#but no I don't think it would unless you have something absorbent on top of it bc it'll just run off the waterproof blanket onto the floor

[casekt]

Went to costco at 10 this morning and there was a waterproof blanket and the person I was with was like "you know what this would be good for" and my first thought was "great for picnics", but no she's like "protecting the bed, for watersports", been hanging out with me too much that's so the kind of conversation I'd start in the entrance of costco

[mariasont]

Lip Gloss - S.R

a/n: wow this is really short and i feel like i overuse the lip gloss shtick but

masterlist

‧₊˚ ✩°｡⋆♡ ⋆˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡⋆｡°✩˚₊‧

pairings: spencer reid x bimbo!receptionist!reader

summary: in which spencer really likes your sparkly lip gloss

warnings: none? fluff

wc: 0.5k

Pink. Sparkles. Lip gloss. Those were the only thoughts running through Spencer's mind as he walked into the break room. Which this was a surprise to him because usually his mind was running a mile a minute--mathematical equations, book references, and case theories. But when you were near that was all reduced to a heaping pile of nothing. Especially now, as you leaned casually against the counter, in pink pumps and matching skirt that definitely wasn't up to the dress code, but he wasn't sure if you cared.

Cradled between your hands was a white mug, its side inscribed with the words 'Britney survived 2007. You can handle today' in stark black letters. He had no idea what it meant, but he noticed it was your favorite, a staple in your daily routine, unless it found its way to the top self, an inconvenience Spencer would subtly always rectify when he went to pour his own cup.

The focal point of his attention, however, was your lips, more precisely, the sheer layer of shimmering gloss that clung to them. Words were forming on those same lips, presumably directed at him, but they seemed to dissolve before reaching his ears, his gaze transfixed by the glistening movement of your mouth.

"Huh?"

With a smile, you pressed your glittering lips together and took a step in his direction. He managed to clear his throat, trying to redirect his attention to your eyes, but his gaze remained helplessly planted.

"I swear, half my routine is just reapplying this stuff after every sip," you said while your thumb worked diligently to wipe away the sparkling smudge from the mug.

"Considering the non-Newtonian fluid dynamics of the lip gloss's polymeric substances, which exhibit both viscous and elastic properties, it leads to a higher propensity for adhesion and cohesion on substrates with varying thermal coefficients."

Your fingers absentmindedly toyed with your earlobe as you cocked your head, a bemused furrow forming above your eyes, but your smile remained undiminished.

"Sorry, that went right over my head," you laughed, nose scrunching in the process. "But it's sweet of you to assume I caught all that."

"Oh, sorry, well, lip gloss is made of oils and waxes that give it that shiny appearance. However, these ingredients don't fully absorb to your skin, so when you press your lips against something, like a hot coffee cup, the excess transfers over."

Heat suffused his face as he registered the unwavering attention you afforded him, as if you were hanging on his every syllable. He sensed your struggle to comprehend, but your effort was evident. He really liked having your attention.

"So, with all that brainpower, do you have any tips for keeping my gloss on my lips instead of my mug?"

"Maybe a straw?"

Your laughter was like music to his ears, filling his senses as your hand, perfectly manicured, lightly touched his arm. A rush of warmth flooded his neck, and he looked at you, momentarily lost for words, as you murmured, "I'll try that out, thanks, Dr. Reid."

"Spencer," he corrects.

"Right, well, thank you, Spencer," you said, standing on tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek, before twirling on your heels, your smile lingering in the air.

Spencer could feel the stickiness on his skin, his fingers pressing against the spot you had left, feet glued to the ground. He starting to think he really likes lip gloss. 

[balkanradfem]

How to make gardening easy

If you've grown up watching people garden, it's likely you've seen them working around with a big hoe, digging the soil, tilling it, constantly at the war with the weeds. This is traditionally how people garden, because of simple fact that no matter where you plant something, there's going to be native wild plants growing around it, likely suffocating it, unless you do something about it. So people traditionally, have had to fight a lot of weeds, so their garden plants could have all of the space, nutrients, water and sunlight to grow.

Due to this natural issue, that makes the planet a living space for us, the first problem you hit when you're starting a new garden, is a bed of weeds that need to be dealt with. There's grass, there's dandelions, maybe some tall native plants, and you're standing there sighing, thinking of how to convert this into a garden-friendly space. And the first human instinct is to get the space tilled and leveled. But that's difficult. Here's how you can do it without as much effort, by being super smart.

The smart thing is to start early. If you look at your intended garden space 4-6 months early, and you know you're going to have to deal with all these native plants, you can instead, prevent them from growing, by blocking the sunlight from them, and then letting the time take care of it. This is done by several different ways, but all of the include covering the ground with something that won't let sunlight get trough. The most common way is to get a bunch of cardboard (ideally without print), lay them out over your gardening space, put some rocks or weighty stuff over them, so they don't get blown away, and then you can walk away, get back in 4-6 months, remove them, and fresh and ready soil will be waiting for you. All that plant matter will die without sunlight, some of it will get eaten by bugs and turned into fertilizer for you, and you did maybe 1/20 of the work and invested some old cardboard.

If you don't have/like cardboard, this can also be done with a big tarp! A third way to do this, maybe not 100% efficient, is to cover the ground with mulch instead. This is what I do. I bring bags of dried leaves to the garden, spread them across the beds and cover them this way. It doesn't need to be leaves, you can cover the ground with straw, hay, dried grass, wood chips, pine needles, any organic matter. It's not completely efficient, because this organic matter will fall apart and turn into soil itself, so it might not give you a perfect coverage, and some plants might just grow in that instead, but! This method also makes sure your soil is already somewhat fertilized, and your plants will absolutely love all of the degraded organic matter; it will bring in bugs, it will bring in worms, it will bring life to the soil, your garden will be rich in life.

Now, let's say you've done it, you've gotten your empty garden bed, and you're about to plant in It, do you need to work the soil still? I would say no. Gardeners love to work the soil until it's in tiny little pieces, so the new plants have an easier time pushing the roots trough it, so it's easier to work with. And yeah the worked soil is lighter, fluffier, more filled with air pockets, which new plants do like! But what happens next is, the rain falls, the soil absorbs a lot of moisture, and then condenses and turns into that same hard airless dense matter that it was in the start. Digging the soil can only make it lighter and more filled with air, temporarily. That's why gardeners need to do it often!

Worked soil, especially rich in clay, will also get a very dry top surface, which can get rough and fill with cracks, making it look desert-like. Plants do not love this, and gardeners often have to work the soil just to break that cracked surface and get their plants some air. Soil that is dry and dense will also struggle to absorb a decent amount of water, so rainfall won't give it as much goodness as it could. So, what can you do instead, to make the soil palatable to your plants, and not susceptible to being dried  up and dense and difficult for your plants? You can again, add organic matter on top.

If you're sowing your seeds directly, it's good to wait for your plants to grow a little, so they don't have to fight the mulch, but as soon as your plants are taller than a few inches, you are encouraged to cover the ground around them with any organic matter. What this will do is 1. Stop the surface of the soil from drying out, keep it very pleasant, soft and damp for the plant 2. Stop additional weeds from growing, save you from tons of weeding, 3. Protect your soil from erosion and 4. Fertilize your plants.

Soil erosion is a common problem in agriculture, where dried-up top of the soil is eroded by the wind, and ultimately turned into sand, which in a monocrop situation, can turn the entire area into a desert unless there's frequent rain. Now I'm not suggesting you could ever, by growing your little garden, create a desert area – you will not. But keeping your soil safe from both sun and wind will make sure it doesn't lose nutrients, water, and it's own structure, you're keeping it safe! And adding even more richness to it by letting the mulch slowly fall apart on top of it. Whenever it rains, the rainwater will fall into your mulch, take in nutrients from the parts that have composted, and then carry it down to your plant's roots. Your plants will get to eat new food every time it rains.

Generally once my plants outgrow all possible weeds and are not longer in the danger of being suffocated, I forget about weeds and just let them grow, they're not threat to me anymore, and having lots of greenery in times of drought is good for both the plants, and the little critters in your garden. Oh I forgot to tell you about the critters! One thing your garden needs is airy soil, filled with little holes and passages, that gardeners usually make manually with their tools. But what you're doing is luring thousands of little worms, bugs, critters and underground creatures, by all that rich mulch they love eating, so they dig the ground for you. They make holes and passages and air flows through them, making the soil light and fluffy. I've found that keeping the ground covered with mulch during the winter creates the entire different quality of soil than the one that isn't covered; the soil that was covered is so light and easy to work with, you can plant using just your fingers.

Having the quality of your soil improve to the point where you can work it with fingers, will usually happen after 3 years of gardening like this! In the meantime, you might need some tool just to get the seeds underground; I've been using a single spoon to plant everything in the garden. It's the smallest, and thus least-disruptive to the soil type of tool. We want all of the creatures in there to feel safe and undisturbed.

Even though I wrote all this pretending like I can totally garden like a smart person, in the reality I absolutely will completely ignore some parts of my garden all winter, check on it in the spring when it's super weedy, pull the weeds out by hand, and only then mulch and plant, laughing at myself for letting the soil quality go bad – but it still works. As long as I add mulch at some point in time, the garden succeeds. So if you're right now, in the height of spring, considering planting some beans – but you haven't done the whole '6 months earlier' procedure, no worry. I didn't either. I pulled out some weeds and planted beans today with a spoon, I'm gonna add mulch when they come out, and I'm still 100% certain they'll be fine, as long as there's rain. So many of our efforts cannot compare to even one single rainfall.

[yandere-wishes]

Okay so not an ask more of a Headcanon based on observation and the character he is based on, but I see Honest Fellow as someone who would both idolize/emulate and resent the rich. By his design his clothes, while they pay homage to Honest John with the patchwork pantleg and the misding pinky tip on his one glove seem very well-kempt, on top of that his hat and cane are practically emaculate that cane alone couldn't have been cheap though I wouldn't put it passed the sly fox man to have either swindled someone out of it or stole it from them outright. Point is I'm getting wants to be a rich man but hates the rich people vibes.

All of that is set-up for my headcanon that if he ever had a S/O you can bet he would get them jewelry and expensive clothes. Basically just adorn them in finery he had acquired through whatever means (cough, likely stolen or purchased with dirty money, cough) and proudly have them stand by his side. The thought to use them as a pretty little lure to catch even bigger fish might cross his mind, but I doubt he'd ever use them like that. Personally, I feel like he'd be to possessive to do that even if his darling wanted to help like that, after all what if he let's them go off alone and someone tries to take advantage of his poor darling? He doesn't think they're weak or foolish per say but who could protect them better than him? I think he'd have a difficult time even leaving them alone with Gidelle (only 90 percent sure I got that right), of course he trusts Gidelle, well as much as he can truly trust anyone anyway, but he's the brains of the outfit and unless he's personally by his darlings side he won't ever be truly assured something won't go wrong.

Let's say that darling isn't quite so understanding or compliant, his possessive side would certainly get worse. He can't leave them alone for one second qhat if they try and sneak off. Perhaps to save his pride he'd be a bit delusional, they're just a sweet little naive skittish thing that doesn't know any better, possibly they've never known a love as deep and unshakable as his, it's only natural there would be a learning curve for them and who better than he to teach them? I highly doubt he'd ever use physical punishments on his darling, probably doesnt like punishing them as he thinks they are just still learning, but that doesn't mean he won't find other ways to punish them if necessary. I do think if they actively tried to run he wouldn't waste a minute getting something along the lines of a necklace with a chain, something fashionable but functional as a reminder while they're learning, if that reminder isn't enough though he might go for a bejeweled pet collar and leash. If all else fails isolation in a secure location with him as their only source of human, or well beastman, contact would certainly allow them to see how much they needed each other. Whatever he has to do to make them understand it'll all be worth it later once they're settled and he can spoil them like they deserve.

TLDR: Honest Fellow would love to lavish his S/O in (possibly ill-gotten) finery and would actively and proudly show them off on his arm. Everyone can look and admire, but only he is allowed to touch.

This has got to be the most effort anyone has ever put into something they sent in my ask box!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Okay so right off the bat let me say that YES!! This is canon I don't care what anyone says.

I can see him as "wanting what they have" but "not wanting to be them". Essentially he wants the ability to give his darling the best of everything. Yet still ultimately preserving his own "personality". Like you said Fellow hates the rich. They're insufferable, self-absorbed and loathsome, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't crave the glitz and glammer.

Now I can kinda see Fellow only really interacting with his darling at first to use her as bait. Winning her over with expensive gifts and pretty cloths (all from dirty money ofc) and sure darling does start to fall for his tricks. But here's the thing, the moment his darling begins to show the tinest interest in him Fellow FALLS HARDER!! All of a sudden he doesn't want ANYONE near his darling! Just him only him. Sooner or later his darling will start to feel suffocated, she'll be desperate to get away from him. Forsaking the pretty presents and charming "boyfriend" for just a moment of freedom. But Fellow's a sly fox, always one step ahead. He knows how to ensnare his darling before she's even run away.

Overall Fellow will lavish you, treat you like a queen, getting you anything you desire (through underhanded means) but you'll never be allowed to leave him. Forever trapped by his side on the island of pleasure…

Quick question is Fellow meant to be the same age as the third years or is he older??

[luvvyouforever]

sfw alphabet - tamlin, high lord of the spring court

↳ tamlin is such an interesting character to write about and while i am not a tamlin apologist, i do think he deserves more written about him. he has so many layers that i, as a creative writer, would like to explore. so, here is a large collection of my headcanons about tamlin organized in the sfw alphabet template. enjoy, dears!

a : affection

-i think tamlin is slow to be affectionate. he's a gentleman at heart and grew up in a more traditional lifestyle. however, once you become partners or once that mating bond snaps, he will shower you in affection. this comes in the form of acts of service and providing for you. he would spend the whole day catering to your every need if you let him. when you're laying in bed, he keeps his arms tight around you. when you're in the kitchen or working on something, his hands will reach for you and pull you back into his chest. he is such a big forehead kisser too, i will accept nothing else. i imagine that he wraps you in his arms and leaves his lips on the top of your head. eek!

b : best friend

-since tamlin starts out being pretty isolated from a lot of people besides his own inner court, i would say making friends is rare for him. he has those really close bonds with people like lucien and perhaps you started working with him in a more work colleague way. slowly, you built a friendship after so much time spent together. he would be a very supportive friend who listens well. he doesn't think he's great at offering you advice so he would prefer to be in your presence and absorb every word you say, telling you that whatever choice you make is valid. tamlin also suits a friends to lovers trope very well i think.

c : cuddles

-tamlin loves feeling like a protector and when you're wrapped tight in his arms, drifting off to a safe sleep, he's in heaven. he loves to spoon you and rarely will he be the little spoon. it would take a particularly rough day for him to come to you, asking if you could hold him. he may rest his head on your chest while you enjoy a picnic by the lake but he gravitates towards holding you in any way he can.

d : domestic

-tamlin wants to settle down so bad it hurts him. he wants nothing more than to have a lifelong partner who is there for him, who he knows will be waiting on him to come home. he has dreams of you decorating his manor to your liking and, if you can, having a family together. as for his own cooking and cleaning skills, i think he relies a lot on magic to pick up after himself. instead of making the bed, he would wave his hand and it would fix the sheets immediately. i don't think he'd make you bare the weight of being the sole homemaker so if you wanted to, he'd love to help you cook or do anything around the manor.

e : ending

-i think tamlin would suck at breakups. he would feel so guilty all over for any reason he had while breaking up with someone. those feelings would overwhelm him until he convinced himself to stay by your side unless it came down to saving your life. he is willing to place your protection over his own happiness and if it came down to it, he would ensure that you knew how deep his love ran for you before he made the heartbreaking decision to send you on your way.

f : fiance

-tamlin would be quick to arrange a wedding after your mating bond snapped. he isn't scared of commitment but he is scared and insecure that after a while, you'd get bored of his presence and stop putting up with his habits. i think he'd be so happy proposing to you but as the wedding neared, he would get nervous and you could tell in the way he fidgeted any time you brought up the future. some sweet words though and he would feel much better.

g : gentle

-in some moments, tamlin could be the most gentle partner you had ever met. he would softly brush hair back behind your ear or his hand would trace delicate shapes along your spine that never failed to give you goosebumps. he's working on being more gentle emotionally, though. he can be high strung at times, and he knows this. when he feels his temper rising, he reminds himself of peaceful scenarios like waking up with you in a warm bed or swimming in the pool of stars with you. however, if you want him to be, he can be more forceful. imagine non-sexual dominance. sternly telling you to eat breakfast so you don't feel weak for the rest of the day or guiding you through unfamiliar places with a hand stuck to your waist.

h : hugs

-tamlin is such a big hugger. he loves the feeling of your body tight to his, wrapped up in his arms. he seeks out your presence after a long day of being high lord and the minute he sees you, he grabs your hand and pulls you into his chest. he stays like that for a few minutes, breathing in your scent and basking in your comforting atmosphere. if he has nothing to do in the morning, good luck getting out of bed. he'd mumble and grumble any time you try to escape his grasp. "but tam, i have to go to the bathroom really bad!" "mm-mm. not going. you're too cozy."

i : i love you

-tamlin is so the first person in a relationship to confess his love. granted, after everything that happened in his life, it would take him longer than usual and you may be the first to say it but generally, he feels everything incredibly deeply and he can't hold back those three words when he sees you enjoying the warmth of his lands or looking at him with more adoration than anyone in his life ever had.

j : jealousy

-tamlin can be a very very jealous person. especially in the beginnings of your relationship when nothing feels set in stone just yet. his jealousy never negatively affects you. he can't blame anyone for feeling drawn into your beauty and if anyone ever dares to act on those feelings, he would threaten them within an inch of their life. later that night, he'd hug you tight and mumble "all mine" into your skin while he kisses you, leaving a few more marks than he usually would.

k : kisses

-tamlin would find any time during his day to give you a kiss full of love and devotion that would nearly have your knees buckling. he is not one for quick pecks and each of his kisses hold as much as, if not more, emotion than the last. he likes kissing you on your forehead, as i said before, and your neck is one of his favorite spots. as for him, he likes having his shoulders and chest kissed. there's nothing that makes him feel weaker than when you're tucked into his chest, slowly falling asleep, and you leave lazy kisses along his exposed skin.

l : little ones

-tamlin is great around kids but he's horribly nervous to have kids of his own. on an outing to a spring court village, he played with a group of kids and he came back to you positively glowing. i really really imagine tamlin as a girl dad. he would let his daughter cover him in makeup, force a tiara on his head, and have tea parties with her. he's scared about being a bad dad to them but the minute he has his kid in his arms, every negative feeling seeps out of him and is replaced by soul-crushing love.

m : mornings

-rarely does tamlin have a morning where he has nothing on his plate. more often than not, he is rising before you and carefully slinks out of the blankets to begin his day. before he leaves to begin his duties, he will bring you a cup of tea that will stay hot and some pastries that alis made earlier. he leaves you a sweet note that never fails to make you smile.

n : nights

-sometimes, tamlin needs a little extra convincing to come to bed and all you have to do is pad out to his office, dressed in your pajamas (which is secretly his weakspot) and he'd be following after you like a puppy. he loves taking a warm bath before bed and when you're finally covered in blankets, he has to say nothing for you to curl into him. you'll stay up for a little longer, talking about your days or whispering sweet words to each other. he would never fall asleep first. he waits until your breathing evens out before closes his eyes and sleeps too. he doesn't move much through the night but if you do, his arms will subconsciously reach for you. he has to have your touch through the night.

o : open

-tamlin values honesty and loyalty. he will reveal information about him, about his past in bursts. it usually begins with surface level information before he gives in to your support and fully opens up about everything. he has to really, truly trust you to be able to tell you things. it takes him a while to be a good communicator and come to you with anything but when he does, he will hold on to your hands, stabilize his breathing, and come clean about anything bothering him.

p : patience

-tamlin is relatively quick to anger. when it comes to you, not so much. he will have significantly more patience and restraint when it comes to you. it would have to be pretty serious before tamlin would feel anger directed at you. however, when it comes to other people, tamlin has a high temper that he is learning to control. sometimes when he comes back to your bedroom, you can see the anger and tension in his body. he'll sit on the edge of the bed and without a word, you'd come up behind him and work your hands into his shoulders. he'd visibly relax and melt into your touch. his anger is nothing when compared to his appreciation for you.

q : quizzes

-tamlin remembers everything about you. you aren't sure how he does it. when you're out shopping or roaming a town, he will remember the jewels that your eyes lingered on for a second longer than the rest of them. he will remember your favorite books, the way you take your tea, how you like the bed to be made, your favorite perfumes, your favorite style of clothing. if you told him you like something in passing, he will take a note of it and stores it in a little drawer in his brain.

r : remember

-tamlin's favorite moment in your relationship has to be when he proposed to you. he knew how much you enjoyed roaming the rose gardens his father gifted his mother and decided he'd do something similar. one afternoon, he cleared out his entire schedule, telling lucien to watch the court while he took you out to a far end of his estate. he had it expanded to contain a garden made of your favorite flowers. he walked with you to the middle and just as you were admiring the beautiful flora, he got down on one knee and the look in your eyes permanently etched itself into his brain and he frequently remember the memory on bad days.

s : security

-tamlin is a protector. it's the role that he loves and thrives in. he wants to help you and keep you safe against everything. however, he knows to rein in that instinct now. you won't be going on any particularly dangerous missions soon but he will gladly allow you to come along with him to his high lord duties and grants lucien permission to teach you self-defense. in actual danger, tamlin would lay down his life to protect yours. he's pushing you behind his body, holding his arm out, taking down anyone who poses a threat to your safety. if the tables turn, though, and it's your turn to protect him, he will be forever grateful. he will spend his entire life trying to repay you for the debt.

t : try

-the high lord of the spring court enjoys a celebration and enjoys a reason to spoil you. anniversaries, holidays, and birthdays are very important to him. he will remember the date, acquire gifts, and shower you with affection all day. in every day life, he makes a point to show you love even when stuck in high lord duties. he has alis prepare your favorite foods, clothes appear in your closet, notes are left around your room, and when he can, he will come to meals with you. dinner with you every single night is required unless it is a life or death situation.

u : ugly

-tamlin holds a lot of self-resentment and he has so many walls that he put up to protect himself against pain. like i wrote before, he also has a high temper but he's slowly found ways to work out the frustration and anger he feels. he doesn't get the best sleep either. not only does he stay up late but he sleeps lightly, meaning most noises and movements wake him up.

v : vanity

-i don't think tamlin has to do much to look good. he wakes up and you find yourself in awe of the ethereal man before you. his golden hair falls perfectly on the pillow and throughout the day, it lays perfectly on his shoulders. his physique does not need much upkeep except for regular trainings with lucien or other sentries. the only thing that preoccupies his mind is his clothing. his tunics must be neatly pressed and if he had to dress up for anything, his clothing would be made of the best possible material.

w : whole

-tamlin has gone a while without a lifelong, stable partner and he used to feel fine with that fact. however, since he has met you, he feels incomplete without you. he feels as though you are his other half, you are his good side, he is not himself when he is not with you. his attitude changes after he spends a long time apart from you. he's mopey and more agitated than usual. however, as soon as he can spend his mornings and nights with you again, he feels at peace.

x : xtra

-he enjoys using his shapeshifting powers and showing them off around you. while his beast form can be utterly horrifying, you don't feel threatened at all, knowing that underneath, it is simply your love. on days when he's feeling goofy or flirtatious, he'll change into his form, find you exploring the forest, and nudge you for attention. he won't stop until you pet him even though his form towers over you entirely. you don't mind cuddling up with his beast form either! even with magic ensuring the court stays in spring, he sometimes can't help the cold breezes that pass through, casting a chill over the lands. during these times, you revel in the warmth he radiates.

y : yuck

-tamlin would not like a partner that is rude to others. he values the people who work in his manor, who live in his village, who staff his army. he would be immediately turned off if you were to be rude to any one of them. as for general things he dislikes, i think he doesn't enjoy storms and prefers gentle weather where sun peaks through the curtains and it's just warm enough outside. i imagine that he has a very refined food palette but he is particular about his food as well. his meats need to be cooked perfectly and if something tastes off, he will not scold anyone or become upset but simply not eat.

z : zzz

-tamlin snores very softly but it's quite a comforting noise that often lulls you to sleep. since he's musically inclined, he would enjoy humming lullabies in your ear while he spoons you. he needs to touch you throughout the entire night and even when his fear of losing you starts to dissipate, the habit continues. on nights when he feels restless, he will slowly slip out of bed, down to the kitchen, where he will make some tea infused with some great sleep aids.

[allyallyorange]

I don’t think you know genuinely how much you adventure time Hongjoong means to me. What’s his full story like in his head?

what’s his canon event pre and post ateez?

what haunts him? with his magic, is their anything that can genuinely make him terrifying?

He seems distant from the rest of ateez, does he show he cares? Do they know? or is he trying to prevent that?

what’s the thing that Mingi so special to him :>

just your adventure time Hongjoong. I’d read their biography.

I LOVE JOONG IN THIS AU SM

Ok I can give some details off the top of my head!

He's the younger brother of the current Demon King at the time of the main story. Despite being a prince, he really never cared for taking on responsibilities and learning how to be in charge since he was the younger sibling, he likely would never have to be in charge ever. He was pretty spoiled and self absorbed, because not only is he a prince but he's the prince of what is essentially Hell. He never really "cared" for anyone. Affection and love and such weren't really openly showed in his family either, except for with himself and his older brother, who he's always had a good relationship with. They have friendly competitions with each other. Before he meets Mingi he had a pretty much entirely carefree life. About as much angst as a rebellious teen. Wanting his parent's approval but not wanting to have anything to do with running their realm.

Post canon he takes over as Demon King, he couldn't bring himself to kill his brother (the royal Demons cannot typically be killed. They live to 10000 and die, unless they are killed by other royal blood), despite everything, his brother is only this way because they don't care about others in Hell. Hongjoong has learned to care, and he cares about his brother too. So while Hongjoong needs to learn how to run the kingdom, he essentially has his brother in a cage, and he asks his advice on things related to being a King. It's a very complicated relationship because of course, The Demon King killed Seonghwa. And Hongjoong really liked Seonghwa, and he'd been under the impression he'd have several years to get to know Seonghwa better, so he feels lost when suddenly the other isn't around. Hongjoong has also never felt sad about someone dying before, so it's a lot of confusing feelings. Yeosang disagrees with the decision to keep Joong's brother alive, so their relationship stays at least a little strained for probably ever, though Yeo tries to understand.

Incasing Mingi in a crystal prison haunts him.

On that note, Mingi is special to him because Hongjoong had never felt real affection for anyone before. Or at least he never understood it. He likes his bandmates, he likes his brother, but if one of his bandmates were to disappear Hongjoong would replace them, in his mind, he's very far above them, as the Demon Prince. His brother and him were friendly, but not friends. Then he meets Mingi, who is like 10 years old, and lost and innocent. Mingi has no magic, Mingi is so small, he's basically useless. He would rank so far below Joong in his mind there was no reason he should've wasted time helping the kid get home. But for some reason he wanted to, maybe he was bored that day and just wanted something to do. Mingi was so endearing, the kid had a terrible sense of direction, and so did Hongjoong, so it took a really long time to find their way back to Mingi's village. In that time the kid went on and on about everything and nothing. Things he liked, things he hated. He fidgeted with Hongjoong's bracelets when he'd decided to cling to Joong's wrists while they walked. Mingi didn't know that Hongjoong was someone "special". He talked to Hongjoong like no one else ever had, he wasn't afraid of him, he'd even bluntly insulted the Demon's pointed ears and teeth, saying they looked funny. Mingi was just interesting to Hongjoong at first. He'd also never interacted with a mortal child before so it was very new to him. He keeps visiting Mingi and the kid is just so loud and bouncy, and then shy and quiet its hard for Hongjoong to keep up. Mingi clings onto Hongjoong, hugging him, tugging on his clothing, snagging his accessories, etc. No one has done that to Hongjoong before, and it's endearing. When Mingi gets cursed, Hongjoong takes care of him for several years until Mingi decides he'd rather be frozen forever than cause more damage. At some point in their years together, Mingi had said Hongjoong felt like an older brother to him, and Hongjoong decided that in turn, Mingi feels like a younger brother to him. Imprisoning Mingi was so hard for Hongjoong because it felt like saying goodbye to the only person in the world he'd come to genuinely care about. It didn't help that Mingi was clearly so afraid during the process. Even during the main story line, when they're both adults, Hongjoong still see's Mingi as a sweet 10 year old kid that showed him how to feel.

Hongjoong's powers include: soul sucking, body/mind manipulation, transformation (into his demon form. he might have another, larger, scarier, form that he almost never uses) and he can use dark magic. He knows like ancient spells that are not written in most spell books wizards like Wooyoung would have access to. (the crystal prison spell for example is not something that just anyone knows) Hongjoong needs a book to cast spells cus he can't remember the incantations (cus he never cared to study them). He's honestly not that great at magic like this, Wooyoung is better at dark magic than he is. The most useful power to himself is just that he cannot die unless someone in his bloodline kills him or he gets super duper old.

He is a bit distant to the others for a while, but he grows fond of them over time. He becomes quite close with Wooyoung, because Wooyoung is always being sent to Joong's shack for breaking house rules. Hongjoong, also becomes close with Jongho, as they spend time where it's just Joong, Hwa, Mingi, and Jongho. For months Seonghwa makes him feel nervous, so he tends to put distance between them, they have a push and pull relationship. Closer to the end of the main story he's more openly showing he actually likes the others. He's gotten closer to everyone, and he enjoys hanging out and playing around with them. It's not that he was trying to seem like he didn't care in the beginning, he just like. actually didn't really care that much when the other half of the guys show up. He just needs a little bit of time to get used to them!

Thank you for your ask!!

[nealsbian]

as a fan who watched older gmm a lot i have to say if i just saw a picture of link i wouldnt think he was attractive. but watching the videos endeared him to me SO MUCH that i started to see the attractive side?? i mean when you get over/used to the weird look you start noticing the pretty face in movement lol. but more than that he got me hooked immedietly first couple of videos i was barely paying attention to rhett unless he was doing something outrageously funny/weird etc. (this is kinda the only reason why i can remember my reaction to one of my first gmm videos i watched ''Taking a Dust Bath - Experiment'' and how i became a more dedicated fan. i kept thinking why am i so fond of this dork on the right?? tbh at some point he removes the big fugly(imo) glasses and his hair gets messy but his attitude is still what makes the ''it'' factor lol) also the bangs looked good sometimes when he let them get a little shagy/messy/fluffy (what it is supposed to look like tbh) especially even earlier times like "the mythical show" and on the great american road trip etc. he also had the smalled office style glasses which complemented that corporate/IT emo-adjacent look of 2000s better imo. its just as he got older he started to put too much gel or whatever which made the hairstyle unusually stiff/shiny (i used to call it the lego affect) and that paired with the big square dorky glasses it was an off-putting combo to say the least. buut i was still so endeared by all of him it didnt bother me much at the time? like i would watch it and still be into his vibe. he just has some kind of attitude that is magnetic and "cute" at the same which somehow doesnt get fake/over the top? idk im still fond of shagy hair but it definitely ran its course way before it was gone. what i personally truly hated was the shaved sides with the intense and stiff high quif even worse when he was dying it poorly to coal black which absorbed all the life and moevement out of it..that was my true nemesis. the close shaved sides/fade is such a basic fuck boy cut i cant believe people used to want link to go back to that

halfway through reading this I did understand the appeal of his old cut haha so congrats on painting such a good picture. I did hate the shaved sides too, think we can both agree that no matter how he styles it his hair is the best when there's more of it. but in the end no matter what he looks like his personality is what shines through. I don't think I'd be so drawn to him if he wasn't in this era though, just because his current look is sooo appealing to me rn, but at this point I'm already hooked so... he's just extremely charismatic, and i kinda love how he's such a - you either love him or hate him - kinda person. what you see is what you get.

also everybody is welcome to talk about Link in my askbox just so you know

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

I'm rewatching Ben 10 UA and I've got a bone to pick with Aggregor

He's a good villain, don't get me wrong, but there's something about his whole arc that just irks me

The season starts off pretty well, with us finding out that Aggregor has kidnapped 5 aliens from their home planets with the intention of absorbing their powers

Why, you may ask? Well, he wants to absorb them so that he can gain the abilities to go after what he truly wants, the mcguffin

If you need a refresher, the mcguffin is the Map of Infinity

I usually don't mind when a show or a season is built around this artifact that the audience has never heard of and a sudden lore that's created behind it even though I know it annoys alot of people

I really couldn't care less that this was never mentioned before because it's meant to be top secret

Kevin mentions in the episode Map of Infinity s1e11 that he thought it was just a myth, meaning that, to a certain extent, people knew about it

So, I put aside my argument about Aggregor knowing of it's existence. I'll just assume that he found the legend interesting so did some further research only to find out that it's actually true.

That's a fair reasoning.

Now this map will lead him to a place called the Forge of Creation, the birthplace of Alien X, where he wants to absorb the powers of that alien and gain some form of omnipotence

But the problem lies in the fact that the map of infinity was divided into 4 pieces and hidden by Professor Paradox

This is actually a really great premise and I like everything about it

My problem lies with it's execution

My first grievance, HOW THE HELL DOES AGGREGOR KNOW WHERE THE PIECES ARE?!

The pieces are hidden in Mikd'lty, Piscciss, Legerdomain and the Perplexahedron, respectively

Now, I'm REALLY going to try and give this the benefit of the doubt

Let's assume that the pieces of the map can guide you, so if you have one piece, it can lead you to the other pieces that are scattered across the universe

This would explain why Ben and the gang have no idea where the pieces are and usually just end up chasing Aggregor to wherever he goes to find the piece, as seen for piece 2 and 3 s1e13e14

My problem is how the hell did Aggregor know where to find the first piece?

If Paradox really did hide the piece and he's the only person in the entire universe that actually knows where the pieces were, how the hell did Aggregor know where the first piece was?

The thing I found odd in the case of the first piece was that, oddly, Ben and the gang were the first ones to go after it. I'm thinking that while Ben was on the planet of Mikd'lty, his omnitrix acted like a beacon for Aggregor to follow

In which case, this would mean that there was no need for Ben to go there at all because Aggregor didn't know where it was and he wouldn't have found it out unless Ben hadn't gone there first

And you're telling me Paradox and Azmuth didn't know this!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE

PARADOX IS THE ONLY BEING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE THAT KNOWS WHERE THE PIECES ARE

EVEN AZMUTH DIDN'T KNOW

HOW THE HELL DID AGGREGOR KNOW WHERE TO GO?

My second problem, the perplexehedron

That's a really good episode if I'm being honest, I love the traps and the logic behind it

But my problem starts with the fact that Aggregor is simply let in by the place because he has 3 pieces of the map

WHY!?

WHY IS A PLACE THAT IS DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE FINAL PIECE FROM SOMEONE WHO IS COLLECTING THE PIECES ALLOW SOMEONE WHO HAS THE OTHER 3 PIECES AND IS CLEARLY COLLECTING THEM GO THROUGH NO PROBLEM?!

like you'd assume the pieces of the map are enough to guide him through the perplexahedron but no

He faces the same traps that Ben and the gang do and even reaches the final piece after them

SO WHY LET HIM THROUGH IN THE FIRST PLACE

I JUST DON'T GET IT

and then he does manage to get all 4 pieces and you think that all is lost because the forge of creation is hidden from everyone except those who have the map

BUT WAIT

Paradox knows exactly where it is and can thus take Ben and friends there

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

Like Paradox is the most annoying character to ever exist

IF YOU KNEW WHERE THE FORGE OF CREATION WAS WHY BOTHER WITH THE MAP

WHY NOT JUST DESTROY THE MAP?! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HIDE IT AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE?! LIKE WHAT WAS THE POINT

I ACTUALLY DO NOT GET IT

if someone understands why please let me know

So long story short

Paradox knew where the forge of creation was and hid it, creating a map that can show it's location before dividing it into 4 pieces and hiding it across the universe

but for what? if he already knew where the forge of creation was, why create a map to find it later anyway? like you already know where it is and if anyone wants to go there, they'd have to run it by you first

WHY BOTHER WITH THE DUMBASS MAP

AND WHY DOES AZMUTH KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THIS?!

like that was another thing i never understood

why does azmuth know where the 4th piece is hidden?

I get that he's the smartest being in 3-5 galaxies but he's hardly king of the universe

why does he get a free pass?

someone tell me

because I'm not able to concentrate on this season without getting annoyed about all of this

also, let's not forget that this could have all been nipped at the bud? If you remember in Alien Force s3e11 Kevin and Mike Morningstar stumble across the Dominus librium which can be used to take away an Osmosians ability to absorb shit

So had they used this they could've taken away Aggregors ability to absorb it before he ever absorbed those aliens and problem solved

But, you might say that the dominus librium was just an artifact used in that one episode and never mentioned again, a problem that a lot of shows face but NO

THEY BRING IT BACK AGAIN AT THE END OF THE SEASON TO HELP SAVE KEVIN

SO WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT

[eveenstar]

Could I request a GN reader general like dating stuff with Cal Kestis? Sorry if you've already done it!

Have a good day!! <3

Cal Kestis!! Sure can! Hope these are enough ♡ I tried to zoom between Fallen Order and Survivor, but also post Survivor events, so watch out for spoilers!

Dating Cal Kestis | Headcanons

->Cal and Obi-Wan are the definition of 'perfect boyfriend'. In fact, all the Jedi are jealous they can't be them. Have you seen those gorgeous ginger locks? Running your fingers through his hair while he rests his head on your chest after a hard mission... now that's the dream.

->Cal is dreamy, yes, but he also comes with a lot of packages. He doesn't talk about it, Cal avoids talking about anything remotely involving his past trauma when he's around you. If you ask, he'll joke around to try and get you to change the topic. Cal hates to admit it (even to himself) but he doesn't feel worthy of your love. Deep down he still blames himself for the death of his master, for Cere, for Cordova...and for not sensing Bode's betrayal. Cal would never forgive himself if something had happened to you.

->He's very attentive and always willing to slow down and listen to you vent. One of Cal's hands will rub your knee, sometimes holding your hand, kissing your knuckles to make you laugh. Cal will feel angry that someone has wronged you, he'd carry that burden for you if he could.

->don't blame him if he ever crosses paths with the person/people who did you wrong and goes a little to far

->Knows you can handle yourself in battle, but if you can't, he'll insist on training you, "c'mon, I'll go easy on you!" he'd sway you into it until you eventually give up.

->Cal is a little tease too. Will let down his hair stan long haired cal and wear one of those tight sweat shirts to show off his muscles, just because he knows that will throw you off during training. He'll laugh about it too! "Yeah? Are you gonna blame me for your lack of focus?" purposely to annoy you so you'll put him in his place. Knock him down, straddle him and bring his lightsaber dangerously close to his throat and that will 100% shut him up.

->not to get nfsw but definitely has a thing for you having the upper hand. Cal will blush and stare wide-eyed, but that cocky little grin never once leaves his face. Its just too much fun seeing you mad.

->LOVES pulling you under his poncho when he's wearing one. You two obviously don't fit in one together unless you're considerably smaller and then get absorbed in Cal's poncho. Definitely gets you a bunch of ponchos too, even shares his! Couple's that match together stay together.

->BD-1 is your child, I don't make the rules. He loves you nearly as much as Cal and lives to make your boyfriend jealous by snuggling closer to you at night.

->"I think you've stolen him from me." Cal jokes as BD-1 hops on your shoulder as you leave the ship. He has never seen his little buddy droid so trusting of someone that isn't Cal himself. Sure, BD-1 trusts Cere, Merrin and Greez, but not as much as he trusts you, so it must means you're special.

->of course you're special, Cal would think to himself, you made me fall for you.

->not overly touchy but loves to hold your hands in his, even does it unconsciously and especially in his sleep. Cal will seek you out to rest his chin on your shoulder or the top of your head, sometimes even wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you close. May or may not start pampering your skin with soft, little kisses all the way up to your jawline and if you don't stop then he'll take it a step further...have I said he's touch-starved? He is. Once he gets his hands on you, there's no prying him away.

->Keeps a little trinket that reminds him of you if you two have to be separated. Cal will look at it, play with it between his fingers, wishing it was you he was holding instead. Probably get you something like that too, I headcanon that it's a blue and red bracelet :)

->The incident with Dagan and then Bode's betrayal has taken a toll on Cal. You can see his struggle with the darkside, even during his sleep (or the few hours that he gets of rest) his face is closed up and his hands tighten around you, as if you were sand about to escape between his fingers. Saying he becomes more fearful and protective is an understatement - life becomes so much more real when you have someone to lose, and Cal has lost too many. To lose you would be to lose himself.

->The duel with Dagan nearly cost your life as the red blade nearly sliced you in half hadn't his own lightsaber blocked it in time. Dagan taunted Cal for his love for you and that was the first time you saw the darkness that lies behind his eyes. He almost cut off Dagan's head.

->Bode was his friend, and Cal trusted him, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous when you two got a little bit too close, or when Bode's hand trailed down your arm, his smile growing just a bit. Cal would sulk for a while and his kisses and holding would become just a tad bit more hungry and possessive, as if he's trying to prove something.

->Don't worry, he'll calm down when you show your love for him. Run your fingers through his hair, pull him close to you, whisper sweet nothings to his ear until he's weak under your touch.

->He's not very experienced as to what he should call you, sure before you he had at least one other relationship (which was just a little teenage crush and barely lasted more than a few rotations). Nicknames such as love and baby suffice for him, but at one point in your relationship you both start a challenge as to who can find the most dumbass nicknames for each other, and Cal takes that to heart.

->Spoiler alert, Cal wins. Everyone in the ship is horrified at the nicknames he's calling you such as his "sweet pookie bogling" and winking at you, knowing how embarrassing it is. He's a dork, but a competitive one at that. You gotta give him credit for the creativity though.

->On Tanalorr, Cal wishes for nothing more than a peaceful life with you. He has never thought of himself as a father, but he'd be lying if he said being with you hasn't sparked some thoughts that often come to him when he sees you playing with BD-1 or caring for Kata.

->That's when he knows that no matter how hard the fight gets, everything will be alright as long as he has you by his side.

[macgyvermedical]

Treating Diarrheal Illness

Someone recently sent me an ask about vomiting and diarrhea. I got almost all the way through writing it and then tumblr ate it. Didn't save it as a draft, didn't even put the ask back in my inbox, just poof'd it into oblivion.

But it was a good ask, and not one I get very often, so I still want to answer it- it essentially said the following:

How could a non-medical person in an apocalyptic setting treat someone who had severe diarrhea and vomiting, assuming the person in gastrointestinal distress was a doctor and could give them some direction? Can/should they give antidiarrheal medication and how would they go about doing that since the patient would probably throw it up?

So very glad you asked:

Diarrhea

The nice thing about most diarrheal illness is that as long as the person stays hydrated, they have a really good chance at surviving. Water is okay for hydration, but if the caregiver can get their hands on some salt, some potassium-based salt substitute, and some sugar, they can make a really easy and effective oral rehydration solution. The recipe is as follows:

Mix together:

1 liter of water

1/2 tsp salt (you want this to be slightly less salty than tears)

1/8 tsp potassium-based salt substitute (if you have this, great, if not, you can leave it out and it will still be effective)

8 tsp sugar

The goal is to get them to drink more volume of ORS than they are pooping- think at least a cup of ORS per poop.

Vomiting

The nice thing about uncontrollable vomiting is, again, that as long as the person stays hydrated, they will probably survive. Hydrating someone who can't keep anything down is a little trickier for the lay caregiver. Fortunately, there's another entrance to the GI tract.

The colon absorbs water. That's the colon's job. It takes the liquid coming from the small intestine and pulls water out of it until it becomes solid poop. A lay caregiver can take advantage of this process to hydrate someone if necessary by inserting a flexible tube (enema tip, catheter tip, NG tube, IV tubing, whatever relatively clean tube you have lying around that fits) a few inches into the rectum and SLOWLY instilling saline (1 liter water to 1/2 tsp salt). The colon can absorb between 2 and 6 liters of water this way per 24-hour period, which can absolutely keep a person hydrated even without an IV.

Diarrhea AND Vomiting

The annoying thing is that when diarrhea comes with vomiting severe enough to prevent being able to keep liquids down, neither of these really work.

So either your caregiver character needs a method that doesn't involve the GI tract at all, or they need to get creative.

IV hydration has a lot of drawbacks in the apocalypse. For one thing, it involves a lot of specialized equipment- the tiny catheters that sit in the vein, sterile tubing with a drip chamber, sterile fluids, and saline locks- all of which are nearly impossible to improvise. Plus, in the case of this ask specifically- doctors generally don't know how to start IVs. That's a nursing skill and unless a doctor is an anesthesiologist they probably haven't put an IV in since med school (where they did it exactly once).

Subcutaneous (subq) hydration is slower and requires all the same supplies. The nice thing about subq though is that unlike an IV catheter, which has to sit in the vein and takes skill/experience to place, in subq hydration the caregiver only has to place a catheter into the patient's fat (something a lot easier to talk someone through). This can instill about 60ml/hr (about 1.5 liters/24 hr). If they have the supplies and can throw more than one catheter in the person, they can probably keep them hydrated this way.

Recommendations

What I would recommend for this story, however, is to pile a bunch of anti-nausea remedies on top of each other to try to get the puking under control, then work on the diarrhea.

If this were my patient and I was in the apocalypse, I would start by putting a cool rag on the back of my patient's neck and have them smell an alcohol pad or some mint, help them wash out their mouth so it doesn't taste like puke, and try to keep them from puking for about an hour. If they make it that long, I'd start with having them drink about an ounce of clean water. If they don't throw it up over the course of the next half hour, I'd give an ounce of coca cola (I don't usually do brand names, but coca cola has a high concentration of phosphoric acid, which is a great anti-emetic plus the bubbles can help with nausea as well).

I'd then drop to an ounce every 15 mins, then an ounce every 10, alternating water and coke, or ORS and coke. The goal is very small amounts of liquid with time in between. If they become severely nauseous, back off and start again after a half hour. If they throw up, start the whole thing over again.

If at any point during this they had a prescription medication available like ondansetron, compazine, or promethazine, they could crush it and have the patient put it under their tongue- that way they wouldn't have to swallow it and risk throwing it back up. Some of it would absorb, and if they happened to swallow some, that would also be great.

Once the vomiting is moderately under control, they could give bismouth subsalicylate (pepto-bismol) and loperamide. Both work against diarrhea. For loperamide, the dosing is two tablets after the first loose stool, then one after each subsequent loose stool. Bismouth subsalicylate and loperamide can be taken together.

Stopping Things Up

A question a lot of people ask is whether you should take anything to stop diarrhea. This usually comes with the idea that the person with diarrhea must be pooping for a reason, and stopping it up is trapping an infection in there and making it worse.

If the diarrhea is being caused by a bacteria or virus, that infection is in the walls of the digestive tract, and it spreads to other people via infectious poop. Pooping does not get rid of the infection. It just makes it more likely that someone else will catch it, and that the patient will become dehydrated. So taking medication to slow down the poopcano is generally a good idea here, since the goal is basically just to wait until the immune system kicks the infection or antibiotics wipe it out, and pooping doesn't help with that.

Now. If the diarrhea is being caused by a toxin, including a toxin from, say, c-diff (an infection from a bacteria that takes over the gut after some antibiotics and causes life-threatening diarrhea/colitis), taking a medication to stop the poop is a bad idea- since the toxin will get trapped and continue to cause problems. Same if it's something like a food allergy or intolerance- it's going to keep messing you up until it's out, so better to let it get out.

How can you tell? Well, here's where I refer you to a doctor. In this situation, the doctor might be able to make an informed choice on whether they wanted to take an anti-diarrheal medication based on what they thought was causing the vomiting and diarrhea.

[deusvervewrites]

Heroic Cultivation AU: So I was reading through this and saw your mentioning about being unsure if AfO would go through with any of the cultivation stuff because he's lazy as heck. I also saw you mention that you weren't too familiar with xianxia stuff. To be clear, the first point is true and the second is fine, but I know a little bit and wanted to add in because I think AfO going demonic cultivator could in fact work. If you already know this, then sorry for bothering you with the long message.

So to start, in most xianxia there's standard cultivation as theory, which is the whole philosophy-and-slow-meditation-self-reflection-and-growth path to immortality. This tends to exist as the background foundation of How Cultivation Is Supposed To Work. Then there's cultivation as practiced, which is borne of cultivators (and xianxia authors) looking at that theory and going "man, that's gonna take so long to get me immortality and ultimate power, and it's gonna be so boring just sitting around meditating to get there instead of doing anything... what if instead I took some really good drugs to get high as a kite, dosed myself with steroids on top of that, and did some nice feng shui in order to cut that down? Couple decades, maybe a few centuries tops, instead of taking thousands of years or something. Yeah, that sounds good." This both feels more proactive, even if it's against the strict spirit of things, and it lets the xianxia author have the characters actively doing stuff with arrogant characters competing for the best resources to ascend or what-have-you to provide conflict. It also dodges out having prolonged sessions of meditating in a cave for power being something other than a background aspect - there will be characters doing it, but unless they're strong enough to astral project or something then odds are you won't have those characters really involved in the plot actively because they're spending 99% of their time, well, in a cave. So already we're more in AfO's lane of finding shortcuts to save time and effort on the road to power.

Then there's demonic cultivation. Now, exactly what demonic cultivation actually means isn't the most well-defined beyond the association with demons and badness, I don't think all xianxia stories even have it as a distinct thing, but if present it'll usually be considered a cheat and power shortcut even compared to normal-cultivation-as-practiced. Practitioners of demonic cultivation will be making deals with demons if demons actually exist and are sentient and communicative in the setting, stealing artifacts of malevolent and cursed power and the REALLY wild drugs, stealing power from others by draining their life force and using their bodies as grisly ritual components, reanimate corpses, backstabbing allies, re-absorbing the passive malevolence and resentment generated by their evil deeds in a downward spiral of cruelty and power, and generally just doing Very Bad Things to get power even faster. If the story's protagonist is a normal cultivator of some stripe then the demonic cultivator is a convenient enemy, whose path to power provides easy moral superiority and maybe a message about seeking strength "The Right Way". If the protagonist is a demonic cultivator then they probably won't engage in the more morally repugnant possibilities (except maybe against "deserving targets," maybe - the morality can sometimes get kind of protagonist-centric, who'd have thunk it), they'll probably be motivated by revenge against a cultivator who is still considered "righteous" despite however the protagonist feels wronged, and there may be some flavoring of calling out how in practice normal cultivators still commit violence against others to hurry toward power and the demonic cultivator is only a problem for using unapproved methods. (How well that lands does require interrogating what the story's version of demonic cultivation actually is, of course. Just redirecting existing bad juju energy to achieve good deeds? There may be a point there. Running the Orphan Juicero 5000 to get the power to conquer an empire? Hold on a minute, there.)

The thing is, especially noticeable as this was being typed out, a lot of those things are pretty similar to stuff AfO is already doing. Reanimating corpses and creating minions from what's left from others? Hello Nomu. Reveling in the cruelty of his actions? You bet. Stealing power from others to get stronger, faster? Heck, that's his whole Quirk right there. All that needs to change is for him to learn enough about cultivation to do that in the direction of cultivation, instead of just Quirks and mundane society. I'm imagining a realization something like this:

AfO: "So I could try engaging in slow and inactive self-reflection to access that brat's power. Cringe."

AfO: "Or I could rearrange the furniture in here and take some good weed to hurry that along. Still too slow."

AfO: "Or I could go all in on this Demon King thing, drink the Airport Cultivator Jungle Juice, get gruesome with it, and really start cooking with gas."

AfO: "Yes, that's what I'll do. Garaki, make preparations for my new path to ascension."

Garaki, who's been spending the last three days frantically going through whatever sources on cultivation and cultivation manuals he can patch together without rest because he majored in Mad Science not Cultivation and all this is horribly documented nowadays, and AfO certainly isn't going to do the esoteric research himself: "Of course, sir."

My knowledge of Cultivation is in a weird spot because I knew about the Orphan Juicer 5000 in theory but I don't know how authors have put it into practice and how many centuries it shaves off of a Cultivator's training program, so all of this is quite fascinating

[before-calamity]

Buffs and Debuffs

Okay, no idea how this is going to go given I'm still relatively new to Tumblr, but here's a very quick look of some buffs and debuffs that you can receive in 1.0. I'm not sure which ones are actually in the game and which one's not. You'd probably need to click to expand each one. This is going to be a lot dryer of a post than regular ones as we pore through black text on white background, because the real horror is data analysis.

In this first one, you'll see Thamaturge and Bard effects which we'll look at later, as well as things like Gold Lung and Goldbile, which are effects from Aurum Vale. There's also an effect called Red Riding Hooded, where you "don a red riding hood as per Chuchumu's request", which might be relevant to XI's old costume system, as well as one effect where you "tote in intact sylph podling" ala the Sylph beast tribe quests.

Oh! And Sanction, which does its ARR ability of simply providing additional benefit (I believe it's in ARR. I know it's completely different from the XI version. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

In this next set are some Gathering and Crafting ones among a few buffs that are able to stack together, like Power Surge or Life Surge. You also see Double Nock and Triple Nock which I'm not 100% if those were actually in game.

As well as some mysterious removed ones~.

And interesting enough, you have spells that modify your level. Which is interesting, because that hasn't been a mechanic in any Final Fantasy except for the best one, Final Fantasy 5, where there were a lot of Blue spells that would modify your level or a monster's level.

I believe "Comradery" and "Strength in Numbers" are basically similar to the Echo buff you have in FFXIV raids.

Here we have a few interesting ones. I think some of these are either from cut spells or were leftovers from XI. Then some that would break the game like Reraise, unless an NPC casts that on you. Or things like Shell, which was in XI but is not in 1.0 (unless it was planned for it).

Even tohose Absorb Stat spells are from XI, and they are here, and even translated. Why? Absorb-STAT were Dark Knight spells in XI, was Dark Knight in its more XI form (or something similar) was planned for 1.0 at some point? Remember that XI and 1.0 ran on different engines, with 1.0 using a modified version that XIII ran on.

Our last batch.

Here we have some GLA/PLD or MRD/WAR attacks, as well as some things related to Battle Regimens which we'll get to at some point.

The top four - the Incapacitation infliction are interested - what is damaged beyond use? Usually the game uses "incapacitation" to mean that you as a PC are knocked out - this makes it sound like your gear is incapacitated. Something like Couerl Step sounds like it'd be a PUG/MNK action but as we'll see soon (please look forward to it), it isn't one.

Anyways, I hope you found this interesting. I know it's not one of the most visually interesting posts, but it's been on my backlog to post for a bit, and it just needed it done.

Happy Halloween! (And yes, if you are curious, Pumpkin Cookies are in 1.0, I just don't have a picture of them at this time!)

[simplepotatofarmer]

Genuine question, have you ever assisted an egg hatching? Like is it even okay to do that? I assume you would do that if it’s been past the expected hatching date, but when do you know if it needs assistance?

i have, both with quail and chickens!

there's debate in the chicken raising world on whether it's okay to help them hatch with the idea being that if a chick isn't strong enough to hatch, then it's not strong enough to live.

and there's some truth to that because sometimes a chicken ends up with issues but i don't really hold to that idea. i helped a quail chick with a club foot and he's doing really well, i get pictures from his new owner sometimes!

the way i look at it is, these are going to be my pets. i don't care about cross-beak or a chick that's much smaller because i'm willing to put in the effort to help the chick. so if you're going to assist with hatching, be prepared to maybe have to give that chicken extra help or to cull it humanely if need be. but i assist because i want to give the chick every chance possible.

however! you don't want to interfere unless absolutely needed because you can end up doing more harm than good. so here's my tips:

always mark your air cells right before putting them into lockdown. that way if a chick pips outside of the air cell, you know to give it some help! in that case, i'd just carefully widen the hole so it doesn't suffocate.

if a chick pips within the air cell, wait. some of them take a very long time to actually hatch. it's a lot of work! so wait until around 24 hours before doing anything. if you're really worried, keep an eye on the pip. you can typically see the chick breathing by the way the pip moves. if you see bubbles, definitely assist. that's something that happened to one of my chicks, mango.

don't assist all the way! your best bet is to moisten the membrane (i like to use coconut oil), carefully widen the pip hole with either tweezers or needle, then slowly break the shell in a circle, making sure the veins in the membrane are dried up, the way a chick would 'unzip' the egg. that gives the chick the air it needs and some help. put it back in the incubator and hopefully it'll push the rest of the way out on its own when it's ready! if at any point in 'unzipping' the egg, it begins to bleed, stop! i use flour or cornstarch to stop heavy bleeding but regardless, put the egg back and wait.

if you're worried about the membrane sticking to it/drying out or it hasn't come out on its own, you can go back and remove the top half of the shell fully. do not pull the chick out! moisten the membrane again. you need to be careful because if the yoke isn't fully absorbed or the veins aren't dried, the chick will likely die. if you have a paper cup or something small, you can set the chick with the bottom half of the egg into it with some paper towels so it can't fall out and the yoke can absorb. chances are at that point, it'll let you know when it's ready to move.

anyway!

it's definitely not a super easy process to do but it's not impossible and the three chicks i've assisted in the past all ended up being super healthy, coconut's club foot notwithstanding! there's a lot of guides online that give more detail.

whether or not you assist is completely up to you and a lot of people have a lot of opinions and i can't say either side is wrong or right, it's just up to you!

one thing i'll remind people of is, sometimes hatching takes a lot longer than we think it will so definitely don't let panic make you assist with a chick that might be just fine and taking its time.

eta: if there's no pip at all over two days from hatch day, take the egg out and candle it before deciding what to do! then start with a small 'safety hole' so it doesn't suffocate.

[terrence-silver]

If Terry were to ever do an arranged marriage for whatever reason, do you think he would be able to fall in love with the person he married eventually or would it be strictly business for him? What if the person he married for business purposes one day confessed to loving him, how would he react?

Don't figure Terry Silver would opt for marriage, arranged or otherwise, unless he had some semblance of liking towards this individual --- or a lot, because his criteria for a spouse is high and entails no more and less than 'Lets us devour each other and set the world on fire' (an added plus is if they are useful as a sort of double whammy), because if it is sheer business and he can't stand their guts outside of what they can do for his advancement (and he for theirs, which, while he might pretend it is a case of 'I scratch your back and you scratch mine' he'd hate needing someone to be useful to him and feeling powerless in the process), then there's the hassle of getting rid of them once their use is up, and for a control freak with a pathological need to always get out on top and have that upper hand, I think giving up his freedom and being legally tied to just anybody is a prospect Terry would rather avoid at all costs, because he can't just order a beloathed spouse begone or ignore them until they disappear when he no longer needs them (as much as hatefucking and cutting someone off might hit a few kinks), so, as such, he'd rather not marry just anyone.

Fucking and having arm-candy is one thing.

Marrying with little of a filter? No.

There's other ways to win in the corporate arena that doesn't need him being tied in matrimony and suffer all the consequences, strings and baggage the dissolution of a marriage involves afterwards. Thing is, for a high profile Billionaire, divorce brings along more devastation than it does victory and it costs; it costs a lot, fiscally and reputation-wise. It is messy. Chaotic. Not that throwing around money has ever been an issue for Terry, but he also doesn't enjoy losing. Not to someone else, no. And nobody divorces him if he doesn't want them to; not even someone he doesn't like. He'd rather put them in a shallow grave than be beaten. Not to mention he would loathe the feeling of weakness needing anyone for anything, least of all, for some sort of business deal acquired through a wedding. Would always serve as a reminder that he couldn't handle his own affairs on his own and that he's attached to this one asshole over there because of it.

Nobody enjoys the sensation of having no choice.

Being caged into something, if you will.

Terry Silver, more so than most individuals.

So, a loveless arranged marriage of mere convenience? I don't see it.

Now, I do think he'd be fair game in an arranged marriage to someone he does think is a morsel in spite of their usefulness to him--- someone he too has feelings for, and someone who he can see himself getting to love him back; which is a delightful conquest all on its own. Someone he desires and someone who is beneficial at the same time? Yes, yes and yes. Added bonus of that individual having fewer says in this deal than he does, because being in control like that hits his sweet tooth just fine; absorbs the vexation of Terry still needing someone for something where business is concerned. Who does the arranging of this marriage, you may ask? Undoubtedly, Terry himself to himself. Being, in effect, matchmaker, organizer and groom-to-be. He picks and chooses who he wants and what he wants, for all the reasons he wants, entirely capable of approaching the family, board, representatives or lawyers of the individual he has his eyes on and just outright making an offer one doesn't refuse. So, really, if his chosen and arranged beloved tells him they love him, it is to be expected and a cherry atop of an already self-indulgent cake which Terry will have and eat too. They love him, he loves them, and business is blooming. The world is his oyster and he's out to win, win and win, not be trapped, swindled, pushed into arrangements and business deals that serve no lasting purpose and is ultimately out to choke and tire him. He will have power, money and love.

He will have it all.

[ultradiqueer]

Trollian Culture Post 2 (jesus. only 2?)

I don’t really Get when people gove trolls animalistic properties and stuff. Like. We’re kinda just stupid-evolved bugs, dude, and just because we have lusii as custodians doesn’t mean we Are Animals. Like brother we come from the fucking Mother Grub.

So why not go over what trolls are and are not, and what trolls can and can not do:

Trolls can:

Purr, Chirp, Growl, make other such noises

Inherit certain, minor features and behaviours from their lusii (for example, a troll with a meowbeast lusus may develop cat-like pupils, trolls with a crab lusus may develop a certain temperment, a land-dweller with an aquatic lusus may develop thin webbing in between their toes (or, rarely, their fingers), so on so forth). This is due to subtle pheromones given off by the lusus that the troll may be affected by.

Trolls cannot:

Develop tails, whiskers, non-seadweller fins or gills, additional horns, additional eyes, additional limbs, psychic abilities, etc etc; due to their lusus. Such features would be caused by mutations, and (depending on how severe/overt the mutation, would be cull worthy).

Trolls have:

Horns, fangs, pointed ears, psionics (depending on the caste), naturally claw-like nails, naturally black lips, grubscars and, if they are a cerulean, may have additional sets of eyes or pupils.

Trolls do not have:

Fucking tails. We don't have tails.

We also don't have antennae or mandibles (though depending on the lusus, a troll could develop teeth similar to mandibles)

Please, please, PLEASE stop giving trolls tails! I'm begging you

And while we're here, we may as well briefly talk about certain, smaller parts of troll anatomy:

Horns:

Troll horns are very tough, chitinous horns (fucking obviously) that, depending on the caste, can be located on the top, sides, or top-back of the head (it's very rare to find someone with horns protruding from the front of the head, but I doubt it's impossible). They are, as we all know, candy-corn coloured, being red at the base of the horn, nearest to the skull, orange as you go further up, and yellow in the upper third/quarter of the horn. The further you go up the horn, the less sensation there will be, as there will be less nerves. (So, a piece being chipped off from the very end of the horn wouldn't be too painful, but from the base of the horn? Gog help you that shit will HURT).

Fins:

We all know that seadwellers have fins in place of ears (though unfortunately I can't tell you if they have fins anywhere ELSE. I remember most other stuff but this? No idea). These fins can be heard through via vibrations, from what I know (though again, can't really be certain). Something I do know for certain however is that they are STUPID sensitive. Like. Really goddamn sensitive. Getting a piercing in one is Excruciating, especially around the little rib-parts (the webbing bits themselves are still gonna Fucking hurt, but not as much).

Grubscars:

I am aware that grubscars aren't Usually included in art of trolls (or discussion), but let me tell you again: they are part of a troll. They are chitinous, typically raised scars left behind by the middle two pairs of legs that are absorbed when a wriggler undergoes their final pupation (these legs become part of the ribs). And while they aren't particularly sensitive when it comes to touch, it'll hurt like a motherfucker if they are stabbed, nicked or otherwise pierced. Let me fucking tell you, grubscar piercings? Not fucking worth it unless you're planning on wearing exclusively crop-tops before you're sent off-planet.

Of course, as per usual, feel free to send asks if theres anything that needs clarification, or if anyone has any questions regarding trollian culture (<- I say to my 14 followers /lh). If I think of anything else to add I'll probably just make another post (e.g. Trollian Culture 2.1).

[iamacyborglunarprincess]

heat tips (qualifications: I've lived and worked outdoors in pretty much every region of the Continental US except the South, w/ and w/out AC):

- drink lots of water! put whatever in you have to in order to encourage yourself to and if you know you're going to be in hot conditions try to pre-hydrate

- make sure you're eating enough! heat can decrease appetite and you need to make sure you get enough salts and water absorbs much better when it's paired with food

- if you have dark hair a light colored hat it great when working outside (and you can get it wet and cool your head a little)

- you're gonna want to have as much ventilation as possible and fans wherever you can. window fan + ceiling fan = almost as good as ac (sometimes just as good as). window fans aren't too expensive and use way less energy to run so you can kind of keep them constantly running. unfortunately they don't fit into all windows.

- an alternative strategy for places that have larger day/night temp differentials (dryer places) is to run as many fans as you can at night and then seal up the house as soon as you wake up to trap the heat inside until the evening cools off

- to reduce AC costs, do as best you can to seal/insulate. it's harder if you are renting but some orgs will give you a free insulation audit and then may even help you fix some insulation. "energy efficiency assistance" is probabaly what to look for. try to hold out on turning on the AC (using above strategies) until a last resort. sealing off a specific room might also work better than trying to heat a whole space (if you don't have central ac.) if you have a thermostat, try to keep the temp as high as you can be comfortable. this is harder if you work somewhere with ac, but keeping yourself acclimated to a high temperature makes it less jarring when you do go out in the heat

- taking a coolish shower and do wonders for bring the body temp down pretty quick after doing something in the heat

cold: (grew up in Iowa)

- you're gonna eat more bc you have to burn more energy keeping yourself warm. let yourself. (make sure to drink enough water though)

- people always talk about layers, but what does this look like? this is the kind of max layers I would do from head to toe (I haven't had to deal with super extreme cold though), adjust to time spent outside and temperature:

- fleece lined hat that securely covers the ears + hood(s) over that, cinched as tight as possible

- scarf, long enough to wrap around you twice, with a tight weave, covering cheeks and nose

- tight tank top + long sleeve T-shirt + hoodie/sweatshirt or sweater (wear the hood over the hat) + thick winter coat that ideally goes to about your knees, hood over hat (I've tried the lighter down ones but they eventually compress and become less effective over time)

- waterproof, fleece lined ski gloves (sometimes you can fit thin knit gloves often called magic gloves I think? under these too) OR thin knit gloves + mittens

- leggings/long underwear + thick sweatpants (snow pants are nice but probably excessive unless you're skiing or something, make sure you have a waterproof/water resistant top later if you're gonna be interacting with snow)

- thin socks + thick wool socks + waterproof (snow) boots

- all of this is pretty heavy. also, my order for getting this stuff on is clothes > hat > boots > gloves > coat > scarf. do this at the last possible moment to prevent what I call "heat panic" when you are stuck inside with all your winter gear and risking getting sweaty.

- if you are moving at all, you will probably want to be able to take off layers. walking heats you up a surprising amount. better to remove and prevent sweating. shoveling also takes a lot of energy so you'll need less clothes than you think.

- if you are moving somewhere with a lot of snow and you have a big driveway and can afford it, snowblowers are worth it. otherwise try to find the lightest snow shovel you can buy + a metal one for scraping up the compacted snow. use salt (lightly) only on places that have been shoveled. prioritize places you will actually be walking and try to do it as soon as you can after it stops snowing so it doesn't freeze and become harder to remove.

- I love a scarf, to the point that sometimes I turn to wearing one even before I get a hat. they're very easy to adjust to various temperatures. beware of fogging the glasses though.

- don't let your hands get cold - it'll be harder to warm them up than prevent them from getting cold, so wear gloves before you think you need them

- moisturize!

- humidifiers are great (help to prevent nosebleeds)

- if you have to drive, make sure to give yourself an extra 5-10 minutes to heat up the car AND account for it taking longer to drive on snowy/icy conditions. (the only way to get better at winter driving is practice but give yourself more time to stop and go slower than usual. if you have AWD use it.) my car heating process is this: turn on the car and crank the heat all the way up including the front and back defrosters, then go outside and brush off any snow, then scrape away any ice. if you don't have a scraper/brusher, don't try to improvise, just wait longer with the heater and use the windshield wipers once you can see it actively melting. (budget more time).

- walking on the street where it's been plowed is a good way to avoid slipping on ice.

- heating is also expensive so see above for insulation tips. close any storm windows.