Zhavi

While I'm thinking about it, some basics to help with skincare regimens: http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/research/chemistry/57787362.html edit- this too! http://chemistscorner.com/how-do-skin-moisturizers-work/

Coming from someone with nasty combination skin all year round, put on some heavier duty moisturizer on those dry patches before you put on your makeup. Within 2-3 minutes of washing your face or being in the shower, you need to moisturize. Try to avoid hot water on your face. If the dry spots continue, try some jojoba oil -- when I start getting flaky spots, I use homemade heavy duty stuff (shea butter, jojoba oil, beeswax, vitamin E oil, arrowroot powder) on the flaky spots, and that usually helps. (editing to add: this is the same shit I use on my moderate eczema, that I double-checked with my dermatologist and allergist on -- it's gentle and will help lock moisture in. ) Too, if it's persistent, use a heavy nighttime moisturizer. If you can, give the moisturizers 20-30 min to soak in before putting on your makeup. You need to help your skin keep its barrier so it's not getting stripped of what it needs.

May your roleplay be varied, complex, and above all: fun. Welcome back.

As with all things, it has to make sense. If it makes sense, I go for it. In the past, this has meant character death, character possession (my character was possessed by a cursed entity from another plane trapped in a dagger, which meant the mind/soul of my character was killed and the body of the character was taken by the player of the dagger -- and don't you look at me weird, the sentient daggers (there's three of them) are fun as hell to play opposite), mutilation, and amputation. For Zhi, injury has been a major part of how she developed as a person, from the kink in her tail to a forced abortion (that wrecked her uterus) when she was a teenager that pushed her over the edge from 'potential productive citizen' to 'wreck of a person.' Zhi had wanted to be a mommy. She can't be one now. It still eats at her, and is part of the reason why she's an adrenaline junky and an addict. My favorite was a guard character with a skin condition that caused him to get itchy under stress (based, of course, off my own experiences with eczema, though his isn't eczema). He's an upright sort, unyielding and unbending, and his ability to ignore the itching when in uniform was, to me, the closest thing to a superpower I've ever written. Though he is often misguided, his attempts to do right and overcome whatever got thrown at him is so fun to write, and a little cathartic for me. Not your typical injury, no, but definitely a condition that causes him major quality of life issues, as well as interfering with his ability to function.

Where to start with Freelance? Patient, well-spoken, thoughtful, good sense of humor -- and, really, if you want an example of separation of ooc and ic, you should look no further. To me, Freelance is a paragon of what it means to be a good rper. Not only that, but whenever I see a Freelance post, I pay attention. You got some good stuff to say! Mad respect, man.

Yeeeeeeeeeesss. In order to get my housing fix I've been moonlighting on SWTOR. It feels so wrong, but I can't help myself.

Yeah, the mix in that palette works perfectly for both work and evenings out. Granted, I use other stuff if I want super dramatic, but it's a really great combo of colors and shimmer.

Way to make me flustered, Goodfellow. (but seriously, thank you <3) Have managed to snag a couple people on mah friend's list, but being that I'm so random, I could still use a few more. Bump!

I have naked 3. It's my favorite palette.

Piggybacking off this, a sole traveler moving with merchant caravans (as a guard or just paying customer for the "safety") would mean that if you're packing stuff on your person you'd be less likely to get too much customs attention; their focus would be on the bigger bulk of goods the merchant is bringing in.

zhi + booze = 4ever

You sound delicious. Take care not to get eaten. WELCOME! Come to balmung.

HI. So long as you're not Minfilia's bastard magitek child, you'll do just fine (I already called dibs). <3

It's true. We're the best. ;D

HI. No matter what you do icly, be bold oocly. Happy writing!

Moisturizer wise, coconut oil dries me out (sadly, I love the stuff) and nothing else really soothes my eczema (it's more about not irritating it and keeping it from cracking/bleeding); I'm on steroids at the moment (dermatologist is likely going to switch me though; it helps but the triggers remain) and have an appointment with an allergist to see if I've developed new sensitivities. Shea butter, illipe, rosehip, beeswax, arrowroot powder and vitamin e oil is my current mix, though who knows if that's got a trigger in it. It feels nice going on though. I had wanted the UD-Gwen Stefani! Looks fun.

With her mouth open to protest, Zhi realized that, in truth, she'd been played. "Shit," she said, casually, and rose. She kicked a piece of fallen debris at Melodia, and stalked over to the counter. She pulled herself up on it, and rummaged beneath; her reward was an elaborately carved pipe and a bag of something that smelled spicy. Sure, she'd get knocked about for ruining her sense of smell, but right then she didn't care. She spoke as she packed the bowl. "If yer here 'bout Skrit, that's old news." Old as in two days ago, when she'd been sent to deliver two packages. One had smelt of flesh and old blood. She hadn't stuck around after leaving it, but a few things had shifted in lowtown the day after. "An' me debts been settled, me honeypot, so if yer here 'bout me boss, I'm busy. Ye can have a meetin' t'morrow." She exhaled a cloud of sweet, spicy smoke.

The coin did disappear, but the knife didn't. With a three inch blade, it wasn't exactly the most threatening weapon in the world, but Zhi handled it as if Melodia's name was carved into the metal. With a twist and a hop, she got her leg free of the crate, took two steps back and stumbled over the spilled contents of another crate, and wound up in a crouch. She was hissing out curses, and deaf to Melodia's reasoned words. "They'll never take me," she said, "so call 'em off or I'm gone."

The grin faltered but didn't quite disappear. Neither did the coins. "Call 'em off." She was wheedling. She was bleeding onto the bag. Blood money. How appropriate.

Zhavi sneered, cackling in delight as she kicked off another bolt of cloth and transferred all of her weight to the stack of crates. As it turned out, the stack of crates was not quite built to handle so much weight, scrawny though she was. Her foot broke through one of the slats, trapping her leg and throwing her off balance. Melodia's kick was the final straw for the stack, and it tipped. "Shit!" Then, dragged by the contents of the pile, Zhi crashed back down near to Melodia, arms and legs tucked in as best as she could manage. It was still a bad landing. Zhi was bleeding. She yanked at her leg -- it was stuck right good - and held up her knife. With her other hand, she pulled out a small bag of coin. "Call 'em off?" Her grin was not quite disarming.

Too, there's non-slave people smuggling! Getting wanted people in and out of places, be they wanted by government or private individuals. Hot items -- things that have been stolen and resold, or stolen to be resold, or stolen to be given to the person who did the hiring. These don't even need to be things of value; collectors go to some ridiculous lengths to get their hands on things they want. Also, political backstabbing sometimes means either taking said hot item (perhaps some incriminating evidence) or even planting it. Either way, getting caught with it is no bueno. Things like poaching, tomb-raiding, counterfeit money etc would also be things that'd need to be smuggled around. Just take a gander at what gets smuggled irl -- it isn't just drugs, weapons and people! Different countries around the world have different things that people want that might be .... not okay to be harvested where that thing is from. Take the Au Ra for example. Perhaps as people who are from a distant land with vastly different rules, a tribe or two has customs or beliefs that means they require a certain material for medicinal purposes . . . that is protected under such and such merchant blah blah blah trade agreement blah (hiya Gridania poachers!). Or perhaps some bit of book has been banned but some scholar really really really really needs to get her hands on the fourth volume, because it is essential to her current research! Just skirt around the edges a little, sometimes you don't need to be specific (which is then useful in not necessarily breaking lore boundaries) in order to create a need your smuggler is meeting. Happy customs evasion!

Smashbox - Legendary is my latest favorite lipstick, though since my skin has gone into hate-mode .... I pretty much stopped wearing any makeup. I like Urban Decay's palettes well enough, and Tarte has this concealer that I adore. Benefit's erase paste is another favorite due to its ability to make my under-eyes go from 'are you sick?' to 'wow you look rested!' Still, women who achieve that sort of photoshop finish are like wizards to me. I'm decent enough with makeup to achieve results I'm happy with (average, I guess?), but the shading and such some people do is magic and no one can tell me otherwise. It's face-art. Magic. What I've been dabbling with a lot more recently is skin care stuff, because HI ECZEMA. This has lead to playing around with scented skin creams (though, at this point in time, more as gifts for others than for myself), and my next step will be making lotions (again, more for other people since my skin is not fond of most preservatives), and then perfumes. I'm planning on some Hawaiian flowers perfumes for mother's day (my mom grew up in Hawaii and so my goal is to recreate some of that smell that blasts you in the face when you step off the plane), with a focus on plumeria, tuberose, jasmine and puakenikeni. Scent is just as fun as makeup. It's like rubbing/spraying dead plant matter (and sometimes dead animal matter or simulated dead animal matter, lol animal fixatives) on yourself and then scribbling on your face!! Best ever.

Brindle huffed. "If y'ain't takin' no coin, if y'ain't lookin' t' take no coin, then how're ye knowin' her?"

Thrice-cursed tail! Zhavi, no real study in subtlety once the illusion had been breached, brought forth a cheshire grin, toothy and sly. Her instinct was to get somewhere high, and she obeyed it, pivoting off the floor to get a foot onto a crate, and then hauling herself up the bolt and steadying herself on the stack of crates near the bolts of cloth -- one foot on each. Precarious position, and she could feel the cloth (tall and heavy though it was) starting to give way. She wasn't sure she hadn't been sliced as she'd moved, the blade had been that close, but with her heart pumping and her surety that the cavalry would come bursting through either door any moment, she wasn't sure she'd feel it just then. She pulled a knife out from her belt. It was a tool meant for everyday uses (the dual blades she'd begun to train in having been banned her since an unfortunate accident with one of the heavies some rich so-and-so her boss had been contracted with kept on the payroll, who'd made one jibe too many and had caught her blade through his boot for his troubles -- when he wasn't looking, of course, since she wasn't of real use in a real fight just yet), but that didn't mean its edge was incapable of drawing blood. Or killing someone, if it came to that. Edges were useful like that. "Welcome t'livin'," Zhi snarled, kicking one of the bolts toppling over towards the strange and really blimmin' unwanted woman.

Hot sauce, you guys are love. <3. Hope to catch the lot of you in game soon!