Tumgik
#while the rest of us figure out how to fit water delivery into our grocery budget while putting 90% of our paycheck towards rent
putting my prediction on record now that the coming decade is going to see the rise of viral-marketed fancy at-home water filtration systems, driving and driven by a drastic reduction in the quality of U.S. tap water (given that we are in a 'replacement era' where our current infrastructure is reaching the end of its lifespan--but isn't being replaced). also guessing that by the 2030s access to drinkable tap water will be a mainstream class issue, with low-income & unstably housed people increasingly forced to rely on expensive bottled water when they can't afford the up-front cost of at-home filtration--and with this being portrayed in media as a "moral failing" and short-sighted "choice," rather than a basic failure of our political & economic systems. really hope i'm just being alarmist, but plenty of this already happens in other countries, and the U.S. is in a state of decline, so. here's praying this post ages into irrelevance. timestamped April 2023
#apollo don't fucking touch this one#serious post#not a shitpost#hope i forget about this post and have no reason to ever look back on it one day#fyi i'm aware that access to potable water is already a major issue in parts of the U.S. yes i know flint michigan exists#i'm saying that this issue is going to GROW unless local & federal governments work together to fix it.#so it's a matter of if we trust them to fix it. And well--do you?#what are the chances the government just denies there's a problem until the water actually turns brown#at which point it's already been common knowledge for years and people have just become resigned and that's our new normal#i'm mean come on. how many of us already believe that we're being exposed to dangerous pollutants we don't know about and can't avoid#like that's pretty much just part of being a modern consumer. accepting that companies will happily endanger your life for a few pennies#and the most you'll get is like a $50 gift card as part of a class action rebate 20 years down the line#probably the history books will look back on Flint as a warning and a harbinger that went ignored#luxury condos will advertise their built-in top-of-the-line filtration systems--live here and you can drink water straight from your tap!#watch the elite professional class putting $700 dyson water filtration systems on their wedding registry#while the rest of us figure out how to fit water delivery into our grocery budget while putting 90% of our paycheck towards rent#also eggs are $15
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euphoriahrs · 3 years
Text
bittersweet | jjk [ii.]
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» pairing: manhwa artist!jjk x female oc
» genre: roommate au
» word count: 2.1k
» disclaimer: contains strong language and drinking, but very little
» rated pg 13
* lowercase is intended *
[series mlist]
chapters: i. | ii. | iii. | iv. | v. | vi. | vii. | viii. | ix. | x. | xi. | xii.
© euphoriahrs (please do not steal or copy in any form)
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a/n: make sure to reblog and let me know what you think about this chapter!
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𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐖𝐎𝐍 didn't arrive at the apartment until evening time. on her way back, she received an unexpected call from work informing her that a coworker was caught stealing customers' medications and needed to get there urgently.
she worked at a local pharmacy that was run by a lovely couple in their 50s. haewon was in urgent need of a job so when she saw that they were looking for an extra hand, she was elated. she would finally have a job that fit her major.
the jung’s started their pharmacy soon after they got married and raised three children, all of which moved out of the average-sized town and into bigger cities for better opportunities.
the only help they had was a man in his early 30s who was working to pay off debts, and since none of their children wanted to inherit the pharmacy as well as old age creeping upon them, they began to search for the much-needed help. now the sweet couple are practically her parents.
she reluctantly cracked the door open, wide enough so she could peek through without anyone noticing her. she expected to see an alert guard dog waiting to bite off the intruder’s finger, but there was nothing so she opened it wider.
instead of finding a vicious guard dog, she was met by what seemed to be an adorable puppy-like dog that was fast asleep waiting for its owner to come back so that they could go on their daily walk at the park.
disappointed but not surprised, she closed the door behind her and walked closer to her roommate. she slowly walked towards the boy until she was close enough to hear his soft snores.
from where she was, she squatted down and positioned her elbows on her thighs to place her head in her hands, so that she can look at his face from a safe distance without getting caught.
she examined his features of his sleeping state.
his brows were furrowed creating a crease right between them, his slightly scrunched nose, and a frown that was formed on his lips.
"i wonder what's on his mind," she whispered.
"you better turn that frown upside down, idiot," she motioned with her fingers. she stayed in that position a little longer before getting up, not wanting to be there in case he woke up.
she stretched and sauntered towards the kitchen thinking of what she should eat for dinner.
"do i cook or get takeout?" she mused making her way to a stool. she tapped the counter like a drum while trying to decide.
she was too lazy to cook and besides that, they haven't gone grocery shopping in a while so there was no food in the fridge.
"takeout it is," she pulled out her phone and opened postmates. "now the question is what(italics) to eat," she sighed scrolling through the options.
"order from that chicken and beer restaurant," a voice croaked behind her. she dropped her phone from the sudden sound, "oh, jeongguk you scared me," she let out an anxious laugh and placed a hand over her heart.
"you should really make it known when you're around," she picked up her phone.
"well, you should start paying more attention to me then," he fired back smugly while getting some water from the fridge to quench his thirst.
ignoring his comment, "when did you wake up?" haewon questioned.
with his tired stare, "just now. i just so happened to see what was on your phone." she hummed in response and searched for the restaurant, "i guess we could get that then. i didn't know what to get anyways." jeongguk moved to sit on the stool next to her and sat in silence.
after a minute or two, jeongguk broke the silence, "i haven't forgotten about this morning just so you know," he sang in a threatening way. "of course," she replied in a bored tone and she jokingly added, "so, how was your guest last night?"
"she was amazing," he amused sarcastically. haewon perked her eyebrows, "oh really? how did it go this morning hm?"
"quite refreshing actually," he seethed. haewon peered further, "not terrifying? not even a little bit?" while squinting her fingers.
jeongguk shot her a threatening look. "of course that shit was terrifying! i thought murdered someone while i was drunk last night! how do you expect me to react when i woke up to see a bloody body laying right next to me?!" he barked.
"um let me think," haewon pretended to think. "over the moon," she faked gushed. jeongguk was about to respond when the doorbell rang. "i'll get it!" haewon rushed to the door.
"hello, are you park haewon?" the delivery boy asked. he was tall and lanky with dark brown eyes and hair, probably around 17 years old.
"yes i am," she answered. the boy smiled, "did you order a mixed box in with two beers?" haewon nodded.
"okay, that'll be $14.76," he gave her the bag. haewon was getting her wallet when jeongguk gave the boy money instead.
she scrunched her eyebrows and looked at jeongguk, "i can pay for it myself you know." jeongguk gave her his famous bunny smile. "i know, but i wanted to pay anyway."
“what's with the sudden mood change?” she muttered.
the delivery boy looked over to haewon to make sure that he was okay to take the money from jeongguk. she smiled and nodded, "it's not my money anyway." the boy was about to take the money when jeongguk interrupted.
"you know, actually you can pay for it yourself," he took the money back and walked away.
haewon whipped her head towards jeongguk, "how do you just say 'oh i'm going to pay for our dinner today' and then decide to take it back?!" she looked confused with a tinge of annoyance.
"i don't know," he stood there with his hands in his pockets. haewon rolled her eyes and turned back around to give the delivery boy money. the boy awkwardly smiled, "would you like your change?"
"no thank you, have a good night," she smiled back.
haewon closed the door and leaned against it. she stared at jeongguk trying to figure out why his mood kept changing. one minute he seemed like he was going to kill her, the next minute he was all nice and stuff, and another minute later he wants to take back his kindness.
jeongguk cleared his throat, "if you take a picture it'll last longer." she thought about his remark and did what he said to and took a picture. jeongguk was surprised but covered up quickly before she could take the picture. "there i did it." she said in a monotone.
"but you know what? you don't deserve to be in my camera roll, more like in the trash." she paused, "actually you don't deserve to be in my phone at all," with that haewon deleted the photo in her camera roll, then went into the trash and deleted there so that there was no trace of the photo left.
"come on, let's go eat before the food gets cold," she walked away. jeongguk stood there processing what just happened. "and she did that for what?" he shook his head and couldn’t help but form a grin and made his way to the kitchen to eat.
haewon had just finished placing the food on the counter when jeongguk came in. she handed him a beer and swung her piece of chicken, motioning him to sit down.
"so, how is your progress going on getting a company to accept your manhwa?" she asked being nosy and wondering how his life was going.
jeongguk almost spit out his beer, "how did you know about that?"
haewon scratched the back of her head, "well, you see, it was only a peek-"
"just a peek?" jeongguk interrupted raising an eyebrow. she sighed, "okay i went through it. but only because i was trying to at least tidy up your room since i did just leave something possibly life traumatizing in your bed." she sheepishly smiled. "sorry," she added and took a sip of her beer.
“that’s bullshit,” he rolled his eyes.
“okay, you caught me, i was snooping,” she said exaggerating the ‘a’ and put her hands up surrendering. “but being nosy is in my nature, i can’t help it,” she shrugged and took a sip of beer.
“whatever,” he exhaled. his shoulders slumped, "none of the companies are responding. i doubt they even took a glance at what i sent them. so i guess i'll just have to continue to work on webtoon," he confessed and chugged his beer.
"from what i have seen, your works are really good. you just haven't found the right company yet, all of those other companies are just blind jerks that can't see that there's a great manhwa in front of them," haewon tried her best to console him while not sounding fake. she hated being in situations like these without sounding awkward, it was rather hard for her to console someone.
jeongguk showed a pained smile and stared off into space.
silence consumed over the two as they finished their food. haewon glanced at jeongguk for a second, he was staring at his drink with his tongue poking the inside of his cheek. he reminded her someone that she used to know, who was long in the past. not wanting the thoughts to continue, she rubbed her face as a way to get rid of the memories.
she ended up staring at him much longer than she intended, she was so caught up thinking about her past that she hadn’t noticed that jeongguk was staring right back at her. he quickly looked away when he noticed that she came back to her senses.
after they were finished eating, jeongguk got up to throw their food away. haewon rested her head on the counter and played her favorite game on her phone. jeongguk leaned forward against the counter and asked, "why did you come home so late? i thought it was your day off."
haewon stared at her phone contemplating whether she should answer him or not. she didn't feel like talking because it would take too much effort.
she conversed in her head, “should i answer? do i want to? no, but... ah whatever.”
finally making her decision she lazily explained, "my coworker was caught stealing customers' medications at work today and my boss needed me to come in to take over the rest of his shift," she moved her head so that she could face him.
"apparently he was an addict but hid it well i guess. every time we had to take drug tests he would have a way to fake them so that they would turn negative,” she paused to take a break and rubbed her eyes, “we also had him do inventory at the end of each day of our over the counter pills since he had been working there for a year or two now, and was trusted," she yawned wanting to stop talking but it was too late now.
"but it turns out that he kind of faked those as well. he would get different friends to buy some every other day, so he wouldn't have to put much work into faking everything and so that nothing looked suspicious when our boss checked everything at the end of the month," she finished explaining, thanking heaven that she could finally stop talking.
jeongguk was nearly speechless by how dedicated that man was. "that's crazy," was all he could let out. "i know right," haewon chuckled.
she got off the stool, "i’m going to head out now. night," she left the kitchen dragging her feet to her room.
"goodnight," jeongguk softly replied. he stood at the counter for a little longer before walking over to the couch and turning on the tv to a random late-night cartoon.
since he was his friend's p.a, it was his job to review the busy work schedule for the next day and memorizing it, or at least he tried to, but he mainly tried to find when he would have time for a break.
feeling drowsy, he tossed his phone onto the coffee table and got comfortable on the couch. he was too tired to even think about going all the way to his room, so he just stayed in the living room. listening to the t.v in the background, he closed his eyes and let sleep wash over him.
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angelliev · 4 years
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Lover Boy - JJ Maybank x OC - Part Two - Cherry Popping
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Word Count: 2.7K
Summary: Aria learns a little more about the differences between the social classes of the Outer Banks and is exhilarated to see JJ once again. The chemistry between the two teenagers increases and so does their burning passion for each other.
Warnings: Smut, some cursing, unprotected sex. (Don’t be a fool, cover your tool) ;)
A/N: GIF is not mine. Belongs to the rightful owner. I don’t own the show or any of the characters. Hope you enjoy and thank you so much for your time. :)
Lover Boy Series Masterlist
The universe is definitely a mystery to me. I tend not to believe in fate, but that seemed to change when today took a surprising turn. It started out with having brunch with my family at the country club with the Camerons. Normally I wouldn’t mind going, but I my skin is still decorated with hickeys. For the past few days I had to cover ALL of them with makeup. Damn you JJ. He’s all I’ve been thinking about ever since the sleepover. I want to see him again. Just thinking about him makes my heart skip a beat and my cheeks turn red. Part of me wonders what he would do to me if we were to see each other again. God the things I’d let him do to me are absolutely sinful.
A snap of someone’s fingers displayed in front of my statue face pulls me back into reality and away from my forbidden fantasy. I turn to the young woman sitting next to me with a confused look. She nods towards the waiter who is waiting for my order. “Forgive me. May I please have your pesto mushroom crepe? Thank you.” I can practically feel the burning gaze from the young woman sitting beside me. My dear older sister.
Jennifer Prescott. My father’s picture-perfect daughter. Intelligent, graceful, pretty and popular. That’s how my parents see her, me on the other hand, I know her true nature. She can be mean, materialistic and manipulative. We’re always getting on each other’s nerves. She’s quite the party animal too, but my parents trust her too much to think that she would go out and do stuff like that. Even if they did now, they probably wouldn’t mind. After all, they seem to adore her matching picture-perfect asshole of a boyfriend, Rafe Cameron. When he’s not hanging out with his friends or doing business, he’s cheating on my sister and doing cocaine. Sitting on the other side of me is Sarah who whispers discreetly into my ear, “I still can’t believe they’re back together. They fight more than the kooks and pogues combined.” I nod in agreement. Sarah excuses herself to go to the bathroom and I sit while listening to the agonizing grown up talk that bores me to death. That was until a rather impolite conversation was brought to the table.
“Would it kill for these people to hurry up with our order? I swear all they do all day is sit around like sloths.” I felt ashamed to hear those words come out of my father’s mouth. I felt even angrier to hear what Rafe said next. “I understand sir. Those pogues are an absolute nuisance, they cause nothing but trouble.” I glare at Rafe. “They’ve worked more than you ever have.” I squeezed my way into the conversation, everyone turns their attention to me. “Excuse me?” Rafe asked astonished. “You heard me. They’ve worked harder than you ever have. They have grit. They’re determined. They accomplish things. What have you done besides waste your money and,”
“Aria!” My dad interrupt. “That was uncalled for.” “So are you and Rafe talking down to people like they’re worthless.” I can practically see the steam erupting from both my dad and sister. “You guys don’t know shit about them. What gives you the right to say such things?” I continue.
“Stop it Aria! This is embarrassing.” Jennifer says in a hushed tone, not wanting to attract more curious stares. “So is being related to you Jennifer.” Her jaw drops. With my anger over flowing within in me, I stand up and gather my belongings. “And where the hell do you think you’re going?” My dad questions me. “Anywhere but here.” I march away despite my father’s protest. I let out a frustrated sigh as I enter my home.
Maybe I should’ve waited for the food to arrive before stomping out. Now I’m hungry. I scan the fridge only to see that we barely have anything. I suppose now would be a good time to order some groceries. Thank god for Heyward, the lord and keeper of all the holy groceries. (Lmao sorry I love him) While I wait, I decide to scroll through the channels on the tv, finally coming to a decision.
I practically sprint to the door when I hear the bell ring, stomach growling. What I definitely wasn’t expecting was a particular handsome blonde hair blue eyed guy to be standing in front of me. “JJ?” I pause for a moment. I couldn’t believe I was gazing upon him again. “Nice to see you beautiful.” He smirks as he can see he still has an effect on me.
“Likewise, please come in.” I take a few bags from him. My hand brushed against his. “Nice place you got. What do your parents do again?” He asked looking around the luxurious home. It’s too much in my opinion. “My dad is a CEO of this pharmaceutical company and my mom is a physician.” “And what do you want to do?” “I don’t know yet. What about you?” He just huffs. “Don’t know. Something that doesn’t require college. Military probably.” I watch him help put groceries away, I can’t help but gaze at his beautiful body, with the way you can see the veins in his arms or his toned abdomen under his shirt. His fit to join the military.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you again.” I say. “Awe, did I leave insatiable?” His eyes burn into mine. I’d be the biggest liar if I said no. “Perhaps. Couldn’t get enough of you I guess.” I decide to play along with his game of flirtation. “Oh? Is that so? And just what would your parents think if they knew their daughter was getting hot and heavy with some pogue?” He says backing me up towards the counter. “Don’t know. Wasn’t planning on telling them. I figured this,” I close the distance between us and gently bite down on his earlobe. “Could be our dirty little secret.” This seems to rile him up a little. He looks me up and down. “I like the sound of that.”
He finally closes the distance between us, lips crashing together. Hands exploring every curve and muscle of each other’s body. God, I missed this. His hands on my waist. Tongue caressing mine. Being so close and intimate. This whole thing felt scandalous. Me sitting on the kitchen counter making out with the hot delivery boy. I can’t even imagine what would happen if my parents found out. Who knew fate would bring us together again?
I want it to last forever, but the sound of the front door opening makes us both jump back. “Aria?” My mother calls for me until she finds me in the kitchen. She was taken by surprise to see JJ.
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting any guests.” “Sorry, I ordered some groceries. This is JJ.” I apologize. She just smiles. “No need to apologize. And it’s a pleasure to meet you JJ. I’m Elaine, Aria’s mother.” She offers a hand shake which he takes. “Nice to meet you too ma’am.” He flashes her a smile. She pays him and tips him nicely before handing him a cold-water bottle.
“Take some water with you love. It’s hot out there. You need to stay hydrated, especially if you’re being active.” This took JJ by surprise. “Thank you. I really appreciate that.” “My pleasure love, and take this with you. You must be burning so many calories after working all day.” She hands him a zip lock bag of some of the leftover sandwiches we made last night. “Oh, that’s fine Mrs. Prescott. You really don’t have to do that.” JJ attempts to decline. “Nope I insist.” She ignores his protests. He finally gives in. “Thank you again. That’s very kind of you.” “I’ll walk you out.” I say. When we’re out of her hearing distance he says, “Your mom seems really nice. Looks I’ll have to deliver here more often.” “Speaking of that when can I see you again?” “There’s this kegger party tonight. What do you think?” “Sure. I’ll see you tonight lover boy. “Better.” He winks before strutting off.
I enter the kitchen to see my mom preparing to make dinner. “He’s a sweet kid.” She compliments. “Yeah, he is.” I was a confused to say the least. I thought that she would bring up the incident at the club. “You’re not mad at me?” She simply looks up with confused eyes. “If you’re referring to what happened at brunch, no I’m not mad. You did nothing wrong.” Well that’s not what I was expecting. “I doubt that dad feels the same way.” She just chuckles.
“You’re right about that, but he had absolutely no right to be so disrespectful and neither did Rafe. If anything, it surprised me that your father and Rafe would say such thing in front of Mr. and Mrs. Cameron.” “Why’s that?” My curiosity gets the best of me. “Because they’re actually from the cut.” That came as a shock. “I’m sorry if I overreacted, but I just didn’t think that was fair of them.” She looks at me with nothing but care in her motherly eyes. “Don’t every apologize for speaking up against something that’s wrong. I gave your father a piece of my mind before he went golfing with Mr. Cameron.” “Thanks mom, for understanding.” She simply smiles. “Of course. Now enough with that. You go enjoy the rest of your day.”
And that I did. My leg was bouncing the whole way there. It didn’t take much to convince Charis and Sarah to come. “Trying to impress someone?” Asked Charis referring to my rather revealing short sundress and hair down. “Can’t a girl feel pretty once in a while?” I hope JJ likes what he sees, and boy did he. I was satisfied to see that he was impressed. His predator like eyes roamed every inch of my body. He licks his bottom lip, making me weak in the knees. The night went on with JJ staring me down. Watching my every move. Most likely fantasizing about what he’d do to me if he had me alone.
I take a seat next to him by the fire. My naked leg brushed against his. Sending a shiver up our spines. “Wanna get out of here?” His hot breath, that smells like weed, mint and booze, whispers into my ear. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. That’s all he needed before taking my hand and leading me towards this cute fish shack by the marsh. I didn’t have time to say anything when he slammed the door shut and pushed me against the wall.
His lips attack mine like he’s been holding back all day. My hands go straight for his hair, pulling at the ends. “You have no idea what that dress does to me babygirl.” “I thought you’d like it.” My eyes flicker into his lustful ones that seemed to grow a shade darker. This time he kisses me a lot slower than the last one. It was gentler, like he wanted to take his sweet time with me. His hands clutch onto my ass. Making me gasp and giving him the opportunity to slip his tongue past my now swollen red lips. When we pull away to breathe, something in me finally awakened. Like a hidden voice that I’ve been holding back for so long. Something only he was able to awaken. “I want you JJ. I want all of you.”
He waste no time to scoop me up in his arms and begin to walk towards what I assume is his bedroom. He throws me on the bed before crawling on top of me, our lips connect again in a passionate kiss. I tug at his shirt, which he gladly takes off, along with my dress that he throws across the room. He takes his time to soak in the girl in front of him. I didn’t bother to wear a bra, which seemed to take him by surprise.
He begins to play with the harden buds, the feeling of his rings making my breath hitch. “So fucking beautiful.” His words make me blush, all the insecurities that seemed to cloud my mind vanish. Even when he pulled down my panties. My hesitation disappears when I unbuckle his belt, pulling down his pants and boxers, his erection no longer hiding. I silently gulp as I look upon the member.
“Jay?” His eyes flicker to mine. “I’ve never um,” I can’t seem to find the right words, but judging from the look on his face, he already knew. “We can stop if you want.” “No. I want this. I want it to be with you.” This makes him smile, I can practically see a spark in his baby blue ocean eyes. “I’ll be gentle. I promise. We’ll go at your pace.” His hands hold my legs open as he aligns himself at my entrance. I watch as he begins to disappear inch by inch until bottoming out. I focus on my breathing, hoping that it would distract me from the discomfort.
When I look up at him, his jaw is clenched, resisting the urge to plunge deep into my smooth folds. He leans down to litter kisses on my face as an attempt to distract me from the pain. “Just relax. It’ll start to feel better soon.” Who knew he had such a sweet side? My walls finally begin to adjust to him. The discomfort begins to fade. I move my hips and am introduced to a pleasurable sensation resulting in me letting out a surprised moan. It increases as he pulls out only to plunge back in, almost knocking the wind out of me.
He finds a rhythm that I was comfortable with. The speed of his thrusts increase as the volume of my moans grow louder. The sound of skin slapping, raspy breaths and pornographic moans fill the room. Our bodies fit perfectly together, like puzzle pieces, as if we were made for each other. He smiles at how well I’m taking him.
The sight above me was breath taking. His biceps flexing every so often along with his abdomen tightening. His skin practically glowing. Hair messy and falling in front of face. Head thrown back, mouth agape and a vein on the verge of popping. The heavenly sound of his occasional moans and grunts, a pleasing melody.
Wanting more, I pull him down so our chests meet and wrap my legs around his waist, creating a new angle that reaches the sweet spot that lurks deep inside me making me moan louder. He once again bites down on that particular spot located on my neck. This action causes a tight feeling to form in my stomach. “Mmm JJ. I’m so close.” “Cum for me babygirl. I’m right behind you.” His thrusts become faster and sloppy. With him grunting against my ear and thumb rubbing against my sensitive clit, it doesn’t take much for me to reach my peak. My eyes roll to the back of my head, which is thrown back against the pillow, and a wave of euphoria rushes through my body like electricity.
“Fuck.” The feeling of my walls gripping around him even harder was enough for him to find his own release. He stills inside me, his seed coating my what was once pure and innocent walls, and are now tainted and marked by him. The rest of his body goes limp as he lays against me trying to catch his breath. The two of us lay there, our bodies slick with sweat, taking in the warm air. A whimper escapes my lips at the lost feeling when he pulls out, some of his cum leaking out of me. Neither of us say a word. Our naked bodies tangle together under the sheets and he turns the light out. I let the rhythmic sound of his beating heart guide me into a deep and peaceful sleep.
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drkcnry67 · 3 years
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we’re related and I Don’t Care
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title: We’re Related and I Don’t Care
pairing: Jared x reader
fluff: roommates (bro/sis)
kink: virginity
tags:  INCEST, VAGINAL PENETRATION, LIVING TOGETHER AND REALIZING YOU HAVE FEELINGS BUILT UP FOR EACHOTHER, HARD COCK IN TIGHT PUSSY, brother boner for his sister, shower sex... DO NOT READ THIS WILL GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES!!!
rating: 18+
mentioning @spnfluffbingo​   @spnkinkbingo​   @sweetness47​
fluff    kink 
before i get ahead of myself here, let me just put this here, i was 100% in control of my actions when the following events took place. 
twas the week after highschool graduation, i was all set to move into an apartment of my own. it was a wonderful idea, i was so excited. but then the day before my big move was supposed to take place my parents and my brother got into a huge argument. 
he approached me about moving into the apartment with me, okay that wasnt a issue, my brother was successful like me and we were both now packed and prepared for our early day start the next day. 
me and my brother always had the best relationship. it was a bond like no other, he was my guardian while i would go on shopping sprees and i was his while he was with his friends in a club setting. 
our chemistry was about to take a very very wide turn... but we at that time didnt know that. the day of the big move, well i helped my brother for the most part load our shit on the truck, but he insisted on him and his friends doing this themselves.
who was i to complain, anyway it was complete in 5 hours, it was all in the apartment and then we realized that we would need to purchase some more furniture, not a problem. it would be a easy fix, so we sat down on the floor and set up the laptop to TV hdmi.
Jared: alright sis, what kind of furniture are we getting?
You then gesture down to the table before you where the list of furniture sits before you and your brother.
Yn: well dear brother as you can see before you, I made a list, but because this is our place we both have equal say in the furniture design.
Jared: may I pick the first piece of furniture?
Yn: of course... Let me just go and take another measurement real quick...
You got up and left the room, your brother picked out the sofa and love seat, in a pattern that he figured you would approve of.
He was browsing the blanket sets when you re-entered the room.
Yn: alright so what do we have so far in the cart...
Jared: the sofa and love seat. I was just browsing through the blanket sets... We should have a few extras for when we do laundry...
you were scouring the blanket sets and decided your brother was right. you were now putting one of each set in the cart, you then passed the reigns to your brother so he can pick out the bed frames, one for you, one for him.
then some pots, pans, kitchen stuff, and bathroom stuff. then you both agreed that would be sufficient to get you both started so you went through the checkout and waited.
YN: so we should also order another tv so we can both play games together. its gonna be easier that way.
Jared sighed he knew you were right he just hated to admit it... deep down inside he was holding in his feelings, he had a huge boner for you, he always had, but now living with you now he might actually have his shot at having the life he always wanted with you.
Jared: your right, which is why i had placed that order last night... they will be delivered around the same time as the furniture. its a good thing we think alot alike.
YN: guess thats the bond we share, now what do we want for dinner.
Jared: well we clearly dont have any groceries yet... so what do we want...
You had to go with your gut... You had to use your keen sense of sibling skills and happily tell your brother what you wanted.
Yn: remember when we were growing up and after school you and I would stop for dinner on Fridays at a little restaurant down near the school and celebrate the victories and losses through the week.
Jared: do they do delivery?
Yn: how bout you call and find out while I go and find the bed sheets so we can finish setting up the beds as in put the pillows and comforters on as the rest of the stuff won't be here till tomorrow.
Jared nods his head and smiles watching as you get up and leave the room.. his mind thinking the most evil thoughts, as he mentally undresses you and pictures you beneath him screaming his name with bountiful pleasure.
Jared (to self): i need to make my move soon, cause its perfect opportunity to now that i live with her. its the perfect time. just need the right moment.
so for the next few hours Jared watched, waited, and sat with you in the living room, dinner arrived you guys ate and smiled.
Yn: hey bro, what time is it?
Jared looked at his watch, and smiled when his brain dinged and remembered your evening routine. for as long as he could remember you would shower every second evening. since the last time you showered was the night before last...
Jared: dont worry about anything ill clean up and finish setting up the sleeping arrangements. it will all be done by the time you get out...
YN: thank you... now ill see you when im done.
you left the room, you went into the bathroom with your speaker and phone setting up your music and leaving the door open a tad for no foggy mirrors when you got out.
jared however was waiting till about half way through your shower time before he would make his mark.
you set up the dark shower curtain and turned on the water, stripped off your clothes and it started. Jared counted the minutes by the song lengths.
Jared (to self): okay this is it time to man up and confess my feelings. i should lock the door first though.
as jared was locking the door, he could hear you talking to yourself in the shower.
YN (to self): okay girl get a grip, your extremely caliente hot brother is now living with you, as your roommate, you have only been saving yourself for like ever... i mean he probably would think it super weird and such if i like told him that i love him.
Jared came closer to the door and smiled as he took all his clothes off and snuck into the washroom, your voice melding with the music you didnt hear anything, you had no idea what was about to happen.
you were in the middle of rinsing your hair when your brother walked into the shower.
Jared: did you mean it?
this startled you, you didnt turn off the water, but instead hid behind the cover or as much of it as could be done with your hands/arms.
YN: what the hell jared...
Jared: did you mean what you said...
YN: what are you talking about...
Jared: a few moments ago, i was locking the apartment and i heard you tell yourself that you love me... was that true.
you had now dropped your hands from covering you...
YN: yes, i have been hiding that from you since 9th grade, when you gained all your hot muscles, when you and i were crowned as the 2 most likely candidates for the spring fling royalty that year. when we won i was amazed by how good your biceps felt beneath my hand... want me to say it, i love you more than a brother, i love you Jared...
Jared: i love you too. now i am gonna fuck you into the middle of next week. Yes I know you saved yourself, as did I.. I never gave up hope that you would one day say you love me more than a brother.
Yn: then take me and don't worry about being gentle I think we are way passed that now.
You and Jared were alot closer, before another word was spoken Jared pressed his lips to your own, you stood on your tippie toes to reach up as your brother's arms pulled your form closer to his own.
his hands now cupping your butt cheeks lifting you so your legs wrap round his hips/waist. you feel his hard cock under your pussy, you were not bothered by this, you felt like you should be but your brain, heart, and body told you that you were happy, that you were in the right hands.
Jared: im sliding in, scream for me baby!
you went to kiss him but the kiss was broken by your scream as his hard cock slid right into your pussy. stretching you out, waiting a bit for you to fit to him.
Jared: well i think this is gonna be a short movement cause im almost too hard to keep pounding into you here and now but i will go as hard as i can and unload into you fully.
You screamed moaned and felt the hard cock of your own brother inaide you. It was another 15 minutes before Jared unloaded into you.
Jared pulled out for 2 seconds, he then helped you wash your body and you washed his hair and body before both of you got out and dried off.
Jared: let me just go turn off all the lights then I'll join you in bed.
You walked into the bedroom and took a look at the mirror on the wall, your reflection looked different, yet somehow the same, similar to how you looked that morning.
but your brother walked in and came up behind you, wrapping his arms round your waist he smiled and so did you.
Jared: you looked very deep in thought when i walked in
YN: i was just thinking about how this might be viewed in the public eye...
Jared: and i dont give a flying shit hole fuck of a damn as to what the public eye thinks. ill be out in public and have dinner with you, and ill beat anyone who dares make a pass at my new girlfriend.
YN: promoted from sister to girlfriend in the span of 24 hours, im very lucky girl.
thats when your brother backed both you and him up to the bed and both of you fell backward and on bed.
Jared: your a lucky girl whose not leaving this bed till the doorbell rings for our furniture delivery tomorrow... now lean into me and lets enjoy our new life together.
Jared placed a kiss to your forehead as he felt your head nestle into the crook of his neck and your breathing became relaxed. he slid himself back into you and soo you both felt only peace.
~see you soon~
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Bonds 1.6 - After coffee, want to grab some pizza?
Just a FYI, my cellphone flipped the fuck out when selecting the text, so it decided to show right in my face one thing I didnt want to see: I know now that by the ending of this chapter there will be nothing within something. I'm hoping it isnt something that is going to be built through the entire thing, and just a last time development. Sorry for that.
I paced.  The Demesnes text in hand, I walked from one end of the living room to the other, then walked back.
Another trip back and forth, and I stopped by the window, using the edge of the book to push the curtain back.  It was dusk outside, just past sunset, day two, and some of the locals had emerged.
If I didn’t know better, I might have thought the locals were trying to put pressure on me.  Men and women, some children, simply staking out the perimeter of the fence.  Some of them paced like I was doing, like tigers in their cell, while others were patient, smoking or holding phones to their ears.  A number of the ‘children’ were standing on the short stone wall, hands wrapped around the metal curls and spikes of the railing, eyes on the house.  Some talked, others were silent.
Most were normal enough I wouldn’t have looked twice.  A handful weren’t.  One little boy, separate from the others, kept scratching at his head, face, neck and arms, his fingers coming away black with his own blood, or so it appeared in the gloom.  I could see the gouge marks, dark lines cut into his skin, he would turn away, and they would be gone the next time I got a chance to see.  There was a woman with hair, hat and coat covering much of her face, but when I did get a glimpse, I saw only vague, black smudges where her eyes and mouth should be.  She held a cigarette up near her face, but never inhaled from it.  The others seemed rather intent on avoiding her, giving her a wide berth as she paced.
Gore doesn't do anything for me, put scratching/itchyness is somehow more creepy. Maybe it has to do with the feeling of helplessness. Wounds, blood, missing limbs, its somehow fine, maybe manageable or expected depending on the setting. But self inflicted madness-inducing itchyness? Something you can't get OUT of you? Thats what does it for me in the creepyness scale.
A car passed down the length of the road.  I tried to use the headlights to get a better look at the things, but the headlights revealed a mostly empty sidewalk, no Others but a small group of the ‘children’ that had hopped down from the fence and were simply walking as a group, heads covered by hats and hoods, hardly worthy of a glance.
My eyes had to adjust from focusing on the headlights.  The Others appeared from dark spots, and stepped out from behind the pillars that framed the gate.
I let the curtain drop, then resumed the pacing.  I’d read the same page five or six times.
“You’re making me nervous,” Rose said, startling me.  “You’ve been pacing the entire time I’ve been gone?”
Her hair was wet.  She’d left to go shower, but she still wore the same clothes as before.  Apparently she had running water, on her side.  That was interesting, considering there wasn’t necessarily anything for the pipes to connect to.
“I’m nervous,” I said.  “I ordered pizza, but I didn’t think they’d come crawling out of the woodwork like this.  There’s a good ten or so out there.”
“Why did you order pizza?” she asked.
“Because I’m hungry?”  I responded.  “There’s nothing more than the most basic stuff in the kitchen, I’m going to go crazy or get sick living off flour tortillas, canned beans and tuna, and since I’ve got to figure out a way to keep myself supplied, I might as well start sooner than later.”
“Pizza isn’t supplies.”
“Pizza is a way of testing the waters,” I said.  “Will anyone in this town do business with me?  If I can’t order a pizza, I might have trouble getting groceries delivered.  If I can’t get groceries delivered, then I need to find a reliable, safe way of going outside.”
“So you put a pizza guy in the line of fire?”
“There wasn’t a line of fire when I called,” I said.  I looked outside again.  “It’s hard to keep track of time.  My sleep schedule’s all over the place, my eating schedule’s off track, and the days are short.  It’s dangerous, and it’s going to fuck me up.  Need to get back in the habit of sleeping at night and eating on time.  As is, I didn’t figure it would get dark so soon, and I didn’t figure they’d appear like this.”
“I know,” she said.  “Except I don’t even have the physical needs to gauge by, and it’s awfully dark in here.”
I peeked outside.
Two Others had joined the group.  One was very talkative, engaging with the eyeless, mouthless woman who had the cigarette, even venturing into the four or five foot bubble of personal space around her that the rest seemed to be respecting.
I reached for the phone.  Mind changed.
“Bell Pizza.  What can I do you for?”
“I’d like to cancel my order,” I said.
“You’ve already paid for your order.  The food is made and is on its way.  We can’t provide a refund.”
“It’s fine.  Keep the money.  Just call back the delivery guy so he doesn’t waste his time.”
There was a pause.
“I’m sorry.  We can’t refund your pizza, because we already prepared it.  It should be there in ten minutes or less.”
He was feigning ignorance, with a touch of a bad accent, but he couldn’t hide the smugness.
“You’re being intentionally dense,” I said.
The guy on the other end hung up.
“Fuck,” I said.
# I'm having weird flashbacks of RE4. But every villager is out to get you psychologically and the bosses are staring at you from the window and you cant do shit about it. Really like the alien-ness (?) Of the situation here. Never read something like thia.
“So… now what?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know,” I said.  “I doubt he’ll give me a fair hearing if I call back.  I don’t really know what to expect, here.  Even reading up on the basics, it doesn’t get into much depth about this.”
Rose nodded, “Essentials and Famulus were more focused on Other-practitioner relationships than general Other-human relationships.”
I could see her fidgeting.  I leaned forward.  “Earlier, you said you were nervous.  How does that work?  You don’t breathe any harder, since you don’t breathe.  Does your heartbeat pick up?  Does your body flood with the stress hormones, making you fidget?”
“That’s a no on every count,” she said.  I turned away from the window to look at her.  She elaborated, “My body’s always the same.  Stable, steady, there, but not doing anything except… I dunno.  Maintaining appearances?”
“But you get nervous.”
“My brain gets nervous,” she said.
“I’m not sure that makes sense, but okay,” I replied.  I looked down at the page I’d been rereading for the past twenty minutes, then tossed the book down onto the coffee table.
“You’re onto Demesnes,” she observed, craning her head to peer down.  “Me too.”
“It’s a fitting thing to read up on, here,” I said.  “Making your own sanctuary, while we have enemies gathering at the gates.  It seems like a pretty simple ritual.”
“Deceptively simple,” Rose said.
“Yeah, deceptively simple,” I agreed.  “You stake out the area, the magical equivalent of drawing out your borders and planting a flag, you say a few words, and you invite anyone, everyone and everything that objects to come and challenge you.  Trial by combat, riddles, placating them with deals, whatever you agree on.  The bigger the area you try to claim, the bigger the invitation you broadcast.  They each get to confront you the once, and the ritual ends when there are no challengers left, or when a set amount of time passes.  Claim a space the size of a closet, maybe get five to ten objections.  Claim a house, get fifty.”
Man did I have this backwards from the reddit. I thought it was a safe spot and that wad it. I'm glad i didn't know the full details though!
“I’m thinking that’s one of the last things we want to do,” Rose said.  “When we have a familiar, and when we have an implement, so we have some ability to fight.”
“Except,” I said, “It’s a bit of a catch-22, isn’t it?  The demesne gives us a steady supply of power, with bigger spaces giving us more power.  It’s a sanctuary, and a place where we can bend the rules in our favor.  Right?  So we need a tool or a familiar to lay claim to as big a space as we can pull off.”
“Yes.”
“But we can’t infuse our tool until we have some power to infuse it with,” I said.  “Except…”
“That power would ideally come from the demesne,” Rose said.
I nodded, “Or the familiar, in terms of strength and shaping how the tool functions.  And we can’t start talking with Others about bringing them on board as a familiar until we have some established power already.”
“Necessitating a tool and a claim to some land,” Rose finished for me.  “Each of the three things requires the two others.”
I nodded.  “Or it necessitates a compromise.  We pick one front, we make it easy, like you suggested, go with the bare minimum.  Do one thing badly, use the leverage we gain to do the next thing in a mediocre way, and then use the two things to do really well with the last ritual.”
My pacing resumed, though I had my hands free, and I could stick them in the pockets of my wool hoodie.
Seems like the sort of thing I would never start at any point. I'm too undecisive when it comes to these things haha. I wonder if theres really no way to turn this situation over. Maybe something at the reunion will happen to make people side with him? Althought that wouldnt fir what we know on how many enemies grandma Rose has accumulated over the years. What to do what to do...
“How do the others do it?” Rose asked.  “The Behaims and the Duchamps?”
“They have backup, I imagine,” I said.  “A mom and dad who are willing to sit in on a meeting with a familiar and vouch for them, or maybe even have a familiar arranged from early on or before the kid is born, things ready-made, a space set aside.”
“Magical trust fund kids,” Rose said.
“Basically,” I said.
“What about the North End Sorcerer?”
“What about him?”
“I take it you didn’t read the little black book from cover to cover?  Look him up.”
I shuffled through the tomes to find where I’d put the book. “I was going to read it later, after the major four were done, before the council meeting.”
“You don’t need to make excuses to me,” Rose said.  She had her own copy.  “Um.  Page thirty-two.”
I opened the tiny book.
Johannes Lillegard, believed to be an adopted name.  Practitioner.  The newest arrival in Jacob’s Bell as of August thirteenth, ‘ought-nine, he arrived at the council meeting of said date.  Johannes appears no older than twenty-five, but all facts suggest he claimed his demesne six or more years ago, a region spanning all of Jacob’s Bell, west and north of the hospital as well as the entire expansion north of the bridge.
I paused in my reading there, to ask, “The bridge?”
“The highway,” Rose said.  “It becomes a bridge where it passes over the marshland here.”
I pictured it, then stopped short.  “Wait, the commercial area north of the highway?  With the train station, the shops-”
“-The condos, the mall, the prefab houses, yes.”
“As his demesne?  The book talks about it in the context of rooms, of houses at the most.”
Rose didn’t reply.  When I glanced her way, she was nodding, a serious look joining the general exhaustion on her face.
“There’s a catch there,” I said.  “A drawback.”
“Oh, right, you’re only partway through,” Rose said.  “Demesnes are like trademarks.  Periodically, people are going to test them.  You need to respond, but you have the home court advantage.  The law’s on your side.  But if you claim something that broad, and if you can’t or don’t defend it when someone else puts one foot over the line, that weakens your stance.  But he’s defending it.”
Look at this guy! How many dozens do you call to attention when you try to claim something that big? I imagined the constant contest for desmenes would be a thing, like a pokemon go gym sort of competition. But good to know you have the advantage at first. Must be scary to get called out for that, the person surely must think they have the upper hand to begin with then. Meaning that they must have information that you are not aware that they have.
“How?”
She pointed back at the little black book.
I read.
In conversation with Aimon Behaim and Sandra Duchamp, we mutually agreed that Johannes must have claimed the territory prior to the expansion appearing, though we’re unsure of when this might have been, for none of us to hear the claim or be able to respond to it, nor how he was able to do this at what might have been the age of thirteen or fourteen.  Mara has declined to answer any questions, being more taciturn than her usual,
Johannes seems to bear harsh wounds, no doubt tying back to his ambitious claim, with no use of one eye, one hand and one leg, though the tissues appear undamaged.  He bears a set of antique pipes as his implement, and has a Gatekeeper of the Seventh Ring (ref Astral Bodies: vol 3, and Prime Movers) as his familiar, named Faysal Anwar, which takes the form of a rather large Afghan Hound.
Note: Johannes has made his second appearance at council meetings, February sixth, year two thousand and ten.  Occasion to expand my notes.  Arrogant, and justified in it.  Enigmatic.  He spends almost all of his time within his demesne, stepping outside only to defend his claim and attend occasional meetings.  This makes gathering information hard.  Favors manipulation of space.
Note: Touching up all of my notes, for my soon-to-be heiress.  He is a manipulator, content to bait people and lure them to their doom.  Fitting, given the implement of choice.  He safeguards his demesne by making it a fiefdom, with neighborhoods held by Others and a handful of lesser practitioners.  Stay clear, this is a threat you do not need to face down.
I looked up at Rose.  “He’s powerful, then.”
She said, “He doesn’t have a family.  He had nothing given to him in advance, as far as we know.  But he managed something.”
“Okay,” I said.  “So there are obviously other options.  Approached directly, the situation is filled with contradictions and obstacles, but maybe there’s an oblique answer, like Johannes found?”
So there was NO response. Even more intriguing than him just being powerful. He exploited something, found his loophole and only then became powerful. He is the king from the visions right? I’m pretty sure he is. Wasn’t the city twisted in his "kingdom" though? Hm. He was the one that seemed the most nice towards Blake in those visions. What are his motives then? Helping Blake, befriending him or just taking over enough so that he himself has access to the ‘literal’ nukes?
“Like what I was talking about with the witch hunters,” Rose said.
That again.  I shook my head.
“You’re refusing my ideas too fast,” she said, and the emotion in her voice caught me off guard.  She was irritated, upset.  “Have you even read up on witch hunting, Blake?”
“No,” I said.  “Have you?”
“I can’t.  I need you to rotate the mirror in the study.  Damn it, listen, there are things we can learn to do that don’t rely on familiar, implement or demesne.  Like Laird’s shamanism.”
“Okay,” I said.  “I’m very on board with that.”
“But you aren’t on board with getting the protections witch hunters have?  If anything’s going to get us killed, it’s a knee-jerk reactions and making stupid assumptions.”
“It’s not that I don’t like the idea of protection,” I said.  “But when someone says ‘witch hunter’, it makes me think of hunting things.  Fighting, instead of defense.  And I think that any of those protections we might use as practitioners are going to be found in books for practitioners.  It’s hard enough without overcomplicating it, sifting through all the stuff we can’t use for some tidbits we could find elsewhere.  Can we compromise?  Maybe focus on getting this wizardry crap down, and we’ll look at the witch huntery stuff later, as the side project it is?”
Thats the problem right there isnt it? You cant go on the defensive in this situation, Blake is still holding out to some hope. He is the outside element being thrown into a volatile situation. I already see the escalation coming from miles away.
When I looked at Rose, she was frowning, eyebrows knit.  tapping her hand on some surface in front of her.
We were similar in other ways.  Prone to anger.  But something told me that Rose wasn’t one to actually show or exercise that anger.
Something to watch for, if she was bottling up her stress.  What outlets did she have to vent it, and how would she react if she couldn’t?
“Fine,” she said, in that way that girls were so very good at.  She took a deep breath, then sighed.  Purely for effect, I imagined.  Calmer, she said, “We shelve that idea.  We can use trickery, deception, manipulation, to get our foot in the door, get one of the three major things we need.”
“Agreed,” I said.  “Harder than it sounds, because Others are naturally deceptive and are probably looking out for those tricks.”
“What else?  We could try marshaling forces, like he is.  We need a good rapport with Others to figure out who we might pick for a familiar, right?”
“There’s a problem with that,” I said.  I reached for the mirror, then stopped.  “May I?”
“Yes.”
I lifted the mirror from where I’d hooked it onto the bookcase, then carried it to the window, pushing the curtains apart.  I set the bottom end of the mirror on the windowsill.
There were five more Others than before.  All clustered around the fence.  The rest were still there.  Waiting.
Rose was turned away from me, so I couldn’t see her, and she was silent, leaving me to stand there, presenting our situation.
“That’s the issue, right now.  That’s the biggest complication we’re facing with the rituals, with life in general.  Someone’s done the equivalent of putting a price out on our head, or they said that the usual rules for going after someone in an inhabited area are on hold, for me, or for us,” I said, my voice low.  “We can’t conduct any rituals, because those guys are waiting to fuck us up.”
“That-” Rose started.
Nooo dont get interrupted. I need that knowledge. She recognized someone or something didnt she? I love how her psychology and just how she works in general is being this build-up mystery that is probably going to blow up in my face when she suddenly vanishes forever out of nowhere in a critical momment or something.
She stopped short as a car appeared, parking at the far end of the street, a sign perched on top.
This time, seeing the vehicle approach, I could see how the Others moved out of the way of the headlights.  Stepping literally into shadows, or stepping to a position where they were out of sight.  In the latter case, it looked like they were stepping out of my field of view, to where the fence or columns on either side of the gate were blocking my view, but I felt like they were doing it for everyone that might be looking.  Finding a universal blind spot.
A guy stepped out of the car, holding the insulated bag with the pizza inside.  He crossed the street, and approached the gate.
“Stop him, Blake,” Rose said.
“I want to, but how?”
“I don’t know.  Shout?”
I strode to the front door, hauled it open, and bellowed, “Hey!”
Others appeared from the shadows by the gate, a ‘child’ with his back to the stone column, glancing my way.  Further down the street, I could see the faceless woman with the cigarette appear behind the delivery guy.
He didn’t stop walking.  When he shouted back, I couldn’t make out the words.
“Stop!  I don’t want it!  Go back to the car!”  I hollered.
Again, I couldn’t make out his reply.
I watched as the Others closed in.
I never thought I'd read a scary pizza delivery before.
The ‘little boy’ who’d been scratching himself walked down the street, so short I could barely make him out over the stone wall which bordered the property.
He approached the delivery man head on, not moving out of the way.  When it looked like they might collide, the ‘boy’ hopped up onto the short stone wall.  His hand around the man’s wrist.
A moment later, so fast I couldn’t see it, the boy slammed the delivery guy’s hand down on the railing.  The man screamed, dropping the pizza, hand impaled on the spiked railing that ran along the top of the short wall.  He tried to pull it free, but the ‘boy’ still had a grip on his wrist.
“Hey!”  I shouted.  I stepped out onto the porch.
NO DONT
A girl hopped up, using the man’s knee as a foothold, grabbing the delivery man by the jaw.  She was more monkey than child as she swung up onto the wall.  The momentum of the swing brought his head down and forward, driving it into the top of the railing.
I could hear the sound it made on impact, which said a lot, considering how I hadn’t been able to hear his words.  There was no saying how much was the upper row of teeth breaking on impact with the railing, or the sound of the jaw breaking as it was wrenched down with a sudden weight of the not-little-girl.
The girl let go, walking along the top of the railing, her arms extended to either side, pigtails swinging, the grin the only part of her I could make out beneath the winter clothes, too wide, filled with very white teeth that didn’t match each other.
I could hear his continued screams, now more strangled than they’d been.
I felt cold, paralyzed.  Had I just killed a man, simply by inviting him here?
The faceless woman caught up to him.  Her free hand reached into the back of his head, and I could make out the fingers reaching out the front, moving just beneath the skin, closing together into a fist over one of his eyes.  She moved her hand, leaving the skin bound shut in a knot of flesh, and she closed the other eye in the same manner.
Another movement, nearer the mouth and throat, and the screams were cut off.
Knitting, molding his flesh, almost casually.
My concern was no longer that I’d killed the man.  My concern was that he might live.
“Blake!”  Rose’s voice, from the living room.  “You have to help him!”
No he absolutely does not. Ge the fuck back inside. Dont be a hero. Call the police????(actually maybe don’t???). I mean, Timecop cant be happy his turf is being messed with by people he has not assingned.
I took a step forward, then stopped as the faceless woman continued her work.  Her fingers wriggled and crawled across the man’s scalp, just beneath his skin, burying his hair, reaching down to cover his ears.  Trapping him in his own skin, so his own flesh was a hood over his face.
“Blake!”
I thought back to one idle thought I’d had in the past hours.
The house was a sanctuary against Other and practitioner both.
I glanced around me, then very carefully took a step back through the door, past the threshold and into the house.
Laird had come to the front door.
“He’s dying!”
There were rules.  I couldn’t know which ones still held, here, which ones the locals had called off, while I was a problem.  But there were rules.
I remained where I was, watching.
She held the cigarette aloft, poised as if she might take a puff at any moment, while her other hand pulled free, then plunged into his chest cavity.
The muffled grunts and violent jerks he made in response were worse than the screams.
The talkative one kept chattering, nonstop, the ‘children’ making little sounds of amusement, laughing and cooing.  The others who’d joined in seemed content to watch, standing silently on the fringes.
I watched a car appear, traveling down the street from the opposite direction the delivery guy had come.  The talkative one practically leaped, taking hold of the faceless woman.  His momentum turned her around, and he leaned forward, simultaneously leaning her back, so they were pressed together, their bodies covering their victim.  I could see the talkative one’s face stop an inch from the smudged blur of hers.
The car passed, the headlights illuminating what the people in the car would see as two embraced lovers, kissing at the side of the street.  The remainder were hidden.  I watched as the car reached the end of the road, stopping at a stop sign.
“Blake, salt is a purifying material, cleansing.  It can work against certain Others,” Rose said.  “There’s a ton in the study, if you can’t find any in the kitchen.  Go and throw it at them!”
I didn’t move.
“Blake!  Please!”  She sounded desperate, now.
Make a salt gun. Slingshot the salt. Do not get close. Please Rose stop being so emotional. I do want to know of Blake has a plan, its looking increasingly like he has a plan. Is this deceitful? Not actually happening? The pizza guy over the phone seemed amused by the possibility of this happebing. Maybe its just to fuck with his head and its all going to be reversed soon, memories of the pain and all for the poor delivery guy. That would make much more contextual sense.
The car turned and disappeared out of sight.  The two Others broke apart, and the faceless woman clawed at the talkative one.  Vicious, angry, almost feral.  He gave her only laughs in response, as he ducked out of the way.
The faceless woman gave up and turned back to her victim.  I could see where she’d reached through his chest to grip the railing, fixing him to the metal.
Rose was screaming, now.  “Damn you, Blake!  Damn you!  God!  Fuck!”
She hit the mirror.
The noise Rose was making seemed to get attention.  The talkative one looked up at me.
I slowly shook my head.  I felt physically ill, all expression and utterances choked from me by the feeling of my heart in my throat.
But there was no fucking way I was going out there.
The talkative one said something to the others.
I saw the delivery guy lurch, tearing free in a mess of blood and ripped skin.  His dislocated jaw hung down his teeth a bloody ruin.
He laughed, and it wasn’t a human sound.
When he joined the ‘children’ in cavorting about, I allowed myself to believe it.  He wasn’t human.  He had never been.
An Other, joining the faceless woman in some psychological warfare.
I could hear them laughing, in the two or so seconds it took me to slam the door.
“It was a trick?” Rose asked, as I crossed the room to where I’d left the mirror in the window.  “They-”
I saw a movement immediately before Rose shrieked.  I grabbed the mirror, pulling it away from the window.
The little ‘girl’ with the toothy mouth and the pigtails peeking out from a hat that hid her eyes, hair and ears had appeared just outside the window.  She now scratched at the glass with long fingernails.
“They wanted me outside,” I said.  “The house is a sanctuary, the property isn’t.  Staying behind the railing like they were, it was meant to mislead us.  I might have fallen for it, if Laird hadn’t come all the way to the front door.”
“They’re clever.”
“The book warned us they were.”
“How sure were you?” she asked.  “That he wasn’t human?”
I didn’t answer.  Rose was staring at me, and I avoided her gaze.
Others were scratching and tapping on windows, now.  I heard a scrabbling, as if something was on the porch overhang.
“God,” Rose said.
“This is what Molly was dealing with,” I said, quiet.  My heart was still pounding, my mouth so dry I needed to try three times before I could speak again, but the fear and helplessness were disappearing.  I clenched my fist.  “All on her lonesome.  Hearing things just outside the house, all night.  Nowhere good to go for help.”
“We’re not in a great place either,” Rose said.
“No.  But we have each other,” I said.  “You had my back last night, with Padraic.  I might not have made it home in one piece without that.  Thank you, by the way, if I haven’t already said.”
“You have, twice, but it’s okay.  We’re figuring this out.”
I nodded.  My thoughts were going a mile a minute, but I had trouble saying just what the destinations were.
“What are you thinking?” Rose asked.
“I’m thinking…” I said, trying to sum it up.  “I think we’re almost ready.”
“Ready?”
“We’ve seen what kind of games the practitioners will play.  We’ve seen how the Others function, in part.  We have a sense of what we need to accomplish, and an abstract sense of how.  And maybe it helps a little that I’m a bit scared and a lot angry.”
“You want to awaken,” she said.
I nodded.  “Before the council meeting tomorrow.  Getting a familiar, the tool, and the demesne is something that can wait.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.  “I think we should.  You want to do it now, or do you need to eat first?”
“Two things, first,” I said.  “Eating isn’t one of them.”
I dialed the pizza place again.
“Bell Pizza, what can I do you for?”
“Hi-”
“No,” he said.  “Not doing business with you.”
“It’s about the pizza guy.”
“We never sent anyone.  I asked a driver if he wanted to go, he said he wasn’t delivering to a haunted house.”
The irony being this house was maybe the least haunted locale in Jacob’s Bell.
“I say it isn’t haunted, but it’s owned by you fucks, isn’t it?”
“One of us,” I replied.
“You’re Assholes, all of you, holding all the rest of us back.  You know my brother bought a place here, because this place was supposed to grow?  Except you’re not selling, and it’s losing value every year, needing more repairs.  You-”
These townies are both assholes and fucking stupid. You dont invest in something that is not 100% sure and then blame other people on it. Seriously, goddamn. You were a shit investor, get over it. "How could that rich fanily not sell their mansion, that money was MINE! :(" fuck off. The way these many people are interested in it, it would just end up being communism and everyone getting just a crumb of the pie.
“I just wanted to check the pizza guy wasn’t going to show,” I said, but he was talking over me.
“-off on the power, I think, bullies.  Knowing you’re driving the rest of us into ruin.  You want a fucking pizza?”
“I changed my mind a while ago, remember?”
“Fuck you.  Fuck yourself!  I already talked to the other pizza place.  Don’t expect a thing, until you’ve sold that place.  Fuck you.”
“Fine,” I said.  “It’s just pizza.”
But he’d already hung up.
It’s just pizza, I told myself.
“Fuck,” I said, as my annoyance bubbled to the surface.
“You can’t be surprised.  I mean, you knew people hated you here.”
“The woman at the coffee place was surprisingly respectful of the idea that I might be in mourning,” I said.
“Being a decent person and hating our guts isn’t mutually exclusive,” Rose said.
“Fuck,” I said again, still annoyed.
“It can’t be that big a deal, compared to what just happened outside.”
“You took a shower just a bit ago,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Sorry to ask, but do you even get dirty, on that side?”
“No,” she said.  “Pretty sure I don’t.  Some dust, but I don’t sweat.”
“I’m guessing you needed to shower to enjoy a mundane comfort,” I said.  “Feel a bit more human.”
“Alright,” Rose said.  “Point taken.  Sorry about your pizza.”
I shrugged.
“I could do with more human comforts myself,” she said.
I nodded, “Something to figure out.  I’ll help any way I can.  But first-”
“Awakening,” Rose said.
I nodded.  “Meet you in the study.”
I took the stairs two at a time.
I’d opened the second secret door on the second floor, which made for a quicker arrival at the lower floor.  The room was far darker without the sunlight from above.
I twisted the knobs of the two lamps that sat on and beside the desk, respectively.  When the room was still too dark around the edges, I lit the oil lamps at the edges.  Each lamp illuminated a slice of the bookcases, cabinets or shelves to either side of them.  Where the lettering on books had been done in foil or a reflective material, the lamplight caught it, highlighting the scripts in a soft orange-yellow, while the books themselves remained dark.
By the time I’d finished, Rose had lit up the room on her side.  The light from behind her made the edges of her clothes and hair glow.
She held a wrought-iron compass, with a spike in one end and chalk embedded in the other.  I watched as she stabbed the floor, then walked in a circle, using the other arm to draw the wide circle in chalk.
She had the curved ruler that she used to measure the distance, then erased a spot.  She was reaching for the compass again when she looked at me.
As the ins and outs of her existance remain a mystery, I didnt think of the possivility of her doing the ritual too. Or needing to do it in any way. Maybe we can get twice the magic power in one person, but I somehow doubt it. I think what counts for Blake counts for Rose.
“Blake?”
“You’re doing the ritual too?”
“If I can,” she said.  “Aren’t you starting?”
“I said there were two things I needed to do first,” I said.
“Phoning the pizza place and…”
I crossed the room, lifting a book free of a shelf, then walked back into Rose’s field of view.
“No, Blake.”
I hefted the book.  Diabolatry, R.D.T.  The black cover was surprisingly flexible and soft, the lettering on the spine and cover were done in gold, catching the lamplight.
“No,” she said again, as if saying it over and over again with increasing intensity might drive it into my head.
“What was it you said?” I asked.  “Stupid knee-jerk assumptions are going to get us killed?”
“I’m all for stupid knee-jerk assumptions when we’re dealing with that.  Laird said they were the mystical equivalent of nuclear missiles.”
“I’m not proposing we use them.  But I want to know what we’re dealing with.”
“Blake.  You know that moment in the horror movies, where you’re screaming at the actors?  ‘Don’t go up the stairs’, ‘don’t touch the glowing skull’?  Don’t read the book.”
Would reading it be that destructive? Or does it only hold such implications of power that it draws you too much into it. Have you already read the book Rose?
I frowned.
“What are you even thinking?”
“That the things outside were horrifying, the faceless woman, the pseudo-faerie we ran into.  So… why are these things so much worse?  What makes them ‘nuclear’?  We’re walking into that meeting, and I can’t help but think that everyone there is going to know exactly what’s going on here, and we’re going to be in the dark.  We can’t afford to look weak or stupid.”
“We are weak and stupid,” Rose said.  “We’re untrained, ignorant, out of the loop, and we don’t have any of the good stuff that practitioners bring to the table.  No tools, no familiars, no demesnes, no tricks or any of that.
“We can’t afford to let on how badly off we are.  Having one tidbit of info we can allude to, to scare the pants off them if we need it-”
“-Is liable to get us killed,” Rose finished for me.  “I get it, wanting to know just what we’re sitting on, but handling the dangerous goods is not the way to find out.”
I hefted the book, feeling its weight.
“Come on,” she said, lowering her voice to be gentler, “I compromised earlier.  Can you do the same?”
“Damn it,” I said.
“Is that a ‘yes’ damn it or a ‘no’ damn it?”
“Yes,” I said.
I moved to put the book on the bookshelf.  A flap of paper caught on the shelf, keeping me from sliding it into place.
When I pulled the book back, the paper dropped.  Fragments of dry wax and a small key danced across the floor.
Folded into thirds, it had been sealed into an envelope of sorts by wax.  The key had apparently been melted into the wax, only to be freed by the impact.
“Leave it,” Rose said.  “Nothing good comes of that.  Sweep it under the desk, ignore it.  Please?”
“I would,” I said, “But wax makes a seal, and that seal just broke.”
“That’s reaching,” Rose said.
“Okay, maybe,” I said.  “But tell me you can’t imagine a drawing of something coming to life and crawling free of that page.”
“Now you’re being manipulative,” Rose said, “Playing to my paranoia.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
With the way things work in figurative ways and meanings, yes, that is very plausible, but also what a nice little fuck-up we have stumbled on.
“Yes, I can imagine it.  Yes, are you happy?”
I wasn’t.  I picked up the page.  On the backside, there were only two words.
My heiress.
I turned it around.
My heiress,
If you’ve come this far, there must be a pressing need.  You’ve been driven into a corner, or the situation is otherwise dire.  I imagine time may well be paramount.  Remember that haste makes waste, and you must step with utmost care from this point on.
I’ve left you something, or perhaps it is more correct to say I’ve left you someone.  I refer to him as Barbatorem, making a small joke, as I tend to do, but he is an older one, bearing some status and a few stories from years past, with no name of any meaning that has survived the passage of time.  You should be able to find those stories and notes on that status in Dark Names, p. 38.
You’ll find him waiting in the tower room, which you will need the key to enter.  Staying outside the circle is first in your list of things to keep in mind, which I list here because there are no better places to put the warning.  I should hope such obvious things don’t need to be stated.
Do we have a demon in the attic? I think we have a demon in th attic.
Cast aside all notion of manners.  Do not greet him, do not ever say please or thank him.  Do not ask him if he would or could do something.  Give him no food or succor.  There are older meanings in these things and they will either free him or give him power over you.  Sometimes it is very little power, and sometimes it is all the power he needs to achieve his ends.
Put aside all metal and reflective things before entering the tower room, and ensure the space remains dark.  He exists in a more abstract capacity, whatever physical forms he takes, and if his image is cast in a surface, he will exist in that surface, allowing him to step free of that surface and the confines of the circle.  For these same reasons, do not ever look directly at him, even for a moment, lest he be reflected in your eyes.  Rest assured, he will not ever step free once he dwells there.
So, no Rose. Cool. But also very cool concept. Having a demon in your eyes doesn't sound pleasing. Was Grandma so rude because she got too used to interacting to being like this? I think thats far-fetched, but a possible theory
He perceives the passage of time differently than we do.  He’ll be content to sit in the circle I drew out until the sun grows cold.  For him, the conversation is ongoing, and you’ll need to see the notes on his page in Dark Names so you can continue from where I, and each member of our line, left off.  Failure to do so may confuse or irritate him.  In any case, you can come and go, and he’ll see no difference in it.  He does not speak, which led me to use the shorthand for gestures you’ll find on the final page of his entry.  Please maintain those notes consistently, for those who come after you.
So, wait, he cant speak, so you use gestures, but you also cant look at him? I'm thinking that I'm missing something.
If you intend to deal with him, use one of the templates outlined in Dark Contracts, which I left to the right of the desk.  Page 15, 17, 29 and 77 are good places to look, if you find yourself in a hurry.  Do not improvise, for words must be chosen with utmost care.  The final third of the book has recommended terminology with examples, which you can insert into the templates as needed.  Do not trust Mr. Beasley or his firm for assistance.  They are, quite naturally, unreliable on this front.
Failing all else, keep your eyes on the painted circle, stay silent, and keep to the contracts found in my books.  You can consult my texts if you have any further questions.  I regret that I am unable to assist you here,
R.D.T.
“What is it?” Rose asked.  “The look on your face scares me.”
The look on my face?  I touched my face.
“You look like someone just died.”
“No,” I said.  “No.”
I moved to put the letter down on the desk, and it slid off.  I picked it up again, tried to put it on the desk, and the corner of the paper caught, bouncing it out of my hand and back onto the floor.
On the third attempt, I turned it over, examining it under the light.  Sky blue ink on white, barely visible, outlining a script that was reminiscent of the rune that Laird had drawn in sugar.
Holding it firmly in both hands, I set it down on the table, pressing it down in place.  It stayed.
A moment later, as I turned to make sure I’d put the book away properly, I generated a brush of air that sent the letter to the floor again.
Once disturbed, apparently, it was insistent on staying disturbed.
Experimentally, I tore it, a little tear to cross the sky blue symbols.  When I put it down this time, it stayed down.
“You’re scaring me, Blake.”
“She left something behind,” I said.
“Something?”
“Something Other.  Fitting to her particular specialty.  It’s upstairs.”
“No.”  Seeing Rose, I had a sense of how I probably looked.
“I need to check,” I said.
There was no argument this time.  Chances were good she was too stunned to say anything.
The black-painted key in hand, I made my way up the ladder, out the door to the top floor, and then up the staircase to the tower room.
I checked everything, then pulled off my sweatshirt, in case the tab on the zipper counted as reflective.  I swept my hands over my entire body to double-check.
The key clicked in the lock.  I let the door swing open.  When I moved my eyes, I did so with care, keeping to the periphery of the room, then inching closer.
The round window jutted out to my right, with a cushioned bench beneath for sitting on.  Once upon a time, it would have been a good spot for reading.  Now, it was shuttered and locked, with old books stacked on the bench like bricks.  A table sat to my left, stacked with papers that were securely weighed down.
The floor… I saw the circle, painted in white.  ‘Circle’ was perhaps an understatement, given the concentric circles and lines that sprawled across the floor, burdened with embellishment, scripts and geometric shapes, as well as other smaller circles hosting more of the same.
It didn’t take long for my eyes to see it.
A pair of shears, no doubt fallen from the table, impaled a line in the innermost circle of the diagram on the floor.
Nothing stood within.
You could have asked me to theorize, but I would NOT have guessed that the empty thing by the end was to be a summoning circle. Are the shears the problem? Interrupting the symbol? Doesnt it count as reflective? Do we have a demon locked in a useless household object, that would be pretty hilarious. 
I’m thankful that this wasn’t build up then, it really was a last time sort of deal. I’m starting to doubt that the meeting will be had in this Arc, unless this is one of the long ones. Maybe two, three more chapters? I just don’t expect it to be resolved in a single chapter and it would be good to end the Arc with it. I still have yet to discover if this story has Interludes, since I don’t know much about Twig in no way whatsoever and how it tells its story. Maybe the Interlude will be happening in the meeting? Getting one more of those famous “alien” perspectives Wildbow is so good at doing, from an Other, seeing everything from its eyes would be really good to have this early on, for perspective. Seeing how they think. But maybe confusing if overdone. Someone who is FRIENDS with Others or who already knows how they work might be best. Maybe the girl with the Other friend with the big smile. My speculation is that the people in the meeting will all gang up on Blake and it’ll be overwhelming, but one of two characters will show no interest in it, or feign it very well. Someone will start a conflict that will overwhelm the rest of the conversation and just unbalance everything, for our character’s luck. 
NEXT TIME: I intended to post this last week, but sleep schedules, finishing up some university day-job before christmas plus getting further on an  Internship selection process I REALLY didn’t expect to get further on got in the way. Then came festivities and you know the rest. I’ll be going on a trip tomorrow, but I felt that I HAD to squeeze this in somewhere. I’ll be back around the 8th, since the process will be back by then. I have NO IDEA what they’ll have me do and how I’ll manage my time then. But I’ll leave this note here for you and for myself to remind all of you: When I figure out whatever battery of tasks these maniacs will have me do in the middle of my vacation, I will schedule my next liveblog. I’ll be doing as always and bringing with me the next chapter (Bonds 1.7) with me on my cellphone, doing notes as I read it, which will be posted as soon as I either finish it or have internet (I’ll be in the middle of the woods, if everything goes right, from the 29th to the 5th). I hope you all had a VERY demon-free Christmas or any other religious or comercial festivities you partake in, and that you have the gayest new year. See you all in 2018!!!
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About Me
Hi! I’m Laurie Ann. Thanks for stopping by.  
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A little bit about myself. Hmmm, I don't know about you but I have never liked talking about myself very much. I created this blog so I can tell the world about my weight issues and hopefully make me accountable and this time stick with it. 
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I'm 48 years young and have weight issues since I was about 17 yrs old. I have been up and down my whole life. I have tried Curves, WW, I have had numerous gym memberships and never used them. I have tried every kind of diet pill known to man. I'm not saying this stuff didn't work, because as long as I stuck with it, I was losing weight and feeling great. My problem is I have social anxiety, so I have always done these programs with someone. Now if you are anything like me, you know that once your friend quits you are usually right behind them. At my heaviest, I was 285 lbs.
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I had just been approved for a gastric bypass and was trying to lose some weight on my own before I decided to go that route. That's when my world CRASHED right in front of my eyes. My husband decided it was time to get a younger girl and walked out. I went into a deep depression, had a nervous breakdown and stopped eating for 6 weeks. I lost 65 lbs. I started councilling and started to feel healthier as I had lost so much weight. Over the next 10 months, I walked the treadmill, rode my exercise bike and did the Wii boxing, watched everything I ate and drank protein shakes for a grand total of 100 lbs lost.
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I felt great and looked even better. I was able to keep the weight off until about 4 years ago.
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I lost my brother to cancer, my depression started coming back worse than ever. Then the junk food came back into my life, cookies, cakes, ice cream every kind of dessert I could think of (I love to cook and bake btw), so over the last 4 years, I have gained 50 lbs back. My health isn't that great. I have PTSD, back issues (broken discs, back surgeries) and to top it off my knees decided they had enough, I have bursitis and a huge bakers cyst behind my knee that stops me from doing much of anything. Last August I lost my mom. She was almost 94 and she was the strongest person I have ever known in my life.
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It has been very hard losing her. That left my oldest brother and me and that's it! Well didn't he go and die on me 4 months after our mom! They left me alone in this crazy world to look after the rest of our family! Well, talk about a wake-up call. If I'm the only one left, "what if I die?" who keeps an eye on my son? nieces and nephews, plus I have a brand new granddaughter that I want to be able to keep up with. My family depends on me. They always have. My health kind of sucks and being this heavy makes it so much worse.
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I have to do something but what? I can't do a lot of exercising (my Dr actually has told me NONE AT ALL). Well, I have to help myself somehow. I don't want to die, I don't want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. So first things first. I have to get the incentive to do this for myself and by myself. Which is a hurdle all on its own? But enough is enough I have to do it. I have done a lot of research, and I know not just one program will work for me, I get bored way to easy. So I have come up with a system for myself that seems to be working. I'm going to do a bunch of programs together. I started only 3 weeks ago and I'm already down 9 lbs and 13 inches!! I feel so much better already, more energized, I'm sleeping better and what's even better is I don't wake up with a food hangover anymore! I have so much work to do but I'm going to do it! I refuse to be buried with the rest of my family, not yet, no way!
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That is where you come in. I hope you watch my journey and maybe even follow it yourself. Please leave comments, ideas, recipes etc.... Here is the program I have set up for myself Virtual Gastric Band Hypnosis App:
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What is it? The VGB is a non-surgical technique and non-diet program that is natural and safe. It uses hypnosis to condition the mind of the client to feel that the stomach is full after a certain level of food is consumed and there is no need for more. How I use it: I use the hypnosis every night to fall asleep. I believe it sends me subliminal messages to help me control my food cravings. I use the Facebook support group to answer questions, or if I'm having a bad day I can talk to people that are going through the same things that I am and without any judgement. That is what I personally use it for but there are so many other options to help you. It has water alerts, panic button, podcasts and a food diary. AISIRER Fitness Tracker:
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I absolutely love this fitness tracker. I will say it is the best one that I have has so far. It was only 40.99 and it tracks EVERYTHING. 【Updated Color Screen & IP68 Waterproof Fitness Tracker】- AISIRER fitness tracker with 5-level brightness, 0.96 inches LCD large colour screen offers excellent HD image quality and bring a clearer visual enjoyment. Up to IP68 waterproof standard, it allows you to wear on your wrist while swimming or showering. 【Multi-Sports Fitness Tracker】- With 14 sports modes, it can track specific walking, running, cycling, hiking, fitness, treadmill, basketball, tennis, climbing, badminton, dynamic-cycling, yoga, football, dancing, accurately record all-day activities like steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes. 【Heart Rate Monitor & Sleep Monitor】- Adopt the latest HR sensor for accurate and effective heart rate monitoring. This watch will track your sleep automatically at night and analyze your sleep quality with deep sleep, light sleep and awake time. The silent vibration alarms can wake you up without disturbing others. 【Never Miss Call Message】- Receive your notifications in real time, including email, call and messages, support Facebook, WhatsApp, Linkedin, Instagram and Twitter. It will keep you informed as long as it is connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. 【Long-lasting Battery & Warranty】- Built-in USB Charge(no cable needed), one single charge gives you up to 7 days of working time. It has a 24-month warranty as well. The app syncs well with so many different apps (Noom, My Fitness Pal, Health app and a lot more too) What is just as important as working out, is feeling good about yourself.
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When I work out I wear ShaperZ workout gear and shapewear. I don’t jiggle everything when jumping up and down and side to side. It holds everything in and I feel even better about losing weight and exercise!  Noom Weight Loss Program:
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Noom is a wellness program that is designed to help you live a healthier life by helping you create better habits. Unlike other weight loss programs that focus just on the physical aspect of losing weight, Noom focuses on the mental aspect as well. I wasn't sure about this program at first because I have used so many other programs that haven’t worked in the past. But I have signed on after the 2 weeks FREE trial for the whole year program. I have a coach that I talk to when I need her. I have a support group that we discuss and share stories. I'm losing weight and I have so much energy! If you would like to check it out just click here: Noom Free Trial Remente:
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Remente helps you understand where in life you should focus. We help you set goals and teach you ways to feel good, be productive and keep motivated. LEARN WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY Keep track of your mood to figure out which behaviours make you feel good. Tag your mood with feelings to quickly develop a deeper understanding of yourself and your emotions. Learn what to do, and to avoid, to be happy. FIND OUT ABOUT LIFE Find the resources you need in order to grow, with our curated collection of courses. They cover everything from mental wellbeing to productivity, relationships and motivation. Our goal is to cover everything you need to thrive. FOLLOW EXPERT GOAL PLANS Create step-by-step goal plans and incorporate them into your daily schedule to create life-changing habits and behaviour. You can follow expertly crafted plans to steadily move forward and safely avoid the most common obstacles. What is most important it that it helps me be a better person, understand who I am, and what I want to accomplish. It also has a goal to cut out sugar altogether. If you want to check it out just click here: Remente Mealime:
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Mealime is a simple way for busy singles, couples, and families to plan their meals and eat healthier. ... Sign up to Mealime and join over 1,000,000 people who have used our meal plans to eat healthier, reduce stress, lose weight, save money, and live happier, more productive lives. Plus it is FREE. I'm sure you have heard of Hellofresh, chef’s plate and all those expensive food plans that send you the meals with everything and all you have to do it cook it! They are very costly. I was using them to eat healthier, but after a few weeks into the plan, I started to get unfresh products. One week I never even received my order. Mealime is pretty much the same idea. You choose your recipes for the week. They have lots to choose from. They have a grocery list you can print and shop for OR they even have a delivery system where they pick your groceries for you and bring them right to your door. The delivery fee is only $3.99. I tried the delivery system last week and I would receive texts as to who was picking my order, if a product had to be replaced, and when the driver was on his way. It even has a GPS that shows you his route to your door! You can set it up for as soon as 1 hour or even days in advance. I set mine for 4 hours after I had ordered and it was there precisely at the exact time. It was pretty cool. PLUS it is from your local grocers so you know what you are getting. Carb Manager:
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I don't use this app as a program to follow. I use Noom for that. I use this for all the GREAT recipes! These recipes are super healthy and again this app is FREE! Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home: This isn’t an app. These are youtube videos that you can literally walk your way healthy. These are FREE videos that she shares on her youtube channel. All you have to do is walk. Overeaters Anonymous:
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This is the last app I use for my weight loss journey. This is a GREAT app. It has tons of podcasts of actual real-life people telling their stories in the OA meetings. I have social anxiety and I don't like to speak in a group of people, nor do I have any meetings in my area. This is a great way to hear others share the same issues as I have. I know this seems like a lot. But this is what is working for me. I have tried My Fitness Pal, Weight Watchers, plus I can't even count how many low carb diets, soup diets, diet pills. They work for a bit and then I slowly get right back to my old ways and gain it back. I use these apps together from morning to bedtime and it seems to work for me. I have a long way to go but this is now my lifestyle and I'm feeling GREAT! More pictures coming soon..... WHAT PROGRAMS DO YOU USE?  Read the full article
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juan-uruena · 6 years
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Further Guidance On Essential Issues For Stevia Sweetened Iso Xp
Tips For Deciding On Aspects In Whey Protein New Zealand Canada
A lot of whey protein powders are low in some or most of these, but very, very few tick as many boxes as Xwerks Grow. Note that while it’s free from a lot of allergens, it doesn’t come with any digestive enzymes, so if you have trouble digesting powdered protein this might not be the best pick. The unfortunate side effect of a whey that’s free of lecithin or any other products designed to artificially improve mixability is that — no surprise — the mixability isn’t great. It’s not terrible, but there’s no shortage of granules in a shaker cup and it settles quite quickly after mixing. I tried the chocolate flavor, and it tastes fantastic with milk. I’ve had a lot of protein powders that try to taste good in both milk and water, with the end result being a product that’s often too sweet for milk. Xwerks is great with milk (you can tell it’s sweetened naturally) but alas, it’s bland with water. That’s to be expected in a product without anything artificial to give it a creamy, milky taste in water. It’s tough to make a protein powder that pleases everyone. If it’s all-natural, it won’t mix well and probably won’t taste great with water. If it mixes great with anything, the cons will focus on the artificial ingredients. What matters here is what you, the individual, prioritize in your protein. If you’re not concerned with whether or not a protein powder is “all natural” and are primarily concerned with drinking something that tastes great, mixes well, and isn’t too expensive, you won’t be thrilled by Xwerks Grow.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://barbend.com/xwerks-grow-whey-protein-review/
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Easy Ways To Boost Your Physical Fitness
The information in this article will help you become educated in all aspects associated with fitness. Before you start getting in shape, you need to know what you are doing so that you do not injure yourself or do the wrong exercises. So conduct some research before you try and exercise. Grow your own garden. Many people don't realize that beginning a garden can be quite a bit of work. You need to dig, weed, and squat down quite a bit. You can garden to help you burn a few extra calories a week, or you can think of other simple tasks to complete around your home. Investing in a personal trainer is a wise investment if you can afford it. This will let a personal trainer share some insight with you and help you stay motivated with your workout. Some people may not respond well to a personal trainer, but for others, they can be just what they need. To increase muscle mass lift heavier weights and do fewer repetitions. To start, choose a muscle group. For this example, do the chest. Warm up by lifting lighter, easier to lift weights. It is a good idea to do approximately 15-20 reps with the lighter weight. The next set should be weights that are heavy enough that you can only complete 6 to 8 reps. Your third set should be completed with an additional five pounds. Before starting a bench workout, examine the padding of the bench by pressing down your fingers on the cushion. If the wood is easily palpable beneath the padding, choose an alternate machine. A bench with stingy padding will not give you correct support, leading to possible bruising or even worse injuries. Avoid referring to your fitness program as working out or exercising. Using those words can make you become less motivated. When you go and exercise, instead call it running or cycling. Most people think of fitness as a physical pursuit, but it can have even farther-reaching benefits. Regular workouts can improve your mental health and your outlook on life. The endorphins released during a workout can lead to a feeling of well being. Working out also enhances your self-image and your confidence. Therefore, a couple of workouts can make you happy. Never work out when you are feeling sick. Let your body heal back up at a normal pace when you become sick. Working out when sick will do more harm than good. Because of this, you should stop exercising until you recover. Meanwhile, eat properly and rest as much as you can. Scheduling your day is critical in finding time to exercise and also planning your meals. If you don't plan, you are more likely to make poor choices. If you figure out your schedule beforehand, you can pack yourself healthy meals and plan workout times. You can make your workouts more interesting with television workouts. Investigate fitness-focused television channels or use on-demand services to find workout shows. Your exercise sessions will prove faster time to pass and more mentally engaging when you don't know what the next episode brings. If your TV network does not air fitness shows, look for videos and exercise routines online. Figure out a goal for arm workouts. To build muscle mass, lift heavier weights. If your goal is overall fitness, you can get away with smaller weights and more repetitions, which helps with muscle endurance. There are a lot of different things you can do to stay active and on top of it. What is important is finding what works best for your situation. Make it fun and flexible for your schedule so you look forward to it. Discovering more about fitness keeps it interesting.
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Picking Out Necessary Criteria In Canada
He took delivery last September. “My dealer still doesn't have Bolts for people to see in person,” Fidler said via Facebook, adding that his salesperson has asked three times that he bring his Bolt back to show to potential buyers. “I've said yes each time because I don't mind showing my car off.” Rob MacGregor brokers used-EV sales for a Vancouver Honda dealer. He considered expanding to new EVs but found local dealers could not promise timely delivery. “The situation is such that new EVs are next to impossible to get your hands on,” MacGregor told Automotive News Canada. “Yes, you can pre-order them. Good luck. You’re probably going to wait a year before you get one.” Vancouver’s Regency Volkswagen began taking pre-orders for its 20-unit allotment of e-Golfs last September but quit a month later under instructions from VW Canada. Only 10 arrived, said co-owner Patrick Zhang. Regency was told to submit orders for confirmed sales, said Zhang, but was told it might take more than a year to fill them. VW Canada spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff confirmed the company stopped taking orders but said production hasn’t ceased and Canada expects to get three times last year’s allocation. “We are doing what we can to get sold orders built as soon as possible, and have made our customers aware of the wait times via our consumer website,” he said. In Vancouver, the gap between rising EV demand and the ability buy or even test-drive one has caught the attention of the municipal government.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://canada.autonews.com/article/20180507/CANADA/180509850/canadas-growing-ev-market-dogged-by-product-shortage
How To Make Vitamins And Minerals Work For You
You notice others living healthier lifestyles, but not many people know what they should about nutrients. An education in vitamins and minerals is a must. Read on to learn some excellent tips to help you select the right vitamins and minerals. To make sure your workout routine is paying off the greatest rewards, take your vitamins daily. When you are well nourished, your body can recover quickly from workouts, burn fat and build muscle more efficiently. The more balanced your diet, the more of the necessary vitamins you will consume. You should eat fruits and veggies at least five times a day. You should also have adequate amounts of lean protein. If this is hard to do, consider adding a supplement. Calcium helps you have stronger bones. Vitamin D is essential for the absorption of calcium. Vitamin D can be gleaned in several ways: food, supplements, or sunlight. These will help your body absorb calcium. Drinking fortified milk is one of the best ways to get vitamin D, but a daily dose of sunshine can also help. Take a supplement if you do not prefer milk. Vitamin D will protect your bones, preventing them from getting brittle. Is your body hurting, but you don't know why? Rather than shell out good money for a chiropractor or MD, give proper vitamin and minerals supplementation a try. Some nutrients to soothe muscles are fish oil and Vitamin E. To help create red blood cells, iron is essential. Oxygen is carried throughout your body by red blood cells. Women will require a higher dose of iron. Iron deficiency often causes exhaustion and breathing problems. You can find riboflavin and vitamin B2 in green beans, asparagus, bananas, green beans, and dairy products. A deficiency will reduce the quality of your skin texture. Also, riboflavin can help you in your fight against cancer long-term. Vitamin A will boost the immune system and it helps with your skin's aging process while keeping heart disease at bay. Do not exceed the RDA of 2300 IU because Whey Protein large quantities can be toxic. A good source of Vitamin A are carrots, dark leafy greens and squash. Getting enough vitamins and minerals is growing in importance. Many foods in the grocery stores are over-processed, which leads to the depletion of many nutrients. To get a good dose of quality nutrients, it is important you take a good quality multivitamin. Talk to your doctor to see if you are deficient in any vitamins. This way, you can know which supplements you will need to rectify any such problems. Since today it is much easier to eat cheap fast foods because of the poor economy, many people fail to get the proper vitamins and minerals that our bodies requires each day. Get some bottled vitamins to make sure you have the nutrients to stay healthy. Now that you've read this, you should better understand the importance of vitamin and mineral with maintaining good health. You are only going to live once, and that's why you should take supplements that will help your life. Use these tips often to stay healthy and maintain an active lifestyle.
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