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@cornerstonc liked for Natori.

"Felines smell very warm, don't they?"

"Yes, yes!" Miranda's quick to add on, perking up at the same moment, the blanket shifting off of her shoulders and rolling down her back in a slow landslide. "Warm, mostly, yes. It is the fur, is it not? And small mammals like that — they always smell much warmer than the larger ones, even if the larger ones might be warmer. Nearly hot, even. Burning, but without the burning smell, just very hot, nearly humid but not quite, not dry either."

"Right."

This contents Bellanda, who tilts her head up, chin first, has to close her eye to think more about it. Not much in this language describes smell, she's noticed, and the feeling is a lot like trying to squeeze a lot of thick paste out of a too-small tube. There's too much experience to fit into these words, this kind of song, too simple to really carry the full breadth of experience which she knows like no other. She'll try, though. If nothing else, she and Miranda are up here to try, and try they will.

"He doesn't have the milk-smell, does he? That's also common in mammals. He's more like an otter or a whale, in that sense, but not like seals. It's like a sweetness that carries close to the skin, but it can turn acrid over time. Maybe it has to do with the fur?"

"That could be it," Miranda takes her turn to add, tilting her fin towards her sister, waiting to help add clarity to the pieces she's adding. "But they get moreso as they get older; the mammals do, I mean. It gets sharper, more potent, and then falls off again, gets more muted. It is not quite like the scent of poor health, there is not a sour note of immune activity nor the rot-scent of truly failing health, it does not have the strange elements you see with sickness... It usually just gets lesser, though. Other things come out, as the large-smell vanishes."

"And because he is a cat," Bellanda lifts her hand to punctuate this comment, gesturing towards her younger sister, "he always has an earthy-note. Like... Combining with the warm, hot, scent. Smells like the earth, but not quite the dry earth, more like the earth inside the earth, like opened soil. Not wet, either, but richer. All around you."

Miranda flicks her fins at this, wiggles them with a smile tilting her lips. "Right! Felines always smell like... like a den, perhaps? Like earthy, usually dried grass or vegetal scents, but all around you, and very thick off of the fur, usually clinging directly to it, or upon something they have touched. So hot that it is like they have been laid out to dry, but you have laid down in the middle of them, and they are sticking to you."

Bellanda rests her hand down again, resuming her thought.

"And they have an oiliness to them, too, yeah? Like the otters, but like birds as well. Not like fish oil, but it sticks to your hand and your head. Like mink, maybe."

"Have I tried the mink before?"

"No, I don't think so? Remind me later to show you. He smells closest to the mink. He's more oily than the younger cats, but has more of the dry scent to him, over the fading older-smell. Maybe dusty is the right word for it?"

"Dusty could work. Musty, maybe, like the way landfolk rooms settle, the way they get untouched after a while. There is no movement in there, nothing to stir it all up, so it all begins to form a singular note... It is not like stagnant water, does not smell so dangerous... But it is like he has been there, or has settled like them, yes?"

"Yes, and he smells like other cats which have done the same. I could count them, but he's not much like the others, is he? Not like the one you hang out with, but maybe she's just the odd one out. I don't think I've met many cats, before."

Miranda nods to this, finding it acceptable. Acceptable enough, anyhow, because what happens next is her immediately turning the conversation away from scents and towards the topic of more typical domestic cats, and trying to get Bellanda to agree to come see some with her. Cats are one of the wonderful things about the land, after all. It would be a shame if Bellanda missed out.

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Natori with D1!

an expression meme | accepting

i had an idea for some context behind this involving kid lune but now i don't really. remember what it was. maybe he was looking after lune while trying to focus on work and lune asked him a question with a very obvious answer

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"Attention-- attention, please! I have just a few rules and regulations to go over before I release you all for an afternoon of wander, the most pressing of which is that if you do find yourself lost in the king's maze, stay calm. We do implore you not to panic, as help shall be on the way. Every Thursday morning, a rescue team of guards is sent into the maze to recover those who remain from the previous weekend. Our team is quite highly trained! They usually are able to locate over two-thirds of the waylaid stragglers on their best days!"

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Character Development Questions: Hard Mode

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i have one of these to get to already for another blog but maybe. an inbox call for these two muses? they don't have to be IC or become threads. i'll send multiple asks, including some headcanon prompts. but it'd also be nice to have some threads started

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i have one of these to get to already for another blog but maybe. an inbox call for these two muses? they don't have to be IC or become threads. i'll send multiple asks, including some headcanon prompts. but it'd also be nice to have some threads started

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las Thing for tonight bc i need to sleep like 45 minutes ago but i ran across a mention of natori surreptitiously swapping out full glasses of wine for empty ones when he's concerned the king has had too much and also 'downing them himself when he thought no one was looking'

and the mental image of resigned, irritated natori giving the room a quick sweeping glance before upending an entire glass in one gulp gave me a good laugh

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natori watching this like ‘whO GAVE HIM THOSE’

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unfortunately it appears i have Unlearned how to draw

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also asks are back on again jgfthv sorry for that

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Another expression sheet for you guys! Feel free to reblog and use!

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i was going to wait to put this on the new blog but i’m impatient and setting it up will take too long and i have chronic Can’t Shut Up disease sO

i so strongly associate this song with the cat kingdom in general bc of the Vibe of like. being absolutely assured of one’s superiority over others and being overtly proud of things that those others might consider ugly or off-putting, but all without the self-awareness to even comprehend those same things could ever be considered ugly or off-putting lmao

as far as the cats of the cat kingdom are concerned, they are not only the happiest cats in existence but have also greatly improved the human concept of a cultured civilization ghfjie

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watching the clouds roll by is 100% a manga lune song and there’s just no debating that sorry

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mentor/mentee vibes (because ur worth it–)

aka i really love the energy of this dynamic, but unfortunately this whole effort turned into me typing down actual dialogue that happened in my car while my poor father tried to teach me how to drive. but they make for fun threads! bon appetit!

from the mentor.

“ you’re doing it wrong. ”

“ would you like me to show you how to do it? ”

“ that… that’s not how you do it. ”

“ maybe this mentoring stuff requires patience that i don’t have. ”

“ keep doing it like that, and you’ll end up hurting yourself. ”

“ correct me if i’m wrong, but that’s not how i showed you to do it, is it? ”

“ okay, alright, look at me. you looking? do it exactly like i’m doing it. ”

“ move your feet, come on, you’ve got to move if you don’t want to end up flat on your ass again! ”

“ look… it’s progress, yeah? you’re better than you were before. ”

“ don’t beat yourself up; it’s a tricky move, nobody gets it right the first time. ”

“ okay, let’s… let’s try a different tactic. ”

“ you’re overthinking it. don’t think; just be in the moment. ”

“ stop, stop… alright. looking back on what you’ve just done, what do you think i’m going to say? ”

“ there’s definitely plenty of room for improvement. ”

“ ah… god, okay, don’t cry… it’s not as bad as it looks, you’re really not as bad at this as you think! ”

“ we’ll get there together. ”

“ okay. time for a break, yeah? let’s stop for now, catch a breath, we can come back to it later. ”

“ you obviously don’t enjoy any of this; why do you want me to teach you so badly? ”

“ i could teach you, if you’d like? ”

“ come on, like i showed you, remember? ”

“ feet apart, hands up; anticipate your opponent’s movements! ”

“ alright… don’t think about getting hit. this isn’t a fight. it’s a dance. you move in response and in anticipation of your opponent. ”

“ who the hell taught you to do that?! ”

“ that wasn’t terrible! you didn’t butcher it this time! ”

“ wake up. wake up, come on, up and at ‘em. you said you wanted to learn, so come on. up you get! ”

“ that was good! hell, that was brilliant! you knocked me off my feet! good job! ”

“ you need to stop worrying about hurting me. you gonna apologize and pay the hospital bills of whatever bad guy you go against next time? ”

“ i’m proud of you. ”

“ you’re doing great! “

from the mentee

“ can you teach me how to do that? “

“ i did it! “

“ okay, there’s no need to be dramatic, i wasn’t that bad! “

“ i AM trying. “

“ oh god, oh, i’m so sorry! did i hurt you? “

“ i need your help with this. okay? i can’t do this alone. “

“ you’re the expert, right? “

“ i’ve seen you fight; i wanna be as good as you! “

“ people’s lives are at stake if i lose. their blood’s gonna be on my hands, and it’ll be on yours, too, if you don’t help me. “

“ quit yelling at me, i’m trying my best! “

“ i’m doing it exactly like you told me to, and i’m still not getting it right. “

“ i don’t need a break! i need to keep going until i get this right! “

“ show me how you did it. “

“ i don’t know how. and you do. all i’m asking is for a few hours of training… please? “

“ that’s it. i quit! “

“ you’re a terrible teacher, you know that? “

“ you said you’d teach me. and i’m here to learn. so let’s go already. “

“ what’s the point?! i’m useless at this! “

“ this is pointless, i’m never going to be ready! “

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consider an inbox call? i'll parse through any memes you have and send some headcanon asks. and at least one that's IC. you can specify a muse, if you'd like. otherwise it might just be Random

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hes an old man to YOU to me hes a beautiful young maiden. and also an old man

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also yes good evening hello

i've. made the decision to open this blog again. idk who's still here i haven't looked at the followers list here yet but. i cleaned up a bit