#gotta love allergies

[tvgold42]

“Milk”… that tracks

First thing you see after you zoom in is how you die

How you dying 👀

[gamergirl929]

In all honestly, I don't know if I'll be watching the game tomorrow morning, it's super early, and I feel like trash, so may sleep through this one. >.<

[hachiibun]

Commission for @sneezedaemon of their OC with amazingly fluffy hair, Salem!

If you like my drawings, and are willing and able to do so, please consider commissioning me, pledging to my Patreon, or donating through ko-fi ☕! You're not obliged to, but every bit helps to keep me living decently and I really do appreciate it especially right now going through some difficult financial stuff!

❗ PLEASE NO REBLOGGING TO NON-KINK BLOGS ❗

[clickerflight]

Voltober 28. Caught a Light Sneeze - Sons of Billionaires

Author's notes: 3 hours of research into tea rituals for 1,650 words. Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

Masterlist - Part 27

Content: Halfa/ghost whumpee, allergy whump, poisoned, guilt

@voltober

Danny politely took his shoes off before leaving the front hall of the manor, waving as Damien appeared at the top of the stairs that led in the direction of his room.

“Hi, sorry I’m late,” Danny said warmly. “I had to find a sitter for Cujo since Vlad is off doing something.”

“You could have brought him,” Damien said, arching a dramatic eyebrow. “Ace enjoys the company.”

“Oh, I know, but Cujo needs to be watched when playing in a physical building,” Danny said with a shrug, “And it sounded like what we were doing wouldn’t be very good if we had to keep an eye on the dogs to make sure they didn’t bring down the house.”

“I suppose that is true. This way. We are doing the ceremony in my room.”

Danny nodded and headed up the stairs, following Damien into his room where he had a low table in the center of main room. The Wayne manor had several wings, and each room was really a set of rooms. It made the place seem even more opulent than Vlad’s manor, but Danny was glad Vlad’s manor wasn’t like this. It felt more impersonal to him, though it seemed to suit the Waynes just fine.

“Take a seat on the floor there,” Damien said, pointing to the other side of the quite fancy table.

Danny did so, sitting crisscross and watched as Damien knelt on the other side, making sure everything was in place. There was a rectangular tray on which everything else was placed, with slats between the small boards and deep enough to let things drain into it safely.

There was a cup with a lid that nestled within the flared rim, a small pitcher, two cups, a small strainer dish in a holder that looked a bit like weapons coming together to form a stand, and a container with a couple of tools. Beside the tray was a box with the loose leaf tea, all of it darkened with drying. He had a kettle plugged in somewhere, the water hot enough to get started quickly, and in a place of honor on the board, facing Danny, was a clay dragon painted with symbols he recognized as being from the League of Assassins where Damien was raised. It was all perfectly set up, as Danny would expect from Damien, and he was very much looking forward to the Gong fu tea ceremony. He had looked into it a little before he had come over, but he didn’t have enough time to really learn all of the steps or reasons for them.

He looked at Damien, expectant and was surprised to see a moment of hesitation on his friend’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Danny asked.

Damien shook his head. “Nothing. I just…. Pennyworth is the only one who has done this with me since I’ve been here. I didn’t expect to be…..” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “I will begin. Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s no problem, man. I’m honestly really honored that you’re sharing this with me,” Danny said warmly.

Damien nodded. He lifted the kettle. He started to pour the hot water over everything on the tray, using small tongs to lift the cups and completely bath them in the hot water, putting them down. After he had done that and emptied the water out of the cups and pitcher, he put the tongs away and pulled out a tea scoop, digging out the loose leaf tea as he said, “That’s to clean everything off before we start. It also helps to warm the gaiwan. I like making the tea in it…. My grandfather had a whole range of pots with different meanings for his servants and guests and bodyguards…. But this was all I could take with me.”

“Better than nothing,” Danny suggested, “You even managed to bring your tea pet. Does he have a name?”

“She,” Damien said, putting the leaves in the gaiwan and putting the lid on the cup, shaking it a little to steam the leaves. “Dalal.”

“Hello, Dalal,” Danny said with a little grin, patting the dragon on her horn gently.

Damien watched before he picked up the kettle again.

“I’m going to do the wash,” he said. “The first steep is not very tasty because the leaves are not open.”

He poured the hot water into the gaiwan and put the kettle down. Putting the strainer into the small pitcher, he picked up the gaiwan, tilting the lid so the liquid could pour out. “How are you and your father doing?” Damien asked a little awkwardly.

Danny felt a zing of excitement in his chest as he watched the reddish water fill the little pitcher. The idea of calling Vlad his dad was still new and exciting, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it.

“We’re doing good,” he said as Damien poured the wash into the cups and over his dragon. “Things have been really chill recently, actually. It’s been nice. I mean, besides trying to train Cujo.”

Damien nodded, lifting the lid of the gaiwan off the cup and offering it to Danny.

Danny lean forward and took a smell of the tea fragrance. It was spicier than expected and stung in his nose strangely, almost making him lightheaded in a nice sort of way. “That smells really good,” he said, leaning back and Damien nodded, pouring more water in the gaiwan and waiting a moment for it to steep a little.

“And Vlad has been really busy. Something to do with a new business deal to take a step away from using oil and stuff,” Danny said, still pleasantly light headed. “He said he’ll be home more next week.”

Damien nodded, pouring out more of the tea into the pitcher, holding the gaiwan in one hand and making sure the strainer was stable on the pitcher.

“That will be good. Father has promised the same thing next month. He is launching several projects. He said that it would create more jobs in the city.”

“That’s good. I hear that half of the folks that commit crimes around here are people down on their luck,” Danny said.

Damien simply nodded and poured a cup for Danny and then for himself.

He picked up his cup, holding it clearly so Danny knew how to hold his, and with a little nod they both drank.

Danny swallowed half of the small cup, prepared to lower it and savor the flavor, but when it struck him he had to put the cup fully down and turn away from the table, coughing as fire burned a prickly trail down his throat, invading his sinuses.

“What’s wrong?” Damien asked, putting his own cup down. “Did you swallow wrong.”

“What are you made of?” Danny croaked jokingly. “That’s so spicy!”

Damien tilted his head. “Spicy? It isn’t supposed to be spicy.”

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but could only gasp, clutching at his throat as the discomfort traveled down, the passages swelling in their wake. He was having an allergic reaction. He could see hives on his hands where he had touched the cups washed with the first steep of the tea. He tried to push himself to stand up, but collapsed in a gasping heap, fear expanding as rapidly in his chest as the flesh in his throat.

Damien leapt over the table and picked him up as though he weighed nothing, rushing him out of the room and down the stairs, calling for Alfred.

Danny coughed, but hardly any air moved in or out, leaving him dizzy and terrified as he tried to suck anything in. Haltingly, he tried to go ghost to escape the moment, but the pain that rippled through his core was too much to bear. Whatever it was, it was affecting his ghost side.

His head lolled as he was placed on something, his eyes too swollen to see what was going on now. He tried to suck in another breath, but it wasn’t enough. There wasn’t enough air and he was suffocating.

He felt something slam painfully into his leg and, after a moment, he felt his airway relax and he got something close to a half draw of air.

He rolled his head to the side, the itching his his body becoming slightly less unbearable.

“I didn’t know he was allergic to anything!” Damien said, anxiety in his voice.

“That is alright, Master Damien. Master Danny, I will give you some intravenous fluids and antihistamines. Will you be alright if I carry you down to the cave?”

Danny nodded and he felt himself being scooped up again as the sense of his blood pounding right next to the surface faded down a bit.

Soon, he was laying in a bed with an IV and feeling rather miserable. Not as miserable as Damien looked as he sat on a chair by the bed.

“I’m sorry, Danny. I didn’t know.”

“’S Alright,” Danny replied, fighting the urge to scratch at his arms and chest while Alfred was getting a cream for his hives. “You didn’t know. What was in it?”

“It was a mix of white tea and blood blossoms,” he said. “I don’t know if it was contaminated with- what?”

Danny had stiffened and shook his head. “That explains it. Blood blossoms are deadly to ghosts. I’m not mad at you though, okay?”

Damien didn’t look like he believed that, but he nodded anyway. “If there is anything I can do to make up for this-”

“This? Please, we’re past that, I think. Just think of it as payback for how I accidentally put you through that wall that one time we fought together.”

“It was only a thin wall.”

“Still a wall,” Danny snorted, despite how the action hurt his raw throat and nose.

Damien just shook his head, a small smile on his face.

VTB Part 29

Sons of Billionaires

[puffpawstries]

I'm working on the outfits ask but have Tomoki Mori the ososan oc concept I've had he's been sitting in the dust for awhile cause I'm still working on him,,, His look is changing mostly outfit and he's also getting a beanie cause I like how it looks on him,, but ososan oc that will be a friendship Ichimatsu....cause pookie needs friendship

[literalbirdperson]

So I'm going to tell the story of my yesterday, which started with an appointment with an ENT and ended with me in the ER. I'm doing this in bullet points, because I am very tired. (Also incredibly angry, but that might be adding to the tiredness.)

1:00 PM. Check in at the new doctor's. The facility is clean and bright, and all the staff are really friendly! That's always nice.

Meet the ENT I was referred to. I like him immediately. He's got a really relaxed, informal manner, but also very clearly knows his stuff.

Talk about surgical history, since I've had several nose and sinus procedures.

Since one of the reasons I am there for ear pain and recurring sinus issues, he starts the exam. Ears look great, he says! The pain is probably referred pain from my mouth. Do I grind my teeth? Yeah, I used to, but I might be again due to The Maladies.

He checks the back of my throat. "Oh, you have tonsil stones?"

"I... I do?"

Then he pulls out the horrible snake camera, and I resign myself to discomfort while he tours my nose and sinuses. I watch the screen and make very attractive "man was not meant to feel something pressing against a sinus wall" noises while he digs around.

Investigation over, he gives me a tour! Everything is about what I expected, he shows me old surgery sites, and then scrubs the footage forward a bit and goes "but here's where your problem is."

See, the other problem is, I keep spitting out these awful discs of dried mucus. And they stink!

Well. It turns out that I have a chronic infection in my adenoids. And what I keep spitting out is from there. I'll spare you the details.

Gross! But treatment should be pretty simple if it's staph, which it usually is. A couple of rounds of antibiotics usually knocks it out. If not, we'll culture it and go from there.

"So my throat has been infected for over two years?"

"Maybe even a lot longer than that!"

So we have a game plan. His assistant checks me out, hands me some papers and says "here's your record and a paper copy of your prescription, but we faxed it to your pharmacy as well."

2:00PM. The pharmacy app isn't showing them working on the RX.

3:00PM. I call them to see what's going on, get into a verbal fight with the phone tree, am finally allowed to leave a message. I am polite!

3:15PM. Pharmacist calls back. "We don't have an RX for that medication for you." Cool. I'll check with the Dr and have him re-fax. Oh! I have a paper copy of the-- there is no RX in my discharge papers, either. Fine. Calling.

3:30PM. There's nothing to re-fax, either, as the prescription was never even entered into my medical records! They are so sorry about the oversight, this is being flagged as high priority and his assistant will call you to let you know when it's been faxed to the pharmacy.

5:00PM. Why did I think something was going to go right for me medically? Why? Why me? Exhausted chronically ill/disabled breakdown incoming.

5:13PM. Text from pharmacy. They're working on the RX. It will be ready by noon tomorrow. Do you need it sooner? [YES]

5:15PM. Your prescription is ready.

5:30PM. Emotional collapse staved off for another day. Go to get RXs, with plans to stop to get ramen with spouse across the street from the pharmacy and enjoy the week being over.

5:45PM. Pharmacy tech tells me to go to the consult window if I want to talk about the antibiotic. Since it's completely new, I head over.

5:55PM. Pharmacist storms over, very clearly annoyed, and at me, not in general. Makes direct eye contact with me and starts reading me, word for word, the information on the bottle like I am a small child who can't read. I just wanted to know if there were any worrisome side effects.

Tell her to "have a good night!" She scoffs, literally holds up her hand in a "shut the fuck up" gesture and storms off.

Me and my spouse: "Huh. That was weird."

6:00PM. Take first dose of antibiotics with dinner to help keep stomach upset to a minimum.

7:00PM. Hives break out on my forehead. Then my thigh. Then my arms. Then suddenly my skin is bright red, bumpy, and burning literally everywhere.

That's not good. So I start looking up Bactrim side effects, since the pharmacist didn't deign to tell me. Discover I am having an allergic reaction, but only need to go the ER if my lips and face begin to swell, my vision gets blurry, or I have heart palpitations.

8:00PM. Lips are tingly. Look in mirror. I am lobster red and my face is swollen, as are my lips! I take two benedryl and both my inhalers, and we start looking for which ER to go to.

While we're looking, throat starts to swell. Swallowing is becoming impossible. Closest ER it is, even though I fucking hate it there. But it's a mile away and I want to be where the adrenaline and intubation kits are in case this keeps getting worse.

I am going to regret that decision.

Am forced to go through security and submit to a bag check before I can enter the ER itself. While actively struggling to breathe, which is distressing to both me and the guard.

Receptionist asks what I am there for. "I'm having an allergic response to an antibiotic. I can't breathe well."

She hands me a ten-page thick clipboard and tells me to fill it out, and then she'll get me in the queue.

What queue? There are TWO OTHER PEOPLE HERE. (See, everyone hates this hospital.)

So I start struggling to fill out the paperwork, but I am now to the blurred vision, mental confusion state. I keep having to pause to gasp for breath, and my penmanship is fucked because my hands are shaky from either albuterol or fear.

Spouse walks the paperwork back over to the receptionist.

We spend another 15 minutes sitting there while I am gasping for breath and grabbing at my throat every time I try to swallow because it feels like I'm being STRANGLED.

Nurse comes out to bring me back. We get intercepted by an angry man who has been watching me slowly dying but is still pissed because he got there first.

Nurse takes the time to explain to him what triage is while spouse literally holds me up.

I get a bed. Nurse tells me I'm having a classic allergic reaction and I'll probably be right as rain after some steroids. Hooks me up to all the monitors, tells me the doctor will be right in.

Doctor comes in. Listens to my lungs. Tells me my throat is not swollen even though she tried to grab to hold me upright when trying to swallow made me look like a gagging cat. But, my lungs are clear! Tells me they're going to monitor me to make sure I don't get worse, but she doesn't see anything to worry about.

LADY MY SKIN IS AS RED AS A VAMPIRE'S FAVORITE PAINT SWATCH FOR THEIR BEDROOM REMODEL.

She leaves. another nurse with the bedside manner of someone who enjoys kicking puppies walks in and starts taking my blood pressure.

The alarms go off.

"He put the cuff on wrong," he mutters, then wraps it so hard it hurts and runs it again.

The alarms go off.

"Do you have high blood pressure?" Mildly. NOT LIKE THIS.

"I'm going to go get the doctor." He leaves. He does not turn off the shrieking blood pressure machine.

10 minutes later: it's still screaming. Nobody has come by.

20 minutes later: see above.

30 minutes later: see above, except this time I start my stopwatch.

1 minute later: I get up and turn the fucking thing off, then unhook myself from everything.

40 minutes later: I am now itching so badly that I am scratching my arms bloody.

45 minutes after that, Puppykicker comes back in. "You ready to go home?"

Me, unnaturally red with hives so intricate that there are probably braille words on me, no longer struggling for breath, but 100% more bloody than I was when he walked out of the room an hour and 40 minutes ago: "Actually I'd like to speak with the doctor. I'd like to discuss steroids, since I am itchy."

"I'll go get her." Sure, Jan.

5 minutes later: Puppykicker comes in with a glass of water and a tiny cup of MASSIVE prednisone pills. "Here's 50mg prednisone. She says you're ready to be discharged."

The doctor. Is giving me. 50mg prednisone. Without speaking to me to see if I am allergic to it. When I came in with a severe allergic medication reaction. And is going to discharge me rather than wait around to see if I'll be ok.

Nurse watches me choke and struggle to take the pills. Because we're also giving an oral steroid to the bitch who can't swallow. Puppykicker does NOT care.

At that point, risking it and calling an ambulance if my throat closed up again was more worth it than staying there. Went home, stayed up long enough to confirm I am not going to start gasping for breath again. Passed out for two hours, got woken up by all 3 cats fighting over who gets to be in my lap. I have been taking two benedryl every 4h for the itching/hives and while my skin is its normal color again, everything itches so bad.

So my ENT is going to get a fun surprise on Monday when I inform him that the meds I had to fight to actually obtain have now left me with a hospital bill.

I also made an appt with my PCP, because this is the second medication since May that has done this to me. And they are not even remotely related to one another.

I guess what's 3 more days of living with a throat infection I've had for months, at a minimum?

[medicinemane]

It's amazing how quickly you can make someone turn on your company by making a stupid and insulting move

Force me to go through the front door and scan my card when I have backdoor business that never needed a card before (what? ...I was going to somehow... sneak in and... purchase things with a borrowed card? ...which I totally can't do from the front door after scanning it?)

Or like... twitterify your layout right after your users give you a bunch of money just cause they like you, and then refuse to walk it back

...or all the other things companies do that just kinda piss people off and then they refuse to acknowledge maybe it sucks and is stupid cause "hey, the customers didn't leave"... yeah... yet

[queerlyglittering]

turns out I am not a big fan of plain rice by itself. But Rice with Stuff In It? oh HELL yeah

[forgotten-daydreamer]

why is it that every time i eat anything my belly hurts >:( i'm gonna need you to stop doing that right fucking now.

[talentforlying]

currently the house of mystery is only canon in his JLD verse but i gotta say, the symbolism of giving john constantine ownership of the house of cain, with all his family hang-ups? chef's fucking kiss for that one.

i do like to think that he ends up owning the house of mystery eventually in the main verse, because it would be an eventual solution to his endlessly unstable housing situation and i think he'd breathe a lot easier if he had a sanctum of a sort, but it definitely takes a while to come into his hands. post-hellblazer, pre-sandman universe presents in timeline speak. the man is 70, he deserves some interdimensional storage space and a reliable ("reliable") place to sleep.

[koreofitall]

Spoiler for Day 2 of the current G/enshin T/CG Event under the cut!!!

We go to L/iyue H/arbor with C/harlott/e and have to talk to 3 people at the wharf for more info, one of which is the Mill/ileth guard, Y/ong'an, who's allergic to cats. He sneezes CONSTANTLY while talking to us. I literally kept going back and talking to him it was GREAT 😈

[zylian]

Distraught and dazed (rant)

[defenselesswriter]

nothing like spending over $200 at the vet so they can tell you both your dog and cat have fleas AND both of them are allergic to fleas

[cambion-companion]

My cat is having really bad seasonal allergies and I feel terrible for him.

[maxellminidisc]

Just now realizing I may have ibs and I'm :(

[ratsfanaccount]

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