#i'd have to describe them in French or try to draw them or something

[twistedapple]

OK it's gonna sound overly dramatic but to me, it's people dying. Like. People in active danger and dying, seeing it happen to my own family members while I am powerless to prevent it despite being stressed out the entire time.

And when I say "people dying", I mean in a context of general duress of the "we need to hide in the metro tunnels to survive" type and other sorts of doomed sceneries. The wider context of these dreams is always so insanely bleak man. They're lifeless dreams, and I become the only one left.

everyone has dreams about being lost at school, late to work, cant find bathroom etc but whats yalls most common Uncommon stress dream. ill always have dreams about having various problems with my fish tank

[kingdoms-and-empires]

Does anyone else ever just wish you could draw/paint?

Like, draw/paint something specific.

Obviously the most obvious one will be characters for alot of people. Who doesn't want to draw the characters in their heads??

But I mean...

Specific stuff

Like, I'd love to draw animals.

And fashion.

Also landscapes and environments.

I'd love to be able to draw something like this, with blurbs of information for the animals and monsters of KaE:

And fashion!

I just love seeing how fashion evolves throughout history and how the rich are dumb as fuck in trying to out do each other in how clumsy/annoying it is to put on cause "you can afford to spend so much time on such dumb shit"

But it's cool.

I have Infinity Nikki to help cure me of that craving of seeing/experimenting with outfits (it's like, a really chill game)

But normal day to day environment stuff

That's something I can't really fulfill as a craving, beside finding artwork of what i mean.

Found an awesome artist who scratched that itch of mine recently, and its helped me describe some scenes in KaE

Jean-Claude Golvin, French archaeologist and architect!

Look at all the cool stuff he's drawn!

Because of the above, I've taken to drawing myself.

Im no good at it, but it helps me. To anyone else, it'd look horrendous, but I can see beyond what's in the paper. Cause its in my head, i just have to place it on the paper so i can like... lock it in my head, compartmentalize writing/drawing/imagination into separate boxes, and keep the flow state going as an author.

Mehhh, i'm just in one of those moods.

Introspective of myself. Which then got me thinking about something I usually think about.

Sometimes, I think about how many great writers and artists there are with no opportunity to vent that creative urge. To flex their imagination muscles. They must be like horses or birds, born to run in the plains and fly in the sky; yet caged by their economic or living situation.

And by the time they're in a position to actually do what calls to them, they're older. With more responsibilities. A career. A family. A whole set of skills and lessons already gained and experienced.

How difficult is it to overcome that initial "but im so bad right now, it'll take me too long to develop into something good" thought?

Is it not daunting to have to "start over" in a skill?

Then there's younger people than you who are by far more skilled at the "thing" than you. Isn't that crushing?

I think it's alot like exercise. It sucks at first. Sometimes you can't even do more than 30 min a day. You think, "What's the point??"

But even if you do 30 min a day for a week, that's a total of 210 minutes for that week. Three hours and a half. That's far more than the absolute zero you would have if you did nothing.

I think you can write, draw, paint, do whatever calls to you for 30 min a day in the least. Because if you keep that up for a whole year; you'll end up with 10,920 minutes, or 182 hours, worth of experience under your belt.

Oh.

Oh shit.

I went on a rant lmao

Any hopeful creatives out there, I hope you guys take some measure of solace in my words. You're not alone. It's never too late to start. The only person you're racing with is yourself, not that other person you compare yourself to. Take your time. Just don't deny yourself!

[evelynhug0]

cactus, abelia, daffodil, mahonia, chia, camellia, ivy, chamomile, palm tree, aloe vera, nutmeg & taro

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

I'm still learning a lot of work stuff as I'm in a field that is quite new to me.

abelia ⇢ do you have a particular piece of jewelry you always wear or can’t part with?

Not really but I feel kind of naked when I am not wearing any rings.

daffodil ⇢ do you have siblings? if yes, in what ways do you think you’re similar to or different from them?

I have a brother (and 3 step siblings but they don't "count" hahaha) and we're very different. He is way more extroverted and we also have different views on a lot of things, for example relationships or politics.

mahonia ⇢ what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

The French Riviera is a big source of inspiration to me and makes me wanna write stories set in my favorite cities (for example Nice). The story I am planning to write next will take place in the South of France.

chia ⇢ what’s an inside joke you have with someone else?

"Fleeeeeeisch!" (yeah it obviously doesn't make sense haha)

camellia ⇢ what were you like when you were younger? do you think you’ve changed a lot?

I was a bit shy sometimes and I was trying very hard to be a good student (which I was when I was a child). I liked doing creative things like writing and drawing, spending time with friends and family... I didn't dare express my opinon or stand up for myself. This has changed. I'm more vocal about what I want/need/think/believe but I am sadly way more anxious than I was when I was a child. I do think I have changed a lot, yes.

ivy ⇢ what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired?

Happy: I smile, talk a lot, walk around like an excited puppy and do little dances 🤣

Annoyed: Death stare, deep sighs, eye rolling

Upset: Pouty lips, I throw my head back and look away (idk how to describe it) and my tone gets passive aggressive 😂

Tired: I get quiet af

chamomile ⇢ what kind of things do you like receiving as gifts?

useful stuff for my flat/every day life, money/gift cards, more personal stuff like photos/photo books/DIY things, stickers, cool pens...

palm tree ⇢ do you have a fictional villain you shouldn’t like but love regardless?

I don't think so tbh.

aloe vera ⇢ what’s something (mundane) you really want to experience in life?

Having someone to come home to 😭

nutmeg ⇢ how’s your room/home decorated? do you have a specific theme or style going on?

It's not very decorated, sadly. It's a bit of a mess lately (so the style would be 'freestyle' lmao) but there are many vintage style posters and drawings I want to hang on my walls.

taro ⇢ if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

I'd tell them about my new job :)

Thank you for sending all of these!

[autumn-foxfire]

Oops, that wasn’t my ask was it? *scrolls down* double oops, IT WAS :0 now I only said that cause from my impression of things, from the beginning people were only interested in the Todoroki's and interest in Endeavor sky-rocketed because of Hawks, it took awhile for his redemption to garner interest, but EndHawks? 100% sold. Because that's rough and tough Endy having funny interactions with his co-worker, it's a new look on him. That's what I personally meant by "Convinced Hawks won 4th in 2018 cuz of Endy simps" that it was less Hawks himself, and more what Hawks could do for Endeavor, and it's just a jokish conspiracy anyway, that technically could be true too. It IS something that happens with fans of other anime. People have their favorite, and then there's the "favorite's friend." Anyways Foxy, I think anon is a hurt Endy stan, not sure why, but I never thought I'd have to avoid all Endy stans as I do Dabi and Twice stans too, apparently if they're wild enough to get Caleb chased off Twitter over a swear word, then whatever this is too apparently??? There's nothing weird about what you said either, fans can and DO vote for characters they find hot?? Fan service goes a long way??? I wasn't trying to be "whiny" in my asks, just genuinely, well and truly baffled because I thought cool character moments helped ranks in the poll, like Ochako's speech and Iida's hand-holding carried them all this way. Until I realized people might've thought Endeavor, who Hori's been mostly drawing as I described before, was a cool character moment for him. I really don't care if the students rank higher than Hawks, the rankings haven't been an issue, I know he's controversial, and the kids have always been well-loved that's normal, they always rank-high regardless of screentime, (aka none of them ever really show up lol) it's just Endeavor was too yet being 4th makes him 1st essentially as TodoBakuDeku aren't budging, and that's what was shocking. And idk what you mean by bringing up Shindo, nobody here said anything on him??? All I know is that fandom wanted Shinsou or Dabi to take his place. "antipathy" "truth" WHAT are you on about?? Who are you even talking to for saying "no Hawks stan has a valid reason for their intense dislike of Kaminari" I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT. TUMBLR HAS BEEN DEAD FOR CONVERSATIONS FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS. What truth??? That Shindo stans troll-voted for him for funsies? Hey good for them, that's wild dedication. You make it sound as if Hawks stans were complaining about that guy sneaking in 10th place and "can't acknowledge the truth of Shindo being a good character" which LMAO. And why would Foxy buy French volumes, she doesn't speak french? Actually I finally see what the issue here is now, anon is mistaking you for a butt-hurt Dabi stan and telling you to go buy a volume where your favorite arsonist gets the ranking you want for him. Man, watch your words k? We weren't sounding as extreme as you anywhere, "potshots?" "poor reading comprehension?" "grow up?" you see any insults? + THEY ARE PICTURES, + alright if there's a ranking for characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I guess I better go stop families and literal adults out with their friends discussing them and tell them to grow up and leave it alone, huh? This such a bad thing to talk about? God. "assumptions about the japanese" you mean a factual thing for all fans of anime. What's really making assumptions about them would be the countless posts I see that try to drag in their cultural concepts in villain meta instead of something basic like uuuh "fan-service wins you votes." Dang, I had no idea simping was apparently being rude to an entire ethnicity, not like Hori himself doesn't also simp for the ladies he draws and that sketch of sweaty post-exercise tank top Endy japanese twitter keeps redrawing and posting on my dash right????

The fact that anon came back before I could respond to this ask just shows us that they were, indeed, a salty Endeavor stan (sadly you have a bad batch of favs for every character T-T).

I don't even know why they overreacted to a vent that, outside of this blog, doesn't reach anyone (I doubt even my followers take the time to read every ask I answer XD).

I'm not even sure they knew what they were writing when they sent that ask (and then the next one) because a lot of it is very hard to make out. Or they aren't fluent English speaking and struggled to translate their thoughts into English (which could be a possibility too).

You know what's funny about the simping comment though was that it was used in their next ask to say that's why we like Hawks. I wonder if they noticed that they just defeated their own argument XD

Anyway, it was a wild ride, that's for sure.

[crayonkant]

@swallowerofdharma let me continue this conversation for a bit longer :)

A Greek philosopher* once said that you can only determine whether you've had a happy life on your deathbed; similarly, there is a lovely wisdom story in the Chinese tradition that builds a sequence of "good" and "bad" outcomes all starting from the same event, with the same implied moral that you cannot really put a value judgement on something until the very end:

A man lost his horse on the mountain - what a misfortune, said his friends. The next day his horse came back with a mare - what good luck, said his friends. The man's son rode the mare and broke his leg - terrible! if only the horse had never found her! But then the emperor's envoys conscripted all able-bodied young men in the village, while the lame son was allowed to stay - what good fortune...

... and so the story goes on for as long as the storyteller's skill can stretch it.

I wish I had the fortitude to quit reading Saezuru until it is completed, because the serialization is skewing how I react to and interpret the story. I'd like to add another measurement mark to your reading scale: hot, cold, and 'freezing cold'. If the 'colder' engagement you describe so eloquently is one where the reader has emerged from the fictional world and can see the story as a work of art to be appreciated as such - for the skill with which it is put together, the technique used to create different effects, the way in which it compares with other works of its kind, etc. - the 'freezing cold' state is one where the reader becomes so detached emotionally from the fictional world of the work that they can no longer enter it; the work does not affect them anymore, and, in consequence, any interpretation they are now capable of becomes miserly and narrow.

For all that Yoneda Kou deserves all our praise as an 'auteur' (I don't mean it sarcastically, somehow I think the French captures the meaning better that 'author'), there is an undeniably commercial element to the serialization itself and the promotion of each chapter on twitter. I'm pretty sure that Yoneda Kou did not compromise her artistic vision because her editor commented "there isn't enough heat in this chapter, how about you draw Doumeki without clothes for a change?" - I put my trust in her just like you did :) But I am a lot more cynical about the choice of panels for the sneak peak, or the choice about whether to publish something every 2 months or skip an issue and present a longer chapter that articulates a full movement from the symphony that is this story. And I find that the way I perceive the context of the work, its presentation, pushes me in the 'freezing cold' zone.

Off the soapbox now! I was spoiled to discover this manga last year and be able to read in one sitting up to chapter 52. It was an intense experience that moved me to seek a community for dialogue - I felt that there is so much meaning in this work that I don't fully grasp. That feeling has not changed, though I have postponed trying to understand before the story ends.

*with the power of the internet, identified to be Herodotus in the story of Cresus and Solon

Opened tumblr and my feed is just a series of reblogs of Doumeki and Yashiro making out and Griffith trying to kill himself.

[zombiiesque]

Nocturne Alchemy Valentine Mini-Reviews

Originally published 3/8/2019

Hey, y'all. I know it's cutting it close to when this collection goes down, so I want to make sure these reviews go up today. They've extended the deadline until Monday, so if something sounds appealing to you, there's still a little time!

I recently did a little swap for Candied Egyptian Musk, and my swap mate kindly sent along a few decants from the current update for me to try out as well. And as an extra, I've got my bottle of Vanilla Wedding Cake that I haven't yet reviewed. I got my swap on Monday, and they definitely needed a little rest, so I wanted to give them enough time to recover to be able to properly review them.

So let's jump right to the full bottle, from the Candied line. I was really interested in these, they honestly all sounded very appealing, but I was most interested in the two musks, Candied Crimson, and Candied Egyptian Musk. And I was having a difficult time narrowing it down, so this little swap took the indecision away for me! Big thanks to Hannah! When I first got them, I am just like everyone else, I cannot resist for the life of me opening them straight away and sniffing. Okay, let me be totally honest, even swiping a bit on for quick testing. I could smell in the bottle that Candied Egyptian Musk was gorgeous, really appealing, but when I went to test it, it was pretty travel shocked. Here's a perfect example of why we shouldn't toss these into the nope pile the day you get them, because on my skin, it turned pretty powdery, and I couldn't get a handle on it - smelled nothing like the bottle. Luckily, I've learned not to give up on these out of hand, because even on day two it was powdery. I set it aside, and tried to be patient. Wednesday night though I put on my sweater that I wear when it's chilly, and caught a whiff of something pretty glorious on the cuff of my sleeve. I realized it was Candied Egyptian Musk, and I was SO glad to get an idea of what it would properly smell like with rest! Eeee! (SO. MANY. EXCLAMATION. POINTS. Sorry, y'all. I'll try to restrain myself.) Ahahaha, moving on. Here's the Candied base notes: Victorian-style Sugar-Candied perfumes infused with Lime Zest, aged Orange slices, Raspberry Essence, Pear Essence, Sugar Accord, Lemon Zest, Vanilla Extract, Pink Sugar, Bourbon Vanille Absolute, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Bean. Using Absolute versions from the Studio Limited Originals. Candied Egyptian Musk: Candied Accord with Egyptian Musk Absolute. So in the bottle, I get a big waft of citrus - yum! I love their citrus notes. Very realistic. A little sugary note floats along with it, and at the base, their Egyptian Musk. Wet on my skin, the fruits are accented by a touch of vanilla and sugar, I'm definitely getting sugar rimmed fruit, with a little creaminess. The Egyptian Musk comes out to play a few minutes in. I love the Studio Limited scent, it's a soft, beautiful, clean, tranquil musk that floats fairly close to the skin, but obvious enough that I get a lot of compliments from people when I'm wearing it. Here, it's really beautifully paired with the candied fruit. I am loving where this is heading! Once this is fully settled into my skin, this isn't a strong scent. It lasts a long time for me, I definitely get a full day's wear from it, but it stays about as close to the skin as the SL does - which is soft, for sure, but it leaves a sort of trailing scent, not as personal of a skin scent as for instance Bastet Amber. The fruits are pretty melded with the sugar and vanillas, I don't get a clear reading on what the fruits are now, but they're a lovely, obviously juicy mix of fruit, sweetened with sugar and "cream". I wasn't sure how these would all play together with the accenting notes, but the Candied accord is a lovely accent to Egyptian Musk, neither overwhelms the other. Instead, they give you a really beautiful, different tone to a familiar scent. I can see this being something I reach for quite a bit in the warmer half of the year.

Candied Crimson: Victorian-style Sugar-Candied perfumes infused with Lime Zest, aged Orange slices, Raspberry Essence, Pear Essence, Sugar Accord, Lemon Zest, Vanilla Extract, Pink Sugar, Bourbon Vanille Absolute, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Bean. Using Absolute versions from the Studio Limited Originals. Candied Accord with Crimson Egyptian Musk Absolute. I probably love Crimson as much as I love Egyptian Musk. It's somewhat stronger than its sister, but not as forward as Kashmir, their other red musk. Crimson is a red musk, and the oil is tinted a pale, almost watery red. I finally picked up a bottle last January after realizing I absolutely loved it in blends, and I would probably really enjoy having the single accord on hand - and I do. Musks are something NA does very well, and this one is no exception. If you're looking for something a little less sexy and forward, say, than Kashmir, possibly more appropriate for day wear, I would recommend it. Again, this is lovely paired with the Candied accord! I get a burst of citrus when I open the vial, and Crimson following quickly behind. As with Candied Egyptian Musk, Candied Crimson opens on the skin with the fruits - I should mention that you get a real meld of fruits on the skin, not just the citrus. It's almost like a fruit bowl, if that makes sense, with a little sugar and cream. The Crimson pairs really well right away with this. If you've ever tried Green Tea Crismson, it's a little like that, if you added Sugarcube - but obviously more fruity/creamy, with no tea. Crimson adds a bright, smooth, clean, almost softly purring musk with the candied fruit. With long drydown, the two aspects complement each other, neither one overpowering the other. This lasted a good full day on me as well.

These two are both so good, I kind of wish I'd been able to try all of them!

Teak & Sandalwood: Indonesian Teak Absolute, Santalum Absolute, Australian Sandalwood, Spices of Pink Pepper and Nutmeg, Ember Vanilla Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar. Okay, this was the other sample that came along with my swap. I absolutely love the Bastet's Ice Cream accord, but these are a little different from previous incarnations - they're wood, spices, and cream. I was really curious what these would be like. I tried this on my skin, and found it to read pretty masculine. I love pepper, as well as teak and sandalwood, and I can usually pull off scents that run in the middle. I know it's just my skin, but on me, though, I tried it and it read pretty strongly towards the other way, so I decided to try this on my fiance, Jody. And oh, wow - it's absolutely mesmerizing. At first, it's a little sweet on him, which made him nervous. I'm not sure if y'all have read some of my early entries, but Jody is pretty firmly in the "I hate vanilla" camp, which is really, really rare. He does love the more resinous ones, like Ember Vanilla or OP Pakhet, though, so I made him wait a bit before darting to wash his wrists. Hah! It settled very quickly on him, and it's dead on intoxicating. The teak and sandalwood blend so beautifully with the peppers and ice cream accord, the strong wood balances with the sweetness to just envelope the senses. It's really sexy. I mean, I drool now every time he's put it on - we had errands to run both yesterday and today and I could smell him all day long. It kept my attention. The pepper adds a great little kick in the background, too.

Vanilla Wedding Cake: Vanilla White Cake accord, Sweet Almond Elixir, Sugar Cream, Bastet’s Ice Cream Absolute and Crystalline Absolute. I usually don't go for more foodie scents, but Bastet has really started to draw me in, just as she's done with florals. This is no exception! And it pairs well with so, so many scents. I got this last year, so mine's had plenty of time to age. This one is pretty straight forward for me, but oh, is it good. The white cake is just...yummy. Smells just like a rich, moist white cake, not too dense, not too dry. I don't get a lot of the almond on my skin, and there's a lovely, white, slightly buttery frosting. Creamy. The almond is an accent, and it's perfect here. It's actually kind of uncanny how well this is created as a perfume, it's absolutely perfectly balanced, and I can describe it as I would actually eating a slice of wedding cake. I get a long wear time from this - it will go on for a good ten hours. It's not as powerful as my well-beloved resins, but I would give this a medium throw. I wanted to see how a little more almond would smell, so I paired this with Speckle Bunny, and I am here to tell you it was a pretty amazing layering combination. I've also done it with Egyptian Peach Blossom, Coconut Milk, Pteranodon (because I have to try layering that with everything, goodness) and even Camarasaurus, which I have to say is so, so gorgeous. Honestly, I don't think, if you wanted to try it with other scents, there's much it wouldn't go with - I did it with a coffee scent, and with White Tea Vanilla - it's just extremely versatile.

I just remembered I have a partial of Bastet's Ice Cream: Tibetan Crystalline. Santalum Absolute, Crystalline Absolute, Nag Champa Accord (Halmardi Resin, Incense, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Plumeria essence), Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Japanese Vanille Incense accord, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar *different NG accord for this blend than the Studio Limited Original. I don't have enough room on my skin right now to give this a proper testing and evaluation for a full review, but very quickly, this is definitely different than the SL Tibetan Crystalline. It's gorgeous, and really eye-rolling good. The creaminess of the ice cream accord is just so smooth with the nag champa! I haven't done a side by side yet, but I might even love this more than the SL. Intoxicating. I will try to come back to this tomorrow morning, if I have time, to do a more solid side by side and full description.