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insipid-drivel · 3 months

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Toxins, Venom, and Poisons in Historical Western Medicine: How Are We Not Extinct From Doing Some Of This To Ourselves?

This piece is an involuntary piece inspired by @writing-with-sophia's awesome post "Poison list", which is an accurate and succinct list of commonly known (and ancient!) poisons, venoms, and toxins that have been and were used for causing poisoning in ancient and recent history. I wanted to write this because what struck me by their post crossing my dash was, the sheer number of poisons listed that were - and even still are - used as mainstays for healthcare around the world throughout the ages!

OBLIGATORY DON'T BE A DUMBASS PSA: If you're planning on incorporating these poisons into your HISTORICAL-era writing, it's also important to remember that many of them were used for medicinal purposes at one time, too, and it's great you're interested in learning about the subject! And also, you shouldn't try ANY of these! I will not tell you how to do it at home if you DM me, so don't! You are not appropriately trained to do it! You will harm or kill yourself and possibly your loved ones if you fuck around with any of these and it will be 100% your fault and you absolutely should feel bad bout it! I've seen some of you idiots believe 4chan posts about making home-grown crystals using recipes for actual mustard gas and seen you being wheeled into the ER on the news! I will not feel bad if you get yourself hurt if you screw around with any of these plants, elements, or animals!

Resource blog plugs and PSA over, now for the Hilariously Poisonous Medicines:

If you're writing something that's meant to take place prior to the advent of our more modern understanding of poisons, venoms, and toxins, factoring in "this is toxic to me NOW, but what about 500 years ago?" can add a lot of opportunities for interesting plot elements to your story.

These can include someone accidentally poisoning themselves with a toxic drug or substance that wouldn't have killed them if they'd handled it properly - like tansy? Grows all over the place in Europe and England? That'll kill you if you harvest it too late in the season, but it's good for intestinal parasites when it's harvested early in the year and processed right.

Did the lady's maid really kill her mistress with belladonna? Or was she trying to secretly help her mistress get rid of an unwanted pregnancy?

The protagonist's children can't survive to make it to weaning age! Is the wetnurse a poisoner, or does the milkman hide that he sells sour milk by pouring Borax into it so no one could taste it and has no idea he's killing his clients' babies?

Nuance and cultural mores regarding historical views about poisons and toxins can make writing even more fun, dynamic, and interesting! Explore 'em!

Just... please don't try any of this crap yourself. You will poison yourself, it will hurt, you will die, and you will hurt the entire time you're dying. Using OP's master list alone, here's the flip side of these lethal beasts through the eyes of our distant ancestors who believed illness was caused by "vapors", "bad air", and "imbalanced humors":

Hemlock:

Used across multiple different cultures in history. When properly administered to treat a disease, poison hemlock was used to treat asthma, whooping cough, bronchitis, joint/bone pain, muscle cramps, and insomnia. Hemlock was most often used as a sedative and antispasmodic.

Arsenic:

Arsenic is a heavy metal, and so has been used in everything from making specialty dyes for wallpapers (Scheele's green is the most infamous arsenic-based paint; Queen Victoria once had a guestroom in her palace redone with Scheele's green wallpaper. The first dignitary to stay there had to be carried out and taken to emergency care after breathing astronomical amounts of arsenic dust from the wallpaper's paint), to medicine. Arsenic was especially commonly used in history to treat skin ailments ranging from acne, to psoriasis, to syphilis sores. It was also sometimes prescribed for menstrual cramps, upset stomachs, colic, and arthritis, among many, many other things.

Cyanide:

Uh... I have literally never found any evidence of cyanide in medicine, outside of its use in modern medicine as part of certain chemical lab tests for measuring urine ketone bodies that involve no contact with a patient whatsoever. Cyanide literally works in less than a few seconds to render your entire body incapable of absorbing OR using oxygen in your lungs or already existing in your blood. Cyanide is really only good at making things that breathe not breathe anymore.

Nightshade:

There are a lot of different "nightshades", so being specific is essential here. Potatoes are nightshades. Tomatoes are nightshades. Calling anything a "nightshade" does not inherently mean it's lethally toxic. Belladonna is probably the most notorious of the "deadly" nightshades, but to this day, is still used medicinally, and would actually be seen as a health and cosmetic mainstay in historical fiction, especially if your setting is in Italy!

Belladonna is an Italian portmanteau for "beautiful woman", because tinctures (water-based drops) of belladonna were commonly used by Italian women as eyedrops to dilate their eyes and appear more attractive, aroused, and desirable. Today, belladonna's eye-dilating effects are still used by optometrists to dilate the pupils! Belladonna has been, and still sometimes is used as an NSAID, general painkiller, motion sickness treatment, asthma medication, and even as a treatment for IBS.

Ricin:

As OP said, Ricin is derived from the toxin found in Castor Beans, and is surprisingly new as an official "the only reason this is made is to make someone dead" poison. Not only is ricin a popular "nobody would think to test for this!" choice in mystery/thriller writing, but it has been used for political assassinations in real life before. Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian anti-Communist dissenter and writer, was killed in 1978 with a 1.7mm diameter ricin-coated pellet shot into his thigh muscle by an unidentified assailant using a modified umbrella as a gun. He died 4 days later.

Historically, castor OIL has been used for medicinal purposes, especially for treating constipation, inducing labor in pregnancy, and as a topical skin moisturizer. If you've ever watched the opening scene in Disney's "Peter Pan", when the childrens' mother is trying to give them a spoonful of medicine each, she's actually giving them castor oil! Castor oil tastes really bad (so much so that flavorings like cinnamon were often added to try to muffle the taste), so the childrens' reluctance and disgust at their mom making them take their medicine is very realistic for the era the movie came out in!

Strychnine:

Another lethal poison that started life as a medicine/food additive. Strychnine is no longer used medicinally at all today, but historically, it was used to stimulate the heart, treat bladder and bowel incontinence, and limb palsy. Strychnine is a deadly-powerful muscle stimulant that, as a poison, causes horrifyingly painful full-body strictures (spasms) and destroys the cardiovascular system. (Fun fact: Strychnine and hydrochloric acid were historically mixed into cheap vodka to make knock-off gin, especially during the Georgian Era in England if the brewer didn't have or couldn't afford juniper berries!)

Snake Venom:

Seriously, do your research before you write an actual, real snake species using venom they don't produce! The Big 3 Forms Of Snake Venom are: Hemotoxic, Neurotoxic, and Cytotoxic. Specific snake species exclusively generate the same kind of venom (so a hemotoxic snake will ALWAYS produce baby snakes that also make hemotoxic venom). Aristotle himself wrote in 380 BC that certain snake venoms could be applied for treating fevers, smallpox, and leprosy, and there is even some evidence in the historical record prior to the 1800s that different cultures have experimented throughout the eons with using venom for converting into antivenom, but I've never found a source citing anyone making a successful form of antivenom until around the 1850s.

Digitalis:

OP really nailed the important thing about Digitalis, and that is it's cardiac benefits for certain people - particularly for treating congestive heart failure. Vincent van Gogh was actually prescribed epilepsy medication that likely contained Digitalis, aka Foxglove, and there are some prevailing theories about van Gogh's love of bright yellow paint as being either caused or exacerbated by the symptoms associated with digitalis use, which can cause an attraction to and increased visual sensitivity to the color yellow. In several portraits, including one of his own psychiatrist, van Gogh shows subjects presented alongside foxglove flowers. Digitalis is absolutely lethal if consumed or taken without expert guidance, however, because it's the mother ingredient of Digoxin. Digoxin isn't used as frequently as it used to be a few decades ago, but it's still used and prescribed today for certain forms of heart failure and heart disease. Digoxin was also, at one time, was also sometimes used to induce chemical abortions.

Lead:

Dear god, lead. Not only is it so slow to kill you that you'll think that the only way to manage your symptoms is with more lead, but lead poisoning can be a life-long crisis for a person who is regularly exposed to it. Humans have used lead for everything from plumbing, to paint, to our cutlery, to cosmetics, to medicine. While yes, it is very possible to ingest enough lead in a single sitting to die within hours or days, most sufferers of lead poisoning experience it for years or decades before the symptoms become obvious. Some archaeologists believe that the Romans used lead cutlery because lead has a unique reaction when we lick it: when you have lead coating your tongue, it makes EVERYTHING you eat suddenly taste 10x better. I learned this myself from going target-shooting with my mom at a gun rage as a teenager, inhaled gunsmoke (which contains lead), and went for lunch immediately after. Even though I was just eating a $5 meal from In-N-Out, my burger tasted so good I thought I was gonna have to change my pants. When I asked the rangemaster at the target place about it later, he literally said, "Oh yeah, lead makes the worst cooking taste like heaven."

The ancient Romans ate a lot of rotten, spoiled, and sour food, and so lead would've made it easier to eat it back then. But the neurological effects of lead poisoning are nightmarish. It's suspected that, in America, the #1 reason we had so many active serial killers in the country from the 1940s-2000s was because of leaded gasoline. Ever since leaded gasoline was banned? Serial and random violent crime rates have dramatically gone down, especially in metropolitan cities. Ancient Rome, too, gradually became an increasingly violent city as its population went up and its reliance on lead did. We're only just now starting to figure out how toxic lead actually is, so go nuts with using it as a plot element regarding subjects like "Why Are You Like This?"

Mercury:

Mercury is also known as quicksilver, because in spite of being a heavy metal, the temperature at which it melts into a liquid is very, very low compared to most other metals. The first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, was rumored to be so obsessed with the notion of immortality that he would send his doctors on doomed voyages around the world searching for a legendary substance that would, indeed, make him immortal. Legend has it that some doctors who were tasked with the job found out about the last guys, and produced mercury before Emperor Qin Shi Huang and cried, "Here it is! I got it!" so they wouldn't end up doomed to drown at sea. Qin Shi Huang became so obsessed with ingesting and medicating himself with mercury that, when his legendary tomb was being constructed, he had a small-yet-accurate-to-scale map of China+the known world about the size of a football field with every body of water full of fountains of running mercury in his burial chamber. His tomb was rediscovered in the last couple of decades after archaeologists found suspiciously high levels of mercury in the soil on top of a "hill" that had been sitting in the countryside untouched for thousands of years. It turned out to be Qin Shi Huang's long-lost tomb.

Since those days, mercury has closely been associated in early medicine as a sort of cure-all, since it literally kills anything it touches (including people). Captain Blackbeard himself, the most notorious pirate in Western history (Western specifically; google who Zheng Yi Sao was), was known or widely believed to be a syphilis sufferer, and desperately sought infusions of mercury from ships he'd capture (and the doctors onboard) to treat it, believing like everyone did that mercury could cure syphilis. It can't. They just didn't understand back then that syphilis starts off surface-level, and then eats your brain years after the initial infection.

Aconite:

Again, ridiculously toxic outside of specific medicinal applications that still aren't safe today! Aconite, or wolfsbane, has historically been used as a heart sedative (for slowing the heart), diuretic, painkiller, and even used to induce sweating. Evidence of wolfsbane being used for medicinal purposes has been spotted here and there over thousands of years throughout the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Empires, but its original use came about in Ancient Greece for hunting and culling wolves by poisoning bait-food with it. That form of hunting died out long before the European Middle Ages, but the name "wolfsbane" stuck. Mostly because in the Middle Ages, a lot of people believed werewolves were a huge problem, and kept wolfsbane handy to deter said werewolves.

Thallium:

Today, thallium is mostly used in the production of camera and eyeglass lenses. Before its toxicity was known about, it wasn't strange to hear of thallium being used topically to treat fungal infections like ringworm. Thallium was also sporadically used in treating typhus and tuberculosis, along with a wide array of sexually transmitted diseases.

This list doesn't even touch the tip of the toxic iceberg when it comes to the sheer quantity of hilariously dangerous toxins people have, or still continue, to use for medicinal purposes! In a Victorian-era English London middle-class townhouse setting alone, there were dozens and dozens of ways to poison or otherwise harm yourself just by going about your daily life. So, if you've got a period piece you're working on, or are just bored, you can pick an exact date and time in our history and learn just how terrifyingly comfortable our ancestors were with upsettingly dangerous substances and home remedies. You can also watch a massive docuseries, called "Hidden Killers" and hosted by historian Suzannah Lipscomb, among other historians and archaeologists, which deep-dives into the hidden and unknown dangers of living in eras from Tudor-Era England, to the Post-WWII Reconstruction Age.

As a final note: I am NOT bashing Chinese or Eastern medicinal practices here, and in fact deliberately have gone out of my way to not include any references toward culturally-sanctioned medicinal practices in Eastern and Southeastern Asia. This post is specifically related to the history of WESTERN medicines and their associated history. I am not, nor have I ever been, a doctor of any traditional Eastern medicinal practices, and do not pretend to know better. Sinophobes are unwelcome in my blog space.

#creative writing #historical medicine #writing reference #poison #toxins #long post #very long post #really long post #writing-with-sofia #sinophobes dni #if i've offended the OP of the first post with this i sincerely apologize #i got excited and it gave me a case of diarrhea-level infodumps

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yaseraphinee · 2 months

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astro observations 2 - appearance and vibes : virgo rising focus

hiii ! I am finally back !! This post will be the 2/3 of my appearance and vibes series. The next part will be focusing on 1 rising sign : leo risings.

(/!\ the leo risings one will be completely different from the first 2 posts of the series as I will not describe their appearance or vibes but I will focus on something else... you guys will see what I mean when it will be posted (which might be in a while because i will be in vacations for 2 weeks and probably won't have easy access to internet.)

Today, the focus will be on virgo risings.

(REMINDER : I am NOT a professional astrologer. Everything I say are my personal opinions and not facts.)

In my experience - the ones I have met did not have that “bella hadid clean girl aesthetic look” that people tend to describe online.

Like for the Aries rising, I have identified 2 types of Virgo risings that I will present in this post. (unlike the one about aries risings, those two types can be applied to both men and women, and not just men)

Type 1 :

a lot of them lean to the chubbier side, overweight, or just "fleshy", plump lips, big round doe eyes

this type is mostly found in POC Virgo risings from what i’ve seen

Looks like a teddy bear, inviting, looks huggable. They do look "clean" like a lot of them have clear faces, bright skin. Like Cancer rising, there is an emphasis on the skin texture, which is usually soft and silky. They seem to have really dewy skin.

They kind of look like a hamster mixed with a frog.

There is something prominent about their cheeks area connected to their lips. Their nostrils tend to also be a prominent part of their face, like at first glance you see it.

They tend to be slightly taller than average for the boys.

The girls, they just appear “bigger”, like they take more space ? either by being taller or just larger (not necessarily fat but just bigger)

Actually looks really reliable, mom friend of the group vibes, the nice and helpful neighbor vibes, smiles a lot.

They are generally mistaken to be older than their actual age. I’ve seen a lot of times they like to be the “responsible” friend, a really “i told you so” type of friend.

examples :

Johnny from NCT

Michael B Jordan

Childish gambino

Tarot wit’ tay - Victasia Parker

Ice Spice

I suspect PinkPantheress to be a virgo rising sign too (as far as I know, we do not know her time of birth)

Body :

Type 2 :

I have mostly found this type of Virgo rising in white people

-> Underweight or just really skinny, really small in height or just smaller for girls, appears younger than their real age (similar to gemini rising) like if they’re in their early 20’s people will assume they are like 15 and they will still be asked to show their id to buy alcohol or go to the club.

Because of that, people will tend to infantilize them a lot

-> Guys with this type of Virgo rising tend be taller than average, they look really "long" if that makes sense lmaoo

If the type 1s look like hamsters and frogs, the type 2s look like mice

Looks frail, innocent, lost, stressed and shy

Looks afraid and timid, looks distracted, melancholic, almost sad girl/sad boy face (this type is the one that might be mostly mistaken for pisces risings)

-> As for the skin, like I said for the virgo rising type one, it can look soft and bright HOWEVER in a lot of cases from what i’ve seen a lot of them tend to suffer from eczema, psoriasis or any other type of skin problems (the type ones also have those skin problems but it's not as visible). Their skin can therefore be really sensitive and easily irritable which can cause breakouts. Acne can also be a problem for them. Their skin is usually dry too. A lot of redness and visible irritation on the skin.

-> Tend to be somewhat insecure in the way they act, they carry themselves. Carry themeselves a bit awkwardly (but it's cute tho)

examples :

Emma Watson

Timothee Chalamet

Kurt Cobain

Bill Kaulitz

#astro observations #astro notes #astro community #astrology #astroblr #astrology placements #virgo rising #virgo ascendant

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prairiefirewitch · 5 months

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Eastern Red Cedar (Essential Herbs for Witches)

*Notes from the Hekate ritual kits that were released October 23'.

Latin name: Juniperus virginiana

Planet: Sun, Saturn

Element: Fire

Parts used: foliage, wood, essential oil

Astrological Association: Leo

Energy: Masculine

Magical properties: Longevity, protection, preservation, strength, wisdom, perseverance, renewal, transformation, balance, connection to the divine through nature, return of stolen goods, defense.

Healing properties: Fever, cough, skin conditions, respiratory issues

Eastern Red Cedar is not actually a true cedar, it’s a juniper, as its latin name, Juniperus virginiana, indicates. Naturalized in Europe, Asia, and North America, Eastern Red Cedar is present in all temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and stretches into parts of the southern hemisphere. This hardy tree has deep roots and tolerates poor rocky soil, salt, heat, and wind, and is drought tolerant.

Medicinally juniper has been used in bathing, sometimes as a scourge, to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis and to relieve depression symptoms and exhaustion. It’s also been used to heal open wounds. Juniper is warming and pungent and affects the liver and kidneys. Its bitter action stimulates the gallbladder and liver and it aids in digestion. Juniper is also used for respiratory issues, urinary tract infections, and skin ailments like psoriasis and eczema. The warming effect of juniper makes it helpful in breaking fevers. Eastern red cedar is an abortifacient and should not be used by pregnant women.

Juniper berries have been used to flavor food, beer, and notably gin, and in Ireland the unripe berries are tinctured with whiskey and used as a general health tonic.

As for juniper’s use in folklore and witchcraft, around the Mediterranean and Aegean seas, it was planted to protect a home from evil spirits and malicious men. It was sometimes built into a new house as a structural beam or to fill cracks between stone to drive away illness and evil spirits. Branches were hung above doors to repel witches.

Because it is an evergreen, it’s also used in fertility rites and the berries are sometimes used as an aphrodisiac.

Shamans in Siberia burned and inhaled the smoke of juniper to induce trance, and because of its high thujone contain, it can indeed induce altered states. Thujone does build in the liver over time so care should be taken to limit smoke inhalation to occasional use.

Burning juniper as a smudge was common in Native American rituals for purification and to cleanse sacred ritual space. Cherokee natives believed that the wood of this cedar held the spirits of their ancestors. In other native ritual practices, it was believed that messages were sent to the Creator when it was burnt ceremonially.

In Scottish folk magic, juniper is used to ‘sain’ livestock and homes during Beltaine and Samhain. Saining is done by lighting bonfires and driving cattle between them. These fires would be lit from sacred Neid fires and extinguished home fires would be relit with this fire. People also hopped over these fires to rid themselves of negative spirits. Juniper (lubhar beinne) was used, and to a lesser extent, mountain ash or rowan (caorran). The cattle byre was sained, and the lintel over the byre was anointed with wine or human urine. Homes were also sained with burning juniper and “in such quantities to fill the whole house with smoke.” Juniper would have also hung at windows to ward off witches and evil spirits and to rid the house of pests and diseases.

According to Scottish folklore, juniper needed to be harvested in a particular way, like all magical plants. It was pulled by the roots, taking 4 branches between 5 fingers while an incantation was repeated. Today we should probably refrain from yanking bushes from the ground and taking a branch or some berries after asking permission should suffice. The branches can be dried and burned or the berries can be burned on a charcoal disc, or dip the branch into sea salted water and sprinkle a bit on yourself and your magical working space.

While we generally think of juniper as a plant of the Sun, it does have older Saturnian associations perhaps because they are very long lived, but maybe also because of their often gnarled wood and spiky foliage, giving them a dark, ominous aspect. Like both yew and cypress trees, Easter red cedar is common in older cemeteries in the southern united states. This may be because its evergreen leaves have come to symbolize ‘eternal life’, but through the ancient Greeks, we have an association with juniper as a plant of Hekate, perhaps because she led the procession of the dead. Through Hekate, it is also associated with Medea, a Hekatean priestess.

I choose to substitute Eastern red cedar for the yews, cypress, and cedar we traditionally see aligned with Hekate because ERC happens to grow in abundance in my bioregion and has a long history of use in sacred rites across the world. Eastern red cedar is a plant of protection and is excellent for banishing, inspiring courage and strength, purification and release.

#eastern red cedar #herbs for witches #witchcraft #herbalism

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alienaiver · 3 months

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Dermovat

Allen Walker x GN!reader with eczema

content: you work at the cafe where Allen's a regular. You're not sure if he's actually flirting with you or if he's just polite. Then you have a flare up of eczema on your face and it finally emboldens him to take it to the next step

tags: fluff, sfw, strangers to lovers, modern AU, coffeeshop AU, gender neutral reader, body positive and poc friendly reader, no use of y/n, eczema condition not specified but locations of it a little bit, barista!reader, getting to know each other and opening up, soft, unbeta'd, mentions of nasty experiences with former dates about bad eczema stereotypes and stigma

wordcount: 1.9k

notes: my psoriasis is flaring up rn... and i couldnt stop thinking about allen helping with ointments and then this idea came to mind and i just couldnt help making up the story on the bus yesterday!!! i hope you enjoy and that your skin isnt hurting too bad if you have eczema <3 also happy disability pride month, hope this brings a smile to someones face!!! <!!3

You’ve seen him in the cafe for well over six months now. He started showing up with just his laptop and a polite request for boiled water. Sometimes at the end of the month, he asked for tea. He always wears long sleeves and gloves.

If it’d been anyone else, you’d deduce he’s flirting with you. Allen calls you endearing names when you step by with a fresh cup, answers your curious questions about his choice of drink and the work he does, all with a handsome smile playing on his features as he rests his head in his palm. He genuinely seems to be enjoying the chats you share, and sometimes he’s the one who engages them when you pass him or if there’s a lull in customers.

There’s no rhyme or reason as to when he brings his friends – or when they simply show up unannounced – but it’s very clear by his behavior then that he might just be an extremely polite Englishman to strangers like you and nothing else.

There’s two friends – close, judging by how often you see them – that seems to bring out another side of him. A guy with a blond braid and a dark haired man with a high ponytail. They both seem tired and uptight in their own ways, and always nag Allen whenever they’re the ones stopping by. It seems he’s got an issue of procrastination, and they’re helping him. How much he actually wants that help, you’re unsure of. But based on the biting and complaints he throws at both of them, they’re not always welcome.

You’re scratching at the back of your neck by the hairline where your eczema is, as you observe him with a redhead today, joking around and laughing. His laugh is really beautiful. It’s light and airy and carries well in the cafe.

He has a peculiar scar on his face that you’ve yet to ask him about; you feel you’re being intrusive enough with your above-the-surface type of questions. You’re mostly curious because you have a feeling about it, but you can't be sure just looking at it and you don't want to assume.

He comes and goes, and sometimes you don’t see him for weeks, sometimes months, but he always comes back and looks positively delighted when he sees you by the register, telling you that he’s missed your voice or your smile.

You’re on the fence on reciprocating his advances. If he’s this different to you than with his friends, you wonder if there’s a reason for it. You’ve been burned and hurt before by men wearing masks.

He comes up to the register with his cup and the small plate you served a croissant on, and thanks you again for the day. His friend whistles and wishes you a good night, earning a slap from Allen and a scolding on the way out.

Two days later, you’ve gotten permission to wear a cap at work by your manager and the one customer you don’t want to see announces his arrival with the jingle of the bell. When you look up and see Allen, you wince. You timidly look down and when he comes up to the counter, he politely but with an unsure lilt to his voice, asks for a cup of boiled water and starts to explain. When you look up, confused as to why he’s explaining routine for you, his eyes light up with recognition.

“It’s you! I couldn’t see your face!”

You notice how he almost reaches out for you with his hands, but stops himself and clears his throat. Then he smiles and leans down so that he can get a better view of your face, “how are things? Is there a special occasion for the cap – if it’s alright that I’m asking?”

You sigh and avoid his gaze, trying your hardest to ignore the urge to pull the cap lower. You’re 97% sure that the cap is hiding the eczema that’s flared on your forehead, but the small percentage of fear makes you want to feel sure. He seems to notice your distress and leans away, “hey, sorry if I made you uncomfortable in any way. You don’t have to tell me at all, the hat suits you, too.”

The hopeful sheen in your eyes when you look up at him in shock makes him mirror your own surprise. “Did I say something wrong?” he asks, biting his lower lip. You shake your head, and hurry away from the register to make his cup. You’re too afraid to look back at him to notice how his eyes follow your every move, a smidgen of worry and curiosity filling him, too.

You want to talk more with him as you hand him the cup, but there’s a line behind him. You cock your head to the size to refer to it and he immediately apologizes upon realization with a slight bow as he goes for his seat. You mentally reprimand yourself for suddenly being so stunted in your communication with a regular. A regular you actually like.

But men have talked nasty about your eczema before, men you’ve dated. Said it might be a hygiene problem that you could fix, indicating it’s your own fault, or asking if you couldn’t do them the favor of covering it up with makeup – nevermind the fact that makeup would upset it even more.

There’s a lull in customers where you sigh out in relief. You’ve been stealing glances at Allen’s table all morning, keeping an eye on his cup, too. You decide to bring him his refill now, that you have time to talk, too.

“I’m sorry I was a little short this morning,” you start as you pour the water into the cup. He looks up from his laptop and the way his entire face warms up at the sight of you, makes your tummy do somersaults. There’s an innocence to him that radiates warmth, and when he asks if you have time to sit down, noticing the quietness, you decide to be bold and accept.

He closes the laptop halfway and pushes it to the side, “I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.” He says and apologizes. You nod, “it’s okay. I never wear caps at work, it was a change you noticed.”

He nods, “yeah but I promise I won’t push it! I don’t know what came over me, truly. I think I was just so excited to see a new side of you, or learn something new about you.”

You gulp at the bold choice of words, your fingers fidgeting under the table to stop them from going to your face in flustered embarrassment.

You smile and look down at the steam rising from his cup, “I have a flare-up right now.”

You expect him to look confused, quizzical or ask you to elaborate but his face seems to fall, “oh.”

You nod, “yeah, it doesn’t look… Well, personally I don’t think it looks that terrible, but I don’t want customers seeing or commenting on it.”

Allen nods and lets his hands go to his cup of water, wrapping around it and warming up his gloved fingers. He’s quiet still, so you continue, “it’s usually behind my ears and my hairline in the back of my neck... other places too, but I do flare on the forehead as well sometimes.”

You take a look around the cafe to make sure the few other customers aren’t looking, before you take the hat off. Allen follows your hands more than he looks at your head, but then he smiles like a lovestruck fool.

“Thank you… for telling me about that.”

You smile and put the cap back on, suddenly embarrassed by the hat hair. It’s not like people run away screaming from seeing eczema, but usually there’s a wince or a stronger reaction than what Allen’s giving you.

“Let me take you on a date.” he says and your back straightens and you feel yourself bristle.

“Eh?”

Is he joking with you?

He smiles as he looks down at his cup. You’re mesmerized by the slope of his nose as you find yourself admiring his features for longer than you should and while you don’t want to admit it, staring at his face makes you relax from his outrageous request. He then seems to decide something with a determined nod and starts to take off his left glove.

You follow the movement like you’ve been entranced. The gracefulness of his long fingers, the way the glove that hugs his hand so snug comes off at his tugging, and then the reveal of a dark, red hand and arm underneath the white fabric. His nails are painted black, but the scarring, the lumps and the cracked scaliness to his skin makes you clench your thigh underneath the table to compose your own reaction. You don’t want to be excited about learning someone else has eczema, Jesus Christ, you reprimand yourself.

You look at his face and his eyes are on the hand he’s rotating, a sad smile on his face. “I get it,” he says and sighs, before he starts to put on the glove again, “the scar on my face is eczema, too, but it reacts better to the ointments.”

You nod dumbly. Still unsure as to the correlation between opening up and asking you for a date.

“It’s embarrassing. Dates don’t want to hold my hands, they don’t want me to touch them or even their food if they find out. I’ve been trying to make myself ask you out for months now, but I’ve been so terrified you’d end up judging me if I were to show you.”

You suddenly can’t help but let out a laugh. It comes from relief at the situation, and you bend your head over the table as you let out a long breath. Allen looks at you with a confused smile, “are you… okay?” he asks unsure and you chuckle again before you look up at him, craning your neck to see him despite the cap.

“I’ve been so afraid of interpreting your flirting, because I was terrified you’d see my eczema one day and screech.”

Allen blushes, a deep and nice shade of red. Then he coughs into his hand and looks out the window, “so you knew I was flirting.”

You smile and reach for his gloved hands, making sure you’re gentle with the left, but still squeezing it nonetheless, “I had a feeling.”

He flinches at your touch but he doesn’t pull away, which makes you let out another sigh of relief, the situation still hitting you. You both let out nervous little laughs, holding hands.

You’re glad you showed him. You’re grateful he showed you, and now you feel that you can comfortably return his feelings. Allen seems relieved too, at the situation at hand. He suddenly starts pulling at your hands in his, and when he leans forward to kiss your knuckles, you think you’ll combust, heat crawling up your neck and to your face. You look down to hide your face with the cap and he whines, “that’s not fair. I wanna see the expressions you make.”

You’re about to say something in return, maybe something cheese if you’re feeling brave, but the jingle of the bell alerts you of customers, and you hastily get up and brush off your apron before you greet them. As you pass Allen you hurriedly whisper, “I’m off in two hours.”

He follows you as you walk up to the counter to take their orders, and he rests his chin in his palm, a lovesick smile on his features as he lets himself stare freely now that he knows there’s an actual chance to be had. He looks forward to getting to know you more.

#d gray man x reader #allen walker x reader #dgm x reader #allen walker x you #allen walker fluff #dgm fluff #d gray man fluff #disabled reader insert #me writing for an extremely niche reader insert community: lets make the SUBJECT niche as well JWJWJWJJWJWJW #nohr.writing #nohr.dgm #IM ON A ROLL THESE DAYS BTW MY INSPIRATIONS /HITTING/#also the name is literally just the name of my psoriasis ointment

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the-s1lly-corner · 3 months

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Various KND villains x reader w/ psoriasis

Okay now this ones purely just "the admin is 100% writing with just himself in mind" LMAO

Characters: father, toiletnator, stickybeard

Notes: reader is GN, based off of the admins experience with psoriasis, short post

CWs: none

FATHER

honestly if i didnt hc that he was pretty much immune to his own flames and perhaps even outside heat sources i would say his skin is at least a little damaged from it- buuuuuuut...

personally for the admin heat makes his rashes hurt worse, so benedict does his best to keep his heat under control when around you to prevent your skin from getting worse

on the flip side if it helps you, hes like a living warm water bottle when hes in a neutral mood

can afford the very best lotions, even if they dont fully treat your rashes youre going to feel pretty refreshed!

yoinking the impact thing from toiletnators part but if anyone so much as bumps into you hes going to go ham, even if you arent actually hurt... they should be watching where theyre going anyway!

TOILETNATOR

does his best to help you feel better, will buy anything he sees in an attempt to find something that can help... theres... so much lotion and ointment at your place now... he means well, though!

listens to you when you need to vent about it

can see him trying to research about it and how to help and kind of listens to everything even if its bad advice

please take the phone away from him and let him know what actually helps you

very gentle with you because he fears making your skin worse, bro has not been the same since hearing impact wounds can make it worse

STICKYBEARD

headcanon that he too also has dry skin, on the fence on whether or not he just has dry skin, psoriasis, or something else entirely... hmm...

can relate to you heavily and that comes in handy in reassuring you that youre not going through this alone

will drag you to go have a self care day with him to take it easy, even if just for your mental health if it doesnt do much to treat a flare up!

general attitude helps keep you in high spirits

if he cant cure you then hes going to do his best to make you as happy as possible!

sweet scented lotion, obviously!

#knd x reader #knd x you #knd imagine #kids next door x reader #kids next door x you #kids next door imagine #knd father x you #knd father imagine #knd father x reader #benedict uno x you #benedict wigglestein x reader #benedict uno imagine #benedict uno x reader #toiletnator imagine #toiletnator x you #toiletnator x reader #stickybeard imagine #stickybeard x you #stickybeard x reader

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llau-ren-ti-a · 1 year

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Bad Batch Headcanons - Skin Conditions

I’ve had this on my mind for way too long now and I NEED to write it down.

For context: I think that their mutations and “enhancements” had some side effects and actually made them more sensitive or gave them some other issues, this is one of many. Maybe Regs have to deal with this too, but I’m running with the Bad Batch for now.

TW: skin conditions, acne, eczema, a little blood? self-harm and injury

Hunter

first of all - he has like the most sensitive skin ever

I’m talking unscented, only natural ingredients, ph-neutral, everything you can imagine

soap made from ash, lime and oil, like, really specific and gentle shit

but on the other hand worst mixed skin ever, goes from crazy oily to dryer than Tatooine at least once a week

he’s either looking like a glazed donut or a shedding lizard

he’d straight up put cooking oil on his face bc “oil is good for dry skin, right?

someone tell this man how to take care of himself istg

bandana hides his greasy roots

bandana may be tied in different styles to hide his dandruff

he‘s highkey insecure about it

he‘s shedding like a dog, his hair is everywhere

in the shower, on the bed sheets, in the food if he cooks

if he ever shaves, doesn’t matter where or how he’s getting the worst razor burn and ingrown hairs ever

he’s getting all the issues

also, a big candidate for body acne?

he gives me back acne vibes

doesn’t wash his bedsheets or towel nearly often enough

they actually all (accidentally?) share a towel and never wash it, I’m convinced

Tech

his skin is dry af like, eczema / neurodermitis / psoriasis dry

especially his hands and joints, like the inside of knees and elbows

and around his eyes, especially because of his goggles/glasses, but also in the corners

he researched everything but sometimes just can’t help it and almost scratches his skin off

Hunter makes him wear cotton gloves when he goes to bed

that’s why he never sleeps

Crosshair straight up ties his hands with bandages so he can’t scratch himself

also a very dry scalp / dandruff candidate

should spend all of his time moisturising

tinkering around the marauder and getting into contact with motor oils/hydraulic liquids/fuel only makes it so so so much worse

doesn't wear skin protection, especially not gloves because it 'inhabits his motor functions'

don't get me started on his nails and nailbeds, because I can see how inflamed and irritated the skin is

the skin also peels off

sweaty hands

has a lot of moles?

stresses about said moles

Wrecker

has the nicest skin ever

except for a big pore / blackhead here and there

usually around the nose or on his forehead

literally the guy who either doesn't use soap or uses the same bar of soap to wash everything

it works

healthy glow might be mistaken for oily skin but it's actually not

actually gets a sunburn often, especially on his head, but refuses to do anything about it

turns into a lobster on uv-light-intense missions

red skin, really tight and shiny

sometimes, if crosshair is feeling really mean he gives him a brotherly slap on the sunburnt shoulder

he gets mouth sores sometimes, like cold sores?

also very attractive to mosquitos? he sweats a lot

scratches his mosquito bites so there are little scars all over his body

really random but occasionally he gets like one big aggressive butt pimple and can't sit for a few days

is very vocal about said butt pimple

Crosshair

my beloved

he's also getting all the issues

had very bad acne as a cadet

especially around his chin and cheeks to the point he straight up refused to take off his helmet

now that he's done with puberty he has a bunch of acne scars left

still breaks out sometimes

very sensitive to water - he just washes his face like usual and suddenly breaks out because that particular planet's water is 'weird'

so much acne but dry af skin, it's hard to combat

skin picking as self harm

aggressive nail biter; not only the nails but the skin around it

he's actually one big hangnail

and his nailbeds and sides are always inflamed

toothpicks to stop him from picking his skin

or to try to stop him from smoking but this is not a mental health / addiction headcanon

I'm convinced he has the ugliest, driest old man elbows and knees, I just know that they look weird

Echo

technically a reg, I know

but his prosthetics sometimes don't sit right, so there's a lot of friction and a high risk of irritated skin, blisters and sores

he's so pale - not surprised at all if he gets sunburnt quickly

reminds everyone to use lotion / sunscreen

learned the hard way bc he listened to Fives

tries to keep everyone from making stupid mistakes

buir mode activated

Omega

baby

baby skin

for now

Echo attempts to keep her in check

gets one really bad sunburn and learns her lesson

can't move for 3 business days

also, not a skin condition but she spends 5 seconds in direct sunlight and is just covered in freckles

#bad batch #the bad batch #bad batch headcanons #the bad batch headcanons #bad batch hcs #the bad batch hcs #tbb #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb crosshair #tbb echo #tbb omega

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