#cleora

[drhoz]

#2407 - Piper excelsum - Kawakawa 

AKA Macropiper excelsum. The name kawakawa comes from the Māori kawa meaning bitter, and while it certainly is, probably refers to the related Kava (Piper methysticum) which can't grow in New Zealand's cooler climate but is widely used in the Pacific Islands to produce a ritual drink with medicinal, anesthetic, euphoriant, and entheogenic properties. The Māori word kawa also means "ceremonial protocol"

A small tree endemic to New Zealand; the subspecies P. e. subsp. psittacorum is found on Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and the Kermadec Islands.

Kawakawa was used as a medicinal plant by the Māori. An infusion made from leaves or roots or chewed leaves were used to relieve toothache, and wounds were often bound in kawakawa leaves. The edible yellow berries were eaten as a diuretic. Traditionally, leaves with holes chewed by caterpillars of the kawakawa looper moth (Cleora scriptaria) were considered the best to use - not implausible, if the plant increases production of bioactive molecules in response to insect attack.

In cultural contexts, host people of a marae wave leaves of kawakawa to welcome guests. At a tangi, both hosts and guests may wear wreaths of kawakawa on the head as a sign of mourning.

Early European settlers to New Zealand used kawakawa in teas, and experimented using it as a flavouring agent in beer. Since the contains the deliriant myristicin, this was probably a memorably bad idea.

New Plymouth, Taranaki Ringplain, New Zealand

[jandros-trolls]

💚Ended up redesigning Ocreals Danceator Cleora as well

[jandro-of-ale]

Day 5 of Mermay! 💚Cleric💚

Featuring Cleora from @jandros-trolls

[masteryoftheseas]

@mysterycflife asked: ❛ gods help anyone who dares to disrespect you  ❜

Cleora formed a twisted grin upon her lips for Menoetius wasn't aware of how true his words really were. The titaness planned to prove him right.

"Well, let's just say there's a particular pest in the pantheon that needs to be exterminated. And you're looking right at the exterminator!" Cleora responded with immense pride. Her plans were slowing coming together and she'd meet with the daimon who dared destroy her before she was born. A daimon obsessed with his mother and saving her from the Ram. Little did he realize that the Ram wouldn't let him get away with his horrible plan.

And here was the very thing he tried to destroy, bestowing the cosmic karma he deserved.

"I know you'll find the whole thing delicious and devious but I'm not spilling any details to anyone until it's finished. Not even my father. I need to do this on my own. I may even receive a new domain because of it!" She informed him with another smile. "You'll be the first to know after my father. It involves him more...unfortunately for you!"

[suprsaturatd]

Moments of rage and fear.

[thewinterwitcher]

Writeblr Garden Flower Shoppe Event #1 - Valentine’s Day

I picked…

a lovely lilypad — describe your favorite relationship (romantic, familial, friendly) dynamic *in* your wip. how does it advance the plot, how it may affect other characters, what are some special qualities you've added to make it unique, etc.

I wanted to write about my older WIP in a cyberpunkish superhero setting, RIFF, for this prompt!

I think for all that RIFF is a story about Cleora and Mayara learning how to be in a relationship with one another, my favorite relationship is the sisterhood between Cleora and Magnolia.

their relationship

Cleora and Magnolia LeChant were the youngest children in their family. Their grandmother had a very strong pride in her family’s matrilineal magic. She did not like that Cleo came out as a lesbian, and after Cleo was kicked out, Mags left with her. She’d been keeping secret that she was developing magic and that she was actually a girl. The sisters traveled to north to the city the main plot takes place in, where Cleo worked odd jobs to support the two of them, and Magnolia went to school.

advancing the plot

The story of how Cleora saves Magnolia is inseparable from the story of Cleora trusting Mayara. She can’t do it alone. She needs Mayara’s help, and she needs to feel comfortable enough to ask for help. (And also, they both need Byrd to come to their senses and stop being a stooge, but that’s a different part of it.) Cleo spends a lot of time trying and failing to follow up on the information she is able to collect, and the rest of the time just wreaking mindless havoc to try to vent her anger. It doesn’t really work for her. It’s only when she’s able to open up to Mayara after they fight that she gets the direction and resources she needs to actually find Magnolia (or what’s left of her), confront her murderer, and release her with Byrd’s surprise betrayal of their employer.

After Magnolia returns, her presence is good for Cleora, sure, but she’s happy to see that Cleo has more friends. Cleo was focused only on supporting Magnolia and keeping her happy, and never really cared about herself. Magnolia took care of her, but neither could be the other’s only caretaker forever. Maya and Byrd and Maya’s band and eventually Byrd’s punk friends bring a community to both their lives they were lacking. But ultimately, none of that would have happened if Cleo had given up on looking for her sister.

affecting other characters

Cleo is/was definitely emotionally depending on Magnolia being around and well. Both of them really want the other to be happy, but both of them do have some people-pleasing tendencies. They need to learn that everything doesn’t need to be perfectly okay all the time to have a better relationship.

Cleo’s need to find Magnolia, and then later paranoia about her being okay, definitely affects her relationship with Mayara. It’s why she first starts avoiding her girlfriend, and it’s what causes them to fight several times without knowing the other’s identity before Cleo finally breaks down. Mayara tries not to resent Magnolia for being more important to Cleo than her, which she understands really isn’t Magnolia’s fault.

Cleo’s hovering also affects Magnolia’s relationship with Byrd a bit after her return. Cleo sees Byrd as a reminder of what happened to Magnolia, and hates having them around at first. However, Mags sees Byrd as part of what helped her get through her imprisonment, and someone who truly cares about her. They end up begrudging friends because of Mags’ unwavering optimism, and also because Byrd ends up helping Cleora without being asked a lot.

unique qualities

I really wanted part of Cleo and Mags’ relationship about the sisterhood between an older cis girl and her younger trans sister. Cleo doesn’t ever stop being protective of Mags from before to after she comes out, and they bond over discussions of womanhood, the similarities between aceness and lesbianism, and their connection to their magic. Cleo’s the first person who Mags trusted with her real identity, and the first person who believed she was a girl. I really wanted someone who Mags already considered family to tell and show her there was nothing wrong with her.

how they relate to their magic

For Magnolia, discovering her magic was growing was the first sign that the feeling she should be a girl was correct. She wasn’t able to pursue a medical transition until she was a teenager (did not have puberty blockers), so knowing that something in the way her family’s magic works recognized that she should have magic like all the other women in her family meant a lot to her. She sees her magic as entirely benign, absolutely a blessing, and very, very important to her.

Cleora sees her magic as important and useful, but also as something that puts a target on the backs of her and her sister. She almost never uses it in public until her rampages, and even then she disguises herself. Cleo loves sharing what she was able to remember and take from their home about their family’s magic with Mags, but she doesn’t trust that magic or the way that it’s disseminated is entirely good. After all, her family had quite a few terrible women because they were powerful, including their grandmother.

Cleo also fears The Joybringer once she learns that the ancient goddess is real, and reaches through to reality through her sister. She doesn’t want Magnolia hurt, and wants even less for her to have responsibility on her shoulders. But really, she can’t shield her sister from the world forever.

[fefairys]

just a doodle for OC-tober day 27: scared

when ur literally about to face ur untimely demise but u still look sexy :/ cleora hexani (they/them) when they r about 2 be kill't

[songbirdradiation]

Ringed carpet (Cleora cinctaria). April 2023. Helsinki, Finland.

[mysterycflife]

Crius Greek Mythology / headcanon / straight / ship exclusive with @masteryoftheseas

The youngest of the four Pillars and Titan god of constellations, Crius had ambitions for the throne, believing the prophecy about Ouranos being overthrown by his youngest son was about him. He realized this wasn’t meant to be after Cronus was born. Not one to let his ambitions be shattered, he put his sight on other pursuits. He married the goddess Eurybia as suggested by Gaia and created a legacy with her. But his cruel and demanding nature soon showed itself when he felt his sons didn’t live up to his expectations. His behavior caused a deep rift in the family and led to his wife and son joining the Olympians during the war. As punishment for his crimes, he was imprisoned in Tartarus. After his return, he rekindled his marriage with Eurybia and had another child with her. A daughter named Cleora.

Main ships: Crius/Eurybia (exclusive)    Alternative Universes: modern (senator)

[letterboxd-loggd]

Mr. Skitch (1933) James Cruze

April 27th 2024

[thekoolkat]

closed starter for @anti-rcmantic , based on

it wasn't often that mattheo finds himself surrounded by anything other than the roaring sound of a car engine . though he likes taking a break once and awhile , having been left to deal with her was the real test to his endurance . ❛ you must be fun at parties . ❜ he comments after being sacked with another one of her pessimistic responses . and yet , he can't hold back the amusement that plays on his features at the sudden penchant for her resistance to entertaining his attempts at a cordial conversation . ❛ i don't know what's up your butt , i really wasn't lying when i told you how fast of a race car driver i am . besides , what’s the worst thing that could happen , you enjoy yourself with me ? ❜

[jandros-trolls]

💚Cleora!!!

An art trade from Bloodymilkpool on Art Fight! Thank you!!!

[agardenandlibrary]

Gosh I love secondhand online bookstores.

[A screenshot of a webpage, showing the cover for "Borders of Infinity" by Lois McMaster Bujold and an option to add the book to your cart. The book description says:

When Barbara Haber, curator of Radcliffe College's 4000-volume cookbook library, was asked by The Boston Globe to name her favorite book in that famous collection, she picked Cleora's Kitchens by Cleora Butler. Why? "Because, " Ms. Haber said, "It expresses, through food, joy.. you have the connection of food being celebratory in truly meaningful ways. Just wonderful stuff." <BR>Starting with a freedman's wagon ride out of Texas, Cleora Butler takes us from the beaten biscuits of her childhood, baked in a wood-burning stove, to fricasseed quail she later prepared as a caterer. Rich with stories and turn-of-the-century recipes impossible to find possum grape wine, mother's hickory nut cake, hot water cornbread, and burnt sugar ice cream -- Cleora's Kitchens also provides a glimpse of changing twentieth-century tastes. More than 400 recipes are arranged by the decades in which she first cooked and served them, from grandpa's sausage in the early days to the first avocado anyone in Oklahoma had ever seen, to duckling pati and pine nut pilaf. Through stories, menus, and recipes, Cleora recreates the flavor of her own remarkable history -- and ours.]

[thecomfywriter]

When you come up with a character in your WIPs, what do you start with? Does the process differ for a main character VS a side character?

ahhh this is a good question. okay hmm lemme think about it.

i feel like i lowkey just run with it, no matter if their main or side. how i like to approach all my characters is remembering they are the main character to their own story. it might be the most mundane story to ever exist, but they have their own life going on outside the A plot, and even outside the pages of my book. what that life looks like is how i end up creating the character.

for example, the A plot in The Inkarnyus Series often focuses on the Luceras family, but if i were to delve into the stories of any of the side characters— say… Cleora Sommes. I would first answer the following questions:

- how would she describe herself?

- what is the company she shares (her friends, family, acquaintances)?

- what does her daily life/routine look like?

- how do her hobbies and interests reflect her personality?

the only characters i’d approach different were deities and gods. for them, ill just include a screenshot from my notion of what one of their wiki pages looks like:

i literally chose one of the most horrific pieces of lore to drop LOL MY BAD but that’s a different way i might approach it. just thumbs to a keyboard (i often pace and write on my phone when outlining, and only sit in front of my laptop when it’s a proper writing session)

｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡

thanks for the ask, satoh!!

TAGGING TCW because i did a lore drop lol

｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡

PREORDER THRONE OF VENGEANCE

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TCW Crew:

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@pexchys @an-indecisive-nerd @thelovelymachinery

@bookwormclover

[masteryoftheseas]

@mysterycflife asked: " i am always pleased when people take my advice. "

Cleora eyed her brother carefully before releasing a hearty huff. "You sound like Papa!" The child replied as she sat the puzzle box down on the table. "You say this one wasn't yours but you knew exactly how to solve it. Although the stardust inside...maybe it's Astraeus's? I discovered it in a room painted with stars." She estimated as she leaned back against the sofa.

Suddenly her eyes lit up and she took Perses's hand. "Come on, I'll show you. Then we will truly know who it belonged to. Maybe we will find more!" She eagerly suggested as she stood up and tugged on Perses's hand to stand up with her.

[suprsaturatd]

Magnolia LeChant has been missing for too long.

Lighting exploration. Might clean this up and animate it later.