#i do think i have a very mild allergy to something that they use in the flavour and also to something in maggi seasoning specifically which

[ave-immaculata]

artificial cherry make tongue go brr (by brr I mean static fuzz)

[dyaz-stories]

'You smell nice' — Day one of Inukag Fluff Week

Just a fun lil one-shot for day one of @inukagfluffweek! There is a hint of background SessKagu too because I love them.

Mild warning for Inuyasha's potty mouth and that should be it.

Public transportation was the bane of Inuyasha’s existence.

First of all, whichever human had come up with the idea that half the population would stuff themselves into tin cans to get themselves to and from places, following the same precise and regular schedules every single day, deserved a trip straight to hell. It was easily the dumbest fucking concept known to man, and no self-respecting demon would have agreed to it.

Then there was the fact that there were people everywhere on public transportation, and man, did Inuyasha hate people. Gross, stupid bastards with no self-awareness and no regard for others. There were the students who’d bump into you without even noticing, the women recounting their day far too loud over the phone, and, the worst of them all, the gaggle of salarymen drunk off their asses after some reunion at work. Those ones were rude, entitled, clumsy, and, what was by far the biggest offense, they fucking stank.

And that part was what took the public transport experience from shitty to downright awful. The smells. Inuyasha was no fan of cities in general, their pollution, the sheer amount of things everywhere, whether restaurants, stores, or, of course, public toilets, and, well, the people. It wasn’t always the lack of hygiene, though that was an issue for sure, but the sweat after a day of work, the deodorants, the perfumes, they all came together to produce the foulest of stenches. He hated it here.

The train veered sharply to the left, and Inuyasha tightened his hold on the overhead bar he favored using. Fewer human hands had grabbed it, and since his height meant he had no issue reaching for it, he preferred that to other solutions. In front of him, Kagome hadn’t been so lucky, standing right against the door with nothing to hold onto. With a squeak, she stumbled backwards on her kitten heels, her back colliding with Inuyasha’s broad chest — not that there was really anywhere else for her to go, with how tightly packed the train was.

His free hand closed around her hip, stabilizing her. It came naturally, just instinct, no need to think about it or how nicely her body slotted against his.

She tilted her head back, pretty eyes looking up to him pleadingly.

“Sorry, Inuyasha,” she apologized, lips forming a cute pout.

“You’re good,” he replied, voice gruff. He sent a nasty look to the man on her right, who’d bumped into her. People usually steered clear of him, so the closer she was to him, the better. “You’re getting off at the next stop, right?”

“Yeah,” she beamed, and as always, he marveled at how easy it seemed to be for her to smile and distance herself from the mess of the world around her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shut down the noises, the smells, the flashes of people’s screens — well, unless he had her to focus on. “I can’t wait to get home.” An eyeroll. “Today was the worst.”

A smirk tugged at his lips.

“Really? You didn’t enjoy Kagura making a scene?”

He knew he had. His sister-in-law was probably his favorite person in the family, actually, with his nieces a close second, and watching her strut into her asshole husband’s office to yell at him about him cancelling their anniversary dinner had absolutely made his day. They could never stay mad at each other very long, so he was sure a very expensive reconciliation was coming, but he’d had his fun for sure.

“No, I like Kagura,” Kagome replied. “But I got cornered by Hojo at the coffee machine and he wouldn’t stop talking about some miracle diet he thinks would cure my allergies and it took me forever to free myself.”

“Want me to do something about that? He never bothers me with that shit.”

“That’s because you terrify him,” she sighed, “so no, that’s not necessary, don’t—” Another turn, but this time he kept her pressed against him, clawed hand on her waist, and her voice barely wavered. “—worry about it. And thanks for that, Inuyasha.”

A knot formed in his throat at the way she leaned back into him without hesitation. He swallowed around it. Where most people cowered away from the hanyo, Kagome had never acted like he was a threat. Sometimes, he felt she was even a little too trusting. Made him feel and think all sorts of things he wasn’t very proud of.

“’s nothing.”

From how he stood behind her, he couldn’t help but catch her scent, especially when she moved and her hair were right under his nose.

And, fuck, she was a breath of fresh air. He’d known that from the first day she’d strolled into the office, of course, gust of wind blowing through the open door and sending her smell throughout the whole office. He didn’t know what it was, if it was the reiki he could guess at under her skin, that gave it such a pleasant flavor. Either way, it could become overwhelming even in the wide open space. Here, on the other hand, it was the perfect distraction against everything else, and it took more willpower than he’d like to admit to not just sniff at her.

“Everything okay?” she asked, catching him off guard, her big inquisitive eyes staring up at him.

“Yeah, it’s—” Damn it, he’d known she was always noticing things no one else cared about. “That’s— You smell nice,” he blurted out at last, and immediately, he wished he could slap himself in the face. What a fucking weirdo. Turned out, everyone who had told him his mouth was too big for his own good, usually before they got their asses handed to them, had been right. Couldn’t he have kept it shut this one damn time?

“Oh,” Kagome said, and her expression turned thoughtful. He waited for the inevitable judgment to fall down. “I read that demons often find perfumes difficult to deal with, so I haven’t worn any since getting hired at Taisho Inc. Is that really better for you?”

There was the knot again, but this time it wasn’t embarrassment, and rather another, deeper emotion. Of course she’d pay attention to that kind of stuff.

“Yeah, it is,” he answered, clearing his throat. “Makes it hard to be around too many people.”

“That’s good to know,” she said with a nod. “Let me know if I can do other things to help you, alright?”

He would not be telling her anything about the thoughts that were running through his mind at her proposal. Nuh-huh.

“That’s my stop,” she grinned up at him, grabbing the hand at her waist and squeezing it gently in hers. “Thank you again, Inuyasha. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

She waved at him, and a second later, she was lost in the crowd, and his world was just a little darker, duller, blander. He let his hand fall back to his side, flexing it reflexively as if to remember how it had felt, touching her.

Keh. He couldn’t believe she was making him look forward to another day in the office.

As a lot of you know, it's been ages since I last wrote for this pairing that's still near and dear to my heart, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Don't hesitate to scream at me about it in the tags, in the reblogs, in my askbox... anywhere your heart desires lol. Thank you for reading!

[vivwritesfics]

Sweet Temptation

Bob x Bun

~nurse-sainz

The air was filled with the murmur of different conversations and the clinking of glasses. Bun’s father was hosting a grand feast, a rare moment of celebration and joy among colleagues and family. The atmosphere was what you would expect: tense but relaxed as everyone enjoyed a brief respite from their dangerous lifestyles.

Bun stood by the spread of exotic fruits, all amazingly prepared into various shapes and displays. Among them was a bowl of perfectly ripe mangoes. The fruit looked juicy and vibrant and, despite her allergy, incredibly tempting to her.

Bob stood by, never letting his girl out of his sight for too long as he scanned the room. With a mischievous grin, she walked back over to him with a plate of food for them both and tossed something towards him with his free hand.

Bob caught the item, his reflexes quick, before he realized just what she had thrown at him. Her EpiPen. Realizing she looked fine, showing no signs of distress, he looked back at the device in his hands. “Why are you giving me this, Bun?” Bob asked, his voice a mix of curiosity and a hint of concern.

She flashed him a mischievous grin, her eyes gleaming with what Bob could only describe as chaos. “I’m going to try the mango.”

Bob’s expression darkened, glancing between her, the pen, and the fruit. “Bun…sweetheart, you know you’re allergic,” he replied, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

“I know,” she replied, her grin unwavering. “But I’ve always wondered what it tastes like. And if I’m going to do it, at least you’re here to save me,” she shrugged before ignoring his warning and picking up a piece of the fruit. “Besides, I could have grown out of it.”

He stared at her, his mind racing, despite this being very much Bun behavior—impulsive and completely unpredictable. “This is crazy,” he muttered, but he didn’t stop her. He knew better.

She shrugged, her eyes twinkling with a chaotic energy. “You’ve got my EpiPen, and I trust you to use it if I need it.” With a final and determined look, she picked up a slice of mango and bit into it. Bob’s eyes never left her as he gripped the EpiPen just a little bit tighter. She gave a little moan as she chewed the juicy piece of fruit, her eyes lighting up. “This is amazing. You should try some, Bob,” she grinned.

For a moment, everything was fine. The fruit was delicious, just as she had imagined it would be from the look of it. But then she felt a tingling sensation in her lips and a mild itching at her throat, but it didn’t deter her. Bob watched as she smiled and stabbed her fork into another piece.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he grabbed a piece of his own.

“I think I’m okay. Just a little tingle.”

Bob closed the distance between them as he grabbed her plate and threw it down on a nearby table. “Bun…,” he said, his voice steady but stern as he uncapped the device, not wanting to wait for more symptoms to appear. He blocked her from view and hiked up her dress slightly before jabbing the EpiPen into her thigh.

“Fuck, Bob,” she winced at the sting, but the tingly sensation in her throat began to ease almost immediately. Bob kept his arm around her, rubbing a comforting hand up and down her arm.

“You feeling okay?” he asked, hating to cause her pain but knowing it was necessary.

“That was so worth it, but now I know I like it, I'm just gonna want to try it again.”

Bob shot her a look that wasn’t meant to be argued with as she gave him a cheeky smile and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his nose.

“My hero.”

Series Masterlist

okay but like she'd acquire the taste and poor mickey would have to carry around an EpiPen and it would lowkey freak him out but legit there's no stopping this girl when she wants to do something

(@nurse-sainz thank you for giving us more bob and bun - i've been lacking)

[nurse-floyd]

Sweet Temptations

Rewrite of @vivwritesfics Bob/ Bun fic I wrote.

Bun has a craving…only that craving might just kill her.

The air was filled with the murmur of different conversations and the clinking of glasses. Bun’s father was hosting a grand feast, a rare moment of celebration and joy among colleagues and family. The atmosphere was what you would expect: tense but relaxed as everyone enjoyed a brief respite from their dangerous lifestyles.

Bun stood by the spread of exotic fruits, all amazingly prepared into various shapes and displays. Among them was a bowl of perfectly ripe mangoes. The fruit looked juicy and vibrant and, despite her allergy, incredibly tempting to her.

Bob stood by never letting his girl out of his sight for too long as he scanned the room. With a mischievous grin, she walked back over to him with a plate of food for them both and tossed something towards him with his free hand.

Bob caught the item, his reflexes quick, before he realized just what she had thrown at him. Her EpiPen. Realizing she looked fine, showing no signs of distress, he looked back at the device in his hands. “Why are you giving me this, Bun?” Bob asked, his voice a mix of curiosity and a hint of concern.

Mickey chose the right (or the wrong) moment to walk over as he spied the device in Bob’s hand. He looked between Bob and Bun, confused for a moment.

She flashed him a mischievous grin, her eyes gleaming with what Bob could only describe as chaos. “I’m going to try the mango.”

Mickey knew her allergies. It was on the very extensive list of ‘things to know about Bun’ he was given both by Bob and her father. He saw the bowl of fruit in her hands.

Bob’s expression darkened, glancing between her, the pen, and the fruit. “Bun…sweetheart, you know you’re allergic,” he replied, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

“I know,” she replied, her grin unwavering. “But I’ve always wondered what it tastes like. And if I’m going to do it, at least you’re here to save me,” she shrugged before ignoring his warning and picking up a piece of the fruit. “Besides, I could have grown out of it.”

“You’re really going to make him use that?” Mickey asked, his sigh just as loud as Bob’s had been moments earlier.

Her head snapped towards him, “why? Would you rather I gave it to you? I knew I annoyed you dick-weasel but I didn’t think you wanted to stab me that badly,” she replied, her hand coming up to her chest in a gesture of mock hurt.

He stared at her, his mind racing, despite this being very much Bun behavior—impulsive and completely unpredictable. “This is crazy,” he muttered, but he didn’t stop her. He knew better.

She shrugged, her eyes twinkling with a chaotic energy. “You’ve got my EpiPen, and I trust you to use it if I need it.” With a final and determined look, she picked up a slice of mango and bit into it. Bob’s eyes never left her as he gripped the EpiPen just a little bit tighter. She gave a little moan as she chewed the juicy piece of fruit, her eyes lighting up. “This is amazing. You should try some, Floyd,” she grinned.

For a moment, everything was fine. The fruit was delicious, just as she had imagined it would be from the look of it. But then she felt a tingling sensation in her lips and a mild itching at her throat, but it didn’t deter her. Bob and Mickey both watched as she smiled and stabbed her fork into another piece.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he grabbed a piece of his own from her bowl.

“I think I’m okay. Just a little tingle.”

Bob closed the distance between them as he grabbed her plate and shoved it into Mickey’s hands. “Bun…,” he said, his voice steady but stern as he uncapped the device, not wanting to wait for more symptoms to appear. He and Mickey blocked her from view, standing around her as Bob hiked up her dress slightly before jabbing the EpiPen into her thigh.

“Fuck, baby,” she winced at the sting, but the tingly sensation in her throat began to ease almost immediately. Bob kept his arm around her, rubbing a comforting hand up and down her arm.

“You feeling okay?” he asked, hating to cause her pain but knowing it was necessary.

“That was so worth it, but now I know I like it, I'm just gonna want to try it again.”

Bob shot her a look that wasn’t meant to be argued with as she gave him a cheeky smile and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his nose.

“My hero.”

Mickey downed the rest of his drink and made a mental note to definitely pick up some more epi-pens from the pharmacy from this incident.

[nine-of-words]

Out in the Cold (Part Seven)

M Orc x M Troll (Hulder) Reader

PREVIOUS || STORY TAG ||

Wordcount: 3909

Content Warnings: Sick Reader, Discussion of Abuse

I think we could all use some fluff after this week. Conveniently, that’s exactly where this chapter was already going!

You’ve made it through the night without freezing solid, somehow.

Warm thoughts alone just aren’t cutting it anymore.

You want your lovingly crafted winter cloak. You want the nest of furs piled high on your slept-in bed.

Most of all, you want your lover.

But as you remind yourself, sullenly tracing over the details carved into the face of metal fibula in your fingers in thought, all of those things have been forsaken now.

…And you can't help but feel like you've made a horrible mistake. 

But it's too late to turn back. He wouldn't take you back now… 

Would he…? 

No, you force yourself to stop thinking about it. No use in giving yourself false hope.

What's done is done. 

The last paltry flame of your campfire burns out. Looks like it's time to move, even if light is just barely breaking the horizon.

You sneeze, feeling pitiful; chilled to your very core. 

LAST SUMMER

The weather is perfect for outside work today. It’s sunny, but mild, with an occasional gust of breeze. The last of summer is still holding out, but the autumn crisp is starting to creep in at the edges.

Because you are still essentially a floater when it comes to work assignments, you’ve been doing some of the care tasks of the communal flock of alpigs for the last week, since the normal shepherd is on bedrest. Which, while not ideal for them, is great for you, because you absolutely love these cute little guys. They’re dangerously smart, with sturdy, rotund bodies, and wooly fur covers their bodies and hangs down in a curtain over their eyes, only their wide snouts and a set of tusks each poke out from each of their heavy fringes.

They seem to like you as well, but you have a sneaking suspicion it's because they can use their body mass to bully extra food from you when you’re feeding them, since you're so much smaller than their usual keepers.

You sneeze dramatically into the elbow of your tunic, blinded by the summer sunlight.

Maybe you’re allergic to something flowering right now?

You thought at first you might have an allergy to alpig dander, but Torg informed you their fur is naturally hypo-allergenic, so they most likely aren’t the culprit. 

He also told you to go to Shaman and he’d take over your tasks for today. But he’s just being his usual worrywart self- The last thing you want to do is visibly start slacking so soon after moving into the Chieftain’s household. It's a bad look, and you've put in enough work becoming the settlement's beloved oddity that you don't want to lose it now.

And you don’t even feel bad- so why make a big deal out of a sneeze or two?

You’ve finished milking, now you set about feeding them. They only almost knock you over once, even!

But, you still have to muck out the pen… then give them some love and brush out their coats. It's apparently almost time for the last shear of the summer, so you want to make sure to do a good job of maintaining their fuzz. Today is tusk cleaning day, too… better pick up the pace if you want to finish before sundown.

You head over to grab the pitchfork, but you don't even make it inside the building.

Suddenly, you feel rather dizzy, the colors of the pen around you smearing into a beige soupy mess. You manage to catch yourself and sit on a bale of hay instead of falling over, but just barely.

Just need to… sit down for a minute…

You collapse back against the bales of hay, suddenly completely overcome with fatigue.

Why am I… so tired? We didn't even do anything very strenuous last night…

You think to yourself in a lightheaded haze, absentmindedly petting the fluffy back of the alpig that’s hopped up on the bale and made itself comfortable at your side.

Too bright…

You squint, raising a gloved hand to shield your curiously over-sensitive eyes from the caustic brightness of midday sun.

And when’d it… get so hot…?

Your world goes black after that, your next blurred memories consisting of being lifted from your straw nest and carried somewhere with a softer light and more varied swirling colors.

Your whole body aches, every muscle fiber crying out in complaint like you’ve just pulled a full day of physical activity, despite you being at rest. Your head throbs dully, your throat is raw and scratchy and your eyes are just so hot - burning in their sockets like two smoldering coals.

And it’s not just your eyes- You’re burning up all over. Even though you’ve been stripped down to smallclothes and covered in minimal bedding, you're still soaking them through with clammy sweat.

Strangely, the ceiling you’re looking up at looks nothing like where you’d expect to wake up, and instead the vaulted ceiling of a noble’s home.

You’re back in your childhood bedroom at the jarl’s castle, somehow. You’re overcome with instant, deep seated dread.

Someone is sitting at your bedside, but you can’t make out any of their features from the distorted shape.

“Mother?” You question piteously, unable to think straight through the heat of your fever.

The dark blur of color at your bedside speaks to you, but their voice is warped to your ears, the words indistinguishable, sound both a low rumble and a high pitched ringing.

You choke out a sob, gripping their forearm. You know words are coming out of your mouth, that you’re arguing desperately over something that feels so important at the moment, but they might as well be a foreign language to your own ears.

You’re barely sure what is real and not, memories of your past bleeding into your current senses. Time melts together like the blurs of color in your vision and the distorted ringing in your ears. Eventually you give up on communicating and fall back into fitful sleep, but you have no clue how long it takes.

The next time you open your eyes and manage to keep them open for longer than a few moments, you see the correct wooden beams on the ceiling of Torg’s - and you suppose yours as well, now- bedroom.

“H-Huh-?” You sit up, the damp rag slipping down from your forehead from the sudden movement. You slump back again immediately, reigned in by the sense of exhaustion hitting you in return.

Torg reaches out, collecting the rag to douse it again. He’s pulled up his behemoth of a well-worn armchair to your bedside.

“Torg?” You rasp his name through your hoarse, pained throat, more of a greeting than a question, comforted by the mere sight of him.

“I’m here.” He smiles, but looks tired; his hair messily gathered up and his shirt heavily crinkled. The beginning of faintly purple bags are starting to form under his eyes, the kind he gets when he’s been working too hard with too little sleep.

He pours you a glass of water from the nearby pitcher. You drain it immediately, then half of a second one before your throat is damp enough to speak again.

“...What happened?” The last thing you clearly remember was dozing off in the alpig pen. You know time has passed since then; judging from the evening vermillion visible out of the window, you’ve lost at least most of the day.

“Tusk flu. But don’t worry, Shaman said you’ll be fine."

"I don’t feel fine." You croak weakly, then pout when Torg chuckles at your plight. “Everything hurts.”

“I told you to go get checked out.” His grizzled voice gently chides you with a weary sigh. Even getting scolded, the sound of his voice is music to your ears. Torg reaches out, feeling for your temperature on your cheek and forehead with his hand. “The fact that you have the strength to complain now means you’re already doing better, anyway.”

“Mmmh.” Your eyes flutter closed at the welcome feel of his comparatively cool skin on yours. You don’t have it in you to plead your case- mostly because you know he’s right.

“Good. Much cooler than before.” You can hear the relief in his voice as he judges your temperature. He smiles down at you warmly, and pulls one of the fur blankets back up over you, now that you’re slightly colder. “Your fever must’ve finally broken.”

“Hmmm… Before?”

“Yeah. You’ve been in and out since yesterday morning.”

“That long?!” You wheeze, turning your head and feebly covering your mouth as if it would help at this point. No wonder he looks tired, if he’s been caring for you for that long. ”But won’t you get sick too?”

“I won’t. I already had it as a child.” He leans in and gives you a quick peck on the lips as if to prove his point. “Apparently it's only this bad when you get it for the first time as an adult- at least according to Shaman. And I doubt you had been exposed to it, wherever you came from."

“The alpigs-” You say forlornly, remembering your failed task. 

“Relax.” He laughs, shaking his head. “It’s all taken care of already.”

A sigh escapes your tired lungs as his hand gently strokes through your hair and comes to rub at one of your soft ears. You sink down into the blanket, eyes closed in pleasure, and smoosh your face into the touch. You have to forcefully keep yourself from purring.

“This reminds me of when you first came here.” He laughs fondly. “Should I get used to finding you passed out?”

“Mmm…” You pout and whine, but still enjoy the feeling of his affection too much to swat his hand away in indignance. “Give me some credit! It’s only happened twice…”

“And twice is much more than never.” The deep rumble of laughter that comes from Torg’s chest almost makes the teasing worth it. …Almost. “When I came to make sure you went to Shaman’s and found you laid out on that hale bale instead, I thought you were just taking a catnap in the sun.”

“I would never do that.” You lie, blissfully.

“Hah, right… I’m glad you’re back to yourself.” Torg says quietly, his eyebrows beginning to furrow in a deep, furtive slant. “...You were saying some strange things while you were burning up.”

“Mmn-?” One eye finally pops open, staring up at him quizzically. 

Cold fear grips you.

Oh no. 

Did you blow your cover while you were out of your mind?

“You called me ‘Mother’, for one thing.”

“Oh, pfft-” You snort, breaking into laughter. Then you take his large hand and press a kiss to the back of it. “Don’t worry. You don’t look very motherly, I promise. Especially not like mine.”

“Heh. I feel like one after the last day or so.” His amused smile falls a bit at the seriousness of his next words. “Most of what you said was nonsense, but some of it was… Well…”

"Scandalous?” You try to laugh it off with a cock of your eyebrow. “Or just embarrassing?”

“...Concerning. Like you were being made to do something you didn't want to do."

“Oh. Well, my life up until I came here has mostly been doing things I didn’t particularly want to do.” You shrug, nonchalant.

"I don't want to pry into what those things were, if you don't want to tell me. Though, I admit I am curious." He scruffs his beard with his hand in thought.

"It's… Nothing all that interesting." You fiddle with the edge of the blanket. “Nothing worth talking about, really. Nothing good.”

"Right." He says, noting your discomfort and seeming to back off of the idea. "I just want you to know that you can tell me anything."

You have to admit, that is a tempting prospect.

You could tell him. You could just… tell him everything. You’ve essentially been given an invitation on a silver platter.

You have to wonder what would happen if you did. You assume you would be kicked out- or worse. But… maybe you wouldn’t? Maybe he could help you get out the mess you’ve made for yourself…

Then, you snap back to your senses.

…No, that’s nonsense, you decide. Nothing could ever be that easy. Not for you.

The fever must’ve gotten to you for a moment.

You have to stop yourself from laughing incredulously. It's a lovely sentiment, but you have a feeling it just doesn't extend to deceiving him with the intent to steal from him for all this time.

But you should tell him something… Otherwise the fact he doesn't know something will keep nagging at him. You know him well enough by now that you know that to be the case.

"Oh, you know how it is... Classic sob story, really." You say flippantly with a wave of your hand. "My mother never really wanted me and it showed."

You decide on information that is not inherently false, but won't have any bearing on keeping up your deception.

"Ah. What makes you think that?"

"Well, the general disinterest for my wellbeing from a young age was probably the biggest sign. After my father left, she lucked into getting remarried to the jarl of our village, somehow... It became pretty clear that I was only a nuisance to her after that. Getting in the way of the life she deserved, I suppose. Because after that, he always came first."

"Hmm." He leans back in his seat, closing his eyes. "He was no better than her, I take it?"

"No. He was a slimy weasel of a man. Heartless and miserly. He had to control everything down to the smallest detail.... Enjoyed tormenting people below him. He's the reason I ran away when I did."

"Ran away?"

"I left home when I was 14." 

That was more than a decade ago now. Time flies when you're struggling to stay alive every single day… 

"That's so young." Torg can't hide the look of deep concern on his face, no doubt thinking of any of the tween-aged orclings around the settlement he's responsible for having to endure the same strife.

"Being on the street seemed like the better option."

"I’m sorry. It must've been unbearable, then."

"It was a culmination of a lot of things, really. The day before I left, he caught me in the pantry sneaking food after I was sent to my room without dinner, and he cornered me and wouldn't let me by until I guessed what he wanted as 'toll’- You know, because I’m a troll. He thought he was so funny. I may have been young but even by then I knew that wasn’t going to lead to anything good. I was lucky a servant showed up when they did and he had to pretend to be normal."

"Your mother did nothing?" It's subtle, but you see Torg's jaw clench in rhythm like it does when he tries to keep his temper in check.

"I knew she wouldn't listen, but I told her anyway. She told me I was making things up for attention- that I was ruining things for her like I always do, and if I hated her husband and his hospitality so much, that I could leave. So, I left and never looked back. I wasn’t going to stay where I wasn’t wanted." You shrug, putting a mirthless smile on and deciding to hand-wave the rest of the details between then and now, so as to not rouse  suspicion. “As you can imagine, it was a lot of doing unpleasant things after that, to not starve. Not many lucrative jobs for underage runaways.”

Living in the settlement has been the most security you’ve ever had, especially in terms of reliable access to regular meals. A hot, communal evening meal every night is something that you could have only dreamed about, before. That’s not even to mention the quality of the food… You’ve definitely added a couple pounds since you’ve been here, just from never having to skip a meal, as was a norm for you before now - even after joining a thieves’ guild.

"You shouldn’t have had to endure any of that." Torg gives you another soft stroke on the cheek, his hand trailing down your neck to squeeze your shoulder for emphasis. "I'll make sure nothing like it happens to you again."

You hum in approval, your heartbeat picking up in your chest from the intimacy and the fondness of the statement. For being such a large, gruff and intimidating man, he sure is tender with you.

“Are you hungry? ” Torg seems to remember something, getting to his feet. “Dinner should be ready soon, but if you’re feeling peckish, there should be more than enough in here to tide you over.”

Torg moves a brightly colored basket to the nightstand within your reach. It’s stuffed dangerously to the brim with seasonal fruit, jars of preserves and honey, and other treats. There’s a piece of thick paper stuck into the middle of it.

You take the card, and unsurprisingly, can’t read the text, because you still haven’t picked up Orcish script. There’s a large phrase at the top, with the rest of the paper filled with several smaller pieces of script scrawled in different handwritings. There is also a large, crudely drawn cat smack dab in the middle.

“You’re quite popular around here, you know. Looks like you’ve been fully adopted.” You can hear the approval in his voice. “The knuckleheads dropped it off this morning when they came to check on you, but you were still out of it at the time.” 

“...Cute…” You can’t keep the silly grin from your face, looking at the wonky face on the cat.

“The big part says ‘Get well soon’.” Torg points to the text with a large index finger, chuckling at your look of intense focus.

“I know, I figured that out, context clues…” You mutter, ears laying flat black and flicking in annoyance. The sight just makes him chuckle harder.

Torg returns to the stove, but you keep looking at the card, pouring over all the signatures even if you can’t actually read them.

Emotion pricks at the back of your eyes, and your throat tightens the longer you look at the paper. For just a moment, you had forgotten you’ll have to actually leave eventually, when you take your quarry back to the guild.

But no one at the guild has ever given a fraction of concern as the orcs here have. There was no care given when you were sick or injured, just considered dead weight. Even if you could call some of your ties with your fellow thieves friendly, it’s laughable to think any of them would do anything for you that didn’t have some sort of mutual benefit for them. There were certainly never any gift baskets or ‘get well soon’ cards.

The thought of leaving now fills you with a horrible, crushing sense of loss.

Your body wants to cry, but you’re not about to let it, and struggle to force the feeling down and keep it buried. 

You weren’t supposed to get attached. And here you are, having done exactly that. You’ve been a fool, and now leaving is going to be that much more painful… 

No one to blame but yourself, you suppose…

Finally, you select a beautifully colored honey-pear from the basket, hoping that eating something will make it easier to quell your emotions.

You chew in maudlin silence, trying to think as little as possible, until his voice finally breaks the silence again.

"You know… I left home on less than amicable terms too.” Torg says from the kitchen area.

He keeps his back to you as he works, and his posture is the smallest bit tense, like he has to goad himself to even speak about this matter in the first place. You study his broad back muscles moving underneath his light linen shirt.

"Ah. Are you a runaway too?" You speak through pauses of nibbling on the piece of fruit. It’s juicy and perfectly ripe, the viscous nectar soothing your irritated throat.

"No, I was exiled from my birth tribe." He sighs, shaking his head in scorn. “Though, I was of age already, so it wasn’t quite as hard for me to get by on my own as it sounds like it was for you."

“You- exiled?!” You nearly spew chunks of fruit across the bed in your hoarse outburst. “But you’re so… orderly!”

“Everyone has a breaking point.” He says grimly.

“True enough… What happened?”

“Fistfight with my father.” Torg says in the most matter of fact manner possible as he stirs whatever he’s cooking.

“Did you win?” Maybe not the most emotionally intelligent of follow up questions, but it’s the first one to pop into your head.

“Hah- I knocked him flat. Broke his nose in front of the whole tribe.” There is a hint of pyrrhic pride in his voice, even with his back to you. “I may be an orc, but I take after my mother in a lot of ways. I was already bigger than him at that age, and tired of his bullshit. He didn’t expect me to finally stand up for myself.”

“Oh, he sounds lovely.”

“Nicest man I’ve ever met.” Torg quips mirthlessly. “An absolute joy to be around.”

“This all sounds like a personal matter, though? That’s exile-able?”

“My father also happened to be Chieftain... He lost a lot of respect for it, I’m sure. Losing a test of might, then throwing out the winner because you’re bitter? And his own son at that? Dishonorable.”

“Oh wow.” You chuckle and cover your mouth with your hand, and can’t help but feel a strange surge of fondness for him. “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you- That’s just so unlike you! I don’t think of you as a violent person at all...”

“Good.” He returns from the kitchen with a full tray and a grin. “I prefer it that way. ...Here.”

He hands you one of the steaming bowls off of the tray, keeping the other for himself as he takes a seat next to you.

“Hmm?” You reach out to take it, the rising steam already making your face feel better. “What is it?”

“Summer Root Stew.” His voice barely hides his amusement. “Though, it might not be seasoned how you like…”

You groan. You’ll never live it down.

Your comically overblown grimace quickly is replaced with a melancholic smile as you eat in comfortable silence.

“Something on your mind?” Torg asks after a while of you zoning out and picking at your stew.

You shouldn’t verbalize what you’re thinking about, but you can’t help it. He can see right through you when you lie about something like this, anyway.

“I’ve… never really had a place where I felt like I could stay. I always had to leave, for some reason or another. Usually not by choice...” You sniffle thoughtfully, fiddling with your spoon, hoping in some way to cushion the blow of what’s bound to happen someday soon. “I suppose part of me feels like it’s only a matter of time until I’ll have to leave here too...”

“You can stay here.” He says your name for effect, firm but gentle. 

And you wish so badly that you could believe him.

>> ✨ MASTERLIST >> ☕ KO-FI

[copperbadge]

Hi, Sam! I had a food question for you. My partner has POTS and occasionally needs to eat something salty to feel better; this tends to happen most at night after the shops have closed, so running out for chips isn't an opthere.

Do you have any ideas as to easy snacks I can make in a relatively short amount of time out of my pantry with a decent amount of salt in them? Possibly recipes? Especially crunchy things. I've made buttered toast with salt sprinkled on top for him before, and making some kind of cracker might be doable... Thanks!

Ooh, hm, good question. I actually don't use much salt in my cooking (supertaster -- don't need much).

A number of cheeses are pretty salt-heavy; cheddar and camembert in particular, and camembert goes very well with crackers or on bread, even on toast. After my last surgery I often craved salt once I was back on solid foods and a go-to was a chunk of naan bread or a split pita, spread with pesto, topped with cambozola (a camembert-gorgonzola blend), and baked in the toaster oven. If you toast the bread first and then top it, it should stay pretty crispy.

Pesto is a good thing to have on hand because it's pretty salty (and you can add more) and it freezes well, so you can freeze it in small containers and take it out to thaw as needed, so you always have some in the fridge. If allergies are a concern it's relatively easy to make with substitutions (I make mine with almond or cashew butter instead of pine nuts) although you have to like basil. Goes on bread, toast, most veggies, can be used as a dip, etc.

Crackers sprinkled with salt are a good one; most crackers are just flour, liquid, sometimes a mild leavening agent, and if you have a pasta roller it's easy to make the dough thin enough to work like a regular cracker.

Most nut butters also have added salt and as with pesto you can add more (if he can tolerate nuts). If you have a toaster oven or an air fryer, freezer chips/fries bake pretty well and pretty fast in those, and re-salting them after they've heated actually crisps them up a bit too. Keeping salted nuts around is good. A quick google tells me that POTS patients should limit carbs, which is a lot of what I've mentioned here, so if he tolerates jerky, that's super salty and mostly protein, and there are a variety of places these days that do pretty high-quality jerky that doesn't have a lot of nonsense added.

If all else fails, definitely clear this with your doctor, but a glass of water with a shot of vinegar, a spoonful of salt, and a spoonful of sugar is an old recipe for essentially gatorade; it doesn't taste salty (I think it tastes like lemon water) but it gets salt into you and replenishes electrolytes. I'm not sure if it's recommended for POTS patients, though.

Readers, any suggestions? Remember to comment or reblog, as I don't repost asks sent in response to other asks.

[ifbrd]

Yesterday I asked for clarity that the one end gag from the original Animaniacs was the only mention of Yakko being lactose intolerant. The reason I asked is because I find it funny that we all saw that moment and said “alright! Yakko is lactose intolerant! He said it himself!” Because that isn’t actually what Yakko said. The exact quote is “I’m allergic to anything with lactose in it!” He isn’t lactose intolerant, he’s allergic to lactose—and yes, there is a difference.

The difference is that being intolerant to a food is a digestive issue, it’s your digestive system saying “um…idk what to do with this…good luck!” While allergies are immune issues, basically your immune system saying “THIS FOOD IS TRYING TO KILL US EVERYONE ATTACK!” Intolerances are usually mild, and allergies can range from mild to fatal.

And I really don’t think this was a case of the writers just saying “allergic” so kids would understand or anything like that. Being lactose intolerant is super common and I think most people, kids included, have a basic idea of what it means. Certainly, if I had to wager a guess, I’d say more people know what being “lactose intolerant” means than what being “hypoglycemic” means.

So if we are basing this entire diagnosis solely off of what Yakko said, it’s probably less likely that eating or drinking lactose makes him gassy and more likely that it gives him a rash or something. Hopefully it isn’t something like his throat swells up or anything like that but that’s also a very common symptom of a food allergy.

I’m not necessarily saying we all collectively change our interpretation of Yakko's medical issues or start writing him as having an allergy, I just find it funny that we all jumped on this bandwagon (myself included, which you’d think I’d know better, having food allergies myself lol) without actually thinking about what he was really saying.

One reason I find this funny/interesting is if he had instead said “I’m intolerant to peanuts” (which admittedly I’ve never heard of, but I’m sure it’s an issue for someone somewhere) we would have instead all had this idea that Yakko was deathly allergic to peanuts and required an epipen. Like we, understandably, associate the problems with the food, not the diagnosis. Someone has issues with lactose? They must be lactose intolerant because that’s what most people with lactose issues have. They have an issue with peanuts? They must have a peanut allergy because that’s what most people with issues with peanuts have. It makes sense that we came to the conclusion that we did, it’s just interesting to me.

The other reason I find this interpretation funny is because while the fandom, at least from what I’ve seen, seems to present Yakko’s symptoms as being more of an intolerance, it seems that the presentation of Yakko’s actions because of his lactose issues, line up more with that of an allergy. The best example of this I think is actually when it’s mentioned in the reboot in the “We Could Try to do it, Santa” song. In the song, Wakko sings “And Yakko can’t drink milk at all, the lactose makes him gassy!” In this line, Wakko describes Yakko’s symptoms as that he gets gas, which suggests that Yakko is in fact lactose intolerant. However, Wakko saying that Yakko can’t drink milk at all, to me, makes this sound more like an allergy. Look, I’m sure there are people out there who don’t ever eat lactose because they are lactose intolerant, but from what I’ve read online and witnessed from friends who are lactose intolerant…let me tell you, it doesn’t seem to prevent them from consuming foods with lactose AT ALL. One friend I’ve seen eat ice cream and another I’ve had tell me she wasn’t feeling good because she brought Mac and cheese for lunch. Lactose intolerance doesn’t seem to stop them from eating dairy at all, it only seems to influence how much they eat. Wakko saying that his brother “can’t drink milk at all” sounds like Yakko doesn’t risk it, and I just don’t buy that if Yakko was lactose intolerant that he would avoid consuming anything with lactose ever. I especially don’t buy this for rebooted-Yakko-“some of us are trying to lay in bed quietly, contemplating the brief nature of our existence”-Warner. If Yakko is lactose intolerant you know damn well he’d take a jug of ice cream and say “haha, YOLO!” And eat the whole thing in one sitting. However, if the issue was that it’s an allergy, I could see Yakko avoiding milk and such, just because allergies tend to be more severe. My friend might be willing to eat Mac and cheese for lunch and risk wanting to sit on the toilet all afternoon, but I am not willing to eat a pb&j for lunch and risk spending my afternoon in the ER. I’m not saying if Yakko is allergic to it he’d be needing an epipen and being rushed to the hospital after consuming (although you angst lovers I’m sure will have a field day with that and I respect this) because the issue could totally be something mild as well. Maybe he gets a rash, maybe his lips feel badly chapped, maybe his throat doesn’t swell up but it does feel itchy, etc. Who the heck knows.

Again I’m not saying we all course correct and make Yakko have a lactose allergy, do what you want with this information. I just had this epiphany yesterday and thought it was interesting.

[penny-anna]

this is where I'm currently at w my dry eyes flare up:

current routine is eye ointment (oil based) morning + night, preservative free hylo-forte (sodium hyaluronate) drops as needed, carbomer gel also as needed but as sparingly as possible bcos it's not preservative free. I'm also doing 10 minute warm compresses 3-4 times a day.

I'm also using moisteriser around my eyes a lot + mild steroid cream twice a day due to skin irritation which I think is being caused by the volume of eye drops I'm using.

trying to transition to a preservative free carbomer drop as the carbomer is currently the only thing getting me any significant relief but the only brand I've been able to try so far (Ocufresh) is no good.

any eye drops that contain preservatives or aren't specifically marketed as high intensity/for severely dry eyes are no good rn, a lot of them make my eyes start stinging and burning. I've tried Systane Complete and Thealoz Duo this week neither of which offered any relief but I'm going to try and stick with the Thealoz drops a couple of times a day as they've got some extra meds in them.

I've ordered every other brand of preservative free gel drops I can find.

I've started taking antihistamines as it struck me that the current difficulties started around about the same time I stopped taking them for seasonal allergies so will see if that does any good. I've also just started taking fish oil supplements.

I've had my eyes examined by my regular optometrist (Specsavers unfortunately) and spoken to a different optometrist practice who have a specialist dry eye practice and have got some actionable advice that I'm following. Both optometrists have agreed that there's no sign of anything actively wrong with my eyes such as an infection.

I've dusted & aired out my whole flat and have ordered a humidifier but it won't arrive till tommorrow.

I'm reducing screen time as much as I can but due to being a full time hybrid office worker that essentially means I'm doing as little work at my job as I can get away with. I had to do a full 8 hours in front of the computer on Monday and it fucked up my eyes so badly that I didn't cover from it all evening.

I can currently manage maybe 10-20ish minutes in front of a computer before things start getting progressively more uncomfortable with the end result being blurred vision.

I've had flare ups of this severity or even worse in the past but usually it takes me maybe 2-3 days of stepping up my eye drops and doing regular warm compresses to get it back to a manageable level so the fact that this time it's been over a week with basically 0 relief is very very scary. I'm getting concerned about my job as I can't do full time office work if I can't use a computer & I have no other employment prospects.

the 20:20:20 rule isn't currently hugely helpful for me due to how dry my eyes get using a computer and I've been advised by an optometrist that I need to take full breaks at least once an hour.

absolutely exhausted & honestly can't tell if it's the fatigue I had previously flaring up or if I'm just That Stressed Out.

feel like I'll regret throwing this problem out for advice as asking for medical advice on tumblr never goes well but figure it's worth a shot in case I'm missing something obvious here!!

I'd ask that you don't reply if you haven't read all of the above ^ in case whatever you're suggesting is already mentioned & that you don't recommend things that work for you unless you also have severely dry eyes.

:'(

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Writing: Exercise Me

All right, 20 laps around the keyboard, stat!

...I kid. And yet, not so much. Writing is mentally very demanding work. It’s easy to slump, exhausted from beating your head against a mental wall, and not get your muscles and bones moving. This, is a mistake.

I say that being absolutely no fan of exercise, mind. I don’t like running, swimming pools eat holes in my feet, and any kind of climbing activates the Fear of Heights status debuff. I do like the stray walk, but ever-grumpier allergies have made that dicey. Pacing inside, though, is possible. I should do it more often. For multiple reasons.

First and foremost, we writers live so much in our heads we often neglect the fact that actually, we have a body and it needs certain maintenance. If you want to write for the long term, you need to look after things. Move those stiff joints. Lift those lead feet. Get your blood out of your brain and circulating in the rest of your body. Move; gently, but move. At least get your hands warm. If that’s not a lot of exercise, fine; do a little more later. Like writing a story 200 words at a time. Eventually you will get somewhere.

Second, spending precious spare time exercising is not wasted time. It’ll make the time you do spend writing more productive.

(Something I have to keep telling myself over and over and over again.)

The human body is an interesting if sometimes slipshod creation. Exercise produces mild muscle tears; your body makes HGH to grow muscle back stronger. But your body is, as I said, slipshod, and sometimes takes a very shotgun approach to... everything. The same hormone that fixes up muscle also affects the brain, keeping it in better condition as well. “Sound mind in sound body” has lasted as a saying for reasons.

Third, and related - sometimes if you’ve hit a wall writing it’s because you��ve run out the time limit on how long your brain can focus on one thing. Spend 15-20 minutes away from it moving and not thinking, you might reset enough to work again.

Fourth, it helps action scenes. I’ll never be Keanu Reeves, able to actually pull off John Wick-style moves. But I can get my blood pumping, my heart racing, my breath dragging in more air. All of this helps give real edge to, “my character is in danger!”

(If you have a stick or bokken you might be able to also work out some “character has to move this way” of the fight. Just... make sure you have a big clear space, first. And not one neighbors might wander into. Oops.)

Don’t neglect gentle shoulder stretches. You know what happens when you hunch over the keyboard too long!

Sleep, water, food, exercise. You need it all. Writers aren’t plants!

....Even if some of us are a bit bananas.

[detentiontrack]

have u always had ur allergies?

Short answer is: I don’t know! Long answer is: maybe? My mom is very severely allergic to coconut (like I think she’s had a major reaction just being in the kitchen while someone sautéed something in coconut oil) so I was never really exposed to it growing up. I do know that I used to be able to use coconut oil and coconut based lotions on my hair and skin, but now I can’t even touch it. When I was 14 I was having IVIG and got diagnosed with POTS so I needed to hydrate a lot, so I drank a lot of these coconut water hydration drinks (body armor hydration drinks! Cannot recommend these enough if you’re not allergic to coconut. They hydrate you really well and taste really yummy) and I got mild reactions every time but I ignored it because my dad “didn’t believe” in allergies and I internalized that, but eventually it got worse and worse until I had a major reaction that I would’ve had to go to the hospital for if I hadn’t been receiving IVIG that day and the nurse didn’t immediately push IV Benadryl. I’ve avoided coconut since then, but my allergy just seems to getting worse and worse as I get older. A few weeks ago I got a cross contaminated latte at a coffee shop, and had a major reaction, when I hadnt been sensitive to cross contamination before. I believe I got allergy tested when I was a kid, but it was just a blood test testing for the top allergens (like peanuts and shellfish) and dust and pollen, and as far as I know they didn’t test for coconut. I really should go to an allergist at some point, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.

[natasha-in-space]

I was wondering how it would be like for yoosung and mc if mc was allergic to animals. More specifically cats and dogs (since thats what he deals the most with in his job). I feel very curious thinking about this. And ofc its like after he starts working as a vet

Hmm, it would be something for you two to discuss for sure! Allergies can vary from very mild to very severe in terms of how they effects you... Your health and overall well-being is Yoosung's top priority. He might make fun of Zen sometimes for his allergy, but I can't see him doing that to you. (which Zen will quickly pick up on and call him out on it in the next chatroom lol)

I believe the first time you'll have a conversation about this would be when he decides to adopt Lisa. Of course, it all depends on how severe your allergy is. But, if we're talking about a scenario where you two decide to make it work with Lisa in the picture, it will take a lot of teamwork!

Your allergy won't be a huge issue during the first few months, or maybe even years of you two seeing each other, given that you don't live together. He will make sure to thoroughly wash his hands and clean his clothes of any cat hairs before going out to see you. Jaehee gives him a whole lot of tips on that! How helpful. Jumin is perplexed.

Still, it's not like your allergy gets ignored and brushed aside. Oh, no. Not in a million years. He might be a vet, but he's still in a medical profession, so your health concerns him very deeply.

You might say that it's fine, and that you can deal with it by yourself whenever you come over, but he won't have it. Yoosung is a dedicated man! He'll do his own research, maybe he'll even bring this issue up with his colleagues who have way more experience than him, once he starts working as a vet. Maybe he has someone who's in a similar situation with their resoective partner, who can give him some useful advice! You won't even notice every little thing he does for you until it hits you one moment. He never mentions the specifics, just that he'll do his best to make you as comfortable and safe as you can be.

Lisa will be carefully taught to not roam over the kitchen and bathroom counters, giving you a safe space to work with in case you need to cook something or go to the bathroom. Once you two move in into a bigger apartment, you'll have two bedrooms, one of which has a balcony and is prohibited from Lisa's visits. It also gives you a safe space to go to in case your allergies get especially bad. Having an opportunity to slip out onto the balcony to breathe some fresh air helps too. Vacuuming is essential, and both of you do it in your respectful parts of the apartment, with Yoosung covering Lisa's 'favorite' rooms to lounge in, while you're cleaning up the more fur-free spots from any stray cat hairs. Windows are often opened to make sure your living space is full of fresh air for you to feel comfortable.

Lisa doesn't get ignored in this predicament either! Don't worry, she gets lots of cuddles and attention from Yoosung to satisfy your needs. She even has a dedicated corner all for herself in your apartment! Full of toys, blankets and a big scratching post for her to enjoy. Depending on your allergy, you can pet her sometimes too! She's a member of the family, and she knows it.

Needless to say, you two get complimented on how your clean your apartment is every time someone comes over for a visit. Zen is especially pleased.

[jedi-bird]

Medical issue story time

So yesterday I had to go to urgent care at the end of the day. Partner got freaked out enough about my arm that they were like we're not waiting. And I was on the fence enough about to agree outright.

Last week, I got stabbed in the arm by a very large rose thorn. It didn't break off in it and it's not the first time I've been hurt by them, so I cleaned it thoroughly and used an otc antibiotic ointment and covered it with a bandage. I have an allergy to adhesives but all that does is leave a rash and minor scar for a while, so it's usually fine. Well, four days of wearing bandages (changing them every few hours), took off a chunk of skin and left a very large rash. More concerning though was the initial spot being three times larger, having a red two inch field below it, and being quite hot to the touch.

So. Off to urgent care late in the day.

I have never been seen so quickly at any urgent care location as I was last night, which is honestly a bit funny. Five minutes in the waiting room after checking in they were taking my vitals (both the nurse and the guy at check-in freaked out once they saw the marks on my arm). No fever, mild pain unless it was touched; mostly I just didn't want it to get worse since I'm very prone to staph infections. Put in a room and less than ten minutes later a doctor way in apologizing for the delay.

Now, I have to say, I really liked this doctor. As soon as he looked at my arm, he recognized that I'm allergic to the adhesive. We talked about. No, it's the not the latex because I've tested that many times. It's definitely the glue and no brand of adhesive bandage is less likely to cause a reaction. It's usually fine and doesn't bother me too much. The rose throne spot though...

Apparently there is a fungal infection called Sporotrichosis, also known as the rose handler's disease. It's... nasty. It's rare, but it can happen and if it does it needs to be formally diagnosed through a biopsy and treatment for the skin type can last months. It can also spread to joints, lungs, and very rarely the brain. Again, it is months to years of treatments. Now, it's very unlikely that I have that, but the fact that it's hot, red, and solid under the initial puncture means I need to monitor my health very very carefully for a while.

I got some antibiotics to take because it's much more likely to be a bacterial infection. I have to watch it very closely for the next two days and if it's not improving by Monday I need to go to the hospital for a much more intensive diagnosis. Today it's very itchy and a bit achy, but the area did get repeatedly pushed on by multiple people yesterday so I'm hoping it's just that. I've taken two of the antibiotic pills and have several more days to go. I'm supposed to avoid direct sunlight and if I do need to go out I need to cover up. So fingers crossed the antibiotic works and this passes quickly.

Moral of the story, don't wait if you think something is wrong. Yes, as an American our healthcare and insurance situations suck (let's not even get into the fact that my insurance still isn't fixed despite the company claiming that it is and I might be getting a very big bill for this). But if you can catch something early it's much cheaper and easier to fix. I should have gone to urgent care yesterday morning when the redness first appeared but that's in the past and a few hours likely didn't make a difference since it wasn't any worse than yesterday morning. But yeah. Get checked, keep wounds clean and covered, and don't wait if symptoms start.

And as soon as I'm allowed back in the sun, that rose bush is getting very heavily pruned.

[i-call-me-clarence]

Thank you so so so much for the advice on how to deal with fibro!!! I really appreciate it!!! I am going to try out as much of that as I can asap. Um last question, if that's okay, should I be worried about any of the things you listed interacting badly?? Ik there can be outside stuff but just from that list?

Good question! I didn’t even think about that but I should’ve included it.

Okay so Benadryl and Kratom together could make you more tired. I’ve found one post just now that suggested it may even be fatal (I have no idea the doses of each they were taking but they had a serious drug problem, and as people take insane amounts of Kratom and Benadryl to get off other drugs I’m betting it was a lot of both. Also I can’t verify whether this post was genuine or not). I’ve personally taken benedryl and Kratom many many times and been fine, but I have a very high tolerance for Benadryl due to allergies (and now using it to numb my stomach) and I am very used to my level of Kratom. So mix at your own risk.

Don’t use arnicare or tigers balm or lidocaine patches with the TENS machine. You don’t want to numb an area and then electrocute it. Also you need the area your placing the electrodes on to be dry, tigers balm leaves a greasy gel film over the skin for a long while. Here is a site about the dos and don’t of TENS machines: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/transcutaneous-electrical-nerve-stimulation-tens/

Don’t use a heating pad on an area you have numbed. Though I suggest a cloth heating pad filled with rice or whatever and different herbs that you microwave to get warm, both that and an electric heating pad can cause burns, even if you can’t feel them right away. If you’re numb then the chances of being burned are greater. Make sure to check your skin at least every fifteen minutes and consider disuse after 10-30 min. Using the heating pad for longer (30 min) tends to help more with chronic pain.

Green tea mixed with a stimulate dose of Kratom can have adverse effects. Both stimulate you which can lead to heart palpitations, excessive sweating, restlessness, paranoia, sense of doom. You would have to drink a lot of caffeine (green tea) to have this effect with the small stimulate dose of Kratom. Make sure you know how green tea and the stimulate dose of Kratom will affect you and mix in small doses and at your own risk. Personally I have never had any adverse side effects even after several cups of green tea and then adding Kratom (helps with fatigue quite a bit actually). Just know your body and take it slow.

Don’t mix arnicare, tigers balm, and lidocaine. I’ve never done it but I know mixing topical gels can irritate the skin.

Cannabis and Kratom can interact by increasing the sedating effects and a ‘high’ feeling. I wouldn’t suggest edibles and Kratom unless you really know how it affects you and start at low doses of each. Kratom in high doses (higher than pain relief dose) can cause a high feeling. Mixing with Cannabis can be crazy. Personally I do this because my fibro is out of control. Just used it (edibles and Kratom) an hour ago to kill the flare up that happened due to the eclipse (idk why I’m guessing it has something to do with sundowning and my body being confused. How are you doing btw? Did you flare up too?) ALSO edibles can cause you to trip. Like an acid trip. I did not know this until my QPR partner experienced it first hand (he did take 200mg second time ever doing edibles, (and the first ones were weak)and fourth time ever using cannabis products, before had been flower and he was fine. So perhaps the dose played a part).

Benadryl and cannabis products can increase the drowsy effect of both products. Unless you’re one of the unlucky ones where cannabis causes paranoia, and the Benadryl does the weird thing where it stimulates you instead of puts you to sleep (rare but happens, very annoying happened to me last night and caused horrible restless legs) (btw Benadryl can cause restless legs), then the paranoia will be much worse.

Don’t exercise with a lidocaine patch on or while you’re still feeling the effects of it. You could easily injure yourself.

I don’t know if various mushrooms interact with Kratom, Benadryl, cannabis or even green tea. I bet it’s a case by case basis. Make sure to do your research before combining.

All that said this is only the advice from a dude on the internet who also deals with chronic pain. My experiences may not hold true for you. Make sure to do your research before combining or using any of the things I have suggested. I can only do my best in trying to warn you of things, but I may very well have missed something. If you want to talk more you can send another ask or say hi in my dms. Always ready to give another spoonie advice or an ear to listen.

[bubu-pharmacy-doctor]

What are your thoughts about diets?

Diets are a very complicated topic.

I think the main issue is that people attempt to push specific diets as "The Healthiest" or "The Best" diet.

The best diet for a person is always the healthiest for them, but the healthiest diet for a person is different for every person.

I rarely actually use a diet as a treatment. If I give a patient a diet, it is because the medicine I give them will react with a type of food, but try to base the medicine around their diet, that's why I ask about them.

I only suggest changes if I'm particularly worried about their diet, or I think they're having a mild allergic reaction to something they're eating.

Another issue is that most special diets (so, not vegetarian, pescitarian, vegan, halal, kosher, etc.) don't offer other options. You have to follow a very limited variety of foods. If someone has an allergy to a major part of the diet, there's largely no replacement for it that fits the diet. And people can have allergies to just about anything. A childhood friend of mine is allergic to bamboo, which was a slight issue in Chenyu Vale because that was one of our main foods. I once treated someone who had an allergic reaction to avocado.

I have quite a decent list of foods I can't have or can only have small amounts of thanks to my equally decent list of disability issues. Many diets advertised are not fit for me, I can't follow them.

But, I still have a healthy diet. I just have one that's healthy for me.

In healthy eating this way, but I'm not going to recommend other people do. It's restrictive, there are things I rely on that can be a common allergen.

To make things worse, I have not seen any of those diets that thinks about religious diets. Maybe some of them are fit to be used by someone who also has a religious diet, but that's largely an accident.

If you want to follow a specific diet, that's your choice. But you shouldn't force it onto anyone. Even the non-specific diets I mentioned earlier. You shouldn't force someone to be vegetarian, pescitarian, or vegan just because you are.

You do not know what is healthy for someone else. Even as a doctor, I don't know what a healthy diet would be for someone else. I can only work through trial and error with a patient, which can be rather exhaustive for the both of us, so if they want to stop that, I likely will because the stress will only make their condition worse.

If I followed a vegan diet, I would starve. But that might be a good choice for someone else.

[fizzingwizard]

I gotta vent.

Yesterday, when I got my kids from nap, one of them started to cry. He's normally grumpy after waking up, but I checked on him and I thought his body felt hot. The weather has been getting warm, but it's still pretty mild, and we watch and record the room temperature every day.

This student has a special situation. He had a few seizures when he was one year old, and the doctor told his parents that if he had another, he could lose some of his hearing. His parents were understandably very concerned about him being looked after well enough at school to prevent that happening. Staff were all briefed on his situation and what to do if his temperature reached a certain level. We check all the kids temperatures when they wake up from nap (or of course if they are acting strange during the day or feel hot etc). They are too young to tell us if they are feeling sick, so we have to do our best to guess and never just assume they're fine.

So when this kid, who I'll call T, felt warmer than usual, I took him away from the other kids and took his temperature under both arms. Under one he was higher than usual but not in the danger zone (which for him is lower than other kids), but the other was. He could have been sleeping on that side, hence the extra warmth, so we waited about ten minutes and then took his temp again. It had gone slightly down. Twenty minutes later, we took it again, and now he was much higher, and definitely in the area where we needed to inform his parents.

My coworker called them. We took T to the office where he could be away from other kids' body heat and be monitored by the manager. It was close to his usual pick-up time so whether his parents came early or not was not the issue. His parents are very nice, but they are overprotective coddlers. They're the type who don't feel like they are properly watching over their kid if they don't find something to complain about two or three times a week. His shirt not being properly tucked in, or us trying to teach him to feed himself instead of hand-feeding him. Guess what these easily worried parents said??

"Isn't he just hot? It's almost summer."

At least they took him home...! But I was gonna lose my mind. Parents, you are the ones who told us to be extra, extra careful - because your kid could lose his hearing on our watch! We are only doing this because YOU said it was important!!

And here is the icing on the cake. I'm home sick today myself. I get a message from work: "Last night, T had a seizure."

!!!

So, we teachers did everything we were supposed to do and did it right. If we hadn't checked on T, and he'd gone home without us ever telling his parents that his temp had been high, and he'd then had a seizure, what do you think the parents would have to say about us now???

Losing my mindddd!!

I am so, so glad that I'm an experienced teacher and not one of our many brand new, fresh out of college teachers who may have never even noticed T's body felt hot simply because they're not used to noticing it yet. I can feel proud at least that I and my co-teacher stubbornly took care of this kid even though we were made to feel silly for following the instructions in his own medical file.

I don't have more info on T's condition yet, but I hope he and his hearing are both ok. I love T and no parent deserves to watch their kid suffer. And honest to goodness, I don't get paid enough for this.

Under a cut for being extra bitchy.

What parents don't ever seem to realize is that we have so many more kids than teachers. Yes, we are in ratio (but I could go on and on about that ratio, but nuff said). It's still not the same as a parent watching their kid one-on-one at home, and having no other kids to worry about than their own. I have to know the names, needs, personalities, allergies, and personal belongings of every kid in our school, not even just the ones in my class, because I'm responsible for all of them at different times during the day. The parents of T get upset because his nose isn't wiped when they pick him up - they don't know we've been wiping it every five minutes all day long and we can't physically stop it from continuing to run.

We'll get in trouble over small things like that, and yet parents will be so resistant to anything we try to do to protect their kids better. One example: we ask parents to cut up fruit given for snack to prevent choking. Parents say, "But they eat whole grapes just fine at home." I'm sure they do!! But kids HAVE choked and died at pre-k centers before! On grapes specifically! And not only does the teacher on duty have to live with the terrible guilt of that, they're probably going to lose their job over it, and they won't get any sympathy because hey, it's your job to watch the kids!

Try to imagine: you have twenty-four two year olds in a room and four teachers. One is taking care of all the clean up and organization that has to happen during that period. One is changing diapers. The other two are observing the kids to make sure no choking or anything happens - then poof, a kid pees on the floor. One of those teachers deals with that. The one teacher left watches the kids closely, and sees a kid start to smack the kid next to him. In the five seconds it takes her to deal with that, your kid stuffs a grape that is too big for their throat into their mouth and starts to choke. Things happen - we can't prevent everything - but all we are trying to do with our "please cut up grapes" rule is to LIMIT the potential danger.

(And I wanna mention - our 1:6 ratio is a pretty good one! Some places have 1:12 for 1-3 yos! And some even worse. It's not always horrible, especially if your ration is 1:12 but you never have more than six kids enrolled, lol. But if you do have a large group, it's so hard, especially if you have a kid who's aggressive, or throws many tantrums, or is a runner, or is destructive, or is sensitive, or has sensory issues, or struggles with transitions, or or or - get my point?? There's no class full of "perfect" kids who always listen - even the best pre-K classroom is always going to be a zoo at certain times simply because of all the different personalities. Kids are gonna have problems when they have problems and that's it. I'd be afraid of the robot kids in that perfect class anyway.)

The fact is a 1:6 ratio isn't good enough all the time, only SOME of the time, and cutting up grapes is basically a stand-in for the additional teacher we wish we had. Truth is we could have one teacher for every kid, and stuff can still go wrong. You know it can, because things go wrong for parents with their own kids every day. Are you a horrible parent because you got distracted for ten seconds and your kid decided to do something they'd never done before and run into the parking lot? We don't WANT those things to happen, but they do - and the consequences of them can be horrible, especially because the main struggle is with nothing else than our humanity. No one was irresponsible. No one was uncaring. Human nature simply happened and screwed us.

So please, please, cut the damn grapes or just home-school your kid!!

[aniseandspearmint]

Every time I see you tag “pretty pretty” I get this really conflicted feeling. Like, I get that you’re doing that reduplication thing because the stuff you use that tag with are super pretty. But my mom’s family is non-American and where she’s from “pretty pretty” is slang for something that tries so hard to be pretty that it ends up tacky or gaudy.

(This isn’t me asking you to use different tags, btw. You tag really well and I appreciate it; I’ve just been thinking this for a while and had to get it off my chest.)

Oh, it's not a problem, knowing what other people think is interesting.

Why I started tagging things 'pretty pretty' rather than a singular 'pretty' or 'pretty things' or something like that comes from a childhood memory. This'll be slightly convoluted, sorry! XD

When I was a kid my mother raised and sold parakeets and parrots! We were also often a kind of half way house for birds people were having trouble rehoming (like the amazon parrot that screamed obscenities when she didn't get what she wanted, or the one african grey that made a DISTURBING amount of hyper realistic bodily function noises :/).

Mostly what she raised were Quakers, which are fun little parrots that, if you play your cards right are SUPER easy to teach some stock phrases to while you're hand rearing them. (Sadly they are illegal where i live now, or I would be looking into getting a few. I miss them).

My mom taught them; 'i love you!' 'up! up!' 'kisses! *exaggerated mmmWAH sound*' and 'pretty pretty!' which they would repeat in disgustingly cute squeaky little voices. They were VERY popular at the couple of decent pet shops my mom sold to (one of the things that prompted her getting out of the bird business was us moving and her not being able to vet more good shops. That and she suddenly developed a mild allergy to seed chaff).

For some reason, the 'pretty pretty!' more than anything else, caught on with all the other birds in the house. So nearly every bird, no matter what it came in knowing, would move on cheerfully yelling/chirping 'pretty pretty!'.

Parrots are smart, they caught on to the meaning of the words pretty quickly and started yelling 'pretty pretty! pretty pretty!' whenever they saw something brightly colored or shiny. Including me in some of my glittery play clothes. So i'd be running around the house in a sparkly tulle skirt waving an old pompom taped to a cardboard tube around and they'd all start yelling. It's a happy memory. ^__^

I started using the tag on fashion pics, bc it reminded me, and that sort of just migrated into a catch all tag for stuff i find warm and fuzzy levels of pretty.