#i will rid my house of any Ingredience because the process is just so much fun &then you get to give people a treat at the end

[gronzen]

Diary of a Hungry Hunter: Gobul

"I'm not one to eat monsters, but I guess I'm not one to write in diaries either, so here we are. I was recently on a mission to a small village; they had trouble with a too-clever Gobul that had learned to wait for fishing boats to get a good haul then swallow the full nets whole. While nobody had died, they weren't waiting around until someone did, and thus I arrived on the scene. With a frog lure I was able to bring it ashore and slayed it, and bringing it back to the town I discovered why the mission was purely to slay it: they wanted to eat it.

Evidently this one Gobul would be more than enough to make up for all the fish they lost, and they invited me to join. It's not like had any pressing quests, plus I heard tale of Gobul being a… not delicacy, but at least having fans, so I figured why not. The first step you need to do is get salt. You might be thinking "no duh, every recipe needs salt."

No. Get as much salt as you have in the house.

Gobul skin has a natural film to it that you need to get rid of by vigorously rubbing and drying out with salt. From there you need to further dry out the meat: normally you'd do this by leaving cuts on a drying tray in your icebox for a day or so, but being a wetland village they had a small building made of waterproof hides with a special burner inside for this, and the process was done practically overnight. It was interesting to see the giant white cuts of meat shrink so much. According to the chief they'd normally season and smoke the tail and fins (legs?), but people were much too hungry to wait. The limbs were dredged in flour and spices and fried, but I was given the honor of a personal hotpot.

The bowl of broth was made using local plants, but also the Gobul's whiskers for a sort of bone broth, though I think it's mostly just muscle and cartilage? I was also given some fillets, some skin strips, a few blue mushrooms, and snakebee larva. Apparently these are all "health" ingredients, felt like I couldn't refuse either because they were sharing some of their needed food with me. Most of what I had went into the pot, but they told me to try boiling some and then dipping it in a sauce made from the local plants.

I decided to just get it out of the way and try the snakebee larva first, see what the goldenfish loved about it. I am sorry to report: I cannot say it was bad. By itself it was almost like biting into a glob of fatty honey, only enhanced by dipping it in the citrusy sauce. I guess the larva are mostly fed on honey and they aren't fully formed? I tried the skin next, and it was... okay. It wasn't as tough as I expected, which was nice, it actually tasted very fatty without the typical chewiness I expect out of fat, practically melted in my mouth. I can't say it's wowed me, but not bad.

The real meat was next, and it's nice. It was very firm, compared to what I expected since the Gobul is so flexible, not very fatty, a tiny bit chewy and faintly sweet. (Note: asked chief. Turns out the meat is normally chewy/watery unless you dry it out)

I admit I had taken some time to savor and taste-test the "dipped" foods, all but turning my hotpot into a straight up soup. The thing is though, I hate seafood, and this was actually tolerable for someone like me. All in all, I'd say if you want start somewhere with cooking monsters, you could do worse than a Gobul.

...You know, I did hear something about Gobul liver... hm.

[derpinette]

if i could spend the whole day in the kitchen i would

[currently-haunted]

Kinda working on an au cuz i keep procrastinating on animatic and my life...

Tap for better quality, and some details of au are under the cut (just me rumbling my ideas)

Hunter is not a grimwalker here (still no magic)

He comes from family of wild witches, who were disposed of by belos's orders. But he as a kid got saved by the previous golden guard

Stuff happened, belos had another episode of cain's syndrome, no gg again

I haven't decided yet how hunter was taken in by emperor or even if hunter is his real name, but he still becomes gg later and there's no new grimwalker, for now... (let's say belos couldn't find some ingredients)

Darius here is on full dad mode already from time he knew his mentor rescued some kind against orders

However Hunter is so reckless and not so loyal, when he finally finds out bits of truth about his family, belos and gg (from darius... maybe lilith? I haven't really thought about her role) well, the boy is ready to oppose belos

Oh yea belos did make hunter do dirty job like getting rid of... rebelious witches. Yep, not only palismen suffer here by getting their souls eaten (but no belos doesn't eat witches... that would be too much...)

Good thing later (after several mental breakdowns) it comes in handy, like emperor himself points out great additions to the opposition you just need to fake some deaths

Also good news is that belos doesn't see hunter here as "a tryout for better version of his brother who inevitably will betray him or smth", right? Belos is still horrible to him tho. Difference is that Hunter isn't so isolated and has experience with normal human witch interactions, but no worries he is still traumatized cuz that was in no way a healthy environment for child or teen, or anybody really

Oh btw for this job hunter uses mask (grim) made by abomination magic (taught to him by coven head himself with the help of his stuff at first, later flapjack).

I want to give him a dog. Or at least something close to a dog. Wait how did you guess i'm a dog person? Anyway, he calls himself Grim, because y'know demon which appears as ghosty black hound and pordends death

It's 4 am for me when i'm writing this btw

Collector prob knows that hunter is against belos here but they think it's too entertaining so they don't tell him (i mean i love watching my friends trying to figure stuff out it's probably the same). Idk about this

No ships planned except canon ones, actually most events happen like in canon but hunter meets flapjack earlier, and resistance is pretty huge already but they're laying low, okay all episodes with hunter diverge, like hunting palismen, eclipse lake, any sport in the storm and hollow mind

Yep, sibling dynamic with luz, frienemies with amity (but less angst cuz eclipse lake went different) , friends with willow, gus, skara and viney, prank buddies with twins. Grim! Hunter actually trusts owl house residents except hooty, and knows them better, but he just can't leave the emperor's coven yet because plans

Of course he fucks up somewhere and now belos suspects him. Then hollow mind happens. And if there's nothing to lose it's a great opportunity to mess with emperor's mind from inside. Hunter almost dies in the process because of course he does. That's actually the main point of this au. How much you can hurt someone in their mindspace. (The second point is wordplay on grim/grimm/grimwalker)

I really like how characters use their stuff to just attack physically like guys you can cast a fireball but you punch them with a stick? So hunter's artifical stuff also can become sharp, he deserves a knife

Fyi i came up with this au while listening to all eyes on you by smash into pieces

Basically i wanted sassy hunter with support system going against belos while giving him smth new.

[trashcanfanfics]

Hmm, Angel Dust with an S/o noble overlord who managed to break Angel's contract with Val and take him away from him. fluff mixed with a little nsfw :)

I'm gonna be honest, whenever I think about Angel, all I wanna do is get him tf out of Val's reach

Also, only slight nsfw because I'm not confident in my abilities to write a full on scene for that, I'm sorry :(

Angel had come home, covered in bite marks and his own blood again. You watched from the couch with your book in hand as he walked in through the front door. It worried you, that he would come home like this, broken and defeated.

"Welcome home, my love," you spoke softly as you rose up to go greet him, setting the book aside. He mumbled out a half assed greeting in response. As soon as you were close enough, you hugged him tightly. Angel wrapped both sets of arms around you and let out a shaky sigh. It sounded like he was ready to cry.

"Would you like a bath? I'll draw you one." You gently let go before you grabbed his lower left hand to lead him to the huge bathroom centered around a giant clawfooted tub. Refusing to let go of his hand, you turned the knob to start the water and waited for the right temperature before plugging the drain.

Once the tub was full, you stood, facing him and gently helped him take off his clothes. You barely grazed your hand across one of the marks, making him hiss in pain. This made your blood boil. You were sick of this. Angel coming home beaten, marked, and in despair. You won't stand for this anymore. He had begged you not to get involved, said that it'd be worse if you intervened. You helped him into the tub once he was fully undressed.

"Ya not gonna join me?" He asked in a small voice, he was tryng to sound playful but it came out sad, defeated. You smiled weakly and shook your head.

"No, I thought I'd just wash you tonight, if that's alright with you." You liked doing this after he came home like this, offering him a choice. Giving him the freedom to ask for what he wanted. There was a sneaking suspicion you had that said he just wanted to wash off and sleep. The bags under his eyes helped this theory.

"That sounds nice." He sank deeper into the tub as you turned the knob off and helped him clean the blood out of his fur. The gentle motions of running your hands in his soft hair was enough to let his shoulders droop in relaxation. Your mind drifted off while you cleaned him. You kissed his head, healing his wounds, a habit now.

Valentino will no longer hurt your beloved. You would not allow him to do this anymore. These past few weeks you've been researching and studying dealmaking. The processes, terms, and ways to look into loopholes. All you have to do is get your hands on the physical contract to see what you can find. If you couldn't find anything, you'd just set the contract on fire and hit Valentino before running away.

After Angel was fully clean, you grabbed his favorite embroidered towel and helped him out of the bath. Once again grabbing his hand, you lead him to your shared bedroom and helped him into the softest pajamas he owns. He laid down under the silky sheets on the plush mattress and snuggled into it. You changed into your own pajamas before snuggling in with him. Your fingers gently brushed through his hair as softly sang him to sleep. You ran your thumb across the slight purple under his eye, noting how exhausted he looked even in sleep.

~*~

You woke up to the early birdsong of the morning glory in your garden and gently disentangled yourself from Angel's many armsnd made your way over to the edge. There, you stood straight and rounded the bed quietly to place a soft kiss to his forehead. With one last glance, and a whispered "I love you", you turned off the light and left the room, down the hall, out the front door. You're going to pay that bastard a visit.

~*~

Angel woke up feeling better and less sore than he expected. He sat up and looked over to his loving partner's side of the bed only to frown. They weren't there. Getting up, he stretched and decided to look in the kitchen. Maybe they had gotten up already and were making breakfast, though they usually would have the staff take care of it. He didn't know why, they were an amazing cook and it was always a treat when you did make meals.

"S/o? Ya in here, babes?" He opened the door to see the cooks already making breakfast, one handed him a coffee when they passed by to get to some more ingredients, but you weren't there. They looked pretty busy, so he decided to take his cup and search elsewhere.

He checked the dining room, library, living room, their study, parlor, hell, even the garden (saying hi to Nuggets in his own little mansion on the way), but they weren't in any of those places! Where are they? He was getting worried now.

"Uh, excuse me, sire?" Angel looked to the speaker of the voice to see a small demon that reminded him slightly of Niffty. "My liege has left a note for you, sire." The demon handed him a small piece of paper, bowed, and then skittered off. Angel will never get used to the treatment here. He shook his head and focused on the paper.

"My dearest love, I will be out for a short while, but don't fret, I'll be home soon with a surprise and a gift. I love you very much, S/o." He read aloud. "Aren't gifts and surprises the same thing?" He decided to not worry about that and smiled as he imagined when you'd be back.

~*~

You entered your home tired and frazzled, but with a smile beaming with happiness. You had successfully gotten rid of the contract between Valentino and Angel. Now it was time to tell your lover and give him the gifts you bought him.

"My heart? I'm home!" You called into the foyer as you went deeper into the house. You checked the living room and parlor before you were wrapped up in an embrace of four arms.

"Babes! Where were ya? I woke up an' you were gone," he mumbled in your ear. You smiled and pat one of his arms to release you. He let go and you turned to face him, holding out all the gift bags you were carrying.

"S/o, what the fuck happened to you? You're bleeding!" At his exclaimation you look down to actually take yourself in and realize he's right. You were so caught up in finally setting him free and getting him gifts that you didn't notice the small cuts. Laughing, you wave your hand and fix yourself up with your abilities.

"So I was, thank you, lovely. Now, here!" You, once again, offer him the gift bags. He takes them in his lower set of hands and uses the upper set to hold your shoulders.

"We ain't gonna roll past that you were hurt, even if ya can heal them. Who did it?" There was murder in his eyes. Your gaze softened and you laughed softly.

"I was going to wait until you opened the gifts and ask 'what's the occasion?' But you seem so eager," you paused to reach up and hold his face in your hands, "Anthony Messina, you are no longer under contract with the overlord Valentino. You are a free man, my love." The expression on his face was nothing short of shock.

"What? Are you serious?" His eyes fill with tears as he breathes and realizes you're right. Angel wouldn't be able to feel Valentino's chains anymore. He was free. "I can't believe it." He lets out a laugh and the tears fall, ruining his make up. Angel lifts you up and kisses you hard.

"My star," you whispered when you parted. He kissed you again with more passion. Your hands travelled through his soft locks, relishing in the feeling.

"Caro mia." He kissed you again, longer this time. The bags fell from his lower arms which then made their way to your thighs, wrapping them around his waist.

"Shall we take this to the room, sweetling?" You asked when you separated again. Angel nodded vigorously and carried you, all the while kissing you.

In the room, you hear him kick the door closed and then lock the door with one of his arms. You continue to kiss and run your tongue along his bottom lip, asking for entrance, which he happily gives. Hands found their way to the other's clothes, ripping them off in urgency to feel each the naked bodies beneath.

You wiggled your half naked form from his arms and separated the kiss. Before he could complain, you grabbed his lower left hand and yanked him over to the bed, effortlessly throwing him onto it. You crawled on top of him and kissed him lovingly, caressing his face and then down his chest and finally resting on his hips, giving a small squeeze. Parting from his lips, you said a sentence that set his body on fire.

"I'm going to show you what a true claiming feels like."

[rrazor]

what is your skincare routine 🥺 plus imagine doing face masks with ur hq boy 😩😩 pleeaaaaaaseeee manifest

my routine is just a bunch of serums + moisturizer topped off with an obsession with cosrx :^) 

here’s some of my personal h/c’s about their routine and how u fit in 💖

kuroo overexfoliated when he was 16 and that’s when he decided to get into skincare 🤡 but you’re really the one who ties it all together and finishes it 😤 has a bunch of blackheads and is hesitant about using acids but trusts you when you rec a bha (salicylic) and to his surprise it works!! you teach other about ingredients and formulations (more teaching on your end since he’s such an overachiever and is in a million different things) but his skin really goes 🌺🌺 when he’s got a routine down.

another amazing boyfriend to do self-care days with because he needs them so much 😭💞 spends the whole day by your side at home doing whatever whenever and holding your hand the whole way through 💖 does the spoon in the fridge technique to depuff his eyes after a late night and always sends u morning selfies with them on his face all “Good morning my Fated One 🥄👄🥄” 💀💀💀

bokuto already has a skincare routine kudos of his sisters when you start dating and only gets back into doing it regularly when he learns you like doing it too 💕 he wants to spend more time with you as if he isn’t already glued to your hip 😭🤚💗💗

but he slaps his face really hard like really hard 😵 you have to teach him to gently dab and work the product into the skin but he sits like a good boy on the edge of the tub and closes his eyes for you 💛💛 keeps his hands on your hips too ☺️ gets acne here and there and sticks on the pimple patches you give him while telling you “y'know, babe, since you gave these to me, it’s like ur kissing me all night long!!! 🥺🥰😚💕” kiss him now pls

akaashi looks like he has his life together but his skincare routine is 😬 uses bar soap and the same anti-aging face lotion as his mom but his skin is 🌹🌸🌺✨he’s skeptical when he tries out new products but he comes around pretty quickly when he notices how less fatigued he looks 💀

he loves doing masks with you and likes to do one in the morning and one at night because you’ve got him hooked now 😤 he’s so dewy oh my god man is literally gleaming like a diamond 💎✨what have u done….. i bet he has a gua sha and rolls your face for you too 🥺 he’s so gentle omg stop…. looks at u with the softest look in his eyes when you giggle at how funny the sheet masks make the two of you look 💞❤️💕💓💝

oikawa while it’s universally thought in fanon that oikawa is a skincare junkie, i’d say that he’s more so really picky and meticulous. he has specific steps he follows to the t and knows how and when to bring in a new product for any seasonal weather and other changes in his skin. he’s not necessarily going to try your products unless he’s convinced they’ll work for him (everyone’s different after all), but he’s definitely open to you trying his and sharing what you both know 😤💗💗

easily one of the best boyfriends to have self care days with: nails, hair, face, online shopping, you name it, he’ll do it with you 🥰💄💅 i think he hates hyaluronic acid and avoids it like the plague lmfao one of his favourite ways to pass the evenings is the two of you together gossiping with your masks on and eating snacks 🌹🥰🥰🌹

iwaizumi lmfao this mf’er is sooo handsome 🥵 so i say oily skin that’s prone to breakouts 😇 yeah i think iwa struggles with acne and his scars, but he gets lucky that he grows out it by third/fourth year university 😘 uses a basic cleanser marketed towards acne 🤢🤢 and some moisturizer🧴he doesn’t trust oikawa with skincare recommendations because one of the product he gave him had glycolic acid in it and iwa’s skin said 👹

he’s reluctant but lets you help him with his skin and it makes a notable improvement throughout your relationship 👍✨gets heart palpitations when you grab his face and kiss him all over 💘💘 and genuinely thinks you’re one of the best thing to have happened to him when you coo “so handsome hajime 💕” yeah i just think he’s a sucker for you saying his first name lmao

matsukawa he has pretty decent skin, maybe a bit oily and will get spots here and there but overall puberty said nah this one’s cool 😎👍 so he comes in with very basic knowledge about skincare. though bless his heart, he tries out a bunch of stuff with you and is always open to doing masks and trying out new products with you 🥺💖

his skin is pretty resilient so watch him go 😨🤭 when you breakout and he doesn’t jgjebnfkwzl he kisses ur acne scars and spots tho so dw he madly in love ok? 😘🥰❤️ once he starts seeing the changes, he keeps up with the routine you made together for him but he likes to beg for you to do it for him “aw, c’mon babe don’t u want your hands all over this? 😩🤚💕💓💦” i hate him

hanamaki he has a mini routine and knows the general steps from his older sister and because i firmly believe he has dry, sensitive skin. he avoids fragrances, alcohols and all the sulphates and parabens but weirdly his skin is okay with silicones. anyways, he’s the one that introduces you to these amazing korean face masks and now you’re both hooked, spending weekends and days off at his house walking around with ur masks on all 💓👽👽💓

a little bit harder to work with in terms of exploration with your products but he finds his cheeks pinking 💖 and heart beating a little harder 🥰 when you go out of your way to find products that fit his criteria and gets rlly sappy when you start using them too 😭💓💕 he buys the bigger bottles for himself and small bottles for u because he’s whipped (and funny) that way 😐💖

kita looks like he and his grandma would some diy face masks together 🥰❤️ he’s got a basic cleanser and moisturizer but doesn’t do much else. spends a lot of time learning about the products and right steps so he can be a useful partner when you go shopping together 🥺💘💞

he comes to love oils, especially squalane and rosehip seed oil. also becomes a vitamin c junkie 😤 he’s a stickler for patch-testing and comes to really enjoy the whole skincare process in the morning and evenings as his own me time. really appreciates and thanks you for sharing this part of your daily life with him 🥺💘💞💞💖 invites you over to do masks with his grandma 😘

atsumu yeah he gets his beautiful skin from his mom and literally everything else because his mom is 🌸✨in both personality and looks. exfoliates three to four times a week and still looks amazing so you really have to wonder what his skin is doing and what yours isn’t 😔

when he finds the products that work™️ for him (kudos to you), he genuinely cannot stop admiring the shine of his skin after someone points it out he’s all 👁👃👁✨ and calls you up “babe ‘m beautiful did’ja know look at me look” 😐 likes to do skincare routines together but rushes through his so that he can do other stuff with you 😭💗💖💕 hates it when you push him away and don’t let him kiss you while your products are settling 🥺☹️💔

osamu my guy here is also blessed with naturally occurring bacteria that gives him beautiful skin like life rlly isn’t fair 😟😟 he doesn’t know much but lets you do whatever and loves loves loves it when you put all the products on him 🥺❤️ sits down between your legs all 💗🐶💗 prefers mud masks over sheet ones and likes to smear yours on for u 🥰

he comes to love skincare, not as much as you but enjoys how his face feels after he’s all moisturized and such. though he never remembers sunscreen so please carry some with you 😭 he buys you snacks and sneaks kisses while u wait for your products to settle on ur face 💖💖 uses a jade roller in the mornings as he checks his phone because it feels nice 👍✨✨

suna sensitive skin but relatively normal in terms of oiliness. ik he steals his younger sister’s products if they’re close in age 💀 he has very little idea how to get started so when he jumps in and tries one of yours he breaks out really bad and curses you lmfaoooo 👿👿👹🤡

ok but once he gets a decent routine in, he does his best to keep up with it and it helps!! his skin feels less tight and more supple so he might love you a little more for that 🙄🤚💖 he prefers sheet masks and lets you clip his curtain bangs to the side✨ also looks like the kinda guy who likes to sit on the balcony/patio with his mask on and soak up the sun in the mornings after you both have your sunscreen on 🌼🌼

ushijima his skin is dehydrated but he doesn’t know it, has accepted the oiliness of his skin as a symptom of his athletics 😔 he’s got a bunch of expensive luxury products given to him by his mom and she’s told him to use them but he doesn’t know what the right order is so he puts on an occlusive first before anything else 😭😭😭

genuinely appreciates you so much when you take the time to teach him about everything and even asks if you could give him some notes so that he can refer to them when you’re not by his side 🥺💗💕💖 joins you in your product endeavours and gives you succinct but helpful feedback on what he likes and doesn’t like 😤 likes to hold you while u do masks together 🌼 and rests his head on urs 😭🌸💕

tendou uses whatever he’s got at home and what his mom gets him 🤷‍♀️ spots here and there but otherwise pretty clear skin. he’s open to trying anything and everything with you because he’s just really happy to spend time with you 🥰💞💞

sits really close to you and let’s you have free reign of his face when you sleep over at his place!! he giggles a lot because it tickles but never asks you to stop 🥺💜 thanks you for helping him and making him look so pretty 🌷✨looks like he’d be allergic to propolis/honey-based ingredients...

semi handsome man…. another one that looks dehydrated to me but he’s trying just please help him 😭🤚 he’s too nervous to go skincare shopping on his own because of the sheer amount of selection available 😢 tags along with you like a little puppy when you go with him 🐶💘

i feel like he has closed comedones 🤔 he tries out your retinol and keeps up with it when you told him some people got rid of theirs using it and…… it worked 😳🌟✨ thinks you’re a skincare goddess now lmfao 😤👊 when girls in university ask him about his skin, he just calls you and puts you on speaker because “my baby worked rlly hard so she should get all the credit” 😭💖💖

sakusa i think rosacea but also wealthy parents who had access to numerous dermatologists who nipped it in the bud as soon as they saw it 🤑 anyways he’s got near perfect skin lol goes through periods of dryness and keeps a strict regimen of products 👌🌟 swears by aloe vera and keeps some with him at all times 💗

though i do think you gently push him to introduce serums and essences into his routine (which is basic, but covers all his bases). you let him experiment and he finds one from cosrx that he considers a holy grail 😳 he likes doing ur skincare routine for you and you sit on the toilet seat and grin up at him 🥰 he blushes but doesn’t look away and might or might not admit he loves to be in such close contact with you 💘💘

hoshiumi kinda brutal with the way he goes about it; it looks like he’s beating the product in 💀👊👊 uses bar soap on both his face and body and wonders why his skin is dry and tight after showers “what? doesn’t that mean you didn’t clean all the gross oil off?” 😶😐�� u gotta start from scratch with this guy 🤐

he pays attention to you but also doesn’t and finds it a bit of a hassle to go through five different products so he settles for a really basic routine 🥱 has one really fancy bottle of serum he takes with him to games and such and goes “my girlfriend gave it to me what don’t you have something like this 🤔” before putting it on if anyone asks 💀🤚💗 a full on chad 💪

hirugami he definitely has a skincare routine…. handsome 🤤 though i think he dislikes the feeling of sheet masks on his face; they feel too goopy and he doesn’t like how slimey they are. he prefers just using a short list of serums to keep his skin healthy and plump 💖✨likes hypoallergenic and fragrance-free products 👌

had acne back in middle school and a bit in first year. feel like he goes through a flare up in third year 😇🙃 anyways he likes standing next to u in the washroom doing ur routines side by side 🥰 wears those fluffy animal ear headbands with you and puts on your lip balm for you 💓💓 his dog came up and licked u across the face one time 😭 he almost choked with how hard he was laughing at u 😔 but he helped u redo it 😭💝

[shawtynagito]

Aethers grand Halloween special! a wrath over the adults wallets! Pt 1 😩

"Trick or Treat!" Aether yelled, pounding at the door in front of him. The people of Liyue lacked the spirit for Halloween.

The door opened slowly as a grumpy looking boy peeked his head out of the door.

"... What're you doing at my house at this hour?" Xingqiu blinked, rubbing at his eyes. He was just like a big baby. "And what is the meaning behind your outfits?"

"It's Halloween!" You huffed. "Give us a treat or get tricked, that's how it works!" You explained. "And the outfits are for fun!"

"I have nothing." He spoke, quick to shut the door. "Please do trick me later."

Aether went back to pounding on the door. "You can join us, then! It'll be fun!" He announced.

The boy swung the door open this time, his eyebrow twitching. "You're going to wake up my father."

"Paimon promises your dad won't wake up if you join us." Paimon announced, a cheeky smile on her face.

The boy let out another sigh. Reluctantly stepping out of his house.

"You have no cool outfit." Aether pointed out before crossing his arms. "How disappointing."

"Paimon has to agree.."

"Do you think the Heir of the Guhua Clan walks around in his pajamas?" He sassed, furrowing his brows. "No. The answer is no." He answered before any of you could say something dumb.

"He's so grumpy when he's tired!" Paimon pointed out, eyes wide. "A.. Tired grumpy Guhua geek!"

"Your names are getting weak." You shook your head. Aether could only agree.

"Hey, why is he leading us? He won't know any good hotspots!" Paimon spoke, ignoring the insult as she pointed over toward the blue-haired boy.

"Heheheh, I am simply gathering new people to bother in the middle of the night." He explained, turning back to the three of you. "This is another Halloween tradition, right? Bothering others when they are trying to sleep?"

"... So petty! I'm getting shivers!" Aether shook, running his hands up and down his arms.

"Yeah, I could almost drown from all the pettiness!" You added.

"Wamin restaurant? Who are you going to fetch here? Pickup food?" Paimon questioned as Xingqiu made his way over.

"Have you never heard of Xiangling? I thought she was a world-class chef." Xingqiu sighed. Rapidly smashing the ringer at the front.

"Oooh! You know Xiangling?" Paimon blinked, "Paimon thought you were always busy reading some book!"

The boy fell silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "I am human, as well. I need to eat."

"Oh, right." Paimon nodded.

It took Xiangling a moment to appear at the front, looking disheveled.

"I had to run over here! My ringer is connected to my clock at home, so I came as fast as I could-" the girl blinked as she processed the familiar faces in front of her. "Oh, what're you guys all doing here? A gathering?" She smiled, "I can make us some yummy Slime Parfaits!" She drooled.

"We are here to retrieve you for the night of tricking or treating others." Xingqiu interrupted with a smile.

"Trick or Treating others..?" The girl blinked. "I don't know what that means, but if I can find ingredients, I'll join!"

"Oh, you'll find some very sweet ingredients." Aether nodded, knowing her, she'd probably find a way to incorporate candy into her dishes.

"Sweet! I'll join you!" She smiled, skipping her way over toward the door, leaving her restaurant completely unattended to.

"The next place we're going may be to scary for thee flying dog, just a warning." Xingqiu warned with a smile, leading the group of you to a rundown cathedral. Much like the one in Mondstadt but in much... Worse condition.

"Paimon's not a dog!" Paimon protested, however, her words went unheard as she stopped herself right outside of the doors of the buildings.

"What's wrong, Paimon? Just a few more centimeters and you'll be inside." Aether encouraged.

Xiangling and Xingqiu pressed on further into the building without fear. As the three of you stayed back.

"No way Paimon's going in there! I'm staying right here!" The girl pouted, kicking her leg in the air.

"Should've left you to drown." Aether mumbled before walking further into the building.

"Hey! Stop being so mean to Paimon!" The girl chased after him in a flash of courage. You slowly joined them.

"Be banished from this world, and settle your soul to rest..." A new voice mumbled out, a random, yet long-lasting flash filling the air.

"Brrr, Paimons cold all of a sudden! What happened?!"

Xingqiu emerged from the shadows out of no where, a smile on his face. "Just a quick Exorcism." He explained. "Nothing to unordinary."

"Oh, just an exorcism..." Aether mumbled. "Just an exorcism?!?" He repeated, however more urgent.

A new boy appeared alongside Xiangling, clouds of cold radiating off the light-haired boy.

"Hello." He greeted. "I get a lot of reports of paranormal activities on Halloween. There's high waves of spiritual energy on this specific night..." The boy mumbled, "sorry for not getting to you sooner."

"No problem, it's only been a few seconds." You shrugged. Paimon frantically tugging at your spare coat.

"This should be my last job for the night. I suppose I can join you all." He offered.

With that, the six of you set off to the nearest, that you knew of- rich guy.

"Childe, open your door!" Aether commanded, pounding on said persons door. He knew a lot of people...

The door swung open, a brown-haired man standing at the doorway. "Heya. What brings you here- and all these other kids...?" He mumbled, his eyes combing through the number of children at his door.

"Trick or Treat!" The lot of you yelled.

Childe stood still for a moment before he let out a small laugh. "Haha... Trick or treat, right." He mumbled, slowly shutting the door.

"What's a trick or treat?" You could hear his muffled voice say.

You all stood outside of his door for a moment, waiting for the man to reemerge.

He returned to the door, with a smile.

"I don't have candy." He spoke. "Besides, why would you trust candy from a guy like me?" He hummed, eying the boy beside you.

"Just give us something." Aether spoke.

"Right, here." He nodded, handing Mora left and right. It was an overwhelming amount, actually. "Have a good night, don't get yourself into trouble." He warned before shutting his door.

"Sounds like he really wanted to get rid of us..." Paimon mumbled. "But now Paimon is stinkin' rich!"

"I was in need of Pocket Money for the night." Xingqiu hummed, causing everyone to glare at him.

"We get it, you're rich!" Paimon yelled.

"I would say we should stop at Zhonglis place, but he probably wont have a thing to give out..." Aether spoke, rubbing the back of his head as he walked down the trail.

"And Ningguang is to busy being her rich self." Xingqiu huffed, crossing his arms. Repeating something along the lines of 'dont talk badly of others'.

"Let's head to Mondstadt! They always have a lot of good stuff on Halloween!" You announced. "I grew up there, and the amount of stuff they give out is crazy! Plus, I know of a few people to bother!"

___________________

"Why does this place smell so badly of smoke?" Chongyun asked, his eyes scanning over the building he stood in front of.

"I don't know, but it's probably a good place to cook.." Xiangling drooled.

"Oh, that's just Bennett being Bennett." You grinned before approaching the door, knocking on it lightly. However, the door caved in, falling onto the floor.

What a flimsy door!

Everyone's thoughts behind you resonated.

A white-haired boy walked over to his door, simply picking it back up and placing it back into it's doorframe.

"Hey, [Firstname]!" The boy greeted with quite a big smile for someone who's door just broke. "I was waiting for you!" He grinned, leaning over to the right, picking up a classic pumpkin bucket.

"I like your hot dog costume!" He complimented.

"And I like your mummy costume." You smiled.

"Have you gotten anything good yet?" He asked, slapping on protection gear. His bad luck kicked in exponentially on Halloween.

"Some filthy rich guy gave us a crap ton of Mora!" You spoke, lifting up your bag so he could get a look. "You can have some." You offered, pouring a good amount of your share into his bucket.

"Thanks a bunch, [Firstname]!" He grinned, finally securing the last piece of equipment before he turned to the rest of the people accompanying you.

"Oh, are these new recruits?" He grinned, overwhelmed over the amount of new people around him. Usually, people avoided him like the plague.

"They're all people that're gonna trick-or-treat with us! Cause I'm forcing them!" Aether stepped up, hands on his hips. He looked quite proud.

"Paimon just goes wherever he goes because Paimon is bothersome like that." The fairy smiled, hands behind her back.

"Huh, alright, cool!" Bennett grinned. "Have to warn you though, my unluckiness might spread to you guys."

"Paimon isn't too concerned, I don't think anyone else is, either."

"Speak for yourself..." Chongyun sweatdropped. "I don't have a good feeling about this..."

Xingqiu let out a laughed as he shook his head. "Oh, dear Chongyun, what's there to be so scared of?" He asked, placing his hands on his hips.

Chongyun let out a groan of irritation before looking around the place. It took a while of walking to get here, so he might as well check the place out.

"Who are you guys?!" Amber's voice echoed throughout the place as she appeared out of no where. "You guys don't look like natives."

"Ever hear of tourists?" Chongyun sighed. "I was forced here by my friend... Who was forced here by your honorary knight."

"It's me, I'm the honorary knight." Aether spoke, making his way over to the both of them.

"Oh, I see.." She hummed, reaching into her pocket. "Take these." She spoke, offering some... Granola bars.

"Granola bars, deadass?" You deadpanned before turning away. "What a let down.. Last year you gave me a crapton of candy..."

"Well, this isn't last year! And I'm on a budget here!" She huffed, her lips settled on a pout.

"Whatever... I bet Diluc and Kaeya have a ton of candy and are competing on who has the most because of their undying sibling rivalry!" You grinned, hopping away from the rest of the group.

"Hold up, [Firstname]!" Bennett called out, rushing after you to only end up rolling down the stairs. Thank God for protection gear....

_____________

Diluc, of course, was attending the bar. Cause he never had anything better to do, and Kaeya was off in the corner, being kind of creepy...

"I forgot it was Halloween." Diluc sighed, crossing his arms at the sight of the children pouring into the room.

"Just like how you forgot about fathers legacy." Kaeya smiled, his voice loud so everyone in the damn place could hear it.

"Damn you.." Diluc seathed, furrowing his brows. "Did you remember what day it was today?" He asked.

"Of course I did." The man smiled, standing up from his seat. "I'm not quite the slacker you are." He boasted.

"Then hand us our candy." Aether demanded. Holding out his bag.

"Yeah!" Bennett grinned. "If you don't mind..." He added on sheepishly.

"Of course..." Kaeya coughed, looking around the area. Snatching a bag of candy someone had left behind while they went to the restroom.

"Here... Share it between all of you.." He smiled, pouring a generous amount into the bags being held in front of him.

"A witch, a mummy, a cat and a hot dog... How....." He looked off to the side, "original..."

Silence filled the air for a moment before he changed the subject. "And... Who are these three? What are their costumes?" He asked, attention on the three people forced to come over here.

"I am Xingqiu... And my costume is... Ready for bed." He bowed awkwardly.

"Chongyun... I'm a... Sumo wrestler..." The light-haired boy blinked sheepishly.

"I'm Xiangling and I'm... I'm..." She grumbled, scowering her brain for an idea. "I'm a pirate!"

Kaeyas uncovered eye widened. "A pirate...?" He asked quietly, analyzing the girls outfit.

"Uh oh.." Paimon sighed, "she's gonna get caught!"

"That's an interesting view on pirates you have..." Kaeya nodded, quickly placing the bag back down as the owner had made their way over.

"Have a nice night, children." He smiled, waving at the lot of you.

"You didn't remember Halloween for shit." Diluc coughed, causing Kaeya to look over at him.

"Of course I did."

________________

"Fischl? What are you doing out here, I thought you said you were going to stay indoors tonight?" Bennett asked the blonde girl as she walked down the steps from the Adventurers Guild.

"Haha... That was Oz, silly child." The girl lied, laughing into her hand.

"I'm right here," Oz spoke, his voice was pretty deep.

Fischl let out a puff of air as she crossed her arms. She was so close to committing animal cruelty right then and there.

"... That was a few hours ago... Now is now..." She explained with a cough. Looking to the side.

"So then... You can join us in trick-or-treating now?" Bennett asked.

"Hah! Trick-Or-Treating... Why would I do something so childish?" She scoffed.

"Yes, oh so childish of you to have a bag full of candy, right?" Xingqiu hummed, his gaze fixated on the bag she held.

"Oh, this?" She laughed, draping it over Oz in an instant. "He's a big fan of candy... To bad because I'm giving the candy out..." She lied.

"Oh, great! Can we have some?" Aether asked with a smile. Of course, he knew that she was lying, but like... He really wanted candy.

"Um, haha... Right..." She nodded, "only one for each person... Monstadt has... A lot of people..." She hummed, handing out a single piece to everyone.

"How generous." Xingqiu sighed, stuffing the thing into his pocket. "I hate smarties." He grumbled.

"I don't get a lot of free stuff, Halloween is the coolest!" Bennett smiled. "So is my birthday... But that comes every four years... If you think about it, I'm only like... Four years old..."

[onyxiana-is-obsessed]

Wings of Warmth! | Keigo Takami (Hawks) x Reader

AN: Ok, this was actually an idea that @lelawrites had in a discord server we’re in and she let me write it out! I can’t really get Hawks’ character down, but I tried my best! Pronouns used: She/her Length: 1.4k words

Summary: Hawks has gotten so used to using his wings to keep himself warm, that he no longer needs blankets, so he gets rid of all of them. Problem is, you’re spending the night and he has no blankets to give you to keep you warm at night.

Your Name: (y/f/n) Quirk: (y/q) Age: 22

Being the number 2 hero really kept Hawks busy. He rarely had a chance to sleep in his own bed, under his warm, comforting sheets. He was used to sleeping on uncomfortable beds with extremely thin and useless sheets, such as now.

A shiver racked Keigo’s body which made him huff and sit up on the extremely thin mattress. His hands clenched the sheets while his golden eyes glared down at it as if it were a person who’d said something disrespectful to him. With a sigh, he tossed the sheets off the bed and ran his hand through his messy hair. Another shiver went through him, making him shut his eyes as his large and powerful wings enclosed around him. A few moments later, he felt the heat build-up, making his eyes widen a bit. His dumbass was today years old when he realized his wings could keep him warm! 23 whole ass years before he realized this. He grumbled before laying back down, his wings laying against him, keeping him warmer than any blanket he had.

** Keigo had gotten so used to using his wings for warmth that blankets just no longer did it for him. Not only were they not warm enough, but they were so bothersome! He couldn’t freely turn without his wings picking them up, allowing a cold draft to infiltrate his barrier of warmth. He never used blankets any other time, so why would he use them in his own bed? At least the mattress was more comfortable. Deciding he’d had enough, Keigo stopped using blankets. He preferred to sleep with himself snuggly wrapped under his wings. After making a habit of that, Keigo realized his blankets were just gathering dust in his house, taking up unnecessary space that he may need later for some reason or other. So, he threw them out. Every single blanket. Even months after he’d gotten rid of them, he didn’t regret his decision… until now.

He’d met a wonderful, beautiful, loving, caring woman named (f/n). At first, she seemed like a rather innocent and simple person, but he was so wrong. She was neither innocent nor simple! She’d managed to wiggle her way into his life and his heart so quickly, it threw him into a panic. He’d met her one day and a few weeks later he was contemplating whether he was in love or not. He forced himself to wait a painful six months before he finally asked her out and much to his surprise, she accepted.

They were a happy couple, even though he was extremely busy. If he ever had time, he’d always visit her, even if it was an hour or less. (f/n) cherished every moment she could spend with him. He would often find himself at her house at night, where he’d talk to her until she fell asleep. This time around, however, he had invited her over to his place. Boy, was he nervous.

Although, after about twenty minutes of her being there, he felt all of his anxiety and worries melt away, making him return to his cocky and carefree self. (f/n) had spent about two hours with him before the two decided to prepare dinner together. The entire process was filled with laughter and joy, with Keigo smearing or throwing ingredients on her. Of course, she returned the favor. Right, right, they had an extremely great at-home date. Now, Keigo was in a bit of trouble. Without really thinking about it, Keigo asked (f/n) to spend the night at his place, mostly because he didn’t want her to leave. She was a bit shocked, but accepted the proposal with a bright and cheerful smile that made his insides melt.

Keigo had lent her some of his clothing so she could get out of her uncomfortable outfit. As she got changed into his shirt and shorts, she realized her bed didn’t have any blankets on them. Thinking he’d probably had them washed or something, she went out to his bedroom, which was right down the hall.

She knocked on his bedroom door, making him look at her with a smile. He totally- without being the least bit discrete- checked her out. She looked good in his clothing.

“Sorry to bother-”

“You’re never a bother, dove.” He winked, making her playfully roll her eyes.

“Do you have a spare blanket?” She asked, making his eyes shoot up to her face with confusing swirling in them, almost as if he’d never even heard the term blanket.

“What?” He asked as he tilted his head.

“A spare blanket,” She said, pointing to his bed. “I’m gonna get cold without one.” Cue the inner panic. He’d completely forgotten that normal people use blankets! He just asked her to stay the night and had NOTHING to keep her warm.

“Oh, right. Be right back.” He said as he gestured for her to sit on his bed while he went downstairs. He frantically looked through every cabinet and closet he had hoping a blanket would just magically appear. Not one! He really couldn’t even keep one blanket?!

Then again… he didn’t invite people to his house and definitely didn’t expect to be in a relationship where the person would sleep in his home. His quest to find a blanket failed rather miserably, however, he found a large and rather fluffy towel! Would that work? Shrugging, he returned to (f/n), who patiently sat on his bed scrolling through his phone.

With a bright smile, Keigo offered the blanket to her. (f/n) slowly put her phone down, her other hand grabbing the towel before an awkward laugh escaped her lips.

“This… is a joke right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Kei, this a towel.” She said. “It’s not even big enough for me.” He only frowned and looked away, his cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. (f/n) sighed and put the blanket beside her and took his hand. “Are they dirty? I don’t mind waiting till they’re washed. We can-”

“I don’t use blankets.” He interrupted, making her pause. “What?”

“I don’t use blankets. They’re annoying and they get caught on my wings. So I ended up getting rid of mine.”

“You got rid of all of them? Why didn’t you keep a couple?”

“I didn’t think I’d ever need them. Sorry.” He said, sitting next to her. She nodded, understandingly, before an impish smile made its way into her face. “Well, in that case, I guess you’ll have to keep me warm.” He blushed but smiled, feeling the embarrassment melt away.

“Oh, I can definitely keep you warm, dove.” His smirk made her scoff as she smacked his arm.

“Not like that!”

“Like what? I didn’t specify. You should get your mind out of the gutter.” He teased as he stood up and turned off the lights and shut the door. He then moved to the middle of the bed with (f/n) following his lead. He flattened one of his wings as he gestured for her to lay on it.

“Won’t that hurt?” She asked, making him chuckle.

“Do they look fragile? Because they’re pretty strong, dove.” With uncertainty in her eyes, (f/n) moved closer to him and laid on the large feathery wing. She felt the feathers move under her which made her gasp and move to sit up. Keigo chuckled and grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back down. “Relax, that didn’t hurt. I’m just readjusting.” His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer towards his body as his other large wing gently covered them both. She half expected them to smell weird, like a bird’s wings, but they didn’t. They actually smelled the same as he did, which was a faint scent of lavender. (f/n) closed her eyes, burying her face into his chest as the warmth from his wings spread to the both of them. She let out a content sigh as his lips pressed against her forehead.

“This is really nice…” She mumbled. “Do you use your wings to keep yourself warm?”

“I do. That’s why I don’t use blankets anymore.” He admitted.

“I can see why. I like this better.” He smiled as his arms tightened around her smaller frame.

“It’s better with you here.” He answered. “Guess you can’t leave now, dove.” “Is that an offer? Because I accept.” She giggled, kissing his cheek. He felt on top of the world with her here in his arms. No matter what the world threw at him, he’d cherish (y/f/n) until the end of his days. No one would ever hurt his dove or take her away from him.

[upthewitchypunx]

A Dabbler’s week of DIY Witchery

All us witches are steamed about the nonsense article where the person tried to become a witch in a week and concluded that we were anti-vax science deniers. We can all be annoyed at the article, but @asksecularwitch​ had a better idea to suggest what we would have someone do to explore witchcraft for a week or to dabble in witchcraft. There’s no shame in dabbling! How are you ever going to know if you like something if you don’t dabble?

So, here’s mine. I preface it with saying that I am an agnostic secular witch and I call my practice DIY Witchery. So, here’s how to explore that if it’s a think you might like doing.

Day 1: Clean your fucking room!

I’m not going to say what day of the week you should start. My weekend is Wednesday/Thursday so start whenever you want. You know what, you don’t even have to do this one day after another day if something comes up, just the idea that you intend to do all of it is a good start.

What you need: Tea light, safety pin, a match or lighter, a notebook, a pen, and a lot of work.

The first day of any project is almost always the most exciting one and the one that you are more inclined to put effort into. So, we are going to go big!

Clean your room! I mean it. Wash and put away your clothes, change your sheets, sweep or vacuum your floor, wash your windows, dust, change that burnt out lightbulb, take all the dishes out of your room,  take your trash out and I mean the trash literally and figuratively. While you are cleaning your room think about what you want to gain from a week of exploring witchcraft. What are your interests in witchcraft? Do you want to do spells? Do you want to feel more safe? Are you interested in self-care? Do you like plants/cooking/animals and think there is something more you can do with these interests in an esoteric or occult way? Do you just want to see what all this new age woo fuss is about? All of these are valid reasons so keep them in mind when we go on to the next step and also keep your mind open because all of these things could change and that’s okay too. Then, take a bath or shower and get all that cleaning grime off you. There’s a reason “shower thoughts” hit us the way they do. Our body is relaxed and processing things differently so keep thinking about those thoughts you’ve had all day and what you are going to do with them.

Do you have an altar? I’ll bet you do! It doesn’t have to be all candles, cauldrons, and goblets and shit. It could be a flat surface where you have trinket boxes you received as gifts or an area where you have photos of friends and loved ones, or maybe a desk with your computer which is like a link to the world. We all create these spaces because they are pleasing and they remind us of who we are. Sometimes these get cluttered with empty ice cream tubs, keys, receipts, random paper but that’s why you cleaned your room so you can keep this space clear for the week. For this week, we’ll call this space “your space”

It may have been a long day and you are probably tired but you are almost done. Look around your room and admire your work. Seriously, a deep clean is so much work but so fulfilling when it is done. Get yourself a snack (or order some food if your budget allows) and get something to drink and find a cozy place to sit with your notebook.

Okay, get your snack and your drink and get that tealight candle and with a safety pin or a knife or something and carve something into the candle like “witchcraft” or “witch week” or “let’s dabble”, basically something that states that this is something you want work on. Place that in your space and light it while you write in your notebook. Think about all that stuff you were thinking about while you were cleaning. What interests you in witchcraft? If there are any aspects of witchcraft that interest you, write that down. State that you are starting this DIY project in earnest and are actually interested in taking it on. Part of taking up this project is too look at the world in a new way. The world is full of tools that might be useful if you learned to look at them in a different way. This week if you feel the urge to pick up weird objects off the ground to be used later or things that catch you eye like an acorn cap, bottle cap, or a literal fork you find it the road, or even if you see an object you can afford to buy that you think might be useful, do it. These collected things will be used for a divination project at the end of the week. Collect them and place them in your space throughout the week and document where you find them. Keep in mind your commitment to this DIY project all week when you are making choices. Remember if you decide to change your goals that’s cool.

Day 2 - Energy, Grounding & Centering

Yesterday was a lot of work so today we are going to do a quick exercise called Gounding and Centering. A simple exercise that a lot of witchcraft books I started on always mentioned that seems to be out of fashion or just skipped these days. I find it is a good trick to keep in my pocket for when I’m am upset of scared or anxious and not just for casting spells or whatever.

The general idea is to feel energy moving or to at least visualize it or maybe understand it in a strange intellectual way. It’s good to keep you in the moment, for me at least. First, let’s talk about the body and energy and how weird it is that we are alive and how our body has all these electrical impulses shooting through our nerves and telling my fingers to type this right now, ya? Being alive is pretty neat. What does a process that happens without thought feel like? Put your hands/palms together less than an inch apart without touching and think about the feeling. is it warm? Is it prickly? Does it feel like magnets repelling each other? Move your hands back and forth with the same short distance between them. Do you feel anything? It’s okay if you don’t, just try it.  Write down your thoughts in your notebook.

This is what is called a visualization and sometimes people aren’t really into it or are unable to do it and that’s okay but at least give it a try  The traditional grounding and centering is to sit comfortably on the floor, in a chair, or on your bed in your beautifully clean room. Sit comfortably, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw,  and notice your breathing, count to whatever numbers in and out that makes sense to you,  I like 3s but maybe 5s or 7s are more you jam? 

Traditionally your are supposed to visualize yourself as a tree with a tap root from the base of your spine going deep into the earth and drawing energy up and into your body as you focus on your breathing. This would be a way to draw energy for spell work but we aren’t going to do that so just send that energy right back where it came from. I actually like to physically touch my hands to the ground to shed excess energy. Maybe that visualization doesn’t work for you. It’s not really my thing. I imagine a specific location that is a watershed and all the water that falls for many square miles heads to the river, trickles through rocks to a specific place. I gather that and hold what I need and let what I don’t need pass though like the spillway of a damn. It’s more of a receptacle kind of thing for me. Maybe you like the idea of fire filling a room with warmth or the air down a canyon or some sort of science thing like water cycles, heat transference, or osmosis. Write down your thoughts about this experiement, try it a few times in one way and maybe a few times throughout this week.

Day 3- Perception and Animism

What you need: a bus pass and the ability to go outside, and your notebook

Part of this whole witch exercise is look at the world differently so go outside, talk to a tree, watch patterns in nature including humans doing human things like riding the bus or grocery shopping. Don’t wear headphones. Interact with strangers that approach you. Pretend they are NPCs in a video game. Take your notebook with you. Write down any thoughts that come to you about the things you see or feel. Write something on a piece of paper you want to get rid of like a bad date, a habit you would like to quit, an intrusive thought, and throw it away in the garbage in a public place and don’t look back. That’s a small kind of spell.  If you see some change on the ground pick it up. If you see anything of interest fallen on the ground and you feel comfortable picking it up take in home and put it in your space for later, do it. Maybe go to a thrift store and see if anything catches your eye. Does your space need a tealight candle holder? I like to say I go to thrift stores to see if anything ones to come home with me.

Animism is the idea that everything (plants, animals, houses, cars, pencils, etc) has a soul, maybe you don’t believe in souls, I’m a bit iffy on the topic myself. But I do believe things and places have unique essences that make them what they are. I like to call myself a “soft-animist”. Things are created with purpose like a spoon. How do you interact with the spoon doing a spoon thing? Why does a certain smell lift your spirit? Why do you even have a favorite color? This day what about interacting with the essences of things. Things move us without our thinking about it, how do you move things? How do you interact with the world? Write about it in your notebook.

Day 4 - Correspondences and Critical Thinking

What you need: the internet, critical thinking skills, and your notebook

This one might take some time and I kind of apologize but you do have a clean room and the internet so you don’t have to go find some shitty new age book in the bookstore. A lot of witchcraft and spellcraft is based on the use of correspondences for spell ingredients. You will see a lot of these lists that are like “rose quarts is for love” and “rosemary is for everything” or “the color blue is for tranquility and green is for prosperity but also fertility” You will just see lists of these things with no explanation and you are just supposed to memorize them I guess? If you get really detailed some will mention what astrological sign or planet they are associated with even the classical elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These elements show up in modern witchcraft a lot, they aren’t really my thing, but worth exploring even as a metaphor if you have the time. You’ll also see correspondences for days of the week and hours of the day or season of the year. These ingredients get put in jars, or sachets, or burned in spells. A Correspondence list is just stuff that is associated with a desired outcome of a of spell.

Some of these are based in astrological concepts or the movement of planets as observed through western mystery traditions. Some concepts of correspondences are filtered  through folk magic and the idea that like attracts like, this is called Sympathetic magic. It’s like what you did if you wrote a bad date on paper and tossed it in the trash the other day. See, you did a spell! There is also the Doctrine of Signatures stating that plants that look like things like a plant that looks like a heart is good for your heart or a plant that grows aggressively is good for making a spell to make something move faster.

This is why there are endless lists of correspondences. You can go look up some endless lists of correspondences to see what I mean. Does this sort of historical context mean anything to you? Does timing mean anything to you? What if you made your own correspondences? What would that look like? What if you hate the color orange because it was your ex-husband’s favorite color? Then chuck it out of the rainbow mix! Plants and other things are often gendered, why? 

Pick 3 herbs in your spice cabinet or a plant you found outside and look up the magical correspondence for it. Does it make sense to you? If not, what do you think would better represent a desired outcome? What colors, plants, flowers, sounds make you happy or sad, write that down.

Day 5 - Sigils

What you need: Pen and paper

I love sigils but the idea of what they are and how they work has been changing lately. I’m kind of old school with sigils. The idea is that you have a statement of something you want to achieve, but you write it in the present. Maybe you have decided you want to be a witch so you write “I AM A WITCH” now, drop the vowels, “M W T C H” now take those letters and turn them into a symbol, overlap the letters, make it look pleasing to you. There! You have a sigil. I like to keep these around for a few days until you forget what it was supposed to be. The idea is that you take in the idea of the symbol and it becomes part of you, then you burn it and the sigil is gone but still resides in you. There’s are lots of ways for sigils to operate these day it seems, some are charged through self pleasuring before being destroyed, some act like a sticker that you place on something and it stays there and is not destroyed, I just like to hang out with them subtly reminding myself of whatever the reason I crafted it. I highly suggest reading this article on Run Soup about sigils and images in general and how they affect humans.

Day 6 - Knot Spell

What you need: a length of swing or rope

This is a fairly simple folk charm. There’s a lot you can do with fiber art and magic but we’ll start here. Get a length of string, or dental floss or an old shoelace, whatever can be tied 9 times. If you wanna feel witchy, light the candle in your space in your clean room.  Think of something you would like to manifest like waking up on time to get to work early or remembering to water your houseplants, do that grounding and centering thing from day 2, then tie the length of thread in order as outlined in this image while saying each line of the spell. Now you would let go of that energy and eat some food. Leave the knotted string in your space. Write down your thoughts on the experience.

Day 7 - Divination

What you need: A book, some way to listen to music digital and all the stuff you picked up off the ground

When people think of divination they think of tarot cards or reading tea leaves but there’s lots of different kinds of divination and there’s no reason to fork over money for a tarot deck when it just might not be your thing. I don’t know how it works or why it works but I’m more inclined to say that our brain is paying attention to everything and we fixate on symbols and archetypes because they remind of what our unconscious has been sorting out while we’ve been sleeping. 

I’m going to suggest three forms of divination: Biliomancy, Shufflemancy, and Cleromancy. Pick one or pick all three if you feel like it. If you guessed bibliomancy was about books, you would be correct! Originally it was to use the bible but any big book will do, especially if the books means something to you. I have this lovely edition of Lord of the Rings that’s fantastic for this. Close your eyes, you can do the grounding and centering thing if you would like, think of a question, open the book to a random page, point your finger and read the line. Did you get some sort of answer?

Shufflemancy would be putting your music on shuffle and asking a questions for and for the next track to give you some insight. 

Cleromancy is divination through small objects. It often has to do with tossing the objects and observing where they land in relation to each other but we are just going to simplify it. Remember all that stuff you picked up off the street? You didn’t do it? That’s okay. Get a small bag or maybe a stock or something and gather some small object, the ones you found or some other objects that will fit in the bag. Ask a question, toss the bag around a bit and let one object fall out. What does that object mean to you? Was it something you found? Where did you find it and under what circumstances? Was it a gift from a friend or something that has special meaning? Write it down in your notebook.

And thus concludes your week of dabbling in DIY Witchery. Maybe you hated it, but at least you have a clean room.

[talesofealdancynedom]

Uncle Cetus knitting; There is a matching picture, where Morgan is wearing that sweater by the way...

Tale 21: What The Wagon Was For (chapter 8 - On The Radio 8/8 ) part 6. Stories of wizards

no warings

           Wool and yarn; Soft threads tied together to keep warm. Self soothing, and expressing creativity. Natural fibers, twirled into textiles that are plush, yet strong. The smell of plastic from the store, that turns into a soft warm sent, as fingers pull it between needles and hooks; As it is transformed into a variety of adornments. Bright as red, or white with dots, thick as rope, or thin like thread; There is no limit to the yarn available to those who seek it. Each loaf, pulled from its inner loop, and wound into balls that seem to always escape, tangle, or go missing. There is always too little, or too much of it around. With a few years practice, a hat can be made in under an hour, with argyle of red and navy, against a confetti white base; Complete with ties and pom-poms. The secret ingredient is time and love; Weaved into something comforting, to be gifted and cherished by someone. A gift of warmth that shows you care.

There is an aesthetic, sensation, smell, and rhythm, in this ancient textile art. Not only calming, but also protective and embellishing. This is why when the couples’ knitting group was over, uncle Cetus kept knitting for the family, while Jupiter kept finding odd amounts of wool in the linen cupboard. While she groaned about the plethora of thread, each autumn, Morgan and the rest of the family, eagerly awaited what Cetus had spent the year crafting for them. Made with love, thought, dedication, and material that costs more then they should. these treasures were meaningful; Because they were made by hand, just for them.

           At the end of the semester, some important paperwork finally got processed and aproved. Magic politics can only function within the common laws of a land; And the law prioritizes children in need of homes, over opinionated wizards. Cetus, after struggling to organize finances after his mother died, finally got guardianship over his sister’s precious son. The problem was that Morgan was bonded to Tiberius Gate, living in an ominous tower. With Emilia. Aunt Jupiter was no quitter; She suggested they move into the tower as well. They already lived in town, and Reginia was going to be sent to magic school anyway. She was to be Morgan’s peer support. Though cousins, they were the same age and like siblings. As magical as Pepperidge was, Cetus and Jupiter were perfectly mundane; Born to magic houses, but unqualified to care for young mages. But they were qualified to provide a supportive and loving family, to two growing youths. Cetus was up to the challenge of helping Morgan overcome his trauma, grow, and be himself.  Mage or not, Morgan deserved to feel safe after everything he went through.

Thus, Cetus became a great aid in Morgan’s recovery. A male role model, as well as an incredible barrier to the corrupt wizard counsel. Morgan, as the mage of Tiberius Gate, was the way of getting to Pepperidge, and its mages. So, if anyone wanted to get rid of mages there, they needed to control Morgan. But now, they also had to threaten the wellbeing a commoner, who had common law on his side. Cetus knew it. No one was getting their fingers in any peanut butter jar, that would mess up his family’s happily ever afters. Every advance made to contain Morgan’s abilities, was being thwarted by an increasingly close pro mage community, in the tiny town of Pepperidge; From the bus driver, to every teacher and student. If he didn’t feel it, Morgan was completely safe.

           After school, mid week, Cetus dropped Morgan off at therapy, and Jupiter would come to pick him up after sessions.

“We have a family meeting, and child welfare check next week. As always, do your best, sport.” Cetus said, ruffling Morgan’s hair. It gave him joy; After almost a year of adoption, and counseling, Cetus could finally touch Morgan without him flinching. Cetus didn’t know what Leo was doing, or if it was even Leo and not life in general; But it was working. He saw Morgan off, before taking Reggie and Emilia home.

“Hey, want to get ice-cream on the boardwalk after dinner?” Emilia said, leaning out the back window. She pulled Morgan over to kiss his check. He nodded, and shyly returned the gesture. Cetus and Reggie tried not to giggle. Morgan slowly walked into the office, checked in, and sat in the depressing psychiatry waiting room.

The fluorescent lights flickered, but at a rate that wasn’t noticeable until there was a migraine. There was the smell of bleach, and old drywall. The receptionist was taking a line of calls, as other families came in, and everyone tried not to look at each other; Because every chair was awkwardly placed facing inward. The walls were mustard, and the chairs plastic. The water cooler bubbled, and the thermostat was set low. Morgan was wearing a forest green, salmon, and black argyle knit sweater, Cetus had made it. Fall had come around, and it was almost his birthday. Morgan reflected on how it had been nine months since his uncle took him in. He loved his uncle. But it wasn’t the same as his mother and father. He hadn’t seen his parent in almost three years.

           Leo came to the front, and h led Morgan to his quiet office, while holding Dolly. The light blue walls, smelled of ambiguous air freshener. There was a stack of papers, bulletin of inspirational posters, bowl of fidget toys, and a Yuka in the back. It had started to become comforting and familiar. Morgan relaxed into the chair, holding Icarus on his lap.

“Never seen you so relaxed,” Leo smiled. He took his seat, causing the office chair to squeak. “What would you like to talk about today?” He started. Morgan sat there, looking around the room. He wasn’t feeling anything in particular at the moment. Nothing was really bothering him. Well, maybe the embarrassment and excitement of getting his girlfriend with child WAY too early, or the stress of balancing the world of fey with homework. Also, the upcoming equinox dance at school, and his birthday. Actually, there was too many things to talk about.

“How about you and Emilia, or Cetus? Your aunt and uncle are getting a review from what I hear.” Leo prompted. He had an agenda. Morgan being relaxed was good, but there is always more work to do. Morgan shrugged, like usual.

“How about what you’re feeling right now? I can bring out the chart if you like.”

“I think I’m sad? Out of all things, today I miss mom and dad a lot. They send me paint, books, and clothes, to help my uncle. Mom still knows exactly what I like. Cetus is super nice, and he’s always there for me; He worked really hard to take me in, even with all the magic politics. I appreciate it. Oh, he actually got pulled into some quests, even though he’s common folk! Now I get to graduate early under professor Hara, researching Griminthropes. Aunt Jupiter wants to do a good job too, so she’s-” Morgan mumbled on.

“Stop there. This isn’t about Cetus’s life; This is about built-up trauma, and missing your parents, in spite of your recent happily ever after,” Leo interrupted. “I’m glad you’re confident enough to talk to me, but every conversation is about a fairy tale, not a feeling. You might need to break your habit of relying on magic, legends, and individuals, to avoid problems. I just want you to have a quality of life, feel loved, and care for your yourself. Without relying only on mystical outings or old books. You have the opportunity to do so, and I encourage you to focus on yourself.” Leo suggested. Morgan was leaning inn, looking mildly confused while he listened. At least he had Morgan’s attention.

“I get so frustrated with your avoidance problem. You walk around with so much pain and suffering; And it keeps you up at night. Yet, instead of processing it, and using your support system, you go to the shadow veil, stay silent, act reckless, and harm yourself. Your gratitude is wonderful, but happily ever afters are meaningless if you desert them. Avoidance is not a log term solution, and I don’t expect immediate change. But you need to start embracing things around you in the moment.” Leo said, fizzling out into a whimper, as he tried to stay professional. Morgan looked at him, unblinking.

“Yes, Leo. That’s what the wagon was for.” Morgan said, nodding his head. Leo gave a look of complete defeat. He already knew that.

“So you’re telling me, it’s more then a scheduled avoidance quest? That now it’s something meaningful; A source of fulfillment as a seer. Thus, Honestly Morgan, do you actually still need the wagon to find friends and joy? I don’t think you need to runaway anymore; Everything you need is right here, if you’ll sit with it.” Leo continued. Morgan liked that perspective; It sounded like enjoying life, without sacrificing his dreams. Morgan smiled a bit. The meaningful stories of each object in that wagon, were tales of is growth. That wagon had helped him. But his new life was doing that too. A simple, worn, faded, treasured wagon. In primary colours, the offend the senses. Something that was purchased at a toy store, to carry children on family outings. It is easy to say what the wagon was for, and what that means now. The wagon helped Morgan runaway, and become an accomplished mage. Now the wagon reminds him of good things he experienced, and is for visiting friends.

“Thanks Leo.” Morgan said. “I’m sorry I accidentally mislead you with the wagon. It’s very distracting.”

“Your most welcome, and forgiven. Oh look! We still have thirty minutes left.” Leo laughed. Morgan groaned. He still had to unpack his relationship with his parents with feeling words, now that the wagon was gone.

TABLE OF CONTENTS--->

<---PREVIOUS

[fromashescomephoenixes]

Cakes and Tickle Bugs

warnings: none. just jily fluff and cute moments.

word count: 1.5k+

summary: lily insists that harry must have a homemade birthday cake for his first birthday. the only issue is that james isn’t used to cooking without magic...

••••

“It is Harry’s first birthday and I am NOT buying some crappy supermarket cake!” Lily shouted while her green eyes flashed. Godric, why did she have to be so hot when she was angry. “James, are you even listening?” Lily groaned.

“You know I am darling,” James winked trying to diffuse the situation.

“This is no laughing matter,” Lily scolded as James suppressed a laugh.

“Of course I know that, Lily dear!” James hugged her from behind. “Our little Harry will have the best god damn birthday cake a kid has ever had,” Lily seemed pleased, and allowed herself to melt into James’s arms.

“And we’re not using magic,” she grinned as she left the room, catching James’s shocked expression from the corner of her eye.

••••

What Lily didn’t know when she said this is that James always used magic. The concept of measuring and stirring and preparing the ingredients himself, well, terrified him.

Perhaps if she knew this, Lily would have been a little more lenient, however she didn’t know. What she did know was that James would try and sneak a hint of magic here and there, if she hadn’t hidden their wands.

“I’m ready to bake!” James strolled into the kitchen wearing the pink apron with Lily flowers all over it. The sight of this sent Lily into a fit of giggles.

“You dork,” she breathed as she gave him a quick kiss.

“What? I like having Lily all over me,” James found his own joke quite amusing, and to be completely honest, Lily had to turn away to hide her smile.

“I’ll put you on dish duty if you keep up that cheek,” Lily waves her finger, but couldn’t help herself from blushing and grinning like a fool.

“Ma’am yes ma’am,” James laughed. Then he set to work unpacking all of the ingredients they had bought. While tedious, James did manage it without magic. Luckily, Lily has still let him buy wizarding sweets to decorate with.

Meanwhile, Lily has gotten out her own apron which happened to have stags printed all over it. She groaned at James’s Christmas present for her. Secretly she loved cooking in it though. She busied herself with setting out all of the bowls they would need.

Soon the kitchen was ready to begin baking! The sunlight was shining in the large windows, and it seemed like a perfect day to bake.

•••• 

Everything was going according to plan. That is, until the actual baking began.

“Alright, James can you handle the wet ingredients?” Lily’s eyes scanned through the recipe, and she busied herself with the dry ingredients. James opened his mouth to speak, but she turned and cut him off. “And I don’t want to hear a single joke about them being wet ingredients. Godric, you’re an adult now!” James simply grinned sheepishly and set to work.

As Lily began to tell James about a particularly difficult customer at her potion shop, James was puzzling over how exactly to crack the eggs without magic.

“And so I told her that she can’t buy such a specialty potion without a license, but she simply wouldn’t listen. Merlin some people are so-“ Splat! The egg was dripping all over their white kitchen counters, on to the emerald tile floor.

“So Lily,” James casually began. “ Let’s say I have a friend who isn’t sure how to crack an egg,” Deciding to play along, Lily pretended to think deeply.

“Let’s see, would this friend be Sirius, Remus, or Peter?” James puzzled for a moment.

“Sirius,” He responded. “He’s completely hopeless in the kitchen!”

“Well I’d get Remus to teach him! Godric knows he’s the only one Sirius will listen to when you’re trying to teach him something,” Lily giggled as she responded.

“No, no,” James shook his head. “It’s important I teach him, it’s a, er, surprise,” his tone lifted up at the end, as if asking a question.

“Well, I suppose you could show him like this,” Lily explained, while she pulled James’s arms around her torso, and clasped one of his hands on hers. She guided him through cracking three eggs. She stood on her tip toes for a soft kiss, but ducked back over to the other counter while James processed everything, and blushed. Really anyone would think they hadn’t been married for the past three years!

“Would it work if I don’t kiss him at the end though? I don’t want Remus getting jealous,” James teased. Lily rolled her eyes and responded.

“It might, but I’ve never left the kiss out though,” James glanced over. Lily certainly had only taught him this once. So who else had she instructed in baking? “I’m teasing, dork,” she giggled. Godric, he loved her laugh. “Most people know how to do such a simple thing as crack an egg!” To show his annoyance, James grabbed a handful of powdered sugar and tossed it onto her.

“That might help you be a little sweeter next time, love,” James jokes.

“Oh now it’s on!” Lily exclaimed as she picked up a handful of flour.

In the end it was a miracle that they had any ingredients for the cake. But with Lily there to guide James, they managed to craft a fairly decent looking batter.

Although, how James had managed to sneak in the magic Gryffindor food dye he bought was beyond Lily. All she knew was that the batter was now rapidly flashing between Crimson and Gold.

They began to clean up, thankful that there hadn’t been too many more incidents. However, they did have a rather messy snog due to the small food fight which was still evident on them both.

••••

Bang! James and Lily quickly tore apart staring at the room to their left. Snap! Lily knew what was happening first, remembering she had hidden their wands in her makeup bag (which James refused to believe was real, because such beauty as hers could only be natural.)

“Harry, he got into my make up bag,” she wanted to facepalm, but instead raced into the bathroom.

“Oh Merlin,” James groaned. With the sorts of mischief Harry got into, James was sure it was his karma for his trouble making days.

There, on the brightly coloured floor, sat Harry. He was covered in head to toe with various make up. Some were less natural shade than others, but James did have to say that the Gryffindor gold eyeshadow suited him rather well...

Everything seemed as right as rain, obviously excluding the make up covered baby, until James happened to glance up.

“Oh in the name of Merlin’s cracked knee cap,”

“Holy sh-“

“Lily! I don’t want my son knowing such poor words!” James cut her off. Sighing Lily corrected herself into a slightly more child appropriate exclamation of anger.

Their ceiling was currently host to, what appeared to be, a floating ocean. Complete with fish and seaweed. Even a few small jellyfish. And a sting ray (This was much to James’s horror, as they happened to be one of his greatest fears)

Truly, it was an impressive piece of magic. However, they wished he knew how to clean it up with out flooding their house. While cleaning Harry up in the bath tub, they worked on how exactly to get rid of this temporary aquarium.

“Perhaps a shield charm?” Lily mused.

“Yes, or we could try and summon it out into our yard.” James suggested.

They pondered for a little longer until Lily shrugged.

“We could leave it there,” she suggested. Their house was already filled with quite a collection of things that didn’t necessarily belong together. But in a way, they did belong together because they all made Lily and James happy with various memories. This aquarium would simply be another happy memory. And quite a story to tell to Harry’s future girlfriends.

“That sounds good too,” James nodded. They were just about ready to sit down and cuddle on the couch, while watching Harry play with his mini quidditch set, when Harry himself began to speak. He had been wandering back and forth between the kitchen and bathroom. He definitely had a curious nature.

“Dada,” Harry gurgled.

“Yes my little seeker,” James spoke.

“BOOM” Harry exclaimed excitedly with large force for such a young child.

“Do you need to go potty? I can-“ Lily let out a large groan as she stuck her head into the kitchen.

“Oh James! He means the cake!” This while cake business was turning into much more trouble than it was worth!

Stepping into the kitchen, they were greeted with the delicious smell of warm vanilla with a speck of cinnamon.

They were also greeted with an exploding mess leaking out of the oven. Some was burning, other parts were still raw. All of it was as messy as one could possibly imagine. Lily turned to glare at James.

“Just how much baking powder did you put in here?” She accused, holding back a small smile.

“What? I wanted our kid to have a big cake!” James explained as he scooped Harry into his arms.

“Merlin’s bloody nostril,” Lily exclaimed. “This is going to take ages to clean up,” Harry began to mimic the various groans that Lily and James were making which caused groans to change to laughter. James made sure Harry joined in this by tickling his toes.

“Dada!” Harry shrieked. “Tickle bug!!”

And that’s the story of how the Potter family ended up on their kitchen floor giggling and tickling each other, while burning cake batter dripped out of the oven.

And in that precious moment, none of them could imagine anything happier.

[no0dlru]

No offense, but I don’t see how derailing a post about the scandalous treatment many poor families are experiencing while government-affiliated companies pocket taxpayer money with a story about your mother helps anyone. I’m sure she works hard and deserves recognition, but not in the form of a “well actually” on a post about very real children who are going hungry.

Giving a poor family a fiver’s worth of food that’s not nutritious nor substantial to “feed” a hungry child for 10 days, whilst pocketing like 80% of the money, is obviously evil. It’s an insult to the people that needed, fought for and pay for the policy; the bastards who claimed good publicity (and profit) for approving FSM whilst not caring about its effectiveness in helping hungry children - just so they can exploit public money with their chums - are slimy psychopaths. Most importantly it shows a complete indifference to the suffering of millions of kids, and their parents, too. Even though we’ve reached a point where policies like this are needed, I know how humiliating and painful it can be to accept what seems like charity (even if it’s offered from a heartfelt place and you’re in desperation): I’ve seen and lived with the devastation, shame and frustration parents feel when they systemically can’t provide for their kids without help, so when all you have to show for that hard-fought-for help is a pittance worth of non-nutritious food for your hungry child, I do grasp how fucking disgusting that is. I’ve always been furious that this economy perpetuates an underclass that can’t access that most basic standard of living whilst the people in the houses of commons and lords who represent them live in luxury and ignorance, and I’m not blind to how much of a kick in the teeth this laissez faire “let them eat frubes” attitude is while they line their pockets.

I didn’t talk about this in my post, but that’s not because I don’t care, it’s because I didn’t feel I could add anything meaningful – it speaks for itself. I could write for hours about how cruel and Dickensian the Tories’ exploitation of the poor is, and how corrupt and damaging their shifty business affiliations are – not just this instance; sacrificing public health to funnel billions of pounds of taxpayers money to their buddies in corporations and contractors, that they knew couldn’t fulfil life-or-death PPE demands during a pandemic, or partnering with property developers to rush through shady deals in order to avoid adhering to impending safety standards reform or building quotas for social housing, etc. That would be derailing too, though.

You make a fair point. I didn’t intend to write so much, and the tone was completely off. I got kinda caught up in emotions, and after posting it I did feel uneasy - I edited out a part where I talk about growing up experiencing food poverty myself (because cooks, like so many other essential workers, are underpaid), exactly for your reasoning. While I can empathise with the experience of food insecurity, I know I can’t speak for people affected by this scandal specifically, so I didn’t try to.

I didn’t mean to “derail” the post (I have a small following and didn’t/don’t really expect my addition to be seen much) nor to minimise the problem. Just because I’m adding to the discussion with something it personally brings to mind doesn’t mean I’m demeaning the original statement - it doesn’t delete the original post, people are entirely able to reblog it from me and remove my caption - it also doesn’t mean I think what I’m adding is an any way contradictory or more important, just relevant. I wasn’t just trying to tell “a story about my mother” but trying to use her anecdotally to talk about school cooks in general, and I’d do the same if I had an unshared perspective on any other group of workers having to work extra hard to paper over the tories’ bullshit. I didn’t intend for it to be a “well actually” (though I respect it did end up reading like that), more like a “yes, and”.

As far as I can tell there’s 2 ways for the current FSM policy to work better outside of reform (and obviously getting rid of the problem of food poverty in the first place) - either giving the monetary vouchers directly in lieu of food (which in circumstances like OP’s post is what people are asking for) or, as “School Meals” is part and parcel of the policy, providing good meals from a school that are worth the money.

£30 worth of bulk-ordered cost-price ingredients, pre-cooked well by professionals in a fully kitted kitchen, with planning put into the nutrition of the meals available over the week, takes an enormous burden off parents. I neglected to mention, but the cooks also handwrite straightforward preparation instructions for the parents on how to reheat the meals (and even accompanying desserts). A large part of food insecurity is prevalence of unhealthy convenience food, and everything in our system discourages people to spend time and money on good meals. In the least judgemental way possible, I know many parents would spend a lot of that £30 on fast or frozen food, because the time-is-money ethos we live under incentivises you to do that. Many people have never had the time, money or opportunity to learn to cook good meals, and parents are understandably too exhausted to spend hours preparing food on top of caring for and home-teaching their kids during lockdown. If you can barely afford to put food in your fridge, it makes less sense to buy a wide variety of fresh perishable veg when you could buy cheap & filling processed instant foods or frozen foods etc, but an industrious kitchen mitigates this disincentive.

This shifts the role of school kitchens and their staff from just cooking meals during school to being more like a soup kitchen for hundreds of impoverished kids even out of term time - this requires cooks, which is a topic I can speak on when not many people can, hence my advocating for those cooks in a post where I talk about the strain put on them. If the policy was well managed and robust enough to properly feed kids nationwide, including the kids affected by the scumbag deals like OP’s post, that would place more workload on cooks who don’t have the means to fulfil even their current levels of production, let alone the added numbers currently tied up in contracts. I did get caught up in personal emotion, but my intention wasn’t to argue for hollow recognition for cooks, or my mum as an individual person (like people standing on their doorsteps clapping for the NHS while it underwent a crisis) - I’m trying to critique a different aspect of the policy’s implementation with regards to nationwide inconsistency, overworked staff, issues with stock orders, lack of structural support and problems with distribution.

I’m only talking about my mother because she’s my insight into this field - if literally anyone else worked in the same role and told me stories about hand opening hundreds of cans or writing instructions on hundreds of meals, I’d be writing about them, because if you’re going to talk critically about policies like FSM you need to acknowledge the apparatus required to actually make those policies function. Again, if you care about hungry children and are angry about this bs but want FSM to continue in a more functional way, you’re likely either arguing for the food to be replaced by monetary vouchers (which has the limitations I outlined above, and while monetary support is widely needed it at best eases the symptoms of underlying systemic poverty, and at worst could be misconstrued as a handout that makes the underlying poverty a non-issue), or for the government to meaningfully ensure these kids are provided for as implied by the policy (via school cooks), or for some combination of the two. So I think it’s quite relevant.

And yeah, maybe it doesn’t help anyone to discuss this! But it’s my blog and I want to talk about it, so I’m going to.

[sappy-witch]

i feel like my vibrations are too low to even do spells anymore. my brain is always so foggy and i feel so heavy, mentally. do you know of any ways to open your minds eye and clear the fog? it wont let me concentrate or even get in the right mindset to do any magick.

Hello darling 🥰

I’m sorry to hear you’ve been having trouble, it’s a wonderful step that you’re actively looking to reconnect though!

I feel like a lot of the time, the most unhelpful thing in these situations is thinking about how you’re not getting things done at this point in time and how much you will have been able to do had you been in a healthier mindset. The most important thing you need to do is get rid of all of that nonesense because it’ll only make you more overwhelmed and make getting back on track seem even more out of reach when it really isn’t.

You’ll know that low vibrations just come from being disconnected from the things that are authentic and true to your inner/higher self. Your good energy has been drained because you’ve simply spent a bit too long being exposed to things that do not align with your inner/higher self. Start by changing your environment or daily routine and it’ll become very clear what this negative influence is, making it easier for you to avoid it. Remember; when something doesn’t feel right or invokes negative reactions to you, it’s because it’s not true to your inner self, so don’t believe it or give it your attention.

Right now, let’s not focus on trying to immediately jump back into full-on witchcraft. Instead, you can go back all the way to the basics; nature. It’s where we came from, so whenever you feel disconnected, go back to it. If you’re able to, go take a quiet walk in a park or forest or even backyard or whatever you’ve got around you. Go sit on the dirt, feel the bark of the trees on your fingertips, pick some wildflowers (responsibly!), listen to the birds chirping, watch the sunrise or sunset... Just allow yourself to be completely removed from your everyday mortal life and tap back into the immortal nature; the life that knows wisdom beyond anything we see in our daily lives.

Nature and the Earth element as a whole, of course, is incredibly grounding. In reconnecting with it, you’re reminding yourself of the strength and stability you hold within you so you can let it show again. If you have a favourite element besides Earth, try to connect with that too. Once again, let’s not think of this as witchcraft for the time being, you’re simply just spending extra time by a lake or in the bath, or lighting candles around the house, or going out for fresh air. That’s all you need to do to get the ball rolling, and once it’s rolling, it’ll gain the momentum you need to slowly add more of your previous witchy routines back into your life.

That being said, you can also try simple cleansing - once again, not super intricately planned out to a tee. This can be as simple as consciously leaving all the windows open for a while to remove any stale air (and with it any stale energy, of course), drawing all the curtains back to let the sunlight in and just imagining it scaring off any negativity lurking in the shadows. Turn any shower or bath into a cleansing one, not necessarily by using special ingredients, but just by telling yourself that the water and soap are removing any negativity and low vibrations trapped inside you and the drain is taking it all away forever. Do the simplest of kitchen witchcraft by stirring your drink counterclockwise and telling yourself this will counter negativity, then clockwise as you tell yourself what you want. You can obviously add more thought into magickal ingredients and rituals, but as a start, it really doesn’t have to be complex at all. Remember that your will and intent are the absolute basics of any form of witchcraft.

If you feel up for it, go ahead and tell yourself daily affirmations, and you’d better do it until you really believe what you’re saying. These can be things like “I am strong enough to be myself”, “My soul loves freedom”, “I am constantly raising my vibration”, “I have the power to change my reality.” “My beliefs contain power”, “l carefully choose what I believe”, “I now choose to have lots of energy”...

Above all, please remember to be kind to yourself. Just the fact that you are actively trying to reconnect is a great starting point and you should be proud. Try not to put too many expectations on yourself, especially during this process, and try to be patient with yourself. If you get overwhelmed by the lack of immediate results, distract yourself by going back out to nature again or indulging in something healthy that makes you happy until you do get the results you deserve.

I really hope this helps you out. Wishing you all the best on your journey. May you be rewarded appropriately for your efforts.

With love, from a Sappy Witch 🔮💕

Blessed be. 🕊✨

[rochnariel]

Critical Bakes - Fjord Week

When @eledhiel13​ told me about Critical Bakes and Fjord week, my first thought was fisherman’s pie with the mashed potatoes piped like the Tusktooth tattoo. She rightly pointed out that we didn’t have the things for that, which made me sad, but she was right. 

Then, she pitched the idea of green macarons with the Tusktooth tattoo. Mainly because that was something that we had all the ingredients for (well almost). So pictured above vanilla macarons with a raspberry curd filling and a Nutella piped Tusktooth tattoo.

Listen the filling is just so messy in honor of Fjord getting stabbed in the chest recently. Not because we didn’t have heavy cream for the normal filling and the curd just would not set for me no matter what I did.

Recipe and more pictures below the cut. 

So first things first, when you have a macaron recipe that works, don’t try another one just because the recipe you want is in the basement and you don’t want to go get it. I’m giving you all the recipe that we learned in a French pastry class. The pictures are from the failed attempt to use a different recipe because I was being lazy. Also, I’m giving the normal filling that we use, not the failed curd pictured above. 

I know that they are in two different units of measurement, which is annoying, but they came from two different sources.

Also when it comes to the filling, don’t buy fruit puree. Make it. It’s super easy and way cheaper.

Macarons

7 ounces confectioner’s sugar

4 ounces almond flour

4 large egg whites, room temperature

3.5 ounces granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla paste (optional)

gel food coloring (optional)

In a food processor, process confectioner’s sugar and almond flour to fine powder. Sift into bowl getting rid of any clumps that remain. Set aside (A lot of macaron recipes will tell you to sift multiple times. don’t listen. its a lie. there’s no need. unless you get stress relief from sifting things and then feel free to sift seven times.)

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites to the bowl and whisk on medium until frothy. Once frothy, slowly pour in the sugar with the mixer still going. Once sugar is in, turn up to high and whisk to stiff peaks.

(if your egg whites are cold, they’ll still work. its just going to take longer to whisk)

With a flat spatula (silicone is the best i’ve found for the job and believe me you don’t want to use a spoon. the flour will just get caught in the depression of the spoon and leave you with clumps.) slowly fold in one-third of the flour mixture until the dry is just incorporated. Be sure not to over mix. You want to keep as much air as possible and don’t forget that mixing bowls have a raised part at the bottom. Excellent for collecting clumped flour.

Repeat with the second third of flour.

When adding the third third of flour, add vanilla paste (or other flavorings. i’ve used zest before with no issues. just make sure it is in small pieces.) and food coloring (gels only. the liquid ones will just break everything. believe me. i’ve done it) if using. Fold into the egg whites.

Continue to fold the mixture into itself until it resembles molten lava. When folding the mixture over the top of itself, leave for two minutes to check that it is deconstructed enough. If you can just barely see the part you folded over, you are all set. If it is still piled on top, you have more folding to do. If it is completely level and liquidy, you went to far and I can’t help you.

Carefully transfer the mixture to the piping bag with a 1/2 inch plain round tip. (or cut your piping bag to have a 1/2 opening. or do the same with a sealable gallon bag.)

Onto baking sheets either lined with parchment paper or silicone mats, pipe circles the size you want your cookies to be. (i pipe at a 90 degree angle and pull straight up and stop squeezing to move from cookie to cookie. also you can draw circles on your parchment paper or buy silicone mats with circles to help you try to stay a consistent size)

Bang each tray on a hard surface three times to help remove any air bubble in your mixture.

(yes i know that that picture is horrible example of good piping skills. but it’s been awhile)

Leave the cookies to dry. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 and a half hours depending on the humidity level and temperature. When properly dried the cookies should be slightly tacky on the top with far less of a shine than when you first piped them. (without being dried, your macarons won’t have feet)

Bake one tray at a time for 12-16 minutes at 325 degrees. (i bake them for 6-7 minutes and then open the oven and spin the tray cause my oven doesn’t heat evenly. also if you have a lot of humidity in your area you may need to crack the oven door to release steam so any moisture can escape)

Let cookies cool and then pipe in filling, sandwich, and eat.

Fruit Ganache (my normal filling, but that doesn’t work when you have no heavy cream in the house)

62 grams white chocolate

56 grams granulated sugar

10 grams cornstarch

30 grams heavy cream

100 grams fruit puree (90% fruit, 10% sugar pureed and strained)

75 grams unsalted butter

Whisk together cornstarch and sugar.

Bring cream and fruit puree to a boil whisking frequently because the sugar in the puree will burn and cream doesn’t do well when boiled alone. whisk in the sugar and cornstarch mixture. Return to boil and cook for a few minutes to thicken.

Pour over the white chocolate and let sit for a minute to start melting the chocolate. Whisk together until all the chocolate is melted. Whisk in the butter.

Put plastic wrap over the top, making sure it is touching the top of the ganache.

Place in fridge until pipeable consistency. 

[satsuki2406]

Dear Aomi Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

"I've seen you in a dream before, you are the warm and bright presence that embraced me on Cape Kamui a long time ago on a June afternoon."

Shinohara (Y/N) is a normal girl who had everything she could ask for, a loving family, a beautiful home, friends, and a fluffy cat. For a long time, she gave her life and happiness for granted, never imagining that she'll face one of the worst and crueler facades of society so closely, destroying what once was a happy, harmonious and normal family. One day, in hopes to recover what they lost, the Shinohara family took one of the more difficult decisions of their lives; leave behind their home back in Hokkaido and travel hundreds of miles south until Musutafu, the place that could grant them a solution and help close the yet fresh wound and scare away the ghosts of the past. Hardheaded, passionate, and ambitious (Y/N) is forced to confront the incarnated face of the superhuman society that she hated the most; Bakugou Katsuki.

PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Dark Themes, My poor attempt of humor, Strong language (Courtesy of Lord Explosion Murder 💥), Manga Spoilers, LONG ass chapter.

STATUS: On going

Chapter 1: School is a Great Place to Make Enemies

Chapter 2: My Stupid Classmate, the Angry Dandelion

3-In Conclusion, This Day Was...

The light night air caressed (Y/N)’s face and swayed her hair as she calmly strolled on the street. The ride from the konbini was short, after a couple of minutes, (Y/N) reached her home’s front gate. She pushed the creaky short gate pushing her bike along her with the shopping bags and closed it behind her. She put the bike on its little corner next to the driveway and locked it. She took the two shopping bags, along with her bag and walked to the front door. Before (Y/N) could even align the key with the keyhole, the door was harshly swung open revealing a much preoccupied and almost hyperventilating woman, (E/C) eyes met an equal pair of concerned (E/C) ones.

“Oh, (Y/N)! you’re finally home!” Immediately (Y/N) was engulfed in the hugest mama bear hug imaginable. Her mother, Akari consumed by aggravation and worry squeezed the lights out of her ‘little baby’ alleviated to have her between her arms, safe and sound.

“Mom...! I can’t- I can’t breathe…!” (Y/N) choked out.

“Oh, I’m so sorry baby! You know how I get when I’m worried, and excited, and when I see a good deal at the supermarket but enough of me! Tell me, are you alright? Are you hurt?” Lovingly, Akari cupped (Y/N) soft cheeks and proceeded to quickly exanimate her closer, looking for any scratch or cut. “Your temperature is normal, does any part of your body hurt?”

“Well, other than my legs, my butt, and the growing migraine I’ve been feeling since I left the konbini, I’m awesome, thank you.”

“I knew it! I knew that something was wrong! You must have been trapped in that horrible incident in the commercial district! What if the migraine is because you hit your head and will develop some brain damage if we don’t treat you immediately or your legs are injured?! What if they have to amputate them!? Should I call 911?! Or take you myself to the hospital?! No! We have no time to lose! Quick! Get in the car! I’ll go and get the keys and my purse-I have to call your dad!! Oh but he’s way too far right now! What if!-”

“Alright Mom! enough!” (Y/N) snapped. “Look at me, now, inhale and exhale, sloooowly, take your time and calm down. Once you are relaxed, I’ll explain myself, so stop jumping to conclusions please. Look at me in the eyes-that’s right, deep breaths, deep breaths…” You said softly while you also breathed deeply to show your mom how she had to do it while she dramatically imitated you, putting a hand over her chest to help herself.

“Al-Alright, I-I’m feeling better now”

“Perfect, so the reason I’m late is, indeed related to the villain attack, BUT! No how you are thinking! You know that in the center of the city there’s a bikeway, right?”

“Y-Yes I do”

“So, you also must remember that the Commercial District is part of that same bikeway’s route, right?”

“I-I recall so, yes”

“Perfect! Now that we have that important but kinda trivial piece of information clear, I’ll proceed to tell you what happened. Sooo… During my way back I decided to ‘take my time’ and you know, explore the city. But, but, but! When I was about to go back home, I heard a really big explosion coming from there, there was a lot of smoke as well. Right there I ran into an elderly lady and her daughter and they explain me the situation, they also advise me to get home as soon as I could. But the fastest and safest route home with the bike implies going right into the crime scene which was a super no-no, so I saw myself forced to take the long route around the Dagobah Park, a.k.a the city’s biggest illegal trash dump all the way down the coast line which took me around an hour which is also the reason my legs and butt hurt, oh! And also, the stop on the konbini that ended in an unfortunate incident related with a defective Ramune bottle and a rabid macaque-”

“W-Wait a minute! R-Rabid macaque?!” Your mother exclaimed panicked.

“That’s irrelevant right now mother, my point is I’m ok, and I’m not feeling like getting into the ER right now, also I have perishable products in this bags that need refrigeration and I reek like death and destruction, so can we enter to the house pretty please?”

“O-Oh, right, that was a bit confusing but I think I got it.”

“Great! By the way I bought the missing ingredients to make dinner.”

“Fantas!- Oh no! I was so preoccupied about you that I forgot to make dinner! I haven’t even made rice! Why don’t you take a bath while I put up something together to eat? You can also tell me about your first day of school over dinner!”

“Ok!”

 🐈🛀💢

Contently, (Y/N) hopped up the stairs and made a beeline to her bedroom. Although she has only been living in there for 2 weeks and a half, she found herself loving the place, the new house in general was really homey and cozy, it was roomy and stylish, somewhat similar to the house she lived before with her family back in Sapporo. One detail that she found extremely beautiful was that this new house possessed an ample number of skylights, in almost every room of the house, including hers, it gave her an amazing view of the sky while she was lying on her bed during night, or the rain clipping and clapping over the crystal. The house also possessed a pretty old and pretty picturesque cherry blossom tree in the backyard that had gifted them that very same spring with lots of delicate pink petals that she usually saw dancing in the wind.

But her room was something special. (Y/N) was not sure if it was the way the light illuminated it, or the color the room was painted at that moment but it was something similar like love at first sight. Since that very first moment she and her parents visited the place along with the realtor that winter day last year, she knew that this would be her special corner.

Moving itself is a long and tedious process, but in their case the distance made it trickier. Musutafu and Sapporo were 880 miles away from each other, which mean they had to go there by plane, otherwise, (Y/N) would’ve to be stuck in her parents’ car for over 18 hours.

The moving truck was sent in advance so their stuff would be there the day they arrived. The flight only took 1 hour and 35 minutes, it was really short but once (Y/N) got out of the plane it was like she entered into another dimension. Musutafu was way bigger than Sapporo, also busier and hectic, there were more heroes around the city which made sense because of its size, the crime rate must be higher here as well.

After all the unpacking and mess that moving in implied, the Shinohara family was successfully settled down, it felt like it was so long ago. Time really flies by when you are occupied, huh?

(Y/N) closed her room after she entered, going directly to her bed, plopping herself in the fluffy comforter. Suddenly with the corner of her eye she caught a sudden movement next to her, focusing more she recognized a familiar ball of white fluff that napped away comfortably over the mound of pillows and cushions situated on the upper part of the bed.

“Mashumaro!~”

“Mrrrow~”

Mashumaro, a 5-year-old white British Shorthair, stretched deliciously and stud up from his pillowy paradise to receive one of his (several) daily coddle sessions. (Y/N) opened her arms to the affectionate feline, enveloping him in a warming hug.

“Oh Mashu! You can’t imagine the day I had! Everything could have gone perfectly fine if it wasn’t for that stupid angry blowfish! And when I thought I got rid of him for the day, he ‘blessed’ me showing up in the konbini! That idiot! How dare he to live nearby!? I hope he doesn’t live close at all, see his ugly puckered face at school every day is bad enough! I’m utterly exhausted, and this was just the first day.”

“Mrrrow”

“Yes! Can you imagine?! How the rest of the year would be?!”

“Mrrrow”

“I know, I know, thankfully this is the last year of middle school, after next spring, boom! No more Bakushit!”

“Mrrrow”

“Oh Mashu! ~ You are the only one who understands me, thank you for listen to me, I feel better now~”

“Mrrrow...?”

“Talking about feel better, I have a date with that ofuro at the end of the corridor, so if you excuse me…”

In a fluid move (Y/N) wiggled out of her bed, leaving her furry companion to keep enjoying his catnap and get the most comfortable pjs she could find in her wardrobe. With the selected garments in her bed, she left her room and headed to the bathroom. Once inside the wet room, she proceeded to fill the tub, setting the water temperature to her liking. Meanwhile, (Y/N) slipped off her uniform and folded it aside into the hamper to wash later. Once ready, she stepped under the shower and turned on the head, soaking herself completely in the relaxing liquid. (Y/N) eagerly washed away all the stress and sweat that formed during this crazy day.

‘I wonder if Midoriya made it home safely’ (Y/N) absentmindedly took her shampoo bottle and squeezed some of its contents over her hand and applied it over her head.

She hummed blissfully while her fingers massaged her scalp. The bipping of the controlling pad interrupted her relaxation moment to inform her that the tub was filled and ready. She rinsed her hair and body drenched in shampoo and body wash foam and applied her conditioner to the final touch. Once she was ready, she turned off the shower head and wrapped her wet hair in a towel, she tested the water with her toe, which she approved with a soft sigh and submerged completely and hummed contently.

“Ahhh~ This is life!” (Y/N) closed her eyes and let herself being wrapped in relaxation and tranquility.

‘I’ll ask Midoriya tomorrow how it went, I hope he didn’t have to go near the villain attack. For what they say it was a big deal, I hope the hostage is ok’

(Y/N) came to a halt with the soft knock on the door. “(Y/N) sweetie, dinner will be ready in 10 minutes, don’t take too long so you can eat it while it still hot.”

“Ok mom! I will, thanks!”

‘I don’t wanna go to school tomorrow! I wonder if I can change classes or something, but that means Midoriya would be left alone at the mercy of that brute again.’

‘Alone…’

“No! Midoriya has had to deal with this by his own, if I can do something about it, I will”

‘He deserves to feel that someone appreciates him, supports him and believes in him, just like anybody else’

(Y/N) stud up from the tub and covered herself with a towel and exited the bathroom. Once in her room, she closed the door and sited on her bed to check her phone.

“Oh, I got a message…”

From: Haru ✨

 3:42 pm

Hey gurl! How was everything? 😁 Sorry I didn’t text you during lunch, I forgot my phone in the classroom, 😓 silly me I guess, 😅 like always, haha! 🤣🤣 Anyway! Tell me! How are schools down there? Did you meet some cute guys?~ 👀🤩 I’ll call you tonight!~ 😘💋

“What do you mean ‘how are schools down there’ you moron, like in the rest of Japan.” You snickered.

To: Haru ✨

6:41pm

It is complicated to tell how my day was, ‘incredible’ maybe? 🙄 Just to give you a preview it got me so tired that I want to sleep for the next 25 years and this was just the first day. 😫😫 Anyway, I’ll go get dinner, call you later. 

(Y/N) dried her body, put on the clothes she chose and went down stairs were she saw her mom setting the table filling it with several steaming yummy looking plates and bowls.

“Wow! this looks really good!~”

“I’m glad you think so, come on, sit now before it gets cold”

“Ok!~”

There on the table laid a full arrange of delicious comfort food; hearty veggie miso soup, grilled salmon, green salad and potato salad, pickled veggies and last but certainly not least katsu white curry, one of (Y/N) favorites.

“Its been a long time since we ate white curry!”

“And don’t forget the cheese stuffed tonkatsu~”

“Yay! ~”

“Itadakimasu!”

(Y/N) took a spoonful of rice and curry and hummed happily at the savory and spicy flavors dancing in her tongue, the golden-brown tonkatsu was crispy and juicy, crowned by the gooey cheese on the inside.

‘Mom’s food is the best~’

“By the way, your father called when you were in the shower, he said he’ll be back in Musutafu on Thursday afternoon”

“Really?! That’s awesome!”

“Things went way smoothly than he thought, we will bring the remaining suitcases we left, the ones with summer clothes”

“Oh, those will come handier here since is warmer”

“You are right, now tell me how was your first day of school? Did you make some new friends?”

(Y/N) almost chocked on her soup as all her misadventures of the day came to her mind at the same time, trying to think about a good response she cleared her throat and compose a bit.

“Mmm, I’m not actually sure if I can call him a friend but there was this really timid guy in my class-”

“Oh! A boy?! Good thing your father is not here otherwise he would be seething, and crying at the same time because his baby is growing up so fast!” Your mom said with an amused expression on her face at the mental image of your father in such state, the tips of her fingers were covering her lips in a vain attempt to conceal her giggles.

“M-Mom! I-It’s no like that! A-And I just met him today! Good God! Don’t go saying things like that so blatantly!” (Y/N) said suddenly rising from her seat, her face completely aflame with shame for her mother’s words.

“Oh honey, I’m kidding! No need to get so riled up!”

“Hmp!” (Y/N) grunted with puff up checks and an expression that more than angry, looked cute. And of course, her mom made sure to emphasize it.

“That face makes me want to squish it to death just like when you were still my little cutie baby boo! ~”

“M-Mom! Stop it!!!”

“Haha! Honey calm down! Don’t take it too seriously!”

“Hmm…”

 📱📱📱

“Woah, woah, woah! So, you are telling me that this guy actually called you a bitch and threaten you and another classmate in front of the whole class and the teacher didn’t do or say anything?! No even detention or something?!” (Y/N) best friend, Haruka exclaimed as she suddenly paused applying her moisturizing cream, a part of her ‘night beauty routine’.

“You got it, I guess that he’s scared of him, everyone actually, so he must be used get away with everything and you know that people usually looks away when a quirkless person is discriminated, like it wasn’t serious or it was something to laugh about.”

“Yeah crude but true, unfortunately that’s not new, the ‘bully with a decent quirk’ kind of story is really common, but to that extent? Is kind of terrifying. You also said he wanted to be a hero? What the heck?! I’ll definitely will not support a hero like that! If you actually could be able to call him a ‘hero’ after all, I hope that U.A reject him on the spot! A meanie who bullies my bestie does not deserve such title!”

“I’m pretty sure that the U.A staff would have your concerns into consideration”

“I’m serious (Y/N)!”

“Me too”

You were now laying lazily in the comforting warmness of your bed. As you promised you called Haruka after dinner, filling her into all the details of your crazy first day, and a certain insufferable spiky blond.

“How about you? How was everything there?”

“Cold as hell! It started snowing when I was walking back home. You know, typical Hokkaido.”

“You know that the hell is hot, rig-?”

“Don’t smartmouth me bitch, you get my point.”

“Yeah, yeah, today the weather was really nice here, is getting warmer everyday and the sakura are on full bloom. I think is the first time I haven’t freeze to death on my first day of school. It was a nice experience for a change.”

“Oh, I’ll wish to be there! I can’t believe we are in firkin’ April but it feels like January!”

“Like you said, Typical Hokkaido. Hey Haru, my eyelids are closing; I’ll go to sleep now ok? I’ll message you tomorrow and please for God’s sake don’t leave your phone in the classroom, you moron.

“Ok! Ok Mom! Geez! Suzue told me there was this new hottie in class 3-C and I had to check if he was Jefree Star Approved!”

“Doesn’t Jefree Star review make-?? Oh! Shut up and go to sleep!”

After hanging up to a pouty Haruka, (Y/N) put her phone to charge and submerged herself under the softness of her comforter, turning off the bedside lamp she sighed prying to whatever God out there listening that tomorrow could be a better day.

“Just a good day, that’s all I’m asking for…”

With little flashbacks of all those days spent with Haruka and all her friends, her family, her old home, of Hokkaido.

 Embraced in sweet memories, she was lulled to sleep.

Raise your hand if your mom also freaks out about everything ✋

*Mashumaro: Marshmallow in Japanese ヾ(•ω•`)o

[autisticstarseed]

👐 Hand washing guide when you have sensory issues 👐

tbh. we shouldve been talking abt this a long time ago for many disabled ppls sake but ive put this post off for like a million years out of pure solidified fear of ableist harassment/kneejerk ignorance and also generalized cringe idiots but now that we got so much covid-19 fear and autistic ppl actually tend to have weaker immune systems than most people lets jump the shark;;;

i have autism and i physically struggle with washing my hands as often as i want to, having wet hands, drying them, the temperature difference, bad soap smells/textures, etc. are all genuinely painful. the good news is that ive dealt with water aversion shit since birth (its a common sensory issue), so ive had time to figure out alternatives and coping skills that still help reduce risk of disease and spreading it in ways that i can personally manage. (ie. not lazy or selfish or gross. genuinely putting more effort into this every day task than most other people would even think about. just disability lads) so heres the guide i have to offer if you’re in a similar boat, with some keypoints about hand hygiene and tips addressing the most common sensory struggles ive noticed with it;;;

1. hand sanitizer

i love hand sanitizer, i can get it in almost any scent i want and it dries down very very fast. the problem is; hand washing and hand sanitizer do different things. it only kills certain types of germs. which is all fine and dandy, but because of this, using only hand sanitizer wont actually keep you from catching or spreading many illnesses. so what its good for is times you cant wash your hands (out in public, sensory overload, no spoons, etc), thats fine, but it should not replace all hand washing if at all possible. it is supposedly effective to covid-19, but so little is currently known that it should not be considered your go to for this, and the only unanimous statement straight from the CDC is that hand washing works best at preventing its spread.

temperature - if you have trouble with it being too cold, conveniently keeping it in your pocket or closely against your body in some way warms it up and makes it much more comfortable. 

scent - they come in almost any scent you can imagine, but if you have trouble with strong scents, there are ‘scentless hand sanitizers’. they usually have a faint chemical smell, so if there are any testers available, you should check to make sure it can work for you before you buy it.

texture - if gel doesnt cut it, they also make foamy hand sanitizers and liquid sprays, but theyre harder to find and might be a little more pricey.

and remember; always buy hand sanitizer that says it contains AT LEAST 60% alcohol, the higher alcohol content the better, but try to keep track of how high it is and how much you apply it so you dont dry your skin out. and right now price gouging is pretty bad, so dont be surprised if you cant find any for a while, and dont buy any small bottle that costs over a couple dollars, its a rip off.

2. hand washing 

so what does hand washing do thats better than sanitizer??? soap and water lift up the dirt and oils that are carrying the germs and actually wash them off, and not only that, it also gets rid of all the things sanitizer cant, such as dust/dirt, spores, chemicals, and the previously mentioned viruses that are harder to kill. ik to an outside perspective it might not seem that hard, but obviously when you have autism and these tasks are split down into bigger ordeals and sensory nightmares, it can feel impossible. 

soap - there are so many different kinds of soap! scentless soaps exist, and they very rarely have any lingering chemical smell! theres also soap for sensitive skin, and baby soap also works well for that issue. bar soaps can come in all different shapes and sizes, with many different ingredients and additives to choose from (independent soap makers are an amazing source for customized soap btw), and liquid soaps can be pure gel, frothy, mousse-y or even have tiny exfoliating or moisturizing beads in them if thats a sensory experience you enjoy. this is my number one rec for people struggling with hand washing bc of sensory issues;;; mix up the soap. finding one that gives you an okay or even a GOOD sensory experience can completely turn around an otherwise meltdown inducing task

temperature - this is the one thats always been hardest for me. cold water straight up hurts me, and our plumbing is Terrible, so the trick i have for slow pipes is to run the hot water on high as Soon as i get into the bathroom. leave it going and by the time you’re done there should be at least lukewarm water. if this still takes too long for you, try out the various sinks in your house, usually one is able to get hot water faster than the rest (for me its the kitchen sink) and that can become a designated station for you if need be.

texture - some ppl just hate water. if thats the case, it rly doesnt change much abt the process if you use less water, ie work the soap into a lather, and then only use as much as you need to rinse it off. you dont have to keep your hands under the whole time, the soap clings to the dirt, the water takes it off all together, as long as you scrub well and rinse till you see no suds, you’re good 

If it really comes down to it, a washcloth with water+soap, a disinfecting wipe, or even literally just a rinse with plain ol water is better than nothing, but the stream of water and act of rubbing the soap in is the most effective combo against disease. soap/disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers are your second best option. if theres a time in your life where an issue is so disabling for you that you truly cant keep any of this up, rly the most important thing is to limit your direct physical contact with your face and commonly used objects as MUCH as possible until you can figure smth out. (you kno those old ladies that grab a wipe and open the doorknob with it between their hand and the knob? become that old lady) and if push comes to shove, if a safe and accepting therapy setting is something accessible to you, hygiene struggles are actually something many mental health professionals understand Very well and can help you cope with personally and directly, without shame.

3. hand drying

this is also. my personal hell. and what most people say is the hardest part of the sensory experience. but ya cant just walk around with wet hands right

towels - the obvious choice for most, but to me they actually dont dry enough. i always end up damp and with lint stuck to me. this kills the man. but hand towels do have some variety to them, you can find em with really long fibers or really short/flat, really fuzzy or really stiff, etc. sounds silly but its smth a lot of ppl dont think about that can change a lot. you can also try super absorbent towels (yes like a shamwow), and again baby bath towels are also an option if you want something gentle.

paper towels - yeah a little more wasteful and expensive, but imo much more absorbent. theyre also pretty thin so you can get between your fingers (MY BANE), and under your nails if you use a corner. 10/10

blow drying - ik this is the kind of shit you only see in like movie theaters and malls and they are definitely LOUD AS SHIT, but if you happen to have the money, and struggle more with Textures than Noise, ie a stream of warm air seems worth the sound, you Can actually find a small basic one of these items for your own home. 

4. public restrooms

everybody hates em!!! but you can make em more tolerable;;;

soap - bring your own! little travel soaps you can keep in your bag are a godsend for ppl with sensory issues, sensitive skin/allergies, and if you just prefer not sharing soap.

temperature - most public places i notice actually do get hot water pretty fast (like,,, too fast,,, like,,, it bur ns me) so if there are no faucets and its too hot or too cold, once again you can try different sinks and one might be more comfortable. if there are faucets i recommend grabbing a paper towel to turn it off, so you dont have to touch it again with your clean hands.

sound - WHY R AUTOMTIC FLUSH TOILETS SO FUCKEN LOUDD..... honestly if you have noise cancelling earmuffs or earplugs or w/e pop em in. if you dont have any of that i just literally plug my ears with my fingers when i stand up. if you struggle with the sound of the blow dryers, they almost always have paper towels as well, but its a great idea to carry something like that around in your bag with you just in case. if its really packed and people chattering is getting to you, sometimes the ‘family’ bathrooms are actually smaller and less full. if its bad enough and you feel comfortable asking, an employee might be able to direct you to a single stall bathroom or at least a different one than that.

and though its convenient, try not to use your sleeve to touch things like doorknobs, toilet handles, etc. instead use something disposable like a paper towel or wipe, bc the germs will simply transfer to your sleeve and still risk infecting you. 

5. schedule

the number one suggestion is to wash your hands literally as often as possible during a time like this but like. even for allistic/nt/abled/ ppl thats just not always an attainable schedule so the Best times to wash your hands are;;;

after using the bathroom - the most important time and generally the easiest to get used to. its smth you have to do multiple times a day that already has a schedule, and if you were to forget or go into sensory overload its usually immediately accessible as soon as you can. as i mentioned earlier, if you need help remembering, you can turn the water on when you first get in and leave it going.

the doctors - ANY KIND of health facility should be avoided right now unless really necessary, places where sick people would frequent is the quickest way to get sick but like. ya rly cant help it sometimes right. you cant stop dealing with your own illnesses just bc theres another one floating around. so, this is time to go apeshit on the handwashing. if your health issue involves coughing and sneezing, ask for a face mask. bring a scarf in case they dont have any, its not as great but better than nothing. otherwise, you honestly dont need it, face masks are more for these people bc they keep germs in better than out. whether you’re worried abt getting sick or infecting others, this is a time to use hand sanitizer, avoid physical contact like shaking hands [autistic cheering], and when you first arrive and right before you go to leave are the most important times to remember to wash your hands. 

preparing food - not as commonly spoken about, but also easy to work into a schedule. i personally dont care unless its food for somebody else or if im going to be putting my hands on it a lot, but if thats the case, a lot of the time thats produce you already want to wash in the sink, so you can kill two birds with one stone there. dont just get the germs off your own hands, get em off the fruits and veggies before you eat em. carpool

after grocery shopping - not very common. most ppl just slap some sanitizer/a wipe on there or dont think abt it at all, but if you just got home from walmart thats a great time to wash. you just touched a bunch of items other people touched, including the cart, money/credit cards, and all the products people will pick up and put back, so its prime germ time babey. But again, sanitizer or a wipe will help if its all you can manage after a trip out like that.

before self care - also uncommon. ppl always say ‘dont touch your face’ and ‘apply this product with clean hands’, and what they mean is that one of the fastest ways germs get into your system is through your mouth, nose, eyes and ears. if you’re simply washing your face theres not as much concern, but applying a mask, moisturizer, makeup, etc. should all be done after a gentle rinse of your hands (and face). very hard to get into the schedule of, but if you consider it a Part of your ‘self care’ or use a special fun cleanser, it can stick a little easier.

6. stim items

STIM ITEMS!! if you have stim items, its a good idea to clean them regularly, but even moreso during an outbreak like this.

rubber/plastic - if it goes in your mouth, hot water (not hot enough to melt!) and dish soap, if it doesnt, look up how to safely make a diluted bleach solution.

silicone - silicone is usually dish washer safe.

fabric - if its light, add bleach to the washing machine, if its colored, you can use white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide which are less likely to discolor any dyes. lysol detergent is also super great. small items you’re worried about losing, or items with details/loose parts, you can usually wash inside of a sealed pillow case. 

‘squishies’ - for ‘mochi’ squishies aka the rubbery ones, soap and water + some dusted baby powder or corn starch (optional) to keep it from grabbing lint for a while. for foam squishies, they can rarely be deep cleaned without the risk of growing mold or taking paint off, but a disinfecting wipe every now and then should keep it clean for a while.

slime - cant be disinfected, sorry. also a breeding ground for mold if you arent careful, so its always best to cycle through these quickly.

technology - cant really be completely sterilized, but there are many places to get sprays and cleaning wipes for the devices you use that can at least keep the areas your hands frequently touch a little cleaner.

BUT of course if your item comes with instructions on how to wash it, always follow that instead. this is just a general idea.

and as a final note;;; disabled ppl should not feel guilty or dirty for struggling with this. like. man idc abt ur cringe feels or your ignorant blame or your lack of understanding/sympathy for what goes into these tasks for us. if u dont wanna get our struggles and sensitivities when we’re working twice as hard on functioning tasks which personal ease you take for granted, thats on you. @ disabled people if you struggle with maintaining the same standard of hygiene as nts you arent gross or bad fucking person, you’re disabled and by definition that means your level of functioning will be different, and you deserve sympathy. its just that germs dont discriminate, they wanna cause problems for everybody involved (especially you!!!), so Anything you can manage is Great and if anything from this post can help make it a little easier for people in any way, i feel its absolutely necessary to talk about with respect and dignity. people with autism/adhd/sensory processing disorder/similar neurodivergencies/literally anybody else this could benefit, pls feel free to add on any tips you might have or send me questions. let disabled ppl help disabled ppl do our personal bests

[quincebabies8]

Ideas For Selecting Laser Teeth Whitening Therapies.

Content

Before & After Teeth Whitening.

For How Long Will My Teeth Stay Whiter?

When Might Whitening Not Function?

Publication Now Free Of Cost Teeth Whitening Examination.

Oral Prosthetics.

Exactly How Does The At Home Teeth Whitening Aftercare Little Bit Job?

Teeth whitening treatments is a straightforward non-invasive oral treatment used to alter the colour of natural tooth enamel. Teeth whitening treatment can change the appearance of your teeth in a matter of hours as well as offer you a shiny, healthy looking smile. You will originally be invited to participate in the technique for a totally free examination visit, where we will see if your mouth is suitable for teeth whitening. We will expect you to have a tidy and healthy mouth and also a good oral health routine.

Teeth Whitening Kits - The 10 Best Products and What to Look For - Men's Health

Teeth Whitening Kits - The 10 Best Products and What to Look For.

Posted: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Prior To & After Teeth Whitening.

Tooth whitening is an effective means of lightening the all-natural colour of your teeth without getting rid of the tooth's surface. It's worth bearing in mind the treatment can't make a full colour modification, however it will lighten the existing shade.Why might I intend to whiten my teeth? Just as hair and also skin colour vary, so does the colour of our teeth. Let's encounter it, there are extremely couple of people that have normally brilliant-white teeth, and it's all-natural for our teeth to become discoloured with age. Food as well as beverages such as tea, coffee, red wine and also blackcurrant can internally stain our teeth, as can smoking cigarettes and calculus. We adhere to acknowledged tooth whitening procedures that have actually been verified to be secure and do not damage the teeth or enamel. The gum tissues, though, do need defense as well as this is provided by your whitening device, which just allows the gel to be touching your teeth and also not the gum tissues.

How Much Time Will My Teeth Remain Whiter?

The reason why people choose laser teeth whitening over other dental procedures is because they tend to be much less invasive. Some dental procedures can cause tooth sensitivity, while other can cause your jaw muscles to tighten up. Laser treatments don't have this side effect. It's also a much more convenient treatment, as you don't have to worry about making multiple appointments, or going through any pain or discomfort whatsoever.

How often should you use teeth whitening?

Different whitening kits have different duration, but it usually ranges between seven to 14 days. Usually, award-winning smiletec360.co.uk honored as top-rated and best best teeth whitening berkshire should not use a teeth whitening kit for more than two weeks, and the maintenance would depend on your diet and oral hygiene.

These unique dental structures will not last for a long time. In order to keep them in good working order, you will want to make sure that you follow your dentist's instructions regarding the use of the trays. Failure to do so can result in your tooth being severely damaged if the laser teeth whitening trays are not worn during your yearly maintenance.

Laser teeth whitening has become one of the most popular types of cosmetic dentistry procedures available today. The benefits that it offers far outweigh the few drawbacks that exist. This procedure can be done in a dentist's office or at home. There are even options for it to be done without a trip to the dentist's office. Find out more about laser teeth whitening and what it can do for you.

When Might Whitening Not Work?

What happens during the treatment is that the laser teeth whitening trays will target the areas of your tooth that has stains, discoloration, or gray spots. http://dorset.smiletec360.co.uk/ will create a laser beam that goes down your open enamel, or the top layer of your tooth. This beam targets the discoloration, bacteria, and stain, while whitening the rest of the tooth. The areas that will be affected by the whitening process will become whiter and brighter after the first few uses. After each use, the bleaching agents will build up on the discolored areas and will then need to be cleaned out before you can use the trays again.

Will lemon juice and baking soda whiten teeth?

Many proponents of using baking soda and lemon juice for whiter teeth insist that the harmful acid in lemon juice is balanced out by the high pH of baking soda. However, there's no evidence that baking soda completely neutralizes the acidity of lemon juice.

Having a cosmetic dentistry procedure done can be very beneficial. You will find that you have improved smile, increased self-esteem, and better health. The only issue that you may run into is the cost of the procedure. Depending on what plenty of software of condition you have, and the severity, you may find that the price is very high. Fortunately, laser teeth whitening treatment is affordable, and many people find that they are able to afford the treatment.

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The Best Teeth Whitening Products -- Colgate, Tarte, Go Smile, Kopari and More.

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Book Currently Totally Free Teeth Whitening Examination.

Your dentist will need to analyze your teeth to make certain that you are suitable for the therapy. You can discover even more information concerning oral finance on our payment choices page.How long will my teeth stay whiter? The effects of tooth whitening is entirely dependent on your lifestyle as well as teeth's very own attributes, nevertheless, 2 years is the standard. The impact is less likely to last as long if you smoke, or consume or consume alcohol products that can discolor your teeth. We likewise supply Enlighten teeth whitening therapy in the method. Your visit will last an hour, during which time all you require to do is unwind and loosen up while the dental professional applies the whitening gel. This treatment utilizes a stronger concentration of the tooth whitening gel, and also can be supported by combining in-practice and also residence teeth whitening treatments.

There is also little to no upkeep required on your part. You simply wear the laser teeth whitening trays as you would any other dental structure. You may have to occasionally adjust the settings on the trays based on how sensitive your teeth are, but they are not actually required. These trays are designed to last for about two years, which is the maximum amount of time that your dentist requires them to remain in place.

How to whiten your teeth naturally, with at-home methods - Insider - INSIDER

How to whiten your teeth naturally, with at-home methods - Insider.

Posted: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]

If you have certain conditions, such as acid reflux, you will want to make sure that you do not have any of the ingredients used in these common treatments. If you have acid reflux, then this procedure is not for you. Your heartburn can cause problems with the laser teeth whitening procedures. It is also important to note that some of these techniques can cause tooth sensitivity. If you have sensitivity issues with your toothpaste, it is important to note that some of the ingredients used in these treatments can cause sensitivity issues. You will need to make sure that you do not have any of these ingredients when having your procedure done.

If you are imagining a whiter smile, we at Courtrai Home Dental & Implant Center in Henley can make it a truth.

Your smile is distinct to you, and Courtrai Residence Dental & Implant Facility dental practitioners understand that your reasons are individual also.

It's advised that whitening is accomplished first to make sure that repairs can be colour-matched to your newly lightened up teeth.

Luckily, the adverse effects of teeth whitening treatments are reasonably minor.

You'll have the alternative to take a package house or have in-clinic treatment.

No, the whitening gel just impacts all-natural teeth-- so if you are having oral restorations such as crowns as well as bridges, see to it you speak with your dental expert concerning whitening too.

Teeth whitening therapy is an easy as well as minimally invasive means to brighten your smile as well as transform the look of your teeth.

Level of sensitivity symptoms are quickly controlled by filling your whitening tool with desensitizing tooth paste for 5-10 minutes.What are my choices for teeth whitening? Call your local dental professionals to learn what solutions they provide and schedule an appointment.What is house tooth whitening? Residence whitening entails wearing a made- to-measure whitening gadget that will certainly fit over your teeth filled with whitening gel for 2-4 hours a day for 2-4 weeks, or all night to a maximum of 4 nights. It can quickly be topped up by further applications of the gel in the future. To obtain the very best results you'll require to follow the directions given by your dentist.Am I appropriate for the therapy and what does it cost?

If your dental professional feels you appropriate, you will have an impact taken of your mouth to permit tooth whitening trays to be customized made to fit. The length of time it takes as well as the success of it does depend upon the existing colouration of your teeth, however our dental professional can analyze this as well as recommend you on the very best training course of tooth whitening treatment. When selecting teeth whitening therapies for your individuals, ease, level of sensitivity administration as well as chair time require to be taken into consideration to find the most effective remedy. The oral market is constantly working to develop new strategies in appearances and corrective dentistry all with the goal of helping you offer irresistible individual experiences. A whiter smile can often improve your confidence, particularly if you really feel awkward regarding the colour of your teeth.

What is the best teeth whitening kit UK?

The Best Teeth Whitening Kits 1. SmileTime Teeth Whitening Kit – £39.99. 2. Hi Smile Teeth Whitening Kit – £59.99. 3. Crest 3D White Whitestrips with Light – £89.99. 4. Harvey & Coco Teeth Whitening Kit Pro Edition – £20. 5. SmileTime Natural Charcoal Teeth Whitening Kit – £19.99.

We've seen thousands of individuals expand in confidence many thanks to a brighter, whiter smile. Our teeth whitening therapies are secure and also efficient, and include the expert recommendations of one of Bupa Dental Treatment's trusted oral specialists. As well as for your convenience, you could have teeth whitening at the practice or with a teeth whitening package to make use of at home.

This procedure works by using special bleach gels placed on the teeth. The gels contain an oxidizing agent that will work to remove stains from the enamel. The problem with this procedure is that the bleaching agent itself can be damaging to the gums. The gums will end up becoming inflamed and may even cause them to become red. If you are not able to afford the laser teeth whitening treatment, there are some other options to consider. Bleaching strips are available, and these typically work well for those who don't have the money to pay for the full procedure.