#Dry eye treatment Phoenix

[tatumeyecare]

Best Eye Doctor in Phoenix, Arizona: Your Guide to Top-notch Eye Care

Welcome to the sunny and vibrant city of Phoenix, Arizona, where eye care is of paramount importance. Your vision is precious, and finding the best eye doctor is crucial to maintaining it. In this article, we will walk you through the journey of selecting the best eye doctor in Phoenix, Arizona, providing you with all the information you need to make an informed decision. From understanding the importance of regular eye check-ups to addressing common eye concerns, we've got you covered.

Best Eye Doctor in Phoenix, Arizona

When it comes to your vision, you deserve nothing but the best. The best eye doctor in Phoenix, Arizona is a highly skilled professional who can diagnose and treat a wide range of eye conditions. Here are some key factors to consider when searching for the perfect eye care specialist:

Credentials Matter

The first step in your search for the best eye doctor is to check their credentials. Ensure that the doctor is board-certified and has the necessary licenses and certifications. This guarantees that they have received the proper training and have met the highest standards of eye care.

Experience Counts

Experience is a crucial factor in choosing an eye doctor. Look for a specialist who has a wealth of experience in treating various eye conditions. Seasoned eye doctors are often better equipped to handle complex cases and provide effective solutions.

Patient Reviews and Recommendations

One of the most reliable ways to gauge the quality of an eye doctor is by reading patient reviews and seeking recommendations from friends and family. Positive reviews and personal referrals can provide valuable insights into the doctor's skills and bedside manner.

Range of Services

The best eye doctor in Phoenix, Arizona should offer a comprehensive range of services, from routine eye exams to advanced treatments and surgeries. Having a wide spectrum of services available ensures that all your eye care needs are met under one roof.

State-of-the-Art Technology

In the ever-advancing field of eye care, technology plays a pivotal role. Ensure that your chosen eye doctor utilizes state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge techniques to provide the best possible care.

Location and Accessibility

Consider the location and accessibility of the eye clinic. Opt for a convenient location that allows you to access care without undue hassle. Additionally, check for flexible appointment schedules to accommodate your busy life.

Insurance Compatibility

Before making a decision, verify whether the eye doctor accepts your insurance. This will help you avoid unexpected expenses and ensure that your eye care is covered.

Personal Comfort

Lastly, trust your instincts. Visit the clinic, meet the doctor, and assess your level of comfort. A warm and welcoming atmosphere, along with a compassionate and attentive staff, can make your eye care experience truly exceptional.

FAQs

Can I book an eye appointment online?

Absolutely! Many best eye doctors in Phoenix, Arizona offer online appointment booking for your convenience. Visit their websites to schedule your appointment with ease.

How often should I have my eyes checked?

For most individuals, an annual eye exam is sufficient. However, if you have pre-existing eye conditions or are at a higher risk of eye diseases, your doctor may recommend more frequent check-ups.

What should I expect during an eye exam?

During an eye exam, your doctor will evaluate your vision, check for refractive errors, assess eye muscle coordination, and examine the health of your eyes. It's a painless process that helps identify any issues early on.

Are there any lifestyle changes to improve eye health?

Yes, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can benefit your eye health. Eating a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals, protecting your eyes from UV rays, and avoiding excessive screen time can all contribute to better vision.

Can eye doctors treat eye allergies?

Yes, eye doctors can diagnose and treat eye allergies. They may recommend eye drops, antihistamines, or other treatments to alleviate your symptoms and provide relief.

What should I do in case of an eye emergency?

In case of an eye emergency, such as an injury or sudden vision loss, seek immediate medical attention. Call your eye doctor or visit the nearest emergency room for prompt care.

Your vision is irreplaceable, and choosing the best eye doctor in Phoenix, Arizona is a decision that should not be taken lightly. By considering their credentials, experience, patient reviews, services, technology, location, insurance compatibility, and your personal comfort, you can make an informed choice for your eye care needs.

Remember that regular eye check-ups are essential for maintaining good eye health. Book your appointment with the best eye doctor in Phoenix, Arizona, and ensure that your vision remains crystal clear for years to come.

Tatum Eyecare is North Phoenix’s premier family eye care center. We’ve spared no expense to create the most pleasant, comfortable patient experience… including the finest furnishings, the best selection of prescription eyeglass frames, the most cutting-edge technology, and the most outstanding team of industry professionals. Come see why the choice for family eye care in the Valley has never been clearer.

[newyork-institute]

Imagining a fantasy/supernatural!au where Laswell has sent TF141 into Italy to deal with mafia vampires, resurgences of domovoi in Russia.

Imagining Soap rising from the ashes after his death, not understanding why he was alone in the middle of nowhere, naked, his skin sensitive like it had been burned. Turns out he had phoenix blood in him, much to the relief of the others.

I like to imagine them working for their country and trying to root out the bad creatures that stalk and hunt in the dark. Werewolves in London turned out to be a rabied dog, a Cujo looking motherfucker who was weighed in at 250 pounds after he nearly tore Gaz's leg apart. He underwent a month of rabies treatment before being cleared for work.

I like to imagine them deciding to retire after watching an innocent creature be hauled away in handcuffs, begging, screaming, to just kill her, a shrill cry sounding in the night as Laswell had to calm the boys down.

"It's outside of our jurisdiction, John! Familiars aren't allowed in-" "That's bullshit, Kate, and you know it." "Our hands are tied."

I like to imagine Price retiring to a decent-sized coastal town, buying himself a serious fixer-upper quite a ways from town that in a little secluded part of the beach, private property allowing himself a perfect, unobstructed view of the blue waves crashing onto the white beach.

(This idea has been living in my head-rent free for months now)

Months later, after the front part of the house is renovated, Price looks out his kitchen window one morning, seeing something washed up on shore.

Imagine the shock on Price's face when he realized a mermaid was unconscious on his beach, blood surrounding a massive wound in their side from something big.

Imagine him bending down, checking to find a pulse, and feeling relieved when he found one.

Imagine him carrying them to his house, not being able to leave them there to die. He places them gently in his tub, grabs his first aid kit, and goes to work on cleaning, stitching, and bandaging the massive gash.

Imagine him hauling up gallons of ocean water to pour into the tub, noticing how dry and gray their skin was as they lay unconscious in his tub.

Imagine him sitting vigil in his bathroom, trying to keep his eyes on the creature in his tub while he did as much research as he could on mermaids. (They were thought extinct by that point, the last recorded sighting of one being in 1933.)

Imagine him doing everything he could to make sure they survived, hoping and praying they would wake up.

Imagine him waiting weeks for them to wake up, their wound seeming unable to heal, even if Price kept checking on it every couple of hours.

Imagine one night, he's unable to stand the cold, hard linoleum of the bathroom floor, deciding then to sit on the couch and keep up his research, taking notes until midnight, passing out not too long after he started a video he found on some website.

Imagine him going into the bathroom the next morning to check on the mermaid in his tub, but being met with sharp, wide eyes staring him down, their frame tense and spikes and fins covering their flesh.

Imagine them trying to figure each other out while they heals in his tub.

Imagine mermaids adoring being doted on, being bestowed gifts and being complimented.

Imagine Price, who is absolutely fascinated by their beauty as color kept creeping back into their skin as time passed, their side healing and their strength returning.

Imagine him being unable to help himself one night as they swapped stories, his hand grabbing theirs and kissing their knuckles.

Imagine the blush that rises on their face, unable to stop themself from staring openly at Price, their breath caught in their throat as he kissed up their arm, reaching their shoulder and neck.

Imagine Price nipping and biting their neck, a moan slipping past their lips.

"You are the most breath-taking thing I've ever seen in my life, love."

Imagine them pulling Price's face up, looking into his eyes and feeling their very soul quivery at the look in his eyes.

Imagine him nearly falling into the tub with how hard they pull him down into a kiss.

[carpenoctem-if]

Carpe Noctem - Intro Post

DEMO - tba

You are a nobody. A supposedly ordinary human in a world full of powerful beings. Your life is all in all pretty average if not bordering on mind-numbing, like watching paint dry... That is until you were kidnapped and tossed into one especially small carriage to be delivered somewhere only the ancients knew of.

From now on nothing will ever be the same and you need to adapt to the ever-changing outside world as fast as possible. All the while trying to decipher your past and with that your part in an every-growing political conflict that borders to develop into an all out war the world has yet to see.

General content warnings: Bigotry & prejudice, horror elements, interspecies awkwardness, explicit language, depictions of violence, injuries, blood and death, explicit sexual content (if selected), flashbacks of a dark past to unveil, sprinkled with some homophobia here and there & general an unfair treatment of people with disabilities.

FEATURES

-> customizable MC (name, pronouns, appearance, identity)

-> semi-set personality due to evolve (MCs reclusive upbringing forces you to start as someone that's not entirely comfortable with other people and as such you'll be able to choose coping mechanisms your MC will use to compensate such a deficit)

-> 5 characters to romance (3 in book 1, not sure if the other two will follow, they'll probably be fully romanceable in book 2)

-> POVs of the ROs included

-> an open-minded author that is inclined to change some NPCs to fully fledged ROs depending on the general opinion/wishes of readers

-> an emotional roller coaster, all in all nothing for ppl that want a light-hearted theme

-> later on you'll be able to choose part of your race (vampyres, merpeople, demons, shapeshifters, phoenixes -and many more) & with that you can determine and further develop your special skillset. Your heritage will reward you with quite different flavour texts for every possible race there is, so yes. It will matter greatly what you chose. And each of the available races will have disadvantages that could prove quite...fatal in certain situations.

romanceable characters:

the master [Alois|Alice|Alix] (m|f|n) 24 winters

An aloof demeanor at the first glance, A has a cold, strangely shrouded gaze. They're reclusive as fuck, so there isn't much the general population knows about them. Oh. And A is your esteemed master -as if any of you actually want this dynamic... A seems to hate you and your position even more, especially the hidden context it supplies to everyone they meet...

A has almond-shaped silver eyes that always seem distant and unfocused. They have defined cheek bones with mostly soft facial features and quite long, silver hair that is often tied to a simple ponytail. A wears fine dark clothing without other prominent features to despict their wealth.

Content warnings for A's route: denial of feelings aka one of the slowest burns imaginable, domestic violence, implied/referenced rape/non-con, anxiety attacks, self-harm, angst & hurt/comfort

the protector [Leto] (m|f|n) too many to count

Leto is a raven-like creature most would describe as monstrous-looking. They are rarely seen and the few moments they are, death is certain. For many commoners it's enough to see one of Leto's black feathers to warrant a swift escape.

Their past eludes them and you have to wonder - why does some antics of them seem kinda...familiar?

Content warnings for Leto's route: survivor-guilt, body dysphoria, angst, captivity & enslavement, torture, ptsd

the assassin [Zane|Zoey] (m|f) 28 winters

Z is everything their mother wanted them to be. Her own personal weapon. One she is now inclined to use for her vendetta against you.

They have dark brown hair with intelligent hazel green eyes that seem to observe their surroundings constantly. Z was raised with stories about you, stories you know nothing about. How can it be that they seem to know more of you and your family than you yourself?

Should it worry you that they sound extremely resolute in stating their sole purpose is to rid the world of your existance?

Content warnings for Z's route: enemies to frenemies to lovers, eating disorder, alcohol-addiction, a tendency of morbid jealousy, past emotional abuse & manipulation

??? [redacted]

??? [also redacted]

more info tba

Small note of the author:

Everything is slow burn in this - even the character customization, cause I want to add those moments seamlessly into the story.

I tend to take my time. You can expect me to heavily focus on the characters and their feelings, with a slight disregard to describing the environment and such. I work with minimalistic efforts to still give a sense of what I imagine everything to be but with the intention to leave fine details to the reader's own imagination.

I'll try to be considerate of everyone's preferences, especially in the more kinky parts of the story. There'll be versions for more assertive characters as well as more passive one's. Though I should add that the ROs all have their own set of bias that they prefer. However there will be growth throughout the story, including that.

The gravity of your choices will intensify throughout book 1, especially as you get to know the Circle and the Court and every other political hive of intrigue.

And yes. You can die. The ROs can die. Almost everyone will be able to at some point, I guess. Though I don't like the idea of writing a total distopia, don't expect me to change my mind regarding that one that easily.

More infos will be added over time. I'll post lore snippets of my sketchbook soon, like the worldmap, the general outlines of the Circle & the Court, the different races and such.

Asks are welcomed.

[hauntedpenguinobservation]

Carpe Noctem - Intro Post

DEMO - tba

You are a nobody. A supposedly ordinary human in a world full of powerful beings. Your life is all in all pretty average if not bordering on mind-numbing, like watching paint dry... That is until you were kidnapped and tossed into one especially small carriage to be delivered somewhere only the ancients knew of.

From now on nothing will ever be the same and you need to adapt to the ever-changing outside world as fast as possible. All the while trying to decipher your past and with that your part in an every-growing political conflict that borders to develop into an all out war the world has yet to see.

General content warnings: Bigotry & prejudice, horror elements, interspecies awkwardness, explicit language, depictions of violence, injuries, blood and death, explicit sexual content (if selected), flashbacks of a dark past to unveil, sprinkled with some homophobia here and there & general an unfair treatment of people with disabilities.

FEATURES

-> customizable MC (name, pronouns, appearance, identity)

-> semi-set personality due to evolve (MCs reclusive upbringing)

-> 5 characters to romance (3 in book 1, not sure if the other two will follow, they'll probably be fully romanceable in book 2)

-> POVs of the ROs included

-> an open-minded author that is inclined to change NPCs to fully fledged ROs depending on the general opinion/wishes of readers

-> an emotional roller coaster, all in all nothing for ppl that want a light-hearted theme

-> later on you'll be able to choose part of your race (vampires, merpeople, demons, shapeshifters, phoenixes -and many more) & with that you can determine and further develop your special skillset.

romanceable characters:

the master [Alois|Alice|Alix] (m|f|n) 24 winters

Aloof, cold eyes and reclusive as fuck. And your esteemed master -as if any of you actually want this dynamic... A hates you and your position, especially the hidden context it supplies to everyone they meet...

A has silver eyes that always seem distant, defined cheek bones with mostly soft facial features and long, silver hair. A wears fine dark clothing without other prominent features to despict their wealth.

Content warnings for A's route: denial of feelings aka one of the slowest burns imaginable, domestic violence, implied/referenced rape/non-con, anxiety attacks, self-harm, angst & hurt/comfort

the protector [Leto] (m|f|n) too many to count

Leto is a raven-like creature most would describe as monstrous-looking. They are rarely seen and the few moments they are, death is certain. For many commoners it's enough to see one of Leto's black feathers to warrant a swift escape.

Their past eludes them and you have to wonder - why does some antics of them seem kinda...familiar?

Content warnings for Leto's route: survivor-guilt, body dysphoria, touch-starved, angst, hurt/comfort, captivity & enslavement, torture, ptsd

the assassin [Zane|Zoey] (m|f) 28 winters

Z is everything their mother wanted them to be. Her own personal weapon. One she is now inclined to use for her vendetta against you.

They have dark brown hair with intelligent hazel eyes that seem to observe their surroundings constantly. They were raised with stories about you, stories you know nothing about. How can it be that Z seems to know more of you and your family than you yourself?

Should it worry you that they sound extremely resolute in stating their sole purpose is to rid the world of your existance?

Content warnings for Z's route: enemies to frenemies to lovers, eating disorder, alcohol-addiction, a tendency of morbid jealousy, past emotional abuse & manipulation

??? [redacted]

??? [also redacted]

more info tba

Small note of the author:

Everything is slow burn in this - even the character customization, cause I want to add those moments seamlessly into the story.

I tend to take my time. You can expect me to heavily focus on the characters and their feelings, with a slight disregard to describing the environment and such. I work with minimalistic efforts to still give a sense of what I imagine everything to be but with the intention to leave fine details to the reader's own imagination.

I'll try to be considerate of everyone's preferences, especially in the more kinky parts of the story. There'll be versions for more assertive characters as well as more passive one's. Though I should add that the ROs all have their own set of bias that they prefer. However there will be growth throughout the story, including that.

The gravity of your choices will intensify throughout book 1, especially as you get to know the Circle and the Court and every other political hive of intrigue.

And yes. You can die. The ROs can die. Almost everyone will be able to at some point, I guess. Though I don't like the idea of writing a total distopia, don't expect me to change my mind regarding that one that easily.

More infos will be added over time. I'll post lore snippets of my sketchbook soon, like the worldmap, the general outlines of the Circle & the Court, the different races and such.

Asks are welcomed.

[tatumeyecare5]

The Importance of Visiting a Dry Eye Clinic for Relief and Treatment

Dry eye syndrome, also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is a common and often chronic condition where the eyes do not produce enough tears, or the tears evaporate too quickly, leading to inflammation and discomfort. If left untreated, dry eyes can significantly affect your quality of life and lead to more serious eye problems. Visiting a dry eye clinic is crucial for obtaining effective relief and treatment. Here’s why:

Accurate Diagnosis

A dry eye clinic is equipped with specialized tools and expertise to accurately diagnose the specific type and cause of your dry eye. This is essential because dry eye syndrome can result from a variety of factors, including aging, medications, environmental conditions, and underlying health issues like autoimmune diseases. An accurate diagnosis allows for a more targeted and effective treatment plan.

Personalized Treatment Plans

Dry eye clinics offer personalized treatment plans tailored to the unique needs of each patient. Treatments can range from over-the-counter artificial tears to prescription medications, lifestyle changes, and advanced therapies such as punctal plugs, LipiFlow, or intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy. By tailoring the treatment to your specific condition, a dry eye clinic can provide more effective and lasting relief.

Advanced Therapies and Technologies

Dry eye clinics are often at the forefront of the latest advancements in dry eye treatment. They have access to state-of-the-art technologies and therapies that are not typically available at general ophthalmology or optometry practices. For example, devices like LipiFlow use thermal pulsation to treat meibomian gland dysfunction, a common cause of dry eye. Such advanced treatments can offer significant improvements for patients who have not found relief through conventional methods.

Preventing Complications

Chronic dry eye can lead to complications such as eye infections, corneal ulcers, and even vision loss. Regular visits to a dry eye clinic help monitor the condition and prevent these complications. By addressing the root cause of dry eye and ensuring ongoing management, these clinics help preserve your eye health and vision.

Education and Support

Dry eye clinics provide valuable education on managing the condition. Patients learn about the importance of maintaining eyelid hygiene, the benefits of dietary changes, and strategies to minimize environmental triggers. Additionally, the supportive environment of a dry eye clinic can help patients feel understood and cared for, reducing the emotional burden of living with a chronic condition.

Long-term Management

Dry eye syndrome often requires long-term management rather than a one-time treatment. Regular follow-ups at a dry eye clinic ensure that the treatment plan is adjusted as needed to accommodate any changes in the condition or lifestyle. This ongoing care is essential for maintaining symptom relief and preventing flare-ups.

Comprehensive Care

Dry eye clinics often work in conjunction with other healthcare providers to address any underlying health issues contributing to dry eye. This comprehensive approach ensures that all aspects of the patient’s health are considered, leading to better overall outcomes.

Conclusion

Visiting a dry eye clinic is a crucial step for anyone suffering from dry eye syndrome. These specialized clinics provide accurate diagnoses, personalized and advanced treatments, and ongoing care to effectively manage the condition. By seeking help from a dry eye clinic, patients can achieve significant relief from symptoms, prevent complications, and improve their quality of life.

Tatum Eyecare is North Phoenix’s premier family eye care center. We’ve spared no expense to create the most pleasant, comfortable patient experience… including the finest furnishings, the best selection of prescription eyeglass frames, the most cutting-edge technology, and the most outstanding team of industry professionals. Come see why the choice for family eye care in the Valley has never been clearer.

[dallassprinklerrepair]

Dallas Sprinkler Repair: Nurturing Your Lawn Back to Life

If your lawn is feeling a bit lackluster and your once-vibrant greenery is now resembling a scene from the Sahara, it might be time to give your sprinkler system some TLC. Welcome to the world of dallas sprinkler repair, where we'll unravel the mysteries of irrigation systems and ensure your lawn gets the hydration it deserves.

The Dance of the Sprinklers

Picture this: your lawn is a ballroom, and your sprinklers are the graceful dancers, twirling and pirouetting to the rhythm of water. But what happens when one dancer decides to take a water break? Chaos ensues. That's precisely the scenario your lawn faces when your sprinkler system malfunctions.

Signs Your Sprinkler System Needs Rescue

Spotting the SOS signals from your thirsty lawn isn't rocket science. Keep an eye out for these telltale signs that your sprinkler system might be in dire need of a repair waltz:

Patchy Grass: Is your lawn resembling a checkerboard with uneven patches of green? Your sprinkler system might be playing favorites.

Mysterious Puddles: If you notice unexpected puddles forming in random spots, it's not a magic trick. It's a sign that your sprinklers are leaking, turning your lawn into a waterlogged swamp.

Dry Spots: Conversely, dry spots indicate areas where your sprinklers are neglecting their duty. It's like a buffet with some tables getting VIP treatment while others are left famished.

Unusual Noises: If your sprinkler system has taken up beatboxing or sounds like a hissing cat, it's time to investigate. Those weird noises might be your lawn's cry for help.

The Sprinkler Whisperers: Dallas Sprinkler Repair Experts

Fear not, for the cavalry of Dallas sprinkler repair specialists is here to bring order to the watery chaos. Our team of seasoned professionals doesn't just fix sprinklers; we perform a rejuvenation ceremony for your lawn.

Diagnosing the Drips and Drops

Before we dive into the repair spree, our experts conduct a thorough diagnosis, like seasoned doctors examining a patient's symptoms. We pinpoint the exact issues plaguing your sprinkler system with the precision of a detective solving a mysterious case.

Pro Tip: Just like an annual check-up keeps you healthy, regular maintenance checks for your sprinkler system can prevent small issues from turning into major waterworks.

The Toolbox Tango

Armed with a toolbox that's practically an extension of their hands, our repair maestros embark on the journey of fixing your sprinkler system. It's a tango between wrenches and pipes, with each movement bringing your lawn one step closer to lush perfection.

Sprinkler Head Replacement: Imagine your sprinkler head as the MVP of the water ballet. If it's limping or doing the wrong routine, our experts replace it with a star performer.

Leak Detection Mission: Water escaping where it shouldn't? Our specialists track down leaks faster than a bloodhound on a scent trail, ensuring your lawn stays dry where it's supposed to.

Controller CPR: The controller is the maestro orchestrating the water symphony. If it's out of tune, our experts fine-tune it, ensuring each section of your lawn gets its fair share of hydration.

The Aftermath: A Luscious Lawn Extravaganza

Once our sprinkler whisperers have worked their magic, your lawn transforms into a lush masterpiece worthy of a gardening magazine cover. It's like watching a phoenix rise from the ashes, only greener and without the fiery drama.

DIY Sprinkler Maintenance Tips

While our Dallas sprinkler repair squad is always ready to save the day, a bit of proactive care from you can keep your sprinklers pirouetting gracefully year-round. Here are some DIY tips to sprinkle some love on your irrigation system:

Regular Check-ups: Conduct routine inspections of your sprinkler system. Look for damaged heads, clogs, or signs of leakage.

Adjust the Angles: Just like a sunbather adjusting their chair for the perfect tan, make sure your sprinkler heads are hitting the right spots and not wasting water on the pavement.

Mind the Weather: Your sprinklers are not meteorologists, so adjust their schedule based on the weather. No need to water during a rain dance!

Clean the Filters: Think of your sprinkler system's filters as its kidneys. Regularly clean them to ensure a healthy flow of water.

Conclusion: A Symphony of Greenery

In the grand orchestra of lawn care, your sprinkler system plays a pivotal role. It's the conductor ensuring each blade of grass gets its share of the melody. So, if your lawn is sounding a bit off-key or doing the wilted waltz, don't despair. The Dallas sprinkler repair experts are here to bring harmony back to your outdoor haven. Because, in the end, a well-nurtured lawn isn't just a sight to behold; it's a testament to the love and care you've invested in your own patch of nature.

[thiswasinevitableid]

For the meet-ugly prompts: #13, Indruck, SFW ? 👁️👁️

Here you go!

13: we make contact before trying to steal the last seat on the subway/bus/train and I end up in your lap and fuck you, I’m going to stay here because I’ve had a really long day and this seat was mine

The Phoenix Starport is a labyrinth, while technically made of chrome and touch-screens, is really made of lines.

Duck stands in line to show his ticket, to deposit his bags, to go through three separate security check-points and, when he gets to the section for the shuttle to take him to the Starliner, a fourth one because when your clients are high paying, you don’t want them getting blown to pieces.

He isn’t high-paying, he isn’t a seasoned space traveler, and he isn’t going to spend one second more on his feet than he has to. It’s been two solid hours of that just to get to this point. Unfortunately, every other passenger shares this sentiment. When the shuttle door opens a mass of lifeforms pile in, hunting for seats. Duck spots one, turns to sit, and finds it’s much fuzzier than it looked.

“Excuse me.” The creature whose laps he’s in reminds him of the pictures of Mothman scattered around his home state, “but this seat is taken.”

“Yeah, by me, because I saw it first.”

A click from inside the mothmans chest, “You are wrong. I saw it first, and did not foresee anyone being rude enough to use me in its place.”

Every other seat is filled, and it’s a fifteen minute ride to the Starliner. Duck crosses his arms, “you don’t wanna be a seat, you better get up.”

That earns him an annoyed chirr, “Not a chance.”

The shuttle ride is smooth, but his seat keeps prodding him with a clawed finger whenever he puts his weight on it. When they arrive, the two of them stand one after the other. The mothman shakes out his feathers, tosses a glare over his shoulder, and steps through the doors.

Unsurprisingly, the Sylvain Dream makes opulence seem subdued. There are rare flowers studding the fountain by the concierge desk, art from across the universe on the walls, and a sound dampening, shimmering carpet lining the hall to his room. He’s looking forward to some alone time; while all the suites at this level are technically two person, they’re so expensive that most travelers get their own rooms.

He keys open the door and comes face to chest with the same fucking alien from the shuttle.

“Ah. So we are in this timeline. Lovely.” The mothman says dryly, passing him to greet the bellhop who just finished scurrying up the stairs, “I see you have a message from minister Woodbridge. Kindly have someone reply and tell him that if it’s an emergency, they may contact me directly, but if the matter is anything else, they are to leave me in peace during my journey.”

“Yes, Seer Cold.”

“Thank you.” the seer drops a coin into his hand and brushes past Duck without another word.

Duck finally makes it past the entryway and gasps; when the people paying for his journey asked if he’d prefer forest, city, beach, or desert, he assumed it was some sort of vague theme. Instead, the carpet is lush, soft grass, there are flowers everywhere, and the furniture is all made to be woodsy and rustic. The bath and shower are like a mini water-fall and pool, his bed housed in a mock cabin.

“This is amazing.”

“If you are here purely for a leisure trip.” His suite-mate crosses both sets of arms, “some of us are being transported back to work.”

“Now look, this is a work trip for me too. You gotta admit this is pretty swank.”

“And an attempt to soften the blow.” Mothman mutters.

Duck rolls his eyes, decides this is not his problem to deal with, and goes to unpack for the month-long journey ahead.

-----------------------------------------------------

For the first two days he and Indrid--which is what the aloof, perpetually touchy Sylph likes to be called--do their best to ignore each other. They’re stuck on the same dining schedule, which means Duck accidentally insults the alien by giggling when he sees him lick his dessert up with an absurdly long tongue. He makes it up to the next night by saving the pineapple soda delivered in their lunch basket for the Sylph.

On day three, he’s reading by the holo-fire pit when a white badge with blue writing dangles before him.

“Would you like to accompany me to the spa?”

“Uh….”

“Since I foresee you asking no, we do not have to spend the entire time together.”

“I, uh, I was gonna say sure, but was wonderin’ why you offered it to me.”

“Oh.” His antenna flick in a new way, “I, ah, they gave me two. I have no one else to go with and it seemed silly to let it go to waste.”

“I gotta wear anything special?”

“Since humans require clothes in all but a few scenarios, I suggest wearing your robe.”

The spa is just as elaborate as the rest of the ship, with cushy chairs and complimentary booze. The secretary hands them each a menu of treatments bigger than any Duck’s held at a restaurant.

“Sugar scrub….talon wax….rock massage. Do they mean hot rocks?”

“No, that treatment helps those with scales shed.”

“Huh.” Duck pokes his tongue in his cheek, “wish they said which of these were safe for, uh, squishy human bodies.”

Indrid reaches out a claw, tapping several on the list, “This ful massage would be good; you’re muscular, it will be nice to have those muscles tended to.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. Have been workin out more, nice to have someone else notice.”

The Sylph smiles, “you may also like the hair luxury add-on; I’ve always thought humans with salt and pepper hair should show it off.”

Before Duck can ask how Indrid developed that opinion or learned that slang, they’re ushered off into separate rooms. He’s scrubbed and rubbed until his body surrenders the last of it’s stress, the oils they rub on his skin and into his hair smelling pleasantly of pine and cedar. His session ends with one of the staff leading him to a small room covered in deep green marble, where he can rinse and dry off in his own time.

Indrid is in the same room, reclining in a chair with a sun lamp on his wings. They’ve been groomed, the feather straighter and smoother than this morning. Duck takes his first real look at them, notices how the black is iridescent and that there are two bands of deep grey on the inside close to Indrid’s torso.

He’s really quite stunning.

“I feel” Indrid murmurs, “as if we got off to a bad start.”

“You think?” Duck aims for a genial tone.

Indrid cocks his head, “Yes. That is why I said it. I, ah, I ought to apologize for my temperament over the last few days. I am so very fond of earth, of humans, and I’d hoped to be able to work there indefinitely. But Sylvain is in crisis, and so they need me near. Never mind that we have the capability to transmit messages quickly between planets.”

“What’s the crisis?”

“Our plants are dying or failing to produce the resources we need. The belief is that-”

“-it’s a leftover contamination or mutation from the earth plants that crossed through the gate before it was destroyed.”

Indrid blinks, then grins, “it is novel to be the one having their sentences finished. Yes, Duck Newton; the gate has been gone for over two hundred years, but both our worlds will feel it’s effects for many more years.” His antenna perk up, “you’re the one they’re bringing on to consult.”

“Yep. That’s why they gave me such a sweet deal on the trip; they know it’s gonna be fuckin exhaustin work. Even with all the other perks they’re offerin, I know a lot of folks didn’t wanna apply.”

“Why did you feel differently?”

He pushes to the other side of the little pool so they can be closer, “I spent my whole life in the town I grew up in. I love what I do, I love helpin forests stay healthy and regrow and I...I dunno, how often do you get the chance to go to space and see forests on another planet?”

“Once, if you are me.” Indrid closes his wings, clicks off the light, and offers Duck a hand, “and I am glad you will have the chance to do the same.”

-----------------------------------------------

“You know” Indrid passes Duck the plate of toast, “I am named for Sylph who was the second most recent seer after myself. He and I are the same kind of Sylph, and when my parents learned their mothling-to-be was the next seer, they decided I would be Indrid Cold.”

“Not gonna lie, people actin like your fate is set in stone from birth gives me the creeps.”

“Understandable. I would not admit this to the other ministers, but I am no longer content with reporting on the futures. I try to change fate when I can. In this way, I am also like the first Indrid Cold. He kept trying to intervene in disasters; that’s how he got seen when he should not have been.”

“Holy fuck, there really was a mothman!”

“Indeed. I also learned from his personal notes that he was so fond of humans, he ended up marrying one.”

“Damn” Duck passes him the sweetener for his tea, teases, “you share that habit too?”

Red eyes linger a moment too long on his body before Indrid grins, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

----------------------------------------------

“You sure you don’t wanna swim?” Duck treads water in the green lagoon of some distant moon. The cruise is docked for an activity day, Duck having selected to spend it snorkeling and Indrid deciding to spend it with Duck.

“The wings are not built for it. Though the water does look pleasant.” Indrid lazily sifts black sand through his claws.

“You could wade in. It stays pretty shallow there” he points to a sand bar.

“If I get in over my head, will you come to my aid?”

“You know it.”

Indrid wades in, chirping as the waves hit his knees. When Duck next glances at him, Indrid is glancing right back. He’s smiling, soft and secretive.

“I am glad you picked this spot. The view is spectacular.”

-----------------------------------------------

They’ve hit turbulence a handful of times, all of which pale in comparison to the jolt that sends him tumbling out of bed. There are stabilizer controls to lighten the gravity in the room so they won’t feel the bumps as badly. But when he wobbles over, he finds it’s already up to the lowest it can be without him floating.

He stumbles to the window, the curtains shut against the vast universe. Is turbulence this severe normal? If the gravity doohickey isn’t able to help, maybe that means they’ve never hit a storm this bad.

Opening the window is a terrible idea; there’s no cause of the turbulence to be seen, and now he’s in a dark room staring into the depths of space, it’s so big, he’s so small, they all are, the forces of nature still have it in them to crack this ship like an egg, killing them all.

“Would it help if I said there are no futures where this storm poses a threat to us?” Indrid whispers from behind him.

“Kinda.”

“Would it help to see something breathtaking?”

“Wh-”

Indrid taps the glass, drawing Ducks attention to two massive, starry shapes, “Celestial whales. At least that’s the human name for them.”

“Holy fuck.” They remind Duck of Whale Sharks, but impossibly bigger, skin coated in thousands of star-spots, “how can they do that? I mean, obviously they ain’t mammals, but fuckin nothin thrives in deep space.”

“No one is certain.” Indrid sighs, happily, “isn’t it wonderful to know there are such things in the universe?”

“Yeah. AHfuck” He hits the wall as the whole ship shudders, “fuck, sorry-”

“It’s alright. It can be alarming when you’re on your first trip through the cosmos. I, ah, I have something that may help, if you’re alright with me touching you some.”

“Fine by me.” Duck follows Indrid to the Sylph’s bed. The seer sits cross-legged with his back against the wall and instructs Duck to rest his head in his lap. The points of his claws begin rubbing his neck and the base of his skull, Indrid humming at a low, steady pitch until Duck’s eyes start to close.

The pressure points are helping, he can tell by his loosening spine. But what soothes him to sleep is the repetitive reminder of Indrid there with him in the dark.

When he wakes up the storm is gone. His body is still moving, rising and falling in time with Indrid’s breath as he sleeps. He pulled Duck atop him in the night, and at some point must have wrapped him in his wings, since once, is still half-flopped on Duck’s back.

Seized with affection, Duck kisses his shoulder. When this earns him a happy chirp, he does it again, then kisses a cheerful path up to Indrid’s cheek. Red eyes open, sleepy and full of tenderness, just in time for the Sylph to turn his head and kiss Duck properly.

“What a lovely thing to awaken to.”

“No kiddin” Duck kisses him again, “fuck, Indrid, this is the weirdest goddamn thing to ever happen to me and I’m thinkin it might also be the best.”

Indrid hugs him close, “We shall have ample time to find out, if you wish to do so.”

“Hell yeah. But we only got a few days before we hit Sylvain.”

“Yes” Indrid kisses his nose, “but I happen to foresee Woodbridge ignoring my request for peace and sending me a message saying I will be working closely with a certain, visiting forestry expert.”

[forthehpfanboys]

Missing Piece

Pair: Sirius Black x Reader; he/him: transmasculine reader.

Summary: Life has been tricky since he was taken. You felt jumbled, like a screwed up puzzle, but pieces slowly fall into place. Sirius is one of those pieces and he’s never leaving again.

Warnings: dysphoria, hints of depression, fluffy fluff, Harry is your son

Notes: Please excuse the shit nickname- I tried! Enjoy guys!

~DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE~

-

You found out while he was at Azkaban. You had been counting the years since he was taken, when your life suddenly turned dim and cold, when nothing made sense. Everything went from a happily every after to a shattered mess of puzzle pieces. Your identity became one of the only pieces that seemed to find its spot easily and it was comforting to know there was a term for what you were. Lupin said it was normal and it wouldn’t bother his friend, but that didn’t ease the anxiety you held about your lover’s reaction to how you have changed. A stronger jaw, less curves, more muscle, more testosterone than before. A lot had changed between when Sirius last saw you and doubt was always in the back of your mind. 

What if he hated it? Even Tonks kept saying he wouldn’t, that he, of all of them, would understand, but the thought kept plaguing you. What if he never wanted to see you again? He was, quiet literally, your entire world. Maybe it was selfish to start changing yourself without him. Maybe it wasn’t, but you couldn’t wait any longer. Some days it got so bad you couldn’t look at yourself in the mirror and showers only got harder the longer you went without the potion treatment.  

You had donated your bras, skinny jeans, heals, skirts- everything that triggered your dysphoria. Remus was kind enough to help you pick out shoes and a suit for the occasional formal event, should it be needed. Hell, even Tonks helped you figure out how binders work for the days where taking the potion felt like too much work and was there to cut and style your hair when needed. You wore his clothes instead of the crap in your closet, even if they were too big for you. It helped you cope with missing him and the shit in your head. You changed your name after some research, finally landing on (Y/n). It made you feel like you. It was perfect.

Lupin and Tonks all but moved into your apartment to make sure you were eating, sleeping, just functioning in general. The couple did so much for you. You owed them so much. You offered to join the Order of the Phoenix, but they declined, politely stating they couldn’t put you at danger. The werewolf told you he’d made a promise to your love that he and Tonks would do their absolute best to keep you safe and it only kinda upset you. Understanding why was easy, but being away from a certain young wizard with a scar across his forehead was hard. You wanted to see Harry, keep him safe, keep him healthy. He was basically your son after all. 

Currently, you were standing in front of the couch, decked out in a baggy shirt and shorts, bags under your eyes and stress wrinkles across your forehead. You were almost arguing with the werewolf who desperately wanted sleep while you wanted to see the young boy. 

“Remus, please.” Your voice cracked as you begged. Those were happening a lot more often now that you were a good few months on hormone potions. “At least let me see the kid again.” You ran your fingers through your hair, effectively making it messier than it already was. He could tell just by looking at you that you desperately needed a pick-me-up. He and Tonks did lock you inside the house and they both knew it was either say yes or you sneak out soon enough.

“Ok. Ok, fine.” The tall man started with a sigh, his hands going to his pockets out of habit. “But only, only, if he meets you meet him at a safe house.” He let out a silent laugh when he saw your eyes light up with joy. He hasn’t seen you smile like this in a while. It was worth it.

“Thank you, Moony!” You pulled him into a hug.

“No problem, King.” Lupin patted you on the back, using the nickname they deemed you way back when the Marauders were a thing between them. Once you pulled away, he put a hand on your shoulder to stop you from walking away. “I’ll take you there tomorrow. It’d probably be best if you stayed there anyway. It is a safehouse.” Lupin said the last bit more to himself. He gave you a smile before heading off to his temporary bedroom, Dora following behind him. 

It was getting late, around 10pm anyway, but you didn’t feel a lick tired. You were buzzing with excitement. You were gonna be able to see Harry in less than 24 hours. You allowed yourself to fall back against the couch, a sigh of relief leaving your lips. Your hands ran down your face and you desperately wanted to be held by Sirius. You missed him. Harry, unlike your love, knew you were transitioning and didn’t give two licks, he was happy if you were happy. 

You laid across the couch, hands across your flat chest as you stared up at the ceiling. A grin was plastered across your face. Another piece fell into place of the puzzle. You knew you loved Harry as a son. You let out a relieved sigh, your eyes fluttering shut. You stayed like that for a good hour, your excitement allowing your brain to tie itself with ideas and useless thoughts. You didn’t remember falling asleep when you woke.

“King, come on.” A voice finally snapped you out of your slumber. You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, noticing a woman standing by the couch. “Did you sleep in your binder again?” Dora sighed out, her eyes staring into yours while you sit up. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she shook her head. 

“Sorry, Tonks. I forgot.” You stated the obvious as he stretched your arms above your head.

“Don’t say sorry to me, say it to your ribs.” The metamorphmagus teased. “But seriously, go take it off and shower. Let yourself breath.” She patted your head and walked off to the kitchen, where Lupin was already sipping his morning tea.

You trudged yourself to the closet, ignoring the soft throbbing in the right side of your ribs and opened the door. Ignoring the loud creak, you grabbed a towel, then walked to the bedroom you used to share. You pulled out a flannel t-shirt, a clean binder, boxers and a pair of jeans. With even more trudge in your step, you went over to the bathroom, shutting the door behind you. Your eyes avoided the mirror as you set your clothes and towel down on the counter, keeping your eyes down. 

You grabbed the back of your shirt, pulled it over your head and threw it off to the side, trying to ignore the mirror out of the corner of your eye. Clearing your throat, you repeated the action with your binder, choosing the ceiling as a much prettier sight than your chest. 

“Ah, yes. Today is one of those days.” You mumbled out, trying to finish this as quickly as possible. You finished stripping down and stepped into the shower, making the water a little hotter than usual. After letting the water bounce off your skin for a good 30 minutes,  you scrubbed yourself down, finishing your wash routine before turning off the water and stepping back out. Your eyes met the mirror and stared into your reflection before covering yourself quickly with a towel. 

Once you were dry, you got dressed starting with boxers, then your binder. It was a struggle, of course it would be. It managed to stick to your skin even though it felt dry enough. Shifting everything into a comfortable position, you tugged the flannel on. With each button, you felt a weight slide off your shoulders. It was already easier to breathe, easier to just function and think.

Once you were clothed and had taken care of your hygiene, you stepped out of the bathroom, hurrying to the kitchen to meet with the other two residents of the flat. You sat down at the kitchen table, waving your wand to lazily pour a cup of (tea/pop/coffee/hot cocoa/ whatever you want). 

“How did you sleep, (Y/n)?” Lupin spoke, setting his, now empty tea cup on the table, smiling across the table.

“Better than usual.” You smiled at him, fiddling with the unbuttoned collar of your shirt. “I am really excited to see Harry though!” You held a bright smile on your face as you gazed down at your mug. “Where is this safe house, anyway? And why haven’t I been there sooner?”

“Just a building called Grimmauld Place. We have to be careful coming and going. Don’t want it to be too obvious, now do we?” Dora spoke as she set a plate of food in front of you. She took her place next to her husband, a mug in her hands filled with tea, no doubt. 

“Speaking of being careful, I should head there first, make sure the coast is clear.” Lupin spoke up. 

“So, we’re leaving soon?” You asked between mouthfuls of the masterly crafted breakfast. Lupin nodded as he handed you a napkin to clean up the egg yolk dripping down your chin.

“As soon as you finished ea- No, slow down- You’re gonna choke-” Lupin spoke, a hand running down his face while Dora snorted into her cup. Lupin turned to her look at her quickly, a smile across his lips. “No, don’t laugh, it’s only going to encourage him.”  He then turned back to you, pointing. “And you. If you kill yourself before Harry graduates, I swear to Merlin himself, I will end you.” Dora almost choked on her drink.

Another piece of the puzzle fell into it’s perfect spot. Your friends. You knew they cared about you, loved you and you’d never truly be alone. When you finished literally inhaling your breakfast you slid your plate forward, smiling at the couple. It was so nice to see them acting like the world wasn't almost burning to all Hell.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” You clapped your hands together and stood up fast rough to knock your chair to the ground.

“No, wash the plate first.” Lupin teased, his grin growing wider when you groaned in annoyance. He rose from his own seat, maneuvering around the table to your side. “And pick up your chair, King! We’re not animals.” Moony said, patting you on the shoulder before walking out of the kitchen.

“You’re a werewolf and I’m an animagus. What are you talking about?” You spoke up, fixing your chair. You whined after hearing the familiar pop of apparition. Honestly, in the time that you’d spent here, you almost forgot apparition was a thing that wizards learn to do. That led you on a train of thought leading back to becoming an animagus. You could vividly remember figuring out how to do the process with James, Peter and Sirius when you were just younglings and let out a soft snicker. You remember offering to do it first, since all the men were being big babies about it and just the look of complete shock when you 4 managed to nail it was something to treasure. 

You snorted. The look of shock wasn’t just because you guys nailed the process, it was also over your animagus form. A big golden lion with a full maine and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth did scare them, rightfully so. It did give you a boss nickname though.  Dora’s chuckling had dragged you back to reality. 

“The faster you wash it, the faster we leave.” The woman stood from her seat, exiting the room on that note. She only laughed louder when you groaned again. You cleaned up your plate, mumbling about how you were far from being a child the whole time. “Did you actually do it?” Tonks asked when you walked out, her body leaning against the door frame with a smirk clear across your lips.

“Yes, mom.” You spoke while crossing your arm over your chest, a pout on your face. She rolled her eyes and reached out for you. Once you were holding her hand, she apparated the two of you so you were standing just outside the building. “..What?” you smiled, examining the front of the brown, rundown looking building. “Wait- this? This is the safe house?” You snickered, eyeing the building with a cocked brow.

“Give it a second.” Tonks shot you a smirk. Suddenly, the building began to shake and tremble and- wait, separate? No, it was just growing in length.

“Whoa!” Your eyes sparkled with excitement. Magic was absolutely amazing- you keep forgetting how awesome it can be. “Godric, I love this. Can I live here?” 

“Isn’t up to me. Come on.” Tonks led you to the front door of the newly founded addition and just walked inside, acting like she owned the place. The minute the door opened, you could hear many voices piling over themselves, some laughter and- was that Molly’s voice? Laughs and more voices caused you to stop halfway in the doorway. Anxiety bubbled in your stomach as you hurried after tonks, who didn’t even seem to notice you stopping.

“Wait, who else is here?” You stepped deeper down the hallway, eyes running along the peeling wallpaper and dusty nicknacks. 

“You’ll see.”

Ah, fuck. She’s up to something.

“What is it?” You spoke up again. “Tonks?” She just kept walking down the aisle to the door straight in front of her. “Dora? Dora, please tell m-” she pushed open the door, revealing a space filled to the brim with red-heads, a brunette and a noirette. “Harry!” You all but ran to the kid, pulling him into a hug once he stood up. He wrapped his arms around you, letting out a shout when you picked him up and spun him around. The red-headed family couldn’t help but laugh and chuckle at his high pitched yell. 

When you finally set the boy down, you cupped his face and checked him for injuries or cuts or any cracks on his lenses. 

“Are you ok? How have you been? Did the Dursleys start shit again? Godric, I told them to let you stay with me.”

“(Y/n)! (Y/n), I’m fine!” Harry stated between laughs, trying to swat your hands away from his face. “I’m ok. I’m just glad you’re ok.” Harry fixed his askew glasses, a lopsided smile on his face. 

“Godric, why didn’t you write?”

“I’m honestly fine.” 

“You know the Dursleys.”

“So, you aren't ok?”

“I swear to Merl-” You were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. The sudden noise had you jumping 4 feet in the air. You spun around to see Lupin in the doorway, a grin on his face. You could see the shadow of someone behind him, which had you tilting your head. “Lupin? Where were you?” 

“I had to pick someone up.” Lupin steeped deeper into the already cluttered room. The person behind him stepped in.

“Sirius!” Harry called out, running to the man. He almost knocked over the fellow niorette in a hug, his familiar chuckle filling the rom.

“Hey, kid! Didn’t think I’d leave that easily, did you?”

His familiar voice faded in the back of your mind as you looked at him. It was like the entire world stopped. It was blissful but burning at the same time. You continued to stare at your love, the only noise you could hear was your blood pounding in  your ears. You didn’t think you were going to see him so soon- you thought you had time to prepare some kind of speech, explain everything and anything he needed to know. You couldn’t stop staring at his eyes filled to the brim with admiration for the young wizard, but your heart stopped when they turned to you, piercing your mind.

You were frozen with panic. It was too hot and loud and you couldn’t think straight. What if he didn’t approve? What if he left? You didn’t notice how hard you were biting your lip or how you actually held your breath. You were acutely aware of everything. How everyone was staring at you, how they kept looking between you and him and held their breath, how Sirius was walking toward you, how he was still taller than you, ho- Wait, he was walking toward you?

Warm hands cupped your cheeks, effectively yanking you from the darkest spot in your head. Did he even recognize you?

“King?” His voice didn’t hold hate or judgement. His eyes traveled your face noting the dark rings under your eyes, the small stubble across your upper lip and chin and how your jaw looked strong enough to cut diamonds. He had a strong urge to make up for lost time, but that could wait.

Galloping griffins did he miss you.

“Yeah, Padfoot-?” A nervous smile coming across your lips, which the tall man found himself staring at.

“Merlin's beard, I missed you.” His voice was soft, airy. Sirius couldn’t help but pull you into a bone crushing hug. He was literally squeezing the life out of you before everything clicked. “You.. You look.. Different.” His soft voice was right by your ear.

“You don’t hate me?” You wheezed out, arms stuck to your side.

“What?! No, I could never hate you!” He pulled back, his hands coming to your shoulders. “What’s got that idea in your head?” His gray eyes staring into yours.

“I changed a lot-” You looked down at the gray tiles of the dining room floor.

“So have I, babe.”

“This is different, Sirius! I’m not the-the gir-” You couldn’t push the word out. It hurt too much. You tilted your head in confusion, your eyebrows furrowing when he started laughing.

“Godric, King! I wasn’t dating you for your gender! I was- I am dating you for you!.” Padfoot moved a stray strand of hair out of his face. “Besides, I’m the criminal here! If anyone should be worried about their partner leaving them, it should be me!” He was laughing. He was laughing and it was the best fucking sound you’ve heard in a long time.

Everything was hitting you like a sack of bricks. Sirius still wanted to be with you and he loved you. He didn’t care if you were taking hormones and wearing a binder. He was out of Azkaban and in your arms… But for how long.

“Hey, hey. I’m not going anywhere any time soon. Padfoot is here to stay!” Sirius smirked, pulling you close to his chest again. “Now come on! I wanna know about (Y/n) and what happened to him while I was gone.”

“How do yo-”

“Moony told me, babe.” He took your wrist and led you to the living room. He sat down on the couch, patting the seat next to him. Sirius was giving you the softest smile. “Now, come on. Tell me what happened while I was gone.” He held his arms out, shooting you a smile.

You sat down beside him on the couch, leaning into Sirius’ side as you told him story after story of what he missed after he was gone. He barely spoke up besides making the occasional joke about Lupin or Harry. The ex-criminal stared down at you while you waved your hands about, a smile across your face while you talked about the time Tonks managed to corner werewolf Remus in the corner of the house just  by bossing him around. He let this sink in. He knew he missed you, but holy hell, he didn't realize how body he needed you by his side.

You looked up at him in the middle of your story, noticing how Padfoot’s gray eyes were sparkling with joy and a dopey smile on his face. You let out a soft laugh.

“You’re staring.”

“I- what?” His reaction caused you to laugh a bit louder. 

“Padfoot, you were staring at me.”

“Yeah? And what about it, King?” He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him, a cocky smirk tugging at his lips. “Got a problem with me admiring your handsomeness?”

“Oh no, not at all.” You could feel your face getting warmer while your smile grew wider.

“Ok, good! Cause I’m gonna keep staring at you. I spent ffaarr to long away from you and I think we should make up for lost time.” Sirius’ hands drew circles along your hip bones, his face mere inches from yours.

“Oh yea?” Your eyes bounced between his lips and his eyes. You watched him nod and start to lean in, so you pulled back ever so slightly. “How are we gonna do that, Siri?” 

Sirius let out a loud laugh at the old nickname before pressing his lips to yours. You wrapped your arms around his neck, your eyes fluttering shut as you returned the kiss back. When you pulled away, he pressed his forehead to yours, whispering how much he loves you.

His love was another puzzle piece that fit in your messy life. Sure, there were still hundreds of pieces that didn’t fit, but that didn’t matter right now. The only thing that truly did matter was how Sirius was with you and now, he was safe. All of you were safe.

[smiting-finger]

Bin AU Headcanons

Part II of the (〃ω〃) 500 followers! unwritten-headcanon amnesty (some given in response to AO3 comment questions, and others given unsolicited, lol), this time for Out of the Bin and Into Your Heart and from me to you, my heart to yours

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian

Pre-Wei Wuxian’s first arrest, Lan Wangji was quietly volunteering as general legal aid (helping old migrants with their internet/other service contracts, helping women with their domestic violence paperwork), and then Wei Wuxian gets arrested at a protest and Lan Wangji is not there and he doesn’t know this area of law so he signs up to get involved with Activist Legal Support the next day.

Relatedly: Lan Wangji’s approach to helping Wei Wuxian has always been to turn up, do what needs to be done for Wei Wuxian to achieve his goals and then silently leave again. So when the two goobers eventually move in together (and are finally fully in each other’s space, and fully across each other’s movements), Wei Wuxian goes through a period of constant realisations like “Oh, Lan Zhan, you’re the one who’s been doing this? This as well?! THAT, TOO???”

Pre-fake dating, Lan Wangji knows that Wei Wuxian won’t keep any gifts given by secret admirers, but will shamelessly accept anything that Lan Wangji gives him outright as a friend (”friend”). He derives a petty satisfaction from that, and so has responded more than once to a gift-incident by giving Wei Wuxian a corresponding gift of his own:

So if he heard about the gift socks, he’d go out and get Wei Wuxian a pair of novelty There’s No Planet B! socks, which Wei Wuxian would naturally wear both immediately and proudly with his shortest pair of 4/5ths pants. (And Lan Wangji would stand next to him and somehow radiate smugness without making any change to his expression.)

Needless to say, Wei Wuxian has received a lot of Lan Wangji chocolate (chilli, fairtrade), lunches (homemade, nutritious) and other small items.

Wei Wuxian never even considers the possibility of not putting all his fake-dating eggs into the Lan Zhan basket. And also never stops to think about why that iss.

In re kungfu practice: when sparring against normal people, Lan Wangji does annoyed-leg-sweeps because of “I’ll bring you down every peg to the floor” reasons he’s too well-bred to voice. 

Past recipients of this treatment have included:

Wen Chao, 

Xue Yang at his most obnoxious

Jin Zixuan when gossip about his comments in re Jiang Yanli not being pretty or successful enough to date him (”I can’t believe my mum set me up with someone so mediocre”) is at its height.

This is pre-Wei Wuxian onstage-punch. That comes during the second round of gossip.

With Wei Wuxian (and only Wei Wuxian), however, it’s always leg sweeps and pinning, which is because of ... “irritation”.

The Phoenix Mountain Reserve photo has been Lan Wangji’s favourite shot of Wei Wuxian since it was made publicly available, but he couldn’t use it as a wallpaper for obvious reasons.

Then he agrees to the fake-dating, sees how far Wei Wuxian was going to take it and realised: chansu!

At some point during the fake-dating, Wei Wuxian escalates from the phone entry of Oppa to calling Lan Wangji “Oppa~!” in real life, and then from there to a full “Oppa! Saranghaeyo~!” with the arms-on-head love heart. 

After n iterations of this, Lan Zhan responds with a mirror arms-on-head love heart and a deadpan “Saranghaeyo.” with his face still like (• _ •) and it’s an instant, supereffective K.O. for Wei Wuxian.

Every so often, when another one of his romantic overtures has soared right over Wei Wuxian’s head, Lan Wangji considers Jin Zixuan’s over-the-top demonstrations of affection and thinks (bleakly) “...Jin Zixuan got a singing telegram. Must I also resort to a singing telegram? ; _ ; “

In re: the concert hip-hop number, shirtlessness is the goal all along:

A-Qing (who is also a troublemaker on Lan Qiren’s radar - as soon as he receives the form that says that she and Wei Wuxian will be working together, his spidey senses start tingling) has been constantly referencing it throughout all their practices like: 

“Well, because you’ll be shirtless, you’ll have to make sure to-”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea, totally do that, but remember that you’ll be shirtless too, so-”

Even Song Zichen and Xue Yang know about it and have been visibly bracing themselves for the dress (or undress, lul) rehearsal

Wei Wuxian has missed all of this because of his amazing tunnel vision.

Speaking of Song Zichen and Xue Yang, while they’re having their Moments:

Xiao Xingchen is swanning around like “But do you think the performance had artistic integrity? A-Qing, I’m a little worried that the choreography didn’t do full justice to the abilities of all our members! I hope they don’t think I’m hogging the limelight!”, taunting them with his half-nakedness while he earnestly tries to make sure that all the other dancers are comfortable and happy with the final arrangement

A-Qing fully notices the heart-eye beams shooting over from the wings (and fully notices the same heart-eye beams shooting over during various practices), briefly thinks about saying something to put the two losers out of their misery (because Xiao Xingchen is not the special level of oblivious that Wei Wuxian is), but then thinks ... nah.

During practice back-painting, Wei Wuxian is so focused on Not Looking that his mistimes his ~sexy stretch~ and gets it in precisely when Lan Wangji has turned his back to get the towel, so it really is all for nothing, RIP.

In the reprise back-painting session (and there definitely is one, what with Lan Wangji’s love for marking and the fact that Chinese calligraphers usually sign their name on their work), the levels of both shamelessness and trolling shoot through the roof on both sides:

Wei Wuxian suddenly feels the need to do a lot more whimpering and moaning, and his flinches of “surprise” and wriggling to “get comfortable” suddenly happen a lot more in the hip area than they did before.

Lan Wangji does a lot more touching of the skin he’s about to paint to “warn” Wei Wuxian that the brush is coming (do warnings have to be quite so ... lingering? Only Lan Wangji knows), discovers a sudden need for wrist-pinning to “hold Wei Wuxian still while he works” and his blowing on ink to get it dry suddenly gets a lot more ... sensual ...

Lan Wangji is the teacher that all his babies are always proposing to. They lOvE him with every inch of their tiny baby hearts, and after they get together, Wei Wuxian watches on with a knowing nod, like “My fam, I getcha. Gege will support you in expressing your feelings and we can ALL win!”

Wei Wuxian doesn’t know it, but he has a group of grannies and grandpas wringing their hands over his happiness, too: It’s all well and good that he’s seeing the Lan boy now, but when are they gonna get married, huh? HUH?! WHAT’S THE POINT OF SAVING THE PLANET IF YOU’RE NOT GONNA FILL IT WITH BABIES, WEI WUXIAN???

So once they officially start dating, Wei Wuxian steps into the Cultural Centre like “Ah, our fresh new romance! Even after all this time of fake-dating, I’d better give people some transition time to get used to this new state of affairs!”

And in the background, 73 aunties and grannies are thinking “Look how behind schedule you are, Wei Wuxian!” (because it’s definitely his fault, and not Lan Wangji’s). “Where are the babies? WHERE ARE THE BABIES??”

The wedding advice Wei Wuxian got from the grannies during Mianmian’s wedding prep is liberally flavoured with real life anecdotes like:

“Don’t be like XX’s son. He made the mistake of trying to skimp on the dowry - so disrespectful to people who’ve poured so much love and energy into raising a daughter - and it poisoned the entire relationship.”

“That venue is no good - YY’s daughter had her reception there, and we all had diarrhoea after eating the prawns.”

(And Wei Wuxian is like: “How can you retain all of this bullshit detail about every wedding the Cultural Society has ever witnessed, but still not know how to say the phrase ‘Excuse me, what time is the bus coming’ in English?!”)

Mianmian definitely also gets strong-armed by her excited mother into some glorious(ly terrible) Chinese-style studio wedding photos (with industrial-strength airbrushing and wedding costume changes that span many cultures and many Chinese time periods).

Mianmian swears to never let Wei Wuxian get his grubby hands on that album, on pain of death.

But then her parents host something, and Wei Wuxian goes, and right there, hanging in their living room, is a floor-to-ceiling calendar, featuring Mianmian and Mian-man dressed as Chinese emperor and empress (because Mianmian certainly didn’t want it in her house, but it came with the package.)

Wei Wuxian makes a noise that Mianmian previously thought only dolphins could produce, and proceeds to take SO MANY photos with his phone.

At some point after Mianmian’s wedding, Lan Wangji comes out of the shower to find:

1 pair of pyjama bottoms waiting for him on the bed; and

Wei Wuxian in the corresponding top (which doesn’t cover his butt after all, but whatever, he’s committed), shooting him a double-thumbs up and wearing an expression like 8D!

(And Lan Wangji decides it’s not worth fighting and just goes with it.)

Lan Qiren

Lan Qiren is totally the kind of parent who never boasts about his children directly, but will listen politely to you telling him about how your son scored 86 in his maths examination, and wait for you to obligation-ask about his kids before casually saying, “Oh, Wangji? He scored full marks” and smiling thinly.

He’ll add “Sounds like your son worked really hard” for extra fuck you value if you were being particularly obnoxious.

The greatest tragedy in his parenting life is realising that if your children are The Best, it’s only possible for them to marry down.

His initial feelings regarding Wei Wuxian dating his nephew can probably be summed up as: “Wei Wuxian, I did not lovingly raise my precious Lan Wangji just to give him to you!!!” 

(The problem is that his nephew (inexplicably) likes Wei Wuxian so much, mumblegrumble.)

For weeks after The Resentment of Lan Qiren, every time Lan Qiren sees Wen Ning, he shakes his head sadly to himself and mutters “What a shame, what a shame.”

When Wen Ning responds with a slightly panicked “?!”, Lan Qiren just pats him on the shoulder, like, “No, no, it’s not you. We can’t choose our relatives. And isn’t that the greatest shame in the world?” - and then DOESN’T EXPLAIN ANYTHING.

And after many bouts of thinking and rethinking still lead him to the conclusion that Wei Wuxian is the best choice in comparison to all the other available options, Lan Qiren may or may not visit Cangse Sanren’s grave to burn some incense for an excuse to stand there and offer a sullen, “You fukken got me again, you bastard. I can’t believe you.”

He doesn’t know who he hates more:

Wei Wuxian for being himself and yet still the best choice

Cangse Sanren for not letting being dead stop her from continuing to be a thorn in Lan Qiren’s side

Wen Ruohan for being undesirable enough to disqualify the only valid competitor

The other parents for failing to produce children who are better than Wei Wuxian 

(Like: Surely it can’t be that hard if he (+ his brother + his sister-in law) managed to produce two)

So he settles for hating everyone.

For his next birthday, Lan Xichen sends him a box of blood-pressure-lowering supplements.

Lan Qiren is like “!!!” but he still takes them because just because his nephew is being impudent does not mean there is not also a Need.

In re 3zun:

Lan Qiren goes around determinedly Not Thinking about Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao. Every time his eyes approach something he doesn’t want to see, he just turns his head like NOPE.

He eventually realises that he and Wei Wuxian have this in common and that Wei Wuxian is therefore his most valuable ally - both in terms of having someone to pivot to and have very loud, very enthusiastic conversations about anything else whenever the 3zun do something they don’t want to see, and also having someone to commiserate with about Not Wanting to Know. (But because they’re them, they alternate between teaming up for self-preservation and using their mutual weakness to take petty jabs at each other.)

"-If two of them are dating, then where does that leave the third one?!"

"RIGHT? Imagine finding out that they were silently pining away, forced to third-wheel for their unrequited love and best friend - unrequited LOVES AND BEST FRIENDS? What would you say to that?!"

"That's not even considering which one the third wheel would be - I honestly don't know which option would be the worst, they're all terrible."

"I'm almost ready to say that I'd rather they all be dating each other, except then I'd have to think about how that would work, dynamic-wise, like - who calls the shots? Do you think Nie Mingjue is domineering all the time, or do you think it’s a public front, and he then goes home to be dominated by-"

“STOP.”

Even before 3zun get together (both Lan Qiren and Wei Wuxian have chosen to Never Know when this is), Jin Guangyao is throwing out suggestive comments left and right and then immediately whipping out his (◔◡◔✿) face for anyone’s double-take:

50% to test the waters of public sentiment before he makes a move and it actually becomes his problem

50% because he’s a troll who likes dominance displays

Knowing this factoid, one of Wei Wuxian’s mental 3zun Dynamics possibilities features Superdom!Jin Guangyao, but he does his best to avoid thinking about that.

After Lan Qiren mentally accepts Wei Wuxian into the fold:

He still internally responds to at least 50% of the things that Wei Wuxian does with “Why, that little shit”, but it’s also implied that Wei Wuxian is their little shit now.

And for Lan Family! Qiren, this means: If you shit on him, WE shit on you.

“Shufu” 

Lan Qiren definitely Notices when Wei Wuxian calls him that, but it Doesn’t Do to make a fuss.

He probably has a conversation with Lan Xichen sometime around the first family dinner that goes:

LQR: You've noticed that he's still calling me 'Uncle Qiren' like we're nothing to each other.

LXC: ...If you want him to call you Shufu, should you perhaps not mention that to him?

LQR: What? No, he should already know these things!

And then after the wedding:

LQR: Your brother's boyfriend is finally acting like one of the family. LXC: Haha, oh my.

Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan

Although their mothers have been friends for ages, Jin Zixuan grows up in a different city, so they don't see each other growing up. The Jins later move for Jin Zixuan's high-flying corporate job, Madam Jin joins the Culture Society at her friend's behest and immediately falls in love with Jiang Yanli as a daughter-in-law. 

After a lot of cajoling (in both directions), she gets them to agree to one date, which is a disaster (I have more headcanons about this but they won't fit in here) 

Jin Zixuan has a lot of money and zero sense of proportion, which does not generally result in tasteful things. (Where Jiang Yanli is concerned, his desire to keep up a "cool" image is completely overpowered by his desire to please, so that doesn't help either. Like a golden retriever who wants people to think he's a cat.) 

After they get married, Wei Wuxian sometimes thinks about the peacock's peacocking rituals, like: "It's good that he's gotten more reasonable now that they're married - no, wait, what if he hasn't gotten more reasonable, but there's just no one around to see it because they're married?!" and never gets brave enough to ask his sister about it. 

After Jin Ling's birth, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng (and maybe even Jin Zixuan) get locked in an ongoing battle for Jin Ling's affections. Jiang Yanli is the clear favourite, as she should be, but they all want to be #2, and their constant jostling is how he ends up with no chill despite being raised by one calm mum and one aloof (but secretly disaster) dad

But because Jiang Yanli is around, he's very polite about it: the kind of kid who barrels in screaming blue murder, skids to a halt and says "Auntie", and then tears out screaming blue murder again

Wei Wuxian tones it down a lot after he and Lan Wangji adopt A-Yuan because he’s got better things to do, but it’s still A Thing (during visits, A-Yuan spends a lot of time in Auntie Yanli’s lap being gently fed things while his dad and shushu yell at each other over the top of his cousin’s head)

Lan Xichen and Jiang Yanli

Initially brought together by their brothers, they now meet up for regular, peaceful, wholesome tea-dates where they discuss the lives of their mutuals and gently exchange advice (and strategies on how to keep their angry-angry parent/proxy-parent's blood pressure down.

Whereas Jiang Cheng gets closer to coughing up blood with every year that passes by without Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji getting their shit together, Lan Xichen and Jiang Yanli take the more optimistic view of "Look at how well-prepared we are, we've just run another year ahead of schedule!"

Dinner Crew

Jiang Cheng has been the unwilling audience to years of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s bullshit. 

If asked, he would say: “And you wonder why I’m so angry?! What do you mean ‘dating’, you’ve been fucking married for the last five years!” but no one ever does :’D

Every so often, he thinks about how happy their sister is about the dating situation because she doesn’t know that it’s fake, and he grinds his teeth because why can’t he also not-know!?

To this, Nie Huaisang says, “If we didn’t know we couldn’t help!”

And Jiang Cheng replies, “WE’RE NOT HELPING ANYWAY, LOOK AT HIM!!!”

Meanwhile, Jiang Yanli continues to gush about how happy she is for Wei Wuxian and all Jiang Cheng can do is laugh really unnaturally because he has to “Be strong, Jiang Cheng! Be strong for A-jie! ╥﹏╥”

He goes to read the comments on the Society Facebook after the fujoshi conversation, and gets so angry at all these people who are like “Ah, their love is so beautiful!” that he has to uninstall his Facebook app, and go and shout into a cupboard somewhere.

The non-Wei-Wuxian members of the dinner group have set up a separate chat to act as a support group, where they all go to:

Wail and gnash their teeth after Wei Wuxian does something particularly dumb

Scheme ways into getting Wei Wuxian to get a clue

Console one another when someone’s brave attempt at getting Wei Wuxian to face the truth fails miserably (because while they play by the rules of ‘what a normal human would do’, Wei Wuxian lives by the principle of ‘lol norms are for losers’.)

Relatedly: for every resigned Nie Huaisang face or enraged Jiang Cheng face that Wei Wuxian notices, there are at least three desperate-yet-silent exchanges that he doesn’t. 

Wen Ning is always really optimistic about it, nodding encouragingly like “He’s gonna get it - he’s gonna get it! - oh no, he’s not gonna get it. Oh. Oh no. Ó╭╮Ò”

Wen Ning always has at least one small child hanging off him at all times when he’s at the Cultural Centre because they know he can always be bullied into playing with them and they think he’s great.

Past bullshit dinner group projects have included Getting Jiang Cheng a Date and Making a Picture out of Jin Guangyao’s Forehead Dot While He’s Sleeping

(In re the forehead dot, they end up settling for making it bigger every time he nods off during a movie night at Nie Huaisang’s house, and Nie Mingjue comes home to what’s basically a Japanese flag on Jin Guangyao’s forehead and is like ಠ_ಠ)

Future dinner group projects include providing Wei Wuxian with support for Grand Plans like Getting Along with Uncle Qiren and providing Jiang Cheng with unwanted support for things like Workshopping Jiang Cheng’s List of Partner Requirements

A-Yuan

After A-Yuan’s adoption, Wei Wuxian and Lan Qiren redouble their efforts in Can we divorce an in-law?! because although they couldn’t save themselves from being related to Jin Guangyao, for their PRECIOUS BOY--

Therefore, when A-Yuan is five or six and starts to sound out how he’s related to people and why:

A-Yuan: So if Jin-yeye is Uncle Guangyao’s dad, then that makes him my-

Wei Wuxian: NOTHING!

Lan Qiren (springing up from the other side of the room): NOTHING!

Lan Xichen: lol

At around about this same time, Wei Wuxian, who is never gonna stop trolling Lan Qiren about ruzhui until the day he dies, runs A-Yuan through the “You see, my son, my family is not so well-to-do, and since your Uncle married into the Nie family-” talk, and then proceeds to reference it at every opportunity:

1: Despite A-Yuan almost certainly not asking, and

2: despite (/especially because of) Lan Qiren shouting “DON’T TEACH HIM WEIRD THINGS!” in the background.

(Lan Wangji probably lets it happen or encourages it because he thinks it’s funny)

[tatumeyecare]

Dry Eye: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Lifestyle in Phoenix, Arizona

Dry Eye syndrome, also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is a common ocular condition that affects millions of individuals globally. It occurs when the eyes fail to produce sufficient tears or when the tears evaporate too quickly. Vision issues, discomfort, and irritability may result from this.. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore everything you need to know about Dry Eye causes, symptoms, treatment options, and effective lifestyle management, particularly in the sunny city of Phoenix, Arizona.

Dry Eye Causes:

Dry Eye can stem from various factors, including environmental conditions, aging, medical conditions, and lifestyle habits. Prolonged screen time, exposure to dry and windy climates, and certain medications can contribute to its development. Additionally, medical conditions like Sjögren’s syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis are known to increase the risk of Dry Eye.

Dry Eye Symptoms:

The symptoms of Dry Eye can range from mild discomfort to significant irritation. Common symptoms include redness, a gritty sensation, burning, itching, and blurry vision.

Dry Eye Treatment:

Effective treatment of Dry Eye involves a multi-faceted approach. Artificial tears, available in various formulations, can provide temporary relief by lubricating the eyes.Prescription eye drops may be suggested in more severe situations to lessen irritation and encourage tear production. Procedures like punctal plugs, which block tear drainage, can also be effective in maintaining tear film.

Chronic Dry Eyes:

Chronic Dry Eye is a persistent condition that requires ongoing management. Individuals with chronic Dry Eye should work closely with their eye care professionals to determine the best treatment plan. Regular follow-up appointments can help monitor progress and adjust treatments as needed.

Dry Eye Remedies:

Apart from medical interventions, several home remedies can provide relief. Warm compresses can help open up oil glands in the eyelids, improving tear quality. Staying hydrated, using humidifiers, and taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements can also contribute to alleviating Dry Eye symptoms.

Dry Eye Prevention:

Preventing Dry Eye involves being mindful of environmental factors and lifestyle choices. Protecting your eyes from wind and harsh sunlight, taking breaks during screen time, and staying hydrated can all contribute to preventing Dry Eye.

Dry Eye Management:

Managing Dry Eye goes beyond just treating symptoms. It’s about adopting a holistic approach that includes regular eye exams, consistent use of prescribed medications, and making necessary lifestyle adjustments.

Dry Eye Relief:

Finding relief from Dry Eye can significantly improve your quality of life. By working closely with your eye care specialist and following their recommendations, you can experience a noticeable reduction in discomfort and irritation.

Dry Eye Drops:

Artificial tears, available over-the-counter, are a common way to relieve Dry Eye symptoms. They mimic natural tears and provide immediate relief from dryness and irritation.

Dry Eye Diagnosis:

A comprehensive eye exam is crucial for an accurate diagnosis of Dry Eye. Your eye care professional will assess tear production, evaluate the quality of tears, and examine the ocular surface for any signs of inflammation.

Dry Eye Risk Factors:

Certain factors increase the likelihood of developing Dry Eye. These include age, gender (women are more prone), certain medical conditions, medications, and environmental factors.

Dry Eye Complications:

Untreated Dry Eye can lead to complications such as corneal abrasions, eye infections, and even vision impairment. To avoid these consequences, it is crucial to get treatment as soon as possible.

Dry Eye Discomfort and Solutions:

The discomfort caused by Dry Eye can be challenging to endure. However, with a combination of medical interventions, lifestyle changes, and home remedies, significant relief is achievable.

Dry Eye Therapies:

Advanced therapies like intense pulsed light (IPL) treatments have shown promising results in managing Dry Eye symptoms. IPL helps reduce inflammation and improve oil gland function.

Dry Eye Irritation and Sensitivity:

Dry Eye often leads to eye irritation and heightened sensitivity to light. Wearing sunglasses when outdoors and using lubricating eye drops can mitigate these symptoms.

Dry Eye Inflammation and Syndrome:

Inflammation is a common underlying factor in Dry Eye syndrome. Anti-inflammatory medications and treatments can help manage inflammation and provide relief.

Dry Eye Care and Technologies:

Proper eye care is essential for managing Dry Eye. Innovative technologies, such as tear osmolarity measurement devices, aid in assessing tear quality and guiding treatment decisions.

Dry Eye Lifestyle in Phoenix, Arizona:

Living with Dry Eye in Phoenix, Arizona, comes with unique challenges due to the arid climate. Staying hydrated, wearing wraparound sunglasses, and using humidifiers indoors are valuable strategies for managing Dry Eye symptoms.

The Phoenix Perspective: Dry Eye in Arizona:

The dry and sunny climate of Phoenix can exacerbate Dry Eye symptoms. Taking proactive measures, such as using lubricating eye drops regularly and protecting your eyes from UV rays, is vital.

Tatum Eyecare is North Phoenix’s premier family eye care center. We’ve spared no expense to create the most pleasant, comfortable patient experience… including the finest furnishings, the best selection of prescription eyeglass frames, the most cutting-edge technology, and the most outstanding team of industry professionals. Come see why the choice for family eye care in the Valley has never been clearer.

[thethyroidrelation]

Finding a good endocrinologist is one of the best things you will do for your thyroid health.

Searching for an endo (Endocrinologist)…

After my thyroid surgery, I was automatically referred to an endo by my medical insurance. The doctor was in Scottsdale, Arizona while I was located way out in West Phoenix. For my health absolutely it was worth driving the 40 miles each way to visit him, but with the pandemic and all the issues happening in 2020, I found it would be better to find one closer to me.

I did my research, I googled the best endocrinologists in Goodyear, Arizona or 15 miles from here, I looked at their Google reviews, I went onto my health insurance website and looked at reviews on there, I looked at the doctor’s website, checked out the endo and how long they had been caring for patients with thyroid issues and especially patients who had just had a thyroidectomy and would need lifetime care.

I didn’t know what I was doing. Hell, I didn’t get much of an explanation about what this would mean to me for the rest of my life. I needed someone who really cared about the future of their patients. This entire process has been very enlightening, like getting hit with a bat in the face and seeing stars. I finally understood that it is not up to the surgeon or the endo to tell you how something is going to affect the rest of your life, you have to find out for yourself. The information you receive about how you should take care of yourself and what’s coming next is about 1/3rd of the information you actually need. Use the power of the internet, find like-minded people, join support groups, and ask questions, so many questions. That’s the only way you will make yourself feel better. 

Finding an endo….

So after a lot of research, I found the endo that I was certain was going to help me get through the first stages of my life without a thyroid in the best way possible. This endo has 5-star reviews, people just praising the way she changed lives and helped them through their situations. So I booked my appointment. I had my little journal ready to write down notes, I had questions I was ready to ask because I didn’t know what I needed to do to lose weight and that was forefront on my mind at the time. This was before I felt like shit, I still had hope I was always going to feel even half the amount of energy I still felt so I was genuinely naive about the whole thing.

The day of my appointment comes and I leave work early so that I can drive straight to the endo’s office and get there a little early to fill out paperwork.  I get there and I notice the building is nice and I can tell this office has good visitation so that makes me feel even better about my choice to come here. Everyone looked happy and they were smiling, so I kept telling myself this is it. Only… I just didn’t feel right. I kept telling myself I was overthinking things which I always have the bad habit of doing so I shut off the voice in my head and waited until my name was called for my turn to be seen. 

What the hell kind of endo is this??

After getting my blood pressure checked and being told that my heart rate was at 125bpm and waiting 10 more minutes, in walks a tiny lady who would be my new endo. The endo has a foreign accent and talks very fast so from the get-go I was having trouble understanding her. For privacy, I will call her Dr. Hollis. Dr. Hollis tells me about my blood tests and I know this because she is showing me the physical tests on her laptop although I can’t understand what she’s saying, I don’t know what any of it means, and she’s not slowing down to explain it either. 

Then she stops and starts scrolling through my chart and I see her eyebrow perk up and she looks at me and says “you had thyroid cancer, why aren’t you taking care of yourself, your blood tests are unacceptable!” Holy Shit I almost had a meltdown in that room. It took everything in me not to get up and flip her off and walk out of that room. 

I answered pissed off and if I could have chopped off her head with my eyes I would have. “I am here because I don’t know anything about my condition, and as my endocrinologist, you are here to help me figure this out right?” Wow, talk about a match made in patient/doctor relationship heaven.  That conversation set the tone for a year of care from her. In that year, I saw her 6 times. She had my thyroid medication Synthroid dose at 175mcg, and to counter the heart rate I was on 25mg of Atenolol. She would not lower my dose of Synthroid because all she would tell me was that the “cancer would come back” if my dose was lowered.

When I can no longer ignore my negative relationship with my doctor…

In October of 2019, I met with the endo to review my latest set of blood tests and she gave me the grim news that it looked like cancer had returned. Can you imagine the horror I felt when she said that to me? My blood tests were showing something in my blood so I was probably going to go through radiation again and if that didn’t work I was going to have to have neck surgery and remove any lymph nodes left and any tissue that may be lingering in my thyroid bed. I mean it was just that cut and dry. Again, when I would ask her to explain things to me it would take extra dedication from me to sit and listen intently and ask extra questions about what I THINK she was telling me because she was hard to understand. She told me I would need to do another Radioactive Iodine Uptake Test and depending on the results I would need to do radiation. I stopped her before she could say anything else, I said no. 

I told her I would not be doing any more radiation. I was done drinking poison only to feel worse. This was the good cancer it wasn’t supposed to ever make an appearance again. And here I am getting ready for round two. Nope. I was going to do things my way and I would come back to get the MRI in three months. She looked at me and said “ok”. So just OK. An endo who doesn’t try to tell you about why it would be dangerous not to do treatment and go nomad may not have your best interests in mind. Also, a doctor who pushes you to do a certain treatment and does not try to listen to the options you think might work may also not have your best interest in mind. Keep that in the back of your head when being “ordered” to do something. 

My family was worried about me. They were worried that I had said no to radiation, but they were also worried if I did do it. They were stuck as I was stuck about this whole thing but I deserved a chance to try something else. I tried a holistic approach and dedicated the next 3 months to meditation and cleansing my body of toxins.  I scheduled the MRI after 3 months and it came back cancer-free. No cancer cells showed up. It is February of 2021 and to this day I have not had to do radiation again and I hope to keep that going. 

After that, I switched to another endo. When she told me that there was a great possibility that I would have to do radiation again, everything about her energy gave me NO HOPE. NONE AT ALL. I don’t need anyone like that in my life and none of you do either. I removed her negativity and surrounded myself with the help and love of those who believed in me. If your endo isn’t someone you can count on, I hope you have a way of finding one who is a blessing and not a burden to you.  

Finding an endo that cares enough to stop me from giving myself a heart attack…

Again I looked for a year for an endo. My thyroid medications had refills so I wasn’t worried about getting those, but I knew it was probably time to get my blood checked again. I needed to make up my mind about an endo. I had found one that I was feeling good about, but after this nightmare experience, I was afraid of what I was going to walk into. 

When I finally met my new endo, he was the complete opposite of what I had experienced. He took his time to answer my questions and took blood tests on the spot. I have a confession to make, because I was never able to get any help with the chronic fatigue I was experiencing, I started taking Armour thyroid along with my Synthroid. I did this all on my own out of desperation and didn’t think that I was probably killing myself. I told my new endo this and he was naturally alarmed. I had lost a great amount of weight, I couldn’t sleep at all, I was shaky all the time but the worst part was my heart. I was putting myself at risk of heart failure and I didn’t even know it. I felt really stupid. 

He has helped me realize the importance of my situation, and I no longer take any medication without a prescription from him first. Finding this endo has helped me understand why my dose needed to be lowered and how keeping me at such a high dose was putting me at risk of death already. I am not 100% better but I do feel a lot better now. It’s a work in progress but now I have hope where before I didn’t. The doctor also explained to me that my situation with cancer is not one that will just disappear which was how it was explained to me before. I will always need to find ways to keep it at bay… that is my realistic future and that’s the type of honesty that your medical providers need to give you. Everyone is different and no situation is the same so although I don’t doubt my previous endo was and is great for her patients now, she was not the one for me. 

Your endo is very important to your well being. The endocrinologist has the power to stunt your progress or make it grow by leaps and bounds so ask questions freely and openly, let him/her know how serious you are about your personal situation and that you want to be actively involved in getting better. 

Find an endocrinologist in your area: 

AACE - Find an Endocrinologist Near You

Find an Endocrinologist

[joaquinfeed]

I Think I Want to Marry You (Arthur Fleck x Reader)

Prompt: You and Arthur are getting married. Angsty-ish with a happy ending.  For @rise-like-the-phoenix. Sorry there’s not many wedding feels. I don’t know what’s going on with me, but this is not my best work. It felt forced in areas, and I apologize. 

A/N: The reader is a female because I mention “wife” twice or so, but can be gender neutral otherwise.  Warnings: Thoughts on forced relationships, descriptions and mentions of Arthur’s thoughts as well as coping mechanisms.  __

Clothes? Check. Vows? Check. Ring? Check.

You went over the list a few more times because surely you forgot something. Today was such an important day, one you thought may never come—your wedding.

Before you met Arthur, you weren’t sure what to think about the man. You had heard rumors floating around his apartment complex, and through the city of Gotham, but when you had asked a few people, many denied they even knew him.

It took a while for you both to develop a friendship, and even longer for it to move to the next level. The more you learned about Arthur, the less you wanted to overwhelm him with your feelings. Little did you know, he was already falling too.

There were times in the relationship where you questioned if you were right for one another. Although you loved him deeply, so profoundly it threatened to swallow you at times, you occasionally worried that your love was not enough to overcome the affliction of society.

This was the one time when you were grateful to be wrong.

As soon as Arthur proposed, and by ‘proposed,’ you mean he accidentally said, 'if you were my wife’ in a conversation. You both had a long and grueling talk that consisted of rambling, nervous laughter, and repetitions of 'you don’t ever have to be my wife.’ An hour of reassurance, a declaration of love, and a cuddling session later, you were engaged to Arthur Fleck.

You both agreed that it was best to 'get it over with’ per-say—not that you would ever actually mean that. With money being tight, and Arthur’s mother needing treatment for her deteriorating health, it just wasn’t practical for you to go all out for a wedding party. When Arthur timidly suggested a courthouse 'elopement’ so-to-speak, you were all on board as long as you got to spend the rest of your life with him.

After checking the list of items—clothes, vows, ring—once again for good measure, you make your way to the courthouse. You and Arthur agreed to meet there instead of arriving together because you wanted to follow the traditional rule of not seeing each other before the wedding.

The skies of Gotham are sunny, and the residents are unusually adherent to your body pushing through them on the sidewalk. You definitely miss the annoyed glances and scowls as you nearly run to the courthouse, excited to see the man who’s about to be your husband.

When you get to city hall, you meet with a judge who brings you into the courtroom. It looks no different than a room in which you’d be convicted for a crime, but it was perfect for you and Arthur to make your partnership official.

“Y/N, I have the marriage licenses here,” the judge tells you. “When your fiancé gets here, we will start the ceremony. If both of you have prepared vows, you may read them after I’m done speaking. Then, we’ll present the rings, and you’ll be hitched in no time.”

Your heart beats wildly in your chest at that notion. Married. You and Arthur were going to get married. You still couldn’t believe it. You glance at the clock above the entranceway and frown.

“Arthur should have been here by now,” you say more to yourself than anyone else.

“I’m sure he will be,” the judge replies, startling you out of your thoughts. “It’s normal for people to run late on their wedding days; most people are just trying to work up the courage. It can be a lot of pressure.”

You shake your head absentmindedly. “He wouldn’t be late to something like this for no reason. That’s not- he’s not like that.”

The room falls silent as you chew on your bottom lip, worriedly. There’s no need to panic over nothing, you tell yourself. He will be here.

You’re not sure how much time passes—an hour, maybe two— before you feel a small touch on your skin. You jump slightly at the brush, turning to see the older judge place—what you assume is supposed to be a comforting hand—on your shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

You don’t answer right away. Instead, you look back up at the clock, the hands moving slowly as if to taunt you with Arthur’s absence.

“No,” you mutter, trying to fight the urge to cry that’s building up behind your eyelids. “He’s not here.”

“He could still come,” the judge tries to reassure you, but his words fall flat. You know Arthur. You have spent the last year of your life trying to learn every detail about the man you’re so desperately in love with. His life fascinates you; he fascinates you. Getting to know him was like reading a really good, but challenging book. You never quite catch every detail, so you just want to keep reading and reading until you understand it better.

Arthur never misses a chance to tell you that he loves you, so it always felt quite apparent to you that he felt the same way. But did he?

You think back over your year together, trying to pinpoint a moment when you may have upset him—any reason to explain his absence—but you can’t find one.

“He’s not going to come,” you finally let the tears fall down your cheeks. You hope that you’re wrong, but you know you’re not. You’re not sure why he’s not here, but it had to be real—final. Arthur would never leave you waiting for no reason. He either had trouble getting here, or he realized proposing to you was a mistake.

That’s when it hit you. Arthur hadn’t actually proposed to you, not really. He slipped up; he made a mistake. You had been the one to initiate the conversation afterward. Did you trick him into marrying you? You couldn’t remember him ever once telling you that he wanted to get married; you only assumed after he called you his wife.

Panic and guilt arose in you at the idea of pushing Arthur into this. Your brain started to run a mile a minute as you tried to recall the events leading up to this moment. Did Arthur even want to be with you in the first place? Surely, he would have said something if he didn’t. At the same time, you knew he was often shy and reserved about certain emotions, especially in the beginning. It’s possible he didn’t want to upset you with rejection. Or because he lacked experience in dating, maybe he believed you were the best choice for him, even if it wasn’t true.

“Here,” the judge says, holding out a tissue. Your eyebrows scrunch up before he nods towards your wet cheeks. You take the tissue, drying the tears that you failed to realize were still spilling down your face.

“I guess I’ll go,” you chuckle humorlessly. You turn away quickly, not wanting to see the pity in the judges’ eyes. He still proceeds to follow you out, trying to console you with empty promises, and 'it’s his loss’ bullshit.

You push open the door of city hall, only to be met with hard raindrops hitting you like a punch in the face. You watch as Gotham’s people rush to cover, and umbrellas are flung open as the puddles grow increasingly heavy.

“Fucking great,” you scoff, not bothering to run for cover yourself. Instead, you put one foot in front of the other, only hoping to make it home before the lighting removes you from this godforsaken day. “Sunny earlier, and raining now. How ironic.”

This time, you let people hit into you as they push their way through the city streets. When you arrive at the apartment, you can’t tell if the lines running down your face are drops of rain or your own reminder of this evening.

You slowly trudge up the stairs, avoiding the elevator to make time. You’re not sure what you expect to find at the home you share with Arthur. You halfway anticipate a note explaining his whereabouts and why he has decided to leave you. On the other hand, you briefly consider the idea that he may still be there. 'I got caught up at work,’ he’ll say, apologizing profusely. You’ll cry tears of joy, and he’ll kiss you so passionately your heart will threaten to burst.

But as your hand wraps around the doorknob, and you walk into the apartment, you’re not met with either of those options. Your eyes float around the room, landing on Arthur’s items that are carelessly tossed on the floor. Remnants of his Carnival makeup lay splattered on the table, along with a sweater, his medication, and an old cigarette butt.

You make your way across the room and drop yourself onto the couch with a sigh. “Arthur, what is going on?”

A world without the man you love is a world you can’t conceive of. If he has left—vanished without so much as a word—you genuinely don’t believe your heart could mend from such a devastating blow. The emptiness settling in your stomach already was enough to drag you down; you couldn’t imagine having to carry out the rest of your life like this.

Your head shoots up when you hear a small knocking sound coming from the kitchen. You almost stay put, fearing it’s a figment of your imagination due to overstimulated emotions. When the knocking gets louder, you pull yourself off the couch and walk towards the disturbance.

“Arthur?”

You swing around the corner, only to find the kitchen empty. Probably the stupid rats, you think to yourself. As soon as you turn to exit the room, a small whimper comes from behind you, one loud enough to echo through the quiet room.

You follow the noise, dreading the worst once you find the source of it—the refrigerator. You can recall the many times you’ve found your fiancé (ex-fiancé?) in the colder appliance. When you both decided the relationship between you was serious, he had confessed to you the strain his mental illnesses put him under, and you, in turn, had been willing to listen to every word.

You tug open the refrigerator door, hoping to find the rats you were previously expecting. But just as the day has shown you, you don’t always get what you predict. Arthur sat inside, knees bunched up to his body, and still wearing his wedding suit.

“Arthur, sweetheart. Can you hear me?”

You didn’t know how long he had been in there, and that made worry bubble up in your chest. Arthur didn’t move from his position or acknowledge your presence; he just continued to knock his head slightly against the refrigerator back.

The knocking sound was amplified in the otherwise noiseless room. You could hear the faint tick of the clock on the wall, but it did nothing to soothe your increasing heart rate.

“Arthur,” you repeated. “Can I touch you?”

Another minute goes by with no response, but you keep your eyes trained on the man you love, hoping to see any sign that means he’s come back to the material world. The tension in his shoulders was obvious, and his nose twitched slightly with every shift in his body.

You raked your eyes over his suit jacket and down to his dress pants. The thoughts from earlier forced themselves back into your head as you took in his tormented state. If he was in his wedding attire, chances are he was planning on meeting you there like planned. Was it possible he was experiencing this episode because he felt obligated to 'tie the knot’ today?

The rattling of the fridge fell on deaf ears as you thought about the likelihood of that being the case. You reached out with a trembling hand and placed it on Arthur’s arm, careful not to startle the man. At the small touch, he finally seems to notice you beside him. He blinks his eyes slowly as if he’s awakening from a dream. Probably a nightmare, you think to yourself.

His eyes focus on your hand, and his next words are uttered so softly, you had to lean in to hear them.

“I’m sorry.”

You’re not sure what he is apologizing for—missing the wedding, his current state, or both. Either way, you can’t find it in you to be upset. You only want to know why this is all happening.

“Why?”

He doesn’t ask what you’re referring to, and you don’t have to tell him. He finally meets your eyes, and the wholly destroyed look in his irises nearly forces a sob to escape your lips.

“I couldn’t do it to you,” he says, not moving from his spot.

“You mean, marry me?”

He shakes his head. “No, I- I mean, I couldn’t keep you here.”

“What are you talking about, baby?”

“Gotham. You- you said you wanted to move last week, but we were getting married.”

You exhale, moving your other hand into the small fridge to place on his knee.

“Sure, I want to move. But Arthur, I want to move with you. If we never have enough money, then so be it. We’ll stay here. I want to get out of Gotham, but I want to take my husband with me.”

“But if we never leave, you’ll be held back because of me. You want a home somewhere else.”

“No, I want a house somewhere else,” you say before moving your finger to his heart and pointing. “My home’s right here.”

A few chuckles escape his mouth, and you tense up, prepared to comfort him if he’s pushed into an attack. Instead, he falls quiet, presumably thinking over your words.

“What about Ma’? She can’t move, and- and we have to stay with her. People who are married don’t live with their parents.”

“Arthur,” you start, but he continues on.

“If you only stay here because of me, you will end up regretting it later.”

“Arthur,” you say again.

“If you regret marrying me later, then—”

His words halt when he sees you stand up and walk out of the room. He nearly jumps up in a rush to stop you, but his body won’t let him move from his position in the fridge. Within seconds, you are back in front of him with a crumbled piece of paper in your hands. You don’t wait for Arthur to ask you what it is. Instead, you just start reading.

“I wish I could explain to you the depth of my feelings. I wish even more that you would believe me if I could. It would be easy to tell you that I get butterflies in my stomach, or my heart nearly bursts from my chest, but it’s not so easy to explain all the other ways I feel you. Ever since I met you, it’s like your soul has been intertwined with mine. I fear that I can never express to you the love I feel for you because words aren’t enough. For so long, you’ve been my biggest supporter. You’re not afraid to tell me when I’m mistreating myself, and you’re even more willing to acknowledge my strengths.”

You take a shaky breath in before continuing. “It feels like you celebrate me every day, and today I want to celebrate you. You’re so kind, so funny, and so beautiful Artie. I love you, and I love Penny. I am honored to spend the rest of my life with a man who’s willing to care for his mother. You are my home, and you will always be the person my soul seeks out. I vow to choose you every single day because I can’t imagine choosing anybody else.”

By the time you’re finished, your cheeks are stained with tears, and Arthur is no better. His lips are pursed together tightly, and you can see the emotions playing out in his eyes. 

"Was- was that your vows?”

“It was,” you say. “I know we’re not at the courthouse, but I figured you could use to hear them.”

He nodded. “Beautiful.”

“Thank you. I was just speaking the truth, though.”

“I meant you.”

You ducked your head, a small smile tugging at your lips. “Oh.”

You glance back up when you feel him nudging you to stand. You follow his lead, and he moves to exit his spot in the refrigerator.

“I’m sorry I left you there today,” he says while pulling you into a hug. You bury your head into his cold chest, breathing in the cologne he must have applied just after putting on the suit.

“It’s okay. I was just worried,” you mumble. “I thought maybe I forced you into this too quickly. Then, of course, I wondered if you ever actually wanted to date me at all—which I know is silly.”

“You wondered if I wanted to date you? Do you need to hear my vows too?“

You chuckle. "Let me just hear them at the city hall, Art.”

You stand there in his arms, allowing the feeling of his body pushed against yours to comfort you. Seconds later, you pull away, cursing yourself over what you just said to him.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I keep assuming you want to get married. There I go again.”

“Stop saying that,” he says, pulling you in to kiss your forehead. “You have never made me do anything that I didn’t want to do.”

“So, you still want to get married?”

“I do,” he emphasizes, letting out a small snicker at his own joke.

You shake your head, smiling. “Let’s get down to the courthouse then. We should still have the time slot reserved.”

You link your left hand with his and keep your vows tucked away in your other one. “Arthur?”

He looks over at you. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay? After,” you nod towards the refrigerator. “Seeing you like that is always—”

“I’m okay. I was in my head, but I got back home,” he offers you a smile, and you return it immediately. It seems you’re Arthur’s home, just as much as he is yours.

On your way to the courtroom, you run through the streets, trying to dodge the ongoing rain like they’re bullets coming from the sky. Of course, neither of you succeed in doing so, and by the time you sprint into city hall, your dress clothes are soaked from head to toe.

The same judge from before shuffles you into the same mundane room, but this time it’s full of new beginnings. As you both stand up in from of the older man, and he reads the typical wedding discourse, you can’t help but be struck with the realization that loving Arthur is nothing like being in this dull, ordinary setting. This morning, when the skies of Gotham were sunny and bright, it wasn’t the city at all that made it the case. It was Arthur. 

The courtroom you were in surely wasn’t magical. But as you gazed into Arthur’s emerald eyes, his dripping hair stuck around his face, and his suit making puddles on the floor, you thought the world around you has never felt so perfect.

“Arthur, do you have vows prepared?”

He nods and pulls out a wrinkly sheet of paper from his jacket pocket—one that most likely was ripped from his journal.

“Y/N, I am not always good with words, but I will do my best for you. I promise to try and be the best husband I can be. I- I want to make you as happy as you make me. I will always save up extra money, so I can buy you flowers because you deserve them. You’re so strong, and you work really hard. I’m sorry my vows aren’t as good as yours, but I want to say one thing. All my life, I was nervous about doing my stand-up routine in front of people; I know how awful they can be. But you have never laughed at me, only with me. You’re the one I want to tell jokes to forever. Thank you for loving me.”

You suddenly feel his hand on your cheek, wiping away the tears you didn’t even know were falling. You fight the urge to pull him into a kiss right then and there because you know that is coming shortly.

“Your vows were perfect,” you speak softly, hoping he believes you. “You’re perfect.”

He blushes, and your heart swells at the notion of him still getting flustered by you. Before Arthur can reply, the judge is speaking out again.

“Y/N, do you have vows prepared?”

“I already read them,” you chuckle, but Arthur asks you to say them once more. You don’t want to deprive your soon-to-be husband of a single wish, so you comply and read them again.

As you fly through the words scribbled on the sheet of paper, Arthur’s smile is enough to make it seem like he’s hearing them for the first time. When you utter the last words about ‘choosing him always,’ he brings your hands to his lips, placing a kiss on each one.

“Rings will now be exchanged.”

You both pull out the individual rings, ready to gift them to the other. Neither band was spectacular, considering you both had bigger things to worry about than spending money on jewelry. However, you know Arthur spent a lot of time picking out a ring he felt you deserved, and you did the same for him.

“Arthur, if you wish to take Y/N to be your life partner in sickness and in health, you may present the ring and say 'I do,’” the judge says.

Arthur delicately slides the ring onto your finger, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. His lips curve upwards into a brighter smile as he holds your eyes. “I do.”

“Y/N, if you wish to take Arthur to be your life partner in sickness and in health, you may present the ring and say 'I do.’”

You mirror Arthur’s actions, sliding the ring you picked out onto his finger. “I do.”

Arthur stares at the ring in awe, almost like he doesn’t believe this is happening. Which, very well could be true. So you reach out and cup his face before pulling him into a kiss.

“I didn’t say you could kiss yet,” the judge says, chuckling. “Okay, okay. I now pronounce you—”

He doesn’t get to finish before your pulling away from Arthur, laughing.

“So, hubby, want to go make this marriage official?”

You wink at Arthur, and his cheeks heat up again as he nods rapidly. “I would very much like that.”

You pull him by the hand down the aisle towards the entrance, ignoring the judge’s calls through his laughter.

“I’ll just mail you the marriage certificate,” the judge shouts as you push through the city hall doors.

“Do you think we can get your mom out of the apartment for a while?”

“Actually, I was thinking we could get out of the apartment for a while,” he says, holding up his last paycheck from HaHa’s. “To Gotham’s finest motel, we go.”

Your eyes widen, and you latch onto him as you both stumble down the wet sidewalk. “Motel? Am I going to get breakfast in bed too?”

Arthur glances at you with a playful glint in his eyes. “Is it too late to get a refund on the marriage?”

“Oh, ha-ha. You’re such a comedian,” you gently hit him on the shoulder. “Now, you owe me.”

“I’m sure I can make it up to you.”

“I’m sure you can.”

[carnistcervine]

For the WIP game: touched or water (or both👀👀👀👀)

Hello Pandora, welcome to box. :3

Zuko Foster Care AU Outline *Unsurprisingly, Zuko blows up at his psychiatrist, Joo Dee and sets her office on fire. Her smile is unnerving, and it doesn't fade or flinch as she calmly uses waterbending to put the fires out before security comes in and gives him a shot of something that suppresses his firebending.

Platonic Soulmates Gaang AU Outline *When Katara starts to waterbend, Kuruk mentors her. Being dead, he cannot waterbend himself, but he can at least pass his knowledge unto her.

*Every soul has a specific color unique to it, but each nation has a hue/hue range specific to it. Water Tribe - Blues, ranging from deep navy and sapphire to electric blue. Earth Kingdom - Greens, ranging from deep emerald to neon yellow-ish green. Fire Nation is Golds, ranging from dull golds, to brilliant, intense golds. Air Nomads is Grey, ranging from shining silvers, to a whole variety of light and dark greys.

Phoenix Chaser AU Outline -At first the people of the Southern Water Tribe are terrified of the angry, burned firebender. Then he starts asking about some mythical Fire Nation creature, and they can barely contain their laughter. Has no one told this idiot that phoenixes aren't real? And why would he think he could find one at the SOUTH POLE? They stop laughing when his fists catch fire.

-Incidentally, he does come to investigate the prison ship after the earthbenders revolt and leave, finding Katara's necklace. He remembers the Water Tribe girl wearing that exact necklace and wonders what she was doing on an earthbender prison. He decides to return it to her as he does owe her for getting her pest of friend to leave his ship.

-His uncle insists upon checking out a pirate ship. Zuko must concede that being well traveled, the pirates may know a thing or two about phoenixes. While Zuko is desperate enough to believe in phoenixes, he's not gullible enough to trust pirates and understands very quickly that their just trying to make a quick coin off him. However, he does overhear the pirates conversing about a stolen waterbending scroll, and an air nomad. The waterbender!

-Zuko laughs because this is obviously a joke, right? How is he supposed to teach firebending to an airbender. The airbender claims that he's the Avatar. Zuko doesn't believe it. The Avatar disappeared a CENTURY ago, this kid is obviously still a child. The waterbender says that the boy(Aang) is absolutely the Avatar, he can also bend water, and has gone into the avatar state more than one time. Zuko still doesn't believe it.

-Much to Zuko's surprise the waterbender and the airbender decide to show off to Zuko and, the airbender is actually the Avatar!

-When they aren't looking, Zuko makes a break for it. The waterbender freezes his feet, but he manages to melt the ice before they can get the ropes out and promptly runs off.

-The Gaang manage to find Zuko in time to watch his ship explode. They fish his unconscious body out of the water and Katara heals him. He's still injured, but he'll at least live. With his uncle's blessing they take off with an unconscious Zuko in tow.

ATLA Modern Highschool AU Outline *He(Aang) ends up rooming with the prince and princess of the Southern Water Tribe, and the Fire Prince at the prestigious United Elements Academy.

DarkAvatar!Bolin AU Outline -Bolin is concerned, but convinces himself that it's just stress and nightmares. After all, he's just an earthbender, it's not like he's somehow become the new Dark Avatar. Then, one day while he and Korra are messing around, she splashes water at him and he bends it.

Avatar Zuko AU Outline -Eventually a small rag-tag group of Water Tribe kids are discovered with one of them airbending. The world assumes that the airbending Water Tribe boy is the Avatar(he's not but shhh). Zuko latches onto this, see he's not the Avatar, that kid is. Iroh knows that it's entirely possible the boy is just a lost airbender dressed in Water garb, but humors his nephew anyway. It's an opportunity to get an airbending teacher if nothing else.

-In the Southern Water Tribe, a young airbender named Ara receives a vision about the identity of the Fire Nation Avatar from the spirits. At sixteen, he'd only just mastered airbending and the spirits were demanding him to locate and teach the new Avatar. With the blessing of his elders, he departs from the Southern Water Tribe with his two friends, Katara and Sokka. He accidentally blows his cover as a non-bender when he airbends to defend Katara.

-In this AU, there are hidden airbender sects in the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes. They managed to evade death by pretending to be non-benders and regular nomads.

-When they get to the North Pole, they initially attack because Zuko is Fire Nation, but stop when he starts airbending at them. Zuko didn't mean to airbend, he was trying to firebend, but air responded instead and the Water Tribesmen, seeing as this is actually the Avatar, just start laughing at him.

Another Avatar Zuko AU Outline -The airbender, Avatar Aang dies when he drowns at sea. The waterbender, Avatar Korra dies protecting her tribe during the southern raids. The earthbender, Avatar Xin Hu perishes alone in the Si Wong desert. By the time he draws his final breath, the firebender, Avatar Zuko is born into the world.

-When he struggles with his firebending, they step in to offer help or advice. When Korra offers to show him a few moves, he gives her a look. She's obviously a waterbender, what in the world could she teach a firebender? She just smiles at him and says that if he weren't so cute, and she weren't incorporeal, she probably would have decked him for being so oblivious.

-Iroh remains Zuko's firebending master, and a call goes out for the other three masters to teach the Avatar. Pakku becomes Zuko's waterbending master, a Dai Li agent named Kyun becomes Zuko's earthbending master, and a strange sage from a secret airbending sect hidden in Ba Sing Se named Youra becomes Zuko's airbending master.

Avatar Sokka AU Outline -Aang dies in the ice, and Sokka is born to the Southern Water Tribe.

-Far as he's concerned, he's just a normal guy and all this spiritual, water-magic stuff is just a bunch of balogna. He doesn't even believe in spirits.

If Sozin was a good person AU Outline *Aang is found by the son and daughter of the Southern Water Tribe's chief.

*The people of the Water Tribe are all surprised to see a living airbender. The world seems to be under the impression that they all vanished with the Avatar. Some theorized that they either floated off into the aether, or maybe just died from a sudden plague.

*While touring the place, Aang notices a large crowd gathering around the docks. He makes his way through to find a Fire Nation ship. Aang wonders what the Fire Nation is doing in the Southern Water Tribe, when he overhears them talk about looking for the Avatar.

*Aang manages to convince the Water Tribe sibs that he's not the Avatar, but still refuses to confront the Fire royals. Aang's skittishness makes Katara fear the worst, and she promises to help protect Aang from there.

War Erasure AU Outline -It doesn't take too long for word to reach the Air Temples of a young airbender afflicted by a terrible madness. Apparently, said airbender is traveling in a group with a blind earthbender, and two Water Tribe kids. The Nuns plot to drug the group so that they can be sent off for treatment. Zuko overhears the plan and the group escapes, but only barely.

Thoughts of Reason, Thoughts of Treason Chap 6 “Uh, er… It’s a term that refers to firebenders. Like, a compliment. For firebenders, the sun is the ultimate source of our bending and our life.” Zuko touched a hand to his chest, over his beating heart. “To say that a firebender holds the sun, is to say that they are warm hearted and full of light. There’s also a saying that firebenders with really gold eyes, like mine, hold the sun in their soul.”

“The Avatar’s right.” Zuko rasped, attracting the attention of the Water siblings. “The movements of a real airbender are much more deliberate. Like someone who can actually control the air.”

The Calm Before Outline *Aang demands to know who the spirit is. The spirit tells Aang that he’ll give up his identity if Aang has a little bit of the food and water.

*Without the war, the Southern Water Tribe is gorgeous, prosperous. Utterly, unspeakably beautiful. Much like the northern one.

*One day he and some other monks are helping an old lady that lives in one of the villages down at the base of the mountain/island. The group is walking across a dry riverbed when there’s a sudden flood of water. Acting quickly and on instinct, Aang uses his water bending to divert the water flow and save the old lady’s life.

*Katara tries to distract herself by practicing her waterbending with the fellow master benders of the south and hanging out with her mom.

*Sokka devises a plan that involves Katara’s waterbending skills. They secretly, slowly store more and more supplies in a hidden boat. Then when they’re finally ready to go, Katara bends the snow and whips up a snow storm. While everyone is distracted, the duo make their way to their boat and Katara bends them out of there.

*Of course Katara takes this time to study more waterbending forms.

*They debate as they fly over to the Sea of Lost Souls. The water is murky and the coral hands seem to be moving, the remnants of cosmic energy spiraling around in the abnormally dark waters.

Zuko's Invisible Friend Outline *Zuko has a difficult time comprehending this concept and asks Agni if he’s ever sad that no one can celebrate his birthday. Agni is genuinely caught off guard by the question. He fine with not having a birthday, because the mortals do have holidays in his honor, but he can’t help but feel a little touched at how sheerly empathetic Zuko can be.

*They go down so Katara and Aang can practice waterbending.

*So Aang goes right back to waterbending with Katara.

*Zuko tries to ask Agni what he means when he’s pulled back into his body because he got completely soaked by cold water and all of their supplies have been “practiced” away.

*Having his connection to Agni suddenly cut with cold water like that means that it’ll be a hot minute before Zuko can communicate with the ancient spirit again.

*Zuko figures that since he found himself on the fire lion turtle, maybe his friends are on a water one.

*However as soon as they reach the north, the waterbenders imprison Zuko for being Fire Nation.

*The water warriors scour the city for the lost firebender, and the Gaang act all mad that they lost the Avatar’s firebending master.

Raging Spirit AU Outline *The water warriors are suspicious of Iroh, but the Gaang vouch for him, so they decide to trust him.

*They all take on soldier uniforms to disguise themselves as they enter into Fire Nation waters.

*So finally, she goes and everyone eats together like a Water Tribe family and it’s so fucking cute, I can’t take it.

*The thriving settlement looks much more like the North Pole, especially with all the waterbenders running around.

*Tanokka offers to tutor Katara on the old ways of Southern Water Style.

*Tanokka says that it’s a side effect of dream bending. Nothing in the dream is real, so the water lacks the weight it should have.

~Katara practices Southern Water Style under the tutelage of Tanokka.

A Testimate To Good Publicity and Societal Forgetfulness Outline *After that, he(Wan) gained air, water and finally, earth. And the Avatars following him were also born into the cycle by the order of the elements he learned.

The Lady in Alabaster Chapter 1 A massive inferno greedily chewing up the dainty little home while the Water couple who lived there watched on, the orange of the flames even consuming the blue in their wide eyes.

Legend of Korra REwrite Outline ~By age sixteen Korra’s mastered water, earth and firebending. But has shown no aptitude for airbending.

~They enlist the help of the Fire Nation, and both Water Tribes, who happily oblige.

Korra vs Amon REwrite Pain surged through her body as he took control of the water in her muscles, causing them to spasm as they were pushed and pulled against the wills of her nerve impulses.

Okay, so maybe going after a bloodbender on a full moon was a bad idea, but she’s a waterbender too!

(You get the whole paragraph bc fug it) “Amon of the Equalists.” The Avatar spoke, voice layered over by another that was feminine, but distinctly not Korra. “Or shall I say Bloodbender (Amon’s real name I dun remember lol) of the Water Tribe, son of Yakkone.” Her tendrils ripped the mask away and wiped the make-up clean. His followers gasped at the truth. “You have demonstrated a lack of regard for not only the balance of this world, but also it’s keeper.” Her voice was calm, but still somehow betrayed a seething rage. “And for this crime, I shall strip you of your power, forever!” The burning white spread from Korra’s eyes and enveloped her being, then spread to Amon.

Badvatar AU Outline -At the age of twelve, having mastered airbending, Aang ends up finding out he can waterbend too.

-What happened was a terrible storm hit the temple, and one of the younger students with weaker bending had been hit by a powerful gale. He would have been fine, but the ground was slick with water and he was going to fall to his death. Aang didn't think he could get the elder's attention in time so on pure instinct he reached out and suddenly an arm of ice had ensnared the boy and the torrential rain, seemed to slow slightly.

-Toph lives a quiet, repressed life with her oppressive and neglectful parents. In secret, she sneaks out many nights to participate in Earth Rumble fights. Then one day, her interest is piqued when she finds an airbender in attendance with the supposedly "kidnapped" son and daughter of the souther water tribe. The two kids seem happy enough, it must be a situation like hers, where their parents think that their kids are helpless and just assumed that they had been kidnapped when they willingly ran away.

-At the festival, Zuko meets an odd group. An air nomad, two water tribe kids, and an earth kingdom girl. It clicks to him that these are the "kidnapped" children he heard the servants gossiping about. He is almost caught by Azula, but his new friends help him give her the slip and he officially joins the Gaang.

-Meanwhile, in his cell, Aang had become sullen and withdrawn. The monks who came by to give food and water would try and speak to the young Avatar. They found that he was engaging with them less and less. They worried that the Avatar's condition may have been worsening.

Catching the Embers Chapter 1 His(Aang's) waterbending companion was defending him.

She coated her arms with water and lashed out at him with water tentacles.

Until finally, she broke through his fire and roped him with her water. Zuko felt himself lifted up and then thrown across the cavern into another pool of water. The water quickly rose up and encased his body.

“I trusted you.” The waterbender hissed. “I thought you had changed!”

“You thought wrong.” With a charged up blast of fire, he blew out of his watery prison.

The icy cold water slammed him right against the hard cavern wall, but if he was being totally honest, it didn’t hurt that bad.

Catching the Embers Outline *She just shrugs and leaves a bowl of water for him, saying that she figured he was thirsty.

*Despite being very thirsty, Zuko doesn’t drink the water out of spite.

*Once he tries to get up, the family doctor looks Zuko over. He makes him drink some water and gives him some broth to drink, but overall gives him a clean bill of health.

*Iroh remains silent, he wants to test the waters a bit. Thinks this over, maybe see if Zuko will listen.

*Suddenly there’s a flash of lightning, and Zuko and Aang are standing across from each other in a pool of water.

*Aang’s expression is blank, his eyes hollow. Crimson blood reaches out into the water around him.

*The sages have the guards drug Zuko’s food and water, so that he doesn’t try anything when they look him over.

*As a peace offering/apology for what his(Iroh's) forefathers did to Katara and her tribe, he gifts her with as much of the Water Tribe loot that the Fire Nation took as she wants.

[at-the-exd-of-everythixg]

Days 1-10: History & Geography (Day 6)

Create two timelines; One that covers major events that have occurred since the beginning of your world as your character knows it, then one that covers recent events and time periods (about 500 years should do it).

Aspherane

A black hole imploded on itself, but at the time faces a rebound of energy from the Phoenix force, which then forces some sentient life into these black holes, turning them into beings of matter and anti matter, aka? The Uras.

The Ursas decide that there isn't enough room in the universe yet and so they curl around each other, forming a large mass of space and living energy.

Over the next few years, their tears, ever flowing, become infused with enough energy to start creating new beings. Each of these are infused with antimatter and matter and part of the reason why Sal is weak to antimatter is because he was not infused the same way.

More of these beings are created and animals and plants also start to arrive out of the tears, moving evolution steadily along.

More of the planets evolution is par tof developing spa treatments for other planets and creating buildings made out of flexible enough material and a stone similar to marble.

Nothing really happens that's too important for the story until Majesdane dies.

When that happens, almost everyone on the planet goes blind due to most having never seen such sunlight before.

Then the Ursas began to burn under the constant sunlight and land was being destroyed alongside the rivers drying up.

And then, due to the resources dryng up and more horrfyingly, corpses of Majesdanes and Skrulls alongside destroyed clusters of the planet had begun to fall down, losing gravitational pulls from Majesdane and coating Aspherane.

Around this time the Asponaughts had been sent out to try and find a planet that could save the people they hand left.

Perigee found Earth and got busAayyyy

And then left Earth to start their travels and to tell their home of what she had found that could save them.

The Town

Marlene, feeling bored with her life, began to research the occult and sacrificial gods.

Found out about the Moder; An ice giant goddess who was one of Loki's daughters and became obsessed. She hadn't seemed to notice that there was something odd about the book, or that it had never been in her collage library in the first place.

Met Iris some years later and started cheating on her current boyfriend with her.

Both of them left for America where Marlene would begin to suffer dreams and nightmares of the Moder while Iris studied her.

After some years, she knew what she needed to do and said goodbye to Iris, walking into a large portion of woods near the canadian boarders, never to be seen by most humans again.

She built an effigy to the Moder and spent weeks making sacrifices of people. Became a well heard about serial killer really.

Then finally. It happned. Marlene dreamt of the Moder and when she awoke, She was there. All it took was to bow to Her beauty and power, to let Her latch onto this spot of power and move Her sheer spirit, Her very being into The Town that was always there, The Town that would always be there.

She shared Her gifts with Marlene and Marlene screamed with pain and joy for weeks as her body snapped and reshaped itself to be something new.

And then it was time to lure chosen ones into Her love. Her home.

Years down the like, Robyn gave birth to Mahogany and decided that...it wasn't really worth it, watching her baby become something different and possibly awful. Especially with the way Marlene looked at her. Mahogany was the first born of The Town and Robyn decided to die with the time she had left with her tiny baby who ate her heart.

Marlene finds this and takes Mahogany into her folds, moulding them into something that could have enough power to break their barrier and take more land for the pack and for the Moder.

Mahogany spent quite a few tears seeing the Moder and not exactly knowing what their life was leading up to. Hell, they hadn't even known that more people lived outside of their home for the longest time until Marlene told them at 18.

Then humans came and like all the times the Moder lived and breathed somewhere, there was always someone immune to the need for immortality and the forest and Town Mahogany lived in burned.

Their connection to everything was snapped and everyone had died, which left Mahogany weak and suffering for months and that brings us to now, where they're attempting to find the Eye (Iris) or at least someone who will know how to make a home and bring their Goddess back. Maybe their Old Alpha too? Please?

[tatumeyecare5]

5 Common Eyecare Mistakes to Avoid for Healthy Eyes

Eye health is crucial for a vibrant life, yet many of us inadvertently make mistakes that compromise our vision. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the 5 Common Eyecare Mistakes to Avoid for Healthy Eyes. By steering clear of these pitfalls, you'll be on your way to maintaining optimal eye health and enjoying clear vision for years to come.

Neglecting Regular Eye Check-ups

Regular eye check-ups are more than just a routine—they are a cornerstone of eye health. Many individuals neglect these appointments, unknowingly allowing potential issues to escalate. By prioritizing regular check-ups, you empower your eye care professionals to detect and address problems early, preserving your vision.

Prolonged Digital Screen Exposure

In our digital age, prolonged screen time is almost unavoidable. However, excessive exposure can lead to digital eye strain and discomfort. Implement the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This simple habit can alleviate strain and promote overall eye health.

Ignoring Proper Lighting Practices

Inadequate lighting strains your eyes and can contribute to long-term damage. Ensure your workspace and living areas are well-lit, minimizing glare and reflections. Additionally, avoid reading or using screens in dimly lit environments to reduce eye fatigue and protect your vision.

Disregarding a Balanced Diet

Nutrition plays a vital role in eye health. A diet rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals supports optimal vision. Include foods like leafy greens, fish, nuts, and colorful fruits to provide essential nutrients that promote eye health and combat age-related macular degeneration.

Neglecting UV Protection             

The sun's harmful UV rays pose a threat to our eyes. Prolonged exposure without protection can lead to conditions like cataracts and macular degeneration. Prioritize sunglasses that block 100% of UVA and UVB rays, safeguarding your eyes from potential damage.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is it necessary to visit an eye doctor if I don't experience any vision issues?

Regular eye check-ups are essential, even if you don't currently experience vision problems. Many eye conditions develop gradually, and early detection is key to effective treatment.

Can digital eye strain cause long-term damage?

While digital eye strain itself may not cause permanent damage, it can contribute to discomfort and fatigue. Implementing breaks and the 20-20-20 rule can alleviate symptoms.

Are there specific foods that promote eye health?

Yes, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish), lutein (found in leafy greens), and vitamins A, C, and E contribute to optimal eye health.

How can I protect my eyes from UV rays?

Wearing sunglasses that block 100% of UVA and UVB rays is crucial. Additionally, consider a wide-brimmed hat for added protection.

Are there natural remedies for dry eyes?

Staying hydrated, using a humidifier, and blinking regularly can help alleviate dry eyes. If symptoms persist, consult with an eye care professional.

Should children have regular eye check-ups?

Absolutely. Early detection of vision issues is crucial for children's development. Schedule regular eye check-ups to ensure optimal eye health from a young age.

Conclusion: In our journey toward optimal eye health, avoiding these 5 Common Eyecare Mistakes is paramount. By integrating these insights into our daily lives, we not only protect our eyes but also enrich our overall well-being. Here's to clear vision, vibrant eyes, and a future filled with visual clarity.

Tatum Eyecare is North Phoenix’s premier family eye care center. We’ve spared no expense to create the most pleasant, comfortable patient experience… including the finest furnishings, the best selection of prescription eyeglass frames, the most cutting-edge technology, and the most outstanding team of industry professionals. Come see why the choice for family eye care in the Valley has never been clearer.