolline -

White handled practical working knife you actual use as a knife unlike the athame.

Crystal sphere- used for divination. They remind me of Dru because anything psychic does but like I said- I don’t want to disrespect Drusilla by show horning her into the Wiccan idea of goddess. Can be used to store energy or receive messages. Periodic exposure to moonlight, or rubbing the crystal with fresh mugwort will increase its ability to spark our psychic powers. It may be the center of full moon 🌕 rituals.

Cup- simply a cauldron on a stem. Scott calls it a fertility symbol. Gross. Not in my practice. Contains ritual beverage imbibed during ritual. I need to decide what my liquid will be. It was cranberry juice when I was a teen witch, wine as an adult, and Jack Daniels when I was a pop culture pagan (for spike). Cup can be any substance. I have an awesome baphomet goblet in the storage unit I can use. I still love satanic imagery.

Pentacle- Wiccan specific. Non applicable.

Book of shadows- can be handwritten or digital. Ideally rites should be memorized which is daunting with my learning disability and memory issues brought on by depression but I’ll try.

Bell-

Ritual instrument of incredible antiquity. (Source needed on that, Scott). Ringing a bell unleashes vibrations that have powerful effects according to its volume, tone, and material of construction. Also rung to to ward off evil spirits (what does he mean by that? Let’s not be frigging fluffbunnies) to halt storms or evoke good energies. Placed in cupboards or hung on the door, it guards the home. Bells are sometimes rung in ritual to mark various sections and signal a spell’s beginning or end.

As you collect each tool, you can prepare it for ritual. If old, it should be stripped of all associations and energies; you don’t know who owned the tool or what purposes it may have been used for. To begin this process, clean the tool physically using the appropriate method. When the object is clean and dry, bury it in the earth or a bowlful of sand or salt for a few days, allowing the energies to disperse. An alternate method involves plunging the tool into the sea, river, lake, or even your own bathtub 🛁 after purifying the 💦 by adding a few pinches of salt 🧂.

Use common sense and don’t wreck your tool with water or salt if the material would get wrecked.

After a few days dig up the tool, wipe it clean, and it is ready for magic 🪄. If you use the 💦 method, leave the object submerged for a few hours, then dry it.

There are consecration ceremonies later In the book. Use common sense and edit them as needed to make them non secular or hunt on tumblr for alternate methods.

#atheist witch #secular witchcraft #witch journey #pop culture paganism #ex wiccan

7 notes · View notes

healthmedia · 3 years

Text

The truth is that yes, you can change your body in 9 Weeks

Naturally, you are unlikely to wake up on day 31 with the bulging biceps of a body builder, nor morph from couch surfer to swimsuit model either.

But after decades working with bodies of all shapes and sizes, what we definitely can advise is that with 30 days of rigorous, dedicated exercise, you will see and feel huge change – physically and mentally – that is highly likely to create a new, lifetime habit.

And if you want to live better for longer, then this is vital. Plus, we’ve seen it time and time again – once you start the challenge, you’ll wonder what you were worried about in the first place.

Here, two of our most experienced trainers, Xtend Barre® and Pilates instructor, Anna Serafinas Luk and yoga supremo, Victor Chau, explain how to stick with a 30-day exercise plan, so you can feel the change once and for all:

Every time you put a morsel of food into your mouth, you're making a decision - about your mind and your body. They are affected by everything you eat, in a way that modern science is making clearer through new research.

What you eat is responsible for making you tired and exhausted, or keeping you energetic, vibrant and ready for action. It's the choice of food you eat that helps keep you calm and clear, and makes you glow with good health, or relish a healthy weight, or stay fit and trim.

How can I transform my body with professional tip's

Increase your protein intake. Many fitness experts tend always to have a protein shake after their workout.

Buy The Fundamentals

Let's face it: The world isn't a fit place. If you're relying on circumstance, gyms, and restaurants to keep you on-track, you're going to face an uphill battle. So before you begin, fortify your home base with the essential food and workout arsenal.

Having good choices always at-hand in your refrigerator and cupboards will make your life much easier. The specifics will definitely vary depending on the diet play you follow, but these are all solid options to have in your pantry in a pinch.

Pantry Items

Brown Rice

Nutritionally, brown rice is recommended for a healthy diet because it contains extra nutrients. Brown rice tends to be a bit more caloric, but it also contains extra protein and fiber that offer these health benefits: Lowers cholesterol. Controls blood sugar levels.06

Quinoa

Rich in fiber, minerals, antioxidants and all nine essential amino acids, quinoa is one of the healthiest and most nutritious foods on the planet. It may improve your blood sugar and cholesterol levels and even aid weight loss

Oats

The oat, sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name. While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and oat milk, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed. Oats are associated with lower blood cholesterol when consumed regularly.

But that doesn't mean oatmeal cannot do any harm to you. If you do not take a few things into consideration, even oatmeal can lead to weight gain. It can instantly turn from a slimming breakfast to a blood sugar-spiking food that can be harmful to your waistline.

Sweet Potatoes

Vitamin A. A single sweet potato can contain 769 percent of the amount of Vitamin A you need to consume daily. Vitamin A is great for your vision, bones and skin, and helps strengthen your immune system.

Highly Nutritious. Sweet potatoes are a great source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. ...

Promote Gut Health. The fiber and antioxidants in sweet potatoes are advantageous to gut health. ...

May Have Cancer-Fighting Properties. ...

Support Healthy Vision. ...

May Enhance Brain Function. ...

May Support Your Immune System.

Whole Grain Cereals

What are wholegrain cereals? Wholegrain cereals include wheat, rice, corn, oats, rye, barley and millet. Wholegrain cereals contain the three layers of the grain. Wholemeal foods are made from wholegrains which have been crushed to a finer texture.

Nuts

You could possibly gain weight.

Eat more than the recommended handful, and you might actually start to gain weight. That's because nuts are calorie-dense, Jones says, meaning they contain more energy per ounce than many other foods (you can thank all the healthy fats for that!

Which nuts are real nuts?

Hazelnuts, acorns and chestnuts are true nuts

Natural Nut Butter

The largest study of its kind, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, finds that people who eat a handful of nuts every day live longer than those who do not eat them at all

Ounce for ounce, macadamia nuts (10 to 12 nuts; 2 grams protein, 21 grams fat) and pecans (18 to 20 halves; 3 grams protein, 20 grams fat) have the most calories - 200 each - along with the lowest amounts of protein and the highest amounts of fats

Sesame Seed

Sprinkle seeds over your favorite veggie and bean side dishes. Sesame seeds add a subtle, satisfying, and healthy crunch to steamed broccoli, sauteed green beans, and a range of other side dishes. Simply sprinkle on raw or toasted sesame seeds right before serving—that way, the seeds will retain their crunch.

Here are health benefits of sesame seeds.

Good Source of Fiber. ...

May Lower Cholesterol and Triglycerides. ...

Nutritious Source of Plant Protein. ...

May Help Lower Blood Pressure. ...

May Support Healthy Bones. ...

May Reduce Inflammation. ...

Good Source of B Vitamins. ...

May Aid Blood Cell Formation.

Olive oil

Olive oil protects against inflammation, a key driver of heart disease (17, 18). Reduces oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol. The oil protects LDL particles from oxidative damage, a key factor in the development of heart disease ( 19 ). Improves blood vessel health

Olive Oil Is Not Associated With Weight Gain and Obesity

Eating excessive amounts of fat causes weight gain. However, numerous studies have linked the Mediterranean diet, rich in olive oil, with favorable effects on body weight ( 29 , 30 , 31 ).

Olive oil is a healthy fat that contains anti-inflammatory compounds. Drinking it regularly may benefit your heart, bone, and digestive health and help stabilize your blood sugar levels

Canned tuna

The bottom line. Canned tuna is a nutritious and inexpensive source of protein. Because cans of tuna last for several years, they are excellent for stocking your pantry with easy lunches and snacks. Opt for varieties that are sustainable and low in mercury.

You should never boil or sear canned tuna as this could easily overdo your meat. The most important thing to remember is that canned fish is almost always cooked already, so you're only reheating it. ... So, keep an eye on your canned tuna while it's being heated.

Salmon

Why is salmon so healthy?

The vitamin B12 in salmon keeps blood and nerve cells humming and helps you make DNA. But for your health, the true beauty of salmon is its wealth of omega-3 fatty acids. Most omega-3s are "essential" fatty acids. Your body can't make them, but they play critical roles in your body.

The American Heart Association maintains that eating two servings a week of oily fish (like salmon) can help healthy adults ward off sudden cardiac death, thanks to the protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids.

Spices

India contributes 75% of spice production throughout the world, and world spice market is continuously growing. Food ingredients such as salt, mustard, or pickle that is used to add only taste to the food.

...

Fridge Items

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Most fresh fruits and vegetables are picked before they are ripe. ... However, the USDA states that some produce, such as apples and pears, can be stored for up to 12 months under controlled conditions before being sold.

Fresh Fruits

Greek Yogurt

Egg whites

Low-Fat Milk

Turkey

Low-Sodium Soy Sauce

Salsa

Mustard

Chicken or beef broth

Bottled Water

Freezer Items

Frozen Chicken Breasts

Chicken breasts, larger pieces of frozen chicken and whole frozen birds can be cooked in the oven, although it will take around 50% longer than the normal cooking time for thawed chicken. ... Let the chicken stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Set the oven to 150°C as this will gently thaw and cook the chicken.Frozen chicken is a healthy source of protein. If you're looking for a substitute for red meat, consider healthy frozen chicken. ... Frozen chicken vs. fresh chicken is often cheaper and has the added benefit of having longer storage times than fresh chicken does.

Frozen Lean Beef

Frozen Turkey

Frozen Fish

Frozen Vegetables

Frozen Berries

The truth is that yes, you can change your body in 9 Weeks

#health #fitness #health tips #beautiful body #body goals

5 notes · View notes

johnboothus · 3 years

Text

The Differences Between Bitters Tinctures and Shrubs

Finishing touches define art. “A Day in the Life” loses masterwork status if the Beatles don’t add the song’s final lingering piano chord. Without the slightly mischievous upturn in her mouth, Mona Lisa is merely a pretty portrait. Hell, the room in “The Big Lebowski” isn’t tied together without the rug, per the Dude’s infinite wisdom. In the world of cocktails — mixologists’ own form of art —bitters, tinctures, and shrubs are a bartender’s version of these coups de grâce. The right number of drops, drips, or dashes from these power-packed elixirs elevates a libation from mundane to magic, leaving the imbiber little choice but to acknowledge the sublime craftsmanship in the glass.

The shared source of their sorcery is their intensity, which is why they’re typically doled out in teensy amounts. “All three are designed to be highly concentrated ingredients,” explains Gareth Moore, beverage director of Home & Away in San Diego. “Because of this, they can drastically change a drink’s flavor profile with just a few drops. Once you know how to use them, you can build a drink to a specific flavor profile efficiently.”

Originally, the trio’s shared purpose was intended to make those consuming them feel good in a whole different way. “I think it’s important to know that all three started out as medicines,” states Jamie White, co-owner and bartender at Pearl Diver in Nashville. “Even though they have these similar backgrounds historically, it��s important to understand they all have different profiles of ingredients and use.” The best way to get a handle on these differences is by looking at how they’re built. Bitters are made with a pure grain spirit inundated with bittering agents like fruit peels, spices, or funky stuff like bark or cassia. Tinctures act as straight-up botanical, fruit, or vegetable infusions without any bitterness. A shrub adds sugar to fruit juice and uses vinegar to cut the sweetness.

Many imbibers and bargoers these days have an awareness of how these ingredients are used, but this hasn’t always been the case. Those of us who muddled through the bad old days of the pre-2000 bar scene had a vague sense of Angostura bitters’ existence back then, but that was only because we had one friend smart enough to order an Old Fashioned while we did Kamikaze shots. Regardless, bitters were a misunderstood ingredient. Tinctures and shrubs, on the other hand, were fully unknown substances.

This changed with the craft cocktail movement’s nationwide explosion in the 2010s, when bartenders from Orlando to Omaha dug deep into drink history and resurrected their usage. This coincided with a bitters boom marked by several upstart companies experimenting with unique and funky flavor profiles. This one-two punch created a renaissance of cocktail enhancements, one that fully blossoms when you look at each ingredient separately.

Bitters

Cocktail bitters (as opposed to digestive bitters like Amaro Montenegro or Fernet Branca, which are their own beasts) are highly concentrated concoctions designed to add flavor depth and balance to a cocktail. They can also occasionally act as a drink salvager, even for the professionals. “They’re sometimes used as a savior to fix a cocktail that I didn’t nail the first go-round,” White says. “It’s one of the reasons why they usually come in at the end of a drink for me.”

Angostura, Peychaud’s, and orange bitters are the holy trinity of bitters, and they’re essential if you’re making classics like Old Fashioneds or Sazeracs. But they can (and should) lay the groundwork for the kind of alchemy that leads the home bartender to more advanced voodoo.

“Don’t be afraid to experiment!” says Ashlyn Miyasaki, bar manager at Bar Henry in Los Angeles. “Next time you make Moscow Mules at home, try adding a couple dashes of Angostura bitters and see what you notice. Add orange bitters to your Martini. Try different brands of orange bitters and use them in tandem. Once you’ve got a feel for it, then you can branch out to different drinks and unique bitters.”

You can even go beyond the recommended two dashes of bitters — if you dare. Bartenders love the Trinidad Sour, a delicious yet brazen concoction that calls for a whopping 1.5 ounces of Angostura. It tastes like how prog metal sounds: bold, burly, and relentlessly complex.

Making Your Own Bitters

Making bitters is fun, and is easier than you might think. Here’s a recipe to get you going:

What You’ll Need:

16 ounces Everclear

4 teaspoons of botanicals, preferably four different botanicals

Four 4-ounce Mason jars

In each jar, add 4 ounces of Everclear and one teaspoon of a botanical. Label each jar with the botanical used, and seal. Let botanicals steep for about two weeks, shaking the jars daily and tasting them regularly. Strain out the matter with a coffee filter. Dilute with water or sweetener if desired. Mix the contents of each jar.

NOTE: Common botanicals used in bitters include juniper berries, cardamom, ginger, cloves, caraway, rose hips, and fennel. Your neighborhood spice shop should have ample supply. When you get the hang of it, you can also throw in flowers, legumes, or dried fruits to achieve extra funky goodness.

Tinctures

Tinctures are the metronomes of the bartending world, a steadying beat that bartenders break out to achieve singular flavor precision. “I use tinctures when a drink calls for something super specific, like black pepper,” White explains. “I can make a black pepper tincture and use a drop of it in a drink instead of trying to use a pinch of pepper. The drop of a tincture will always be more consistent.”

This sense of control can make it an ideal homemade ingredient if you fret about getting the drink’s flavor just so. And they will be homemade — the only tinctures you’ll find on the market are for medicinal use or are made from cannabis (which has its own medicinal purposes). But that’s no big deal. All you need to make a tincture is alcohol, the agent providing the infusion, and the patience for the infusion to do its thing. There’s no limit to what the infusing agent may be; people use everything from fruit and veggies, to herbs and flowers, so wander around your garden and see what looks delicious.

Making Your Own Tinctures

If you’re new to making tinctures, keep things simple. Here’s how:

What You’ll Need:

4 ounces high-proof vodka (at least 100 proof)

Infusion agent, such as fruit (for this example, use one a whole mango)

1 Mason jar

Place the mango in the jar. Pour in the vodka and seal. Put in the refrigerator for about a week, stirring and tasting each day.

NOTES: Using a higher-proof spirit could expedite things. If using berries as the infusion agent, fill the jar halfway with berries.

Once you get the hang of the process, though, you can push the boundaries of creativity a bit. This recipe from Gareth Moore is a great place to start:

Cinnamon Bourbon Tincture (Courtesy Gareth Moore)

What You’ll Need:

1 part cinnamon bark

4 parts high-proof bourbon (at least 100 proof: the stronger the proof, the better)

1 Mason jar

Fill a jar with the cinnamon bark. Pour in the bourbon and let sit in the refrigerator for one week. Strain out the cinnamon bark and transfer to a dropper bottle.

Shrubs

Because vinegar is involved, shrubs offer a little more food and drink-based versatility than bitters or tinctures. “Shrubs can make a nice base for vinaigrette salad dressings,” Miyasaki says. In a cocktail, shrubs’ mélange of vinegar, fruit, and sugar creates a bright, bold complexity that adds sweet, tangy, and tart notes, making it a favorite ingredient for bartenders when they’re behind the stick. “I prefer working with shrubs at my bar, but that’s because I know I’m going to be making a large volume of drinks every night,” says Moore.

Indeed, there is a bit of a conundrum with making shrubs at home. They don’t have the staying power of bitters and tinctures, which can both keep their integrity for about a year on a home bartender’s shelf. Shrubs are also designed for shelf life, but last half that long and will lose their mojo quicker the more they’re used. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make shrubs at home — you should, because they’re delicious. Besides, the vinegar makes shrubs a killer fruit preserver — a property that made them a hit back in the American colonial era. If given the choice between turning a past-its-prime peach into a superb cocktail ingredient or chucking it into your garbage in a few days, there’s only one good answer.

Making Your Own Shrubs

There’s a little more prep work involved when making shrubs compared to tinctures and bitters, but they’re still relatively easy to make. Besides, every shrub you create gives fruit a second life. Here are a couple of recipes to get you started:

Strawberry Basil Shrub (Courtesy Ashlyn Miyasaki)

What You’ll Need:

4 cups ripe strawberries, hulled and halved

1 cup fresh basil leaves

4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

4 cups white wine vinegar

Place the strawberry halves and basil leaves in a large bowl. Add sugar and salt, then cover. Let set at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until liquid begins to form. Add vinegar, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Fine strain the liquid, and store in the refrigerator.

Grilled Peach Shrub (Courtesy Jamie White)

What You’ll Need:

1 peach, sliced and pitted

1 cup sugar

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup regular vinegar

Grill peach slices until they have slight char marks. Mix all ingredients in a pot. Cook on low for 15 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Blend ingredients with a hand blender. Put back in the pot, and let simmer for five to 10 minutes. Strain and refrigerate.

The article The Differences Between Bitters, Tinctures, and Shrubs appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/guide-bitters-tinctures-shrubs-differences/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/the-differences-between-bitters-tinctures-and-shrubs

4 notes · View notes