#Wet Room Drainage

[vinciwolf]

Three Is a Magic Number

Recom!Miles Quaritch x (fem)Reader x Recom!Lyle Wainfleet

Warnings: SMUT, NSFT, THREESOME, sex, voyeurism, general cussing, blowjob, piv, anal, dom/sub, tail pulling, rough sex, spanking, dirty talk, fingering, masturbation, reader is female, Jesus take the whole ass car

Tags: @justasimps-blog​ @whxre-bxby​ @atwow69​ @nanamislut321​ @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed​ @mechformers​ @luciddasher​

Being a newly awoken Recom, it wasn’t your intent when you caught the attention of the two fiercest Marines in the Deja Blu team. Whenever you would notice Quaritch side eyeing your figure from across the room, you hadn’t seen the other pair of eyes that equally shared that hint of yearning for your consideration. It wasn’t a competition to see who would get into your pants the fastest, neither Miles or Lyle knew that they BOTH had an infatuation with the same person.

However, it was Miles who approached you first. And first come, first serve.

Downtime was fleeting between missions, but he found a way to hint the obvious attraction he had for you. There would be a brisk tap on your elbow to make space for him at the briefing table, or your favorite, the gentle snatch of your tail when the two of you passed each other alone in the hallway. It was subtle… to keep suspicions from festering. Touch was hard when others were around but exhilarating when eyes could not see or hear.

The shower was your favorite spot for that.

"Ah, ah, AH!" you panted while being driven against the shower floor, legs hoisted up by Miles' tight grip as he quickly speared himself into you, the splatter of water coming from the showerhead the only other noise to be heard in this secret alone time. Or so you two thought was ‘alone.’

There, standing a few stalls down, Wainfleet had been fisting himself roughly to the sounds of your echoing whines, the butt of his fangs driving ever deeper into his bottom lip to muffle his arousal. Jealously wasn’t in his wheel of emotions, but he was a little disappointed that his superior had wooed you so easily when it was difficult for him to open up around you. Over time, he embraced the fact that he would have to admire you from afar, even if that meant also hearing Miles seethe and growl on top of you when plowing your lovely pussy that sounded so divine with the wet noises it emitted. Pressing a thumb into the head of his length, he ejaculated into the drainage, a hand bracing on the tile wall as he came hard.

A few days had gone by and you were jogging along the perimeter of Bridgehead with Z-dog and Walker, still heating up in the cheeks as your mind was occupied by the shower incident. If only these two women new that you had been fucking their superior and having constant horny thoughts about the image of his cock. Did they know what it looked like? How good he sounded whenever you kissed the tip before devouring it whole with your tiny mouth. Another wave of blissful shame deepened the color of your face when Z-dog asked you what had gotten you biting your lip. You hadn’t realized that your daydreaming expressed itself so shamelessly in front of her and Walker.

“Oh, just thinking~” you went along, waving her off.

Then the jog came to a standstill.

“Yeah? Thinking about someone?” her tone was playfully curious, egging you to go on.

“Thinking about Wainfleet?” Walker smiled, teasing.

“Oh, my goodness! It happened! You two finally fucked!” Z-dog chimed excitingly.

If your cheeks were a deep lavender, they sunk even farther down into the dark tones of purple at this point while the two Recoms joked about your love life, only to your shock that they got the wrong person mixed up with Miles.

“Oh, god, we broke her, Z!” Walker laughed.

“No, no, we didn’t fuck! You got—” you paused yourself from blurting out ‘you got the wrong person’ like an idiot. “You got it all wrong!”

“What’s there to get wrong?” the tattooed one exclaimed puzzled. “Do you see the way he looks at you? If y’all haven’t fucked already, I’d be surprised because that man is in love.”

This was all a little overwhelming and sudden to hear. It took everything not to run as you quizzed and reflected on the two Recoms’ indirect confession for Lyle. Had you really been that stiff not notice his movements or his gaze that screamed his heart wanting you to notice him. This pissed you off that you were so entangled with the Colonel that you didn’t realize the other affectionate Marine in front of you this whole damn time.

“Anyway, let’s finish,” Z-dog said to then hop into a run as Walker followed suit.

Not a moment longer, you joined them from behind, mind still in thought at how Lyle liked you from afar. Your chest ached with guilt when you thought maybe he knew and didn’t confess because he understood you had been heels to Jesus for another man, more specifically his closest friend.

~

After completing your run, drenched in sweat, you headed to your private shower in your room. The sports bra you flung to the floor make a smack as you undressed and turned over the handle to splash your face with hot water, hands scrubbing your body furiously as you were still tossing over what the two Recoms had said earlier. It made you angry, sad, and anxious, fogging your mind up trying to figure out when Lyle had started acting differently, and if you DID notice but never paid proper attention. This more your mind fell down the rabbit hole, the more you understood, and the more you found yourself falling little by little for the poor Corporal. Had you had feelings for him all along and not realized? He was handsome and nice to be around, always cracking jokes. Maybe you could love him eventually just like you had with Miles.

There was a click to your room door as it slowly slid open, unbeknownst to your riled up mind occupied by washing away the day and your anxiety. Once you were clean, you dried yourself off, still wiping the backside of your ear, and stepped into your empty room, only to halt when your eyes landed on Miles and Lyle filling the tiny space, towel slowly inching down to try and cover your naked tits and privates, cheeks flushing hot. Your tail curled at the sight of them. They were away on a mission but guessing they are here with you in your quarters, alone, as you were naked, you guessed the mission was a success. Nonetheless, your body reacted, mouth swallowing deeply, as the two Marines were in their basics. Lyle had his cargo pants and not a single article covering his topside making your heart jump at how toned he was, a V of muscles disappearing into his beltline. Miles had a tank top on, big arms braced on the hip, and pants hugging his tight waist just right that had your folds excited, almost making you forget that you were naked and vulnerable.

“We had a talk,” Miles gravelly voice filled the room.

That was all that was said before Lyle stepped forward, took your face, and kissed you, tongue shoving deep into your mouth, your towel falling from your hands as your mind soared. His tongue was needy and coached yours around his in a fiery dance that had your hands trembling as they wrapped around his neck before your knees could give out.

It definitely wasn’t your plan to fall for one of the top agents on the Deja Blu team, let alone having his second in command fall for you as well. But nevertheless, here you were, on your knees, cock stuffed balls deep in your mouth while nipples were pinched and tugged from the Colonel at your back.

"Fuck, Boss, her mouth does feel amazing~"

Eyes blurry, it would be an understatement if it was said that the tears begging to spill down your overheated face were hard to suppress considering you were choking happily on the length that passed itself in and out your mouth with glee from the Corporal who groaned at the sight of your face around his manhood. Feeling a tear about to fall, you scrunched your eyes and pleaded that it would stay inside your eyeball. Lyle helped you with a thumb swiping the ball of your cheek to keep that pretty face clean of any wetness that wasn't from him, like the mixture of semen and drool leaking from your swollen lips as you delightfully whimpered sucking him up. Then a hand landed a harsh blow to the soft flesh of your ass, already angry and burning from previous disciplinary swipes to your rear whenever you allowed a drop to shed. It took many hits, but you learned, leaving your one cheek painful and aching.

Wetness pooled onto the huge, bare thigh that sat beneath your rear, pussy clenching around nothing, when you began to imagine the Corporal’s cock in your mouth inside your folds instead as, feeling the hips near your face sputter, you knew he was about to cum any minute.

“Not yet,” Miles commanded before popping you off his cock, a string of saliva dangling between your mouth and the tip. “It feels better when you’re inside her.”

Lyle tsked trying to prevent his cock from jutting his excitement on your face. He wanted to save that for later, for you, but it was hard when he took in the sloppy mess you were on his superior’s leg on the floor, as the bed was too small for three to share. Pink flashed over his bottom lip from the neediness you displayed. Wanting to give you everything, he slouched to your position onto his knees, cock still straight and weeping, wiped your face with his fingers, then embraced your lips into another breathy kiss causing you to mewl into him as he dragged his tongue around the edge of your mouth.

Being pulled into the Corporal’s lap, nothing could prepare your mind before you felt his hardness nudge against your clit as it sat upright between the small space of your legs wrapped around the body in front of you. Heat swelled your face, hands bracing his chest, as you melted further into his body edging you closer to him, hands raking down the tenderness of your backside. It was lengthy and squished into your mound that made your head dizzy. You wanted him inside you so bad, voice in your throat needy trying to get more from the Marine with every swab of your tongue along his. He rumbled out his chest and indented your skin in response, but the Colonel started to speak from behind, eyes dark and blown out from your squirming form.

“Being such a good girl, imma prep you first,” the Colonel said. “He’s gonna be big for that tight hole….” Then he chuckled. “I would know. He’s actually a good lover.”

Breaking away, your heavy lids blinked slowly at the thought of Miles and Lyle fucking in the woods while away on their previous assignment. The Recom at your front smirked.

“Oh, yeah, babygirl, we exchanged boners while away.”

At that, the world tilted until you were horizontal with the ground from Lyle leaning back onto the cool floor taking you with him, your arms folded under your breasts and over his chest to support yourself, tongue continuing to lap and travel the expanse of your mouth through the quick change in position. Then a light cry fled your lungs when the base of your tail was used to hoist your rear into the air under your knees.

Miles’ eyes grew hungry when he spread your cheeks and found the mess that leaked from your folds. It was everywhere between your thighs and covered a good portion of your plush crack making for a perfect entrance as his two long fingers played with it before sliding into your cunt in a single push. You didn’t resist, tilting yourself into his fingers that pumped you full, whining from the overwhelming emotions their passage going in and out of your slit gave. It was addicting having your like this in such an obedient angle, taking him without much complaint and eager for him to make the most of your body. Your voice got higher when his fingers plunged you nearer to falling off Lyle, the Corporal’s fingers interlocking with yours as you rocked yourself on top of him to completion. Only when you calmed down, the pads of the Colonel fingers helping you through your spell of pleasure, did he exit, listening to you below panting into Lyle’s chest. Cum covered his digits to then be cleaned off with the hard suck of his lips. Now he was painfully stiff and in need of a release himself.

“I’d say she’s ready for you, Wainfleet,” his Boss grinned at him.

For so long, his hand was his only pathway to quell his needs. There were days when he’d desperately try to replace his palm with what he’d imagine your walls accepting him in from tip to base would feel like. Now that Lyle had you, he was nervous, yet excitement drew him to you. Curiosity led him to scoop you up in his arms to then gently place you on the floor with your ass facing his hips, hands trembling when he took your waist. No number of mental fantasies could prepare him for the moment the mushroomed tip of his cock passed your folds and descended into a warm, velvety bliss that had his eyes rolling backwards.

You took him with a drawn-out moan, nails scraping the hard floor as the shaft stretched you a bit and carried you to the burning edge. He was so long and heavy and took his time filling the void until you could feel his sack brush your clit. There was a pause as the Recom savored this moment. You enjoyed the sensation of him settled inside you and figured quickly that he’d also want to appreciate this for a few seconds. It was your first time with him, causing a deep blush to spread into your features as your nose nudged the floor in your attempt to hide your delight. Then the cock moved having you see stars.

Lyle watched where you were joined and ate with his eyes how you hugged him and sucked him in with every thrust. Each buck got him groaning with the way you clenched and grabbed him so tightly and it had his brain thinking of nothing but having his cum deep inside you. After not too long, the Recom’s body flushed itself skin to skin with your backside, his cheek pressing near yours as he panted into your ear sending bursts of arousal through your core. He was quick and desperate, ramming your cunt with everything he had. Your head was blistering with your heart taking flight while your mind was altered by the large shaft hitting just the right angle.

“F-fuck-right there-don’t stop-don’t stop!” you begged.

Miles gripped just below the fuzzy tip of his subordinate’s tail and yanked it, getting from him a husky grunt. The puckered hole of his ass needed some stretching first, so the Colonel gathered some of the slick that was spilling from your stuffed folds to hastily prep the Corporal. If the throaty and rough sounds blowing into the shell of your ear were low, they got deeper as Lyle took his superior’s cock with one push. Still holding onto the tail that tried to flick in his grasp, Miles pounded into the Recom at a rapid pace.

“Oh, fuck, you’re still tight for someone who took my girth in the woods.”

The air was filled with the lewd sounds of bodies fucking each other and heavy panting. Your face dripped with sweat with a hint of a smile tugging at the edge of your mouth as your face was smushed against Lyle’s who bated hotly into your cheek, both your faces flushed with a deep cobalt. Your hand had stretched out to pillow your head instead of on the floor to which gave the Corporal space to bend his arm underneath your armpit and curl himself nearer to you in this heated mess. His other arm snaked around your stomach and prodded your hardened clit, egging a sweet whine to flow from your mouth which had him frantically circling an orgasm out of you for the second time. You never knew your day would end up like this – in the thralls with two of the deadliest RDA personnel, but you couldn’t be happier. The air was thick and warm and nothing but the sway and coupling of these three bodies could be heard in your ears. You wanted to be used, you wanted Lyle to ruin you.

“I’m-I’m close-fuck I’m close-where!?” he blushed deeply as he whimpered beside you.

“Inside,” you breathed.

Miles rutted faster as he came unglued and spilled himself with a shameless howl.

Lyle couldn’t hold himself any longer and shot his release into your walls making you cry. His cum felt amazing while it pulsated and filled you to the brim, some flooding out and down your clenched stomach.

After that, you slumped, limbs weak, feeling amazing. The Colonel pulled out first and sat on your bed with a satisfied sigh. The Recom on top of you pushed himself up and delicately pried his cock from your relaxed cunt, having enough strength to take you into his arms and place you on the bed with Miles as the two went to work cleaning you up. It was a shame thought Lyle, having to wipe up his cum from your beautifully glistening lips. He would’ve preferred to stuff it back in, but he knew he’d be back to fill up that pretty pussy again.

That night, after you gave the two Recoms goodbye kisses, you had the best sleep of your life.

~

Jogging ahead of Z-dog and Walker, this was the first time in weeks that you had outpaced the two in a run. The tattooed Recom looked over too her friend and they both shared a look of oddity, the muscular one bunching her shoulders up to indicate that she didn’t know why you were acting so spunky today.

Knowing that they most definitely noticed your good mood today, a grin spread across your features. This time, they didn’t mix up any facts. You were happy, but little did they know that the source of that joy came from the cum stuffed panties beneath your sweatpants, courtesy of Miles and Lyle who fucked you that morning ‘til both their seed dripped out your cunt.

[drakulana]

when you're sick // law x gn! reader drabble

⚝ summary: you get sick and law takes care of you, gn! reader

⚝ content: sick reader, no pronouns, no y/n, law takes care of you, very short and sweet!

⚝ wc: 855

⚝ a/n: i've been sick so this is just something a little fun i wrote. i hope you enjoy!!

✩࿐

you never really took getting sick seriously. it didn’t happen often, and when it did, it usually passed within a couple days. it started out as the sniffles. you thought it was just a cold, so you went and got some cold medicine from the infirmary. it wasn’t something you thought was worth telling your captain. you made it through the day completing all your tasks without any problem, thankful to fall into bed that night. the next morning, you woke up with a raging headache. it was undoubtedly from all the sinus pressure that had set in while you were asleep. you were hoping to sleep off the sickness, but instead it presented a new symptom. the headache. still, you didn’t tell your captain. there was no reason to bother him about a headache when you could just go into the infirmary and get some more medicine. so that’s what you did. you took the same cold medicine as yesterday, and took some with you for later on in the day. as the day went on, you could feel your symptoms growing worse. the stuffy nose turned into constant sneezing. the drainage turned into a bit of a nasty cough, and the sinus pressure turned into puffy watery eyes. for a second, going to see your captain crossed your mind, but it was so late now. so you went to bed, hoping to sleep off whatever ailment you had caught, once again.

you woke up in a cold sweat. your bedsheets and blankets stuck to you, and chills had overtaken your body. your body ached. the dim light pouring in from under the door hurt to even look at. your head felt like it had been split open. the sounds of your crewmates chattering and walking up and down the corridors getting ready to work was amplified, and was not aiding your headache in the slightest. it was time to get up. it was time to go to work, but you seemed to be almost bed ridden. you cursed yourself. you knew as soon as your captain noticed you weren't present he would come looking for you. he was not going to be happy that you failed to tell him that you were sick. until then, you decided that you were going to get some rest. you closed your eyes, and let the darkness consume you.

you spent the next hour in and out of sleep. no matter what position you were in, everything hurt. you could hear footsteps approaching your room. a knock sounded on the metal door, making you groan a weak come in, at whoever was at the door. you knew who was at the door before they even knocked. it was law.

the harsh white light from the hallway spilled into your room, making you shield your eyes. the light was blinding, and just as you thought it couldn't get worse, law flicked on the light switch in the room. "please turn the light off," you croaked out at your captain to which he complied, mumbling a soft apology. he walked over to your bed, looking down at your sick figure. "why didn't you tell me you were sick?" he tutted, reaching down to feel your forehead. he sucked in a breath at the feeling of your burning skin. his hands were cold, and you leaned into the soothing touch. "you have a fever," he stated the obvious. he removed his hand from your head and let out a sigh before turning on his heel and leaving, wordlessly. shutting the door behind him, the darkness of the room brought relief to the pounding in your head. however, it didn't last long. a few minutes later your captain was back. he had a wet washcloth in hand, a thermometer, some medicine, and some water in hand. he pulled up a chair next to your bed, laying the cool washcloth across your head. the coolness soothed the pounding just enough for you to be able to relax a bit. "open," law commanded you, and you complied, opening your mouth. "under your tongue," he commanded once again, as he put the thermometer in your mouth. you sat there with the thermometer in your mouth for a minute before law checked it, "102 degrees. you really should have come and gotten me whenever you first started feeling sick. we could have avoided this," he lectured. a quiet, i'm sorry, left your raw throat. law looked down at you, pitifully. "drink this water, and take these," law opened the water bottle, and poured two pills into his palm. he helped you sit up, his cool hands resting on your back. his touch almost relieved the aching in your back, rubbing light circles as you took the medicine. law helped you lay back down, fixing the blankets around you. "now rest," he told you as he reached over to the bookshelf across from the bed and grabbed a book, "i'll be here if you need anything," he told you. having no energy to protest, you closed your eyes and let the black consume your aching body.

✩࿐

@drakulana 2024 // i do not give permission to copy, translate, or repost, any of my content without my consent

Taglist: @shuujin , @pinksaiyans , @buttmishaaaa, @tokaio, @augustanna, @sukilovesyou, @mschoiyuki, @songinabottle , @starlightanyaaa, @elen-alambil, @theladyofmanyfandomsfanfiction

[sebsallowapologist]

Allergies

Imagine MC gets a cat during sixth year. 

Quick little sfw drabble inspired by this beautiful art from @jikasei_san

Sebastian thought it was cute that his girlfriend would pet nearly every passing cat in Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, even if it meant that they would be late for class it was worth it to hear her squeal when the cat would rub their face up against her hand. 

While he thought her devotion to them was cute, Sebastian had always avoided the cats on campus. Cats were fine he supposed, but the red itchy eyes and dripping nose they would give him made him keep his distance.

It had never been much of an issue, as long as he didn’t touch any cats he wouldn’t have any problems, and that worked fine until one day his girlfriend came back to the Slytherin common room with a frail little orange patterned kitten, who looked too small to even walk properly. 

With tears in her eyes she told her boyfriend and Ominis about finding the little guy sitting outside a drainage port, wet and shaking. She had picked the little thing up and wrapped it in her green scarf. Imelda had jumped up to help her clean off and care for the kitten in the girl’s bathroom. 

“You’re fucked.” Is all Ominis had to say to his best friend.

Sebastian had innocently tried to sway you from keeping the cat, telling you that the beasts you took care of with Poppy was enough, the cat might be better suited to live with the other cats on campus, but you were infatuated with the little thing and how could he really deny you anything. 

So his next maneuver was to just ignore the little thing. Once it had gotten a few days of love and feeding the little beast was a rocket, bouncing all over the common room, following her to the room of requirement, all over campus, she’s been started hiding the little guy in her robes so she could bring him to the library or class. Sebastian didn’t even need to touch the little thing, he was simply in it’s presence so often that his allergies had started acting up.

After the kitten had gotten slightly bigger, he started getting more adventurous. It was at this phase that the cat fell in love with Sebastian. They were constantly trying to crawl in his lap or lick his hands. Wanting to perch on the tall boy’s shoulder to get better vantage points of the common room. He almost felt bad for pushing the little guy away, but he was sick of all the itching. 

It doesn’t help that he can see the joy leaving his girlfriend’s eyes every time he pushes the cat away. He hadn’t wanted to break her heart by telling her that he was allergic, but he couldn’t take anymore sad eyes.

He swallows his pride and does research in the library, and gets to work on a potion to help with his allergies. He even brings Weasley into the project when his first few batches didn't go right. 

The first time he takes it Sebastian heads straight to the common room, finding his girlfriend and the kitten curled up on a sofa next to the fire. 

He sits down next to them and like clockwork the little kitten stands up and walks over, settling itself in Sebastian’s lap. 

“Oh!” She says and tries to shoo the cat away from him but Sebastian waves her off, petting the cat in his laugh. 

The little guy loudly purrs and MC lets out the cutest little giggle that makes it all worth it. 

[roguelov]

We know that Morpheus' sad wet cat mood literally floods the dreaming, but what if he makes his lover squirt so violently that it results in the torrential rain that floods part of the dreaming. Imagine Morpheus' inner smugness and reader's blush when Lucienne reports to him that he needs to address the drainage issues.

Anon what have you brought me? What thots have you inflicted onto me? I am totally sane about this

You didn’t even know it was possible, well you didn’t know two things were possible. One, the surprising and blissful orgasmic release that made you squirt, and two, the effect it brought upon onto the Dreaming. Was it truly your doing? Or maybe Dream? Dream who loved it so much that he unknowingly altered the Dreaming.

Well.

He did.

He did love it. He couldn’t help, but moan loudly at the sight.

But, all you knew was the torrential downpour that occurred seconds after, and how you both stood in the throne room after your fun watching as rain trickled in through the high vaulted ceiling. The rain from outside had yet to slow down. Staring up at the ceiling in a mixture of emotions, your attention shifted upon hearing the clacking of shoes. Lucienne strolled in with a clipboard in hand.

“Most of the castle has been flooded,” she stated, scanning over her list. “Nothing too serious, only minor flood damage. An easy fix.”

You glanced away, finding more interest in a puddle. Your body felt extremely hot and flushed.

Dream, however, kept his composure. “Of course, thank you, Lucienne. Please inform Mervyn to begin clean up, I will do my best here shortly to fix the issue.”

Lucienne nodded, then walked off.

Alone again, Dream turned his attention to you. His eyes twinkled with mischief. “My dear, look at what you’ve done.”

You whirled around, staring dumbfounded. “Me? No, no, this was your doing!”

He hummed, smirking a little. He reached out, trailing his fingers along your jaw to draw you close to him. His lips skimmed over yours. “Perhaps, it was a joint effort.”

[shiut]

I love chapter 5. There's just something about it going from a fairly goofy detective mystery to a horror thriller that's satisfyingly jarring.

I can only compare its ambient sense of isolation and discomfort akin to the atmosphere of a game called Inside. Even aside from the plot of zombies and human experimentation, sometimes it reminds me of the type of subtle audio and visual cues that are meant to make you feel unnerved as you move through the environment.

Which probably accounts for me somehow completely overlooking a very interesting detail the first time I played. I only noticed it while watching a friend's playthrough.

You follow Yakou to a building and get this very brief shot upon entering. The game starts you off just beyond this point where you proceed to the homunculus test site and find Huesca, the former CEO, Yakou, and the homunculus pods.

You then have to walk all the way back when the voice on the intercom suggests for you to hurry and find Kurumi, all the while remarking on your act of killing criminals as you make your way.

On your way out, you actually get to walk through this wet, red-painted room to make your way to the exit where you continue on to rejoin with Kurumi at the processing plant before finding out about the truth about the ingredients of the meat buns.

Wait, that is paint, right? Or rust? Why would I think otherwise?

In hindsight... well... the fresh red fluid and drainage grates on the floor certainly evoke the idea of a slaughterhouse.

The shutter of this room has a road that leads directly to the meat bun processing facility, right to where you find crates are stacked up outside.

These crates.

What was happening in that room?

The idea that Makoto was using that room as the slaughterhouse for the criminals before shipping them over to be processed in the meat bun factory is certainly unsettling.

He must be a very busy man. Wonder how he finds the time to pray each hour of the day.

[albeitinzane]

my top surgery recovery tips

alrighty gang! im one week post op and i have tips for anyone who might need them in the future. this is likely prone to be updated/reblogged with more tips in the future once i'm further in recovery.

keep in mind that even a day after surgery i was pretty mobile and was able to do most things by myself, so these tips may not be as helpful for older trans people who would be slower to bounce back, people who are chronically ill or disabled and already have trouble with movement or surgical recovery, or just other people who don't recover as quickly. different bodies will react differently to surgery.

i also have surgical drains, which not all surgeons will provide (but my surgeon gives them to all top surgery patients). they will have quite a few tips of their own because they're annoying to manage.

and lastly, i had double incision top surgery, but i didn't get nipple grafts. if you do have nipple grafts, you have to wait 2 weeks to shower instead of just 2 days, since the grafts can't get wet.

get lots of zip ups, button ups, and oversized shirts or tank tops.

for the first few days, you won't be able to reach your arms high enough to put a shirt on; at least, not without help, and it's very annoying to do. the best option is to get button-ups or zip-ups with wide shoulders that are easy to pull on. bathrobes are really nice too.

if the hospital doesn't provide you with gauze, it's good to buy some (and some waterproof medical tape to keep it there).

while i didn't need gauze after a few days to cover up the scars because they had glue protecting them, one of my drain sides leaked quite a bit, and it got super itchy if it wasn't cleaned up right away. if there was gauze soaking up the leaks before it got too far, it really cut down the itchiness, and made for less mess i had to clean up (which is its own annoying and uncomfortable process)

make sure you have sweatpants or baggy/comfortable pants on hand; stuff that you don't need a belt to wear.

putting on pants is a pain in the ass, so you won't want to have to change them constantly. it's good to have comfortable pants you can wear for a while without wanting or needing to change them. i have a lot of pajama pants and they have been my best friend.

put anything you need to access daily on a lower shelf.

most of my bathroom stuff is in a 3 shelf mirror cabinet, and while everything i needed was on either the first or second shelf, the second shelf was still annoying, painful, and difficult to reach. putting everything on an easily accessible shelf level or setting them lower (though not on the floor because bending down to pick stuff up is also annoying) is way easier.

baby wipes. so many baby wipes.

generally speaking, your skin will be sore but you won't feel it when you touch it because of nerve damage that just comes with surgery. but it's still really sensitive in areas that weren't operated on, so cleaning up any mess with baby wipes (especially if you got grafts and can't shower) which are soft on your skin but good at removing residue or anything sticky is very useful. they've saved me so many times when i had drainage leaks.

cough drops.

after surgery, you're likely going to have a sore throat because of anesthesia. it's good to have some cough drops or tea on hand to soothe it.

make a mini beside table (BEFORE SURGERY!) with any nighttime items or pain medication.

i had a little nighttime stand with snacks, my pain medication, water, my tablet and phone, and a charger. this made it very easy to get anything i needed without potentially having to get up and walk into another room to get whatever i needed instead.

make sure you're with a friend or relative who you're comfortable with seeing you exposed and who's able to take time off to help you with anything.

even with my mobility, there was still a good handful of things i couldn't do by myself that i needed help with. i often needed help getting dressed, i can't do dishes, i can't cook for myself, and early on, i was often so sore that i needed help getting out of bed. having someone you trust to help you do any of this is essential, but that's true for almost any surgery.

get a belt that can get wet.

if you have drains, but no grafts, and you want to shower, you're going to want a belt to attach your drains to while you shower. having them hang free is very anxiety-inducing (at least, for me), so you might not be able to clean up as well with a belt on, and it might feel really uncomfortable, but it's better than having them swing free and potentially get pulled out too early.

stay safe everyone, and happy recovery for everyone getting top surgery!

edit: if anyone who's also had top would like to reblog with their own tips, i'll be sure to reblog them!

[ancat-dubh]

Feel like every August since I've started practicing has been a season of madness/badness, which is a shame – the weather's been mostly lovely! I like the pace of the month! – but clocking that that's the case is making me feel a bit less insane and completely out of my body atm, as is my garden reflecting back my own Suffering Season for our first year together.

I've got an explosion of powdery mildew, little light speckles racing along my pumpkins and curling rot-smell into my sage, and all of my plants are some degree of yellowing, drooping, or creaking for my attention in the same pitch as my seized-up pelvic muscles and dull-hum brain. Wet grey English summer etc but also my rookie gardener impatience means I absolutely sacrificed better drainage and better timed co-planting for just getting things in the ground. Next year.

Today, though, I woke up to a flurry of arrivals, some planned, some surprises. The first sunflower, which I did NOT plant but appeared in the herb bed a good month after I'd planted other sunflowers for my Four Sisters bed; the first proper-red tomato, which I'm leaving another day before feeding to my boyfriend; the drama queen first tuft of corn, which literally made me gasp spotting her; last but certainly not least fucking WHEAT and WILD OATS?? Which, it turns out, have been growing out of the landlord-special rock-heap and I've only just noticed. Need to work out a proper introduction/greeting for the latter (suggestions welcome).

All of the arrivals were accompanied by orb-weavers (there's one just peeking out of the sunflower) – felt like a nice little nod from them after we re-formalised our indoor-truce yesterday. I leave them alone high in the corners of my room and they take care of enough mosquitos to justify keeping my window open at night, all v messy-goth couture. One big jumpscare fucker has decided to push the edges of our agreement by hanging out by my light switch. I've tried relocating him the past three nights in a row, but he's so quick I have to give it to him – okay girl, truce. We can only move as fast as each other.

[oftenwantedafton]

Moody and Gray - William Afton x Female Reader

Chapter 4

Rating - Explicit

Warning - sexual content

Also available on AO3

It’s already been one of those days.

You’ve overslept. Your walk to the bus stop concludes with a truck driving by too fast, disrupting a large puddle and drenching your work pants. Delightful.

“The dad at table seven is handsy. Watch out,” one of the servers greets you after you’ve hung your coat up in the locker room and tied your apron around your waist. Awesome.

“Excuse me, miss. This machine just ate all my son’s tickets and now it’s jammed. Can you get someone to fix this?”

You sigh, shoving your order pad back into your apron pocket. “I’ll ask.” You give table seven a wide berth as you pass. The guy has molester written all over him.

Not like your boss doesn’t like to get handsy too though, right? That was part of the reason you’d slept late. You’d spent a good hour in bed last night thinking about his mouth and his hands and rubbing circles over your clit until you’d eventually let yourself go, yelling his name while the throes of pleasure wracked your body. The neighbors must be wondering who William is now. Don’t start that again.

Your eyes flick up to the office. The lights are definitely off and the door is closed. The man you’re lusting after is not there.

Neither, apparently, is anyone from maintenance. ‘Out with the flu’ one of the custodians informs you.

You duck your head into the kitchen. “Has anyone seen Mr. Afton?”

One middle aged man looks up from sprinkling cheese atop a sauce laden raw pizza crust. “I wouldn't. He’s in a foul mood. I had to get him to sign for a delivery earlier and he just about took my head off.”

Wonderful. “I’ll take my chances. Where is he?”

The man shrugs. “Your funeral. He’s in Parts and Service.”

You groan inwardly. You’ve seen the service room only once, during your mandatory tour at orientation. No place you’ve ever had a reason to visit otherwise. It’s full of animatronic parts and endoskeletons that are infinitely more creepy than their fur covered counterparts on the center stage.

And now your employer is there, upset for fuck knows what reason. Fantastic.

Your pants make a soft swishing sound as the wet material rubs together. It’s cold and unpleasant and it reminds you of the day you’d had the drink poured on you last week. Nope, don’t go there.

You knock on the service room door. Receive no answer. Bite your bottom lip and try again. Still no response. You push and the door surrenders to your touch.

The room is large. Probably one of the larger areas in the restaurant aside from the dining room. There are a pair of garage doors at the far end for bringing in heavy equipment from outside. You can see William seated at one of the workstations, fiddling with something in front of him. You hear a metallic clicking sound and he curses, shoving the object across the desk away from him.

“Mr. Afton?”

He turns his head sharply at your intrusion. “What?”

“One of the ticket exchange machines is broken. A customer is complaining about it. No one from maintenance is in. I thought maybe you’d have a set of keys.”

He eases off the stool he’s perched on, a short drop to the concrete floor with those long limbs of his. “You were late again today.”

“Are you kidding me? My car, as you damn well know, is out of commission. I had to walk to the bus. I’m like wearing half of a dirty water puddle from Main Street because they never fix the drainage system.”

“I said no excuses.”

You scoff in disbelief. “Seriously?”

Your boss strides across the room, pushing the door behind you closed. “I would have given you a ride. Not that you’d probably be able to wake up at that hour. But still. Better than walking. If only you’d asked.”

You shake your head in disbelief. What was it with this guy? He really got off on the begging thing, didn’t he? “Didn’t think of it. Good to know for next time,” you say, attempting to sound casual, wondering why he’s just shut the door.

“There should not be a next time. Come here.” His voice is low. The British accent drags right against the space between your legs.

You step closer to him, because you want to and not because he’s demanded it, you tell yourself. His hands sit on your waist and he pushes you easily back against the door. The gray eyes are dark storm clouds today.

You tentatively rest a hand on the satin purple fabric of his vest, tucking your fingers underneath one edge so you can feel his chest through the long sleeve dress shirt he’s wearing, gathering a handful of the silk tie that’s the exact same dark violet shade. “You could have just tried to jumpstart my car, you know. I don’t think you minded the inconvenience of giving me a ride home half as much as you’re pretending.”

His fingernails dig into your scalp, palm pushing against your forehead as he tips your head back. “Didn’t think of it at the time. You should have invited me in,” he murmurs.

You wind the tie around your hand. “That’s moving a little fast, don’t you think?” He shrugs. “You ran away anyway.”

“I most certainly did not run away,” he growls.

“What’s got you so worked up today, Gray?”

He frowns a little over the new nickname, then nods, smiling slightly. “There’s an employee here that’s causing me a lot of grief.”

“Tell me who it is. I’ll sort them right out for you.”

“I think I can handle her.”

“You think so, huh?” You jerk on the tie and his face dips to capture your lips.

Toothpaste over coffee. No cigarette yet today. A soft moan that grabs something within you and twists. The hand still at your waist travels, following the curve of your buttocks. Something hard presses against you, on the opposite side from the order pad still tucked into your apron pocket.

“Let’s try again tonight. I’ll jump that rust bucket car of yours then follow you back. You invite me in. We’ll have…dinner or something.” His teeth pull your bottom lip. You like the promise behind that last part. Or something.

“That rust bucket is all I can afford because my boss is a cheap asshole.”

“You’re paid a standard wage. If you don’t get good tips that’s not my problem. Fuck.” You decide to stroke along that hard line pressing against his pants. He feels alarmingly large. He’s going to be a challenge in more ways than one.

“I deserve a raise.”

“For what? You’re late every day.”

“Not every day,” you protest. His tongue swipes your jaw and his hand moves from your ass to your crotch and your brain short circuits as the blood travels elsewhere.

“You have an attitude problem. You don’t participate in the team building exercises. You’re not even compliant with the dress code. Just look at you. You’re a mess,” he whispers against your ear, making you shiver. You should probably feel insulted, but you’re getting turned on by his degrading words instead. Was this going to be a new kink of yours now?

You squeeze the probing hand at your concealed sex with your thighs. Even with the layers of clothing dividing you it feels amazing. He shoves the seam of your pants between your lips and against your clit and you grind against it while you palm his cock through his trousers, the material less coarse, more silky smooth than the ones you’re wearing. The needy sounds he’s making vibrate when his mouth presses against you. Did you used to hate this room? This is your new favorite spot in the restaurant, followed by that smoking area outside. You wonder how many other places the pair of you can desecrate.

“Enough,” he pants, releasing you and retreating a couple of paces backward. It’s not, and you both know it, but you are at work and the customers are waiting. He has a business to run. He’s the breadwinner and all that. You need the money, too.

Life’s most inconvenient necessity, weighed against this other, more basic need.

***

You leave the service room alone. Your employer needs a few moments to collect himself. Calm down. Not have such an obvious raging boner.

You dip into the employee restroom to check your appearance in the mirror. Your cheeks are flushed. Your hair is disheveled. You do indeed look a mess like he’d said. And who’s fault is that?

You’ve forgotten the warning about table seven, standing a little too close as you distractedly watch William working on the ticket machine. He looks good on his knees. Really good. Jesus, calm down. You feel a hand cup your ass cheek.

Afton shuts the door and locks it and the smirk he has ready for your staring features fades when he sees what’s happening a heartbeat after you realize it yourself. His entire face darkens as he lurches to his feet. You’ve never seen him like this; a new level of fury reached.

“What the hell, man?” You jerk back. The man’s kids are like right there by the row of crane machines. Fucking pervert.

“Get out. Right now. If you come back again, I will call the police and we will be pressing charges.” Afton’s threat is issued at a low tone, mindful of the other customers. His body shields you from the man’s view, remaining there until he’s assured the man and his children have left.

***

Compared to the early afternoon’s events, the remainder of your shift is, well, pretty boring.

The hours drag. You can’t stop thinking about William’s proposal.

Mercifully there are no stragglers that evening and you get to leave on time. You sit in your car and wait for the parking lot to empty, for the owner to park his car in front of yours. It still takes several tries before the engine comes to life. The hood closes and William’s eyes meet yours.

You make it home in nine minutes, a new record. It seems William has realized there’s a gas pedal in his vehicle and matches your speed. You struggle with the key in the lock on the front door of your apartment. It finally creaks open and you step inside, reaching for the light switch.

You wish you’d tidied up better. Ran the vacuum around, maybe dusted. Nah, fuck that, you despised dusting. You wouldn’t do that for anybody, you don’t care who it is. But you would have made more of an effort to clean your place if you’d known you were going to be having company.

“I’m going to wash up at your sink. The car, you know…” He holds up his palms so you can see the dark stains blemishing his ivory skin. Rust or oil or who knows what.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Go ahead. You want something to drink?”

“That would be nice.” He enters the kitchen and turns the faucet on and applies a dollop of dish soap into the palm of one hand. Thank god you didn’t have dirty dishes in the sink.

Wait. Did you put your laundry in the hamper today? You’d been in such a rush to get ready for work that morning. And you definitely hadn’t made your bed. Damn it.

“Let me see what I have.” You open the fridge. There’s a six pack of wine coolers in the vegetable drawer that’s never seen anything green. Not glamorous, but better than nothing.

You tuck your fingers into the carton handle and set the pack down on the counter, using your shirt front to twist off the cap and hand him the bottle of mixed berry or whatever girly flavor it is. It’s still basically beer, just sweetened malt liquor. Whatever. He’ll get over it.

“Thank you.”

You watch the neck of the bottle press against his bottom lip, keenly aware of the sound and movement along his throat as he swallows, the motion somewhat restricted by that proper shirt collar.

“You must be eager to get out of those clothes.”

“What?”

“The puddle, you know.” One eyebrow lifts slightly as he takes another long swallow.

“Oh. Yeah.” The pants have dried out but the grit from the road feels gross, resting unpleasantly along your skin.

“Would you like to take a shower while I order us dinner?”

“I…yeah, sure.” The confidence you’d had earlier has evaporated. You don’t really know what to do now that William Afton is standing in your kitchen.

Well, that’s not entirely true. You have a few ideas.

You take a deep breath to gather your courage and then close the distance between you. You pull the bottle from his hands and gulp the pink carbonated beverage down. You’ve already swapped spit, so you don’t think it’s too improper. “Or, you know, you could join me. And we could do the dinner thing later.”

“Join you. In the shower…” The older man muses. “Yes, I’d like that.” He steals the bottle back and sets it on the counter and then he steals your breath with another kiss.

***

You like watching William undress.

Everything is so neat and precise. Thumbing open each button of the vest. Loosening the knot of his tie and pulling the silk fabric free. Now the buttons at the cuffs of his shirt and the row down the center. Jerks on the leather strap of his wristwatch and sets it on the bathroom counter. A swift overhead tug for the undershirt. His collarbones are gorgeous. Such perfect lines connecting to his shoulders. Dark hair on his chest but it’s sparse. Just enough. A happy trail that parts his stomach into even planes and disappears promisingly beneath his pants.

There’s nothing sexy about what you’re wearing but you do your best to try to match the show your employer has just given you. Cross your arms and pull your work shirt over your head. Unlike his careful folded piles you let the article of clothing drop to the floor next to the sneakers you’ve already toed off. Reach behind and squeeze the band at the back of your brassiere, the hook and eye closures releasing. Let the shoulder straps dip forward, relaxing your bent arms so it falls and joins the shirt. His eyes rake over your breasts appreciatively.

It seems he’s waiting for you to make your next move.

You reach for the button fastening his pants and ease the zipper down. This man, this fucking man has dark purple boxers briefs. Honest to God. You shake your head and smirk, reaching inside and squeezing over the fabric. A little gasp of pleasure.

His fingers are already working on your fly. Thumbs tuck into the waistband at the sides, collecting your panties’ elastic one along with it and he kneels, dragging the black material with him.

William Afton on his knees before you in your bathroom. If someone had told you this would happen ten hours ago when you were rushing to get ready for work, you never would have believed it. You comb your fingers through his messy dark hair, lifting each leg in succession so he can finish tugging the pant legs free from around their tapered points near your ankles. He kisses one hip, just a brief graze of his mouth along your skin and you hiss at the contact. Every touch is electrifying. Socks removed and that’s it, the task is completed, you’re naked.

Afton rises and then sits on the closed toilet lid, crossing each ankle over one knee in turn, tugging on the dark laces of his sensible polished leather dress shoes while you turn on the shower faucet. Socks rolled and tucked neatly inside. Pants removed and folded to join the rest of his clothes. Briefs last. Those he leaves on the floor. Your eyes are drawn to his cock like a magnet. Dark pink flushed tissue. There’s so, so much of it. Your pussy throbs already in anticipation of the stretch he’s going to give you. A clear drop of precum on the crown makes your mouth water.

You manage to tear your eyes away to regard his face. His eyes are black, the pupils completely blown wide. Fuck.

He steps over the edge of the tub and you take the hand he offers you, pulling you into the deluge. You drag the liner and curtain shut. His hand closes over the bar of soap on the narrow shelf tucked into the corner and begins to work it into a lather. Hands the soap to you and goes straight for your tits. You rub suds over his chest. You feel those glorious hands of his slide down your abdomen, one tucking between your legs.

You whimper, broadening your stance so he has better access. It’s brisk and business like, until it isn’t. Until he’s on his knees again and pushing you against the fiberglass wall and splashing water to rinse you as you brace one foot on the shallow ledge on the corner. His fingers press into the soft flesh of your thigh to support you. The sharp edge of his nose digs into your mound and his tongue slides over your clit and between your lips.

Your head snaps back and hits the shower wall. You knot a hand in his raven dark hair and grind yourself against his mouth. God does this man know how to eat pussy. You don’t want to linger too much on the details of why that is, if he’s had a lot of practice. You focus instead on the feeling of the suction over the sensitive bundle of nerves and the finger that slides inside you. It’s almost embarrassing how quickly you come undone for him. You suppose it’s been awhile since you’ve been with a man, and this isn’t just any man. You’ve got William fucking Afton kneeling in your shower eating you out with as much enthusiasm as a condemned man consuming his final meal.

He’s not resting on his laurels either; the firm wedge of muscle softening to give you little kitten licks, the finger caressing your insides gently until he feels the change in your body and he thrusts more roughly, his tongue incessant between your folds and on your clit. You’re going to cum again.

“Oh my God. Will…I’m….” You’ve never called him by his first name. Certainly not a nickname. You wonder if he likes it. You certainly like the wracking tremors of your thighs as he brings you to orgasm a second time.

You wind your fingers behind his neck when he stands upright. His erection presses against you. Somehow you manage to find the soap again. Lather that feverish arousal. He’s going to absolutely ruin you with it. Scrotum tight and heavy. God, he’s going to fill you so full.

You push gently against his hips, indicating you want him to turn around. Scrape your soapy nails over his shoulder blades. Take a taste of the shower water with a hint of orchid soap. There’s a moment when you pause and bury your face against his spine. Wrap your arms around him and squeeze. His hand slides over the circle of your arms, resting there. You’re overwhelmed.

William turns and you release him. He reaches for the shampoo bottle. The liquid is cold in your hair. His nails scrape your scalp and he gently massages the cleanser into your tresses. Bends to kiss you. You close your eyes and he tugs you back under the spray to rinse. You duplicate the process, taking your time reaching up to siphon lather through his hair.

The last of the suds vanish around the drain and you shut the shower off. He doesn’t bother with the towels you’ve laid out, pushing your drenched body right through the door that adjoins the bathroom and your bedroom. Presses you down beneath him on the bed. Fucks right into you without preamble. Just shower wet now coated with your slick. Mouth on yours. A needy sound. Yours or his, you don’t know.

It hurts. He’s so big inside of you. Your knees squeeze his ribs. He rocks forward again. You realize he hasn’t even fully entered you yet. He’s got to fuck his way open to reach your cervix. And when he does, oh. The absolute ache of it.

Cool lips and hot tongue on your throat. The taste of the shower water and soap when he lavs your mouth open, the motion mirroring what he’s doing down below. You clutch his shoulder, stroke his jaw, knot a hand in the sheets beneath you. “You’re so tight, Moody. Feel so good, love.” That accent alone coaxes a third climax from you and your tightening walls drag his own out. You can feel him flood your insides, savoring the sound he makes when he loses himself in the pleasure of your body.

The room is dimly lit. There hadn’t been an opportunity to turn the lights on. The bathroom’s illumination is forced to pull double duty. You can just make out his features. A little smile. Maybe a bit arrogant. He knows he’s rocked your world. But you like to think you gave as good as you got. Not all those drops on his brow are from the shower. He’s worked up a sweat. You’ll probably end up back inside the shower again before the night is over.

Today was certainly ending a hell of a lot better than it had started.

[auckie]

Finished my boys back panel for his new apartment. After it cures more I’m gonna install it, then the drainage layer (which I absolutely don’t need) and then the substrate. I was gonna make the bottom water proof but decided to just go with a protective mat instead. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it apart later but maybe it’ll be like. The last thing I ever move idk. Then Ill put up the UVB, his lamp, I miiiight have a heat mat on the bottom just in case but probably won’t ever use it idk, and finally his giant fucking water dish and ugly bottom hide. Then I’ll see if I can fit some of the roof/side climbing limbs I had planned. Was gonna drill them in but I don’t think the pvc will allow for it. I might try more foam/silicone *and* a bit of drilling, but we’ll see. Then the top leaf coverage (silk plants lol), and finally his giant cork log. I was also planning on putting some tiling over his ugly hide, or just replacing it completely bc he has the wall one plus the log. I also gotta test the weight capacity of the wall log tomorrow after curing. It’s resistant to heavy tugging, and he really doesn’t weigh *that* much but you never know the kind of stress he might put on it. It’s low to the ground so it wouldn’t be catastrophic but it would be difficult to fix. Eventually I would like to go full naturalistic and add plants and bio active substrate. Moving water is beyond my skill capacity/willingness to learn or spend so the static dish will have to do, but I am interested in a mister even tho I know it’s not necessary. He’s been doing well with my humidifier and just some sprays, wet corners, and the dish, but if I do pursue plants it may be crucial. Granted I know scale rot is something people warn about but I figure if I keep it high then I can avoid laden substrate. Plus the drainage layer would help.

I even bought a kitchen scale to weigh him. I was gonna get a temp gun too but that’s kinda absurd since I got like, two different humidity gauges and a temp regulator + thermometer. if I have room I may also try a slight rock border at the bottom of the back panel but I’m not really like. Interested in using foam again, either panel or expanding. Bc it sucks and i despise it. Silicone too honestly, even the aquarium rated stuff which is easier (imo) to get off skin. My dad REALLY wanted to use caulk but I was like hell no. I’ll resort to shelf pins/rivets for support before I try that lol.

I just scrolled up and realized the pic is so dark bc I just turned the overhead light off and didn’t have flash on but I’m so tired and sweaty I don’t care. It’s a cork bark/spanish moss/sphagnum moss back wall but it does just look like a mess of leaves and shit from the pic. I started really clean and then got progressively sloppier as time went on

Here’s a before progress pic SORRY for foot

And here’s snoopert head. He’s getting upgraded from 60 gallon to 120. Tbh if I had the room and money I’d totally have gotten the 240 one

Fuck snoopy

[dollsonmain]

I know folks are probably getting tired of this by now so you get a tag AND a cut.

But I feel like discussing this sort of thing might help people sometimes? since it's a first person account instead of listicles online.

What they did and didn't tell me about having stents.

They told me why: Facilitates drainage which takes strain (pressure) off of the kidneys and helps the antibiotics work by helping prevent pockets of infected urine reforming (that's what was making me sick, stuck urine that had built up lots of bacteria).

They told me how-ish: They go up with various catheters and things and install the stents, the stents stay in place until they are removed. Some stents have lines that exit the body to facilitate removal. Mine do not. The doc didn't want me accidentally pulling them out since the area they're in is heavily infected. They'll be removed at my first stone removal surgery in about two weeks from installation which was a couple days ago.

They did not tell me how-completely: The stents are hooked into my body meat like little fish hooks. They also didn't tell me they'd be taking urine for testing from my bladder and each kidney or that they would also be draining both kidneys during the procedure, so I did get a fluid-pressure reset.

They did not tell me basically anything about what the next two weeks will be like.

I'm on flowmax to soften my bladder so it's easier to empty. I don't think I needed that, I was peeing fine, but stents do change things.

I was worried that I might push them out while pooping but that's not likely to the point of nearly impossible. Not 100%, but nearly.

These things feel like a bad UTI and I have two of them. I got the ows, the zaps, the GOTTA GOs every few minutes. At least now I know that ALL of those pains are UTI pains, you know? I'd get some random pain sometimes and be like "what was that......" and now I know. It was UTI and pressure in my kidneys and the pain signals were traveling around the whole renal system. Because they do that.

I'm in a lot more pain now than I was with just the kidney stones. It is very, VERY atypical but my kidney stones and the pressure behind them don't hurt. Those nerves may have died off.

There's varying amounts of blood in my urine, sometimes very little, sometimes a lot. Sometimes there are clots. That's all normal but I had to ask as things were happening.

I get up every couple hours in the night and some times I don't make it to the toilet (I did all last night, so that is improving).

They also didn't warn me that just having the surgery itself might make me wet myself because the muscles hadn't all regained strength/how long it would take for the anesthesia to fully wear off.

I called the doctor's office and asked about that, too.

I'm glad I thought to have That Guy bring Depends but that's also something you'd think someone would like, mention. You know?

So that's what having stents has been like so far.

Feels like a bad UTI, though for some people they feel nothing. Need adult diapers for accidents. Need to be near a toilet at all times, and not going to get a hell of a lot of continuous sleep for a while.

-

I also think it's worth noting that I've had two male doctors blow me off about this and I think the only thing that went differently at the ER was that it was a female doctor.

The first male doctor said it was an anxiety attack.

The second male doctor said it was a viral stomach bug.

The female doctor listened to my symptoms and ordered a bunch of tests.

So, more personal blather about the whole situation.

While I was in the first ER I heard a man yelling and starting trouble in the waiting room. That Guy and Son got up and left as soon as the man was distracted by a security guy. I'd had told them to go home as soon as they dropped me off and I would text if I needed picked up. I knew I wasn't going home, though.

-

My neighbor was an elderly lady and they kept trying to figure out when she'd last pooped but she couldn't remember. Finally she called them in and was like I need to poop so they wrestled her up on a bed pan (she cried, she was in a lot of pain) and then left her alone with her curtain closed to poop. Right then the floor doctor walked in and was like HI MISS GERALDINE and whipped her curtain open to start talking to her.

...

I chewed him out. That's very atypical of me. Like, I laid into him for not asking if she was wanting to talk in that exact moment. And then I felt really bad until I realized he's probably had people a lot more angry at him than me considering a lot of the patients I could hear were elderly and some were confused, and I didn't feel bad anymore.

-

Since it's a university-run hospital there were sometimes pairs of nurses, and at one point a trainee came in to give me a dose of antibiotics through the IV but she hooked it into the wrong plug which depressurized the system and blood starting backing up the tube. As soon as she saw that she ran to get her trainer and they spent some time doing a full reset of the IV set up.

I wasn't worried or anything. It was my own blood and it could only go so far/only so much could be lost. At the most a cup since the saline bag was fresh and mostly full, still. So I was totally calm the whole time, which I'm sure helped.

I think the nurse in training was surprised when her trainer stepped out and I encouraged her instead of yelling at her. I praised her for not being too proud to get help when she noticed an issue, and for observing how to rectify the situation.

-

That Guy was like "Yesterday's nurses did NOT like me..." and I was like yeah I kind of told on you, but not out loud. He got put on the shit list FAST by staff. So for that I have a note in my account that I'm experiencing financial abuse and he exhibits controlling behavior. If there ever is a point where Son and I have to leave, I have the name of where to call. There's a facility in Next Town Over where the hospital is that will come and get us, and that would be the last time we see him.

I feel guilty for saying anything because he has paid for my existence for decades but he has also been abusive, just not physically.

They asked me if Son is safe at home alone with That Guy and I said "Safe, yes. Happy, no."

They also asked like how is Son and I said he seems to understand that his father's behavior isn't his fault but he still has had to endure it.

I also in the process learned how much money he makes (I didn't know before) and wow we should all certainly have insurance (he and Son might through his work but I have nothing and don't qualify for assistance while he claims me on his taxes as a dependent) and have had medical care all this time and there's no reason at all to be doing the whole -pointedly look at the food receipt every grocery trip, look up at the sky angrily, shake his head, shove it in his pocked, huff, and walk away- thing. Also explains why his work friends keep suggesting burger joints that end up costing like $80 for the whole family....

[blooming-horticulturalist]

🌿What is wrong with my houseplant? // how to diagnose your houseplant 🌿

　✩ im definitely not a seasoned professional when it comes to houseplants, (i am a professional though) however a lot of basic plant care skills are transferrable, and i wanted to share my process for identifying "the problem" when i see a plant struggling, or my friends & family come to me for help✩

a) first identify the plant. take into account its natural habitat and what the growing conditions would be if it was in the wild. is it a tropical plant? does this plant come from the desert? does this plant usually live in the woods? if youre unsure, then look it up! this will help you get a bearing for what conditions this plant needs in order to survive.

- for instance, a tropical plant would generally need to be watered more often and cant stay dry for long periods of time, due to the natural humidity in that environment. a plant that naturally lives in the woods would likely need dappled or indirect light, due to the plant thriving under the coverage of trees. use logic to clue into the plants needs and research if you aren't sure

b) now that you have an idea of what this plant needs to thrive, compare that to it's current environment. is it getting too much sun? is it too close to the window during the winter and getting cold? is it too humid and keeping the soil too wet? try to match up the environment in your house/building to be as close to its natural environment as possible

c) ok, im pretty sure that its in the right environment, but it's still showing (x) symptom, what now?

i usually go through a mental checklist when diagnosing plants:

water—

- is it being watered enough? feel the soil with your fingers- is the soil bone dry? water it (you can't go wrong watering a bone dry plant, even succulents and cacti).

- is it soaking wet (dripping, pooling water, can be 'wrung out')? how long ago was it watered? a few hours ago, you're probably good. more than a day or two ago— there's a problem. plants need to dry out. check the container its planted in- does it have drainage holes? if not, repot that baby ASAP (and check for root rot)!! does the decorative planter it's sitting in have drainage? — if not you can remedy this by propping the plant up a few inches with a small piece of wood (or honestly anything you can find that's water resistant) so its not sitting in its drained water for days on end.

- is it moist up to a few inches down? it is being watered sufficiently 🌿 check if it needs to be watered when the top few inches are dry and go ahead and soak that baby if it does.

common symptoms of watering issues: drooping leaves/wilt, shriveled up and dropping dry leaves, rotting leaves (for succulents being overwatered especially), yellowing or browning on the edges

light- are the leaves turning a light yellow color? are you noticing leggy growth (where the stem grows long without producing a lot of leaves)? it's not getting enough sun! if its in low light move it to indirect or diffused light, and if you're still having the same issue after some time, move it into a spot where it will get hit by a sunbeam.

are the leaves turning a brown color? do they look burnt? are they getting dry and shriveled up? are they getting dull/dusty? could be too much light, move it to indirect light and see if that fixes it— if not, look for other symptoms.

potting space/ root issues:

DO NOT i repeat DO NOT repot your plants in autumn/winter

check your roots, like physically take the plant out of the pot or flip it over.

are the roots coming out of the bottom? not necessarily a bad thing, if the plant likes being hugged— definitely check for plant specific needs at this point and keep an eye on it. if you notice it dries out unreasonably fast, youre going to want to repot it. (ONLY if its spring/early summer). the plant doesnt have any room to absorb water. find a pot two inches in diameter larger than its current pot and, yk, repot it. plants get overwhelmed if its any larger and it wont have room to spread its roots if its too small. 2 inches is the sweet spot.

are the roots brown? take it out of the pot and smell it, does it smell rotted? most likely root rot. an easy fix— remove the plant, remove the soil, rinse it off, cut off rotted roots, repot it in new soil, and make sure its getting adequate time and drainage to dry out in between watering.

nutrients:

if you've checked for everything else and your plant is still wilting, it could need more nutrients. a really big tell of this is that its not producing new leaves or flowering, its staying stagnant and conserving it's energy. you can easily fix this by getting fertilizer sticks, powder, etc. from the store.

pests and fungi:

this one is the hardest and most complicated to identify.

if it's growing brown spots in the middle of the plant or you notice leaves rotting, there could be a fungus or mold issue. you can try spraying the soil with neem oil or hydrogen peroxide! if that doesnt work you're going to want to take steps to repot it in clean soil. a common cause of this is overwatering and humidity, so make sure youre letting your plant dry out (and even wilt a bit) before watering it again.

if youre noticing bugs, little brown or white spots on the back of leaves or stems, excessive wilting and misshapen leaves, holes/damage that you cant find the cause of, or what looks like little cobwebs (spider mites), you're likely looking at pests. you're going to need a chemical (or natural nonchemical) pesticide treatment. if youre unable to identify the pest on your own i recommend taking a sample or picture to your local nursery and asking someone experienced for help and recommendations! your best option for the time being is neem oil spray, as there's no chance of accidentally pesticide burning your plants.

✩　again houseplants aren't my specialty, and a lot of figuring out any issues a plant is having is trial and error and being observant of symptoms. you cant always identify one issue by one symptom, you have to be patient and see how the plant reacts to changes you make!

if youre a beginner, dont get discouraged!! taking care of plants is a learned skill and it takes time and experience to be able to notice patterns.

good luck :) i hope your prescious plant baby survives! feel free to ask me questions if you need help, but no promises I'll be able to. ✩

🌿

[linuxacolyte]

Okay the bathroom post. Just, skip if you don't obsess over household conveniences the way I do.

The door to the toilet was a wooden door, and the door and the sliders were constructed so that the door actually functioned properly regardless of the humidity. I have never seen such black magic. Heck, most of the doors here are hollow and they still can't handle humidity. The toilet door had a cute little window, frosted over, to allow light in. This way you weren't stranded in a dark little room. Not every toilet door had this, but some did. Most toilets I encountered were bidets, and in the hotels they were heated bidets that made gentle water noises when you sat down on them so other people in the next room couldn't hear your business.

The shower/bathtub area had sliding plastic doors. None of those stupid metal rims that always collect soap and pink gunk and hurt when you slip and fall on them. The tracks for the doors had drainage holes in them, to allow any water/soap to drain.

The "shower area" just inside the sliding doors had a nonslip plastic surface. It had a lip around the outside to allow water to drain. There was a plastic bench here that you could use to sit on when you showered, if you chose.

Every set of shower/bath controls we saw looked exactly the same. On the left was the temperature, with 40C clearly marked. On the right, you could pull the knob towards you and it would start filling the tub (or... bucket?) if you pushed the knob away from you it would send water to the shower head. Some of them, if you pushed the knob a little you got a little water pressure, then if you pushed more you got more water pressure.

The shower nozzle had a button on it to turn the water off. The shower nozzle always had two resting places - one up high if you wanted to stand under it, and one in easy reach if you were sitting. It was really convenient to get yourself wet, then soap up, then rinse yourself off, without spraying water everywhere in the meantime.

The bathtub itself may have been heated, I'm not sure. I was sharing with four other people, I did not test that.

There were controls to

ensure there was no fog while you were bathing

dry laundry

dry laundry with extra heat, if it were t-shirts or something

I do not know what the other buttons did

Everything inside the plastic doors? You could quickly rinse it down with some dishsoap. There was no grout, there were no weird seams, there was no metal or ceramic that you had to be careful of. I need this bathroom.

[bumblebeeappletree]

Costa meets a young gardening couple who have created a habitat haven and productive paradise four storeys up.

City living offers many conveniences – but also many challenges for keen gardeners.

In busy Edgecliffe, right in the heart of Sydney, a rooftop garden overlooking a busy train line is the only space available to Philip Georgiou and Ian Belgiorno-Zegna, but they’ve still managed to carve out a productive, potted palace to enjoy outdoors.

“We’re really lucky to have this space,” says Phil.

The total area is 350 square metres – and 200 square metres of that is the roof garden. Some is paved and some has decking, but all the plants – from tiny succulents to olive trees – are in pots.

“I’ll use the herbs from here – we use the rosemary nearly every night,” says Ian. “Phil got me onto the native trees and I’m eating lilly-pilly berries now.”

Their Eureka lemon (Citrus limon cv.) tree looks really healthy. “We had lavender underneath, but we took it out and it’s really taken off,” says Ian. Costa agrees that’s a good move because lemons don’t like any competition around their shallow roots.

Costa spots a tumbler compost bin: “Because you can’t put in on the ground, this is really appropriate for this space,” he says. Turns out it was a gift from Phil to Ian for his birthday!

They’ve also joined the ShareWaste scheme after seeing in on Gardening Australia. They receive donations of other people’s garden scraps to make compost to use on their garden.

Costa checks out the compost and says moisture wise it’s perfect – he advises mixing it into the soil after clearing a crop or spreading it around crops, making sure to cover with mulch to stop it drying out and killing the useful microbes in the compost.

“Then that compost will perform all those feeding and water-holding roles.”

Ian and Phil are growing peas, silverbeet, carrots, rocket, pineapples, herbs succulents, cycads, cacti and plenty more.

They have done a lot of work to the roof area, which was all decking when they moved in. Some of the challenges include having to get an engineer’s report to check that the roof would sustain the weight of their many pots – the large cube planters weigh more than a tonne by the time they’re full of wet potting mix, and there are 13 of these alone, plus dozens of others.

Another issue was drainage – they had to make sure all the water would drain into one corner.

The pair loves native plants and have nearly 20 grevilleas, plus callistemon, eucalyptus and banksia. There’s also lots of edible produce that they use in the kitchen. Phil’s favourite is Grevillea rhyolitica ‘Deua Flame’, which has a pretty, pendulous red flower and bright green leaves. He loves them because they flower all year around and attract loads of bees.

They ask Costa about how best to prune a bottlebrush tree to reduce the size without hacking it too much. Costa advises trimming back the flower spikes after flowering. “That will keep it nice and dense,” he says. Cutting any dieback from the centre will also encourage more light in, and hence more shoots.

The row of larger native plants offers the garden some privacy from neighbouring buildings and a nice view from the sitting room.

Ian makes a rosemary sugar syrup to use in cocktails, so Costa presents him with a lemon myrtle bush (Backhousia citriodora) that he’ll be able to use for lemon-flavoured drinks, too.

[crystalsnow95z]

Time for another sick fic! This time Jin is playing care taker with RM and some help from the other members to Jungkook just because I'm missing Jin and Jungkook together.

It's just a bad cold. Coughs, sneezes, runny nose, headache. A bit of a sour stomach from sinus drainage. I hope you don't mind the fluff I add at the beginning.

This one will have at least two parts.

Warning; snot and the meantion of dieting

"Cannonball!" Jungkook jumps into the lake, hugging his knees to his chest, splashing Yoongi and j-hope. Yoongi was floating on a giant rubber duck, still completely dry, until Jungkook came.

"Jungkook-ah!" Yoongi yells, wiping the water from his face.

"Sorry, hyung. I didn't mean to land that close to you." Jungkook says, hanging onto his floaty, trying to hide his mischievous smile. He knew Yoongi wouldn't actually scold him.

"I'll get him for you Yoongi-hyung." Taehyung splashes Jungkook in the face, making Jungkook giggle and splashe him back.

"I have goggles on it doesn't bother me." Taehyung says tapping the plastic goggles on his face.

"Well this will!" Jungkook pushes him under the water by the shoulders.

J-hope laughs watching the younger boys play.

Jungkook and Taehyung stay in the water until the sun goes down, and it becoming too dark for them.

"Jungkook-ah! Taehyung-ah! Its time to come in!" Jin calls to the boys. "It's dinner time!"

"Okay!" Taehyung calls back to him.

Jungkook splashes Taehyung one more time before diving under the water so he couldn't be splashed again.

Taehyung dives under the water, chasing him. The two Boys race to the docks and get out of the water, quickly drying off and going inside.

"Go get dressed before you eat." Namjoon tells the two Boys.

"But I'm hungry," Jungkook says, going to the table and taking a few bites.

"Come on Jaykey It won't take long." Jin takes the chopsticks from him, putting them down and pulling him. "It'll be there when you get back."Jungkook allows himself to be pulled

"You didn't even dry your hair. Are you trying to be sick? The air is on in here!"Jin scolds him, taking the towel from around Jungkook's waist, and using it to dry his hair.

"I forgot a hair towel.." Jungkook admits. "I'll blow dry it after dinner."

"You better. Get dressed. Okay?" Jin leaves him to get dressed, returning to the others.

He worries too much. Jungkook gets out of his wet clothes, putting on a plain black shirt and some shorts. Who gets sick from night swimming?

The answer was Jungkook.

"Hehhitchew...!" Jungkook's sneeze is heard. It was still early in the morning, and the other members were still asleep.

"Was that Tete?" Seokjin asks Namjoon with a yawn, who he was roomed with for the trip. The sound woke him up, but he couldn't process where it came from.

Namjoon stretches out on the bed. "No. That wasn't Tae..i think that was Jungkook.." He would have to hear it again to know for sure. He wasn't awake enough to process it.

"Jungkook? Sneezing that loud?" Jin goes to investigate, going to the room Yoongi and Jungkook were paired in. Both boys were still asleep. Yoongi had fallen asleep with his headphones on and a notebook open on the bed. Jin gently removes them from his ears, placing them on the side table. Working even while on vacation?. Jin smiles fondly, covering him up all the way.

"Heh'ehhitchew...!" Jungkook sneezes again, reminding Jin on why he entered the room. Jin goes to Jungkook's bed, placing his hand on his on Jungkook's face.

"Mm..cold.." Jungkook complains softly, rolling away from Jin.

Jin sucks in air through his teeth. Jungkook was burning up, and the group didn't have any cold medicine on them. Jungkook coughs, turning over to his side.

"Aigoo..I'll get you some medicine soon.." He whispers, going to leave quickly to ask staff to take him to the store, tripping over Jungkook's bag haphazardly thrown on the floor falling onto his hands and knees.

"Hyung?" Yoongi blinks sleepily at Jin.

"Ah, sorry, Yoongi, I didn't mean to wake you." Jin apologizes, rubbing his knees.

"You okay?" Yoongi sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I'm okay, it's Jungkookie who isn't."

Jungkook was curled up in a ball on the bed, breathing ragged from his nose being clogged making it hard to breathe. His skin lost all its color and glistened with sweat.

Yoongi's sleepy gaze changed, being alert now, sitting up to look at him. "What? Why?"

"Namjoonie and I heard someone sneeze, so I went to investigate. He was right it was Jungkook. When I touched his cheek, it was hot.."

"Hyung.." Jungkook was awake now, reaching for Jin. "I..I feel dizzy.." Jungkook closed his eyes, feeling as if he was on a carnival ride, spinning in circles. He sniffles loudly to try to breathe easier, but all it did was make his head ache more. "I..I don't feel well at all.."

"I'm coming, Kookie." Jin lays next to him, and the youngest member wraps around him. "You're warm.." Jungkook murmurs into Jin's shoulder. He felt freezing despite the fever feeling comfort by laying on Jin's broad shoulder.

"Yoongi-yah, could you go get the medicine for me? I didn't think he would wake up.." Jin asks, using his hand to slick back Jungkook's wet hair.

"Of course. I'll tell the others." Yoongi leaves the room.

Jungkook coughs into Jin's shoulder. "Hyung..my head.." He softly whines.

"I know baby. Yoongi will get you some medicine as soon as he can." Jin rubs the nape of Jungkook's neck to comfort him. "Why don't you try to get some more rest until then?"

Jungkook tries to answer, but a cough escapes instead of words, ending with a low pitched whine."Hurts.."

Jin rubs Jungkook's back, noticing RM was in the doorway with a cup he filled with tea."He needs to rehydrate.."

Jin nods. "Thanks, Joonie.. Jungkook, can you sit up for me?"

"Can I drink it laying down..? sitting up makes my head.."Jungkook's sentence was cut off by another bout of coughs, yellow mucus coming up. "I'm sorry, Hyung.." He sniffles, feeling guilty.

"Don't worry about it, I can always change shirts. Let's get you a tissue, though." Jin looks at Namjoon, who quickly goes to the desk to get the box of tissues. "You gotta sit up for me Kook..I'll hold you. Okay?"

Jungkook nods, sitting up, leaning into Jins chest. Jin holds the tissue against his nose, cleaning up the snot dripping from it. "Can you blow for me?"

Jungkook obeys, the sticky mucas messily escaping his nose. Jin quickly gets a second tissue, helping him get as much as he can out.

"Is that any better?" Jin asks.

Jungkook shakes his head. "Still hurts.."

"I'm sorry, my poor kookie.. can you do one more thing for me before you lay back down? I need you to try to drink some of this tea. It might help your throat feel better." Jin holds the cup to Jungkook, him drinking it greedily.

"Don't drink it too quickly. You might get sick." Jin gently scolds him, tilting the cup less so he has to take smaller sips.

"Is there anything else I can do to help?" Namjoon asks, desperately wanting to help the mankae.

"Could you ask Hobi or Jiminie to help you make some jook?" Jin helps Jungkook lay back down.

"I'm not hungry.." Jungkook speaks softly, already drifting off again.

"You need to eat something with the medicine bun, just a little bit, okay?"

Jungkook shakes his head, his stomach churning at the thought of food. I'll throw up if I eat.. He wanted to say it out loud, but another round of coughs shook his body, making his throat feel raw.

Jin held Jungkook close to him, his heart tightening. "He's really not well.. we might need to get a doctor."

"No. No doc..ter.." Jungkook whines between coughs. I don't want to ruin the trip.. "Please?"

Namjoon couldn't watch Jungkook suffer like that, leaving the room to find J-hope, who was already in the kitchen washing some rice.

"Jungkook isn't looking good. He lost all the color to his face, and he's clinging to Jin-hyung for dear life."

"Really?" J-hope's brow furrows with worry. "Maybe we should try to cool him off with a sponge bath."

"Thats a good idea.. where is Jiminie and Taetae?" Namjoon asks.

"They went to the store with Yoongi-hyung. He wanted to try to keep them distracted from worrying about Jungkookie."

"Did Taehyungie seem okay? He was all over Jungkook last night and both boys went to bed early."

"I didn't hear him sneezing or coughing, but I wasn't really looking at him. Yoongi asked me to start making soup for Gukkie. Text Jiminie. He can keep an eye on him." J-hope says, adding the rice to the pot.

Namjoon does just that, sending a quick text before getting a bowl to fill with water and a washcloth. (I gotta worry about one thing at a time. We need to get Jungkook's fever down as soon as possible.)

"Hyung..." jungkook whimpers, pressing his forehead against Jin's chest. "My stomach hurts..."

"Do you think you have to throw up Koo?" Jin frantically looks around the room. Jungkook shakes his head, making him relax.

"No..just..hurts.." Jungkook says through coughs.

"If you don't feel nauseous, it's probably from all the coughing.."Jin gently rubs Jungkooks belly to try to comfort him. "I wish I could make it go away for you.." He plants a small kiss on Jungkook's temple, Namioon returning to the room.

"J-hope had the idea of using a sponge bath to cool him down." He says placing the bowl on the side table.

"Thats a good idea, even if it doesn't cool him down at least he won't be drenched in sweat."

Namjoon gently wipes the rag across Jungkook's forehead. "We'll get you better soon, Jungkook." He promises him, gently wiping down his body the best he could without having to undress him.

Jungkook felt his body slowly relax as Namjoon gently wiped the damp rag across his abdomen. "Thank you, Hyung.." he whispers hoarsely. Namjoon feels the tension in his own body loosen when he sees that Jungkook is falling asleep. Jin takes over the gentle rubs over Jungkook's sour stomach.

"You're getting better at caring for sick members." Jin whispers in a teasing voice, making Namjoon blush.

"I wasn't bad at it. Just a little awkward about it. I'm glad I could do something to comfort him. Do you think we should get a doctor anyway?"

Jin shakes his head. "Let's see if the medicine helps him any first. He'll be so upset if he feels better in a few days and misses our vacation. I'll be fine staying with him."

"You sure?" Namjoon knew how excited he was to go on this trip.

"There's always next time. Jaykey is more important." Jin says, giving Jungkook a soft kiss on his head and covering him up."I'm going to go eat something while he's asleep. He should be okay on his own, but keep an ear out for him."

Namjoon nods, and both boys leave the room.

"How is he?" J-hope asks when Jin enters the kitchen. "I made some kimchi fried rice and ginger tea." He gestures to the table he set for them.

"He fell asleep. I think it's just a cold. Thanks for cooking, Hoba." He gets himself a serving. "If he's not any better by tomorrow, we'll get a doctor, i just don't want him to miss the trip if it's nothing major. As long as he takes it easy, he'll be able to enjoy most of the trip, though i don't think he should go hiking tomorrow even if he feels better."

"I agree. That'll be too much for his body to take while fighting off a cold, but he's so stubborn. Hed want to reach the top with us." Namjoon adds in to the conversation.

"I can take a lot of photos for him. I'll bring his camera." J-hope offers.

The boys continue their conversation over breakfast, Jin returning to check on the sleeping Jungkook after.

"We're back." Jimin calls quietly when he enters the cabin, having a bag in one hand, Taehyung's hand in the other. Taehyung said he was fine, but Jimin wasn't sure if he believed him. "Is Junggukkie asleep?"

"Yeah, he fell asleep a little bit after you guys left. He's been coughing in his sleep, though.. when he wakes up, we'll have to see if he'll eat so we can give him the medicine." Jin explains. "Ah, Hoba made breakfast." He adds as an afterthought, motioning to the table.

"Great, I'm starving." Jimin puts the bag he's carrying down and sits at the table, pulling Taehyung with him. "Taehyungie don't worry Jungukkie will be okay."

Taehyung allows himself to be pulled by Jimin, but worry wasn;t his only reason for not sitting at the table to eat. He just didn't feel hungry. I have to try to at least eat a little."Thanks, Hobi-hyung." Taehyung takes a seat getting himself a small portion.

"Sorry, it's a little cold. I should've waited for you guys to return first." J-hope apologizes with a head bow, getting himself a bowl.

"It's okay. It tastes just as good cold." Yoongi puts the bags he carried down and joined the younger members.

"Taehyungie that's all you want? Are you feeling okay?" J-hope rubs the back of his neck. "You look tired."

"Yeah I just ate a lot yesterday. I'm supposed to not eat rice to prepare for my photoshoot. We also got up early from hearing the news about Jungkookie. I'll probably take a nap."Taehyung tells the half truth. He did eat a lot yesterday, and he did have a photoshoot vogue a few days after they returned, but he was already at his weight goal.

The full truth was that he was feeling tired even if all he did that day was walk around the grocery store and that his throat was feeling scratchy having to softly clear it just to make it not feel uncomfortable.

"You're going to diet on the trip? Are you sure you don't want to wait until after?" Jimin worries for his friend. You're already small.. your waist was so tiny when I hugged you in the store.

"Well, if we find something new or something that looks really good, I'll probably cheat.." Taehyung gives in, making Jimin relax and J-hope giggle.

"What was the plan for today?" Yoongi asks between bites.

"The plan was to go hiking then tonight go into town because there's a music festival happening." Namjoon reminds him.

"Ah right. We were debating on if we could go, but they made us VIP guests." Yoongi recalls the conversation they had on the plane.

"Halsey will be performing. She invited us to come watch." J-hope says brightly, excited to see his friend.

"Jungkookie is going to be so disappointed that he doesn't get to greet army." Taehyung notes feeling bad for their youngest member.

"Should we even go now?" Jimin asks. "I don't want to worry the fans about Jungkook not going."

J-hope's smile drops. "Maybe we should skip."

"This wasn't an announced event, and we aren't performing, so it'll be fine for us to go. We can split up into two groups so it'll be harder to notice we are missing anyone." Namjoon waves off the idea of skipping. "We were planning on keeping it down low anyway."

"Should someone stay with Junggukkie?" Jimin asks.

"I think Jin is planning to stay." Namjoon answers.

A few hours later Jin and Jungkook argue while the others prepare to leave for the day.

"No. No you have to go too. I'll be fine on my own." Jungkook suppresses a cough looking at Jin with disbelief. "I won't ruin the trip for you.." The last part is coughed out, covering it with his arm. "I'm feeling better really.."

"I don't want to go. I'd be too worried about you to have any fun."

"Yes, you do. You're just saying that. I'm feeling better after that nap. It's just an annoying cough now. I'll go too." Jungkook sits up straight, trying to look stronger than he felt. After the medicine, his fever went down, but the cough and headache still stayed, and the food sitting in front of him made his stomach queasy.

"No. You need to rest. You shouldn't push yourself." Jin tells him sternly. "I know you want to go, but you gotta stay in bed."

"Then at least go for me.. please?" Jungkook gives him the puppy eyes. "I'll just feel worse if you stay.."

"Alright..fine.." Jin sighs. He always struggled to say no to his little brothers. "I'll go, as long as you can eat."

"I'll eat then." Jungkook reaches for the bowl Jin is holding. (I'm not letting you miss out because of me. I'd eat it even if I'd just get sick after. Jungkook eats slowly, his stomach churning uncomfortably after a few bites.

"Don't make yourself ill just to prove a point. Just because the medicine is making you feel better doesn't mean you should push your limits." Jin scolds him, taking the bowl away.

"I just don't want to ruin the trip.." Jungkook looks down at his hands, rubbing his finger across his ARMY tattoo. "Please just go for me Hyung?"

"JK I'd be just as happy staying in bed watching movies with you, but since you're that instistant I'll go okay? Now stop worrying and get some more sleep." Jin ruffles Jungkook's hair. "You are such a brat you know that?"

"Can you video call me if you talk to any of the artists?" Jungkook asks.

"Of course. Whatever you want, but you know I'm shy with strangers."

"Then at least tell Halsey hi for me?"

"Seokjin-hyung are you coming?" Yoongi asks, entering the room to get his camera, surprised to see Jin leaving the bed.

"Yes, Kook-ah wants me to go and if I stay he'd never let me hear the end of it." He turns to Jungkook. "But the minute you feel worse you better call me."

Jungkook nods, already falling asleep again after having a warm meal fill his belly. "Travel safely.." He murmurs, drifting off to sleep.

"He's strong Jinnie-hyung, I wouldn't worry too much," Yoongi tells him, smiling fondly when he hears the mankae's soft snores.

Part 2

[agentsquirrelsgotrobots]

Here's an au where the senate kidnapped and removed Optimus's voice box a la empurata

Tw: Mutilation and discussions of trauma

As soon as Heatwave pulled him from the flooded river, Optimus knew he was doomed. He could feel the water in his mask, which would be mildly unpleasant if he was Heatwave, but was potentially live threatening to Optimus. If something damaging got into his voice box - no, no time to panic - just follow Heatwave, use the radio backup, and duck into the wash rack as soon as possible.

He transformed and followed Heatwave out of the danger zone, the flood redirected by the levee Optimus just fell off of.

They made it back to the firehouse, and Optimus couldn't help the horrible grinding, choking noise that came out as water leaked from his battle mask. He ran through the door, past Blades, who was setting up a systems check, routine after a submersion, and dunked into the bot sized wash rack, locking the door behind him.

He retracted his battle mask and took a catheter out of his subspace, fumbling with the sterile wrapper. He finally got it open and stuck it in a drainage port on the side of his prosthetic. He attached a plastic syringe to it and sucked out all the water from the tiny tank meant for this purpose. There was still water after the first syringeful, but after the third, the catheter pulled up nothing. Unfortunately, he still could feel wetness inside his neck and the back of his throat. It would all have to come out.

Optimus struggled to find the hidden latches at first, not used to doing this completely by himself, but he eventually got it, opening his neck and removing what remained of his ruined voice box and the attached prosthetic. He finally allowed himself to look into the mirror, at his missing lower jaw, chipped and broken dentae, and gaping nothingness of his mouth and upper jaw without the prosthetic. He focused on cleaning the polluted water out of his voice box. He started taking it apart, removing the screens of the main speaker that projected his fabricated voice.

He disconnected the original pieces from the fabricated ones, looking for any loose wires, burst welds, or fried components. To his relief, the waterproofing of the container with the more fragile pieces stayed intact. It was the actual speaker itself that needed the most attention.

His plans to take things slowly was destroyed by Blades overriding the door locks and rushing to his side, audibly gasping at the scarring on Optimus's face. Optimus ignored him as he fussed, taking out some cotton swabs and a gentle cleaner and cleaning out the bolt holes just under his nose. They always got gummed up with gunk, the metal permanently pierced and gunmetal gray and dead.

He checked that there wasn't any more cracking on his nose, the metal fragile and irritated from constant rubbing on his battle mask.

The battle mask is essential. He didn't want to spend his days explaining over and over again that he doesn't want a full jaw prosthetic, just the voice box. No, the old bolt holes are fine. He couldn't drink like that anyway, with the speaker. He shuddered as he remembered the feeling of Megatronus holding him down while Ratchet clipped the bolts attaching the heavy rectangular mask, branded with the Functionalist seal, to his face. He remembered choking on a fragment of one of the bolts, Ratchet shoving his hand in the mass of crudely cut and sealed wires and hastily rerouted energon lines to keep him from drowning in his own energon. By then, they had made it to Ratchet's illegal clinic. He was put into stasis as soon as he arrived and taken into the operating room to repair the damage. He couldn't get help from a legal hospital, the brand barring him from care by anyone except illegal clinics and council approved and supervised medics.

Blades insisted on bringing him back out into the main garage, telling him that he would need to run diagnostics anyway, and he wasn't going to do that in the damp wash rack.

"Optimus, may I ask what happened to you?" Cody said, staring at the disassembled pieces of Optimus's speaker in his careful hands.

Optimus paused his cleaning, and closed his eyes briefly before opening them again as Blades plugged himself into the medical port on his wrist. "Before the war, I advocated for necessary changes to unjust systems that threatened the people in charges' access to absolute power, and they tried to silence me by any means necessary." The room sat in silence as Optimus continued to tinker with his prosthetic.

"You were an activist?" Charlie asked, his eyes wide at the implications.

"Yes, I was an activist under a government where peaceful protest was illegal, punishable by mutilation or death. The Functionalists didn't keep prisoners, political or otherwise. I took their cruelty as a sign that our efforts were working. It doesn't matter. Within a few decades, they had been overthrown and the civil war that destroyed our home started in earnest." He got up and disconnected Blades from his wrist, calling Ratchet for a ground bridge. It opened in a side wall, and Optimus walked through it.

He felt… numb. He didn't want to give out as much information as he did, but the idea of having to deflect questions over and over and over again until it all spiraled out of control made him want to lock himself in his room and never leave.

He walked into the medbay, and First Aid got him settled in a private room with a fake window, a cube of energon, a warm blanket, and reassurances that Ratchet was on the way before he could open his mouth to speak.

He sat on the bed now, the energon finished, fighting the urge to fall asleep. Knowing Ratchet, he would turn off Optimus's pain receptors, do the repairs while he was asleep, and leave him to rest for as long as he could get away with it under the guise of Optimus being under observation.

He finally decided to just sleep, and he shut down as soon as his head hit the padding.

He woke up to Ratchet testing his speaker, the differently pitched tones echoing in the tiny room.

"Optimus, everything looks fine, but I want you on vocal rest for the next few days."

Optimus tapped out Affirmative on Ratchet's wrist. Ratchet put his tools aside to be sanitized and insisted on helping Optimus stand.

They went back to Optimus's room, and Optimus took a book he had been meaning to get to off one of his shelves and sat on his bed. Ratchet left him to read, and Optimus sighed.

He never intended on telling the Rescue Bots what the council had done to hum, but now that he did, it felt like a weight was off his shoulders. He started to read, and the stress of the day rolled off him as he lost himself in his book.

[equipment-manifest]

This post is part of a series on Rain World's architecture.

Modern Style

We know that certain structures were built contemporaneously with the Iterators. Presumably Drainage System was built to manage the flooding caused by their rainfall. Similarly, Sunken Pier and the retaining wall would not have been necessary before large-scale erosion of the surface. Sky Islands clearly employs the same technology seen in Iterator superstructures, and it would make sense for the broadcast network to be an Iterator-era development. Filtration System and the Precipice were built alongside Five Pebbles, to supply him with Void Fluid and connect him to Looks to the Moon. The connection between Filtration System and Pipeyard was built even later.

Though each of these areas has a distinct architectural style reflecting its function, I group them all under the broad label of "modern" on the basis that they all favor concrete and metal as construction materials and make little to no use of the brickwork which characterizes the Industrial and Outskirts styles. I believe brick and stone were abandoned mainly for practical reasons: after the Iterators were created, critical infrastructure below the clouds had to be constructed of materials capable of self-healing from damage in order to resist rapid erosion by the heavy rains. In real life, the most well-developed self-healing construction materials are concretes that employ chemical or biological processes to repair fractures, some of which even benefit from a wet environment. With their expertise in biotechnology, the Iterators' creators would no doubt have been able to replicate and perfect these materials. In comparison, infusing bricks with the necessary chemical or biological ingredients for self-healing seems more difficult: firing clay would likely destroy the ingredients, and the composition of hewn stone can be no different than the rock it was mined from.

The use of the modern style throughout Chimney Canopy would imply that it was constructed during the Iterator era. This is believable to me, as the architecture there seems like it would be as difficult to navigate for the Iterators' creators as it is for us slugcats. Given the connection to Industrial Complex, I wonder if the region is one part of the "remodeling" that Moon refers to when discussing the Industrial Complex pearl. In that case, the smokestacks might be connected to machinery that was used to automate the site's production after its former operators departed for the cities in the clouds.

Though the lower half of Farm Arrays is solidly pre-Iterator, the Outskirts and Industrial styles mostly give way to erosion-resistant concrete and metal in proximity to the farms themselves, particularly in rooms exposed to the outside. Perhaps the farms were upgraded with modern materials and technology when the Iterators were built, or perhaps they were a brand new Iterator-era development built on top of the bones of some older installation, agricultural or otherwise.

Looking only at the vanilla game, I would say that Shoreline and Garbage Wastes were also constructed from self-healing materials during the Iterator era. But as I mentioned before, in Downpour these regions appear more akin to Farm Arrays, a layer of modern infrastructure built on top of and among older brick structures.