#so they respire entirely over that tiny surface

[markscherz]

Quick, while the frog purists aren't looking, what's your favorite salamander?

No question, salamanders of the genus Thorius, the smallest salamanders in the world.

[Thorius pennatulus — src]

[Thorius sp. — src]

Truly astonishing creatures.

[athenswrites]

Knight of Dawn, Chapter 2 [Not Your Typical Fairytale]

TW for mentions of disease/zombies/infected, gore. Chapter below the cut!

Sneaking out of the Palace had become progressively easier for Piers, especially after Dr. Panya accidentally figured out. Xe’d spotted them trying to slip out of Garage entry when they were 16, and had chewed them out for hours. Since then, xe’d always been their backup if they ever left.

Piers pulled on thermal clothes under loose cargo pants and a t-shirt. The cold February air would be brutal, and they hated being cold.

From the kitchenette fridge, Piers grabbed some leftovers they’d taken from downstairs, shoving the plastic containers into their backpack. On top, they slipped a few books and their important supplies in case they got caught with their metaphorical pants down. Piers briefly patted themselves down to double check for their pistol, always holstered on their right side, and their knife, on their lower left leg. Grady made sure they could always defend themself in case of emergency ,From the back of their closet, they grabbed their primary weapon of choice outside the Perimeter, a lightweight sword, securing the weapon and its sheathe to their waist. Was it impractical? Not entirely. Firing a gun outside the Perimeter was too noisy and they’d quickly attract unwelcome visitors. A long blade gave them distance and leverage against their opponents. Also it made them feel like they were cool, so they really didn’t care.

Lastly, Piers headed for their window, grabbing their respirator and gloves. The bottom half of the respirator sat snuggly against their face as they first secured the bottom half, then the top half to protect their eyes and cheeks from the freezing wind. In the reflection of the window, they could barely see their reflection, and the tiny pink flowers Grady had painted on their respirator so she could always find them.

Carefully, Piers pushed open their window, before tugging on their gloves and peeking their head outside. The bitter wind blew fiercely and they dug their fingers into the windowsill. Hundreds of feet below, the city puttered on, though not as busy in the Royal District as the others. Disappearing around the right corner of the building, past Old Buckhead surrounding them, was the skyline of Atlanta. Barely visible through the dense city and smog, they could see the southernmost edge of the Perimeter. Then, the wilderness took over.

Slipping back inside, and closing their window, they pulled up a map of Palace Personnel and Visitors. With everyone in the Palace for the next few days, there wasn’t a clear path to the basement, unless they used the Palace’s backrooms and service elevators. Piers headed for the central elevator, planning their route as they watched people move around on the map. David was with Adele. Marcie was with Gavin near Command Central, heading towards the kitchens. Dr. Panya was in the lab, per usual.

They took the elevator from thor floor, the 65th, to the 50th floor, the highest the service elevators reached. Hansel was too buried in his work to notice them darting down the hallway and slipping into the left service elevator they had just called. Piers punched and held the button for B5, making sure the elevator wouldn’t stop.

Unlike the central elevators, the service elevator creaked and groaned the entire way, taking ages to descend to the lowest part of the basement, before the doors finally opened. The darkened hallway let them navigate the maze of floor B5, until they found the open garage door near the Lab. Gravel crunched beneath their feet as they walked out into the dimly lit garage, making their way towards the surface. The Perimeter guards stationed at the entry either didn’t notice them leaving or didn’t care (concerningly). 

The Royal District seemed much busier on the ground, as people turned to the streets to party for the evening. Piers slipped through the crowd, watching them swell with more and more people. Their name and likeness was emblazoned on buildings and signs and even plastic cups. Here, people loved Queen Adele, able to ignore the struggles of the other districts in Atlanta. Monarch Piers to them was a symbol of another era of untouched rapid wealth accumulation, free of worry. Little did they know, the little party would soon be coming to an end. One of their first goals was to increase taxation on the wealthier residents, to try and check the growing wealth divide between the rich and the poor, which was exacerbating the issues they were facing. However, they weren’t quite sure how well that would go over with the Royal District.

An open air trolley passed by, and Piers grabbed onto the back, riding it through the crowds. One trolley to the next, they headed towards the old 85-gate. People avoided them like the plague, as respirators were usually a sign of the ones who dealt with the plague. 

Although Atlanta was the heart of the initial outbreak of the Incarnareum Repartus fungi, it was a bustling Zone of safety. The infected had been knocking on their doors for almost 180 years, and yet people still flocked from far and wide to live inside the safety of the Perimeter. 

As they approached the 85-gate, the guard spotted them, giving them a thumbs up and letting them pass through the small gate, into the Perimeter itself. Years ago, there would have been a line miles long here, waiting to be let into the city. In 2193, an outbreak swept through the camps outside the gate after an influx of refugees from a collapsing Alpharetta District, infecting thousands, and Adele closed the gate permanently after that. 

It also meant there were lots of victims still wandering through the woods, haunting until their bodies decayed enough to collapse into a pile of rotting bones and sludge. Or one of the quarantine teams cleared out the infected.

Fun.

Piers was glad they had not turned into sludge.

They passed through the barbed wire fences and concrete barriers, built upon the cracked pavement, and stepped out of the Zone. Trees grew between abandoned buildings, and mutilated bodies of humans and animals alike littered the ground just outside the Perimeter. Eyes and ears open, they began to jog towards Lennox’s home, keeping a lookout for any visitors. They saw nor heard none.

Like most, Piers found themself superstitious of calling the victims of the fungi “zombies” or “the undead”. While it wasn’t far off, it still seemed inhumane. Plus, it was personal to them. Surviving the IR fungi was rare. It required intensive medical care most couldn’t afford, plus the strongest immune system known to man. Piers had had the opportunity to survive, one of maybe a thousand in the entire world, compared to the hundreds of millions who’d been infected, including their older siblings.

A low groan sounded a few yards behind them. It grabbed their attention, and they spun around, unsheathing their sword. The infected wasn’t fast; it’d probably been wandering the woods longer than they’d been alive. They left it alone, resheathing their sword, and picking up the pace as they ran towards the abandoned church which was now just through the trees. With an ear splitting shriek, they opened the heavy metal door, before quickly closing it behind them, throwing the latch. Out of the bitter winter wind, it was much warmer, and they pocketed their gloves

“You’re late. I’ve been waiting.” A young person with long dark hair sat criss-cross at the top of the rotting stairs, reading a book. He seemed unphased and bored, but that was normal for him.

Grinning, Piers tugged off their mask. “Good afternoon to you too, Lennox.”

With a sigh, they closed their book and stretched out their legs, joints snapping like bubble wrap, then pushed themself to their feet. A red hoodie, which he wore over a tshirt and sweatpants, swallowed up his thin frame.

Climbing the stairs, Piers minded the rotting ones they knew would give, and followed them into their living space. It was just as much of a disaster as usual. Random scraps of cloth had been strewn over the floor. A half finished navy ball gown sat draped over a dining chair. His violin balanced precariously on the kitchen counter. Paper targets were still pinned to the walls with knife marks piercing vital points. A life sized nude sculpture took up half the kitchen, tools scattered all over the floor. 

“I know, everything’s a complete mess. I’ve been a little restless since I came back.” Lennox put the ball gown on a hanger, then hung it on the railing of the spiral staircase to the loft, “What’s in the bag, I’m hungry.”

“Food, from my friend again.” Piers handed them the backpack, and they opened it, pulling out the plastic takeout containers.

“Bless that woman. I get tired of eating canned food and I can’t cook for shit. That’s always mom’s thing, when she’s around. Or when she brings stuff back. I’ve been craving red beans and rice again, but she said she won’t be able to get that for a while due to ‘issues’, whatever that means…” Lennox rambled, before opening the first takeout container and taking a big sniff, “It’s fucking spicy thank god. I was going to commit murder otherwise.”

Piers laughed, picking up his violin and putting it in the case with the bow, “Who was going to die if it wasn’t spicy?”

“I don’t know.” Lennox picked up a piece of meat, dripping in sauce, with their bare hand and shoved it in their mouth. “Someone would have though.”

Dumping the papers from the table into a crate nearby, Piers cleared a spot for them both to sit at the cramped table. Lennox took a seat, digging into the food with luckily now a fork he’d found somewhere in his messy space. Taking the other food out of the bag, Piers put them in the fridge and pantry, before finally pulling out the books, setting them in front of Lennox. They examined the selection best they could, without touching the books with their saucy hands.

“Some pre-fall literature. Most of it is queer, because I can’t get into anything else.” Piers replied, before taking them over to the dilapidated bookshelf, setting them beside the various other books they’d brought out to him.

“You’re so lucky you get to live in the Palace. The food? The books? The high fashion? It’s all so amazing. I’d die to live near all that. I just couldn’t handle the Queen probably. You know authority isn’t my jam.”

“It’s the monarch now. The queen abdicated a few months ago, and they were just crowned today.” Piers smiled as Lennox wiped their hands on a napkin, before picking up one of the books, scanning over the summary. He either didn’t care or hadn’t seemed to notice who they were, after these years. And they enjoyed that.

“Mhm, long live the monarch or whatever you’re supposed to say.” Lennox sat the fabric down, then looked to Piers, “I never understood you. You hate the monarchy so much, yet you work in their palace, eat their food, and deal with them on the daily. How do you do it?”

“You know what they say.”

“What?”

“Keep your friends close and enemies closer. I’m going to overthrow it all one day, start the government anew.” Piers grabbed an apple from Lennox’s small pile on the table, then hopped up on the counter. “What do you think?”

“Only if I get to enjoy the luxury with you.” A smile flickered on his face, a very rare occasion for such a cheerful person. 

“First decree, you’re gonna be my tailor, and make all my clothes.” Piers pointed the apple at them, it shining bright red in the artificial lights.

“Bet.” He snatched the apple, taking a bite, and they complained, before both of them were laughing so hard they couldn’t speak.

“Well, if I did some dealing I could-“

The pop of a shotgun cut through the air, and both of them froze, knowing exactly who wouldn’t be too far behind the noise. Lou

“I gotta go. See you later.” Piers grabbed their bag, swinging it over their shoulder while pulling their mask over their face, “I’ll bring more food next time, but I’m super busy with work, so I don’t know when that’ll be.”

“It’s ok. Be safe.” He waved goodbye as they ran down the stairs, jumping across the gap, before bursting out the door.

The telltale whine of Lou’s bike was getting louder and louder, and Piers, knowing better than to get into an altercation, broke into a dead sprint towards the Perimeter, towards safety.

NYTF WIP PAGE

Tag List (reply or dm to be added or removed; I pulled from the old tag list): @author-a-holmes, @soul-write @flowerprose @ceph-the-ghost-writer @theglitchywriterboi @when-wax-wings-melt @thechaoticflowergarden @lyralit @penspiration-writing @samatedeansbroccoli @charlesjosephwrites @italiangothicwriteblr @thetruearchmagos @pineapple-lover-boy @unilightwrites @sanguine-arena @bardic-tales @joshuaorrizonte @blind-the-winds @circa-specturgia @hymnonlips @aloeverawrites @the-stray-storyteller @writeblrsupport @the-down-upside-finch @shay-writes @aether-wasteland-s @n1ghtcrwler @writingonmymind @dyrewrites

[akik10]

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[dokoni-mo]

Far Away, Together || Darth Vader x Reader (Chapter 5.5)

(IMPORTANT A/N PLEASE READ: oh boy am i nervous to post this,, hello everyone!! this is my first time ever writing smut!! this chapter is basically a continuation upon the previous chapter of the series that I have been working on. You could consider this chapter to be an OVA chapter of sorts... I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not this chapter is cannon to the story or not. With that being said, this chapter has very little to do with the story of the series. But, I still tagged all my normal people in the list since it is technically part of the series (if you don’t want to be tagged for things like this, please tell me and i’ll remove you!!). I also wanna give a big shoutout/thanks to @hxldmxdxwn​ (pls dont be mad for me tagging you,,) for giving me some advice for writing smut and being a huge inspo for me!! Thank you so much :)))) Anyway, if you are not interested in smut or don’t like smut, feel free to overlook this chapter!! Our regularly scheduled programming will be continued soon. However, if you do read on, I do hope you enjoy what you see!! have fun ;) ))) 

Chapter One: [x]

Chapter Two: [x]

Chapter Three: [x]

Chapter Four: [x]

Chapter Five: [x]

WARNINGS: SMUT!!!! light dom/sub references, usage of titles, fingering, force-bonding, inappropriate usage of the force, cursing, otherwise none!!

Key: (F/N) = first name

Word Count: ~4700

~~

Much to your dismay, the song that you and him had danced to eventually met it's inevitable end. 

The pair of you stood a moment longer in each other’s arms as you heard the music slowly fade into the muffled chatter of nobility and officers saying their adieu as they left the venue, the tiredness of the night creeping its way onto their bones. You felt a quick wash of sadness swim overtop of you as your ears confirmed that the song was over, making you frown slightly. Lingering your head upon his taunt chest for a moment longer, your face assumed a soft smile as you looked up at him, laced with a hint of nervousness and awkwardness as you tried to figure out what to say to him This task proved difficult, however, since you knew you had to say something, but you had no idea as to what that something would be. 

Hey, that was pretty neat? No way. There’s no way you’d be able to sleep at night if you said that. 

Thanks? No! That was just rude. 

Hey I really like you even though you are kinda intimidating and could totally snap me in half right here and right now but hey at least you would have touched me? This one was pretty self explanatory. 

“I… I never took you for such a good dancer.” You eventually settled on saying, your cheeks reddening as your eyes twinkled up at him. It was a decent thing to say, you figured. It was in no way a lie, and you had even thrown in a friendly joke. A fine performance.

“And I have never taken you as one to accept such things.” Lord Vader responded to you, his grip upon your tiny frame not faltering for even a moment. His hold was strong, stable, supportive, solid, and a plethora of other things that started with s. Some of which, however, lingered on the… indecent side of things. 

Letting a small giggle escape your lips, you made no attempt to quip back at him as you stared into the eyes of his mask. You had wished that the lenses were at least somewhat transparent within that moment. You craved to see his eyes as they burned into your own, letting you see every emotion that lingered in them as he looked upon you. If you were a braver person, you would reach up and take off the plate of metal yourself.

Alas, you were not. 

After a moment of looking upon him, you let your gaze fall to the panel of buttons upon his stomach, a small smile painting your lips as you snaked your hand from behind his back to let your hand rest upon the armor of his chest, your fingers absentmindedly tracing the outline of the square of buttons. 

“I should…” you began, your eyes still locked  upon the panel of buttons before you, “I should probably start getting ready for bed. We still have to… mingle in the morning, and-” 

“No.” He spoke quickly, almost too quickly, as he cut you off, his voice a touch louder than it should have been.

“(F/N)...” he began, his voice sounding so much deeper than normal to you, “please… stay here. Stay with me.” 

Before you could even think, you felt his arm that was wrapped around your waist slowly retreat and the hand that was in yours unlatch itself. His large hands eventually found their new home upon your ribcage just below your armpits, his grip as strong and sturdy just as before, perhaps even a touch more. Lord Vader’s hands were quite big as they rested upon your tiny body, the expanse of his palms nearly engulfing you whole. Feeling the sheer size of his hands around you, your cheeks flushed deeper pink as you bit your lip, trying to control your indecent thoughts. 

“O-Okay…” you stammered out, still refusing to meet his intense gaze upon your face. Not knowing what else to do with your hands, you rested them gingerly upon the underside of his muscular, leather-bound arms, your thumbs roaming the surface of the material for any feeling of flesh you could make out below it. 

After a long moment of the sith lord holding you in place in silence, you heard his breathing hitch in his respirator as his hands started to travel down your body. Slowly, so excruciatingly slowly, his strong, gargantuan hands made their way to rest upon your hips, his thumbs starting to rub the bone below your skin.

This in no way helped to coax your blush down or to stop the scandalous thoughts that plagued your mind. 

Without even telling yourself to do so, you lifted your hands from their position on his arms to rest upon the large expanse of his chest, the tips of your fingers hiding underneath the plate of metal that adorned his shoulders in order to get even a fraction closer to the skin beneath. You felt your inner temperature rise at the thought of seeing the man underneath the familiar armor. 

“(F/N),” He rumbled out from behind his mask, a distant purr within the depths of his voice, “Have I ever told you how breathtakingly... alluring I find you?” 

You swallowed thickly at his words, your cheeks nearly reaching a boiling point in heat. You paused for a moment to make sure that you were still alive before you could respond, your hands tensing upon his chest. 

“I-I find you alluring too, Vader…” you responded, still refusing to make eye contact with the dark lord. What you had said was in no way a lie. From the very first moment that you had lain eyes upon Lord Vader, you had always held an odd attraction to him. You had always wondered what it would feel like to have his hands upon you, what it would sound like to hear his voice call out your name. 

This was the perfect time for you to feed into your curiosity. Never in a million years did you expect to be there in that moment, locked tight in the sith lord’s grasp, his hands on your hips. Your body was so very hot, so very in need.

“(F/N).” You hear Lord Vader say, the usage of your name sending a shiver of cold down your heated spine. Before you could register what was happening, you felt the grip on your hips tighten as he pulled you closer to his much larger body, your frame now flush up against his. Beneath your soft skin, you could feel the faint warmth of his body underneath the suit drawing you into him, beckoning for you to merge into one with the dark lord. The feeling of the leather bounding his body rubbing against your skin made the hair stand up on your arms, your legs almost wobbling at the amount of power and authority that radiated off of him. 

It was intoxicating. 

Exasperating.

Thrilling. 

Nerve-wracking. 

You craved more. 

But… 

“V-Vader we…” you began to say, your eyes still trained on his chest before you, “We can’t-” 

“Do not try and shy yourself away from me, (F/N).” said Lord Vader, the grip he had upon you tightening in case you tried to push your body away, “I sense your desire… Your desire for me. Do not try and fool yourself.” 

You bit your lip again as you nodded, still unable to look up at him. You were embarrassed, but you didn’t exactly know why. 

“Besides…” he continued on, removing one of his hands from your hip. You would have been sad at the absence of his touch if he did not replace it so soon after. Finding it's new home upon your chin, Lord Vader wrapped his fingers around the bone firmly yet gently, lifting it up to make you look at nothing but him, right in the eyes. 

“Are you in any position to tell your superior what he can and can not do with his subordinate, Miss (F/N)?” he asked you rhetorically, the purr in his voice rattling you to the core. Your face, as well as your entire being, was on fire at this point. You swallowed thickly but silently as your eyes were forced to look into his, your want of seeing his real ones growing and growing the longer you searched for them. 

“N-No, my Lord…” you were able to whisper out as you felt your mind go blank with nothing else but need. 

Pausing to inspect your face a moment longer, Lord Vader eventually removed his hand from your chin, using it instead to stroke a lock of your hair on the side of your head. 

“Good girl…” he purred out, making your breath stammer as it escaped your lungs. 

With this, he took his hands off of you in order to stand up fully straight, his figure looming over you as his gaze bore into your eyes. The absence of his touch upon your body making you feel cold, you looked up at him with pleading eyes, a small frown painting your lips. He was so much taller than you, making you feel so, so small by comparison. His frame engulfed you whole, and you bathed in every moment of it. 

“Now, allow me to take care of you, (F/N).” 

He nodded his head slowly to his side. 

“Get on the bed.” 

With barely a moment’s hesitation, you followed his order to the mark. Keeping your gaze down, you bit your lip as you kicked off your boots and rolled onto the bed, sitting such that your knees were slightly bent at obtuse angles and your back was rested against the headboard of the bed. Your face still flushed, you looked over to the tall, looming sith lord across the room, waiting for him to come and take you. 

Sensing that you were in a good position, Lord Vader turned to face you, taking his sweet time making his way over to the bedside. 

You wanted to whine and scream about how slow he was being. The worst part about it, you knew that he knew exactly what he was doing to you. 

How cruel. 

Unable to keep his gaze off of you, he slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, the metal and wood of it's frame groaning beneath his weight. 

“(F/N),” he said, his tone deep yet somehow patient, “Are you scared?” 

The question took you aback for a moment, making you stir in place. Pursing your lips, your gaze dropped for a moment before you stammered out your response. 

“A-A little… It's… been a long time, since I…” 

“I see.” Lord Vader responded without you having to finish. 

He knew exactly what you meant. 

“You do not need to worry, my sweet… I promise that I will not hurt you.” he rumbled out as he slowly shifted his weight, earning another groan from the bedding beneath. His size making you slip down so that you were laid on the bed, you noticed how his cape draped over his shoulders as he pinned you to the mattress, acting as a veil to shield you from the outside world. 

A curtain of him. 

The sheer size of the man on top of you made you realize just how large he was. You felt so tiny, so small compared to the mass of his arms and chest. Feeling the heat radiate off your face as you looked up at him, all you knew to do with yourself was to look dumbly into this mask, eager for his next move. 

It came in and took your breath away. 

“Undress yourself. Don’t stop until I say so.” 

Maker, he had barely even touched you, and you were already so in need of him. 

Following his command, you lifted your hands from resting on either side of your head to find their place upon the seam of your uniform’s coat. Your fingers trembling slightly, you undid the buttons of your coat, slipping it off as best as you could while being pinned underneath Lord Vader. Your eyes focused on taking off your uniform, you could feel his gaze upon you as you slowly exposed more and more of your skin to him, your ears filled with nothing but the rustle of cloth and his breath. Biting your lip, you slid your tank-top off of your torso and threw it to the side, leaving you in nothing but your bra to cover your top half. You shuddered as the cold air around you crept it's way upon your body.

With another faint moment of hesitation, you slid your hands downwards to the him of your uniform pants, curling your fingers to ready yourself to take it off. 

“No.” You heard him say before you could finish the job, “I will do that part myself. You may stop.” 

Obeying his wishes, you returned your hands to rest of either side of your head, your gaze returning to meet his mask. Without him even doing anything, you were already a mess beneath him. Your skin was glossed from the dew that expelled itself from your person as you heated up, your breath coming out in soft, silent pants. 

Maker above did he drink in the sight of you. 

You were so pretty beneath him, looking at him like that. 

The best part? 

You were absolutely, unquestionably, undoubtedly, undeniably, his. 

And his only. 

Shifting his weight over to one of his arms, he lifted up his free hand, resting it upon your stomach. Of course, his hand was humongous as it laid upon your skin, nearly stretching the entire expanse of your middle. The feeling of the cool leather made you let out a silent gasp, a twinge of embarrassment bubbling in the back of your mind. Lord Vader trailed up and down your stomach and side for a good while before traveling up further, your eyes fixated on the movements of his hand. 

Feeling his fingertips poke their way under the wiring of your bra, you couldn’t stop yourself as you lifted up your hands to your face, hiding yourself underneath them as a result of your inexplicable embarrassment. 

Lord Vader did not like this. 

“No.” Lord Vader demanded. Without warning, you felt the ghost of a pull upon your wrists, forcing them back into their original position by your head no matter how much you fought against it. Your mind confused for a moment, you quickly deduced that it must have been him. His power. 

“You will not hide yourself from me.” He continued on, stopping any movements of his hands, “Do I make myself clear?” 

“Yes… Yes, I’m sorry.” you gasped out in between your pants, your legs squirming for him to keep going. 

Even though he said nothing in response, he must have been satisfied with the answer since he continued his movements. Through the sheer strength of his fingers, Lord Vader pushed past the wiring of our bra, cupping your breast in his large hand. 

Just the feeling of his engrossing touch upon your breast made you let out a soft moan, causing you to bite your lip in surprise. You were beyond turned on at this point, wanting nothing more than for him to just keep going. 

Letting out a few more soft, quiet moans as he begun to knead your breast in his palm, you finally mustered enough courage to look up into his mask. Of course, the metal offered you no way of telling what exactly he was thinking, but offered you a source to give your needy, lust-laced gaze to. 

You felt so good. 

You felt so good because of him. 

You knew that you would want him for the rest of time. 

You knew that only he would ever make you feel like this again and again. 

Eventually deciding that enough was enough, Lord Vader removed his hand from your breast and out from under your bra, his removal causing the fabric to go back onto your body at an odd angle. The absence of his massages made you whine, looking up at him pleadingly to touch you again. 

Your requests were eventually met as he trailed the tips of his fingers down from your breast to your stomach to the hem of your uniform pants, the gentle touches earning themselves another shudder out of you. 

Wrapping his fingers around the hem, the dark lord stopped himself for a moment to look upon your face. Satisfied with your expression of want and need, he pulled down the cloth wrapping around your legs, discarding it without any ounce of care about it or where it landed. This night was surely full of surprises. You had never thought that  you would ever be sprawled out underneath Lord Vader in only your bra and panties.

But, there you were. 

You barely had any time to react before he made you gasp out another moan, his leather-bound fingers rubbing up and down the cloth that covered your aching, dripping core. Continuing his actions, you began to squirm and whimper for him to remove your panties. Your legs kicked and shuffled as moans and whines left your throat, making you sound so pitiful as you gripped onto his cape, the fabric soft in your fingers. 

“Quiet.” He rumbled out as he stopped him movements, focusing one hard press against the cloth that covered your clit. Opening your mouth in a silent gasp, you quickly shut it as your forced yourself to stay still, not wanting to find out what would happen were you to disobey him. 

Satisfied with your submission, Lord Vader must have decided that you were ready for him fully. Reaching his fingers up, he latched the waistband of the fabric around his large digits, so very achingly slowly pulling it down past your thighs, knees, and feet. 

Your chest was rising and falling rapidly as you felt your panties fall off your person, earning another shudder from the cold. Lord Vader’s breath had started to pick up the pace as he loomed down over your body. 

He was… pleased. 

So very pleased. 

Never had seen such a beautiful sight sprawled out underneath him. 

Wanting him. 

Needing him. 

Deciding to be so gracious as to entertain your needs, he swiped his leathery middle and pointer finger up the length of your folds, the slick coming from them coating the digits instantly, earning another low, shallow moan from you. Amused by this, Lord Vader brought his soaked fingers up closer to his mask, inspecting how the liquid shined in the soft glow of the dim lighting surrounding the pair of you. 

“I am most impressed, Miss (F/N),” he said to you, turning his attention back to your reddened face, “Already this in need, and I have barely even begun.” 

Cue another whine to escape from behind your lips, your hands gripping and kneading on his cape. 

“Vader… please... “ you whined softly, your eyes full of pitiful gleam, “I need you so badly…” 

Returning his hand to rest between the folds of your core, he pressed his middle and pointer finger against your entrance, another moan shooting out of your lungs. 

“As you wish, Miss (F/N).” 

Slowly but surely, Lord Vader pushed the tip of his leather-bound middle finger into your core, your walls fluttering in your excitement. A flurry of moans and gasps left your person as he continued to push inside of you, only stopping once you were filled. He paused for a moment to let you get adjusted before he began to push his digit in and out of your core, the sounds of this action downright sinful to hear. 

You were a mess beneath him. As he gingerly started to increase his pace, your mind started to go blank as the pleasure overwhelmed you, a flurry of moans, gasps, and pleads escaping from your lungs. All you could think about was him, how good you felt because of him. 

You wanted him for the rest of time. 

You wanted him to keep going for the rest of time. 

Deciding that you in no way have had enough, you groaned as he pushed his pointer finger inside of you, right alongside his middle one. The stretching of your walls almost made you scream in pleasure, your nails digging in to the fabric of his cape. You could have sworn that you had seen stars. 

“So eager…” You heard him say in between your moans and quiet pleads, “So ready to receive me…” 

Leaning down to get closer, you unconsciously reached up and wrapped yours arms around his broad shoulders the best you could, your fists bunching up the fabric of his cape. 

Turning his mask to rest near your ear, a ripple of pleasure ran through your body as you heard Lord Vader speak, his tone deeper and darker than ever before. 

“Such a good girl.” 

Before you could blubber out a response, you felt his fingers curl themselves inside of you, hitting right on the spot that made your whole body shake with pleasure. The rate of your moans picking up, the pace of which the finger-fucked you did as well, eventually leading him to add a third finger to the mix. Every single noise that was coming from your body could have made the filthiest porn star ever blush. Your moans were so very desperate, and the sound of your core’s juices being mixed with the rapid pace of his fingers filling the space the pair of you shared. 

Reaching up with his thumb, Lord Vader started to rub circles into your clit, making you moan out his name almost too loudly. He seemed to be pleased by this, since you had noticed that his pace had started to quicken as his breathing became more and more rapid. Seeing a way to maximize the amount of pleasure you could get, you continued to moan out his name, sometimes even accompanied by his title. The usage of Lord Vader would cause him to rumble out quiet groans from behind his mask, the bass making your chest rattle. 

His pace reaching a feverous state, you could feel the knot building up in your vagina grow tighter and tighter as it promised an up-coming release. This promise only made your already over-stimulated body shake and shudder with more and more pleasure, the sounds escaping your mouth proof of such.

“I sense that you are close.” Lord Vader said to you, your mind barely able to process the words. 

You nodded your head quickly, a mumble of strings of pleases and don’t stops falling from your lips in place of a sentence. 

“(F/N)...” he groaned, his gaze boring into the fiber of your being. 

Without any warning, you began to feel a buzz from inside of you. This was different from the knot you felt growing tighter and tighter, but it felt as if it came from no where. It felt as if it came directly from your soul, the very source of your existence. Your brow flexing in fuzzy confusion, you were perplexed until you felt a new sensation. It felt as if your very soul was reaching out, making branches to do as such. 

Reaching out to him. 

And you felt his own reach back. 

The sheer rush of it all was too much to bear. The feeling of his fingers force themselves in and out of you so quickly. The feeling of his thumb circling your clit. The feeling of his force bonding your energy and his together. 

It was euphoric. 

It was pure bliss. 

“That’s it, my sweet,” you heard him call to you, “Let go. Let go for your lord. Let go for me.”

Your orgasm raked itself over your body in waves, making your legs shake and the grip you had upon his cape tighten, turning your knuckles white. You almost screamed out his name as your walls fluttered around his digits, coating them further in your fluids. 

Oh, how he loved it.

Eventually coming down from your high, you laid there for a long moment beneath the dark lord, his fingers halting to a pause inside of you. His breath was quite ragged as he remained still, almost matching your own pants for air as he gazed upon your body. 

Once you had stopped shaking from pleasure, he slowly slid his fingers from out of your core, sending one last wave of euphoria through your nerves. 

You looked up at him with glossy eyes and a dumb, open-mouthed smile as the back of his knuckles brushed against your cheek, moving any stray hairs out of your face. 

He would never admit it, to anyone, but the sight of you beneath him, with that big, dopey, loving smile on your face, your souls freshly bonded together, was the most beautiful thing that he had ever witnessed. 

After a long pause of simply admiring your face and body, he finally spoke. 

“Get some rest, my dear. We have matters to attend to in the morning.” 

You were confused for a moment as you felt his weight lift off of you, the bed creaking in relief as he stood. A pang of weary sadness rippled through you as you watched him start to leave, walking over the pieces of your uniform that littered the floor. Eventually able to process what was happening, you reached out to him, grabbing on to the fabric of his cape to keep him from moving away any further. 

“W-wait,” you said, your lungs still panting for air, “please, d-don’t go… Will you please stay? With me? At least until I fall asleep…?” 

After a brief pause, Lord Vader turned to  you, pointing the face of his mask down to your face. 

Seeing the emotion in your eyes as you reached out to him rustled an old feeling that he had not known for a very long time. In a moment of self-reflection, a reel of his life prior to this moment flashed inside of his mind, reminding him of his past self, alongside every mistake he had ever made

Watching his actions play back to him, he decided something. 

Even though he had left everyone he had ever loved before behind… 

He would not leave you. 

He would stay. 

“Yes.” He said simply as he took your hand into his, holding it as if it were made of the most fragile material in the world. Walking back over to you, he slowly slid down into a seat position upon the bed, earning another groan of protest from the wood beneath. His back against the headboard, he watched as you slid your body close to his own, your warmth reaching his skin beneath all the layers of armor and leather surrounding him, a foreign feeling to the dark lord of the sith. Lord Vader draped his strong, heavy arm over your shoulder as you draped one of your own over his waist, pulling yourself closer to him. 

Nothing was said as you lulled yourself off to sleep, a feeling of security overtaking you as you were held within the arms of the most feared man in the galaxy. 

~~~

TAGS: @spaghetti-666​ , @soullesstaco​ , @arsonistvoyager​ , @robin-obsessed​ , @glitter-rian​ , @captainrexstan​ , @easterncryptid​ , @deviatedwinter​ , @roseangel013bf​ , @danicalifxrnia​ , @dartheldur​ , @finest-trashbag​ , @yeah-boiiiiiiiiiii​ , @elongatedmusk-rat​ , @shads121​ 

[parakaryote]

A ref I made back in August for one of my sapient alien species, the sssoissilit!

Detailed description under the cut.

GENERAL INFO:

Biochemistry: Carbon-based, water as solvent, oxygen respiration, DNA coding, chiral chemistry. Different enough to be incompatible with Earth life-forms, though.

Body plan: Bilateral, bipedal, semi-humanoid

Diet: Omnivorous

Activity: Cathemeral

Average size: 9 ft (3 m) tall

Average lifespan: 120 Earth years

Sociality: Highly social

Other notable traits: Often augment their bodies with cybernetics

HOMEWORLD: The sssoissilit come from Sahess, a planet a few hundred light-years from Earth. 

Sahess orbits a main-sequence yellow dwarf star, and is notably part of a planetary binary system; it and its sister planet, Iisaii, orbit around each other like they orbit their sun. The gravitational forces give both planets severe tides, so many of their terrestrial species (Iisaii also bears life, though not quite as advanced as Sahess' - think Mesozoic as opposed to Cenozoic) prefer higher altitudes. Water erosion has made the coastlines into steep cliffs, and there are many sessile life-forms adapted to cling to them at low tide. The sssoissilit evolved on a vast plateau near the planet’s equator.

Sahess is roughly the same size as Earth, and its gravity is only 1% higher. The average surface temperature is 20 degrees Celsius (6 degrees higher than Earth), and its atmosphere is made up of 22% oxygen (2% higher than Earth).

SKELETAL / MUSCULAR: Sssoissilit have very dense bones and strong muscles, giving them enormous physical power but making them incapable of swimming, climbing, or jumping. Because of this, they instinctively fear water and heights (their native plateau obviously exempted, since it's mostly flat).

They are hexapods, having one pair of arms, one pair of communication-sails (more on that in the “Integumentary” section), and one pair of legs. The hands and hexadactyl, having a thumb on either side, the feet are pentadactyl with the outermost toe being stubby, and the communication-sails are monodactyl. They walk plantigrade.

The bones of their snout are one solid piece along the sides, similar to a seahorse - the jaws that they use to eat are derived cartilaginous structures, which they pop out of their mouth by pushing back the flesh around it (it flattens very easily). When fully extended, they can open and close the cartilage jaws to an impressive degree, though they cannot breathe while doing so since the nostrils are squeezed shut when they fold their “lips” back.

CARDIOVASCULAR: The five-chambered heart of a sssoissilit is located around the centre of their chest. They use coboglobin instead of hemoglobin to transport oxygen, making their blood clear when oxygenated and amber-yellow when deoxygenated. Since coboglobin works best in hot environments, sssoissilit do poorly in cold weather.

RESPIRATORY: Similar to Earth mammals, though the left lung is oddly posterior to / diagonally “tilted” as relative to the right. The larynx is somewhat underdeveloped.

DIGESTIVE: The cartilage jaws contain a mix of piercing and grinding enamel teeth. They extend the jaws to snap up food and retract them back into their head to chew. Their tongues are flat and cannot be raised far from the floor of the mouth. 

NERVOUS: Structurally similar to Earth chordates, though they use a different set of neurotransmitters and have very high neuroplasticity / rates of successful recovery from brain injuries.

INTEGUMENTARY: Sssoissilit are entirely covered in smooth skin with no upper covering, always light blue or grey in colour (aside from the chromatophores on the sails). They also lack claws, nails, or any other features along these lines.

The skin on the sails is thicker than usual and folded over to form sections that resemble large scales at a glance, and covered in chromatophores used for communication - the individual in this picture is saying “hello”. The chromatophores can turn any shade of yellow, green, or blue, as well as darken to black. Changing the colour of an entire section is easier than changing specific tiny spots, so simpler words / concepts get communicated the way you see on the model (entire segments changing) while more complex ideas are communicated with smaller patterns.

SENSES

Vision: The four eyes of a sssoissilit have a distinctive T-shaped arrangement, a trait of their phylum which is reflected in a lot of their art and general aesthetics. The eyes are vertebrate-style camera eyes, not compound - they are just completely black, like those of a squirrel. They cannot see red, but can distinguish very well between different shades of yellow, blue, and green. Night vision is also great.

Hearing: Possessing no external ear openings, sssoissilit naturally have dull hearing.

Smell / Taste: Chemoreceptors are present on the entire outside of the head, as well as inside the mouth and sinus cavities.

Touch: Also fairly dull due to their thick skin, though the hands are more sensitive.

REPRODUCTIVE: Sssoissilit are a monoecious species, all individuals having ovotestes. They are viviparous, specifically placental, usually giving birth to a single child after a 14-Earth-month pregnancy. Children are born as miniature versions of the adults, and can eat solid food as soon as they are born.

MISCELLANEOUS: Sssoissilit have an organ next to their heart made of spongy tissue. During the dry season, this organ stores water that's been filtered by the kidneys.

NOTABLE TECHNOLOGY: The antennae on top of this individual's head are a very common body modification of the neuroprosthetic variety. They're essentially made to be auxiliary sensory organs, with all sorts of different models. They can be made to sense temperature, magnetic fields, radiation, sound, and more. The procedures involved in getting them installed are quite intensive - first neurons need to be artificially grown inside the antennae, then holes need to be cut in the skull during the surgery, and after that the neurons in the antennae need to grow with those in the brain. However, due to the species' very high neural plasticity and skill with surgery, this process is much, much less fraught than it sounds. Though the ethics of it are hotly debated, some parents in recent times even have it done to their babies.

The sssoissilit are a space-faring civilization, though they are restricted by the fact that they have not yet invented wormholes, and part of the Milky Way Celestial Community. They have several space elevators going to Iisaii.

[learningabtsharks]

The Anatomy of Sharks

Reproductive information will be in another post, hidden completely behind a cut.

Movement

 Sharks are a cartilaginous fish, meaning their skeleton is entirely comprised of cartilage, not bone. Because of this, their skeleton is more light weight, making it easier to remain afloat. It also allows much more flexibility.

 When it comes to the majority of fish, most use a swim bladder to remain buoyant. Sharks, however, do not have a swim bladder, this makes them heavier than water. Sharks use their large livers, fins, and the aforementioned cartilaginous skeletons.

 Sharks use their fins to create dynamic lift, in a method similar to airplanes. (This means if they stop swimming, they stop floating.) Due to their bodies bulk and the size of their fins, this alone isn’t enough to keep them afloat. 

 Sharks also must use their massive, oil-filled livers. The oil in a sharks liver is called squalene, which is lighter than water. This increases the sharks  buoyancy, enabling them to remain afloat.

 Sharks skin is made up of many platelike scales, called placoid scales, or dermal denticles. Placoid scales are v-shaped, which reduces drag and makes swimming more efficient. These denticles also prevent marine growth, such as algae and barnacles, due to the irregular surface. Female sharks skin is up to three times thicker than male sharks.

Gills

 Sharks breathe through their gills, just as other fish do. They take in water through their mouth, which passes through their blood rich gills. Blood vessels extract oxygen from the water as it passes by. Carbon dioxide waste from their blood is expelled through the gill tissue as well.

 Species that are less active when it comes to swimming use a method called buccal pumping.

 Merriam-Webster says buccal means, “of, relating to, near, involving, or supplying a cheek”. LINK

 Sharks that are not capable of buccal pumping use something called ram ventilation. (These sharks are called obligate ram ventilators.) These species swim at a quicker pace with their mouths open in order to pass water over their gills.

 Sharks that are capable of buccal pumping pull water into their mouths via their cheek muscles, passing the oxygenated water they need over their gills without swimming.

 Sharks who respire like this have spiracles, which are gill openings behind their eyes that enable them to take in the water they need. Like a snorkel.

Senses

 The lateral line system is an organ that enables the majority of fish to detect minute vibrations in the water. In sharks, lateral line canals are just beneath the skin of its snout and along the sides of its body. Lateral line canals are full of tiny hair-like structures, as well as fluid. When vibrations reach the hair-like structures, they move, sending signals to the brain. These signals help the shark in pinpointing the placement of something else in the water.

 This system also detects odor plumes, which are a complex structure created when odor molecules are released from their source and moved. This enables sharks to locate prey and other mates.

  A sharks sense of smell and it’s lateral line are heavily intertwined. If their lateral line is inhibited somehow, they will find it difficult to detect odor plumes, even if their actual nose is perfectly fine. 

 The sharks nasal cavities have two openings, an entrance point for water, and an exit point for water. Sharks pull water into nasal sacs and over folds of tissue. A sharks nasal cavities are quite large, giving it more time to sort out the scents it picks up. The sharks brain will then analyze the smells, matching them to it’s prey, or even those of possible mates.

 The lateral line of a shark could be considered an extension of the sharks ear, as both use hair cells to assist it in keeping it’s balance and are attuned to the frequencies one would associate with underwater sounds.

 There are small openings on both sides of sharks heads, leading to the inner ear. The sharks ear is a group of ducts and sacs filled with endolymph, called a membranous labyrinth. Endolymph is simply what the liquid filling the ducts and sacs of the labyrinth is called, in sharks this is mainly sea water that enters through its ducts. These ducts are protected by the cartilaginous labyrinth surrounding it, a set of canals filled with fluid.

 Through the endolymphatic ducts, is the sacculus, the lagena, and the utriculus. These are lined with the aforementioned hair cells, which detect vibrations in the water. For hearing, there is an even longer hair cell, called a klinocilium. This hair cell extends into something called a cupola. The cupola of a shark is slightly exposed, and jelly-like. Sound vibrations in the water cause the cupola to wiggle, which the klinocilium picks up on. The klinocilium transmits these signals to the brain.

 The cartilaginous tubes in a sharks ear are only able to pick up vibrations that are parallel to it. However, there are three of them. Together, they detect vibration in all directions. As a shark loses balance, the fluid within its ears slows down. The hair-cells feel this, and transmit signals that enable the shark to correct it’s balance.

 Sharks skin is highly sensitive

 Sharks do not have color vision, but as far as fish go, their eyes are quite good. They’re still able to process focused images. Most fish have rod only retinas, made for low light levels. Sharks have both rods and cones, cones being the ones responsible in higher light levels. (It’s worth noting the light levels where both rods and cones are active are called, “Mesopic”.) This is distinctly similar to human eyes. The part of a sharks brain that coordinates movement in regards to visual input is similar in size to that of a humans. 

 While there are quite a few similarities, there are also a few glaring differences. For instance the presence of a reflective layer, called the tapetum lucidum, at the back of a sharks eye, which light bounces off of, allowing sharks to analyze the light twice over. This is especially helpful in lower light levels.

 Another difference is the way our eyes focus light. While humans have muscles that control the shape of our lens to focus light, sharks have muscles that push and pull the retina. This manner of focusing light is quite similar to the focusing of a camera.

 While all sharks have rods and cones, some have more rods, and some have more cones. Deep water species will have far more rod photoreceptors due to the low light conditions.

 Sharks sense of taste isn’t nearly as adapted as all of their other senses, due to the fact it is not necessary for survival. Their taste buds are in their mouth, as opposed to ours, which are in our tongue. Sharks have many pressure sensitive nerves in their teeth.

On top of everything else, sharks are also capable of sensing minor electrical fields. Every living thing gives off a very small amount of electricity, via the brain, muscle movement, or even the heart beat.

 Sharks have receptors all along their head and snout. The receptors are jelly-filled tubes that open on the surface of the skin, called the ampullae of Lorenzini. The jelly within the tube is highly conductive, and when it picks up on electricity, it transmits it to the bulb that is at the end of each tube. The electric signal activates nerves, and sends the resulting signal to the brain.

 These sensors are so sensitive they can detect muscle contractions of prey, and it is theorized that sharks detect the earths geomagnetic field and use it to navigate in the open ocean. These electrosensors have a very minute range due to the incredibly weak electrical impulses of usual prey.

 Sharks use this sense to locate prey that is hidden, or from far away. They pick up on the muscle contractions of other fish, like that of a fish that is wounded and struggling.

Diet

 All sharks are carnivores, with one exception. This exception is the bonnethead shark, which is an omnivore.

 When it comes to sharks, their hunting grounds, hunting methods, and diet all vary wildly. Their teeth match this variety.

 A shark with flattened teeth, such as the horn shark or nurse shark, uses them to crush their food. The structure of the teeth make it easier to crush shells.

 A shark with needle like teeth would be very effective at gripping more evasive prey.

 The Great White Sharks lower teeth are pointed, while its upper teeth are triangular. Their teeth have serrated edges, enabling them to slice up their prey into fun-sized pieces

 Sharks teeth are usually used for hooking prey, crushing, or slicing. Sharks bite force being as immense as it is, plus a lack of a tough jaw bone means that teeth often break off whilst feeding and other activities. These teeth are replaced by those in reserve rows.

 Depending on the species, sharks can have up to fifty rows of teeth at a time. When a shark loses a tooth, its gums push forward the teeth in the reserve rows like a conveyor. A sharks tooth can be replaced in under two weeks.

 In most species, the upper jaw is fully and firmly connected to the skull, and it is the lower jaw that moves. With sharks, that isn’t exactly the case. Sharks move their entire mouths to catch their prey. Not only can they move their lower jaw, they can move their upper as well.

 There are sharks that are bottom feeders, and there are those that are filter feeders. There are those with incredibly specialized hunting methods, and those that eat just about anything.

Reproduction

LINK

LINKS

-

https://www.dcnanature.org/shark-biology/

https://science.jrank.org/pages/1246/Cartilaginous-Fish.html

https://www.fossilguy.com/gallery/vert/fish-shark/remnant.htm

https://www.sharks-world.com/why_do_sharks_have_cartilage/

https://www.sharksinfo.com/buoyancy.html

https://animals.mom.me/oily-liver-shark-work-7894.html

https://www.thoughtco.com/placoid-scales-definition-2291736

https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/sharks

https://www.scientific.net/AMR.79-82.977

-

http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/p_liver_size.htm

https://www.dkfindout.com/us/animals-and-nature/fish/how-fish-breathe/

https://www.livescience.com/34777-sharks-keep-swimming-or-die.html

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buccal

https://poseidonsweb.com/how-fish-breathe-ram-ventilation-buccal-pumping/

https://www.sharksider.com/spiracles/

-

https://www.sharksinfo.com/lateral-line.html

https://www.britannica.com/science/lateral-line-system

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.en.37.010192.002445

https://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/episodes/sharks/indepth-senses.html

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070529140610.htm

https://jeb.biologists.org/content/210/11/iii

https://www.sharksinfo.com/hearing.html

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/fish/sharks/shark-senses2.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10792/

https://www.epicdiving.com/shark-vision/

https://azretina.sites.arizona.edu/node/353

https://www.cis.rit.edu/people/faculty/montag/vandplite/pages/chap_9/ch9p1.html

https://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/sharks/anatomy/Senses.shtml

https://www.shark.ch/Information/Senses/index.html

https://www.sharktrust.org/shark-senses

https://phys.org/news/2018-02-sharks-animals-evolved-electroreception-theirprey.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1578252/

-

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/these-first-known-omnivore-sharks-eat-seagrass

https://www.sharksinfo.com/jaw.html

https://www.bradenriverdentist.com/a-guide-to-shark-teeth/

https://cimioutdoored.org/shark-teeth/

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/fish/sharks/shark4.htm

[loyalflutist]

Night Crawling (F!Byleth x Edelgard)

Rating: General Audience Archive Warning: N/A Words: 1,481 Summary:  When Edelgard is plagued with nightmares, it's up to Byleth to calm her down. However, it seems like she needs to work on her social skills... or does she?

A/N: Based off on a fan art idea and the C Rank Support between Byleth and Edelgard from the JPN translations. Also, a belated birthday fiction for @rarzrin ! So Happy Belated Birthday, buddy! 

-----

“Uh… Agh… Fath… Save…”

“?!”

Exposed, thin hairs on her arms prickled upward, goosebumps having formed. It appears that a professor’s nightly patrol on all dormitory grounds was interrupted by a feminine outcry. Had it not been for Sothis, who hovered nearby, she would have lost her composure and fallen face-first on the stone flooring. Byleth rested a hand over her chest, a bit shaken. This still time of day and dense atmosphere amplified the distinct abnormality. How spooky!

“Who said that?”

Faint tremors wiggled its way into the older female’s whisper. From nearby, Sothis cupped her chin and tilted her head. She faintly hummed under her breath.

“A ghost, perhaps? No, that is surely not the case…”

She paused. When the green-haired glanced over at Byleth, she resisted the temptation to smack herself on the forehead. Though the ex-mercenary is well-known for her blank features, she is not immune to other forms of expressions… and those reactions mostly leaned towards a negative connotation. Sothis sharply exhaled and furrowed her brows.

“What is that look upon your face? I am no ghost, if that is what was on your mind!”

Byleth straightened her lips and, almost robotically, turned away from the floating female. This caused Sothis to fly in front of the teacher. She crossed her arms and shoved her face at the warrior. A red anger mark pulsated on the side of her head. As for the other woman, she simply stared at Sothis. Byleth blinked. There was no reaction— Wait a minute… Was that a smirk? Upon closer inspection… Yes! That is a smirk on her face! Subtle, but it’s there! Sothis tightened her grip on her arms.

“How dare you still think of me like one!”

Steam blew out of the short female’s ears as she lightly bumped their foreheads together. It’s time she teaches this child a lesson about respecting their elders! Before Sothis could give Byleth a piece of her mind, another round of agonized groaning intensified the tense air once more. That instantly cracked the tension that upheld the air; their attention diverted back to the source.

“No… Agh…”

It seems that the voice was projected from a bedroom next to them.

And it was a voice Byleth and Sothis knew so well.

They temporarily agreed to a truce to their productive discussion. Byleth reached over to the room’s door. She slowly pushed it open. At first, she was hit with a faint aroma resembling that of a carnation. Unlike Dorothea’s room, in which the numerous strong perfumes would slug just about anybody in the face, Edelgard’s bedroom gently eased the olfactory organs into a pleasant adaptation. Byleth exhaled.

From the wall, there lies the casual noble. Sweat was evident as she tossed and turned in her sleep; the blanket tangled themselves with her legs. The moment Byleth took a step inside of the private quarter, her eyes snapped open.

“Huh?! Who’s there?!”

She quickly sat up on the mattress with wide eyes, her hands scrambling on the soft surface; fingers frantically pat and grabbed the air as if she were searching for a weapon. Her breaths were quick. Dizziness clouded her logic skills as raw instincts took over her motor skills.

Edelgard was hyperventilating.

Dread clouded over the older female. Byleth immediately rushed to her side. She plopped her bottom on the furniture. Without thinking twice, the professor took one of the scarred hands and enveloped it within her own. Not a single peep came from the teal-haired as she gently squeezed Edelgard’s hand. Had she not kept an iron grip, the rising emperor would have torn away! Thankfully, the feeble tugs eventually came to a stop once her respiration rate dipped to normality. From beginning to end, Byleth dared not let go of the noble.

Fatigue settled into the house leader’s muscles and mental state. Head lowered, Edelgard slowly exhaled.

“Professor… What are you doing here?”

Direct and straight to the point. The tonality and strength in her delivery could fool most everyone about her state. Alas, the instructor could not be fooled by it. She had seen it all. A nightmare that had cursed the poor student bears itself before the teacher!

Byleth’s thumbs mindlessly rubbed on the rough skin, her hues still glued on the recovering girl. She had to be careful with her words. Although she is no therapist nor socially adept with people outside of Jeralt’s mercenary group and Sothis, the woman knew she had to tread cautiously with Edelgard currently. One wrong sentence, one wrong statement, one wrong word, and she would shatter the student. Even worse, she would obliterate the frail relationship built upon the day they first met. Byleth gulped. Time wasn’t going to patiently wait for her answer. She had to respond to her student now.

“Night crawling.”

“?!”

Edelgard raised her head faster than one could say “what.” She stared long and hard at her professor, her cheeks flaring up. The nightmare that she had been plagued with were immediately squashed by those two words.

That was quite the jest! Not even Dorothea or Sylvain could think of that on the spot! Was it because Byleth was an older woman? No… That cannot be it. Byleth was known to say ridiculous remark and tease her students. Is this one of them? Regardless, an additional layer of shock landed itself on top of the noble’s red face as she fumbled with her words.

“W-What are you— I don’t even— Do you even understand what you just said, Professor?!”

Byleth, still holding onto the 18-year-old’s hand, nodded.

“Yes.”

“Please do not joke like that, Professor!”

There was a mischievous glint in the teacher’s eye.

“It wasn’t a joke though.”

“&%$%#@!”

Incoherent language sputtered out of Edelgard’s lips as her body’s temperature increased by tenfold. This is getting dangerous! If Byleth truly wished for this, isn’t this going too soon?! They aren’t even dating yet! Wait— Why is she going after Edelgard anyway? Couldn’t she have done so with Manuela or Shamir? No… That wouldn’t be right, Edelgard would prefer she NOT do that to anyone other than to Edelgard alone— NO! The noble mentally flailed her arms at the corrupted thoughts. (Young adults always seem to have wild fantasies, don’t they?)

As Edelgard desperately shooed those naughty idealisms and settle the emotional conflict she has about her professor, Sothis leisurely floated by Byleth. She side-eyed the teacher with firm lips.

“So, you’ve stooped down to that level, huh.”

“…”

Sothis glanced over at the Black Eagle’s leader and shook her head. A small sigh left her lips as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You are an interesting person… I would never imagine you to say such things. However, you did clear the heavy atmosphere, so I shall commend you for that.”

Heartbeat.

The green-haired flickered her gaze to Byleth. A powerful throb rammed into both of their figures. Divine Pulse. Byleth was going to use it. Before they knew it…

“Professor… What are you doing here?”

They were back to where Edelgard had recently calmed down from her hyperventilation. Patches of wetness stained the young girl’s red loungewear, Byleth’s hands protectively holding onto the student’s… It was all the same. Sothis crossed her arms and hovered next to her host.

“Are you going to retract your response from earlier? I suggest you do not make a jest like that anymore if you do so—”

“Night crawling.”

“…HUH?”

“?!”

Sothis and Edelgard’s reactions overlapped with one another. Their hues widen and pathetically pierced the unbreakable fortress that the sly professor had put up.

“Are you serious?!” the tiny female hollered as Edelgard began to stammer with the same sentence. “Why did you say the same answer again?!”

Her words were ignored! The entire conversation ran exactly as it had before! It was as if the two were following a script! And... And there is it again! That mischievous glint in the teacher’s eye! Now it would only be a matter of time until…

“&%$%#@!”

Yep, there’s the noble overheating to the point steam wafted from the top of her head. Sothis loudly exhaled as she audibly smacked the back of her hand against Byleth’s cheek.

“Oi, what was the purpose of using the Divine Pulse earlier?”

Heartbeat.

There was that throb again. The floating woman narrowed her eyes as she saw the event transpire all the way back to…

“Professor… What are you doing here?”

“THIS AGAIN?!”

Unlike earlier, in which Byleth completely ignored her existence, she finally mumbled,

“Edelgard is cute when she’s embarrassed.”

A loud smack echoed in the room. Sothis had just slapped her own forehead with great ferocity, it would be no surprise if a red mark was left on it! Frankly, if there was something she was grateful for, it was the fact that the Divine Pulse can only be used a certain number of times.

[aetherical-cosmos]

The Horrors We Bear: Part 2

(⚠ Trigger warning! Death, autopsy procedures, possible post-gore)

I felt I was at a complete loss.

I performed her autopsy, only to find that her lungs were full of water that was not native to Ul'dah but to the western Thanalan area, Vesper Bay to be precise. The silt and clay-like sediment there was slightly caked around her bronchioli and I couldn't really see any other cause of death but drowning. There was only a slight bit of blood in her lungs, possibly from vessels bursting as she inhaled so much water and the over-contracting of her lungs to dispel it. I chalked it up to a classic case of someone drowning her and left it at that.

Who would've done this to someone so young and full of life? Her name was Serena Torwyn. She belonged to a family who loved her. She had friends who were now mourning her loss. A wealthy merchant's daughter, she was in the prime of her life enjoying privileged luxuries but also made her mark in the world as a philanthropist and charitable towards those less fortunate. She was also engaged. However, what didn't escape me before learning this knowledge was the absence of said ring though it was obvious it was something she wore daily by the intention left upon her skin. Nothing of her past suggested anything but an honest, hard work, eager student to learn her family's craft in the jewel trade in order to see it succeed for her own goals. To have that all cut so short so senselessly began to make my blood boil.

My assistant Sera had been taking my notes as I guide her through the entire exam. I checked her eyes, they were milky white with the luster of death. I also checked her body for any other possible wounds, anything that would lead me in a possible direction for better evidence. Nothing. Defeated about this whole ordeal, I sent my entire lab staff home to be with their families so that I might have a bit more peace and quiet to concentrate on this case. All of the signs pointed to a malicious drowning; this was an angry death. I felt it in my bones as I started to cover her back up and place her body back within to cold storage.

The only way I'll know about the actual death is to retrieve some kind of evidence from the bay. Damn my lack of learning how to swim! Dad, Uncle Ivar, Uncle Reese? My brothers? I'm sure they'd be willing to lend a hand.

After such a long morning of trying to figure out what was to come of Serena's case the very next day, I felt I was at a complete loss.

As I sit here at my desk as I mentally prepare for the Torwyn autopsy, I just stare at the blank parchment in which I would start the preliminary findings of my report.

Vesper Bay in Thanalan is quite deep, despite how tranquil and inviting the surface of the water looks, and what evidence I've been able to gather from Serena's autopsy gave me samples of plant life and silt and debris that are not common to Horizon or even outside of Ul'dah. When running the samples that came from her lungs with local bodies of water, Vesper Bay was the closest match. Dad and Uncle Ivar braved early morning fog in order to get to the bottom of the bay and retrieve some samples of the mud and silt.

We had an absolute match.

So, what happened?

I start the autopsy with eagerness to retrieve the evidence needed; my findings collaborate that she was alive when she went into the water, as a fine white foam was found in her airways; the water that had eventually resurfaced and was churned while in the process of trying to be exuded from the body. This happens shortly after death, when the brain is still providing electrical impulses to the rest of the body as it struggles to stay alive without support from the heart or other vital organs.

I make a small incision with my scalpel at the lower area of her left lung, taking care that it doesn't collapse while I hold my finger over the cut to place a small glass tube into it to filter out the contents within. A collapsed lung was messy business and would disrupt whatever evidence may still be in her lungs in order to properly diagnose a CoD and retrieve evidence. The silty liquid within would filter out into a small bucket at the side of the table I kept her on. I'd do the same with the other lung once I gently pushed upon it to make certain that all of the liquid was expelled before I could perform the procedure.

I begin to cut through the layers of her skin and lungs to find that her bronchioli are covered and surrounded with tiny spores, speckles of mud and mold here and there, and lots of silt. He must've had her at close to the bottom when she took her last breath, whether it was shallow or deep water...the silt was the same throughout the bay floor. There is a larger amount of blood in her lungs, moreso than what would normally be found from a drowning. I follow the path through her nose and lower throat to the lungs and see nothing out of the ordinary.

Her lower throat was quite swollen from asphyxiation. I found it curious that a piece of that thick bay kelp was sitting around her throat when her body was brought back to the lab. Could the drowning have resulted from that?

My assistant, Sera Kierney, documents my findings as she remains with me. She's probably one of the few people in this office that has legible handwriting aside from myself and often I have her write out the obituaries for the deceased as she delivers them to the various city-state news criers for me. She's a very special girl, near and dear to my heart as her kindness towards her fellow man just completely astounds me. She sees me smile at her, she remains a safe distance away from me to protect herself from injury or infection.

"Is something wrong, Dr. Nicholaides?" She could always read my concerns like she had a sixth sense for it.

"Honestly, this death...it was angry, violent. I can't help but feel a screaming at the back of my mind that is nagging me forward to discover more about what had happened to her. Listen, Sera, the Sultansworn are requesting this report personally because they believe that the current investigation of certain Syndicate members could be partially related to this case. Whatever findings we come across will be presented to the Sultansworn as evidence. Don't say anything, this particular case has to be 'by the book' politically and if they're involved, this will be one way to find out."

Sera nodded. I could hear her continuing to scrawl out the dictation from me. I could trust her to know that everything I said would be recorded verbatum. "Dr. Nicholaides, this is technically my first time recording a drowning. Would we need to take any special care to the terminology that we use so that way it's easily understood by the officers reading the report?"

Gods, Sera. This is why I chose you.

"Yes. We need to make this as layman as possible for them to understand. Not everyone is familiar with our vocabulary. Medical definitions probably won't be as easily understood by the law enforcement officials as they are for the medical community. So, let's begin with proper, basic procedure about how to diagnose a CoD properly."

I take a deep breath, still inspecting Serena's inner organs for any other clues.

"Alright, let's start with the given obvious:

Drowning: suffocation due to immersion of the nostrils and mouth in a liquid.

Qualifications of Drowning:

• the mechanism of death is complex and varies somewhat with circumstances. It is not simply an asphyxiation due to suffocation in a liquid.

• immersion of the nostrils and mouth is the minimal requirement, typically the entire body is submerged in the liquid.

• the liquid is most commonly water but drowning can occur in any liquid e.g. beer, wine, or some other chemical solution.

Mechinism of Death:

Drowning in the aspirated water is rapidly absorbed from the alveoli into the circulation producing an expansion of blood volume, haemodilution and haemolysis. Within three minutes of submersion is circulatory overload, hyponatraemia and sodium/potassium imbalance together with myocardial hypoxia resulted in a dramatic collapse of systolic pressure quickly followed in the majority of cases by ventricular fibrillation.

In the case of Serena Torwyn, there is terminal pulmonary oedema:

Phases of Drowning:

1. Submersion is followed by struggle which subsides with exhaustion and drowning begins.

2. Breath holding lasts until carbon dioxide accumulation stimulates respiration resulting in inhalation of water.

3. Gulping of water coughing and vomiting is rapidly followed by loss of consciousness.

4. Profound unconsciousness and convulsions are associated with involuntary respiratory movements and the aspiration of water. Respiratory failure precedes heart failure in one-third of cases it is coincident in one-third and follows it in the other third.

5. Death occurs within 2 to 3 minutes. Death is almost invariable when the period of submersion exceeds 10 minutes.

Pathological findings thus far:

Foam in the airways;

Emphysema aquosum - The lungs are voluminous/bulky/ballooned. The pleural surface has a marbled appearance with grey-blue to dark red areas interspersed with pink and yellow-grey zones of more aerated tissue. They feel doughy and pit on pressure. On sectioning there is a flow of watery material. The appearances reflect active inspiration of air and water and cannot be reproduced by the passive flooding of the lungs with water.

Foreign material in airways, lungs and stomach - sand, kelp and silt are found in all airways;

Middle ear and mastoid air cell hemorrhage;

Along with the above listed, she was asphyxiated with the assailant behind her and pulling his force backward with an unidentified object's impression left against the skin of her throat and causing massive contusions from the collarbone to jawline areas."

Sera nodded as soon as I had finished speaking. "That sounds very thorough, Dr. Nicholaides. Is there anything else you'd like to add before I start to close this documentation?"

I had to stop and think about it for a moment. I shook my head. "No, none that I can think of, sweeting. I very much appreciate your diligence in making sure the wording is correct."

It was odd that all I could think of was the vision I received when I retrieved her body the night before as I began to close the chest cavity, weaving a fine twine in and out of her flesh as I tried to mend it together as best I could. Once I was done with that, to prevent what bleeding the body had left to do as it wasn't going to mend from the surgery, I peeled off my gloves and pulled out a large, thick, padded gauze to wrap Serena's cold body within to soak up any possible blood that would've leaked. It would've made for bad form if, during the funeral, blood started seeping through her clothes. I couldn't have a poor grieving family seeing such a gruesome sight after the traumatic loss of a loved one.

My assistant pulled out the appendage extensions, sliding them from underneath the main table as we propped Serena's arms upon them. I'd double check them to make sure there wasn't anything I didn't take note of. From there, Sera pulled her arms out, streamlining them above her head as we began rolling her torso, rotating her entire body so that it was a decent wrap. Once we felt content that we had used enough gauze, I used a bonding agent against some parchment paper to seal the gauze against her body to seal in any moisture.

Once I was finished with my work, I was exhausted. The intricate networks of nerves, tendons, and connective tissues are a map of frustration. Sera and I pushed the appendage extensions back underneath the main of the table, picking up her body, putting back on the gurney and wheeling it back to the cold storage. We pulled the metal pull-out ledge out just enough to place her body back upon it as carefully as possible. 1...2...3...we picked her body up via bedsheet and placed her back flatly upon it. Sera was tender in the handling of this young woman's body, being the utmost respectful as she wrapped the sheet back around Serena as if she was tucking her into bed. We pushed the metal ledge back into the cold storage door, Serena's body vaulted within.

I looked down at my clothes, thin cotton tunic and loose color-matching pants. I took off the layer above that as it had a few tiny amounts of blood on it. Instead of sending it to the laundry I just simply discarded it as I began to wash my hands, my thoughts drifting to how we were going to retrieve more evidence I needed from the bay. All I could think about was the cold water to running over the skin of my fingers as I tried to clear my mind. I looked down at my right index finger for a moment, thinking in parallel about where Serena's had cut off at the top digit. I shivered and shut the water off, flinging the water from my hands into the basin as I looked about for a towel. The soft cotton against my skin gave me a sort of odd comfort for a moment.

I walked back to my office and pulled my white lab coat around me. I had several, but this one was my particular favorite as it had "Zarabeth Corynne Nicholaides, Physician/Medical Examiner" monogrammed upon the area between my shoulder and breast. It also carried a few pins: my graduate pin from the academy labeling me a doctor, my honors pin from the place within my class I had graduated, and a commendation from the various city-states in Aldenard for my dedication to my job. One last one was there as it was an amethyst in a gold setting, heart-shaped and engraved "With Love, Daddy and Momma". I looked at it a moment and smiled, I hoped that I had reached that point in my life where they both had finally accepted my path of choice...I at least knew Daddy had. He's already once seen me hard at work, especially while I was comforting a grieving family.

Sera insisted on remaining to clean up the surgery theater. I couldn't help but smile. She knew that I had wanted to get out as soon as I could to take my first breather of the day though the sun was completely set. "Go on, I got this", she'd reassure me. I nodded, "You know how to get a hold of me if you need me for anything. As always, thank you so very much for all of your hard work Sera...it's very highly appreciated."

I walked out, locking her in as I always did. I nodded to the two Flames guarding the office door and took the short route to Iria's office in the Lavender Beds.

I had a sneaking suspicion that this particular case was going to be a difficult obstacle to overcome in the weeks and months ahead and I had to do everything I could to prepare myself mentally for it. I had mental endurance for days but, unlike the typical cases I usually handled on a day to day basis, this one was, I knew for a fact, going to be far more complex than anything that was routine for me. I could only hope that the mental acumen and investigative practices the law enforcement officials of the realm could meet the expectations and succeed the faith the public places into them to find the guilty party and bring them to justice. Time would only tell what was in store for me as the investigation started to unfold. My question wasn't one of whether or not I was prepared, but moreso of what would linger with me in the coming days ahead. It was an obvious given that this case would be a memorable one whether I chose to commit it to memory or not.

Someone would eventually be brought to justice with blood on their hands, and I would eagerly await the opportunity to learn of whom was the guilty party.

[developmania-blog]

A Love and A Hate Story – SARS-CoV-2 & WE

It was almost three months from now, all of us started feeling the hustle and bustle of a novel visitor trying to intrude into our lifestyle, daily life, the air around us and our society. It was not a welcome guest for sure, not now also. All of us knew it was a foreign guest coming from cross-border with the persons carrying it from abroad. Where was it born, we all know by now, the birthplace is Wuhan city, China. Several theories and postulates run high for tracing back its parental origin and the baby steps it made to make its route from animals, be it pangolin or bats to human for the latter’s misadventure for eating / tasting animal food that in raw mode. Some researchers confirm, it may have simply jumped from bats (first host- mammals) to an intermediary animal (exotic animal trading market- wet places) and from there to the humans engaged in such places. For sure SARS-CoV was not new and has made its presence felt to the mankind quite some time now through prevailing syndrome of Influenza, Respiratory Tract Infection, etc. not lethal and contagious as this is proving to be. For a layperson this virus is a modified version with certain distinctive characterization and genetic expression. Even this novel version is said to be co-habiting within animal host- hence not being hostile. Then why it is trying to be hostile with humans. Are both of us not able to learn to live symbiotic. Are we human beings doing too much to disturb this entity’s natural process of settling within us or is it trying hard to adapt to its space safe within a new host? Are our way of living life and spontaneous immune system is becoming weaker day by day to even host a novel guest. Things remain unanswered so far.

 Nevertheless, this invisible guest has taken the whole world into a test of time battle; life has gone haywire, economy has been in a topsy-turvy, lockdowns, social distancing, isolations are the order of the day now. The entire world is in a screeching grind. Even if now lockdowns are steadfastly easing up, everybody is in a state of paranoia. How the days are going by -we are just in a hurry to finish off things outdoors be it shopping, driving, attending offices and then try getting indoors sooner rather than later. Everywhere masked men and women, boys and girls are found strolling over, so much so masks, hand sanitizers and if not social distancing purely, interspersed movements in public places are commonplace. Life has taken a different orientation by now. Sanitizers (alcohol based), liquid soap dispensers (better means of minimal touch hand wash types), masks disinfectants were fast disappearing from the shelves of malls and shops so are the popular instant noodles packs, vit-c  and multi-vitamin tablets, In our country these products are largely fast moving consumer goods, unregulated and non-standardized items, suddenly became all essential with the advent of this new guest in our life. The government has done nothing much to regulate these  items in terms of quality and pricing; many a small non-existent companies have gone into either making or at least marketing these items (personal protective items) overnight, only this business is booming in this seemingly gloomy scenario and there is a skewed demand-supply equation. Government could have done better by bringing in a regulation for making available these only recommended stuffs to the poor and middle-class especially bear the brunt in a crisis like situation. There is no gainsaying our guest’s presence has made one and all practice some basic norms of life- hand hygiene, sanitized surroundings and regulated movement thus saving our lives and protect environment, a forced behavior. There has been enormous improvement in ambient air quality, reduction in pollutant gases, communicable diseases and oil-pool deficit for a bigger GDP like ours. Hence, it is a guest who is a well-wisher in guise for mankind.    

For there is no vaccine, established protocol of clinical treatments and sub-clinical prognosis not available at this point of time and given the high motility and survivability factor of this novel guest, only preventive measures are all advisable – strict personal hygiene, sanitized environment, social distancing and dispersed movements. This was the first set of advisories provided to the common mass, it was openly discarded for use of face cover- masking by common man, unless health- workers. Soon the evidences cropped up, face masking became the strict norm, 6 feet or 2 meter (do gaaj ki doori) social distancing norm with as far as possible eye or face protection are the advisories now. But variable survivability factors of virus on different surfaces under different ambient temperature, humidity with different particle size aerodynamics came out. No conclusions yet on what impact the weather patterns do have on the respiratory droplet transmission rate and its survivability on innate surfaces without host. Researches are ongoing tirelessly and new characteristics of this tricky guest comes up every now and then. I was reading an article – the researcher says under different ambient conditions the nCoV-RNA laden droplets in millions can travel far off 2-meter social distancing and remain suspended in air as aerosol particles for quite some time. This trait is even more dangerous and scary for all. The RNA strains (protein spikes envelope of this virus) gets first introduced with ACE-2. The entry receptor utilized by SARS-CoV is Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE-2) on epithelium of the nose. And the same receptors are more available in adults than with children. Hence, nCoV likes we grown-ups more than anybody else. The biggest benefit the entire mankind is drawing from these lockdowns and media coverage is the behavior change and turning to extremely high degree of precaution in maintaining hygiene, sanitization, disinfection and self-control out of fear may. This guest has brought all of us to the basics. Perhaps another key message this bubbly tiny invisible friend is trying to provide us is if we disturb the biodiversity and natural ecosystem -there is an evident climate imbalance and several viruses jump from their natural wildlife hosts to the mankind and try level best to mutate and struggle to survive. Hence one more key lesion- protecting biodiversity and the climate is about protecting our own health too. Perhaps we have to host this guest in our life and hence, herd immunity is all talked about now. Learn to leave with nCoV. We cannot live with a horror state every minute thinking of how to make us immune to this invisible and potentially agile stuff not to allow it to sneak into our life- just imagine an asymptomatic (around 80 percent cases initially here) person can potentially cause others contract through just his normal breathing and respiration….just too much in a highly densely populous country with finite resources further with health care facilities and workers not adequate to take care of a large population. We have to devise methods to circumvent this virus by adopting self-consciousness and defense, with proper behavior change adaptations till the novel guest finds a symbiotic relationship with humans.  

[thedailyscourge]

Day Seven

(of the 4th month of the year Twenty-hundred and Twenty)

An entry from the journal of a squire of Brookland:

Within an hour of starting my shift on the Tiny Human Ward, now filled with regular sized humans afflicted with the Scourge, one of our patients began dying.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

I can honestly say the degree to which this pandemic is a disaster was lost on me as it is to everyone who has not had the kind of intimate encounter with the unique forms of suffering it produces as I did today.

I was deployed to this ward in a kind of vague capacity to fill in gaps of coverage in some non-specific and sometimes very specific ways.  One thing I knew I was sent here to do was to go into room after room of patients afflicted with the Scourge and assess their health.  And, late in the morning, that is exactly what happened.  After my team had spent several hours getting to know the needs of each patient by looking at their lab results and getting reports from other professionals, and then “table rounding” or “round tabling” depending on what type of knights you picture us as, we had talked enough. It was time to confront the invisible enemy directly and at the same time witness the most tangible form it can materialize as: a fellow human being, laying in front of you, struggling to breathe.  I have seen people who were short of breath before, people with various forms of oxygen masks, intubated, on ventilators of all kinds, gasping for breath.  It’s jarring.  But to someone like me who’s seen a great deal more disease and death than most people my age, the striking thing was not the nature of any given case, it was the sheer number of them.  In nearly every single room I went into today, there was a person fighting for their life, drowning above water.  An entire ward full of them and beyond that, an intensive care unit with more.  I was prepared for and acquainted with the severity, but not the volume.

We had maybe two in their 50s, one in the 30s, and one in the 20s but, as a whole, these patients were almost exclusively in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. It was as if science, public health, and medicine advanced inch by inch to the point that we had prolonged the average life expectancy in a remarkable demonstration of our dominance over nature, only to be humbled by the tiniest microorganism arriving and taking all that life away in a matter of days.

It’s difficult to describe how even the thought of an invisible enemy this small and contagious will strain your psyche when you are literally surrounded by it. There is a psychological absurdity to the dozens of small actions and choices you must make throughout your day that is akin to a French mime whose world is not made up but rather unseen by everyone but her. The mental acrobatics you have to engage in to create any sense of control at all in this environment are olympic in their complexity and duration.  At some point, even the most intelligent professionals are so burnt out by this underlying stress that they subconsciously surrender and unwittingly allow the enemy to gain a disturbing amount of ground, transforming our very workplace into a hazard itself.

When I say the ward I walked into and worked in all day was a nightmare of infection control, I mean that at times it felt like the work of germ theorists in the 1800s was just a niche genre of academia like scarf rock or Icelandic death metal, not a foundation for one of the most respected professions on earth.  Face shields, contaminated from countless close interactions with the Scourge and never disinfected (because of a shortage of supplies to do so) were strewn about haphazardly in the cramped workroom where squires and knights spend hours formulating plans and touching surfaces that allow us to create life-saving orders.  All the while we are contaminating and cross contaminating our belongings, our armor, ourselves.  It was clear that many members of the team, who had been denied adequate equipment to protect themselves for weeks and who had struggled minute by minute to maintain a sense of hygienic integrity had resigned to this relative squalor out of sheer exhaustion.

There were many other little lapses in infection control practices I noticed throughout the day, probably because my line of work has conditioned me to be very sensitive to these kinds of details.  But in nearly all of them, just as evident was the lack of resources and enormity of stress on those involved that really was to blame.

What may have been the worst of all of it was an egregious offense to our values and what we hold as sacred. The last rights of the dying, not of religion, but of being and feeling loved by a family member or friend while you pass, are stripped from those who have succumb to the Scourge.  A wife, a cousin, a sister, all denied the tangible validity of their relationship with a dying man, a quiet, tragic opera playing out through telephone lines, in lonely hospital beds, in a room of my ward this morning and across the world again and again for months on end.  The necessary preservation of the species has cost us possibly the greatest token of our humanity.

As I shifted my responsibilities midday to take care of another elderly man in the intensive care unit, filling one of the many gaps in our staffing, I was conscripted into the cast of another tragedy of unique cruelty.  

A woman, a middle-aged nurse who had been working as recently as 2 weeks ago treating some of the sickest tiny humans there are, had been struck down by the Scourge and was now lying in the very same room as the young lives she had helped take care of and, what’s worse, her friends and former coworkers were now the ones charged with treating her disease.  And she was deteriorating. Quickly.

This woman ended up needing to be intubated, a tube placed down her throat, and connected to a ventilator.  I found out about her position as part of the team who were now taking care of her when I asked why she was being moved to another intensive care unit after the intubation.  The head of the unit told me it was for emotional reasons.  I was confused until she explained that she did not want her and her coworkers to potentially experience the trauma of doing chest compressions on their friend as she coded, veering toward death.

At the end of the day, the chaplains were called in to hold a session for us to decompress and process what had just happened.  Although it halted productivity in the midst of a crisis, evident by the way it ended with several of us peeling off to assess a patient in distress, I found the group experience profoundly important, if not for it’s actual therapeutic effect then for the statement even holding such a session made in the middle of what is, for all intents and purposes, a disaster on every level of society.

And there, as some of the staff openly broke down crying, myself sniffling through a respirator during a teary eyed prayer, and others admitted the horrifying feeling of vulnerability in the microscopic game of Russian roulette that we are all playing on the frontlines, I realized today we weren’t losing our humanity.  We were finding its depths.  

The tolls:

The City of New Pork (of which the town of Brookland belongs):

76,876 afflicted

4,009 dead

The Divided Realms of Amen!-ia:

397,391 afflicted

12,000 dead

We await the miracle prophesied by the Emperor to come in the 4th month.  

[paulpetty1-blog]

Improve your property to match your level of comfort. This will help really feel happy with the renovations that you simply make. Start with this post and expand after that.

A ridiculous inclusion will prove to add some pizazz to your residence. Perhaps you want to add inside a library or even a wine cellar. This will likely demonstrate that you are distinctive and have an elegant place to reside. A great way to make the home look new once more would be to slap over a new layer of fresh paint externally of your residence. If you choose a brighter shade, your property will radiance like a new pearl and are the jealousy of everyone in your community prohibit. Burst open the bubble in your freshly employed vinyl surface addressing then area it! Vinyl fabric flooring covering up will bubble up for a variety of good reasons. painters york pa to fix it if it recently been put on a floor is always to pierce the bubble by using a needle, permit the air flow get away, and body weight it straight down until it dries. Include plants and candles to your home. These developments are a affordable and good way to include cheer into a residence. The blooms will prove to add shade and the candles will enhance the space and give a pleasurable fragrance if fragrant. Candle lights must be used in combination with treatment, however, to avoid fires. There are a few approaches to handle screws which are also small or way too loosened at your residence. Use crystal clear nail improve to tighten up anchoring screws that happen to be also reduce. To release anchoring screws that happen to be too tight, consider adding peroxide or ammonia, letting them saturate for just a few minutes just before trying to unscrew. If you are planning a residence enhancement undertaking, prepare the task before you concern yourself with the budget. Go ahead and cost various possibilities, but don't enable yourself take into consideration what you are able really manage till you've chosen a style. This way, you may center on what meets your needs plus your house, as an alternative to working on the amount of money. Most strategies may be adjusted into a reduced finances. To create your entrance doors sense new, change your doorknobs. While getting a new front door can be extremely costly, new doorknobs are available at a very low charge. A neat and new hunting doorknob can transform the appearance of your entire door. Make an effort to choose a doorknob that enhances your house's type. You could make an appealing and different bookcase by utilizing wallpapers. First, pick a wallpaper style you locate exclusive and attractive. By attaching the wallpapers in back behind the shelf, you will definitely get a nice searching design and style that is certainly observed right behind your publications. This spices up the design of your older bookcase and brings a point of fascination to the space. Making adjustments to your toilet can help you save funds on the long run. With newer equipment you happen to be considerably reducing the hazards of leakages and other problems. A dryer restroom may last lengthier. When marketing your own home a fantastic toilet will certainly raise value of your own home and aid men and women produce a easier decision. Inside fresh paint surface finishes arrive in numerous designs. For regular home owners there is no reason to choose a structure rougher than "eggshell" or "orange remove." In many years removed by significantly rougher finishes (like "popcorn") were utilized for wall space and ceilings in order to supply visible attention and reduce seem. These designs turned out easy to problems and tough to clean, so fell out of typical use. Synthetic creating materials have got a devote redesigning assignments, and therefore position is normally outside the house. Synthetics often resist direct sun light and weather better than the natural materials they replace. (Natural stone is actually a noteworthy exclusion to this guideline.) For wood particularly, there are many of man-made alternatives that supply similar charm and excellent sturdiness. Never attempt to save your time or funds by disregarding simple safety rules. You may be thinking a hardhat is not required for any tiny residence project, but there are a lot of things that can damage your head. Depending on the type of work you're performing, you'll wish to have goggles, hardhats, or perhaps respirators completely ready so that you can stay safe and healthier. Redecorating is a crucial part of possessing a property, and since you now get the resources you need to succeed, you can get started! We hope you appreciated this informative article on basic suggestions to help make improvements, and this it can help you change your property into one thing you like.

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Top 7 Common Prejudices About tierportraits nach fotovorlage.

Your house is your lifetime asset. And it's a matter of time when you take a notice that your house needs renovation - not because it's getting old, but because you feel the need of vibrant colors in your house.

Repainting your house is a tricky business. Some rely on painting companies to do the job for you. Hiring the house painting service may also cost you. But if you are planning to paint it yourself, you might want to consider the basics; and consider the time and effort you will put on painting your house.

PAINT

There are many types of paint available today, some giving different surface finishes, others are designed for a particular application. Choosing the correct paint type may appear tierportraits nach fotovorlage to be confusing at first, but once you have projected which theme you would like to paint your house and sorted out which job and what finishes you want, the choice is rather easy.

There are two bases of paint for your house: solvent-based (oil or alkyd) and water-based (latex). Oil-based paints dry slow - usually taking up to 24 hours. The best clean up for an oil-based paint is turpentine or paint thinner. Latex paints' advantage is that it dries relatively fast, but it is not desirable in hot weather or direct sunshine. The best clean up for latex paints requires just soap and water. So if you are painting the inside of your house, it is recommended to use water-based paints, while solvent-based paints are suggested for painting the exterior of your house.

There are different types of paints that is either water-based or solvent-based that produces different finishes that is measured by its sheen factor. "Sheen" is a term used to describe the degree of light reflection the paint has. Lesser sheen for an interior or exterior paint means it has lesser stain resistance.

· A Gloss paint is easy to clean and resists scuffs better. This is ideal for rooms that are constantly used. Most gloss paints are best recommended to use on woodworks, baseboards, kitchen and bathroom walls, doorjambs, and window casings. The downside of using gloss paints, however, is the noticeable imperfections in the wall surface.

· A High-gloss paint is highly reflective and works well for highlighting details, such as trim and decorative molding. They are also the best choice for doors and cabinet - or any area that sees a high volume of abuse.

· Semi-gloss paints are very similar to gloss plaints except it has lesser sheen. Semi-gloss is also suitable for rooms with high humidity (best used for children's room) and can be used for trim works and casings. These paints ensure maximum durability.

· Eggshell paints provide a smooth and low-sheen finish. Paints that are smooth and low-sheen that is ideal for your living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, and dens. It is washable and ideal for bedrooms, hallways, home offices and family rooms.

· Satin paints offer a good combination of easy-clean and moderate sheen. These paints go a step above eggshell in scrubbing ability. They perform and look great in just about any room.

· Flat paints (matte paints) are non-reflective and always a good choice for large walls and ceilings. Flat paints hides imperfections on wall surfaces and spatters well during application. Flat paints are the best choice for vinyl and aluminum siding that is scratched or dented because it hides imperfections and spatters less when applied. These paints are ideal for low-traffic areas such as formal dining rooms and master bedrooms.

Special paints have been innovated from different consumer insights and brilliant paint technology that allows specific paints for specific needs.

· Ceiling flats are designed specially for ceilings. These are usually extra spatter-resistant.

· Primer paints may be oil- or water-based and are used to seal unpainted surfaces to prevent covering coats of paint soaking in. The appropriate type of primer should be used for the surface being painted - wood, metal, plaster or tiles. There are some 'all purpose primers' available which are designed for two or more of these surfaces.

· Anti-condensation paints are used for rooms with humid conditions such as kitchen and bathrooms. This paint is usually formulated to prevent condensation and often includes fungicide.

· Fire-retardant paints do not resist fires completely but its fire-resistance formulation prevents it from fire in spreading fast.

It is also important that before painting your room, you use a primer. A primer will help paint adhere to the surface by providing a uniform appearance. It is a must to use a primer if you are painting over new wood, bare wood, drywall, or repainting over existing bright or dark colors.

But before doing this, you have to know the condition of the surface you wanted to paint. Regardless of whether the base coat is oil or latex, you must dull glossy paint by sanding or de-glossing it with a chemical de-glossing product. If you don't dull glossy paint, the second coat will streak and not stick to the base coat when drying.

INTERIOR PAINTING

If you want to alter your room's ambience, painting it is a great option. When interior painting, use paints that are quicker to dry and does not have a strong odor that lingers around where your kids can smell it.

Painting the interior of your house requires a thorough estimation, visualization and preparation. When you have chosen your theme for your rooms and have bought the job materials you need (paints, paint brushes and rollers, extension handles, paint tray, paint stirrer, drop clothes, step ladder, painter's tape, etc.), you simply follow these interior house painting tips:

BEFORE AND DURING HOUSE PAINTING

· Always provide adequate ventilation when painting inside your house. If you cannot get enough ventilation in the work area, use a respirator or a mask.

· Keep paint containers or solvent containers closed when not in use.

· Keep paint products out of the reach of children.

· Avoid direct contact with skin.

· Always read packaging (label) instructions.

SURFACE PREPARATION TIPS

· Remove as much as furniture as possible from the room or group the heavier fixtures and the delicate ones together and cover them with a drop cloth.

· Provide adequate lightning to allow a good view of painting imperfections.

· Remove switch plates.

· Patch holes and cracks in the surfaces you wanted to paint with premixed spackling paste. After the paste dries, sand the patched the areas.

· Dust and wash the ceilings, walls, baseboards, windows and door moldings.

· Clean, sound wallpaper can be painted over, but in most cases it is better to strip it. Painting over a wallpaper may begin to peel.

PAINTING YOUR CEILING TIPS

· If you are painting the entire room, it is best to paint the ceiling first!

· If you are using a paint roller, maneuver your arms in series of diagonal swaths (forming a letter M). Fill in the open areas by cross rolling.

· If you are using a paintbrush, apply the paint in short strokes towards the unpainted area, known as "wet to dry." Then brush back into the area you just painted for a smooth surface.

· If you are painting your ceiling, remove light bulbs, chandeliers, fluorescent lights and fixture covers.

· Paint trim first, including edging around the ceiling, molding, and trim.

WALL PAINTING TIPS

· Paint around the trim first, including edging around the ceiling.

· When painting with a gloss finish, make the final brush strokes away from the light source of the room. The tiny ridges that a brush leaves won't be as pronounced. Use the same "wet to dry" method of painting.

WOODWORK

· Check woodwork for damage. if there is one, patch it with a wood filler, dry it overnight and sand it for any rough spots and apply a sealer before painting.

· If you'll be using the same paint on the walls and woodwork, paint the woodwork as you come to it. If it is another color of higher in gloss, wait until the walls are done.

· Paint double-hung windows from the wood between the panes then outward. On casement windows, us the same technique, but keep the windows slightly open until the paint dries.

· For panel doors, paint the decorative molded edges first, then the individual panels. Paint from the center out. When the panels are completed, paint the vertical and horizontal flat panels.

· Use a painter's tape or painter's shield to keep paint off windowpanes. Do not use a masking tape or a duct tape. Using a painter's tape or painter's shield allows you to keep areas covered for up to 3 days.

· Paint the top edge baseboards first, then the bottom along the floor. Paint the middle section last.

· Remove cabinet doors and drawers and paint the flat surfaces first. Paint inside the edges, then move to the outer surfaces.

CLEAN-UP and STORAGE or DISPOSAL TIPS

· If there are paint drops on your floor, don't let it stay there. As the paint sets longer, the harder it will be cleared. Use a cloth with soap and water or a solvent for cleaning.

· Use a razor-blade scraper or a putty knife to chip off bigger paint droplets that have dried.

· Use a scraper to trim around windowpanes.

· Wash and dry paintbrushes and rollers. Store them according to the brand's recommendation not all paintbrushes have the same type of bristles nor the rollers have the same material.

· Clean the paint from the rim of the can. Tap container lids tight with a hammer and block of wood.

· Store solvent-based paint cans upside down to prevent a skin from forming.

· Store your paints in normal or room temperature. Never put the paints in extreme hot or cold rooms.

· Each states in the U.S. or every community/ county differs on paint can disposal methods. Check your local environmental, health, and safety laws.

EXTERIOR PAINTING

In buying paints that you are going to use for your exterior house, you have to pick a brand that has essential characteristics: hiding power, color retention, chalk-resistance, and blister resistance.

Hiding power comes from the paint's pigment and is affected by the manner and thickness of the application. Color retention is the ability to maintain its original color during exposure to sunlight, etc. Chalking resistance prevents the white chalky powder from forming on the surface and lightening the color of the paint. Chalking occur over a period of time. Blister resistance keeps excessive moisture from coming through the substrate and affecting the paint layer. Tip: if paint is applied over a damp or wet surface, blistering is imminent.

Painting the exterior of your house requires a thorough estimation, visualization and preparation. When you have chosen your theme for your rooms and have bought the job materials you need.

You will need any of these tools in painting your exterior: caulk, sandpaper, rags and/or paper towels, painter's tape, garden hose, power washer, or hose brush attachment, sponges & buckets for wash water, spray nozzle, stepladder, extension ladder, paint scraper, wire brush, putty knives, heat gun, rotary paint removing tool and electric drill, caulk gun, sanding block, and work gloves.

When you have all the tools at hand, examine your exterior. You might find exterior painting problems, which could be any of the following: alligatoring, blistering, chalking, chalk run down, crackling, dirt pickup, efflorescence, fading, frosting, lapping, mildew, nail head rusting, paint incompatibility, peeling, poor alkali resistance, poor adhesion, poor gloss retention, surfacent leaching, staining, vinyl siding wrap, wax bleed, or wrinkling.

If you already know what your house exterior's problem is or just for repainting it, simply follow some of these tips. You can also refer to INTERIOR PAINTING for brush or roller strokes, etc.:

· Start by thoroughly cleaning the outside of your home. Start at the top and work your way down the sides of the house. If your siding has areas of mold, mildew or discoloration, wash it with an anti-fungal cleaner.

· Mask off areas that are not to be painted. You may want to place masking tape along the edge of house trim, and around window and door frames and trim, since this is likely to be painted in a different color or with a higher sheen paint. You can also tape newspaper or plastic drop cloth material over windows and doors, including sliding glass doors, to protect them from drips.

· Place plastic drop cloths over plants and shrubs, or where paint may drip on porches, roof sections, sidewalks, driveways or other surfaces.

House painting takes time, house painting costs a big chunk on your budget, but the end-result is always great.

[mrbeds]

How to Isolate Your Bed from Bed Bugs

Isolating your bed basically means cleaning the bed bugs off your mattress and linens, and then building traps that prevent remaining bed bugs in the room from crawling up the legs of your bed and re-infesting it. Isolating your bed won't get rid of your bed bug problem, but you will be able to sleep again at night.

Before We Get Started... Your bed bug exterminator should get involved in this process. Exterminators have chemicals that kill any bed bugs hiding on your mattress, box spring, headboard and frame. So, depending on what your pest control tech tells you, some of these steps may not be necessary for you to do on your own. Again, clear the following plan with the expert before you begin.

What You'll Need

Zippered dust-mite encasements for your mattress, box spring and pillows. These are basically large bags that are designed to keep dust mites inside the encasement - but they also keep bed bugs inside. Find them at allergy supply stores. Wide duct tape. Contractor grade trash bags (not lawn and leaf bags, but the thick contractor grade trash bags, at least two or three mils thick). Wide double-sided tape. Bed lifts to raise your bed off the ground (these are little stands that you set the legs of your bed frame into to raise it off the ground). Find them at your local bedding/linen store. Note that if your frame is already fairly high off the ground (like a foot or more), you don't need the risers. Four metal bowls large enough to place the bed lifts in (heavy duty plastic bowls are fine, too. Either way, they have to be unbreakable). Pet stores have nice metal bowls that are ideal for this. XXL Ziploc bags Food-grade freshwater diatomaceous earth. Also known as DE, diatomaceous earth is an abrasive mineral powder that kills bed bugs and other crawling insects by scratching open their skins, which dehydrates them (they die after a day or two). This stuff is razor wire for bed bugs - they will be able to crawl through it, but the damage they suffer is deadly. You can get DE everywhere: online, your local garden center (gardeners use it to kill pests, sometimes marketed as ant killer), or pet supply stores (food grade stuff is sprinkled on pets to kill fleas). Make sure you don't get swimming pool grade diatomaceous earth - that is the wrong stuff. Also, get a dust mask while you are at Home Depot - you'll wear it as you are dusting around your bed. A note about DE: While considered generally safe, you need to carefully read the label and follow all safety instructions. Wear a dust mask or respirator when applying. Murphy's Oil Soap. Murphy's is a wood cleaner made by Colgate-Palmolive that also has pesticide properties. You can find it everywhere. Buy the spray bottle. A new set of white sheets, pillowcases and covers. You are going to replace your existing bedding with new white linens, to better spot any fresh bed bug fecal spots or blood. New pillows: Your current ones might be infested, so let's start over with new ones. Optional: Something that kills bed bugs on contact. Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle will do it. You can dilute the alcohol with a bit of water to make it last longer - 9 parts alcohol, 1 part water. What to Do Step 1: Clean your Linens and Bedding

First you need to pull all the bedding off your bed - sheets, mattress cover, comforter, pillows and pillow cases. Everything. These are infested with bed bugs, so you need to immediately stuff them into the trash bags and tie the bags off.

Now wash every item in hot water. Don't let those infested linens touch other linens or clothing items. Then dry them on high (at least 140 degrees) for 4 hours, or two complete drying cycles. When done, put each item into an XXL Ziploc and seal it.

Put your pillows in a contractor bag, seal it, and throw it in the trash. Cleaning a pillow thoroughly is tough, so you're better off starting with a new one.

Step 2: Vacuum Your Mattress and Box Spring

You are now going to clean the mattress and box spring of any bed bugs, eggs, or larvae.

Get out you vacuum cleaner and clean EVERY INCH of your mattress. Scraping the end of the vacuum attachment vigorously over the harborage area is better than using a brush, because the bugs cling tightly to the surface, and the eggs are cemented to it. Clean every inch of the surface, the tufts along the edges, and the sides of the mattress. Lean it against the wall and vacuum the other side.

Clean the box spring just as carefully. Tear that flimsy dust cover fabric off the bottom, seal it in a plastic bag and throw it away. Vacuum the insides, making sure to get every bit of fabric, as well as the wooden frames and support.

When you are done vacuuming, remove the bag from the vacuum, seal it in a plastic garbage bag, and throw it out. The vacuum bag will have bed bugs in it, and you don't want them to crawl out.

Step 3: Clean the Bed Frame

If you have a metal frame, you are in luck, because these are fairly easy to clean. Grab the vacuum and clean all the nooks and crannies. Pay special attention to inside corners, joints, the areas where the wheels attach to the frame - any dark little corners where bed bugs might hide.

Spray it down with rubbing alcohol to kill anything you missed. Use caulk or duct tape to fill in any holes or gaps between the metal pieces (bed bugs hide in the holes and joints).

If there are any hollow areas in your bed frame (sometimes, the legs are hollow), those are perfect places for the bed bugs to hide. Spray the interior with alcohol and vacuum them out.

If you have a headboard, you should get rid of it. The headboard is one of the most likely places the bugs will hide and lay eggs, and if you have one, I can pretty much guarantee you that it has bed bugs hiding on it. Put it in a plastic bag, carry it to the dumpster, spray paint the words BED BUGS on the package, and throw it in. (It is important to wrap the headboard in plastic before it leaves your bedroom. You don't want any bugs jumping off in the hallway on the way to the door.)

If you have a wooden bedframe, you need to disassemble it, and wash it down with Murphy's Oil Soap. Once you have the frame disassembled, vacuum it like you did with your mattress and box spring. You may need to use a stiff brush to dislodge any eggs or bed bugs in the nooks and crannies. Now spray the Murphy's onto the frame, making sure to spray it into every cracks and crevice.

Step 4: Clean and Prepare the Floor Around Your Bed

When you reassemble the bed, you have to position it away from the walls and furniture, so bed bugs don't have anything to use as a bridge to reinfest your bed. Usually, the best place is to position the bed toward the center of the room and the night stand or tables away from it.

Carefully vacuum the floor in the area under the bed. If you have any carpets or rugs, I think you should roll them up, put them in the trash bag, seal the bag tightly and put it in the garage or storage for the next 18 months. But consult with your bed bug exterminator. Rugs can be treated by with chemicals, so it's your call as to what to do.

Sprinkle the floor you just cleaned with a light dusting of DE. Don't make piles, just use a baby powder bottle or some other plastic bottle that can puff out a very light layer of the stuff.

Warning: DE is almost lighter than air, and it takes some practice to get used to. As with any pest control product, READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW ALL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. Wear a dust mask or respirator when applying.

Step 5: Reassemble the Bed Frame

Now reassemble your bed frame and move it to the middle of the room, over your dust field. Put the legs of the bed frame on the lifters, and put the lifters in the bowls. In other words, the bowl is on the floor, the lifter is in the bowl, and the bed frame is on the lifter.

Wrap plastic wrap around the legs of your bed (regular Saran Wrap is fine for this), then wrap double sided tape over the plastic wrap to catch any bed bugs crawling up.

For additional protection, spread Vaseline on the legs above and below the double sided tape. This is an old trick from the turn of the century, and another obstacle to gum up any bed bugs trying to crawl into your bed.

Put the encasement over the box spring. Put the box spring on the frame. Make sure you don't tear the encasement! Cover the zippered seam of the case with duct tape. Use a lot of tape, and extend it four to six inches from the end of the zipper. You are taping up the zipper because baby bed bugs are tiny, and can slip through the teeth of the zipper.

Gently put the mattress on the box spring. Gently pull the casing over it, and tape the zippers shut.

Now it is time to fill the bowls with soapy water. Bed bugs cannot traverse soapy water, so this becomes like a little moat, protecting the legs of your bed.

Put your new white sheets on the bed, over the encasements. With new sheets, you'll be able to see any blood spots, fecal stains, or crushed bed bugs that might have penetrated your defenses.

Step 6: Securing the Perimeter

Put down a three or four inch wide circle of double-sided carpet tape on the floor around your entire bed (be sure that you vacuumed within this area. If you didn't, do it now). This way, any bed bugs crawling from outside of your fortress will get caught in the tape.

And finally, be sure you have a dusting of DE extending 12 inches around the soapy water-filled bowls. You want to be sure that any bugs that try to get up those bowls have to go through the DE first. Again, this should only be a dusting of DE. You should not see much whiteness at all - thinner is better. Any more than that, and it won't work.

And you're done! Feels good to be taking the offensive, doesn't it? If everything works as planned, you've cleared the bed bugs off your bed, any that you missed are encased inside the mite cover, and the bed bugs elsewhere in the room will be unable to get into your bed. Finally, a chance to sleep!

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Exterior House Painting Prep

New Post has been published on https://walrusvideo.com/exterior-house-painting-prep/

Exterior House Painting Prep

On This Page

  Exterior House Painting Prep

Why Exterior Paint Prep is Important

Here are the Most Common Steps for How to Prep to Paint the Exterior of a House

Wear the Right Clothing & Safety Gear

Remove Contaminants

Comprehensive Cleaning for the Exterior Surfaces of Your House

Exterior House Paint Prep & Preparing Your Home’s Exterior to Ensure Proper Paint Adhesion

Remove Old & Peeling Paint

Caulking, Sealing & Repair

Prime the Exterior Surfaces to be Painted

What To Look For In An Exterior Primer

Tape, Cover & Protect

Exterior House Painting Prep

There’s nothing like a fresh coat of exterior paint to boost curb appeal and add elegance & durability to the exteriors of your home.  Painting your home is a wise investment in time and money. When it comes to exterior house painting prep, the key is indeed in the attention to detail.  Painting the exterior of a house yourself or DIY isn’t difficult if you use the right equipment and follow the right steps. 

Though the process can be time-consuming depending on your house’s size, the task is still achievable for the DIYer who has the time to dedicate to the project. 

Why Exterior House Paint Prep is Important

There are many necessary steps to take before even beginning an exterior painting job. Do you know what the most important step is when painting the exterior of your home? Surprisingly, it’s not the painting itself. It’s actually the proper pre-preparation of the surface you are painting. 

Yes, preparation is the most important part of the job.  If a surface is not adequately prepared, the paint may not adhere, and obviously, this can be a big problem.

Proper preparation (or not taking the time to do these important steps) primarily determines the outcome. Keep in mind that your home’s exterior paint job is about much more than aesthetics; a proper exterior paint job provides a protective barrier against damaging elements. 

After deciding to have the exterior of your home painted, the next step is to make sure that your home is properly prepared for exterior painting. Preparing the exterior of your home for a new coat of paint will save you time and money. 

Many people skip the preparation step because they mistakenly think a new coat of paint will seal and cover the old paint’s imperfections. Just painting over the old coat can cause bubbles and cracks in your new coat of paint due to loose paint layers, dirt, and chemical reactions. This lets moisture in and can lead to several costly home repairs, including mold remediation and dry rot repair.

Here are the Most Common Steps for

How to Prep to Paint the Exterior of a House

Wear the Right Clothing & Safety Gear

Exterior painting preparation is a dirty, damp job, so wear clothes that you don’t mind dirtying or getting wet. Protective goggles are a must for safety reasons, especially during the scraping process. Chipped-off paint and other materials could easily fly into your eyes. Work gloves are also important for protecting your hands during the prep process.

Remove Contaminants

Although lead paint has been outlawed since 1978, many homes still have lead paint on their walls. If you suspect lead, don’t try to scrape or sand it off, and don’t wash. A contractor who’s certified to handle lead abatement must handle the paint’s removal before you get started. Test the paint before you proceed with any further exterior painting prep.

Comprehensive Cleaning for the Exterior Surfaces of Your House

Help the new paint adhere by getting the house’s exterior surfaces as clean as possible before you paint. If the house has existing paint, some opt to speed up this part of the process by power washing the entire house. Pressure washing is also an option for stained walls, although you may want to use gentler options depending on the exterior surfaces’ condition.

If the house has softwood siding, avoid power washing as it can damage the wood. Softwoods such as redwood or cedar, especially if they’re older and weathered, need to be cleaned by hand scrubbing with detergent and water.

If you are going to forgo using a power wash or pressure wash, you can use a hose with a strong water flow to clean the exterior surfaces. To step the cleaning power up a notch, use a special brush attachment for the hose along with liquid soap.  However, if you go this route, take extra caution to make sure you rinse off all soap afterward. 

Mold & Mildew

A common contaminant, especially in humid areas, is mold or mildew. Look for black, green, or brown stains that may have a fuzzy appearance. If you’re unsure whether a given stain is mold or mildew or just dirt, apply common bleach to it. If it bleaches away, you’ve just killed some mold or mildew.

Use bleach or another EPA-registered micro biocide or fungicide to remove mold and mildew. While bleach alone can work in a 3:1 solution mixed with water, more effective, highly concentrated products are available. Look for cleaners and degreasers that do double duty, removing not only mold and mildew but also grime, grease, and oil.

Exterior House Paint Prep & Preparing Your Home’s Exterior to Ensure Proper Paint Adhesion

The key to getting paint to blend in and adhere is to prepare the surfaces correctly. There are no easy shortcuts to this significant step.  When it comes to exterior house painting prep, it’s going to take some elbow grease and patience, but this step is well worth the improvement in the results it produces.

Remove Old & Peeling Paint

You’ve got a couple of different options for removing the old paint. The options are labor, but necessary if you want to do the job right.

Scraping Off Old & Peeling Paint

This can be done with a putty knife for tiny areas or with a paint scraper, of which there are several types available. Look for one that’s comfortable in your hand, which has reversible blades for more blade life. The ends of the blades should be rounded to dig into the siding and gouge it.  Make sure to put your goggles on before you scrape any loose paint. Also, be sure to wear a dust mask or even a respirator and work gloves while working with peeling paint.

Heat Gun

For stubborn paint or for scraping multi-layered paint, consider using a heat gun or rotary paint remover. A heat gun looks like a hairdryer and reaches scorching temperatures as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure to wear work gloves to protect your hands and keep the heat gun away from all fresh paint, paint fumes, paint cans, or paint thinner/cleaner to avoid fire hazards. 

Rotary Paint Remover

A rotary paint remover, which can be attached to an electric drill. The stiff wire tines on the rotary quickly remove large areas of paint. Please take caution when using this tool, as it should never come into close contact with your body parts. It’s a good idea to test and practice using the tool with a test surface like a wood piece before taking it to your exterior. 

​Sanding

Sanding your home’s exterior surfaces is necessary to provide a real mechanical bond between paint coats. If you don’t rough up the surfaces sufficiently, your paint job may look good for a time, but the paint can start to show imperfections in just a few years. 

This can be done with a hand sanding block or with an electric sander. Use open coat sandpaper, which won’t clog up as quickly with paint particles. As you sand off the loose paint and get back into solid material, be sure to feather the solid paint edges so that your patched areas won’t be visible.

There are also special disc tool attachments specifically for removing paint. These are more aggressive than sanding alone and work well in combination with conventional sanding methods if you need the extra power.

Caulking, Sealing & Repair

Caulking is specifically designed to seal cracks, fill holes, gaps, and joints in surfaces.  Caulk is important to seal & insulate, blend in patched areas, and extend your paint job’s life.

Look over the house closely for damage and peeling paint. You may have to fill holes & caulk surfaces.  Be sure to fill all nail holes with spackling compound and caulk all gaps between the siding and trim boards.

Caulk any cracks you have: caulk cracks and small gaps (1/8″ or smaller) using a paint-able exterior grade caulk. When caulking, only fill the cracks and use a wet rag to wipe the excess caulk off the wall.

In any area where you have removed paint, you may also need sand edges to help the new paint cover and hide the edge. Caulk any cracks, seams, or gaps, placing extra care near the doors and windows so that your paint will stick properly in these tricky areas.

Prime the Exterior Surfaces to be Painted

An important step in exterior house painting prep is using a quality primer.  Primer is an undercoat that you paint onto the wall before painting it with color. If you’re changing your wall’s color from very dark to very light, priming it first will make it easier to cover with the lighter color and could save you from applying a second or even third coat of paint.

An exterior primer is as important as any of the topcoats which go on after it. That’s because the best exterior primer provides a stable foundation for the layers of paint applied after and prepared the painted surface in numerous ways.

Whatever surface you are working with, the outside of your house needs a quality exterior primer to protect the surface from the elements. 

Priming also helps new paint stick to previously painted surfaces. It would be best if you primed any areas where old paint has been peeled off to create a cohesive paint job. 

On most unpainted exterior surfaces, the standard procedure calls for a primer coat followed by two topcoats of paint. Hardboard siding may also require a primer. 

Exterior primer formulations can include a range of additives, such as stain blockers, mildewcides, and UV inhibitors. The best product for your house depends on the materials you’re painting and the exterior surfaces’ general condition. Given the importance of exterior primer, it’s key to take the time and do the research to find the best one for your intended application.

What To Look For In An Exterior Primer

So how do you find the best primer for your home?  The main idea is to find a primer that will adhere to the specific surface you’ll be painting. 

Acrylic Primer: An Acrylic primer or latex primer is water-based and most commonly used for wood siding, trim, and galvanized metal. 

Alkyd Primer: An Alkyd or oil-based primer is commonly used on steel or wrought iron as they can come in formulations that are rust inhibiting.

Masonry Primers:  These are specifically formulated for brick, concrete, stucco, and other masonry surfaces.  These have more permeable properties, which allow any moisture within the masonry to escape without damaging the paint.

Specialty Primer Formulated for Specific Concerns: Many primers are specially formulated for specific issues.  Mildewcide, UV blockers to prevent fading, and stain blockers are a few examples of these specialty products.

  Tape, Cover & Protect

This is the final step before getting into the actual painting. You will need to use painter’s tape to protect windows, doors, trim, vents, and anything else that is not going to be painted. Be sure to cover your windows with plastic before painting to keep overspray from getting on them. You may also want to cover any landscaping that is close to your home’s exterior with plastic as well. 

Place drop cloths anywhere you do not want to paint dripping, including porches, railings & concrete. Landscaping such as plants, shrubs, bushes, & rocks in the vicinity of your exterior walls should be covered as well.

These are the general steps one should undertake exterior house painting prep. There is a lot of work involved, but doing the prep work with the proper attention to detail is very much worth it. You will be rewarded with a more durable and professional-looking exterior paint job in the end.

The Article Exterior House Painting Prep First Appeared ON : https://gqcentral.co.uk

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Go to Source Author: Lorne

[mustafa-el-fats]

Chapter III

THE EXOTERIC THEORY OF BREATH

In this chapter we will give you briefly the theories of the Western scientific world regarding the functions of the respiratory organs, and the part in the human economy played by the breath. In subsequent chapters we will give the additional theories and ascertained facts of the Oriental school of thought and research. The Oriental accepts the theories and facts of his Western brothers (which have been known to him for centuries) and adds thereto much that the latter do not now accept, but which they will in due time "discover" and which, after renaming, they will present to the world as a great truth.

Before taking up the Western idea, it will perhaps be better to give a hasty general idea of the Organs of Respiration.

The Organs of Respiration consist of the lungs and the air passages leading to them. The lungs are two in number, and occupy the pleural chamber of the thorax, one on each side of the median line, being separated from each other by the heart, the greater blood vessels and the larger air tubes. Each lung is free in all directions, except at the root, which consists chiefly of the bronchi, arteries and veins connecting the lungs with the trachea and heart. The lungs are spongy and porous, and their tissues are very elastic. They are covered with a delicately constructed but strong sac, known as the pleural sac, one wall of which closely adheres to the lung, and the other to the inner wall of the chest, and which secretes a fluid which allows the inner surfaces of

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the walls to glide easily upon each other in the act of breathing.

The Air Passages consist of the interior of the nose, pharynx, larynx, windpipe or trachea, and the bronchial tubes. When we breathe, we draw in the air through the nose, in which it is warmed by contact with the mucous membrane, which is richly supplied with blood, and after it has passed through the pharynx and larynx it passes into the trachea or windpipe, which subdivides into numerous tubes called the bronchial tubes (bronchia), which in turn subdivide into and terminate in minute subdivisions in all the small air spaces in the lungs, of which the lungs contain millions. A writer has stated that if the air cells of the lungs were spread out over an unbroken surface, they would cover an area of fourteen thousand square feet.

The air is drawn into the lungs by the action of the diaphragm, a great, strong, flat, sheet-like muscle, stretched across the chest, separating the chest-box from the abdomen. The diaphragm's action is almost as automatic as that of the heart, although it may be transformed into a semi-voluntary muscle by an effort of the will. When it expands, it increases the size of the chest and lungs, and the air rushes into the vacuum thus created. When it relaxes the chest and lungs contract and the air is expelled from the lungs.

Now, before considering what happens to the air in the lungs, let us look a little into the matter of the circulation of the blood. The blood, as you know, is driven by the heart, through the arteries, into the capillaries, thus reaching every part of the body, which it vitalizes, nourishes and strengthens. It then

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returns by means of the capillaries by another route, the veins, to the heart, from whence it is drawn to the lungs.

The blood starts on its arterial journey, bright red and rich, laden with life-giving qualities and properties. It returns by the venous route, poor, blue and dull, being laden down with the waste matter of the system. It goes out like a fresh stream from the mountains; it returns as a stream of sewer water. This foul stream goes to the right auricle of the heart. When this auricle becomes filled, it contracts and forces the stream of blood through an opening in the right ventricle of the heart, which in turn sends it on to the lungs, where it is distributed by millions of hair-like blood vessels to the air cells of the lungs, of which we have spoken. Now, let us take up the story of the lungs at this point.

The foul stream of blood is now distributed among the millions of tiny air cells in the lungs. A breath of air is inhaled and the oxygen of the air comes in contact with the impure blood through the thin walls of the hair-like blood vessels of the lungs, which walls are thick enough to hold the blood, but thin enough to admit the oxygen to penetrate them. When the oxygen comes in contact with the blood, a form of combustion takes place, and the blood takes up oxygen and releases carbonic acid gas generated from the waste products and poisonous matter which has been gathered up by the blood from all parts of the system. The blood thus purified and oxygenated is carried back to the heart, again rich, red and bright, and laden with life-giving properties and qualities. Upon reaching the left auricle of the heart, it is forced into the left ventricle, from whence it is again

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forced out through the arteries on its mission of life to all parts of the system. It is estimated that in a single day of twenty-four hours, 35,000 pints of blood traverse the capillaries of the lungs, the blood corpuscles passing in single file and being exposed to the oxygen of the air on both of their surfaces. When one considers the minute details of the process alluded to, he is lost in wonder and admiration at Nature's infinite care and intelligence.

It will be seen that unless fresh air in sufficient quantities reaches the lungs, the foul stream of venous blood cannot be purified, and consequently not only is the body thus robbed of nourishment, but the waste products which should have been destroyed are returned to the circulation and poison the system, and death ensues. Impure air acts in the same way, only in a lessened degree. It will also be seen that if one does not breathe in a sufficient quantity of air, the work of the blood cannot go on properly, and the result is that the body is insufficiently nourished and disease ensues, or a state of imperfect health is experienced. The blood of one who breathes improperly is, of course, of a bluish, dark color, lacking the rich redness of pure arterial blood. This often shows itself in a poor complexion. Proper breathing, and a consequent good circulation, results in a clear, bright complexion.

A little reflection will show the vital importance of correct breathing. If the blood is not fully purified by the regenerative process of the lungs, it returns to the arteries in an abnormal state, insufficiently purified and imperfectly cleansed of the impurities which it took up on its return journey. These impurities if returned to the system will certainly manifest in

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some form of disease, either in a form of blood disease or some disease resulting from impaired functioning of some insufficiently nourished organ or tissue.

The blood, when properly exposed to the air in the lungs, not only has its impurities consumed, and parts with its noxious carbonic acid gas, but it also takes up and absorbs a certain quantity of oxygen which it carries to all parts of the body, where it is needed in order that Nature may perform her processes properly. When the oxygen comes in contact with the blood, it unites with the haemoglobin of the blood and is carried to every cell, tissue, muscle and organ, which it invigorates and strengthens, replacing the wornout cells and tissue by new materials which Nature converts to her use. Arterial blood, properly exposed to the air, contains about 25 per cent of free oxygen.

Not only is every part vitalized by the oxygen, but the act of digestion depends materially upon a certain amount of oxygenation of the food, and this can be accomplished only by the oxygen in the blood coming in contact with the food and producing a certain form of combustion. It is therefore necessary that a proper supply of oxygen be taken through the lungs. This accounts for the fact that weak lungs and poor digestion are so often found together. To grasp the full significance of this statement, one must remember that the entire body receives nourishment from the food assimilated, and that imperfect assimilation always means an imperfectly nourished body. Even the lungs themselves depend upon the same source for nourishment, and if through imperfect breathing the assimilation becomes imperfect, and the lungs in turn become weakened, they are rendered

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still less able to perform their work properly, and so in turn the body becomes further weakened. Every particle of food and drink must be oxygenated before it can yield us the proper nourishment, and before the waste products of the system can be reduced to the proper condition to be eliminated from the system. Lack of sufficient oxygen means imperfect nutrition, imperfect elimination and imperfect health. Verily, "breath is life."

The combustion arising from the change in the waste products generates heat and equalizes the temperature of the body. Good breathers are not apt to "take cold," and they generally have plenty of good warm blood which enables them to resist the changes in the other temperature.

In addition to the above-mentioned important processes, the act of breathing gives exercise to the internal organs and muscles, which feature is generally overlooked by the Western writers on the subject, but which the Yogis fully appreciate.

In imperfect or shallow breathing, only a portion of the lung cells are brought into play, and a great: portion of the lung capacity is lost, the system suffering in proportion to the amount of under-oxygenation. The lower animals, in their native state, breathe naturally, and primitive man undoubtedly did the same. The abnormal manner of living adopted by civilized man—the shadow that follows upon civilization—has robbed us of our natural habit of breathing, and the race has greatly suffered thereby. Man's only physical salvation is to "get back to Nature

[cheivee8ai]

Seattle Innovators Harness a Coronavirus Kryptonite: UVC Light

“DEEP CLEAN.” This sanitation slang has appeared everywhere—restaurants, rental cars, workplace buildings—since businesses began reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. Forget that nobody entirely is aware of what it means, or that  scientists are more and more skeptical that the virus spreads by touching, say, a doorknob. The words are meant to reassure, to conjure disinfectant carts and vigorous cleanup and safely glossy surfaces. however what if the planet didn’t got to place confidence in all that labor to ease our minds? What if all we wanted was a bit more…Kryptolight UVC light?

To kill coronavirus and alternative pathogens, scientists have controlled a type of ultraviolet light-weight, UVC, that the gas ordinarily absorbs. this kind of radiation harbors more energy and is so more harmful to humans than UVA or UVB, the rays that leave sunburns. however hospitals and alternative establishments have long used UVC light to make clean empty rooms and private items, and early analysis suggests that the beams will so inactivate the new coronavirus in air and liquids, yet as on surfaces. The virus’s predecessor, SARS-CoV, is  known to wither beneath UVC rays. “This may be a pretty well-established method,” says Jonathan Posner, a academician of engineering and chemical engineering at the University of Washington.

Posner helps helm UW’s Engineering Innovation in Health program, that learned earlier this year that 1st responders within the city space were causation N95 respirators to Madigan Army Medical Center, south of Tacoma, to clean them. the method might take a week, and it had been expensive. The region required a quicker, less centralized thanks to clean masks at a time once provides could quickly disappear.

After some brainstorming, Posner and company settled on building a box with beams of UVC light-weight. Over a 30-minute period, the microwave-like machine applies 1,000 millijoules per sq. cm of 254-nanometer light to make clean as several as fifteen N95 masks loaded onto a wired tray. The radiation can’t miss a spot, that a dome-shaped respirator complicated. “What we tend to found was, if you place a mask in a very chamber that had equal light-weight from very cheap and therefore the top, that the highest surface would see 3 times the maximum amount dose because the within surface simply because of the form and the curvature,” says Posner. “Obviously, shadowing and shape and curvature matter loads once it involves actual dose.”

Ultimately, the engineers were able to build around this problem. With the assistance of some  Vashon manufacturers and the backing of the Medic One Foundation, UW Population Health Initiative, and Medtronic Foundation, the program has produced 54 boxes to date for fire departments and emergency medical teams across King County. They aim to distribute over 100 boxes ultimately. 

a lot of of the items customers would possibly realize within the “clean” receptacle at store checkouts. It takes beneath a second to make clean them. “When you utilize chemicals, you’re wishing on somebody's to use the chemicals properly and leave them on long enough [for wetness] to dry,” says Mark Beeston, the company’s vice chairman of sales and marketing, “and with UVC, you place the object in the UVC, just like the Cubby+, and it runs its cycle and it’s disinfected the whole surface of the device you’re attempting to disinfect.”

At $899, the Cubby+ can bust most people’s vacation gift budgets. however Beeston envisions a broader impact in the short term. “I assume that the massive advantage is for tiny businesses, swing it within the front lobby of your workplace space,” says Beeston.

Vioguard isn’t alone in advancing this concept. expensive UVC disinfectants are more and more hit the market. From an academic’s perspective, however, Posner doesn’t think individual shoppers ought to invest an excessive amount of in victimisation UVC light-weight to wash surfaces. “If you permit a surface for a couple of days, it’s not planning to have any virus on it—five to seven days, most likely less, and that’s been well-proven,” the academician says. Another reason? labor works. “Any surface you'll wipe down, you ought to simply wipe down,” he says. “I just wipe down my devices with [isopropyl] alcohol, which is able to kill all the virus.”

Large spaces might be another matter, Posner says, reckoning on the circumstances; fast area turnarounds at hospitals have perpetually created sense for UVC. In alternative settings, though, we tend to shouldn’t judge this kind of sunshine to disembarrass America of “deep cleaning” anytime soon.