#sle insert

[cevansbrat0007]

Regrets Only.

Summary: Ari reaches his limit with your latest TikTok prank...

Warnings: Mature Themes, Smut, Ari Being A Menace, TikTok Pranks, Shenanigans, Angry!Ari, Brat!Reade, Small Chase Kink, Light Manhandling. Biting, Spanking, Bondage, Handcuffs, Overstimulation, Cursing, Minors DNI

A/N: Prompt courtesy of @jamneuromain. Part my Sweet Renegade Series. Semi-proofread, not beta'd. All mistakes are my own. Likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!

In all the times you’ve tried, you’ve never once regretted pranking your man with something you’d seen on TikTok – until today. Yes. Believe it or not, this time you might’ve gone a bit too far. 

Which is why you’re currently holed up in Ari’s fairly spacious closet, sipping on a bottle of water and munching on a granola bar while you wait for the bounty hunter to calm down. You lean back with a sigh, only to wince when you feel a shoe digging into your side. 

You make quick work of tossing it to the other side of the room before returning to the treat in your hand. But just as you go to take another bite, you hear something that makes your stomach sink - even as your pulse spikes. 

And it lets you know that you are well and truly fucked.

Earlier That Day (Roughly Twenty-Seven Minutes Ago)

After a solid ten minutes of vigorous stretching, you bend down to check the laces on your tennis shoes. Once they’re secure, you quietly make your way to the kitchen to retrieve the items you needed for your latest prank. The one you planned to play on your favorite unsuspecting bounty hunter, who was blissfully snoring away on a couch in the living room. 

Now, this particular one just so happened to be a little…bolder than either of your previous stunts. It required more courage, coupled with a dash of bravery, and a well thought out Plan B in the event things went south. 

You open the refrigerator and pull out the pack of hot dogs you’d bought during your last trip from the grocery store. While you’d originally told Ari that you wanted him to put them on the grill, he had no way of knowing that they would also be used to torture him. Common sense told you that you’d be better off keeping that tiny piece of information to yourself. 

Stifling a mischievous giggle, you extract one singular frankfurter from the package before resealing it and putting it away. Next, you move to your utility drawer to gleefully swipe a pair of scissors. 

This was the entire plan. You were going to quietly tuck a hot dog in your man’s zipper, and then wake him up so he could watch you snip it in half with a pair of scissors. In all the videos you watched – and you’d watched a number of them – every bleary eyed victim panicked as if you’d just cut off their actual dick. 

And therein lay the prank. 

The clips had left you in stitches for hours. So much so that Ari had noticed how much fun you were having, only to roll his eyes when you revealed that you were scrolling through his least favorite app on your phone.

Fucking TikTok.

He hated it. You loved it. Frankly, the only reason he even tolerated you telling him about the things you’d seen is because he could tell it brought you joy. 

Excitement buzzes through you as you tiptoe into the living room. You’re grateful to see that Ari is still sleeping, snoring soundly with one impressively muscled arm tucked behind his head. 

With gentle hands, you dutifully undo the zipper of his Levi’s before carefully inserting the hot dog. Since you don’t want to mess this up, you make sure to go slow, taking your time. You just knew this prank was going to be epic. 

Once that’s done, you briefly take a second to wipe your hands on your leggings before taking a deep breath. Well, it was now or never. Go big or go home, as they say. 

Leaning down, you grab Ari by the shoulder, attempting to jostle him awake. It takes a couple tries, but he does eventually open his eyes.

“Whaa–?” A grin breaks out across his handsome features as he emerges from his sleepy haze. “Hey, baby.”

“Hiya, Beast.” You offer him what you hope looks like your most unhinged smile and the reveal the pair of scissors that, up until now, you’d kept hidden behind your back. “How’s about I take a little off the top?” You sing, brandishing the shears. 

“The hell?” His confused blue eyes go wide as they follow the path of the scissors. Shock overcomes him as he watches, in what feels like slow motion, as you cut off a sizable portion of the frank. 

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” He roars, grabbing himself as he scrambles off the couch and onto the floor before proceeding to do the funniest, most awkward backwards crab walk you’ve ever seen in your life. 

You double over with laughter as Ari struggles to come to grips with the fact that you definitely did not just make him the next John Bobbitt your Lorena. He’s breathing hard as he rips the hot dog out of his zipper, holding it up to the light. 

“Oh my God, that was amazing!” You wheeze.

“The hell is wrong with you?!” He tosses the damned thing across the room before covering his face with his hands as he wills himself to calm down. “Have you lost your fuckin’ mind?”

Wiping tears from your eyes, you decide to put the bounty hunter out of his misery by whispering his least favorite phrase: “It was a prank!” A renewed wave of laughter hits you when you recall just how gobsmacked he’d been by the whole ordeal. God, your sides hurt something fierce. 

“Just what in the ever loving fuck would make you think that was funny?” Ari growls low in his throat as he finally sits up. And the look he’s giving you now…

It’s hot enough to burn right through you. And not in a sexy way.

“That’s just the magic of TikTok, I guess.” Your smile wanes as you watch your severely irritated boyfriend slowly climb to his feet. “I mean, you should’ve seen your face when–”

“When what?” Comes his quiet rumble, the sound reverberating deep in his chest. “When I thought you cut my dick off just now? Is that–is that what you’re laughing about?” The smile he offers you looks a little less than friendly.

“Um yeah. I’d say so.”

Instinct, as well as the need for self-preservation, has you taking a cautious step backwards. You were prepared to run if you had to. It was the whole reason why you’d stretched in the first place.

“Oh yeah?” Ari scrubs a palm over his ticking jaw. “Is that so?”

Instead of responding you decide to simply nod. Oh, and take another step backwards, of course.

“I’m sure that if you’d maybe stop and think about it –”

“Why don’t you c’mere so I can show you just how much I appreciate your so-called sense of humor?” He motions you forward, opening up his waiting arms. 

But you know better. 

“I, uh…” You hedge, bracing your hands in front of you. “Can see you might need some more time to appreciate the joke. So I’m just gonna…um…” You blow out a breath. “Give you some space so you can – eeeep!”

An incensed Ari picks that moment to strike - lunging at you with a speed that belies his size. Thank goodness you’re prepared. Ducking under his arms, you spin around and make a mad dash for the stairs. Squealing, you take them two at a time, hoping to make it to your sanctuary before he can get his hands on you. 

“Get your ass back here, Bird!” 

No way, pal!

Heart pumping, you grab the doorframe and all but slingshot yourself into Ari’s bedroom, slamming the door behind you. While it would only buy you a couple of seconds, that was really all you needed. 

You dive headlong into a nearby closet before swiftly closing the door and hitting the lock. As your chest heaves, you decide to take a seat on the floor before reaching for the bottle of water you’d previously planted in your hiding spot.

After guzzling almost half, you replace the cap. You knew you ought to conserve your rations. Just in case you were stuck here for a while. 

“I’m not on your shit today, baby. Okay? Today your man’s got time!” Ari bellows seconds later. “So, if I were you, I’d come on out now!”

Shaking your head, you vow to stay silent. So you say nothing, even when he tries the knob on the door that separates him from you. 

“Open up, sweetheart!”

Again you say nothing, in favor of unwrapping one of your favorite granola bars. They were the chewy kind, the ones that tasted more like dessert than they did something healthy.  

“I’ll come out when you calm down!” You finally yell back after you chew and swallow. “Fucking Beast.” You grumble under your breath.

“Oh, I’m more than calm.” The weight of his sardonic chuckle is not lost on you. “Why don’t you come on out and see?” You can’t help but jump when one of his fists pounds on the door. “I swear…I just wanna talk.”

“I don’t believe you!” 

“You’re gonna open this door, darlin’.”

“No, I’m not!” You hiss, throwing one of his shoes at the wall for good measure.

“Yes, you are.” Ari hits back. “Now, you can either come out on your own, or…”

“Or else what?” 

“Or, I’ll come in there and get you. And trust me, little Bird…that’s the last thing you want.”

“Yeah?” You spit, meanwhile inwardly lamenting your man’s lack of a sense of humor for the umpteenth time. “Well…” You take another bite of your granola bar. “I’d like to see you try.”

Famous last words.

Ari whistles low, making you shiver. “Wait right there, baby. I’ll see you in a minute.”

You let out a sigh of relief once you get the sense that you’re finally alone. As funny as it all had seemed initially, you were quickly coming to regret this particular prank. The longer you sat in this closet, the more you began to honestly examine – and then reexamine – your life choices.

Perhaps it was time to give your newfound love of pranking your bounty hunter a break. Lips pursed in thought, you allow yourself another bite of your chewy bar. Only to frown when you hear a very familiar sound that fills you with instant regret.  

Apparently Ari had returned. And he’d brought his power drill. Fuck!

Your mouth goes dry as the sound grows louder. And then you’re forced to watch in horror as your man makes fast work of literally removing the closet door from its hinges. It was the last thing you ever expected your normally rather patient and understanding boyfriend to do. 

“There’s my girl.” Ari’s dangerous purr comes as he picks up the now useless slab or wood and sets it aside like it weighs almost nothing. “C’mon out of there so we can talk.” 

When you don’t move, your bounty hunter decides to come get you. He hauls you out by your wrist, making sure not to bruise you in the process.

“Beast, don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic? I mean – ooh!” You scoff, only to rise on your toes when his free hand comes down on your vulnerable ass. Hard.

“Ow!”

“Let me make something very clear here, darlin’.” He leads you over to the bed before sitting down and then pulling you over his knee. “You want to waste time messin’ around on that stupid app you love so much? Fine.” Ari slaps your rump again, forcing you to bury your face in the covers to keep from crying out. 

“But where I’m gonna draw the line right now is you testin’ ‘em out on me. Unless you’re in that kitchen whipping up a new recipe I am not to be your guinea pig. You get me?”

His heavy palm comes down hard again when you don’t respond. This time he takes a moment to massage your cotton covered backside. “Do. You. Get. Me.” Each word is peppered by a solid smack.

“Yes!” You wail, although it comes out slightly muffled. 

Still not satisfied, Ari goes to grip the waistband of your leggings, dragging them down to your ankles, complete with your simple, white cotton panties. “This could’ve been a relaxing Sunday for us, little Bird. Just mindin’ our own business.” You can’t help but shiver when you feel him fondle your upturned ass, molding and massaging your burning cheeks. “But you just had to go and be a brat, didn’t you?”

“I–I’m sorry!”

It was too little, too late. And you both knew it.

“Oh now, you’re sorry.” He mocks before raining down a fury of perfectly-timed smacks. “I love you, baby. I do. But I also know you. You’re not really sorry – at least not yet.” 

Ari eases out from beneath you, all the while demanding that you remain face down with your reddened ass pushed up in the air so that he can enjoy the view while he prepares the next part of your punishment. And you had best believe you feel his sharp teeth sink into the left globe of your ass before he goes.

Consider it a parting gift.

One Hour Later…

And that’s how you found yourself handcuffed to the bed, courtesy of the signature purple, butter leather cuffs he’d had made for you. Unfortunately for you, you’d learned that he’d recently purchased another set…

For your ankles.

Your bounty hunter smiles as he picks up one of your vibrators – the one you’d purchased together – before applying it to your already oversensitive clit. Bucking your hips, you try to escape the torture.

With no such luck.

You desperately tug at your restraints, even as your cries fall on deaf ears. No matter how many times you promised to never play another prank on him ever again, it still wasn’t enough. Instead he’d continued to keep you bound while he worked out his anger…

By ruthlessly overstimulating your poor, sweat slicked body. No matter how many times you came, no matter how many times you threatened to scream yourself hoarse, he kept demanding more.

Because, according to Ari, since you’d taken a few years off his life, you apparently owed him as many orgasms by way of apology as you were able to give. Which meant you were going to be sore as hell tomorrow. 

Which was why, in this moment, although you could feel another orgasm threatening to overtake you, you were filled with nothing but…

Regrets only.

END  

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[block-tales-headcanons]

Incorrect quotes time (though it would be funny)

Why must the troops never take over in the trench. - Cruel King

Tranch - Black Rock knight 1

Tranch - Black Rock knight 2

I am sending you both in a mission deep in enemy territory and I don't expect either of you to return.

"Aren't you tired of being kind?" No!! I am tired of everyone around me being mean! - Player, during the prologue

I C R E A T E D Y O U, A N D Y O U C R E- -Hatred boss fight

Ok we get it, they created you, and you created them, ok, Player, why did you create it!? - Red of Red and Blue

I didn't!! Its talking stupid - Player

Probably Chapter 8 in a nutshell.

There was a very hungry Player that wanted to sle- 78 nuclear bombs. *Insert the image of player crying on the floor*

Remember Player, to feel better, you need to talk about your feeli- - Kyoko

A gun?

What!? No!

2 guns?

Still no!

3 guns!?

Where do you keep getting those!?

28 guns!?

Hey Griefer, ever want to talk about your feelings?

No... - Griefer

I do!

We know Player.

I'm sad...

We know Player.

21 letters in the alphabet right?

There are 26 Griefer.

Silly me, guess I must have forgot about U R A

There are 26 Griefer.

Q T

There are 26 Griefer.

Incorrect bones anon

(Dry bones anon, I love how stupid incorrect quotes can be)

“there are 26 griefer” 😹😹

[luciluck2046-md]

Murder Drones: Glowing Future AU

5. MF get some therapy wtf

TW: Mentions of Suicide. Reader Discretion is advised

[...]

"And here's m-my bedroom. J and V still have to take their things, but th-the ceiling is all fr-free now-" I mumble, annoyed by the fact that I have to show HER the house.

|

"The fuck you mean ceiling?" Tessa asks me.

|

"I haven't sl-slept well so DO-DON'T ASK ME SHIT." I groan. This is only kinda true, I mean I did have the shittiest sleep of my life but I also don't want her in my house. Also N is still helping the girls with moving in at Lizzy's, so right now I'm alone. "Anyway if you nee-ed to sle-sleep, I'll give you a sleeping bag or someth-ething." I add, yawning.

|

"OHHHH DID YOU DESIGN THE DRESSER??" She asks me, admiring my closet.

|

"No..? Dad built ha-half of the things in this house and most of th-them suck. Except thi-things with fucking doors..." I mumble, sitting on my chair to finally move in the important data back to my pc from before the reboot I made two days ago.

|

"And interesting choice of... Liking." She says confused. "OHHH whatcha doing???" She asks me, looking at me loading different data.

|

"Unfucking the shit I fuc-fucked up." I roll over my eyes, while inserting the next USB stik.

|

"Думаю, стоит сказать, что я очень горжусь своей работой здесь. / 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸'𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎." Doll tells me. I groan.

|

"Tessa, do NOT op-open my closet." I say tired after I hear her slightly touch the doors. I didn't even turn to see her. I hear the door squeak as it opens slowly. "TESSA I FU-FUCKING WARNED YOU!" I yell, throwing a pen at her as I spin in my chair. She catches it right before it hits her screen-

|

"Come on, can't I explore a little?" I shake my head. I would literally kill her if N wasn't so attached to her. But if she does anything suspicious she's dead.

|

"I kno-know exactly where you are in my room de-despite not seeing you, so BEHAVE fo-for fuck's sake..." I mumble, turning back at my laptop. I know every single squeak my floor makes, so it's easy to detect her.

|

"Hiiiiii Uuuziii, hiiiiii Teeeeess!" N knocks on my door, opening it with a wide smile. I chuckle. He's so cute when he smiles...

|

"N, can you do anything about the fact that Uzi doesn't let me rummage through her closet?" Tessa asks just like a sibling would do.

|

"Even I can't go trough it, so I am sure I can't." He says confused. "What do you like at her closet so much?" He asks. I think about it.

|

"Yeah... Why ar-are you so interested in my dresse-ser?" I ask her.

|

"That thing seems filled with drawings and I NEED to know how they look." She responds amused. I'm pretty sure that's not the reason she wants to see my closet, but N is satisfied with her answer.

|

"Well Uzi puts my drawings in there... Actually can I show her my drawings!?" N asks me excited.

|

"Oh, yeah, just let me get them." I respond, smiling. I get up from my chair and open the closet to get N's drawings.

|

"Hey what are those about?" He asks me, pointing to some drawings on the top shelf.

... OH ROBO-GOD, OH SHIT, OH FUCKING SHIT. HE DOES NOT NEED TO SEE THOSE.

"UHHHHH SO-SOME OF MY RAMBLINGS!?!?" I try to find an excuse, picking the sheets and starting to crumple them up.

|

"Ohh, let me see!" Tessa says, pulling a drawing from my hands.

I try to get it back but there's no use. I cover my face embarrassed and get prepared to hear her shit.

"... GOD WTF, HOW OLD ARE YOU!?!?" She yells at me.

|

"Huh, what are those-" N asks, trying to see what Tessa's holding, but she hides it from him.

|

"NO!" We both yell, I embarrassed and Tess frightened. "Can you go outside for a second? I need to DISCUSS with this girl for a bit." She asks, making sweet eyes but with a very sarcastic voice. He goes out the door after saying "Alright" and I get prepared for the questions.

"I'm 18 so sh-shut up..." I mumble, answering her previous question.

|

"I am pretty sure those things were on that shelf for over 4 years, WHY WOULD YOU DRAW THAT!?!?" She yells at me.

|

"RO-ROBO-GOD, CAN'T A KID HAVE CRU-CRUSHES FOR FUCK'S SAKE?" I yell back at her. She slaps her face.

|

"... You drew some unorthodox shit. Some would even say catholic. WHO'S THAT GIRL!?" Tess yells again.

|

"I have the ri-right to remain sile-lent." I mumble embarrassed. I know who that girl is. And I'm trapped with her as a virus right now.

"ХАХАХАХАХА Я ТЕБЕ ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛ��НО ПОНРАВИЛСЯ? Я УЧИЛ, ЧТО ЭТО ШУТКА, ЭТО ТАК ХОРОШО!!! / 𝙷𝙰𝙷𝙰𝙷𝙰𝙷𝙰𝙷𝙰 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚄𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙻𝙸𝙺𝙴𝙳 𝙼𝙴? 𝙸 𝚃𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚆����𝚂 𝙰 𝙹𝙾𝙺𝙴, 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃'𝚂 𝚂𝙾 𝙻𝙰𝙼𝙴!!!" Doll laughs in my head.

|

"Doll Please, Laugh Quieter." Cyn says from my tail. I groan LOUDLY.

|

"... Lesbian." Is all that Tessa tells me. I'm about to give her a godly ass beating if she doesn't shut her mouth.

|

"I'M BISE-SEXUAL, BITE ME!" I respond annoyed.

|

"Is everything alright in there?" N asks, slightly opening the door.

|

"Yeah, she's j-just being annoying..." I mumble, shutting the door to my closet so hard, that I'm sure that the drones in the other end of the bunker's hallway heard it. I also completely dematerialize the drawings that I crumpled in my hands some minutes ago.

|

"Girl, who hurt you?" Tessa asks annoyed.

|

"Shut. U-up." I say as I sit back to my laptop. "Say anything else a-and you're fucking dead-ad." I add. She is not a friend of mine so she CANNOT say or do anything that annoys me WITHOUT regretting.

𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂

My screen turns on in the dead of night. N is hanging from the feeling like usual, and Tessa is sleeping on the couch from the living room.

I groan. I used to get full 8 hours of sleep before I decided to build my railgun. Now I have to survive off oil and sleep, but at least now I don't need to charge anymore. I used to always get tangled in the wire. We're so lucky we can't choke...

As I am lost in my thoughts, I hear N whimper quietly, and I sit up on the edge of my bed to look at him. His screen turned on, and he's... Crying... Did a bad memory get to him..?

"N..? Come he-here, do you want to ta-talk?" I ask him worried. He nods his head, getting off the bar and sitting next to me.

|

"Please don't do anything dangerous..." He whimpers.

|

"Oh... N, I pro-promise you that I'll always be safe... As lo-long as it's okay for me to be safe!..." I try to reassure him, while not lying.

|

"No Uzi! I want you to stop sacrificing yourself for almost no reason... Please understand that!.." He whines.

|

"But if you die- Actu-tually I don't think you'd understand... Okay, I'll ke-keep myself safe, I promise." I try to explain to him, but I give up, hugging him. Lies sometimes are better. It's for his own good.

We sit in silence, hugging each other for a while. After about twelve minutes, N finally breaks the silence.

|

"Uzi... Do you trust Tess?" He asks me, still sad, but at least he's not crying.

|

"I would kill her if sh-she does anything to hurt you." I respond angered. I don't trust her. Too shady, too curious, too... Human like. I don't hate her, I despise her.

|

"... I don't think I trust her either..." He tells me.

|

"It's alright... I'll prot-rotect you. I promise." I respond, making another promise.

I will keep only one of those promises.

And it sure isn't the first one.

We sit on the edge of my bed, still hugging, for about half an hour. N yawns tired.

"Uzi..? Can I sleep with you this time?" He asks me, slightly embarrassed. I chuckle, nodding my head.

|

"Sure, the bed is big, you can sleep next to me!" I smile.

𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂

"OH MY ROBO-GOD, UZI FUCKING DOORMAN, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?!?" I wake up to mom yelling at me. I rise up on my bed, waiting for my vision to calibrate.

|

"... Wh-what happened?" I ask sleepy. Then I realize. N is still sleeping next to me. Actually wait, wasn't I hugging him while sleeping-

|

"DID YOU SLEEP WITH HIM??" she keeps scolding me. N finally wakes up, I wonder how did it take him that long.

|

"Y-yes I MEAN NO, ONLY NEXT TO HI-HIM NOT WITH HIM-" I try to explain.

|

"Good morning Uzi! Good morning ma'am!" N says, unaware of what's going on right now.

|

"DID YOU SLEEP WITH MY DAUGHTER!?" Mom asks him, threatening him with a shoe.

|

"Huh? I just had a bad memory and Uzi comforted me, I wouldn't call that sleeping with her." He tells mom, actually explaining something.

Mom is speechless. I guess she wanted a reason for me to break up with him but now she sees that he doesn't deserve to break up with me.

|

"Weeell weeeeeeell, what do we got here?" Tessa comes in the room, acting all knowing and annoying. "Who has a crush on who?" She asks like we aren't just dating.

|

"... We've been officially dating for ab-about a week." I mumble tired. "Just when I finally get some sleep y'all wake me up..." I say, after a big yawn.

|

"YOU WHAT??? N YOU SMART MOTHERFUCKER!!!" She yells, hugging N in a proud sister like way.

I just realize that I want an older sister. Or sibling. I used to think about this all the time. Huh. Weird. She won't be my sister figure though.

"И вам доброе утро, почему вы все решили поорать в этот утренний час? / 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛?" Doll asks me annoyed.

|

"I don't know, I finally had over 6 hours of sleep and they decide to wake me up." I mumble in response. Mom is looking weird at me.

|

"Anyway, can I go ba-back to sleep?" I ask annoyed.

|

"You have to go to sch-" She tries to say but I will NOT let that slide.

|

"Uhem, this vir-virus is so bad it's actually fucking my circuits up. And I literally downloaded viruses th-that burn your processor to get rid of school. And they did almost no-nothing. I am NOT going to sch-school." I explain to her. Only I know how much I tried to download bad viruses only to see that I got the best antivirus. Ever. It's good most of the time but when I actually need it, it doesn't work.

|

"Alright, you can stay home. I'm going at Yeva's house again today, so be careful to not destroy the house." She tells me, leaving the room.

|

"... Can I go to school?" N asks me after she left.

|

"If yo-you want? You aren't tied to-to me." I respond amused. He eeks excited and he hugs me goodbye. "Have f-fun!" I tell him, and he leaves too.

Dad is gone at work, so right now only Tessa's here. I lie in my bed, face down in my pillow, and groan loudly.

"Alrighty, so care to explain how you two got together? I'm surprised he chose you out of all people." Tessa asks me, spinning on my chair.

|

"Same." I mumble. "Can you leave me alo-alone for FIVE FUCKING MI-MINUTES!?!?" I yell at her tired.

|

"Alright!" She answers, keeping her mouth shut.

...

Only for the next five minutes. That bitch.

"SOOOOOOOOOOOOO What do you think he likes about you?" She asks amused. I am sure she counted every single second.

|

"... I don't know-ow, don't ask me." I respond embarrassed. "I honestly don't see-see what he sees- WAIT ARE YOU TRYING TO GE-GET ME TO VENT!?" I yell at her, even more embarrassed.

|

"Maybe." She smirks. "What do you see in N?" She asks something else.

|

"A cute-te inocent boy with puppy personality. If any-anyone would hurt him, I would kill everyone in the room then my-myself." I mumble the last part.

|

"What would happen if you lost control over your body because of Cyn or... Whatever that virus is, it seems important." She asks me. I should have seen this coming, but this question really hit me in my weak spot.

|

"BITE ME" I yell at her.

.

..

...

"... I already tr-tryed to kill myself once because of this, and N is alr-already marked by this fact. Don't re-remind me about this event." I respond after a period of silence.

|

"I wonder, you don't seem that special." She chuckles. "He should have taken V, she's better." She adds.

|

"HE CHOSE ME-ME OVER HER SO SHUT-UT UP." I yell at her. She sounds just like my intrusive thoughts. I hide myself in the corner of my bed. "Just sh-shut up." I mumble, trying not to cry.

|

"But isn't it annoying to know that you could lose control at any moment? Isn't it painful to know that you could be alone again?" She keeps saying, with an evil smirk. I think she knows what she's doing, since I'm on the verge of tears.

|

"... Sh-shut up... Please..." I whimper.

It should be a nightmare, am I right? But wait... We can't dream. If this is a nightmare, this means that it's going to happen anyway.

"Bruh I don't want N to date someone with this little self respect. LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF FOR FUCK'S SAKE." She yells at me, dropping the act. "I didn't want to get you crying, but come on. He ain't leaving you even if that means the death for him." She adds annoyed.

|

"... Wh-what was that..?" I ask trying to calm down.

|

"A TEST. You have so little self respect, and I am not letting N date someone this... This unaccepting of themselves. He clearly saw something in you so TRY to see it. At least thank me for telling you one of your problems." She explains bored. "Also go get some therapy, I haven't seen anyone else ever need it more than you do." She mumbles.

|

"... BITE-TE ME, I DON'T NEED THERAPY!" I yell at her. She raises an eyebrow.

|

"На самом деле, говоря, а не просто слушая, вам ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛЬНО НУЖНА терапия. / 𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝙳𝙾 𝙽𝙴𝙴𝙳 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚢." Doll gets in the discussion. I roll over my eyes.

I am still staying in the corner of my bed, leaning onto the corner of my room.

"Come on, go get your oil or whatever, I know y'all overheat very fast. I don't understand what was Cyn thinking." Tess tells me.

|

"One Word. Efficiency." Cyn responds annoyed. I don't see in any way how this is more efficient.

|

"Yesterday ev-evening I drank the last can, I have to go to re-refill at Doll's place." I mumble. Doll killed so many drones that her house is a very big oil supply.

|

"По крайней мере, поблагодарите меня, что я сохранил тела. / 𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜." Doll tells me annoyed. I roll over my eyes and I whisper a "thank you" while heading out the door.

"Do you want to co-come? Mom is still trying to find where Yeva's backup is. Since Doll's works, that me-means her should should work too." I ask her.

|

"Sure! Yeva was one of the best hacker's I've seen." She approves.

|

"Can you explain how the fu-fuck do you know every bit of mo-mom and Yeva's personal life?" I question her, kinda laughing.

We may actually get along one day... Though there are more chances for me to leave N than for us to be friends.

𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂~𖥂

Prev | Next | Masterpost

Wait are those two actually getting along? NO FUCKING WAY!1!!!1!! It's so fucking insane!!! Anyway, nothing very bad happened this chapter, isn't it surprising?

...

Knowing my writing quirks, the next chapter will have a BIG depressing moment. Or maybe not ;)

[ellasstarryeyes]

It's been a while since I have updated here. Work and school keep me insanely exhausted and busy. I was diagnosed with SLE in September and pulmonary fibrosis just a few weeks ago. I am leaving this in my doctors' and specialists' hands and trying to find joy in life, no matter how big or small.

I have not updated my main wip since I got diagnosed with SLE but I am still writing. I have several mini wips tucked away in my notes app, some one shots, double shots and a plethora of notes and outlines for my main wip. Ellamond definitely keeps me going on bad days and I think about their story nonstop. The best and most shocking is yet to come.

I commissioned my first illustration of them and I am in love! I also updated my strawpage with lots of interesting back story details about Ellaenor. And some hints about what makes her so important 😉. More and more, she becomes my self insert but unfortunately, I don't have her abilities lol.

Anyways, I doubt anyone will even read this. But I am going to attempt to update here a bit more.

Have a wonderful day, wherever you are...

[thesleepcompanyy]

Neck Pillows: The Small Comfort Upgrade That Changes Everything

When was the last time you woke up without a stiff neck or soreness in your shoulders? If you’re someone who spends hours at a desk, travels often, or just has poor sleep posture, chances are your neck doesn’t get the support it truly needs. That’s where neck pillows come in—not just the travel kind, but everyday solutions designed to cradle and align.

Neck pillows have come a long way from those basic U-shaped cushions you toss into your travel bag. Today, they’re a legit part of a healthy routine, offering both relaxation and real postural benefits. Whether you use them during sleep, work, or travel, choosing the right neck pillow can ease tension, support recovery, and even improve sleep quality.

Let’s explore what makes a good neck pillow, how it benefits your health, and how to find one that truly fits your lifestyle.

Why Neck Pillows Are More Than Just Travel Buddies

Most people think of neck pillows as airplane essentials, but they’re so much more than that. Here’s why:

They help reduce muscle strain and cervical tension

They offer support for the natural curve of your neck

They keep your head aligned with your spine while sitting or lying down

They help prevent long-term neck and shoulder issues caused by poor posture

The modern world keeps our heads tilted forward—at screens, over laptops, on phones. A neck pillow offers counter-support when your muscles are overworked from this “tech neck” position.

Neck Pain is a Lifestyle Issue

You don’t need an injury to suffer from neck pain. Most of it builds up from everyday habits:

Sitting at your desk without head or neck support

Sleeping on too many pillows (or too few)

Driving long hours without proper back and neck posture

Traveling often with awkward naps in upright seats

Using a high mattress and low pillow combo that throws your alignment off

A good neck pillow can relieve daily strain and help re-align your posture over time.

What to Look For in a Quality Neck Pillow

Not all neck pillows are equal. The right one depends on how and when you plan to use it. Here are key features to look out for:

Ergonomic shape: It should follow the natural curve of your cervical spine

Adjustable firmness: Some have inserts or shredded foam that can be added or removed

Breathability: Especially important for long-term use or warm climates

Washable cover: Hygiene is crucial for anything that touches your skin daily

Size and weight: Travel-friendly options should be compact without sacrificing comfort

Support zones: Some high-quality pillows provide targeted support to different neck areas

Types of Neck Pillows & Their Best Uses

Let’s break it down by common types and where they shine:

Memory Foam Neck Pillows

Molds to your unique shape

Good for sleeping or lounging

Ideal for side sleepers or those with chronic neck issues

Travel Neck Pillows (U-shaped)

Designed for upright sleep during travel

Newer models have chin support or side boosters

Great for flights, buses, or long car rides

Contour Cervical Pillows

Designed to support the neck curve while lying flat

Good for people recovering from injury or with medical advice

Often used during sleep for neck alignment

Water-Based or Gel-Infused Pillows

Great for cooling and temperature regulation

Offers fluid-based support and can relieve pressure points

Inflatable Neck Pillows

Travel-friendly and adjustable

Doesn’t offer long-term support but good in a pinch

Everyday Benefits of Using a Neck Pillow

Here’s what daily or nightly use of the right neck pillow can do for you:

Pain Relief: Whether it’s from tech usage or bad sleep posture, a neck pillow helps reduce tension.

Improved Posture: Constant support realigns muscles and spine over time.

Better Sleep: Less tossing, turning, or waking up in discomfort.

Stress Reduction: When the neck is supported, the entire nervous system feels safer and more relaxed.

Less Snoring: A good sleeping posture can reduce airway obstruction during sleep.

Neck Pillows Are Not Just for Adults

Children, teens, and even elderly family members can benefit. Kids using tablets for hours? Older parents with arthritis or limited mobility? Neck pillows can provide targeted support for every age group when customized well.

When to Use a Neck Pillow (Beyond Travel)

At Work: Use a cervical neck pillow while sitting long hours at a desk.

While Watching TV: Keep your spine aligned during those Netflix marathons.

During Meditation: Some use them as headrests while lying in savasana.

Post-Surgery or Injury: Helps in recovery when movement is limited.

In the Car: Long-distance drivers or passengers can benefit a lot.

Bedtime Routine: For side and back sleepers who struggle with pillow height.

The Sleep Company Neck Pillow Shines Bright

One standout is the neck pillow range from The Sleep Company. Using their SmartGRID® innovation, these pillows adapt to every curve of your neck and head without collapsing or heating up. Unlike standard memory foam, they combine structure and airflow for extended comfort—even if you’re using them overnight or all day at a desk.

Their orthopedic SmartGRID neck pillow is especially praised by people with cervical pain and professionals working at desks. It supports not just the curve of your neck but also relieves shoulder tension without feeling stiff or bulky.

Neck Pillow Myths People Still Believe

Let’s clear the air:

“Neck pillows are only for old people.” Not true. With screen time skyrocketing, even teens need better neck support.

“They’re only helpful if you have an injury.” No—prevention is key. Daily support now means fewer issues later.

“The firmer, the better.” Support doesn’t mean brick-like hardness. Comfort + structure is the right combo.

Quick Buying Tips

Choose a pillow based on how you actually plan to use it.

If you sleep hot, avoid thick foam pillows without ventilation.

Check if the brand offers a trial period—many reputable ones do.

Go for removable and washable covers to keep things clean.

Look into hybrid pillows if you have complex sleep needs (combo sleepers, back and side positions, etc.)

Final Thoughts: Invest in Small, Feel Big

When you think about wellness or home upgrades, neck pillows might not make the top of your list. But the difference a well-made one can make is real—better sleep, improved posture, fewer headaches, and less daily fatigue. It’s a small accessory with a big impact.

Instead of just living with that slight discomfort at work or during travel, give your neck the care it quietly asks for. Whether you’re recovering, preventing strain, or just want more comfort—it’s worth the try. You’ll thank yourself the next morning.

[currentlyinlaudnastiddies]

re: the ear piercing. if you feel comfy. you could always do this: sewing needle or paper clip, carefully sterilize w/ a lighter. clean your earlobe with alcohol, and mark where you want the piercing, to make sure its symmetrical. put something behind your ear (apple, potato, something firm but penetrable) and firmly pierce your ear. immediately insert a clean earring. (use an earring made of a GOOD metal; something you know won't cause allergies. no hot topic stuff. surgery grade steel or hypoallergenic or etc.) leave it in for a few months, cleaning regularly (do not use hydrogen peroxide! this will inflame the piercing. use a topical wound cream or an actual piercing cleanser, these usually arent super expensive.) new piercing! (source: i did all my piercings this way (three in each ear) and only had problems when i used hydrogen peroxide (it is harsh and irritates the ear)

im also just Some Guy on the internet, so don't do anything you don't feel safe doing, but the "professional" process to pierce an ear really isn't all that different. the big deal is just making sure your materials are CLEAN. i think sterilizing the needle with alcohol would also work as well as a lighter.

if you feel comfortable stabbing yourself but worry about the cleanliness, you could also buy a kit. these are available at places like claire's or amazon, and cheaper than going to a piercer as well.

I see...i amnjsut..always rather skittish about doigk it yiurself .cause ALOT can go wrong...and i am afriad itll hurt liek hell and ill just scar my earlobe yk...

AND DIY SLE FPIERCING KITS???

..thazs be wortha try..

[spirit-of-the-void]

Ebony and Ivory (V x Reader Fanfic) Chapter Two

Author’s Notes: Holy crap, you guys are so kind! Im glad you all are enjoying this story so far! Just be warned, I’m kind of changing the timeline to days instead of hours in this. So they have time to rest and do shit. Its important to the plot ;)

Chapter 2

Upon entering the van, you realized right away that it was in fact a mobile home of sorts. On one end rested a leather couch, the area sized to be a small living space. It smelled of cigarettes and metal, yet also with a slight hint of something unmistakably feminine. A perfume or something. It felt cozy, albeit a bit messy. At that moment it was also pretty cramped. Nero moved to the front to sit by Nico while they discussed their course of action, V taking up a chair behind the driver's seat at a small table. His bird found its perch on an old jukebox off to the side, still looking pretty ruffled from his argument earlier. Did the bird and cat have names? You wanted to ask, but mister pretty boy goth was engaged in speaking to the other two about their plan of attack.

The panther settled down near V’s feet, still close enough to touch. You stared back at their piercing red eyes with silent longing. It looked so soft, and you were going stir crazy while waiting for the others to remember you were there. Gathering your courage and accepting the loss of an appendage, you slid to the floor and sat cross-legged, watching the creature’s pelt ripple warily now that you were closer. Upon further inspection, you realized the cat was a dark blue as well, although much more subtle. It growled lightly at you, ears flicking when kept looking at it hesitantly.  

V was still talking to Nero, discussing the Qlipoth roots they had to destroy. You already had the gist of what needed to be done, so you didn’t really have to listen in. You had always been easily distracted—how you had survived this long with a success rate that high you would never begin to understand. You came here to fix a problem and instead you were trying to win over a big cat, one that looked ready to bite you. You wouldn’t say you were stupid per se, but impulse control was definitely not at the top of your list of skills. Your emotions and desires often got the better of you, that was something very apparent even when you were just a human.

While the others continued to talk, you quietly summoned your Void power, murmuring a quiet incantation as you centered the ability on your palm.  

“From the Void into being.”

From that point energy glowed and weaved, creating the organic object you imagined. One of your many abilities, it was meant to be used when you had zero access to food. With the power you had, you could create something from the nothingness of the Void. That something usually just organic material like meats, fruits. If you absorbed something from a world you could easily replicate it. After going to so many worlds there were hundreds of things you could make, though the energy it took to do that depending on the item was too taxing. And it was only organic materials. Only medicines made from organic plants, only food and things of that nature. And here you were, expending energy to create fresh, raw red meat for this panther.  

Responsible, thy name is Y/N.

After you were finished, it occurred to you that the three had gone quiet. You blinked, and turned to see all of them staring at you. V looking curious and lightly bemused, the other two outright shocked.

“...Uh.” You cleared your throat, “Yeah?”

“Holy shit,” Nico whistled lightly, looking pretty excited all things considered, “How the hell did ya do that...?!”

You looked at the meat in your palm—it was even cold to the touch. Fresh, real and just as real as meat cut from an actual cow. You supposed it would be really fucking strange to people who didn’t have such an ability.

“It’s one of my skills,” You replied, holding out a piece of meat for Nero to take, “Here, touch it. It's real raw meat. I mean, I wouldn’t suggest eating it raw but...You could cook it if you had the time.”

Nero pinched the scrap between his fingers, bringing it up to his nose to sniff. You found yourself smiling at his reaction, patiently waiting as he and Nico both mulled over the meat like it was the most fascinating thing they’d seen all day. You remember being that entranced the first time you tried it, you still remembered the first item you ever made—A chocolate bar. You could still make one now if you wanted, but wasting energy was a bad idea and your dumb ass had already expended some.

“How does it work?” Nero finally questioned, handing the meat back to you and wiping a hand on his jacket.  

You fought a laugh, offering back a rueful smile, “I don’t know the specifics myself. I just know if I absorb an organic material, I can take it and remake it as many times as I want from my energy.”

He made an impressed expression, leaning on the inside door of the van, “That’s pretty damn neat.”

Before you could reply, you hear Nico let out a low hum, one full of mischief.

“Ohhh damn there, Nero. You already warming up to the new girl? Do I need to tell Kyrie?” She tsked, shaking her head as if filled with disappointment.

“Knock it off, Nico,” Nero frowned, crossing his arms over his chest and protesting indignantly, “Are you gonna say that any time I’m friendly to girls?”

“You ain’t friendly to me, pretty boy.”

“Give me somethin’ to be friendly about, you maniac.”

“Who’s Kyrie?” You interjected quickly, trying to diffuse a rising argument peeking over the horizon. And by peeking you meant inches from exploding in this small space you all were in. The pair looked at you when you questioned, and you instantly noticed Nero’s expression soften a little, just a slight difference compared to his cocky expressions you were growing to accept as normal. Clearly this person was special to him, no doubting that.

“Kyrie is his fiancé,” Nico answered for him, jabbing Nero lightly in the shoulder, “Focus, lover boy. She takes care of some kids at an orphanage in Fortuna. A total sweetheart—how she ended up with this punk none of us know.”  

She jabbed a thumb at Nero again, making him huff and release a little peeved “Hey!”

So, he wasn’t a twink?! This revelation both made sense and was vaguely disappointing. Was there a straight equivalent to a twink?

Regardless, you did have a task in mind when you summoned the meat. It occurred to you that V had said nothing during this entire exchange, and you glanced over to see him with a book opened in his hand, eyes scanning the page. Completely indifferent it would seem, which was pretty disappointing. If you were going to lose a hand to his pet cat, you at least wanted him to watch it happen, damn it. Still, you turned to look at the creature while Nero and Nico started to bicker a little bit again, completely distracted—you preferred it that way.

The cat looked at you again, nose twitching as you gingerly held out a piece of meat. A quick glance at the bird confirmed he was watching you like you were out of your god damn mind. That was pretty pleasing if you had to say so. You glanced at V again, and if you weren’t mistaken you thought he took a quick glance at you before delving back into his book.

You took in his appearance for a second--he was definitely an odd one. Long black pants, black sandals, black everything. Yet he carried himself with the energy of an old century poet longing for some lost love. Other than the fact that these two demons worked for him, he seemed pretty normal. The concept of familiars was not lost on you, many places you had seen touched on such things. Witches and warlocks often kept demons as companions and helpers, but you didn’t know if those things existed in this place.

Either way, you didn’t want to bother the goth in his musing. You instead turned to look at the bird on the jukebox, holding some meat out to him too.

“Hey, mister bird,” You quipped, “Do you and the cat have names?”

He looked surprised to be addressed by you again, and even more surprised that you seemed to be offering him food. You saw a gleam of interest in his eyes, but his feathers ruffled, stubborn and prideful as he tilted his head up.

“What’s it to you, princess?” He sneered lightly, clawed feet tapping on the glass top of the jukebox, “And no offense, I don’t wanna eat your weird magic meat!”

You sighed. That nickname again.  

“My name is Y/N,” You frowned in disappointment, “Come on I’m trying to be friendly here.”

He cackled a little, shaking out his tail feathers as the panther sniffed the air, still too wary to walk forward and take any food. You glanced at V again, expecting him to still be reading. You were instead startled when you found his dark green eyes meeting yours, a wry smile tilting his lips as you were caught in your expedition to win over his pet cat. If he was watching he might as well help you at the very least. Though you had to take pause—it had been a while since you found yourself dazed after staring at someone’s face. The guy definitely had the looks to make up for his bad fashion sense.

“Do they have names?” You asked him instead, since the bird was not cooperating at all.  

He closed his book with one hand, the soft thud very satisfying to hear.  

“They do,” He replied simply, much to the bird’s obvious annoyance, “The one you’re very determined to feed is Shadow. And the one you called ‘ten piece’ is Griffon.”

“V!” The bird, now dubbed Griffon, squawked indignantly.

He simply tilted his head, giving him an unapologetic look from underneath some long lashes. Boy, he had a smolder going on. It seemed like V was very passive and confident. His mannerisms were very strange, quiet yet carrying a sense of purpose and energy. You found yourself very fascinated in him—he was fairly mysterious to you. And you liked a good mystery. He also seemed fine with you trying to bribe his pet demons, which was always a plus in your book.

You looked at Shadow, holding out a piece of meat again as the cat twitched its nose at you.

“Come on, Shadow,” You said softly, desperately trying not to use the soft baby voice you generally used for cats. This was a demon and you were sure it was smarter than the average house cat and you didn’t want to insult it, “I swear it’s normal meat. I just wanna be friends.”

You heard Griffon snort loudly, head tilted toward you as he said mockingly, “How could you insult me at first chance but wanna be friends with the overgrown house cat?!”  

Oh jeez, he almost sounded offended. Griffon seemed pretty complicated—you had no doubts he hid behind a wall of insults and jibes to hide loneliness. You had seen it before.

“Don’t call me ‘princess’ and I won't call you ‘ten piece’,” You said with a genuine smile, offering some meat to him again while you felt V’s gaze burning into you from your right side, “Deal?”

He paused, and you swore you could hear the wheels in his head turning. You were a pretty patient person, and you could tell he was battling between pride and a million other things in that moment. You thought you heard a low chuckle from their goth master, your gaze briefly landing on him—he was leaning his head on one hand leisurely, watching to see how your little quest played out. Nico and Nero were arguing about Nero paying for his metal arms, but you couldn’t be bothered with that at that moment.

Suddenly you heard the scrape of claws, beak swooping down to quickly snatch the meat from your left hand. You smiled, incredibly pleased as you watched Griffon quickly slurp down the food you had produced as he took up his perch again. Then from your right you felt the brief brush of soft fur on your palm, a low growl sounding from Shadow as they too snatched some meat and slinked back away from you, curling around V’s legs as they chewed. You cheered internally, wiping your hands as you released a slow breath. You were easy to please it would seem—and pleased you were.

You heard V chuckle again, the man sitting forward and resting his hands on his cane as he grinned at you, eyebrow raised.

“Well now,” he remarked, tone so low and smooth it could have put you to sleep, “Don’t you look as smug as a peacock.”

You shrugged, leaning back against the couch and drawing your knees up to your chest, “It’s the little victories.”

“Oh?” He hummed in reply, fingers tapping on that cane, “An optimist are you?”

You snorted, “Maybe. I just find being happy about every little thing makes life a lot better.”

Before V could reply, Nico sat down behind you, her feet brushing against your side as she lit up what appeared to be a cigarette. You tilted her head back to look at her, wincing a little when you were met with a cloud of tobacco smoke. The sudden urge to stand and leave was pretty overwhelming, smoking was definitely not your favorite thing, as much as you liked Nico as a person. You saw V mimic your discomfort, waving a hand through the smoke to clear it away from his face.

“So, uh, Y/N,” Nico commented, blowing another cloud of smoke as she addressed you, “What other kind of funky shit can you do?”

You couldn’t really tell her your range of abilities. Not then at least, maybe later when you knew who was worth trusting. You had your limits like most creatures, but you drew energy from a strange and mysterious source—technically there was a lot you could do, but your body had limits. The power of the Void was heavy and chaotic, deeply hard to wield and a heavy burden at times. Too much at once could damage you, and you had an amount of energy you could use before you started to overextend. You’d be useless if you did so, and it damaged you physically so you avoided such things at all costs. You knew your limits; you weren’t meant to be a magic fix-all for these scenarios. Merely a guiding hand with enough energy to put the steps of fixing it into motion. Thus, why you had the foresight.

So you decided on the safest answer.

“I can provide energy and heal wounds depending on their severity,” You said, tapping your nails on your knees, “Plus I can use the energy to fight, and you already saw the creating aspect. I have a limit though, and passing that limit is dangerous for me.”

Nico let out a thoughtful noise, eyeing you with a mix of curiosity and fascination.

“So like, what are ya then?” She puffed more ash, making a perfect “o” shape with her mouth, “You seem human. Are ya half anythin’? Maybe ya got a demon daddy somewhere down the line.”

You shrugged at that, offering an apologetic smile as you replied, “Nothing that exciting. I get my powers from a deity of sorts—someone down the line probably made a deal for magic and I get the sloppy seconds from that.” Kind of a lie, kind of not. They didn’t need to know you were the one who made the deal.

“Whoa, that’s pretty cool!” Nico blinked, staring at you like you had grown horns, “Never heard of anythin’ like that before.”

You opened your mouth to reply, but was interrupted by V slowly rising to his feet. He was still waving away the smoke, brushing past you toward the door of the van as his companions followed him.

“I’ll be taking my leave now,” He said simply, offering Nero a half smile, “And If I don’t see you along the way...I’ll see you at the bottom of the Qliphoth.”

You felt a slight twinge of disappointment. You knew they were talking of splitting up earlier, but you were kind of hoping you could spend more time with the animals he kept with him. And, well...with him. He was a lot calmer and more collected than Nero, who’s heavy energy was a bit much for you if you were truly honest. As for Nico...the smoking was just too much. Brought back too many bad memories. The sensation of smoke in your face was definitely not welcome.  

You opened your mouth, unable to figure out how to ask if you could go with him. Luckily, you didn’t have to.

“V, take Y/N with you,” Nero put a hand on V’s shoulder, stopping him half out the door, “You could use the help.”

You saw V visibly pause, hesitation now showing in his frame as a couple seconds passed by.

“I assure you, I have the help I need,” He said simply, gesturing with his cane to Griffon and Shadow.

Nero crossed his arms, letting out an annoyed huff, “You’re pretty frail as it is, V. I don’t think your little bird friend can wrap a bandage and shit. You could use the healing energy and extra fire power as back up.”

There was another lengthy pause. Despite your mission here, you felt kind of guilty. You didn’t want to burden anyone or force your presence here—you had gotten the needed information, but this...You bit your lip, exchanging a glace with Nico as the silence stretched a bit longer than you liked. In theory you could have gone off on your own, did your own fighting. It would have been easier without hiding your powers, but these people made your foresight burn. They were a part of everything, at the very forefront of the conflict you were trying to fix. Whether with Nero or V, you'd still be getting the job done...but this was based on preference now.  

You nervously stood, brushing off dirt as you stepped up to address the two men.

“I don’t want to be forced on anyone,” You murmured, meeting Nero’s concerned gaze as you continued, “I’ll try to be useful where I can, but if V is uncomfortable, I—”

“Her presence is fine by me,” V interrupted you, despite how low and docile his tone was. Both you and Nero looked at him, but he met your gaze with one filled with calm curiosity, “I do have my moments of exhaustion. Nero is right, I could use a backup when that happens.”

Was that relief? Sure was. You tried not to let it show on your face.

Nero, however, released an obviously relieved sigh, “Perfect. I’m sure we’ll meet up somewhere along the way. Until then, Y/N, watch his back.”

Griffon let out an annoyed huff, raising a clawed foot at Nero’s face, “What are me and furball here for then? You don’t trust us, pretty boy?”

“Yep,” Nero replied simply, brushing past with an obviously fake smile and a pat on your shoulder, “Be safe, you two. Nico, I’ll call if I need anything.”

As you said that you felt a hand press a small piece of paper into your palm, your head turning to see Nico standing to your right now. You looked at the paper, seeing a phone number hastily scribbled there, along with Nico’s name.

“That’s my number,” She told you, tapping the paper twice, “Ya need anythin’ you find a phone and call, ya hear?”

You nodded, absorbing the paper into your palm after memorizing the number, “Thank you, Nico.” You would definitely call at some point, to see her if anything. Nico seemed friendly enough under the rough persona she projected. You liked that about her. It had been a while since you had any real friends, or friendly people to interact with. You had no idea how long you’d be there, but you were eager to savor every moment of it that you could get. So you patted Nico’s shoulder once and offered a kind smile, turning to meet V’s gaze again.

He gestured with his cane, that half smile still on his lips.

“Shall we?”

You nodded, following him and his companions out of Nico’s van. The door closed behind you, the sun still shining outside. You put up a hand to shield your eyes, but enjoyed the warmth regardless. It would have been a beautiful summer day if not for all the chaos in the world. You gave the van behind you a passing glance as you followed V away, unsure about how you felt about the whole situation. What the hell were you supposed to talk about? Would he even want to talk? Silence made you very nervous, but you didn’t want to be annoying either. You found yourself clasping your hands behind your back, taking small looks at V’s back when he walked. His shoulders were pretty broad for a guy so wiry. He had very slight muscle definition, and upon further inspection he did seem...frail.

Was he sickly? You frowned a little at the thought. He did walk with a cane, though you couldn’t tell if he had a limp or anything. His gate seemed steady, eyes fixed forward and...driven. He seemed very driven.

Or you assumed he was focused. He surprised you enough that you jumped when he spoke.

“There was always the option of staying behind,” He commented lightly, tilting that dark gaze to you with his typical wry smile. He never seemed to lose that little crooked smirk, like he was always in a state of constantly bemused. The only time he was without it was when he was reading that book.

“You seem very convinced that I wanted to stay behind,” You replied, jogging lightly to reach his side, “What’s that all about?”

He let out a light, thoughtful sound, tone light as he replied, “Merely an observation. You seemed to enjoy Nico’s company.”

You hummed quietly in response, taking in the buildings as you and V entered a part of the city still standing, albeit pretty damaged nonetheless. It looked like it would have been a nice city before the disaster. Gothic architecture with high windows, beautiful shops and what looked to be a market place in a city square. Or at least...they were beautiful once before. Now destroyed, bodies littering the streets frozen in their dying moments. You felt your heart sink as you passed them, seeing a child's form still holding a red balloon as ashes drifted from what remained of her.

Focus, the goth boy started a conversation.

“Nico is nice,” You replied after some thought, trying to shake off the images around you, “Nero is too. All three of you have been kind to me. But what can I say? I like animals and poetry.” You sighed softly, rubbing your arm as you added, “I also can’t stand cigarettes.”

He chuckled at that, tapping the book tucked away in his vest with light fingers. You took the time to observe that he had nice hands, elegant and beautiful.  

“That’s very understandable, although I am glad you find enjoyment in my musings,” He said, turning his head away once more, “It's going to be a long journey, so I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot of it.”

You smiled lightly, running your fingers along a building as you passed by, “Can I ask about that? What’s up with the whole poetry thing?”

You saw him pause, both Griffon and Shadow stopping with him as he turned to look at you with a pondering expression.  

“...Strange,” He replied after a few moments, that half smirk coming back again, “You are the first person who asked me.”

Nero and Nico never once thought to ask? You blinked, wondering just why the hell no one had thought it was strange he just reads poetry at all times. Which, mind you, normalcy wasn’t your strong suit either, and you didn’t have a problem with his poetry reading. The more you thought about it, the more it made sense that they wouldn’t ask. From what you saw of Nero’s fighting style...he was pretty god damn extra. And Nico was not normal in the slightest. Everyone in the group was a bit quirky and odd in their own way, and you found that comforting.

“I was just curious,” You replied, scratching the back of your head, “Which, mind you, if it’s a private thing you don’t have to tell me.”

He let out a low hum, giving his cane a light twirl again.

“I find poetry clears the mind and brings focus in clarity in moments where there is none,” He still told you his reasoning, giving you a smoldering glance from under those lashes, “One could also argue a flare for the dramatic.”

Translation: He was just as extra as Nero, just in different ways.

You fought a laugh, clasping your hands behind your back as you replied, “Noted.”  

He hummed in response, starting forward again with a tap of that cane. Griffon soared behind you, landing his talons on your shoulders with a solid “oof” from you both as you stumbled a little to accommodate his weight. He wasn't light by any stretch of the word, he was a big bird. He just barely managed to settle, resting half his weight on your head as he trilled quietly and huffed.

“So, what’s your deal, Y/N?” His voice was loud in your ear, sharp talons scratching you ever so slightly, “Got all those fancy powers and shit, just wandering around a broken city? What were you doing there?”

Griffon was asking the questions you had hoped to avoid. You let out a low murmur of thought, inhaling softly through your nose as you formulated your response.

“I’m...kind of a drifter,” You decided to reply, grasping onto his clawed feet to help steady him as you walked, “I like traveling from place to place, and I like helping people. I had been looking in the ruins for anyone who may have needed help, and to see if I could figure out what was going on. In a way, it worked out." It wasn't a lie. You told yourself that.

You heard him let out a quiet “huh”, shaking out his feathers a little as his beak rested on your head. You smiled, enjoying that Griffon seemed more comfortable in your company now.  

“So, you have the gist of the situation right? Got any more questions?” He asked, tapping your head with his beak.

You winced a little, “From what I gathered...Urizen is a bad boy who did bad things and he needs a spanking in that big tree in the sky,” You pointed at the Qliphoth as you spoke, looking up at the towering behemoth with a disgusted gaze, “A guy named Dante may or may not be up there and need saving. Is that everything or am I missing something?”

Griffon snickered lightly, “Nah, that sounds about right.”

“Great. Then no, I don’t have any more questions.” That was a lie, you had several, but they were all more about personal things than the mission itself. You didn’t want to seem nosy and pry in on their business.  

You saw V smirk at you again from the corner of your eye, but by the time you turned to look he had turned away again. You frowned lightly, wishing you could even slightly begin to figure him out. He was full of mystery and intrigue, mild mannered and polite. But he also seemed easily amused, and pretty extra if you were being completely honest. He was a hard guy to read; mind you, you had only known him a few hours. You had plenty of time to figure it out, right?

You entered a small entry way tunnel of sorts, footfalls echoing as you both approached what looked to be an open back alley in the city. Griffon launched himself from your shoulders, causing you to stumble again and huff. You rubbed the skin there, feeling scratches through the think fabric of your shirt. You didn’t mind Griffon perching, but damn. His claws really did hurt. V looked at you again as Griffon glided ahead of you both, and you were sure you saw his gaze linger on the shoulders you had just rubbed. Upon further inspection you realized there was slight red on the fabric of your shirt from where griffon scratched you.

“Griffon,” He spoke, eyes meeting yours before he glanced at the bird, “Gentler.”

“Whoops, Oops, my bad,” Griffon trilled as he rounded back, seeing what V meant as he swept past you, “Girlie’s got fragile skin.”

You rolled your eyes, “I have normal skin, birdie,” You smiled again, looking at V as you said, “And don’t worry. I’m just happy he doesn’t outright dislike me.” You said that last part quieter, leaning toward V so only he could hear.

V chuckled, “Griffon is a simple creature. A mere bribe of food and he’s already on your side,” He tapped his cane along the concrete walls of the tunnel, the sound echoing hollowly in the space ahead of you, “As for you, Y/N...you don’t' really seem bothered by demons like Nero and the others.”

He was right, you weren’t. Sure, Demons were the enemy in this case and this scenario. But his companions were loyal to him, and in your travels, you had met plenty of kind demons and people who were labeled with bad stigmas. Making assumptions was bad, and you didn’t like doing that. Besides, neither of his creatures had threatened or wronged you—Griffon's taunting seemed harmless enough, and he was done with nicknames for the most part. As for Shadow, you were determined to get close enough to this cat to pet it, that's all you wanted. But V didn't need to know about that strange obsession of yours.

“I don’t make assumptions about people,” you replied, looking down at Shadow as it slinked along beside its master, “Kindness can exist in all manner of things, and your companions haven’t been outright unkind to me either. So why should I be unkind to them?” Empathy always came first before fighting—you much preferred making friends compared to outright hating literally everyone you met. Hell, some of the conflicts you had faced were resolved with just a little kindness and empathy. People would be surprised what you could accomplish if you just tried to help people.

V gave you a respectful nod at your response, a breeze traveling through the tunnel and sending his hair drifting slightly. You looked away, trying not to think about how nice that looked.  

Continuing forward, you and the group came out into the alleyway back into the sunlight. You looked around, seeing more debris and graffiti everywhere you looked. The hairs on the back of your neck started to stand up a little, foresight warning you something bad was about to occur if you kept walking. You held out a hand and grabbed V’s shoulder before you walked further, eyes scanning the area warily as that gentle breeze blew through again. Something was definitely here; you could tell that much. V looked at you, then looked around as well, gripping his cane tighter as Shadow growled and stepped forward, teeth bared and saliva dripping from its maw.

As soon as the cat entered the clearing, Demons began to appear, bubbling up from the ground and materializing into existence. The exit behind you was closed by tumbling rubble, and all other escapes blocked by...a shield of sorts? You stared in shock and confusion, sending what looked like red, magic veins and magic blocking any way out. This was a trap of sorts then. You and V exchanged a glance, and you were surprised to see he was incredibly calm, slightly bemused even. He walked forward slightly, your hand dropping from his shoulder as you warily waited to see what he would do.

Griffon swooped overhead, cackling as he said to V, “Oooh, genius says ‘be careful’! Yeah no shit, Shirley! Ain’t that right, V?” he swooped past your head, causing your hair to blow in that direction as he squawked, “I mean I know you’ve got girl wonder here now and all but you ARE still fragile, V! Wouldn’t take much to wipe you out in a sticky situation!”

You activated your Void power as he spoke, stepping up beside V as the sensation burned through the veins of your hands. You and V exchanged a look, you offering a light smile as you told him, “I’ve got your back.”

He inclined his head, giving you a small nod and twirling that silver cane.

“Excellent.”

Griffon made a noise of pain at your words, swooping by again as he continued, “Yeah well I’m just sayin’ running away is okay. It’s always okay to run away if you two aren’t up to it!”

You rose a brow, knowing damn well running away wasn’t really an option with how these demons were looking. In theory, you could use your Void powers to grab them all and yeet yourselves upward, over the shields and to somewhere safe. But these demons seemed easy enough. Squishy, one might say. The basic bitch of demons. You scrunched up your nose as one screeched at you, sending the stench of his breath your way. Yeah, that was definitely not your favorite thing.

On your left, V pulled out his book, opening it with one hand as he looked out at the demons with a half smile.

“He who desires but act not, breeds pestilence,” He read in that smooth tone, voice lilting and almost relaxing in the situation. He closed the book with a gentle thud, eyes tilting forward again as he inclined his head at the demons, “So it is written.”

You heard Griffon sigh, tone slightly exasperated as he landed on V’s outstretched arm, “Okay, Shakespeare, just remember this,” He shook out his feathers, a low growl in his tone as he continued, "You and I like to exist, so get rid of those demons quick, 'cause killin' them ain't my shtick!"  

You stifled a laugh, watching as he flew forward toward the demons, wings glowing with a bright blue mixed within the dark feathers.

“I got your back, ‘cause dyin’ is whack!” He finished his little improvised poem with a hefty cackle, Shadow stepping forward as well to punctuate it with a roar at the approaching creatures.

A second later, the battle began.

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18136193/chapters/42882122#workskin

Tagged: @silentwhispofhope @just-call-me-no-name @nightshadow4713 @slightlylunatic

[mfk-archived]

IM FUCKING CRYING (no im not) WHY DO I WANT TO DO 500 DIFFERENT THINGS I????????????????????

[jaennwrites]

MW2 Headcanons!!

This is my first time ever doing headcanons so bear with me fr, I’m spoiling myself with this lowkey self insert but shoutout to all the “crazy” sleepers, we deserve it fr.

COD guys sleeping with their “crazy” sleeping S/O

cw: completely sfw, fluff, big strong killing men being soft for their s/o, gender neutral :) characters included: Simon 'Ghost' Riley, John 'Soap' MacTavish, Captain John Price, Alejandro Vargas, Phillip Graves (I can fix him fr)

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley: ⋰ The first time you and Ghost slept in the same bed, you woke him up with the “insane” (his description) amount that you were moving. ⋰ He genuinely woke up in a panic thinking you were being attacked or something. ⋰ When he comes home to you sleeping already, it’s a process of gently reorganizing your sprawled limbs as to not wake you from what he was sure was a great sleep. ⋰ The times you two get the chance to actually lay in bed together before you fall asleep; Ghost will wrap his arms tightly around you as well as throwing a leg over you for security. This ensures that you don’t move at all, you laughed at the idea in the beginning but you’d never admit that you slept better that way anyways. 

John ‘Soap’ MacTavish: ⋰ Soap finds the way you sleep absolutely hilarious, the many times he came home to you sleeping is when he would silently lose his mind at the positions you were in.  ⋰ He has a photo album compiled of photos of you sleeping, some being pictures of your face because Soap PREACHES that you look absolutely “stunning” when you sleep. ⋰ Majority of the pictures are your weird body positions that invoke hysteria whenever he sees them.  ⋰ After he’d finish laughing at your sleeping frame, he’d simply shift you to the point where he’d wake you but you didn’t care. You’d simply make space for him; mumbling questions about his day which he’d tiredly mumbled back but before you two could even finish your incoherent conversation, you were both off to sleep. ⋰ Soap was a deep sleeper so your frequent movement didn’t bother him in the slightest, as if you two were made to sleep in the same bed together. 

Captain John Price: ⋰ Price couldn’t believe that someone could move as much as you did in your sleep.  ⋰ The first time you both slept in a bed together he awoke on multiple occasions to various limbs on his face, but what had made the experience worth it? After a while, almost as if your sleeping body had gotten tired from all the movement, you’d just get “cuddly” and he’d only awake to your grabbing hands looking for any contact of him.  ⋰ When Price came home to you sleeping he couldn’t help but laugh a little in the positions he’d find you in, but he’d simply gently adjust your frame to make space for himself as well as assuring that you weren’t doing anything that would hurt you before getting into bed. ⋰ You would think that with Price being such a “neat” sleeper that he’d hate sleeping with you but he didn’t mind in the slightest.  ⋰ He wouldn’t admit it in favor of having something to tease you about but the nights he slept with you were the only times he got a good sleep.

Alejandro Vargas: ⋰ When you and Alejandro first slept together it was the best sleep of both of your lives. ⋰ It was as if two crazy sleepers came together to make on semi-normal sleeping entity.  ⋰ You and Alejandro fell asleep in each others arms and always awoke kinda in the same way (emphasis on kinda). Whether it was you hugging his torso and him hugging your head, or his head halfway down your back, arms wrapped tightly around your waist.  ⋰ When he’d come home and you were already asleep, he’d simply get into bed and your arms would immediately find him.  ⋰ The nights that you and Alejandro got to fall asleep together you guys were always teasing and messing with each other, it would always end him wrapping his arms tightly around you, refusing to let you go and you’d end up just falling asleep in his grasp. ⋰ You both hated sleeping apart from each other, you never slept as good. 

Phillip Graves: ⋰ Graves hated the way you slept so much that he loved it, he had such mixed feelings about the way your body practically “assaulted” him while you slept. ⋰ He always complained about your sleeping habits, he’d talk your head off about it yet the nights where you both had been in the house all day long, he was practically begging you to come to bed with him.  ⋰ The nights Graves came home to you sleeping, he’d stand in the doorway and just watch your silly positions, once he was comfortable enough and had gotten his visual fill; he’d sit on his side of the bed and almost immediately your hands would tiredly find their way to his torso attempting to pull him into the abyss of the warm shared bed.  ⋰ His favorite memory of you is the time in which he awoke to you soundly sleeping on top of him with a very secure hold on him. ⋰ If you ever asked Graves what his favorite thing about you was, he’d always say the way you slept. 

[crippleprophet]

Wait holy shit

AS describes exactly the pain I have

oh boy okay as i’ve mentioned i’ve got an extensive document on AS symptoms & mythbusting coming soon but i’ve been wanting to do a quick summary of “wtf is that?” for a while and this is the perfect opportunity! most stats in this post from this 2022 summary article (link) but note that their gender stats are questionable as recent studies show equal prevalence regardless of ‘sex’. so!

wtf is AS?

ankylosing spondylitis is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammatory back pain. it’s estimated to be 1.5 times as common as rheumatoid arthritis and over 6 times as common as lupus (SLE) but is incredibly underdiagnosed, which is why i’m super loud about it!

key symptoms of inflammatory back pain:

most frequent onset in early 20s but can be juvenile or later. articles say onset is prior to age 40 but seeing as i’m deeply skeptical of all things medical establishment i wouldn’t rule later onset out

either no history of mechanical trauma or unrelated (for example, i have a herniated disk but had AS symptoms for years before then)

pain gets worse with rest and better with movement - most sources say “exercise” but in the experience of me and other folks with AS i’ve talked to that’s debatable at best. my pain gets worse after remaining in the same position and better with rotating, stretching, etc; sitting upright is most painful for me, but on typical days i need to alternate laying down and standing / walking briefly

morning stiffness and back pain that wakes you up at night

alternating buttock (butt) pain

articles say inflammatory back pain improves with NSAIDs but i’ve never met any chronically ill person whose pain has been made manageable with NSAIDs

AS can also include (usually asymmetrical) joint pain in other locations (especially large joints like the hips, shoulders, neck, and knees - juvenile AS commonly starts with pain in one or both knees prior to spine involvement), fatigue, peripheral neuropathy, and enthesitis (inflammation of tendon insertion points, especially plantar fasciitis).

testing and diagnosis:

CRP and ESR for inflammation. 40-50% of people with AS do not have elevated inflammatory blood markers.

HLA-B27 gene marker. less common in people with non-radiographic AS (doesn’t show up on an x-ray) and more common in white people. only 6-10% of people who are HLA-B27 positive develop AS and plenty (10-30%) of people with AS are negative for HLA-B27 - myself included!

x-ray and MRI for spine inflammation. both of mine were negative; the absence of clinically visible inflammation does not rule out AS. there is a growing body of literature and education about non-radiographic AS; my rheumatologist put me on 20mg prednisone for a week while waiting on my bloodwork and scan results and when that helped my back pain immensely, said “yep it’s definitely inflammatory then” and that this is the standard of diagnosis/care rheumatological associations are advocating for

i wish you the absolute best of luck in finding an explanation and treatment for your pain 💕 if you (or anyone reading this who suspects they have AS!) have any questions feel free to reply, send me an ask, or dm me!

[0ssianic]

havent written much recently so im gonna talk about/summarize some of my wips because i can (this ended up as all FFXV based ones oops)

-Mermaid AU: mostly pulling from the little mermaid and various mermay fics ive read. noctis and regis are at cape caem on vacation and while playing on the shore, noctis falls into the water and is saved by mermaid!lunafreya. the two eventually keep meeting up and talking. some specific things to bond over include magic and being prince/princess. soon after, the two do some kind of spell that turns lunafreya human. noctis helps her back up to the house from the shore, but its difficult going for the two of them since a) luna doesn’t know how to use her legs yet (and for parts like this, i was thinking of incorporating og little mermaid stuff, like every step hurting) and b) helping luna aggrevates noctis’s old injury (as something i was trying to keep in line with canon).

dont really have more than this, but a possible second half of this would go like this: regis wakes up in the morning and when going to wake noctis up, also finds an unknown girl in noctis’s room. he tries to figure out who she is and whats shes doing here from noctis, but only gets the full answer from luna later. would mostly be regis trying to figure out what he’s supposed to do when he finds out she’s a mermaid princess (with magic!) who’s effectively just run away from home

-Fateswap AU: Noctis is the oracle and luna is the chosen king. main focus on noctis, ignis, and prompto. main “story” i have is noctis and ignis are plotting to escape their niflheim guards, of which prompto is one. the two put their plan into motion: noctis pretends to be sick, prompto goes to help/check out whats happening, and ignis disarms him. its right at that moment that prompto decides yes, he really does want to defect and can he go with them pretty please? ignis thinks its a bad idea, but noctis does agree. thats where i initially ended my outline, but i can see expanding it to include some roadtrip stuff, but its harder to find a solid stopping point after that

-Insomnia: started this one with “somnus couldn’t sleep” purely bc i find the irony amusing and i have fun writing hooks. then i had to work backwards with why he wasn’t able to sleep and it turned into one of my standard introspection oneshots. ends up more as a reflection on being in someone’s shadow/being expected to be like/just as good as an older sibling and deciding to do your own thing despite expectations/comparing yourself to others. this one partially arose because i was on an ardyn & somnus kick as seen in my next wip

-Somnus gets the ring: this one is a mix of gap-to-fill type of fanfic and wanting to do something with the high messengers (theres 24 messengers, but we only see a few of them. soo... [insert free real estate meme here]). I had fun coming up with a High Messenger OC for this, who i mostly based as being an opposite of gentiana in appearance and is dressed a bit like a roman soldier. i also sort of incorporate my HC that the gods/bahamut/messengers very rarely interact with the line of lucis and don’t tell them much when they do. this would be dialogue heavy which is where im getting stuck.

my current outline for the story goes like this: somnus realizes he’s in a dream and in front of him is the crystal and a soldier. somnus quickly realizes the man’s not human, but something divine. the messenger delivers what he’s supposed to say from bahamut and theres a bit of back and forth as somnus tries to pry more info out of him. somnus eventually accepts (almost a vow-ish type thing) and wakes up with the gem of the ring in his hand.

-regis, noctis, and the crystal: takes place when noctis is really little, before regis finds out he’s the chosen king. main thrust would be its cute, and a bonding moment as regis teaches noctis about the responsibility that comes with their (literal) god given powers. events would be: noctis has been slipping out of his room to sleep on the throne room steps (which i HC the throne room to be right above the crystal). regis takes this as a good opportunity to teach noctis about the crystal, their magic, and the duties the gods gave to them as the world waits for the chosen king. they go to see the crystal and noctis finds himself both drawn in and frightened by the crystal and the magic (his magic).

[didanawisgi]

“If you've ever seen a petunia with artfully variegated petals, then you've seen transposons at work. The flower's showy color patterns are due to transposable elements, or DNA sequences that can move locations within a genome. Yet when it comes to transposons' effects on humans, the results might not be as lovely or desirable.

As researchers learn more about these so-called mobile genetic elements, they've found increasing evidence that transposons influence and even promote aging and age-related diseases like cancer as well as neurogenerative and autoimmune disorders, says John Sedivy, a professor of biology and director of the Center on the Biology of Aging at Brown. Sedivy is the corresponding author of a new review article in Nature that discusses the latest thinking and research around transposons.

"Let's put it this way: These things can be pretty dangerous," said Sedivy. "If they are uncontrolled, and there are many examples of that, transposons can have profound consequences on most forms of life that we know of."

Since the dawn of life, the researchers noted, transposons have coevolved with their host genomes, but it's been more of a competitive existence than a peaceful one, earning them the nicknames of "junk DNA" and "molecular parasites." Transposons were first discovered in corn by the Nobel prize-winning geneticist Barbara McClintock in the 1940s, who also found that depending on where they inserted into a chromosome, they could reversibly alter the expression of other genes.

It is now quite apparent that the genomes of virtually all organisms, including humans, contain repetitive sequences generated by the activity of transposons. When these elements move from one chromosome or part of a chromosome to another, they amplify and increase their presence in genomes, sometimes to dramatic levels. According to Sedivy, "about half of the human genome is due to the activity of these molecular parasites." Their unregulated activity can have long-term benefits by increasing genetic diversity in organisms, but in most cases the chaos degrades cell function, such as by disrupting useful genes.

Most of what is known about transposons, said Sedivy, comes from genome sequence data that shows their activity in the germline, or throughout successive generations of an organism. However, recent research, including from Sedivy and other scientists at Brown, has revealed a wealth of information on transposon activity during the lifetime of a single individual, as well.

In an interview, Sedivy discussed the mechanisms driving transposons, how their activity influences and promotes age-related tissue degeneration and disease—and what can be done to fight back.

Q. Transposons are mobile genetic elements. How and why do they move?

There are two main groups: 'DNA transposons' move using a DNA intermediate in a 'cut and paste' mechanism, and retrotransposons move using a 'copy and paste' mechanism that involves an RNA intermediate. Thirty five percent of the human genome is comprised of retrotransposon DNA sequences. The reason they move is to survive; it allows them to relocate to and increase their presence in their hosts. You can think of transposons as viruses —there are some viruses that are, in fact, transposable elements. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a perfect example because it uses the retrotransposition mechanism to insert itself into the genome, and then lets the host cell do the replication for it. This means that unless you kill all the cells that HIV has infected, you can't get rid of it. That's what retrotransposons do, too. They live in the genome, including the germline so that eggs and sperm carry these genetic elements and pass them along to future generations.

Q. Scientists have known about these rogue genetic elements for awhile, but transposons are an increasingly important area of study. You are the principal investigator of a collaborative project funded by the National Institutes of Health to examine retrotransposon activity. In addition, the NIH has recently issued a call for grant applications to further explore how this activity contributes to aging and Alzheimer's. What caused this renewal in interest?

Transposons have been studied quite extensively, one important impact in medicine being their role in propagating antibiotic-resistance genes in bacteria. The level of activity in an individual human body, over a single lifetime, was thought to be quite low and of minimal consequence. It's now become quite obvious that's not the full story.

Q. What role to transposons play in the aging process?

First of all, it's important to realize that aging is not an active process. While it might seem that you're programmed to deteriorate, aging is in fact a successive sequence of failures. Cellular processes and mechanisms become more error-prone over time. Cancer, for example, is a disease of aging because at some point, a fatal error is committed which then propagates and leads to disease. As biologists who study aging, we applied the error and failure theory to retrotransposable elements – and discovered that's exactly what was happening. It's now widely appreciated that over a lifespan, these elements become more active in somatic tissues—there's very good evidence that this is happening. There are multiple surveillance mechanisms that our cells use to keep these elements under control and suppress their activity; several layers of active defense that are necessary to keep the retrotransposons under wraps, so to speak. It appears that aging, or senescent, cells lose some of their ability to control the activity of retrotransposons. The defense mechanisms no longer work as well.

Q. What is the connection between retrotransposons and Alzheimer's?

The aging brain of a person with Alzheimer's already shows a significant amount of damage. There's also reasonably good evidence that the brain, for some reason, is a particularly permissive site for retrotransposon activity, so the retrotransposons can basically have a field day in that tissue because there's very little that can stop them. So they promote further damage. This is a major topic in our recent review article in Nature. The question becomes: What can be done to limit the activity of these elements?

Q. What has your research shown about pharmaceutical interventions for retrotransposon activity in the brain?

The first class of HIV/AIDS drugs, called reverse transcriptase inhibitors, are effective against retrotransposons in humans. As I mentioned earlier, HIV is actually a retrotransposon. The key enzyme that HIV uses to replicate, its reverse transcriptase, is the same enzyme that all other retrotransposons use—it's an integral part of their life cycle. Now, even though these enzymes are evolutionarily related, that doesn't necessarily mean that a drug against one will work against the other. But we discovered that a small subset of HIV/AIDS reverse transcriptase inhibitors are actually quite effective against an important class of retrotransposons called LINE-1. In a paper published in 2019 in Nature, we found that the generic HIV drug lamivudine significantly reduced age-related inflammation and other signs of aging in mice. The next step would be to look at the effects in humans.

Q. Can you talk about the Alzheimer's clinical trial you are working on with Dr. Stephen Salloway, associate director for the Brown Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research?

I work on the basic science side, looking at the cellular and molecular processes, and Stephen Salloway is working on the clinical side, testing interventions with patients. We are currently involved in a randomized, double-blind clinical trial to test the effects of a daily oral dose of an HIV retroviral drug on participants with mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. The drug, emtricitabine, is also a reverse transcriptase inhibitor—it's a newer generation of the same class of drugs as lamivudine, and shows better tolerability and fewer side effects in humans. Because this is a repurposing trial—using a drug for a purpose other than what it's been prescribed for—the first thing that needs to be addressed is safety. This drug is approved and is currently being used to treat HIV/AIDS in millions of people, but safety and tolerability need to be tested in a geriatric population with mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. That's the primary objective of this trial, which we'll be starting at Butler Hospital very soon.

Q. In which other diseases or conditions can retrotransposons be implicated?

The body's immune system recognizes retrotransposons as viruses and mounts an immune response. This immune response is inappropriate, given that retrotransposons are part of our genomes, and there is good evidence that retrotransposons are linked to autoimmune diseases. A pro-inflammatory role of retrotransposons has been noted in rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, erythematosus (SLE) and Sjogren's syndrome.

Q. Where is the research headed?

As we noted in the review article, much work remains to be done on the basic biology side to understand the mechanisms and consequences of retrotransposon activation in people. We also made the point that there is also a need for a more holistic view of how aging mechanisms contribute to disease—and vice versa. We know a fair amount about retrotransposon activation in senescent cells, but much less about the extent and mechanism of activation in most of the mature cells in our bodies, such as neurons or myocytes. As for potential therapy, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors have shown early promise, and there is hope that these can be repurposed for Alzheimer's and dementia as well as other conditions. It's an exciting time to be working in this field.

More information: Vera Gorbunova et al, The role of retrotransposable elements in ageing and age-associated diseases,Nature (2021).  DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03542-y Journal information: Nature

[violetkatgrove]

alto-avenue replied to your post: my shoulder wont stop feeling achy but i wanna...

removeshoulder.exe

PLEASE

[jackie-jam]

My moods: by me

YOU ABSOLUTE TRASH FIRE YOU USELE-

ooh, ramen noodles

O o h, [insert food here]

I need to help them but I don't know how but I need to help them but I don't know how and I need to he-

Its c o l d

I want sprite

Can you don't

I want to draw but idk what to draw

I want sprite cranberry

Pain.

Please let me sleep please let me sle-

Ah yes, my imaginary friends, save me from this scary situation

Fuckin uhhhhh-

Wh- i- uhhh- wow-

Pain but with imaginary friends

Noooooo please i just want to sleep on the bed its so comfyyyy

Why does my bed feel like a brick

Please, gimme those chips

Sad boi hours .Feat Lemon Demon

Sad boi hours .Feat imaginary friends

Happi boi hours .Feat lemon demon

Wait why am I seeing everything as a rainbow just because I stood up too fast-

[Watches the entire star wars prequel trilogy]

Cat

Bird

Ok, that was emotions with plague doc mod

[pramsfornewborn]

What we Must Know About Little one Prams & Push strollers

baby prams

Are you a first time mum or dad? Baby on the way? Is normally this your earliest baby prams and strollers purchase… and also you just weren't very pleased with your last baby strollers or pram buy. Whatever the situation you will be facing, we can shed light on the matter to help make your life easier.

baby prams

We myself have tried, purchased and applied a multitude of baby pushcarts. Through my information, experience and accumulated insight, I will give a buying guide to get parents. What you has to know about the baby stroller & pram shall be spoken of.

First and foremost, the #1 most important factor when selecting a baby pushcart is normally its purpose. After that it be used designed for? What are your your family's needs? If your primary main activity can be jogging, then you might consider the range of infant pram joggers obtainable. If you'll be running with your baby, it will likely be a baby carriage or maybe a simple standard baby stroller. Maybe you'll be travelling a lot?… then you will want pram that is sleek and stylish and folds simply - baby stroller strollers would fit in great.

Your lifestyle in addition to whatever suits the reason the pram could most often be used with regard to, should dictate the species of pushcart you purchase. Your preferences & lifestyle is usually therefore #1.

There are plenty of types of baby buggies available on the market today. Numerous manufacturers have disparities in features. The wants & lifestyle issue should make this choice a lot easier : you can focus on the kind of pram now.

When for instance you need a pushcart that is versatile, if you want it to previous you forever, you'll be able to consider a hybrid 2-in-1 baby cot who has the best of all sorts of things. The Englacha II is a great example of that, as is the Inglesina Zippy.

The #2 most important factor when buying baby pushcart will probably be your budget. Prams vary vastly in price tag. Some are $299 and some are $2999. Very large price dissimilarities. Depending on what you want, costs for baby pushchairs can differ dramatically.

You'll want to consider your budget. But if the budget is $5000, you can consider something similar to a Silver Angry. If your budget is actually under $500, you can actually consider the Englacha II and a range of people.

So after with the #1 factor -- lifestyle & requirements, and #2 component - budget, that you're at a stage where one can target that extremely specific pram to invest in. What you really got to know about baby pushcarts comes in here. There are lots of personal and more compact considerations that must be taken into consideration, as you will come to comprehend from the list here. They are:

a) A fitness, strength & health - look at the weight of the stroller. Can you push the application? b) Type of auto you drive : do you drive a minute Honda Civic or even big SUV? Could the pram slip in your car? Do your wheels of the infant stroller or pram are provided off for painless storage? c) Are you wanting a pram for ones newborn and then your stroller for after? d) Do you want the child cot to go on you a long time? Or even buying a new method when your baby ages is ok? e) Baby type -- is your baby an effortless sleeper or possibly not? Babies love becoming rocked. You can use a pram as a foundation if your baby offers trouble sleeping. Just insert the baby in the bassinet and rock the dog to sleep! f) Consider the accessories you must have. Do you shop a whole lot? Then you'll want a child cot with a container. Do you like type? Consider what kind of case the stroller comes along with. g) Consider the conditions in your city - would it rain a lot? Any time it does, make sure you acquire a rain cover. That could be very sunny? Superior UV index? Ensure that you have a summer protect / hood to guard your baby from the sunrays. h) Your distinction of comfort : do you want your baby so that you can sleep on a very soft, padded mattress, or simply a standard cloth bag is ok? This will depend on what you can have the funds for as well. i) Would you care to face your child? Most baby strollers have adjustable tackles where you can see the while you push… however, many don't. Consider this personal preference.

Remember that if you're investigating a baby pram buggy like the Balmoral, you'll want to purchase a more compact stroller in the future.

Give consideration to getting a baby stroller that enables you to purchase a bassinet separately. This way, you may attach the bassinet to the stroller shape. Now, it is a stroller for your newborn. As soon as time is appropriate, you can switch returning to the stroller. Your bassinet can also be used to be a portable bed when ever traveling.

With various considerations, the essentials associated with what you must know around baby prams & strollers for purchase is normally contained here. Make sure sift through each attention one-at-a-time. Start with #1 - lifestyle & needs and get rid of what doesn't meet. Then go to #2. Then consider the reduced but important ideas mentioned above. In this way, you can expect to eliminate all those newborn baby pushcarts that do not fit & find yourself with one or two choices.