#how to increase immunity in child naturally

[lesservillain]

alpha!steve harrington x omega!reader

cw: omegaverse dynamics, knotting, bonding/marking, breeding kink, unprotected piv, semi public, mutual pining

wc:~5.7k

Music plays at a low hum from the small radio at your desk. The only station that comes in clear has been taken over by Christmas music since Thanksgiving break. Not even Wham!’’s Last Christmas was giving the same sense of relief after hearing it every day for almost a month now. 

Despite the winter wonderland outside, you still seek out the coolness of your water bottle against your skin, the chill helping to ease the flush that’s been making you sweat like it was mid July in Texas. You’d even cracked the window behind your desk in hopes that the fallen snow would help with your elevated body temperature. But you knew that all of your efforts were for nothing. That no matter how cold you made it, there was really only one thing that would actually be able to ease the discomfort that you felt spreading under your skin; the burden of being an omega in this world. 

Ever since you split with your ex this past spring you’ve been having to deal with your heats on your own. It's not impossible for an omega to go through heats without an alpha to ease the pain, but when you go cold turkey after years of having someone there to satisfy the overwhelming biological need to mate, it can take a huge toll on any omega. 

Science has made leaps and bounds over the last 20 years to improve suppressants for both alphas and omegas. They’re not perfect by any means, but they’re better than dealing with the intense urges that you feel when that time of the month comes. 

The current suppressants you're taking are…experimental. Mixed with a birth control that’s supposed to be able to stop even the swimmers of an alpha in rut from reaching an egg of an omega they’ve marked. They were suggested by your doctor as a preventative, since omegas after losing their long alpha tend to subconsciously scent to seek out a replacement. 

And they worked really well the first few months, not having a heat for nearly half a year. But the added stress of moving to a new town on your own and starting a new job where you were constantly playing catch up after inheriting a mess from the school’s previous nurse, your heat came back full swing within the first month of the school year. The dizziness, increased appetite, a dull ache in your lower back, and hot flashes put you out for three days before you could get a suppressant strong enough to make you functional again. 

Now you’re having your winter heat, which, so far, has been much tamer by comparison thanks to the increased dose of your medication. But the combination of your heat with the influx of students seeing you due to peak flu and strep season, your body has been practically screaming at you by the end of each day this week to go home and relax. 

The sudden overzealous opening of your office door takes your attention off your sweltering body. The all too familiar voice of Mr. Harrington calls out “Helloooo, nurse!” as he occupies the space in the doorway. 

Steve Harrington was one of the school’s sophomore history teachers, as well as the football and basketball coach and the leader of the Student Achievement program. All of the staff, and probably some of the students, swoon over him at any given moment, his presence never missed due to the air that surrounds him. Unfortunately you’re not immune to his charms either. In fact, the natural attraction between the two of you was palpable at times, regardless of how much you try to ignore it. 

Steve could feel it, too. And maybe it was the way his alpha brain was wired, but his flirty personality is jacked up to 10 whenever you’re around. It’s not on purpose, at least not in a conscious way. His amazing hair, the way his clothes hugged his toned body, and his almost unnaturally handsome face made him the poster child for the perfect alpha partner. 

Well, perfect except for the fact that he’s the clumsiest man you’ve ever met in your life, leaving your office at least once a week with a Strawberry Shortcake bandaid after giving himself a paper cut or an ice pack on his head when a ball hits him in the face. 

Despite his accident-prone nature, Steve is a highly desired, single alpha in his prime. And with you being the only unclaimed adult omega in the building, it’s put a huge target on your back for your jealous coworkers who think they have a shot with him. To remedy this, you’ve maintained a firm level of professionalism and platonic friendliness at all times with him, despite his flirty personality testing your willpower.

His intoxicating scent invades your senses sending  a wave of warmth to wash over you before you can even give him a quick glance. You pull at the collar of your blouse willing the air to cool down your shirt. “You feeling okay there, nurse? You look a little flushed. Or are you just that happy to see me?”

“Mr.Harrington,” you say flatly, following with teasing sarcasm as you continue looking over your paperwork, “I was starting to worry you weren’t going to see me this week. Thought you’d finally broken your streak of bad luck.” He lets out an airy chuckle that makes the sides of your lips threaten to curl.

“Oh, honey, you know I can’t stay away from you.” He means it. He would fake appendicitis if it gave him a greater chance to be doted on by you. To get closer to you. “I would have been in here sooner if I hadn’t been glued to my desk all week getting grades in before break,” he says, voicing his grievances that were the result of his own negligence. 

“I see,” you hum, continuing with the sarcastic tone. “I guess I won’t have to replenish my box of bandaids just yet.”

“Weelll,” he draws out, “All that sitting time must have built up my bad luck, because, uh, I think this one may need more than just a bandaid.”

When you finally lift your eyes from your desk, they almost bulge out of their sockets at the sight of him. Where you initially thought his arms were just crossed, you see his right hand is actually covering his left bicep, blood staining down the sleeve of his light and navy blue striped dress shirt. The lack of urgency in his tone had you thinking nothing was wrong, but of course Steve Harrington would find the time to flirt with you while he’s bleeding. 

Tossing your water bottle on the desk and jumping up from your seat, you practically fly across the room to assess the damage, pulling his hand away to find a tear in the sleeve and blood spread messily on his skin underneath.

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” You ask with concern, pulling him into the office by the hand and leading him to a cot, shutting the door behind you. 

“Mrs.Harmon asked if I could stay and help set up stuff around the auditorium for the choir performance tonight,” he explained as you pulled at the material of his sleeve, trying and failing and get a better look at the wound, “and I accidentally knocked a shelf off the wall while trying to get the decorations out. I moved fast enough that it didn’t crush me, but it did knick me a little.”

“A little! Mr.Harrington—” you start with a stern tone, preparing your normal lecture to him about being safe. 

“Steve,” he corrects with a smug grin, insisting that you call him by his first name since you’ve met. 

“Mr.Harrington,” you repeat like a warning, trying to remain professional when he’s so close to you. It’s hard when he’s staring at your face with those big hazel eyes as he watches your face scrunch in frustration while you fiddle with his shirt. A shirt that’s straining to stay together around his large bicep, leaving no give for you to get a better look at his wound. 

Losing your will to argue with him, your hands rest to your hips with a sigh. “Can you, just, slip your arm out of the sleeve, please?”

“Of course,” he says with faux seriousness as you can see his all too satisfied smile, rolling your eyes at him.

Turning on your heel, you walk a few feet to grab the things from the supply cabinet to treat his wound. Your back is turned to him as you fill your arms with gauze, tape, cotton balls, and anything else you may need for a cut that large.

 “You know, you’re probably the clumsiest alpha I’ve ever met,” you tease as you turn to face him again, “Sometimes I think you get hurt on purpose just to see m—“

The rest of your remark dies on your tongue as your mouth goes dry. Taking liberties with your request, you watch Mr.Harrington completely remove his shirt, dropping it on the cot behind him and facing you once more. The white under tank he’s wearing leaves little to the imagination as it hugs his broad chest tightly, thinning the material and making it almost see through. His skin still has the last lingering tint of the tan he was sporting on the first day of school, and different sized freckles and moles decorate his body like constellations in the sky. You’ve never seen so much of him all at once, head feeling fuzzy as you drink him in. 

“I think you might be drooling a bit there, Ms. Nurse,” he says pointing to the corner of his own mouth to further his teasing. But you can barely hear him, the words muffled as your ears start to ring and your vision tilts as if you’d been drinking. The boil you’d been dealing with all day felt like a slight shimmer as your fever suddenly spikes, your body on fire as the scent coming from his newly exposed skin has you reeling.

The supplies you’re holding dropped to the floor, freeing your hands to grasp at the counter behind you. Steve rushes to your side, wrapping an arm around you and easing you to the ground. He barely makes it without dropping to his knees himself, the smell of your pheromones hitting him like a brick. 

“H-hey, what do you need,” you hear him ask, but you can hardly register the words as his scent in close proximity only spurs your heat on more. Even with your clothes covering your skin, the touch of his hand on your waist and the one he’s rested on your knee make you crave more of him in a carnal way, the urgent need to close the gap between the two of you has your body shifting until you’re on your knees and crawling towards him. 

His hands hover in the air, slightly trembling as you lean into him. He falls back on his ass as you get closer until you’re practically laying on him, rubbing against him with your face like a cat. “I need you, Steve,” you purr. He takes a sharp breath in through gritted teeth as your hand drifts lower, lower, until your fingers land on the very prominent bulge straining against his deep blue slacks. “Shit,” his head snaps back at the contact, before dropping back down to look at you with hungry eyes.

“What happened to keeping it professional?” He tries to joke, unsure if this is all just a test from the universe to see how he would react to having his nightly fantasies come true. And while Steve may be resilient in many ways, he wasn’t sure if he could hold back with the way you’re looking up at him through your lashes as if he’d hung the moon and the stars. The scent of his musk permeates the room as he gives into your needs, his desires, letting the primal urges he’s been pushing down since the day he met you front in his mind. 

If you were in a different state of mind you probably would have laughed at his comment. But the intense ache that bloomed between your legs as all your senses start to leave your body has you whimpering against his chest. 

Strong arms scoop you up swiftly, tossing you down on the cot and pulling the privacy curtain behind him. In the split second he was away from you, you managed to grab his discarded shirt and pull it to your nose, inhaling his lingering scent. It was like a drug that you couldn’t get enough of, your thighs rubbing together and hips moving against air as your body seeks out any kind of relief for the ache. 

Suddenly, the shirt is torn from your grasp roughly. You cry out, hands reaching out aimlessly before they’re being grasped tightly around the wrists and pinned to the bed. The cot dips as a weight wedges its way between your legs, pressing against your core in a way that has you instantly bucking against it with reckless abandon, your clouded mind only thinking about satisfying the throb in your core. 

“God, look at the mess you’re making on my thigh already,” Steve says with a low growl, watching you use him in a pathetic attempt to relieve yourself. The grit in his voice hits every nerve in your body on its way from your ear drums to your cunt. 

“You smell so fucking sweet,” he groans as he brings your wrist to his nose and inhales, “Like vanilla or honey, o-or something better,” he stammers. He leans over you, hot tongue licking a thick stripe from your collar bone to behind your ear, lightly biting the lobe and pulling, goosebumps rising on your skin. His hair is just as soft as you imagined it would be as it tickles your cheek, a sharp contrast to the way his teeth bite at your neck, his tongue soothing over the skin. 

You press your cheek into him, whining his name right into his ear, practically begging him to put you out of your misery. He releases one of your hands to grab your face, lips pursing together, making you look him in the eyes. His pupils fully blown out and close enough that you can see your own fucked out reflection in them.

“Listen to me,” he says, swallowing, eyes flickering between your eyes and your lips. “I’ve been wanting to do this for five fucking months. Five long months of fucking my fist to the thought of getting you under me just like this, making you a mess and having you beg for me.” He takes a deep breath through his nose, nostrils flaring as the last bit of his resolve begins to waver. “So if we do this, you’re mine from now on, got it? No more of this back and forth, pretending you don’t want me as much as I want you bullshit. Once I start…I’m not going to be able to stop. Do you understand?”

There’s no hesitation with how quickly you try to nod your head against his grip. The heat coming off of your cheeks warms the tips of his fingers. “Nuh-uh,” he tuts, giving you a little shake, “Need to hear it. Tell me you want this.” 

“Want you, Steve. Need you. Need your cock, please, please please.”

 He curses under his breath before his lips crash into yours. The kiss is hot and heavy right off the bat as teeth clash and tongues dance together in desperation. Your free hand finds its way into his perfect hair, pulling slightly at the nape, eliciting a moan from him that you catch as it leaves his lips.

Steve pulls away from you with a wild look in his eyes. Both of his strong hands release their hold on you so that he could rip open the front of your blouse, sending buttons flying and hitting the floor with a clatter. His mouth is back on you, nipping and biting the skin while his hands pull your tits free from the cups of your bra. 

Mouth moving at lightning speed, he hungrily takes one of your nipples in his mouth, sucking and tonguing the bud while needing at your other breast with his hand. His eyes are glassy when they look up at you, half lidded and unfocused, drool dribbles down your breast from his mouth. 

Everything next happens so quickly you can barely register it. Steve pulls away from you completely, standing up fully to rip your pants down your legs. Once he throws them to the floor, he’s making quick movements to undo his own pants, his right thigh drenched from the slick that had soaked through while grinding against him. 

His cock is so hard that the pressure against the crotch of his pants has the zipper undoing itself once he frees the button. Wasting no time, he shucks down his slacks and boxers in one go, his large cock and heavy balls now on full display for you, the sight making your eyes widen in surprise—and maybe fear?

Alphas are known to be bigger than even a well endowed beta, and omegas are built to handle the size of an alpha’s better than a beta can, but the size of the Steve’s cock less than a foot from your face has you mesmerized at the sheer size of it. But while your mind may be in shock, your pussy has a mind of its own, slick dripping in anticipation for the stretch you’d be receiving. Even in his large hands it looked massive, bigger than any alpha you’d been with before. 

You sit up in the bed slightly, reaching out to take him in your hand, your fingers barely able to wrap around him as you stroke the angry red tip. He curses under his breath as you let your hand roll over the tip, feeling the veins against the skin of your palm with each stroke.

 A little bead of precum bubbles at the tip and something in your mind snaps. Your mouth is on him in an instant, any sense you may have had left is completely gone out the window when that salty taste hits your tongue. 

“Fuck, look at you,” he cooes, followed by a guttural moan at the sight of you trying to take as much of him in your mouth as you can. “Such a good girl. Trying your best to take me in that pretty little mouth of yours, huh?” His words egg you as you continue to suckle at his tip, lapping up any of his spend that leaks out as you keep pumping at his shaft.

You want to keep going, want to be good for him, but ache between your legs is becoming unbearable the longer you go on. Slick is slipping down your thighs, a puddling forming under you on the sheets as your body involuntarily preps itself to take Steve’s massive cock. You look up at him with teary eyes, lifting your ass in the air as a silent plea for him to take you like the bitch in heat that you are. 

And as much as he’s loving watching you pitifully mouth his cock, seeing you present yourself for him turns off the evolved parts of his brain, leaving him to run on primal instincts only. 

Grabbing you by the throat, he manhandles you onto your back and positions you so your ass on the edge of the cot. Your legs fall to the sides, opening as wide as you can get them, pussy on full display and ready to be taken. 

“Hoooooo, fuck,” Steve shudders, licking his lips at the sight of your dripping cunt, hole clenching around nothing, begging for him to fill it up. He runs his fingers through your folds to collect some of your arousal, barely brushing over your throbbing clit. He brings his fingers to his mouth, shoulders slumping in satisfaction.

“Damnit, of course you taste sweet, too. Can’t wait til I can get you in my mouth,” he says with a slight slur. 

You panic for a moment, unsure if you could wait any longer for him to finally be inside you. As if he can read you like a book, he lets out a soft chuckle, taking his cock in his hand and pumping it slowly. “Don’t you worry, baby girl, I’m not gonna keep you waiting any more. Next time, though…”

The sticky tip of his cock taps your clit, sending shock waves throughout your body with every touch. It’s too much and not enough all at once. His name falls from your lips, and he shushes you in return, lining himself up with your entrance.

The breach of his tip stretching you wide is like a shot of morphine in an IV drip, your body becoming numb and a live wire at the same time, replacing the pain with a fuzzy haze all over. 

Steve watches the way your face contorts with pleasure as hips rock back and forth slowly. His teeth bite down on his bottom lip, trying his hardest to hold back so you can get used to his size, but the vice grip you have on his cock has him quickly losing his resolve. Body falling over you, he brackets your head between his forearms as he finally folds. His breath fanning over your face has your eyes fluttering open. Met with the most divine visual of Steve’s pinched brow, scrunched up nose, and slack jaw fill your vision entirely. Your breath is punched from your lungs as he makes that final thrust, bottoming out inside of you with a shuddered whimper. 

“Oh, my god,” you breathe, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him in closer. He buries his head in the crook of your neck, rubbing his face against your skin, marking you with his scent. He begins to move, setting a pace that makes every thrust feel like heaven, the tightness of your walls amplifying every ridge and bump of his cock as it drags back and forth. “Fuck, Steve, you’re so big,” you whine, “Never felt so full be-fore!” The last syllable comes out as a gasp as he thrusts into you hard, spurred on by your words. 

His arms wrap around you tightly, laying all of his upper body weight against you to pin you in place so he can fuck into mercilessly. The feeling is mind melting, nonsense words mixed with repeating his name over and over fall from your mouth with each punch of his cock against your cervix. Each thrust hits that spot inside of you dead on, throttling you towards the edge quicker than your mind can handle in your current fucked out state. 

“Fuuuuck,” Steve’s voice is strained next to your ear, thrusts slowing as you “Don’t squeeze so tight, baby, I don’t wanna cum yet.” 

His words have the opposite effect on you as your whole body trembles beneath him, cumming so hard his cock your vision goes white. Your chest presses into his as your back arches off the mattress, the skin to skin friction against your hardened nipples stimulating you more as he fucks you through your high.

He lifts his head to watch you come undone with a wide eyed, feral look. He’s panting, too, with a string of saliva from his tongue to the skin of your shoulder where he had latched on, the skin red and already speckling with broken blood vessels. 

 “You’re so pretty when you cum on my cock like that,” he says with heavy breaths, “Wanna see you do it again, and again, and again,” he babbles, leaning in to trail kisses along your jaw, continuing to thrust into you harder and harder, in his own world now. You can only cling to him as he ruts into you, nails scratching down his back. “Gonna fuck you over and over and over until it takes. Big, round belly on full display for everyone to see. You gonna tell everyone Mr.Harrington got you pregnant when you can’t hide it anymore? What will all the other teachers think?” 

“Fuck, Steve, please.” 

“What is it, baby? Tell me what you want.”

“Want it, Steve. Want your knot.”

“Oh, is that right?”

Suddenly, he pulls away and out of you completely. It’s such a shock to the system you can help but cry out at the loss of him. But the vacancy doesn’t last long, his strong arms lifting and flipping you with ease until you’re face down into the mattress, ass being propped up on shaky legs so he can bottom out in you once more. 

This new angle changed everything. A wanton moan feels like it was being pushed out of you as it felt like his cock was in your lungs. One hand grabs a hold of your hip while the other pushes down on the back of your neck, effectively pinning you down so he can pick back up his brutal pace. There was no rhythm to his thrusts, driven purely on animalistic instincts as he chases his own pleasure, using you as a means to get him there.

“You want my knot, huh?” The question is rhetorical, said in the heat of the moment as he feels his peak nearing. “Want me to give you my knot and really knock you up? I’ll ruin you for any other alphas that think they have a chance. Cause you’re mine now, aren’t you, sweet girl? No other alpha’s gonnna fuck you like I can, right?” 

“No-no, Steve! Don’t want anyone else! Only want your knot! Please, please!” Your eyes lull as he fucks you stupid, mouth parted open as you drool onto the sheets. 

His weight shifts, trailing kisses down your back until he gets to that spot on the back of your neck. A chill runs down your spine as his teeth scrape against the skin over your scent gland. “Well, if that’s the case…Guess you wouldn’t mind if I held you to that, right?” 

The primal part of your brain is screaming for him to do it; mark you and make you his, permanently. The logical side fights for dominance, reminding you that you never wanted to be owned by an alpha, which is why you and your ex broke up in the first place. But the way he was making you feel right now had you second guessing all your morals. He hums over you, lips lingering against your skin as he speaks. 

Before you could answer, his hips were stilling inside you, the base of his cock swelling as he pumped you full with his spend. It would have been painful if it didn’t trigger the release of oxytocin in your body, making you cum with him. Your legs start to give out, but his hold on you tightens as his spend continues to spill into you., the  His body shakes above you, chest heaving as tries to catch his breath.

The two of you take a moment to come down from your highs. The air around you feels electric as the two of you become one, his knot settling within your walls snuggly, the steady stream of Steve’s cum filling you to the brim until you couldn’t possibly take anymore. He rests his head over your scent gland, rubbing his face against it out of comfort while you still emit that sweet, sweet smell. 

Everything feels right in the moment, until it’s interrupted by a knock and an intruding aroma. To you, it smells like smokey wood and cinnamon, but to Steve, it’s a threat. The smell of another alpha trying to get near his omega and claim her over him. You can feel his body tense up, breathing picking up in a panic, lips pressing against the skin as his mind races.

“Steve?” You say his name meekly. There’s a short pause between you, a split second before you feel it, his teeth clamping down on your skin. It’s like every nerve in your body lights up all at once. The sensation is powerful it makes you cum again, clamping down on Steve’s still hard cock buried inside of you. The moan he lets out against you is pornographic, teeth still clinging to your skin tightly as his saliva mixes with your body’s natural scent.

“Hey, everything okay in there?” The muffled voice calls from the other side of the door.

“Get the fuck out of here, Eddie!” Steve yells out to the janitor, another alpha that you’d seen in passing, pinching your skin as he does his best to keep his teeth on you. It’s quiet for a moment, and you think that Eddie left until you hear a loud, booming laugh, and a faint “About damn time!” as the new smell starts to dissipate. 

Steven feels your body jolt slightly beneath him and refocuses his attention on you. You do it again with an audible snort. At first he thinks you might be crying, guilt creeping in as he’s realized what he’s done to you. But as you get louder, it’s clear that you are actually laughing. 

“Was tho funneh?” He asks, drooling down onto your back.

“I don’t know,” you say through fits of giggles. “I think I’m losing my mind.”

“Thounds like et,” he says, laughing along with you.

“Sorry, I just…wasn’t expecting any of this.” Your body shifts under him, growing uncomfortable in the position you were in. Steve senses this, releasing your skin and licking your wounds so that, with careful maneuvering, he’s able to get both of you comfortably on your sides. He wraps his arms and legs around you, holding you close to his strong chest, eyeing his handiwork of his mark as you rest your head on his arm.

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for,” he says softly, kissing the back of your head. “If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I took things too far…But if I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t regret it.”

It could be the residual high from your heat, or the change in your brain chemistry from his mark, or just the fact that you’ve been pushing down how much you really wanted this with him from the moment your hands touched when you both went for the same bagel at the first staff meeting over the summer, but you couldn’t deny that you didn’t regret it either. 

For so long you’ve been in denial, trying to ignore that he was the reason your suppressants stopped working because you wanted him so badly that your body was rejecting them when he was around. Denying how happy you get when he brings you coffee in the morning, or how much you look forward to when he sits with you during his lunch period to talk about whatever shenanigans his multitude of friends get into, or how the whole reason you started this heat was because he let you sit in the passenger seat of his BMW while he jumped your car after work on Tuesday, the inside smelling so overwhelmingly like him that you had to jump out and rush straight to your car before you ended up jumping him in the middle of the parking lot. 

“Steve?” You request his attention just above a whisper, breaking the silence between you. He hums quizzically, resting his cheek against yours. “Did you really need to grade papers this week, or have you been avoiding me this week because you knew I was going through a heat?”

His cheek vibrates against yours as he chuckles from his throat. “You’re so smart, you know that, right?” He kisses your cheek before settling back with his head on the pillow, forehead resting against the back of your head. 

As the two of you lay there you ask him a million questions, picking his brain to its fullest extent with this new closeness the two of you share. Really, you just like the sound of his voice, but he does say a few things here and there that make you belly laugh.

“Don’t do that,” he laughs along with you, “We’re never going to come undone if you keep squeezing me like that!”

“I can’t help it,” you wipe a tear from your eye, trying your hardest to suppress your giggles. 

Thirty minutes pass and Steve’s knot finally goes down enough that he can pull out of you. It feels like a part of you is missing now that he’s no longer occupying you after so long. Hot, sticky cum pours from you like a storm drain onto the sheet below. With a sigh, you make a mental note to add new sheets on your list of things to replace, right under a new box of bandaids.

Oh, shit. Steve’s arm.

As he starts to gather the discarded clothes on the floor, you see that that blood has dried up and mostly rubbed off after everything. After the two of you redress, you wearing Steve’s button up after he made your blouse no longer wearable, not that you were complaining as the need to nest was starting to kick in, you cared for his wound. Just a cut left behind that would be okay with a little disinfecting and a few steristrips. 

“You forgot the most important part,” he says with a shake of his head as you place the last strip on his arm. You tilt your head at him in confusion, a smile forming on his face as he looks at you with a sparkle in his eyes. “Aren’t you gonna kiss it better?”

[audreyscribes]

Ω PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS: 🍎ERIS: GODDESS OF STRIFE AND DISCORD 😈

Hi everyone! Here's something I've been cooking up in the background. This came about whilst I was working on the other previous works and it just sort of happened. Hope you guys like it!! Again, these works will be categorised as the MISCELLANEOUS GODS due to not the fact these gods are minor or anything, but because I did mention this in an ask before and it's easier to think about due to the canon PJO worldbuilding. These works will be a bit more loose since I'm taking a shot in the wild so hopefully you guys like it. Thanks for reading!!

When you get claimed, it’s, unironically, utter chaos. People are scrambling away and elsewhere. When you had first arrived initially, things around at camp had been slowly dissolving into chaos; mishaps, increased arguments and fighting, yelling, strange accidents, etc. At one point, you noticed the clouds looked like cotton candy (you see several pegasus flying upwards and are physically chewing on them), with what looked like to be chocolate milk raining down from them. So when you get claimed with the floating symbol of Eris, a golden apple of Discord, you all realise that was just the preview. Things that should not be and could not happen are happening, and you’re the centre of the storm, completely unaffected like a mysterious barrier of immunity.

It’s only mitigated when a demigod who came to camp with you, got claimed. In the midst of the chaos, you all looked as you saw a floating claim of two Cornucopias. And in a similar manner like you, like a switch had been flipped, the discord stopped and everything was back in perfect harmony. You see Mr. D look at you and the other child before he downs his diet coke before crushing it with a curse before tossing it at the nearest Satyr’s mouth. 

Oh boi, how it feels to be the child of the god that was responsible for what started the Trojan war. Everyone looks at you and wonders if your presence here means that you’ll spark the next Trojan War. 

The Aphrodite and Athena cabins (and the Hera cabin) steer clear away from you in the beginning due to the whole thing with Paris and the three goddesses. 

Eris herself causes trouble and strife wherever she goes, so it was for that reason she didn’t get invited to Thetis and Peleus’ wedding, and in retaliation threw the golden apple which caused the three goddesses to go to Paris and set in motion the Trojan War. On that principle, you cause trouble in your wake and it’s just part of the course. It doesn’t have to be something deliberate, but it can be just you accidentally bumping your hip against a table, which causes a person to accidentally knock off their drink and it spills onto a child of Ares, and it goes from there. So you either get in trouble or start it: you might even consider stirring the pot or spilling the tea as you will. 

On premise, you start things; whether by sheer proximity or deliberately, mostly for fun. Whether it's encouraging the pranks of a child of Hermes or causing arguments for the sake of arguing. 

In fact, when you were first put into the Hermes cabin, people thought you were a child of Hermes given your mischievous and chaotic nature, and the numerous pranks that you concocted. 

Shenanigans galore. 

You are chaos incarnate. Almost quite literally. Not Chaos the primordial himself but the cause of chaos to be exact. In fact, you know the D&D alignment where there is Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic?Just as all children of Harmonia fall under Lawfuls,  all children of Eris fall under one of the Chaotic alignments: Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil. 

A weird quirk you inherited is carving into apples. Whether it's writing words into its flesh or just straight up carving into it like its pseudo jack-o-lantern. At one point, you sort of learn how to peel the skin into words. Now only if the satyrs stopped eating the peels as you’re peeling them. 

The Chaos Theory, the Butterfly effect… Those are all things that are part of your power as a child of Eris. You can cause things to happen in a disastrous way which is useful in a quick get-away, getting yourself out of a pickle, or simply putting things into motion. In fact, you could almost see the chaos unfold before it even happens, that is almost seemingly strategic like a child of Athena; except there’s always a side of chaos and unpredictability.

People often equate Eris’s strife as negative, but that’s not true. It is necessary. You may be seen encouraging the rivalry between two individuals, egging them on, but in the end, you’ve been pushing the other to be better and to stand above the other and make a name for themselves.  When things come to a stale-mate and impasses, you are able to rouse your fellow comrades with fire and egg on your enemies to make a mistake. 

No one knows how and the children of Hecate equate your abilities to a specific use of magic, due to the nature of Eris’ discord. If you tap into the ‘chaotic’ nature side of Discord, you can perform eccentric magic that seems almost mischievous and trickster-like; like unseelie court fairy magic. Like spinning gold from hay. Like Maleficent in the story of Sleeping Beauty. You can also pull out some looney-tunes and general cartoony logic out of thin air; enjoying pull off some bugs bunny or Wild E. Coyote shenanigans. So sit back and watch the show unfold before you.

People will inevitably start pushing you away for the child of Harmonia that was claimed alongside you; given who your respective godly parents are. You’ll feel jealous and hate but don’t hold it against them too much. Just as they bring calmness and harmony to your discord and strife, bringing you some sense of peace to your chaotic life, you help break their monotone and boring life, giving them motivation and energy.

Being claimed by Eris as her kid suddenly made sense in your life. While general discord and chaos was part of your life, you always had thought it was just how you were; causing general mischief here and there with Benny Hill theme playing in the background. Now? It was like living in a Looney-tunes cartoon life which was fabulous. 

You weren’t entirely shamed for being a child of Eris but it was starting to irate your nerves when people were contributing all the misfortune and discord happening around camp, especially since it has only increased tenfold since you were claimed. You had assumed it was just because your general energy being a child of Eris, but as you saw domino effects happening that were originating not because of you and the casualties were becoming concerning, you had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t because all you. 

And especially when the children of Hecate, Nemesis, and Tyche start saying that it’s not just because of you-

 It all comes to a point when you get slammed in the face by a flying pig squealing as it goes past. You’re seeing stars before you blink and then you see what looks like vapor trails pulsing as they wind and wrap around. You’re confused but as you follow the vapor trails, you see certain directions the vapor trails begin and end. 

A memory pops in your brain when you and the child of Harmonia found a place and time secluded enough to catch up, since the campers seem keen on keeping you separate. You remember listening to the child of Harmonia talk about their power, how they could sense things weren’t in harmony like they were tangible and they could be smoothed back over. 

You then start to wonder if that’s your version, seeing the time lapse version of how bits of chaos were happening. You rake your eyes all over, taking it all in until you see what looks like a bundle of tangled trails. You follow it as it gets thicker and thicker and your eyes fall upon the said-child of Harmonia, who looks frantic as they look they’re orchestrating with their hands, detangling and smoothing over their tangled trails while also smoothing others. You can see the others being fixed but theirs? It doesn’t seem like it made even a dent. 

Then you see it. The trails tangled and wrapping around their neck but specifically the source of it all; the necklace they wore; one they had for as long as they could remember-

You rush over as the necklace seems to tug and the child of Harmonia lurches to that direction by force, their body knocking into a child of Hephaestus, their latest invention clearly fizzing and seizuring before it seems to go haywire, spraying its function as it sends a domino effect as it all goes toward the child of Harmonia . Everyone is either hitting the decks or running out to save themselves as doom headed towards the Harmonia demigod. 

“LOOK OUT!” you yelled as you rushed over, using the energy of discord and strife, jumping off an arguing child of Ares’ back as you flew towards your friend. You find the vapor trails and grab it, tugging towards the incoming doom and you begin your own orchestration, causing effects to redirect everything AWAY from everyone and your friend. You’re all surrounded by fire and chaos but everyone is in one piece and okay. You turned to the child of Harmonia who looks at you with awe and fear. Their hands gripping the necklace, as you can clearly see them trying to pull it off. 

“What’s going on here?” you all heard as Chiron and Mr. D rush over; the latter’s expression was unusual and was making everyone uneasy. 

“It was the child of Eris! They’ve been causing all this trouble-” one blamed.

“HEY!” you yelled back offended. 

“Come on, it was that child of Harmonia; you all saw them bump into the Hephaestus kid-” another yelled to your defense. 

“They’re the child of Harmonia, how’s that even remotely possible-” another yelled. The yelling begun to grow and grow as people were taking either sides and Chiron was now faced with dealing an angry crowd-

“Everyone stop! It wasn’t them!” yelled the child of Harmonia, soothing over everyone’s angry energy. They all turned to them who had a deer in headlights look, “It…It was me-”

“But that isn’t possible-” someone said but the Harmonia demigod cut them off. “No, it is. I cause this but-” 

“But what, child?” asked Chiron gently. 

You saw the child of Harmonia try to take off the necklace but as if it had a will of its own, it tug itself back out of their grip. The discord energy you could see around it was growing and you spoke. “It’s the necklace isn’t it?” you asked softly, putting a gentle hand on their hands, making them unwrap their death-gripped fingers. You were also pulling away the energy to re-direct it, but you also knew at that moment that necklace was cursed.

The child of Harmonia looked at you with wide-eyes and nodded. You all heard a deep instake of breath and you turned to see Mr. D with wide eyes. “The Necklace of Harmonia” he said. 

There was a ripple of unease as people took a step back away from you two. “What?” you asked confused before Chiron made a grim face. “You two come with me. All cabin leaders come with me to the Big House.”

There side by side, both you and the child of Harmonia were told about the curse of the necklace of Harmonia, and it was clear that your dual appearance wasn’t just a coincidence, and you were there, a child of Eris, for a reason to your counterpart, the child of Harmonia. 

[wazzappp]

Ok @moosemonstrous here we fuckin go.

OK SO. I apologize if it comes off more Evangellion than Pacific Rim but I thought that making The Charger more slender would help to differentiate it and allow for a focus on agility (also helps it to look more skeletal and unsettling).

The Charger is built in layers. An outer layer that constitutes the armor, a thinner covering, metal scaffolding, secondary thin covering, and then finally the essential wiring that makes the 'nervous system' of the Jaeger. Most of the damage (corruption scars, nicks, paint chipping) is just cosmetic, and the structural nature of the Jaeger is intact.

HOWEVER. The same can not be said of the reactor core. At some point (maybe during Eli's death?) corruption made its way behind the main fans of the outer engine and into the main reactor that powers the Jaeger. In theory this should lead to a catastrophic failure, but in this instance Im thinking there was a chemical reaction that essentially stabilized the corrosive nature of the Corruption (were gonna circle back to that).

For the most part my version of Robbies suit is fairly standard. I added an orange tint to his helmet screen for flavor because hey. Why not.

The spine of the suit is probably newly integrated to allow for an updated interface, I imagine theres at least a little development in the technology between the time Eli dies and Robbie comes into play. That would make the suit a weird mishmash of past and new technology which could be VERY fun.

Also I LOVED the white accents @cicada-candy added for their design but I didn't want to steal ideas so I just added it in my own places. Your art fucks severely bro I just wanted to make sure and let you know that <3

TIME FOR MY FAVORITE PART: SPECULATION ABOUT THE CORRUPTION AND ITS THEORETICAL GENETIC EFFECTS IN DOSES ON A SUBJECT!!!!!! (AKA self indulgence part 2 electric boogaloo)

I believe you mentioned the Corruption being a Neurotoxin which would be Very fun and VERY cool but I also have a suggestion. Mainly because you also referenced an increase in Robbies strength, as well as another person who got fuckin deaded shortly after.

A rapid growth in muscle density to allow for this strength would be very interesting, but why would the Corruption cause that? Simple answer; it isn't. At least not intentionally. Whats actually happening is a kind of nerve damage that changes the brains regulation of muscular exertion. Our brains really only let us use a certain percentage of our real strength, because if we just let loose and used it all we would cause significant physical damage to ourselves. Like. ripping your own tendons free from their anchors. you could break your own bones. you would die SO fast bro.

Now it is POSSIBLE to access this strength in situations of extreme stress and thats how you get people lifting cars off of loved ones, but this does still cause damage. It also gets more complicated when you consider Fast Twitch muscle reactions but for the sake of simplicity: You Would Die.

So a release of cortisol and other stress hormones, combined with a lessened ability to control strength. This means they would be USING that strength A LOT against ANYONE AND EVERYONE. But maintaining this sort of metabolism is not reasonable. Someone suffering from Corruption would likely also suffer from Hypoglycemia fatally. So extremely strong, extremely scared, and extremely short lived is the kind of deal we would be talking about here.

SO. Having said ALL OF THAT. WHAT IS ROBBIES DEAL. Well heres my proposal: The Corruption is a virus that causes neurodegenerative disease.

If Robbie was exposed to very small amounts of it as a child, it's possible it was inactive or defective, which would have allowed for an immunization point. Its also highly possible that this is a virus that can not survive (well i say survive very lightly. theres significant debate as to wether viruses are actually alive at all but I digress) outside its usual area AKA Inside a demon. He could have been exposed through contaminated water, direct contact, maybe even breathing burned version through the air. Either way, he came into contact with a weakened version of the virus and it helps him later on.

As he comes into DIRECT contact with Corruption via plugging into The Charger this is when we would start to see some more interesting effects. This Corruption would still be different though because of the aforementioned stabilizing chemical reaction in the reactor. Also, because I think Eli's DNA would be integrated into it. This provides Robbie with genetic compatibility for the virus to jump off of. Remember, viruses don't want to kill a host, they just want to reproduce as much as possible (which does end up killing a host but still). And a fun fact about viruses is that we never actually get rid of them, we just get rid of the symptoms. Once you have it its in you forever.

SO. 1. Immune response from Robbies body begins to cause the nervous damage that would allow for his rapid increase in strength. 2.Immune system recognizes the genetic material is familiar (Eli doing something good even inadvertently I guess). 3. Immune system neutralizes the virus and incorporates it into Robbies genetic coding. All good right? Happy ending? WRONG.

BECAUSE WHEN THERE ARE COPYING ERRORS IN YOUR DNA (SOMETIMES FROM VIRUSES) WHAT DO WE CALL IT?? DING DING DING 10 POINTS TO THE MUTUAL THAT SAID ✨MUTATION✨

This virus still carries genetic material from demons, this would also be getting integrated into Robbies DNA. Places like his spine which would have the most regular contact with the Corruption would probably take the brunt of these changes. It's possible that the nerve damage never truly goes away and he continuously tears and then rebuilds those muscles, resulting in overall increased strength thats technically?? stabilized?? Also I could totally see his body going 'oh shit were finally growing with decent access to fuel? BET' and just. Reactivates the growth plates in his bones ('Look! I've fixed his runt of the litter insecurity!' 'YOU FUCKED UP A PERFECTLY GOOD PILOT IS WHAT YOU DID. LOOK AT HIM. HES GOT ANXIETY ABOUT THE STATE OF HIS HUMANITY').

Oh yeah its also worth noting that this would be like. Pretty painful. We're talking constant soreness, cramps, deep aches that just won't go away. General suffering <3

Of course tapetum lucidum OF COURSE TEEF obviously as if I could go without it. You can get funky with mutations because hey. fucky wucky demon genome integration whoop whoop. Also could be interesting to see damaged areas on the Charger manifest on Robbie as damaged tissue. His skin says 'AH. Damage' and copies itself as scar tissue instead of the usual.

Oh god Ive been writing for a solid hour and a half I was supposed to be asleep a while ago ok. Moose I love this au and its making me unwell thank you for sharing with the class I hope you will consider my virus proposal for body horror purposes.

[eroticcannibal]

So who actually supports home education?

Idiots whose only experience of alternative forms of education is reddit posts made by survivors of the worst cases and cult documentaries may think its all "the guvment gonna take my guns and microchip me" types but what is the reality?

There of course will always be an amount of weirdoes, but these are not representative.

A huge proportion of those who home educate do it because of an understanding of child development and education methods. Unfortunately how schools educate does not match up with the science on how kids learn best. Many know this from experience as a large amount of home educaters are *teachers*. When you know better, you do better, and home education allows you to follow the science.

A significant amount have to withdraw their children from school due to the schools failing. This is not ideological, this is survival. Neurodivergent kids, kids with complex medical needs, and increasingly in the past few years, kids with or who's family members have immune disorders. A child cannot learn if their needs are not being met. Schools often resist meeting these needs for ideological or financial reasons, and LAs can be uncooperative for financial reasons.

Due to either dissatisfaction with schools generally on ideological grounds or as a result of rising high control environments in schools, parents may opt out due to beliefs. Some of these may be more right wing beliefs, but a lot, especially more recently, are due to more leftist beliefs. Many, even those of centrist and right wing beliefs, have always taken issue with the role of schools, be it a vague "they don't care about my kid, they only care about creating a worker" or actually naming the problem (capitalism). Schools will always reflect the government, which is a concern for many as a government becomes more facist. Many kids right now are being pulled due to the increasing anti-trans sentiment, either out of fear of what their child will learn or simply because their child is trans and not safe.

Curriculum can also be a reason people prefer home ed. A school curriculum must somewhat support all students, as well as the social and ideological goals of the government. A home ed curriculum caters entirely to the child.

Minority groups may often end up in home education due to other ingredients and lack of access. Travelling families may prefer to educate their children themselves rather than deal with changing schools. There are also many cases where attempts to address social issues due to perceived or actual extremism in religious communities further pushes these religious families away from the wider community.

Many people truly believe in the value of community, and see schools as robbing their children of the chance to truly be a part of their communities. Real world learning is incredibly popular and quite obviously not isolationist in nature.

Some lifestyles simply do not support schooling. Families who move a lot for work, children working in creative fields etc

And there are schools refusers. All kids deserve an education, even those who won't go to school. Kids are being driven to drug use and suicide by school environments. They are being bullied, physically assaulted and sexually abused. Parents in these situations just want their children to be safe.

The reasons people home educate are numerous and complex, and usually very good. The bad ones are not many. They just make better stories, so you hear about them more.

[life-as-gwen]

The Woods

What can a walk in the woods do for you?

A quick Google search showed me multiple articles explaining the benefits of walking in the woods or simply of being in nature. Some explained the scientific conclusions that walking in the woods decreases the stress hormone cortisol. Others discussed decreased blood pressure and increased immune system function. Other articles concentrated more on the emotional and spiritual benefits of spending time in nature. The point is, there was a lot of discussion about the phenomenon.

Personally, I have always found my time outside hiking, camping and just being in nature very calming and reassuring. I don't think that I realized how much it was actually doing for me. 

I have long suffered from depression with major depressive episodes and anxiety. I have suffered from what I consider to be small "t" traumas. Until recently, I have not had any counseling or therapy, which has in no small part contributed to my drinking and problems with alcoholism. Looking back, I can see that despite what was going on for me, I was always very happy to be outside in nature. It seemed to be a place where I could just relax a bit, the problems of my life were put on hold and I was able to "just be".

I recently visited a lake that I spent a lot of time at as a child. Our family would drive up for three weeks every summer and camp. It's some of the happiest memories of my life. Being up there again made me realize how important this time my life was to me. It was a time that I was truly happy. Nowadays, I find that whether I am just walking the riverbank in my city or hiking a trail with my kids, my mind slows down, thoughts are not racing, and I am able to feel truly peaceful.

A walk in the woods is not a cure all by any stretch of the imagination. I continue to be on "my meds" and in counseling, but my time spent outside enjoying all nature has to offer, is invaluable!

You don't have to hike the West Coast Trail or backpack up a mountain, just sit in the backyard for 20 minutes.

I highly recommend it.#blog

[mollybecameanengineer]

Sinister

Summary: When an old “friend” turns up with information about their son, Mulder and Scully must act to protect their unborn child.

word count: 8223 | Teen | MSR | @today-in-fic

Read on AO3 or check out the prologue below the break

This is part of an episodic series called A Second Chance. All the episodes are collected, in order, using AO3’s series feature. The concept of the series is to rewrite seasons 8 and 9. It deals with Mulder’s return from the dead, the birth of William, and Mulder and Scully trying to juggle family life with impending doom.

If you don’t want to read the whole thing, but want to read this story, here is what you need to know…

Previously on A Second Chance: After Mulder returned from the dead, he moved in with Scully and they are planning to raise their baby together. Reyes has been partnered with Doggett since This Is Not Happening (Reentry). While performing an autopsy on Simon de la Cruz, an oil worker who died due to radiation and was carrying the black oil, Scully was infected and somehow neutralized it (Immunidad). After a case involving a nightmare demon, Mulder began remembering his abduction. It has put him on edge, and increased his concerns about what their son truly is (Incubo).

Prologue

“We should abduct Scully again. Then we can run all the tests we want, and get to the bottom of this.”

A match is struck, and a cloud of cigarette smoke circles the head of one of the men in the room. “No. If we abduct her, Mulder will stop at nothing to get her back. Last time that happened, we lost a ship.”

“So we abduct them both. Or kill Mulder.”

A vague grimace passes over the smoking man’s face. It’s brief; one would need to have been looking to see it. “No. We kill Mulder, and one man’s quest turns into a crusade.”

“You always say that. I don’t see how it’s true. It seems like if we just offed the two of them, it would make our lives–”

The man with the cigarette slammed down his fist. “We aren’t killing Mulder.”

His companion holds up his hands in surrender, though the left one doesn’t move naturally. “Alright, alright.”

With a puff of smoke, the older man says, “We wait. We have her blood. She’s immune, but there is nothing to indicate the ability to neutralize the Purity virus. Therefore, I suspect the child. We’ll let her bring it to term, and then investigate.”

“And if the baby is the source?”

“Then,” the man takes a final puff of his cigarette before stubbing it out. “We will act.”

Continue of AO3

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #20P: Cu Chulainn (Prototype)

today on fate and phantasms… cu, 2! ye, its protocu. since we didn’t wanna just make “cu, but with armor” we’re giving him wolves again. he’s mostly a fighter this time, but we also dip into beastmaster for the doggos, and mauler to specialize in his big ol’ spear.

check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

next up: THIS! IS! a word used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced.

ancestry and background

ur just. a younger cu. you’re still a human aasimar. that gives you a boost in any two stats you like, like strength and wisdom! and since you’re an aasimar you can get funky feats at level 1 like musetouched, giving you a +1 bonus to escaping, and you can’t get critical failures to escape or noncritical successes. that means you’ll always be able to try again if you mess up, and when you escape you can always get five feet away as part of the action!

at level 5, your blessed blood deals good damage to creatures that deal piercing or slashing damage to you, and you can make holy water easier if you use your blood. being a child of light has its perks! its painful, painful perks.

at level 9 you can hear the call of Elysium, increasing you and your nearby allies’ speeds by 5’. you won’t get as speedy as your main you, but you’re still in training! keep it up, youll get there.

at level 13, we get a lil humany with some advanced general training, giving you access to a general feat from 7th level or lower, like for example the Keen Follower feat. if you’re following some sort of expert, or say, teacher from the land of shadows for instance, you get a bonus to the Follow the Expert activity based on how good they are at their chosen skill. Scathach is really, really good at everything, so this should go smoothly.

at level 17, you can radiate glory¸ making that whole child of light thing suuuper literal. for a minute, you glow, and any creature who can see you has to make a will save against you or you get concealed or hidden from them for a bit. you can do this whenever you want, but when a creature makes the save, they’re immune to making that save again for a day. also, even if you’re hidden from them, you can’t sneak this way- ur still a giant living nightlight.

you haven’t started training with Scathach yet, so for now you’re just a wanderer. and since they’re the only background in the book with ‘wanderer’ in the name, we’re going with the Varisian Wanderer. they’re a bit more circus-y than I’d like, but tbh I think Cu would get a kick out of it. with this, you’re trained in Performance and Circus Lore. you can also make a Fascinating Performance- while performing, you can use the skill check against the will DC of someone watching. if you succeed, they’re fascinated by you for a round, becoming immune for an hour regardless of the result. it gets better the more we train in performance, but that’s not what this build’s about.

you also get a boost in Dexterity and Strength.

Class Levels

1. okay, let’s get the long part out of the way: you’re trained in will saves, your class DC, advanced weapons, all kinds of armor, athletics, nature, survival, intimidation, and eventually, religion. you’re also an expert in fortitude and reflex saves, perception, and all other kinds of weapons. you’ll specialize in spears eventually, but I’m sure your sensei gave you plenty of training with just about everything.

starting in the class now, your Key Ability is Strength, meaning all your fighter skills that make saves happen have their numbers based on how beefy you are. it also gives you an Ability Boost, and you get four more from the feature of the same name in Strength, Constituiton, Wisdom, and Charisma. you can also make Attacks of Opportunity as a reaction to something moving, making a ranged attack, or manipulating an item in your reach. if being defensive isn’t your cup of tea, you can also make a Power Attack by spending two actions. it’s like you made two attacks, and you deal two weapon dice of damage. that sounds… like you might as well have made two separate attacks, right? well, no. at higher levels, you deal even more damage, so it starts to get better and better as you go. it’s not quite Gae Bolg yet, but we’re getting there. you shouldn’t even have Gae Bolg yet, anyway.

you can also Shield Block as a reaction, but you don’t have a shield, so… yeah. maybe get a shield, if you want. block things.

2. if you don’t want a shield that’s fine, because at level 2 you can perform a Dueling Parry as an action, giving you a boost in AC for the turn if you have a one-handed weapon, and nothing else in your other hand. we’ll get a proper two-handed Gae Bolg later, but for now you’re on dinky training spears.

you’re also an Experienced Tracker, so you can move at full speed while tracking if you’re willing to take a small penalty to your tracking checks. as you level up in survival, you’ll lose that penalty, and eventually only have to roll once for the whole endeavour!

and for your first archetype, we’re getting you a puppy! I hope this comes out before the 25th so we can call it a Christmas present, but remember that real dogs are years-long commitments, and probably shouldn’t be sprung on people. you can make this either a wolf or a dog, there’s not a whole lot of difference aside from how popular they’ll be in civilized areas. though really there’s actually a shitton of animals you can pick from, though admittedly having an electric eel as an animal companion feels pretty niche. also a fun part of this archetype is how you refocus- you just gotta play with your puppy!

still, an extra body on the field is always helpful, and your good boy or girl starts out being able to rip peoples’ tendons off for reduced speed! what a scamp!

3. at level 3, you’ve got some Bravery, which will come in handy murdering that guy’s dog if you haven’t gotten on that yet. it makes you an expert in Will Saves, and your successes against fear effects are always critical! on top of that, you take one less point of being frightened whenever it happens.

you’re also an expert in Survival now, congrats.

speaking of survival though, you can now Predict Weather by spending 10 minutes outdoors, and you can do this once every 24 hours. if you pass the survival check you’ll learn how cold, windy, and wet it’ll be that day, as well as any weather events, and you’ll get a bonus to preparing for them. there’s also a chance you’ll get it completely wrong, but it’s more accurate than most weather people to be sure.

4. your spear’s a big ol’ stick, so you should be able to use a Quick Reversal to poke two people in a row as one action. if they’re both on opposite sides, you can attack one and then the other without bumping up your multi-attack penalty more than once. it’s a flourish though, so you can only use this once per turn. still, it’s a nifty trick!

you’ve also spent plenty of time in the Irish countryside, so you know about all sorts of weird animals- enough to tell when That’s Not Natural! at least. you get a +1 bonus to all initiative checks against creatures who are aberrations, fey, mutants, or undead, or if they’re just from another plane, if you’re in the wild. also, while in the wild you get to add 1 to your perception DC to notice those guys.

if you’re already fighting demonic boars this early, you’re gonna need to know how to Heal Animal, giving you your first focus spell, fittingly named… Heal Animal. you spend one or two actions to heal any nearby animal. the one-action version is touch and heals 1d8 HP, while the two-action version has 30’ of range and heals 1d8+8 hp. that’ll go up as you level too. so actually, right now it’s 2d8 and 2d8+16.

5. fifth level’s pretty quick, just an Ability Boost in Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma, some Fighter Weapon Mastery for increased proficiency with spears as well as their critical specialization (makes ‘em clumsy), and expertise in Athletics. servants do be strong.

6. at level 6, your Advanced Weapon Training makes you as good with advanced spears as you are with martial ones. Gae Bolg is pretty fancy, it’s probably advanced, right?

you’re also pretty nature-y, so you can be a Forager. that means you can now use your subsist rolls and succeed on foraging, you can provide food and shelter for up to four other creatures too. critical successes now double that amount, or you can halve it for a comfortable night in the woods instead of one of subsistence.

your level of expertise with survival also doubles that amount, so you can provide subsistence for up to eight other creatures normally, 16 on a crit, or four creatures if you want them to be comfortable. it’s nice, and Scathach sure ain’t gonna make your life in the Land of Shadows comfortable.

finally, you get a Mature Beastmaster Companion. no, not like that. your pupper’s just an adult now. now it can take actions even if you don’t specifically command it this also increases its strength, dexterity, constitution, and wisdom modifiers by 1, it uses two dice for unarmed damage, it’s now an expert in perception and all saves, and it’s trained in intimidation, stealth, and survival, or it’s one step better at those if it’s already trained in that. also, it grows a size if it was medium or smaller. it’s a lot, your puppy’s great now.

7. at level seven you become a Battlefield Surveyor thanks to all your training from Scathach. and you might not be a monk this time around, but you still have a Powerful Leap. finally, your Weapon Specialization deals more damage each hit the more skilled you are with your weapon, i.e. all spears currently deal an extra three damage per hit.

you’re also better at survival now. that’s even more subsistence, and you lose that tracking reduction at full speed. you’re welcome.

8. you’re going to be throwing spears around eventually, so when that happens, make sure you have some Incredible Aim. you can spend two actions to add two to a strike, while also ignoring if your target is concealed.

you’re also a Wilderness Spotter, so you can use survival instead of perception for initiative in forests. you can also use survival to find and disarm traps.

finally, your puppo’s now an Incredible Beastmaster’s Companion. with this, your dog becomes either nimble or savage. a Savage doggo adds two to its Strength modifier, and one two its Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom. it also deals 3 extra damage, and its athletics is now expert, and it learns and advanced maneuver. also, its attacks are magic now! there’s a lot of demon boars running around, this is more useful than you’d think. Nimble is pretty similar, though its Dexterity modifiergrows by 2 while the rest grow by 1, it only deals 2 extra damage, and its proficiency is in Acrobatics instead. its attacks do also become magical though, so whichever you pick you’ll be able to take hunting with you.

advanced maneuvers vary based on type of companion, but wolves and dogs can knockdown a creature they’ve bitten as an action.

9. at level nine, it’s mostly just getting better at what you already do. outside of your Combat Flexibility, but the whole point there is the, y’know, flexibility, so you can grab an 8th level or lower fighter feat you want each daily preparation. you also become a Juggernaut, gaining mastery in Fortitude saves, and all those saves critically succeed if you don’t fail. in a similar vein, you’re also a master in Athletics now.

10. it’s time to cu it up properlike! first up, your Ability Boost in Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma certainly won’t hurt. you. you also gain some Combat Reflexes, giving you an extra reaction each round that can only be used for attacks of opportunity. Cu specializes in multi-man melee, so this just makes sense.

there’s not really a skill feature I’m chomping on the bit for, but Rapid Mantel is fine. you’re fast, and now you can climb a little faster. really, it’s the archetype feat that’s interesting this time around. as a Mauler, you’re now a little better at using a properly-sized spear as well as any other two-handed weapons. thanks to the weird wording of the dedication, this proficiency matches any feature that improves your skill with any weapon- since you’re a master with spears already, you’re a master with all two-handed weapons, and you gain their critical specializations while using them. it’s not a huge buff yet, but you’re still training.

11. another one of those levels. you’re now an expert with your Class DC and all armor, plus medium and heavy armors get their specialization effects. you also get expertise with Intimidation, and you’re finally enough of a protagonist for some Untrained Improvisation, so any skill check you make now adds at least your level to the roll.

12. level twelve gets a bit fun, as your Brutal Finish lets you end your turn in style if you’re using a two-handed weapon. you deal one last strike before you turn ends, which deals extra damage, and even if the attack fails you’ll still deal that damage to whatever got away. I mean I guess that’s Gae Bolg done then?

also, your Terrifying Resistance gives you a boost to saves made against creatures you’ve demoralized, giving you some Rune Magic and making this the most in-character level so far.

finally, while wielding Gae Bolg you can Clear the Way by spending two actions, letting you shove up to five creatures next to you and then stride up to half your speed without triggering attacks from anyone who got pushed around. I know this Cu doesn’t get disengage, but fuck it here’s disengage.

13. this is another fast one- you’re an expert in Nature now to get along with your pup better, and you’re a Weapon Legend, which bumps up all sorts of stuff for you. you’re now an expert in advanced weapons, a master with simple and martial weapons, and legendary when it comes to all things spears and two-handed. looks like that training is really paying off!

14. to best make use of that extra damage, you can now spend all three actions in a turn to make a Whirlwind Strike against every creature within reach of you. just spin that sucker around and watch the fireworks.

you also get a little more dexterous, since you can now pull off a Wall Jump. if you end a jump next to a wall, you don’t fall as long as your next action is jumping again, and you can even make that a high or long jump as a single action.

finally, we’re going to pop back to beastmaster real quick so you and your cu can fight Side by Side. Whenever you and your puppy are next to the same person, they’re flanked, regardless of where you two are in relation to each other.

15. use this Ability Boost for some more Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma. just keep swinging, and you’ll get out of this training montage eventually. you also get some protection from arrows thanks to your Evasion- you’re a master with Reflex saves, and you always succeed critically now.

you get generally better too, with Improved Flexibility giving you a second fighter feat you can swap around at will and Greater Weapon Specialization giving you even more damage bonuses to weapons you’re good at using, so you have a +8 on all spear damage. you’re also legendary in Survival now, so you can be a Legendary Guide. whenever you’re leading the party in wilderness, they gain extra speed for traveling, and difficult terrain slows your party down less. this is probably mostly the dog, if we’re being honest.

16. at level 16 you can make an Overwhelming Blow-stop giggling- to put all your actions into one attack. if you hit, it’s always critical, and if it would be critical anyway you can add a d12 to the damage. regardless, you become flat footed for a round, and you lose an action next turn. you’re not quite there with the Gae Bolg yet, I guess. keep at it!

one thing you definitely have though is Intimidating Prowess. show off your power for a +1 bonus to your intimidation check, and you don’t lose points for not sharing a language. the warp spasm is universal.

I don’t know why I imagine protocu with two dogs, but I do, so here’s an Additional Companion, why not. You can still only have one at a time in a fight for now, but now you don’t have to pick between a strong dog and an agile one.

17. you’re now a master in all armor, and your legendary athletics make you pretty buff despite your frame. it’s the god dna, I bet.

18. so you can bolg, but let’s try and help you bolg without fucking up your spine, okay? check out the Savage Critical feat, it lets you critically hit with weapons you’re legendary with on 19s or 20s. you have  a weirdly large number of weapons you’re really good at, so that helps out a lot.

you can also Cloud Jump, because I played a lot of Final Fantasy as a kid, so now someone holding a spear instantly gets them associated with dragoons in my brain. still, you can triple your long jump distances, and your high jumps use the regular long jump calculation.

finally, you can use your big ol’ stick to trip people, usually called a Knockdown. spend two actions to attack someone, and if it hits you can try to trip them before adding to your multiple attack penalty.

19. you can now use your dogs to make an Expeditious Search, so you can search twice as fast as other people. you’re also better in Nature, and as a Versatile Legend you get better with all your weapons and your Class DC. it’s a lot of words, but it’s all proficiency changes.

20. at level twenty, you’re now ready to face the world with your brand-new Weapon Supremacy. it permanently gives you an extra action to strike with. you also speed up enough to Quick Climb, giving you a climb speed equal to your walking speed. you already jump good enough this shouldn’t be a problem, but this should make climbing up a building for dramatic ambushes easier.

wait, wrong Cu. speaking of cus though, you can now Lead the Pack, bringing both your dogs to a fight at the same time. you can only command an animal once per turn, but you can either make one do two actions, or two do one action. even if you don’t command them, you can have one animal take an action on your turn to move or attack. many hands make light work, after all! or, paws? mouths? idk.

Pros and Cons

Pros

the Action Economy is always important in any game, and so having three whole creatures who can fight and move and interact with stuff is always super useful. gang up on people, it’s fun! god knows they’ll repay the favor later.

you’ve got a wide variety of weapons you’re really good with, since you’re legendary with all spears, but also all two-handed melee weapons. that means you can almost always have something on hand that can crit twice as often and comes with their fancy-pants crit specialization to boot!

you’re really good with animals, so traveling in the wilderness is much less of an issue for your party. and since you bring animals wherever you go, there will always be some benefit to keeping those skills sharp!

Cons:

you really only specialize in melee weapons, as do your wolves, so fighting anything at Range might be a problem since you don’t have any spells or many ranged options at all. I mean, in-character. cu’s still a fighter, so he’s still good with a bow if you need it.

you’ve got a lot of stuff dealing with beasts and following others, so you’re at your best in the early game. most games are early-game so it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but being nice to dogs isn’t really a level 20 ability.

your dogs aren’t sturdy, they get roughly the same amount of HP as a wizard, and even with two dogs they’ll work their way through them very fast. expect to spend a lot of time healing these things. given how you prefer to be in as many peoples’ faces as humanly possible, you three are going to be doing very different things on the battlefield.

[fantabulousblog]

Bees Protection

I'm a lover of nature, I've always been passionated by the bees.

As a child, I was captivated by their skillful organization, their effective communication, their intricate social structure, and their capacity to collaborate for the benefit of the swarm - and this fascination has only grown as I became an adult.

I am deeply concerned about the decline of the bee population and I am doing whatever I can to help. The most concerning part is that I can see the slow decline of their population even from my balcony.

I've created a few artwork on this subject to raise awareness, try to remind people of the current situation of bees and explain why they are essential to the ecosystem.

Importance of bees in human food production

Bees are one of the most important pollinators of crops and wildflowers. They play a vital role in the ecosystem and are responsible for the pollination of around 80% of the world’s plants.

If we just consider them under the angle of human feeding, they are responsible for the pollination of 75% of cultivated plants including 90% of fruit trees ! Without them, therefore, almost no more fruits and vegetables, or oilseeds (rapeseed, peanuts, olives, …), nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, …) …

In addition, the presence of wild pollinators in a field makes it possible to increase – sometimes double – the yields of certain fruits and vegetables, such as apples or tomatoes. They also aid in the genetic mixing of plants and their adaptation to weather hazards. Ultimately, pollinators are vital for the quality, quantity, and diversity of our food.

Threats to Bee Populations

Despite their importance, bee populations are in danger. They are facing a multitude of threats to their survival, from disease and parasites to the devastating effects of climate change.

As temperatures rise and habitats become increasingly disrupted, bees are struggling to find the resources they need to survive.

In addition to their already weakened immune systems, they are also at risk of contracting deadly diseases like the American foulbrood.

Parasites such as the Varroa or the Small Hive Beetle can also wreak havoc on bee colonies, destroying their habitat and leaving them vulnerable to attack. But that's not all – the Asian hornet is the ultimate predator, posing an even greater threat to bee populations.

As if that weren't enough, bees are also struggling to cope with the changing climate, which is causing their traditional habitats to become increasingly inhospitable.

They are being forced to search for new areas to feed, and the lack of suitable food sources is taking its toll. It's clear that if we don't take steps to protect bees, their future is in serious jeopardy.

All of these factors contribute to the steep decline in bee populations, putting our food system and ecosystems in danger.

How to Protect Bees

There are many things that individuals and organizations can do to help protect bees. Here are some examples:

- Avoid using harmful chemicals: Choose natural alternatives to pesticides and herbicides to reduce harm to bees and other wildlife.

Find a list of chemicals to avoid in your garden etablished and maintained by the center for food safety here

- Plant native flowering plants: Bees need food sources, and native flowers can provide needed nutrients.

Find a list of native flowering plants useful to the bees classified by state here (United States)

- Support organizations that protect bees: Nonprofits and other groups play an important role in bee conservation.

Find a short list of non-profit worldwide organizations that protect bees here (there are many more)

- Advocate for bee protection: Speak up for bees and encourage others to do the same by contacting your elected officials or through social media.

Conclusion

Bees may be small creatures, but they play a critical role in our world. By protecting bees and their habitats, we are not only safeguarding our food systems and ecosystems but ensuring our own survival on this planet. Whether you’re a farmer, a consumer, or simply someone like me who cares about the environment, there are many ways that you can help make a difference !

Discover Fantabuloustef bees artwork on Redbubble

Discover Fantabuloustef bees artwork on Zazzle

Discover Fantabuloustef bees artwork on Spreadshirt

The money made from the sales of my artwork around bees will help me planting and taking care of bee-useful flowers.

[tgenvs3000w23]

Privilege and Its Role in Nature Interpretation

From a brief preemptive reading of my colleagues' blogs from ENVS3000 for this unit, everyone started by describing their working definition of privilege as prompted. As expected, some common terms are repeated, even though these definitions are all coming from different perspectives and experiences, whether they focus on those at an advantage from privilege, or those at a disadvantage.

But these two terms in particular, advantage and disadvantage, are just as critical to break down if we want to address privilege.

Advantage: some thing that puts a person in a better position than someone else, increases chances of success. Associated words: benefit, superior, elite. (2)

Disadvantage: some thing that puts a person in an unfavourable position compared to someone else, increases the difficulty of achieving success. Associated words: inconvenience, drawback, hindrance. (3)

This thing that causes such a divide, could be any number of things that we can't necessarily control or choose. Class (economic, social), age, gender, race, education, relationships, religion. This list could literally go on forever and we could list things together until every characteristic that makes up a person and their life is listed.

The sources I used above to define advantage and disadvantage, I used intentionally. When I looked for a dictionary definition of privilege using the same source, their first entry was "a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed by a particular person or a restricted group of people beyond the advantages of most" (4).

Now this is where I explain my working definition of the word privilege. I do not think it is the same as a right; we say many things are a privilege, not a right: driving, owning a pet, having a credit card, etc. Privilege is something where the people that have it, don't speak up about the inequality in opportunities that result from it.

I found this quick 2-minute video (1) that I think brought up a really good point on the topic. The only ones that complained about fairness were at the back of the room, and the ones at the front were otherwise unaware of the privilege they were born into. In order for people experiencing privilege to speak up and advocate for the others, they have to have the self-awareness to reflect and realize their advantages.

I think this concept makes it all the more difficult in addressing privilege in nature interpretation. For an interpreter to cater their messages to all audiences, they need to be aware of not only their own privileges that led to them being there providing interpretation, but also the privileges of their audiences.

Privilege in nature interpretation dictates who shows up to listen, how your message is received, and ultimately the resulting action that comes from your audience's experience.

The last thing I would like to bring attention to with my own blogging platform, is one of my classmate's blogs about the relationship between nature interpretation, privilege, and child development (6). Normally I would reblog and reflect on someone else's post and share my own thoughts that were provoked on the topic, starting a conversation. But I wanted any readers of my blog to go have a look at theirs because it stopped and made me think and reflect on a different perspective I didn't have otherwise.

Here is the link to Manar's blog: The Link between Privilege, Nature Interpretation, and Children's Development 

References

Buzzfeed Video. “Students Learn a Powerful Lesson about Privilege.” YouTube, 9 Dec. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KlmvmuxzYE. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.

2. Dictionary.com. “Definition of Advantage.” Www.dictionary.com, 2023, www.dictionary.com/browse/advantage. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.

3. Dictionary.com. “Definition of Disadvantage.” Www.dictionary.com, 2022, www.dictionary.com/browse/disadvantage. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.

4. Dictionary.com. “Definition of Privilege.” Www.dictionary.com, 2023, www.dictionary.com/browse/privilege. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.

5. Maguire, Angus. “Equality vs Equity Cartoon,” Juliana Bicycles, www.julianabicycles.com/en-CA/file/equality-vs-equity-cartoonpng. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.

6. Manar's Nature Interpretation Blog. “The Link between Privilege, Nature Interpretation, and Children’s Development.” Tumblr, 2023, at.tumblr.com/maenvs3000winter23/the-link-between-privilege-nature-interpretation/tsxak7h42izs. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.

[dragcnflame]

𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝙿𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

𝚃𝙻𝙾𝚄 / 𝙰𝙿𝙾𝙲𝙰𝙻𝚈𝙿𝚂𝙴 𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙽𝙰𝚃𝙴 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴

NOTE: for tlou interactions with canon characters bloom's backstory will be altered to no longer have her immune to keep inline with canon.

FACTS:

Bloom is immune to the virus/fungus. (type verse dependent)

If word of her likeness gets back to the cult, members will begin tracking her down.

Bloom hears her sister still, usually it's the product of her consistent nightmares of Daphne's death, but she also will swear sometimes that she's talking to her while awake.

Bloom is handy at first aid, has increased physical strength from her bite though nothing super-heroic, she works best with ranged weapons than close combat. Has an affinity for molotov cocktails.

CARRIES:

med kit

flashlight

flame thrower that she got her hands on three months post escaping the cult

two hand guns

ammo some of which doesn't work for her guns

a lighter

rags

crude lock-pick set

a few canned goods

spork

reusable water bottle

can opener

deodorant

bar of soap

one third left of a tube of toothpaste

a golden hair pin her sister used to wear

tinted lip balm

AU BIO:

They died for them. Marion and Oritel sacrificed their lives to save their daughters and with that instilled a new purpose in their eldest child. Protect you sister at all costs, she's your responsibility. Bloom grew up with no real memory of their Mom and Dad, all she'd ever known really was Daphne, the start and end of her world in this empty and dead one. Even her rebellious nature was tempered by promises to her sister that she'd listen to her noticing with every day the older she grew how things seemed to weigh on her shoulders. The two were in sync like no other, always flawlessly covering the other's back once Bloom was old enough to do more than hide, even though Daphne protested every time Bloom picked up a gun or quickly pulled together a molotov cocktail. The goal was always safety, somewhere they could settle down and live, somewhere that they could stop fighting, somewhere to preserve the last parts of Bloom's innocence a girl who grew up in the new world order. They dodged traffickers and hunters, cannibals and government compounds.

Then they found them, an independent compound. One that seemed to be at peace with strong defences. Weary survivors were welcomed in with warm arms and so thankful to have finally achieved their goal any and all warning bells were silenced. Yet Bloom could still feel the hair on the back of her neck standing straight, whispering to her sister in the night her worries. But she trusted her, Bloom would always trust Daphne unreservedly. However slowly but surely it built, the way the women at the compound would say things, the way their eyes followed Bloom, the way questions were never answered with anything but a distraction. You knew what you were allowed to know and you would be happy with that. They were split during the day Bloom put to work in the makeshift hospital area due to her talent with healing. It felt wrong, she'd never been away from her sister for so long as far back as her memories went. The night that the New Moon arrived everything changed. They hadn't joined in with a peaceful compound, they'd joined a cult. Ones who claimed to worship the three ancestral witches deities that they'd come to invent once world went to hell. Believing that if they called upon them they would be the ones to rise to power. In their rabid imaginations Bloom had been declared their second coming, the conduit for their rebirth. She would be bitten by an infected and then strapped to an alter where her blood would be spilt under the Full Moon right as she was on the verge of change.

Even though they fought back Bloom was dragged before the crowd Daphne detained as mid-day hit and an infected was brought forward biting deep into her shoulder before being shot down. Bloom was dragged back into a cell to be kept for the next thirteen hours while they waited on the bite and the witching hour. Having not seen her sister since Bloom had accepted the fact that she was in all likelihood dead and if not at least was far enough away so that she would not have to witness the process of her turning. Yet when darkness fell and the camp became abuzz with finishing touches for the ritual Bloom heard the scratching of a lock and several grunts. There stood Daphne in all of her calm yet somehow also enraged golden glory pulling open her cell door. She fought her on it, not wanting to put her sister at risk. But Bloom didn't just love Daphne selflessly she also loved her selfishly and didn't want to die all alone. She wanted to die outside of this place and free for her last few hours before her sister did what she had to do.

It was a tense escape filled with close calls and more human blood shed than Bloom had ever seen and they were close. Some fencing and metal doors and then a straight shot right into the woods where they could lose the group now relentlessly pursuing them. A thwip and a scream changed everything. Turning Bloom watched her sister drop as an arrow pierced her thigh, blood spilling forward, an artery. Grabbing her under her shoulder they moved faster anyway but the followers were gaining on them. They'd pushed through a thin portion of the fencing, moving the metal and wrenching forward the doors. Bloom's mind had been a haze either from the infection or the panic she didn't know, just that they needed to get through and then she needed to somehow carry her sister far enough so they could torque her leg and let her take care of Bloom's final moments.

But suddenly she had an armful of Daphne and hug in the midst of her confusion at this stop right as they'd gotten the door open Daphne suddenly bit Bloom viciously and deeply swallowing down her blood. Infecting herself so close to the brain she had minutes. Bloom could only stare in shock as she was shoved backwards through the metal doors, watching them close as Daphne barred herself back in with the cult members. The last thing she heard from her sister was her screams of 'Run Bloom' before the screams turned into an awful screeching that she'd be making in a few hours as well. The screeching came with the sound of wet tearing and shots firing off in screams of panic. Bloom who'd been banging on the door desperately begging for her sister finally as the screeching quieted did what she was told one last time and ran. She ran for her life, for the last few hours of it knowing at least she'd be reunited with her sister.

She'd been wandering aimlessly, killing when she had to when Bloom finally remembered to even consider time again. Having fallen into a haze waiting out the last few hours she had left, the redhead suddenly realising the sun and risen and set a total of three times since she'd escaped the cult. While she certainly wasn't the conduit for some three headed deity as the cult had proclaimed they were right about one thing. Bloom was special, she was immune. She was also, for the very first time in her life. Alone.

[sekhisadventures]

Nelen Fullmoon, Magus of Gilneas

(Artist's Rendition of Nelen by xHyperwolfx )

Important Stories:

Broken Wands: Nelen is present when the Scourge lays siege to Dalaran during the Third War, barely escaping the destruction of the city back to his homeland of Gilneas.

The Worgen Wizard and Witch: After years of being a feral worgen, Nelen regains his sanity with the aid of the Alchemist, Krennan, and meets a warlock who is not what she seems.

The Sha Within: Nelen's human and worgen sides are in constant conflict, causing him to lose control regularly and descend back into his feral state once more until Shalandrae can pull him back. Jaie has a suggestion however: seek help from her people in Pandaria.

Race: Worgen

Class: Mage, Arcane School

Age: 41

Eye Color: Purple in his human form, glowing violet in his worgen form

Birthplace: Gilneas

Residence: Stormwind City, Old Town District. Avalon House

Abilities:

Skilled in Arcane Magic: Nelen specializes in the arcane. He is a capable mage, trained in old Dalaran as a child before it fell to the scourge and having honed his skills in the battlefield as an adult.

The Worgen Curse: Nelen was bitten during the worgen invasion of Gilneas and is now a worgen himself. His worgen form grants him increased agility and stamina and a greatly enhanced sense of smell, at the cost of difficulty with self control and anger management.

Scribe: Nelen is an educated man and able to write and read with much higher proficiency than the average citizen of the Alliance. He uses his skills for research for his allies in Avalon, as well as for the Kirin Tor. He is also talented at woodcarving and has made both his own wizard's staff as well as Shalandrae's stave. He also assisted in the creation of the communication stones that he and the other members of Avalon and Savage United use to talk over long distances.

Wizard's Sanctum: Due to his service to the Kirin Tor during the Legion's invasion he earned the right to a small wizard's sanctum. It is in a secure location accessible only by teleportation and is about the size of the average studio apartment. He maintains a library of various esoteric and arcane knowledge there, as well as several other tools for studying the magical nature of the world. For details on his sanctum, click here. For examples of his book collection, click here.

History

Born in Gilneas around the time of the original opening of the Dark Portal, Nelen showed an aptitude for magic at a young age. While Genn Greymane was already leaning isolationist back in those days even he recognized that a young man who knew how to conjure flames but not how to STOP conjuring them was a dangerous thing, thus he was granted permission to travel to Dalaran for training in the arcane arts. This wasn't special, many Gilnean mages applied and recieved this royal permission. It meant a lot less housefires.

He spent his youth there, befrending a young man named Edwood Vargas, a native of the Drustvar region of Kul'Tiras… until the start of the Third War and the invasion by the Scourge. Nelen was there when the city fell, witnessing Edwood's death at the hands of Arthas Menethil (though he did not know WHO the dark rider was at the time) and fleeing the city as it fell to the undead, just barely escaping the Lich King's minions through a portal back to Gilneas City.

From there the Scourge came to batter at the Gilnean Wall and King Greymane called all those learned in the magical arts to a council to determine what could be done about this threat. Nelen, now a young man in his early 20s, saw his former teacher Archmage Arugal step forward with a radical plan. Arugal was a master in the art of summoning and had learned of a powerful living weapon dwelling in a realm close to Azeroth. A race of monstrous wolf-men who were immune to the Plague of Undeath.

However, the plan backfired and the worgen turned on the Gilneans, invading the country themselves! Nelen was bitten as Gilneas City fell to the feral monsters and wound up joining their ranks. He ran wild with the worgen for several years until he was captured by King Greymane and his agents and, thanks to the alchemical knowledge of Krenan, his sanity was restored.

From there he fought his way out of Gilneas with the rest of his countrymen, aided by the warlock Dissonantia and the druidess Shalandrae Deeproots, and eventually travelled to Stormwind City to join Shalandrae's newly founded adventurer's group: Avalon.

[ncji]

So, I like this one a lot cause I'm a sucker for fantasy stories and I wanted so bad to put Neji in one, I never got around to actually write it but the idea is there, you know?

_________________________________

Kid!Neji wanders off into some sort of portal, travels to another dimension (our universe, some crossover like Marvel? Fantasy universe, the Naruto version of fairies and such taking children?)

All universes (or a lot of them) are connected through the Fae, Neji enters by accident, these doesn’t happen in this world because it’s still so incredibly new compared to others, it’s not stable enough to connect with other dimensions and when it happens, just the once, it’s a fluke and maybe fate that Neji was there to cross (before or after the seal?).

He is raised by a faerie, learns how they travel between worlds and takes a liking to it, why stay rooted in one place when there is so much to explore!

His body absorbs the ambient magic and his lifespan is increased, his eyes always let him see through doorways and illusions alike but as time goes by it becomes natural and effortless, he is immune to certain types of magic and his chakra sort of mixed with the magic his body absorbed so his abilities/techniques are a blend between shinobi jutsu and elemental magic; he can use the elements without any hand signs, he can do things and has a level of control that no shinobi has, nature just responds to him as if by instinct.

His eyes look more otherworldly; the color is the same but there is something old that reflects off them, he can see more than any Fae can. Poisons don’t work on him either.

Maybe he is found by a member of the royal family and is raised by them, at first intrigued by this strange child and his abilities but later being truly loved by them; he is adopted in a blood ritual to make him one of them but since he isn’t entirely human to begin with (part alien, hello!) the change only happens to his human/mortal side and the rest is enhanced making him a different kind of fae.

He doesn't remember much of his old life or where he came from, he hasn't seen anything familiar in all his travels and though not something he thinks about all the time, he wonders every now and then about the life he left behind, about the father whose face he can't remember anymore but he is sure, loved him a lot.

___________________________

I'm gonna admit and blame the elves from the LotR about the looks of this Fae people in my mind and Neji as and elven prince would be glorious! So there is that 😬 🙈

[ That sounds magical, and not just because it involves magic. I can picture it in my mind, and, yes, I too imagined the LotR elves. Wasn't there a series of images of Hyuuga as elves?

I couldn't find a source for that one, but...

There's a source in that one!

I love that idea, though. It's so different and a much better fate for our favorite Hyuuga. ]

[idahofallshq]

justice for eva! she has truly been put through the ringer and while reading this was heartbreaking, all of eva's experiences have shaped her into a very intricate character. for all her uses, her stubborn and passionate soul is bound to come head to head with authority that is looking for compliance. we are looking forward to seeing how her knowledge of the powers at play in idaho and wyoming effect her journey to finding some closure. 

welcome to idaho falls, eva rhie! please make sure to complete the accepted checklist so we can invite you to our servers. we can’t wait to start writing with you!  

OOC.

name: kris age: 25 pronouns: she/her/hers timezone: CST previous roleplay blog: redacted triggers: redacted wanted connection?: n/a

IC.

name: eva rhie gender & pronouns: cis woman, she/her/hers faceclaim: jamie chung age & birthdate: 35 years old, 20th May 2009 occupation: soldier immunity: not immune

skills.

agriculture: As the daughter of farmers, Eva not only has the knowledge but also the practical skill of running and up-keeping harvesting patches within bases. While she was too young to remember her family’s true farming origins, her mother and father would always be employed within whatever farming land or harvesting patches the QZ’s they lived in had, and so would Eva. I think she could be very useful in up-keeping and/or increasing the farming happening on base.

melee weapons proficiency: As described below in her biography, Eva has always had a fascination with ‘little trinkets,’ as she’s called them. It started off as a simple hobby, fidgeting fingers and swiftness in her limbs that paired well with pocketknives that graduated to bayonets and daggers. Overtime, however, she has become skilled in combat with these as well. She is highly proficient with any run-of-the-mill melee weapons (ex: spears, spikes, axes, daggers, clubs, hammers, scythes, etc.) and perhaps even a few rarer varieties (ex: maces, throwing stars, maybe even handling a sword or two if you give her a moment to figure out how she wants to move with it). During her travels through no man’s land, she’s certainly refined her proficiency with these items and can pick up the use of pretty much any melee weapons she comes across.

long range weapons proficiency: A skill picked up more out of necessity during her travels in no man’s land, Eva is skilled with long range weapons. She developed this skill by practice and coaching from some of the travel mates she’s had over the years and has primarily used these types of weapons for hunting and securing food. However, these weapons also come in handy in patrolling (if available and not scarce), and so she’s quite proficient at spotting and shooting down the infected and whatever else is needed with the use of such long range weapons. While she prefers melee weapons, she is proficient in both.

positive traits.

reliable: As the only child and with only her mother and father to call as her family for most of her life, Eva has always been loyal and reliable to those she calls her own. She’s not the type to leave a post abandoned or go back on promises. While her faith may have been shaken and loyalties eschewed in recent years due to losing all her loved ones; by nature, Eva will always show up as she is called upon. Eva values a sense of community and despite her best efforts now to avoid it, cares for people. If she can help, she will. Her generosity might be running a bit low these days, but her word is still worth its weight in gold.

meticulous: Eva is relentless and meticulous in all that she does. Whatever she sets her mind to do, she is not going to do half-heartedly. Whether its tending to farmland and making sure every patch of land is attended to and used to the upmost it can be so as to not waste resources, so be it. Whether it’s patrolling the extra mile down the path that is always abandoned, so be it. It’s this same meticulousness that also led to her in honing her skill of melee weaponry. She tackles every task and every weapon, for that matter, with a sense of attentiveness and precision that is unrelenting.

passionate: Try as she might, Eva feels with all of her. Though she is currently dealing with loss and grief she hasn’t yet come to terms with, she has a level of passion in her spirit. This comes through in a passion for what is ultimately just and right. There isn’t a lot to be done for that in the world they live and now, but she is not one to stand down from an unfair fight. 

negative traits.

untrusting: As many in this world have come to be, Eva doesn’t trust very easily. Having always had such a small sphere of people she needed to trust, she still finds it hard to open up to strangers. It’s a precaution most take in their world, and Eva is no exception.

headstrong: Eva is stubborn at her core, and arguably, to a fault. Compromise is not often in her vocabulary, which can make her hard to have around. It’s not necessarily a belief of her way being the best one, but more so an inability to yield to others when needed. This can put her at odds with authority and get her into more trouble than is likely wise.

disillusioned: Eva has only ever seen a world that the infection has taken. She’s also seen a remarkable amount of QZ’s crumble. Tag that long with the recent deaths of her mother, father, and fiance -- Eva is more despondent now than she has ever been. At her core, Eva doesn’t believe the world can recover -- there is nothing that has shown her there is anything for them in this world other than death and destruction. They can make do as best as they can in the meantime, but the core fact of the matter does’t change in her mind. 

biography.

(As a note -- I wanted to give Eva somewhat of a long, winding path here to Idaho Falls and current day to allow for a plethora of arcs and fun possible dynamics/opportunities to plot with. But, I am aware I’m taking plenty of liberties here so I am totally open to simplifying and/or changing things if they conflict with the game lore or the rp’s lore so far!)

2009 - 2013 (Santa Rosa, CA) - Euna “Eva” Rhie was the only child born to Ji Sung “Johnathan” and Soo Mi “Maeve” Rhie. She came from a family of farmers -- plums and figs -- and her earliest memories are set in the idyllic groves of Santa Rosa, CA. Eva was 4 by the time the infection had spread all across the country. For all intents and purposes, she doesn’t remember a world or life before the infection. Any memories she does have of the time are as good as dreams, hazy along the corners and those she only revisits when she’s seeking comfort from this reality -- the only world she’s known.

2013 - 2030 (San Francisco QZ)

- Her family moved from their hometown to the San Francisco QZ as soon as marshal law had been declared in 2013. There was not much left to salvage of their farm with no one to buy the produce. And while they were in rural areas and thus further than the urban centers of cities that succumbed to the infection, they were largely unprotected and isolated in their home turf. It was this QZ where Eva was raised; the farm her family had once had and the life with it, a forgotten memory.

- Her family continued to farm within the QZ, employing their skills to run the agriculture grounds within the QZ. It was limited and hardly fruitful given the lack of proper land or resources, but it was the best way her family knew to contribute. Alongside what makeshift semblance of education was assembled for the children in the QZ, the rest of her days were spent in the harvesting patches along with her parents. Eva was’t necessarily passionate about agriculture, or naturally skilled at it -- but practice makes perfect, and she had plenty of it growing up.

- Despite the apocalyptic world she was growing up in, Eva remembers these years in the San Francisco QZ fondly. Her childhood was relatively intact, as far as childhoods could go in a world like theirs. As one of the early residents of the QZ, Eva had only seen it at its best -- well-funded, not entirely abundant with resources but not lacking. There was enough to go around, enough where she didn’t have to worry about a pillow under her head or her next meal. Enough that she could afford the little delinquencies a child often has. She could often be found sneaking around the barracks or through the lost and found after her classes instead of reporting to the harvesting patches. She wasn’t interested in any green thumbs as a child, but certainly enjoyed pick-pocketing little trinkets of her own -- little pocketknives, compasses, switchblades, pistols (if she could ever get a hand on them long enough before being found and having them confiscated). She had a magpie’s gaze which was a luxury if anything, she knows now.

- It was here where her interests in weapons was really born. It was as innocent as a child’s fascination with her toys. She was dexterous, able to pick up anything in her hand and make home with it quick. She supposed she’d always been good with her hands given the laboring over the farmland and the otherwise slippery stealth she seemed to possess with all the pretty, shiny things she could get a hold of. She grew familiar with the barracks leads over the years -- they were neighbors, parents of her friends’, friendly faces around the QZ who would teach her the right way to angle a bayonet so to pierce through the thickest rope. Or, wield the scythes that were tucked in the back in their farm shed that could be used to pierce through the cargo canvas that covered the ration shed floors. It started as a hobby, really -- but she’d come to develop and use this weapons mastery over her years.

-  The relative calm didn’t last forever. With numerous uprisings throughout North America in other QZ’s and the overall dwindling levels of rations and funding as different zones struggled for the control of resources and power, Eva remembers quite starkly the way the safe zone she’d called home was slowly unmade. As she came into adulthood, the memories of the bustling QZ were replaced by memories of hoards of people leaving the QZ every couple of nights. More and more people took to disappearing as talks of the QZ being shut down and abandoned spread amongst those within it. Eva saw neighbors and childhood friends turns into ghosts overnight. There was always a sense of impermanence to the QZ, but it had been the only home she had known. None of the slow unraveling came easy.

- She saw how the contributing chaos affected her family too -- fanaticism taking slow and insidious hold. Maybe it was the teenage rebel in her, the growing cynic -- but she never quite succumbed to the beliefs of the purged even as her family did. With the continued, mass exoduses and the unraveling of faith in the state of the world, her mother and father took to believing in the purged and developed a plan of their own to travel to Yellowstone to join the base there. Eva tried her best to talk them out of it, convinced her family had gone delusional, but to no avail.

- Eva and her family left the San Francisco QZ in the fall of 2030 along with a  group of thirty-tree other believers. The group contained two other families and an otherwise ensemble of ragtag supporters that had charted a path to travel from San Francisco, to Sacramento, to Reno and finally -- to the Salt Lake City QZ. Here, they were to regroup before making the final leg of the journey.

2030 - 2032 (San Francisco, CA > Salt Lake City, UT)

- While this was only two years of her life, the memories across this time period span longer and claw deeper than many others for Eva. The trip through the charted cities and quarantine zones was tough and deadly. Eva had known their life in the QZ was sheltered but had not realized the extent of the danger out in no man’s land uncharted. She may divulge the extent of the bloodshed and the loss, or the pure fear of seeing the infected and the close calls that allowed it, over a glass of bourbon, but not much less. Eva wouldn’t say she believes in things like fate or luck, but she has a hard time attributing their survival to anything other than luck.

- Their group of thirty-three dwindled to twelve through the course of their journey. They lost some to the trip, they lost others to the QZ’s along the way -- those who lost the nerve and the will to fight and were happy to settle down along one of the pit-stops. Their troupe had been well prepared enough with an ex-military general turned fanatic to lead them and enough people with medical and hunting knowledge to scrape by. This was also where Eva honed many of her weapons-based skills -- the weapons she’d considered toys started lining her belts and served her well in one too many close calls. She was also, it appeared, skilled at hunting given her quickly learned proficiency of long-range weapons. She would often be part of the patrol, able to spot any runners, stalkers, and the few clickers or bloaters they came across (never a shambler -- not at that point) through long range and give them time to make escape as needed. She was also often in the hunting party -- fresh meat was rare to come by, but more frequent while they were traveling than when quarantined.

2032 - 2038 (Salt Lake City QZ)

- Eva’s family hadn’t planned on staying in the Salt Lake City QZ as long as they did, this Eva was well aware of. She had been following her parents’ delusions to the world’s end, it seemed. But they were older now, weakened by their travels and all that it exposed them to. Her mother had fallen sick in the last legs of their travel (not the infection, thankfully -- though there was no lack of things out there in the larger wild now that could take you), and was in no condition to continue traveling. Selfishly, Eva was thankful for the reprieve -- thankful that they could live a life of relative normalcy for some time at the least in the shelter of this QZ.

- The reprieve went from somewhat temporary to permanent as days turned into weeks. It was easy to settle back into the relative comforts of a safe zone. They fell into routines -- they took-up roles within the quarantine zone, had enough hours in the night to sleep, just enough food on their plates. They didn’t have to worry about patches of nights without sleep or empty stomachs if the hunting and gathering cull had been measly. The comfort brought slow recovery for her mother, though she never truly returned to full health. It was an accepted truth now, though. The Salt Lake City QZ had started to feel much like home.

- It was also here that Eva met her fiance. She may need more than just a glass of bourbon to divulge much more about him -- but there are a few tidbits here to spare. They met working the dinner meals line, both had been scheduled for the same shifts for a few weeks in a row. And it was as simple as that, really. Love felt somehow simple in their world today. With everything else that wasn’t, love still was -- and that much was true. They met in summer of 2033 and the rest had been history. They had no ring to declare they were no longer dating but now engaged, but the demarcations felt silly to declare between the two anyways. He was hers and she was his, and the rest of the logistics were -- well, simply logistics. This also gave her a reason to stay, gave her purpose beyond following her parents’ mindlessly to the Yellowstone base. They were happy -- they all were. And for these few years alone, that much was enough.

2038 - 2039 (Salt Lake City QZ > Yellowstone Stronghold > Wyoming Militia) - This peace and stability did not last forever, though. Eva started to notice the same signs at this QZ as they had in San Francisco. There were whispers of uprisings, nameless rebellions. Rations were running low and people were desperate with nowhere to go. Maybe that’s why it was no surprise when one night her parents told her they wanted to continue their journey to the Yellowstone base. Her mother wasn’t strong enough to travel, Eva had argued. But she never would be, they’d countered. And while this much Eva knew, she couldn’t shake the dread at the base of her throat at the thought of leaving their shaky but undoubtable sanctuary. She had more to lose now -- her love and her parents already weakened by the ravage of the world. She had been still a child the last time they’d made such a journey, but she’d knew what all lay out there for them now.

- Once again, she tried her best to convince her parents out of the journey, but they were unsurprisingly unshakeable. Her fiance, with no family of his own, would come with them this time. The facts were different this time, they bargained -- the journey was shorter, they had more experience, they’d done this before. Once again, Eva felt helpless in the face of this choice.

- They were to make the journey in March of 2039, right after the winter had melted and made way for spring. It would be cold enough to dissuade the infected upon their path, Eva desperately hoped. With no larger group to chart their journey now, she was the one pouring over charted plans, detailing supplies to pack, doing the math over how often they’d need to hunt or forage and their odds on surviving depending on the most meager results.

- All things considered, everything devolved into chaos quite swiftly after their departure. They were two weeks into their travel, camping for the night when her world ended. Their camp was attacked by a runner. She -- it -- had to have been a fresh one, rabid with the newness of its undeath, it had been messy in its attack. There was a skirmish. She can still recall the infinite length of the moment she spent reaching for something, anything -- but she’d heard the gunshot before she could grasp the shotgun on her side. It had all happened so quickly. There had been a gunshot, and a falling body. Her father had been on the first patrol. He’d killed it, this she remembered -- or, had to remind herself of when she thought back to this moment. Because all Eva remembers is the red on his side and the dooming reality of what that meant. The rest of the night is a blur in her memory. She remembers her mother reaching for her father, remembers the sinking feeling of what would have to come next.

- The memory of that night feels infinite to her now, but she knows this all would’ve had to happened swiftly. She remembers the goodbyes they couldn’t have because she couldn’t get any closer to her father or her mother -- one infected, one too close to the other to be any better. She remembers her fiance telling her if there was a runner, there would be another close by -- and another, and another. She remembers being hysterical and trying not to be, she remembers him driving them away. She remembers him telling her to not look back, but Eva couldn’t turn away even if she wanted to. She remembers flashes of gunshots, the cover of trees, silence -- and the nothingness that followed.

2039 - 2043 (Wyoming Militia)

- They had been too far from the Salt Lake City QZ to return there after the attack. Eva remembers these days in a blur. Grief had taken hold of her but she had no means to cope with it, no time to process it. She held no anger at her fiance because she knew he had done what he needed to, but there was no coming to terms with what had transpired.

- They came across the Wyoming militia settlement on their way back to the Salt Lake City QZ. Eva couldn’t chart the path of how they did get there because she was running on survival mode, nothing holding her tethered beyond autopilot and the will of her fiance keeping her moving. They had arrived to the settlement just prior to the planned attack on Idaho Falls. Her and her fiance had no skin in the fight, barely even knew the people they had run into here -- but they needed a basecamp. They were in no shape to travel anymore. Beyond their physical condition, Eva couldn’t fathom putting together any semblance of purpose or direction. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do anymore. This entire journey -- what felt like her whole life -- had been to get to the Yellowstone base and it had all collapsed in a night.

- Her fiance made the decisions for them both. The raiders needed numbers, he bargained -- and so he volunteered for the raid on Idaho Falls if that meant they both got sanctuary and stay at the militia settlement. They had no other choice. They wouldn’t survive in the wild alone. It was another goodbye she couldn’t fathom -- she would’ve gone with him if she could. But he insisted that she stay back so there would be a place in the settlement for them when he returned. They could figure it out from there, he promised. They would figure the rest out. He’d be back before she would know it. This would all be over before they could blink. That was the last time she saw him.

- Her fiance never returned from the raid. There had been casualties in the raid, and he was written-off as one of them. When the party had returned, they had come with no answers. No one knew what had happened to him, no one could tell her anything. They had been strangers to the settlement, had arrived just days before the raid -- no one knew her, no one knew him. He was a ghost. It wasn’t the easiest way to accept another death. Eva couldn’t bare to think she’d lost him, but it’d be a miracle if she hadn’t.

- After losing her entire family in back to back succession, there was not much left to get her out of bed everyday. The settlement was run like a tight ship. In a way, that was great for Eva. She had no direction, no purpose -- her grief was bigger than her. But if she was to stay in the settlement, she had to play by their rules. And so she did. Where else did she have to go?

- It would be a stretch to say she settled into life in the settlement well -- it was more that she pushed and pulled her way through the days. Life in the settlement wasn’t easy. An offshoot of the Purged base where camaraderie and dogma had likely fallen through, the settlement was run like the military camp it claimed to be. If anything, Eva preferred it that way. As much as she could, she thrived in it. With nothing else to serve as her purpose, regiment and routine did wonders.

- Years passed, and yet -- Eva couldn’t move on. Moving on didn’t seem like an option when it came to her fiance. With too many questions surrounding his supposed death, Eva couldn’t leave his memory to rest. What if he had deserted the effort? Abandoned it? What if he was in Idaho Falls now? Living like she was -- unable to get back to her, or get a message to her? She knew she likely sounded crazy, but in the scale of all that had happened -- this started to seem more and more feasible to her everyday. Idleness was as good as madness, these ideas took hold on her. She fixated on the possibility of him well, alive, healthy in another camp. It left her with only one choice.

- Eva deserted the militia camp in the death of night. October chills sat deep in her bones. Her travels this time were relatively harmless. Besides her being a solo traveler and being hardened by all that lay in her past, Eva also had nothing to lose anymore. It made her reckless but it also made her dangerous. It was the ferocity of her hope on what she would find in Idaho Falls that brought her to the base’s patrol borders. Hands raised and moving slow, declaring that she was not infected -- Eva fell to her knees beyond the range of the long-shooters on patrol the night she arrived. She knew she was at the mercy of the base to even be allowed to live, but all Eva could think about was who might be waiting for her beyond those walls.

2043 - Present Day (Idaho Falls QZ)

- How she was taken in and allowed to stay, Eva couldn’t tell. you for certain. If she knew who to thank, perhaps she would. She certainly didn’t have the self-preservation to think on that when she deserted the militia settlement for the Idaho Falls base. Her mind had been one track set on finding her fiance. Eva hadn’t stop to think about the optics of it all -- a deserter of the militia settlement looking for an ex-raider. Eva hadn’t thought about what she would do if there weren’t any friendly faces around to greet her. It hand’t mattered, then -- all that had mattered is she get in long enough to find him.

- This isn’t a world of miracles. This Eva had known. And yet, it felt like her world had ended a second time around when she didn’t find her fiance within the walls of Idaho Falls. He hadn’t been there. She had searched and scoured, made acquaintance of everyone in town trying to find him. He wasn’t here. She’d heard the tales of what had happened here in the aftermath - but the bodies of those shot dead had been decayed and disposed off by now. In the cruelest of ways, Eva would never know what happened to him.

- Given just about the half of a year she’s spent in Idaho Falls, Eva has become intimately aware of her grief. With no delusions to hold her staid and above water, she has nothing much keeping her afloat other than reporting for her duties and hoping that her tasks see her through the day and until the exhaustion takes her over into the night. You can find her in the harvesting patches, with the hunting teams, or on patrol. She is, however, a soldier at command, so you might just find her volunteering for whatever comes next. The riskier the better. What has she got to lose, after all?

arcs.

- the north star: What happened to Eva’s fiance was left open ended on purpose. He very likely could’ve been killed in the raid. At least, that’s what Eva has taken to thinking now. But one arc I can see for her, is if there was some way that he did escape and makes a return, or if there is someone on base that knows anything about him. Eva would do anything to find him again. As alluded to above, she’s lost everyone in her life that she has ever loved so if there’s even a chance that he is alive somewhere, I think Eva would do whatever it took to get to him. That strong of a driver would open up this arc in all sorts of ways for her depending on how it shapes up!

- the renegade: As I mentioned above, I gave Eva lots of pit-stops along the way for her journey into Idaho Falls. I did that on one hand because I wanted her to really get time and real-world experience, if you will, to hone her specialized skills and also because I wanted to keep open the possibility of having a whole range of connections. I can see different arcs forming if she knows any of the other base members from different QZ’s or has otherwise overlapping connections. Nothing has to be set in stone, but I think the variety gives an opportunity for a lot of different types of dynamics being set-up that can then take her through a variety of arcs. Maybe she meets someone from the San Francisco QZ where she grew up, maybe she meets someone from the journeys along the way, etc. I think having the options allows for some fun plotting opportunities when it comes to her future arcs.

- the radical: Another open-ended one,  but I really just breezed past her arrival and acceptance into Idaho Falls. I recognize it was probably not that smooth, and I can see there being complications as to her loyalties and/or trouble given the militia base she is coming from. I think Eva very clearly had no loyalties to the settlement and just happened to be at a certain place during a certain time, but I am very open to any arcs where there are tensions between her and Idaho Falls leadership and/or base members given where she is coming from. On the flip-side, I can also see her getting radicalized against Alexei’s rule given her fiance most likely died as one of the shot-down raiders. I think her backstory has the groundwork to give way to proper radicalization and/or tensions in either regard, so I can see either of those arcs for her as well.

[shyamyoga]

Why Online Yoga Is the Perfect Solution for Stress Management?

Introduction:

In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become an all-too-common companion. From work pressures to personal responsibilities, the daily grind can take a toll on our mental and physical well-being. Fortunately, there is a holistic and accessible solution to manage stress effectively: online yoga classes. Yoga, with its combination of physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation, offers a comprehensive approach to stress relief. Let’s explore why online yoga is the perfect solution for stress management.

The Nature of Stress

Before delving into how online yoga can help, it's essential to understand what stress is and how it affects the body. Stress is the body's response to perceived threats or challenges. While a certain level of stress is normal and even beneficial for motivation and survival, chronic stress can lead to numerous health issues, including anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system.

How Yoga Reduces Stress

Yoga is a mind-body practice that has been shown to alleviate stress in several ways:

1. Physical Relaxation

Yoga involves a series of physical postures (asanas) that stretch and strengthen muscles, promoting physical relaxation. Poses such as the child's pose, forward bends, and savasana (corpse pose) are particularly effective in releasing tension from the body. By relaxing the muscles, yoga helps to lower cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress.

2. Breathing Techniques

Pranayama, or yogic breathing exercises, is a core component of yoga practice. Techniques such as deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and breath retention help calm the nervous system. Controlled breathing increases oxygen flow to the brain and induces a state of calm, making it an excellent tool for stress management.

3. Mindfulness and Meditation

Yoga encourages mindfulness, the practice of staying present in the moment. Mindfulness meditation, often incorporated into yoga sessions, helps reduce stress by shifting focus away from worries about the past or future. This mental discipline can significantly decrease anxiety and promote a sense of inner peace.

4. Improved Sleep

Stress often disrupts sleep, leading to a vicious cycle of fatigue and increased stress. Yoga can help improve sleep quality by calming the mind and relaxing the body. Regular practice of restorative yoga or yoga nidra (yogic sleep) can enhance sleep patterns, making it easier to manage stress.

5. Enhanced Mood

Yoga boosts the production of endorphins, the body's natural mood lifters. It also reduces the production of stress hormones. This dual effect helps alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, improving overall mood and emotional well-being.

The Benefits of Online Yoga Classes for Stress Management

While traditional yoga classes offer numerous benefits, online yoga classes provide unique advantages that make them particularly effective for stress management.

1. Convenience and Flexibility

One of the most significant benefits of online yoga classes is the convenience they offer. You can practice yoga from the comfort of your home, at any time that suits your schedule. This flexibility ensures that you can incorporate stress-relieving practices into your daily routine without the added stress of commuting to a studio.

2. Personalized Experience

Online yoga platforms offer a wide range of classes catering to different levels, styles, and needs. Whether you prefer a vigorous Vinyasa flow to release pent-up energy or a gentle restorative session to unwind, you can find a class that matches your specific stress management needs. Many platforms also offer personalized recommendations based on your preferences and goals.

3. Cost-Effective

Online yoga classes for stress are often more affordable than in-person sessions. Many platforms offer subscription models that provide access to a vast library of classes for a reasonable monthly fee. This affordability makes it easier for more people to practice yoga regularly, reaping the stress-relief benefits without financial strain.

4. Comfort of Home

Practicing yoga at home allows you to create a serene and comfortable environment tailored to your preferences. You can control the lighting, temperature, and ambiance, making your yoga practice more enjoyable and effective. This personalized setting enhances relaxation and reduces stress.

5. Access to Expert Instructors

Online yoga platforms feature classes taught by experienced and certified instructors from around the world. This access to a wide range of expertise ensures that you receive high-quality instruction and can learn from the best, regardless of your geographical location.

6. Community and Support

Many online yoga platforms foster a sense of community through forums, social media groups, and live classes. Engaging with fellow practitioners and instructors can provide motivation, encouragement, and a sense of belonging. This support network can be invaluable in managing stress and maintaining a consistent yoga practice.

Conclusion

In a world where stress is an inevitable part of life, finding effective ways to manage it is crucial. Online yoga classes offer a convenient, affordable, and versatile solution for stress management. Through physical relaxation, mindful breathing, and meditation, yoga can significantly reduce stress levels and improve overall well-being. The flexibility and personalized experience of online yoga make it an ideal choice for anyone seeking to integrate stress-relief practices into their daily routine. Embrace the transformative power of online yoga and discover a path to a calmer, healthier, and more balanced life.

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Fishing and Health Benefits: The Physical and Mental Advantages of Angling

Fishing is often seen as a leisurely pastime, an activity reserved for lazy Sunday afternoons or family vacations. However, beyond its recreational appeal, fishing offers a multitude of physical and mental health benefits that can enhance one's quality of life. This article explores how angling contributes to better physical health, mental well-being, and overall life satisfaction.

Physical Health Benefits of Fishing

Cardiovascular Fitness

Although fishing may seem passive, it actually involves a variety of physical activities that can boost cardiovascular health. Walking to your fishing spot, casting lines, and reeling in fish all increase your heart rate and improve blood circulation. Regular fishing excursions can serve as moderate physical exercise, helping to reduce the risks associated with heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure.

Strength and Coordination

Fishing requires a blend of strength and fine motor skills, especially when catching larger fish. The act of casting a line and reeling in fish demands muscle engagement from the arms, shoulders, back, and even the core. Moreover, maintaining balance on a boat or a riverbank promotes core stability and agility. These activities not only build muscle but also enhance hand-eye coordination and overall body balance.

Vitamin D Exposure

Spending time outdoors while fishing increases your exposure to sunlight, which is crucial for the body's production of Vitamin D. This vitamin plays a vital role in bone health, immune system function, and inflammation reduction. Regular fishing trips ensure that individuals get adequate Vitamin D, which can be particularly beneficial for those living in regions with limited sunshine.

Mental Health Benefits of Fishing

Stress Reduction

One of the most significant mental health benefits of fishing is its ability to reduce stress. Being near water and immersed in nature helps lower cortisol levels, the body's stress hormone. The repetitive motions of casting and reeling can also be meditative, fostering a sense of calm and relaxation. This tranquility is why many people turn to fishing as a way to decompress from the hectic pace of modern life.

Enhanced Focus and Concentration

Fishing requires patience, vigilance, and attention to detail, which can improve cognitive functions such as focus and concentration. Waiting for a fish to bite demands a high level of mindfulness, keeping anglers present and engaged. Regularly practicing this level of concentration can have crossover benefits in other areas of life, including work and personal relationships.

Boosting Self-Esteem

The accomplishment of catching a fish can significantly boost one's self-esteem and sense of achievement. Fishing challenges individuals to learn new skills and continuously improve upon them, which can increase self-confidence. For many, fishing provides a measurable way to see personal growth and development, which is a critical component of mental health.

Social Benefits

Strengthening Relationships

Fishing is an activity that can be shared with friends and family, offering a unique opportunity to strengthen bonds. Whether teaching a child to fish or sitting quietly with a friend, the shared experience can enhance personal relationships. The social aspect of fishing contributes to its mental health benefits, providing a sense of community and belonging.

Connection with Nature

Regular interaction with the natural environment has been shown to improve mental health outcomes by reducing feelings of anxiety and depression. Fishing allows individuals to connect with nature in an active, immersive way. This connection can foster a greater appreciation for the environment and promote a more sustainable lifestyle.

Fishing is more than just a way to pass the time; it is a beneficial activity that can improve physical and mental health. From increasing physical fitness to reducing stress and enhancing social connections, the advantages of angling are far-reaching. Whether you are a seasoned angler or a beginner, the lure of fishing offers both a refuge and a remedy in the great outdoors, making it a worthwhile activity for anyone looking to improve their health and well-being.