#i wanted to include the water and the plants like in the original so it wasn't an ENTIRELY different picture but it came out a lil forced
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Calcinidae Bay Lot Tour: Marine Discovery Centre
I finally got around to picking the terrains I wanted to use for Calcinidae Bay's subhoods, so the Bay now officially has a(n as-of-yet unnamed) Downtown! Yay! Let's take a look through the only currently-finished lot there, the Marine Discovery Centre and Aquarium.
First I wanna shout out @dirtfauna for suggesting I build an aquarium and getting me thinking about this in the first place! As I was putting on the finishing touches I was also inspired by seeing @lolabythebaysims's gorgeous lot influenced by the Belle Isle Aquarium.
Before I get into the lot, I need to show the original Sims 4 shell for reference. It's "what the.. shell?" uploaded to the Gallery by simbellaz, and as you'll see, it was both perfect for and wildly impractical as the basis for an aquarium.
I don't normally go for shell challenges that have so many internal walls, but all those little 1-tile-wide hallways were practically SCREAMING to be made into fish tanks! The external "walls" you see added to my TS2 shell are all either actually half-walls, fences, or just windows placed with moveobjects, all of which are allowed within a standard shell challenge. It may seem like a cop-out, but it's more limiting/challenging than you'd think.
But enough preamble. Let's take a look inside!
The entrance is also a small gift shop. It seems like every aquarium I've ever been to has also sold jewellery. Don't ask me about my tiny penguin earrings.
I really wanted a "fish tank tunnel" vibe, and the effect was... almost perfect, lol. Close enough for a shell challenge IMO. I so so badly wanted to break my CC-free rule to place some fish shaders, but I'm glad I stuck to my guns because I think the solution I came up with looks goofy but effective. (Plus you wouldn't see them in build/buy anyway.)
Ooohhhh jellyfish tank ooohhhhhh they're so lifelike and graceful
I have my fun.
That little "airlock" room is a fun pirate-y undersea exhibit that connects to the outside and is probably where school field trips would loop around rather than heading upstairs.
Through the pirate's cabin is a touch pool and tactile play room where kids can inspect rubber anatomical fish models. I like to imagine the TV plays a short looping movie featuring a B-grade celebrity talking to a cartoon bass about the water cycle, fish spawn, and pollution.
The outdoor area is where the field trip groups would probably eat their packed lunches, fill out activity sheets, and take a commemorative photo with the world's worst greenscreen that's supposed to make it look like you're underwater but just ends up eating half your hair and shirt.
If you're not a student and you're just here for the love of fish, you'd probably head upstairs to get a closer look at the fish tunnel, smaller specialty tanks, and the squid/octopus models. (This room is technically considered outdoors thanks to the shell so tbh I'm not sure how lighting/temperature would behave during gameplay.)
The third floor has more tanks, some hands-on displays about aquatic plants and marine ecology, and finally a room with the actual floor-to-ceiling aquarium objects.
I thought this would be an interesting lot to run as an owned business, so I included a small employee area tucked behind the guest toilet block on the ground floor. It also helped to naturalistically answer "how would Sims feed themselves if their outing wouldn't stop complaining they were hungry," a concern I keep in mind whenever I make a lot I think would be a nice place to take a date.
And here's the floorplan! This lot had a pretty severe ugly stage but I'm really really happy with what we ended up with and the vibe I achieved without any CC. Hope you enjoyed reading this far and that it could give you some decorating inspiration!
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:D there they are!
There are no trees in the ocean o(~( but there is a kelp forest!
Info dump and old designs below
I like to imagine the human using the kelp like a whip or something o(-( slapping everyone with it…hurts more than you’d expect!! Like a wet towel!
Anyway!! I wanted to make Flowey something you can find growing in water- and lotus was the best option!!
It even symbolizes strength and rebirth!!!
Water lily is something different but let’s just combine the two for simplicity.
"The lotus plant’s ability to bloom even in challenging habitats also symbolizes the ability to overcome challenges and adversity. If you look at a patch of lotus leaves sitting atop murky, swampy water, you may think the plants have no chance of producing their enchanting flowers.
However, these plants continually surprise onlookers as they send up stunning lotus flowers despite living in sometimes ugly and harsh environments. When the plants bloom, they remind us that beauty can emerge even when life looks ugly"
When I was doing flower research for Flowey, I was so excited when I got to lotus- I was like!! This is perfect!!! They can grow in even the harshest conditions! Resilience!!! and so inspiring!!! I hope there are people who agree hehe
I also redesigned the deltarune to have a lotus in it c: but I’ll show you it together with Toriel next time!!
Here are their old designs 😭 from 2021!!! 😳 minus naut
The original plan was gonna be the human falling off a boat/yacht and getting pulled under… Hence the sailor outfit!! But I recently decided that I didn’t like it anymore ; 7;;; so I went with something simpler instead!!
The tan lines are my favorite part of the new design for frisk!!
I was going to include a little dab of sunscreen on their nose, but it would have gotten washed off...?? (might do it anyway..)
Lotus Flowey was perfect from the beginning ( ´ ▽ ` )
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the movie aint better ya goofs (don't read if you don't wanna hear my slander lol,,,)
"Movie!Gabriel is better than show!Gabriel because he actually cares for his son and gets redeemed"
istg this fandom's obsession with redemption needs to END
Morally better character ≠ better writing
Can I just get a piece of media that tells kids "hey, ur abusive parent was an asshole, and even if they had humanity you do not need to reconcile and forgive them in the end" bc I feel like that's what show!Gabriel leans towards which is great
Gabriel barely talks to Adrien in the movie and suddenly when he sees him under CN's mask his entire reign of terror, his determination to see his dead wife again ends in a tearful hug lmao come on now
("but the ending where Adrien suddenly loves his dad again???"- Astruc has been pretty blunt on Twitter that this perfect society you see in S5's ending is built off of a lie, so Adrien is def not gonna just keep that view)
"Adrien actually stands up to his dad in the movie!"
Movie!Adrien is legit a normal human boy, not a sentimonster who is literally physically incapable of fighting back against whoever has his amok
He DOES fight back (even in S1 as CN!), but people like to remember the show only up to S3. Guess what, he learns to fight back and stand up for himself through his growing bonds and relationships with those around him through character development ✨✨✨
Also, he is an abused kid??? In the show?? How can you knock him down a peg for not fighting back,,, 😭 Adrien's lesson isn't that he needs to learn how to fight back, it's that Nathalie shoulda called cps sooner!!! In the movie they are much more of an estranged father-son pair than anything abusive. So obviously the back talk is much easier too. Movie!Adrien gets to go out alone and with friends unless his dad has specifically planted an enemy where he is. Show!Adrien has been beaten, mind controlled, forced to hurt Marinette, isolated and locked up, etc.- he has been TERRIFIED of his dad multiple times.
"Marinette isn't an obsessive stalker in this!"
SIGH.
Man I am so sick of this complaint- the show has never rewarded Marinette for her obsessive behavior. BC IT IS A CHARACTER FLAW. One they use for cringe comedic purposes, but a flaw nonetheless. Every time she has done anything that hurts others in pursuit of Adrien she is punished by the writers. And bc the show has an episodic monster-of-the-week format, this plot is recycled a lot (which is its own complaint). And guess what? SHE STOPS BEING OBSESSIVE. YEAH. SHE STOPS DOING THAT SHIT- so what do you want now??? She grew out of it after it costs her the miraculous so why tf are yalls still hurling this at her like its a L,,,,
This Marinette is just a watered down boring version of show!Marinette. She's just a girl who gets insecure at times but grows confident bc she's Ladybug. Ok. So is our Marinette but MORE. Our Marinette is super smart, creative, resourceful, an overthinker, extremely kind and selfless to others, gets jealous and reckless when her emotions get the better of her, etc. She is fully formed even after watching just 3 episodes of S1.
Like the fact that they didn't even bother to include the oh so important hook of the show- her lucky charm power- shows they didn't care about doing this story justice- its so transparently lazy writing 💀 (miraculous of creation where??? CN gets cataclysm for destruction but what is movie!LB bringing to the yin yang table,,,)
Legitimately all the comparisons I'm hearing from people saying the movie is better are from those who just aren't caught up with the show where Marinette is no longer toxically obsessive with Adrien, where the plot/lore is insane but 10000000x better and more creative than what the movie gave us, the love square was much better developed EVEN FROM JUST THE ORIGINS EPISODES, etc. Istg these people stopped at S3 where the show was at its worst (if I were to pinpoint it)
Everything is so watered down or changed for the worse
Adrienette bonding was 1 conversation and 2 seconds about his mom in a voiceless montage. Marinette didn't fall for him bc of his kindness after a misunderstanding, it was bc he looked handsome in the library's light lol. He called her weird and didn't think twice about putting on his earphones to listen to more alpha podcasts. You really do wonder why she likes this dude over her partner CN bc they have no connection at all.
Movie!Adrien was an asshole don't you dare do show!Adrien dirty by comparing him to this ellen degeneres alien lookin mf
When movie!Adrien is crying after Mari reveals herself as LB, unlike the show, here you're like "yeah no you only like her now bc she's LB lol"
Anyways feel free to enjoy what you enjoy but uuuuuhhhh this movie getting a 3/10 for me would not rewatch
Oh wait the good things
-Visuals
-Some Ladynoir scenes were cute, like them playfully fighting with the accidental wall pin
-I liked Ladybug moving away from CN's kiss- nice hint of angst
-Chloe's coffee stain scene
-Luka cameos were cute
songs were bad or mid
ya das it
I guess feel free to talk to me in my inbox about your own thoughts if you wish (respectfully plz)
#ml#mlb#miraculous ladybug#ml movie salt#ml movie#miraculous awakening#sidrabbles#rant#making me dick ride for this show so hard is so sick and twisted but i cant let the germy stans remain unscathed#millionaire corporate ceo is ur manz huh come on now
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I can't handle how cute this is. i want a slime pet too
Link to the Tweets. And here's a link to the study. ID in alt text and below the readmore.
Image 1:
tweet by e. @MelytraMithra reading "oh my goddddd
researchers built a smartwatch heart beat monitor that uses a slime mold for its operation. the slime mold has to be fed and cared for, so the users in the trial… developed an emotional attachment to it [two sobbing emojis]"
The Tweet includes a screenshot from the paper, described in next image.
Image 2:
The tweet's screenshot, which reads:
Developing a connection.
All participants expressed various feelings of connection with our device. P1, P2, P4, and P5 all described it as a little friend and/or pet. P2 expressed, “it’s always good to be accompanied by some living creature, I really like different, animals or plants. (. . .) carrying this little friend also made me feel happy and peaceful”. P4 noted that she would be reminded by the slime mold’s presence by its smell, even stating that it felt endearing, “my cat’s kind of have a smell, dogs have a smell, the physarum, I recognize the smell and it smells kind of, organic, it’s kind of yeasty but not like decaying, it smells alive”. In recalling an experience where she had to take a long drive, P4 explained, “oh, I gotta bring my little pet mold friend, during the drive, I was also thinking about how I used to be really into Tamagotchis (. . .) with the physarum, (. . .) it has this smell to it which your Tamagotchis don’t have, it has a sense of physicality, (. . .) they’re definitely different”. P1 stated that their personal care routine ended up linked to the device’s care routine “I think every time I fed myself is when I would remember to at least check it, I think that was actually quite linked”. While she was sick, P5’s partner helped take care of her as well as helped to take care of her device. P5 recounts, “I was taking care of the slime and feeding it oats and stuff, my partner was also feeding me oatmeal because I was sick and so she was like you’re my little slime and I was like yeah, I am (. . .) then she started calling me her slime because I mean me and the slime, like, we were eating the same stuff, (. . .) we were both being fed and watered”. P2 & P4 also stated that the visual appearance of their device affected their mood. P2 explained that growth made them feel refreshed. P4 associated the bright yellow of the physarum with happy feelings, noting this affective quality several times in her diary entries and in her interview.
Image 3: A reply tweet from the original tweeter reading "well nourished. in my lane. lively. growing." There's a photoset from the study described as "a slime mold oscillating between living and dormant stages." There are four images of the slime mold, which is a yellow color. The first shows it "dried / dormant / not growing." Second shows it "water added / resuscitated / growing." Third shows the slime "well nourished / lively / growing." The fourth shows it once again "dried / dormant / not growing."
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You just posted like ten different things about potatoes in the span of maybe five minutes, and I gotta know your take on "The Martian".
Like, the (fictional) man alone on a planet literally only survives because of potatoes shrink-wrapped in plastic for a Thanksgiving meal. If they weren't slated to be on Mars for Thanksgiving, he would have died.
And Andy Weir (author of the original novel) did such a good job with the science of every other element to the story, I honest-to-god believe that potatoes could actually manage to grow in Martian soil (even if that's not been proven for certain afaik).
Which means..... could potatoes terraform Mars into sustaining life??? Are potatoes the key to the universe???
Haha sorry for going so hard on them! Those were mostly all posts from 2020 when gardening and fantasy worldbuilding were lockdown fixations for me. One of them blew up recently so I wanted to give The People more of the content it seemed they were looking for. I don't actually know a lot about potatoes. I just think they're neat.
I do not want to take apart the concept of "colonizing Mars" as some kind of woke gotcha. I want to take your question seriously and charitably. However, I just am the kind of person who's like "Hmm, 'colonize', we should really stop and unpack that word," so let's do that, without forgetting the potato element.
(What "I don't know a lot" means: Potatoes were a crop my family grew several acres of for a few years on our farm before we switched our focus to sheep. I am about 50% as reliable as a horticultural brochure on various potato diseases and growing condition issues. I have listened to two University lectures and read perhaps four historical journal articles beginning-to-end on how the Columbian Exchange affected early-modern Europe, that and half as much again on medieval and early modern European farming practices and population changes, and perhaps three science/history articles specifically on the domestication and proliferation of the potato. I am a white Canadian who actively seeks out information and training in Indigenous history and culture in the Americas, but that's probably still only equal to like, two Native Studies classes in university. I know more than the average person on this topic, but I am also not an expert compared to people who have devoted serious time to learning about this.)
But I have some intuitions in a couple of ways:
The Martian is probably being wildly over-optimistic about its potatoes. They would probably have been irradiated into sterility before being vacuum-packed, and I don't think you can split and propagate them that quickly or successfully. However, potatoes can definitely grow in all kinds of conditions (including under my sink).
They might not be the world's healthiest or happiest potatoes, tho. Soil quality definitely affects the end product. Presumably Watney, being a botanist studying Mars' soil composition, knew how much he had to ameliorate his soil with latrine compost (which would definitely have needed a LOT of processing, since human waste is generally not good for plants, but maybe he used chemicals to speed that up?) to get good soil. However, we would probably need to add a LOT of shit to Mars' soil (and air, and water) for it to host plant life.
Mark Watney makes a joke about having "colonized Mars" because "colony" is Latin for "farm" and he farmed on Mars so haha, funny joke! And we talk about colonies on Mars partly because that's what science fiction did, and a lot of science fiction has been into that colonialism aesthetic. But colonialism and empires actually aren't great, not just because they necessitate huge amounts of racism, oppression, and genocide—I know, you asked me a fun question about potatoes and did not sign up for this, I'm not here to drag you, hear me out—but because they're also really sucky models for agriculture and successful societies generally.
My British ancestors tried to be colonial farmers in a place that is sometimes colder than Mars (Canada's Treaty Six), and let me tell you: IT SUCKED. Most of the crops and herbs and vegetables and flowers that settlers here brought from home and are used to? DON'T FUCKEM GROW. For the Canadian prairies to become conventional farmland, farmers and scientists had to scramble to find, or produce, cold-hardy varieties of everything from wheat to roses. A lot of flowers and plants that are unkillable invasive zombie perennials in other climates don't survive our winters no matter hard we try. The trees and flowers that hold cultural or sentimental attachments for us often don't grow here. The climate is so harsh and population is spread so thin that we cannot do the 100 mile diet and eat foods we're familiar with, and can hardly even manage the 1000 mile diet. (Not that I try, but, my family did once look into it)
A huge number of colonial homesteads, where the pioneers go out on their little covered wagon and build little houses on the prairie? Failed miserably and got bought up by land speculators. My own family came out to Alberta in the 1880s and moved around from land assignment to land assignment, like, six times before settling at their current place in the early 1900s.
Meanwhile: POTATOES
Potatoes are less than ten thousand years old! I am not any kind of expert on archaeology, please nobody throw things, but humans showed up in the Andes (think: high, cold mountains) of South America roughly 9,000 years ago. There are hundreds of wild potato varieties, but they generally produce fairly tiny tubers. It took active work of Indigenous Andean people around 8,000 years ago around Lake Titicaca to cultivate specific strains of potato, doing oldschool genetic modification to make them bigger, more delicious, and hardier. From that cultivation effort around a single species of wild potatoes, they produced thousands of cultivated potato varieties.
Ancient Andean farmers and botanists also played a big part in cultivating quinoa from wild amaranth, as well as producing modern food crops you probably haven't heard of, like oca, olluco, mashua, and yacon, and also coca, which may get a bad rap because it's what cocaine and coca-cola are made from but you cannot deny it's got kick.
Basically, Indigenous people of the Americas (South, Central, and North) went all in on botany and plant cultivation. Plants that we take for granted now have mostly been developed by Indigenous people in the past few thousand years: Tobacco, sunflowers, marigolds, tomatoes, pumpkins, rubber, vanilla, cocoa, sweetcorn, maize, and most kinds of pepper except peppercorn. These things were not found; they were made, by careful cultivation of the world as it was.
This gives us a vision of the future. Colonization, and industrial agriculture, both lean us towards the vision of a totally uniform end product, with the same potato varieties grown on each farm because we have made every farm the same. Instead we could embrace biodiversity and focus on privileging local knowledge and considering the interactions of environment, plants, microbiota, and people. We could create potatoes that were happy on Mars. We could create Mars that is happy to have us. We could create a society that can accept what Mars has to offer.
A lot of why we dream about colonizing Mars is the idea that the Earth itself is dying, that we are killing it, and we need to abandon this farmstead and seek out a new frontier. I acknowledge that shit is bad, but I don't agree with that framing. I am increasingly persuaded that there is a third path between ecological destruction and mass exodus, and I think we need to reject European colonial mentality that creates the forced choice. I find far more use in privileging the knowledge of people who live on and with land than their landlords and rulers, and I especially find value in Indigenous knowledge of land management practices and food production.
I am absolutely not saying that Indigenous people were or are wonderful magical ~spiritual beings~ who frolicked in an Edenic paradise that only knew death and disease once white people showed up. This isn't noble savage bullshit, nor am I invoking people who existed once but whom I have never met. I am saying that I have Indigenous neighbours, colleagues, relatives, and elected representatives. I have learned about mental health, leatherworking, botany, and ecology from Metis and First Nations elders and knowledge-keepers. And like. They have good and useful shit to say.
This is about culture, not race. It is not that their biological DNA means that they know more than me about how to get food from this landscape. It's about cultural history and what we learn from our heritages. What have our cultures privileged? Like, Europe has historically been super into things like metallurgy, domesticating livestock, and creating dairy products. If I want to smelt iron or choose animals to make cheese from, European society would have a lot of useful information for me! And what Indigenous cultures in the Americas have historically focused on instead of cows and copper* include 1) getting REAL familiar with your local flora and figuring out how to make sure you have lots of the herbs and grains and roots and berries you need, and 2) how to make a human society where people can live and have good lives, but do not damage the environment enough to impair the ability of future generations to have the same sort of life.
*Several indigenous American cultures did practice various forms of metallurgy. It's just one of those proportional things, about what societies really go for
Conclusion
I think we could use the processes that formed the potato to find and foster forms of life that could survive on Mars. It would involve learning to think that botany is a sexy science, and understanding just how rich and complicated the environment is. To oxygenate the atmosphere, we'd have to get super enthusiastic about algae and lichen and wetlands. We would have to learn to care deeply about the microorganisms living in the soil, and whether the potatoes are happy.
We'd have to create an economy that counts oxygen and carbon dioxide production on its balance sheets. To learn how to wait for forests to grow back after a fire, instead of giving up in despair because the seedlings aren't trees yet. To do the work now and be hopeful even though we might not see the payoffs for decades, or our victories might only be witnessed by future generations.
So yes, I think we could totally plant potatoes on Mars
But I also think that if we ever got there, we'd have turned into the kind of people who could also save Earth in the first place.
Which makes it a good enough goal in my opinion.
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hi! may i please request Law, Robin or Zoro with a female reader for secret santa? please and thank you
hi there! hope you enjoy this long and slightly angsty zoro piece :)
you’ve received zoro + kissing under the mistletoe
❆: angsty, longing zoro, reader also kisses luffy, no implied gender, 1000+ words!
zoro thought he was past your relationship. you two didn’t work out, not everyone does, and that was okay with him.
totally and completely okay…
replaying the moment from dinner, he swore he saw red. which wouldn’t have happened if he was over you, right?
some of the strawhats had joined sanji in the kitchen before dinner, maybe because of the savory scent that was hard to resist. and of course, luffy was one of those individuals.
zoro doesn’t recall paying much attention to the conversation at the table. he never really does if he’s being honest.
“guys,” you call, bursting in through the galley door.
the sound of your voice is what drew him in, his good eye flicking open to where you were standing in the entry way.
“i think its going to start to snow soon!” you beam, earning enthusiastic uproar from those in the room. zoro can’t hold back a smile when your ardor is for something so ridiculous as snow.
as usual, luffy springs from his seat, eager to see the weather change when nami interrupts him, gaining everyone’s attention.
“hey, luffy! look what’s above you two!”
as you and your captain stand in the doorway, everyone’s eyes travel to reveal the bright green mistletoe hanging above you.
zoro can now hear his thrumming heartbeat, immediately recognizing the symbolic meaning behind the plant.
“that’s mistletoe,” you inform luffy, who seemed just as confused despite the explanation. the captain proceeds to ask a bunch of questions including who did it get there and could he eat it, the standard luffy inquiry.
never had zoro been so aggravated with luffy’s clueless nature.
“that means you two have to kiss. that’s tradition anyway,” nami teases, wiggling her eyebrows at you. playful laughter fills the air while you watch luffy’s face attempt to comprehend the situation.
“well if that’s what that means,” he shrugs, turning to you with a big grin.
of course, he’s not taking this seriously.
the veins in zoro’s forehead feel like they’re about to pop, luffy gets to kiss you and he’s making a joke of it?
time feels like it’s starting to slow down as luffy leans in, going in to place a peck on your cheek. but you’re too busy laughing with nami to realize this and as soon as your head turns, your lips meet his.
your lips only brush for a couple seconds before the two of you realize what had happened, but it feels like an eternity before either of you pull away.
everyone starts to laugh, taunt and teasing the two of you like a middle school couple, but to zoro it’s like the personified version of his worst nightmare.
luffy wraps an arm around you, dragging you with him to return to his original goal of watching the fresh snow fall.
conversation continues as normal, meanwhile zoro sits at the end of the table pretending that his heart wasn’t just ripped out of his chest.
so now that he’s in the crow’s nest, supposedly watching over the ship, all he can think about is you.
did luffy notice your sweet scent as he leaned in? were your lips supple and soft as always or had you changed your chapstick? more importantly, did either of you enjoy it?
what would you have done if it was zoro who was standing there? would you have kissed him? laughed it off like it meant nothing to you?
he didn’t know, but he couldn’t help but desperately want to.
movement out of the corner of his eye snaps his attention away. the light from the galley shines through the slim crack underneath and it’s enough for him to huff and head in that direction.
“alright luffy—“
you jump at the sudden noise, but it seems the swordsman is much more surprised to see you here.
“sorry zoro, just getting some water. i’m leaving right now,” you softly smile, wiggling your glass as proof.
his throat runs dry now that you were standing in front of him. but your movements are agile, too quick for him to strategically access his next move before you’re almost out the door.
zoro reaches out for your hand, taking a tight hold on you and preventing you from leaving.
you pause, letting out a gentle sigh before turning around to face him. “need something?” you ask, staring at your connected hands rather than his face.
there was nothing running through his head as you finally glanced up at him. the light in your eyes had been replaced by foreboding sadness. and he knew why, as he was the one who caused the two of you to break up.
“you didn’t have to kiss him earlier, you know,” he says in a low, gruff tone.
you pull your hand from his, eyes slowly squinting towards him. “i know…” you wearily respond, face twisting into a frown. “…i can make my own decisions, thank you.”
zoro nods. “but you didn’t have to,” he reiterates focusing on the point that is was your decision.
“why does it matter to you? you’re the one who broke us up.” you nearly yell, almost forgetting that the rest of your crewmates were asleep.
“i shouldn’t have done that, i know that now,” he admits, reaching out to you.
your poise changes as zoro is unusually delicate when he holds your hand. “please,” he begs, thumb smoothing over your skin, “just one more chance.”
the sigh that erupts from your body is one full of pain, a heavy burn throbbing through your lungs.
that was the thing about zoro, you could read him so easily. the way his brows lift in their inner corners, how his usually tensed muscles loosened the second he touched you, he was being sincere.
you glance up to the decoration you found yourself under earlier in the day. this little plant was really what tipped him over, it’s almost funny.
“we can discuss this in the morning,” you comply, leaning up to place a light kiss on his cheek, lips hovering against the skin, “that okay with you?”
he can’t help but smile as he agrees, “yeah, that’s good.”
likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated! (✿◠‿◠)
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[design drawn by Peachy-cloudds]
My Personal headcanons for The Operator / Slenderman
[warning: a SHIT tone of writing almost sorry not actually]
The Main inspirtation is by the concept of a hivemind plantlike entity, Has this concept been done before for Slender. Yea, Am I still gonna use it? Yea 🤭 [i love eldritch plant beings they're so cool]
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In World Lore:
An extremely long time ago, A being of unknown origin manifested into the world, Simply appearing out of the blue. Being able to exist on all four layers of existence with no consequence for it's actions. Originally said to be an old folk tale elders would tell to children to scare them, The Operator, although known across the world as multiple names, Some extremely fitting while others were uncreative / unoriginal. The entity within the tale would maintain the same behavior in every culture that was made aware of it. Often stalking heavily wooded areas attempting to lure those who were unexpecting into the forest where it will stalk it's prey until they barely escape or become it's next meal. However even escape was never the last one would see the Operator. As it continued to stalk those who saw it relentlessly until it grows tired of the same torment. Or It claims another life. The operator was once said to be in many books recording folklore; however the pages and stories of encounters with it have simply been erased from existence. As if it tears the pages out itself. Wanting to remain within the darkness where it can watch and wait for those who are unaware.
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Headcanons:
Spiders tend to make small nests in the small holes that are on slender’s body, These spiders due to long exposure can give you the drowning if they bite you
The Spiral in the center of Slender’s face can hypnotize it’s victims. In my canon it’s how Slender gains most of it’s proxies
The reason Slender can disturb cameras and cause them to break is because of the electric frequency it admits. Similar to how fungi also admit Electric frequencies and is also source of the strange staticy hiss that tends to admit and follow Slender around
Slenderman is just a fae of sorts [which is just a fancy way of saying fairies], The type of fae that typically kidnap children and eat them. In my HC I kinda like to think that it is considered to be one of the first mythical forest spirits [also implying that Slender is old as balls]
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The Drowning / Slendersickness:
The drowning is a form of “Sickness” one can get when being exposed to the entity known as “The Operator” for a long period of time. It gets its name due to the feeling of choking on water and lack of air in your lungs
Normally you’d have to be in contact or near the Operator to contact the drowning however if one is sick with the drowning the drowning can be easily passed onto you with or without knowing it. Another way to get it is if you are marked by the Operator which can give you Stage 2 Of the drowning within the matter of seconds. The sickness originates from Spores that come from The Operator which are a lesser version of the Operator's final stage "The Tower ''. The following symptoms include Violent coughing [to the point of blood], Vomiting, Violent hallucinations, Trouble breathing, Seizures, Violent outbursts / episodes and dissociating. To summarize it, A Lot of the time Sickness slowly but surely eats away at your humanity until you are but a husk of your former self, Causing you to become aggressive and violent towards others. The Operator then feeds off of the conflict and uses it to make it stronger
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[Hoody / Brian in the Ark As seen in Entry# 83 At 6:30]
The Ark:
In Later years The Operator managed to make it’s own personal realm, Made to store the souls of those it has killed [or by proxy] and to drive those who enter it insane. Playing hallucinations that are personal to everyone who enters until they either die or find an exit [which is nearly impossible]. The realm as mentioned stores souls of it that have been killed that are being fed on by whatever lies in the pit that resides within the middle of the Ark, These dead victims are often in a paralyzed state where they are unable to move or speak as they slowly but surely melt into the surface of the Ark slowly becoming apart of it. However The Broken are basically souls that the "Ark" isn't able to feed off of since they are impure, Of course the broken are basically just victims of the Operator that have cracks on their body like fragile glass in a way. These souls and bodies are also often use as infinite battery packs for the Operator, Feeding off of the souls makes them more Powerful, The More souls there are the more of a threat it can become
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[Example image I drew to help explain it kinda]
The Hivemind
The Operator has more than one variant that all act as a single hive mind sharing the same exact thoughts. The following examples are The Tower, The Drones and Hallucination
The Tower: The Tower is the main source of the hivemind, These variants are basically the "Queen Bees" that pop out smaller versions of themselves to scout for food and return it to the Nest. Towers often borrow themselves deep underground where they cannot be touched, often growing extremely giant, For example they can grow to the size of the statue of liberty before stopping. Their tentacles can connect to the roots of trees which allows them to shift the forest at their command, It's also worth noting that the hivemind all share the same thoughts
Drones: The drones are basically mini clones of the hivemind that are produced so the tower doesn't have to expose itself to the outside world and get injured or killed, Their goal is to collect food until the Tower is ready to bloom. But a lot of the time these drones will hypnotize people into doing their biddings for them which is considered to be the norm nowadays. It's also less stress for the drones incase they do not wish to be discovered by the outside world. Drones can also eventually grow into Towers if they live long enough
Hallucinations: These are as you expect, They're the dones way of messing with your head by haunting you and breaking you mentality. They often appear in hallucinations and aren't the actual drones themselves, The main way to tell the difference between a drone and a hallucination is by the color of their tie. Red means that they are physically there attacking you while black means it's not real
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[lazy doodle by me]
The great blooming / The arrival:
this event is pretty straight forward. So the main reason these towers need to collect so much food and souls is so that they can bloom, Their heads unraveling to reveal a black rose that shoots out a giant cloud of spores that will infect those whoever breathes the spores in. These spores have the regular side effects such as the drowning, However those who are infected with the Tower's Spores are a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. If one is infected long enough their heads will implode into a flower and spread more spores around them
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#marble hornets#creepypasta#creepypasta fandom#slenderverse#fan au#slenderman#headcanons#creepyhornets#ticci toby#eyeless jack#jeff the killer
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dear devoted delicate {xavier thorpe}
xavier thorpe x reader
requested: by my beloved julie @websterss <3
words: 2.2k
a/n: the reader is an outcast of an unknown type, but not a werewolf. i love werewolves, but because of some of the setup, it's gotta be a non-werewolf reader. also i went a little off-prompt but it's still the same in essence, and all the important bits are included, just shuffled up a little. oh and yes the title is a line from the song older, but i used it mostly because dear is a sweet petname, and butterflies have delicate wings. i think i'm clever. oh and if you're new here, i hate writing dialogue and it shows in this
also if you want to see some really cool drawings of poisonous plants, send me an ask (please) because one of my favourite things ever are vintage botanical drawings (this will make sense in a minute dw)
warnings: n/a. just some sweetness. there is swearing though so idk if that counts as a warning
pronouns: she/her (maybe she/they? i can't remember if i threw in a 'they' lmao)
Once a month - sometimes twice if you were incredibly unlucky - you were kicked out of your room for two days while your roommate had a handful of her younger cousins over.
Before Nevermore, you loved the full moon. Now you had a love-hate relationship. You still loved the moon itself, but you never enjoyed showing up at your friend’s dorm, backpack over your shoulder and sleeping bag tucked under your arm, sheepishly asking if you could once again sleep on their floor. You could, in theory, go back to your room to sleep as your roommate and cousins wouldn’t be there, instead transformed into wolves and galavanting around the woods. But in your second month at Nevermore, you did that, and woke up to a room full of the less-than-dressed human werewolves, some of whom had chosen your bed to curl up on, with you still in it. Never again.
Full moons on the weekend were the worst. With no classes to occupy your time, you often found yourself moving from place to place around campus to find somewhere you could hide out before getting bored and moving on.
Xavier watched as you jogged past the archery field, headphones in and running shoes muddied. It wasn’t unusual to see you go past during club practice, though you tended to avoid it after a downpour. He’d asked you about it once, after seeing you in the library one rainy Saturday afternoon.
“My room already smells like wet dog at the best of times, I’m not going to add to that.” Your voice was light with humour; you adored Sofi and she always made sure to not bring in any smells with her. But the comment stuck with Xavier and the next time you were sat next to each other in Torture through History, he sketched out a wolf before moving his hand to bring it out of the page. You giggled quietly as the ashen wolf shook itself, small flecks mimicking water coming off, then curled up next to your hand. You had smiled down at it fondly as it fell asleep before dissolving into charcoal dust, leaving a light smudge on your hand. Xavier watched you and pretended not to notice the warmth that came to his face as you looked up at him, the fond look still in your eyes.
“Xavier, are you going to take your shot? Or you just going to keep staring at ‘em?” He shot up a middle finger over his shoulder before turning to follow its movement to see his club mates smirking over at him.
After ducking into Ash’s room to change into more comfortable clothes, you make your way down to the library. Ash was generally the most reliable for having space on their floor for you to crash, the thin roll-out mattress a permanent feature in the beanbag corner of the dorm.
On your way, you detour to your room to kick your muddy runners under your bed, though not before making an ‘I’m watching you’ motion toward a curled-up Sofi with a smile.
It wasn’t uncommon for couples to be hidden away in the library, especially not on an overcast weekend. But the Grimmstone library was the only library on campus that held an original copy of an 1800s toxic botany encyclopaedia.
After a few false turns with quick apologies to the interrupted couples, you finally found the right - and luckily empty - aisle. With your forefinger running gently along the worn spines, you made your way down the rows of books, glancing at the names of authors until you found the one you were looking for.
After carefully sliding the hardcover book off the shelf - nearly dropping it as the loose plastic dust cover slipped - you sat down at one of the desks lining the centre of the room and began flicking through. You flicked the book to the back, finger running down the yellowed page until you reached the name you were looking for: aconitum.
----
“Big scary werewolf and you’re afraid of a little butterfly?” You laughed as you wandered into Plant Toxicology with Sofi.
“It flew right into my face!” She waved her free hand in front of her, mimicking the butterfly’s movements.
“And you squealed!” As you laughed, Sofi gently hip-checked you, nudging you toward your usual desk, before laughing with a shake of her head and walking toward her own. You nodded hello to Yoko as you sat beside her.
“Alight, class. Group paper time.” The sounds of groans and heads hitting tables bounced around the room. “I know, I know. Now, rows one and three, turn around and give a little wave to your partner.”
----
You were hours early to meet your study buddy, but it was a non-issue. The time alone allowed you to make meticulous notes on the plant before worrying about formatting them into a presentable paper.
The notes you made were messy, quick dot points from the encyclopaedia that could make into a decent assessment. The paper was only short anyway, the first report of the semester that was more of a benchmark than a large percentage of your grade.
Headphones in, it wasn’t long until you found yourself with your feet up on the seat and book resting open on your thighs, reaching around your bent knees to occasionally take notes.
You were in the middle of triple-checking the spelling of a latin nomenclature when a flit of grey out the corner of your eye caught your attention. But as you turned your head to see what it was, all you could see was another couple darting down an aisle, whispering to each other. You shook your head with an amused exhale before turning back to your note-taking.
Just as you leaned forward to take a note, you saw the grey again. But this time, instead of a moment at the side of your vision, the grey moved in front of you just long enough to make out the shape of a butterfly before it landed on the tip of your nose.
Cross-eyed to stare at the charcoal insect, you pulled out the headphones slowly, trying not to disturb it. You knew it wasn’t real, recognising the trademark sketch lines of Xavier’s art.
Another pair of butterflies began to flutter in front of you, bouncing off of each other with tiny plumes of dust. You let out a small giggle and the bug on your nose darted away, flying right into the other two where all three of them exploded into a shower of dark powder onto the desk. Once the last of the dust landed, you turned quickly to look over your shoulders, dropping your feet to the floor, trying to find the artist.
You met Xavier’s eye as he folded his sketchbook closed in his right hand. His head was tilted with a smile as he made his way toward you, backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Howdy, howdy partner.” You wriggled your fingers to wave as he pulled out the chair beside you, dropping down and letting his bag fall to the floor. As he did, you noticed that Xavier’s pulled-back hair was a messy damp, the kind that comes with being caught in the rain.
“Started the fun without me.” He gestured lazily to your notebook and the two thick library books in front of you (at some point during your research you wandered back to the shelf and found a second book with information on the deadly plant).
“Wanted to make you jealous, of course.” You shot him a wink with a small giggle, turning back to your book just in time to miss the tips of Xavier’s ears go pink. “The butterflies were definitely a welcome distraction though,” you thanked, turning in your chair to face him fully, “I felt like I was going cross-eyed staring at these pages.”
“I’m happy to distract.” Xavier sent you a dopey smile and raised one hand to flatten down flyaways, and you bit the inside of your lip while ignoring the warmth that grew on your face. In your attempt to break eye-contact and hopefully get rid of the blush, your gaze flicked down to his mouth and caught him licking his lips.
Almost in sync, you and Xavier looked away from each other and as you looked over at the textbook, you heard him clear his throat.
“Okay, so,” Xavier broke the silence after a moment, “what have you got so far?”
You quickly delved into giving him a rundown of the notes you had made so far, explaining ideas you had come up with for it. However, you made a point of not looking up at him. It was a little awkward at times, where you would catch yourself beginning to look at him but quickly found a drawing of the purple flower far too important to not look over at.
Neither of you noticed that the sun had set until the howls of classmates made their way from this distance, the sound causing both of you to turn and look out the window.
“Shit, I didn’t realise how late it had gotten.” During the week, there was an 8pm curfew, but over the weekend library hours were extended and they were a little more lenient with the time you had to be back at your dorm giving you until midnight to be back. There was just one downside to being in the library late.
“Oh my god we missed dinner.” Xavier sounded devastated at the realisation, and you looked over to see him with the back of his hand pressed dramatically to his forehead.
“You hungry?” It wasn’t long past dinnertime, but because of the routine that came with living at Nevermore, you knew the answer would be yes. “I may or may not have some snacks hidden in my dorm.” He perked up, and though he would never tell, he was more than a little excited to be spending more time alone with you.
---
Xavier sat awkwardly on your bed as you kicked off your shoes and began to pull a box out from under your bed. Pushing some heavy clothing out of the way, you pulled out a bag of chips and a couple of packets of sweets.
“It’s not really a dinner, but it’s food.” You showed him the food you had stashed, offering it weakly. Xavier scooched himself onto the floor, patting the space beside him and you sat yourself down cross-legged.
As Xavier pulled open the chip bag, you sent Ash a message saying you might be over late, but would try to be as quiet as possible. They sent back a thumbs up, and you shoved away your phone just in time for the chips to be held out in front of you.
Between the sweets and bag of chips, you and Xavier managed to talk about anything that came to mind as time quickly moved by. During your time, both of you got more relaxed, losing any vague semblance of good posture and leaned against the side of your bed. And maybe closer to each other, but only maybe.
Xavier pulled his sketchbook out of his backpack and leaned forward, listening to you talk as he drew. He hid his sketchbook from you as you tried leaning over him, giggling into his ear as you did.
You let your body flop onto the ground beside him, staring up leaning on your hand as he readjusted how he was sitting to keep hiding what he was drawing from you. Then he tucked his pencil behind his ear and held his hand above the page.
Lifting up with a rain of dust, a dozen small butterflies began to flit around your room. They bounced off each other, spinning in circles as they danced.
Much like the interruption of howls earlier in the evening, you are brought back into reality by the buzzing of your phone against the hardwood floor.
“I don’t mean to stop you from whatever you’re doing,” Ash skipped the greeting as you answer the call, “but if you’re sleeping here tonight you might want to think about showing up soon.”
“Hello to you too.” Sitting up properly, you watched Xavier as he turned on his phone screen and showed you the time, and you widened your eyes. “Oh fuck. Okay, thanks, Ash. Be there soon.” Xavier stood first, offering you a hand to pull you up which you happily took pretending not to notice the way he squeezed your hand shortly when you stood.
“I can walk you over if you want.” You were already shaking your head at the offer, knowing that you would be cutting it thin getting to Ash’s dorm and Xavier’s dorm house was in the opposite direction.
“No, it’s okay. I don’t want to be the reason you get in trouble.” He held the door open for you, leaning on the outer frame. As he pulled it shut his arm brushed your side.
There was a beat of silence as neither of you wanted to move. Although you had spent the night hanging out, the softness in that moment was different and not something you wanted to break.
Steeling yourself for a moment, you darted forward and kissed Xavier on the cheek, turning and beginning to walk away before you could see how he reacted.
Xavier watched as you moved quickly away, his cheeks and ears pink, He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times trying to figure out how to react. Once you disappeared around the corner, he let out a breath and sheepishly smiled to himself.
comments and reblogs are appreciated! as are asks about the fic!
rambles, feel free to ignore: this fic isn't… okay so i hold myself to very high standards which is a problem with my brain and things, and i need to stop doing that because i end up giving up on things that aren't perfect instead of appreciating that i have made something and it's mine and from my brain. again, a problem i need to sort out. but all this being said!! by my self-imposed standards this isn't amazing, and really i'm posting it as a "here! it's done! take it before i take it back and destroy it!" and that's only happening because it was a request from a mutual.
tl;dr: these rambles are more to say that i like this fic, and i'm happy enough with it, but my standards are so high that i don't think it's good enough. which is a common thing with creatives and just know that what you make is good because it's yours and you made it, and that's all that matters!
#char rambles#char writes#xavier thorpe x reader#xavier thorpe x you#xavier thorpe x y/n#reader insert fic#xavier thorpe fanfic#xavier thorpe oneshot#xavier thorpe blurb#char's mutuals#˚:✧｡• julie#xavier thorpe reader insert
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re-introduction time, hi I'm Bente (they/he), Ben is also fine! formerly known as bennistudies
quick facts:
mid-20something wrapping up their master's teaching degree (english & german)
starting a new job as a substitute teacher in may (exciting but scary!) (that didn't happen, but other good things did!)
this is a somewhat-studyblr, definitely some langblr content and otherwise the usual meme, jokes, life update, bookish stuff
languages I'm currently learning: DGS (german sign language) & Norwegian
it's been a bit over five years since I joined the studyblr community with my old blog and I've learned so much from others since then but also I just really enjoy seeing everyone doing their thing and making it work, ya'll are so impressive!!
hyperspecific poll with fun facts to get to know each other is here
a more rambly hello under the cut:)
after I basically stopped posting on my old studyblr bennistudies last late summer, I realised that having to switch back and forth between accounts was the issue. I missed being active here! so to solve that, I've created this sideblog for easier access. hi, it's good to see you again :)
for those interested, I'll definitely leave little updates on how the job is going (as much as I'm allowed), especially when it comes to being a nonbinary trans teacher since a bunch of ppl found that interesting when I mentioned it on my old blog. posts related to that will be both under #mine and #bente does gender
originally, I expected to be done with my thesis already, which is why I have lots of language classes going on/starting rn. I have 4 lessons of german sign language level 2 left, level 3 starts this week as a parallel class though (posts will be under #bente learns sign language). last week I started norwegian a1 (#bente learns norwegian)!
other than that new focus on teaching and language learning, it'll be the usual chaos, rambles, and water drinking reminders though. I'm not even gonna pretend that I'm doing this for accountability, I just like sharing my cosy little corner of the world and seeing what you lot are up to
I still track #benniscup, please use it freely for any type of post! yes that includes rambles (if you want me to see and potentially reblog)
if you want to talk books, baking, plants or just about your day, please reach out!
tagging a bunch of my old mutuals and blogs I've followed for what feels like forever bc I appreciate you all and hope you know that: @septemberstudies @learnelle @studyingwithcatsandtea @veralernt @teacherstudiies @lattesandlearning @somerabbitholes @yourneighborhoodbibliophile @adelinestudiess @godzilla-studies @oneanxiousstudybuddy @gabiestudies @patchworkstudies (& the knife gang pals, obviously <3)
#I'm realising that I don't know how to introduce myself#oh well#mine#studyblr#studyblr intro post#knife gang
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Bug World No Mercy: Naming Systems in the Bug Kingdoms
Before we proceed: I want to note that with all of the names listed, they can also be translated into other languages and it will still suffice as a name for the bug.
For example: If you translate “Leaf” into Spanish, “Hoja”, it will still be a valid name because of the word it was translated from.
So without further ado:
Slugs of the Garth/Timberland
Before the Great Division Of Slug Country, the Slugs all had the same naming system.
Their names typically followed things associated with nature, wild-grown fruits, trees, leaves, plants, etc.
When the Slugs of the Garth formed their empire, they took on names associated with things you might find in a garden:
Fruits: Banana, Watermelon, Berry
Vegetables: Cucumber, Spud, Carrot
Nuts: Pistachio, Pecan
Legumes: Chickpea, String Bean
Flowers: Lily, Daffodil, Aster
When the Slugs of the Timberland stayed in the forest, they retained many of their old names, pre-division. These were names that associated with things found in the forest:
Bodies of water: Creek, Lake
Wild-grown fruits: Gumnut, Aronia
Trees: Pine, Birch
Plants: Fern, Ivy
Words relating to the forest: Woodland, Bosky
There are, however, “ grey area” names that arose after the division of Slug Country, as these names related to things that are present in both gardens and in nature:
Strawberry, Nectar, Apple, and Honey are some examples of these names
However, a slug can actually have a quote attached to them, created for themselves and by themselves.
Slugs of a high rank - Such as royalty, scholars, guards, advisors, etc.- are the only ones who can acquire a quote, according to Slug Law
These names can take a while to create, think of it like a thesis
High rank slugs must spend a year outlining, rough drafting, and finalizing their quote
This process also includes a month spent out in the forest to be alone with their thoughts
Trusted scholars are tasked with teaching upcoming high ranks multiple lessons of how to craft the perfect quote for themselves
The name itself must remind the others of that particular slug.
Example: “For what is the weakling slug, if they had moistened the soil into mulch, with the flesh of their enemies.” aka (Queen) Mulch.
These quote titles originated from the beginning of the Slug Country, thousands and thousands of years ago. The two warring sides of the previously known Slug Country have retained these types of names since then.
Cockroach Kingdom
Due to the Cockroach Kingdom's closeness to the humans and their society, they've taken on names that have to do with general products of human society, such as:
Human-made objects: Fork, Knife, Wire, Trash Can
Food/Drinks: Pizza, Soda, Hamburger
Buildings: Apartment, Prison, Greenhouse
The domestication of rats and pigeons by the Cockroach Kingdom is one that dates back thousands of years, theorized to be even before the Great Division of Slug Country. This led to titles pertaining to “Pest Tamers”, as the bugs call it, to be created:
Cockroaches that handle rats are given the title “Rat Tamer” before their name
On the other hand, cockroaches that handle pigeons are given the title “Pigeon Master” before their name
Hammerheads of the Gastropods (Hammerhead Worms)
Hammerhead Worm names generally follow a "4-part rule", going as such: Sir/Madame Gastro- (Given Birth Name) -Pod.
For shortening reasons, one may call a Hammerhead Slug: Sir/Madame (Given Name), Gastro-(Given Name), or (Given Name)-Pod.
Example: Madame Gastro-Grate-Pod,
Or: Madame Grate, Gastro-Grate, Grate-Pod
In Hammerhead Worm society, it is considered incredibly rude and disrespectful to only refer to one by only their Given Birth Name.
These Given Birth Names will typically be based off of:
The Hammerhead’s physical appearance: Mottle, Splotch, Stripe, Brindle
Physical actions: Scrape, Drag, Grate, Clutch, Trek, Smear
Believed to be the second oldest bug kingdom to perfect “Pest Taming”, Hammerhead Worms classify themselves into small categories, based upon the bird that acts as their steed:
Example: Robin Jockey, Finch Jockey
Moth Citadel
Moths are typically named after:
Organic materials that they eat: Cloth, Shirt, Hair, Blanket, Wool, Silk
Dark-themed words: Dim, Dull, Shade, Bleak
Moths also have a secondary part to their name.
Depending on what stage of the moon they were born under, that will serve as their last name.
For example: Blanket Waxing Crescent.
These last names fall under "Moon Families", although not every moth in the same Moon Family is related to each other.
Cicada Burrow
Since Cicada society puts lots of emphasis on a past life that a cicada has had, their names reflect such beliefs.
Cicada names include their current life's name alongside their previous life's name: (Current life’s name); Once-(Previous life’s name)
Cicada names are typically based around:
Types of trees: Redwood, Oak, Sycamore
Noises: Hum, Buzz, Bang
Words relating to plants/roots: Pith, Root, Stem
Nectar/Juices/Saps: Phloem, Mango Nectar, Apple Juice
An example of this would be: Sycamore; Once-Lily Nectar
Note: If a Cicada has just begun their cycle (Meaning that they are the beginning life of a rebirth cycle) then they will have just a singular name
Beetle Dynasty
Due to the dynasty's heavy emphasis on being defensively strong and armory, their names are ones that sound very heavy/strong/sturdy. This includes
Minerals/Gems: Titanium, Talc, Calcite
Trees/Words relating to trees: Lumber, Branch, Redwood
Words relating to rocks: Sedimentary, Boulder, Cobble
Metals: Cobalt, Copper, Steel
Example: Titanium, Sedimentary, Talc, Lumber
Beetles within the nation may also be granted a special title alongside their name. Usually connecting with a specific achievement
Special Title Example: Tungsten the Artificer, Strata the Batslayer
Worm Empire
Due to their entire empire (and association) being within the dirt, Worms take on names that have something to do with the earth
They can be based off of minerals in the dirt: Sulfur, Dolomite
The types of dirt: Peat, Clay
Shades of brown: Umber, Beige
Tools used to dig up the earth: Trowel, Shovel
Words connected to digging and moving around: Wriggle/Wriggling, Tunnel/Tunneling
The leader of the Worm Empire has the title of "Earth Master"
Worms who forage for food are given the title of "Processor"
Example: "Earth Master Excavator" “Processor Bronze”
Butterfly Pavilion
The butterflies take great pride in their appearance and beauty, so it's only fitting that their names reflect that. Many of their names are based on:
Colors: Blue, Amber, Aqua
Positive adjectives: Handsome, Bright, Clever
Flowers: Dahlia, Zinnia, Allium
Words/sounds associated with birds: Whir, Caw, Vane
Bird species: Robin, Hawk, Condor
When born, the caterpillars have their names prefaced with "Beautiful Sprout" and will keep this title until they form into a cocoon.
Upon emerging, the butterfly leaves behind their Beautiful Sprout title
Higher ranking butterflies can gain the title of Weathervane, alongside the number at which they rank at within the group of 10 Weathervanes
They can “rank up” whenever the Weathervane ahead of them retires, dies, or is overthrown
Example: 4th Weathervane Caw
Fly Cluster
Unlike the other bug kingdoms, flies don’t have an actual kingdom due to their nature to roam around and eat things that many bugs wouldn’t even eat as a last resort. However, despite this vagabond-esque culture and lack of a “proper kingdom”, the flies still have a system of names, typically based off of:
Death-related words: Corpse, Carrion, Muerte
Fungus and fungus genus names: Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, Mucor
Bacteria and viruses: Shigella, Rabies
Words relating to decomposition: Decay, Rot, Spoil
Spider Province
Though spiders have a wide array of naming systems that pertain to their kingdom, often you’ll find specific patterns in their names. Some names have a bit to do with their proximity with humans. You’ll find spiders named after:
Carnivorous plants: Sundew, Butterwort
Words relating to crafting: Concoct, Forge
Words relating to thread spinning: Intertwine, Weave, Spindle
Quiet noises: Mumble, Whisper, Hum, Hush
Clothes: Shirt, Jacket, Sweatshirt, Shoe(s)
Animals: Wolf, Viper, Python (Thanks to @imagination-confusion for this!
Something to note is that all spiders, no matter their age, will have the title of “Mandrel” due to their natural web-spinning capabilities being compared to the likes of that specific weaving tool.
Example: Spindle the Mandrel
Pillbug Domain
This kingdom of small, armored bugs puts lots of emphasis onto their outer exterior. So it’s only natural that their names reflect such cultural importance in one’s outside shell. Pillbugs will typically be named after:
Outer casing and frameworks: Shell, Chassis, Pod, Hull
Words related to spinning/fast movement: Spin, Bowl, Twist, Sweep
Metals: Aluminum, Steel
Trees/Words relating to trees: Redwood, Oak, Palm, Timber
Nuts: Walnut, Cashew, Pistachio
The Pillbug Domain’s high ranking bugs will sport the title of “Lord Pill” or “Lady Pill”.
Example: Lord Pill Swing
Something that you might notice is that many of the names of the Pillbug Domain are similar to the Beetle Dynasty’s names. This is because at some point, the Pillbug Domain was a part of the Beetle Dynasty, however would later on separate from the kingdom due to the Pillbug Lord disagreeing with many of the other leaders.
Dragonfly Lair
Dragonflies have names that they take great pride in, much like butterflies or cockroaches. Unless you are a close familiar, they demand that you refer to them as their full name or don’t refer to them at all. They carry names based on:
Positive adjectives: Courage, Brave, Gentle, Wise, Wisdom, Lionheart
Quick words: Whip, Snap, Zoom, Swift, Curt
Birds: Robin, Hawk, Falcon
In some rare cases, however, a dragonfly may be named after an old ruler from Europe. This is rarely the case, however. But it’s unknown to the bugs - including the Dragonflies themselves- how exactly knowledge of these European rulers became known.
Dragonfly society consists of a sibling monarchy and 2-4 advisors
The monarch dragonflies are born with the title “Eye-snatcher”
The advisor dragonflies are given the title “Lecture-wing”
Example: Eye-snatcher Ambition, Lecture-wing Sparrow
The Mosquito Flock
A kingdom that has functionally become a society that advocates for the death of the individual through hunting the sweet nectar of human blood. The Mosquito Flock carries many names based on:
Blood diseases: Sickle Cell, Anemia
Blood-related words: Ichor, Hemoglobin, Hematic
Drinking-related words: Sip, Guzzle, Swig
Eating-related words: Feast, Consume, Ingest
Words relating to a mosquito being killed: Slap, Swipe, Thwack
Bodies of water or general water-related words: Lake, Ocean, Puddle
Mosquito society has in place a title that all mosquitos must call each other by: Brother, Sister, and Sibling.
This holds a symbolic meaning, as mosquitoes believe they are all united as a “family”, it does not mean that they are all related to each other.
Firefly Faction
Due to the relatively unknown society of the firefly faction, it proved to be difficult to record their types of names for a while. Until now. Typically, a Firefly will be named after:
Fire and heat related words: Flame, Burn
Light related words: Sunshine, Spark, Day
Shine related words: Glimmer, Flicker
Quick motions: Flutter, Blink, Wink
The Ant Colonies
Ant colonies typically do not name their ants, except for some exceptions.
There are head ants in the colony that serve as managers for the different ant ranks, Lieutenant (Head Soldier), Director (Head Worker), and Head Rationer, the latter of which is responsible for what food comes into the colony.
The Head Ant names consist of a First and Last name that:
sounds violent and/or is linked with organs and bones
Example: Lieutenant Snap Neck, Director Rip Molar, and Head Rationer Flesh Maim
In ant colonies, there are also secondary ranks to the main three:
Soldiers: Watcher, Scout
Workers: Constructor, Brood Guard
Rationers: Food Guard, Chef
To each of these ranks, there is typically a single leading ant (Although more than one isn’t uncommon in bigger colonies). These leading secondary ants share the same last name as the head ant of their main rank, and will have their name prefaced with “Lead”:
For example, a Leading Constructor ant who works under an ant named “Director Rip Molar” will be named: Lead Constructor Stab Molar
Meanwhile, the rest of the ants do not have any names given to them, they are typically referred to as their rank, whether they’re Soldiers, Workers, Rationers, or any of the secondary ranks.
Regular ants can however be referred to and refer to each other as their designated rank (Food Guard, Watcher, etc.)
Drones are typically only referred to as Drones, but ants from the same colony and queen as a drone ant will sometimes refer to him as “Drone Brother”
The Queen Ant will have a violent sounding name, although not one that is formatted like the Head or Leading Ant's
The Queen's name will be prefaced by "Mother" and the name itself may be based off of:
Weapons: Sword, Sling, Crossbow
Torture methods: Keelhauling, Giridrion
Causes of death: Drown, Burn, Blunt Force
Violent words: Maim, Snap, Rip, Gnash
Organs/Bones: Tibia, Tooth, Stomach
An example of this is: "Queen Mother Macerate II" or “Queen Mother Gnash”
The Bees of the Hive
Though hundreds of beehives reside close to each other, all of differing histories, they all generally share the same types of names. Much like the Ant Colonies, Bee Hives have three main ranks: Lieutenant (Head Soldier), Director (Head Worker), and Head Rationer. Alongside that, they have secondary ranks:
Soldiers: Watcher
Workers: Constructor, Brood Guard, Greenskeeper
Rationers: Food Guard, Chef
However, unlike the Ant Colonies, Head/Lead bees don’t have first and last names, only first names. Their names will be based around:
Flowers: Wisteria, Oleander
Jams/preserves: Strawberry Jam, Apricot Preserves
Herbs/Teas: Chamomile, Earl Grey, Mint
Fruits: Apricot, Avocado
Descriptions of their personality: Wonderful, Humble
Regular bees are not actually properly named, instead, they are categorized by their hive's abbreviated name, their rank, and a designated number.
So for example, a drone bee from the Southern Creek Bound hive would be named: SCB-Drone-1033.
The Queen of the hive is given a proper name once she rises to the rank and successfully destroys her competitors. Like the Head and Leading bees, Queens can be named after:
Flowers
Jams/preserves
Herbs/Teas
Fruits
Descriptions of their personality
The queen bee's name is formatted as, "Queen (Name) of the (Hive name abbreviation(if needed)) Dynasty".
A queen's name may be something like: Queen Mango Jam of the SC Dynasty
The Wasp Swarms
Wasps share some of the same name aspects as both the bees and ants. Wasps have three main ranks like the bees and the ants: Workers, Soldiers, and Rationers.
And like with the bee and ant kingdoms, there are lead wasps for each main rank: Lieutenant (Head Soldier), Director (Head Worker), and Head Rationer.
With those ranks comes secondary ranks:
Soldiers: Watcher
Workers: Constructor, Brood Guard, Greenskeeper
Rationers: Food Guard, Chef
Just like ants and bees, leading secondary ranking wasps will have the title of Lead prefacing their names. Like bee society, wasps don’t have both first and last names, only a first name. These names will be based off of:
Quick actions: Dart, Strike, Jab
Fruits: Pear, Plum
Weapons: Machete, Hammer
Example: Lead Brood Guard Jab, Lieutenant Razor
The rest of the wasps don't have proper names: They are named after the sectors that they are hatched in and what rank they fill
Alongside that, wasps will have the name of the queen they were born under as part of their identification
For example: Battle Queen (Name), Sector F Soldier
Regular wasps can, however, be referred to as/refer to others as “(Sector) (Rank) Sister” or simply just “Sister”. While drones will be referred to as “(Sector) (Rank) Drone” or simply just “Drone”
Example: Sector A Sister, Sector E Drone
Just like the Head and Lead wasps, the Queen Wasp(s) will have names based off of:
Quick actions
Fruits
Weapons
Their name will also be prefaced by "Battle"
Example: Battle Queen Prickly Pear III, Battle Queen Mangosteen
#blimbo rambles#bug world no mercy#it's here [passes on]#any questions about any of the names are welcomed I'd be happy to explain some details a bit more
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How to Handle Poisonous Mushrooms
(Originally posted at my blog at https://rebeccalexa.com/how-to-handle-poisonous-mushrooms/)
While edible mushrooms can be found just about year-round in much of temperate North America, fall is by far the most popular time. There’s a greater variety of species available, and fall rains encourage fungi to produce fruiting bodies to spread spores. The cooler weather also entices out those who may have been hiding from summer’s heat. As a result, I see an increase in questions about mushroom hunting from beginners who want to make sure they have a good first foraging experience. One of the most common queries is: how are we supposed to handle poisonous mushrooms?
It’s no surprise that so many people wonder about this. After all, the risk of picking and eating the wrong mushroom is a legitimate concern! While most poisonous mushrooms will give you some nasty gastrointestinal upset, a few can cause more serious symptoms, up to and including kidney and liver failure. Thankfully, with care it’s quite possible to avoid this fate.
The first thing I need to establish is that fungi are not plants. In fact, they’re more closely related to us animals! The plant kingdom (well, the algae that would eventually lead to plants) diverged from our collective last common ancestor first, about 1.5 billion years ago. Meanwhile the last common ancestor of animals and fungi lived about 1 billion years ago. This means that the kingdom Fungi is the closest to the kingdom Animalia. In fact, we are so similar that it is incredibly challenging for pharmaceutical companies to develop new antifungal medications that are safe for us to use. Animal cells and fungal cells frequently metabolize molecules in the same way, meaning that many antifungal substances are just as dangerous for us as they are for the target fungus.
Yet many people still confuse plants and fungi. Both of them seem to grow out of the ground and don’t appear to move from one spot (at least not to the casual observer) and are often seen in the same places together. Sometimes the roots of plants are wrongly seen as analogous to the fungal mycelium. But while they may share some common roles with regards to extracting water and nutrients from soil, and may intertwine with each other in mycorrhizal relationships, their fundamental structure, to include on a cellular level, is quite different. It also doesn’t help that “mushrooms” are often lumped with vegetables in casual culinary discussions, and even on the food pyramid, too.
So why did I bring up this bit of basic biology? Because it’s at the core of the issue of how to handle poisonous mushrooms.
Think about some poisonous or irritating plants. Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac (all Toxicodendron species) all exude uroshiol on their leaves; touch them, and you’re likely to get a nasty rash. Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) has incredibly sharp little hairs that inject the skin of those who touch it with histamines, acetylcholine, and other irritating chemicals. The capsaicin in some peppers (Capsicum spp.) doesn’t even necessarily have to make it into your eyes to cause a nasty burning sensation. Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is the most infamous of several plants that can cause severe chemical burns, though some require the sap or other toxic substance to be exposed to sunlight before the chemical reaction occurs. And ostensibly if you went picking berries, got some deadly nightshade (Belladonna atropa) berries mixed in with the edible ones, and the nightshade berries were accidentally crushed in sufficient numbers, there could be enough of their juice on the edible berries to make you sick.
So there are ample examples of plants where, if you just touch them, you could be in trouble. But what about mushrooms? Well, most of us learn about dangerous plants and mushrooms when we’re children. Young kids have a tendency to try to eat things or otherwise put them in their mouth as part of exploring their world. Unfortunately, some of those things can be pretty dangerous! But your average toddler isn’t going to be able to tell the difference between the small red round berries of red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) and the small red round berries of English holly (Ilex aquifolium). Nor will they know the nuances between edible matsutake mushrooms (Tricholoma spp.), and deadly death caps (Amanita phalloides.) So adults just tell children to not put any plants or mushrooms that they find outside in their mouths–and in fact, just don’t touch them at all. The result is that plenty of people had it imprinted early on that touching any mushroom is dangerous.
To be fair, most adults in mycophobic cultures couldn’t tell you the differences between those mushrooms, either. The mainstream, non-indigenous culture in the United States definitely counts as mycophobic; the majority of Americans are exceptionally wary of any mushroom that didn’t come from a grocery store or on a pizza. This stems from that early message that all outdoor mushrooms are potentially bad and dangerous, and a general dearth of education about edible wild mushrooms. Given that foraging and nature identification in general is a relatively rare set of skills here as well, most people don’t get early opportunities to learn which mushrooms are safe to eat and which aren’t.
All of this adds up to a lot of misinformation about mushrooms in general, and mushroom foraging in particular. Which leads me to the main topic of this article: whether or not you should handle poisonous mushrooms in the first place.
So here’s the $64,000 question: is it even possible to safely handle poisonous mushrooms? The short answer: yes! Here’s the thing. As I tell my students in my foraging classes, I could pick a big death cap mushroom with my bare hands, walk around carrying it all day, toss it up in the air and catch it, and it wouldn’t hurt me. I could stick it into a bag of edible mushrooms, and it won’t “rub off on them.” The spores would be more of a threat if I inhaled them than if some of them dusted the edible fungi in that bag; there’s not enough toxin in the spores to make an impact.
Technically I could even bite a piece off of the death cap, chew it, and spit it out, and as long as I didn’t swallow any of it I’d be fine. (This is actually a fairly common practice among foragers as flavor can be an important factor in identifying some mushrooms.) The only way that that death cap is going to hurt me is if I eat it. I have to ingest it, and leave it in my digestive system long enough for the amatoxins and phallotoxins within it to be absorbed by my body. (And it wouldn’t take much–just a half a cap is supposedly enough to take out an adult human being.)
Now, you don’t have to give up all of your caution if you aren’t comfortable. If it makes you feel better to wear gloves when picking mushrooms, put each unidentified species in its own container, and wash your hands after handling them, that’s totally fine. But understand that these steps really aren’t necessary, other than perhaps keeping the unidentified mushrooms separated from the known edibles to keep them from being accidentally prepared together.
None of this means that you shouldn’t take the absolute greatest amount of caution in properly identifying any mushroom and then researching if it is safe to eat. The risk of eating something that could make you sick (or worse) is still quite real. Just know that the risk only comes into play once you start eating them; you can pretty much handle the mushrooms with impunity (rare general mushroom allergies notwithstanding.)
Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!
#mushrooms#fungus#fungi#mushroom hunting#mushroom foraging#poisonous mushrooms#foraging#wild foods#outdoors#nature#plants#mycology#botany#biology#long post#science#scicomm#science communication#natural history
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Inky Hearts pt. 1
Modern!Ellie is a tattoo artist and you just became her lovely little muse.
a/n: hellooo! okay i am actually kind of obsessed with this. I'm not sure how many parts of this i am planning on making but definitely more than one. as always feedback and comments are more than welcome!! all of the pictures i included do not belong to me and the tattoo was found on Pinterest. the two songs mentioned are C.R.E.A.M by Wu-Tang and Come A Little Closer by Cage the Elephant. enjoy lovelys!!
warning(s): mentions of cigarettes/smoking/weed, i think that's it but please let me know if i should add anything
You drum your fingers on the steering wheel anxiously waiting for the light to turn green. You had no reason at all to be anxious! This was not your first tattoo. You had too many to count off the top of your head. However it was your first time at this shop and new places have always made you anxious, always preferring routine over spontaneity.
You had seen one of the artists at the shop on instagram and instantly became obsessed with their work. Their page is full of stunning tattoos. Her name was Ellie. Cute. She seemed to mostly do plants and flowers, sticking to a traditional style. Seeing a few videos of her tattooing herself, you couldn’t help but notice just how attractive she was. Doing some light-hearted stalking you managed to find her personal page and she had a disappointing lack of posts. Her profile picture was her standing holding a skateboard behind her head…original. She only had a few pictures, mostly with other people. Deciding against following her, figuring that might be creepy.
‘Fuck it! Her style is perfect for the exact tattoo that I’ve been wanting on my hips. It's just a major plus that she’s super hot.’ You think as you send a message to the tattoo parlors page saying you’re interested in booking an appointment.
So just like that, a month later you’re sitting at a red light, anxiety pulsing through you. Parking your car in the lot across from the shop you gather your things, giving yourself a once over in your car window, you walk across to the shop. The bell above the door jingles as you open it. The classic smell of green soap wafting through the parlor. C.R.E.A.M is playing low in the background as you make your way to the front desk. A young girl with thick black hair is sitting on a stool at the counter typing away at a laptop. You realize you recognize her from Ellie’s instagram page.
You take a few anxious steps toward her, “Hi! I’m here for a four o’clock appointment with Ellie? Sorry I’m a little early!”
“Hey! No worries! She’s just finishing up with someone and then she’ll come out and get you. Feel free to have a seat.” She gives you a warm smile, going back to typing away.
Placing your purse and water bottle on the coffee table in the middle of a few sofas and loveseats you flop into one, fiddling with your fingers. You take a look around the shop, admiring the welcoming vibe. Flash art is hung all over the walls, along with pictures of tattoos and piercings that customers have gotten. Art and posters are also placed around sporadically. The artist stations have curtains on either side of them with a walkway in the middle.
A voice coming from around one of the curtains snags your attention. ‘Oh my god. She’s even hotter in person. This is gonna be a long day.’ Your face flushes as your mind shuffles around.
She rounds the front desk, chatting with her client while accepting her payment. Her client leaves and she turns to the dark haired girl who welcomed you, she nods her head in your direction and you quickly look down realizing you’ve been staring at them. You fiddle with your fingers as a pair of beat up converse come into your view. Looking up as she asks your name.
“Yeah! That’s me!” You look up giving your best casual smile.
“Sweet. Give me one sec to clean up my station and print out your stencil and I’ll come get you.” She says as she steps back.
“Okie dokie!”
She chuckles at your response, walking towards her station.
“Okie dokie!? Jesus fucking christ I’m such a dork. Just be cool! You know how to be cool!’ You scold yourself and take some deep breaths.
About twenty minutes pass before she’s walking back with your stencil in hand, nodding her head at you to follow her. Gathering your stuff as quickly as possible you shuffle after her. She walks to her station, pulling the curtain closed behind you guys and sits in the rolling chair, cutting the excess edge off of your stencil. You stand there, shifting on your feet, awaiting direction.
Your eyes wander and you realize her station is a great insight to her personality. She’s got a tool cart covered in stickers and a low table shelf where her rolling chair sits. She’s got several shelves with collectable action figures and pictures. You notice more of her flash art taped to the wall, a Savage Starlight poster catches your eye.
“Alright so you want these on the front of your thighs and hips right?” She looks up at you and you nod giving a small hum.
“Perfect, so if you just wanna pull your shorts off – or you can just lower them. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
You blush even though you knew you’d have to take your shorts off. Purposefully wearing your cutest high cut underwear, however now you feel embarrassed at doing that. You shuffle out of your shorts and fold them over your bag. Hopping onto the chair with a small huff you lean back into the backrest.
She stands, slipping on her black gloves. Glancing down at you and asking if you're ready, you nod your head with another hum.
As she makes work of sanitizing your skin and running the disposable razor over your thighs and hips, you subtly admire her own ink. She has a beautiful fern with a moth overlaying it on her left arm. On her right arm she has a collection of flowers and plants from her wrist disappearing into the sleeve of her white t-shirt. She also has several patchwork pieces filling in the blank skin on her arms, neck, and some tattoos disappearing to her covered hands. Your face flushes and the thought of seeing the pieces that are not currently exposed.
As Ellie is prepping her canvas she is trying to be as subtle as possible as she looks you over. Feeling embarrassed at her lack of professionalism she scolds herself as she ogles you. Admiring your tattoos, she feels giddy at the thought of adding to all the beautiful pieces covering you. She glances up at you as you seem to be dazed while staring at her arms. Giving a small smirk at your face flushing, she wipes your skin with the wet paper towel once more before grabbing your stencil from her table. She presses them both down with gentle hands, making sure they’re even and not smudged.
“Okay, hop up and take a look at it in the mirror. If there’s anything, anything at all that you don’t like about the placement or size let me know.” She steps back, rolling her gloves off and reaching for clean ones.
Scooting off the chair you move over to the mirror and admire the beautiful stencil, already obsessing over the temporary blue ink. Shifting your hips and rotating your body to make sure you like it from all angles, you swivel around with a grin.
“I love it! It’s literally perfect. Oh my god it’s so perfect.” You gush.
Her face flushes at your praise and she nods before turning to her workstation to fill the ink caps and get her tattoo gun ready.
You hop back into the chair, giddy with excitement. Fingers fiddling, this time with excited energy. The buzz of the gun causes adrenaline to fizzle through you and you take deep breaths, preparing for the sweet pain. She rolls her chair to you and presses the pedal underneath the chair causing it to lower to her sitting level.
“Alright, you ready to start?” She dips the needle of the gun into the ink, bringing her attention back to you.
Taking a deep breath, you look into her green eyes and give your best confident nod, “Ready as I’ll ever be!”
She smiles at you, finding you absolutely adorable and places her left hand firmly on your thigh, gun in her right hand.
Always being surprised by the pain, for some odd reason. You take a deep breath at the hot sting and try to focus on the music playing in the parlor. Come A Little Closer plays and you drum your fingers to the melody.
–
“Alright, outlines are done. You wanna take a break before we start color?” She asks as she sets the gun down, stretching out her arms and neck. Looking incredibly hot doing something so simple.
“Yeah! A break would be good.” You stretch out your legs before moving off the chair with great caution trying to avoid the painful feeling of creasing your skin.
“Sweet. Lemme just cover you with saran wrap and some medical tape” She rolls over to you covering your outline gently. You slip on your shorts, zipping them up and leaving the button undone. You shuffle in your bag for your smokes, turning around with the pack in hand.
“You- Uh- You wanna join me for a smoke?” You offer sheepishly.
She says sure and grabs her water bottle, walking out behind you. You lean against the brick wall, pulling your lighter out of the pack and two smokes. You place one in your mouth, lighting it and lighting the other with the tip. You blush feeling Ellie’s eyes on you the whole time.
Passing it to her you try to make small talk, “It’s a horrible habit…I’m aware. I usually prefer a joint over a cig but ya know.” You say with a small laugh.
She chuckles with you, “I’m not one to judge. Besides, you can get away with smoking.”
“What do you mean by that?” You exhale and glance up at her in confusion.
“Pretty girls can always get away with smoking. Trust me.” She says with a dramatic exhale of smoke, looking borderline edible at this point.
‘Fuck how can someone look that hot smoking a cigarette!?’
You turn a bright shade of red, “I- I’ve never been told that before…” You say quietly, stubbing your cigarette out on the ashtray placed outside.
Smirking at your shyness she stubs her and pushes herself off the wall, stubbing her cigarette on the ashtray, “C’mon pretty, let’s get back to work.” She says, holding the door open for you. Your body brushes against hers as you walk through the door. Face aflame.
You both settle back in her workspace and she starts coloring your piece.
–
Pulling off her gloves and leaning back to stretch, “And you’re done. Let me know what you think.”
You scoot off the chair, skin much more tender, you wince when you crease it, dreading the drive home. You step over to the mirror ogling at the artwork that decorates your skin.
“It’s-” You spin around bouncing on your toes, “It’s amazing! You’re fucking amazing! Oh my fucking god!” You practically scream, feeling pure elation.
Her freckles become prominent as her face flushes a concerning shade of red. Your praise clearly has an effect on her. She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, feeling her blush all over her body.
Clearing her throat, “I- I’m glad you like it. You took it like a champ. That’s a big ass piece, I don’t know if I could've done only one session.” She rambles, wanting to get the attention off of her.
She stands, hands stuffing into her pockets, “Anyway! Let’s get that covered.”
She covers both your hips in saniderm and you pull your shorts on, wincing as the fabric rubs against your skin.
“Hey! Uh- Do you have a personal instagram? I found the shop but um- was hoping to follow your personal one!” You ramble nervously, shuffling with your phone.
Letting out a small laugh she takes your phone from you, opening instagram and typing her handle. She takes her phone out of her back pocket, following you back. You try to hide your smile and grab the rest of your things.
‘Just be cool. Play it cool and casual.’
Making your way to the front desk she leans on it, “So for today it’ll be an even $200.”
“What? What- No, that’s- that’s way too cheap. Here.” You hand her four hundred, knowing that she’s undercharging you. This tattoo is incredible and huge. You also hand her a single hundred for the tip. Having had enough tattoos that you know you always pay in cash and always be prepared to tip generously.
She shuffles through the cash, shaking her head and trying to hand you back two of the five hundred that you handed her. You raise your hands and shake your head, “No! Ellie! C’mon, don’t undercharge me!” Looking her in the eyes to insist.
“C’mon pretty girl. Reason with me. Take two back. I won’t accept five.” She says as she stands taller, hands leaning on the counter, tilting her head as she speaks to you.
‘Let me just…casually get on my knees for you. You look so fucking hot right now. Oh my fucking god.’
You let out a dramatic sigh and say quietly, “Fine! Fine…but you’re keeping three!” You concede, not happy at all with her undercharging you.
She smirks, pushing herself off the counter folding the cash and pocketing it, “Good girl. Was that so hard?” She mocks you.
Your body is burning with embarrassment and lust at this point and you are grateful the dark haired girl from before is gone. Feeling mortified at the thought of anyone witnessing her flirtatious teasing.
Tucking your hair behind your ear, you take a step back gripping your bag.
Clearing your throat you manage to get out, “Well- I Will be seeing you. Thank you, Ellie. This piece is- it’s incredible. I’m obsessed with it!” You gush out like a fangirl.
“Thank you…that means a lot.” She says and stuffs her hands in her pockets, an obvious tell of when she’s nervous.
–
Parking your car in the parking lot behind your apartment building you pull your phone out from your back pocket, feeling it buzz with a notification.
ellie_wills03 : hey pretty girl
ellie_wills03 : you get home safe?
You bite your bottom lip as you smile. Thumbs hovering over your keyboard.
love.bug.222 : Hi! Yes, I just got home 🩷
ellie_wills03 : good, have a good night gorgeous
love.bug.222 : Okie dokie! You too! I’ll talk to you tomorrow :)
Ellie smiles at her phone, chuckling at how sweet you sound even over text.
You are a blushing mess, admiring your tattoo for the rest of the night.
#ˏˋ°•*⁀➷humanbug fics#the last of us ellie#the last of us fic#the last of us#tlou fanfiction#ellie williams tlou#ellie williams#ellie x reader#ellie imagine#tlou ellie#tlou#ellie williams x reader#ellie x fem reader
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My DIY WellieWishers Playhouse
A few weeks ago, I found this Our Generation brand beach house at a secondhand shop. A little doll playhouse has been on my wish list for a long time, specifically because I wanted to renovate it into a customized dream home for my five dear sweet Wellies!
I love these little kiddos. They’re so cute and charming. I had originally only planned to get Emerson, but then I found Willa at a thrift store and couldn’t resist adding the rest after that. And I love making clothes for them, including these particular outfits.
Ultimately I would have been thrilled to find the actual WellieWishers playhouse secondhand.
But I’ve never seen it in any thrift store. And this is retired so it’s as expensive on the secondhand market as it was when it was available new from American Girl.
I also noticed, when looking at other people’s photos of their dolls using this house, that it’s actually very small. It’s not meant to accomodate all the Wellies.
So I started looking for an Our Generation brand house, since they make tons of larger-scale doll house playsets. They’re actually made for 18 inch dolls, but they fit 14 inch Wellies a bit better. The Seaside Beach House playset seemed like a good choice. Here’s how it originally looked:
When bought new, it comes with lots of small accessories, mostly food and dishes. The one I found and bought didn’t come with any of the accessories, which was fine. If there were any that I absolutely needed, I could make them.
Once I acquired it, I got to work with the renovations.
Kendall helped me out, since she’s crafty and likes to make things.
First I took out the plastic bench. It folds out into a bed that can fit one 18 inch doll or two 14 inch dolls. Then I moved the kitchen around so that the shelves fit under the window and open up the floor, making it all one room instead of two rooms.
This did unfortunately disconnect the power source for the overhead light and all the little kitchen and beach sound buttons. But I plan on replacing them with maybe something better.
Once everything was rearranged, I painted and wallpapered the walls. Then I added all the little accessories.
With the kitchen moved, the little porthole window is above the sink, which looks nice. I added a roll of paper towels and some hand soap by the sink.
The Wellies are only six years old and not allowed to have very hot things that can bun, so their stove and oven are for pretend play.
The fridge is “real” and holds their snacks. To the left of that you can see the oven and underneath that, a second oven that I told the Wellies is actually a dishwasher. I took the handle off until I decide how to make it look like a dishwasher.
With the countertop underneath the row of windows, the plants can get some nice direct sun. To the left of the plants is the girls’ microscope. On the upper shelves are gardening supplies.
Emerson’s job is to water the potted herbs.
The top shelf is for toys. I had a great time compiling all these mini toys for the girls: two little rabbits, a troll, real metal toy trains, a koosh ball, a slinky, and dinosaurs. The second shelf holds dishes. The bottom shelf has mini American Girl books and magazines, plus some microscope slides, a deck of cards, and a flower press.
This little bench, and the stuffed lamb, were also recent thrift store finds. My aunt made the two stuffed chickens. I made the felt cactus.
It’s kind of small and will only sit one Wellie or two smaller dolls, but it’s too cute to not use.
I made the pom pom rug also. The carpet is a rectangle of soft velour fabric. I’m still undecided whether to use carpet or to make a faux wooden floor.
The door has a screen in the window, and the window moves up and down to let in a breeze. Attached to the outside screen is a little plastic bug.
On the right of the door are two seahorse-shaped hooks to hold jackets and hats.
The door locks, too!
There’s still room outside to put up the table and chairs I made for the Wellies last summer.
And there’s room for younger siblings to come by and play.
Behind the house is the wooden tree swing, a perfect place to enjoy the evening breeze.
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Name: Plungelo
Debut: Super Mario Sunshine
Whadda hell. Plungelo. This thing is so wacky! It feels like a weird mishmosh of unrelated parts and that’s wonderful! A red orb with enormous unmoving eyespots, a weird lip-like beak, toilet plunger feet, and a sprout on its head like in Among Us! But is Plungelo the impostor?
By that I mean, is it a real creature, or simply made by Bowser Jr.’s goop, like many of the Sunshine enemies are said to be? I don’t know! But I don’t think it matters. I never much liked the “Sunshine enemies are created by the paintbrush” idea. Like, where are all of Isle Delfino’s native creatures, in that case? Cataquacks seem to be native, but they turn into goop when defeated. And why do even the Yoshis disintegrate in water here? Maybe some or even most of the enemies are made by Bowser Jr., but I like to think they depict real creatures. I want them to be real! I understand if Goobles are Goop Exclusive but the others should be real!
So, I believe Plungelo is a Real Animal. A real animal with a sprout on its head so that it may mutualistically gain energy through photosynthesis! Why would a real animal evolve plungers for feet? Why, for walking on flat glass, of course! Or maybe for plunging burrowing prey out of holes in the sand? Plungelo loooves to walk on glass, it loves it so bad. It’s literally the only context they are found in! They are causing a scene by walking on the Gelato Beach mirrors, preventing them from incubating the legendary Sand Bird egg!
But it’s not just them. They’re in cahoots with the Wiggler sleeping on the egg, it seems, since both appear at the same time, both messing with the egg! And we GOTTA talk about this Wiggler because it is so important to whatever the heck is going on here.
The more common Wigglers found in the Mushroom Kingdom, Dinosaur Land, and other places are yellow, and the spots on their segments are rather irregularly placed. THIS one, though! The spots on EVERY segment are right on the sides!
Just like the eyes (?) of Plungelo and its cousin Cataquack! Fittingly, both of their Japanese names include “hana”, from Wiggler’s Japanese name! There is clearly a connection between these wacky creatures and this Wiggler. What is it?
This particular Wiggler is able to fall apart into segments unharmed! Could this be the origin of Plungelo and Cataquack? Maybe all the same species, and different points of the same life cycle! Maybe this Wiggler is the beginning, and then, like a strobilating cnidarian, this individual gives rise to many genetically identical individuals- the Cataquacks! As Cataquacks develop, the previously-dormant symbiotic plant on their head sprouts, which will someday become the Wiggler’s flower!
Cataquack’s long beak shrinks into a smaller mouth, which will aid it in its new ecological niche as a Plungelo: its newly developed suction cup feet allow it to climb certain surfaces, where it tries to stay high up so that its sprout gets constant sun! They are particularly drawn to reflective surfaces like mirrors and windows, so they can get as much light as possible. Plungelo, after having eaten a large amount, as well as having nurtured its sprout until it bloomed, will now have enough energy in reserve to hibernate! As it does, its final transformation into Wiggler occurs, and it begins growing a chain of segments that will be the next generation.
But then why is it so green? And why do these segments lack mouths and tails? Maybe this one was “undercooked”! It had not been sleeping there very long before Mario got involved. It’s mad, because it was SO close to finally completing its life cycle!
When defeated, this Wiggler turns into sand. It was made of sand all along? Surely there’s a good explanation for that, right? It’s too bad this post is getting oh so long! Goodbye!
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„The first time in the public swimming pool“ - a triple amputee story (fiction)
Ever since I got home from the rehabilitation clinic, I've had more time than before. I was no longer able to do my original job and the retraining measure had not yet been approved by the health insurance company. So I had to pass the time somehow. Even before the accident, I had always liked going to the swimming pool. The swimming pool in our city was a beautiful thermal bath including a sauna and wellness area.
I had completely lost both of my arms and my left leg after a motorcycle accident. My arms had been amputated from the shoulders and my left leg from the hip. I had been run over on my motorcycle by a drunk truck driver who had overlooked me. My life had changed forever in one moment. At the age of 25, I was suddenly a severely handicapped person and sometimes dependent on help in everyday life. It was made clear to me very quickly in the hospital that I would probably never be able to use prostheses. Since my arms and my leg had both been amputated without stumps, prostheses were out of the question for me.
I had therefore already started using my foot as a replacement hand in the hospital. In addition, they had begun to prepare me to cover short distances by hopping on one leg in the future. For longer distances I used an electric wheelchair that I steered with my foot. I still needed help in everyday life and had two carers who took turns accompanying me during the day. My carer, Nico, accompanied me to the swimming pool for the first time, helped me to change and now carried our backpack with my personal belongings behind me when I was hopping on one leg with a slide on my foot (it was wet and slippery in the bathroom) into the public area of the pool from the changing rooms. I wore a blue Speedo, nothing else.
People made room for me and looked at me with a mixture of astonishment, shock and sometimes disgust, looks that I already knew well and ignored. It was unusual for me to be here in the swimming pool for the first time as an amputee. I headed for the sun loungers and Nico laid out our towels and put the backpack next to it. I positioned myself with small hops in front of the lounger and then sat down on it. "You want to get in the water right now, Tommy?" I was a little out of breath. "No, I'll rest for a moment. We can then get into the water in 5 minutes.” Nico nodded and sat down on the lounger as well.
I watched the hustle and bustle, there wasn't that much going on here in the swimming pool. I knew that just off the main pool was a nice hot tub that was also hidden from view by lots of jungle plants. It was something like a secret gay meeting place. I figured I'd go over there and relax in the warm water, maybe I could watch two nice guys making out. Nico was reading a book. "Nico, I'm going over to the jacuzzi." Nico smiled at me encouragingly. "Yes, of course, Tommy, do it, if something happens, just call, I'm within earshot." „See you later.” I said, swinging my right leg off the lounger and carefully starting to hop barefoot towards the jacuzzi. The pool was empty, I supported myself with my left side on the railing at the entrance to the stairs and, leaning against it, jumped step by step into the bubbling warm water. I sat down on the seat and closed my eyes.
Not a sound disturbed the peace. Suddenly the water in the whirlpool shook and small waves splashed on my neck. I knew right away from the noise that someone was getting into the pool. I opened my eyes. A man in his twenties sat down directly across from me. He had medium-length brown hair that was side-styled and very pretty green eyes. A slight growth of beard made him even more attractive. But what was most interesting, his right leg was amputated and on his left breast below the shoulder was a rainbow with the words "Gay Pride" emblazoned on it. He had a scarred leg stump, but it was now disappearing underwater. He smiled shyly at me, but then looked away as I maintained eye contact. The guy looked really good I thought to myself. Somehow he cast a spell over me. Just because he seemed so shy despite his masculinity made me a little horny.
I took a chance after the guy was openly gay and an amputee. I cautiously felt over it with my leg. Because of the foaming water, I couldn't tell exactly where he was stretching out. I noticed almost a little disappointed that he had sat down in such a way that there was a lot of distance between us. I didn't feel anything except water. Then a touch, but he immediately pulled his leg further away and gave me a startled look. I apologized and was amazed at this reaction. He nodded to me and said it was alright. I decided to end my attempts. Maybe I just wasn't his type.
But then his leg slowly came back and briefly pressed against me. His foot slowly felt up to my thigh. I took a deep breath and looked at him again. Again I saw his absolutely magical smile. Now it was clear to me that something would still work out with him today. This totally cutie guy was about to be mine and I couldn't wait.
I switched pool sides and introduced myself to him. "Hi there, I'm Tommy and this is my first time back at the pool since my accident." He was nervous and shy. Red cheeks suited him perfectly. Finally he thawed out a bit and also told me something. "I'm Andy. This is my first time here since I lost my leg. I watched you before when you hopped over here. You look really hot.” he said. I listened to him and enjoyed how deep and manly his voice was. I liked that he finally opened up a bit to me. His shy look finally made me horny. I told him I was very tender and sensitive after he said he wasn't quite ready to have sex after his accident. If he wants, I would like to show him something more, I said mischievously. Andy seemed to think for a moment, his red cheeks glowing, but then he nodded. He also admitted to me that he hadn't had that much gay sex before.
I didn't just want to make love to Andy. I felt the urge to show him how beautiful gay sex can be between two amputees at that. Before my accident, I myself was often out and about in the gay scene. Of course he was self-conscious and shy because of his inexperience, but I would take that away from him. I hoped he would just give himself to me. Finally the afternoon got interesting I thought.
I began kissing his muscular hairless shoulders tenderly. He sat very still and enjoyed it. I snuggled up lovingly in the crook of his neck. Andy's lips parted slightly and a very soft moan was heard. I smiled briefly and couldn't hold back. I leaned over and placed my lips on his mouth. To my surprise, he returned the kiss and then even shoved his tongue into my mouth. I pressed a little more against him. Our tongues played with each other. He was so hot.
With my right foot, I explored his body beneath the surface of the water. I deftly took off his Speedo and placed it on the edge of the pool with my foot. Andy was also a bit trained. My toes slid over his pecs and played with his nipples, which were already stiff. I groped deeper again but still avoided touching his cock. He was shaking and breathing faster. We looked at each other the whole time and I noticed with satisfaction how my shy counterpart got horny with my attentions. Then I grabbed his cock with my foot. His cock was completely hard. Andy was circumcised and I felt the wide glans. I slowly jerked him with my foot. Again he moaned slightly and tried to hold it back. I kissed him briefly and whispered that he could indulge himself. He didn't need to be afraid. He gave me a short nod and relaxed. My jerk off movements got faster and I soon felt Andy's body start to tremble. His hard cock stretched a little and was now throbbing violently. I didn't want him to come yet and stopped. He looked at me in surprise, but I just kissed him again.
Now I sat down again on the other side of the hot tub opposite Andy. I presented my armless shoulders to Andy and smiled. I noticed how Andy pulled down my Speedo with his foot. I looked around, but still none of the other bathers took notice of us. As my speedo swam up, Andy took it and placed it next to his on the edge of the pool. I got up on my foot and my penis was now just above the water. I presented my stiff boner to Andy, which was now stretching upwards over the water surface. You could clearly see how swollen my cavernous bodies were and the thick vein on the top twitched slightly. Andy stared at my body and cock, frozen.
He now came in front of me and began to feel me carefully. I enjoyed his probing hands, it had been so long since anyone had touched me sensually. Finally he came to my cock. Very tenderly he took it in his hand and squeezed it. I watched happily what he was doing to me. Then he put his tender lips over my fat latte. Then I was surprised, because that's not how I would have judged my shy lover. He slowly swallowed the thick shaft and kept looking up at me. I threw my head back, struggling to stand on one leg and surrendered to his skill. The muscles in my armless shoulders and legless left hip twitched uncontrollably. Who would have thought he was so skilled with his tongue I thought to myself. Andy blew my cock while feeling my balls. Breathing heavily, I told him that he would like to go faster. He tightened his lips and slid up and down the throbbing pipe. His tongue circled my glans and then bored into the piss crack. He grabbed me on the left side of my legless hip and on the right side of my thigh and massaged me there. I moaned briefly as I came a drop of pleasure. Andy winced and asked if he had hurt me. I shook my head in satisfaction. He cared about me so much. I thought how nice he is.
He got up now too. We faced each other in the hot tub with the water up to our waists. He started massaging my legless hip with his leg stump. He bit his lip and looked at me shyly. At that moment I didn't care if someone was watching us. For me it was just the two of us at the moment. I could only smile. His wet one-legged body looked seductive. His slightly tanned skin, the stump still rubbing sensually against mine, the pronounced biceps, the slightly toned pecs - I couldn't get enough of Andy. He pulled me into his arms and stroked my armless shoulders and then down my back. Our hard cocks pressed against our bellies and I heard him sigh. Again I kissed him tenderly. Then I whispered in his ear if I could fuck him. Actually I was bottom, but Andy got me so hot, I wanted him here and now.
He looked me straight in the eye and I could feel him becoming insecure again. You can't do that in the whirlpool, he whispered and looked down. I snuggled my face against his cheek and just whispered in his ear that nobody else was here. He snuggled up to me and told me that he had recently been fucked by a rough guy. After that everything hurt and he even bled. Andy trembled briefly and said he was afraid of it now. I got a little startled and looked deep into his eyes. He didn't deserve that. Andy was so manly and yet tender. For a moment I got angry at the big guy. You don't do that, I thought to myself. For me, sex has to be nice for both partners, otherwise it doesn't make any sense. I asked Andy if he trusts me. He looked at me for a long time and said that we don't really know each other yet. I almost regret not having met him somewhere else. I would have liked a slow approach coffee encounter. But then he suddenly nodded, turned around and lay his spread leg stump over the wide edge of the pool. I was really happy. He would now feel how nice anal sex can be I vowed.
In front of me was his round bubble butt with a very light fluff. He had cute round ass cheeks. In front of me was his little rosy hole, which puckered invitingly. Andy still pinched it tight. I laid across his back and slowly kissed my way down. I carefully crouched down so that only my head was above the water. I carefully licked his rosette and let my tongue circling. Andy was tense and seemed really scared. He just lay there, frozen, looking like a statue. I briefly kissed his buttocks and told him to drop. Relax and enjoy. If it hurts him, he should tell me immediately. I would stop immediately. He listened and nodded. I finally noticed how he thawed a bit. My tongue pressed against his butt hole and was able to penetrate him a bit.
A sigh escaped his lips. I got bolder and started penetrating deeper with my tongue. His rosette just thumped and opened a little further. Andy now stretched his butt towards me and asked me not to stop. I had to smile briefly. When his ass was licked softly, I leaned back and slowly inserted my big toe. It was easier than I thought and my dream guy groaned softly. I gently fingered him with my toe, trying to massage his prostate. His circular rosette and throbbing prostate gland turned me on. I saw him jerking his hand under the water. Andy moaned louder now. He whispered that he hadn't experienced anything like this before and it would be nice.
At one point Andy said he was ready now. I pulled my foot out of Andy's hole and stood up, pressing my hard cock against his buttocks. He flinched. I kissed his neck softly and whispered that I would be very careful. My wet glans came to his slightly open rosette and penetrated. Andy stiffened but said nothing. So I now pushed my plump shaft into him. Since we were in the pool and everything was wet, it was relatively easy, even without lubricant. Then I was all in him. Andy was very tight. His bowels encased my throbbing boner and lightly milked me. I paused so as not to come immediately. I quietly asked him if it hurt him. He shook his head, his hair hanging in his face. I slowly pulled back and then pushed back in a little harder. I was able to stand on one leg better in the water because of the buoyancy, which made things easier.
Andy gasped and begged me to continue. Very tenderly I began to fuck him. His tight ass received my bumps and my balls slapped on it. Water splashed through the fucking movements. Now I had to moan too. My somewhat inexperienced friend here was a well-behaved mare who finally surrendered to me and enjoyed it. Andy was now quietly urging me to fuck harder, always afraid of getting caught. It would feel so good and he would feel me so nice. I would have loved to grab his waist now, but only the muscles in my armless shoulders were twitching uncontrollably. I rammed into him faster. His hole was now wide open and jerked horny. After a few minutes the fuck drive had taken over me so much that I had no control. I plowed through his little ass like a bull and meanwhile he even came to meet my thrusts. My precum also lubricated him so that I could now easily fuck in.
Then I noticed how he tensed. I didn't see it, but I knew from his reactions that he had come. His body shook and he cried out softly. His hole contracted almost painfully around my fuck stud. This was too much for me too. With one last powerful thrust, I sunk my stand deeper into him than ever before and felt the juice rise. My cock was pumping like crazy, firing several threads of thick cum into his sweet ass. I tried not to moan too loudly and sank exhausted onto his back. I felt so happy and hoped it was nice for Andy too.
We slid back into the water and my cock squirted out of its hole. Our sperm was immediately distributed in the foaming water. He turns to me and looks at me again with those beautiful eyes. Again his red cheeks glowed and he smiled sweetly. I snuggled my cheek against his, rubbed his face and then leaned in to kiss his lips. He took me tenderly in his arms and I felt his soft skin. "Well Andy, did you at least like it?" Andy nodded and said, "Oh yeah, that was nothing compared to what I've done with other guys before. You're really good Tommy."
Andy had his eyes closed and was relaxing. His head lay sideways on my shoulder. A strand of hair stuck to his forehead, he looked cute, so exhausted. He looked at me and grinned again. Then he thanked me and briefly kissed my neck. How I would have liked to freeze this moment. I wanted to feel Andy like this forever and never let go. Then it hit me like lightning. Did the famous love at first sight really exist? Could I recognize her, who has never had a long-term relationship? Why did it happen even though we really didn't know each other that well? Dare I tell him this already? Now I was more insecure myself than ever before.
Andy noticed that I wasn't relaxed anymore. He asked softly, "Tommy, what's the matter with you?" I hesitated and then whispered, "Andy, I like you so much but have only ever been in short relationships. But that, that was so different. I don't know feelings like great love and now I don't know how to deal with them." He smiled and then just said, "Tommy, I feel the same way. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me since my amputation and I think I fell in love with you straight away.” Andy just asked me to take it easy. Meeting up in a bar or a disco, dressing up for dinner and cuddling up in front of the TV at home he thought would be the next steps to see if it made sense with us. I nodded happily and was surprised at how my first visit to the public pool as a triple amputee that day had turned out.
#malefeet#bare foot#triple amputee#male amputee#amputeelife#amputee#gay guys#gay love#gay#story#fiction
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The Scottish Folklore of Using Juniper Smoke to Sain
Within historical Scottish folklore, juniper (also called: mountain yew, Iubhar-beinne, or aiteal) is often mentioned as being protective against supernatural forces, which is why it is one of many ways someone might sain(cleans or protect) people, places, or things. However, when gathering juniper, you weren’t supposed to take a clipping, but instead pull up the whole plant. For obvious environmental reasons, I have to strongly advise against murdering a slow-growing (and endangered) protected plant.
“This plant is a protection by sea and land, and no house in which it is will take fire. It must be pulled by the roots, with its branches made into four bunches, and taken between the five fingers…-“
“The History of Witchcraft in Europe” by Various Authors
You would want to smoke to drift over whatever it is you are trying to sain, so where you burnt them was very important. As well as that, on certain festival days, sains were thought to be more powerful(such as a quarter day), so people would be very likely to partake in juniper saining on those days.
"A fire was kindled in each byre on Christmas morning, and in parts of the country the byres were purified by burning juniper in them."
“Notes on The Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland” by Walter Gregor (1881)
Since the cleansing and protective effects were believed to fade, it was often redone several times throughout the year.
While likely not great for people with raspatory problems, smoke does have some science-backed benefits. The oil in juniper is antibacterial and antifungal, while the smoke itself is antibacterial, can help kill/dry out mold, can help keep away insects(including harmful ones, such as ticks, and house-munching ones, such as carpenter ants). This could be part of the reason that smoke finds it’s way into cleansing rituals around the world. Despite these benefits, it is harmful to breathe in any kind of smoke, so please keep that in mind.
One final (but less mentioned) use for juniper was boiling the juniper, and using the water to sprinkle on cattle.
“When a contagious disease enters among cattle, the fire is extinguished in some villages round; then they force fire with a wheel, or by rubbing a piece of dry wood upon another, and there with burn juniper in the stalls of the cattle, that the smoke may purify the air about them; they likewise boil juniper in water, which they sprinkle upon the cattle this done, the fires in the houses are rekindled from the forced fire.”“
Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, Volume 1.” by John Brand
#juniper#lubhar-beinne#aiteal#juniper saining#juniper sain#saining#sian#sain#sianing#juniper smoke#scottish folklore#scottish mythology#folklore#scottish witchcraft#Folkmagic
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