#Sumac Dragon

[msb-lair]

Thinking of regening one of my existing tree dragon pairs to have the new gene pair. Tide-foam-flecks looks pretty nice on Sumac.

I’d also need to change her mate though,as his current genes are much less rare than the archeology genes. The most obvious choice would be to also give him archeology genes, which should have the same rarity. Then the question becomes, do I like him more in boulder-myrid or ground-fissure? I do already have at least one ground-fissure tree dragon, so initially I was thinking boulder-myrid, but I’m meh on boulder as “bark”. I do, however, like the mix of ground-myrid. And finally I need to decide whether to keep his gemstones, or change it to a different gene, such as smirch, veined, or points (or possibly keep runes on Sumac and give flecks to Hemlock).

...or I could always just put together an entirely new pair of tree dragons for it. Though it’ll still work out to much the same choices.

[ad-caelestia]

Botanicals by purpose [long post]

Attraction: adam & eve root, agar, allspice, almond, aloe, althea root, ambergris, angelica, apple, apricot, balm of gilead tears, basil, bay laurel, bee pollen, benzoin, bergamot, bistort, blackberry, bladderwrack, blue violet, buckeye, catnip, cedar, chamomile, chickweed, clover, cloves, columbine, cotton, cowslip, damiana, deer's tongue, dill, elecampane, eucalyptus, evening primrose, frangipani, gardenia, henna, hibiscus, honey, honeysuckle, hyacinth, iris, jasmine, job's tears, juniper, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena [vervain], licorice, lobelia, lovage, mandrake, marigold, marjoram, may flowers, morning glory, mullein, myrtle, nutmeg, oak, olive, orange, orange blossom (neroli), orris root, parsley, passion flower, peony, periwinkle, pineapple, plumeria, safflower, sassafras, strawberry, sweet bugle, sweet pea, thyme, tonka bean, tuberose, vetiver, wheat, yellow dock, yerba mate, ylang ylang 

Banishing: basil, betel nut, black pepper, black salt, cayenne pepper, chamomile, cactus, cloves, dragon's blood, elder, garlic, heliotrope, horehound, juniper, morning glory, mullein, mugwort, oleander, onion, rosemary, rue, sage, sea salt, st. john's wort, thyme, tobacco, vinegar, wood betony, yarrow flower 

Beauty: avocado, beet, catnip, chamomile, evening primrose, flax, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, henna, lady's mantle, lemon, lilac, lucky hand (orchid root), magnolia, maidenhair, myrtle, orange, orange blossom (neroli), orchid, pea, prune, rose, sunflower, violet, yerba santa 

Binding: agrimony, buttercup [crowfoot], calamus, hydrangea, ivy, knotweed, morning glory, skullcap, snapdragon, solomon's seal, spanish moss, spiderwort, vinegar, witch hazel 

Cleansing/purification: angelica, anise seeds, black pepper, cayenne, cedar, citronella, cloves, coconut, dragon's blood, fennel, fern, frankincense, garlic, ginger, grapefruit, guava, honey, horehound, horseradish, hyssop, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, lemon verbena [vervain], lime, marjoram, melon, mesquite, parsley, peppermint, pine, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, sea salt, solomon's seal root, tangerine, thyme, turmeric, vinegar, yucca 

Confidence: basil, bergamot, bindweed, cardamom, cedar, celandine, cinquefoil, coconut, cypress, dogwood, ginger, grapefruit, honeysuckle, motherwort, nutmeg, orange, orange blossom (neroli), sunflower, tobacco, yarrow flower 

Courage: acorn, allspice, basil, bergamot, blue violet, borage (starflower), cardamom, cinnamon, citronella, cloves, clover, columbine, dragon's blood, eyebright, fennel, frankincense, garlic, geranium, iris, ivy, mullein, musk, mustard seed, oak, pokeweed, ragweed, raspberry, rose, rosemary, st. john's wort, sweet pea, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, yarrow flower 

Creativity: citronella, dragon's blood, fig, lavender, lemon verbena [vervain], orange, pomegranate, rosemary, tangerine, valerian, wild cherry bark, willow, yellow pepper 

Cursing: angelica, asafoetida, bayberry, bindweed, blackberry root, black salt, bladderwrack, bloodroot, blueberry, boneset, chicory, chili powder, cinquefoil, cloves, cramp bark, dragon's blood, hemlock, henbane, jezebel root, knot weed, lemon, lemon verbena [vervain], lime, mace, mandrake, mullein, mustard seed, myrrh, belladonna (nightshade), onion, patchouli, poke root, poppy seed, rue, spanish moss, slippery elm, stinging nettle, sumac, tormentil, vetiver, wormwood (absinthe), yew, yohimbe bark 

Divination: almond, angelica, anise seeds, arrow root, basil, bay leaf, catnip, cedar, cinnamon, cinquefoil, clary sage, cloves, copal, dandelion, elder, frankincense, garlic, hazel, holly, honeysuckle, iris root, lavender, lemongrass, lilac, maple, meadowsweet, mugwort, myrrh, nutmeg, onion, orange, parsley, peppermint, pine, pomegranate, poppy seeds, rose, rowan, safflower, sage, sandalwood, star anise, sunflower, thyme, uva ursi, willow, wormwood (absinthe), yarrow flower 

Dreams: anise seeds, bay leaf, buchu, catnip, chamomile, cinquefoil, damiana, dandelion root, elder, goosegrass, grapes, heliotrope, hibiscus, holly, hops, hyacinth, jasmine, lavender, lemon verbena [vervain], lovage, mandrake, marigold, marjoram, mimosa, mugwort, mullein, onion, peppermint, rose, rosemary, sage, st. john's wort, star anise, thyme, valerian, violet, wood betony, yarrow flower 

Energy: allspice, aloe, amber, angelica, belladonna (nightshade), black walnut, carrot, centaury, cherry bark, coffee, cowslip, cramp bark, daffodil, damiana, dragon's blood, fig, frankincense, ham, hawthorn, lovage, mint, oregano, paprika, parsley, peppermint, red pepper, sage, sandalwood, spinach, sunflower, tangerine, vanilla, walnut 

Fidelity: cardamom, chili pepper, clover, cumin, hydrangea, licorice root, magnolia bark, olive, rhubarb, rye, vetch, yerba mate

Fertility: acorn, apple, banana, barley, birch, bistort, cabbage, carrot, celery, chickweed, cucumber, cyclamen, daffodil, egg, fenugreek, fig, ginkgo biloba, grapes, hawthorn, hay, hazelnut, ivy, lily, mandrake, mistletoe, mugwort, mulberry, mustard seed, myrtle, oak, olive leaf, palm, parsley, patchouli, peach, pomegranate, poppy seeds, pork, prickly ash bark, rhubarb, rice, rye, sesame seed, shave grass, squaw vine, walnut, watercress, wheat, yellow dock, yohimbe bark 

Happiness: anise, apple, azalea, banyan, bee pollen, beech, catnip, cherry, cumin, cyclamen, fern, geranium, hawthorn, honey, honeysuckle, hyacinth, jasmine, lavender, lemon, lily, lily of the valley, marjoram, meadowsweet, orange, orange blossom (neroli), palm, peach, persimmon, quince, rose, saffron, st. john's wort, witches grass (dog grass) 

Healing: adder's tongue, african violet, agrimony, allspice, almond, angelica, apple, arrow root, aspen, balm of gilead tears, barley, bay leaf, bayberry, belladonna, blackberry, calamus, carnation, cedar, chamomile, chia, chickweed, cinnamon, cotton, cucumber, cypress, dandelion leaf, eucalyptus, fennel, feverfew, flax seed, gardenia, garlic, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, goldenseal, hops, horse chestnut [buckeye], ivy, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena [vervain], melon, mesquite, mint, mistletoe, myrrh, olive leaf, peppermint, persimmon, pineapple, plantain, plum, potato, raspberry leaf, rose hips, rosemary, rowan, rue, saffron, sage, sandalwood, sassafras, saw palmetto, spearmint, thistle, white willow bark, willow, wood betony, yarrow flower, yerba santa 

Hex-breaking: asafoetida, bamboo, chili pepper, datura, galangal, holy thistle, huckleberry, hydrangea, mimosa, nutmeg, papaya, peony, pokeroot, prickly ash bark, rue, squill, thistle, toadflax, true unicorn root, vetiver, wintergreen, witches grass (dog grass), yew, yucca 

Invisibility: aconite (wolfsbane, monkshood), amaranth, black haw, cherry bark, chicory, fig, heliotrope, poppy seeds, sow thistle, tansy  

Legal matters: buckthorn, calendula flower, cascara, celandine, galangal, hickory, lovage, marigold, skunk cabbage, tobacco 

Love: acacia, allspice (pimento), apple, apricot, avocado, balm of gilead, barley, basil, beans, beetroot, bloodroot, buttercup [crowfoot], cabbage, cardamom, celery, cherry, chestnut, chickweed, chili peppers, cilantro [coriander], coltsfoot, copal, corn, cornflower, daffodil, dates, dogbane, dragon's blood, elm, fig, gardenia, geranium, ginseng, grapes, henbane, hibiscus, high john, honeydew, hyacinth, indian paintbrush, job's tears, juniper, kiwi, lady's mantle, lavender, leek, lemon, lemon balm, lemon verbena [vervain], lettuce, lime, liverwort, lobelia, lovage, maidenhair, mandrake, mango, maple, marjoram, marshmallow, meadowsweet, mint, mistletoe, moonwort, mullein, mushrooms, myrrh, myrtle, nectarine, nuts, orange, orchid, orris root, pansy, papaya, parsley, pea, peach, pear, peppermint, periwinkle, plum, quassia, quince, radish, raspberry, rose, rosemary, rue, rye, saffron, southern wood, spearmint, spiderwort, st. john's wort, strawberry, sugarcane, tangerine, thyme, tomato, turnip, vanilla, vetiver, willow, witches grass (dog grass), wood betony, wormwood (absinthe), yams, yarrow, yerba mate 

Luck: acorn, agrimony, allspice (pimento), anise seeds, arrow root, bamboo, banana, bay leaf, cabbage, calamus, caraway, carrot, cassia, chamomile, cinnamon, corn, cotton, daffodil, dill, dragon's blood, fern, frankincense, galangal, hazelnut, kumquat, lucky hand (orchid root), nutmeg, orange, parsley, pear, peppermint, persimmon, pineapple, pomegranate, poppy seeds, red clover, rose, rue, star anise, strawberry, sunflower, vanilla, vetiver, violet, yarrow flower 

Manifestation/power: acorn, bamboo, balm of gilead, bergamot, black haw, carnation, cayenne, cedar, cinnamon, cinquefoil, club moss, dittany, ebony, echinacea, frankincense, gentian, ginger, goldenseal, lady's mantle, mastic, mugwort, myrrh, rowan, sandalwood, st. john's wort, star anise, sunflower, witches burr, wormwood (absinthe) 

Meditation: acacia, anise seeds, angelica, chamomile, copal, cypress, dittany, eucalyptus, frankincense, jasmine, lemon verbena, lotus, mugwort, myrrh, nutmeg, parsley, patchouli, red willow bark, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, thyme  

Mental clarity: amber, basil, cardamom, cloves, fern, eyebright, ginkgo biloba, lavender, lemongrass, mulberry, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, spearmint, willow 

Mental power: caraway, celery, coffee, eyebright, fenugreek, grapes, hazelnut, horehound, lily of the valley, mace, mustard, periwinkle, raisins, rosemary, rue, sage, summer savory, spearmint, vanilla, walnut, watercress, yellow pepper 

Peace: aloe, apple, apricot, basil, blueberry, brussel sprouts, celery, chamomile, cilantro [coriander], coffee, coltsfoot, cornflower, cucumber, cumin, fig, gardenia, heather, hyacinth, jasmine, kola nut, lavender, lemon verbena [vervain], lettuce, lily of the valley, lime, magnolia flowers, maidenhair, marigold, meadowsweet, myrrh, myrtle, narcissus, olive leaf, orange, orange blossom (neroli), oregano, passion flower, passion fruit, pea, pennyroyal, peppermint, plum, rhubarb, rose, sage, skullcap, sweetgrass, tobacco, tuberose, valerian, violet, willow, ylang ylang 

Prosperity/wealth: alfalfa, allspice, almond, banana, barley, basil, bay leaf, beef, bergamot, blackberry, bladderwrack, cashew, chamomile, cinnamon, cinquefoil, citronella, coltsfoot, comfrey, dill, eggplant, fenugreek, flax, fumitory, galangal, ginger, goldenrod, goldenseal, grains, grapes, green pepper, high john, honeysuckle, horse chestnut [buckeye], hyssop, irish moss, jasmine, kumquat, lavender, lemon verbena, lucky hand, mandrake, maple, marigold, mint, moss, myrtle, oak, oats, onion, orange, patchouli, pea, peanut, pear, pecan, pine, pineapple, pine nut, pineapple, pomegranate, poppy seeds, red clover, rice, sesame, snakeroot, spinach, tangerine, tomato, wheat, woodruff 

Protection: acacia (gum arabic), aconite (wolfsbane, monkshood), acorn, african violet, aloe, amber, angelica, anise seeds, ash, bamboo, barley, basil, bay leaf, belladonna, bergamot, black haw (devil's shoestring), black pepper, blackberry, blessed thistle, bloodroot, blue violet, blueberry, boneset, brimstone (sulfur powder), buckwheat, cactus, calamus, calendula, carnation, caraway, catnip, cedar, chia, chives, chrysanthemum, cilantro [coriander], cinnamon, cloves, clover, coconut, comfrey, corn, cotton, cramp bark, cranberry, cumin, curry, cypress, dandelion root, datura, devil's bit, devil's claw, dill, dogwood, dragon's blood, ebony, elder, eucalyptus, fennel, fern, feverfew, fleabane, foxglove, frankincense, gardenia, garlic, geranium, ginger, ginseng, heather, heliotrope, henna, hickory, high john the conqueror, holly, horseradish, irish moss, ivy, juniper, kava kava, kelp, lady slipper, larch, larkspur, laurel, lavender, leek, lemon verbena [vervain], lettuce, lime, lotus, mandrake, marigold, marjoram, marshmallow root, mimosa, mint, mistletoe, mullein, nutmeg, oak moss, olive leaf, onion, papyrus, peat moss, peony, pimpernel, pineapple, plantain, quince, radish, raspberry leaf, rhubarb, rice, rowan, rue, sandalwood, saw palmetto, sea salt, slippery elm, snapdragon, solomon's seal, spanish moss, spearmint, st. john's wort, straw flower, sunflower, tangerine, thistle, valerian, venus fly trap, violet, witch hazel, wood aloe, woodruff, wormwood (absinthe), yerba santa, yew, yucca 

Psychic abilities: acacia (gum arabic), ambergris, anise seeds, arnica flowers, bay leaf, bistort, bladderwrack, borage (starflower), buchu, butcher's broom, calendula, camphor, celery/celery seed, cinnamon, coconut, damiana, deer's tongue, eyebright, fish, galangal, honeysuckle, kava kava, kelp, lemon balm, lemongrass, lotus, lovage, marshmallow root, mulberry, mugwort, mushrooms, myrrh, rowan, saffron, sage, star anise, tuberose, uva ursi, wisteria, yarrow flower, yerba santa 

Relaxation/calming: basil, blue violet, cauliflower, cedar, chamomile, cucumber, cypress, hops, hyssop, juniper, kava kava, kola nut, lavender, lemon balm, lily of the valley, lime, mandarin, mugwort, narcissus, orange blossom (neroli), parsley, passion flower, rose, tuberose, skullcap, st. john's wort, valerian, vanilla, ylang ylang  

Spell-breaking: ague, angelica, asafoetida, bamboo, basil, bay leaf, benzoin, boneset, brimstone (sulfur powder), burdock, chili pepper, cinquefoil, comfrey, datura, frankincense, galangal, garlic, geranium, holy thistle, huckleberry, hydrangea, iris root (orris root), lemon verbena [vervain], lilac, lily, lucky hand (orchid root), myrrh, oak moss, onion, oregano, patchouli, rue, safflower, solomon's seal, st. john's wort, stinging nettle, squill, thistle, toadflax, turmeric, vetiver, willow, wormwood (absinthe), yarrow flower 

Strength: balsam, bay leaf, beef, bee pollen, blessed thistle, borage (starflower), broccoli, calamus, calendula flower, camphor, carnation, cedar, cinnamon, dates, echinacea, endives, fennel, fig, gentian, ginger, heliotrope, high john, irish moss, leek, lime, marjoram, milk thistle, mulberry, oak, oak moss, orchid, oregano, parsley, pennyroyal, pine, pine nut, red peppers, saffron, sow thistle, spearmint, st. john's wort, stinging nettle, tangerine, tea leaves, thyme, tobacco, vanilla, willow, wood betony 

Success: angelica, apple, basil, bay leaf, benzoin, cedar, cinnamon, frankincense, garlic, ginger, high john, lemon balm, lemon verbena [vervain], lucky hand (orchid root), marigold, mistletoe, mustard, myrrh, oak, onion, sandalwood, solomon's seal, st. john's wort, strawberry, sunflower, valerian, vetiver, wood aloe 

Wisdom: acacia, acorn, almond, angelica, bay leaf, benzoin, cassia, cinnamon, cinquefoil, elder, frankincense, goosegrass, hazelnut, honey, iris, lilac, milk thistle, mulberry, peach, oak, sage, solomon's seal, sunflower 

Wishes: bamboo, bat's head root, bay leaf, beech, black walnut, blowball, buckthorn, dandelion leaf/root, dogwood, ginseng, job's tears, lotus root, peppermint, pomegranate, sage, sandalwood, spearmint, star anise, sunflower, tonka bean, walnut, willow

© 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 𝙰𝙳-𝙲𝙰𝙴𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙰

[astra-ravana]

Astra's List of Baneful Components

I hope to make this list as comprehensive as possible and will be adding to it in the future. If anyone has any suggestions for things that should be added, please let me know. 🖤

Herbs/Plants

• Bloodroot- Substitutes blood

• Jezebel Root- Wickedness, ending relationships, punishing cheaters

• Bindweed- Binding, ensnaring

• Dogbane- Deception

• Rue- Misery

• Saffron- Destruction

• Lemon- Sourness/bitterness, reveals damaging truths

• Lemon Verbena- a boost of power, ending relationships

• Lime- Sourness/bitterness, encourages deceit

• Lobelia- Discord

• Hemlock- Discord, sadness

• Spanish Moss- Bad luck

• Vertiver- Silence

• Mace- Misery, strife

• Slippery Elm- Bad luck, negativity

• Bittersweet- Loss, sadness

• Mandrake- Misery, strife

• Mistletoe- Isolation, confusion

• Wormwood- Delusion, misery, strife, madness

• Sumac- Bad luck, negativity

• Mullein- Spirit work, nightmares

• Patchouli- Illness

• Mustard Seed- Strife, discord

• Hemlock- Destroys sex drive, break ups

• Poke Root- Confusion, upset

• Blackberry Root- Distress

• Myrrh- A boost of power

• Tobacco- Subs any baneful herb

• Belladonna- Discord, conflict, illness, suffering

• Cinquefoil- Discomfort

• Ague Weed- Confusion

• Blueberry- Confusion

• Cloves- Domination, stops gossip

• Stinging Nettle- Jealousy, discomfort

• Cramp Bark- Pain, illness

• Licorice Root- Domination

• Tormentil- Distress, harm

• Asafoetida- Drives enemies away

• Henbane- Emotional instability, melancholy, storms, spirit work

• Hot Peppers- Anger, fighting, discord

• Blackthorn- Illness, bad omens

• Elder- Suffering, spirit work

• Dittany- Mistakes, setbacks, depression

• Garlic- Disgust and repulsion

• Yew- Spirit work, destruction

• Onion- Disconnects relationships, strife

• Poppy Seeds- Intoxication, confusion, discord

• Foxglove- Manipulation, heartbreak, devastation

• Alum- Stops communication and speech

• Wolfsbain- Madness, loneliness, rage

• Knotweed- Binding, trapping

• Black Pepper- Revealing the truth, binding

• Green Apple- Unrequited love

• Radish- Sexual shame, STDs, infidelity

• Yohimbe Bark- Impotency

• Chicory- Discord

• Agrimony- Return to sender

• Datura- Psychic attack, nightmares, misery

• Bay Berry- Depression

• Angelica Root- Misery, strife, distress, discord

• Dragon's Blood- Destruction, pain, misery

• Chili Powder- Anxiety

• Bladderwrack- Illness, weakness

• Boneset- Distress, confusion

Crystals

• Opal- Amplifies negative energy (Black Opal works best)

• Ruby- Focuses intent on target

• Malachite- Anxiety, fear, cowardice, nausea

• Peridot- Confusion

• Obsidian- Reveal their darkness

• Petrified Wood- Ruin, abandonment

• Clear Quartz- Amplifier and energy holder

• Black Moonstone- Deceit, distrust, confusion, paranoia

• Onyx- Breakups, loss

• Amethyst- Self destruction, nightmares, paranoia

• Garnet- Siphons target's energy, steal their love/friends

• Diopside- Reveals a target's true colors

• Bloodstone- Sucks the life force from enemies, chaos, frailty

• Carnelian- Pain, anger, rage

• Black Quartz- Darkness

• Sardonyx- Return to sender

• Jet- Cloud their vision/blind them

• Serpentine- Illness, unsteady ground, mishaps

• Jade- Domination, control, manipulation

• Amber- Trapping, cause obstacles and setbacks

• Hematite- Negativity

Misc. Ingredients

• Salt- Painful cleansing, salt in their wounds

• Sulphur- Stops plans, causes harm

• Alcohol- Makes the work last

• Vinegar- Souring, dissolves relationships

• Pins/Needles- Pain and agony

• Thumbtacks- Makes the work stick in them

• Razor Blades- Sadistic actions, sharp words

• Broken Glass- Cut ties, emotional wounds

• Scorpions- Betrayal

• Spiders- Danger, ensnarement

• Wasps- Punishment, non-stop pain

• Ants- Eats away happiness, drives away

• Grave Dirt- Enlists spirit's help

• Snakeskin- Removes them from your path

• Cigarette Butts- Snuff their will

• Thorns- Annoyance, pain

• Dog/Cat Poop- Rottenness, depression, life stinks

• Sticker Burs- Crippling emotional shock

• Spiderwebs- Crossing, binding

• Coffin Nails- Stay home, withdrawal, binding

• Lead- Weigh them down, make them late

• Black Salt- Misery, strife, banishment

• Dog Hair- Agression, combat

• Cat Hair- Passive-Aggression, conflict

[mysticstarlightduck]

Smooth Sumac: What's something that's common & generally helpful in your story?

Thank you so much for the ask, @clairelsonao3!!!! I'm sorry for the very late answer, I'm trying to catch up with my old tags and asks this week!

Smooth Sumac: What's something that's common & generally helpful in your story?

Well, this is a complicated question lmao! I would say that, in the setting of my main current WIP Of Starlight and Beasts, something really helpful is magic. One can use magic to heal illnesses/treat infected wounds (ahem, for example like that one chapter where an enchanted potion literally saves Kyran from dying from an infection after being rescued at one point in the story -), to find their way in some specific locations, to make food taste better, to build extravagant buildings, to make combat easier, to tell children stories (like a little movie, only the sorcerer is casting images)! Almost, (and that's a very BIG almost), anything!

Another example of where magic is really helpful is Tomasa's shapeshifting ability, which allows her to turn into a giant, extremely shiny, dragon. This not only allows her and the other MCs to get from one kingdom to another more quickly (which, since they're literally racing against time to stop an ancient evil from destroying everything, is really a question of life and death. especially in a medieval world with no extremely advanced means of transport readily available for everyone) but literally saves their lives more times than I can count (after all, having a dragon on your side in battle definitely shifts the tides a bit, wouldn't you say, lmao?)!

[highladyluck]

Tag nine (9) people you'd like to know better.

Tagged by: @quarterclever

Last song: House of the Rising Sun - The Animals

Currently watching: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds! And I also just watched Bee and Puppycat, The Mystery of Aaravos (Dragon Prince seasons 4 & 5), and Nimona, because it turns out that when you are too congested to sleep, sometimes you can briefly forget your inability to breathe properly by watching cartoons. (I have covid rn, I'm getting better tho!)

Currently reading: BodyDreaming in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma by Marion Dunlea (my therapist mentioned it & it's surprisingly readable for nonfiction, although to be fair, my threshhold for readability in nonfiction is heavily distorted by the inclusion of that fucker Immanuel Kant at one end of the scale.) Also I'm rereading Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold, although I put a pin in it once I realized I didn't want to be re-reading the torture scenes when I was already feeling like shit physically. Huh, and actually I'm also re-reading Plenty More by Ottolenghi, because I have a lot more access to his more esoteric ingredients than I used to, so there's more stuff I can make now. Like, I have preserved lemons now, and sumac, and dried barberries, and an asian grocery store incredibly close to my house!

Current obsession: Yeah, that's gonna be ceramics. I am really excited to be feeling better today, I hope I keep feeling better and test negative soon so I can go back to my pottery classes. I've recently gotten a lot better at centering and pulling up clay on the wheel and I finally have some decent-looking, medium-sized pots that will hopefully still be in a state to be trimmed by the time I get back in the studio.

Tagging: @agardenandlibrary, @togrutahhh, @iliiuan, @perplexed-penguin, @arealbonecracker, @froglatte, @mermaidtablet, @birgittesilverbae, @evilphrog (chosen somewhat at random from people I've recently-ish followed!)

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Potentially silly question regarding Grima: You've discussed before the idea of him loving to have pineapples around as a status symbol on account of them being something weird and exotic that no one else has, but if given the chance to not just have them kicking around for symbolic purposes and actually be served to him, do you think Grima would taste them, and if so, if he'd like it or not? And what other foods (fruit or otherwise) do you think might he consider a status symbol?

I live for silly Grima questions!

And Grima would love pineapple! it's so sweet, he'd be gung-ho for it. He would be that person who would receive one and then be grieved over whether or not he wished to put it on his table or eat it. Like receiving a work of art as a rug - do you hang it on the wall or put it on the floor and use it as it was meant to be used?

In this world with the anachronistic pineapple, I think initially Grima would never eat them. He would keep them until they weren't aesthetic anymore then they'd be fed to the goats or pigs or chickens.

However, once he had been in a decently powerful/wealthy position for long enough I think he'd take a pineapple and try and figure out how to eat it.

There would be a debate: can you eat a pineapple?

Eomer says no - they're prickly on the outside, sharp, pointy, clearly a sign they're poisonous and not to be eaten.

Grima says yes - there are prickly pointy sharp plants that are perfectly edible. It's a matter of knowing how to do it.

Eowyn has no opinion on the matter, but she holds that Grima should be the one who tries it first.

Theodred is just confused about why this matters. They have perfectly good, delightful food. There's no need to try and eat the table decorations.

Grima: but what if they taste good? Who knows. It could be fun for us.

Being a reasonably intelligent man, Grima makes his least favourite person eat a bit of the pineapple first then they all wait and see if he dies. When it's determined that he will live, Grima tries some and is like 'it's terrible. None of you should have any. I'll take care of it, don't worry.' And hoards the pineapple like the wee dragon wyrm he is.

Figuring out how to access the inner flesh of the fruit involved Grima carefully cutting small bits off then they were like 'ah, the outer layer isn't that thick so this is easy'. They were also all mightily pleased that there was no stone inside which means more pineapple to eat.

Figuring out how to propagate a pineapple would be a past-time Grima would undertake and if he managed to successfully figure it out he would be like, 'they are absolute freaks of a plant. I love them even more. Eomer, build me a greenhouse.'

---

Other status symbol foods for Grima?

Certain herbs and spices would be: cinnamon, vanilla, saffron, cardamom, lemongrass, sumac, caraway, nutmeg etc.

Citrus in general - I don't see Rohan doing orangeries or anything, that would be a Gondor-style invention. So all citrus is imported which makes it rare and expensive.

Grima trying to convince Eomer to build an orangerie is now my new favourite mental image.

Grima: we could have oranges in winter, my lord! just. think about it.

Eomer is like, 'you really took on the decadent living full force, didn't you?'

'I was born on a farm in the north, my lord. I grew up living off turnips and seasonal produce that can grow in cold climes and whatever we foraged. Not that we ever foraged or poached on the local lord's land. Never.'

Anachronistic tomatoes! Certain tree nuts would be strictly imports and so therefore a delicacy (e.g., almonds).

I don't know if Rohan did class based consumption (only royalty can eat certain meats etc.), but if they did - whatever was determined to be for nobility alone would be something he'd put great stock in now having access to.

Man, this guy's diet really improved when he joined the king's household.

Grima: I ate a lot of pottage. Bread soup. Meat but more so in the autumn when we slaughtered the animals that were right for it. Turnips. Carrots. Roots for days. Cabbage. Ruffage of that sort. Berries if they were in season. Apples, when they were in season. Fish from the river sometimes. Cheese. Most everything was salted, pickled or fermented.

Eomer: I see.

Grima: but now I can eat fruit whenever I want! also we have meat with every meal and it's fresh meat, too. Not to mention wine. Also food is spiced so fancy here. Look at this ginger. This would cost five of my father's sheep. I never new cardamom existed until I came to Edoras. You even colour your jellies random colours solely because it amuses you to have them coloured! Wild.

Eomer:

Eomer: you know, I get it.

Grima: and you have white flour! Wheat! It's not rye or barley - amazing. And white ale! ugh, the lap of luxury, my lord. I will never grow tired of it. Oh, and fancy tea that I've never had before arriving in Edoras.

Other things would be jellies and custards - anything that is time and labour intensive would be a status symbol. Figs, dates - dried fruits that had to be imported would cost a pretty penny and be for the wealthy alone. Not to mention grapes and olives. Peacock and other more fanciful poultry, of course. Like the feasts would be certainly something.

I sometimes imagine, like, twenty-two year old Grima arriving in Edoras and getting absorbed into the king's household because he's one of the few fully literate people in the city and seeing a royal feast up close for the first time.

Mind blowing.

Grima: how do I eat this?

Theoden: it's an orange. Have you never had an orange before?

Grima is like, Do you think I've had an orange before?

Theoden:

Theoden: fair point.

Grima has more than one shirt in his possession and thinks he's basically a lord, now.

---

Things to also consider is if there were any social constraints to when you ate certain food - such as religious festivals. Was fasting during a certain period part of Rohan's culture? Were there restrictions or taboos around grouping certain foods together? Did those restrictions apply to everyone equally or only certain groups? Was there a gendered aspect to food consumption and access?

E.g., in early medieval Scandinavia (think vikings), boys were favoured and so in lean/starvation times they were given the good food and the daughters were not. We can see in skeletal remains that within the same generation women were more likely to have suffered a starvation level of hunger at a greater percentage to men.

So, like, in Rohan if there was a lean time during his childhood was Grima fed more in comparison to his sister(s)? How does that impact someone's relationship to family? to food? etc.

-

Also what was the meal structure like? Did they do two meals, as was common through much of the medieval era in Europe (broad brush stroke, of course, regional variations existed and things shifted over time. E.g., Venice did dinner and supper but there was a secret, third meal between the two that was like a sort-of tea/snack break)? I suspect at a minimum it was three in Rohan since we know Gandalf et al arrived in Meduseld in the morning and Grima makes reference to Theoden's meat (i.e., his meal) being at the board. So, likely breakfast of some variation.

However, Theoden was old and infirm and that might mean he was eating different meals than he would be otherwise. How illness and age are treated in terms of food consumption is another impact to what you eat and when. (Allen Grieco was a historian who wrote a good amount about this - granted he was more in the early modern period, but his writing on food in early modern/renaissance Italy is super fascinating. Recommend Food, Social Politics and the Order of Nature in Renaissance Italy as a good starting point.)

(granted, anything from Harvard Press' "Villa I Tatti" series is worth reading if you're into the early modern and renaissance period.)

---

Ok I've gone on for too long. I just. fucking love thinking about food habits and rituals and all the weird little things that impact how and what we (or Grima) eat! It's so cool!

Thank you so much for the ask! <3 <3

[dragonbleps-fr]

Usually I hatch dragons and I’m like “eh. yeah. sure”. I don’t get a dopamine hit from it

but sometimes I DO get that when I see them finally grown up and realize they are actually stunning

This is Helbore, named after the poisonous Onyx Hellebore flower, son of the veilspuns Hemlock and Sumac

[ashleybenlove]

Itchy dragons.

So I guess it's a poison ivy/oak/sumac sort of plant.

(If you feel the need to be negative about TNR to me/on my posts, don’t. Leave me alone.)

[une-touille-en-vadrouille]

C'est déjà notre dernière journée ensemble avec Clochette 😭😭

On a commencé par devoir faire un détour d'une heure et demie, la route principale étant toujours bloquée depuis le cyclone d'il y a 4 mois (je ne veux même pas imaginer les dégâts)... Nous en avons donc profité pour passer par la "90 miles beach", une plage qui longe le littoral sur une centaine de kilomètres ! On y a trouvé ce charmant petit personnage :

Si je ne me trompe pas, il s'agit d'un Man o' War, une galère portugaise. C'est un peu l'équivalent du sumac, mais version animal marin : sa brûlure peut être douloureuse pendant des semaines ... On l'a laissé bien tranquille hein !

Ensuite, on est parties se balader dans les rochers géants de Wairere ! (Il y avait même une grotte de dragon, et des maisons de fées, eh ouais !)

C'est assez marrant : vous voyez les grandes rainures sur leur surface ? En fait, c'est à cause des Kauris (les grands arbres) du coin : ils acidifient assez fortement le sol. Du coup, quand l'eau acide coule sur les rochers, elle finit par le ronger ! Bon, apparemment, il faut à peu près 1000ans pour qu'une goutte d'eau finisse par laisser une trace, vous voyez donc là le travail des dernières 2,8millions d'années. Rien que ça. Ça demande de la patience l'art géologique 😎

Ensuite, on a tenté d'aller trouver les Koutu Boulders, qui sont censés être de gros rochers en bord de mer ... On a donc trouvé la mangrove ci dessus (les branches qui sortent du sol, c'est normal, les arbres poussent directement comme ça ! Ça fait super bizarre, mais ils ne se sont pas enfoncés dans le sol, on en voit souvent dans les zones marécageuses le long des routes et ça ressemble toujours à ça)... Et les majestueux rochers ci dessous.

Voilà voilà, après la crise de fou rire terminée, nous avons donc repris le volant, direction le majestueux Kauri Tane Mahuta. Alors, majestueux, certes ... Mais surtout fermé >.<

J'en profite pour vous montrer les stations de nettoyage des chaussures qu'on trouve à l'entrée de toutes les promenades en forêt ici : il faut brosser et désinfecter ses chaussures à l'entré et à la sortie pour éviter de contaminer les kauris avec le Dieback, une maladie sans traitement qui leur est mortelle.

Heureusement pour nous, l'accès à son voisin Te Matua Ngahere était lui bon ouvert ! 1 bon kilomètre à se balader entre les arbres gigantesques, c'était quelque chose ... (On vous a mis une Touille pour l'échelle !)

Notre objectif final, c'était donc le Père de la forêt (noter la majuscule), un vénérable ancêtre de 16m de circonférence, 30m de haut ... Et 3000ans d'âge. Rien que ça.

On a ensuite fini la journée en se mangeant une bonne pizza devant un bon film, calées dans le van ... C'était vraiment un mois super 🥰

Ps : en bonus, une photo des dunes d'hier, avec une Touille en échelle. Voui, c'est le pixel noir là... Et encore, on était déjà très largement à mi hauteur sur cette photo !

[ashen-crest]

[ID: a digital line drawing of three people. The tallest is a man with curly hair and freckles, and he has his arms draped over the two people in front of him. The one to his right is a woman with tight curls and a blue jacket and skirt. The one to his left is a person with longer curly hair, a purple vest, and flowers in their hair. Ivy crawls up out of their sleeve and onto the first man’s arm. end ID]

The Stray Spirit Kids!

Word Count: 324

TW/CW: none

“Emry?” Cal’s voice shot across the quad, edged with urgency. “Emry Karic?” 

He whipped around. “Cal?”

She was searching wildly around the entrance of Esther Hall, holding something in her hand. As soon as he waved her down, she grabbed her skirts and sprinted toward him.

“What’s wrong?” He rushed to meet her, searching her face for any hint of the news—another surge? More injured from the river routes? 

But when they met in the middle, she was out of breath and beaming.

“This came in for you.” She handed over what she had been clutching so tightly—a small envelope addressed to him. He ripped it open, stared at the sturdy card it held, and laughed out of disbelief. 

“What is it?” Cal bounced on her heels, already perfectly aware of what it was. Aspen caught up behind Emry and peered over his shoulder.

“Please read it out loud,” they begged. Emry opened his mouth, but only laughter came out, floating like bubbles from his lungs.

“I can’t do it, you read it—”

Cal grabbed the card. “Ms. Sorman requests the honor of—oh Hara, Emry—of Mr. Karic’s presence at the Sumac Hall for the purposes of Guild entry examination…” Cal broke out into laughter along with him. “Three days? They want you to play for the Guild in three days?”

He grinned so hard he thought his jaw might break. “Gods, I’ve got to practice.”

Cal squealed and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Emry, this is incredible! I can’t believe it—I mean, I can, of course I can! But—oh, you know what I mean.”

“Thank you, Cal.” He returned the hug, a little dizzy at the feeling of her head against his shoulder, her hair tickling his chin. As he steadied himself, two more arms snaked around both of them.

“I’m very happy for you.” Aspen smiled up at him. Emry reached over and ruffled their hair.

TSS Taglist under the cut (ask to be +/-):

@crystallized-ink, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @semblanche, @theramwrites, @wordsbycreed, @pretend-im-normal-blog, @mel-writes-with-her-dragons, @wildswrites, @ladywithalamp, @ettawritesnstudies, @mj-is-writing, @cecilsstorycorner, @write-your-own-stories, @chayscribbles​, @storytracks​, @lightningmastertrilogy​, @magic-is-something-we-create​, @authortango​, @thegoldenseries​, @lunewell​, @vellichor-virgo​, @writeblrfantasy​, @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables​, @bronwennjames​, @akindofmagictoo​, @pheita​, @talesfromaurea​, @a-wild-bloog​, @starryeve88​, @the-finch-address​, @alexwritesfiction​, @47crayons​, @jadeywrites​, @writing-with-l​, @the-titular-bird​, @sagasofazeria​, @thelaughingstag​, @dragon-swords-prophecies​, @drabbleitout​, @houndmouthed​, @inksandpoisons​, @drowsy-quill​, @jaimistoryteller​, @zmwrites​, @pe-ersona​, @booksnotbookies​, @the-orangeauthor​, @extra-magichours​, @athenswrites​

[msb-lair]

Clutch #3009 - Sumac/Hemlock

Mated On: 2022-10-12 # of eggs: 4 Hatched On: 2022-10-17

Progeny:

Hatchling 7955 (Scamp) - Ridgeback Female, Beige Jupiter/Algae Daub/Swamp Runes, Common - 15,000 on 2022-10-23

Hatchling 7956 - Ridgeback XYY Male, Tan Jupiter/Camo Daub/Camo Gembond, Unusual - 15 gems on 2022-11-10

Hatchling 7957 (Putrid) - Ridgeback Male, Tan Ripple/Swamp Daub/Algae Gembond, Unusual - 15,000 on 2022-10-29

Hatchling 7958 (Zae) - Ridgeback Female, Taupe Ripple/Green Daub/Camo Runes, Common - 14,414 on 2022-12-18

Comments:

[ad-caelestia]

❌ Curse Correspondences ❌

Crystals:

Agate - for use on a target who has entered a space uninvited, i.e. someone breaking into your home or vehicle

Alexandrite - causes obsession and delusions

Amethyst - causes sensitivity and self-destruction

Astrophyllite - causes those who have died at the hands of another to torment the target from the grave

Diamond - causes blindness, confusion, and disorientation

Diopside - lowers inhibitions and causes secrets to be revealed

Emerald - causes greed, selfishness, and isolation

Flint - causes conflicts

Garnet - leeches energy from a target

Kunzite - induces vulnerability 

Kyanite - used to infiltrate a target’s mind

Meteorite - used as a catalyst in baneful magic

Obsidian - used for general aggressive magic

Onyx - causes nightmares and mental torment, and is used to break up relationships

Opal - used to store negative energy, and then to be given to a target

Ruby - used to focus your intent on a target

Colors:

Black - law, justice, manifestation, sorrow

Red - force, energy, confrontation, jealousy, anger

Greenish Yellow - strife, discord, illness, conflict, jealousy, greed

Magenta - catalyst

Botanicals:

Ague Weed - confusion 

Angelica Root - misery, strife, distress, discord

Asafoetida - drives enemies away

Bayberry - depression

Bindweed - binding

Blackberry Root - distress

Black Salt - misery, strife, distress, discord

Bladderwrack - illness

Bloodroot - substitute for blood

Blueberry - confusion, strife

Boneset - distress, confusion

Cayenne Pepper - anxiety

Chicory - discord

Chili Powder - discord, misery, strife

Cinquefoil - discomfort

Clove - stopping gossip

Cramp Bark - pain, illness

Dogbane - deception

Dragon’s Blood - destruction, strife, misery

Hemlock - discord, sadness

Henbane - illness, discord, melancholy

Jezebel Root - wickedness, ending relationships, punishing unfaithful lovers

Knot Weed - binding

Lemon - sourness, bitterness

Lemon Verbena - a boost of power, ending relationships

Lime - sourness, bitterness

Lobelia - discord

Mace - misery, strife

Mandrake - misery, strife

Mistletoe - isolation, confusion

Mullein - spirit work, nightmares

Mustard Seed - strife, discord

Myrrh - a boost of power

Nightshade (Belladonna) - discord, illness

Onion - strife

Patchouli - illness

Poke Root - confusion, discord

Poppy Seed - discord

Rue - misery

Safflower - destruction

Spanish Moss - bad luck

Slippery Elm - ending relationships

Stinging Nettle - jealousy, envy, discomfort

Sumac - bad luck

Tobacco - a substitute for any baneful herb

Tormentil - distress, harm, discord

Vetiver - silence

Wormwood (Absinthe) - misery, strife

Yew - spirit work

Yohimbe Bark - impotency

Planets:

Mars - power, force, energy, war, conflict, jealousy

Saturn - law, justice, chaos, revenge

Neptune - confusion, illusion, chaos

Pluto - death, mystery, crisis

Lunar Phases:

Waning - binding, banishing

Dark - destruction, banishing, justice

Black - power, manifestation

Taglocks:

Drawings

Photos

The target’s name written on paper

The target’s signature

An item that belongs to the target

Other Ingredients:

Cigarette butts

Broken glass

Razorblades 

Vinegar

Lemon/lime juice

Alcohol

Bones

Needles

Nails

Thorns

Shark teeth

Catfish spines

Murex seashells

Flying Devil Oil

Dead insects

Black sand

Charcoal

Disclaimer: I do not condone the unethical practice of collecting or harvesting animal parts, or forcefully obtaining taglocks. This is just a list of theoretical correspondences and I am not responsible for the actions of others.

© 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 𝙰𝙳-𝙲𝙰𝙴𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙰

[ryguy5382]

I was tagged by @leafrose-santurn for this really long get to know me post haha

Name: Ryan

Sign: Taurus

Height: 6'2"/188cm

Current Time: 9:20am

Birthday: May 3

Favourite bands/artists: Imagine Dragons, Bastille and Florence + The Machine are some of my favourites

Last movie: Galaxy Quest (No it hasn’t been that long since I’ve watched a movie haha). Just watched that on Saturday

Last show: Claim to Fame 🙈

When your blog was created: First one was created in 2017, then deactivated and started a shiny new one at the end of December 2017

What I post: Cats, Things I enjoy, Cats, Things I find funny, Cats, Male Celebrities, Cats, Cute Mutuals and did I mention Cats

Last google: who got eliminated from episode 6 of Canada’s Drag Race. Stupid PVR didn’t record the end haha

Other blogs: Nope, just the one

Do you get asks?: Once in a blue moon. Unless you count the spam ones from Masters, Mistresses and Sugar Daddies haha

Following: 1059

Followers: 1990

Sleep schedule: really fucked up... let's leave it at that

Play instruments? I play Clarinet

Currently wearing: Jeans and a Mickey Mouse shirt

Dream job: I don’t really have a dream job, but would say that I really enjoy the 3 that I have

Dream trip: To meet my Mutuals and also want to go back to Austria

Nationality: Canadian

Favourite song: Malambo No. 1 by Yma Sumac

Last book: I think the last book I read was Dance with Dragons

I’ll tag: @wunnmoretime, @my-w4ndering-m1nd, @catgifsinthesenate, @definitelyindefinite, @woofspuppy, @xxspookysznxx, @iamanimaginarybeing and @thesadboisguidetolife

[cinenthusiast]

new-to-me albums heard for march 2022

43. pompeii - cate le bon (2022 44. crimson - akina nakamori (1986) 45. street lady - donald byrd (1974) 46. third - soft machine (1970) 47. misty blue/actraiser OST - yuzo koshiro (1990-91) 48. thanatos of funk - minoru fushimi (1985) 49. dragon slayer vi: legend of heroes (pc-88) - meiko ishikawa & maasaki kawai (1989) 50. through the looking glass - midori takada (1983) 51. space 1.8 - nala sinephro (2021) 52. equinoxe - jean-michel jarre (1978) 53. wamano a to z volume 1: japanese jazz-funk & groove 1968-1980 (2020 compilation) 54. focus 3 - focus (1972) 55. man plays the horn - cities aviv (2022) 56. trans - neil young (1982) 57. warrior on the edge of time - hawkwind (1975) 58. mambo! - yma sumac (1954) 59. music for amplified keyboard instruments - david borden (1981) 60. enta da stage - black moon (1993) 61. classic objects - jenny hval (2022) 62. technicolor paradise: rhum rhapsodies and other exotic delights (2018 compilation) 63. a doppia faccia OST - nora orlandi (1969) 64. maiden voyage - herbie hancock (1965) 65. space ritual - hawkwind (1973) 66. promises - floating points, phaorah sanders etc (2021) 67. new age of earth - ash ra (1976) 68. word of mouth - the kinks (1984) 69. risque - chic (1978) 70. ptah, the el daoud - alice coltrane (1970) 71. ricochet - tangerine dream (1975) 72. casiopea - casiopea (1979) 73. discophonia - ARGO (1981) 74. ha!-ha!-ha! - ultravox! (1977) 75. ‘round about midnight - miles davis (1957)

[mystacoceti]

Eclogue IV: Winter, Joseph Brodsky

to Derek Walcott

Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas; magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo. — Virgril, Eclogue IV

I In winter it darkens the moment lunch is over. It’s hard then to tell starving men from sated. A yawn keeps a phrase from leaving its cozy lair. The dry, instant version of light, the opal snow, dooms tall alders—by having freighted them—to insomnia, to your glare,

well after midnight. Forget-me-nots and roses crops up less frequently in dialogues. Dogs with languid fervor pick up the trail, for they, too, leave traces. Night, having entered the city, pauses as in a nursery, finds a baby under the blanket. And the pen creaks like steps that are someone else’s.

II My life has dragged on. In the recitative of a blizzard a keen ear picks up the tune of the Ice Age. Every “Down in the Valley” is, for sure, a chilled boogie-woogie. A bitter, brittle cold represents, as it were, a message to the body of its final temperature

or—the earth itself, sighing out of habit for its galactic past, its sub-zero horrors. Cheeks burn crimson like radishes even here. Cosmic space is always shot through with matte agate, and the beeping Morse, returning homeward, finds no ham operator’s ear.

III In February, lilac retreats to osiers. Imperative to a snowman’s profile, carrots get more expensive. Limited by a brow, a glance at cold, metallic objects is fiercer than the metal itself. This, while you peel eyes from objects, still may allow

no shedding of blood. The Lord, some reckon, was review His world in this very fashion on the eighth day and after. In winter, we’re not berry pickers: we stuff the cracks with oakum, praise the common good with a greater passion, and things grow older by, say, a year.

IV In great cold, pavements glaze like a sugar candy, steam from the mouth suggests a dragon, if you dream of a door, you ten to slam it. My life has dragged on. The signs are plenty. They’d make yet another life, just as dragging. From these signs alone one would compose a climate

or a landscape. Preferably with no people, with virgin white through a lacework shroud, —a world where nobody heard of Parises, Londons; where weekdays spun by diffusive, feeble light; where, too, in the end you shudder spotting the ski tracks . . . Well, just a pair.

V Time equals cold. Each body, sooner or later, falls prey to a telescope. With the years, it moves away from the luminary, grows colder. Hoarfrost jungles the windowpane with sumac, ferns, or horsetail, with what appears to be nursed on this glass and deprived of color

by loneliness. But, as with a marble hero, one’s eye rolls up rather than runs in winter. Where sight fails, yielding to dreams’ swarmed forces, time, fallen sharply beneath the zero, burns your brain like the index finger of a scamp from popular Russian verses.

VI My life has dragged on. One cold resembles another cold. Time looks like time. What sets them apart is only a warm body. Mule-like, stubborn creature, it stands firmly between them, rather like a border guard, stiffened, sternly preventing the wandering of the future

into the past. In winter, to put it bleakly, Tuesday is Saturday. The daytime is a deceiver: Are the lights out already? Or not yet on? It’s chilly. Dailies might as well be printed weekly. Time stare at a looking glass like a diva who’s forgotten what’s on tonight: Tosca? Oh no, Lucia?

VII Dreams in the frozen season are longer, keener. The patchwork quilt and the parquet deal, on their mutual squares, in chessboard warriors. The hoarser the blizzard rules the chimney, the hotter the quest for a pure ideal of naked flesh in a cotton vortex,

and you dream nasturtiums’ stubborn odor, a tuft of cobwebs shading a corner nightly, in a narrow ravine torrid Terek’s splashes, a feast of fingertips caught in shoulder straps. And then all goes quiet. Idly an ember smolders in dawn’s gray ashes.

VIII Cold Values space. Baring no rattling sabers, it takes hill and dale, townships and hamlets (the populace cedes without trying tricks), mostly cities, whose great ensembles, whose arches and colonnades, in hundreds, stand like prophets of cold’s white triumph,

looming wanly. Cold is gliding from the sky on a parachute. Each and every column looks like a fifth, desires and overthrow. Only the crow doesn’t take snow gladly. And you often hear the angry, solemn, patriotic gutturals speaking crow.

IX In February, the later it is, the lower the mercury. More time means more cold. Stars, scattered like a smashed thermometer, turn remotest regions of night into a strep marvel. In daytime, when sky is akin to stucco, Malevich himself wouldn’t have noticed

them, white on white. That’s why angels are invisible. To their legions cold is of benefit. We would make them out, the winged ones, had our eyes’ angle been indeed on high, where they are linking in white camouflage like Finnish marksmen.

X For me, other latitudes have no usage. I am skewered by cold like a grilled-goose portion. Glory to naked birches, to the fir-tree needle, to the yellow bulb in an empty passage— glory to everything set by the wind in motion: at a ripe age, it can replace the cradle.

The North is the honest thing. For it keeps repeating all your life the same stuff—whispering, in full volume, in the life dragged on, in all kinds of voices; and toes freeze numb in your deerskin creepers, reminding you, as you complete your polar conquest, of love, of shivering under clock faces.

XI In great cold, distance won’t sing like sirens. In space, the deepest inhaling hardly ensures exhaling, nor does departure a return. Time is the flesh of the silent cosmos. Where nothing ticks. Even being hurtled out of the spacecraft, one wouldn’t capture

any sounds on the radio—neither fox-trots nor maidens wailing from a hometown station. What kills you out there, in orbit, isn’t the lack of oxygen but the abundance of time in its purest (with no addition of your life) form. It’s hard to breathe it.

XII Winter! I cherish your bitter flavor of cranberries, tangerine crescents on faience saucers, the tea, sugar-frosted almonds (at best, two ounces). You were opening our small beaks in favor of names like Marina or Olga—morsels of tenderness at that age that fancies

cousins. I sing a snowpile’s blue contours at dusk, rustling foil, clicking B-flat somewhere, as though “Chopsticks” were tried by the Lord’s own finger. And the logs, which rattled in stony courtyards of the gray, dank city that freeze bare by the sea, are still warming my every fiber.

XIII At a certain age, the time of year, the season coincides with fate. Theirs is a brief affair. but on days like this you sense you are right. Your worries about things that haven’t come your way are ceasing, and a simple botanist may take care of commenting upon daily life and mores.

In this period, eyes lose their green of nettles, the triangle drops its geometric ardor: all the angles drawn with cobwebs are fuzzy. In exchanges on death, place matters more and more than time. The cold gets harder. And saliva suddenly burns its cozy

XIV tongue, like that coin. Still, all the rivers are ice-locked. You can put on long johns and trousers, strap steel runners to boots with ropes and a piece of timber. Teeth, worn out by the tap dance of shivers, won’t rattle because of fear. And the Muse’s voice gains a reticent, private timbre.

That’s the birth of an eclogue. Instead of the shepherd’s signal, a lamp’s flaring up. Cyrillic, while running witless on the pad as though to escape the captor, knows more of the future than the famous sibyl: of how to darken against the whiteness, as long as the whiteness lasts. And after.

[sad-boy-hank]

Sumac wants to make a little sweatshirt/nest for ripper so bad but if other dragons get 3rd degree burns from flamesilk he's gotta make a two day trip to the ocean to start crocheting his projects and dipping them in water so she can wear them. Might throw a little sand on the project before dipping it in water so she has something pretty and reflective to blend in near water bodies. He can definitely make silk nests big enough for the others but that's likely going to be a month long project that she's trying desperately to keep a secret. In the meantime she's definitely teaching ripper how to make and modify for herself to use (since leafspeak was originally used to steer the devices-) his prototype "get fucked via chemical warfare" bundles as a self defense thing for her, he'll just be sitting there happily going "omgomgomg she's growing up so fast- baby's first warcrime!!!"

DAWWWE THASS O CUTE

BABYS FIRST WARCRIME NCHEJNCOHNDHC