#I also thought about. like. a moss vest? idk

[technicallyaminecraftsimp]

Moss!Impulse??

I’m actually really happy w how this one turned out. The moss look always goes hand in hand w flowers for me, so I gave Impulse dandelions!!

[someonesomewheredown]

Random OC rambles, some of which to provide context to future rambles but mostly just brain dumps

Originally they were spirits in a spirit world but now I've kind of decided against it just because I feel like that sort of goes against how I want their story to be about living. So now they're just normal furries lol

I'm still pretty attached to the ideas I had for the spirit world though so I'll save that idea for later. I think it'd actually make a pretty cool guidebook "story" since most stuff I come up for it are just the setting rather than the characters living in it. That's a project for another time though

Can't remember if I actually mentioned it here but at some point I decided that Bud (dog, specifically a shih tzu) has a terminal illness. This was originally because my idea was that spirit's lives mimic their real ones (basically they'd live for a similar time, die a similar way, have a similar personality etc) and I needed an explanation for why Bud died young enough in the real world for another character to have "lived" to see both his current incarnation and his past, more long-lived incarnation before she herself "died" and reincarnated back on earth. Eventually I decided on him having progeria, which is a rare genetic disorder where children experience physical symptoms of aging such as issues with bone + heart health, hair loss, growth + weight issues, etc. Since he's no longer a spirit my original intention for him being terminally ill doesn't really apply anymore, however I still want him to keep that aspect of his character. I definitely still need to do more research on it, though, so if anyone happens to have good resources on it let me know!

Since design-wise Bud is partially based on Spanish Moss I'm trying to experiment with giving his new anthro design long, coily hair to match the plant

Idk what exact kind of hair I want Lo (Bud's older sister, cat) to have but at minimum I think she'd have a basic buzz cut. This is partially because I'm still pretty attached to her original non-humanoid design and giving her a lot of hair feels weird

Doran (their dad) is a frilled lizard. Not sure if he'll have hair but if he does it'll also be long and coily. My thought was that it'd run down his head in-between where the frills are

Being a young kid, Bud wears a lot of colorful and comfortable clothes like shorts and t-shirts, although usually he'll wear something underneath like a long sleeve shirt and leggings/long socks to keep his joints warm + more flexible. He definitely has a pair of light-up sketchers at some point in his life

Lo wears a lot of long + thick + soft fabrics like sweaters and sweatpants. She tends to be pretty anxious and being comfortably covered up tends to make her feel "safer" in stressful situations. In the warmer months she tends to switch the sweatpants for long skirts or pantyhose. Sometimes she'll also follow the "short top, long underneath" format with long sleeves + a vest or a short skirt + long pants but this doesn't usually happen unless she's intentionally trying to look more "fancy" or "professional"

I don't have as much of a grasp on Doran's personality outside of "generic dad" but at the very least I think he'd wear a lot of business-casual stuff like polo shirts and khakis out of habit. He probably has a decent collection of silly ties although I don't think he wears them often

[noscentsatall]

Quercus

Alright, so today’s scent is Quercus, which is another Penhaligon’s scent and one which I think I originally made a note of “smells like a quirky dad in a sweater vest” for some reason when Erika and I first smelled it a few years ago.

I like it! I don’t really know why but it conjured up the colors yellow and green when I smell it. It starts out smelling like fancy men’s deodorant, which is not a bad smell at all.

As it dries, there’s something a little.... almost absinthe-y that is coming through? I’d say anise but it’s not that licorice smell. Fennel? I didn’t know fennel was in absinthe but I just Googled it and apparently it is in absinthe, which honestly makes me feel very proud of my nose! To be fair, I once chewed on fennel seeds so I feel like I will never forget what it smells/tastes like.

It’s a nice scent! It’s supposed to be a masculine fragrance and I get that, but it’s luckily not the type of ~*~*~*masculine*~*~*~ scent that would clash with me too bad? 

Here’s what Penhaligon’s says about Quercus:

More restrained than a traditional cologne. But with just as much va-va-voom. Not as stiff as an evening shirt but as strong as a pre-dinner drink. Not as instantly recognisable as a citrus, but with just as much zest. But pray, what lies behind the confusion? Could it be basil? Basil! Bright as day, and fresh as a sun-warmed mountain stream. Accompanied by clean white floral notes (jasmine, lily of the valley) and cardamom, here lies the most singular freshness - without any of the discomfort of the unrecognisable and the new. The moss that cushions the transition of this olfactory journey (into almost sunny amber depths) meets patchouli to take us back to familiar ground. Quercus, as everyone knows, is Latin for oak, and the British national tree. It’s familiar, but terribly strange.

okay first of all I just need to address the fact that every single Penhaligon’s description is about as pretentious and British as you could ever get. AS EVERYONE KNOWS oh my GOD Penhaligon’s calm down!

I’m bummed out that they don’t mention fennel in the description because I thought my nose was getting Fancier and Smarter but, no, apparently not. I guess it was something else that I smelled but whatever. Maybe it was basil or something. What does basil smell like? I can’t remember unless I’m actively smelling a basil leaf.

Honestly I feel like, based on the description, this is what BPAL wanted Wilde to smell like--a lot of the same notes, but done more effectively. Which is like. Fair because this is also significantly more expensive? 

All of Penhaligon’s scents smell so freaking clean, which is very nice!! But, also like the rest of them, Quercus is very subtle and I doubt its lasting power. Ah well.

I like this scent a lot but I also feel like I probably won’t wear it a whole lot (although maybe after I run out of Endymion but before I decide whether or not I want to invest in a full bottle?) Side note: it’s a real bummer that I am so consistently a fan of Penhaligon’s scents because they are also so expensive outside of sample sizes.

One of the great things about Penhaligon’s scents is that the little samples that I got with the scent libary make very nice presents for friends. I have already given Erika Opus 1870 and I gave Keaton Artemisia, and they have both gotten some pretty great use out of them as gifts! I’m not sure which friend would rock this scent best, so this is just going to be an open invitation to any friends who would like to try out a nice, masculine-of-center unisex scent that smells a little citrus-y and a little herbal and a little floral.... message me and this is Yours.

Quercus is a very fresh laundry sort of scent. It’s getting a little more floral, I think, and maybe even a little soapy? But not bad soapy. Just... clean. This is the sort of fragrance I’d wear while running around in white linen on an English estate while harboring a homoerotic crush on a friend. What? yeah. 

It feels very spring/summer (which is kind of stupid distinction for me to make because literally it’s always spring/summer in Florida so.... okay.) and very daytime to me. It’s a bright scent. I guess I could also see it being worn at nighttime if you were also, like, drinking absinthe? Mmm, actually, if I was going to pair this with a drink and a time of day, it would be a gin and tonic in the afternoon. Maybe this is a scent for Keaton to inherit.

I just lost a few paragraphs of writing because my computer became unplugged and died suddenly, so I’m going to do my best to remember the following quotes my parents supplied:

My mom described it as a masculine scent that reminded her of “a sexy night in New York City” with “a play and then dinner at a dark restaurant.” She went on to say it reminded her of dinner at a candlelit corner table. I definitely didn’t get that vibe from it, but I like her description anyway!! She says she really likes it. 

Speaking of my dad, he said it was “somewhere between clean and floral... a clean floral.” Worth noting that, unlike my mom, he had listened to me read my review of it so that could have influenced him!

I need to stop sniffing my wrist because idk if it’s actually fading so quickly or if I am just getting used to it! Also I definitely want to ask my parents what they think of my fragrances more because it’s very fun to hear people’s different experiences with scents! 

update an hour later: yeah once I stopped actively sniffing my wrist, it became easier to smell again! a good note to self: calm down and just live your life?

Final update: the longer you wear it, the more floral it gets! which is neat!