#not twisted wonderland

[twistedapple]

On cherry and musk

EDIT 28/10/2023: Part two of the Perfume Rant is bout, about Astarion this time! + added a correction regarding the sulfur part.

EDIT 3/11/2023: Part three of the Perfume Rant is up, this time I talk about my OC, Nuria.

EDIT 28/11/2023: I kept forgetting to make that edit but I added a comment regarding the cherry and how its sickly sweet tone is usually used in perfumes to express death.

Hello hello.

Because Raphael's perfume, according to Yurgir, is exactly the type of scent that makes me lose my mind while being quite uncommon for men perfumes IRL, I've decided to go on a bit of perfume rant because I really like perfume in general (which is funny considering my autistic ass easily goes in sensory overload, especially atm with my state of autistic burnout).

To introduce the topic, I'd like to present some generalities about perfumes, so you know what I mean once I start losing my mind about why Raphael's scent would drive me crazy IRL (someone at Larian knows their shit about perfumes).

Perfumes are, most commonly, made with an alcoholic base (the Middle East also has an oil base), because the ingredients used to create the scents are more soluble in alcohol than water. There are distinctions in the types of perfumes once can find, based on the concentration of scented molecules:

Perfumed mists: less than 3% of scented molecules, low duration over time;

Colognes: the weakest concentration in perfumes as we usually know and use them. It has a long history as well, and was first worn by men;

Eau de toilette (here, understand that it's a perfume associated with cleanliness): count between 5% and 15% of scented molecules;

Eau de parfum (lit. "perfume water"): count between 10% and 20% of scented molecules. These perfumes are more expensive because they're more concentrated, however nowadays they're still commonly found in stores;

Extrait de parfum (perfume extract - pure perfume): count between 15% and 40% of scented molecules, the high concentration means it has to be used with care.

Now, why do we wear perfume? Everything around us as a scent: the soap used to wash our clothes, the food we cook, the deodorant we use... Our own skin has a natural scent. Wearing perfume is a way to control our scent and define our olfactive identity as part of our self-expression and sense of fashion. With hormones at play, not every perfume works with anybody - for example, Hesperide-type perfumes don't suit me, but work wonderfully well on my mother -, so the way a perfume sits and ages on one's skin is just as important as one's personal preferences in term of scents. Interestingly, for some decades now the most common perfumes tend to have a "clean" scent, which matches with Western standards of cleanliness. However, the goal of perfumes being self-expression, they also tend to tell a story based on the way the notes develop and work together.

We have various categories for perfumes, which involve the styles based on the families of notes, the time of the day and the seasons.

The main families of perfume are Floral (self-explanatory), Chypre (woody scents), Oriental (spiced scents), Hesperide (citrus scents) and Aquatic (water-like scents). These families can be mixed in the scale of notes to obtain a more complex scent. For example, Floral scents tend to work well with Oriental and Hesperide tones, Hesperide tones work well with Aquatic ones, Oriental and Chypre scents can be associated to create heady perfumes...

The times of the day are either Daytime or Nighttime. Daytime perfumes tend to be lighter, while Nighttime perfumes, often worn during events or at clubs, will be stronger since they compete with other stronger scents.

Seasons also influence perfumes, some molecules won't last as well in Summer as they do in Winter for example. On the other hand, some molecules will have a harder time expressing themselves in the cold of Winter, so heavier scents may be needed.

A perfume is organised in three layers to unfold its story:

Top notes: the very first notes, which usually don't last much but open the impression of the perfume;

Heart notes: the core scents of the perfume, around which the story is built;

Base notes: the lasting notes of the perfume, which close the story.

There is also two ways a perfume works:

Sillage: the trail left by a perfume;

Projection: the perimeter in whih a perfume can be felt.

Feminine and Masculine perfumes tend to be quite different as well. Feminine perfumes tend to lean on floral and fruity scents, while masculine perfumes will be more in the Aquatic and Oriental family with leather and musk tones. This is where I start my rant on Raphael's likely amazing perfume.

Fruits are rarely used for masculine perfume, to the point I'd say it's a grossly ignored scent family for men. Some years ago, I crossed path with a man in the metro who had the most amazing perfume, with raspberry in distinctive top note, unfolding into a warm woody scent. This is what got me into perfumes, because I had to find out what perfume it was - the most likely candidate is One Million by Paco Rabane, but even then I am not sure. This is a very specific and striking scent, precisely because it's so uncommon for a man to wear. With that in mind, let's remember what Yurgir said Raphael's scent is: cherries, musk and sulfur. I suspect we can take these notes in the proper top-heart-base notes, because they'd make sense that way both in term of perfume composition and as a mean to tell Raphael's personal story.

Cherries make for a sweet, enticing top note, perfect to express Raphael's ability to charm his victims clients. Cherries' sweetness is also often associated with the sickly sweet smell of death, and is used for that purpose in perfumes following that theme. Considering what signing a devil's contract entails, it's quite fitting.

Musk is a common note both for masculine and feminine perfumes, but it tends to be used as a base note. This time, however, it'd make sense to have it in heart note for at least two fantastic reasons: to draw people further in with a warm and sensual note, and because the base note serves to close the story better than musk.

Sulfur as base note would be extremely smart. One might ask me "but Crow, doesn't sulfur smell like rotten egg?" And that would be a pertinent question. It wouldn't be the first time a strange ingredient is used to complete a perfume by providing unexpected results. Here, we're not just talking sulfur, we're talking brimstone. Mixed with the other notes, however, it creates a smoky scent that serves to hint at Raphael's nature as a devil (gotta smell like Avernus!), and also provides a strong support for the sensual musk by adding depth to it.

We also have Raphael's boudoir invitation described as having his perfume: palmarosa and pepper. These scents tend to be heart notes, to compose a refreshing spicy floral: palmarosa is a floral scent with a citrus tone, pepper is what it says on the tin and is considered an aphrodisiac scent. Fitting the boudoir invite, considering the presence of a certain incubus... This addition in the heart notes would counter-balance the musk nicely and contribute to a layer of complexity with a surprisingly feminine tone: floral oriental notes are rarely used in masculine perfumes. However, here I think it serves to express refinement through complexity - something people often associate with Raphael, who presents as a noble (and is, by the Nine Hells' standards, a noble in his quality as Mephistopheles' son), as well as frames himself as an agreeable host who can offer many pleasures to his guests and clients (as long as they have something to provide in exchange - cue the sulfur as base note to remind of Raphael's diabolical nature).

Yurgir describes Tav as bearing Raphael's scent. Raphael was near Tav, which makes me think his perfume has projection rather than sillage. It'd make sense for Raphael to have a perfume more oriented towards projection than sillage: he'd want to let people know he's here, and it's a subtle way to dominate the scene as well in a magnetic manner - and we know Raphael has an imperious tendency, even in his handwriting, so having it expressed in his perfume as well would make sense.

To conclude, Raphael has fantastic taste in perfume in my totally biased opinion (this sort of perfume is a shortcut to make me swoon IRL), and what has been confirmed as being his scent/perfume serves to subtly support his characterisation and tell a story both to us players and the people he deals with in the story.

[twistedtrashposts]

So not twst but I had a cursed 5 am thought and it's your problem now.

In the sagau golden blood stuff, is an afab creator's period blood also golden?

Imagine trying to run away in the imposter au when you get your period, and then they have to explain they found the real creator bc of coochie blood-

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

Hello my lovelies~!

I know it's been a little while since I last posted anything here, but I wanted to at least post a little update. While I'm not entirely back in the groove of writing for Twisted Wonderland, I wanted to at least let you all know that I'm doing okay!

I really do miss writing for Twst, but I want to make sure that when I come back, it'll be fun and enjoyable for me and for you all as well. On the bright side, I've been able to revisit and enjoy old fandoms I fell out of love with for a long time, and I'm enjoying some new anime that have been coming out!

Especially a certain one that's been motivating me to try and eat better and healthier meals. >v>

Thank you all for being so patient, and I hope you're all doing well and taking care of yourselves! ;;v;;

[cursedcola]

Everyone. I just played the VN called ‘Blooming Panic’ in one sitting and I highly recommend it if you’d like to develop a new obsession.

That’s it. I just wanted to share. It’s free btw

[tothegravemen]

The only thing stopping me from posting art is the back-bending fear of someone I know in real life recognizing my art and finding my Tumblr. I would have to fake my death, move cross-country, and live off the grid

[egophiliac]

bring back zooterkins, the best 17th-century swear word

I don't normally do Just Characters Swearing, but. ...this kind of wrote itself and then wouldn't leave my head. it comes from both a piece of character-writing advice that has always stuck with me, and also my conviction that Leona is 1000% funnier as a character if his dialogue has to stay G-rated. let Kalim say fuck, but don't let Leona say bastard.

(I'm sorry)

[fima11]

Sea otter⁉️🦦

Floyd was so right about him.

[floral-poisons]

kind of wanna reinforce this here. because i’ve seen ai writing become so popular on tik tok.

ai writing is not okay.

it’s literally theft. just like how ai art steals, ai writing steals. it’s using authors’ very real work to generate whatever you type in. and this also needs to be said as well.

writing is a form of art. fanfiction is a form of literature.

seeing this all over my fyp is REALLY discouraging. fanfic itself is already a labor of love and we love it when you interact. but please do not use ai writing for your fanfic needs when this writing literally steals from fanfic authors.

genuinely don’t know if this post will go around because my interactions outside of hcs are shit, but i hope it does.

[broh3m3]

"I-It's a matter of life or death!"

[pawnyao]

Always an angel never a God

[fisheem4mmal]

因為我剛好遇見你 留下足跡才美麗

[twistedapple]

While waiting for more flower reveals from @redspringstudio and tasty Elyon crumbs (will we even have that?), I'd like to point out that the choice of flower for him is sussy in its own right.

Blue orchids.

This is NOT a natural colour for most flowers, and especially orchids. Blue orchids have a dye added and usually the blooms get a shorter lifespan as a consequence... Only for the following blooms to be white, the original colour. Wanna know something very funny about that? Blue orchids tend to be sold twice the price of white orchids while being, in essence, exactly that.

Pretty interesting, considering the implications regarding money that Elyon seems to be associated with in his short description.

Furthermore, the orchid in general is associated with fertility and luxury... Interesting choice for the owner of a brothel, where luxury is an appearance for the customers and fertility is usually not accepted. However, blue orchids in particular are also associated with rarity and uniqueness... Which is apparently what Elyon seeks.

What are you up to, Elyon 🤨

[twistedtrashposts]

Not TWST but-

Apparently we get to name him. The opportunity presented itself.

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

Hi, I just see the last post

I hope you are getting well, enough rest and please don't be too hard on yourself. You're more than enough for the writing or with whatever you do, here some pictures of my cat to cheer you up a little

(p.s: he is only 4 months old)

Aww thank you ;;v;; I really appreciate that, and I'm doing my best to get plenty of sleep and making healthier meals for myself!

Awwwww such a cute widdle baby~!!!! Such a handsome lil' face for a growing boi~! (\>v</) 💗💗💗💗💗 Just look at him face! He screm for cheese! :V

Since you shared your kitty, here are my two boys: Grim (the handsome yet chubby tuxedo who is taking after his namesake a little too much 😂) and his brother Figment, who is my nosey adventurous boy who loves to stick his nose in whatever he wants and climbs whatever he can get to. One of these days I fear he'll learn how to unlock the front door since he's managed to open just about every other door in my house! 🤣

[box-artist]

The husband and his ugly ass shrimp (you).

⇥ Reference

[ariasphirance]

Yuu getting a wedding invitation and she thought she'd cheer for the couple.