#not to mention the tornadoes going through this area

[mishapen-dear]

rough art tips to learn and then break at your leisure.

the distance between your eyes is roughly one eye. the corners of your mouth dont extend past the middle of each eye. ears are roughly in the middle of the tip of the nose and the eyebrow. the eyes are in the very centre of the head. the neck is just a Little slimmer than the width of the head (varies with fat distribution, but fat tends to build up under the chin). hair is easier to draw when you plot out the hairline and then where it parts. leaving appropriate distance on the side of the face (cheekbone area and back to ear) contributes to making characters look more realistic/hot as hell. i dont know specific tips for that so use reference. an amazing reference/study site is lineofaction.com . if you think of the face in planes it makes it easier to construct (look up tutorials). if you draw a spiral like a tornado it can help you figure out awkward perspective for extended limbs (look up foreshortening coil technique). tangent lines are when two lines intersect and cause visual confusion (when it looks like a line that defines an arm is part of the line that defines a building, for example) and avoiding them makes your art way easier to comprehend. quick trick to good composition: choose a focal point (where you want your viewer to focus), detail that area the most, and make sure various elements of the piece are pointing to that focal point. you can use colours to contrast hue, saturation, and brightness and make certain elements of your drawing stand out. drawing in greyscale can help you figure out values. using black in a piece isn't illegal but you should know what you're doing when you do use it- it desaturates a piece and if used as a shading colour can desaturate and dull whatever youre shading too. if you use almost-black lineart and then add black to darken the very darkest areas it will do a lot to add some nice depth. the tip of your thumb ends just above the start of your index finger- your thumb also has two knuckles and all your other fingers have three. if you see an artist doing something you like (the way they draw noses or eyes or hair or anything else) you can try to copy that and see if you want to incorporate it in your style <- this is ENCOURAGED and how a lot of us learned and developed our styles. there are ways to add wrinkles to faces and bodies without making the character look a million years old, you just have to keep experimenting with it. The smile wrinkles around your muzzle dont connect to your mouth or to your nose; there should be a small space in between smile or nose and the wrinkle line. eyes when viewed in profile are like < aka a little triangle shape. think of the pupil like a disk and apply foreshortening to it (it looks like a line when seen from the side instead of a full round dot). subtle gradients can add a LOT to a piece. texture can also add a LOT. look up Tommy Arnold's work (his murderbot pieces are some of my FAVOURITE) and zoom in. find those random little circles he added and try to figure out why he added them there. light bounces. there's lots of way light bounces. sometimes it even spreads through the skin. i do not know these light tricks yet but i want you to know that they exist. draw a circle to indicate hand placement, draw a straight line between that circle and the shoulder, and then (normally at a right angle) draw a straight line on top of that line to find the placement of the elbow. elbows are normally placed Just above the hip when standing and your arm is at rest. there are no bad colour combos if you're brave enough about it, just fuck with the saturation and brightness until it works. keep playing. try new things. add your own tips to this post if you want or even expand on some ive mentioned here. good luck go ham etc

#look at this post #the sum of almost all of my art knowledge #all that i can remember rn anyway lmaooo #shit i didn't mention the tips for backgrounds that i know #eh that's environment most of this deals with character work anyway #i learned most of this from tutorials and kind artists who like to talk about their work #i would not know NEARLY as much about creative shit as i do if it weren't for the people who were willing to talk about their skills #and their tricks and their observations. id be nothing without them i dont remember most of them but i am so so grateful for that kindness #so ig here ill spread that a little further #if you have any questions go ahead and ask i am a NERD about art okay i do not know everything but i am always willing to talk about what i #do know #art tips #one of the most important things for you to do as an experienced or beginner artist tho #is to PLAY #experiment #figure out what's fun and what looks nice and what looks nice faster and just. whatever the fuck you want to learn #it is SUCH a joy

[captainjacklyn]

first year gang (+ grim if that's okay) reacting to yuu/mc getting heavily injured in front of them and losing lots of blood? (mostly from overblot)

it can be plantonic or romantic

Another request to go ! Thank you for requesting Anon, I'm so sorry it came out so late. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved doing it.

Content : You get heavily injured in a fight with another overblot, how do the first years individually react to such a devastating sight ?

Warning(s) : mentions of blood and injury, reader is gender neutral so they/them, it can be platonic or romantic whatever suits your taste, might have cussing ? idk. Anyways, have a fun time reading.

First years reacting to mc/yuu getting hurt :

Ace Trappola

If I remember correctly, an insult was enough to make him worked up. He literally punched the living sh*t out of his dorm leader, so try imagining what would happen if you got physically injured.

His mind instantly snaps upon seeing you get hurt, he may sometimes act like a jerk. But no one hurts his best friend.

Especially you.

Loses his temper, will try to murder whoever is over blotting even if they're not mentally stable.

hell he isn't either, after they turn back to normal, he won't hesitate to slap them across the face and spit as many insults there is.

When you're brought to the school nurse, he isn't coming because he's not done with your attacker but Ace will shoot you an anxious glance.

Once you heal up, this guy will fucking scold you but he means good. For once you're not the mom of the group.

"What kind of idiot jumps right in front of strike ?! You're lucky we saved you or you would've been dead by now stupid-"

He's not nice about it cause you made him way too worried. He's supposed to be the one messing around, don't be so reckless especially if your life is at stake.

Doesn't mind fun but not the type of fun that's gonna get you killed.

"*sigh* just c'mere- Yeah don't ask why I'm hugging you, that answer is FAIRLY OBVIOUS !"

Deuce spade

Deuce is one of the first to check up on you and your injury, if you're unconscious he's going to repeatedly call out your name and beg you to wake up.

He's panicking, and he knows that it doesn't help the situation. But fear quickly turned into anger by the time you were put to safety.

"You...HOW DARE YOU HURT THEM ?! YOU SICK BASTARD !"

There goes that guy, rest his soul cause getting killed by deuce is the exact opposite of he died peacefully in his sleep.

after a couple days, you would be fully recovered and you can bet this blue haired ex-delinquent will be all over you.

He'll scold you too but not as much as Ace, deuce is a sweet idiot and honestly I love him for it.

Deuce is trying his best but he can't help being mad at himself for not being able to protect you, you're his best friend/Lover !

You need to reassure him that you're fine and that's enough, he's glad you're trying to cheer him up but YOU'RE THE ONE WITH A RUPTURED SPINE- HOW THE HELL IS THAT FAIR ?!

"Repeat after me : I promise.." "Deuce this is stupid" "NO, say 'I promise..?" "...I promise..." "TO NEVER BECOME A HUMAN SHIELD"

"...."

"Just do it."

"...I promise I won't become a....human shield..?"

Epel Felmier

Ok this man is loosing his temper. But like imagine the : you called him a girl temper, now reimagine that but then triple the anger.

Yup.

That attacker/overblot dude is dead, he's about to die.

Like Epel doesn't even need help he's already cowboying his way through- wait is that a damn lasso.

Destroying the whole area as if he was an active tornado just obliterating everything and everyone.

Epel is most likely to stand by this quote : "You mess with them/her/him, you mess with me."

Doesn't matter if you're just his friend or partner, that man has loyalty and he is going to tackle anyone in the stomach just for looking at you the wrong way.

He may look pretty but he is deadly, I can assure you that no need to test it.

He won't be panicking when you recover, he's just gonna be relieved you're ok.

Will probably pout a little cause you worried him so much but besides that he hopes that you won't pull a stunt like that again.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing alright.."

Sebek Zigvolt

Ok this one. Is pissed.

He's not gonna let that offense go, you and wake-sama are placed on an equal pedestal so it means that if you get hurt then that means the only suitable punishment to the cause is d e a t h.

Crocodile Sebek goes BRRRRRRRR-

Proceeds to annihilate the bastard, like have some fucking mercy dude- I have never seen a scrope pounding this severe in my whole entire life.

yeah no, the victim isn't getting up after getting his balls turned into a size eleven sneaker.

Sebek is gonna give you those 4 hour lectures when you wake up and there is no escaping it cause you got a leg turned into mash potato.

"And so that is why you should NEVER put yourself in danger EVER again-"

"EPel please save me"

"Where do you think you're going ?!"

🎶RUN FAST FOR YOUR MOTHER, FAST FOR YOUR FATHER~ !!!

RUN FOR YOUR CHILDREN, FOR YOUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS 🎶

🎶LEAVE ALL YOUR LOVE AND YOUR LONGING BEHIND-!!

YOU CAN'T CARRY IT WITH YOU IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE~🎶

THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER-ER !!!

Sorry I got carried away, I just love this song so much T_T.

Running through the halls like a one-legged track star as students just hear Sebek yelling from the other side of campus.

Jack Howl

Ok he turns into big wolf boy the second he takes the sight of you getting hit and heavily injured.

He is going to eat that overbold guy alive, no questions asked.

He was baring his teeth before now he's full on destroying them into oblivion.

Man gets angry, growling was a warning until they crossed the damn line by putting you in danger.

"I WON'T FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS !"

Now it doesn't really matter wether he's your partner, best friend or some kind of family figure. Cause that man is guarantee the best guy to have around, like...LOOK AT HIM !?

he may act tough but he's a real softie that does his best to play fair and square.

No matter what you see him as, Jack is protective and looks after to you. Even more than you can do actually !

Once the fight is over, he's going to the nurse to check up on you.

When he sees that you're out of harms way he's gonna grumble a little bit.

"You really are reckless, don't pull a stunt like that again..Uh ?! No I wasn't worried ! You're strong, there is no way that kind of injury would be able to take you out anyway. But still...I'm glad to see you're alright."

I know this isn't very good, I'm sorry for not being active as much these days but since it's now the holidays. I'll be posting a lot more with how much time I got !

Thank you for reading !

#twst #first years #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst x mc #twst x yuu #twst x you #twst x y/n #twistedwonderland #disney twisted wonderland oc #twst disney #disney twst #disney twisted wonderland #jack howl #ace trappola #deuce spade #epel felmier #sebek zigvolt #twst wonderland #twst imagines #twst headcanons #twst hcs #twisted wonderland headcanons #twisted wonderland ace #twisted wonderland deuce #twisted wonderland epel #twisted wonderland sebek #twisted wonderland jack #twisted wonderland imagines

[lavender-z-love]

Is this Love?

Douma X Black.Fem Reader

Genre: Demon x Demon Slayer, Demon Boyfriend AU, Human X Demon, Angst, Fluff Ig? Yandere x Tsundere? Action?

Warnings: Blood, Mentions of stabby stab (tryna keep it PG.) Yandere themes. SPELLING/ GRAMMAR ERRORS

A/n: I know Douma has a few screws loose, but lets ignore that for now. (This was a request) I've only seen 5 minutes of Demon Slayer but I did some research on homeboy and he is an interesting Antagonist. Also, Ik the powers kinda wack, just work with me here—I'll be doing some revisions too so if something looks different dont be alarmed

Wordcount: 1k-ish? Ill count later.

Part 1: Here ♡

Part 2: (More Yandere stuff. Nun too crazy)

The Heavenly Hashira. That was you title. You were known for your Aerokinesis, tessen abilities. You weren't the strongest nor the weakest, but you could hold yourself astoundingly well compared to the others. There was no denying that the Heavenly Hashira had quite a few deaths of demons on her hands.

The walk through the dark night was silent. A cool and Icy breeze began to pick up, you shivered.. It felt familiar but you just couldn't put your finger on it.

That was until you heard..That voice. "Don't you know its dangerous for a gorgeous woman to be walking around at night...Alone?" You stop in your tracks, eyes scanning the area in attempt to find where he was hiding. Nowhere in your eyesight, meaning he had to be somewhere behind you.

You take a deep, concentrated breath.. Springing into the air, looking below you. Rest assured there he was. Large muscular build, platinum blonde hair—Leaning up against a tree, waving at you, those cold rainbow eyes smile at you.

With your Tessen in hand, You whisper a quick chant before whisking your arm around. Shooting a atmospheric gas in the form of a small cyclone.

The last thing you wanted to do was create a large one and lose control of it. Once the cyclone reaches the demon it combusts.

You gently land, one foot touching the ground before the other. Your eyes glued on the now clouded area due to the combustible cyclone you sent towards him.

To no avail, no damage was done. Of course what would one expect from one of the most dangerous demons. He walked out of the cloud unscathed, still with that apathetic smile on his face.

"Well..Good evening to you too. Y/n", He spoke."

The air getting colder by the minute, amost like tiny miniscule icicles formed in the air. Breathing in was starting to hurt, causing you to breathe more conservatively. "I'm not here to hurt you, Y/n, Let's just chat for a moment", he cooed.

"Talk? I have no desire to speak with you." He lowers his voice, somewhat husky now. Those symbols within his eyes studying you.

"Playing 'hard to get' I see. You're So cold-hearted Y/n.." He smiled, eyebrows following helping him display a flirty expression as he continued pacing forward.

Of course, you walk backwards not wanting to come into contact with him. The ground started to crawl, a force growing quickly at Douma's feet and working their way towards you. Vines created by Ice, growing.

"Just let me say a few things and I'll consider letting you go for a bit.."

"Huh? Letting me—"

The vines shaped into large lotuses, the icy vines capturing you by your wrists. The vines, growing spikes rushing towards you. In a panic, you wave your fans around. Doused in pink aura, your wind slices the Ice lotus. Your wrists now free you turn and leap, hoping to get out the range of the Ice limbs Douma was creating.

Taking your tessen you use them to your advantage, utilizing its ability to give you a jump boost. Not long after the cold air picks up once more. Seeing Douma chase after you swiftly. Chanting then waving your Tessen as you hopped tree branch from tree branch.

"I advise you to Stop Y/n, I promise I won't hurt you", He says evily chuckling. Creating cyclones, tornadoes of all sorts- taking advantage of the freezing clouds Douma was producing. Sending hurricanes of sharpened Icicles right back at him. The frozen mist slowly engulfing you from behind, as you raced back to the others hoping you could lure him back to the others.

Dodging large wintery icicle shards that plummet from above. 'There! The Estate!' It was just at your fingertips, and then...Dragged down from the sky by Lotus vines. "Y/n, I love a good chase...but I really must confess something."

The vines tossing you around, one minute you hang upside down, the next you're thrown and caught upright. The vines wrapped around your waist vigorously. Holding you still for the deadly demon before you.

Pushing away at the vines, only for them to nearly squeeze you to death as a punishment.

"Release me!", you shout. You wriggle your wrist, striving to create some sort of wave strong enough to break the vines.

Douma, appearing so suddenly right in front of you. Face to Face, His hands latching onto your wrists, keeping them at a halt. His long blue nails, grazing your skin— He snatches the Tessen away from you.

"Fun game Y/n.. I thank you, I needed that run."

You stayed quiet, thinking of the things you'd never done yet..preparing yourself to be consumed.

"I wanted to tell you before— seems like..I've come to fancy you."

"...What?" You're neck nearly snapping as you turn to look at the demon. You studied his face, waiting for him to say he was joking of some sort. "You?...You heartless, unemotional psycho- Are you really capable of such emotions? Don't make me laugh", you scoffed. Douma's usual casual smile drops..

"Heartless..Unemotional?..How saddening you've been convinced I have no feelings..However–" ,With your Metal Fans Douma had taken from you, he closes them before bringing them up to your chin. Gently, lifting up your chin to look at him. "Explain to me what these feelings are..I don't think a emotionless being would feel what I am feeling right now."

"That doesn't change the fact the you're psycho-"

Douma gazes at you, his rainbow eyes undressing you in the process. His smile ever so alluring, baring his sharp fangs. "Psycho, I guess so. I'm a psycho for you."

Noticing that you were slowly moving backwards, now with your back to a tree, icy vines that held you captive loosen, not quite unwinding from you. In an instant, pale fingers intertwine with yours. Caging you to the tree. "Join me Y/n, I'll make you happy."

You shocked by his sudden proposal, pulling at your restraints and his hands. "NO!" Wriggling one hand free, you reach behind you grabbing a spare hidden weapon you carried just incase of an emergency. A blade, now shoved through Douma's skull from his chin and up. Warm crimson staining your hand as it drizzles down. Catching him completely by surprise, his eyes widened with shock.

His hand, swiftly yanking out the weapon out of his face. Blood following the weapon once disguarded. Slightly regretting your actions as you watched him turn his attention back to you. Expecting for your life to be cut short then and there, the opposite happened.

His pale hands, blue claws pinning your free hand to the tree. His eyes sparkled in amazement, desplaying admiration for you. "Oh my, such a beautiful and clean piercing."

He leans in, leaning in close to your face. "You really are something. An slayer capturing my heart..how interesting."

"You're not fooling me, let me go or kill me!"

"The last thing I'd want to do Is fool you, let alone kill you", he cooes. The Demon gazing at your lips every now and then, allowing you to catch onto what he wanted. You turned your head away from him. Leaving Douma chuckling, his fangs once again flashing. "Well..That will come in due time." His multicolored eyes scan you,"Hmm..how about you come with me?"

"What?", you question.

"You heard me, I'm. Taking. You. With. Me!" He sings happily.

..'This guy is really insane you through to yourself.' Douma chuckles, holding the fan before you. He opens it, puckering his lips and blowing icy dust into your face.

"As if id go with you willingly–"

Your sentence discontinued by the substance introduced to your lungs. You wheeze with disgust, in attempt to cough up what you ingested. The swiftness of your limbs going numb, followed by sleepiness now taking control.

Douma smiles joyfully as you slouch against the tree now keeping you up. His vines now releasing you as you fall before him. "I do have to admit, while I absolutely adore you fired up..This, Sleepiness suits you well too Love."

Douma kneels down to your level, reaching out to you. He loops one arm around your back and the other below your knees— carrying you Bridal style.

"Stop..l-let me go", your voice sleepily slurred.

"Mm-mm, the both of us have things to discuss. Take a nap in the meantime, okay?" His smile, the last thing your eyes saw before quickly succumbing to the slumber spell placed upon you.

Practically skipping with you in arms Douma heads back to his Resort. The satisfying sound crunching of dead leaves under his feet follow him.

"Don't worry Y/n..You'll come to terms with my feelings— No matter how long it takes. I will make you mine."

Written May 31st, 2023

#douma x reader #douma x you #douma x y/n #douma x black reader #Demon Slayer AU #doma x reader #Doma x you #Doma x y/n #demon slayer scenarios #demon slayer x reader #Demon Slayer X You #demon slayer imagine #douma icons #douma smut #Douma Scenarios #douma imagine #Doma imagines #demon slayer oneshots #demon slayer original character #demon slayer angst #demon slayer fanfic #demon slayer fluff

[bomberqueen17]

encouraging

Last night I got very mildly high (a really great thing about being middle-aged in this new era of legal weed is that it's really easy to get very consistent and reliable gummies with very consistent and reliable doses of THC so you can get yourself very mildly stoned, not enough to freak out or like lose time or anything, just enough to be Altered and take a little mini-vacation from your own brainweasels, and wake up refreshed the next day instead of hung-over) and scrolled Tumblr until I saw that post about multi-vortex "dead man walking" tornadoes again, and that got me to go search up the one they mentioned by name and then go into a wikipedia spiral about destructive multi-vortex tornadoes. (The post, shockingly, isn't totally accurate, but isn't like. wrong-wrong. For the record though the dead man walking bit of the tornado wasn't as deadly as the just wall-of-black that came later.)

And actually while it was terrifying to see what kind of destruction the weather can wreak, it was kind of... encouraging. Reading the accounts of historical storms and more recent ones, there's this throughline of learning, of new regulations and guidelines, of science being done. The old historic tornadoes, not only were the casualties high, but the aftermath horrible, people missing, fires wiping out survivors, local economies irrevocably destroyed. The newer tornadoes, often the weather itself was more severe, but there are fewer and fewer casualties, better warnings and advice from meteorologists, better government response. I didn't track any of my sources on this and I've closed the window so I'd stop reading about it, but I read with interest about how in 1991 a news team sheltered under an overpass during a scary but relatively weak tornado, and broadcast footage of this, and then in a much stronger early-2000s tornado, a number of people were killed sheltering under highway overpasses, and then by the 2010s the advice to avoid highway overpasses had become common knowledge, and people are no longer being killed this way. (Also I finally had my question answered, having been on the Thruway during a tornado warning: why not shelter under an overpass? Well! Because of fluid dynamics. Just as water pressure intensifies when going through a sudden narrowing in a pipe, so too does wind going through a narrower space, so if you're hiding in that narrow space you are gonna get sucked out of it. So if you find yourself out in the open, do not shelter under a bridge or overpass! Shelter instead in a ditch if you can find one, or a hollow in the ground, something open to the sky so the wind will not intensify passing through it. Now You Know. ok fine I reopened the tab to cite this: NOAA's page on this topic)

Another one was a storm in the 20s where several of the casualties were farmers out in their fields, taken unawares. Normally farmers are weather-savvy, the article said, and would know to shelter from storms, but this tornado had an unusual appearance, and took them by surprise. Contrast that to later storms, where mobile radars were deployed, where meterologists and broadcasters had protocols already in place, where local inhabitants knew to listen and knew how to respond-- there are still instances of bad advice, like an Oklahoma TV weatherman telling people to get in their cars and evacuate which led to gridlock on the local highway which would have resulted in hundreds of casualties save for the tornado missing that area, but mostly people know now what to do. The casualties are much sparser, and many of them now are, instead of people making fatal mistakes, instead people doing the right thing but the storm just being too powerful. (No less tragic, but I suppose it's slightly less heartbreaking to know it was just bad luck and not also poor information.)

And you see examples like in 2011 the 12 oil rig workers, who sheltered in the change house, which due to new information about tornadoes had been built with tie-downs, which nearly failed but did not and all twelve souls were spared, and the company improved construction of future change houses as tornado shelters based on this information.

Anyway, it was a weird thing to fixate on for the evening but in the end it did leave me with a feeling of hopefulness. Like, this is a thing where science and good government actually can concretely improve outcomes.

Let's not extend our worry into climate change making all this worse, just yet, and leave it at this.

LOL this is so poorly cited I'm turning reblogs off, and hopefully I'm done obsessing about tornadoes for a lil bit now. Well, we'll see if that resolution sticks, I reopened tabs to put in at least minimal citations here and haven't closed them yet.

#about the author #tornadoes #brief hyperfixations

[fluffle-writes]

Heyyo saw your au on twst and sky cotl. Regarding skyYuu being hurt by rain, if your talking about the rain in Hidden Forest? Cuz the rain in the forest was cuz it was toxic.

Also, you can swim and dive in sky. Your sky Kid is going to dependent on air bubbles, plus swimming much faster will drain some light. Opening, clams big or small can regain light, also some plants and fish can help sky Kid regain light. This is in an area on the west side of the lobby area of the Golden Wasteland (b4 going schwoop by the wind/tornado). There's a boat there, and you'll be able to visit the area. There are some Krill in the area, and

SPOILER ALERT

There is a big ass Krill thingy and it almost ate the sky Kid.

Fair point, I suppose I just really like the idea of the sky kids having a vulnerability that twst characters may see as odd/be unable to predict until they see it pan out.

And besides! There are little answers to these plot holes - perhaps the rain in TWST has magical properties of some sort where it acts like the forest rain does in Sky - only affecting the sky kids. It'd also add a nifty little thing where Kalim's UM is very very scary for the lil guys!

Or! Perhaps pollution in rainwater could be an issue - although such a thing works better in urban environments, I suppose. Sage Island doesn't seem as polluted as the modern world, after all...

(Besides, I can fudge the details a little bit for the sake of having fun with an AU/Fic (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠))

And yes, I'm well aware of the treasure reef! It'll be mentioned when I get to chapter three lol - the gang is gonna have to stop these kids from trying to crack open live clams (Floyd just accepts the free snacks tho haha)

The giant krills (I've seen them be called leviathans but don't take my word for it lol) scared me senseless the first time I went through that quest - it looked very beautiful in the PlayStation trailer though!

Anyway, this is all just my take on the potential for a crossover - you're free to have your own ideas/thoughts! It's fun to see different perspectives on an idea!

#twst #twisted wonderland #sky children of the light #twst:cotl AU #sky:cotl #sky:cotl spoilers

[sunrayretriever]

HI FRIENDS!!! FALL TORNADO SEASON IS UPON US AND WHILE THE WEATHER IN THE UNITED STATES IS CURRENTLY QUIET THERE'S A CHANCE IT COULD START RAMPING UP SOON so i wanted to make a tornado safety post to give people a good outline of what to do in case of a tornado or really any sort of severe storm! please reblog and spread, even if you aren't in the US because as im about to mention pretty much 97% of the earth can experience tornadoes so without further ado

tornadoes can literally happen everywhere and its really important to know basic safety so you dont end up impaled by a piece of flying debris going 70mph <3

if a tornado is approaching the rule is BASEMENT FIRST. if you dont have a basement then the center of an interior room on the lowest level of your house, such as a closet or interior hallway. get under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck. DO NOT OPEN YOUR WINDOWS. you'll want to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible.

IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME/TRAILER YOU ARE NOT SAFE. again IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME/TRAILER YOU ARE NOT SAFE. at all. end of story, doesnt matter where you go in a mobile home. you NEED to plan ahead and seek safe shelter please for the love of god plan ahead.

DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER HIGHWAY OVERPASSES.

if you are in unable to move yourself and no assistance is available, cover yourself with as many blankets and pillows as you can.

if you are OUTSIDE perhaps on a drive through the countryside, lie flat on your stomach in a ditch or gully and protect your head with your hands. your vehicle is not safe. i know it sounds very scary but again, find a ditch, lie flat.

IF YOU CAN- FIND A BANK, A FAST FOOD PLACE OR A GAS STATION, walk-in freezers and vaults can act as shelter if absolutely necessary.

lightning round

going to your shelter? bring shoes.

make a go-bag with items such as a spare charger, spare clothes and socks, flashlight, radio, extra medicine, medical cards, etc. and bring THAT to your shelter too.

download a weather app on your phone and maybe check it every once in a while and see what's going on. sky look weird? check it. raining too hard? check it. you can learn so much.

(these are types of weather alerts that the national weather service in the US uses, they may be different from what your country uses!)

a weather WATCH, such as a tornado watch, means severe weather could happen. you don't need to get to shelter or anything, but make sure you have plans just in case. pay close attention to local weather information as they can change VERY fast.

a weather WARNING, such as a tornado WARNING, means severe weather is either about to happen or is currently happening in your area. execute your plan calmly and quickly.

a tornado EMERGENCY is an enhanced version of a tornado warning, issued VERY RARELY when a stronger tornado is about to strike populated areas and the national weather service expects widespread damage and/or injuries and fatalities. i cannot stress to you all how absolutely important it is to TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!!!! DO NOT WASTE ANY TIME!!!

a great way to remember watches and warnings is making cookies cookie watch = you have the ingredients cookie warning = currently making cookies cookie emergency = eating the cookies.

anyways thanks for letting me slap this here on your timeline, i appreciate it :> i left out a lot of information im sure but i didn't wanna make this TOO long. if you have any questions my inbox is always open! i'm always happy to help!!

[angel-ponders]

Twister vs. Real Tornados: Part 3

<< Part 1 | Part 2

The Final F5 vs. the El Reno Tornado and the Jarrell Tornado

The final tornado of the film is the infamous F5, which is the highest you can go on the Fujita Scale. It ends up being a mile-wide wedge tornado, traveling across open fields and destroying mostly farming structures and very few homes.

Our protagonists approach the storm in what’s called a “core punch.” It’s an incredibly dangerous maneuver as you have to travel through the rainy (and often hailing) section of the storm to get to the a more favorable side of the tornado. This is especially dangerous if the tornado is rain-wrapped, which means it’s not very visible through the rain, but this move can be dicey in any tornadic storm.

The F5’s unexpected turn catches the seasoned storm chasers off guard, resulting in the death of a few of them and injuries to several others. Storm chaser deaths are actually quite rare, and when the film was initially released in 1996, no storm chasers had ever been killed while on the job. That has unfortunately changed since then, but it’s still an incredibly rare occurrence.

The El Reno 2013 Tornado

At 2.6 miles wide, the El Reno tornado is the widest tornado on record. The storm began in the rural area south of the town El Reno, Oklahoma, quickly growing in intensity as it moved across the land. Like its fictional counterpart, it changed directions so fast that many storm chasers were taken by surprise.

This video is from the Weather Channel’s Mike Bette, who was core punching it when it turned into them. The vehicle flipped over multiple times, but he and his his crew survived with relatively mild injuries.

This tornado also unfortunately claimed the lives of three storm chasers, making it the first time any storm chasers died while on the job. This happened 17 years after the deaths of chasers in the film Twister, so it’s truly a rare situation.

Unlike the storm chasers in Twister, however, the three men who lost their lives were widely respected in the chasing community. Tim Samaras was a fairly safe chaser, and often made appearances on the Discover Channels show Storm Chaser. At the time of El Reno, he was contributing to National Geographic. He had his son, Paul, with him on this trip, as well as meteorologist Carl Young.

The following footage was submitted to National Geographic in the week leading up to El Reno. None of the footage from the TWISTEX team of El Reno has ever been released (if it exists). Another storm chaser, Dan Robinson, was ahead of them on the highway when the tornado overtook them. He caught the incident with his rear-facing camera, but out of respect for the families, it also hasn’t been released.

The three men were part of the TWISTEX project, which, like the chasers in Twister, had the ultimate goal of understanding tornadoes better and increasing lead time for the warning system. Also like the film, this required getting in front of the tornado and releasing probes, which would take measurements of the storm.

Despite its enormous size and notable deaths, the El Reno tornado is only rated an EF3. This issue is hotly debated in the tornado community because the Enhanced Fujita Scale (see more in Part 1) largely categorized tornadoes based on damage analysis. As El Reno was mostly over open fields, there wasn’t much damage to analyze.

I’m sort of hyper focused on this tornado, so I have a 2-hour playlist featuring first-hand video of most of the major incidents during the event, as well as analysis and mapping of it. If you have two hours to spare, here’s my El Reno playlist. But hopefully I’ve summarized the main points for those of you with less time.

Jarrell, TX 1997 Tornado

While the El Reno tornado happened mostly over open fields, the Jarrell tornado impacted a residential neighborhood. I already briefly mentioned this one in Part 1 due to its unique path (northeast to southwest), but it’s also notable for just how slow it was. It rolled into the Double Creek subdivision of Jarrell and stalled.

It churned over the community for several minutes until there was nothing left. Concrete slabs sat where homes once were, trees had been stripped of bark, and the ground was scoured to a depth of 18 inches. The tornado claimed 27 lives.

As this tornado occurred prior to the change to the Enhanced Fujita Scale, it has a solid F5 rating. It had become one of the most definitive F5’s in history. It occurred just one year after the film Twister.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

#Youtube #twister #tornadoes #el Reno #Jarrell

[ripperdoc-is-daddy]

A Clean Break

TW: MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! Crude language, mild violence, Food mentions, Reader is a black female, mentions of immigration, fishing, Kyo is a jackass, Soft Boi Sanemi, control issues, abusive behavior, Angst, FLUFF! DISCLAIMER: This series is transitioning into an assassin series and I hope it meets expectations. <3 Thank you again for your support of the the Mafiaverse and I look forward to your patronage of Sanemi's transition into an Assassin. @animupiglett and I hope you enjoy the new series starring Gyomei and Sanemi!

Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt. 4

The day started out like any other day. You woke up, took a shower, got dressed, and went down to go eat. You were midway through your breakfast burrito when the front door slammed open. Not unusual if your lover had a bad night at work or had been summoned to retrieve his boss's escaping partner. You hadn’t met the woman yet but the relationship didn’t seem healthy at all to you. Even within the context of the life you knew the men lived; it seemed unusually strange and abnormally toxic. Like, who purposefully commits unlawful imprisonment?   

You shook your head dismissing your thoughts so you could focus on whatever tornado of emotions your love was bound to be at the moment. You didn’t have to wait long as he came barreling into the kitchen/ Dining area. Taking one look at you and speed walking over before hugging you. His grip was bruising and your concern levels shot up from mild to severe. The man above you held you and you could feel the waves of anger rolling off of him.   

“Fuck. That. Bastard.” he hissed after some time. You stayed quiet as you waited for him to elaborate. Assuming he would. Another long pause and he sighed. Releasing you so he could fall into the chair closest to you. Slumping forward and holding his head in his hands. Rubbing his face a few times before looking at you, eyes alight with fury. “I left,” he tells you point blank. You nod your head before you take in the true meaning behind his words. Once they sink in you follow up with a “WHAT!? You can do that!?” exclaimed as you push your food to the side and grab your love's hands.   

Sanemi looks over at your plate, extracts one hand from your grasp, and grabs the leftovers from your burrito. Devouring it in 3 massive bites. Nodding his head back at you in affirmation. “Yeah, I can do that. I didn’t follow him because he has any power over me. It was mutual respect, well I thought it was mutual respect. Turns out that man is just unstable.” He tells you after burping into his hand and excusing himself.   

“I could have told you that. The unstable part. None of you are particularly in your right minds. A given considered what y’all do.” you retort back. A hand coming up to stroke your loves scarred cheek. “Continue, please?” you ask him gently. He leans into the feel of your soft palms and sighs. “Yeah, so you remember a while ago we discussed taking our relationship up a few notches and all that?” his question is rhetorical but you give him an affirmation anyways. “Yeah, well. You were adamant about needing to get his blessing or whatever. So, I went to talk to him about it and he truly lost his mind. He thought I was asking permission and denied it.” his eyes lock onto yours as your own orbs narrow into angry slits.  

You open your mouth to speak and he raises a finger to your lips and cuts you off. “Let me finish, My Queen.” he requests of you using the same hand to pull you closer so he can give you a quick peck on the lips. “So, I told him I don’t need his permission for shit. That I was just informing him because you were wanting to make friendly and all that. “He pauses again and you wordlessly request him to continue with your eyes. “Well, he started going off on a tangent about how we obey him and all that. Pretty much equating us to his peons. Something to control and possess like that woman of his and something in me snapped. I went off on him about how we are our own individual people, his communication sucks ass, and that if he was actually in control why does his so-called woman always run from him at every opportunity?” The frosty-haired man’s eyes glaze over in recollection.  

~Sanemi stood in the elaborate garden behind held back by Gyomei as Kyojuro glares daggers at him. "Kyojuro, we've been friends since we were kids. So, I say this with love when I say you need to shut the hell up before your mouth writes a check your ass can't cash.” the scarred man threatens. His hands ball into fists and he closes his eyes. Fighting the urge to punch Kyo's mug.  

Kyo opens up his arms and motions at the enraged man to hit him. “Get mad Shinazugawa, but my answer is final and I don’t owe you any explanation or reason. My words are absolute. Fall in line like the rest.” the blonde baits. Gyomei intercepts the flying fist and holds Sanemi back by the wrists. The furious man glares at Kyojuro laughing "At least I am not afraid to show my feelings to the woman I love. Pull your head out of your ass. You act all high and mighty but we are all tired of babysitting her when there isn't a reason other than you two don't know how to actually interact on a level that isn't shallow fucking. End of the day at least my woman voluntarily came back to me when we fought. I don't need to do grandiose gestures to win her back over. I just gave her my time. Something you seem incapable of doing." Sanemi grins as he knows his words will cut deep. But they are the truth and it was about time someone pull Kyojuro's head out of his ass.   

The giant holding the white-haired man nods. Agreeing with the declaration of being tired of babysitting the blonde’s constantly fleeing partner. Feeling Sanemi relax he releases the man. Sanemi rolls his eyes at Gyomei and then walks over to Kyojuro. Violet eyes blazing in fury. “You need to recognize you can’t control people the way you think you do in your head. People are not your pawns to use as you see fit and treat however you want to. I won’t be used. I know what the fuck has become of you Kyojuro but I am not sticking around anymore. Fuck whatever bullshit you are on. You have been becoming more and more erratic over the years. I let it slide but now I see what my lady was worried about. Whatever man, I am leaving. It’s over. People aren’t toys for you to play with.” Sanemi spits both at Kyojuro and on the ground.   

The slightly shorter blonde’s bicolored scarlet and goldenrod eyes set themselves ablaze and he swings at the white-haired man. Sanemi dodges laughing as Kyo stumbles and falls to his knees. “Remember I was the muscles; you don’t get your pretty little hands dirty unless your target is already bound. Enjoy doing your own dirty work from now on.” the standing Sanemi spits in the dirt again, giving Kyojuro a one-finger salute, and walks off. ~  

Your touch brings Sanemi back to reality. He gazes into your eyes and sees the love and concern in them. “Don’t worry babe. We are fine. I can take care of us. I already contacted Gyo about everything and he isn’t gonna make a move against us. Tengen was on the call on the way here and said that he was leaving with his three women. Wanting to enjoy the civilian life and get away from the high-risk environment we'd all been living in. They had apparently come to him around the time we reconciled to ask him to leave as they wanted to enjoy more domestic lives.” your lover extracts his other hand from your grasp and brings it to your other cheek as he talks.   

“I am thinking we should leave this place. Kyojuro is unstable but toothless. The family is breaking apart and we are all more interested in pursuing our own lives, now that we no longer have to cater to his whims.” He comes to rest his forehead against yours. “If you are ok with it that is?” he asks you softly. You close your eyes, breaking contact with him and mulling over the information he had told you. Essentially, he was saying that there was nothing more for either of you here and he wanted to start anew somewhere else. From what you understood their organization was limited to just your state. So the pair of you were free to go wherever you wanted to.   

Sanemi watches you up close and pensive. He knows you are now mulling over your options. Wondering to himself if you will take this moment to make a clean break and leave for good. All of this was a lot. A part of him wished he had never dragged you into his mess and left you alone at that florist but you were the best thing that had happened to him. And he knew his life would just be hollow and without any real purpose. Before he had followed orders blindly. Now he found himself thinking “What if?” more and more. Wanting the American dream with you, or whatever it was you saw in the future. He just wanted to be beside you, supporting you. Growing old with you. Not in an obsessive sense but as a mutual partner.   

When you opened your eyes and gazed at his violent ones his breath froze in his lungs. Halted by the fear that this was it. This was the end. Tears slowly fell from your ducts and you kissed him. Not knowing if this was a goodbye kiss or what he drops his hands to your waist and pulls you into his lap, wanting to memorize the taste of you and convey his love through his actions in the event you left him forever.   

You broke the kiss first, needing air. Gingerly you stroked his face with a hand and whispered his name. “ ‘nemi, Sanemi my love. What’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours?” you ask him. His eyes dart away from you in shame. His behavior spoke volumes to you. He fully anticipated that you were going to leave him and make a run for it. Your hand slips under his chin and you turn his head to force him to look at you directly.   

“Sanemi, I am not going anywhere. I love you, understand. I am just kind of shocked. I didn’t think you would leave so abruptly like this. I need to process a bit.” you tell him. He sighs in relief and his grip on your waist tightens briefly before loosening, shakily. “Where do we go from here?” you both ask each other at the same time. Giggling a little as you synchronize.   

Both of your voices erupt into laughter and the tension that had set in the air breaks. He runs his hands up your back, soothingly. “I don’t actually know maybe go back home to Japan. I don’t have any attachments here besides you,” he informs.   

You think to yourself about what you would be leaving behind if you did leave. Your job could be done remotely but you weren’t sure how remote your boss would allow. Your apartment lease was long since up and you had moved in fully with your lover. Friends who wanted to stay in touch would be free to visit and there was always the internet to communicate when you couldn’t see each other. You had a passport and all that. The only real issues you could think of were rooted in sentimentality. Things could be sold, though you were keeping your consoles, games and PC but that could be shipped.   

Nodding your head, you gave him your reply. “I’m in. Let’s do it.” Sanemi’s eyes widen and his pupils zero in on you. “Are you sure?” he asks you full of hope. “Yep. I’m in Mr. Shinazugawa,” you say cheerfully beaming at him. Abruptly he stands up holding you to him and spins with you in his arm. “I fucking love you!” he declares. The pair of you share another kiss when he stops moving and you nuzzle noses. “How do you feel about courthouse weddings?” he questions you, waggling his brow.   

A year later, your life had changed dramatically. You and Sanemi had gotten married in a hasty courthouse wedding. Gyomei and Kiyanah were in attendance along with Tengen and his three wives Suma, Hinatsuru, and Makio. He had sold his house and shipped the contents overseas stating it was less tedious this way. Blessedly your boss had consented to move you into a remote position. That was a huge burden off your shoulder. Sanemi and you worked on fulfilling the requirements made by the Japanese Government and you’d finally gotten approval from immigration to enter the country extended as his spouse for the next 3 years. You were working on becoming an ex-pat currently so you could have permanent residence.   

Now you both had a sizable house in Okinawa. Settling there because of the mesh of American and Japanese culture. Giving you access to people from your home while still enjoying the beauty of being in Japan. Your love was still doing shady jobs on the side but he presented as a humble fisherman which was a surprising choice. Turns out Sanemi was adept and proficient at fishing. Working hard to get the licenses he needed and using some of the capital left over from the sale of his stateside home to build a commercial fishing and processing business. It was still in its infancy but growing steadily. Your lives were comfortable and you were content to have him come home to you every night less stressed and talking animatedly about whatever gossip was onboard one of his boats for the day.   

There was no word from Kyojuro thankfully. Him having been left long in y’all’s pasts where he would stay. You kept in contact with the others you had met at your officiating ceremony and made some new friends here in Japan. All in all, the two of you had a bright future and prospects to look forward to along with the tropical sun and warm sand of Okinawa to greet you every morning.  

Fin   

#kny sanemi #sanemi shinazugawa #follow 👑 share ❤️ enjoy 🍑 #sanemi x reader #sanemi x you #shinazugawa x black reader #shinazugawa x reader #wind pillar #demon slayer sanemi #demon slayer hashira #sanemi shinaguzawa #sanemi smut #sanemi x y/n #shinazugawa sanemi #mafia au #Sanemi x black female reader #Shinazugawa x black female reader #sanemi shinazugawa x black female reader #sanemi shinazugawa x black reader #black reader #x black reader #kny x you #kny smut #kny x reader #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #hashira #kny fanfic #kny x black reader #kny x black female reader

[pavo-ocxllus]

Hi there, congratulations on 100 followers! I just saw your post through a tag aaand it sounded really interesting, it’s a very cute idea! <3 anyways, if you aren’t flooded with too many requests or if you don’t feel like doing any, feel free to completely discard this ask! May I request to buy a ball ticket with inteyvat and a bird of paradise for Xiao? Once again, pls don’t pressure yourself, also I hope you have a good day, please take care, again! 💗

❝ 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠... ❞

𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡… the traveler has different ideas regarding the ball when xiao unexpectedly comes to greet her. 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠… xiao x traveler!reader (can be read as xiao x fem!traveler or xiao x lumine), mentions of the yakshas (bosacius and bonanus), in direct mentions of zhongli (morax and rex lapis) 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠… a ball ticket (royalty!au), inteyvat (fem!traveler or lumine), bird of paradise (”let’s blow this joint, yeah?”), third pov, 1.9k, this was actually proofread for once *gasp* 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬… fluff, she/her pronouns used, traveler!reader, the yakshas are implied to be alive, probs ooc xiao 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭… ahhh, thank you for requesting! also, in addition to being my first request for this event, it’s my first ever request as well! i hope i did this justice lol (i know i said this an event for drabbles but there was tornado warning in my area and i rushed to get this done before the wifi goes out and ended up with this mess lol-)

the vigilant yaksha would really, truly love to complain that this wasn’t part of his job description.

honestly, supervising the many members of elite society (in a seemingly out of the blue ball XIAO’S lord spontaneously decided to hold) doesn’t appear to fit his role as one of the many adepti that signed a contract under the emperor, morax. generally, after the archon war, uttering the word “adeptus” can usually only be heard through those sumeru scholars, or as words of the desperate. “adeptus”... a word faded into obscurity among the unsuspecting public, “knight” now being the more appropriate term. and a yaksha such as xiao wasn’t particularly any different.

as the citizens of liyue go about the their day to day lives, xiao operates in the concealing blanket of the night as per contract: to protect liyue in the shadows. in a time of peace, a civilian shouldn’t have to taint themself with the remnants of defeated gods still ravaging through the nation in the form of monsters. after all, the very first contract of liyue was to “cleanse the land and defend our safe harbor.”

well, now that he thought about it further, it does seems as this would count as a duty he was binded to via his contract. however, that didn’t stop him from hating the mere atmosphere of the gathering even more.

it seemed as though xiao was so busy loathing the event that he didn’t even notice the large shadow dwarfing his figure creeping up on him...

...and promptly zapping him.

it wasn’t anything more than a slight shock—really nothing more than he could handle. unfortunately, that didn’t make it any less jarring. 

“!!” came out of his mouth, and it was more akin to some sort of gurgled scream of a creature rather than a comprehensible sound out of a (somewhat) human. his previous blank, brooding, deep-in-thought facial expression was instantly replaced by surprise. not too long after, xiao scrunched his eyebrows together, his slightly opened lips were closed, pressed into a thin line before darting his amber eyes around the area, then locking on to the culprit who couldn’t be able to keep his overly boisterous laughter in. 

truly, he was worthy for the title “vigilant yaksha,” not whatever mixer he was currently stationed in, much less bosacius’s stupid antics.

after the older man’s seemingly endless guffaw appeared to settle down (not without fits of giggles spilling from his mouth every time he uttered a single word) and the guests prying eyes managed to look away and continue their prior conservations, bosacius coughed as if he was trying to rid his throat of an awful disease of hysteria and held two of his back arms up.

“why, don’t look at me like that!” the purple-streaked brunette complained, feigning innocence. the unfortunate downside to receiving the older brother you’ve never wanted was his—to put it bluntly—irritating behavior. “if i was aware that you were going to be so hot-headed about me letting a few sparks fly, i would’ve called in bonanus to help me cool you down a bit-”

bosacius was instantly cut off when he felt a little ‘thump’ in his chest, causing him to glance his eyes downward to find that xiao stuck the blunt end of his spear into the center of his bare chest.

“at least have the decency to wear... something,” he observed frankly, gesturing to people around them and his own attire. while everybody was wearing rather elegant robes (minus the few yakshas patrolling the room such as bosacius and himself), it seemed as though the adeptus in front of him was the only one who refused to adhere to the dress code, as seen through his completely invisible top.

cue the electro yaksha’s jaw drop.

“that’s what you care about?!”

xiao was quick to turn away from his co-worker, despite the latter’s verbal chagrin, then, attempting not to revert back into his embarrassingly distracted state, scanned his eyes around the venue. however, just as swiftly, he felt a muscular arm hook on to his neck.

“you need to loosen up!!” bosacius teased, ruffling his hair. to this day, xiao had no idea how this man was the leader of the five yakshas. “y’know... i’ve heard that rex lapis says we get to keep whoever catches our eye here~”

the smaller yaksha swatted his arm away from his neck, upturning his nose away from bosacius in disgust. “don’t be ridiculous. there’s no way the his majesty would allow, much less participate, in something so frivolous-”

the man tilted his head, letting out a sound of confusion as to what was the cause behind his friend’s sudden silence before tracing the line of his sight, widening his eyes.

an all-too recognizable outlander, xiao understood that she must’ve had better activities to attend to then attend such an impromptu event. despite that, the initial beliefs was far from his mind, with the way the white silk gracefully draped upon her figure—light blue and golden accents danced as she moved through the various eyes upon her. it was as if she were missing piece of the puzzle, even when not looking the part, somehow making this godforsaken ball a million times better with just her mere appearance alone. xiao didn’t seem to clock the tips of his ears suddenly feeling warm.

much to his terrible luck, it appeared as though bosacius noticed.

it was rather rare for his fellow adeptus to stop for anyone other than morax, much less through a complaint. though, ever since the traveler’s appearance in liyue, it seemed as if xiao suffered through somewhat of a change of heart for her. initially, he was under the impression that it was out of respect as a fellow royal guard; it was shocking enough when she decided to step down from the line of the throne to join her nation’s regiment in the first place, moreso to be great at what she did. nevertheless, as time passed by, xiao’s blatant fondness for the traveler seemed to grow outside of acknowledgement for her achievements.

“go on,” bosacius voice was laced in a rather suspicious tone; it seemed like was smiling even though xiao couldn’t see him. before he could ask about what in teyvat was going through his mind now, he gave him a small push in the direction he saw fit: figuratively and literally.

as one of the five yakshas of the royal guard of liyue, xiao was supposed to expect this—perhaps even suspect it. after all, bosacius and the rest of them are notably close with him. however, even for an almighty adeptus such as himself is flawed with the concept of off-days.

of course, he’s was able to get up back on his feet in no time... but not without it’s little tribulations to boot. 

though it was rather remarkable how fast he was able to regain his composure, his methods were a little off. based from the way he fell forward for a good few seconds before realizing that the ground was oddly getting closer to his face to deciding to sprint to the front of the crowd at the very last second, the teal energy that trailed his figure as he did so understandably garnered the unwanted attention of the various company present. 

at first, xiao couldn’t be confused—he was at the back corner of the hall, was he not? why were all eyes on him? the moment his golden eyes landed on the traveler’s, though, he already connected the dots.

now, this was definitely not part of his job description. 

silence inevitably filled the venue, and rather awkwardly at that, much to his annoyance. he knew that his method wasn’t very common in the eyes of liyue society, yet he didn’t think it would cause so much commotion to the point everybody’s eyes appeared to be right on him and... the traveler?

at the small revelation, he moved his head towards the traveler, only to see nothing but a simple polite smile gracing her features as her arm was reached out towards the yaksha. naturally, his golden eyes wandered to the garments adorning it, then eventually arrived at her delicate hand. upon further study, his eyes met hers once again, still completely lost in this unfamiliar situation. 

her smile refused to waver, even as she closed her eyes and shook her head in amusement. she then dipped her head, letting xiao to conclude that she was doing what he was supposed to do. before he could mirror her actions, she persisted, bending her legs into a slight curtsy, pulling her skirt slightly upward with one hand and taking his hand in the other. before xiao could say anything, the traveler’s lips softly came into contact with xiao’s gloved knuckles.

“it’s a pleasure to meet you again, general alatus.”

face erupting in red, mouth slightly quivering in astonishment, the boy’s almost comically widened eyes watched as the traveler stood up to her original position, giggling at his flustered state.

the unwarranted eyes on the two seemed to disappear entirely once again as they went back into their previous conversations once more, interestingly enough. xiao supposed this made his circumstances better—even when the stubborn heat refusing to alleviate from his cheeks.

regardless, it didn’t stop him from returning the gesture, albeit without the kissing part, “likewise, your majesty.”

the honorific simply slipped out despite the traveler’s position in her nation, but in this formal conversation, it only seemed fitting. though, weirdly enough, she seemed rather exasperated, if anything.

she let out a deep sigh before speaking up again, “you know... you don’t have to be so stiff around me, xiao.”

the yaksha couldn’t help but flinch at the sound the name rex lapis had given him, before relaxing not long afterward. it sounded... strangely pleasing. 

“be honest... we both don’t want to be here.”

well, it wasn’t like she isn’t telling the truth. void of the knowledge of her intentions, xiao continued to stay silent as perplexity was adamantly displayed through his expressions once more. just before he was about to cross his arms and go back to his what he was supposed to be doing, he felt his arm suddenly yank forward to the traveler’s general direction. 

his eyes flew open at the sudden motion as he felt forced wind from the speed they were going course through his hair. the only sight he was able to see as the crowd started to part to make way for the rushing pair and the waving fabric that danced as the traveler navigated through the guests. 

the uncertainty that usually would’ve plagued his mind was replaced with some sort of unwavering spotlight directed on her as she guided herself and xiao across the hall, like the stars to a sailor sailing in the night, knowing that it would help them lead their crew to shore. 

the trust he placed on her was unquestionable, and he couldn’t explain why. was it his burning desire to escape from the ball? the traveler’s contributions to his home nation? the blazing heat perched comfortably among his face that represented his beating heart inside? how it was the physical form for his unknown, though intense feelings?

actually, xiao took that back—the last one definitely provided the reason.

𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝. <𝟑

#𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞.! #𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞.! #𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐞! #𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞.! #xiao x reader #xiao x lumine #xiao x traveler #xiao x y/n #xiao x fem!reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you #genshin x y/n #genshin x female reader #xiao x female reader #xiao fluff #xiao drabble #alatus x reader

[therealityhelix]

By Talos, This Can't be Happening pt 34

Happy Tamriel Tuesday! The Fighter's Guild is experiencing problems! Who would have guessed?

@cardwrecks @captainbaddecisions

?~?~?~?~?

The Fighter's Guild was not much friendlier in Skingrad, but at least it wasn't his fault this time. A scant handful of people stood clustered together, one-an elf woman-shaking a folded paper at the others.

“It says he defaulted! Defaulted! Who defaults on a contract this easy? Why would he go around telling people he's defaulted? Doesn't he understand how that makes us look?”

“Complaining about money again, I'll bet.” A tall, russet Argonian growled. “As if we don't all take home the same pay for the same work. If he actually did anything, perhaps he would not be so beset by money problems.”

“Guest.” An olive complected man murmured. The Argonian's head snapped up to look at him.

“Heyyy...” Swag gave a little four fingered wave. “Am I interrupting something? Because I can leave.”

“No, no!” the Argonian called. “It's not that important. Come in!”

“Not that-!” the elf woman began indignantly. The Argonian cut her off.

“So, are you looking to join the Guild?” the Argonian asked quickly. “Or perhaps a recruit on the road? We have bed space, if that's what you need. I am Ah-Malz. This is Fadus, and Parwen.”

“Edward. I joined up in Chorrol.” No need to bring up the circumstances.

“Oh, under Vilena herself? They're friendly in Chorrol.”

“Sure.”

“Anyway, you come to get some carnage under your belt? Round here, we hunt goblins. They're everywhere in Colovia. Most of our jobs involve them in some way or another.”

More goblins. He didn't really like that. Yeah, they were trouble. They raided farms, set up ambushes on the roads, tried to tunnel into cities. They killed people. But he couldn't help but think of the cave he and Sky had whirled through like a tornado, The goblin mage on the road dropping like a sack of potatoes with Helix's arrow between its shoulders. She hadn't hesitated.

They were so easy to kill, and he didn't like that. If it was easy, it could get to become a habit. They weren't human, sure, but neither was the Argonian. Or the elf. Or the orc brothers back in Chorrol. It didn't make it okay. When they were enemies, you had to fight back, but that still didn't actually make it okay. Just a bad time for everybody.

“Eh, well, I've had some experience with goblins, yeah. Only signed up like a week or so ago, though, so I'm still getting my feet under me.”

“Oh, you'll run into more if you stay in the area.” Ah-Malz assured. “Me and Parwen have a tally going-”

“Malz, we don't have time for this!” Parwen scolded. “We've got to do something about Maglir!”

“And what do you propose, Wennie?” Ah-Malz asked. “We break down the door of the inn and drag him out by the ears?”

“Maybe.” Fadus said quietly.

“You know he'd just run if he saw any of us.” Parwen grumped. “He knows he's in trouble. He'll bolt the instant he sees us in the window.”

Three sets of musing eyes settled on him, and Swag saw the future.

“Yeah, okay. I'll go get him. Not gonna recognize me, huh? Where is he and what does he look like?”

The West Weald Inn was a crowded place, deceptively large on the inside, like the rest of the towns buildings. It was cozy, warm, and full of people, and one of them was Helix. He spotted her curled bob and goblin skull staff at the bar, the woman behind it pointing towards a door on the far wall.

“Hey baby, come here often?” he teased sliding up next to her.

“Nah, hot stuff, I'm new in town. Maybe you can show me around.” she teased back. “But first, looks like I found that alchemist they mentioned back at Fort Virtue.”

“Hey great! I got sent to shake down an awol fighter. It think it's that shortstack over there.”

His eyes had landed on a short, broad figure in dented iron armor, sitting by himself next to a window he kept glaring suspiciously out.

“Oh, that sounds like a pain. Have fun!”

“Can I get you something?” the woman behind the bar asked, as he watched Helix slip into the cellar.

“Hmm. Got anything non-alcoholic? Aw, c'mon.” he said at her condescending stare. “I made a promise, all right?”

Swag approached Maglir's table with a large mug of mulled grape juice-a specialty of the town. It turned out the barkeep wasn't mad that he dared to repudiate drunkenness in her establishment, it was that she thought he was an idiot for not knowing. Skingrad was famous for its grapes and tomatoes specifically; everybody had juice.

And now, so did he.

“Hey man, this spot taken?” he asked, and the elf glared up at him.

To Maglir, Swag probably wouldn't look like anything more than just another traveler passing through. He was all long thin lines, an exclamation point of a man, and he was aware of it. Even his armor was the lightest possible, and not yet broken in. With his distinctive hairstyle and handsome face, the rings in his ears and question mark pendant, he probably looked like more of a poseur than anything.

The elf grunted and glanced back out the window.

Swag set down his drink and took a seat.

“I only ask 'cause it seems like you're looking for someone.” he said.

“No one you're likely to know. What do you want, anyway?”

“A place to sit next to the window. My girl's wanting to talk to the alchemist here, so I might be waiting for a while.”

“Huh. Sounds like my wife when she gets into the fabric shop.”

“Ah. Looking for some time away?” Swag asked, nodding knowingly. Maglir shook his head.

“No, that's not it. She's lovely, really. Better than I deserve.”

“I know that feeling.”

“It's just that things are rough recently, and the assassination has made things many times worse.”

“Oh?” Swag raised one eyebrow. “Rough? Like, you havin' trouble getting work?”

Maglir scoffed.

“Work? Oh, yes, I can get work. What I can't get is pay! Look at this!”

The elf tossed a folded note across the table at him. He plucked it up and read over the contents.

“...A journal? Just that? A journal left in a cave? Who leaves a journal in a cave?”

“I don't know! Some fool mage, a hermit, a philosopher. Somebody did. I even went out there to get it, like a good little boot, and you know what I found?”

“Bats?”

“Monsters! Gobs of em! Barely even saw them, but almost lost my head! They sent me out there alone, into a cave full of monsters. It's like they want their recruits to die!”

“Who's they?” Swag asked. “Just so I can watch my back, you know?”

“Fighter's guild. I swear, you adventurers don't know much about organization, do you?”

“Nah, we fly by the seat of our pants. So what I'm getting', and correct me if I'm wrong, but your Fighter's Guild sent you out by yourself to get a lost book. Simple soundin' job on the face of it, but when you got there, it was way worse than you thought it'd be, so you came back and...gave up?”

Maglir grimaced.

“Doesn't sound good when you put it that way. More like I refuse to leave my children without a father because of some fool's errand. It used to be they'd send out two or even three of us for a job that dangerous! And the pay was better too. Now they spread us thin and throw us scraps. Hasn't been the same since the Donton boy died.”

Donton? Vilena's son? The boy had been alive when they'd left Chorrol, had something happened in the meantime?

“So basically, it's a strike.”

“So basically, I'm not going to die for a soggy book and a scant handful of coin. No, someone else can do this. You can do this, I don't care.”

Swag tucked the note into his belt. He wasn't sure he wanted to go into a monster infested cave in search of a soggy book either. But he could return the contract to the Guild at least.

Maglir complained for a while longer before finishing his drink and eventually leaving, but he left Swag with some interesting tidbits.

The Fighter's guild was on a downturn. They'd been losing recruits, taking bad contracts, losing good contracts. A rival organization was rising to challenge them. Vilena Donton had two sons, but not anymore, and after the loss of the eldest, had been shirking her duties, making everything worse. The individual Guildhalls had been left isolated, and some simply didn't have the leadership to hold together.

Looked like he'd come at a bad time.

Helix slid into Maglir's vacated seat and stole a pull of Swag's drink.

“Hello beautiful. Where have you been all my life?”

“In the cellar.” she said. “Sindarion's definitely got the info I wanted, but he's stingy with it. The plant is called Nirnroot, and prefers waterside real estate. He knows a way to use it, but he won't tell me. If I find more, I'll need to bring it to him to get anything out of it.”

“So all the both of us got outta this was headaches. Oh well. It's not like we were gonna spend a whole lot of time here.”

He encouraged her to finish his juice, then they headed back out into the busy streets. The elf at the Fighter's Guild nearly tore out her hair when Swag returned the contract to them, but he just shrugged and pointed out that he had a prior obligation he had to see to before he even thought about picking anything else up.

Besides, Swag figured a group that was so gung-ho to count goblin heads could take on a cave of monsters without too much trouble. Unless, of course, they really had been setting Maglir up.

His razor was ready, and they managed to get their rations topped up, so they stopped by the Mages Guildhall for a quick lunch, and headed for the western gate.

This side of the city boasted the tomato fields, which stretched out far into the low hills, trellises of long vines laden with colorful fruits. Helix told him about the different kinds as they walked, about determinate and indeterminate varieties, and about which tomatoes were best for which culinary applications. There were far more types than he would have guessed, but Helix liked tomatoes and grew many different sorts in her garden home, so he'd seen quite a few.

He reached over the fence and plucked a deep red one.

“D'ya think you could grow this kind? In your house?” he asked.

“Unfortunately no. When we leave, we probably won't be able to take anything with us.” she said. “At least, that's how it worked last time.”

“Ah well.” Swag sliced the fruit in half and handed her a piece. “Snack for the road then.”

The road curled around the city, away from their destination, and so they stepped into the wilds at a picturesque little pond where Helix discovered another Nirnroot chiming softly between the roots of a lonely tree. The countryside here was mostly open meadows and rolling hills dotted with sparse little copses of straight, thin trees. It was very pretty; bees hummed above the flowers, and occasionally a deer or rabbit scampered off over the hilltops. This landscape felt less hostile to him than the thick forests surrounding Chorrol, but maybe that was just because he could see further. It was still just as wild and unfamiliar, but the sky was visible, and there were no deep shadows or mist for the unknown to hide in.

Which was how he was able to see the wolf coming.

It was huge and grungy, with an odd look in its eyes. At least, Swag thought it was odd; he'd never seen a wolf face to face before.

Helix loosed an arrow: it flew wide, and the wolf didn't even pause, rushing towards them too quickly for Helix to nock another arrow. Swag swung his cane. The wolf caught it in its massive jaws, wrenching it out of his hands like a dog with a stick. Yanked off his feet, he crashed to his knees, face to wild animal face.

Swag bashed it with his fist.

His gauntlets flashed with dazzling light, a miniature crack of thunder, and the wolf staggered. Flesh sagged under the fur, fell away from the creature's head.

“The actual fuck?”

“It's a zombie!” Helix cried. Shouldering her bow, she flicked her hand out flinging a lighting bolt that blasted the undead beast apart.

“Ahg, that's fucking gross!” Swag hopped to his feet, shaking zombie bits off his armor. “It's not in my hair is it? Tell me it's not in my hair.”

Helix said nothing.

“Noooo, get it off!”

He leaned down, allowing her to pluck something from his head and toss it away.

“I need a million showers, and I need them right now.”

“We could go back to that little pond.” she suggested. Swag whined, and she took his hand, leading him back.

She rested on a rock while he washed, watching the horizon.

“See anything?”

“No. But I don't like that that thing was out there. It's not normal to just find undead wandering the wilds. Especially not animals. People's skeletons and ghosts can maybe rise spontaneously from cursed gravesites or haunted battlefields, but a zombie animal has to be made. Who made it? Why was it out there?”

“Are we sure we want to find out?”

“We might not be able to avoid it.”

“Then fuck it. So...why did my hand explode when I punched that thing?”

“Lemmie see your glove.”

Swag peeled off one of Rasheda's gauntlets and handed it over. She turned it over in her hands, closely examining the joints and stitches, making thoughtful sounds.

“Well?”

“Damn good workmanship. I didn't even notice until now. She's enchanted them with shock magic. She must've really liked you.”

Swag took the glove back.

“Yeah, we got along.”

“I heard. There were a few people who really wanted me to know. Didn't seem to believe me when I said I didn't care.”

Swag scowled.

“Not our problem if they don't understand us.”

“Nah, that's a them problem.”

She took his hand and they walked through the meadow, the honey scent of sun-warmed clover just barely covering an underlying whiff of rot.

?~?~?~?~?

#by talos this can't be happening #swag!riddler #Helix #elder scrolls

[dlnorton]

(As I write this, the Tropical Storm Hilary has yet to land its full force into the Southern California region.. but its 24 hours away and coming in..)

Here’s the thing about the hurricane Hilary coming in to give Southern California a huge, and potentially, a much needed bath.. it’s the irony.. (btw..Southern California really needs the water after a horrendous two to three year drought) Southern California has had it’s share of natural disasters.. namely brush fires and earthquakes.

I currently live in the Denver, CO region along the Front Range, but my hometown is Riverside, CA. I’ve also lived in Los Angeles in various communities during my younger days as a starving artist.

Living in SoCal since 1970, I lived through 3 major earthquakes and countless brush fires. Brush fires so bad, at one time in the early to mid 1990s fire seasons, I could see all of those fires (1993-94?) 360° around me in the mountains and foothills. It was a crazy time.

Growing up, I also lived in two states, Florida and Texas. I don’t even remember severe weather back in those days. I don’t even remember hurricane Gladys in 1968 hitting the Florida panhandle where we lived when I was 6 years old. Hell, I barely remember any tornado that came in. Of course today, here in the Denver area, I’m connected 24/7 to all tornado and weather alerts.. and I won’t mention the crazy snow storms and blizzards..

But hurricane Hilary is a conundrum to me. It’s like a cartoon.. it’s there, but it’s two dimensional. I have family and friends that are right now bracing for this potential disaster, what with the possibility of catastrophic flooding and wind damage.

The last event equal to this was around 1937-38. Massive flooding due to run off that the hard SoCal ground can’t absorb, and the ground is still like this today, from the deserts to the sea.. pancake hard. I know the Los Angeles River and the Santa Ana River are the main concourses that will have to take the brunt of this deluge that will be coming. I can only imagine.

The majority of the storm is currently hitting the east from Palm Springs to all points eastward. Arizona and Nevada will surely get a drenching.. and probably within a week, we’ll start to see remnants coming into Colorado.

But something like this has never happened to the southwest U.S. in over 85 years.. or what has been referred to as the 100 year flood event. It’s bound to happen but not as a Tropical Storm.. “Pshhh! This happens to Florida, the Caribbean and the Eastern Seaboard.. not the west coast..!!” SoCal did have a horrendous Pacific storm in the late 1980’s that tore up a good chunk of the L.A. and Orange County beaches.. tore off a pier or two. I do remember that one. Rained for days..

So here I am.. getting ready to watch my old stomping grounds get tested by the storm of the century.. seems unreal, but there it is.. in all it’s wet sloppy glory.

Go easy on them Hilary.. it’s their first time..

..and..

huh?

What?

Southern California really dodged a bullet..?

Oh fuck me..

#tropical storm hilary #hurricane hilary

[violetxrose1235]

So I haven't had time to write this but two days ago I walked up to my local co op because it's just up the road from mine and I needed to pick up some bits and bobs before going for my big Tesco shop

Anyways so I usually have my earbuds in playing music so I can stay more relaxed in public and I walk in the co op, grab my bits and go to the self checkout

As I'm scanning my bits a loud bang I could hear through my music made me look over to find a group of boys about 6 of them from I'd say 9-15yrs old

They're wearing hoodies and face masks and the oldest one I believe was shouting "let me out!" So I pulled out my earphones to hear what was happening and they're all shouting and crashing against the doors (at this point I figure out they've locked us all inside) trying to leave and they were swearing and everything.

So I've grabbed my bits and I'm walking to the doors and the co op staff told me to wait and as the kids are all at the back of the store I try to ask for them to let me out and they wouldn't

The kids didn't seem dangerous, they mightve been stealing I'm not sure although how they could fit anything in their tiny waist bags I'm not sure, they didn't have any weapons as far as I know but this was the first time something ever happened in my area.

My area is quiet, small, hidden. Usually when I mention it people are like "what?? Wheres that??"

I know I wasn't a hostage, I know I wasn't in a dangerous situation. But I was scared and when I came home all I could imagine was if there had been a knife situation (since guns are very very rare in the UK)

But I was still scared.

#blog #spotify #fear #hostage #co op #shopping #autism

[puffpasstea]

Satellite

warnings: mentions of drugs, alcohol, some kissing.

Not proof read cuz this week has been busyyyy. I’d always appreciate some feedback!

—

Chapter 8

I stood there, in Harry’s living room, scanning the space and piecing together what must’ve transpired in the moments leading up to his call. He’d clearly been drinking. And there was an assortment of pills of various colors and sizes next to the decanter. My imagination ran wild; picturing Harry sitting in the dim light, on the couch that he was now slumped over, pouring himself one drink after the other, sampling his pills, his eyes heavy and red, his chest tight, his mind foggily hanging onto reality by a thin thread that snapped by the end of the night.

Suddenly, a panicked thought took over. What if he took something he shouldn’t have? A cocktail of pills and drinks that would hurt him? I leapt over to the couch, grabbing his hand to check his pulse and listen to him breathe. I felt pathetic for doing it. 

I could just leave right now. Go back out the same way that I came in, and just never mention this. Or I could wake him and smack him upside the head. Or I could stay, make sure he stays alive through the night. I walked around the room, collecting his drugs and alcoholic beverages and putting things back in the kitchen. He was out cold and didn’t so much as stir, unbothered by the noises I was making around the house. 

With his adult beverages back in the bar area where they belong, I took his pills and powders and flushed them down the toilet, tossing out the container that they came in. I wasn’t sure if I was doing this out of revenge or just protection. At this time of night, my logical reasoning was, at best, fuzzy. But, I must admit, the act itself gave me a certain kind of satisfaction. On my way out, I paused to take one more glance at him. Memorize his body, his breath, make sure I hold on to the image of him, being very much alive, before walking out. I knew he was going to be a wreck in the morning. Yet, again, my imagination conjured up images of him feeling wretched and alone, dealing with the hangover, feeling nauseous, feeling angry, feeling whatever it is that drove him to this in the fist place. I fucking hate myself. I went back into the kitchen and rummaged through his medicine cabinets, assembling a tray of necessities to place on the coffee table for him to wake up to. Well, I mean, I’ve done all this, I might as well find him a blanket, right? 

***

In the light of day, Harry was shockingly okay. I watched him show up to another round of interviews, his flared jeans and tailored Gucci sweater  perfectly pressed to his body in all the right ways. His ring-studded fingers wrapped around the microphone that he spoke his evasive answers into with a charming smile on his face, and that classic Harry look in his eyes that made you feel like you were having an intimate and personal moment with him, even as he delivered non-answers giving nothing of his mind away. I was stunned by the fact that no one in the room would have any clue what he’d been up to the night before. The state I’d found him in. The toxins coursing through his veins. He appeared, for all intents and purposes, fine. Even I began to question the reality of the situation. Had I dreamed it all up?  Was any of it even real? Did I not drive over there in hopes of seeing him and finally being able to talk only to find him knocked out on his couch? Did I not run through his living room like the opposite of a tornado, hiding away all of his fun? I knew he was a decent actor, but this show of absolute normalcy was a cruel physiological trick. It felt like it was intended to hurt me. 

I waited around after the interviewers had left the room, bracing myself for the explosive argument that we’d surely get into. I can’t imagine him taking kindly to the fact that his drugs were nowhere to be found when he woke up this morning. If nothing else, that,  would confirm that last night wasn’t just in my head. Harry untangled himself from the microphone and various accompanying wires, finally getting out of his seat. He shook hands with the camera crew and assistants who were left behind to pack up after the work was done. He thanked them for their time, acknowledged that he wouldn’t get to do this if it weren’t for their hard work, and every obliged when a couple of people asked for photos with him.  He walked past me as he exited the room. Sparing me a stunning smile and quick nod, mumbling “Matilda,” before leaving the room. 

***

In my hotel room, I punched pillows and cursed until my throat went dry. I could not imagine that my heart could still ache. Harry’s warm smile, him finally calling me “Matilda” again, him being the kind and attention human being that I knew and fell in love with felt like the most cold and calculating retaliation that he could have possibly responded with. It felt like a secret “fuck you” that only I would pick up on. It made me dizzy and angry and sad. But the worst blow came when, late at night, he called again. And I picked up. 

***

We fell into a routine. All day long, we would avoid each other, do our jobs, go our separate ways, and then at night, when Harry would run out of ways to run from his own thoughts and feelings, completely intoxicated, with his inhibitions gone, and my pining heart longing for a version of him that no longer existed, he’d call. And I’d drop everything and run to rescue him. Most of the time, he’d be asleep by the time that I got to him. Sometimes he’d cry into my shirt first and then fall asleep. Either way, I’d be gone by morning, and we avoided speaking of it the next day. 

I knew it was unfair. What we were doing was unfair to both of us. And it completely undid any progress that I was making in my own life. Of learning to be with people. Of setting boundaries without being closed off. Of learning to feel my emotions without being destroyed or consumed by them. But, the thing is, with Harry, I never had to consciously put any effort into trying. Our connection came entirely naturally and he’d awakened, within me, the most intense thoughts and feelings that I had ever experienced. That had to count for something. It was Harry who’d taught me to leave my comfort zone, to take risks, to trust someone, to let my guard down. And he was the only person who’d ever rewarded me for doing so. Before him, letting someone into my life had only meant pain, heartbreak, and trouble. Before him, I had no idea that there was anything to be gained from being open with other people. I could not fathom a world in which someone wouldn’t use my insecurity against me, or get me attached to them only to one day leave me behind, or even make me a better person for knowing them. Harry was all of those things. In my mind, that was worth more than the perfectly normal connections that I had to force myself to maintain. 

 I walked into Harry's living room, as if on cue, and tossed my shoulder bag onto one of his couches. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the coffee table in the middle of the room, high off his ass. 

“What kind of pills are you on now?” I asked bluntly. We’d moved past the point of needing to dance around the subject delicately. 

“You know. The usual.” He shrugged. 

I joined him on the floor, sitting cross-legged. 

“Do you wanna talk?”

“Not particularly.”

“Well, I think we should. You’re not passed out this time, that’s progress.” I heard just how absurd that sounded as soon as the words came out of my mouth. 

Harry have a hum of agreement and pulled out another round.

“No, that’s enough.” My hand intercepted the small bag of white powder, intertwining my fingers with his to stop him from opening it. 

“Fine, wanna have sex, then?”

I rolled my eyes, pulling harder on his hand to extract the baggie from his iron grip. 

 “Buzzkill.” He mumbled before laying down and stretching his limbs across the floor. 

 I stuffed the drugs into the pocket of my jeans, making a mental note to dispose of them before I leave tonight, then laid my head on the floor right next to him, our bodies just barely apart. 

 Turning my head sideways, I glanced at Harry whose eyes were fixed on the chandelier above, as if counting stars in the night sky. 

“I’m scared, Harry.” My voice was a little less controlled that I’d intended, but I wondered if he even had the presence of mind about him to even listen at this point. 

“Of what, darlin’?” He scooted his body closer to mine, turning on his side with a sigh and throwing an arm across my waist to drag me close. He swallowed loudly, and buried his face into the space between my neck and shoulder nuzzling his nose against my skin, and settling just below my ear. “Don’t ‘ave to be scared.” His hand squeeze my hip. “I’m right here.” He was starting to sound slurry. 

“But you’re not. Don’t think you even know what you’re saying half the time.” He was quiet for a moment. I felt my skin absorb the warmth that radiated from his, I felt his irregular breath against my neck, I felt his hair tickle my cheek. 

“Good. I don’t wanna know. Too tired of knowing.”

I frowned. Unsure what he meant or what I was supposed to say to that. The palm of my hand left the floor and met his hand at my hip, squeezing it gently. 

“Harry, I’m worried about you.” I tried again to initiate a conversation, my body perfectly still and my eyes focused on the ceiling so as not to spook him. Like a baby deer, any sudden movements might cause him to withdraw back into the woods. 

“Don’t be. ‘m fine.”

I laughed loudly, incredulous at his bold statement, my voice echoing through my whole body and shaking his along with mine. The laughter was apparently contagious, Harry chuckled as well. After our laughing fit had died down, Harry pulled himself off of me and reach over to hover his body over mine, leaning down to kiss my lips. Instinctively, my hands reach up to wrap around his waist and pull him closer, my lips parting to grant him admittance, but the initial wave of desire crashed, and I quickly came to my senses, going still and whispering “no, wait, Harry. We shouldn’t-“

 Harry groaned, and despite my attempts to look into his eyes, he pulled away, throwing himself on top of me and hiding his face in my chest. My hand traveled through his hair, brushing at it gently. 

“Love you.” He mumbled into the fabric of my shirt after a moment of heavy breathing. 

“Same.”

I let a beat pass, making sure he was relaxing on top of me. 

“Harry, what’s the matter?” Here goes yet another attempt. My fingers relaxed against his scalp in preparation of him moving away and deflecting, but, to my surprise, he made no effort to get up at all, so I resumed my head scratches. 

 “Don’t know. Everything is a mess.” He spoke into my chest. 

“It’s not like you to handle things this way- I mean, I -“ I was at a loss for words. I wanted to be honest with him but I knew I had to be careful how I worded my response. If I leaned too heavily on emotionally charged, heavy language, he’d shut me out again. “Your arm. The sudden trip to England. All the drugs. You’re scaring me Harry.” I hoped he’d focus on my genuine concern for him and see that as a good thing. A reason to get his shit together. But, now that I’d started down the list of his actions, I couldn’t help myself. I was unable to stop. “I- I know. We’re not together. You’re not my boyfriend. You’re Emma’s boyfriend. But, being with other women….I know you’re not that guy. I just feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”

“What other women?” Harry peeled his body off of mine and looked up at me. I could see from the look in his eyes that I’d hit a nerve. Shit. How do I backtrack? Retreat gracefully. Rewind. 

“The paparazzi photos. From England? The tall fabulous blondes.” 

“Fuck’s sakes, Alice.” He rolled completely off of me and gradually sat up. Feeling vulnerable in the sudden height difference between us, I pulled myself off of the floor and sat up as well. 

“What?”

“You believe that shit?” He rolled his eyes. “You actually think- you of all people know that they print just anything!” Harry was blinking rapidly and squeezing the bridge of his nose. He was clearly dizzy. 

“Can you blame me though? I don’t know what to believe. I still have no idea why you even left LA for that long. And you’ve been acting so strange lately, it’s hard to predict what you’re gonna do next-“

“And for your information I’m not Emma’s boyfriend. She left me.”

I was quiet for a moment. 

“I’m so sorr-“

“I went back home to see my sister for god’s sakes!” Harry threw his hands up in the air shaking his head. 

“Gemma, she’s not well. Hasn’t been for a while. And nobody fucking said anything. Nobody told me until she had to be in the hospital!” The anger in his voice cracked, pain seeping through. 

“My arm? I shattered it punching a metal door. When I got the call. Does that answer your fucking question? You satisfied?”

“I- “

“They didn’t want me to worry cuz I’m so far away! I’m so busy with work! When I shoulda been there for her. I shoulda been- but I was too busy with fucking red carpets and fucking magazines, and she needed me- those blonde women? Her friends, Alice! I drove them to go see her! I’m not fucking any of them for fucks sakes!”

“I- didn’t know. I’m so sorry, Harr-“

“I love you. I love only you. apparently the only person who doesn’t know that is you. Even Emma does! She spent, what, a total of half an hour around you and she figured it out! Said she can’t be with me when I’m so clearly head over heels for someone else. But Jeff thinks I fucked up by bringing her out and can’t just break up with her now, for some fucking optics issues as if any of that fucking matters when my sister’s - fuck!” Harry covered his face with his hand and wept. 

“It’s- it’s gonna be okay, Harry.” I whispered. 

 “How?!” He pulled his hand off his face and turned around to look at me. He was really looking for an answer. “How, Alice? Everything is falling apart! You, Emma, my family, everyone on the internet! I don’t know how I managed to get everything so wrong. How I would’ve given anyone the impression that fucking film promo would be more important to me than my family? But can you blame them? I’m away most of the year anyway. And- and” running out of breath, he went into a coughing fit, still shedding tears as he attempting to regain composure. 

“Breathe.” I whispered, reaching over to place a hand on his back. “Just breathe, Harry.” He was quiet for a moment, swallowing harshly as his coughing stopped. “Can- you blame them 9’ not around most of the year anyway, and it’s because of my job. But I feel so u grateful even thinking that cuz- fuck- cuz who in my privileged position could complain about their job?! My problem is that too many magazines share photos of me going about my day all the time, seriously? Doesn’t that sound absurd to you? I- I haven’t been present. I’ve taken my family for granted, and you- I’ve dragged- you into this mess. And- now your life is in the papers. And Emma. Led her on. Told her I wanted another chance- I knew how I felt about you. And Jeff- my career- fuck if I’ve hurt this many people for the sake of my job, and then I go and fuck that up- then what’s all for? Hmm?”

I was speechless. “Everything’s gonna be okay” seemed a hollow phrase right now, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say. 

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles writing #harry styles x oc #harry styles angst

[gluttonemporium]

(Yeah, it's a two parter in case it takes a while to write them all)

"Futaba grabs the sodas from underneath Joker's bed and tells everyone to each take a can and start drinking. Haru and Futaba both drank their cans heartily, followed with Makoto taking slow and small sips. Ann took a small swig of soda, as to not instantly blow everyone away with a mighty belch and save herself the embarrassment. Haru was the first to burp. Not the loudest, but it was always a treat hearing such a rich and proper girl belch like that. Futaba nodded quite impressed, before following up with a belch of her own, immediately toppling Haru's burp. Makoto, tried to stifle a small belch and keep it quiet. Ann had no such thing as small burps, so she had to burp into Jokers pillow, which still sounded quite loud. Of course, Haru's face turned red as the other girls burped. It seems the two of us both love hearing the others belch." Sophie replied with a smile.

"The burps kept flying out, the area getting wet with spittle, mostly from Futaba since she wasn't holding back. Haru had to throw in the towel as her burps couldn't quite match the intensity of the others. But it was clear that both Ann and Makoto we're still holding back, which prompted Futaba to taunt them incessantly. I don't remember what she said, but apparently Futaba said something that Makoto wasn't very fond of. Because once it got said, Makoto instantly drank a whole can, and unleashed a burp that knocked Futaba out of her seat. Soon, it was down to the two best belchers in the Thieves. Makoto had been practicing lately, but to my knowledge, Ann's burps had yet to reach their full potential, even with how strong they were."

"Ann wanted to throw in the towel, but Makoto had been awakened, and her competitive nature wouldn't allow Ann to merely back out of it. So, Ann swallowed whatever pride she had and decided to not hold back....much. It was a rapid flurry of belches, each one loud enough to be heard outside and shake the very foundation of the house! Some belches covered the other in drool (mostly Ann coating Makoto), and some brought up items (mostly Makoto burping up some lost items she's been looking for). Haru's face was very red, and Futaba was having the time of her life as she watched the two go at it. It wasn't before long before Makoto had released a burp loud enough to shatter the windows of the house! Makoto figured she had won, but Ann looked at her with a gaze of determination. With the price of potential unlimited sweets on the line, she was not going to lose. She gulped down not one, not two, but six whole cans of soda!"

"I didn't say this before, but the particular soda Joker had stashed was extra carbonated." Sophie chimed in. "There was a loud, and deep grumble from Ann's belly, causing it to visibly shift with movement. Everyone was worried. Suddenly, her cheeks slowly began to puff up as she took a deep breath of air, and then..."

Sophie made a motion like an explosion. "It was like a torrent of wind, a flood of drool, and an earthquake all in one. Not to mention that went on for a solid five minutes! I counted so I should know. Safe to say, Ann definitely won. But Joker didn't have to ask why his room was coated in drool or why it seemed a tornado had been through here. It seems all the boys heard the belch from wherever they were. Which was definitely far!" Sophie politely bowed. @shadowhangout

(Goood stuff, Shadow! Thanks a bunch for sharing~)

Part 1 | Part 2

#shadowhangout #kink tag: burping

[sys128]

Midwestern Weather in a nutshell

There is a thing we say up here in town in the midwest: you can not predict 100% what the weather will be like about a week from now. That is usually true; sometimes, the forecasts are just wrong enough to not be accurate to what actually happened that day. Not even winter is safe. The month of December is, a lot of the time, more predictable than the other months, but there have been times when it just goes off the rails. For reference, usually during this month, it goes back and forth between rain and snow, with these intervals lasting about a week or so. But we usually start seeing the snow as early as November. Last year, we had an untimely heat wave, resulting in a 100% green Christmas. That Christmas Eve, it was 60 degrees outside, a lot hotter than we have ever seen at that time of year. Imagine my surprise when I found that it started to snow two days later and was in the 20-degree range. It felt like a final “fuck you” by mother nature after almost an entire month of rain and spring temperatures.

And then there was January 2019, the Great Polar Vortex as I like to call it. That was an agonizing couple of days when the temperatures were so cold, you could be frostbitten in as little as 10 minutes. It was in the best interest of everyone in the midwest to stay inside their houses and pray their water pipes still worked. Here in Wisconsin, we got wind chill ratings as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit! Northern Illinois also saw some lower -40 wind chill and the same with Indiana. Arguably, two states had it worse than us: North Dakota and Minnesota. They saw the wind chill go as low as -65! Our Canadian neighbors also shared the same pain as us because they were also caught pretty majorly by the polar vortex.

After December, once the snow sticks, it sticks for a WHILE, though it is not so easy telling when it will finally melt, bringing us the spring. There have been years when spring came at a normal time, between late March and early April. But I remember a couple of years where the snow had stuck around for so long that while the east coast was enjoying the sun, we were still chilling with a couple inches of snow, somewhere in May. During this time, we can also see some other really wacky things happening. Last year, we were hit by an EF1 tornado. Thankfully, our house was not hit, but our power was knocked out for a good 7 hours or so. It had been downpouring essentially the whole night otherwise. But since the temperature dropped at just the right time, I woke up to a fresh blanket of December-looking snow.

Even when we finally see the snow melt after so long, because of the length of winter, our spring usually isn’t that long. Say that we get another May snow year. That only lasts over a month before it gets unbelievably hot in the summer. Speaking of hot, we don’t just see freezing up here. We also see melting. We are no strangers to days when it is 102 degrees outside. We are a region of the United States where we are able to adapt to both extremes. But the thing I, personally, am not so much used to is consistency, which is why I tend to get annoyed when the sun is out for more than a week without it raining a drop. At least the clouds in the sky could collect more raindrops or something! Some states can have almost constant hot or cold all year, and I will not know how they go through it just fine. Show me your ways, Australia! It does seem that Texas feels the same way about how we handle the cold because, in February 2021, they got a wave of cold weather, which led to the first snow in a long time in some areas. Since they are more used to hot weather, their cooling system becomes a detriment because they usually have little need for heating. What they had was not enough for them because some 200 people got killed by freezing to death during the cold wave, which is honestly kind of scary.

There is one more example I want to mention, and that would be the number of times I have been given flash flood warnings on my phone. Usually, after the snow has melted and we are experiencing the long summer that is June to September, a week cannot go by without my phone telling me that somewhere in town is probably going to flood!! Thankfully, around parts I have lived, that never happens. But I am willing to bet that it happens somewhere, near some of the creeks, ponds, and rivers. After a while, I stopped paying attention to those warnings.

The weather in the midwest is probably some of the most unpredictable things I can think of. It is like a game of chance whether you are going to be at risk of getting snowed in or melted to death, but it seems we have good enough air conditioning to not die from it in both of those situations. Those are people to thank!

#midwest #weather #text block

[150ma-blog]

TV: Reservation Dogs (Blog 1)

The television show I decided to watch was Reservation Dogs (2021-23). This series follows teenagers Elora, Bear, Chester (Cheese), and Willie Jack called the Rez Dogs. They live in rural Oklahoma where they commit crime and fight it. Season one takes place one year after the death of their friend Daniel, who dreamed of going to California. In this coming of age show, the Rez Dogs grapple with Daniel’s death, contemplate going to California themselves, and grow into themselves along the way. The show was created by Sterlin Hart and Taika Waititi, has three seasons, features all Indigenous writers and directors, and also has an almost entirely Indigenous cast and crew.

The first thing that really stuck out to me about this show was the attention to detail in both the costuming and set design. There were aspects that certainly called upon Native American culture, in particular braids. I wanted to go back to the reading “Prairie Portraits” by Aleta M. Ringlero where this idea of clothing was a main focus. Ringlero especially talked about photography and how it influenced the way we think about Native Americans today. In Reservation Dogs the only time we see “traditional” clothing is on the character William Knifeman who appears to Bear as a spirit. (https://youtu.be/b_-x60mIAvg?si=DeX7In6e0YEuZHUC)

Otherwise, a reoccurring theme is braids. I know that braids/hair in general is significant to Native American culture and I found it uplifting that the design team paid careful attention to it.

While the main focus is on the Indigenous story, there are also constant references/conversation around what it means to be Native, and white people in the area treating it differently. For example, the character Big is a Tribal Policeman (Lighthorseman) who, at one point, comes into contact with the Okern (the town) police who start to poke fun (basically bullying him) at Big. Another great example, on the opposite side of the spectrum, would be the character Kenny Boy, a white man who keeps trying to convince people he is Native American by throwing in mispronounced (and misused) words and concepts into daily speech.

Another thing that was explored/commented on through this series was the idea of Christianity. There is a church in the town which they gather in the basement during tornado in the last episode of season one. They don’t care — they have no connection with it at all, it is just a place for them to be safe from the storm. They reference images or statues of Jesus as “White Jesus.” This goes back to the “Circling the Cross” reading by Antonio Lopez. How Native Americans see symbols as “cyphers of power.” In contrast to White Jesus, characters wear copper jewelry and eagle feathers pop up every once in a while.

The last thing I want to mention is the quick reference to the idea of land. In the episode titled “Uncle Brownie” (S1E3), the “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign has “Land Back” in spray paint on covering it. There are a few other signs throughout the rest of the season that had this tag as well.

Overall, this series features Indigenous people as authentically as I can imagine in a present day sense. Highly enjoyed it and highly recommend it!

#reservation dogs #hulu #sterlin harjo #taika waititi