#i have black tea sticks for example

[enden-k]

So we’ve seen Vika vaping/smoking… how did he get into it? Is it an attempt to feel something?

yee hes a smoker. when his senses were a bit better, he was able to taste cigs/feel the burn on his tongue but with increased numbing he switched to heat sticks (not vapes, he doesnt vape. theyre not the same and look different too) since its less messy. smoking is only a habit now

[thesweetestofdreams]

The Gold and the Rust

How It Shines (part 1/??)

pairings: poly!marauders x reader (eventually)

warnings: drinking?

a/n: A teaser anyone? I've been working on this story behind the scenes, and I finally had the motivation/ courage to start posting some of it. I'd love to hear your thoughts and welcome to my latest obsession.

In a sea of scarlet and gold stood a fraud, a coward. Every year you returned to Gryffindor house, and every year reminded you it would never truly be your home. You watched as hopeful first years squirmed under the sorting hat. You watched to see the flicker of pride, relief, disappointment before raucous applause and acceptance. That night when the prefects tricked the first years into bed early the real ceremonies would begin. Ceremonies which for Gryffindors meant spiked punch and the regalement of Summer holidays. 

The plan never changed, to wear the lion’s costume, to drown yourself in a red sweater, and exchange stinging pleasantries until an acceptable time of escape. Unfortunately for you, true Gryffindors rarely stick to plans. 

At the center of particularly loud merriment, as was usually the case, stood James Potter. Marauder one, as you sometimes thought of him, had miraculously grown even larger over the holiday and was already orchestrating bets on the upcoming quidditch season. On his left sat Marauder two, Remus Lupin, balancing his drink with a loving smirk as James jostled him with the story of his fastest run to date. And Marauder three, well he was nowhere to be found. Nowhere being that he wasn’t melting into the side of either of his boyfriends. 

“Did you miss me?” Sirius Black, Marauder three, appeared just over your shoulder. You would have jumped if not for years of practice. 

“Miss you sneaking up on me? I think I’ll have to say no,” you said. Sirius stood before you obviously waiting for you to take him in. His hair seemed longer, cheekbones maybe a touch sharper, and on his neck a fresh stain of purple proudly worn. You moved his hair to the side, an incredulous parting of your lips dared to betray you. “Already? When do you boys even find the time?”

“It’s an awfully long train ride, doll,” he said, a prideful grin and mischievous eyes so familiar it bordered on dangerous. “Speaking of the train, where were you? You could have joined us.” He wrapped an arm over your shoulder turning back to watch the show of a freshly reunited lions’ den. 

You allowed herself all of one second to fluster, Sirius just kept grinning. “I was about. Mostly I was failing at trying to find good tea,” you said, occupying the rest of your lie with sips of nearly gone punch. 

“Mmm,” he nodded before finishing his own cup, “but what if there had been something sweeter just around the corner?” 

“Alright, Black, that’s enough of that,” you said, pulling his arm up from your shoulder, letting it swing overhead as you took a step back.

“Leaving already?” He tilted his head to the side, a flicker of what might have been disappointment in his eyes, like a sad dog. 

“Despite James’ example, classes do start tomorrow.” You spared one last look towards the couch. James was now fully occupying all of Remus’ personal space, a ruddy tinge to his brown cheeks. “Don’t make Remus put up with two hungover boyfriends.” 

“Enjoy your night (y/n), and try to be about more this year, yeah? You might have some fun.” He took another hardy drink, clearly ignoring your comment. As you retreated to your dorm, part of you stayed down in the common room. The part of you that wondered if Sirius Black, the first in his family to be sorted into Gryffindor house, ever saw through you, if he ever felt like a fraud. But then, how could a Marauder, a golden boy of the house of splendor ever feel anything less than belonging?

[monster-disaster]

I had a brain rot idea I wanted to share with you!

Imagine a hyper feminine human woman who finds herself in a relationship with a hyper masculine monster man. Due to their opposite interests and tastes, their shared home is quite the spectacle. For example…

1. A pink leather couch

2. Black velvet curtains

3. Wall paper with barbed wire hearts as the pattern

4. Bedazzled skull flower vases

5. Etc.

Needless to say, decor shopping is always a fun activity for the couple. Also couple outfits can always be fun…

1. Pastel gym clothes gifted to the monster from the woman

2. Black latex dress with studs gifted to the woman from the monster

Thoughts? I just feel like this would be such a cute coupling to see

How do these two even meet? Maybe at the gym? The monster is either with his bros, lifting heavy weights, or alone, grunting through his intense workout. Reader, on the other hand, is there for a yoga or pilates session, focused on balance and stretching. Or perhaps they meet at a music festival? Or, maybe it’s at an animal shelter. Reader is there to adopt a cute, fluffy cat she saw online while the monster is volunteering. He is more of a dog person, but hey, if Reader wants a cat, so be it. Before she leaves, he hands her his number, telling her to text him if she has any questions.

Soon enough, her occasional cat updates turn into casual chats. Reader sends him pictures of her new feline friend, sharing their quirky behaviors or adorable outfits. He is always short with his responses, but he never discourages her from messaging him. Over time, those updates about the cat shift into little glimpses of Reader's daily life: her morning coffee, the chaos of work, and her favorite places to eat.

And then, one day, out of nowhere, he asks her out. It catches Reader off guard. He isn’t sure why, either. She is so different, he’s seen the pictures. The cat already has more clothes than he does, and the accessories? Don’t get him started. When Reader agrees to the date, he is surprised.

And it just clicks, you know? Despite being complete opposites, they find themselves drawn to each other. They have different tastes, different opinions on almost everything. He prefers heavy metal, while she swears by indie pop; he enjoys spicy food, she sticks to mild. But somehow, it all just works. They are both open to seeing things from each other’s perspective, finding that debating taste is futile when there are bigger things that matter. Who cares if their comfort movies are not the same compared to wanting or not wanting kids? Over time, these little quirks become less about compromise and more about appreciating the contrast. So much so that, before long, they move in together.

Things get interesting pretty quickly after they move in together. Their new home becomes a delightful, chaotic mess of contrasts.

At first, Reader thinks she nailed it; the bookshelves are perfectly arranged with her favorite novels, colorful knickknacks, and little plants adding life to the space, but soon enough, her monster's things start creeping in: heavy metal figurines, dark leather-bound books, and a random skull-shaped bookend. Then, the curtains. Reader proudly hangs the most beautiful white, flowery ones, letting sunlight flood the room, but the very next day, she comes home to find his blackout curtains layered behind them. The pink couch she adores, piled high with fluffy pillows in soft pastels? Yeah, he balances it with his own things in black and dark green. And her adorable fruit-shaped plates? They somehow find themselves stacked beside his sleek, matte black dishes in the kitchen. And it doesn’t stop there. His ultramodern, shiny black coffee maker claims a prime spot on the counter next to her vintage floral tea set. The wardrobe? It’s almost comical. One side overflows with Reader's colorful clothes, blouses, skirts, and soft cardigans, while the other is a stark contrast of black leather jackets and plain tees.

It’s a mess. A wonderful, ridiculous mess. But somehow, it feels like home. Their home.

But of course, as time goes on, their styles begin to blend in the most unexpected ways. Reader finds herself experimenting a bit, picking out a pink leather dress one day. It’s bold, flashy, and a little out of her usual comfort zone, but when she steps out wearing it, her monster takes one look and practically falls to his knees. The stunned, hungry expression on his face makes the purchase more than worth it. And slowly but surely, the monster starts to change too; just a hint of dark gray here, maybe some muted green there. The progress is slow but steady. And Reader loves watching his monster lifting weight in the almost light blue sweatshirt she bought for him. She doesn’t even try to hide her grin, and he pretends not to notice, but the faint smirk on his lips gives him away.

And, of course, the fluffy cat that brought them together often struts around the house in her pink tutu and tiny leather jacket.

[rainbow-wolf120]

You guys like my DW art? Cool.

DW OC BLAST!!!!

Meet Chippy and File (prounced "Phill")

Chippy was my first silly and File was from just a concept I thought was cool lol

It's not just info cards, but you can also buy them >:3

(File is a better Vee, and Chippy is an ideal griefer character </3)

Their bios and shop cards technically saw all you need to know, but I do have a relationship chart for them:

(Template made by my sibling <3)

No one likes them lmaoo, but at least Chippy is fun

Ig here's a more in-depth look of them if wanted:

Chippy steals EVERYTHING. She's kind of a menace to everyone he meets. She was created in the show to teach a lesson more specific than "bullying = bad," so they did "stealing = bad." Even with her "negative" purpose, she still proves that she could make real friendships like her and Gigi. Gigi's friends might not be too fond of their possessions disappearing after a hangout, but they tolerate her for Gigi. A lot of other Toons (like Teagan) think that she can help Chippy. It hasn't worked out so far and resulted in a tea set missing...

Nobody likes File. Or at least, like him for who he is. He's what people would call a "Stick in the mud" or "Vibekiller." He's very adamant on the "canon" and what's he believes is right. This gives him a very black and white view of the world. For example, he doesn't believe in character development, especially with Toons like Shrimpo. In his mind, Shrimpo is a bully and will always be a bully. His linear thinking drives many Toons away, but some stick around for answers. File didn't work with kids, but instead, the Toon Handlers and Arthur and Delilah. It's the reason why Dandy hasn't killed him or Rodger actually talks to him. In their minds, he's the closest thing to the "status quo."

[voidscreamintheories]

Kitten: Theory of a "Hunter"

Spoilers for Hunter The Parenting

So Kitten. He is our happy lil Br*tish hunter. He also is always wearing ski goggles, a sweater, and full face covering. Even in the one flashback image we have of him. As always we must acknowledge the DNA this series pulls from: Kitten was the Captain General in TTS, this is why he uses a spear with a gun and a stake at the end in HTP, it's a guardian spear by way of hunter. It was a running gag in TTS that his helmet was never removed, even all of his other garments were. Side tangent, 1. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING 2. I hope desperately Lockwarden and Santodes return in HTP, because both of those characters were immaculate and we didn't get enough of them. Side tangent complete.

TTS acknowledgement aside, let us consider what Kitten might be. In the audiolog between Kitten and Big D, kitten seems to question the existence of some supernatural creatures, like the witch. Yet two of them he is unphased by them being mentioned: The vampires, which makes sense as the family is hunting vamps and Kitten has fought a vamp (important later). And the werewolves. This is the sticking point to me: Kitten not only is unphased about the existence of werewolves, he in fact says "wait hang on you know about werewolves" to Big D. Now that's a might curious, why wouldn't Big D, master-hunter and well known supernaturalist know about werewolves, and even more so, why would Kitten know and Big D not?

My theory is that Kitten IS a were creature. But not a wolf. In World of Darkness there are a few species of shapechangers like the werewolves. The wolves are the most common, but the other kinds know of each other's existence as well. I propose that Kitten is a werecat. Not only this, I suspect Kitten is a specific kind of werecat, a metis (can someone who knows more about WoD tell me is this is pronounced Met-iss, a made up word, or May-tea, a real word for a real world group of people who this does not necessarily apply to). A metis (in world of darkness, not the real world ethno-cultural group) is a shapechanger born to two shapechanger parents. When they are born they come out in their warform, the half-human-half-animal "hollywood monster" form. These shapechangers often have malformations of some variety, and this can include very obvious animal features even in human form. Say for example, cat ears and fur. I think Kitten wears his ski stuff, and has ears on his hood because he is a lil catboy under that hood. As a werecat he would be familiar with the shapechanger culture and practices, he'd know about other shapechangers (notice in the black shuck story at one point he says "and it is [black shuck]" not "and it PROBABLY is", maybe because he actually knows who black shuck is?), and he'd be supernaturally strong. Perhaps even strong enough to overcome a vampire that just fed. Kitten describes his encounter with the vamp at college, with maybe a Ventrue or Torreador vamp (I think Ventrue because he was charismatic but had a need for a violent feeding), while these clans aren't the normal muscle for the vamps, they are stronger than humans. Yet Kitten managed to beat this vampire, even though he was hopped up on blood. I think our lil cat boy was using his own supernatural strength. Another thing mentioned around this story is the tragedy that befell Kitten's parents, which left him with the house. If they are shapechangers, there is the potential that Kitten killed them during his first change, a not uncommon occurence in Garou families. There's also the possibility that his parents were killed in the war that all Garou are fighting, or because they broke the litany (werewolf mascarade) by having a metis child.

Now. Problems. Both Grimal and Markus have cannonically "broken that boy". Now is Kitten a "sorry babe, the ski mask stays ON during sex" type gamer? Or do Grimal and Markus both know? Not sure! Grimal could probably be convinced he was just REALLY into cosplay, I bet. And Markus may have known about Kitten being a cat from their childhood, depending when they first met.

But! This lets me talk more about garou society as evidence for Kitten being a cat. In shapechanger society, a metis is often hidden from the public until they can control their form, so as to not give the game away on werewolves being real. Maybe Kitten was isolated as a child, making it harder for him to interact with other kids when he did eventually get his form *more* under control. Maybe in the time before he was allowed in public, he became a true gamer. Maybe Markus was one of the few kids weird enough to hang out with him. Maybe those lack of social skills brought him closer to Grimal when they first met, two strange weirdos with similar experiences (please Alfabusa don't make Grimal the ghoul, I don't want her to get Arcanum'd)

Also! The werecats have some characteristics in their culture that might explain why our lil cat friend isn't just vibing with the other werecats. Some of the Bastet (Bastet means werecat, Keikaku means plan) are VERY curious lil fellas. They seek out hidden knowledge and talk to other garou clans to learn their secrets all the time. Maybe Kitten became a hunter because of his in-built desire to be a gatherer of lore. This would also explain how he knows all these stories, and finds secrets in games. He just HAS to know these things. This would further explain why he is SO upset about being blacklisted, he wants desperately to be able to study and learn, but has been cut off.

In brief, I believe Kitten is a werecat and his lil sweater ears are not just a fetish thing. He joined the arcanum/our hunters because it's a great way to sate his innate curiosity.

Now something to consider, as many of us know, curiosity does have a certain reputation regarding cats...

[bubuslutty]

hc: witch!reader x 141 (+ Ale, Rudy, König, Horangi) as monsters

A monster's high

word count: 1.5k

tags: they/them pronouns, poc friendly, 3rd person pov, proof read by me so sorry for any mistakes, nsfw, fluff

warnings: a bit of body horror

a/n: i initially meant for this to be fluffy but uhhh I guess I'm a whore 🥰 enjoy either way!!! 💙 pls if u wanna see anything pls let me know, cuz I just want more excuses to talk abt monster cod mw2 guys!!

Soap (werewolf):

Johnny has a habit of scenting his witch when they have to go somewhere without him, and he claims it's to keep them safe from other monsters. but does he really need to rub his face all over their tummy and ass??

Johnny's witch takes care of him during his ruts by brewing him teas for his stomach aches. and provides him with their worn clothes so he can have familiar and comforting scents around him when he's rutting.

Soap also likes to hang out with his witch during nights on a full moon, so he can turn and run in the forest. and sometimes they even play catch with him, by throwing a stick and he runs after it, getting it for her, for pets and praises, tail wagging and all.

Ghost (symbiote):

Simon Riley is pretty cool, kind and pleasant to hang out with, Ghost on the other hand is dark in a weirdly attractive way (monster fucker alert). Ghost doesn't really have a form, they're just a mass of black matter that merges and melts into Simon's pores, but also has a voice of its own.

Reader has gotten used to Ghost jumping in on conversations when they're talking with Simon. And has even gotten used to Ghost threathening (flirting) to eat them (??). While Simon always apologises about Ghost, reader hasn't figured out if Ghost wants to eat them literally or sexually.

Reader has also gotten used to walking around Simon's place and being suddenly pulled into a dark corner by a cold tentacle attached to Simon's symbiote. Then asked in a very ominous voice "Can you get orange juice from the corner store? Simon can't, too tired."

Reader shrugs and nods, "Okay." while being held up in the air by dark matter.

"Thank you." Ghost whispers, their voice raising all the hairs in reader's body.

Price (Dragon hybrid):

he can breathe fire, but doesn't allow himself to so he satiates the urge with cigars. Breathing fire is a hazard and can put others around him in danger, and he can accidentally destroy his belongings by allowing the tickle of a flame leave his throat.

But sometimes he slips up, for example when he's balls deep in reader (don't ask me how we got here). They were curious about what it'd be like fucking a dragon hybrid and how can Price say no to those pretty eyes?

It happens when he's about to orgasm, and he feels fire tickle his throat, and when he can't swallow the urge back, he throws his head back and let's out fire escape his lips, blowing it upward so it doesn't catch on anything.

And then when reader realises what he just did, he gets shy about it. Usually he doesn't spit fire when he fucks someone, but reader doesn't need to know that.

Gaz (Crow harpy hybrid):

first of all, Gaz has the prettiest, softest feathers. They're black but Show different colours when lights hit them in different angles. And reader spends a lot of time just admiring them and caressing them while he plays his favourite video game.

And when they accidentally press on the feathers a bit too hard, he jumps and grabs their wrist, "Don't do that again, please."

"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry." Reader apologises

"You didn't, they're just a bit sensitive… That's all." Gaz mumbles and they nod, resuming caressing his feathers in the gentlest way possible as Gaz resumes his game and tries to ignore the tingle at the base of his spine, making him shudder and heat up.

Horangi (Tiger shifter):

at first he scared reader because when they first met him, he was in his tiger form napping in the living room when reader walked in, completely clueless with a bunch of ingredients for a potion in their arms, "I got the-"

They used all of their strenght not to drop everything in their arms because the ingredients are expensive while they stood, facing a sleeping tiger, taking up the whole couch.

The tiger quickly noticed their presence and woke up, lazily blinking and letting out a big yawn, revealing a sharp set of teeth and reader readied themselves to cast a spell if the tiger was to ever attack or try anything.

The tiger kept staring at reader until they got bored and stood up on the couch, and shifted just like that, fur flipped into pink soft skin and bones reshaping themselves in real time.

And so reader was face to face with a naked man in the middle of Soap's living room.

König (eldritch):

König wears a huge diy'ed mask on his head, covering red and black smooth salty skin and tentacles. Sometimes he lets them hang outside the mask, poking and prodding this and that when he's comfortable, but most of the time they're hidden, out of sight.

Reader has yet to figure out where all of his tentacles come from, they know they come from his head, from the area that would be considered his chin and jaw if he had one, like a beard that has a mind of its own.

They've seen peeks of König shirtless a couple of times, but couldn't see any extra limbs or tentacles coming out of his skin, so how earth does he manages to wrap them in huge long tentacles? Where do they come from??

They've asked König of course, but all he did was smile, his eyes shaping half moons, patt their head and walked off without a word.

Alejandro (werewolf):

The only other werewolf in the bunch apart from Johnny. This man has also an obsession with scenting reader after Johnny scented them just to get a rise out of him.

He's territorial of course, very protective and loves to bite and nip at reader when they let him. Be it their hips, waist, tummy or ass, he'll happily sink his teeth in any part of their body as long as they let him.

He's also allergic to wearing clothes when the sun shines, if Alejandro senses that summer is very near, he'll strip to his boxers and hang around in all of his tan and hairy glory.

And reader is only human, when they see him like that, their heart skips a beat and they quickly leave the room Alejandro or otherwise he'll somehow smell them getting aroused.

And Alejandro doesn't even need to smell their arousal to know they're affected, because he can hear their thumping heart when he focuses his hearing.

They also try to avoid him when they've had their back blown by a local resident monster (only Soap's pack tho, no one else or they'll (141 & Co.) have a mental breakdown lmao) because he can smell the cum plugged inside them. and even when they've showered, washed away all traces of sex, he still can smell it underneath all the soap, lotion and body mist. And when he does smell it, he corners them and bullies them into telling him how it went down while they whine and beg him to let them go (they actually love it dw guys, ale would let them go as soon as they express real discomfort)

Rudy (human):

The second human in the pack after reader. While reader is a witch and in tune with the spiritual and supernatural world, Rudy can't feel shit. like nothing at all. everyone might be on edge because they can smell someone's heat and he'd be sitting there absolutely oblivious, at least reader is knowledgeable enough to know the signs of a heat or rut without smelling it.

Reader might be reluctant to go somewhere because they feel like the vibes are off, or the place is cursed and haunted, and Rudy would shrug and go in to retrieve whatever must be retrieved.

Rudy could be checking himself out in a mirror while a spirit would be looking right back at him and reader is just standing there, uncomfortable while he hums and fixes his hair and the spirit is highly confused because how the fuck isn't he being seen by the dumb very handsome human?

He's the type of guy who'd brush off any attempt at scaring him or cursing him without a second thought, a witch would try to curse him by planting a little pouch under his door matt and Rudy would absolutely have no idea and would never step on the matt at his doorstep because his legs are long and he never needed to step on it in the first place, he even has another one inside his house as well, it's just there to look nice really, so the curse never took effect in the first place until reader shows up and hisses in disgust, immediately finding the pouch for Rudy and throwing it away.

Even when a demon is actively trying to cause him nightmares, Rudy doesn't even notice because every night our boy passes out on werewolf knot, brain melted out of his ears, he barely has the energy to open one eye so it's impossible for his brain to conjure up dreams or be active enough so the demon can plant nightmares into his head.

I imagine Rudy getting his organs rearranged in the nastiest way possible while the invisible demon is just standing there like 🧍‍♀️😐 waiting for Rudy and the werewolf, who is probably Ale to be done so he can give him nightmares.

He's our unbothered King and I love him very much.

tag list (pls ask to be added or removed): @canadianmilkbag @angryandreadytokill @obiwankenobis-lap @goapgrim @smalldemonlover @silviafantin15 @reveluving @bobastayhigh @originalsimp @h-leigh @gxldyjess @msdrpreist @chaoticevilbakugo @Lacunaanonymoused @whore4dilfs @canadianmilkbag @ahoeformando @ray-rook

[lilly-chou-chou]

Skincare And Lifestyle Tips To Nourish Your Soul :-

˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡🪐༘⋆˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡🪐༘⋆˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡🪐༘

Hello, everyone!! I back at it again with brand new post! This time the topic we're going to dive into is skincare. Now I am a woman who has been doing skincare since she was practically 10 so it's been many many decades and what not, mind you I wasn't one of those sephora kids who are stupid enough to use retional at the age of 10 💀 my skincare back then consisted of just cleanser, toner, sum protecting lip balm and sunscreen.

Today I would like to give general skincare advice that is applicable for ALL skin types. Mind you if you have serious issues then do go to dermatologist because the tips I am giving today is to how to have better skin and very general stuff. Hope you guys like it!! <3 💕

Pre-Advice:-

Always know your skin type. This makes things way easier than people actually realize.

Don't always follow the trend because not everyone has similar skin and I doesn't matter ift hey claim to cure you so called problamatic spefic areas always ready the ingredients, be sure about it, consult with your doctor and then use it.

Patience patience patience. I cannot stress this enough, skincare takes time it may take 1 week or even whole 1 year to heal or to see the results. Don't go blaming products if you skip skincare or aren't using it properly. If you are getting rashes you aren't using correct products. If you have sensitive skin I highly suggest you to carefully select your products because anything can give you rashes or irritate your skin. Be careful and take care.

Step 1

Always make sure you know your skin, make sure you are 100% sure with what you want to tackle. The very first step of skincare and general wellbeing is knowing what you want to achieve, for example the sole reason I do skincare is to protect my skin and to make sure my body deserves better. There are many types of skincare routines, you are free to pick one and be dedicated to that.

My skincare consists ONLY of Korean and Japanese products, few of my favorite brands are suwalhsoo, innisfree, hadalabo and such. Skincare is an investment and I hate to say it but splurging on little expensive products REALLY DO make the difference and they do bring a lot of change. If you don't have the budget then I suggest buying trusted drugstore brands (I am kind of unfamiliar with them 😅) and stick to home remedies instead.

I am Asian and we are known to have thousands of home remedies that actually work. Some remedies that I use on daily basis are cucumber and rice water. For this you need to slice cucumber and soak them in rice water for 3-4hrs and put each slice on your face and let it sit for 20-25 mins and don't throw the starch rice water, you can use that in your hair after you shampoo and conditioner put that water in your scalp and massage it keep it for 10mins or so and wash it off for healthy hair, if you have black hair it looks so lustrous and shiny!!

Other remedy is using loose "wet" green tea leaves and mixing it with pure honey, now for this you need to use organic honey for best results. You can't just go and buy honey from grocery store, simply yuck! I suggest you go to organic market and splurge some on organic real honey. Mix those leaves and honey and put the paste on your lips and keep it for 10mins Or so and wash it off, you will get so nice, plumpy and soft lips.

If you don't wanna do all this work then you can simply use a really good lip balm, I used to use various types but in the end I realized that the lip balm they make for babies are the best because they are mild, made with baby safe ingredients so it's best for sensitive skin and it actually works. If you feel like you're too "grown up" to use baby lip balm then I highly suggest any dior lip balm, sure they are expensive but my lips have NEVER FELT SO PRETTY after using dior. Often times with luxury brands these makeup or skincare is either hit or miss but with dior oh! They ate!! It's so good!! You can also simply use innisfree green tea lip balm too, works wonders. Honestly just plain Vaseline also works wonders but choice is yours.

Step 2

Body! This is definitely a sensitive topic but fret not, it's not what you think. By this I mean what goes inside your body also plays a huge role in your skin and body, we need a balanced life by that I mean yea sure healthy greens and well balanced protein options are good but once in a while it's not bad to eat fast food, I absolutely hate how tiktok people say "chemicals" and refuse to use it like boo, everything is chemicals 💀 the only difference is good and bad chemicals. From toothpastes to even the gastric acid that is present inside our body is all chemicals, when will people learn this?

Few steps to have a nourished body are follows:-

Always drink probiotic drinks after you've had a heavy food at the END of the day. My favorite probiotic drink is yakult, it is best to drink at the end of the day because when you are at rest the good bacteria has great chance of working even more prominently.

This one goes out to all the people who can't live without spicy food. Yes, it's time to put down jalapeno, king chili, thai green chili, especially chili powders from India and give your stomach a rest for at least a day. This is a devastating news but I've had a lot of Indian friends who moved to white dominated country and their skin actually improved because food there is super bland and I'm talking full on painful pimples, acne and even healed stomach issues like ulcers, ALL GONE because of bland white people food 😭💀Yes, so you can definitely eat spicy food but don't overdo it in the name of "must have spicy food or I refuse to eat anything"

Please hydrate yourself, and I am sick of hearing "but water tastes bland, can I mix some juice powder?" Umm no?? If you hate the taste of water drink infused water. Some of my favorite infused water "recipes" are cucumber and lemon, blueberries, strawberry. But tbvh you MUST drink water as it is, even if you feel like it's bland, it's for your own good.

Step 3

Gossip, gossip, gossip. It might seem surprising but gossip does play a huge role in lifestyle. It is a factual thing that your skin and body reacts based on how you've been feeling and how you choose to surround yourself. It is true that bad person do have huge affect on your wellbeing...Especially skin, yes you heard that correctly, bad person do affect skin because when you interact with toxic people their ruin your mood, when your mood is ruined you are often faced with so called "negative" feelings like anger, stress and even anxiety. These things bubble up and have negative side affect on your skin and thus make you not only break out but also cause hair loss, headaches and even chronic fatigues.

People underestimate this so much it's crazy! You must remove all the toxic members in your life. If it's family member and you feel obligated then your next best option is to keep a distance or fight back. You deserve the best and surrounding yourself with genuinely nice people will be so wholesome and nourishing for not only your mental health but skin as well.

Toxic people DO ruin your skin and make you break out like hives! Even if it's a relationship, do find the strength to break up with your toxic partners.

So for now I have only done this much I hope you guys enjoyed this mini post. I had come back from this long hiatus yesterday and it took such a long time to do everything, and when I checked the suggestion post a lot of comments were deleted so I could only pull out this many skincare advices, so sorry for super late post and super long hiatus. See y'all in my next post!! 😭🙇🏻‍♀️🙏🏼

˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡🪐༘⋆˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡🪐༘⋆˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡🪐༘

[hazbinned]

Dash Game: Behind the Mun

Name: Al

Most Active Muses: Valentino, Alastor, and Vox

Experience: I've been roleplaying since before I knew what the word meant, and writing for even longer than that. I started THIS type of roleplay on old defunct forums about 11 years ago. In the grand scheme of things, I'm very new to Tumblr. Some of you were on this site when I was five.

Fluff, Angst, or Smut: I get the most excited about plots that are a lot of everything. Things that are plotted out and allow the characters to have arcs and go through an entire range of emotions and events: good, bad, funny, scary... I do enjoy the simpler things that stick to just one theme, but they're not what I usually find myself losing sleep over.

And, side note, I don't write smut. Suggestive is fine but it has to fade to black before graphic content occurs.

Long or Short Replies: LONG. Short is fine, and sometimes it's all I have energy for, so I do enjoy the short threads! The long ones are what get me EXCITED, though. The "rush to read it right now" kind of excited. I can talk and talk about dynamics developed within long threads for hours, but I have a harder time doing that with short ones.

Pet Peeves: Chewing. Being woken up. Being touched.

Being rushed. There's a difference between "hey, you haven't replied to this in a couple months, did you forget?" (which is TOTALLY FINE) and questioning me about our thread every time you see me online. I am a SLOW writer and can sometimes take months to reply. Rushing makes me go "well, now I'm going to take even LONGER!"

Are You Like Your Muse: Alastor. It's much more evident in person (minus the CRIME) but the more you know me the more you know.

I've got a wide array of characters, so I'm not going to list them, but I'm sure I could find at least one similarity between me and each character, even if it's a tiny one. For example: I like bubble tea. >:)

Time to Write: ... It's more fun to play "European or Nocturnal?"

Tagged by: @hells-greatestdad { Thank you!!! }

Tagging: @sirserpentine @angie-long-legs @voxiiferous @hellmxses @advlox and YOU. 🫵🫵🫵🫵

[igotsnothing]

"Post 10 Facts About Me"

Thanks for the tag, @greighish (yeeaaaaaah!!) and @lynzishell (your tag asked for fewer facts but, look, this is like winning the lottery, but less fun).

And now, just between you, me, and the internetz:

I love books, stories, etc. I read everything- fiction, non-fiction, etc. 

I can drive a stick shift. Do I drive it well? That’s another story. But if we had to flee zombies? I’d come in clutch (pun intendeeeeed).

I HATE ice cream. Hate it with every fiber of my being. It is gross, horrible, and if I have to sample it, imagine me doing so as if in an existentialist black and white French movie with a crackling melancholic soundtrack playing in the background.

I’ve lived in different countries while growing up. 

I know all the puppers in my neighborhood by name… but not their owners’ names. Ooops!

I’m an introvert. People don’t believe it because I can be very social and outgoing…But I promise you once I get home, I need to decompress and recharge.

I used to play the Sims 1 when it came out and hoarded cc obsessively on CDs I’d burn. Stopped when 2 came out. Discovered 4 during the pandemic and now I share my silly stories here. I still hoard cc. It’s an illness; pray for me.

Cherries are my favorite fruit.

I give my OCs quirks I have. For example, Sasha has a collection of stupid T-shirts: I have a collection of stupid T-shirts. 

I have been drinking a lot of tea. I think I like it more than coffee.

(Me, after sampling ice cream. Beaucoup le sad.)

[cosmica-galaxy]

Since I absolutely adore pal,, could we have more facts on his personality? Mayhaps silly lil quirks even? /nf!!

~Facts about Pal!~ + Pal is a VERY talented singer! He can sing soprano, opera, crescendo, pop, rock, and electronic. Even A cappella! + Pal is outwardly friendly to most units and, despite his size and VERY powerful ability, he's a gentle giant that doesn't want to fight. + Pal actually has friends outside of his primary pack! He joined the human by choice and left his original pack in search of adventure. He still visits them! As he leaves from time to time to visit his "older pack" that stays together at his older home! + Pal has a collection of music boxes that he's collected! He also likes fancy watches and things that emit noise, like little pocket watches or "stim toys". Bubble wrap is also a fun "toy" to him! + While the human spars or wrestles with other units, especially larger units, Pal wants to try and "play" too. + He's the moderator of the group. If Buddy and Fiend start fighting too much, he'll step in. If the fighting gets really bad or annoying to Pal, he'll flare his frill to the max and it never fails to make the other two behave. + Pal is VERY strong and can easily hold his own against larger skibidis, not to mention his ability to absolutely cripple them or kill them altogether. + He uses his frill to help him hear better, since his sight is not very good. Posters and writing on walls tend to go unnoticed by him if they don't stick out or have a texture. For these reasons, he reads primarily in braille. + Pal eats skibidi jerky and skibidi meat. He has a strong dislike for garlic and will retch if he eats any. His favorite dish is Buttered Skibidi Steak with simple lemon and black pepper! He eats any types of sides, veggie or fruit, as long as garlic isn't present in the dish! + Pal is able to rotate his head 360 degrees! This is how he can lock onto any target while hanging from the ceiling! + Pal, when touched by surprise, will let out a "mrrp!". + Pal's frill is very expressive and flexible, they can wrap around the front of his speaker if he wanted them to! (Example would be to hide his "face") + Pal loves to drink lots of fruit juices and water. Doesn't really care for sodas or energy drinks. Not even coffee. But teas are lovely! + Pal is capable of waiting for long periods of time. He's a very patient mimic. + Pal is also capable of flight! His arms can extend into wings and he becomes a force to be reckoned with. A sound-based nuke that can also fly is why Speaker mimics are NOT to be antagonized. They also use their flight abilities to change positions in elevation, such as moving from a high vantage point to a low vantage point and vice versa. + If there is ever a need for a babysitter, Pal is the one you should ALWAYS go to. He's experienced in helping care for young! Even when he was littler! + Loves his pack, but he loves the human friend the most of all. + Has golden retriever energy. + Loves speakermen the most out of the alliance, even if they may find him a bit scary. Knows Phil and DJ, and they all get along well!

+ Pal can also mimic voices! So he can help in fooling enemies or getting into voice-activated areas!

[misc-obeyme]

sometimes i think about the fact that barbatos is always inviting mc over to try new tea or always brews some when they have business at the castle

and then i think about the fact that I don't like tea irl... just agua de jamaica if that counts, and sweet tea mixed with lemonade 🤣

I wonder if it'd make him more eager to find one that you do like, or if he'd try to accommodate you if you really don't like it and serve something else.

Honestly, the way I am, I might've sucked it up for him and drank it anyway to not be rude ajsjdk. Like for example, I can't eat strawberries because the seeds throw me off texture wise, but my coworker/friend made me chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's, and you best believe I managed to eat 2/4 because I wasn't about to turn down a gift LMAO

- ✨ anon

Yo of course agua de jamaica counts! As does the sweet tea mixed with lemonade (also known as an Arnold Palmer and also is good spiked with vodka~).

I have opinions on this lol. I make my own agua de jamaica, but it's kind of just whatever I thought sounded good so it's not exactly authentic. But the base is hibiscus tea. That is still very much tea. I cold brew mine with loose petals, a stick of cinnamon and a whole piece of star anise... and of course a ton of sugar and a lil bit of honey. But if you look it up, the recipes can vary greatly, but they all have hibiscus tea!

Sweet tea is the same thing - it's just black tea with a butt load of sugar.

I love them both and while I prefer the cold brew method, most traditional recipes call for brewing the tea hot first. And then chilling it in the fridge or with ice. Which is basically the exact same thing as regular tea - it's leaves that are steeped in boiling water. That part's the same!

The thing you might be liking about these two cold varieties is the sugar. Both of them have a high sugar content! So if you don't like drinking hot tea straight (as is often the method in the US), you might like it more if it was made into a tea latte or just had milk and sugar added to it.

I think Barbatos would probably start by trying different things. He might make you a matcha tea latte, which is also quite a different flavor. He might just make you some milk tea. I absolutely headcanon that Barbatos makes his own boba so you know he could just whip you up a bubble tea with boba at any time. Taro is my favorite flavor, but there are so many to choose from!

He might try just making you regular tea with milk and sugar added to it. He might try different blends - regular black tea is pretty boring, but add some cinnamon and cardamom (and other spices) to some Darjeeling and now you've got chai instead, which is delicious. Maybe he makes you a London Fog which is an Earl Grey latte. Maybe he goes with the green tea, which has a more subtle flavor. If you like agua de jamaica, you might like floral teas. Perhaps he gives you some jasmine green tea or some rose or lavender teas. These are all human world variants (because that is what I know... and yeah I know a lot about it lol), so he'd probably also try some Devildom types as well.

If you really don't like any of his offerings, I think he would make something different just for you. Barbatos cares a lot about MC's enjoyment of what he makes. So I don't think he'd want you to just power through something you don't like out of politeness. He would notice right away and call you out on it and then make you something else.

I think Barbatos might be able to find some other teas that you enjoy, but even if he never manages it, I think he would accept that.

He would just be sure to always have a batch of agua de jamaica or sweet tea and lemonade ready for when you come over.

[accultant]

✍ : What is your muse’s handwriting like? Is it neat? Sloppy? Fancy?

☕ : Does your muse prefer coffee or tea?

━━★. *･｡ﾟ✧⁺ HEADCANONS !

✍ : What is your muse’s handwriting like? Is it neat? Sloppy? Fancy?

Iago's handwriting varies drastically. When working, they keep it at least neat enough so that they can read it again later ( though it gets a little messier when they're especially stressed or tired ). It's damn near perfect when when corresponding with others and very decorative and pretty. Their blackmail is written elegantly and with perfectly dotted i's and neatly crossed t's. A death threat you could frame. Example below:

But in their journal it's a nightmare. Their chicken scratch is hardly legible to even themselves. Beyond the mess that's going on otherwise, code and acronyms and alternating languages and shorthand and stream of consciousness, the handwriting alone is a complete mess. Horrendous and accurate example below:

☕ : Does your muse prefer coffee or tea?

They prefer coffee ( at all hours of the day ) but eventually grow fond of tea and enjoy learning about the different kinds and preparation. Post-BG3 Iago has an insane tea collection from one of their many phases of trying out as many hobbies and interests as possible to see what sticks since they realize they have none AKA speedrunning a personality. It's also better for their poor heart and anxiety with less caffeine than their usual 6 cups of black coffee a day, they come to realize.

[snippychicke]

Cats & Ships Chapter Three

Title: Cats & Ships

Overall Rating: Teen for now? May go into mature at a future date

Trigger warnings: Nothing beyond what's in the live-action series. I mean, Kuro's still manipulative and paranoid. It gets better tho? Slowly?

Pairings: Captain Kuro (Klahadore)/Reader; hints of Kaya/Usopp

Summary: It started out as a means to get information as Khaladore. Who would be better to provide information regarding the high seas than Syrup Village’s Harbormaster? Except, for the first time in a very long time, Kuro found himself trusting, and even liking, the young woman he shared tea with every week. 

And then the Straw Hat Pirates arrived and ruined his plans. Except fate decided his story wasn’t done there. 

Nor was yours.

Masterlist here! | Read on Ao3!

Returning to piracy was inevitable, as much as Kuro disliked it. He hated the fact that living in relative luxury and peace was at odds with his more… violent tendencies and that occasional thirst for blood. 

Which had meant finding Jango and Bezen Black (which wasn't hard. He just had to find the most popular dance hall in the East Blue and there was his First Mate), and then rebuild a crew. 

The new crew were as incompetent as his old ones, barely able to follow direction and often trying to improvise instead of sticking to the plan. But after making a few examples of those who crossed them, they had mostly fallen in line. 

Kuro couldn’t trust them -- but he couldn't trust anyone, not even Jango. Gone were the moments he could relax and not worry about finding a knife suddenly in his back, or poison in his drink. 

He had to be on guard. Always. Show no mercy, not a hint of weakness. 

The raiding of a passenger ship between his old haunting grounds of Syrup village and Shell Town  was supposed to be routine. Smash, grab, disappear before any of the marine vessels could answer the distress call. (So far no one had seemed to take his victims seriously when they claimed to be attacked by the Black Cat Pirates, but it was only a matter of time. Soon he would have a bounty on his head and an even larger target on his back.)

But of course, things had to go sideways. But in a way he had not anticipated. And that was when a small black streak shot across the deck towards the huddled group of passengers, snarling and hissing as it launched itself at one of his crew.  

Except a well timed kick sent the beast flying. Kuro's eye twitched when he realized the creature was a black and white cat, but it was the scream that followed that made Kuro pause his descent into the hull. 

“Kuro!” 

He knew that voice. He turned in time to see you try to lunge for the cat, only to be kneed in the chest by the same man who had punted the cat across the deck. 

"What did you just call that fleabag?" The man laughed, which was echoed by the rest of the crew in charge of keeping an eye on the passengers. "Did you really name your cat after the pirate captain? Well, my pretty little bird, it's your lucky day." 

Kuro took a breath. He should ignore it and continue on. Nevermind you or his namesake, or the sudden pang beneath his ribs as he remembered the time he had spent with you over the years. Or how fond he had grown of the one-eyed cat that unknowingly carried his name. 

Yet for some reason, he couldn't. The captain growled to himself as he turned and strode quickly to where the cat was climbing to its feet, obviously not used to the sway of a ship on open water. Or at least, Kuro… hoped. He hoped that was the cause of the cats shakiness and not something else. 

Picking a cat up with his Cat Claws would be impossible, making Kuro hesitate for a moment. Yet as soon as the cat recognized the towering figure, he was quickly climbing up the pirate's pant leg with plaintive whine. 

Soon, his namesake was settled in the nook of one of his arms, acting as if he hadn't just been treated like a ball. 

Which left you. Kuro turned to see you curled in a ball against the deck, shielding yourself from the boots of the pirates. His anger took control before he could think. 

Within a second he was behind the man who started it. The five blades of one Cat Claw easily slide into the man's back, ending the laughter with a choked breath. 

Silence quickly fell just as fast as the dead body hit the deck.

"We're not here to torture the passengers," Kuro stated coldly to the others, pushing his glasses back up as he glared down at the corpse. "Follow the plan, or the next person to step out of line will answer to me as well." 

"Sir, yes sir!" They shouted before scattering. Kuro waited until they were gone before glancing towards you. You were still half-laying on the deck, your eyes wide and full of tears, hair a mess…

But it was the blood smeared across your face and arms that made his temper flare even more. A busted lip, abrasions marring your skin…

"On your feet," he commanded, though far softer than if you had been anyone else. 

There was no doubt that you recognized him, not with the mixed expression on your face. Relief. Hope. Anger. Hurt. 

Which meant you knew. Knew everything. He couldn't trust you either. Not any more. 

You opened your mouth a few times, almost as if to say something before giving up and silently standing, wavering slightly. He wasn’t sure if you were shaky due to the abuse you had sustained, or the fact the seas were somewhat choppy today. Either way, he allowed you a moment to gain your balance before he turned back towards his ship.

 "Follow me." He stated and was able to hear your unsteady steps as you complied without argument  and followed him over the gangway plank that bridged the ships. 

He paused for a moment when you hesitated at the edge, shooting you a glance over his shoulder. It was all the warning you needed as you quickly stepped up on the narrow plank that served as a bridge.   

Despite being more than a few feet in front of you. Kuro could here your faint whimpers as you slowly crossed, and recalled you weren't fond of heights. 

Which, now that he had a moment to think, he had to wonder what in the blue seas were you doing out here? So far away from Syrup village? From the harbor you so dearly loved? You had never expressed the slightest interest to leave before, so what could compel you to do so? 

He led you to his quarters, and carefully allowed Kuro-the-cat to jump down on the swinging bed before removing the Cats Claws. "Please, close the door,” he stated when he heard you linger at the door. “I don't think we want Kuro trying to explore the rest of the ship." 

You closed the door, though you didn't move a step from it. "Is…Is he okay?" you finally spoke. 

Kuro smiled faintly to himself as he ran his bare hands along the cat in question, the cat purring happily with no flinching as he felt his ribs and legs. "He's fine. Cats have nine-lives, after all." 

Once he was satisfied the cat wasn't injured, he finally turned towards you. You quickly looked away, your face flushed as you hugged your arms to yourself, obviously terrified. 

He could hardly blame you, he could only imagine what was going on in your mind. How much of the truth did Kaya tell the village? Or did she just give a small hint and the rumor mill cause the story to develop in unexpected ways. 

Regardless, seeing you covered in blood unsettled him in ways he rather not admit. Kuro moved silently as he grabbed a clean cloth before dipping it in the wash basin, wetting it slightly before approaching you. 

"Now, are you okay?" He spoke as a warning before cupping your face, though you still jumped. His grip was gentle as he guided you to look towards him, carefully wiping the blood away. 

Honestly, they were minor injuries but still made his blood boil. 

(If only he could kill the idiot again. He should have taken his time. He wasn’t usually a fan of torture, but he could’ve made an exception.)

"Khala--" you cut off as his eyes met yours, and he arched an eyebrow, curious. "...Captain Kuro," you finished, as if acknowledging the elephant in the room.

Kuro's smile widened slightly, becoming cat-like as he stated your name in return before asking the question still bothering him. "What are you doing so far from home?" 

Your expression melted into grief unexpectedly before you pulled away from him. "Finding a new one." 

He pushed away the feeling caused by you stepping back and wadded up the bloodied cloth instead.“Did you finally realize you deserved better than that squalor of a village?” he asked as he tossed the cloth in a basket of other dirtied clothes.  

You scoffed, your gaze taking on a hard edge. “Hardly. More like I was no longer welcomed. After all, no one would trust a harbormaster who had been friends with a devious lying pirate.”

Kuro nodded his head slightly, not particularly insulted; that did make sense, he supposed. He hadn’t really given thought about the fallout of that night, other than the chances of the marines realizing that he still lived. 

He could easily see the villagers turning on you, the seeds of distrust quickly taking root and threatening to bloom into chaos. 

“My apologies,” he stated after a moment as he turned to check on his namesake, who had hopped up on the shelving holding items he had collected over the years. “Nothing went according to my plans, it seems.”

“Your plans? Your plans?” He turned back to see fire in your eyes as you glared at him. “For fucks’ sake, Klahadore-Kuro-whatever your name is, I had once admired you for your ingenuity and always being one step ahead, pirate or not. But mother sea, I had never realized you to be such an idiot!”

“Excuse me?” He felt an eye twitch in annoyance, irritation quickly simmering. Him? An idiot? The great Kuro of a thousand plans? Who were you to say such a thing? A tiny little harbormaster that had perhaps one of the quietest ports in all of the East Blue? 

“Why the hell did you think you needed to kill Kaya to get what you want?” You snarled, either not recognizing the signs of anger, or foolishly ignoring them. “She said it herself, she would have happily given you whatever you wanted! You were fucking family to her! Hell, now she's left the manor and the rest of the estate to the village so she can go off and become a doctor! Were you so blinded by greed to not see how much we--she-- cared for you?” 

Kuro hesitated, digesting your words and the implications. Could it have been that easy? Would Kaya have agreed to such a thing? And what did you mean the girl had left the village as well? A doctor? Why would she give up a life of luxury to be a doctor of all things? 

“It never crossed your mind, did it?” you continued after the silence lingered a few more moments. “You lived with us for three years, took care of the girl with such devotion… And you were so heartless that you never paused to think that maybe could be the path to your goal.” 

“You’ll get nowhere if you expect your goals to be handed to you on a silver platter," he argued sharply, stalking back towards you. "It’s best to take them, by force.” 

To emphasize his point, he grabbed your neck roughly, just below your chin to make you look up at him. He could feel your pulse bounding against his bare fingers, your eyes widening in fear.

 It would be so easy to twist your neck. Or squeeze his hand until you couldn’t breathe and he could watch the life fade slowly from your eyes. 

Except the longer he watched you, the more the bloodlust faded and something akin to regret took its place, causing his grip lightened. You… you had been one of the rare ones. 

One of the few he had trusted. The only one he had trusted in recent memory. 

“Are you going to kill me?” you spoke after a long moment, snapping him out of his thoughts. There was a cold darkness that seemed wrong in your eyes.  “Had that been part of your plan as well?”

No. It hadn’t. He had expected the arrangement with you to continue after Kaya’s ‘unfortunate’ death, until he tired of playing Klahadore and could no longer ignore the need for violence that was constantly itching in the back of his mind.

Hell, he could at least admit that he had entertained the thoughts of seeing if he could progress his relationship with you more than once. There was no denying he found you attractive, both physically as well as intellectually. 

He… had liked  you. 

He still liked you. 

Kuro’s hands traced down the line of your neck, watching the vein in your neck quiver as your heart raced. Your skin darkened with a blush, starting in the swell of your cheeks and quickly spreading. He always loved seeing you blush. 

If only you didn’t look so scared. As if you expected the Cat Claws to suddenly form and end your life. 

That trust he had enjoyed had been irreversibly damaged. No more tea while venting about the little annoyances of quiet village life. Or the warmth he felt when you mindlessly prepared him another cup exactly the way he liked it while you talked, putting a cookie on the saucer if he didn't take one. 

“No,” he finally answered, allowing his hand to drop. He turned, trying to calm himself as he picked up his namesake. Kuro-the-cat initially complained as he picked him up, before shifting and curling against his shoulder, purring. 

Maybe he should see about getting a cat for the ship. After all, they were the Black Cat Pirates. It would keep vermin out of the pantry at least. 

There was no better companion than a cat. 

“I wish you well, in fact,” he continued as he dropped the cat into your arms. “Your talents were wasted at Syrup village, harbormaster or not. Just be careful to avoid any other pirates in the future.”

[firewindearthsea]

Hi! Thanks for reaching out in my community building post. :) Do you have any posts regarding to how to make our first herbal teas rom garden safely? I am interested in harvesting and preserving food this way, and I am a huge tea fanatic :D Have a nice weekend. <3

Hi! I don't know if I've posted about it before, but I can write one for you now.

Safety

There are two main dangers, the first is misidentifying something and accidentally poisoning yourself. If you're confident you know what you have then that's fine, if not you can always ask for help identifying things.

The second danger is taking something that interferes with a medication you're on or a condition you have. The famous one is St John's Wort, infamous for getting people pregnant (prevents birth control from working). If you're healthy then don't worry too much about this. Most herbs are fine in edible amounts, but if you're drinking the same type of tea every day then you should research the medicinal properties and side effects of long term use.

Another example is too much black tea (as in regular, normal tea) can prevent iron absorption, so don't drink it when you take an iron supplement and cut down on it if you're anemic.

Once you know what you've got and you're comfortable eating/drinking it, it's time to make tea! Most herbs can go straight into a mug from the garden, but you may want to dry the leaves/flowers/berries first for better storage. Drying them also changes the flavour of the tea.

Preserving the herbs

I like to use a dehydrator, but in the summer I just lay my herbs out on trays for a few days in a nice dry spot and shake every now and then to see if they're crinkly. In wet climates they'll just go mouldy with that method.

You can also hang them in bundles in a nice warm dry spot, like the lovely old fashioned French kitchens with the shiny copper pans hanging from the ceiling with bundles of herbs.

Another method is to dry them in the oven, on the lowest possible setting. This risks burning them, so be careful. You can also stick them in the oven when it's cooling down from baking other things.

If you're drying large items like berries, fleshy flowers, or roots, it may be easier to cut them into small chunks first so that they dry faster. Just make sure they're fully dry before you store them, or they will mould.

Making the tea

You can make a tea from just one herb if you like (herbal remedies from just one herb are called 'simples') or you can make blends to suit your needs and tastes.

Generally it's best to use water that isn't quite at boiling temperature, but don't stress too much about that.

Some herbs will need a long while to brew, others will be ready much faster. Experiment with what you like, some can also get bitter if oversteeped.

There's also the matter of separating your drinking tea from your herbs so you don't have a mouthful of powdery chunks. There are some really cute reusable tea strainers out there, though they do let some plant matter through.

You can also buy reusable or disposable tea bags/tea filters. They're easy to find here in Germany but I can't speak for other countries, I think you should be able to find them online though.

I hope you have a lovely weekend too!

If you're interested, I run a small herb community on discord. We'd be happy to help you with plant ID, and we also have a weekly botanical art session where we get together and paint or sketch while chatting. I'm also hoping to run little workshops on there eventually.

[cellarspider]

Qunlat 9/12: Compound word construction

⭅ Previous =⦾ Index ⦾= Next ⭆

As we start thinking about Qunlat names, let’s examine one last thing and take a moment to look at compound words and derived words, because we’ll be drawing on their patterns and style. In brief: They work like English most of the time, but there are notable exceptions that provide us some more flexibility to work with.

Compound words are any word that’s made up of meaningful parts that can stand on their own: “blackbird” is a compound because “black” and “bird” can be used independently. “Blackened” is a derivation instead of a compound, because “-en” and “-ed” have to be attached to a word. It’s derived from a root word and these derivational suffixes. 

Qunlat has a lot of compound and derived words. I’ll get into some of my theories about them when I transition into talking about Expanded Qunlat, but for now let’s stick within the guardrails here. 

Two notes before we dive in: Qunlat compounds are often hyphenated, for a number of reasons: if they’d otherwise create deceptive consonant clusters (ex. notas-taar), confusing syllable boundaries (basalit-an), or mess with the aesthetics (viddath-bas). Some non-compounds seem to possibly have an obligatory hyphen to show that one of the parts is a standalone grammatical modifier that forms part of the overall meaning, but this isn’t consistent.

And as always, be wary of the canon dictionary. Some compounds in there are just straight up wrong etymologically, and unfortunately the rather notable word asala-taar seems to be one of them.⁽¹⁾ Keep this in mind when looking for references.

Compounds can be formed a number of ways: noun-noun compounds, for example, usually  have a “head” that tells you what the thing is, and a “modifier” that tells you what kind of thing it is. In English, the modifier comes first: A “bookshelf” is a shelf for books rather than a book for a shelf, a “teapot” is a pot for tea and not tea in a pot, “ice cream” is a kind of cream that’s frozen, not ice that’s made into cream. Some compounds like “ice cream” can have spaces or hyphens in them and still count as a compound word, because of how they function together as a single unit.

Qunlat usually puts noun-noun compounds in the same order as English: Vitaar is “poison-armor”, for example. Ben-Hassrath breaks this a little with the previously discussed “Ben-” possessed prefix, but within “Hassrath” you can see the English word order that probably influenced its construction: “heart-(of the) many”. 

Of course, Philliam, a Bard! complicates things, and in this case, it’s literally bullshit. Or rather, vashe-qalab: “shit-(of?)-cow”. This is why I’ve managed to convince myself that -e may be a possessed marker like ben-, because it seems like it’s a grammatical suffix, and its presence may reverse the order of compounding, making Qunlat bullshit more like Spanish bullshit than English bullshit–while idiomatically you’d just say mierda, a literal translation in spanish would be mierda de toro: Shit of the bull. That’s a compound in head-possessive-modifier order.

The other thing that muddies the waters are item names in DA2, which I’ve previously noted as being highly irregular. Compounds there are a jumbled mix of head-initial and head-final. For example: Antaam-Taar Iss, a cuirass for experienced fighters. Antaam-Taar literally means “body-armor”, so that’s head-final. …But with Iss meaning “(the) experienced”, Antaam-Taar Iss is head-initial, and it implies an absent possessive marker of some kind. So now we have a pattern of head-initial compounds specifically if the head noun is a possessed object, and the modifier is the possessor. Annoying to keep track of, but personally, I like the funky precedent this sets.

Verb-noun compounds are all over the place in Indo-European languages, and wouldn’t you know it, they follow the same order in Qunlat again! Beres-taar, shield, seems to literally mean “reaching ahead-armor”. Most canon verb-noun compounds are names, so we’ll get back to them later. Verb-verb compounds are rare in English and in canon Qunlat, to the point where I can’t 100% call any compound verbs from canon definitions.

Qunlat adjective-noun compounds are similarly ordered in modifier-head order. Qunlat doesn’t have many of these, in part because there are very few adjectives in the language, and even defining what counts as an adjective is hard. Functionally, they don't exist as a distinct category. But it has one very notable one that’s worth mentioning: aqun-athlok. Literally translating to “balance(d)-mind”, it can also be read as a verb-noun compound, an adjective-noun compound, or a special kind of noun-noun compound that I want an excuse to ramble about, so I’m taking it.

If read as a noun-noun compound,⁽²⁾ aqun-athlok doesn’t follow this pattern of head and modifier, called a dvandva. First described by grammarians of Sanskrit,⁽³⁾ dvandva are compounds where two or more nouns join to create a single, distinct concept. For example, many languages use the equivalent of “mom-dad” to mean “parents”, Chinese and Japanese use “mountain(s)-river(s)” to mean “scenery”, Nahuatl uses “the flower, the song” to mean “poetry”, “artistic endeavor”, or “the divine effects of teotl”. Friulian uses “ocean-world” to mean “the universe”.

Was talking about dvandvas a tangent? You bet. A tangent with a purpose–This post is about empowering people to start thinking about possibilities for names. Dvandvas give you a lot of room to play with in a language where the canon dictionary is hugely weighted toward nouns. Start thinking about how two ideas can be brought together to form something new, that fits your sense of who your character is.

Next time, we’ll get into canon names of Qunari, Tal-Vashoth, and Vashoth, and how we can classify them.

⭅ Previous =⦾ Index ⦾= Next ⭆

Footnotes

(1) From what I can reconstruct: asala-taar is defined canonically as “soul sickness”. But in every other word we have, taar means “armor”, “materiel”, or “keep”: Taarbas, beres-taar, and, probably explaining our present problem, vitaar. Vitaar is canonically defined as “poison armor”. So my guess is that someone saw that in the dictionary, and tried to make a compound without fully considering how the word vitaar was built. They took the wrong half of the word.

Sometimes this does happen IRL, it’s called rebracketing: the same process that brought us “-burger” foods, when “Hamburger” originally meant “a thing or person from the German city of Hamburg”. But rebracketing most often happens when speakers aren’t aware of the underlying etymology of a word, from casual speech,  or are doing so in a flippant way (ex. “Chocoholic” from “alcoholic”), and given the theological seriousness of soul-sickness and the common root words in vitaar, I find it unlikely that this rebracketing would happen. Sorry y’all, it should be asala-vi.

(2) As said, canon Qunlat has no real distinction between adjectives and nouns, so how we even classify these is hard. A dvandva usually is structured as an “X and Y” kind of thing, rather than “a Y for X”, and both are possible reads of aqun-athlok….depending on what the components mean. Aqun can mean “balance”, “unchanging”, or describe a dynamic equilibrium and flow with the natural order of things that’s suspiciously similar to a layperson’s understanding of the Dao. Athlok can mean “mind”, “earth”, or “laborer”. So, is this “balanced mind”, or “unchanging, fluid way and solid earth”? Don’t know! Either would probably be theologically defensible from a Qun standpoint. 

(3) Sanskrit grammar is so cool and so intimidating, not only because of the complexity of Sanskrit literature, but also because of the literal millennia of scholarship on the subject. One of the biggest names in the field was a linguist who lived somewhere between 2300-2600 years ago. He’s sometimes called the father of linguistics, and with good reason!

⭅ Previous =⦾ Index ⦾= Next ⭆

[mamamittens]

500+ follower event!

As decided by popular vote, a food themed ask box event!

Running from 9-12-23 to 9-19-23, hopefully the menu makes sense!

Milkshake themed!

Here’s our menu for the special 500+ follower event running from 9-12-23 to 9-19-23! To enter your order, just put it in my ask box! I may suspend the ask box if I get overwhelmed, but all asks put in during this time frame are eligible for this event.

Who can go on an order? Why, you and a character of your choice as long as they are +18. Please clarify if this is a character from a specific fandom, otherwise I will assume One Piece as that’s my most active fandom at this time.

For yourself, please include a short description for your pronouns (F!, M!, GN!, AFAB, and AMAB), appearance, style, and personality. I just need a reasonable amount of information to write your stand in with. If there’s a particular quirk or detail you want focus put on, please do include it!

If I’ve written for you before, an OC may go in your place! I’m sticking to just what’s in the ask box, so if you don’t include it, I won’t know!

All I ask is that you keep it relatively simple, polite, and short since I don’t know if there’s a character limit to the ask box. Should you need multiple asks, make it clear which are yours.

If you intend to ask for a +18 order (smut), I advise you to be at least 18 as I voluntarily flag all my +18 content. In this particular context, I especially need to know AFAB/AMAB so I may write appropriately.

Flavor – Universe

Vanilla – Canon

Chocolate – Modern

Toffee – coffee shop au

Vanilla swirl – Office au

Strawberry – Fantasy

Cake – royal au

Chunks – fantasy creature au (feel free to specify who is what)

Add ins – Relationship

Caramel syrup – Childhood friends

Chocolate syrup – Strangers

Strawberry syrup – Unbalanced relationship

Fruit – Arranged marriage

Gummy candy – Enemies to lovers

Cookies – Coworkers

Flambe (on fire) – Fling

Powdered sugar – One sided crush

Toppings – Reception?

Sprinkles – Nervous

Whip cream – Confident

Cherry – Sweet

Fries - Casual

Additional shots* - Get a room!

NSFW+18 ONLY

Alcoholic shots (kinks) to be added to your milkshake or your partners! Please phrase it as “shot of X for (A)/me” to identify who receives the act. There is no limit but bear in mind a complicated order could take much longer! And some shots may interact in unusual ways, so if you have a squick please bear that in mind.

To specifically request something not be present when it is otherwise implied, please ask “to hold X”.

White Russian – Creampie/Cum play

Hot Damn – Praise kink

Mind Eraser – Degradation

Afterburner – Choking/breathplay

Jell-o shot – Edging

Pineapple Upside Down Cake – Oral

Alice in Wonderland – Size Kink

Motor Oil – Marking

Kamikaze – Temperature play (Served hot or cold for temp preferences)

Jager Bomb – Rough Sex (Extra strong is hate sex)

Green Tea shot – Soft Sex

Pink Schnapps – Dom/Sub (The person receiving this shot will be designated the ‘Sub’)

Black Jack – Restraints

Brain Hemorrhage - Overstimulation

Special side treat (totally optional!)

Mochi Ice Cream – Yandere

Vanilla – Obsessive

Red bean – Possessive

Grean tea – Delusional

Strawberry – Protective

Coffee – Manipulative

An example of an order would be as follows:

“Hi! Doffy and I would like a strawberry cake milkshake with strawberry, caramel syrup and powdered sugar (for me!). Whip cream and a cherry on top, please! A red bean mochi would also be nice! Add in an Alice in wonderland, black jack (for me), pink schnapps (also me), and a hot damn too! I go by “Sky” and I’m a short but lanky guy (masc pronouns please) with black curls, tan skin, and dark eyes. I’m nervous and tend to freeze when shocked before rambling. I blush really easily too… unfortunately.”