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bird-inacage · 6 months

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Only Friends: EP10 Ray's Therapy Scene (First Focus)

I've been meaning to do a deep dive on this scene, which has no doubt been immensely commended for Khaotung's stellar performance (I'm running out of vocabulary to gush about how talented that boy is). However the purpose of this post is to highlight how equally superb First is, as I fear some may overlook the excellent work he does here.

The reason why this scene warrants a huge amount of respect is how challenging this dynamic is on both actors. Only Ray is speaking the entire way through, which means the tone and rhythm of the scene is led by Khaotung, whilst First's role here as Sand is to be reactive to this immense outpouring and release of emotion. First is required to be a very restrained and contemplative presence - a projection and visual representation of Sand in Ray's own mind. It's literally acting on a macro (Khaotung) and micro (First) level in tandem.

I want to start by mentioning how well First portrays this bedded-in weariness in Sand’s demeanor throughout, an expression we’ve seen in Episode 8. It carries this heartbreakingly heavy and worn down quality. A symptom of a man who bears far too much weight on his shoulders, whose mental toil never seems to end; a product of his own nature and those who knowingly or unknowingly take advantage of it. This is the tragedy of Sand's character. And this is the realisation that is well and truly hitting Ray now. His temper and behaviour have inevitably taken its toll on someone Ray knows doesn't deserve all the suffering he's been putting him through.

⬆️ "I was stupid, but I want you to understand me. I was mad at you because I cared so much about you."

When Ray starts asking for forgiveness, there's an air of slightly deflated scepticism that flits across Sand's face. Sand's immediate instinct is to be hopeful, to give someone the benefit of the doubt. But the reality is Ray has apologised a number of times before and that hasn’t stopped him from hurting Sand still. So Sand’s expression sobers, conscious of how likely it is that Ray will let him down again.

This is Ray acknowledging that he's fallen into a pattern of taking Sand for granted. If that’s all Sand has come to expect, why would his apology this time change anything? Ray has not earnt his redemption yet as he hasn't apologised to Sand in person, and has no guarantee it would be accepted. Which is why he's so upset because he registers that Sand's disappointment in him is fully deserved.

⬆️ "There's no one more caring or loving than you. Though I've been nothing but an asshole to you."

You see the tiniest lift of Sand's brow that's tinged with grateful disbelief, 'Me? But I'm nothing special'. His gaze softens by the sentiment, a visible breath inhaled in as if taken aback, clearly touched but hesitant to believe it. A humbling trait of Sand's is that he genuinely struggles to see his own value. He doesn't realise just how meaningful he can be to someone. That he could hold such weight.

And all the criticism that Ray has thrown at Sand has only piled onto the insecurities he possesses. Remarks that have questioned Sand's principles, his dignity, his sense of worth.

⬆️ "But if you don't want to put up with me anymore, that's alright. I get you."

Ray's image of Sand watches on as he begins to fall apart, crushed by a mixture of intense fear, regret, and despair that this may be too little too late. That his last outburst may well have been the final straw, and he failed to appreciate Sand when it mattered.

On the surface Sand may look numb or somewhat devoid of emotion, but you can detect the turbulence brewing underneath. Sand has a habit of holding in his feelings in to an almost painful degree (which begs for release). It gives you the impression he could suddenly burst at the seams at any given moment. But Sand as always holds still, holds strong, holds steady. Other than the slight twitch of his lip, he holds himself together somehow.

⬆️ "No one can put up with me".

Ray vocalises his own self-hatred, how little he deserves someone like Sand, how guilty he feels for causing this damage. Whilst he does so, Sand appears increasingly teary, lip ever so slightly quivering, brows crumpling. He looks like he desperately wants to break down and cry along with Ray.

What sets Sand apart from everyone else in Ray’s life is he understands. He can sympathise with why Ray is the way he is. Despite everything Ray has done, Sand still very much wants to protect him, shield him, care for him. He doesn't blame him. It breaks his heart to see Ray upset, to see Ray hurting. His compassion for Ray has always been his undoing.

The last thing he would want is for Ray to feel unwanted or intolerable. He tries to be the person who can withstand Ray's temper, his volatile nature, because he knows Ray is still deserving of love. It’s because of this love that he can feel every single thing that Ray is going through.

Sand exudes an incredibly strong parental presence in this scene; a form of unconditional love and patience. As we're often told by our parents, they're not angry at us when we veer off path, just disappointed and perhaps saddened on our behalf - but that won't stop them from loving us all the same. This is beautifully captured by First. You can detect Sand's selfless love for Ray in his every gaze, always.

⬆️ "Ever since you walked into my life, I've been so happy. So damn happy Sand."

This is where Sand almost breaks down as he displays a small, tentative smile that is laced with pained and tired relief. His eyes close in an attempt to maintain composure. Whilst there’s overwhelm, there’s also finally a glimmer of peace.

This is what Ray knows Sand needs to hear, what Ray wishes he'd said sooner. Ray picturing himself saying this to Sand may be a form of vindication in the event he doesn't get say this to him in-person.

Finally Ray collapses into Sand's arms. Sand seems to visibly reign in his own emotions, in order to revert back to 'care-taker' mode. Sand nods once, a gesture of kindness and true acceptance that says 'It's all okay, I know.'

He's Ray's pillar, his rock, and his raft. Sand has become Ray's primary source of safety and comfort. Sand's gaze is so endlessly gentle as he nestles in close to hold Ray. Everything about his embrace feels warm and stable in such a reassuring way. Sand is every bit as loving and caring as Ray just described him to be.

What makes this entire portrayal so devastating is this is the Sand Ray sees and knows. Ray mentions in Episode 11 that he’s been stowing away these details. Which indicates that everything Sand has done and said has not gone unnoticed. Whether it was due to denial or ignorance that prevented Ray from confronting it sooner, he has unconsciously taken note of it all. How Ray's image of Sand responds in this scene is based on every interaction he's had with Sand up until now. This imaginary representation of Sand is proof of everything that Ray has come to fall in love with.

First was not given any dialogue in which to communicate in this scene. His entire performance relies solely on the tiniest of micro-expressions and gestures. He symbolises the essence of Sand but not the physical manifestation of him. Therefore his acting may come across as understated but that’s a sign of real talent when you can say so much with so little.

#only friends #only friends the series #ofts #only friends meta #ray x sand #sand x ray #khaofirst #firstkhao #first kanaphan #khaotung thanawat #this scene was so goddamn amazing #the more you rewatch this scene the more tiny nuances you'll notice #it also destroys me to think about how it must have been for first and khao filming this and every other emotional scene of theirs #firstkhao mentioned that sand is more like khaotung in real life #UGLY CRIES

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dulc3vida · 12 days

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puppy!reader

girl next door, mom owns a bakery with heyward level success (doing alright, but not as successful as the wreck). her house was always the spot for the pogues growing up bc her mom always fed them and looked out for them. her mom is a curandera (folk healer) and always has someone in the house picking up some remedy she concocted or getting their stomach massaged to help digestion. during the summer, pup is on the beach with her lil cart selling cups of fruit and she also offers palm readings on the side.

john b is puppys best pairing bc they're both such lovers. like pup just oozes affection, its in her name. all of pups friends expect a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a "i haven't seen you in sooooo long" when really its been a few hours. she greets john b with a million kisses all over his face and he eats that shit up every time. john b loves a lazy sunday with her where he can share the hammock with her head on his chest, listening to her read his palm.

"tell me again, whats that one mean?"

"that's your lifeline." she traces her finger over the line on his hand. "it's deep and long which means you're gonna live a long life." she unknowingly soothes john bs anxiety over an untimely death. (lets be real, that boy doesn't see himself making it to 30).

they also make a good match bc they balance each others energies. john b grew up around masculine energy so being around you was his only time to be soft and you didn't know your dad so you benefited from the stability of john bs friendship your whole life.

our resident woo woo girl is always going on and on about the power of the tongue. pope could be giving some real ass advice about the stupid shit they're gonna do and she disregards most of it because it's pessimistic.

"all i'm saying is that your positive affirmations aren't gonna keep the cops from recognizing our faces on cameras and arresting our asses. i mean we let jj plan this, he's gonna get himself shot." pope is looking at this mission from every angle, trying to cover everyones asses.

pup rolls her eyes. "and all I'M saying is that you're being really negative right now. if you keep speaking 'we're not gonna make it and jj is gonna get shot' into the universe, then we're not gonna make it and jj will get shot-"

"you speaking that shit into the universe pope? i thought we were friends what the fuck?" jjs offended voice came from the side of pope.

"we need to look at our solutions and not our problems." pup scurries into the chateau and comes back with a box of beanies she knitted for john b. "see, solutions. no one will see our faces."

"to find a solution you have to look at the- nevermind." pope shakes his head when he sees john b petting pups hair and kissing her forehead telling her how smart she is.

OH! and pup loves to knit and crochet. she makes a lot of her own clothes and stuff, even had a bikini unravel on her in the ocean which prompted a rescue mission and a stern (maybe a smidge condescending) talking to from john b.

"what did i tell you, huh?" john b is staring down at her wrapped up in his shirt, sitting in the sand not looking at him. he has his arms crossed and is staring down at her in that disappointed john b way.

"the top was gonna fall apart." pup pouted.

"and what happened?"

"it fell apart."

"you gonna listen to me the next time i say somethin's not ready?"

"mhm..." she looks up at him, unintentionally giving him puppy eyes because its just a natural response.

john b decides she had enough embarrassment for the day and takes a seat next to her, patting his thigh. "com'ere. not mad at ya. come to daddy." and pup crawls into his lap to watch the sunset.

#john b #john b routledge #john b x puppy!reader #puppy!reader #john b x reader #john b x latina!reader

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drdemonprince · 1 year

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Hey Devon,

I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea of there being a hard line between "autistic" and "not autistic". Do you think that there exists some kind of innate Truth about each person, that they are either autistic or not? I guess I'm referring to the concept of a neurotype, where differences run deep, and are bridged only at a surface level, by masking/compensation. Something which, if we could measure it well enough, would clearly and unfailingly differentiate between autistic and non-autistic people.

The alternative, I suppose, is that there are grey areas, people who are in between. In that case, I struggle to understand what autism is - a category that's defined by society more than by physical reality? In that case, can you be sort-of-autistic or almost-autistic or barely-autistic? I have the sense that this is the more common situation when it comes to psychology, but it doesn't really line up with how we talk about autism.

I already went through all this with gender some years ago, and I got the answers I needed there by slowly transitioning, but I'm not sure if there's a similarly satisfying path to closure when it comes to autism. I mean, I'm both self- and formally-diagnosed anyway, but it does niggle at me. I feel like I'm in that grey area if it exists.

Keen to hear your thoughts!

I think this article about sums up my thoughts!

There is no blood test for Autism, or brain scan, or single gene we can look for, or objective measure that gives a definitive answer. All we have are flawed assessments created by non-Autistic mental health professionals, and the observations and critiques written by Autistic people themselves.

When someone comes to me wondering if they are Autistic, I always have the same advice: read writing by Autistics. Watch videos by Autistic people. Try out resources designed for Autistics, like Ear Defenders, stim toys, and weighted blankets. Join an Autistic community space, whether that’s a virtual meeting, an in-person one, or a social media hub. Explore the possibilities, and focus less on discovering objective “truth,” and more on finding what helps you feel more happy, connected, and whole.

I don’t believe in drawing an arbitrary line in the sand and saying a sufficient number of traits (or intensity of traits) makes someone categorically Autistic, especially considering that many undiagnosed Autistics have been forced to hide their more obvious traits for decades. If you have some Autistic traits but not others, it’s possible you have generalized anxiety, PTSD, OCD, social anxiety, or ADHD. Look into those disorders and their communities too. See if there are resources that are useful to you there. You can be promiscuous — we won’t get jealous. A lot of us have multiple conditions anyway. Or feel at home in multiple mental health communities, if you prefer.

As your question acknowledges, Autism is a spectrum. Or as others have written, a sundae bar with a variety of toppings. If you are somewhere on the spectrum, you’re on the spectrum; you don’t have to be the most intensely Autistic person around to count. Even if you actually have a “sister condition” like ADHD, you might still feel at home among Autistic folks, and if that’s the case, you belong too.

I have said this many times, but people need the reassurance very often: if you feel at home in the community, if you benefit from resources designed by and for Autistic people, if you recognize you share common interests with us and you want to fight alongside us for greater disability justice, you belong in the neurodiverse community. Full stop. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

You can use whatever words for yourself you feel most comfortable with, Anon, or you can just enter neurodiverse community spaces without claiming a label. You don’t owe anyone proof, and you don’t have to be “Autistic enough” to matter and belong here. We are stronger together. We’re a big, diverse rainbow, and you are welcome inside it.

In other words, I think the conclusion is very much the same one we arrive at re: queerness. The real question is never "is this individual person Autistic", it's "are all people harmed by the social mandate that we all be neurotypical" and the answer to that one is always yes. How we personally reconcile that fact wrt our own lives and how we choose to identify is up to us. we can really answer that personal question however we like.

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fagcrisis · 1 year

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NUCLEAR CORUSCANT????

*loops vode an* buckle the fuck up. this is really long and doesnt really make any sense

nuclear coruscant really came from that time i pondered energy sources in star wars, because they seem to only really exist when someone need to be thrown in some sort of strange shaft? sure lightsabers get their power from the kyber crystal, but thats not how this works really, i mean the crystal can focus light sure but it doesnt generate the laser! or the power required for it! or does it. if we assume the kyber crystal is an energy source somehow that explains a lot about the death star as well and its probably something force related which im not gonna go into rn bc this isnt about that, but if we take that as fact we still have to consider that

no one but the jedi have access to kyber crystals until the empire comes along at which point they take over that monopoly to do increasingly stupid shit that benefits no one

for a very long time even after the jedi order was formed kyber crystals were not known to them hence no lightsabers

nuclear weapons do exist in star wars! the mandalorians have used them during the mandalorian wars and they are hence banned, but obviously palps has used one bc hes evil like that. wookieepedia has a brief article about nuclear power and it was apparently used in the pre republic era. fusion reactors are also a thing in star wars altough i dont know what kind of fuel they use

so the only reasonable conclusion i can make that at some point in the early days of the republic alternative energy sources were integrated to the point where nuclear power is a legend of the past, although one mandalorians know of very well. mass scale destruction is not at all an alien concept to star wars so nuclear bombs are not especially unique there, but radiation is certainly something that would be difficoult to deal with. yknow. in general

coruscant being incomprehensibely ancient definitely had nuclear power reactors and i absolutely am sure that the nuclear waste was not dealt with correctly, making many areas on the oldest and deepest levels an instant cancer event for anyone who enters, and also mutating the fuck out of some bacteria . and other things.

stay with me here, but this ties in with my whole sarlacc thing, i really love sarlaccs. the sand people of tattooine have a legend (if youre planning on playing kotor please please please befriend them and listen to this story yourself) that the sarlacc gave birth to itself in the core of tattoine before the twin suns split in two, and will one day devour the entire planet and itself in the process, and this actually makes sense from what we know about sarlacc biology because theyre sort of plant-animal-fungus beasts? there are male and female sarlaccs but the actual reproduction happens via spores called sarlacci that drift through space until they find something they can latch onto and burrow down into and grow and feed and they dont really like, stop growing kind of like lobsters so at points in their lives they can be prayed on by things like the krayt dragon but after a certain point only natural disaster can kill them so theoretically a sarlacc could grow until it consumed an entire planet if left to its own devices

and this really is the natural version of how the city engulfed coruscant and so i think it would be super interesting if in the very deepest tunnels of the city an absolutely ancient sarlacc that planet itself there before the zhells and the taungs and before the jedi and even before the force stream the force is a living creature and also a parasite by rumini szajkó anyways and then coruscant grew and grew and less and less people ventured down to the sarlacc but it doesnt need to feed that often, right, and some type of creature will always live down there and people will always go back deep to find things of old or out of neccesity so its slowly growing and as the people flee ever higher it becomes a larger and larger part of the planet itself. coruscants core has gone colt so many generations ago theres just rock there. it can burrow forever

so what happens when a massive beast resembling a cave (but it isnt) grows and engulf a massive beast resembling a cave but it is a city slowly being abandoned as it grows too large to sustain and the heart of the galaxy moves away from it because the the republic falls and the empire is defeated and the fucking yuuzhan vong blow up one of its moons but coruscant stays. and the tunnels of the city rife with radiation become a part of the largest sarlacc ever to live

#this honestly barely has anything to do with sta wars canon i just think it would be cool if there was a radioactive sarlacc #star wars meta

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the-force-awakens · 4 months

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Yes yes yes!!!! Even in the movies, the whole “at least he’s not on fire!” “What’s left of him isn’t on fire!” scene to me felt very much like a friendly/familial bickering, they weren’t being rude or mean to each other, they were both a little shocked at the state of everything and that’s how they communicate

They!!Are!!Friends!!And!!Love!!Each!!Other!!

Yes, exactly! Even when they're bickering, they're both very visibly enjoying themselves. Poe's barely restraining the urge to smile, you can see it in his eyes, and Rey doesn't even try to stop herself from smiling when she whips out the "you're difficult". Poe's also smiling when he approaches her, even as he starts being sarcastic??? Like...they like each other, they just bicker as a love language?

Like these are not the expressions of two people who hate each other. They're exasperated by each other right now, sure, but the banter is so familiar for them by this point that they're also enjoying it underneath the frustration.

It also irks me (but just goes to show how frankly astoundingly little the fandom actually pays attention to these characters/can't read them) because we know what Poe and Rey look like when they're interacting with characters they hate/cannot stand...and that energy is not here?

by contrast, think of poe's expression uh. any time he's dealing with the first order, or his anger with holdo when he believes she's just leading them to their deaths. think of rey's absolute fury at teedo or legitimately any interaction with ren (barring the five minutes she gave him the benefit of the doubt and he instead chose to be the one true dick) - Rey does not minimize her anger or frustration with people. She sure as hell doesn't smile smugly at people she hates and can't stand, she's a feral little sand gremlin and if she doesn't like you, you're gonna fucking know it.

And altho their banter/bickering match does deteriorate into a genuine argument, let's see what else happens here shall we? Poe puts his two cents in ("you're the best fighter we have, we need you. out there, not here") and walks away before it can get any worse, allowing them to cool off. And Rey is visibly okay with this, she doesn't look worried when Poe walks off, instead she just has that "fuck my friend rightfully called me out on my shit that I don't want to unpack yet" look. Like, Rey is the queen of abandonment issues - after knowing Finn for a day, him leaving in tfa was enough to hurtle her into a traumatic flashback turned Force vision; and there's no doubt the throne room made that worse.

And look, I'm also the queen of abandonment issues, it's one reason why I relate so heavily to Rey. Which is why Rey's lack of a reaction to Poe walking away strikes me so profoundly: because Rey isn't afraid he won't come back. It takes a seriously deep level of friendship to achieve that. I experience that with my qpps 99% of the time, and that other 1% is when my anxiety is really awful but even underneath that I know they won't leave me. Rey seems as confident in Poe not leaving her as a friend, as I am my committed platonic life partners. Let that sink in for a minute.

which is just another point for me for my qpp jedistormpilot hc tyvm

What happens after that, is that when Rey decides to leave to find the wayfinder, she isn't surprised when Poe shows up to (as far as she knows, tho we know he and finn were planning on going) say goodbye, and immediately makes sure they're on good terms before she leaves, just in case.

Poe also checks in on her before they leave because he notices she's acting strangely/drinking in the scenery like she won't see it again, and promptly spends...a lot of the movie worrying about her?

He grounds her several times in the novelization(s).......but is also one of the reasons Rey snaps in the desert with Ren and the transport. In the junior novelization (iirc), she thinks about all the horrible things Ren has done to her and her friends, and one of the things she thinks before she loses control is how he tortured Poe. And then (I can't remember in which novelization) it's Poe's voice who snaps her out of her shell-shocked daze following the transport blowing up. In the regular one, he also gently tells her in the ship to go take a minute and he'll take care of the flying so she can just....have a breather and process what happened and doesn't hold what happened against her in the least (which we also see in the movie).

And BONUS points he trusts her instinctively aboard the Steadfast when she gets a Force feeling (I think the line in the novel is something like "when she got that look, a fellow knew he ought just to follow"? Or it may have been another scene I can't remember). Like.....they're friends. I don't know how much more explicit the movie could have made it, unless folks wanted them sharing a secret handshake or wanted them to briefly pause the movie to add a powerpoint presentation text above their heads going "they're friends". They bicker and they argue and they get exasperated with each other, especially over their similarities (because Rey is a lot like Poe), but they genuinely love and care for one another, and to be quite honest saying otherwise is a huge fucking disservice to how much Daisy and Oscar put into crafting their dynamic.

#like rey even has picked up some of poe's mannerisms?#she gets WAY more reactive around him than anyone else #that was so deliberate #as is the fact that poe /never/ touches her skin to skin bc Rey canonically is touch averse #until the very end of the film when rey initiates the hug between them #i honestly just think the insistence that they hate each other is a byproduct of Two Certain Ships viewing their friendship as a threat #because Rey can't have any guy friends /obviously/ and Poe /can't/ have any friends that happen to be girls #(the poe comics era was the fucking /dark ages/ in the fandom)#so we wind up with the fanon that they despise each other #which is so far from the truth it's not even funny #ask box #nonnie nonnie #my meta #bc apparently i do this now rip sorry guys

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groundluxe · 8 days

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Unlock Health: Top Benefits of Earthing & How to Do It Safely

I've always been fascinated by the simple yet profound concept of earthing, also known as grounding. It's the practice of connecting with the Earth's natural energy by walking barefoot, lying on the ground, or using earthing equipment. This connection is believed to offer a myriad of health benefits, from reducing inflammation to improving sleep. But what's the science behind it, and how can we incorporate it into our busy lives?

As someone who's delved deep into wellness practices, I've discovered that earthing is more than just a trend; it's a return to our roots, quite literally. In this article, I'll explore the key benefits of earthing, backed by scientific research and personal anecdotes. Whether you're a skeptic or a wellness enthusiast, you might find that getting grounded could be the missing piece in your health puzzle. Let's dive into the grounding world of earthing and uncover its potential to transform our well-being.

Understanding Earthing

After highlighting earthing's general benefits, ranging from reduced inflammation to improved sleep quality, I find it crucial to dive deeper into what earthing really entails. At its core, earthing refers to the practice of reconnecting with the Earth's natural electrons by direct contact with the ground or through conductive systems that transfer energy from the ground into the body. This connection uses the Earth as a grounding surface, reminiscent of electrical systems grounding to avoid charge build-up. Engaging in activities such as walking barefoot on grass, sand, or soil, or utilizing earthing products like mats and sheets for beds while you sleep, embodies the essence of earthing.

One might question the scientific backing of such a concept. Research indeed supports the benefits of earthing, citing changes in the body's electrical activity. When the skin comes in direct contact with the Earth, the grounding effect significantly alters the electrical activity in the brain, skin, and musculature, according to studies. These alterations seem to promote physiological changes, such as improved heart rate variability, reduced stress levels, and decreased cortisol, a stress hormone.

Moreover, the body operates optimally when it maintains its natural electrical state, balanced by the Earth's electrons. Modern lifestyles have disconnected most individuals from this natural electric state, primarily through the insulating effect of rubber and plastic-soled shoes and elevated living environments. Earthing offers a way to resynchronize our body systems with the Earth's natural rhythms and electrical fields, which may explain the observed health benefits.

Incorporating earthing into my daily routine, I've personally noticed a sense of calmness and a decrease in stress levels, aligning with the research findings. Whether through a morning walk on the beach or using an earthing mat while working, these habits serve as a simple yet effective means of tapping into the Earth's natural healing properties.

As the conversation around health and wellness evolves, earthing stands out as a grounded practice (pun intended) backed by both ancient wisdom and modern science. Its simplicity and accessibility make it an appealing option for those seeking natural ways to enhance their well-being.

Health Benefits of Earthing

Building on the foundation that earthing aligns the body with Earth's natural rhythms, I'm diving deeper into its health benefits. Earthing offers numerous health advantages, from enhancing sleep to reducing inflammation. Each benefit backs up the notion that reconnecting with Earth's energy can significantly improve our overall well-being.

Reduces Inflammation and Pain: Studies suggest that earthing decreases inflammation in the body. By grounding, I've noticed a reduction in muscle soreness after exercise, which aligns with research findings. This decrease in inflammation also contributes to pain reduction, particularly chronic pain.

Improves Sleep Quality: One of the most immediate benefits I've experienced with earthing is improved sleep. The practice helps normalize the body's circadian rhythms, ensuring a deeper and more restorative sleep. The reduction in cortisol levels, as mentioned earlier, also plays a crucial role in enhancing sleep quality.

Increases Blood Flow: Earthing has been shown to improve blood flow, which boosts oxygenation throughout the body. This improved circulation aids in the delivery of nutrients to tissues and the elimination of waste products, enhancing overall bodily function.

Reduces Stress Levels: Connecting with the Earth's surface helps balance the autonomic nervous system, leading to a reduction in stress. By lowering cortisol levels and improving heart rate variability, earthing fosters a state of calm and relaxation that combats daily stress.

Improves Heart Health: Improved heart rate variability, a key benefit of earthing, indicates better heart health and reduced risk of heart-related issues. This benefit, coupled with lower stress levels, bolsters cardiovascular well-being.

These health benefits, supported by both personal experience and scientific research, highlight the profound impact earthing can have on our physical and mental health. Incorporating earthing into daily routines, whether through walking barefoot outside or using earthing mats, offers a simple yet powerful way to harness Earth's energy for improved well-being.

Methods of Practicing Earthing

Building on the understanding of earthing's health benefits, I've discovered several effective methods to incorporate this practice into daily life. It's worth exploring these techniques to harness the Earth's natural energy for improved well-being.

Walking Barefoot

The simplest and most direct form of earthing involves walking barefoot on natural surfaces such as grass, soil, sand, or concrete, which conduct the Earth's electrons. I've found that spending at least 30 minutes daily walking barefoot outdoors significantly enhances my connection to the Earth, boosting my mood and overall health.

Using Earthing Mats

For those who spend considerable time indoors, earthing mats offer a convenient solution. These mats, designed to mimic the Earth’s electrical charge, can be used while sleeping, working, or relaxing. I place my earthing mat under my feet during desk work or under my body while sleeping to ensure a continuous connection to the Earth's energy.

Swimming in Natural Bodies of Water

Swimming in natural bodies of water, such as oceans, lakes, and rivers, is another effective earthing method. The water acts as a conductor, connecting you directly with the Earth. I've experienced profound relaxation and rejuvenation from regular swims in natural settings, enhancing my sense of well-being.

Gardening Without Gloves

Engaging in gardening without gloves allows for direct contact with the soil, providing a unique opportunity for earthing. I've found this activity not only connects me to the Earth but also brings a sense of peace and grounding, reducing stress and improving my mental health.

By incorporating these methods into my routine, I've noticed significant improvements in my physical and emotional well-being. Each practice offers a unique way to connect with the Earth's natural energy, underlining the versatility and accessibility of earthing as a health-enhancing habit.

Personal Testimonies on Earthing

Diving into the realm of personal experiences, I've encountered numerous heartwarming testimonies about the benefits of earthing. These stories, shared by individuals from various walks of life, underscore the profound impact that connecting with the Earth's energy can have on one's health and well-being. Here, I'll share highlights that particularly resonate with the scientific insights and practical methods discussed earlier in the article.

First, consider the account of a middle-aged professional, dealing with chronic insomnia and elevated stress levels. She discovered earthing purely by chance, deciding to walk barefoot in a park near her office during lunch breaks. Remarkably, she reported not only an improvement in sleep quality but also a noticeable reduction in her overall stress within weeks. This testimony aligns perfectly with scientific studies showing earthing's effect on cortisol levels and sleep patterns.

Another compelling story comes from a retired veteran plagued by persistent joint inflammation and mobility issues. He turned to earthing as a last resort after exhausting various medical treatments. By simply spending time gardening without gloves and walking barefoot on his lawn daily, he experienced significant relief from inflammation and enhanced mobility. His experience exemplifies the anti-inflammatory benefits of earthing discussed in earlier sections.

Lastly, a young athlete shared her journey of recovery post a severe injury that sidelined her career. Incorporating earthing mats into her rehabilitation routine, she observed accelerated healing and recovery times, attributing these improvements to the grounding effect of earthing. Her story offers a direct anecdote supporting earthing's role in physical recovery, as explored through the lens of scientific research.

These personal testimonies not only lend credibility to the health benefits of earthing but also emphasize its accessibility and simplicity. They illustrate that whether it's through walking barefoot, using earthing mats, or engaging in gardening, the act of grounding oneself can profoundly influence one's physical and emotional well-being. Dive into earthing, and you might just find yourself sharing your own story of transformation.

Potential Concerns and Considerations

Despite the myriad benefits of earthing I've discussed, it's imperative to approach it with caution and awareness of possible implications. Earthing, while natural and beneficial in many aspects, isn't without its potential concerns and considerations. Addressing these helps ensure that individuals can safely enjoy the process without unintended consequences.

Environmental Contaminants: Engaging in earthing in areas with high pollution or chemical exposure, such as industrial zones or highly urbanized areas, might pose health risks. Contaminated soils or water bodies may contain harmful substances, negating the benefits of earthing.

Allergies: Contact with grass and soil can trigger allergic reactions for some people. Symptoms can range from mild, such as skin rashes, to severe, potentially exacerbating conditions like asthma or hay fever.

Electrical Hazards: Utilizing earthing mats for beds or sheets necessitates caution, especially in environments where electrical systems aren't properly grounded. There's a rare but real risk of electrical shock or equipment malfunction if the earthing product is defective or improperly used.

Over-reliance: It's crucial not to view earthing as a panacea for all health issues. While it aids in improving certain health markers, it shouldn't replace medical treatments or advice for chronic conditions or serious health concerns.

Accessibility: Not everyone has immediate access to natural environments conducive to earthing. Residents in urban areas might find it challenging to locate clean, unpolluted green spaces, making regular earthing practices difficult to sustain.

In my journey exploring the benefits of earthing, I've learned the importance of considering these potential concerns to maximize its positive impact on health. By choosing safe environments for earthing, being mindful of personal allergies, using earthing products correctly, and balancing earthing practices with other health recommendations, individuals can effectively harness the Earth's energy for well-being while mitigating risks.

Conclusion

Exploring the world of earthing has been an enlightening journey. I've delved into how this simple act can bridge the gap between us and the Earth's healing energies. From reducing inflammation and enhancing sleep to mitigating stress, the benefits are tangible and supported by both science and personal experiences. While there are concerns to navigate, like environmental contaminants and accessibility, the potential health rewards make seeking out safe and effective ways to earth worth it. Whether it's a barefoot walk in the park, a dip in a lake, or using an earthing mat, integrating this practice into our lives can be a game-changer. Let's not overlook the power of connecting with our planet. After all, it might just be the natural remedy we've been searching for.

#grounding #earthing #sleep #inflammation

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yhwhrulz · 3 months

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Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer Devotional for February 6

Tozer in the Morning All People are . . . People!

The man of God may labor on in complete trust and in full expectation of success, provided he is aware of a few basic truths. One is that however different people may be in externals, they are all alike fundamentally. That in us to which the Christian message is directed is the same in every human being. Before the cross of Jesus we are not old or young, educated or ignorant, cultured or uncouth, dull or brilliant; we are just people-human beings lost and ruined deep inside where incidental differences do not matter, where indeed they are not even known. As gold is gold whether it is mixed with the sand of the stream or wrought into an exquisite work of art by the hand of a Cellini, so the essential stuff of human nature is the same under whatever conditions it may be found. That about us which yields itself to social differentiation, is not that for which Christ died. He did not, for example, die for doctors, farmers, authors, laborers, artists, engineers, professors, v agrants, presidents, musicians, lumbermen; He died for lost humanity, and any one can receive the benefits of His atonement, but only as lost beings. Color, race, social standings, occupation, cultural levels do not count, for they do not alter the basic human thing for which His blood was shed.

Tozer in the Evening A PRAYER OF CONCERN

Gracious Father in heaven, I am a pastor in the flock of God and I confess that I am a troubled man. It is too late in my ministry for me to be engaged week after week with men and women who do not hear Thy pleading voice. O Lord, we often wonder if Thou wilt be forced to turn from those who have heard all of the Bible truths over and over again, in order to find willing and responsive listeners elsewhere? We recognize that Thou hast given us plain warnings in Thy Word. We remember all too well that the Jews of Jesus' day held stubbornly to their attitudes of presumption: "We are Abraham's descendents. We know who we are. If God is going to bless anyone, He is going to bless us." Yet at that very time those same self-serving men were planning to kill their promised Messiah, the eternal Son whom Thou hadst sent in the fullness of time. We pray earnestly, 0 God, that we may not be found among those with hardened hearts, no longer able to hear Thy voice.

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angeloelip · 4 months

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In April 2023 my Family plan to go on a vacation where we can refresh and celebrate my Mother’s birthday. I actually suggest to have a vacation there since my Father lives in San Antonio Zambales so we can have a vacation and relatives visit too.

My Mom and Dad were not together so we don’t see each other for long time we can only see our Father if we visit him. Some of us rode a bus to get there it is 4 to 5 hours travel. We are so excited specially me because it is my first time to visit the place specially the beaches added up some excitement when my eldest sister tell us stories on how beautiful the beaches in there and telling us what we can do.

We go straight ahead to little Villa beach resort, since we need to celebrate my mom’s birthday first.

The resort has several cottages made up of Kawayan. There are two big rooms for visitors who want to stay overnight, one is air-conditioned. They call it family room. We choose to have the kawayan cottages, we really love to have this old version of staycation.

I really love the place, I felt peace all over my body. I can say I can relax in this place.

Pundaquit beach is located in San Antonio, Zambales it is my Father’s hometown.

Pundaquit is one of the barangays in San Antonio. In Zambales, when you say Pundaquit, most locals refer to it as beach. Maybe because of the fact that the barangay resides in a coastal area. So when people say “let’s go to Pundaquit,” it’s tantamount to saying “let’s go to the beach.

For someone like me who can simply appreciate the abundance of nature, it will always be a pleasure to see beaches deluge with mountains and trees. Pundaquit doesn’t offer white sand and turquoise-like water, but it proffers natural glow which makes you feel away from pollution and draggy vibe of the city

How could you not be amazed on a scene where sea waves directly hit the rocky mountain’s foot before it reaches the shore? How could you not be mesmerized to the perfect view of sunset?

Pundaquit also serves as terminal point of the tourists hankering to see Anawangin Cove, Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island. From Pundaquit, it takes 30 minutes to reach Anawangin, more than an hour to Nagsasa, and 25 minutes to Capones.

With fine and greyish sand, the sea water is abruptly deep few meters from the shoreline. Resort owners describe it as “biglang lalim” and warn visitors who do not know how to swim not to go farther to avoid any undesirable incidents. It’s not like any other beaches where even if you’re already 10 meters away from the shore, water level remains chest-deep

This is absolutely a perfect beach for swimmers and surfers who look for added adventure during their stay. The primary source of income of people living around the area is fishing. So expect that while you’re swimming, fisherfolks flock in the area taking advantage of the vast sea to catch fish. This scene is very visible in the wee hours of the morning. It somehow benefits picnic goers craving for fresh fish since fisherfolks sell it at very reasonable prices. You can cook, fry or grill freshly catch seafoods.

There is a lot of souvenir shops from locals that we can purchased for our friends and families but also to help people in there to support there living.

The municipality of San Antonio Zambales makes sure that they are doing there best to enhance the beauty of the place.

As I surely love to go back over and over, my hopes are also high that its inhabitants would preserve it as what it is at present and keep the beach untouched by modernity. I believe it is better keep that way.

#zambales #pundaquit #relaxation #family

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danidanialsblog · 9 months

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Beauty Bliss Skin Cream Reviews And Scam Alert!

The 'Beauty Bliss Skin Cream & Eye Cream,' one of Beauty Bliss's newest products, has gotten a lot of attention, especially in the US. Many people agree that these items make makeup unnecessary because they smooth and even out the skin's tone.

In this review, I'll talk about how the Beauty Bliss Skin Cream & Eye Cream worked for me, focusing on its texture, results, ingredients, and how well it lives up to its name.

===>> Visit The Official Site To Get Your Order Now <<===

What is Beauty Bliss Cream for Skin?

The SPF protection in Avaivy's Beauty Bliss Skin Cream works well with the natural ingredients in the cream. Its unique recipe is meant to deeply moisturize, soothe, and repair your skin, leaving it feeling refreshed and renewed.

Beauty Bliss Skin Cream is a natural skin care product made to fight age signs like fine lines and wrinkles. This cream gives your skin the important ingredients it needs to rebuild and renew the layers that hold it together.

With a mix of herbal and all-natural ingredients and carefully chosen peptides, this cream promotes a brighter face, restores radiance, improves skin hydration, and makes skin firmer and tighter. These benefits help make a person look younger and brighter. Read Beauty Bliss Skin Cream Reviews to learn more about the good things people have said about this product.

My Experience with Beauty Bliss Skin Cream | Before & After

Hello Readers, Before I go any further with my Beauty Bliss Skin Cream Review, I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Emma, and I write material and blog full-time.

After seeing TikTok videos where people raved about Beauty Bliss Skin Cream, I was interested enough to order it from Amazon. As a stay-at-home mom, I don't usually wear a lot of makeup, but this Beauty Bliss Anti-Aging Face Cream is great for easy daily coverage.

Since I have a light tan, the color SAND works well with my skin tone. I don't need much, and it goes on smoothly and stays in place all day.

Even though it's a mix of different products, such as moisturizer, primer, SPF, foundation, anti-aging skin treatment, and concealer, it feels so light that it's like you're not wearing anything at all, but it makes your skin look bright and healthy.

I love that it's vegan, and my very sensitive skin hasn't had any bad reactions to it at all. Also, unlike other anti-aging creams I've used before, it doesn't make my eyes feel like they are burning.

===>> Visit The Official Site To Get Your Order Now <<===

Why I like using this Beauty Bliss skin cream?

Even though I have very sensitive skin, I like that this Beauty Bliss Skin Cream didn't make it worse.

Also, there are different shades so that it can be worn by people with different skin tones.

Also, it goes into my skin easily and leaves behind a smooth feel.

===>> Visit The Official Site To Get Your Order Now <<===

How do you use Beauty Bliss Cream?

This amazing skin formula is made with high-quality ingredients that can help feed the skin. It works well to improve the general quality of the skin and brings back moisture and collagen levels. When you put the cream on, it goes deep into the skin and makes it feel fresh from the inside out.

With the help of collagen and peptides, the mixture gets rid of dead skin cells and encourages the growth of new, healthy skin cells. Aloe Vera, which is part of the recipe, makes the skin softer and more radiant. This gives the skin a healthy, full look.

===>> Visit The Official Site To Get Your Order Now <<===

How Beauty Bliss Anti-Aging Face Cream Is Made

Here are the most important ingredients in Beauty Bliss Anti-Aging Face Cream, each of which is good for the skin:

Collagen: Because it is a main part of skin, collagen is very important for making skin look younger and healthier. Collagen fights the signs of aging by smoothing out wrinkles and giving the face a more young look.

Vitamin C: Also called "Ascorbic Acid," vitamin C has been shown to be good for the skin. A 2013 study showed that Vitamin C could help avoid and treat skin changes caused by sun exposure. It also works well to treat acne.

Cucumber extract is a superfood for your face that has amazing anti-aging effects. Cucumber extract makes cells stronger, so they stay hydrated and work well. It also slows down the age-related breakdown of cells.

Aloe Vera is a herbal plant product that is known for making the skin soft. A study has shown that Aloe Vera can help reduce wrinkles and improve the elasticity of skin that has been hurt by the sun.

===>> Visit The Official Site To Get Your Order Now <<===

Does Beauty Bliss Skin Cream Have Any Scientific Support?

The anti-aging moisturizer from Beauty Bliss has a unique recipe that works in three ways. It is full of powerful ingredients that boost the skin's natural ability to heal. This gives you skin that is firmer, smoother, and more radiant.

Also, the carefully chosen ingredients in this cream support optimal dermal hydration, which makes wrinkles and fine lines less noticeable and gives the skin a brighter look.

This amazing lotion has shown amazing results, with skin becoming 90% more hydrated and wrinkles and fine lines disappearing by an impressive 80%. The ingredients in this formula have been through a lot of study and clinical testing to prove that they can boost collagen production and even out the tone and texture of the skin. Rest assured that this product is safe and effective and has a lot of great benefits.

Benefits

This cream might be able to make wrinkles and fine lines less noticeable.

It can make the face look healthier and brighter.

Beauty Bliss can help fight against the bad effects of worry.

It can keep the balance between suppleness and moisture in the skin.

The product has chemicals that have been backed and supported by science.

Drawbacks

When you use Beauty Bliss, there is a chance that your skin will have an allergic response.

The product can only be bought online; it's not sold in stores nearby.

===>> Visit The Official Site To Get Your Order Now <<===

Final Verdicts

I would definitely give Beauty Bliss Skin Cream an 8 out of 10. This product did a good job of covering up my flaws and giving me a soft glow. My only small complaint is that there isn't an official website. Because of this, I had to wait a few weeks before I finally got my order.

Have you had a chance to buy this amazing anti-aging face cream yet? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments part or have you read through all of our product reviews at your own pace.

Official Website : https://beautyblissskincream.com

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mannatsaroya · 1 year

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How To Get Swift Sneak Minecraft & What Does It Do?

Swift Sneak is a brand-new charm that has been introduced to Minecraft. You should consider including this useful item in your inventory because it will provide you access to special skills that you can utilise when exploring your Minecraft environment. We'll go through the functions of swift sneak minecraft and how to utilise it effectively in this article.

Exactly what is Swift Stealth Charm?

Swift Sneak Enchantment will accelerate your character's crouching motion by a maximum of three levels every level. This spell can only be used on your character's leggings. The swooping motion that your character can have varies depending on the level

In order to sneak past an adversary, such as a wandering warden while trying to explore an ancient city in a Deep Dark biome, you should primarily use this ability. The Warden is one of the more notable enemies you'll want to try and avoid, though you can use it alternatively when other opponents try to slip in.

Use of Swift Sneak

Your character has the passive skill called Swift Sneak. All you have to do to activate it after donning your leggings armour is crouch down and begin spinning. You'll never move faster than a person walking normally because your character's crouching speed is typically slower than their walking speed.

Swift Sneak: What does it do?

When crouching, a player wearing Swift Sneak footwear moves faster. It aids in the player's ability to slip past the warden without making its footsteps audible.

Additionally, players should be aware that Swift Sneak is incompatible with Depth Strider, Frost Walker, and Soul Speed. The maximum level of Swift Sneak enchantment is three.

Anyone who has played Minecraft knows about warden, so they at least have a vague sense of how frightening this monster is. The warden was dubbed "The terror of the Deep Dark" by Mojang.

Continue reading the article below.

Players should definitely slink into an old city and use Swift Sneak to escape safely unless they want to perish at the hands of the warden. This enchantment will enable players to swiftly and cautiously exit deep, dark caves.

What does Swift Sneak do in Minecraft explained?

As previously noted, Swift Sneak is an enchantment for leggings in Minecraft. She and the Deep Dark Biome & Ancient Cities were added to the game with Update 1.19. Swift Sneak's main function is to make it faster for players to move while crouching or sneaking. How does this help? Well, sound is an extremely harmful thing in the Deep Dark biome. If a sculk sensor picks you up, you become food for the Guardians. Therefore, sneaking is essential because it allows you to move discretely. Each of the three levels of Fast Sneak speeds up movement by 15%. This is how they compare:

30% of run speed is the standard sneak.

Fast Sneak I plus Regular Sneak: 45% of running speed.

60% of run speed with normal sneak and fast sneak II.

75% of walking speed with Fast Sneak III and Regular Sneak.

Although not extremely quick, this is still quite good. Fast Override and the Old Cities are the two areas where Fast Sneak works best. Using Soul Sand or Soul Soil as a bridging block, combine Swift Sneak with Soul Speed for speed bridging at incredible speeds. Swift Sneak can only be obtained through plundering Ancient Cities. There is a 23 to 24 percent chance of finding them in a ches

An illustration of a perilous overpass over a ravine (Image via Minecraft)

The first threat that many players may encounter in the early going is a ridge. If players are careless, these wounds on the environment could cause them to plunge dozens of blocks to their deaths.

The best strategy for players to deal with ravines is to cross the top, especially if they are on a crowded path. The best bridges are one block wide, but they are also the riskiest. Players can benefit from the Swift Sneak enchantment by using it to quickly cross ravine crests.

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icareaboutyourmucusmembranes · 1 year

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Sex Toy for Dummies

What the hell does buzzy vs. rumbly mean? Where is my g-spot? If I like prostate toys does that mean I’m gay????

I thought about breaking the sex toy discussion down into a few posts, but then I remembered how much I wrote for the toy materials and lube posts and got tired. How about we try a nice basic overview instead?

Vibrators

A very common refrain you hear among sex toy reviewers is the buzzy vs. rumbly discourse. To describe it without handing you a couple of toys, I would define it as the difference between high-pitched and low-pitched vibration. Surface-level tingles vs. a stereo with the bass boosted. Put to the extremes, a swarm of angry bees vs. a jackhammer. The standard consumer is going to appreciate a good mixture of the two, but there is a very real market for people who enjoy having their clit sanded off (you’ve probably heard of the Magic Wand). Ostensibly there is a market for people who enjoy buzzy vibrations as well, but there are a lot fewer of them than the rumbly crowd.

Vibrators aren’t clitoris-exclusive — penises are plenty stimulated by them as well. Other areas to consider are nipples, the g-spot, the prostate, and the benefits of a partner giving you a good massage (again I direct your thoughts to the Magic Wand). If you’re twisting in the wind trying to figure out where to start with vibrators, I recommend going to a local adult toy store and asking to hold the toys that interest you out of the box. With that in mind, I would also recommend sterilizing any toys you’ve just brought home. Any halfway decent sex toy shop will give the toys a good cleaning before putting them back in their boxes, but you want to play it safe with your genitals.

The G-Spot

Invented by some German guy in the 1940s, the G-spot has brought arousal to vaginas and intense skepticism to male doctors ever since.

In the interest of fairness, there are female doctors who debate the existence of the G-spot as well. Be that as it may, there is a spot along the vaginal wall usually around 2 inches in on the front wall where the clitoral nerve bundle can be stimulated via penetration from fingers, toys, or phalluses. For some people it’s shallow, for some people it’s deep, some people stimulate it for incredible vaginal orgasms, and some people have a difficult time feeling much of anything from it. Bodies are all unique and nobody else is going to be able to tell you exactly where your G-spot is and the best way for you personally to stimulate it. There are some toys that’ll give you a damn good shot at hitting it, though.

If you’re looking for a good G-spot toy, you’re going to want to find something with a curve. How strong or mild you want the curve to be depends on your individual anatomy, as well as whether you’ll get more pleasure from a flatter or rounded tip. For people who have trouble finding their G-spot with just their fingers, I tend to recommend a glass dildo with a decent curve and enough length to apply pressure/reach deep if need be. A lot of people are scared of glass toys, but unless you have the vaginal muscles of Superman you will not have to worry about any toys breaking off inside you. Vibrators are great on the G-spot as well! Vibrations also tend to feel a lot stronger inside a person, so maybe don’t immediately gun it for ultra-maximum speed until you know what you like.

The Prostate

Also referred to as the male G-spot, nobody has ever debated the existence of the prostate. The prostate is a small gland located just inside the rectum in males, right under the bladder and surrounding the urethra. Also, if you poke it it feels real good. Benefits of prostate stimulation include, but are not limited to, orgasms and prostate cancer prevention, so get poking!

Prostate toys look almost identical to G-spot toys a lot of the time, though the more male-oriented brands favor ones with a milder curve and a finger-like shape (see Aneros, a brand that pioneered the designs most companies are using for prostate toys nowadays). Contrary to what you might assume on sight, the thinnest prostate toys should only be used by experts. You don’t want to poke a hole through your ass that’s not meant to be there, after all.

Dedicated prostate toys have a consistent problem: the vibrations goddamn suck (and not in the fun way). So many times I take a vibrating prostate stimulator out of the box to make sure it turns on and functions correctly, and I feel so sad about how weak and buzzy it is. If you’re as sad about that as I am, consider using a G-spot toy instead. As aforementioned, the shapes are almost (or completely) identical most of the time, and the vibrations tend to be much higher quality. Just make sure that the toy in question either has a wide enough base or is long enough that there’s no hope of it being sucked up into your butt. The anus has powerful suction, and I’ve had more than one ER doctor in my store tell me about their favorite butt extraction stories.

Anal

Sticking stuff in your butt doesn’t have to be terrifying! Anal is considered to be an extra-intense sensation by many fans of it, whether they have prostates or not. Here are some tips if you want to try it out.

First and foremost and always, use plenty of lube. Unlike the vagina, the anus produces no natural lubrication, so there is no such thing as using too much lubrication when it comes to anal. Second, make sure any toys (plugs, dildos, vibrators) you use have flared bases so you don’t have to make an embarrassing hospital visit. These are really rules rather than tips, and they’re important enough that I’m giving them their own paragraph.

Third, if you’re not too squeamish, consider starting out with your fingers. It’s easy to start and stop exactly where you need to when you’re using your own hands, and you have plenty of fingers to test your width limits with. When it comes to a beginner anal toy, I like to suggest something with a 1” or less diameter that has a bit of a curve to fit your intestines better and avoid poking (the Fun Factory Bootie and NS Novelties Firefly Contour plugs are widely considered some of the most comfortable plugs available). However, a lot of people like a plug with a tapered shape because you’re able to ease it in and work up slowly. Silicone can be more flexible and comfortable, but glass or a good metal (aluminum/stainless steel are excellent for anal toys) is frictionless and has no possibility of folding over when you try to insert it. Avoid any product with benzocaine or lidocaine in it — you want to avoid hurting yourself without realizing it, and also probably want to feel if you enjoy the experience of anal or not. Try a good thick hybrid lubricant instead.

Finally, never go directly from anal play to vaginal play (use a condom or wash things first!), and sterilize your anal toys after every use.

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organicgardeningeek · 2 years

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How to Grow Ajuga Reptans (Bugleweed)

Ajuga (genus Ajuga, Lycopus virginicus), AKA Ajuga Reptans, Blue Bugle, Bugleherb, Bugleweed, Bugle Weed, Carpet Bugle, is one of the most common perennial ground covers, and with good reason. It is a hardy plant – surviving nicely in USDA 3 to 9. Light Levels Ajuga prefers light shade to full shade and tends to be smaller, shorter, and less healthy in the full hot sun. And in an area that it likes, it will grow 2 to 5 inches tall (depending on variety) and spread to 12 to 18 inches or to the entire yard (whichever comes first). Is Ajuga Invasive? Yes, it is a spreader weed. But it spreads over the ground, so you can (and should) contain it with a shovel by edging every spring and mid-summer. As a ground cover, I have found its spread to be slow but steady. This is in comparison to other more aggressive ground covers such as goutweed. It will invade lawns and becomes a major pest (derisively referred to as "bugle lawn") Ajuga (Bugleweed) Is Genus Ajuga Evergreen? Yes. Ajuga is one of the 266 genera in the Lamiaceae family, and its plants are evergreen, clump-forming rhizomatous perennial or annual herbaceous blooming species. The genus Ajuga has at least 301 species, each with its own set of characteristics. These plants, which may be found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America, are utilized as a ground cover or border in gardens because of their attractive leaves and blooms. Is Ajuga Edible? What are The Bugleweed Benefits? Many of these plants have been used in traditional medicine as anthelmintic, diuretic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antimycobacterial medication, as well as for fever, toothache, dysentery, malaria, high blood pressure, diabetes, and gastrointestinal problems. They're also utilized to stop insects from growing. Phytoecdysteroids, neo-clerodane-diterpenes and diterpenoids, triterpenes, sterols, anthocyanidin-glucosides, and iridoid glycosides, withanolides, flavonoids, triglycerides, and essential oils have all been identified from Ajuga plants. Will Roundup or Natria Kill Ajuga? Yes. Any weed control product will also kill Ajuga. However, there isn't likely to be one designated to destroy ajuga in a lawn selectively. We suggest waiting until early autumn (late August) to apply glyphosate herbicide on the areas on your lawn. Glyphosate is a complete herbicide. As much as possible, get it on the Ajuga. Would Ajuga Do Harm to Other Plants? Bugleweed fights for space with other grasses, with common grass usually emerging victorious. Trimming back the bugleweed while allowing the different grasses and plants to grow would most certainly kill the weeds, but this method may take more than one season to work. Bugleweed Soils Requirement Ajuga weed grows well in average soil but will survive in soils with more clay or sand as major components. It will winter kill (rot) in heavy clay soils. Care Requirements Given the above, if you want to see flowers, you do have to provide adequate water when the plant is in the shade. This is particularly true when it competes with aggressive tree roots. This is not a plant for dry shade. Interestingly enough, there are gardener reports of this plant doing quite well in damp areas in spring and early summer but dry up for the fall. It requires no special care. Put it in the ground, water for a few weeks to get it established, and then let it alone. Some companies advertise it as being able to be walked on. I wouldn't bet the farm on this; it might take a light walking over once or twice, but it will not handle regular foot traffic. Bloomtime Ajuga blooms (generally with a deep, dark blue) in very early spring and sporadically after that. And you'll see a range of foliage colors ranging from greens to bronzes, multi-colors, and almost purplish blacks. The only Ajuga I've found tricky is the multi-colored foliage plants; they are not reliably hardy into USDA zone 4. The only problem you'll sometimes see with Ajuga is a little botrytis or grey mold. This will cause some leaves to shrivel up or flowers to abort. A fungicide spray with lime sulfur should stop this. How to Propagate Ajuga weed? In spring, divide this plant and replant immediately. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zp-sUREhkls Read the full article

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mk-wizard · 3 years

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Sailor Moon 90s Anime is STILL the best

Hi. I know I am on a Sailor Moon binge here, but after seeing all of Crystal, Eternal and on R (season 2) of the first anime, I want to get this all off of my chest... and before I go further, since these are all animes, I will refer to them as 90s, Crystal and Eternal. And after watching them all, I have to say that the 90s takes the gold medal as the best Sailor Moon anime so far and this is why;

1- It had the best pacing. - While I admit that sometimes, it went too far with the filler, 98% of the time, it worked with the 90s. It took its time to make you get to know the characters for better or for worse, it made you see different sides of them, it gave them a chance to truly develop and be multi-dimensional, and it made you care about them. When a death happened, it felt tragic. When a victory happened, you cheered. And when you saw what side characters did, it mattered. I mean, who can ever forget the contribution 90s Naru Osaka had to the story? And everyone who has seen the 90s anime cannot forget her. More on the character development and getting to know characters later.

Sure, it wasn’t true to the manga and even the characters had different personalities, but I let that slide by because when Crystal and Eternal did follow the manga to the letter, we didn’t get a chance to digest anything. The only characters who develop are Usagi, Chibi-Usa and the outer guardians, and for the last bunch, it was the bare minimum. Crystal and Eternal were fun rides and I would be lying if I said I didn’t like them, but they were like roller coasters. They gave you a thrill, but fast and been done. The 90s was like a slow scenic ride that gave you surprises, emotionally touched you, made you cry, made you laugh, made you root for the heroes and even at the age of 37 years now, I keep rewatching this series.

2- The art of the 90s was better because it was sketchy, dark and edgier. - I know Sailor Moon doesn’t seem like this on the surface because the heroines are lovely girls in cute costumes, it emphasizes femininity and all things pretty, it has a romantic theme and is all about love, but Sailor Moon is also one of the darkest, grittiest, edgy and violent magical girl animes I have ever seen since Magic Knights Rayearth. Sailor Moon has on screen deaths which were permanent most of the time, on screen stabbings and the drawing of blood, and fights that got so hardcore, that real punches and kicks were thrown. The dark edges, black line art and sharp edges worked with the atmosphere of the story. I mean, look at the difference between the halls Dark Kingdom of the 90s (above) and that of Crystal.

And if that is not enough to win you over, the characters were much more animated, organic and conveyed more emotion whether they were exaggerated or serious.

In Crystal, the expressions and body language was very dulled down. Not to mention, very stiff.

Everything is also too bright and soft which makes the characters look like velvet dolls with too much make up especially with the line art. I will give them props for adding better details, cleaner lines, the glow of magical items, and details in the gems, but everything else is all wrong.

Eternal was better, but still not quite there. The colours are still way too bright and the characters still look too much like dolls from having line art that is too wispy. And I really do not like how the eyes have this unnatural glow to them. The edgy scenes become lost with all this brightness.

3- We got to see that there was so much more the characters than just heroes or villains. - Since Usagi is the titular character, let us just talk about her in the 90s since I could go on forever about how much we learned about the characters. In any version of Sailor Moon, Usagi’s role as a Sailor Guardian has always been the core of the story and she does indeed show progress as one. However, the 90s tells us that no matter what, she is still going to be herself too which is just as important and she shows character development as just plain old Usagi too. The manga, Crystal and Eternal which only paint Usagi as not doing anything right except be a Sailor Guardian, but the 90s show her hidden talents and learning new skills. For example, she was bad at cooking at the beginning of the series.

However, by Sailor Moon R, she gets the hang of it and is able to cook a meal by herself. Yes, she is messy, clumsy, never gets the hang of making cookies and is nowhere near Makoto’s level especially when it comes to presentation, but she is good at cooking food.

Another hidden talent of Usagi’s is her drawing skills. She isn’t just good at drawing. She’s got talent at it, so in the 90s, Usagi is quite the artist.

And it is admirable that 90s Usagi is open to trying new things even if she isn’t good at them. She practices, she explores and tries to enlighten herself. Sure, academics, coordination and organization will never be her fortes, but she really does have other and tries to discover more.

In Crystal and Eternal, she is good at being Sailor Moon, she is a good friend and a good girlfriend, but that is it. She is one dimensional here and she isn’t the only one to painted like that. Everyone is only the obvious and that is all the audience gets.

4- Better character redemption. - I mentioned before that Sailor Moon had grit and was dark, but the 90s also made it more complex and did character redemption right. It was open to the possibility of bad people becoming good. For instance, the Black Moon Clan Specter Sister are unforgettable for being successfully redeemed.

Yes, I admit that the monster of the day would get killed by the hands of the Sailor Guardians, but they also clearly showed that the monsters were not people or even alive. They were made of energy, clay or sand. When the monster of the day was a possessed innocent, they were saved through exorcism. Very rarely was an actual person ever killed and even when they were, it was either by the hands of another villain, their own hand, self defense or as a last resort. They never used killing as means of dealing with every single bad guy.

Furthermore, the bridge arc about the Makai Tree that also served as a prologue to Sailor Moon R could be seen as a story about mercy, kindness and love. It stands out as the one time the big bad was actually a misunderstood big good being the Makai Tree herself. And even Ail an An were never bad, but were raised bad. And even then, they changed. This story is unique only to the 90s so far, but it was great and stood out for that reason.

In Crystal, the heroines will kill a person without a second thought which I am shocked that no one brings up how repetitive and contradictory that is. The pretty warrior of love and justice should by all means protect the Earth, but doing so by killing off the bad guy all time is not love or justice. I also think the caption in this picture sums up how I feel about how the one and only time bad guys were given a chance to be redeemed...

Eternal was better because the Asteroid Guardians got redeemed and saved. However, even then, I feel like there is still a double standard. They were one of the good guys to begin with and Sailor Guardians. In the 90s, the Amazoness Quartet wasn’t, but were given a chance to change anyway. I find it cool that the Quartet turned out to be Sailors and even better that they will go on to become Chibi-Usa’s team, but mercy is not just for your allies or for your own benefit. Everyone should be given at least one chance to fix their mistakes.

5- We got to know Mamoru better. - I admit that no matter the incarnation, Tuxedo Mask will never be as powerful as Sailor Moon except when he is King Endymion, but the 90s take on his character made him better even if they did omit his super attack being Tuxedo le Smoking Bomber. What the well dressed masked man lacked in firepower, he made up for in intelligence, insight about the enemy’s weakness, courage and skill. The only times he ever did get overpowered was either by bad luck or because it was intentional because he was taking a hit for Sailor Moon. And even then, he always got back up. He’s a real man like that.

More importantly, we get to know him as Mamoru too. Even before he confides being an amnesiac to Usagi, we see his struggles with feeling alone in the world from having no memory of his life before a tragic accident which also killed his parents. Now, him being a stern cynical person makes sense because I probably wouldn’t be pleasant to be around either if I lived with that. Once his walls come down, we see that deep down, all he wants is to belong somewhere and have a family. It should also be noted that 90s Mamoru doesn’t love Usagi because he is “destined” to. He loves her because he wants to. Even during that brief period where he broke up with Usagi was an act of love. The thing I also always liked best about 90s Mamoru is that even though he loves Usagi more than life itself, his life doesn’t revolve around her which is a healthy thing and he tries to encourage Usagi to be the same way for her own good. He is studying to be a doctor, he has a job and he even has his own crowd which I think is great.

In Crystal and Eternal, while I do see an attempt at trying to follow this trend by showing that Usagi and Mamoru were on their way to falling in love even before they got their memories back, I still find he was one note and we never really learn much about him that has nothing to do with Tuxedo Mask, Endymion or anything royal related. Sure, we know that he’s studying to be a doctor and is a genius to an extent too, but that is it.

I would like to end this by admitting that the 90s was not perfect either, but out of all the takes on the tale of Sailor Moon as of date. Crystal and Eternal were ok, but they just cannot stand up to the quality of the 90s. The only thing I can say I find Crystal did better than the 90s were the costume designs. Specifically, how they let Venus keep her chain belt, Pluto’s key chain belt, Uranus and Neptune’s shorter gloves, Uranus’s sword, Uranus having two earrings, Mercury’s suit is shoulder less which I always found suited her better, and I liked Sailor Moon’s brooch and necklace better in season 1.

And even then, I should have liked it if Jupiter’s antenna was always on display as it is just something I always found cute in the manga, I liked Mars’ five point star earrings better in the 90s, and I like how in the 90s, each of the Inner Guardians’ sailor stripes were a little different.

Of course, this is all my opinion. I would like to hear which of the animes did Sailor Moon right in your opinion and why. Thanks for reading and stay safe, and have a great day.

#sailor moon anime #sailor moon reboot #sailor moon crystal #sailor moon eternal #pretty guardian sailor moon #pretty guardian sailor moon crystal #bishoujo senshi sailor moon #90s anime #sailor moon 90s #character development #storytelling #quality #critique

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thesightstoshowyou · 3 years

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Asa Emory x AFAB Reader (NSFW)

Part 5

Read Part 4 here

Summary: Being the favorite has its benefits.

Warnings: Stockholm Syndrome, implied age gap, biting, creampie

Warmth seeps into your skin, lights up the room behind your eyelids. In your semi-conscious state, you think it feels natural, like sunlight. This is impossible, of course. No sunlight reaches your cell.

Yet, when you crack your eyes open, you must throw your arm over your face to block the piercing light. You sit up, scrunching your eyes shut. Where is it coming from?

Slowly, you adjust. You peel your lids open and realize you have no idea where you are. You’re sitting on a bed, a real bed, with an ornately carved oak headboard. You glance over the rest of the antique furniture, the hard wood floors, thick wool rugs, en suite bathroom, because your gaze is drawn to the windows.

Windows.

Windows with blue sky beyond.

Your bare feet meet hardwood and you stumble, catching yourself on the window sill. A shaky exhale leaves you, a single tear carving a path down your cheek. Sky, grass, sunlight, things you haven’t seen for the better part of a year.

You’re in a house, a home, nestled between two others, more across the street. Down on the sidewalk, a child rides by on a bike, helmet glinting in the morning sun. A car passes, driver waving to the neighbor as they retrieve the morning paper. Life all around you, continuing on as normal, as though you haven’t been missing for eight months, oblivious to the constriction in your chest, your quiet gasps, your panicked jubilation.

Where is Asa? How had you gotten here?

You tear you gaze away from the street, cross the room, making it to the door before noticing what you wear. Not lingerie, but clothes. Specifically, pajamas, shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, and they fit you as though you had picked them out at a store yourself. You haven’t worn clothes in so long you’ve forgotten how comfortable they are.

It is when you reach up to feel the fabric you notice what is on your left hand. Your eyes go wide and you bring your trembling hand to your face to inspect the ring on your finger. Your ring finger, to be exact.

A delicate gold band wraps perfectly around the digit and holds a huge, diamond-shaped emerald—the same color as your right eye—surrounded by smaller diamonds that create a vintage, floral pattern. You swallow the lump in your throat, heart pounding in your ears, eyesight narrowing to the green stone shimmering in the sunlight spilling in through the windows.

A clatter from downstairs breaks you out of the beginnings of a panic attack and you gulp down air when you realize you hadn’t taken a breath since you discovered the…engagement ring. The click clack of dog paws on hardwood reaches your ears. You have a sneaking suspicion to whom this house belongs.

Carefully, you tiptoe down the hall, ease down the first set of stairs, wincing with every creak of wood under your bare feet. On the landing, you can see the front door. For a moment you’re flabbergasted, struck dumb by the dainty lace curtain covering the window. You try to imagine Asa in his usual black ensemble shopping at a department store, perusing the home décor.

You shake your head, ridding yourself of the absurd visual before quickly sneaking down to the main level. Quickly, you take stock of your surroundings; antique furniture, glass terrariums housing preserved insects, leather bound books, fucking porcelain wash basin in the bathroom…. If you had thought to imagine what Asa’s home would look like, it would not have been this.

Another quiet clink distracts you. Assuming it’s from the kitchen, you follow the noise, passing through the dining room. You round the corner and pause in the doorway.

The first thing you notice is his clothes. You’ve never seen The Collector out of his black pants and sweater. Today, he’s dressed in light colored jeans and a sand colored button-up. It’s jarring and for a moment you almost don’t recognize him.

He’s seated at the table, coffee mug in hand, eyes flicking quickly over the paper spread out on kitchen table. Asa must feel your eyes on him because he glances up, meeting your wide, teary gaze. He doesn’t speak, just assess you, waits for your reaction. You take this as permission to speak.

“W-What…” you try, your voice breaking. You swallow thickly, willing your constricting throat to make noise, “W-What is…this?” You motion to everything around you. You mean for him to explain the situation but you can hardly find the words, swept up as you are by your tumultuous thoughts.

Asa crosses his arms and leans back in his chair, propping an ankle up on his opposite knee before speaking, “You’re going to live with me now.”

“O-Oh.” You have no idea what to say, where to even start. Live with him? Does he mean forever? Why? And why you?

You’re never going home, are you?

And what is with the fucking engagement ring?

Your gaze drifts to the mug sitting on the table, half full of dark liquid. Your eyes flick to the coffee pot on the counter. A steadying breath fills your lungs and you focus on the rich scent in the air.

“May I please have some coffee?” you whisper, hands trembling. Asa stands, retrieving a mug from a cupboard.

“Cream or sugar?”

“Just cream, please.” The clink of a spoon against ceramic makes you flinch. Asa sets the cup on the table with a quiet clunk. He crosses the room to stand behind you, placing his hands on your arms and steering you toward the table to seat you in the chair beside his. He drops back into his own chair, returning to the paper as though this is the most natural thing in the world.

Your quivering fingers close around the handle of the cup. You take a sip, closing your eyes and savoring the first taste of caffeine you’ve had in so, so long. Gradually, your heart rate returns to normal.

You knew you were never going home. That fact shouldn’t be the surprise here. If you’re being honest with yourself, this is the best-case scenario. You’re no longer a resident in the Collector’s house of horrors. You’re in a real house, a home, with coffee and windows with blue sky beyond.

And you’re with Asa. You love him, right? You’d said so yourself.

Twice.

Asa folds the paper, tossing it into the recycle before bringing his mug to the sink. He comes to stand next to you and you glance up from your drink to meet his dark gaze.

“You may go anywhere in the house. There’s a list of tasks for you to complete before I get home this evening.” He nods to the slip of paper lying on the counter. Plucking your left hand off the table and fiddling with the ring on your finger, he continues, “The dogs have been trained to attack if you try to leave the house. I recommend you stay away from the front door. Understand?”

Quickly, you nod. You’re relieved to be given instructions. It will keep you occupied, keep you from thinking too much.

“If someone comes to the door, ignore it. The neighbors are….” Asa glares out the window, taking a deep breath before continuing, “They like to pry. They already know you’re here, so expect them to come by after I leave.” You squirm in your chair at that, eyes widening. He fixes you with an irritable frown, “Do you have a question?”

“They…you said they know I’m here? What…who am I supposed to be…to you?” Asa raises an eyebrow, lifting your left hand higher for emphasis.

“I think that should be obvious.”

“Oh.” Releasing your hand, he turns and stalks from the room without a backward glance. The jingling of keys reaches your ears. The doorknob rattles, door creaking open. Stomp of boots, then a pause as someone outside speaks. Distantly, you hear a response and it takes you a moment to realize it’s Asa speaking.

“Morning, Bob.” You’re stunned. You’ve never heard him sound so relaxed, so cheery, “Ah…yes, they’re…” an interruption, mumbling you can’t hear, then Asa again, “they’re just sitting down to breakfast…” another interruption. You’re almost afraid for the person speaking. Who would dare interrupt Asa this much?

You remind yourself the neighbors don’t know him like you do.

“Of course,” Asa relents. Clearer, you hear your name called as he steps back into the house and, “Will you come here please?”

Please? Had he really said please?

You leap up from your chair, half jogging through the dining room but slowing when you see Asa standing at the front door, one foot inside, one out. Minutely, he narrows his eyes at you. A warning. You nod and plaster a fake smile on your face.

Discreetly, he taps his neck with his index finger. You pause, confused for a moment before remembering the thick, black collar around your neck. You must be getting used to it to have forgotten it so easily. Hastily, you unclasp the buckle, leaving it on the dining table as you pass.

As you move through the entryway, you notice the dogs poised in the hall, ears perked, tense. Asa holds up a fist and immediately, they sit. He snakes his arm around your waist, fingers squeezing your hip as you he leads you out onto the front deck. An elderly couple, maybe mid-seventies, stand at the bottom of the porch steps. Their eyes widen upon seeing you.

“Well, hello!” says the man, Bob, presumably, “Bit younger than I thought you’d be—

Bob shuts his mouth when his wife elbows him. She smiles kindly and moves up the steps to extend her hand.

“I’m Marilyn, and this loudmouth is my husband, Bob. Welcome to the neighborhood. We’re so happy Asa finally decided to settle down.” You try your best to rein in your expression. Settle down, huh? They have no idea.

“Happy to be here,” you chirp, smiling up at Asa. You’re struck dumb by the warm smile he flashes back at you. You’ve only ever seen smirks, half smiles with cold, hard eyes, but this one lights up his face and makes your heart stutter.

“Well, I better get going or I’m going to be late for work. See you tonight,” Asa presses a chaste kiss to the top of your head and you have to grit your teeth to keep your jaw from falling open in shock. Belatedly you smile after him, waving to the neighbors and hurrying inside, remembering what he’d said about the dogs.

Falling back into the kitchen chair, you stare at the table, stunned. Asa really just lives two different lives and no one is the wiser. Belatedly, you wonder what he does for work. Do you dare ask?

Better to finish your to-do list first. You’ll have time to think later.

All Asa’s instructions are perfectly detailed, except the last one: Dinner. It’s just one word written in his flourishing script. Good thing you know how to cook.

The pantry and refrigerator are well stocked, thankfully. It isn’t difficult to put together something decent. You’ve even found the ingredients for cookies. You hate the part of you that wants to impress him, but here you are, sliding a baking sheet into the oven covered in dollops of your grandmother’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.

As if on cue, you hear the front door handle rattle. Instantly, you’re on edge, heart leaping up into your throat. Quickly, you scan over the list of chores, making sure you’d completed everything exactly how it is written. You’d hate to disappoint him your first day here. What if he sends you back to the trunk?

When the clunking of boots on hardwood reaches your ears you spin around, smoothing the front of your dress and nervously looking at your hands. Do you kneel here? You’re not sure if the same rules he’d established at his…museum carry over to his home.

“G-Good timing, dinner is—

Your words die in your throat when your eyes meet his. Asa stands in the doorway, dark eyes pinning you to the spot with the intensity of his stare. There’s so much heat in his gaze it ignites a fire in your own belly until you’re biting your lip to stifle a whine.

He’s across the room in three long strides, hand tangling in your hair and tipping your head back so he can crush his lips against yours. You mewl into his mouth and accept the tongue that prods against your own. Asa’s other hand goes to your lower back, pulling you in until you’re flush against his solid frame.

“You were good today, weren’t you?” he states quietly against your parted lips. It’s phrased like a question, but he seems to already know the answer. You nod anyway, face burning under his scrutiny.

Immediately, you’re spun around and shoved against the counter. Asa’s hands slip under your skirt, pushing it up to your waist, thumbs skimming along the flesh of your ass, across your hips, down your thigh until he’s dipping between your legs. Your breath hitches when his fingers tease through your underwear. His teeth find your neck, softly biting the spot just under your ear until you twitch and sigh, gingerly pushing back against him.

Asa responds with another bite, harder this time, a quite growl in his throat. You whimper and his fingers dip into your underwear, gathering wetness from your dripping slit before gently stroking your clit. The movements of his digits are timed perfectly so your legs are trembling in minutes, hands gripping the counter for support.

“A-Asa, I-I, please, I—

He sinks his teeth into your neck hard enough to make you shriek. His other hand flies to your lips, two fingers pushing roughly into mouth until you gag. He keeps them there and grinds against your clit with the other hand, perfect little circles of pressure until your knees snap together and you arch, eyes scrunching shut as warmth explodes in your core.

You’ve yet to come down from your high when you hear the clink of a belt, the slide of a zipper. Asa pushes on your back until you bend at the waist. He wastes no time in thrusting into your still spasming cunt, your squeal muffled by the fingers in your throat.

Spit drips past your lips and trickles down your chin as Asa fucks you into the countertop. Every harsh pump of his hips brings a high moan up from your throat. You beg for more, words indistinguishable from screams as another orgasm builds.

His hand goes to your throat, making you arch more so he’s hitting that perfect spot within you. Three thrusts in and you’re done for, screaming around his fingers, cunt clamping down on the cock battering your slick muscles. Asa groans through clenched teeth, bucking into you a few more times before reaching his own end, coating your twitching cunt in hot white.

Warm, panting breaths tickle your ear and he commands, “Say it.”

“I-I love you. Thank you, S-Sir.”

Your knees nearly buckle when he releases you. You cling to the counter, half-turning to face him. Immediately, he scoops you into his arms, whisking you from the kitchen and making his way to the stairs.

“Um, dinner—

Asa shushes you. You bite your lip. If the look on his face is anything to go by, you’re in for a long night.

#asa emory x reader #asa emory #the collector #the collector x reader #the collector (2009)#the collection #n sfw #guys those cookies are going to burn #slashers #slasher x reader #slasher fandom #stockholm syndrome #my writing

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Note

Your idea of madam nie!jgy is really good could u wrt that ?

for those who don’t remember, the Madame Nie!JGY idea is here and here

- on ao3 -

Untamed verse

Paperwork.

The bane of Nie Huaisang’s life.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know he was moderately clever, sometimes scaling up to very clever if he was irritated, but somehow he’d never had the ability to keep facts and figures and exact sentences straight in his head. Any teaching done through rote memorization (in other words, most of it) was wasted on him, and the few things he could keep track of, usually in over-abundant and hyper-specific detail, weren’t the sorts of things that were especially helpful.

Or, well, they were helpful in figuring out what clothing to wear or whether art was good or bad, and occasionally in being able to figure out where people should sit in a hall in order to either minimize or maximize the opportunity for incidents that would create gossip, but they really weren’t helpful if what you were trying to do was run a very large and very industrious sect.

His brother handled the majority of it, of course, as sect leader, and naturally he hadn’t stinted on hiring talented deputies – admittedly, the Nie sect threw around the word deputy the way an especially enthusiastic firefighter tossed around water and sand, but most sects had a more settled bureaucracy in place than the Nie sect did and it was an important position, even if it was usually just a gateway to being put somewhere you actually fit rather than a permanent spot for most people – but in the end there were some things that required the signature of a member of the Nie clan and Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang very reluctantly supposed (if he had to), couldn’t do everything.

He groaned and put his head down on the table.

This never happened when Meng Yao was here, he thought bitterly.

Meng Yao had been one of his brother’s finds, someone he’d promoted in a fit of temper as usual, but to just about everyone’s surprise he had turned out to be amazing at logistics and organization, able to quickly gain expertise in really everything and anything a sect needed to run. After a few months he knew most things, and the things he didn’t know he could either figure out or speculate on with relative accuracy. He’d been amazingly efficient, and it had made Nie Mingjue happy – happy not just to have such good help and to have his taste in subordinates confirmed, but also to see Meng Yao flourishing as his deputy, his real deputy, to see him pleased and respected the way his talents so obviously deserved…

Nie Huaisang sighed. If only his stupid brother had gone ahead and just sworn brotherhood with Meng Yao when the idea had been proposed!

If only he’d done that, Nie Huaisang could have been acting cute and calling Meng Yao – no, wait, it was Jin Guangyao now, he kept forgetting – he could have been calling him ‘san-ge’ right now and hanging off his arm and soon enough Jin Guangyao would yield and do all the work for him, leaving only the actual signing for Nie Huaisang to do. And the work would’ve gotten done better than he would have ever done it, in less time, and he could’ve been spending his precious time doing literally anything else.

Ugh.

Well, he supposed it wasn’t entirely his brother’s fault that the whole plan hadn’t gone through. He hadn’t been the one to back out of the brotherhood idea – that’d been Lan Xichen, for some reason, even though he’d been the one to originally propose the idea, and obviously Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao weren’t going to swear brotherhood without him. It was Venerated Triad, not Venerated Duo.

It was just so unfortunate that the absence of a sworn brother relationship meant that Nie Huaisang had no basis to ask Jin Guangyao to help him out. Or, while he was imagining things, why not just go all the way and imagine that Jin Guangyao could just come back to Qinghe already.

He could run things in a way that made sense and was efficient, which would reduce Nie Mingjue’s stress levels, and Nie Mingjue’s stress levels going down meant that Nie Huaisang’s stress would go down. Way down. And Jin Guangyao’s stress levels would also be way down as well by virtue of, well, being back at Qinghe, where things made sense and he didn’t have to deal with his awful family of his which he seemed to value for some reason that Nie Huaisang didn’t understand and honestly didn’t want to understand. It’d be a win all around!

Ugh.

Life was just better when Jin Guangyao was around.

But what could be done about it? He couldn’t exactly suggest being sworn brothers with Jin Guangyao himself – you needed to do something impressive together to justify that, usually – and for all that he had his brother wrapped around his little finger, he knew perfectly well that Nie Mingjue might hire an unknown man as a deputy in a fit of temper but he’d never hire someone he fired, even if Jin Guangyao were willing to take the role of deputy again. Which he probably wasn’t now that he was all legitimate and recognized and stuff; it was probably beneath him.

If only there were another position available, something not a deputy, not a sworn brother, something where he could just run the Nie sect for the good of everyone –

Wait.

There was.

And, thanks to his brother’s misanthropic ways, the position was available.

Perfect!

“Congratulations, da-ge!” Nie Huaisang announced grandly, sweeping into his brother’s study.

“Just tell the treasury to cover the cost of whatever it is you broke or bought,” Nie Mingjue said without looking up, which, first, rude, and second, really? Awesome. Nie Huaisang was going to get so much mileage out of that one.

“Oh, da-ge, really. I wasn’t talking about me –”

“A miracle.”

“– shut up. I was congratulating you! It’s what little brothers like me should do for big brothers like you on the event of their engagement!”

There was a silence of about five deep breaths.

(Or at least, that’s how long Nie Huaisang assumed it was, provided that his brother was listening to his doctor’s orders about managing his anger, which he had damn well better be.)

Nie Mingjue put down the piece of paper he was working on, and gently laid down his brush to avoid breaking it like so many of the others, and looked up at Nie Huaisang, fixing all of his attention on him.

“Huaisang,” he said, his voice only slightly above a growl. “My what now?”

“Your engagement!” Nie Huaisang beamed at him. “The Sunshot Campaign is over, our father is avenged, and you’re already in your mid-twenties – that means it’s time to get moving on finding the perfect Madame Nie, and I’ve got a great candidate in mind for you.”

His brother looked uncomfortable. “Huaisang,” he said, and his voice was almost delicate. “You are aware…”

“I’ve taken your preferences into account,” Nie Huaisang assured him, and he was only mostly lying. His brother had liked Meng Yao a great deal, once upon a time, and even if they’d never actually slept together – his stupid anti-social brother probably hadn’t even hinted that he might be interested, what with the power differential and Meng Yao’s unfortunate familial history – there was no reason he couldn’t like Jin Guangyao, too, if only he’d give him a chance. Just because he didn’t like him right now didn’t mean anything about his preferences generally. “It’s not like I missed the vast increase in the amount of cutsleeve pornography in our library, okay?”

“That was not me.”

“I know it wasn’t you, but you got the benefit of it, didn’t you? Like I said: don’t worry. It’s a man. You can stop worrying, relax, and let me handle it.”

His brother’s face was doing the skeptical look again, the one where he looked like he was seriously doubting Nie Huaisang’s ability to put on clothing in the morning. He wasn’t five anymore, da-ge! Okay, eight, but only because he kept putting stuff on backwards while he was rushing. Maybe ten for formal clothing... “No, Huaisang.”

“No, really, I can –”

“The answer is no, Huaisang.”

That sounded depressingly final.

“What if I do the puppy eyes at you?”

“The answer is still no,” his brother said, going back to his paperwork, although he was smiling a little. “No, you may not set up an engagement for me; no, I will not agree; no.”

Damnit.

Okay, maybe Nie Huaisang should be tackling this from a different angle.

“It’s so good to see you!” Nie Huaisang gushed. He wasn’t entirely sure what to call Jin Guangyao now – after all, the other man was a few years his senior, and now that he was recognized by his father there wasn’t a class difference that would make it permissible for Nie Huaisang to call him by name the way he’d used to call Meng Yao. But they’d known each other for years, so Jin-qianbei might come off as pretentious and too formal, Jin-gongzi was definitely too formal, and were they really at the stage where he could call him Jin-xiong?

(Plus he already called Jin Zixuan Jin-xiong, so he’d have to figure out where Meng Yao fell in the hierarchy – except no one had ever clarified one way or the other. He was pretty sure Meng Yao was older, but even if he was it probably wasn’t appropriate to go around calling him Jin-da-ge.)

Now, Nie Huaisang had more or less made it his life policy to adopt virtual strangers as brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles, the more the better, but he also didn’t want to offend Jin Guangyao by making it seem like he didn’t respect his new position.

Especially when he wanted Jin Guangyao to do something for him.

“It’s good to see you too, Nie-gongzi,” Jin Guangyao said, and no, that wouldn’t do at all.

Nie Huaisang poked at him with his fan. “How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Huaisang, the way da-ge does. You were almost my san-ge, remember?”

“Nie-gongzi…”

“Huaisang!”

Jin Guangyao had an indulgent look on his face. “Very well, Huaisang.”

“Anyway, I know you’re busy with dealing with sect things – that hunt last month was great, sorry about da-ge being overenthusiastic but at least he had a really good time – and stuff like that, but I just wanted to swing by Lanling to congratulate you!” Nie Huaisang said, deciding to take the moment to barrel onwards. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you last time, and so much has happened since you left Qinghe! You got accepted into the Jin sect! Recognized by your father! Given a name! A fancy title! A position! An engagement! A nice hat!”

“I’m sorry,” Jin Guangyao said. “I got a what?”

“A nice hat!”

“Nice try, Huaisang.”

“Oh, come on, you don’t even know who I’m setting you up with yet!” Nie Huaisang whined. “And it’s not like you don’t want to get married! Weren’t you thinking of marrying the Qin sect’s girl? I mean, before they backed out on account of swearing vengeance against your father and the Jin sect and all…”

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Huaisang,” Jin Guangyao said, gentle and polite as always, but in his own way just as firm as Nie Mingjue. They really would be a good match, and not just because it’d make Nie Huaisang’s life so much easier. “But I’m really much too busy to think about anything like that. Matters in the Jin sect, you understand…”

��But –”

“Huaisang, please.”

Damnit.

Nie Huaisang was going to need to think about this.

He hated thinking.

“It’s just so unfair,” Nie Huaisang moaned. “Why do people insist on making things hard? When it could be so easy if only they’d listen…”

“It sounds like a real tragedy,” Lan Xichen said, pouring him a cup of tea.

He was just barely managing to resist smiling, which was good – he didn’t smile that much anymore, not since whatever it was that happened to him a month or two back around the time the sworn brother ceremony was supposed to happen. No one knew what it was that happened, not even Lan Wangji (Nie Huaisang had asked), but it was making everyone worried; Nie Mingjue had wanted to go over to demand answers practically ever since but things just kept happening.

Mostly due to Lan Xichen, actually, now that Nie Huaisang thought about it.

First there was that failed sworn brotherhood thing – he’d been the one pushing the idea in the first place, but only a week before they actually did the ceremony Lan Xichen had suddenly showed up at the Unclean Realm, bursting into Nie Mingjue’s bedroom while he was resting during his recovery from the events at the Nightless City, and insisted they call the whole thing off. He’d been pale, his eyes wide and scared, but he’d refused to explain anything no matter how many times Nie Mingjue asked; he’d only been sad and oddly clingy for the entire week, refusing to leave until the planned date of the sworn brotherhood ceremony had passed with it unfulfilled.

Then he’d gone home, and things had seemed to be fine, only after the hunt at Phoenix Mountain and Wei Wuxian’s impromptu theft of a bunch of Wen prisoners of war – neither of which appeared to be due to Lan Xichen, admittedly – and right when everyone had been gearing up to go make a big fuss over it, Lan Xichen had abruptly revealed that he’d been investigating the Jin sect and they were up to their necks in all sorts of unfortunate things.

Secret demonic cultivation experiments, which one might understand, and buying corpses, a subject on which the Nie sect had always been remarkably open-minded, but also stealing beloved corpses and tomb robbing, more-than-likely murder, possibly even massacres of entire small clans, all as part of their experiments, and to top it all off there were a whole big number of rapes attributed to Jin Guangshan personally.

Madame Qin among them, which was why Jin Guangyao’s original marriage plans had fallen through. It wasn’t even worth considering it, not when there was a risk that poor Qin Su, who’d had such a crush on the gallant Jin Guangyao, might be his sister…

Anyway, while the Jin were still too powerful, as a Great Sect, to fully suffer the consequences of their actions, the Jin sect had been disgraced at the very moment that they thought they were on the rise. Jin Guangshan had even been talking about taking up the post of Chief Cultivator following Wen Ruohan’s demise, which he might have been able to swing since Nie Mingjue thought the idea of having a Chief Cultivator at all was bullshit, but now obviously that was completely out of the question.

Plus the whole thing had retroactively cleared Wei Wuxian’s name, leaving him free and clear to return to the Jiang sect as a hero who stood up against Jin sect presumptuousness and overreach when no one else would, which was a pretty big change from his previous political position, which was being widely known as an arrogant and dangerous hothead on the verge of being cast out of the sect for the good of the cultivation world at large despite them very, very obviously not wanting to do it.

Wei Wuxian had even been able to bring the Wen sect members he’d rescued back to the Lotus Pier with him, and now there was even talk that Jiang Cheng might marry Wen Qing (as someone who went to the Cloud Recesses lectures with them both, Nie Huaisang wasn’t surprised by the suggestion at all) once his sister concluded her marriage with Jin Zixuan, which was going to be a far less sumptuous affair than originally planned. After all, the politics of the situation had reversed almost entirely, with the disgraced Jin sect needing the marriage to the reputable (and, thanks in large part to Wei Wuxian, powerful) Jiang sect to help keep what was left of their reputation and influence intact.

Perhaps the Jin sect’s crimes were the reason that Lan Xichen had been acting strangely distant from Jin Guangyao, even though no one had ever proven anything about his involvement – Jin Guangshan’s attempt to throw the blame entirely on his newly adopted son were dismissed as the fabrications they so obviously were – but Nie Huaisang wasn’t so sure.

Lan Xichen wasn’t the sort of person to worry about politics, after all. But then why…?

“Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?” Lan Xichen asked, settling in his own seat with his own cup of tea. He looked very serious, as if Nie Huaisang’s opinion on things mattered to him.

It was nice. Most people just looked really long-suffering when they talked with Nie Huaisang, and those were the people that actually liked him.

“Okay,” Nie Huaisang said. “So. Theoretically, if a person were trying to set up a marriage between, hypothetically, two people who would be perfect for each other, and I do mean disgustingly everything-would-be-wonderful-for-everyone sort of perfect, and they were just, you know, refusing for absolutely no valid reason other than their own stupid issues –”

“How in the world did you figure out that I was trying to get Wangji to confess his affections to Wei Wuxian?” Lan Xichen said, sounding stunned. “I didn’t tell anyone…You really are a genius, Huaisang.”

Nie Huaisang blinked, then lifted his head off the table, settling his chin on his hands.

“That actually wasn’t what I was talking about,” he admitted. “But now you have my full attention and I don’t care about my issue anymore. Tell me everything.”

“So, fun fact!” Nie Huaisang said, bouncing into his brother’s bedroom just in time to help him undo his braids before sleep. It was his favorite chore, no matter how much his brother protested that it wasn’t a chore and also that he’d been doing it for himself for years and seriously he could do it himself if Nie Huaisang wasn’t so stupidly possessive about being the only one allowed to do it any time they were both at home with violations punished of having Nie Mingjue’s fingers smacked with Nie Huaisang’s fan, all of which Nie Huaisang treated as the irrelevant and pointless statements they were. “I was just over at the Cloud Recesses visiting Xichen-xiong and he’s clearly super into me.”

“What,” his brother said.

Nie Huaisang cackled and dug his fingers into his brother’s thick hair – he was so jealous, his own was thin and stringy and brushing it definitely did not feel like petting a tiger the way it did when he did Nie Mingjue’s hair. He watched in the mirror with satisfaction as his brother’s shoulders immediately relaxed, all the anger and tension flowing out of them at once as a result of Nie Huaisang’s careful training over the years, although Nie Mingjue’s eyebrows still stayed sky high.

“I’m serious!” Nie Huaisang said, starting to release the braids. “He said that he respects me, and that he thinks I’m a genius. He has to have a thing for me. The only possible reason anyone would respect me is if all the blood had left their brain and they were blinded by my overwhelming prettiness!”

His brother seemed torn between denying Nie Huaisang’s statement that no one could respect him and telling him to stop being so full of himself about the overwhelming prettiness comment.

“Maybe Xichen just went insane,” he ended up saying instead. “That seems marginally more likely.”

“An excellent point,” Nie Huaisang acknowledged because, well, it was. “Now, totally unrelatedly, did you know that the Jin sect is treating poor Jin Guangyao just awful? Madame Jin throws things and Sect Leader Jin yells and blames him for stuff and it’s just so sad, we should do something about it.”

“Something like invite him here to live as my brand new bride, I’m guessing,” Nie Mingjue said, voice extremely dry. “You’re incredibly not subtle.”

Nie Huaisang freed a hand and held up a finger pointedly. “Ah, ah! Xichen-xiong says I’m a genius.”

His brother fell silent for a few moments. “You’re right,” he finally said. “He must have a crush on you. Not even insanity would explain this.”

Nie Huaisang sniggered.

“Also, really, Meng Yao?” Nie Mingjue asked. “That was who you were planning on setting me up with? You have to know that wouldn’t work.” He shifted in his chair. “…are they really beating him there?”

Huh, maybe Lan Xichen was right and Nie Huaisang really was a genius.

He wisely decided not to answer – it would work better if his brother investigated and found out the (admittedly fairly awful, according to the servants’ gossip) details for himself – and instead said, “Why’d you kick him out, anyway? I thought he got stabbed saving you. Whatever he did, how big of a deal could it have been, really?”

“He committed premeditated murder. In the middle of an attack on the sect, no less.”

Damnit, Meng Yao! Can’t you make things easy on me for once?!

“Okay,” Nie Huaisang said, tugging on one of the braids until Nie Mingjue, who’d tensed up, relaxed again. It was a nice that his brother was so easily trainable, or at least he was on everything other than saber practice. Surely that was a selling point that Jin Guangyao could appreciate in a man? “Uh. Have you considered that, uh – well, maybe it could have been justified?”

“I asked him for an explanation,” Nie Mingjue growled. “His reason boiled down to ‘that guy was a dick to me’.”

“Wow,” Nie Huaisang said. “I have such strong empathy for Meng Yao’s position, you have no idea.”

“Huaisang.”

“I’m just saying, if we could stab everyone who acted like a dick…”

“Huaisang. No.”

“You know you want to.”

“But I don’t,” Nie Mingjue insisted. “He used the cover of battle, a Wen sword…he even tried to blame Xue Yang for it when I literally saw him holding the sword in his hand! I should have executed him right then and there, and I would have, if he hadn’t saved my life.”

A tricky one, Nie Huaisang thought. But not a match for me, Nie Huaisang: Lan Xichen-certified genius.

“Okay,” he said. “But…you already punished him for that, right? You exiled him. He was exiled. It was all very sad, tears were shed, mostly by me but also a bit by you – we’re an emotional family – and just possibly by Meng Yao, though who even knows, maybe Jin Guangshan’s spawn are all born without tear ducts as a congenital deficiency. But any way you look at it, it’s done now, and that means he can come back!”

“Huaisang. That’s not how exile works.”

“Uh, I think you’ll find that it does,” Nie Huaisang said haughtily. “There are at least five incidents in the Nie sect’s history where something comparable has happened.”

“Really.” His brother’s voice was very, very dry.

“Really,” Nie Huaisang insisted.

“And you, with your amazing ability to retain facts, know this…how?”

“Okay fine, I made that up,” Nie Huaisang confessed. “But I will find some and prove to you that it’s a thing! And then you’ll have no choice but to agree with my plan!”

“That’s not how that works, either,” Nie Mingjue said. “But if you’re willing to knuckle down and do the historical research to justify your bullshit, I’ll – consider it.”

“I will! You’ll see!”

“Xichen-xiong!” Nie Huaisang wept, clinging onto Lan Xichen’s arm. “You have to help me! There are so many books! And they’re all so long! They’re doing it just to spite me personally!”

Lan Xichen managed, with a truly remarkable amount of skill, to detach Nie Huaisang from his arm and settle him down in a chair in record time. If Nie Huaisang didn’t know better, he would have guessed that he’d done it before dozens, maybe even hundreds, of times, but of course they didn’t know each other that well.

Pity, that. Nie Huaisang might not need him as urgently as he needed Jin Guangyao, but losing out on having Lan Xichen as his er-ge was also a big downside of the whole not-swearing-brotherhood thing.

“What’s the problem this time, Huaisang?” Lan Xichen asked. He did not seem all that concerned, which...yeah, fair.

“I need you to do some research for me,” Nie Huaisang said, batting his eyelashes at him to see if that would work. “Nie sect history. Please?”

Lan Xichen tensed a little. It was a minute gesture, barely even noticeable. “On…what subject? Does your brother know?”

“Free passage laws and border restrictions,” Nie Huaisang said, and Lan Xichen visibly relaxed. “And of course he knows, he assigned it! Do you think I would do boring old historical research for fun?”

Lan Xichen smiled again, and Nie Huaisang counted it as a victory.

“All right, I’ll help,” he said indulgently, then paused. “Just…this isn’t part of some scheme, right?”

“Of course not,” Nie Huaisang said, injured. “Why would you even ask that? I am the most scheme-less person you could ever meet in your life. There are newborn baby rabbits that are more scheming than me!”

This was because newborn baby rabbits were dicks. Lan Wangji made him hold one once and Nie Huaisang was pretty sure it deliberately pissed on his fingers.

Lan Xichen coughed into his sleeve, just barely managing not to laugh in face. “I’m sure you are. No reason for asking. Did you bring the records you wanted me to look through?”

“By total coincidence, in fact, I did! Not that I would assume that you’d agree, of course.”

“…of course, Huaisang.”

“Jin-xiong!” Yes, Nie Huaisang was going for it; Jin Zixuan was just going to have to deal. “Jin-xiong, I have been informed by reliable sources that you’re a big fan of power, am I right?”

Jin Guangyao actually reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose – he must be very tired, to react that way while Nie Huaisang was still present.

In fairness, he really had been having a hard time of it recently. Even putting aside how awful it must be to live with Sect Leader Jin and his wife – it was no surprise (to Nie Huaisang, anyway) that their own son and heir spent a disturbingly large portion of his time visiting the Lotus Pier with his wife, even accounting for having to deal with the world’s most over-protective brothers-in-law – there were all the problems the Jin sect was having, the way Sect Leader Jin’s nasty and arrogant reactions to being challenged only seemed to be making it all worse, and then of course there was also the fact that Nie Mingjue had literally punched Sect Leader Jin in the face after he’d come in unexpectedly and caught him throwing a cup of tea on Jin Guangyao.

(That particular disaster was still ongoing, actually, and at very high volume – Jin Guangyao had been waiting anxiously outside the door, which wasn’t going to do him a single bit of good, but luckily for him Nie Huaisang was here to distract him from all of his troubles. Wasn’t Nie Huaisang a wonderfully nice person?)

“Jin-xiong,” Nie Huaisang whined, tugging on Jin Guangyao’s sleeve until the other man had no choice but to follow him further down the hallway and further away from the receiving room where the current Nie-Jin shouting session was happening behind them. “Tell me. Am I right?”

“You’re really excitable today, Huaisang,” Jin Guangyao said instead of answering. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Actually, I really, really, really hate flying on my saber and I’ve had to do it so often recently, it’s been terrible, you have no idea how much I’ve suffered, but I’m at least marginally hopeful that it’ll all be worth it in the end. But enough about me. You, power…how would you really like to tell your father and his wife where to shove it?”

“Huaisang,” Jin Guangyao said helplessly. “We’re in the middle of Koi Tower. Can you at least keep your voice down?”

Pssh, like Nie Huaisang cared what some Jin sect retainers thought. His brother just punched their sect leader in the face, what in the world was he going to do that would top that?

“Really,” he insisted, deciding to ignore Jin Guangyao’s clearly misplaced objections. “Consider it for a moment. How would you like to obtain fame, power, wealth, legitimacy – of the public-recognition variety, not the familial sort, you got that already – the ability to rub your success into your father’s face and also possibly jump up and down on it a few times, and, just as a bonus, also maybe become Chief Cultivator?”

Technically, wife of the Chief Cultivator, but in reality there was no way he wouldn’t be the one doing all the work. People were being really insistent about there being one, and with Jin Guangshan out of the picture, Lan Xichen acting weirdly shifty, and Jiang Cheng being Jiang Cheng, the entire cultivation world were all currently forming a consensus that it was going to be Nie Mingjue regardless of whether he actually agreed to take the job. So if Nie Huaisang’s poor beleaguered big brother was going to get stuck with the title, why not give the work to someone who’d actually enjoy it?

“Huaisang,” Jin Guangyao said, and his voice was so overtly sorrowful and pathetic that Nie Huaisang actually stopped to goggle at him. “I have never once sought personal power nor pursued ambition on my own behalf, and I regret that you think of me in that way.”

He paused for a moment.

“You can keep talking, though.”

“Excellent,” Nie Huaisang said. “So the plan is –”

“Forgive my language,” Lan Xichen said, his voice a little strangled. “But what the fuck?”

Nie Huaisang giggled. “I didn’t know the Lan sect permitted swearing.”

“It doesn’t. I’ll punish myself later,” Lan Xichen said, still staring blankly into space. “I just…they’re getting married? All those changes, and they end up getting married?”

“Technically, they’re eloping,” Nie Huaisang said. “Since they’re not actually getting Jin-xiong’s father’s permission and all…oh, Madame Jin looks angry enough to eat glass. I love weddings!”

Lan Xichen turned to look at him with narrowed eyes.

“Huaisang,” he said warningly. “This was a scheme on your part, wasn’t it?”

“Uh, I mean, okay, maybe a little,” Nie Huaisang confessed. “But only a little. A mini-scheme. A micro-plot. A stratagem. Oooh, did I intrigue? I like that. I’m intriguing.”

“You certainly are that,” Lan Xichen said dryly. “But…why?”

“Because now Jin-xiong – we can still call him that, right? I don’t think his father has the right to take back the name once it’s given, even if he does go ahead and disown him the way he’s threatening to – now Jin-xiong can do all the paperwork and make things run efficiently back home, and also it’s now totally in his best interest to make sure my brother stays sect leader and Chief Cultivator forever because otherwise he loses the basis of his own power,” Nie Huaisang explained. “And thus far I haven’t seen anything that Jin-xiong – oh, I can call him sao-zi now, that’s much more straightforward! – anything that he can’t do if he puts his mind to it. Which means I am now guaranteed to have a nice long life full of sweet, blissful nothing! No responsibilities! Freedom!”

He paused.

“Oh, and obviously they’ll be great together, really happy and all that,” he added. “That’s important too.”

Lan Xichen put his hand up to his forehead, but he was smiling broadly now – not the tiny little smiles Nie Huaisang had managed to steal up out of him up until now, but a big old grin.

“Anyway, now that that’s over and done with, I promise, no more schemes,” Nie Huaisang added, putting his hand on his heart. “This is the last one, okay? If you don’t believe me, you can write it into our marriage vows.”

Lan Xichen huffed a little, clearly not believing him, but he sounded fond about it. “Whatever you say, Huaisang – wait. Hold on. Our what?”

“Our marriage vows,” Nie Huaisang explained. “At our marriage. On account of your total inexplicable crush on me, which upon reflection I have generously decided to accept and return your affections.”

Lan Xichen’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish.

“Of course, we’re not going to be so lucky as to just elope,” Nie Huaisang continued thoughtfully. “Da-ge can’t have a proper wedding ceremony because people will be too afraid of irritating Sect Leader Jin to attend, but if we have a nice big party to announce my engagement to you, well, that’s different, right? They can all come to that. It’ll be like a secret-not-secret wedding that everyone knows is a wedding but with the plausible deniability that it’s totally just an engagement party. But if we have the big announcement, there’s no getting out of doing all the steps and rituals and whatnot, and, oh, we’ll have to deal with your uncle and our elders…it’ll be a disaster, really. So much work!”

He sighed. “Oh, the things I do for you, Xichen-gege! You’re very lucky I like you so much!”

Lan Wangji cleared his throat behind them both, and they turned to look at him – he was standing there with his arm around Wei Wuxian’s waist, which was more or less the same posture he was always in these days. Now that was one marriage – arranged as it might have been originally, with Lan Xichen pressuring Jiang Cheng until he agreed – that had gone very well, even if Lan Wangji was still a little cold with his brother over the extremely aggressive tactics he had employed in getting them together.

“Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, brother,” Lan Wangji said, somewhat stone faced. “It couldn’t have happened to someone more deserving.”

Wei Wuxian, by his side, smiled and nodded. “If you’d like any help planning the wedding –” he started to say.

“Oh, would you?” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, clapping his hands in excitement. “Wei-xiong, you’re the best. We’re going to need at least a thousand of those spirit summon flags of yours.”

“A – a thousand? Do you know how long it’ll take me to draw a thousand talismans?!”

“Well, how else will we guarantee that we have a hunt so impressive that no one will ever stop talking about it?” Nie Huaisang asked, because obviously that’s what his da-ge would have wanted for his own wedding and since Nie Huaisang messed that up for his own purposes, having it at his was the least he could do to make it up to him.

Best of all, as the bride, he’d be all decked out in jewelry and fancy clothing and exactly nobody would expect him to participate. Win-win!

“Chop-chop, Wei-xiong! The wedding’s happening sooner rather than later, so if you think you’re going to have problems keeping up with demand, I’ll send some Nie sect disciples with decent handwriting over to you to learn. I think some of the people sao-zi is bringing with him from the Jin sect have some background in demonic cultivation too, I don’t know, but I’ll find out and let you know as soon as possible. You need to train up some people anyway so that you can ramp up production – once you start selling your talismans, more people will use them, and people will be much less afraid of you. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were both gaping at him. Possibly he had used too many words at once for them – or maybe it was just the speed in which he’d said it?

Lan Xichen started laughing.

“This is fine,” he said, wiping his eyes. “It’s just so much better than – yes, this is fine.”

Nie Huaisang was glad he agreed.

It meant the epic getting-together scheme that he’d had half-planned in the back of his mind in the event Lan Xichen said no could be safely shelved for another day.

Victory!

#mdzs #nie huaisang #nie mingjue #lan xichen #jin guangyao #nieyao #xisang #my fic #my fics #letitdevour #intriuging

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