#wangxian: Tu Muskura

In case no one told you growing up

Bras last longer if you let them air dry. Don’t put them in the dryer.

If you have a problem with frizzy hair, don’t dry your hair with a towel. It makes the frizzies worse. (I recently read an article that said to use a t-shirt? I brush mine out and let it air dry.)

Whites wash best in hot water. Everything else can be in cold - save on your electricity bill.

You can kill 99.9% of germs in a sponge by putting it in the dishwasher for a cycle or by microwaving it for 2 min (be sure to make the sponge damp before microwaving and to put a cup half full of water in with it and please DO NOT squeeze the sponge until it has cooled off)

Airing out your room/house and letting sunlight in every so often can decrease the number of household pests like silverfish and ants.

Black underwear is best during your period as stains are less likely to be visible.

To save money, put aside 10% of each paycheck into a savings account. It’ll add up.

Unless your hair has something on/in it (like grease or mud or something), using conditioner first can actually be the better choice. The conditioner holds in the good oils that help you hair look sleek and beautiful, which shampoo would otherwise wash away.

Speaking of shampoo - if you have long hair, washing just the bits that touch your scalp is generally enough. The rest of your hair gets cleaned with just the run off from your scalp.

If you put a tampon in and it’s uncomfortable/you can feel it, you didn’t do it quite right. A properly placed tampon is virtually unnoticeable by the wearer.

Apply deodorant/antiperspirant a couple hours in advance of when you need it. This gives the product the chance to block your sweat glands. Using deodorant just before going somewhere where you’ll sweat (this means walking outside for people in high humidity places) results in your sweat washing the deodorant off and starkly limiting its usefulness.

After running the dryer, use the dryer sheet from that load to brush out the lint catch - it gets everything off in a fraction of the time it’ll take you to get it clean with your bare hands. Paper towels also work well.

Wash your face everyday, or as often as possible. Forget which brand of cleanser is best. Just washing your face everyday will guarantee you clearer skin. And do you best not to pop pimples, as tempting as the urge may be.

Fold laundry asap after taking it from the dryer to avoid wrinkles. This may seem obvious for dress shirts and silly for things like t-shirts, but you’ll notice the difference even then once your shirts stop looking like unfolded paper balls.

Wei Wuxian made the Bonding/Binding Talisman...

Solely because he got inspired by getting tied with a sacred forehead ribbon to his crush.

Look at him admiring the handiwork wrapped around his wrist.

Not to mention that that's the only talisman he made that's colored blue.

Do you know what having bpd is?

Having bpd is crying because someone has given you a gift.

Not because the gift is too beautiful. But because they paid attention to your words. To what you said. They watched you and saw how you look at things.

Because they thought of you, saw you smiling with it, and got it for you.

Having bpd is calling them an idiot because they got you a gift.

Not because it is too expensive. But because you are so used to feeling so worthless that someone spending money on you just because you wanted something sounds so selfish and so wrong that you feel the need to fix it. You feel the need to apologize, to make up for a fucking gift, because you are not that much of a thing to be given gifts.

Having bpd is being stunned to silence because someone has given you a gift.

Not because it was a surprise. But because you never even expected someone to think of you. You never consdiered the possiblity of being on the receiving hand of a holiday. Never thought people would be grateful for your existance too, not when all you see in the mirror is a disgusting void.

Having bpd is not being able to thank your friend.

Because you don’t know how to thank people when they consdier you as a human being and consider your feelings and thoughts while buying you something just to see you smile.

I have bpd and I am crying over here just because I got a gift, because I still don’t think I was worth it.

like no one cares about your insecurities and deep rooted issues SHUT UP

sometimes i just want to talk to people and it being fun rather than me oversharing and killing the convo

i miss xiao zhan 

hello!! do you have any book recs for historical fiction/ non- fiction or something similar to the palace of illusions? thank you!!

A short list because I'm not well:

Song of Draupadi by Ira Mukhoty

Indian mythology retelling

Mahabharat from Draupadi's POV

Descriptive prose and lush worldbuilding

Everything Mukhoty writes about Indian women is readable

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Egyptian history retelling

Nefertiti's reign from her sister's POV

Morally grey central characters

The writing style is so descriptive and nice

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan

Queer Chinese history + fantasy retelling

Breathtaking, immersive worldbuilding

Wlw and mlm hostility; two evil non binary leads

Mulan but with a sapphic romance

The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Indian mythology retelling

Ramayan from Sita's POV

Exploration of duty vs desire

Not as good as The Palace of Illusions, but still worth a read

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Indian inspired fantasy

Sapphic romance between central characters

Cool magical systems

Morally grey female lead

Circe by Madeline Miller

Greek mythology retelling

Morally grey female lead, lyrical prose

Same author as The Song of Achilles

I have heard divisive stuff about it tbh

Sati Series by Koral Dasgupta

Indian mythology retelling

Feminist historization of female figures from Indian myth

Includes Ahalya and Kunti so far

I hope you find something to your liking from this list!

Kofi: papenathys

and maybe i am a little bit in love with all of my friends. how could i not be when they place their whole heart in my hands and trust me to carry it safely home? lazy days spent in comfortable silence, tearful nights spent giving each other a reason to live. the exhilaration of learning your little quirks melting into a future where i know you better than the lines on my open palms. mutual understanding to be forever gentle with one another. inside jokes that follow me long after you've gone, reminding me to slow down and laugh a little more. your eyes are the lens through which i can see the world with love. your embrace is the shelter under which i find strength to continue on.

aaj ki chai is from this scene in tapan sinha’s ek doctor ki maut (1990). shabana azmi’s understated but poignant performance as seema, the wife of a brilliant doctor whose single obsession with his research brings selfishness and callousness to his marriage is so visceral, especially in small moments like this one. seema fries puris and make two cups of tea as she waits for her husband to come home, a familiar scene in the homes of many, especially within india. her husband talks about his research, the people he met, and lists all his complaints for the day before being cajoled into sitting at the dinner table. she serves the tea and the plate of puris and sits by his side, shoulder to shoulder, as a companion. then she talks about her conversation with her sister while gently reprimanding her husband for never calling those relatives back. he agrees to please her and then quickly grabs his cup of tea and two puris to leave for his lab. and seema! shocked and baffled, she tells him she’s not yet finished with her tea only to hear that familiar indifference–”then finish it”. and shabana azmi with all the subtlety she’s know for, moves from shock to bitter acceptance and then quickly back to the briefest expression of hurt. 

and she drinks her cup of tea alone.

one thing i like about tapan sinha’s work in this film is that seema is her own person, not the archetype of a wife in indian films (even noncommercial ones) who only exists to mutely support and share the burden of her husband’s dreams. later in the film she expresses how that callousness feels and affects her, especially against the expectations of what she thought their marriage would be like–one in which she is cared for, one in which there is companionship. i feel like i know too many women in marriages who drink their cup of tea alone. or put too much hope into what differences a cup of tea can bridge.