#I also need a gallon of water to drink with each one

[timelesslords]

I made sugar cookies yesterday but I misread the recipe and didn’t realize half a cup of the sugar was supposed to be held back so you could roll the cookies in it and I just added all of it to the dough. So like these are fire but I’m def getting a cavity

[ellieluvr420]

wife Abby headcanons xoxo

-You met at a bar when your friend cancelled on you last minute, she offered to buy you a drink and you chatted at the bar until she invited you back to hers, this was back when you were 22 and she was 25 so her flat was more modest but still well decorated and clean. You both shared a bottle of wine and sat and spoke more for hours until you were both so drunk you started doing karaoke together by watching youtube videos on her TV, she invited you out to an actual karaoke bar as your second date and she only fell even more in love with you the more she saw you.

-I think she would work in corporate like a lawyer or investment banker or something so I think she would try and work from home as much as they would let her.

-She looks so funny when she works from home too because she wears work clothes on her top half for her zoom calls but then she would be wearing pj bottoms and her slippers on her bottom half.

-Such a victim of Apple's marketing, always insists she needs the newest phone or whatever they had brought out, she has the watch, the phone, an ipad, an imac, macbook pro, airpod pros and airpod max's. Literally everything they sell because she's actually a tech geek at heart.

"I totally need it."

"Give me one reason you need an iPad Abigail."

"...I don't know, it's just cool."

You roll your eyes at her but chuckle at her insistence as you press a small kiss to her pouty lips. She smiles at you and looks like a child on Christmas day as she orders her new toy.

-She would so wear the airpod max's while working out and i think she'd always have one of those gallon water bottles that she'd take everywhere with her.

"Babe please just let me buy you one, trust me it will make you drink so much more water."

"No it won't, do not waste your money seriously." She'd huff at your stubbornness and go and buy you one anyway.

-I think she would workout at night or during the day if she can fit it in which rarely happens because she enjoys her mornings with you where you guys cuddle and chat and have breakfast together before she goes to work or gets started in the home office

-Does majority of the cooking because she really enjoys it and is also a chef, like she whips up three course meals so regularly like its nothing.

-You try and make dinner together on the weekends which equates to her micromanaging you until she gets too stressed watching you mess up and does it herself while you sit on the counter entertaining her.

-She always goes to sleep as big spoon and always wakes up as little spoon, every night, without failure. Also loves to lay on your stomach with her arms around your waist, one of her fav cuddling positions.

-She's the kind of person to ignore and persevere through a cold until she literally passes out and will get mad at you when you have to force her to rest but once she's comfy and has accepted she's ill she's such a baby.

-She would be so good with kids and they would all love her too like when you would go to family gatherings together all the kids would always be glued to her pulling her every which way

-loves dogs and cats and wants two of each

-loves home date nights where you cook together and watch films or play games whether its board, video or card games. Once you bought a fake police file and tried to figure out who the murderer was, it ended in a huge argument because you couldn't agree on who it was, you were so annoyed you made her sleep on the sofa but in the middle of night she sauntered back into your room and climbs into bed cuddling into you.

"Sorry babe, you were right." She kisses your forehead and you smile as you both go to sleep happily, Abby had managed to find the answer online but she didn't tell you that you were in fact wrong, she would rather be in bed cuddling you than prove she was right.

-I think she would want 3 kids, preferably boy, girl, boy or vice versa but she would be happy with any kids.

-If/when kids come along she starts working from home primarily and you watch them grow together.

-She would eventually want to move away from the city where she lived for an easy commute to work to a beautiful house in the country with large fields behind a huge back garden where the dogs and cats, and ducks all play with the kids.

-She would love reading crime thriller books but she also has a guilty pleasure for romance and sometimes she'll sit in bed with you and read you parts of the books. Can imagine older Abby refusing to get reading glasses because that makes her officially old but she’s literally holding the book as far as it will go and squinting so hard and she still can’t read it, you eventually give in and read it to her which only motivates her to not get glasses more because this was a way better option.

-Loves Family Guy, American Dad, South Park, all those kind of shows but if you put on a drama she'll grumble and then be hooked.

"Oh my god, oh my god, are you fucking kidding me? Noooooooo." Abby yells at the screen as she watches the season 1 finale of vampire diaries with you, you had started rewatching it as it was nostalgic and she made fun of you so much until you forced her to watch the episode you were watching.

Like I could so see her watching greys anatomy and sobbing when there's a major character death

-Goes to get mani pedis with you and she'll always get her nails painted to match the colour of yours even when you'd pick super bright to mess with her she'd get it without batting an eye.

-Of course she gets along super well with all your friends and family, sometimes you think they love her more than you 😀

okay that's all I got for now but I will probs do way more once the series is finished :))

[daggers-drawn-returns]

We Need $80 to Refill Our Water Tank and Go to the Store

October 15th 2023

My partner and I are homeless trans women living in a squatter town in the desert called Slab City!

In Slab City there are no utilities, that means no electrical company, no gas company, and definitely no water company! Everyone has to provide their own for their own camp.

We have two 355 gallon tanks that we use for our camp and let our neighbors fill jugs from.

It costs $40 each to hire someone to fill our tanks with drinking water and it drains from use in little over a week.

We also provide our neighbors with food, cold drinks, and shelter from the sun, free of charge.

Neither of us have any income but we're both engaged in a project to help our community, one of the poorest in America.

Please help us raise $60 to feed ourselves and our neighbors.

❤️ CаshApp: $ThistleDD

🧡 PayPal: PayPal.me/ThistleDD

💛 Venmo: @ThistleDD

[gaylordscooter]

Can You Really Call This An Icebreaker We Already Know Each Other Because We're All The Same Person (not actually)

Nightmare’s plan of having three monsters to torment was turning out great. Well, other than the fact that they're incredibly incompetent at working together, which was a problem when they traveled outside the castle.

There was that time he sent them to go clothes shopping—Dust ended up getting possessed by that freak because of Killer’s inadequacy and Horror left them. If he didn't step in they would’ve all ended up under its control.

Then that other time he took them on their supply run so they could actually get the necessities they needed (apparently the prior supplies Nightmare got for them wasn't sufficient. He thought five bags of flour and three gallons of water was more than enough for a week. Apparently not.) It was supposed to be a quick and simple robbery, as in they’d simply walk in, shop as normal, and then portal out before anyone could say or suspect anything. Unfortunately they all ended up causing a scene when it came to deciding what food to get.

And that time they ran into the Star Sanses…He had to resort to using his fog to get them to attack them. He didn't exactly know what illusion they saw when under the fog’s influence but it painted the Star Sanses as enemies, at least. Killer and Dust nearly killed the weakest link of the opposing group. Unfortunately they also saw each other as enemies.

In short, it would be beneficial if they got used to each other if he wanted to increase their survivability.

He thought they would by themselves given that they're the only source of interaction for each other, but two of them have already grown accustomed to being completely secluded and the other one is more closed off than a child that lived with a tree being his only friend for his entire life.

Not that he would know what that was like.

He stood deep in the forest near the castle.

“Maybe you should have them do some icebreakers?” Ink, who was perched atop a branch of a tree suggested.

“I don't see how letting them break ice would make them any closer.”

“No, silly!” Ink poked him on the cheek, causing him to curl his face in disgust. “An icebreaker is something that helps a group get used to each other better! Oh, I already got some ideas on what you could have them do.”

Nightmare didn't have any chance to cut him off before he went on a rant about different activities they could do. It was hard to catch everything he was saying with how quick he was talking.

Eventually he handed Nightmare three bottles full of something and told him to make them play a game that he just explained: Never Have I Ever.

And then Ink went away.

And so, he made them play. Of course, these three made that easier said than done. Once he handed everyone a bottle, he had to make sure they didn’t just start drinking it without reason.

“what exactly is the point of this? we're all the same person, wouldn't we have the same answers?” Horror questioned. He looked at the bottle skeptically. Unfortunately for him, the bottles were unlabeled. The stench of alcohol was undeniable, however.

“well, clearly we wouldn't, considering that crater in your head,” Killer said.

“right, and i wouldn't ever wear mascara that makes me look like i went through a bad breakup.”

“yeah,” Killer said.

“yeah,” Horror echoed with just as much spite.

Dust nearly took a swig of the bottle before Nightmare grabbed his arm with a tendril.

“Just ask each other a question already,” Nightmare muttered. “Killer, go first.”

“why of course, your majesty!” Nightmare had to grab his arm as well, as he immediately made the move to take a drink before asking a question.

“Ask a damn question,” he growled.

Killer snickered, “fine. never have i ever killed anyone. oops looks like i did do that. gotta take a drink i guess!”

Nightmare didn’t release his grasp. “You’re supposed to say something that you’ve never done. That is how the game is played.”

Dust quickly took a sip anyway.

Horror took one too, surprisingly. It appeared his pettiness usurped his caution for once.

“I poisoned those, by the way. Have fun with that.”

None of them were even slightly convinced that was true. Dust took another sip.

Okay, this wasn’t working out how he wanted it to.

“aw it looks like you’re gonna cry. your plan not working out right?” Killer teased.

He tried to stab Killer with a tendril, but he stepped out of the way.

“miss.”

Nightmare snarled out a curse.

“hey, why don’t you play too? maybe then i’ll behave,” Killer said.

Nightmare rolled his eye. He doubted that was true. Besides, he didn’t have a fourth bottle for himself.

As if Killer read his mind, he handed him his bottle.

Hesitantly, he took a sip.

“wow, look at that. we’ve all killed someone. i wonder who has the highest kill count.”

“keep wondering. i lost count,” Horror said.

“woah, scary!” 

There was a stretch of silence as no one knew who would go next.

Nightmare was already regretting this. “I—”

“i’ll go next,” Horror said. The fucker definitely cut him off on purpose. He could even feel the smugness radiating off him.

“never have i ever eaten human meat.”

Everyone went still.

Well, it appears no one here has eaten human meat.

“what kind of question is that?” Killer asked. “you just wanted a free drink, didn't you?”

“i haven't eaten any human meat,” Horror snapped.

“touchy!” Killer shrunk back, confusion plastered on his face. “i wasn't even saying that you did. you're just supposed to drink if no one else did it—wait, is eating humans a thing that normally happened back at your place?!”

Horror looked away from him and took a sip.

Killer scrutinized the red eye in his socket. “that's not your eye. is it?”

Nightmare cleared his nonexistent throat to grab their attention. “That's now how this game works, Killer.”

Killer blinked at him, before rephrasing his question, “never have i ever killed someone and stolen their eye.” Immediately his gaze flicked over to Horror, who looked unamused.

He didn't move an inch and instead scowled at Killer.

Nightmare sighed, “I suppose we need a fail-safe if you decide to lie.” Quickly three of his tendrils lashed out and grabbed the three of them by the ankle. His grip on them was tight and firm, but he didn't squeeze. Not yet.

“what's this for? gonna throw us around if we lie?” Killer asked.

“I’m going to snap your foot off, if you lie,” he answered while gazing directly at Horror.

He took a quick drink out of self preservation.

“huh.” Killer cocked his head at him and narrowed his eye sockets. “that's pretty sick, horror.”

He didn't grace that with a response.

Dust hasn't spoken a word, which was a given. Nightmare supposed there wasn't any point in forcing him to speak. With how things were going already, he knew it wouldn't bring any benefits.

He decided to bring a loaded question to the table. “Never have I ever killed my brother.”

The three tensed. Each of them watched the others carefully.

He squeezed Dust’s and Killer’s ankles as a warning.

Killer’s hand squeezed the bottle, the tips of his phalanges digging into the glass. His arm stuttered as he brought the mouth of the bottle to his.

Horror's sockets went blank. “you what?”

Dust still hasn't drank yet.

His tendril squeezed tighter and tighter.

He stayed still as Horror stormed over to Killer.

Horror grabbed Killer by his turtleneck. Unmistakable anger radiated off of him despite the smile plastered on his face.

“you killed him?”

A sickening crunch interrupted them.

To Dust’s credit, he stayed silent.

Killer gave him a smug look. “too much of a coward to admit it, huh?”

Marrow leaked from the newfound crack at Dust’s ankle. His foot wasn't snapped off yet but if he withheld from drinking any longer…His hold on the neck of the bottle was shaky, until he decided to slam it onto the ground. His left eyelight glowed a violent purple.

“so you both killed papyrus. fucking freaks,” Horror growled.

Killer's ringed eyelights flickered on. “as if you can talk. you look like you belong at a freak show—”

Horror shoved Killer back as a long jagged bone sprouted from the ground and impaled him through the spine.

Killer choked on a scream.

Both of their souls turned blue while Dust limped closer.

Nightmare merely observed, silently.

“I didn't kill him. The human did,” Dust said.

Horror’s face was painted with disgust and skepticism, but the sweat on his skull explained his reluctance to attack him too.

Killer merely burst out into laughter, despite the movement disturbing the bone currently through his spine. “is that so? just because you're using proper case doesn't mean it's the truth, bud—AGH!”

Dust shoved him back with blue magic, driving the bone deeper. At this point it might pierce through his sternum. His hold on Horror was long gone, as if he forgot all about him.

If he let this go any further he wouldn't be able to stop it. Nightmare rose up with the use of his tentacles to tower over the three. “Quit messing around,” he hissed.

The bone piercing Killer dissipated, but Dust and Killer were still two seconds away from tearing at each other's souls.

At least he knew Horror had some sense.

These three won't be like the last ones, he reminded himself. He’s known that from the second he laid eyes on them. The idea that there were identical copies of each universe was a myth. Sure there were multiple of the same universe, but they were like snowflakes. No two are the same. They may look like it, but minor discrepancies occur. Some of these discrepancies he relies on.

For example, normally these Sanses would rather kill themselves than be here.

He’s gotten uncomfortably great at cleaning up dust piles before he found a group that stuck.

“i ain’t dyin’ to a fuckin’ hypocrite!” Killer’s grating voice interrupted his thoughts. It was the last warning he got before Killer whipped out his knife and tackled his counterpart.

The two were like rabid dogs quarreling without purpose and blind intent to kill.

Nightmare’s patience snapped in half. The three were lifted into the air by a tendril. “That's enough,” he said calmly.

“the fuck did i do?” Horror spat.

“you're the reason i have a hole in my spine, jackass!” Killer answered.

Two blasters appeared from behind Horror and Killer.

They could barely crane their heads to see behind them before they fired.

Thankfully, Nightmare blocked the blast.

He slammed Dust into the ground, hard enough to leave a small crater. “I said that's enough.”

What was he? A babysitter? He was tired of this.

“We’re done here. You will stay in your rooms for the rest of the day. If any of you leave it, I will kill you.” God, he even sounded like one.

“your threats are gettin’ stale, nighty,” Killer teased.

The stupid nickname made the slime on his body ripple in anger. His pupil was nearly a pinprick. “Do you want to be an example?”

“do you want to choke on my dust?”

He was incredibly different from the other Killer. He couldn't imagine the amount of backtalk—the lack of fear coming from the old Killer.

He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it.

His sudden laughter unnerved the three. He realized they probably thought he was going to kill him right then and there.

He calmed down and his laughter cut off. He stared at them in silence to increase tension, only to put the other two down and open portals to their respective rooms beneath them all.

The second the portals closed he slouched and massaged his skull. They were certainly tiring.

He relished his alone time which was promptly cut off by Ink jumping out of one of his tentacles. “Gah! I told you not to do that!”

Ink looked at him mischievously. “Well, no one’s really been listening to you at all today. Thought I'd join in on the trend.”

Nightmare sighed in defeat.

“Aw, don’t be so down in the dumps. Cheer—oh wait you. Right.” He didn’t have to rub it in. “Well, you’ve been upholding your promise, so, don’t forget I’m here to help if you ever need it!”

As if his help was ever useful.

“I’m very useful!” he insisted.

Nightmare was starting to doubt that Ink was telling the truth when he said he wasn’t a mind reader.

Ink just gave him a wink. He was going to ignore that.

He thought about the three skeletons currently on timeout.

Well, there was one thing he could possibly help him with.

“You wouldn’t happen to know how to gain someone’s trust, would you?”

Ink gave him a knowing smile.

[lokh]

Okay, I won't lie NSW is more than slightly outside of my area of expertise when it comes to camping but the basics are the same anywhere. You said you have a tent and bag and some gear so we're not starting out at baby beginnings.

Step one, check the forecast. If its gonna be a heat wave or a cold snap or pissing rain wouldn't it be nice to know that before you're sitting miserable in a tent in the middle of nowhere? Plan accordingly, pack accordingly and you will be amazed how much you can deal with if you're prepared for it. Personally I have a nice rainshell with me at all times because it acts as a windbreak, water barrier, and exposure layer. I have taken a rainshell into the mojave desert where it never rains and I was right to do so because the wind got cold. I have occasionally been the overprepared dork, but I have more often been the only one not getting hypothermia.

Step two, know where you're going. As in, what to expect not just physically where it is. Are there restrooms? Water? Animals? Poisonous/stabby plants? Poisonous/stabby bugs? Other campers? Poisonous/stabby campers? Hazards? Cell service? Emergency services? Gas stations? Can you safely have a fire? Can you toast/grill your food or are you having cold dinner?

Step three, pack the most obscenely overdone toiletries kit you can imagine. Yes, this is actually important. My god, human bodies are messy. All your basic overnight goodies and then add sunscreen, bug dope, wet wipes or something similar, your own toilet paper and something to dig with if you're going out past available restrooms, and a small first aid kit. The kit doesn't have to be a full triage supply, tweezers, bandaids, antiseptic and maybe some gauze if you're clumsy. If you are gonna be doing a lot of walking/hiking I also recommend moleskin for blisters. Put the moleskin on BEFORE the blister pops.

Step four, look at the forecast again, assume it's wrong and pack for the worst weather possible. You need a dry pair of socks and undies. You need long sleeves and a spare shirt. Even if it doesn't feel like it, you will sweat through the day and get damp and if you sleep in the same thing you've been wearing you will get chilled. This is why every one says no cotton for camping, no matter where you are. I have a full change of clothes for sleeping so my day clothes can air and dry overnight.

Step five is food and its really each to his own for this one. If you're hiking out you will be more limited as far as weight/refrigeration, but thats somewhat of a trial and error thing. Freeze dried meals have their place but there is no reason it has to be your go to. Remember your water and remember that if you sweat and replace it with nothing but water you will be hurting. Powdered drink mix is your friend. If you're car camping and tenting next to the car I just bring a 5 gallon jug of water that stays in the car and refill waterbottles as needed. (Note: Senshi from dungeon meshi isn't actually an unattainable fantasy, you can cook a full scale meal in the backcountry if you really want to. It is several magnitudes more difficult than you would think if you are used to cooking in a kitchen, but it is possible.)

Step six is assessing your gadgets. If you want your phone you probably need a power pack to charge it. You will want a flashlight for the dark, not your phone, not glowsticks. If you want a camera you have to figure out how to carry that with you. You also need to figure out if you have cell service and a way to call for help. The more intense you get into this, the more you should look at getting a GPS or inreach/spot device, especially if you want to go alone. This is also a good time to come to grips with the falliblity of technology and get a paper map.

Step seven is for sleeping arrangements, which you seem to have covered. My rip is to set up sleeping stuff as soon as you get to where your making camp, so that way your bag has a chance to loft and your aren't fiddling with stuff sacks in the dark when your tired. And drunk if you're party camping. Open the sleeping bag before the tequila. Also a sleeping pad will protect your bag and also your joints so you don't wake up feeling like Rip van Winkle.

Have fun, be safe, don't be a dick and clean up after your self at your campsite. Sleeping in the dirt is a great time and I hope you enjoy your trip.

thank you so much!!!! i had a great trip but it wouldve been better if id followed your advice more carefully LMAO

[slayfk]

A Letter From Banner Elk

by Chris Davis

An intro from slayfk: Banner Elk is a small municipality in Avery County, North Carolina. It’s right near Boone, Valle Crucius, and Blowing Rock—that whole area. It’s a cute town that is home to a large amount of elderly retirees and many local shops. Hurricane Helene completely cut Banner Elk off from the rest of the world. Residents have no internet, no power, no way to get out. It is only accessible by air. The bridge that connects it to the rest of the world looks like this now:

Banner Elk is a beautiful town full of kind people and they need help. Chris Davis, a resident of Elk River in Banner Elk, wrote a plea to the outside world and managed to get it through. I will paste it below, as it’s incredibly important to read.

“Inside the Elk River community of Banner Elk, we are stranded. No power, no water. All day Saturday we cut trails through the trees fallen over the roads, in hope small vehicles can move around and we can check on each other.

If we reach the bottom of the mountain, we understand that the bridge over the Elk River is out. We are stranded. But, we do not know how stranded everyone else is.

We need intelligence; status of the outside world. Infrastructure. For instance, it would help to know when roads will be repaired so that help can come.

There are 20 horses at the barn. They probably have water for three days. Horses will drink 10 gallons of water a day. Do the math.

There are elderly people on the mountain. One lady has so many trees to her house we cannot see our way to cut through to check on her.

It seems as if a flood washed out the bottom and a tornado took out everything else.

Some homes have generators. That does not mean people whose generators are running are actually here. I hear them running. It is only a matter of time before fuel runs out.

I am able to connect with you because one neighbor, if he stands in the right place on his deck, has use of a telephone that allowed me to reach my wife.

She connected with my out of town neighbor who has a generator who shared her Wi-Fi password that I can at least come to their house charge batteries and send you this note.

We hear rumors of helicopters coming in to rescue people.

It is probably worse somewhere else. We will continue to try to clear the roads in our community to support one another and be ready for an evacuation.

Obviously, the Mountain communities will need all the help they can get. Immediately and later.

In the meantime, basic facts matter a lot. We just need to know what the situation is so that we can make rational decisions.

I’m only getting bits and pieces of information from other people such as Newland is flooded and the National Guard is there; mud slides block the Eagles nest community from getting out; the road to Boone is washed out…”

An outro from slayfk: This is not a unique story. Towns all across Appalachia and the southeast states are cut off from the world or utterly decimated. Asheville is the most notable, but there’s also Chimney Rock NC, Marshall NC, Junaluska NC, Swannanoa NC, Biltmore Village NC, and more. Entire towns are ruined. People are trapped. People are trapped with no way to escape and they don’t know what’s going to happen to them. People are starving, animals are starving, 600 people are missing and 100 people are dead.

Appalachia is suffering. No one in power cares.

Talk about us. Donate to rescuers and aid funds. Don’t let the government sweep us under the rug again. We are here and we need help.

[nutlessspeedrun]

Denial Journal: February 23rd

sooo... last night was fun :)

i didnt cum, obviously, but i did have like. two and a half accidents?? i was only allowed to use the bathroom three times yesterday, and i needed to make each one count, because i also had to drink a gallon of water over the course of the day. not all at once, that'd be insane.

for my second pee of the day, i was trying so so hard to hold it as long as i could, so i could save my LAST pee of the day for bedtime. well... i ended up leaking about 30oz of piss... over the course of two accidents. i count the whole thing as One Bathroom Break, since i didnt fully empty until after the second bout of leaks? i did accept some punishment beverages afterwards though

i tried to make it until bedtime for my last bathroom break, but just two hours later, i HAD TO GOOO. i couldnt even finish my movie, i was literally leaking on my way to the toilet... i measured that i peed a little over 40oz that time. so... basically, by 9pm, i had used up all my bathroom breaks for the day, and im only just now laying down for bed at 1am. so, obviously, ive gotten thirsty and had to drink since 9pm lol

im kinda expecting to wake up needing to pee at some point. today, i can only use the bathroom to pee twice, and its another "drink a whole gallon" day. so. um. yeah. gonna have to make that morning pee REALLY count...

[damedechance]

It's my birthday today and if you wanna give me a gift you can read:

(in no particular order):

The Hit by @headcanonheadcase

(nessian hockey au, what more could you ask for? It's currently on my TBR, and if you want to catch yourself up on the series you can start with: The Bargain)

Mainstreet Mayhem by @headcanonheadcase

(gwynriel, a fic in progress which fills me with continuous overwhelming joy each day it updates!!)

Every Morning the Maple Leaves by @ofduskanddreams

The perfect Azris modern AU oneshot. And I can't stress this enough: crop tops. Btw a little birdie tells me that she has a special surprise planned for Azris week that includes my all time fave, What Lies Inside

Howl by @iftheshoef1tz

(also Azris, and the fic in progress which I hold solely responsible for the Azris brainrot I've been in lately. Guess who has the septum ring? 🐮)

Against Nostalgia by @houseofhurricane

(you may have THOUGHT I left my dramione era but you'd be dead wrong because I'm obsessed with this fic and it is SO well thought out and absolutely full of all the things I love in a story)

Fanservice for Your Fanfiction by @vulpes-fennec

(come on we all know gwyn would be a fanfic writer irl you can't tell me different and this whole fic is just chef's kiss)

You Look Like Bad News by @the-lonelybarricade

(every time I think of elucien I think of this fic and I have to go drink a gallon of water just so I don't spontaneously combust. If you know me you know I love smut and this certainty delivers)

Out of the Storm by @shadowriel

(top tier gwynriel, every single sentence had me on the floor screaming like I wish someone filmed me while I was reading this because I was literally so insane the whole time)

Embers by @ultadverb

(mor and elain. It works SO well and the execution is just astounding. You need to read this immediately and then report back because I have to gush about it with someone please I'm begging)

This is by no means an exhaustive list of fic recs, BUT it's Gemini season and thus I am entitled to force you all to read from some of my favorite people so yeah go through the list, pick one (or all), and then come back and scream about them with me. 🥰🎂🥳

[transgymbro]

Do you have any advice for generally unathletic guys who would like to start working out?

Okay so biggest thing is that you need to build yourself up gradually. You're not going to start off lifting 30 lbs in each hand, maybe not even 20, and that's okay! Everyone starts somewhere! But you really don't want to increase the difficulty too fast, or else you may injure yourself. This is especially true with weightlifting but applies to other athletic activities too. For me, I like to make sure I can do 15 reps on a weight, and then I'll increment by 5 lbs.

Also, make sure you're doing whatever exercise you choose correctly. Again this doesn't apply to just weightlifting. At best, it's too easy and you're not getting what you need out of your exercise. At worst, you could seriously injure yourself. There are plenty of YouTube tutorials that will show you what to do, but I also advice getting a trainer or a more experienced friend who can show you in person and correct you in real time if possible.

Oh yeah, choosing an exercise. You need to make sure you're doing something you enjoy. Whatever your goals are, they're going to take awhile to see results, so you need to do something you at least somewhat want to do every single day (or multiple times a week). You won't reach your goals without consistency. For me it was weightlifting, but that might not be the case for you.

When you're working out, it is more important than EVER to make sure you're getting enough water and sleep. You're sweating a lot and using a lot of energy when you work out. So you need to be drinking at MINIMUM half a gallon/64 fl oz of water PER DAY, and do the best you can to get 8 hours of sleep. Oh, and don't forget to take rest days to help your body recover. I advise working out 3 times per week, with rest days in between, but you can adjust this to whatever fits your schedule.

Super important: what you eat. ESPECIALLY if your goals involve shaping your body to be a certain way. In that case 80% is diet, 20% is exercise. You need lots of (lean) protein to build muscle. Carbs for energy, but you may want to cut back on these if you're trying to lose fat, but they are good for immediately after your workout. The amount of calories you will need will depend on your goal, but one of the biggest mistakes people make is eating too FEW calories. Do NOT starve yourself, which means do not eat any less than 1000 - 1200 calories. DO eat more, especially if you're bulking (focusing on muscle gain and some fat gain). You don't need to be super anal about logging your calories/macros like I am (ESPECIALLY if you have an eating disorder. In that case, do what is best for your health and ignore whatever is here), but overall these are good guidelines. If you really do want to log your food and you know you can do so in a healthy way, MyFitnessPal is what I use (though I have the premium version which has some exclusive features).

This is long as shit so I bolded the main takeaways, feel free to let me know if you have any further questions

[battlemaiden13]

(I sent this ask before but it said something went wrong so if you saw this before sorry,also I don’t think you wrote something like this before but if you did sorry again )

So the human skeleton is about 15% of the body weight, 100 pound human 15 pound skeleton, to help visualize the weight, two gallons of water is around 16 pounds.

The boys are light as fuck, even if their bone density is higher. Let’s take red for example: let’s say as a human he’d be 300 pounds his hypothetical skeleton would be 45-50 pounds. Not that heavy.

You can carry them around. You can just walk up to them go yoink and scoop ‘‘em up bridal style. Would some of them hate it, most definitely, but berry ?!? He would love it. Some of the others would like it too, probably.

Do they know they don’t weigh that much or do they think it’s like normal to weigh as much as a small to medium sized dog. Is it normal for monsters to weigh that little or is it just the skeletons.

So can I get the main boys reactions to getting picked up and carried around by their S/O. Like who says they hates it but secretly loves it. Do they retaliate by picking S/O up. Just the mental image is just so funny.

Have a nice day and drink plenty of water :)

So the skeletons in HND can change their body weight depending on magic distributions. So most of the time they are extremely light but if they don’t want to be picked up then they won’t be. 

In saying that most of the time it’s really easy to pick them up but yes most of them are aware of how light they are. Here's how they’d react to just being picked up

Sans - He’s a bit surprised if you choose to pick him up but he’s not going to complain. Depending on how long you hold him up he may fall asleep though, he tends to do that when being lifted off the ground. 

Papyrus -It makes him panic slightly mainly because of his height and long limbs. He ends up moving around too much and he’s awkward to carry. He doesn’t necessarily hate being picked up but you need to give him plenty of warning. 

Red - Absolutely not, he fucking hates being lifted up. He’s like a cat and will struggle and move around until you put him down. He’s usually pretty good at increasing his weight the moment he thinks someone will pick him up but sometimes you get him. He hates it though and will not be happy at all. 

Edge - He does not like being lifted up and he may accidentally hurt you if you try. He just panics and moves around so much he might accidentally hit you. He’s very apologetic when he does this but it really is your own fault. 

Blue - Says he hates it and hates it. He won’t do anything when you pick up other than groan and he does tell you he does not enjoy being picked up but he won’t really fight you. He does get a tad upset though if you don’t listen his wishes

Orange - He likes being picked up, he will also retaliate by picking you up but he likes it. Sometimes he plays into it and other times he just lets it happen. He’s even goaded you into picking him up a few times just because he can. 

Berry -Says he hates it but loves it. He gets really loud when you pick him up and starts to throw a fuss but he does nothing to actually try to get out of your grasp. Plus the purple blush on his skull and his smile give it away that he likes this a lot. 

Syrup - It actually makes him blush. He just never expects it, no one else would even dare to lift him up due to, well, his scary outward appearance. It shocks him each time but he doesn’t hate it

[crash-bump-bring-the-whump]

Day 13 - Flood

Someone on a whump server I'm in wanted to see this!! Here you go Tonkin!! Also omg this is the longest Whumptober I've done, no wonder it took me so long to finish at 3.2k words.

Ping list: @ailesswhumptober, @whumperofworlds, @whump-captain, @whumpbees

TWs: Starvation, self-sacrifice, environmental whump, disordered eating, lost in the woods

"Hm." Mariano frowned, watching the river rushing past. A freak storm had swept in late in the previous night, turning the creek from a pleasant wading experience into something that would be dangerous to cross. It hadn't even stopped raining, yet. "No, we're not getting across that until it settles down."

Jeremy, the next most experienced camper of the group crossed his arms, sighing. "That's what I was afraid of. That was our one way out." He bit his lip, looking back towards Mariano and then towards where the other two men of their group were huddled by the fire. "And we don't have much food left. Maybe...enough for tomorrow. No signal to call for help, either."

Mariano followed his gaze before looking Jeremy over. Blond, late twenties, he worked in finance and had a wife and a miniature poodle. Hiking and camping were his biggest hobbies. The others weren’t much different.

He'd make sure they all made it home.

"That's alright. I know how to fish, and clean a catch." Mariano said, rolling his shoulders as they started to walk back to the others. Bastian was out of town too, so they were truly stranded. "Plus I always bring extra supplies, just in case."

Jeremy's eyes lit up. "Really?" He asked, relief flooding his voice. "God, you're a lifesaver."

Mariano laughed, shrugging. "I'm just paranoid. I'd rather have stuff and not need it."

It wasn't great breaking the news that they were stranded for at least another day or two, but the others seemed relieved when Mariano said he'd brought extra supplies. "Rice, nutrition bars, some canned tuna..." He listed off the food as he rifled through his emergency bag, tucked away in the corner of his tent. "And some bleach, to purify water in case we can't boil it for some reason. I can probably forage some stuff too, plenty of oaks around for mushrooms."

"Jesus, you really do know your stuff." Marcus looked at Jeremy, grinning.

"I see why you were so relaxed about coming up here." Brent said, nodding in agreement.

"We'll need to cut down to one meal each a day, but this will keep us going." Jeremy said.

The two of them continued chatting as Mariano packed away his supplies. He took a long breath, held it, then let it out. This was going to be the best he'd feel until they got out. It was going to be a long few days.

-

The first day was the worst. Mariano knew it would be. He awoke that morning to the drizzle of rain and the expected hunger pangs. All he could do was sit up and drink from his water bottle.

He needed to skip his meal of the day. That was fine. The other men weren't used to pushing through starvation, and once the initial hunger settled then he'd be mostly alright.

The checklist for the first day was blessedly simple, at least. Mariano needed to check on their water source, then possibly locate another that they could boil and sanitize if the first became inaccessible. He needed to see what was edible in the area. Then, he needed to rest.

If he could figure out the best paths to everything they needed, then if they were trapped for longer than expected the others could follow his directions to get to their resources.

-

Mariano grimaced as he followed his markers towards the back-up water source. He felt too light on his feet as he made his way up the hill to the little, crisp spring he'd found. The gallon water bottle he kept with his supplies made a decent water transport, even if it felt heavy in his clumsy fingers.

It was only day two.

Luis would be disappointed.

Mariano grimaced as he filled the bottle, struggling to cap it again. He used to be able to go days without eating without his hands shaking so badly. He was getting soft. He couldn't be getting soft while the others were relying on him--two days was nothing.

He set the water on to boil when he got back to camp. A can of cold tuna and a nutrition bar each wasn't going to be tasty, but the other men would be able to keep going a little bit longer with the extra carbs. He slipped his own bar into his pocket "for later".

If someone else needed it, he'd be glad he had it.

-

Mariano grimaced as he stumbled through the trees, foraging guide in hand. The only thing he was truly confident in picking were chicken of the woods, but luckily there were plenty of oak trees around. He felt the ground subtly swaying under his feet as he steadied himself.

It was fine. If he did a good enough job then they'd all be able to eat comfortably until they left. Brent had a cast iron skillet, and it would be easy enough to boil some rice and cook the mushrooms to make something halfway decent.

An hour into his slow foraging, Mariano saw it: the peachy shelves of their salvation growing on an old oak tree. Tears started at his eyes as he rushed forward, tugging the laminated guide from his pocket. The color was right, the caps were right, this was the right environment and there were no deadly lookalikes. Carefully, with shaking hands, Mariano opened up his pocket knife and began slicing off the mushrooms.

He loaded down his arms, resorting to using the front of his hoodie as a makeshift basket to carry the chicken of the woods in. It took him twice as long to get back to camp, but he was greeted with three delighted faces when he sat down with the spoils. Brent started cleaning and cooking the mushrooms while Mariano laid down for a nap.

When he was shaken awake again for dinner, it took everything he had to not lick his bowl of rice and mushrooms clean. There would be more, Mariano reminded himself. Brent had stored what he didn't cook for the next day's breakfast and lunch.

They had food now.

They would be okay.

-

"What happened?!" The shout woke Mariano, who needed to take a moment to let the world stop spinning once he'd sat up. Brent sounded furious.

Dread settled into Mariano's stomach.

He crawled out of his tent to see Brent hastily rummaging through the bags that they'd kept the food in. Jeremy watched in concern, as Marcus wringed his hands. All that remained was some uncooked rice and a few cans of tuna. "We had way more than this last night, what the fuck happened?" Brent demanded.

Silence settled over the group, oppressive and heavy.

"Speak up. What happened to all the food?" He repeated. "There aren't any tracks around. Who ate it?"

Marcus looked away. Jeremy had started to tear up. Mariano didn't need the training he had to have an idea about who had done it.

"Brent." He started, crawling out and getting to his feet. The meager meal from the night before had already been spent by his body and he was ravenous again. "Yelling won't help anything. The food is already gone, we'd be better off spending our energy making a--"

Mariano was cut off by a fist slamming into his jaw. Jeremy's horrified noise was drowned out by Brent's fury as he roared and swung again. The second punch connected too, but Mariano managed to snag his wrists before a third could land.

"It was you!" Brent snarled, fury in his bright eyes. "You did it, that's why you're so calm right now--"

Mariano used his grip to slam Brent up against a tree. "Shut up." He didn't growl as he pinned Brent's wrists with one hand and got his other palm pressed to his chest. He spoke low and quiet, his own anger burning just as cold as Luis always liked. "Be quiet, Brent."

Brent didn't struggle, all his vitriol gone. Mariano knew his grip was bruising. He knew he loomed and filled Brent's whole world right then. "I'm calm because I know what to do. This isn't my first time going through something like this." Brent swallowed as Mariano continued. "Spending your energy yelling and fighting won't help anyone. Not when we could split up to forage and fish."

He released Brent all at once and reached into his hoodie pocket. He shoved the nutrition bar into Brent's hands. "I saved mine two days ago. Take it and settle down."

Jeremy offered Mariano worried words and gentle hands as he walked back to the sheltered fire pit. Marcus didn't say anything. He grabbed the fishing rod, though, and crept away. Jeremy insisted on Mariano sitting to rest while he went to try his hand at foraging.

Neither Mariano nor Brent uttered a word to each other while they were alone.

When Marcus came back with two small fish, though, Brent muttered an apology. Mariano sat at the firepit, cleaning their tiny dinner as water for more rice and soup boiled away. He shook his head.

"Hunger does things to you." Mariano said, handing the first carcass over. "We trained for this sort of situation when I was in the military."

"How long...?" Brent ventured to ask, the question dying between them.

"My record was ten days with only water." Mariano started scaling the other fish. "But I was nineteen back then, a much younger, stronger man. Fewer greys." Mariano laughed, gently, and Brent laughed with him.

"Could've fooled me." Brent said, just as softly. "Felt like I'd fucked with a bear or something when you pinned me. Gotta show me your workout routine."

"I will, I will." Mariano said, giving him a small smile. "After we've gotten home, eaten, and slept for a week."

The atmosphere eased, and even though Jeremy had been unsuccessful, by the time the others gathered to eat things were back to normal. Mariano managed to get down a few bites of rice before giving the rest of his share to the others. His head just ached too much to keep down more food than that.

The light drizzle had stopped by the time Mariano managed to doze off.

-

Mariano's eyes were heavy by the fifth day. His head was filled with cotton and ached horribly. He hadn't slept meaningfully, but there was no point in getting up.

Mariano could smell the unsalted rice boiling. It made his jaw ache. He swallowed down saliva, nausea roaring loud and hot in his stomach. It was the worst thing he'd ever smelled, and the best. He wanted to eat the whole pot.

He would never do that to them.

"Mariano!" Jeremy's voice raked through his skull and he groaned. The man ducked into his tent. "Mariano, come look at the river with me."

Mariano scrubbed at his eyes with his sleeve before slowly getting to his hands and knees. "Yeah...yeah I can do that." He said.

When he finally looked at Jeremy, he saw worry etched into the man's brow. "Whoa...you're looking a little sick. Are you okay?"

Mariano waved a hand in the air as he crawled towards the flap of his tent. "I just have a headache." He said, blinking hard in the sunlight.

Jeremy hummed and muttered some sincere sympathy. He offered Mariano his jacket to drape over his head to help block out some of the sun. They walked the short distance to the creek.

Still too high, still too fast.

Mariano shook his head. "It would need to be lower...at least down to our knees for us to cross safely."

Jeremy bit his lip. "Do you...will it go down in time for us to get out of here? Rationing like we are, we still only have enough food for another day or two."

Mariano looked up at the clouds, then down at the water. "In this sort of place it usually only takes a few days after rain stops for the creeks to calm down. We...we won't be comfortable, but we'll be able to leave."

Jeremy let out a sigh of relief so great that Mariano almost felt like the short trek had been worth it. He moderated his breathing anyway until he was back in his tent, collapsing onto his sleeping bag again.

He was chilled. He was hungry. He couldn't sleep.

Mariano took a drink from his water bottle before he crawled out. He crumpled up the now-empty rice bag and stored it with the rest of their trash. It was easy to assure the others that he would watch the rice while they tried to find more mushrooms. Marcus knew what to look for, and he swore to only collect chicken of the woods.

Mariano said he'd already eaten his share when they got back, empty-handed.

They believed him. 

-

Day six brought a stubborn, but improved, creek and an unsuccessful foraging session. Jeremy lost their fishing pole in the river and cried. Mariano talked him through it.

"I don't want to die here." Jeremy sniffled, and Mariano shook his head. It sent the world spinning off of its axis. He didn't sway where he sat.

"I won't let you die here." Mariano said. "Everyone is going home, even if we feel terrible on the way there."

Jeremy had reached for his hand. Mariano didn't deny him. It was easier to quell the shaking, right then.

Mariano watched them divvy up the pack of tuna cans. One each. It was the last of their food. 

He squirreled his away in the corner of his tent when he retreated from the smell of the fish cooking. Stomach churning, he hid it under a discarded shirt that he usually wrapped his hair in at night. It would be a surprise for tomorrow. The others would have a little more protein to get them through the day.

He didn't need it.

Mariano lowered himself down onto his sleeping bag and dozed, the persistent headache he'd had keeping him from fully falling under.

-

"Mariano?" Someone was there. Someone was patting his face. "No--he's breathing, look." What was going on?

Mariano managed to get his eyes open. Midday sun streamed in through the flap of his tent. Marcus and Jeremy hovered over him. Brent was crouched just behind them at the opening, the tent far too small for everyone to fit inside.

"What...?" His thoughts were sluggish, struggling to catch up with everything. The light was too bright. It felt like he was floating.

"Thank goodness," Marcus said, relief washing over his face. "We've been trying to wake you up for a few minutes now. The creek is good and low, and we're mostly packed up. Your stuff is all that's left."

Mariano felt hope soar in his chest. All he had to do was help pack up and then hike the two miles to the trailhead. Easy. He'd done this when he was younger on even less food.

"Good...good. That's perfect." His usual lack of intonation seemed amplified. The others shared a look between themselves.

Mariano sat up and fumbled for his glasses, his arms almost giving out as he got to his hands and knees. “Whoa!” Jeremy jumped to keep Mariano from falling on his face, arms looping around his waist to help him sit. “Hey, you’ve been looking bad for the last few days. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing bad.” Mariano said, blinking hard as he got his glasses perched on his nose. “Wanted to help extend the food, since I didn’t bring that much.”

“What?” Jeremy asked. 

“You didn’t.” Brent cut in, voice low. “You have not been fucking starving yourself this whole time.” 

Everyone looked at Mariano, and he couldn’t read their expressions. “Not the whole time.” He said, leaning into Jeremy more. “I ate the mushrooms and rice. And that can of tuna a few days ago.” 

Marcus reached out and slapped him before anyone could stop him. “What the fuck–?!”

Mariano was glad that he still had the brain to glare at him when his head stopped spinning. Before Jeremy could say anything, Mariano spoke up again. “If I’d been eating we…we would’ve run out of food days ago. You three are still pretty okay, and I can walk with help. I…I knew that I couldn’t have carried everyone down. Survival over comfort.”

Silence fell hard and fast in the tent.

“You’re an idiot…” Marcus muttered, not able to hold eye contact with Mariano. “I’m not going to thank you for that.”

“Marcus is just–worried.” Jeremy cut in. “We can pack up and get going in a few, since you’re awake now. C’mon, let me help you outside.”

“I can–” Mariano tried, only to be swatted by Marcus again. 

“Shut up, you’re not doing anything. You look like you’ll faint if you try to stand.” Brent said, extending his arms to take Mariano from Jeremy. 

He hated to admit it, but Mariano felt immeasurable relief at the idea of not having to pack up his things. While he was sitting outside, the world gently swaying under him, he listened to the quiet, exasperated chatter of the three working together. It was relaxing, and before long they were emerging with packed bags in hand.

A little can was shoved into Mariano’s hands and opened. “We found this in your tent, dumbass. Eat.” Brent said, and Mariano realized that it was the can of tuna he’d saved.

“This was supposed to be for breakfast, I thought that you three–” Mariano started, before Brent pressed it harder into his grip. 

“No. We’ll be okay until we can hit some burger place. You’ve had almost nothing. Eat.” 

The growl settled something in Mariano’s chest, and he nodded. “...Alright. Okay.” When he bit into the first cold bit of fish, it tasted like the best thing he’d ever eaten. Just that little portion felt lifesaving, it felt like his joints wouldn’t fall apart quite so easily if he did too much.

Soon enough the tents were all packed away, the bags were ready to be carried, and Mariano had one of Jeremy’s arms around his waist as they started crossing the stream. The ground felt unsteady, and they still almost slipped a few times on the riverbed–they would’ve never made it across when it was higher and faster.

By the time they arrived back at their two cars Mariano was leaning heavily on Jeremy. He couldn’t catch his breath or keep his eyes open. The “thank you” he mumbled wasn’t nearly as clear as he would’ve preferred as he was helped into the passenger seat. 

“I know you said you don’t need a hospital, but…I think it might be a good idea to go anyway.” Jeremy said, starting his car and following Brent's down the road. “You know, so we can all get checked out and charge our phones. I’m sure Miranda isn’t terribly happy that our group went missing for a week.” 

Mariano sighed and nodded. “Okay, okay…hospital it is.” He knew when he was defeated, but he also knew that it was okay. He could rest. The others had things handled from here.

[learnwithmearticles]

Technology's Use of Water

While water is renewable, it is finite. Its renewability depends on us using and managing our water resources responsibly.

Previous articles on this page have discussed hydropower and how it produces less waste and costs less than other resources. We have also briefly discussed how other energy sources consume water as a coolant or receptacle for waste. Entire university courses are dedicated to human uses of water.

Water Scarcity

Only 3% of water on Earth is freshwater. Of course, we need this to drink, but we need it for many more services beyond that.

Many plumbing fixtures are made of copper, which saltwater severely corrodes, same as lead and, over a longer time, PVC. Toilets on average use 1-5 gallons of water per flush. If we want to preserve freshwater by switching to saltwater plumbing, we would have to rethink and re-pipe entire plumbing systems.

We lose safe water in rain, as well. Supported by a study in Environmental Science and Technology, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2022 stated that rainwater is not safe to drink. Chemicals known as per-/poly-fluoroalkyl substances break down extremely slowly, and have leached from many products like cleaners, fabrics, and shampoo into the water cycle. Removing PFAS from water requires filters of activated carbon or reverse osmosis membranes, which also require frequent maintenance.

A lot of water is also not available to us because it is in ice caps and glaciers, which are estimated to be about 68% of Earth’s freshwater. This water is also being lost, because as glaciers melt at increasing rates, that freshwater becomes saltwater in the ocean.

These limitations mean that water is not necessarily renewable yet, especially because treating water produces its own waste and pollution. We have to be responsible with the small percentage of water we have access to.

Irresponsible Use

There are a ridiculous amount of ways in which we waste water. Leaks, watering lawns, and leaving taps running are some of the big household wastes of water. While individual accountability and changes can still make a big difference, I want to focus on bigger impacts.

One example is in nuclear power production. Nuclear power plants use water to cool down used fuel when it is done being used in the reactor. This results in radioactive and thermal water pollution.

Agriculture is another common cause of water pollution. Excess water from rain or artificial watering runs off of agricultural fields and flows towards streams and bodies of water. This runoff often includes amounts of fertilizers and pesticides ranging from minimal to extremely harmful. This leads to improper levels of oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen within the water. Like water contaminated by pharmaceuticals, this is not safe to drink, and something not safe for skin contact.

Technology is also a major factor of water demands. Artificial Intelligence and cryptocurrency are heavy water consumers.

AI is beneficial within waste management, as it is able to quickly analyze information and identify issues, potential problems, and potential areas of improvement. Unfortunately, AI training requires a large amount of water. One study states that training GPT-3 alone can evaporate 700,000 liters of freshwater. In 2027, AI is predicted to consume 4.2 to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water. In comparison, Denmark nationally consumes around one billion cubic meters in a year.

Cryptocurrency is even worse. It goes through a process called mining in which transactions are verified and new ‘coins’ are generated into the system. This process is extremely water-demanding. For example, in 2021, mining of Bitcoin consumed more than 1,600 gigaliters of global water. On average, each cryptocurrency transaction consumes 16,000 liters of water in cooling down the computer equipment and the power plants that provide the electricity.

Saltwater as an alternative in these situations does exist; however, this process has the disadvantages of one-time use, large water intake, sewage discharge, and ocean pollution. Technology has begun to improve on this method with seawater circulation cooling technology, which reduces sewage discharge and water intake, but remains an imperfect solution.

Technology has the potential to drastically improve environmental management and restoration, but still has a long way to go before we offset the huge impacts we have made. Freshwater is taken for granted by many people, and the systems that disproportionately consume the most of it are not held accountable. This cycle must stop if we want to make water a truly renewable resource.

Additional Resources

1. Water Renewability

2. Corrosion on Plumbing

3. Treating PFAS

4. Household Water Waste

5. Nuclear Water Waste

6. AI Helping Water Management

7. AI Water Consumption

8. Crypto Mining Water Consumption

9. Seawater cooling technology

[seniorityoftactics]

I think I’m finally ready to go into my winter arc 👍👍👍

Goals:

Lose at least 15 pounds from now until February.

That gives me 4 months to lose it. That is around 4 pounds each month. SHOULD be light work but whatever.

I also want to tone my body

I will workout at least 3 times a week, and I possibly want to get a gym membership.

Stop eating after 8pm.

Hard to do with the hours I work, because I get my breaks late, but will manage it.

Fast at least 3 times a month, at the bare minimum.

Drink at least a gallon of water everyday.

Eat mainly protein, high protein low cal.

Stay on track, no “cheat days” or “cheat weeks” (it be like that)

Try not to binge. I feel like binging is a comfort method for me, and I hate it. So we need to break that habit. (Will definitely be difficult so any tips are greatly appreciated)

Smaller waist- my waist is at 28in currently, but i want it to go down by 2-3 inches at least.

Walk walk walk- 8-10k steps everyday!!!

Stats:

Sw (11/4)- 169

Gw1 (11/30)- 165

Gw2 (12/31)- 160

Gw3 (01/31)- 156

Gw4 (02/28)- 152

Ugw- 152Ibs

If I reach goal 1 before the date, start on the second goal. If all goals are achieved before 02/28, make new ones

Reminders:

This will take time, results won’t be immediate, be patient.

This is for your own well being, not your downfall.

This is good for you.

Plan:

I will eat in a deficit of 500 first week, so around 1600cals max.

I will only eat between 7am-8pm.

The earliest known eat is at 7am on a normal day and the latest that I would be able to stop eating is 8pm.

Exercise 3-5 times a week, for 30mins

This includes Pilates, stretching, and anything in between.

Walk at least 8k steps, might be difficult but possible. Go for walks in few days, walk around even if not doing anything at work, circles at home, doesn’t matter.

I’ll be less strict to start but as I go more strict.

Rewards:

First week of meeting plan goals (deficit, steps, etc.)-

[remarkablebookbean]

Hi dear supporters! ❤️

Husam Thaher here, and I want to say thank you from the bottom of my core for your continued backing through these extremely hard times. All this gives us a wishful hope when everything feel like unpossible real. ❤️🙏

The most painful days of our lives for both my family and me. War has robbed us of everything — our place, ownership and even security. We have only a tiny tent on the streets where we fight for each meal and necessities such as water, which used to be taken for granted. 😢💔

From morning to evening we battle just be satisfy a few needs everyday. We line up for hours to get a few gallons of water we drink. It is just one burner and no gas or anything else, to attempt even small cooking feels almost like an ordeal. We are barely surviving here…. It is a real struggle for every small thing in life… 😓🍞

The war has evicted us not only from our homes, but also of the hope for dreams out of our children. Their future is unpredictable and many of us have been thinking about taking it one day at a time. A little help can go a long way with us. 🏕️🌧️

We’re doing everything we can to stay strong and get through these hard times, but we need your support to continue. Please consider donating, no matter how small, or simply share our story to spread awareness. Your contributions bring hope to families like ours who have lost everything.

You can support us through this link: Help my family evacuate from Gaza. Thank you for standing with us. ❤️✊

.

[agentsquirrelsgotrobots]

My beta reader told me to repost this from my ao3. My handle on there is agentsquirrel.

Road Bombs and Beer make the Burns Question Their Life Choices

Heatwave knew that their odds were doomed when Optimus brought the kids, and the engex.

Megatron had found Griffin Rock, and they had less than 48 hours to prepare. So, they were doing battle prep college all nighter style.

There were three kids, and a nurse, who immediately took a look at them and announced to the firehouse.

"Well, you won't kill them faster than their guardians, so I am going to take a nap."

She then curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

The youngest, a twelve year old boy dressed in orange, took out a laptop from a bag taken from Optimus's subspace marked "hide from Bryce".

Jack also took out parts of an alien looking shotgun from the bag too, putting it together and following Arcee to set up a shooting range.

"Chief, I want the townspeople evacuated. Fowler has already called in the coast guard to take them to the mainland." Optimus said, checking his hand blades for any last-minute rust spots. He didn't find any.

"Got it. Cody and I will go door to door. Be honest. We need everyone safe and contained in defensible positions."

They left in Chase. The coast guard, with help from the military, rounded up all of the townspeople and brought them to the mainland. They couldn't risk a single life on Optimus's mistake.

Ratchet took Raf into Heatwave's office, where he took over every screen. Heatwave was shocked to see Raf open up a diagram of human and Cybertron anatomy, a quick translation guide he made for both ancient and modern cybertronian, and four amateur road bomb designs for killing cons.

He printed out two of the designs, and downstairs, Miko took the blueprints off the printer and waved down Kade. She showed him the blueprints.

"Kade, in order for this to work, we need beer cans with alcohol residue in them, they make good shrapnel. Do any of you guys drink, or am I using your ID?"

"Uhhhh, let me flag down Bulkhead." Kade realized he didn't remember the last time he had alcohol. Whelp, time to commit a federal crime.

Optimus stopped him on the way out and gave him a credit card. "This little fiasco is on my dime. Go get fuel for everyone."

"Me, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead are going to make road bombs in the park. Don't worry, I have the apex armor. If something explodes, I will be fine." Miko said, running for Bulkhead.

Bulkhead picks up Miko and transforms around her. Kade climbed into him too. Wheeljack, who was definitely drunk off of Optimus's engex, followed them on foot.

The clerk was not paid enough for this.

There were two giant robots in the parking lot, sitting on the curb. One was obviously drunk, his buddy keeping an eye on him. The clerk assumed they were both men, by the sound of their booming voices.

The adult that came out of the robots was obviously buying two six packs of beer, the only size the store stocked, for the teenage girl, who was currently picking out every flavor of red bull and boxes of Kool-aid with red dye 40 in it, but again, the giant robots. She dumped them all on the tiny counter, then pulled out two packs of combos. The man sighed and took out his credit card. "Miko, really?"

"We have five nerds to feed to maximum efficiency. We will let them sleep when I get to have my fun. Besides, Ratchet gives Raf a combo for each word he translates correctly."

The man gave the clerk a look of pure pain. "Miko, get me another case of bud light and a five gallon bottle of water for the Kool-aid."

"On it!" She rolled the five gallon bottle, then stacked the case of beer on top.

The total came out to more than three hundred dollars.

The man paid with a military issued credit card, and it took several trips to load it all into the bigger robot's backseat, even with the drunken robot's "help".

Kade, Miko, Bulkhead and Wheeljack came back to Doc Greene, dropping off Frankie. He was going to weaponize some of his prototypes for the wreckers, so he wanted Frankie out of the lab. Unfortunately, the wreckers were going to be testing road bombs on the front lawn, so he might have been better served keeping Frankie home.

Dani showed Blades how to make Kool-aid in the water cabinet. He made the mistake of looking up red dye 40 in his visor after setting everything up.

"Dani, the ingredients of this drink scare me."

"Blades, it's a childhood classic. It's been around for several generations now. My dad grew up drinking this stuff, and so did me and my brothers."

"That explains so much about why you guys are like that."

"Like what?"

"Absolutely crazy. You drink things that turn your mouth unnatural colors."

Dani laughed. "You shouldn't look up what we use as natural red dyes in makeup then."

Blades looked it up and gasped. "Dead bugs? Dani, why?"

"I told you not to look it up. We use berries in more natural foods, by the way."

They heard an explosion outside, and Bulkhead ducked his head in. "Optimus, do you have the apex armor?"

Optimus pinched his nose. "Bulkhead, why didn't you ask that before breaking out the c4?" He took out the apex armor and handed it to him.

Bulkhead grabbed Miko by the back of her tank top and stuck the armor to her back. It formed around her, and she raced to join Wheeljack on the front lawn, a safe distance from the firehouse.

It took twenty minutes before Miko was launched into the firehouse by a poorly timed explosion.

Graham stole a beer from one of the open containers, along with taking the red bulls and combos upstairs to his desk in Heatwave's office.

Raf was, for the time being, perched on Ratchet's shoulder, being fed combos and Kool-aid from a water bottle.

He sent Graham an email with the textbook he and Ratchet wrote on translating cybertronian dialects into English.

Frankie came upstairs to ask Raf a question. "Hey Raf, why can't we go outside?"

"Miko, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead are messing around with c4 ratios while we get enough beer cans prepped."

"Why her?"

Raf popped another combo into his mouth and washed it down with Kool-aid. His hands were shaking almost as bad as Graham's. "Frankie, me, Miko, and Jack have been working for the war effort since I was ten. We know how to duck and cover. You do not."

"Frankie, bring these cans downstairs for my dad to prime." Graham said, handing her a few red bull cans. Frankie decided that questions were a bad idea. She took the cans and went back downstairs to hang out with Cody.

Meanwhile, at Arcee's makeshift shooting range, Arcee was teaching the Rescue Bots how to make a vehicon spin out using the foam cannons.

Jack was punctuating each of Arcee's points with his shotgun, shredding the totaled cars Salvage brought from the mainland to use for target practice with modified ammunition that had the effect of bird shot on a vehicon's plating, leaving dozens of holes in a single shot. A shot to the face was fatal, as they were made to destroy their visors and shred their processors. Jack explained all of this in a matter of fact way when Heatwave asked why Wheeljack made him a shotgun instead of a machine gun.

"Hey Jack!" Blurr yelled.

Jack put the gun down and took out his earplugs.

"What do you want, Blurr?" He said. He knew Blurr for all of twenty minutes but already had mentally given him the award for the most annoying bot he had ever met.

"What's your most badass moment fighting alongside Arcee?"

"Fine, I'll tell you something good. One time I got stranded from Arcee with a con on my tail during a battle. Optimus had knocked off one of Starscream's arms, so I used his missile launcher to shred the con to pieces. Happy?"

Blurr finally got it through his head that Jack and Arcee were not the kind of people to turn all their traumatic moments into fun stories.

Back at the firehouse, Chief primed Graham's empty red bull cans with a can of beer. He saw Cody and Frankie by the Kool-aid machine, and decided that it was time for a right of passage in the Burns family.

"Optimus, could you video the kids? Rite of passage, want to send to Doc later."

"Of course. What are you going to do?"

"Give them their first sip of alcohol. Not enough to have any sort of effect, just enough to make a point."

"And you do this?"

"Because it's hilarious to watch, and proves a point." Chief took out a pair of plastic shot glasses out of a cabinet in the garage. "Frankie, Cody, want to try a sip of beer?"

The faces they made when they tried the beer were priceless. Even Optimus chuckled at their sour faces.

"Point made?" Chief asked, taking a few soda cans out of the recycling.

"I am going to stick with Kool-aid." Frankie said.

"Kool-aid? Kool-aid is great. I'm not gonna try that again." Cody said.

At five, Dani went out with Bumblebee to get Burger King for everyone. Raf and Cody both decorated Optimus and Ratchet's head fins with Burger King crowns.

At around midnight, long after the bomb experiments had been perfected, June went upstairs and dragged Raf off the computer and into Cody's room for some sleep. He slept for all of four hours before Blades caught him sneaking back into Heatwave's office.

"Raf, it's bedtime." Blades said.

June sighed. "Blades, don't bother. Raf, it's 4 am. No more Kool-Aid, and if you fall asleep, you fall asleep."

Raf nodded and climbed the stairs up to join Graham in making timers for said road bombs.

Kade was sleeping on the couch, having a few beers to ignore the sheer amount of crazy going on. Between the dread of the coming invasion, the beer being available, a desire to get rid of said beer, he would rather not be entirely sober. Cody had drawn a mustache on him after he fell asleep at eight.

Cody and Frankie had crashed at eleven, the sheer amount of Kool-aid they drank catching up to them.

The cons came early.

The afternoon of the second day, Bumblebee killed and brought back two vehicon scouts.

"Whelp, that was nice while it lasted." Wheeljack said.

"Jack, Miko, be ready to roll in twenty." Arcee yelled.

Miko slipped on the apex armor, and Jack slung the shotgun over his shoulder.

The Nemesis dropped its soldiers, and the Rescue Bots watched first hand how a simple beer can road bomb can turn a vehicon into a tower of blue flames.

Jack rode Arcee and shot vehicons in the same way you would do archery on the back of a horse.

The battle went quickly, as that was not the point of the fic, and Optimus managed to stab Megatron in the gut before he sounded a retreat, so that was great.

The townspeople were returned to their homes. Luckily, the vehicons didn't burn the place, and everything was contained to the roads. The blaster stains on bricks might need some painting, though.

The Burns were left with their house absolutely littered with scrap metal and wrappers. The very hungover Kade sitting in the corner was a nice touch, and Heatwave will have to clear his browser history.

But hey, no one was dead except twenty five vehicons.

[lewis-winters]

Day 16: Victory

Part of my OC-tober 2022 (that will get fucking finished in 2024 so help me god)! Another Baldur's Gate 3 one, folks!

This was just an excuse to write a Tadfools puppy pile and also a little dropped hint to whatever is going on between Halsin/my Tav. Again, some Bloodweave in there. Because I care them. And Shadowheart being clingy, because I like that, too. Team As Family, of course.

Also! A tiny depiction of a stray headcanon of mine: being a particularly stubborn and petty godless Paladin means breaking the habit of using gods’ names in vain so, Pasiphaë often incites the ‘Great fuck’ or ‘Holy shit’ when truly exasperated or in a situation that might have had her previously calling for Ilmater. She does this out of spite. I love her.

tw: allusions to Astarion’s whole backstory; they’re all traumatized and pretending so hard that they aren’t

As soon as the sun sets, they go and set Cazador’s Palace ablaze.

Between Gale’s fireball, Shadowheart’s conjured elemental, a gallon of gasoline Astarion had filched from an abandoned food stall, and their overall enthusiasm, they make quick work of the old place in little under two hours. With the amount of destruction that has been wrought upon the city already, nobody bats an eye at the raging flames, nor at the four lunatics that started it. The only ones who do are their Harper allies, who find them sitting together on the Lower City Wall a relatively safe distance away, surveying their handiwork from under some curtains they’d stolen from the ballroom and are now using as blankets to keep warm.

“We were wondering where you were,” Jaheira sighs, making herself comfortable on the ground with them as the rest of her team scouts ahead, checking to make sure the damage doesn’t spread anywhere else. “When we saw the brain fall, our first thought was to search for you in the Chionthar’s waters. Were you here the whole time?”

Nobody answers for a long moment. Nobody moves. They simply watch the flames, its blaze and its warmth enough to evoke the sun.

Finally, Pasiphaë blinks, slowly, like she’s just been awoken from a dream. “We hid by the docks until the sun set,” she tells Jaheira, flatly. “Slept some.”

What a sorry sight they must have been: huddled together behind some barrels and crates like a litter of abandoned kittens, licking their wounds and attempting to crawl into each other’s skin—the very antithesis to the image of victory.

They couldn’t help it, though; the overwhelming silence in their minds where six other presences had been was disconcerting, to say the least. After nearly a year of sharing their tadpole telepathic link, suddenly being unable to feel each other, mentally, incited a desire in all of them to feel each other tangibly, instead. Even Astarion, who in different circumstances would have turned his nose up at the mere idea of cuddling, did not protest when Shadowheart so much as crawled into his lap, and simply turned his face into the crook of Gale’s neck while Pasiphaë circled her arms around all of them best she could. It was difficult, too, to simply dismiss the absent pieces of their seven-way connection. Pasiphaë had wondered, aloud, if Wyll and Karlach also felt the loss. Or if Lae’zel missed it, now, with as much intensity as she had despised it, then. Nobody had wanted to follow that trail of thought.

It ached too much.

Instead, they’d made plans. Serious ones at first, with the Crown of Karsus still in pieces in the Chionthar and majority of the city reduced to rubble and ruin. But the more they talked of it, the more they went in circles. Those plans were for a future a bit farther from reach. Complicated. They wanted—needed something simple.

Shadowheart had been the one to suggest burning Cazador’s Palace to the ground; arson sounded much more invigorating than drinking themselves into a stupor at the nearest tavern. Once they’d unanimously agreed, they’d quickly fallen asleep, tucked tightly against each other. Waiting out the sun.

“I’m sorry,” Pasiphaë tells Jaheira. “We worried you, didn’t we?”

“No more than you usually do,” Jaheira says, waving a dismissive hand. To Astarion, she asks; “do you intend to see this blaze all the way through to its ashes?”

“Not if you promise something better, darling,” Astarion shrugs. He’s managed to slot himself sideways upon Gale’s lap, arms wrapped around his wizard’s neck, legs slung over thighs. Nuzzling into him, he recalls; “what was it? A night of hedonistic debauchery?”

Gale has his eyes closed, weary. “Hm. I think you have to count me out this time, ‘Star.”

“The short length of your sentences are starting to concern me, Gale,” Shadowheart says, from her spot against Pasiphaë, her arm intertwined with hers. Her head on her shoulder. “So long as this hedonistic debauchery involves a bed—”

Astarion snorts, an undignified sound. “How straight forward of you, Shadowheart.”

“Is the Elfsong still standing?” Pasiphaë asks Jaheira, ignoring the new wave of bickering that’s begun.

“Tall and proud, with barely a scratch,” Jaheira tells her. “I must warn you, though. A difficult conversation awaits you there.”

The bickering ceases and three pairs of curious ears perk up. Pasiphaë struggles not to roll her eyes. “For tomorrow,” she says, to both Jaheira and audience, before stretching her legs out with a groan. “For now: home. And rest.”

They get up with some struggle, sore and tired, pins and needles rushing through their stiff limbs as they pick their way through the smoking city toward camp. They cling to each other still, even when it makes walking through narrow alley ways tough. But it doesn’t slow them down at all. The moon has barely made it up into the sky before the Elfsong finally looms before them, a welcome sight.

Halsin is waiting for them at the entrance, whole, largely unharmed, and pacing. He hasn’t clocked them yet.

“You don’t have to engage him,” Gale reassures her with a whisper. “Halsin has always been a reasonable man; if we were to tell him that you wish to be left alone tonight, he would no doubt honor that request.”

“You don’t have to get between us,” Pasiphaë tells him. “But I appreciate it.”

Luckily, it doesn’t come to that—before she can even so much as make eye contact with the druid, the door of the Elfsong opens, and her children spill out.

“Mama,” Serafina gasps in Elvish, as she and her brother practically throw themselves at Pasiphaë. They’re not quite as small as they used to be, but Pasiphaë still catches them well enough and only stumbles a bit. “Phaë, oh thank the goddess, we thought you—I thought—”

“Oh, my baby,” Pasiphaë coos, holding her close as she begins to cry. “It’s alright. I’m alright. We’re alright.”

Everybody graciously gives them privacy—though from the corner of her eye she sees Halsin hesitate, just a moment, before Jaheira pulls him inside the building—leaving them to relocate to one of the tables still intact out front, waiting out the worst of the water works as Serafina blubbers and hiccups her way through words. By the time she’s calmed down, the world about them has quieted into a near hush, sans perhaps some lucky crickets. It’s still quite early into the evening, but even for a city as robust and bustling as Baldur’s Gate, being invaded by an army of cultists and mind-flayers would significantly damper the night life. On the bright side, there’s less vampire spawn and Bhaal followers in it, now. “This city is not so bad,” Pasiphaë snorts. “Now that we cleaned it up, some, I mean.”

“I’m sick of it,” Serafina sniffles, shaking her head. “I think. I think it’s about time I moved.”

Xenodius chuckles. “I was just jesting about that, you know?”

“No. I know you were. But I’m not so stubborn now as to dismiss the wisdom behind the jest. Besides,” Serafina smiles. “Phaë’s wizard has sold me on the idea of Waterdeep.”

“Well. It’s not Neverwinter.” But at least it isn’t the fucking Gate, goes unsaid.

“I want you to come with me, Phaë.”

Pasiphaë blinks. Then blinks some more. “You—”

“Please don’t say you want me to have a life of my own. I have that. I’d still like for you to be in it.”

“I… wasn’t going to say that,” Pasiphaë lies, grasping for other arguments she might have. “It’s just… Waterdeep is so awfully far, linnon dithen, and the house—who will take care of the house?”

“I will!” Xenodius protests. “I’ve inherited your propensity for bringing home strays, you know. Elias and I will need more space, soon.” He reaches out and takes Pasiphaë’s hand. “That house is too big for you, Phaë.”

He does have a point. But Pasiphaë isn’t going to give them both the satisfaction of being right without working for it, just a bit. “Have you two been talking about me behind my back?”

“Of course.”

Pasiphaë rolls her eyes. “Such brats.”

“We were just worried about you,” Serafina says, so, so patient. Since when has she become so patient? All at once, Pasiphaë’s throat tightens with emotion, and she has to blink rapidly to keep it all at bay. “That house… it has a lot of happy memories. But there are many bad ones, too. I lost Phaedra and Mel in that house. I thought I lost you in that house—” Pasiphaë winces. “—There’s been more bad than good that’s happened there, recently. I don’t like the idea of you wallowing in that for the rest of your life. Perhaps it’s time for some where new?”

“Sera—”

“Or you can go with Halsin, if that’s what you want!”

Pasiphaë feels like her heart’s been tossed into the air. “What.”

“I mean. I thought—” Serafina fidgets, her turn now to grasp for something to say. “You know I don’t mind, right? You aren’t… I don’t think you’re replacing Mel at all! Odi doesn’t, either.”

Xenodius nods, enthusiastically. “I think he’s nice, Mama.”

Oh, great fuck, deliver her. “I am not ready to have this conversation with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because Halsin and I are most definitely not like that.” She doesn’t try and specify what that means, afraid to lose the plausible deniability in lacking a proper label.

Despite her efforts, though, the siblings seem to understand it perfectly. Exchanging glances that are a bit too knowing for her comfort, they look to her, frowning. “Oh?” Sera says, an eyebrow raised. “I… Are you sure?”

Pasiphaë flounders for an answer. She can’t find one, so she just doesn’t answer at all.

They stay for a few more moments, before Pasiphaë’s growling stomach and growing anxiety prompts them to go inside. Everybody else is waiting around the fire pit for them, idly chatting between themselves. Shadowheart has the Owlbear sprawled across her lap while Astarion has Scratch in his. Tara has found Gale as well, kneading biscuits into his lap while meowing and mrrp-ing what Pasiphaë suspects to be admonishments and endearments.

Through all this, Halsin is cradling a slumbering Yenna, the child the only thing keeping him from getting up and… well. Pasiphaë isn’t sure what he wants to do. From the look on his face, she thinks he might want to kiss her. Or maybe tell her that he never wants to see her again. It would take more than a cursory look for Pasiphaë to determine which it really is, but she’s not ready to take more than a glance. Especially with everybody else discretely staring and wondering too loud without saying a word.

Pasiphaë looks at Jaheira, and sure enough, the druid is looking at her already, an eyebrow raised in question. Pasiphaë shakes her head. Jaheira rolls her eyes.

Dinner is a subdued affair. Nobody really wants to talk all that much. Or eat much, either. But Odi’s paternal instincts kick in, and he forces them to stomach a few bites, even when the tavern’s stew is a bit too bland for their tastes. Serafina gives up some of her own blood for Astarion’s meal, and Pasiphaë hugs her daughter extra tight to thank her for her generosity.

“It’s nothing,” Sera tells her, and Astarion, too. She smiles at him, and for a moment looks like she wants to say more, but thinks better of it. “You’re… uh. You’re welcome.” Astarion appears grateful for her intuition.

Sleep comes quick. They’re less huddled together about it, with Gale and Astarion retiring together to their own cot while Pasiphaë acquires both her children and Shadowheart in hers. Pasiphaë wants to grumble something about being made into an elf-sized teddy bear by two fully grown elves far too old to be sleeping in their mother’s bed, but decides to keep it to herself. Shadowheart is still grieving the loss of her parents after all, it’s no use accidentally prodding that wound for the sake of faux-surliness. If she could help curb that by holding her the way she did her own children after a particularly nasty nightmare, then Pasiphaë resolutely doesn’t mind being slowly crushed to death. They push together three cots to fit all of them together with Pasiphaë in the middle—and if it so happens to be within sight of Gale and Astarion’s cot and Halsin’s place by the fire, well. Nobody says anything.

They let exhaustion take them as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

--

Linnon dithen means ‘little singer’ in Tolkein's Sindarin. Forgotten Realms doesn’t actually have any official Elvish conlang (aside from the few official words in that one dictionary), so I substituted it with Sindarin instead.

Serafina also switches between calling her mother(s) Mama and their nicknames, while Odi prefers to just call them Mama. Pasiphaë and Melisandre had really tumultuous relationships with their own parents/guardians and I imagine weren’t so precious about parental monikers as a result. Odi prefers calling them Mama, though. I think that's just the kind of person he is. To their other children (Sera and Phaedra), they were Mama in times of heightened emotion while any other time they were Phaë and Mel.