#so sometimes I won't wash them for awhile

[claypigeonpottery]

painted some of this with my fingers.

for authenticity?

no. I didn't want to wash my brushes

[intimacyequalsdeath]

Heat Wave William Afton x Reader

Hello everyone! This is my comeback to writing softly once more now that school has slowed down a bit, I hope you all enjoy my next few drabbles and bits and pieces <3

Notes: Minors DNI, Domestic fluffiness with an unsettling twist, No specific descriptions of reader or pronouns are used. Reader doesn't know the truth about the animatronics.

"Will it's so fuckin' hot"

"Language Bunny"

You groaned and rolled your eyes as you laid on the sticky feeling leather couch in William's office at the pizzeria.

"William, It is so very hot" William snorted at this but nevertheless continued to leaf through the paper work strewn about his desk.

"There fans out there with the animatronics Bunny, go steal one and sit in front of it"

"I'm not sure the animatronics will like that" You joke, Missing the dark look wash over William's face for a split second.

"They won't mind Bunny. They know better"

You nod and rise from the chair. You make your way out into the main room of the pizzeria, the three animatronics standing in their places looming over the room almost like guards to ensure everything is alright.

Your eyes make their way over all three of them one by one. In all the time you had known William you never could quite say why these robots were so important to him. A "Passion project" he would call it when you asked him, he had invested too much into it to just let it go and sell it.

Your eyes leave the animatronics and quickly scan the room, landing on what your looking for you head over and unplug the fan from the wall outlet. You pick it up and before you leave for some reason you are compelled to turn around and look back at the animatronics.

"I'm uh, just gonna take this for awhile, while we're here" You don't know why you felt compelled to say anything to a bunch of animatronics but you were, just to be safe.

You returned to William's office fan in hand. He looks up from his paper as you enter the room.

"I see you found what you were looking for Bunny, I take it they didn't give you too much trouble?" You looked at him confused.

"Who?"

"The animatronics" He states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh. Uhh no they were fine. I told them I'd bring it back before we leave"

"Good, they can get a bit restless in the summer without proper ventilation."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Talk about the animatronics as if their like, actual people" William's head snaps up to look at you. He has an unreadable expression on his face as he stares at you a moment before smiling.

"It just sometimes feels like they are Bunny, They've been a part of my life for so long ya know?"

"oh yeah, I- I get that" You nod in understanding, William smiles.

"Good, That's my Bunny. Just be sure to put it back like you said before we leave. The animatronics don't like when promises are broken."

"Yeah I'll put it back for them, no worries."

William smiles once more before once again returning to his paperwork. You sit back down on the couch with the fan pointed on you making it much more pleasant. Sitting there though you can't help but shake the feeling that maybe the animatronics we're more than meets the eye.

Maybe there was a bigger reason why William talked about them as if they were living people. Though for now, your biggest worry was staying cool and not biting William's head off for not investing in central air conditioning.

[fantasticlightkitten]

Shit post❤️

Kalego x reader smut headcanons!

Reminder that I'm new to making smuts so it's badly written

(contains: Sex,that's literally why it's smut and also swearing)

Will 100% degrade you,a complete sadist too and will call you names like;"whore,slut,bitch and pet"

Will definitely go rough with you,will start off gentle and slow at first if it's your first time but even so he'll really go rough and fast as soon as he heard the smallest bit of moan or whine.

Smirks when he sees you crying in pain due to how big he was inside you,will definitely pull your hair and say "what? You said you can take it"

No mercy at all,BUT he will ask for consent since ✨ consent is sexy ✨ and he's still a responsible teacher at babyls,he knows the basics of asking for consent and will have a safe word.

It's 12 inches,a little curved upwards, definitely veins and maybe a small faint shade of purple+indigo.

He won't force it down your throat,even if he's rough in your ass he'll be gentle to not make you gag but if he came home after teaching the,as usual, troublemakers aka misfit class, he'll go rough.

If you say "stop!" Or "no!" Or if you're not ready, he'll stop for awhile just don't make him mad there'll be no stopping if you did,he's a demon afterall he has a lot of stamina.

He'll use his tail as a second dick, probably a bit sharp but not so much to the point it'll hurt you,he still makes sure you're unharmed but marked by him.

You're only one of the people who knows him enough that you know how to calm him down,maybe one of them is him eating you out.

No matter, he'll go to the teachers dorm room and definitely eat you out and tease you to let his anger and hunger out.

The aftercares are nice though, he'll bring you in bath with him and wash your body for you,in the aftercares he's more gentle and stays in a comfortable silence while occasionally making small chit chats and giving you small,gentle kisses around your body.

Will give you skincares and other expensive gifts after as an apology if he went a bit too far,but still staying the old grump he is.

Will probably smirk at you if he sees you struggling to walk in the hallways,teasing you and not helping you,that is before you trip and that's when he'll actually help you out.

Will say; "you're just so weak like that,huh? Can't take me anymore?" With either a smirk or a straight face.

Might do it semi public but sometimes I don't see him doing it,he still has to keep his dignity and being iruma's familiar is already a shame.

[kokushibosbestie]

YESSSS ZEYN_SYRE BLOGGG

Hiiiiii my name is Shogunnnnn

Okay so since I saw how you wanted more asks, what would do you think Christian Dean would say and do about someone who likes him (prolly like around his age and female) (but like wouldn't tell him she liked him and thinks it isn't a big deal) and is like a vigilante (anti-hero adjacent) character, washed up and tired but sweet to his sister. She gives her treats and takes her to the mall sometimes.... I wouldn't say they're bestie but Zeyn doesn't have many friends nor does she so they hang out quite a bit.. (may or may not be based off of an OC of mine...?)

HAI SHOGUN! Sorry this took so long! And if you want actual headcanons in a list form that is more of a y/n reader kinda thing, lmk pls! 😭

I think we all know that this man can and will pick up on feelings. No way anyone is hiding absolutely anything from him. He knows people find him attractive/like him, so it won't be new for him. But it all depends on if he reciprocates those feelings. Because, if he doesn't, he won't hesitate to push them away and be less open and kind with them.

Though, in a situation where he does reciprocate, I do believe that there's three things that could happen:

1. He becomes flirty but still remains gentleman and keeps them close to protect them like he does with Zeyn and Micah.

2. He acts as though he doesn't care and somewhat like a play/fuckboy.

3. He stays distant as different way to protect them from not only the dangers that surround him but also himself.

Now, here's the deal with Christian. I believe that he has trauma surrounding liking girls because of what happened to Destiny, so he leans more into guys to stay away from facing/triggering that trauma. This is shown with Xander and now Ethan on multiple occations. So it would probably take awhile for him to warm up to them and genuinely show his feelings, which he already has a hard time with.

I find it hard to believe that Christian even cares about a potential romantic interest's personality. He liked Destiny--a cheery and sweet girl with a strong heart and beliefs, Xander--a guy with obvious trauma and a usually cool demeanor, and Ethan--a police officer who tries to act tough and serious all the time. It's obvious he's not one to critique someone who doesn't deserve it. But he has been "playing" with Ethan for sometime now and is obviously good at manipulation.

Nonetheless, he can be hectic and hard to understand. Especially with a girl that is basically his polar opposite. But if they treat his sister right, I think he'd become quite fond of them!

[gendercomsumer]

Oh! Look! It's part 4 after months!!!

A/N: Hello! Yes I am still alive despite what you may think! We had a crazy end of year with a bunch of drama after October but hey I'm here! Either way this is part 4! Hope you enjoy! Also! ME REACHING 100 FOLLOWERS WTF!?! I NEED TO THINK OF SOME SORT OF SPECIAL- (and finish this series as a whole tbh) BUT THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Warnings: Ooc Jamil?, not proof read, fighting mentions in Jade's

GN!reader! (terms my dear is used in Jades tho)

Characters: Jamil Viper (838 words), Epel Felmier (789 words), Jade Leech (807 words)

Jamil Viper:

You most definitely met through either Kalim or some sort of cooking classes if you take them.

Kalim had already warmed up to you rather quickly so of course he'd want to introduce you to Jamil who's been with him since they were kids.

At first Jamil was naturally suspicious, he was suspicious of most people though so it wasn't really new.

It'd be awhile for him to fully trust you so be ready for a bit of waiting, but I promise it's worth it in the long run!

Kalim also put in lots of good words for you to hopefully speed up the process of Jamil warming up to you, it didn't really help, but it's the thought that counts right?

When Jamil starts to warm up and trust you he will become a bit more doting on you, "You need to tuck your fingers in more while you're cutting, you'll cut a finger off."

It's his own way of showing he's paying attention it can get a bit annoying at times but it's a little sweet if you look at the undertones of it all.

Though somewhere along the line when you started taking some of the work off of Jamil's shoulders even with your already filled schedule is when he starts to realize he might be in trouble.

Helping him with decorations or food for Kalims spur of the moment parties, helping Kalim in the classes you can so that Jamil won't have to tutor him as much

It seems like all small actions to you, but to Jamil it gives him a small fluttering feeling in his chest.

He'll start to realize he's in love when he does things with you in mind without thinking, making a dish for a party cause you had once told him how you loved it

Seeing random things and doing mundane tasks and randomly thinking, 'I wonder where they're at now..'

Once he realizes how far he's in he lets out a sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose as a small bit of warmth creeping up his neck.

His behavior doesn't change much while he's crushing on you, but something you may or may not notice is the amount of small tasks he does for you grows ever so slightly.

I see Jamil's love language both giving and receiving as acts of service, it makes his heart clench when someone goes out of their way to do something for him, whether it be small or big.

Though sometimes when no one is looking or when you have a moment where the two of you have time alone, there's a faint smile on his face that to anyone else would go unnoticed.

when it comes to the confession he would take a while similar to Azul to make sure it's not just something that will fade with time.

When the feelings persist he's at first a bit annoyed, but those feelings quickly changed

Honestly I think he would confess on accident, he had something planned out but it went out the window at one little slip up.

Kalim had announced a grand party happening in Scarabia for the second time this week and of course put Jamil on cooking duty for all of the party food.

He was going to protest to Kalim saying it was too much for one person to handle until you came up saying you would lend a hand.

Jamil paused and sighed begrudgingly agreeing, at least it was sometime that he got to spend with you alone.

You were quick to start any prep work that Jamil needed, washing vegetables, cutting meat, prepping some of the seasonings he'd need for the dishes.

Jamil had a small smile the whole time watching as you made busy work humming to yourself. It was almost domestic and something he could get used to. The sound of your voice.. An extra pair of hands to help, and not to mention the fascination as you watched him cook that dishes Kalim asked for.

"This is something I could get used to.." Jamil mumbled under his breath you looked at him and asked what he meant and he turned his head with a bit of warmth climbing onto his face.

He let out a sigh putting the cooking meat on a light simmer before turning to you fully, "Having you here.. It's not only nice to have an extra set of hands, but your presence over all is.. it's refreshing to me.. and I want it to stay that way." You jokingly asked if this was his way of saying he was madly in love with you and he gave you a serious look

"If that's what you see it as then yes.. I am saying I'm in love with you, I wouldn't say maddeningly so but my thoughts do wander to you and what it would be like if you were by my side.. Will you do me the honor of making those wandering thoughts a reality..?"

Epel Felmier:

He's one of the first years so it's no surprise the two of you met on your own. (either that or by the idiot duo)

If you have a bit of a grudge against Vil too you guys make quick friends.

if you don't you'd still be good friends since you might have classes together being freshmen and all.

One of the things about being Epel's friend is he feels a lot more comfortable around you and being not so prim and proper

He gets easily excited when talking and will often slowly fall back on his country accent

mention it? He'll get pretty embarrassed and kind of pouty about it

So just let him talk for as long as he wants eventually he'll bleed back into his trained voice Vil worked so hard to get him used to

Epel will also try to prove that you can call on him if you need any man power

by that I mean carrying more or offering to carry something for you that you may seem to be struggling with (even if he may struggle as well-) But hey it's the thought that counts right?

But he is still a very reliable person that you can count on.

When he starts to fall for you though, he'll try to show you how manly he is even more.

He might go to Jack or Deuce for advice (Deuce doesn't have the best advice, Jack gives him some pointers)

He now, without thinking, will carry your bags and books if your hands are full or he just wants to lend a helping hand

He also asks you for your opinions a lot more often, "hey, Y/N, What do you think of this design? I don't know whether or not it's good enough to carve though..."

He'd start to realize how deep he is falling when he starts wanting to write about you to his family back in the country.

He only ever wrote about important events and updates but the fact that he wanted to write about you to home to brag in his own way struck him as odd as he slowly started to realize.

He had almost thought of asking Rook for advice, he didn't want to get Vil's views on it cause he was still a bit salty towards him.

Rook being two steps ahead ( and really good at reading people) told him, "Go for something sincere! From the heart, something special to show them you care and pay attention! That will surely make Trickster swoon for you!"

Epel was a bit surprised he didn't get some sort of strange answer from the vice house warden but he would admit that he did get some ideas from his advice.

He took hours trying to find something that was personal for you, he decided on something hand made, or hand carved I should say.

After a few conversations with you he found your favorite flower out and he quickly got to work.

He did sketch upon sketch trying to find the perfect design to carve for you sometimes taking free time in class which Vil finds a bit aggravating.

Once he had the design he got to work staying up into the late hours carving a beautiful and intricate design into the most perfect apple he could find (in the boxes in his room)

He also cast a spell on it so that the apple wouldn't rot and it would give off the sweet smell as if it was freshly cut.

He wasn't one for very sappy confessions unlike his dorm mates, but he still has one that's sweet.

You and Epel were sitting outside during lunch Ace, Deuce, and Grim were all in line to buy lunch so you and Epel had a moment alone which neither of you complained about

Epel took the apple that was in a small lavender box and gave it to you with a slight blush and smile "Here! It's somethin' I made for you!"

You decide not to bring up his change in accent as you carefully open the box to see the beautifully carved apple with your favorite flower with elegant patterns surrounding it.

You turn to Epel with a sweet smile and thank him but also ask him what the sudden gift is for.

His face gains a bit more color as he clears his throat, "I wanted to tell ya for awhile but there was never a good time since Ace and Deuce are always with ya." He said crossing his arms, "But I really really do care for you, and not just in the way friends care, I love ya... That's as mushy as I'm going to go though!"

Jade Leech

You either met through his twin or Ace and Deuce making some sort of contract and Jade coming to you to ask where they are.

Either way your first meeting isn't anything too grandiose or big, though how calm he was most of the time was quite intriguing to you

He didn't have any strong opinions about you at first until Floyd started to influence his thoughts

"Shirmpy is so funny sometimes~ Today they came into the Lounge trying to pay off Crabby and Mackerels contracts!" That was interesting do tell him more.

You can thank Floyd for helping his brother gain more interest in you.

Jade had asked you on many occasions if you would join the mountain lovers club. (tbh I would it seems like so much fun-)

If not you can sure as hell bet he'll be bringing you random mushrooms, does he know if they're poisonous or not? No, is he going to cook them up and find out? You bet.

Though he'd never purposely feed you poison mushrooms he does use you as a test subject for what ever weird combination he comes up with next

Though congrats! You have a semi-protective eel who will sometimes follow you around now!

I can see Jade as a person who will act like a gentleman to you and those he considers close

Someone talking shit about you? He's about to tell them off and subtly threaten them in the most calm and collected way possible smiling the entire way through.

Yeah to no one's surprise the amount of Savanaclaw students who want to pick a fight starts to drop like flies.

Sure there's still one or two who will talk shit and Jade will send a glare their way

That is if he's still only sure his relationship with you is platonic.

That would bring me to my next point, him realizing he's falling for you.

I can see Jade being in touch with his own emotions, a bit more so than his brother, so it doesn't take him long to notice the change in his view towards you

You go from semi-protective eel, to protective eel and another eel who just likes to bother and tease you

Jade would start to find any free time Azul allowed him to find you and make some sort of conversation with you until he's needed again

Usually he'll have Floyd with him too so you guys can have a fun hang out

now remember those Savanclaw students who were talking shit before??

Yeah they seemed to almost never run into you on campus once Jade figured out his feelings for you

Mostly out of fear that the Leech twin will be with you, but you don't need to know that

Jade will 'introduce' you to his little garden of mushroom terrariums that's honestly rather cute.

(If you get him another one or a new kind of mushroom for his collection he will love you forever no questions asked you are stuck with him-)

Jade similar to his brother feel like his confession would be more accidental and spur of the moment thing, hell he might not realize for a bit that he actually confessed!

I can also see him not even trying to make a move until he can tell you have some similar feelings to him.

I can see some student wanting to pick a fight cause who doesn't want to pick a fight with the non-magical perfect! (fr though why do we find a fight around every corner in game like I'm non-magical the fuck do you want???)

Jade just happened to be looking for you and stumbled onto the scene, to put it gently he wasn't very pleased with the situation.

"Excuse me? What do you think you're doing? Going up against someone who has no magic of their own seems a bit pathetic wouldn't you agree?"

He said still holding his smile and gentlemanly aura with his back faced to you you couldn't see the daggers being glared at whatever poor unfortunate soul decided to cross your path today.

The student quickly challenged Jade to a battle which of course he came out on top of making the other student cower and run away.

Jade turned to you and gave you a close eyed smile, "You know if I was with you all the time you wouldn't have to deal with these sorts of situations?"

Jade gently turned your head up to look at him (He's prob taller than you if he's not I am scared of you-) still having that smile plastered on his face, though his eyes are gentle with a caring gleam to them

"So if you will allow me, I'll be by your side so that no harm will come to you, How does that sound my dear?"

[podracerbarrelroll]

Dye your hair red with henna: a guide

This comes from my own personal experience with dyeing my hair red because someone recently asked me for a step-by-step, and I'm writing it down because think it might be helpful to others.

Some things to know first:

Henna adds dark red color on top of your natural color. So if you start out blonde to light brown, you can go red. If you are starting darker than that, I'm sorry, but you may only get a red tint in certain lights. I have very straight white people hair and my natural color is blonde. I don't know how well you can make henna work on different hair colors and textures.

You cannot apply henna on top of hair dyed with synthetic dye. If you already have synthetic dye in, I'm sorry again, but it will fuck up your hair. Your only option if you want to do henna is to wait for your hair to grow out so there's no synthetic dye left.

Henna is very, very permanent. I only ever dye my roots, and I wash my hair in hot water in the shower with head & shoulders shampoo. It stains the follicle rather than coating the strand, so it does not come out. It will make your hair red, but you must be sure you want your hair red and you want it to say like that for awhile.

So, to dye your hair with henna:

Wash your hair with your regular shampoo. Do NOT use conditioner. Allow to dry completely. I usually do this earlier in the day when I shower.

Get your supplies. These are: hair henna (it's a powder), lemon juice, hair clips to section your hair, plastic gloves, a disposable plastic shower cap, saran/plastic wrap, an old shirt, an old sweater or jacket or towel to go around your shoulders, and ideally, someone to help you apply it. I've never applied it by myself.

Mix the henna and lemon juice together until the henna reaches roughly the consistency of pudding. It will be brown-green in color. You don't want lumps, so if I need to open a fresh box of henna, I do this earlier in the day and let it sit. You can let it sit on the counter all day; it won't go bad. Do cover it if it's sitting for awhile so it doesn't dry out.

Section your hair with hair clips. The person applying your henna (ideally not you) will remove these section by section.

Apply the henna. Wearing the plastic gloves, remove the hair clip from the section you want to start with and completely coat the hair with the mixed henna. Go from root to tip, unless you're only touching up your roots, in which case just do the roots. Repeat for all sections.

Wrap it up. Have the person applying your henna gather your hair up, and then put it inside the plastic shower cap. Once that's done, get the saran wrap and go around your head a few times to make it tight.

Clean up. Any spots of henna left on your skin will make it orange for a few days if left to dry, so take some wet paper towels and get any that fell on your face, neck, and ears. Also clean any that might have fallen on the counter or floor etc. The hair clips you used will probably have henna on them and can be rinsed with water and left to dry.

Let it sit. Here's the downside. Henna needs to sit in your hair for at least 4-6 hours for your hair to turn red. For this reason, I get my henna applied right before I go to bed and sleep with it in. I wrap an old jacket around my head so none gets on the pillow or sheets, and then I rinse it out in the morning.

Rinse your hair. I do this the next morning in the shower with hot water and a comb. Henna does tangle my hair, so I need the comb to work through that. I've also learned to work my fingers through the fine hairs by my ears because little dried chunks of henna like to get stuck there. When that's done, I can wash my body free of henna dirt...and then wash the shower and tub, because I usually do get henna dirt all over it.

DO NOT wash your hair with shampoo until 3 days/72 hours have passed. During this time, my scalp is sometimes a little itchy, but nothing too bad. After 3 days have passed, I go back to shampooing and conditioning my hair on my normal schedule, which for me is twice a week, and that's it until it's time for me to do my roots again

If you have leftover henna, you can freeze it for next time. It freezes well, and just needs to thaw for a few hours before you use it. If you're doing it for the first time, you may need a whole box depending on how long your hair is, but if you're just touching up your roots, you may be able to do that two or three times before you go through a box.

Hopefully this can be helpful to someone else, even if that someone is only me the next time I get asked about henna!

Pictures beneath the cut.

I usually use this type of henna, but any hair henna should be fine. Some will make your hair darker.

Comparison of my hair from before I started using henna and after.

[eddiesprettybabygirlstevie]

Steve and Eddie going horseback riding, all because Dustin wanted to do something different with them, Eddie's alright with it as he's holding the reins to the horse, meanwhile Steve's clinging onto Eddie as with every movement he nearly falls off, Eddie chuckles " it's not that bad Princess, your not gonna fall, I won't let ya " he reassures him, Steve whines " easy for you to say, I'm a clutz here sometimes, an with every movement it's kinda wobbly " as he proceeds to keep his arms around Eddie tightly, they eventually go home, Steve had a fun time, even if he thought he'd fall off almost every second, Eddie picks him up an they go change into pajamas, they then go downstairs an watch a movie with Dustin, him sitting on the smaller couch, after awhile Dustin is passed out, Steve and Eddie passed out awhile ago, limbs tangled together with soft snores, as they're exhausted from a long, fun day of trying new things. Steve woke up, he stretched as he yawned, getting up from the couch, he made his way to the kitchen to make breakfast, he grabbed all he needed, which was, eggs, bacon, sausage ( not Eddie's obviously ) , an stuff for pancakes, he knew Dustin was sorta picky, he knew Eddie wouldn't want anything except when he makes it, cuz Eddie loved Steve's cooking, he cracked a few eggs into the pan, watching them sizzle as he added a piece of bacon and sausage, after that he made six pancakes, he then turned everything off an washed all the dishes, he grabbed three plates an put the bacon an eggs on one plate, an put two pancakes each on the other two, with syrup, he grabbed forks an the sat the plates in his hands an walked out, he tapped both Eddie and Dustin " breakfast sleepyheads " setting the pancakes down an then sitting down with his plate, taking a bite of his sausage, Dustin groans as he mumbles but eats the pancakes willingly, Eddie stretches as he smiles " thanks princess " he ruffles Steve's hair an eats his pancakes, he steals a piece of bacon from Steve but Steve honestly doesn't mind, they sit for awhile, the Steve washes everything an then heads upstairs to brush his teeth an shower, Eddie does as well, Dustin's already out the door an on his way to school, Eddie has made romantic plans for Steve later, so he goes out an buys a few special things for Steve, roses being one of them, Steve smiles widely as he loves roses an anything pretty, he sniffs them an then hugs Eddie tightly, mumbling a " thank you " an kissing his cheek, Eddie smiling happily as he sees his Stevie is happy, that's all that matters to him in the end, is his Stevie.

[flickeringflame216]

Same hair!!! same hair!!! If you don't mind telling, what products do yoy use/how do you care for your hair? I had it figured out when I lived in the middle east and now that I'm back in the States I cannot keep it from frizzing and just...NOT listening to me!

ooh nice! *high fives*

Ok so. I cut my hair really, really short a little more than a year ago. I'm talking 3/4 inch buzz cut short.

This ^^ is about what it looks like now, a year and a half and a lot of maintenance cuts later. The care is very different now compared to when it was long, so I'll do my best to remember since I assume your hair is longer.

So I grew up not knowing at ALL how to care for my hair. It was generally kind of a mess. I feel ya on the stubborn frizz, friend! Best advice is to mess around and find out. Experiment! Find what works for you! I tried soooo many products and did a lot of research to figure out my hair! Like with anything else, people will do a lot of yelling on the internet about how bad X thing is for your hair. Especially sulfates and silicones, people looooove to yell about those. (Note: I did end up avoiding sulfates and silicones, but I won't yell at people who can use them in their hair scot-free.) Take it with a grain of salt. I'm not a professional but here are some things that worked well for my hair when it was longer (it oscillated between collarbone and past bra-strap length when dry for awhile):

Wash day: I washed my hair once a week or at most every 5 days. Even though I have very coarse individual strands and my hair doesn't look fragile, it's prone to breakage if it gets too dry.

Scalp: My scalp was getting a bit crusty from the new wash routine! Product buildup is real. I got a silicone scalp scrubber from Walmart--nothing fancy, it was probably like $7. I still use it even though my hair is short now--it cleans effectively and gets rid of that icky scalp feeling for me.

After-shower routine: My hair (this applies to curly hair in general, i think) hates being combed or brushed when dry. That means I had to get products in and set up the "structure" of my hair, or how I wanted it to look when it was dry, while it was still wet. This is the cheap version--I get my haircare products at Walmart and don't own a diffuser. If you can afford better products/tools, more power to ya!

Wash day routine-- a. detangle before getting in the shower! I would sometimes dampen my hair with a spray bottle or just in the sink beforehand to make this easier. A chunky wide-tooth comb can help detangle, and you want to go slowly to avoid breakage. b. wet hair and wash with the shampoo of your choice (I'll list some that have worked for me below). You can use a scrubber thingamajig or just your fingers. c. rinse out the shampoo and condition. I had to use way more conditioner that I thought I would at first, since my hair was so dry. Then I would let the conditioner sit there while I did the rest of my shower routine. When my hair was near waist-length I would tie it up with a scrunchie in the shower so it was out of the way and the conditioner stayed in. d. rinse out almost all the conditioner. I would leave a very small amount in, again because of dryness. If that's not a problem for you skip this step--again, experiment til you find what works! e. I found that terry cloth towels destroyed my hair. If that's a problem for you, try microfiber towels or an old cotton t-shirt. Some people swear by styling their hair soaking wet, but that never worked for me since it had to air dry. I dried it to medium damp and then added products f. only on wash day, I would scrunch in some kind of medium-hold gel. Get your curls hydrated and defined at this stage! There are lots of methods for this. I never had to do much besides the gel and the scrunching, but there are some great resources I can link if you need them. Once your hair is 80-90% dry, scrunch again from the ends to the roots to get rid of the "cast" (the crunchy feeling from the gel). And that's day 1 hair! usually it's a bit less voluminous than your rest-of-the-week hair, but has great curl definition.

All the other days-- I put my hair up in a pineapple in the shower and avoided getting it wet. Then I'd use a spray bottle with a fine mist (also from walmart eyyyy) to dampen the shaft of my hair (so avoiding soaking the roots) and scrunch gently. This reactivates the product (whether gel or something else) from day one. I'd add a small amount of mousse or leave-in conditioner, depending on what I was doing with my hair that day and how it was looking. Then you just mess with it a little to get it where you want and voila! Ready to go!

Sleep-- I covered my hair to sleep. Usually with a little bandeau or scarf of some kind, just to keep it from getting frizzballed from rolling against my pillowcase. You could also get a silk pillowcase, which is said to help with that, but I personally never did (silk be expensive).

Products-- Right now I use Native shampoo and conditioner and Maui moisture curl mousse and that's it. When my hair was longer I bounced around a lot. Maui moisture shampoo and conditioner (I know I used the Heal & Hydrate and Nourish & Moisture specifically) worked pretty well, and smells AMAZING, but beware of silicones in some of their conditioners if you're avoiding them. I also used their gel. I tried Aussie and didn't love them for my hair, I tried Shea Moisture and their stuff was better but hit-or-miss for me from product to product. The Hairitage line wasn't bad, but again I think they used silicones in their conditioners. Native works well for my hair now, but I never used them when I had long hair so idk. Also they're a wee bit pricey compared to what I'm used to (but they have great sales). Hopefully this is a good starting point and you can find what works for you! Hit me up if something was unclear or you have more questions--or just to share something that went well! It was tons of fun rambling (sorry this is so long) so thanks for the ask, friend! ~Zaki P.S. Do you mind telling where in the middle east? I get it if you can't share or don't want to, just asking because my Dad is Egyptian (that's where the curls come from lol) and I was curious if you're also from around there!

[sydnikov]

My take that nobody asked for on why the canes look so bad right now (this is going to be long)

Don Waddell is an idiot whose cares for this team don't go beyond making money, which is ironic considering his decisions will be costing him the very thing he's after. With this, our off season was atrocious; wasting 8mil on an unneeded defenseman, keeping old and washed up goalies, and refusing to let go of dead weight (Pesce among others) were the final nails in the coffin

Rod Brind'Amour is too stubborn for his own good. He very rarely shakes up the lines, convinced doing the same thing will eventually work, and when he finally realizes it doesn't he changes things up so much it completely fucks with the chemistry. He also hasn't changed our style of play even after other teams have figured it out

Something is off in the locker room. Whether it be because the players are pissed we're losing, I don't know. Very few guys have consistently shown up (Noesen, Jarvis, Bunting, Svech, maybe Aho but even he's been quiet, sometimes KK, are the only exceptions), it's literally like watching a train wreck

We have no leadership. Rod has lost the players, as seen by his blatant criticism to the media because it's the only way he can think of to get them to listen. With this, Staal should have had the C taken away awhile ago. He's useless except for faceoffs, and I've seen more accountability from Noesen and it's only his second (third?) year with the Canes

Jumping off of #3, the players have completely lost confidence with who they have in goal. Whether it's PK or Raanta in the crease, they've stopped taking risks out of fear it will come back against them with the other team scoring a rebound. Goaltending is not our main problem, but it's certainly a big one and plays a huge role in loss of confidence from the players in front. Saying Andersen will fix this is also just wrong because he's not exactly stellar in goal either (even when he's healthy; go back to #1 and read it again)

We have no AHL affiliate. We kept drawing and sending back players too much which resulted in getting dropped. This plays a big role in developing our farm system, and while we do have great players in the works we refuse to draw them up when now would be the perfect time, because how worse can we get? Again, coaching and management thinks that doing the same thing over and over again will magically give a different result. Newsflash: it won't.

Overall, this team has many reasons to blame for their shit performance. Management, locker room atmosphere, poor goaltending, and lack of true leadership has brought us down to where we are now.

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

Advice or I think I just need to vent.

I live with my family (20yrs) and I'll be honest the house can feel cluttered a lot of the time. My room isn't relaxing if anything I just feel like a lazy slob in my own bed. My sister and I have shared rooms our whole lives and I have a cat who stays in my room as well. It's tight, cramped, and every bit of space has to be shared.

I don't eat meat or dairy and often times when I try to be healthy or I guess just, find what's good to eat the fridge and cupboards are filled of chips and snacks and meats and everything else. So sometimes being in the kitchen feels useless. Of course I buy my own groceries but I don't know. I guess I could be being unfair on that bit.

I just feel so lazy and unsure of what to do with myself. I'm twenty years old, not in school, and I still live at home. I still share a bed and a closet and bathrooms and brushes and face washes. I don't feel like an adult or as someone who can create my own space.

Awhile back my father fixed up the back shed to be hung out in but it's hardly liveable as it is despite both my parents thinking otherwise. Spiders constantly get in, rats, dust and cobwebs. The door is made of rotten wood and the walls have dents too.

My parents always talk about moving they have for years about getting out of here and I know it's not their fault but everytime they do I know it's just an empty wish. There's over 9 people in this house, both my parents had some health scares, and the side bedroom roof just collapsed in. There is no 'new house' coming. It didn't 9 years ago and it won't now. My younger siblings don't even have their own rooms they have to share with my parent's. The only one who's ever had his own room is my brother.

I just want to have my own room and my own things and my own goddamn fridge! I want to cook when I want to and watch what I want to and hell even be comfortable in my own clothes when I want to without having to worry about everyone else.

I recently got a job as a barista, the pay is nice and I enjoy making the coffee, but I just genuinely want out of this house. I don't want to live with my parents and brothers and sisters and family dog anymore. I just want to pack up me and my cat and find the first apartment I like. No roommate. No one. Just me and my own space.

I don't have enough to move out and rent is so expensive these days but I just feel like I'm in a constant state of suppression. Only when the sun has gone down and everyone is asleep do I really feel comfortable. But it's also not reasonable for me to feel so huffy either.

I want to be on my own but not alone if that makes sense. I know I sound like a child but I don't know how else to put how I feel.

- Olivia

Hi Olivia,

It sounds like you're feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with your living situation. You've been going through a lot. It's understandable that you want your own space and privacy, and it's okay to feel that way.

If you'd like some advice, there are some suggestions on how you can approach this situation. The first could be to start saving money. If you want to move out, you'll need to start saving up for a deposit and rent. Create a budget and see how much you can realistically save each month. Looking for affordable housing options could also help. Keep an eye out for affordable housing options in your area. You can also look into roommate situations or shared living spaces if you're open to it.

It may also help to communicate with your family, and talk to your family about how you're feeling. Let them know that you want your own space and that you're working towards saving up to move out. They may be more understanding and willing to help you out.

It could also help to create your own space. Even if you can't move out right now, you can create your own space within your room. Try decluttering and organizing your space to make it feel more relaxing. You can also add some decor or plants to make it feel more personalized. Additionally, you could consider finding ways to have privacy. If you can't have your own room, some alternative could be having designated times where you can be in the living room or kitchen to yourself. You can also try going for walks or finding other places outside of the house where you can be alone.

Remember, it's okay to want your own space and independence. Take small steps towards achieving that goal and don't be too hard on yourself. If anyone else has any comments or suggestions, feel free to add on. Otherwise, I hope I could help, and please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[casspurrjoybell-33]

Wreckless - The Delivery

*Warning Adult Content*

Emmett

I get a call on Tuesday morning from some dude saying they'll arrive in twenty minutes.

I have no idea what he's talking about but the signal is so bad that I can't really ask.

I assume he called the wrong number and forget about it until a big truck pulls up in front of my house and two guys hop out.

"Emmett Locke? We've got your uh, let's see, washer, dryer and refrigerator. Is your old fridge empty?"

Why the fuck would it be empty?

"There's some..."

Finnegan... no mistake.

Finnegan... fuck.

"We'll start with the washer and dryer, says here there's a basement? Is there a door around back?"

"Can you guys just hold on a minute?"

I need to call Finnegan... now.

"Not really man, got two more before lunch."

The other guy is already opening the back of the truck and unloading shit.

This isn't their fault and I should tell them to leave but my head is sort of spinning and...

"Fine. I'll unlock the back and empty the fridge, door's under the deck."

My fridge isn't that bad, really, it just rattles sometimes when the compressor comes on.

And yes, I have to keep it set to freezing cold and sometimes, in July and August, it gets a little iffy as to whether or not I wanna risk milk that's been in there awhile but I'm used to it.

I pull my cell-phone out as I head to the basement.

Finnegan doesn't answer his cell so I try the office number once I'm back upstairs, using my free hand to toss everything from my fridge onto the counters and table.

What the HELL?

"Good morning, Vice-President Finnegan Walker's line."

"Is he free... it's Emmett Locke."

I'm not sure if she knows who I am or my name but it just comes out.

"I'm sorry, he's in a shareholder meeting, can I take a message? He should finish up just before noon."

Because noon is when we're meeting for lunch.

"No, no thank you."

Emmett has bigger things to deal with than his boyfriend blowing a gasket over some white-good appliances.

Still.

I look out the window and the washer is heading inside.

I know it's the washer because it has a huge round window on the front.

It looks like a fancy one.

They've got it on straps between them and are just carrying it... that always amazes me.

Ten minutes later they're knocking on the front door and I run downstairs to peek while they move the fridge out.

Damn... these are nice.

That makes things more complicated because I would have bought the cheapest little dryer they had.

This set probably cost two grand and paying him back is going to kill me.

Fuck, if the washer and dryer are this fancy, the fridge must be.... I run upstairs.

Holy shit, it's one of those big french refrigerators... is that what they're called?

The top has two doors and then there's a small wide drawer below it and a huge one at the bottom.

It gleams. It's quiet. It's probably already cold. 

It has water and ice in the door. 

I love it. I can't keep it... can I?

But they took mine so... shit.

"Sign here," the man demands, slapping a paper down on the one bit of counter space I still have.

"They're all set up except the fridge water, have to have a plumber run a line. Have a good day," and then they're gone... the truck lumbering up the road.

I spend at least fifteen minutes putting stuff into my new fridge and freezer.

It's so bright and it's huge.

I re-arrange things twice and then figure I'll sort the rest out before I hit the store later.

I have plenty of laundry to do and take a load down, then realize I can fit another half a load in, as well.

The washer is enormous.

I usually wash my really dirty work clothes twice but this has a heavy duty cycle, a pre-wash, an extra rinse and all sorts of things.

The only thing it doesn't do is put the clothes into the dryer when it's done.

Damn, rich folks live nice.

I have no idea what I'm going to do about any of this.

I'm sort of pissed but I can't go into his office and let loose in the middle of his work day.

Emmett did it to be nice... I get that and I know he won't want me to pay him back which will be another battle.

I pull out my cell-phone, hit the Home Depot web site and try to figure out how much he spent.

It doesn't help... the fridge alone probably costs more than all the other appliances in my house combined, well before the new laundry set.

He shouldn't have done this.

It's gotten late and I need to stop by the deli and grab some salads for lunch with Finn and it'll be busy.

When I get to Finnegan's office Megan buzzes him, then she tells me to head right in.

"Hi Emmett."

He looks really happy to see me but his face sours a bit... probably in response to mine.

"Did you get them?"

"Yeah, salads from 'Finches' and four grand worth of appliances. It's been a busy morning."

"Are you mad at me? Please don't be mad, Emmett."

"I am a little but we'll talk about it later. Here you go, lunch."

I hand him the Chef's Salad and then pull mine out as well.

"I wanted to do something nice for you."

I hold in my sigh. 

I know that's why he did it. 

"I would have handled it, Finnegan."

"I know... I know you would have."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

I've been doing it for a long time.

Finnegan walks over and puts his hand on my arm.

"I know that. I know you can take good care of yourself or I wouldn't trust you to take care of me."

Some of the tension slides off of my shoulders.

"I know you were trying to be nice but it's going to take forever for me to pay you back," and put the new car off for another year.

Finnegan scoffs and looks at me like I'm crazy.

"They're a gift, you're not paying me back."

"Finnegan..." I start but he holds his hand up to silence me.

"No. You had a situation that needed to be fixed. I had an easy way to do that. So I did. You would have done the same for me, you know you would have. You DO the same for me all the time."

"I don't throw money at you, Finnegan."

"No, although you're stubborn enough about it to make me crazy. No, you fix things in other ways. You make me laugh, you tell me things are okay, that I'm okay. You help me relax so I can get through the week. You make sure I eat well, do my laundry, make sure I go to doctor appointments, make sure my car is up and running. I have very few ways of doing things for you, okay? Look, it was a lot of money for you and I get that but it's not a big deal for me and you're just going to have to accept that."

Okay, he has a point.. several points.

"I don't like you spending money on me."

"Get over it. I bought you a t-shirt at the zoo and you didn't mind too much."

"Because... that was fifteen bucks."

"$19.99, Emmett. $19.99."

He's... he's... why am I laughing?

"There's not much difference to me, Emmett and I promise that I can still pay my rent this week."

"I know. I just wish you had talked to me about it first."

Finnegan nods.

"Yeah, I should have. I thought about it but I knew you'd argue. Still, I should have. I will next time... if you promise to a least think about it and try to be reasonable."

"Next time?"

"Hey, I didn't buy the matching dishwasher, microwave and stove and let me tell you. I wanted to get you the whole pretty set. I may still do it, can I?"

"No." 

Not that it wouldn't look sweet as hell.

"You didn't even think about it Emmett but maybe you'll think better with your cock down my throat. I'm more than happy to let you take out some frustration on me while you reconsider."

The little brat... he's such a little shit.

"No... I'm mad at you."

But not really, well maybe... no, no... I'm not.

Just sort of unhappy with the whole situation.

I've decided to be mostly mad at my dryer for breaking in the first place.

I cross my arms over my chest and he laughs.

"You sound like a little. Now just keep your hands there and out of my way."

"Finnegan. Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. I just headed up a shareholder meeting and the only thing that got me through it was thinking about you and this. I have interviews this afternoon for a new head of accounting and I need, capital N E E D, some of you if I have any hope of making it through. Please Emmie?  You got your delivery today and now I need mine."

He's on his knees, waiting and I sort of like him there like that. 

"I brought you lunch."

"Yes, you did but I need dessert too. I'm a very hungry boy."

Apparently today won't be the day I learn to say no to him either. 

[sachirobabe]

No worries | T. Kei x F!reader

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of stress and insomnia, hints at pregnancy⚠️

An: repost from wattpad

Female reader.

Wc: 1,276

It's currently 2 in the morning and you're awake, deciding that right now is the perfect time to converse with Kei to ease your boredom due to the fact that you can't sleep, and all your tossing and turning has woken up your husband.

"Did you know what when you can't sleep it means someone's thinking about you." You break the silence after Kei told you to go back to bed.

"What the actual fuck Y/n." His voice was raspy from being woken up just now. "Go back to bed." He turns away from you.

"I already told you I can't sleep and I'm going to make it your problem too, Mr. Tsukishima." You poke his back, sending shivers down his spine, not only from your cold ass fingers, but because you tossed the blanket off of him.

He ignored you, hoping that if he pretended to fall asleep that you'd somehow, someway get tired and doze off yourself. However things didn't really like to go Kei's way, you sighed loudly and turned to your side again.

This wasn't out of the ordinary for you, when you'd get overly stressed or have important things to get done you often found yourself awake at ungodly hours of the night. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you'd get up to get a drink then fall right back asleep.

There were also those other times where no matter what you did, you couldn't go back to sleep. That's when he'd normally wake up and try his best to help you, often ending with the two of you going downstairs to watch tv and then after awhile you'd both fall asleep on top of another.

Knowing you weren't comfortable enough to fall back asleep worried him, he didn't want you to be up by yourself, suffering by yourself, his need to go back to sleep washed away quickly as his mind kept racing.

"You still awake?" He asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yes." You sigh.

Now he knows somethings up, he wished he caught on it before bed. This was going to cost you both in the morning when you had to get ready for the day.

"What's wrong?" He scoots closer to you, enough to to drape an arm over you, showing you he wasn't going back to bed and was here to listen. "'Nd don't say 'nothing', okay? None of that shit."

There was no stalling when it came to your husband, he preferred to get straight to the point, especially when it came with any inconvenience involving you.

"Do you think we should move closer to your family?" You ask.

This wasn't really what he was expecting, but at the same time he wasn't sure what to expect.

"Is this what you're worried about?" He scoffs lightly.

This wasn't all that you were worried about. "It's just—I don't like knowing we have to live so far away because of my job."

"That's a stupid thing to be worried about, I've told you I don't mind it, plus it's only about 2 hours away."

You frown in the darkness, pouting. Kei seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to you because he feels you pout.

"Don't pout." His thumb comes to touch your lower lip, then caressing your cheek. "I'm really okay with it."

"But—"

"No. None of that, don't be stressing about this, okay? They understand why." He explains, now running your shoulder softly with his thumb.

"I want to be closer to them... I emailed my boss for potential job opportunities over there." You confess.

"Is that what you want?" He feels you nod softly from being so close to him. "I won't stop you, but that means I'm going to have to start looking over there too."

"I already know you've been looking at jobs over there."

"Is that why you want to move? I was honestly just looking because houses are cheaper over there, not because I miss my family." He chuckles lightly. "Who needs Akiteru?"

"Kei." You pout again.

"Kidding." He presses a soft kiss to your forehead. "I wanted to get your opinion on it, but I wanted to wait until I can even find a job there. Didn't wanna get your hopes up."

He feels you sigh again, now you’re hugging him, finding relaxation by hearing his heartbeat.

"That all?" He asks.

You hate lying to him, but you can't tell him your little secret yet. "Yeah."

"You're keeping me up, Mrs. Tsukishima." He yawns. "Can't believe I'm stuck with you idiot."

"You married me." You giggle, pressing multiple kisses on his cheeks and chin.

"What an unfortunate arrangement." He clicks his tongue.

"You proposed to me."

"A moment of weakness." You gasp at him, pushing his face away from the warmth of your neck.

"I'm going to sleep downstairs." You pretend to be mad at him. He groans and keeps you from moving, hugging your waist, preventing you from leaving. "Let go! Don't squeeze so hard." You wriggle out of his grasp.

"Don't make me go downstairs, come back."

"I'll be back, I just need to get some water." You say and he nods, getting up to use the bathroom while he waits for you. Your stomach grumbled, which wasn't surprising to you.

Your period completely skipped last month which was very odd for you. It's not like you were trying to be careful, you both agreed that if it happened it'd happen. You knew he wasn't opposed to children, he openly talked about wanting a family at some point.

This has also been keeping you up at night, plus the thought of having a child so far away from both of your families stressed you out.

You haven't taken a test, but you also haven't been feeling the best. There's no doubt in your mind that you're pregnant, which is keeping you up now. The pantry was the first thing you looked at once you went downstairs.

Something easy and quick to eat seemed reasonable, grabbing the closest thing to you and downing it, then taking a glass of water back upstairs.

"What took you so long, thought you were only getting water?" He asks as you came back into the room, getting back in the bed.

"I got a quick snack, you miss me?" You tease. "I wasn't gone for too long, awww you poor baby."

He clicked his tongue, "Get in bed. We both have work tomorrow and it's almost 4."

"I forgot about work." You groan. "Sorry for keeping you up, now you're going to be exhausted tomorrow."

"Don't apologize. I have a sixth sense with you, I could tell it was something serious keeping you up." He smiled softly, you're sure he's really tired because he probably would've called you an idiot after assuring you, but he didn't.

Now you're staring to feel a bit tired, you don't have to be up until 10, but Kei has to be up earlier than you.

"Let's go to bed now." You say after taking a sip of your water. He yawns and gets settled into bed, pulling you close to his chest.

"I love you." He whispers to you, only wanting you to hear. It was for your ears only.

"I love you too." You trace figures on his chest, helping to ease your worries and take your mind off of things. You know he won't be upset to hear about the pregnancy, now it's mostly excitement rushing through you.

Everything's going to be okay as long as you have your husband by your side.

*do not steal or plagiarize.

[howtofightwrite]

I know you guys aren't the blog for this, but you've demonstrated that you know this stuff, so I'm going to ask and if what I get is pointed in hopefully the right direction, I'll be happy with that. I'm trying to make some fantasy countries, as one does, and I know roughly how big they all are in terms of military / technology power, natural resources, and how livable they are.

What I don't have is uh, any understanding of how to guesstimate the population needed to support their various economies. I don't need exact numbers, I more or less need to know if this many cities and small towns and villages are enough (I am also making rough maps of each kingdom) and roughly what percentages of the population need to be dedicated to each thing like spinning/dyeworking and agriculture and transportation and stuff.

Can you guys help at all? And if not, can you help maybe get me pointed in a direction that might help? ^^;

So, basically, you have four choices.

The first is, legitimately, to just kind of say, you're not overly worried about it, and to fudge out some numbers that look roughly consistent with what you want, and then not worry about the rest. This option is a lot more flexible (and effective) than it first sounds, because you can make vague statements without direct demographic data, and trust the math to work out in the wash. For example, I remember a question awhile back where they wanted an elite core of magic using knights, and a large part of the answer to how large that nation would need to be came down to looking at the number of knights in the organization and holding that against how common they were.

For a more direct example, you can say, “The Empire is supported by a vast agricultural infrastructure in The Western Valleys,” and it's generally unimpeachable unless you start trying presenting hard numbers. (If you defining the exact size of The Western Valleys, then that can give someone enough information to start to realize, “wait, this math doesn't check out.”) If you never specifically define how large that region is, it becomes a kind of Schroedinger's state, it is exactly the size it needs to be. You can even push this further by indicating things like production shifts via percentages. Without context, a percentage is a meaningless number. If grain production is down by 5% this year, the audience doesn't know what that exact number looks like. This also works with non-standard weights and measures, I'm not a fan of this fantasy cliché, but it is an effective way to pave over uncertain numbers, while sounding like the characters are producing hard demographics.

Even in the specific agricultural example above, knowing the space is, won't fully convey how much is being produced. That also depends on how much of the space can be used effectively. “Valleys,” could indicate a few wide, highly fertile, flood planes, or it could refer to a vast network of smaller farms filling a tight network of canyons.

Your second option, and honestly, my recommendation, would be to look for historical analogs. We have somewhat accurate demographic data for human settlements throughout history, (granted, sometimes that is just estimating by the thousands), and that information can be found pretty painlessly by searching around online. The technical term for this field is Archaeological Demography. (This used to be called Demographic Archaeology. You may still find that term in use.)

This is going to run you into a few details that are easy to miss. The geographic size of nations prior to The Treaty of Westphalia (1648), were a lot smaller than what you see today. A legitimate problem with a lot of fantasy authors is “importing,” the concept of a modern nation, into an era when those simply didn't exist. In fact, in a pre-modern setting, it's not unreasonable to have a map comprised almost exclusively of city-states who control some outlying settlements, but aren't really, “nations,” in the way we think of them. Granted, you may also have feudal states that controlled larger swaths of territory, by delegating authority to a hierarchy of nobility. Though feudal states did tend to be far more fragile, and prone to, “breakage,” whenever the sovereign's vassals decided to place their ambitions above their loyalty. Similarly, there were imperial states, though, again, these tended to be a lot more fragile than the term implies.

A third option would be to look at other fantasy settings, and then spitball a number based on their numbers. This does have some serious risks. First, no, don't copy their numbers verbatim, and second when you are looking at their numbers, it's important to consider if they seem plausible. There are a lot of authors who take the first route I suggested. They'll spout off something like a large city having a population of half-a-million people, when that would represent a significant portion of the global population, without realizing that this would (probably) make it the largest city in the world.

In general, it's a good idea to look at what other authors are doing, and file that away for future reference. In this case, it may be worth skimming for demographics, and seeing if someone else had an idea.

This is going to sound like a non-sequitur, but, when you're doing any kind of lit review (or, really, reading anything), it's very important to check the background of the author. “Who wrote this?” Often, simply skimming their biography will be enough to inform what you're looking at. This will then help you to determine what you should, and shouldn't, take seriously, when you're reading. Granted, outside of authors with a background in sociology or history, you're not like to get a lot of millage out of this when you're researching fantasy authors, but is an important research tool, and one that you don't want to forget.

The fourth, and final option, is going to be a lot of work. If you enjoy this, don't let me discourage you, however, in the vast majority of cases, this will be extreme overkill. Start with the agriculture. Specifically food production, with an eye towards how much food can be produced and brought to market. This is going to be the most foundational part of your fictional states, and their access to agricultural resources is what determines how large they can be.

Establishing the caloric productivity of your farmers will be highly variable, based on things like soil fertility and agricultural technologies in use. (This is also where the numbers, in a fantasy setting, can go right out the window. Fantastic technologies, or magical crop manipulation (Agrimages?) can create situations where you cannot work out the math in any reasonable way.) Again, you can use historical analogs to get a feel for where this should be, and can fudge it to a reasonable point where it's not possible to fully debunk the math. There is scholarly lit (particularly in archaeology) regarding real world agricultural production in a wide variety of environments and at different eras in history.

Once you have a meaningful number for your agricultural production, you can start working out the rest of your civilization. You can take caloric production and compare that to how much food your civilization's laborers need to consume to be productive. You can determine how much food is available  for more specialized jobs. You can start to get a feel for how large a standing military force can be maintained. (Hint: if you're looking at pre-modern eras then chances are: Not many.)

If the food production is tight, then you have a recipe for an aggressive and expansionist power, looking to expand their territory. If they're producing more food than they need, it's likely they'll export food in exchange for other goods. High food production can also result in a population boom.

When it comes to dedicated roles, you're going to guesstimate their productivity, to then compare that to how many you'd need to (roughly) satisfy the needs of the rest of the population. Production of trade goods and metal mining can be a little tricky in this case, as there's no (practical) limit on how much the society can produce and export.

So far as it goes, transport is a factor, and that will heavily affect how civilization looks. Easy access to transport allows for larger, more sprawling, nations (with more complicated ruling structures.) In particular, river access can be a major boon for moving large amounts of trade goods (and food) around quickly.

Conversely, rough terrain, where it's difficult to transport goods between settlements, will have a far more decentralized, and scattered governance and production. Even agricultural production would need to be much closer to the settlements that benefited from it. Rough terrain could also, easily, impair state capacity. Making it significantly harder for the nation to deal with bandits or even enforcing the laws. The trade-off is that rough terrain is likely to be associated with mineral wealth, so a nation may be willing to deal with the difficulties associated with territory like this specifically because of regional mining. This could be valuable metals like gold or silver, it could be strategic metals like iron or copper and tin (bronze is a copper/tin alloy), or it could be something more exotic and exclusive to your setting. While it would be somewhat unusual, it's also possible that you'd see stone or marble quarries. Usually, you wouldn't want to have to transport stone over long distances, but it might be the best available option.

Of these four options, the best approach is going to be whatever best fits your needs. Most stories are not going to require, (or benefit from) precise demographics. You don't need to know how many weavers are in the capital city of your nation, unless it's somehow critically important to the plot.

If your story revolves around the detailed management and logistics of running a nation, then, yes this kind of information may be important, and you would need to spend the time artificially reconstructing the fantasy demographics for your entire civilization. At which point the fourth option might be a reasonable expenditure of time, along with a crash course in archaeological demography.

If your story is a more conventional fantasy narrative, then that information becomes far less useful, to the point that fudging the numbers (the first option) becomes entirely viable, so long as you're reasonably consistent. Especially if you don't try to fill in every blank.

On a sliding scale between these points, you should be able to find the approach that best fits the needs of your story. Don't worry about the exact numbers unless it is critically important to understanding the plot. Though, obviously, the more politically or economically focused your story is, the more important these numbers become.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get early access to new posts, and direct access through Discord. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[reclusiverisottonero]

you write risotto so well it & it makes my brain go brrr in the best possible way 🥺💘 Do you by any chance have any soft Ris hc’s to share can just be him in general or with an s/o—it doesn’t matter I’m just //soft sobs love him sm y’know thank you for your time I hope you’re having a good day !!

Aaah thank you so so much! 😭 This is a mix of SFW hcs and him with a gender neutral s/o! I needed a break from smut 😓

Soft Risotto Head Canons—

💕 If you take Risotto’s face in your hands and stroke his cheeks with your thumbs he will do almost anything you ask of him. Do it when he’s having trouble sleeping and he’ll be out within seconds.

💖 Loves to play with your hands in private. The size difference between you two gets to him all the time. You’re so small, at least compared to him, and you didn’t want to be with someone ‘normal’ sized?! That makes his heart go all doki doki~

💕 He likes to make little iron figurines via Metallica as practice but mostly to help focus when he’s thinking/working on important stuff. When he’s feeling brave enough he sneakily puts them in La Squadra members rooms as gifts because he’s too awkward & shy to just give them in person.

💖 For you though, Risotto gives what he thinks is his best work. Silently places it in your palm when you least expect it and closes your hand over it quickly without looking at you because he’s nervous about your reaction. His stuff his genuinely amazing and incredibly detailed, if you tell him as much he’ll be thinking about your compliments for weeks!

💕 Ideally he wants to be the little spoon when you cuddle but the size difference makes that difficult. The next best thing is letting him lay his head on your chest and getting to hear your heartbeat while you play with his hair, especially when he’s feeling stressed. Other times he might want you to just put all your weight on top of him which helps him decompress too.

💖 A secret animal lover. When he needs to be alone to recharge, you'll find him outside feeding stray cats and sometimes dogs around the neighborhood. If one of them looks like it needs medical attention he catches them and leaves them at the door step of a veterinary clinic he trusts.

💕 Risotto doesn't have a very detailed self-care routine, though he does like to use a face mask one in awhile. He sticks to those paper face mask instead of paste/peel-off ones. He fell asleep without washing off a peel-off one before and—well, he's glad no one was around to see the aftermath of that.

💖 He LOVES street food. Pani ca meusa, stigghiola, and arancini are some of his favorites. He might not always have time to sit down for a full meal but he will MAKE time to stop and get a quick bite if he knows a stall with any of these is nearby. If you're with him don't make him share okay let him buy you your own portion and if you can't finish it well haha that's soooo sad. Good thing he's around to eat it for you right???

💕 When he's not on a job and can relax he has a extremely soft & relaxed face when he's sleeping so much so that he almost looks like a totally different person. If sleeping alone his natural inclination is to sleep on his side and sometimes his stomach. Clings to things too. At home he has a super soft body pillow to cuddle up to. Don't be jealous of that pillow though, he squeezes that thing to hell and back and better it than you!

💖 He's pretty neutral about his appearance so please tell this man how pretty you think he is and how much you love his eyes. He'll scoff and think you're messing with him no matter how long you've been together. He's almost 7ft tall and a killer, not to mention men aren't supposed to be pretty. But he won't stop thinking about it for a looong time every time you compliment him and it makes him blush real bad to the point he uses Metallica to tone it down.

[literaryobsession]

dye problems | bakugo x reader

summary: y/n has a fun new hair color!

warning: cursing

What Katsuki Bakugo liked about you was how well you express yourself. You were the only uncomplicated thing in his life that he didn't have to decode.

You said what you wanted.

You ate what you craved.

You dressed with what you felt good on.

You also changed hairstyles every once in awhile, especially if it gets boring for you.

However, when you decided to dye your hair a deep shade of purple, with practically no experience and only relying on YouTube tutorials, Bakugo didn't expect how unhappy it made you.

"Its a gorgeous color." He leaned on the wall as he watched you fuss over your ube-colored locks.

You pouted at him from the mirror of your bathroom, "I know! That isn't the problem."

He knew what it was.

Your favorite white towel was stained, you were trying to wash it off with handsoap on your sink. Even your shirt was stained with welts of purple dye, what a bad day to wear your Hawks tshirt.

It was old and Bakugo hated it so - Good riddance.

"Get rid of the towel." He lifted his heavy frame from the wall and took the towel from you. "Didn't the tutorial tell you anything about not using white towels or any light towels to dry your hair off?"

Bakugo stared at you in your silence, "They did, didn't they?"

You nodded.

"You didn't listen?"

You took a moment but you nodded again.

Bakugo sighed, he wanted to scold you but your sadness wasn't amusing for him. "I'll get you new towels." He rolled his eyes.

Then you gestured at your Hawks shirt.

"Throw the fucking thing away." He smirked, happy to finally get rid of the shirt.

"But-"

Bakugo knew that you've had it for years, it had little holes in them and the print was fading. You kept it for sentimental reasons. As much as he wanted to throw it away the first time he saw it on you, he didn't have the heart to do it.

It meant something to you.

What he didn't like about you was that it takes so little to make you sad. You were emotional and easily swayed by your feelings.

What he didn't like was how your flighty nature made you feel bad sometimes, because they don't always go your way.

So he went to your shared bedroom, pulled out the black shirt he had since UA and handed it to you.

"Ruin this one. Purple won't show. It's black. I'll try and get the stain out from the damn shirt."

If he can do something to get that smile back on your face, he will.

And that is what he did.

[i-arch-my-backula]

hi I luv your content, can do you some headcannons for dwayne? 🥹🥹

Dwayne my beloved. I still laugh thinking about Billy just walking around shirtless all the time on set. It's pretty funny to my. Again talking about my mutual Lost (@/lostbxys) Dwayne is his favorite boy and I'm stealing a lot of these head cannons from him. Also Lost I know you won't do this but just in case don't try to cancel me for these lmao.

General and Relationship head cannons for Dwayne tlb

Warnings: None I can think of.

I agree he was turned in the 1700's. He was the first boy to be turned out of the four of them.

He got mad hoes. Like everyone was kinda scared of him so he picked up chicks and dudes left and right.

I can see him bonding with Paul at woodstock about being labeled something for how many partners they have had.

He isn't like the actual biological big brother to Laddie he still fills the role. He's very protective over Laddie and takes the role of being a big brother seriously.

He probably has something for his hair that he uses to keep it so nice. He's from the 1700's he knows some like plant oils or whatever to keep his hair nice and clean.

Also has only three shirts. One from Woodstock, one from the night he turned, one from when he was a kid and I think Lost mentioned a fourth one but that was awhile ago.

He's great at shoplifting he just doesn't do it often. When he does he uses Paul and or Marko as a distraction.

Listens to more "girly" music (by that I mean female artists and artists popular with women and girls) with Star sometimes. Not his favorite kind of music but it's nice to listen to with Star.

Made his jacket with the help of Marko. Probably stole it from a victim. Maybe a greaser from the 50's? I like the idea of the boys being greasers.

He scolds Paul all the time for how he treats his hair. "Paul your hair is so fried I can blow on it and it would snap in half." Forces Paul to let him wash out his hair once at week at least. Also probably steals hairspray for him.

Has a few tattoos on him here and there.

Makes sure the boys keep the swearing down around Laddie. They get very creative with their insults too. "Marko if you looked up while it was raining you'd drown." "I can't drown stupid we're vampires."

Relationship head cannons

Dwayne probably met you when he saw you helping Laddie when he got lost. He'll notice how attractive you are and probably will ask you out from there.

Will get teased by Paul and Marko and will roll his eyes about it. He'll get protective over you too and insist to David that you're not gonna be a victim.

Will tell you about the whole vampire thing before you two start dating. Won't force you to turn but he will let you know it's gonna have to happen eventually. But who doesn't wanna be a vampire with a hot vampire boyfriend.

I mentioned this before but Dwayne's main love language is quality time. He loves spending time with you doing things you both love. Playing game on the boardwalk, watching the sunset if he gets up early enough, walks on the beach, reading to you, going for rides alone, whatever he can do with you he wants to do.

Is ok with physical touch but he's gonna have to warm up to it a bit. Not really used to it all that much but he's not totally shut off to the idea. He'll hold your hand often and give soft cheek kisses around the boys. Won'r do much physical affection around Laddie however.

If you ask about it he will go over his past, leaving out some bits he wants to forget about along the way. He's been alive for over 3 centuries so he's got a lot of stories to tell. Will tell you stories about the other boys too. I like the idea of him telling you about the time Marko got bucked off a horse and the reason he got on the horse in the first place was because "I grew up on a farm. I can ride horses."

When you do turn he's going to make sure your first hunt is special. Just the two of you together and the victims. After this he'll help you get the hang of all the new vampire stuff. "Dwayne my nails keep breaking." "Don't worry about it darling they grow back quick."

That's another thing. He loves pet names. Darling, pretty boy/girl, lovely, honey, dear, handsome, beautiful, etc. Lot's of pet names.