#Gout Cleaning

[tilecleaningtoday]

Richmond Tile Doctor explains how to Maintain Terracotta Kitchen Flooring

This Orange and Red Terracotta tiled floor at property near Richmond was absolutely filthy and proved to be a real challenge to get clean. It clearly hadn’t been professionally cleaned for some time and when I went to do the survey, I could see a build-up of grease and old sealer throughout.

Due to its porosity Terracotta is particularly vulnerable and to keep its appearance the sealer needs to be maintained correctly as it will wear in the busiest areas with use. In this case I was able to re-assure the homeowner that I would be able to strip off all the old layers of sealer, deep clean the tiles and re-seal to leave it looking like a new floor.

Happy with my quote I got the go-ahead and we agreed a date to start the work which should take two days, one to strip and clean and the other to seal.

Removing Sealer and Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

To strip the sealer off the Terracotta floor I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a powerful alkaline coatings remover that’s safe to use on Tile and Stone. The solution was sprayed on to the kitchen floor and then left to soak in for fifteen minutes to give it time to break down the sealer and soils.

I then inspected the floor and could see a lot more work would be needed to get it completely free of old sealer and dirt. As a result, there was nothing for it but to get down on my knees scrapping everything off the tiles with more Remove and Go. I found most of the old sealer and grease just flaked off but some areas were difficult. I had some assistance from a DeWalt handheld buffing machine fitted with a stiff brush but it was still very hard work, especially around the edges of the kitchen as my hands barely fit underneath the units.

After about six hours I was satisfied everything was removed and I could turn my attention to the grout. For this I hand scrubbed the grout lines using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean rinsing and extracting as I went.

Last step in the cleaning process was to treat the tiles to an acid wash which will further clean the tiles and equalise the floors pH level after the use of alkaline cleaners earlier. I used Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up for this which was first scrubbed in, then rinsed with water and extracted as before. The floor was rinsed down again two more times with water to remove any trace of product. I used the wet vacuum used to extract as much moisture from the floor as possible so it can have a better chance of drying out overnight.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

When I called back seal the Terracotta, I first checked the moisture readings in several areas with a damp meter to verify the floor was nice and dry. All was well so several coats of a Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra were applied to the floor allowing forty minutes drying time between coats.

The new sealer left the now clean Terracotta tiles with an attractive mid satin finish and looked fantastic and was doubly improved by the grout cleaning which had responded well to the Pro-Clean. The customer was very pleased with the transformation in their floor which now looked clean and bright.

Before leaving we left the customer with a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral cleaner for aftercare. To get the best from their Terracotta tiles it’s important that customers use the correct product for regular maintenance cleaning from the start, stronger products will reduce the life of the sealer.

Source: Terracotta Floor Tile Cleaning and Sealing Products and Services in Richmond South London

[newspecies]

read this is not a ghost story by andrea portes. it was okay? just not my thing honestly. a little too big on love at first sight and romance in general. but the surreal stuff at the end was cool and i really liked titular character the hammer

[kaijutegu]

So. Now that she's home and safe and gonna be ok, I can talk about this.

I almost lost Kaiju. Christmas Day. I was woken up by a phone call from Allison, who will be referred to a LOT in this story. Allison runs the pet store where I board Kaiju. She called to tell me that Kaiju had lost a LOT of blood. (As it turns out, half her blood volume. Humans die when we lose 40%, just so you know. She lost 50%.)

There were no visible injuries, and she had passed a bloody stool. Or rather, a blood clot with some poop in it. She continued to pass only blood when they put her in the bathtub to clean her up. If I'd taken her anywhere else, that... would have been it, probably.

But Allison is an actual miracle worker and knew an emergency vet who was open- on Christmas Day- and could see reptiles. As soon as she called me, she took her to the e vet, where they gave her fluids and oxygen and got her stable. They did some x rays and found... nothing.

In fact, the e vet actually complimented me on her bone density and how nice her toe joints look. Whatever this mysterious haemorrhage was, it was in the soft tissue.

The immediate thoughts were:

Impaction

Cancer invading an artery

Aneurism

Reproductive issues

However, the emergency vet couldn't figure it out, and my vet was out of the country. The e vet consulted with a lot of vets and it was decided she'd go into Chicago Exotics for care the next day- they were willing to see her on immediate notice. Allison drove her over and they did an ultrasound... and couldn't differentiate the mass they found.

So, exploratory surgery it was.

But... she didn't have enough blood for that. She wouldn't have survived... if Allison hadn't found blood for her. Tegu donors were found, the transfusion happened, and was completely successful.

And what the surgery found was completely unexpected. No cancer. No repro issues. No typical impaction.

Instead? Weird white things in her muscles and a partial impaction that seems to be related to a reduction in her ability to properly digest. There are two possible diagnoses at this point. One is visceral gout. This is very strange because in reptiles, articular gout basically always happens first, and her kidneys are fine.

The other option? Weird, potentially cross species parasite she picked up when she was in the Everglades. Something she's likely had all her life, something that was dormant until recently.

I'll know when the pathology report comes back in a week or so.

Anyways! She is doing very well. She is alert and interested in things. She has an incredible appetite, even though she can't have solid food yet. She's on three meds, including one I have to inject. At her three week recheck, we will add a fourth- either the correct anti-parasitic or a medication to improve kidney function, depending on the diagnosis. Currently she's in a hospital cage and she hates it- she can't have any substrate because of the stitches.

The vet says it should take about three months until she makes her full blood volume. Her pack cell count should be at 35%. It was at 7% on the 26th. But by the 28th, it was at 10%. She's gonna be ok. She's tough. My little girl is a fighter, always has been. You have to be scrappy to survive in the wild.

And throughout this entire experience, everybody has told me how lovely her personality is. Through the injections and cloacal probing and everything, she never bit or even tried to. The vet didn't think she even wanted to bite. Like it wasn't a question of wanting to bite and not being strong enough- it's just not something in her behavioural repertoire. She doesn't bite because she doesn't want to. Because even at her most scared, at her most painful, she's still Kaiju, the best tegu to ever live. Love is stored in the tegu, and it continues to be stored in the tegu. We have a long road ahead of us, but she's out of the woods and is going to be ok. We both are.

Also, consider this a MAJOR plug for Curious Creatures in Chicago. I'm never going to board my animals anywhere else.

[syndrossi]

Interaction Canon! Rhaegar and Daemon. It could be at the Trident, or when Daemon's "ghost" comes to Aegon's cradle, or whatever, but the POV of Canon!Rhaegar

Well, since the New Year is a hopeful time, I opted for the "Daemon finds himself literally/physically at the Battle of the Trident" version of this...

Enjoy these 100-ish (*mumble* 1200-ish *mumble*) words...

x~x~x

The tepid waters of the Trident at its lowest crossing had a choked stench to them even when they weren’t red with the blood and bile of lives spent needlessly. And as much as Rhaegar blamed his father’s cruelty, honed to a deadly edge by the horrors he suffered at Duskendale, his own foolish heart was equally at fault.

Not for loving Lyanna. There was nothing foolish about that. But in thinking he might concentrate his father’s fury on himself alone by eloping in secret, trusting that for all his paranoia, he would not kill his own firstborn.

He had not counted that Lyanna’s brother would march upon King’s Landing, nor their father after him. That they would challenge the king, or that his father would extend his notion of protection to Rhaegar when they demanded his head with such perfect malice.

And thus the Warden of the North and his heir had been executed in a fashion that would turn the steeliest of stomachs, and the realm had sundered. The enemy hungered for blood in return for that which had been spilt. Ned Stark for his fallen kin, and his missing sister. Robert Baratheon for the insult of having his betrothed stolen away.

A threat awaits us that is far greater than a mad king, he wanted to shout at the clash of men around him, except that it too would be taken as madness. The darkness that had plagued his dreams for as long as he could remember, death stretching icy fingers across the realm to bring the eternal night.

Only dragons could stave off the threat, and for all that he had thought that he might be the one to waken them, his efforts thus far had been in vain.

And even that failure would not matter if he could not hold back this rebellion.

Rhaegar’s sword arm moved instinctively to parry the blade of the man who had made it through the line of knights defending him, and he struck just as quickly to take advantage of the man’s sloppy guard, blade finding the soft flesh of his gut. He stepped back, letting the body fall backward rather than exhaust energy trying to fling it off the blade himself.

He scanned the battlefield once more. Earlier, he had caught sight of the massive stag antlers that decorated his cousin’s helm, and he knew that he hunted him most hungrily.

We could end it, he and I. Not the war, perhaps, but this battle. A single combat, a single life spent, and thousands spared for it.

It was never that simple, of course, or that clean. Rhaegar had learned that lesson early on. A battle did not end at one particular moment. The killing continued for a time after, even in the most disciplined of armies.

Rhaegar spotted his cousin’s imposing outline first, and then the shadow. The sky was half-filled with clouds, meaning that most of the battlefield before him was shaded from the sun, but atop that shadow came a deeper one, moving across the host of men with far too much speed to be natural.

Rhaegar looked up and stopped breathing for a moment. Above them, a great winged shape, red of scale, circled the battlefield—enormous, its long neck turning to and fro. The sounds of battle seemed to deaden, and it was not merely his hearing. Men lowered their weapons, heads craning upward at a sight no one had seen in centuries.

Rhaegar was staring at the tiny figure he could see on the dragon’s back, a dark shape that grew larger as the dragon came closer. He could swear that he saw the figure’s head lock upon him, and then turn toward the Baratheon host.

The dragon swooped, this time with intent, no longer seeking. Flame erupted from its mouth, a blinding gout of white and red that tore through the opposing army to the sound of screaming.

“Back!” Rhaegar called out, frantically seeking the attention of the knights around him, who began spreading the message. “Disengage!”

His army had already started to move instinctively, and although there was haste to their motion, it was nothing beside the chaos of the Baratheon host. A few pockets of order toward the back of it targeted the dragon with bows, but they were themselves chosen for the dragon’s next pass.

A hand found his arm, and Rhaegar nearly stabbed at it on instinct, before realizing that it was Ser Barristan, and that the knight had the shaft of an arrow embedded in his shoulder. He let the Kingsguard shield him from the stray arrows falling as they fell back.

The dragon continued its assault, even as his cousin’s forces tried to retreat. Stop, he wanted to shout up at it. It is over! But the dragon possessed a fury that could not be quenched. It was not until he saw it make a deep dive and emerge with the shape of a man in a stag’s helm between its teeth, biting down with a great roaring gout of flame, that it seemed to calm at last.

Robert’s men were in full flight, not a Baratheon banner intact. In the distance, he could see a few banners of House Stark still waving, and he prayed that Lyanna’s other brothers had survived the dragon’s fury. My family has already visited so much sorrow upon her.

The beat of the dragon’s wings began to slow, its destination plain: the edge of Rhaegar’s own forces. The men, thankfully recognizing the dragon as an ally, albeit a strange one, did not move as it came to land with a quiet thud on the soft earth near the riverbank.

The figure riding it dismounted, wearing black armor and a winged helm not entirely unlike his own. “Rhaegar!” he called, removing his helmet to reveal long, silver-blond hair like his. “Where is my son?”

All heads seemed to turn to Rhaegar, who stared, unable to comprehend the man’s words. The man followed their gaze, and he broke into a run. Rhaegar had to wave Ser Barristan back as the man neared, and barely had time to brace himself as hands grasped Rhaegar’s own helm to rip it free.

The man who stared into his eyes looked like he could be his father, but not Aerys. In his prime, his father had been a broad-shouldered man of similar height, clean-faced and handsome, but he had never gazed upon Rhaegar with such joy and relief, his eyes a color more like his own than Aerys’s pale lilac.

“Rhaegar,” he breathed, pulling him into a nearly crushing embrace. “What happened? Where is your brother? He is not at the Wall, is he?”

The face of the man’s dragon peeked over his shoulder at Rhaegar, still wrapped up in the embrace, and he raised a hand in wonder that the dragon snuffed before its eyes slitted in approval, as though recognizing kin.

The man pulled back after a moment, and Rhaegar recognized the hilt sheathed at his side from paintings of centuries past. Dark Sister.

He stared at the man once more, utterly mystified, feeling as though he had stepped into a dream. “Who are you?”

[forestshadow-wolf]

Soap having trouble listening to authority especially if it unnecessarily put lives at risk

Except for ghost, who thinks soap is an excellent who never talks back and always follows orders. Ghost gets confused when another lieutenant says soap was hell to command bc he never listened. And then another time he sees soap back talking another captain, he's not sure what it's about but it's clear that soap is arguing.

Ghost is taken aback by this because never once has he seen soap be this rude and down right disrespectful. He supposes it's fair, soap's been in the military for over a decade and he's only known him for a fraction of that time. But still it's been years since he met soap, and he's never seen soap raise his voice against price, much less himself.

Soap himself does not have a problem with authority. He has a problem with poor authority that will cost people their lives. He's always had a strong sense of justice, even as a kid, and it only grew as he got older. He got in trouble with teachers and eventually cops a lot before he joined the military.

His first lieutenant when he just gout out of boot camp had no problems sending soldiers to dies, as long as the mission was completed. Soap was not a fan. And he didn't hide it. Infact he was very loud about it.

He got sent back to boot three (3) times before they just let him move up the ranks. They had no real grounds to discharge him, and he was a damned good soldier; always top of his class even in his first round of boot. He did eventually learn to pick some of his battles, like if it was a direct order from a general or higher, those couldn't be changed. But Sergents, lieutenants, and captains were fair game for him, even if it was a different squad.

On the topic of price and ghost, well he never had a problem with them, not really anyway. Price valued the life of his men over the success of the mission, and that earned more respect from him than a thousand success missions could have. And ghost, sure he's mission driven, but he doesn't devalue the life of his men.

And sure soap has given counter suggestions on mission planning, but it's always with the best interest in mind and never without backup to support. And sure there have been disagreements, but never out right arguing, or disrespect. Plus he figures price asked for him specifically, by name, even with his "anti-authority" reputation. So he figures if price wasn't open to listening to him he would have asked for him.

Gaz wasn't too surprised, if only because he'd met Soap in passing in the field once or twice. He'd heard how soap had gotten his callsign, being able to clear a room and take down multiple hostiles with quick efficiency. Be he does wonder if it was actually for trying to clean up a captain's act as a private, or maybe having to clean up his own act. All the times he'd met soap before the 141 he'd always known the man to be steamy and hot headed, often getting into fights with his SOs or hell even his fellow Sergents.

But it isn't soap's fault. Really! Trust! See, because every time his SOs or the other sergents made a bad call, and he had to follow orders. And he lost soldiers who didn't have to die? Then that was on him for not speaking up. Their blood was on his hands for not using his voice when he could. And trust him, he's got plenty of blood on his hands, some his fault, some his direct decisions, some because he wouldn't dump it on his privates like his superiors did to him.

Soap has had to lead too many bright eyed soldiers into danger, on a plan that was held together on hash threads and hope, and had to tell them that they'd all get their recognition knowing still that not all of them would make it. He used to go against direct orders, even as a private. It got so bad that he was threatened with dishonorable dischatge on account of going awol and a slew of other things. And had it not been for his family, he wouldn't have cared. Not that his honor didn't mean anything, just that it meant less than peoples' lives, but of course his family always came first before anything else, so he stopped.

Well stopped blatantly going against direct orders. Didn't stop the arguing, got smarter in how he disobeyed, left his position when he had even the barest hint of a valid excuse, started doing little things to make life just a little bit harder. Because he doesn't think that you should just be able to have an easy life of you can knowingly send people off to die without a second thought.

[skincareroutine]

zillow comment section that could solve housing crisis

homielooker29: saw this home 4 days ago black mold infestation no disclosure by agent.

househunter-001: spousal murder on the property was disclosed but back splash is outdated and unmaintained pool. no professional cleaning crew -- blood soaked grout. home owner claims it will come out but second opinion says re-gouting of whole unit necessary

[yourgamemasterthewhiterabbit]

Still Alive! And you would not believe what I just went through...

So just after the last post I made or reblogged, my computer stopped connecting to the internet. Wasn't the vpn. Restarted. wasn't that. Couldn't release or renew the fucking ip because it's disconnected. After allowing the troubleshooter to turn on services I had explicitly shut off, it "couldn't find a problem".

It took finding where windows 10 hides things to see the network was claiming the cable was disconnected.

The cable was not disconnected and the wifi was working fine on my phone so -I assumed- the modem was fine and there was no outage.

I use old cords, so -body still very broken- I dig out another cord from my boxes [blue and not yellow], it changed nothing.

I have had network cards/adapters fry before.

Do you know they used to be a separate card you could swap out? Like your graphics card? When they fried? So you didn't have to replace your whole fucking motherboard? I miss that. We should go back to that.

.

.

.

Sop there's things being reset in the command promt, there's previous drivers gone back to, there's shit reset, restarted 5 times and it took forever.

Nothing.

I gave up, I clearly needed a new motherboard.

I had already taken extra advil and tore apart half my room so I could get into my computer properly and cleaned my whole desk area in the process. Hours of pain and cleaning and frustration.

Meanwhile I am looking up on my phone what the fucking deal could be about me still having gout this bad since I am pretty sure my kidneys aren't suddenly just dead entirely, and the extra uric acid should have been gone by now. Like gout should not at this point be my main and only symptom of kidneys suddenly just up and progressing to stage 5 failure.

Turns out, with some very pointed and specifically worded questions, you can get the internet to spit out that -actually- low salt diets can make your uric acid levels high.

Turns out your body needs salt to process purines and uric acid out...

Turns out that telling me that salt is the devil and should be avoided at all costs was maybe keeping me from getting better and that what triggered this whole problem was -maybe- that lately I had suddenly been eating barely any salt because my blood pressure wasn't low.

Turns out being a man is a risk factor for gout, and the the sudden hormonal shift that ate my breast tumours and changed my nose shape might have also made me more prone to gout.

Leaving gout untreated is ALSO bad for your kidneys and leaving some big autoimmune inflammation attack unchecked is maybe also bad for your kidneys...

Because I was at this point suspecting that some kind of elaborate autoimmune flareup had been triggered by gout and now my body was just continuing to attack the existing damage in my joints. That would be in character for my stupid immune system.

And I might be able to recover now and my kidneys might not be as bad as I thought...

But I gave up on my computer's network adapter because clearly the internet was working and it was a hardware issue.

I was trying to download discord on my phone so I could let my friend know I wasn't dead but couldn't use the internet because I don't use most apps/sites on my phone...

And my phone now wasn't finding anything because when I had moved my computer back up onto my desk- literally a couple minutes before- it had unplugged the modem.

Easy fix, plug it back in.

Internet is working on my phone again, which was not the problem.

Look up.

Internet is working on my COMPUTER again.

Modem was -for some reason- randomly refusing to communicate with any of the Ethernet ports, through any cord, despite that it was still pumping out wifi just fine, and all indicator lights showed that the internet should be working fine.

Somehow.

For reasons.

And unplugging it completely for like 5 minutes fixed it.

So I don't have to start replacing half my computer parts just yet [graphics card is still old and 2-3rd hand]...

And I have internet.

And since I have eaten an amount of salt, my body has gone back to processing fluids at the expected rate. [maybe explains me dreaming about salty snacks]...

So with any luck, over the next week, I can actually bounce back to all around functional.

And my internet works.

And now my desk is clean I GUESS.

And my neighbours threw out this big expensive monitor after x-mas, so i grabbed it off the street figuring it probably still worked if they only threw it out after getting a new one. So with any luck I can have two displays now [it needs to dry out and I need to find cables]...

-_-

I'm still feeling kind of furious and exhausted because "tech won't work and I can't figure out why and it means I can't contact anyone" happening at the same time as "All of my shelves are falling over and all my stuff is falling behind my desk and it's too crowded to work with anything like this" happening at the same time as "All of my joints are terribly injured and I don't have the -anything- to lift, move or reach anything" Is a literal hell on earth constructed by real demons and autism moonlighting as one.

But also they threw out a very fancy and very heavy metal lamp, and even if that's busted to fuck I can fix lamps easy... [I did not need another lamp but it was put out on my doorstep and it's fancy]

[otteroflore]

Today my dad's partner is going in for surgery

They will be removing a part of her stomach and pancrease and reattaching them something like this per wikipedia:

The surgeon will have to examine the liver and other organs to see if there was any spread, in which case they probably will not continue if the cancer has spread a lot. The likelihood of that is something like 15%.

Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest likelihoods of being cured. The surgery takes a long time and is extremely invasive and the patient needs lifelong medical treatment afterwards.

Dawn and I went to the Costco gas station yesterday and she paid for my car to be filled up (its cheaper than other gas stations) and she insisted on paying me for the cleaning I did yesterday. She always just says she wants this to be over with and always seems in pretty high spirits. She told me after this is all over she will have a talk with my dad about him being rude to me recently.

My dad has a friend from out of town over to be with him for a while. Very helpful because his gout has made it difficult for him to walk. He needs to stay off his feet but is VERY BAD at it and it makes him rude and callous towards us.

Anyways. Weird day. weird. day. dawns surgery isn't until the afternoon, so I wont hear anything until then.

[eluvisen]

Truce

Fandom: Baldur’s Gate 3

Characters: Karlach/Tav

Rating: T

Summary: It may or may not be a mistake falling in with these lunatics, but at least they look like fun. And one of them in particular looks like fun.

(Karlach’s first night in camp, as told by her.)

Notes: Written for Femslash February 2024. Prompt: once upon a time.

—

Wreathed in smoke and infernal fire, Karlach laughs as the tollhouse burns. Gouts of fire tower on all sides, devouring everything in their path and scorching her throat with every breath. But the inferno is fucking nothing compared to the hellfire inside her. The engine shudders behind her ribs, its vibrations ribboning down her torso and all the way through her guts, so hot and furious it feels like someone poured the magma from one of Avernus’s volcanoes directly into her chest.

With several swings of her axe and a swift kick, she bashes through the debris blocking the door. But past the shower of cinders and ash, the sky is blue. The sky is blue, and when she steps outside, the air is clean.

To her surprise, that gang of adventurers are waiting around. Away from the flames, mind, but waiting.

Karlach strides over, greataxe resting on her shoulder. The metal burns, but she burns hotter. “Hope you didn’t take much of a scorching in there. I had to let off some steam after facing those imp-fuckers.”

The engine thunders in her chest, feeling like a burr made of lava that she can’t cough out. Bloody thing isn’t cooling down. Seems it isn’t made to work outside Avernus, which means she needs to find an infernal mechanic. Fast. 

The rogue smiles at her without showing his teeth. “Only mild burns and the immediate threat of immolation, darling.” There’s something about him that makes her want to keep him in sight at all times, and not just for the safety of her coin purse. He isn’t infernal, she can tell that much. Maybe it’s his hair putting her off. “I don’t suppose you’ll reimburse us for spilling their guts on your behalf?”

Karlach snorts. “You didn’t kill them for me, you killed them with me. And I’m afraid I left my soul coins in Avernus. Could give you a hug if you wanted, though.”

His smile twists into something darker. “What a pity. I hear soul coins are especially valuable currency, and this isn’t a charity.”

“Strange,” says the walking fringe. She stays at the edges like a regular cleric, but there’s something… tricky about her. Yeah, that’s the word. Tricky. “I thought we were a charity. Why else would you be here, Astarion?”

Rhodeia, meanwhile, wears the perfectly pleasant expression of someone who’s mentally screaming into the Abyss. Making firm eye contact with Karlach, she says, “Since we all need a cure for these mind flayer parasites, you’re welcome to come with us.”

The rest of the party look just as loony. The githyanki undoubtedly draws eyes, and it’s a tossup whether her bloody huge greatsword or her scowl is the scarier weapon in her arsenal. Then there’s good man Gale. If he couldn’t conjure such a wicked scorching ray, she’d assume he’s a lost librarian. Or maybe libraries are more interesting places than she thought. At least the Blade of Frontiers is pointing his namesake elsewhere, although he sure doesn’t look pleased by current events. She’ll have to keep an eye on him. 

All in all? A group of miserable, argumentative misfits.

Gods, to be one of them.

Karlach opens her mouth. Hesitates. “There’s no contract, is there?”

“No,” Rhodeia answers, so perfectly startled that either she means it or she could give Flo a run for her coins. 

“Then fuck yes I’m in.”

Rhodeia smiles, and her expression is brilliantly, unnervingly genuine-looking. She has to be a half-elf—she’s got the ears, but her features are just a little too blunt to be a timeless beauty. Not to say she isn’t a looker, with freckles dusting her light brown skin and plump lips. In the sunlight, Karlach notices for the first time that Rhodeia’s eyes are a dusty mauve, as pretty as cut gems—definitely inherited those from the elven parent—and matching the hair falling down her back in intricate braids. Pale tattooed vines frame her face and curl invitingly down her neck to the collar of her leathers, raising the question of just how far they go down, exactly.

But that is a question best left uncontemplated for now. Karlach hangs her greataxe on her back and sweeps an arm at the road before them. “Let’s move, eh? Time’s wasting.”

When the party sets off, Karlach falls in with them. Behind her, the tollhouse burns.

[Read on AO3]

[thebeesareback]

I think my blog might just be a list of weird shit from the original Sherlock Holmes books. Today, featuring:

- Sherlock doesn't keep the flat tidy, but he does shoot "VR" into the wall and throw a knife at the mantlepiece to hold his letters in place. Watson says that it doesn't really enhance the atmosphere and appearance of the place

- Given that Sherlock comments on Watson's stories, we know he reads them, so the whole thing might just be a really elaborate way of making Sherlock clean his shit up

- Watson thinks Sherlock is fairly healthy, aside from his excessive cocaine use

- A wealthy, stingy man with gout is described as having knuckles so chalky you could use them on a pool cue. I don't know if this has anything to do with the man's wealth, stingyness or gout

- A detective describes a case as "an absolute snorter"

- Sherlock decides to keep the identity of a murderer from the police. They hold a trial in Baker Street with Watson as the jury and Sherlock as the judge

- Sherlock makes his big brother give Watson a lift

- there's an interracial marriage between a white woman and a Black American man. Watson thinks he is quite handsome. The couple have a baby, the husband dies, and the wife makes the child wear white gloves and a white mask so nobody notices anything. It does not work.

- A woman discusses the importance of divorce. She is collaborating with the man who killed her husband

- Sherlock's friend's dad is blackmailed by a pirate

[moviesludge]

on the positive side:

I cleaned and organized my room a bit today. I successfully tetrised a bunch of stuff into more convenient and space saving positions that are easily accessible. I'm always surprised how much space I'm able to make. I threw away a bunch of beard care / skin care stuff I was gifted and havent used in years too.

I found out that an old warhammer paint set that I was gifted in 1999 and barely touched is fairly valuable, even in used condition.

My tooth extraction site hasn't been too much trouble. The pain the day after was like a 1. I felt more pressure than anything, but it's been intermittent. My gums were a little sore. The spot felt iffy for the first couple of days but it feels like it has "set" now.

The bigger pain is trying to eat around it and eating only soft foods. Also, not being able to blow my nose or sneeze or spit really sucks. I keep feeling like I'm going to forget and suck the clot out of it somehow.

The jumping spider on my window was in the same position until I went to bed. I read that they sit still to conserve energy and to be less noticeable to prey. When I woke up he had moved to the opposite side of the window. He's still there now. He's pretty big compared to most of the jumping spiders around here. They usually hang around the windows and on the walls and screens.

Been keeping up with the gout/dental diet and am at my lowest weight since June 2023. Avoided fast food a couple of times. REALLY looking forward to be able to exercise again. I haven't in a while due to the heat wave and then the gout flare and now the dental stuff.

[cato616]

NEGOTIATING OVER US (part three)

roman roy x fem reader

note: im glad actually at least a few people saw the other posts i was honestly expecting none at all, so yey thanks <3

summary: you're expecting to go back to see roman today; are you hoping to experience something like yesterday with him? or are you planning to have a normal "negotiation" (since of course you know you don't want to seel) day. Keeps you excited

content: some spicy spice and well as always degrading treatment from roman

You're pretty anxious about today, cleaning over every single table of the café every ten minutes and at the same time, taking orders, you really make those tables shine by the way; you're waiting until Liza arrives so she can start her shift and you can be gone already. cleaning, coffee, cleaning, coffee, cleaning... LIZA! she finally arrived and you dropped the rag when you were about to clean the counter for the third time, you really had to put your mind on something else because this types of meetings makes you impatient.

"hey Liza!" you waive at her. "You seem really happy to see me" she said to you with somewhat of a worried face. "yeah! i gotta be somewhere and i wa-" "you want me to cover the next few hours" Liza interrupted you finishing your sentence. "yes! you can't say no, i am your boss tho" you laugh with her. "where are you going this time?" she asks in a friendly way. "just having a date with-" "oh!" Liza adds mid sentence seeming amused, you continue. "... with the roy family" you say. "oh..." Liza's face changed to disappointment. "yeah... they're still trying to make me sell" you said to her while you start to put your coat on; since Liza is one of the few people that knows about the history of the café, when you said that, she felt a little blue about it. "so, are you... going to sell?" She asks you pitifully. "I don't want to sell Liza... im just, meeting them anyway... roman always came here, i am now going over there" Liza nods with her head smiling at you and then waiving goodbye when you start leaving.

You start walking over your grand meeting with roman roy, and just by knowing that, it makes impatient all over again, you can't think about it until you get to arrive there, so you put your headphones on and start listening to music to escape your mind a little bit.

You're a block away from the building, and my my, it looks even bigger than last time, you start having a lot of vertigo by just looking at it.

Here we are now entering hell. "good morning hey, im here to see roman roy?..." you had to ask the receptionist since you couldn't go up in an elevator without authorization. "uh... yes, you may go" she kindly directs you to the security guards who would let you go in with their key cards; very intimidating men, feels like they destroy animal plushies just for fun. you walked really fast into the elevators, those big guys had some scary faces too, who hired them? never mind, that makes sense.

You're in the elevator, breathing, in and out. You can't help but to feel nervous about these places; these people makes you drop huge gouts of sweat over your forehead, and under your armpits, that's why you needed to relax first. 'ding.' You arrived at your floor, it's time to shine.

Right after you set a foot outside the elevator, you look up, and you see roman waiting for the same one. You stared into each other's eyes at first and even for a millisecond you felt you wanted to say something different by just looking at him, but you immediately great him like an every day person. "hey roman, good to see you" you unintentionally stretch your hand to him, he obviously doesn't copy you and do the same thing instead looks down at it as he feels grossed out by the gesture, and starts laughing, of course. "oh yeah yeah mrs. princess come on in to the castle" he stretched your hand in an ironic way while making a silly voice. "don't greet me like that, I'm not the fucking president of the united states." You two start walking to his office and well, you looked very solemn by his attitude, but deep inside you did felt a bit embarrassed, you never actually did that when he would stop by your shop the other times. "(you sigh) always so delighted to see you roman" you sarcastically tell him. He opens the door for you to go in. "yeah don't worry darling, i know that you hate me and blah blah blah". You sit down on those sofas he had in his office, and after he said that you zone out and start to reflect about it, i don't think I've actually ever hated him, i said the words but never felt it.

You zone back in when he suddenly sits on another seat in front of you, there's a bit of silence, there's words that are trying to come out of your mouth but you're worried how much it would change the atmosphere in the room. "i've... never actually hated you... by the way." Roman seems astounded by your comment, he has a slight smirk on his face. "oh wow, really? you're the first one then" he then suddenly starts to make deep eye contact with you; you're the type that can't stand eye contact for even a second, so your eyes start to wonder somewhere else to avoid him; oh shit no, not down there, look up! look up, the window, perfect, stay still. Of course roman noticed your anxious look around the place, and those accidental wonder eyes you gave him. "what? what you looking at? a plane?". You're now tired of his teasing at this time of the day, and get to the point.

"i only came back here to tell you once more that i won't ever sell my coffee shop" you told him very confident, you felt good about yourself after saying it; he smiles at you as if he believes that you don't know what you're saying. "what?" as you start to feel on edge by his silence and his smirking, that unfortunately makes the insecurity come back to your body, damn you, roman you bully. "maybe for now let's say you don't wanna sell, sure" he's making you feel confused and irritated with his stupid superior complex. "i am not going to sell roman" you said to him very serious this time. "I've told you about it already" you remind him about your story. "oh yeah boo-hoo sad backstory-" You struggle to feel confident at times, but you don't let people like that in your life, he really does feel like he's better the anyone else. "I'm leaving, hope you have a good day you little shit" you rapidly get up from your sit almost about to leave the room. "okay waitwaitwait stop". roman didn't even felt like getting up but he did like saying wait very fast. "i don't know why i stopped, but of course that you roman tend to be fucking selfish, egocentric, and a bitch, but who knows why, i forgot about that" you yelled.

Quietness fills up the room; your face is hulk red and his is blue; he looks down, defeated. "pff, wow, i thought you said you didn't hate me" You couldn't believe that he felt sad about it, however, you were deeply fighting your inner self, started to feel a little regretful. "oh so apparently you're the victim, nice one" you sarcastically put your thumbs up to him. You paused, he didn't say anything. You didnt want to at the moment, but deep down you wanted him to feel remorse; you felt like you should be civilized about it. "just try to say sorry perhaps and we can then, continue our day"

He starts to get up very slowly from his seat, his eyes gradually starts to direct themselves from the floor to then your eyes, he's now very delicately getting closer to you. Your face meets his face, you stayed very still, not a word coming through your mouth. His eyes slightly start to shift, left to right, like if he's trying to decipher what your eyes are telling him. then he quietly says, "i am, sorry... i didn't say, anything about our meeting, last night". You froze.

Although you were pretty aroused by that meeting yesterday and actually wanted to have something like that happen again, the adrenaline; you weren't very good at confronting it. So now you felt it became harder to breath, while your heart was beating faster. "You want me to say something about it?" He wanted you to respond as of course you were at the moment, unavailable, your mind is currently out of thoughts. "um.. a-about, what?" you continue to not admit the events. "I'm not stupid- you fucking want me, don't you?"

continue

[silvercap]

Whump writing/first aid pet peeve: if your character is bleeding and has been bandaged, but is STILL bleeding through them and has not had a chance to get to a hospital---don't take the original bandages OFF. Doing this will tear open any potential scabbing and could make them bleed worse. Also, you're exposing them to more opportunity for infection, and just basically setting back any possible healing progress you could've had.

This is fine if your character maybe doesn't know what they're doing and wants to put clean ones on for whatever reason (they better be prepared for a gout of blood! and also it'll hurt, and you'll have Consequences) but if your character would realistically know how to handle wounds, first aid situations are not the time to replace bandages. Just stack them---it will work out better for everyone!

[psioniciris]

Creepy Cases of Casper High (Hunters, Dragons, and Damsels In Distress!)

Hello hello my cherished readers! Sorry its been so long since I shared my last case report. Just been busy with life and doing research in general to make sure I've got my facts straight. Anywho, to anyone who is just joining us now here's a bit of a refresher. Last time I shared a case with you guys we were discussing Casper High's very first major ghost sighting of a huge monster made of meat! Feel free to check out the full details of the case by following the link down below!

The official second sighting looks like it might have been more of a one off thing along with the third but I decided to include them anyway since I feel like all of them are important if we want to get a better picture of just how haunted this town is. It happened to Mikey in the library. He went to use one of the computer's in the school library to work on an assignment and ran into someone he didn't realize at the time was a ghost who turned around and attacked him! Luckily Mikey wasn't hurt, just gagged and hung upside-down by some kind of energy net that vanished into thin air a few seconds later.

According to Mikey once he calmed down enough to remember exactly what the ghost said to him, he referred to himself as Skulker. This might only be a code name though so I'll have to look into this further for another article.

Moving onto the third ghost sighting at Casper High this one is pretty incredible if you as me! Why? Because it was the first close up sighting of Danny Phantom himself and an honest to goodness dragon! A ghost dragon! That can only mean one thing folks, dragons are real is now confirmed! I mean think about it. How could there be a ghost of a dragon if there was never a living one at some point flying around?

But moving on...

Before I dive into our next story I'd like to preface this by saying most of these are based entirely on witness accounts that vary a lot in levels of detail which is totally understandable when you think about it. It's kinda hard to pay attention to the specifics when you're running for your life from a huge gout of green flames from the maw of a ghost dragon! Moving onto the case report itself the first reported sighting of this dragon was apparently at the Amity Park Mall in the Abyss clothing store.

There was a sale on the entire discontinued line of Fleecy-T blouses and somehow or another a customer wound up possessed and transformed in front of the very eyes of the acting manager on call at the time. Paulina said she sorta remembers being there that day too but was too excited about managing to guy the very last shirt they had left in her size to really pay attention to what happened when she left the store.

The second sighting of the same dragon was on campus that night at Casper High where it destroyed the girls bathroom (although this wasn't discovered until later the next day by the janitor cleaning up the mess left by the first dance of the school year) then flew off to the football field where our next two witnesses, Dash and Tiffanie, saw Danny Phantom rescuing Paulina. My guess is he saved Paulina from the dragon at some point when the bathroom was wrecked which would explain why she was out cold at the time. The dragon was then defeated by our local ghost hero and the rest as they say is history! I also wonder how they replaced that whole row of bleachers...?

To end things off, I found out there was another ghost sighting the same night by Tucker Foley and the DJ in charge of the school dance's music. Tucker didn't tell me much apart from that he was really taken aback when this ghost girl just floated up to him, insisting on enjoying the last dance with him. As for the DJ, he noticed them while getting ready to pack up his gear once the last song finished and noticed the girl Tucker was dancing with looked out of place in her get-up, aka a medieval styled gown not to mention her feet were literally gliding across the dance floor. Well, assuming they had been ever touching the ground to begin with!

Tucker tells me she was surprisingly mellow and sweet but at the time his nerves were a bit frazzled from trying to help his best friend Danny Fenton keep his parents from getting too talkative about certain happenings at school. The rest of their little waltz is a bit of blur though so Tucker couldn't tell me any more than that. As for why Danny's parents were chaperoning the dance I'll leave that to your imagination since I doubt it's a very fond memory for the poor guy.

But there you have it! I really wanted to make up for my long absence here's three Creepy Cases of Casper High all rolled up into one! And now that puts our total of ghost encounters so far at 4! First was the meat ghost, second was this ghost hunter guy Skulker, third was the dragon, and fourth was this mysterious ghost girl who according to Tucker's description of her might have been nobility or maybe even a princess! Not only that but she bears a striking similarity to the ghost dragon as far as their color aesthetic so could the two of them be connected somehow? Looks like that is yet another case for me to take a closer look into for a future post!

[madamlaydebug]

Yes, you’ve heard of sage for smudging— warding off bad energy and cleaning out a space. But did you know there’s more to sage than sacred rituals?

🍃avoid Alzheimer’s: Sage does have the ability to stimulate brain function to improve memory and concentration; however, it also works to eliminate cognitive disorders that may arise, including Alzheimer’s and dementia.

🍃reduce inflammation: The anti-inflammatory qualities of sage extend to health issues such as arthritis and gout, as well as general inflammation of the cardiovascular system, which can result in heart diseases and high blood pressure. The flavonoids and phenolic compounds found in it are responsible for these beneficial effects.

🍃increase cognition: Research has shown that even small amounts of sage, whether inhaled or consumed, can increase recall abilities and memory retention in people.

🍃antioxidant rich: Antioxidant compounds found in sage, such as rosmarinic acid, luteolin, and apigenin, can work to neutralize free radicals and prevent them from creating oxidative stress in the heart, organ systems, skin, joints, muscles, and even the brain.

🍃boost immune system: There are some antimicrobial properties that have been identified in sage, and while it is usually consumed in small quantities, you can create a topical application of sage (salve or tincture) and use it to prevent bacterial and viral infections that attack the body through the skin.

🍃smooth skin: A topical salve can be created using sage leaves or a tincture of the plant that has been shown to be effective against certain skin conditions, including eczema, psoriasis, and acne.

🍃manage diabetes: It contains certain extracts and chemicals that mimic the drugs typically prescribed for managing diabetes. It appears to regulate and inhibit the release of stored glucose in the liver, preventing major fluctuations of blood sugar, which can help to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes or at least manage the condition if it has already manifested.

[mollywog]

🎃👻Trick or treat! 👻🎃 A prompt if you like: Katniss and Peeta trying to decide what 'spooky-season' movie to watch. (Whether horror, spooky, creepy, or romcom)

This is not what you asked for… but hopefully still a treat!

In an alternate/alternate modern universe where Haymitch isn’t the potato man, but somewhat of an old man Marley figure. Living alone on a street full of old houses that have fallen into disrepair.

Inspired by part of @bodyelectric77 trick or treat (that I’m still working on 😬)

On Ao3

He enters his kitchen to find the trio looking sullen. He’s not too surprised by the older girl’s scowl, it’s her natural state as far as he can tell, but the frowns on the boy and the little girl’s faces are foreign to him.

Haymitch has heard the rumors about himself: Old Man Abernathy - a drunk, a nut, a felon, a murder, possessed - just like his haunted house. Some of what they say is true, but he doesn’t bother to correct the inaccuracies; the stories keep most people away and that’s how he prefers it. So he was surprised and a little impressed two years ago when the Mellark kid knocked on his door looking for work, offering to do grunt jobs for a couple bucks. By then Haymitch had already had Katniss helping twice a week with the lawn and landscaping, so he’d offhandedly remarked he had nothing for the boy to do unless he wanted to clean his toilets, scrub his gout, and cook his meals. He never expected the boy to agree and to continue to return. Peeta began coming regularly, conveniently matching his schedule to that of the girl, who would often bring her younger sister along. He has found that he quite enjoys the lively chatter of the three teens who invade his house twice a week.

They’d ceased their discussion when he’d entered the room, gloomily staring into their mugs, “Alright, who kicked your puppy?”

The little girl looks as if she’ll speak, but her sister picks up her mug and subtly shakes her head. He turns to the boy, raising an eyebrow.

“It's silly really,” he shrugs, “Prim mentioned the Winter Formal. As a freshman this would be her first chance to go, but I was telling her it probably won’t happen this year. I’m on Student Council.” This doesn’t surprise Haymitch. “In past years we’ve used the school cafeteria for free, but last year someone had the bright idea to set off glitter bombs. It was a nightmare to clean; There’s still blue and silver glitter wedged in every crevice. And now Principal Coin won’t let us use it again as punishment. So if we want the dance this year, we have to have it somewhere else. But even the deposit at The Hob is more than we can afford.”

Haymitch’s struck with a rush of nostalgia: memories of the crappy cafeteria bathed in blue twinkle lights and covered in paper snowflakes as he danced with his girl. He may be old and jaded now, but he can remember how important silly dances we’re back then. He covers his feelings with a pull from his flask, “Can’t you do a fundraiser or some shit? A deposit can’t be more than what… Two hundred bucks? Throw a bake sale.”

The kid huffs in a mixture of annoyance and amusement, “My mom’s on the PTO board. She’s gotten them to ban bake sale fundraisers. Says she’s looking out for local family owned shops who lose business to them.” The kid smirks, “though she never took issue with the wrestling team’s candy bar fundraiser, despite the Donner’s sweet shop next door.”

Haymitch snorts, taking another swig from his flask before continuing, “There are other ways to raise money. What about a carwash?” He doesn’t even have a car, but he remembers them being popular back in his day.

“Who’s going to want to wash cars in this weather?” Katniss snaps gesturing to the window.

“Besides, that’s the cheerleader's thing. There aren’t many options, all the other usual fundraisers are already taken by other teams or clubs; if the Student Council tried them, they’d be cutting into someone else’s profits.” Prim adds.

They fall back into silence. He watches as the boy steals glances at the older girl: Haymitch would gamble he had plans to ask her to the dance. She’s as enamored with him as she is oblivious and is currently preoccupied worrying over the little girl’s disappointment, while Prim shoots sympathetic looks in the boy’s direction.

It’s pretty pathetic.

but unfortunately also oddly endearing. “Alright” Haymitch rubs his eyebrows. Three pairs of eyes look up at him in confusion, “I’ll give you the deposit: an anonymous donation to the youth of District 12.”

“What? No.” The boy shakes his head, “it’s a generous offer, but that's not why I brought it up. I’d feel like I swindled you with a sob story if I just accepted your money like that.”

“Fine,” Haymitch huffs, “then earn it. The whole town already thinks I live in a haunted house. It’s the season. Doll up this place to meet expectations. Charge admission. Bet no one’s cornered that market.”

The older girl looks skeptical, while the younger one looks ready to vibrate out of her seat in excitement. The boy begins to nod, “that could work. We could ask to borrow props from the theater department and I can try to convince the football team to play scarers.”

“I could talk to the other cheerleaders about helping too,” Prim squeals.

“There are plenty of pumpkins and gourds in the garden for decorating and we could set up a hot beverage stand for extra sales,” Katniss reluctantly adds.

“People would easily pay $5 just for the chance to get a glimpse of this place. Hell, even my mother would pay triple that for a peak!” Peeta says before contemplating the insinuation and tempering his enthusiasm, turning towards Haymitch in a more subdued tone, “You’re sure?”

Haymitch shrugs, “I got a couple-a kids who clean my house, the aftermath will be their problem.” This earns him a chorus of laughter and even a smirk from the girl.

He’ll likely regret this later, but as he watches their growing excitement as they sit at his table and plan, he can’t seem to care.