#blessed

here it is, my kink blog. please don't follow or interact if you're under 18! i follow from my main (s****b***) because i love to live on the edge, so if you get a seemingly vanilla follower it might be me ✌ {h. | 33 | she/her}

[heleniumx]

ᴘʀᴏꜰᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴᴀʟ ʀᴜɪɴ [ᴛʜᴇ x-ꜰɪʟᴇꜱ] (f)

Summary: In which I decide to ask and (indulgently) answer three questions: What if M/ulder (secretly) had the kink? What if S/cully had a relentless allergy attack at the absolute worst possible time? What if we tossed another character (S/kinner) in the scene with them and let them both fight for their lives...in very different ways? Notes: I envision this taking place around early S4 but it could be as early as S3, or quite a bit later. Reader's choice! Also, this is the first time I've written a character with the kink before (which was nerve-wracking tbh) but it kind of worked out perfectly since: a) M/ulder is canonically kink-coded and b) I just really just needed to put S/cully through it, ok. :') Enjoy!! Word Count: 5.4k Content Warnings: NSFW (obviously); references to & some descriptions of male arousal; light mess

By the time they hit the Beltway, M/ulder has already apologized three times, offered to pull over twice, and spent the better part of the last few hours coming to terms with the fact that he is almost certainly going to hell.

In his defense, he does feel guilty. It’s just not exactly the dominant emotion at present.

Scully has said very little since they left Upper Marlboro, where they had spent the better part of the morning tromping through three acres of an overgrown field on the basis of a lead that had ultimately fizzled out into nothing. 

Far too focused on the details of what had seemed, at first, to be a promising case, Mulder hadn’t considered that the setting itself might become a problem until after Scully went quiet beside him, and then, a few minutes later, was no longer beside him at all, but several paces behind, moving more slowly through the tall grass. 

At first he’d mistaken her silence for annoyance, which was a reasonable enough assumption – and probably not entirely inaccurate, judging by the way she’d rolled her eyes when he’d casually mentioned the possibility of crop circles – but some time later he turned in time to catch her stifling a rapid string of sneezes against the back of her wrist, emerging from the fit with a pink nose, watery eyes, and a faint, irritated frown as she pushed forward through the gently swaying grass as the breeze lifted a fine yellow haze into the air between them.

Pollen. Of course. 

For the first little while, it had been subtle enough he could almost pretend not to notice the way Scully kept rubbing and wrinkling her nose, the way she was blinking more than usual, the damp sniffles punctuating what few words she did say, the irritated little cough here and there. 

After six sneezes in a row – each of which sounded increasingly difficult for her to contain, and each of which sent a pulsating thrill straight to somewhere deeply inconvenient – Mulder had glanced behind him again, to where Scully had come to an abrupt stop. 

“Jeez,” he’d blurted out, checking his watch so his eyes had something to do besides zero in on her flushed cheeks and watery eyes, the irritated scrunch of her nose. “Bless you.” 

God, how he wanted to— 

“Damn,” Scully muttered, patting around in her pockets and frowning as she sniffled frantically, one hand hovering in front of her face. “Oh, damn.”

“You all right?” he had asked, watching as she rubbed her nose in a series of frustrated little circles before retrieving a tissue from her pocket.

“Fine,” she said curtly, turning away to blow her nose. “Sorry. Allergies.”

As if he didn’t know.

“Can't you take something?”

“I could,” Scully had answered sourly, “if I had brought something to take.”

Around the time it became clear there was no case for them to chase, Scully’s control was beginning to slip, the sneezes coming in fits and false starts, tucked between apologies that were soon replaced with frustrated little huffs as her tissue supply slowly dwindled, and her patience with him was fully depleted. 

“I’m fine, Mulder,” she had scowled, somewhere between the fourth and fifth times he’d asked if she was okay. “I’m itchy, not inept.”

By the time they got back to their car and were well on their way back to D.C., Mulder wasn’t sure which one of them was suffering more.

+ + +

Both times Mulder had suggested they stop along the way and find a drugstore, Scully had insisted they didn’t have time for any detours, and that it was far more important that make it back to D.C. in time for their meeting with Skinner. “Besides,” she’d said, voice muffled from behind a stack of takeout napkins she’d found in the car’s center console, “it’ll pass.”

Now, with the air conditioning on high and her face turned pointedly towards the passenger-side window, it has decidedly not passed. Scully is in the throes of allergic misery, and well past the point of being able to pretend as though she isn’t.

This is bad. This is very bad. 

“You really didn’t bring anything with you?” Mulder asks again, ignoring every single survival instinct he possesses that is currently advising silence.

Scully turns her head just enough to glare at him, her eyes red-rimmed and shining, her nose a furious shade of red, her cheeks blotchy and pink. She looks, he thinks, unreasonably adorable. 

She also looks like she’s going to sneeze again, imminently, and he hates the part of himself that so easily derives its own brand of twisted pleasure from her allergic misery. 

He’s going to hell.

“No, Mulder,” she replies, her voice dangerously calm, “I didn’t. You said ‘an anomaly at a rural property.’ You conveniently left out the whole ‘looking for crop circles’ part of the morning, so no. I certainly didn’t expehhh… exp—ehhh! —expect— to be…w-wandering…around in a …ahhh—!”

Mulder grips the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turn white, watching out of the corner of his eye as Scully’s lips part and quiver helplessly, her watery eyes narrowing towards the vague direction of the windshield and the open road beyond. Her arm slowly lifts, hovering just below the level of her chin for a beat before she tips forward yet again, burying her face in the crook of her elbow.

“hih’mptchhh! hh’MPktshhi!”

Mulder, who has turned back to the road for purposes of self-preservation, shifts in his seat and swallows hard. It had been easier when there was still a potential case to distract himself with. It had been easier out in the field when she was still able to stifle them. Now, he’s not sure whether she’s unable to or whether she’s given up trying, but both possibilities are liable to fuck him right up the more he thinks about it.

He has, in recent years, been forced to come to terms with this part of himself, sifting through layers of self-hatred to reason that of all the fetishes and paraphilias he’s analyzed, encountered, and even taught about, his is objectively the least problematic out there.

It isn’t something he’s ever indulged in, and certainly not something he’s ever confessed to in what few relationships had lasted long enough to warrant considering it. It had been easy enough to bury under work. Easier, sometimes, to forget it was there at all. Nothing else mattered, really.

And then along came Scully.

Scully, who quickly became someone who mattered.

Scully, with allergies in every season, who sneezes when she steps into bright sunshine, and can barely so much as look at a picture of a cat without sniffling.

Scully, who has on more than one occasion announced to him in breathless, apologetic warning that she’s going to sneeze – as if that were something she needed to apologize to him for.

Scully, who had reawakened something within him that Mulder was starting to believe had gone dormant.

Scully, who has no earthly idea of the effect she has on him. For a multitude of reasons, he’d like to keep it that way.

He respects her too much to let his private proclivities become one more thing for her to carry the weight of, so he has perfected the art of nonchalance. He blesses her politely. He looks elsewhere if he needs to. He changes the subject when it becomes necessary. He teases her when deflecting with humor is a powerful enough distraction, and keeps silent when it won’t.

“I wasn’t expecting,” Scully tries again, voice muffled against fabric, “to be wandering around in the grass at this particular time of the year, otherwise I would have…I would hahhh-mptSHHiew! ‘mpktSCHHhh!! …hiih’mpSsHhiEW!”

Mulder risks another glance to his right as Scully blinks her eyes open and emerges from her sleeve with a series of damp sniffles and hazy, distant expression. She keeps her arm in place, lowering it just enough to draw in a soft, fluttering breath, and he catches a glimpse of her glistening lips as they part again. His own breath catches with a surge of chest-tightening arousal, and he quickly turns back to the road. 

“After all these years, I would have thought you’d have learned to expect the unexpected by now,” he jokes, adjusting his now-sweating palms on the wheel. He makes a mental note to find out what brand of allergy pills he’s previously seen her surreptitiously pop out of a blister pack and swallow dry, so that he can start keeping them in his car.

Scully sneezes angrily in reply, swipes irritably at her nose with the last of the napkins, and ignores him for the rest of the drive.

This is, he'll admit, probably for the best.

+ + +

They make it back to D.C. with minutes to spare, stopping in the basement office only long enough to grab their reports. Scully briefly disappears into the ladies’ room and meets him in the elevator alcove. She appears to have rinsed her face, smoothed her hair, replenished her tissue supply, and rearranged herself into something close to normal — provided no one were to look too closely at her puffy eyes and red nose.

Unfortunately, Mulder is looking a little too closely at the latter. 

Scully seems to sense his gaze, peering up at him with those big, blue, wet eyes of hers, and he quickly looks away. 

“What is it, Mulder?” She brings her hand up to press lightly beneath her nose with an air of self-consciousness. “Do I have…?”

“Nothing,” he lies quickly. “No, you’re fine, I just…” He looks down, peeling up the corner of the file label with his thumbnail, then pushing it back down. “...I really am sorry about this morning, Scully. I wouldn’t have dragged you out there if I’d known your hayfever was—”

“—Hayfever is an erroneous term,” Scully corrects, carefully rubbing the corner of her eye with her knuckle. “I prefer to use accurate terminology.” 

“Which is?” Mulder prompts, playing dumb. It is, at its core, a self-serving question, in hopes that she’ll elaborate – preferably in extended detail – but he also knows that if anything might make her feel even the slightest bit better, giving an impromptu medical lecture ought to do it. 

“Seasonal allergic rhinitis—” Scully replies, pausing to stifle a quiet sneeze against her wrist. “…Sorry. Hay is grass that has been cut and dried, whereas it’s the proteins in grass pollen that contain the actual allergen. And there’s….”  She trails off, scrunching up her face, lashes fluttering with a brief little flicker of irritation, and then after a beat, lets out a sharp, frustrated breath and attempts to continue. “There’s…there’s no…”

The cycle repeats itself twice – the little scrunch, the quick blink, the tiny huff – and Mulder has to consciously try not to grin like a fool. It can be hard to tell sometimes, whether Scully is trying to stave off a sneeze or coax one out, but either way, he always enjoys the brief mystery of it. 

A potent mix of affection and arousal has started to create a warm, hazy feeling that flows pleasantly through his veins, and Mulder feels, all at once, a little woozy with the overwhelm of it all. He’d kiss her right now, if he could. He’d do a lot of things, if he could — several of them not appropriate to be thinking about in the hallways of a federal building. 

Mostly, however, he wants to kiss away the frustrated little crease between her brows. He wants to drive her home, walk her into her apartment, settle her onto her couch, and drape a cool, damp cloth over her eyes. He wants to press his lips against her forehead, tuck her hair behind her ear, and then kiss her again — right on the tip of her nose. 

“…there’s no fever involved,” Scully finishes, her soft, raspy voice interrupting his reverie. “Hence, hayfever is an erroneous term.”

“Well, whatever you want to call it,” Mulder replies, “I don’t ever recall it being this bad before.” I would know, he thinks, but knows better than to say.

“It wasn’t,” Scully says flatly, jabbing the elevator button again with her thumb. “It’s gotten worse over the last few years. She runs her tongue thoughtfully across her lower lip and frowns faintly. “I may need to find a better medication regimen.”

“You’re a woman of science, Scully,” he smiles, holding the elevator door open for her. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

+ + +

Scully frowns at her reflection in the mirrored elevator walls, and smoothes her hair down for the third time.

“You look fine,” he says gently. You look perfect, he thinks.

“Thanks,” she mutters, meeting his gaze in the reflection as he offers her a wry smile. She tucks her hair behind her ear and steps back from the wall to stand beside him with her head down, sniffling quietly. 

She still sounds vaguely miserable, but the worst of it seems to have passed. Her breathing has evened out, the bright allergic flush across her nose and cheeks has faded into a charming rosy blush, and the most recent sneezes that have escaped against the back of her wrist are soft, spaced out, ticklish-sounding little things again.

Mulder is just beginning to think that maybe they can make it through their meeting with their collective dignities more or less intact, when the elevator stops on the second floor and a half dozen or so people get on. The two of them shift toward the back of the car to make room, leaving Scully trapped next to a man whose overpowering cologne immediately seems to occupy more space than he does.

It’s strong enough, unpleasantly so, even to make Mulder’s eyes water — why some men insist on marinating in the damn stuff has always been beyond him — but as he watches her, it slowly dawns on him that this is more than Scully’s poor, oversensitized nose is currently capable of handling.

Sure enough, she steps back once, then again, retreating as far away from the man as the cramped space will allow, and tucks herself directly against Mulder’s side. Her arm grazes against his as she lifts one hand slowly to pinch her nose between her thumb and forefinger, her eyes fluttering shut, brows drawn tight with concentration.  

Seeing how badly she’s trying not to sneeze is hard enough, so to speak, but then Mulder hears the small, damp click catch in the back of her throat, and suddenly Scully is ducking behind his shoulder and stifling a sneeze so tightly that her forehead bumps against him, and Mulder sees actual stars. 

He’s taken actual beatings with less internal fanfare, but he sees actual stars in his field of vision like some starving cartoon fucking wolf that’s just run headfirst into a brick wall in pursuit of its prey. Heart pounding, palms sweating, he grips the folder in his hand and tightens his jaw, bracing himself, because Scully is nothing if not predictable, and she never—

“h’NXkt!”

— sneezes —

“NGXtshiee!”

—just once. 

The third sneeze bursts out as little more than an affronted squeak, but Scully immediately draws in a mortified little gasp and peels herself away from him.

“...M’sorry,” she whispers, barely audible.

Mulder says nothing. He can’t. If he opens his mouth right now, he’ll have no possible excuse or explanation for the type of sound that will come out of it, so he offers the only thing he can safely give both of them – he pretends not to have noticed. He can tell from her small, strangled apology and the particular shade of pink Scully’s ears have turned that she would much prefer for the moment to go unacknowledged. That, at least, is something he can do for her.

Breath already starting to hitch frantically again, Scully turns further away and stifles another sneeze behind the folder now held up like a shield over her flushed face. 

Mulder stares at the numbers above the door and tries to recall whether spontaneous human combustion is covered under his federal employee health benefits. 

+ + +

By the time they step off the elevator, any hope Mulder previously held that Scully’s allergic reaction might have been tapering off has been thoroughly, catastrophically disproven. The cologne is apparently the final straw in Scully’s attempts to regain composure, and she sneezes her way down the hallway toward Skinner’s office in miserable, stifled little fits – one hand pressing a crumpled ball of tissues tightly against her nose, the other clutching her folder to her chest. 

“hh’NGKT! …ihh’GKtsh! NXktsh! …Oh, my God,” she moans. “This is just absurd. Oh, I c-can’t…I can’t…can't—hihh’NGkt-SHhiew! My God, I — ngXTShh!”

“Scully,” Mulder murmurs weakly, “you might want to stop suffocating them like that.”

“I’m trying—” she gasps, “—to get a handle on this. I don’t—I don’t—d’hNGkTsh!–nGXt!–NXttShhHiu!”

“Bless you. I’m just saying, I think it’s been proven time and time again that you explicitly make things worse when you do that.” If history is any indication, Mulder knows the more she tries to hold them in, the worse the fit will get – and the longer it will go on. Not that he’d complain, usually. Quite the contrary. 

Scully gives him a sharp, annoyed look as he holds open the door to the reception area of Skinner’s office for her. She steps around him, somehow managing to hold the glare until it dissolves into the helpless prelude of a sneeze that doubles her over at the waist just as they step inside.

“—hh’EHhttTSCHiiew!” 

Mulder reaches out instinctively to place a steadying hand at her back, and then thinks better of it, pulling his hand away in an awkward fluttering motion. Touching her would probably not be in his best interest right now.

“Bless you!” Kimberly calls cheerfully from behind her desk. 

“Thank you,” Scully replies, straightening quickly. “Excuse me.” She blinks hard, presses one finger beneath her nose, and glances toward the box of tissues on the desk. “Do you mind if I…?”

Kimberly follows her gaze and smiles kindly. “Of course, take whatever you need.”

Scully takes one tissue, hesitates, then takes another, dabbing delicately at her nose with the first and tucking the second into the cuff of her blazer.

“A.D. Skinner will be with you both shortly,” Kimberly informs them. “Feel free to take a seat in the meantime.” 

Mulder manages to nod and smile politely back, though he fears what he offers might resemble something more like a strained grimace as he takes a seat next to Scully on the uncomfortable leather sofa. There’s a part of him he is not particularly proud of that wonders how difficult it would be to find out what the exact brand name of that cologne is.

Beside him, Scully bobs forward soundlessly into the tissue with another trio of sneezes, then releases an exhausted, shaky exhale that sounds precariously close to a whimper. Yet another part of himself he is not, in this particular moment or context, at all proud of, begins to respond accordingly. 

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This is exactly what he’d been trying to avoid. 

Maybe there’s still time to call in a bomb threat and cancel this meeting entirely.

“Agent Scully? Agent Mulder?” Skinner calls, leaning out of his office door and beckoning them in. 

Shit. Maybe not.

+ + +

“Take a seat,” Skinner says, settling into his chair and opening a folder on the desk in front of him. “I received a fax from the Franklin County Police Department yesterday afternoon, and needless to say, I have more questions for the two of you regarding the way this case was wrapped up. I thought we might start with—”

“—mptschiieEW!”

A muffled, high-pitched little sneeze Scully tries – and fails – to stifle against two fingers interrupts his sentence, but Skinner doesn’t appear to be fazed. “...Agent Scully’s report,” he continues, not looking up. “Bless you.”

“Excuse me,” Scully murmurs, giving her nose a brisk rub as she leans forward to hand over her report. Skinner takes it, flipping through pages with the kind of professional focus Mulder fears is increasingly out of the picture for himself. He risks a glance over at Scully, who is clearly trying to hold back another sneeze, and Mulder watches, feeling dazed, as she pulls out all the stops – tensing her shoulders, narrowing her eyes, furrowing her brows, scrunching up her nose – staving it off until she simply can’t anymore.

“Ex-excuse me,” she gasps, turning sharply away and raising one hand, “I-I’m—I’m sorry, I’m g—I’m ghh—! hh’NGkshh! Hih-hh-hihh…!? hh’nNGh-shiew! hihh…!….iihtSCHHhhiew! hihh—!? ‘mMpk’tschiEew!”

“Bless you,” Skinner repeats in a low voice, glancing up at her this time with one eyebrow raised. Scully carefully lowers her hand from where she’s cupped it over her nose and mouth, and exhales slowly and carefully.

“Th-thank you, sir.”

It is, in theory, a perfectly ordinary workplace exchange. A polite acknowledgement, a monosyllabic honorific offered to a superior officer during a supervisory meeting. Mulder has heard her say the word a thousand times before in a thousand different rooms, and really, that should be the end of it.

But Scully’s voice is  thickened by congestion and softened by embarrassment, and the “sir” comes out low and breathless and slightly husky – and Mulder’s mind unhelpfully supplies several contexts in which he would very much like to hear her say that word again. 

He is, apparently, a worse man than he has previously understood himself to be.

Carefully, slowly, and with as much casual coolness as he can possibly muster, Mulder lowers the file onto his lap, positioning it in such a way that it deliberately shields his growing situation.

“I see from your notes that you both met with the initial informant almost immediately upon arrival,” Skinner prompts. “Could you elaborate on the discrepancies you identified in Mr. Parker’s statements and how exactly you came to that conclusion?”

Scully clears her throat and nods, sitting up a little straighter, looking determined to proceed.

"Yes. Shortly after Agent Mulder and myself arrived at Mr. Parker’s residence," Scully continues, "we were able to ascertain that his version of events was inconsistent with those of…of his…his…hihhhh–his–nhhhih…!”

Mulder swallows hard and shifts in his chair, heart pounding with what feels like a lethal surge of anticipatory arousal. It’s strong enough that there's a blinding white shimmer around the edges of his vision he can’t quite blink away, his slacks suddenly uncomfortably, concerningly tight.

By now, he knows the pattern of Scully's breathing as well as his own. He knows her affronted little huffs and frightened gasps; her exhausted sighs and everything between. And this – the particular staccato of desperate, climbing hitches and rapid, urgent little gasps – this he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt. She’s gearing up for a proper fit, and it might very well lead to his undoing.

"Hihh! –ihh–hh'hiihh—!?”

Hers too, from the looks of it.

“ —Ex-tSCHiiewh! …Excuse me,” Scully continues, rapidly blinking back tears of irritation. “It was inconsistent with three of his neighbors’ accounts, all of whom had reported…reported the lights over the treeline at the end of the street closer to nine-fifteen. Naturally, this raised several qu-que-hehh…quest'SChiiew! —h’etshhieu! ‘TSCHiew! – Excuse me…questions about Mr. Parker’s reliability as a witness."

Mulder’s pulse pounds in his throat, and somewhere demandingly lower. How the hell is he supposed to give a damn about Mr. Parker when Scully has just sneezed in the middle of excusing herself for sneezing in the middle of her sentence?

He keeps his expression neutral, acutely aware that the man sitting across from him is not only his direct supervisor, but highly capable of reading him like a goddamned book should he so choose. Mulder curls his fist to rest against his chin, and chews absently at his thumbnail, hoping it reads as casual interest at her version of events – and not like he’s openly, shamelessly gazing.

Fortunately for him, Skinner's attention is focused entirely on Scully. He glances up again, his expression more or less unreadable – quite possibly mild annoyance at the continued interruptions, quite possibly genuine concern – it's hard to tell with him sometimes, Mulder thinks.

"Agent Scully," Skinner says evenly, "do you need to take a moment?"

"No, sir," Scully immediately replies, making a valiant attempt to continue. "I assure you, I'm perfectly f–fi-fi’yihhh–hh–! ihh…! hihh'NGXsh! 'NGkxsh! –iihh'NGtsh! –ngkt-SCHiiew! …'tschiiew! …Hihh–! –iihhp'tSChhiiEW!! …excuse me. I’m p-perfectly fine."

Mulder repositions his folder lower and bites the inside of his cheek until it stings enough to make him wince.

The Flukeman, he thinks desperately, staring down at the report in his lap until the typewritten letters on the cover start to swim. Think of the Flukeman. Scolexes. Slime-covered sewer monsters.

It’s not working. Not even close. All he can focus on in his peripheral vision is the hazy expression that has not yet lifted from Scully's face and the series of audibly damp sniffles that suggest she is not, in fact, perfectly fine – nor anywhere near finished.

Mulder’s gaze drifts down and to the side, and he watches as she lowers her hand beneath the level of the desk and wipes it surreptitiously against the hem of her blazer.

Tooms. Bile. Newspaper dripping with fresh, oozing—

“—Huhh’EtSSCHiiuuew!”

Jesus. Christ. He definitely should have called in a bomb threat. 

Abandoning all efforts at subtlety, Mulder finally redirects his gaze to risk another look at Scully.

She looks mortified. The force of this sneeze has folded her forward, leaving her hunched over her lap. Her cheeks are flushed a deep, rosy pink, the same shade as her nose. God, her nose. It’s running now, not a lot, but enough that the steady rhythm of quiet sniffles isn't quite managing to do the trick. Scully sniffles wetly and brings one finger – then two – to curl lightly beneath her nose, assessing the situation. Her eyes widen slightly, then dart, briefly, longingly, toward the box of tissues sitting on the shelf behind Skinner's desk.

Her need for them is evidently not a detail lost on Skinner, who now looks clearly both entirely baffled and considerably alarmed. A few seconds pass before he turns to follow her gaze, retrieving the box and sliding it across the desk without saying a word. Scully takes one, folds it in half, and dabs at her nose, sniffling quietly before continuing.

“The n-neighbor,” she tries again, wriggling her nose, “the neihh—ihh–! Huhhpt’SCHiuuEWh!”

“Agent Scully,” Skinner says carefully, “if you’re feeling unwell—”

Scully straightens instantly, her cheeks flushing deeper as she continues to avoid Skinner's watchful gaze.

"—I’m fine, sir," she cuts in, firmly. "Please excuse me."

Mulder swallows hard. The sneezes are very clearly getting more and more impossible for her to contain. Scully might be the one currently falling apart, but this entire situation is unraveling him completely. The paper he's strategically positioned over his lap is currently the only thing keeping him from complete professional ruin.

The selfish part of him – the half currently throbbing with need – wants nothing more than to stay seated elbow-to-elbow with her and watch the whole fit play out in exquisite, beautiful detail so his eidetic memory can store it to replay later. The other half – the better half, he fears – is flooding with the deep, protective ache of knowing just how much this loss of control, in front of her direct superior no less, is currently costing Scully.

He's seen her stare down monsters and murderers without so much as flinching, but it doesn't take an advanced degree in behavioral psychology to read the quiet mortification on her face as she attempts to gather herself in the face of an unrelenting storm.

Unfortunately for that selfish part, he'll always choose her. Always.

“Sir,” Mulder interjects, somehow managing to keep his voice miraculously steady considering the circumstances, “if Agent Scully wants to step out for some fresh air, I can take it from here. If, uh, if that’s all right with you.”

The solution he proposes is as much for her as it is for him. He's not sure how much longer he can last.

“That’s—” Scully immediately attempts to protest, her words snagging on the damp irritation in the back of her throat. She coughs, hastily covering her mouth with her palm, and for the first time all day Mulder can hear an audible wheeze as she simultaneously tries to catch her breath and continue her objection. “That’s really—that’s really not—”

“—With all due respect,” Skinner cuts in, “I think that would be wise. Agent Mulder can fill you in on any pertinent details later. Better yet, he can fill you in tomorrow. Go home, Agent Scully. Take the rest of the afternoon off.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Scully rasps, firing back, “I’m perfectly capable of con..of of…contihh…”

The determined, stubborn set of her face falters, overtaken by the rising tide of allergic misery – and God, she is fighting the next sneeze with everything she has. It is an extraordinary effort, and one Mulder can’t turn away from. Gnawing on the raw stump of his thumbnail, he flicks his gaze back and forth anxiously between the two of them. Any annoyance on Skinner’s face that may have been previously present has been replaced with stern compassion, and just the barest touch of lingering bewilderment.

“That wasn’t a suggestion, Agent Scully.”

Against all odds, Scully manages to rally. Her expression clears, her shoulders lift in defiance, and she opens her mouth as if to protest, but what comes out instead is a raspy, irritated cough. She clamps a hand over her mouth as she gets to her feet, lowering her hand once she manages to catch her breath again.

“Sir,” she says in a small voice, “if you have any questions about my field report…”

“I know how to reach you,” Skinner finishes for her. “Take it easy, Agent Scully.”

Scully nods and sniffles, avoiding the gaze of both men as she slips out the door. Teeth still pressed against his fingernail, Mulder says nothing, and simply watches her go.

The office is suddenly far too quiet in her immediate absence, and he feels dizzy, all the blood having rushed from his brain straight to his—

“Is she all right?” Skinner asks, nodding his head towards the general direction of the door. “I’ve never seen her like this.”

“Oh, yeah,” Mulder nods, lowering his hand to smooth his tie in what he hopes is a casual gesture. To his own ears, his inflection doesn’t land the way it should, so he clears his throat and tries again. “Allergies.” 

Skinner raises an eyebrow.

“I gathered as much. What on earth has her in such a state?”

Mulder shrugs as innocently as he can manage. He has just enough remaining self-preserving instinct to know that admitting to Skinner that his partner’s current condition is more or less his fault is one matter – but mentioning the crop circle side of things is another.

Instead, he jokingly feigns searching around Skinner’s office. It’s a weak deflection, but it gives him an excuse to shift in his chair and adjust the file folder still lying – strategically and very necessarily – across his lap.

“You’re not, uh, hiding a cat in here or something?”

Skinner doesn’t crack a smile, but his expression softens somewhat. He shakes his head, sighs deeply, then leans forward, gesturing at Mulder’s lap with an expectant look.

Mulder freezes.

“...Sir?” he asks, confused and panicking. He is so, completely fucked.

“Your report, Agent Mulder? May I review it?”

“Uh…no?” 

Skinner’s brows lift in surprise, and Mulder blinks, scrambling. Heat uncharacteristically floods his face as he attempts to pull himself together, leaning forward and handing it over.

"Oh. Right. Yes. Of course."

Skinner frowns.

“Are you all right, Agent Mulder?”

“...Sir?”

“You seem rather distracted.”

Mulder chooses his next words carefully and tries not to choke on them. 

“Sometimes it gets pretty rough for her. Guess I’m just thinking about worst case scenarios.”

It’s a big fat lie. He’s thinking about Scully ducking into the privacy of the nearest washroom, sneezing openly and wholeheartedly – the way he knows she desperately needs to. He’s thinking about Scully blowing her nose, splashing cold water onto her face, and letting out a long, shaky sigh.

It’s a big fat lie, but Skinner seems to buy it.

“Try not to,” Skinner answers easily. “Agent Scully will be fine. She’s tougher than both of us combined. Now, if we could pick up where she left off, with the neighbors’ timeline discrepancies…”

With great effort, Mulder returns his attention to the meeting as Skinner resumes his questions. He nods at all the right places, answers when prompted, and keeps his voice even enough to pass for professional – but it’s not long before his thoughts drift gently and inevitably, back to Scully.

One way or another, they always do.

God help him, he’s already counting down the seconds until he’s alone.

+

[sickhaze]

as discussed [ here ], i forgot to take my hayfever meds the other day and my nose was so unbearably tickly 🌾🌸🤧

so ended up having to induce a lil bit to try and work it out and… whew. what an experience 🫠

[head-colds]

vindictive magic user who wants to curse someone but doesn’t want the blame traced back to them, so they curse them to sneeze exponentially more each day. the day it’s cast, the recipient only sneezes once. normal of course. the next day, twice. not unusual either. third day — four times? there must’ve been something in the air.

on the fourth day, they sneeze sixteen times. jeez, are they getting sick? but no, they feel fine otherwise… must’ve encountered a new allergen or something. they wash and figure that’s that.

until the fifth day when, somewhere along the course of sneezing two hundred and fifty six times, they know something is properly wrong. they shrug off the concern of others, but mentally retrace and shiver as they get a sense of the pattern. they realize just how urgently they need to swallow their pride and ask for help before this gets disastrously out of hand.

[feferig]

everything in life just comes back to hot nerds sneezing

[snezus-christ-risen]

Love when someone sneezes a double but the second sneeze is markedly more forceful and empathic, as if their body is angry at the first sneeze for failing to complete the job properly.

[thebluebirdsnest]

caught the pollen in mid-release as I was leaving for work today 🌾

[heleniumx]

Currently infatuated with the vision of: Someone waking up in an unfamiliar bed (hotel? guest room? partner's bedroom? -- your choice) and almost immediately beginning the morning with a sneeze.

They manage to turn and muffle it into the pillow just in time (or perhaps they were already in a position to readily do so), expecting that will quell the tickle that appears to be what woke them up in the first place.

...Only that doesn't seem to help matters. On the contrary, it immediately makes things worse. Their sinuses flood with congestion and the tickle flares up immediately.

Bleary-eyed and blinking away both the heaviness of sleep and now tears of irritation, they sniffle thickly as it slowly dawns on them that the pillow itself (dust mites? down feathers? scented product?) appears to be the problem.

They squint at the alarm clock next to the bed -- it's much earlier than they thought. The person they're sharing a bed with is still fast asleep.

They sneeze a second time, once again instinctively muffling it into the pillow before they can think better of it. It's absolutely the wrong thing to do, but they really don't want to wake their partner up this early. If they try to slip out of bed now they'll surely do exactly that.

And so, when the third sneeze starts building, what other choice do they have than to repeat a doomed cycle?

[sneezestuck]

I’m sure this has been done, but A and B are grocery shopping and

A: (takes a bar of soap off the shelf and holds it out to B) Smell this.

B: (leans in, sniffs it, blinks, leans back, sneezes)

A: (puts the soap back on the shelf) Okay, not that one.

[snzzzonmepls]

When someone who obviously can’t stop sneezing says that they can’t stop sneezing

[charm-03]

When people go to get more tissues, and you can hear them sneezing on their way? Yeah...that's hot...

[heleniumx]

the snzfucker’s guide to the snziest plants

for when you need to put your OCs/favs in a Situation™ or if you're simply curious about the science behind why plants make us sneeze

please do not reblog to non-snz blogs // Minors DNI (18+ blog)

Hi! I'm Leni and I'm a plant ecologist and snzfucker (obviously). If you like to include accurate details in your snz fics but don't know where to start when it comes to all things hay fever and plant allergies (or if you're just curious for...reasons) then you've come to the right place! I've put together this mini guide to get you started. If you ever have any questions on any of the following, please feel free to reply to this post (or send me an ask if you prefer to be anonymous).

In this guide:

Mini crash course on plants, pollen + pollination

A selected list of the sneeziest plants, categorized by: 🌻 wildflowers + weeds 🌾 grasses 🌳 shrubs 🌲 trees 💐 cultivated flowers 💥 sternutatory plants 🏅special mentions

The Chhinkni Corner™ - how/why does it work? a deeper dive into plant snience (snz science...hehe)

Some fun plant + snz facts sprinkled throughout

Tools, references, and resources at the end

Feel free to skip directly to the parts that interest you. I won't be offended if you don't read it all!

Some important disclaimers before we get started:

In an attempt to keep this as accessible as possible I am simplifying some concepts and skipping over some entirely. Otherwise there's just too much to get into!

This is by no means a complete list of species rather a selected assortment

I am not an immunologist, allergist, or palynologist (pollen scientist). I’m coming at this through the lens of a plant ecologist and snzfcker

While I did create one of the figures/images in this chart, the others I have 'borrowed' from elsewhere on the internet - normally I would include proper credits/citations but, uh, I don't really think we want the authors to accidentally end up here.

Many plants, including some referenced in this document and the included resources can be extremely toxic, dangerous – or even deadly – if used, consumed, or prepared incorrectly. Do not be silly in your pursuit of snz.

Let's dive in! (don't worry, there won't be a pop quiz)

Mini Crash Course on Plants + Pollen

What's the deal with plants? Like, where do I start if I know...nothing? You can start right here!! Okay, so there are a lot (and I do mean a lot) of different ways we classify plants. but for the purposes of this post, I'm going to to break down a few of the key ones in a way that (hopefully) isn't too overwhelming.

The Linnaean Classification system: This is the standard method of classifying all living organisms, using taxonomic binomial nomenclature (a formal, 2-part naming system in Latinized forms).

🌱 FUN FACT: Common names of plants often vary from region to region, culture to culture, and era to era. You can learn a lot from a plant's common name, and often a lot more from its binomial nomenclature. For example, the plant known as Common Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) derives its binomial species name (ptarmica) from the Greek word ptairo ("sneeze") which means "causes sneezing!" -- Thus, the plant's full scientific name translates to "Yarrow that causes sneezing." Pretty on[in?]-the-nose if you ask me.

Do all plants produce pollen? Nope! Not all plants produce pollen. I've put together the following chart which helps break down how we further classify plants --specifically in the context of what plants produce pollen and how they are pollinated, which all leads us to understanding what makes them more/less allergenic and why...we'll get into shortly.

Why do plants produce pollen, and what exactly is pollination? It's how plants get it on, bay-bee! 🐝 Pollination is how the male parts of a plant transfer genetic material to the female parts of the plant, allowing plants to produce seed and fruit, and ensure the genetic diversity of its species is maintained. Let's talk about it!

Reproductive Categories: Both Angiosperms (flowering) and Gymnosperms (non-flowering) have male structures which produce pollen and female structures which develop seeds and fruit.

In Angiosperms, the part of a flower containing the male reproductive organs is called the stamen. At the tip of the stamen is the anther, which is where pollen is produced! The part of a flower containing the female reproductive organ is called the pistil, which contains the ovary. Once fertilized by pollen, this part develops into the mature fruit/seed.

Flowers (and cones) can be male, female, or bisexual -- and there are even more categories I'm not going to get into but...Nature is queer, y'all! And it's awesome.

Monoecious plants have both male and female unisexual flowers on the same plant, which means they are self-pollinating. Examples include: Birch, Oak, Spruce, and Pine trees; and vegetables like pumpkins, cucumbers, corn and tomatoes. Dioecious plants have unisexual male and female parts on separate plants, and need to be cross pollinated in order to produce seed. Examples include: Juniper, Poplar, Maple, and Willow trees; and vegetables like asparagus and spinach.

🌱 FUN FACT: On monoecious conifer trees, female cones grow on the upper branches of the tree, where they can be fertilized by the pollen of male cones blown upwards from the wind.

Okay, so exactly how are plants pollinated? Biotic Pollination (by animals - primarily insects, but also birds and small mammals). In exchange for pollination services, these plants provide animals with food (pollen is very high in protein and nutrients).

Abiotic Pollination (by natural phenomenons - like wind, rain, or water). These are strong, independent self-pollinating plants who don’t need no bugs.

What makes some plants more allergenic than others? It all has to do with how they're pollinated!

Insect-pollinated plants generally tend to be the least allergenic, as the pollen grains are generally larger and stickier, allowing them to easily stick to insect bodies. I mean, just look at these guys. They’re absolutely lost in the sauce:

Wind-pollinated plants, on the other hand, tend to be the most allergenic as their pollen grains are smaller and lighter. They also tend to produce a lot more of it in quantity, since their distribution method is a lot less targeted (they rely on the variable forces of wind and water vs relying on, say, a bee that is reliably going to fly from flower to flower).

Depending on the anatomical structure of a species’ flowers, it may be both animal and wind-pollinated. Privet, for example, is primarily insect-pollinated, but because it has anthers that protrude considerably from its flower (hubba hubba), its pollen can be distributed by the wind, as this article explains.

🌱 FUN FACT: Some bees have special structures known as pollen baskets (or corbiculae) to help them efficiently store and carry pollen!

How is allergy season defined? The peak flowering/pollen times for plants varies by region, even if the same plant species grows across a wide geographical range. This is influenced largely by climate, and may vary slightly year-by-year. Ragweed, for example is abundant throughout all of central-eastern continental US, but pollen levels may peak at different times, depending on what state you're in (the state of allergic misery perhaps). For example, someone who usually prepares accordingly for ragweed season to hit them in mid-September where they live might be in for a bit of a surprise if they travel to another part of the country in mid-late August...!

What is hay fever, exactly? Is it the same as seasonal allergies? Essentially, yes. Hay fever is actually bit of a misnomer, as it was originally believed that the scent of freshly-cut grass (later dried to be used as hay*) was triggering allergic symptoms. Grass pollen of course can be a major trigger for allergies, nowadays the term is used almost interchangeably with the more-accurately described allergic rhinitis. *Consider also, if you really want to put your character in a Situation, the fact that dried hay often contains not only pollen, but mold spores and dust/dried plant particles...

Why does pollen make people sneeze? In simple terms: pollen allergies are an immunological response to the proteins found in different types of pollen. This article, titled 'Allergies: The Radical Theroy of Sneezing' goes into much further detail. Also, um, hello?!!? That name???

🌱 FUN FACT: This paper is the first recorded medical description of 'hay fever.' In case you want to read it. For science, obviously.

A Selected List of the Sneeziest Plants

🌻 wildflowers + weeds

Asters, Daisies, Sunflowers (Members of the Asteraceae family) in general  Ragweed (members of the Ambrosia genus): specifically Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) and Great Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) Mugworts (members of the Artemisia genus) - particularly Common Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) Pigweed (members of the Amaranthus genus) Goosefoot (Chenopodium album)

💐 cultivated or cut flowers

Baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata) and its relatives in the same genus Chrysanthemums or 'Mums' (members of the Chrysanthemum genus) Asters, Daisies, Sunflowers (Members of the Asteraceae family), including: Dahlias (members of the Dahlia genus) Gerberas (members of the Gerbera genus) 

🌾 grasses

Timothy grasses (members of the Phleum genus) Sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) Ryegrass (members of the Lolium genus) Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata) Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum)

🌳 shrubs/small trees

Common Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) Hazels (members of the Corylus genus) Juniper (members of the Juniperus genus) Cypress (members of the Cupressaceae family) Privet (members of the Ligustrum genus)

🌲 trees

Alder (members of the Alnus genus) Ash (members of the Fraxinus genus) Beech (members of the Fagus genus) Birch (members of the Betula genus) Cedar (members of the Cedrus genus) Elm (members of the Ulmus genus) Hickory (members of the Carya genus) Maple (members of the Acer genus) Mulberry (members of the Morus genus) Oak (members of the Quercus genus) Olive (members of the Olea genus) Sycamore (members of the Platanus genus) Poplar (members of the Populus genus)

🌱 FUN FACT: People who are allergic to the pollen of one plant species are more likely to also be allergic to species in the same plant family. For example, those who are Ash tree pollen may also be allergic to the pollen of Olives and Lilacs, as all three are members of the Oleaceae family.

🏅special mentions (plants that may or may not necessarily be allergenic but still deserve to be mentioned)

Highly fragrant plants (known to or most likely to trigger scent reactions) Lilies – particularly Asiatic hybrids such as Lilium orientalis (aka the Stargazer lily) Hyacinths (members of the Hyacinthus genus) Lilacs (members of the Syringa genus) Wisteria (members of the Wisteria genus) Lavender (members of the Lavandula genus) Jasmine (members of the Jasminum genus) Freesias (specifically the highly fragrant Antique White Freesia aka Freesia alba) Viburnums (Specifically the Burkwood Viburnum aka Viburnum × burkwoodii) Roses (members of the Rosa genus)* *There are certain types of hybrid Roses that have been bred specifically for traits like fragrance (eg. the variety known as “Mme Isaac Pereire”) but honestly...most of my knowledge pertains to wild rose species and I'm not researching this topic any further because people who grow cultivated/hybrid roses can be Extremely Serious about it and I’m genuinely a little scared of them. Small, fluffy seed heads (wind-distributed seeds that are very tiny and light and easy to breathe in...Do you see where i'm going with this? You see the vision?!) Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale): Willowherbs (members of the Epilobium genus) Cottongrasses (members of the Eriophorum genus) Asters (members of the Aster genus) Goldenrods (members of the Solidago genus) Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) Hypoallergenic plants (these species tend to have thick/sticky pollen that does not become airborne, or needs to be intentionally disturbed by specialist polinators in order to disperse). A pollen allergy to any of the following plants would extremely unlikely, but an objectively hilarious affliction to give to a character. Orchids (members of the Orchidaceae family)Cactus (members of the Cactaceae family) Irises, Crocuses, and Freesias (members of the Iridaceae family) Columbines (members of the Aquilegia family)

🌱 FUN FACT: Many flowers have been cultivated (intentionally bred or hybridized to for specific traits) to produce less pollen. We call these varieties "cultivars." For allergy sufferers, hypoallergenic cultivars are great to grow in their garden (or to purchase at a florist). For pollinators who expend energy to search for a food source, it's not so great. It's even less great if these cultivars are native species which are subsequently planted or introduced into the wild, as it can compromise the genetic integrity of that species' wild populations, and negatively impact native pollinators.

💥 Sternutatory or Errhine plants Sternutatory (adjective): Also sternutative. causing or tending to cause sneezing Errhine (noun): a medicine to be snuffed up the nostrils to promote sneezing and increased discharges.

Important Disclaimer ⚠️ DO NOT TRY THESE AT HOME ( I cannot stress this enough). This is for information purposes only and should not be used as a how-to guide. Many plants, including some on this list and the resources at the end of this guide can be extremely toxic, dangerous – or even deadly – if used, consumed, or prepared incorrectly. Misidentification of plant species can also be deadly. Seriously, do not be silly in your pursuit of snz. Stick with chhinkni, folks.

Wait, so…plants can make you sneeze even without pollen? Heck yeah, friends! We've all heard about pepper as a snz trigger, of course...Well, Black Pepper is just the common name for the plant also known as Piper nigrum. Peppercorns are its dried fruit, and it's what we grind up to get black pepper seasoning! And chhinkni? It's all plant parts! We'll get into that later, too.

Indigenous peoples around the world have been using plants medicinally for millennia. Traditionally, sternutatory (yes, that is the fancy scientific word for ‘sneeze-inducing’) plants were used to treat or cure the common cold, headaches, or in some cases as a stimulant. Are you writing a fic with a character who is an herbalist, traditional medicine practitioner, healer, witch/wizard, etc? Perhaps they would be familiar with some of the following plants:

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) - [crushed dried leaves and flower heads] Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica)  - [dried powdered roots; possibly leaves?] Sneezewood (Ptaeroxylon obliquum) - [powder from wood, bark] Spreading Sneezeweed (Centipeda minima) - [squeezed flower heads] Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) - [dried crushed roots; dried crushed pods] Spanish chamomile (Anacyclus pyrethrum) - [powdered roots] Leopard’s Bane (Arnica montana) - [freshly crushed flowers; whole plant; dried/powdered] Scarlet Creeper (Ipomoea hederifolia) - [roots] Redberry (Deeringia amaranthoides) [powdered roots] Cypress vine (Quamoclit pennata) - [powdered roots] Ipecacuanha (Cephaelis ipecacuanh) - [dried roots and rhizomes] Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera) - [powdered root bark] and its relatives Box Myrtle (Myrica Esculenta) and Swamp Bayberry (Myrica caroliniensis) Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) - [dried pulverized seeds] Mouse-ear hawkweed (Pilosella officinarum) - [leaves] Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) - [powdered] Betony (Betonica officinalis) - [powdered herb/dried leaves] Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) - [dried powdered leaves often added to snuff powders]Bee Balm aka Wild Bergamont (Monarda fistulosa) - [dried tops of the plants] Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) [dried roots] Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) - [powder of the dried nuts] Sage, Marjoram, and Tobacco [referenced here as a “gentle” sternutative]

🌱 FUN FACT: Mugwort is considered one of the most important herbs ("the mother of herbs") in traditional medicine (and witchcraft, allegedly). It is both a sternutatory plant and a highly-allergenic plant. It sure would be a shame if your herbalist/healer/witchy character had to both grow/harvest it and prepare/pulverize it...

Okay, but how and why exactly do these plants make us sneeze? Excellent question, so let's get into it! Come on over to...

The Chhinkni Corner

Ever wondered why Chhinkni works? Why it's so effective? What the ingredients are? Exactly how/why these ingredients make us sneeze? Let's dive into some plant + snz science (Snience)!

First, let's break down the ingredients of Chhinkni:

Skimmia laureola [leaf, powdered] Box Myrtle (Myrica Esculenta) [bark, powdered] Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) [wood, powdered] Camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphor) [extract] Peppermint (Mentha piperita) [extract] Southern Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) [oil]

Well, we know from the list of (some of the known) sternutatory plants above that the root bark of Myrica species is sternutatory, so that makes sense! But what about the others on this list? Let's get back to that important question:

What about these specific plants/plant parts make us sneeze? It all has to do with Transient receptor potential channels (TRP channels). TRP channels are primarily located on the plasma membrane of our cells. They detect environmental stimuli and translate this exposure into sensations of chemesthesis (irritation, burning, cooling, tingling) pressure, taste, and smell. There are six main categories of specialized TRP channels, which play different roles throughout our body. Here's a chart that helps visualize each category:

Woah, this is getting a little overwhelming. What the heck does this have to do with snz? Or plants?! Everything, my friend! Everything! Many TRP channels are heavily expressed in the epithelial cells of nasal mucosa. Each TRP channel is activated by different things (with some overlaps) including different chemicals found in specific plant families. Let's look at some of these TRP channels (and what activates them) and things will start to make a lot more sense:

TRPV is activated by: --- Capsaicin (found in Chili Pepper), Piperine (found in Black Pepper), Carvacrol (found in Bee Balm), Camphor (primarily found the Camphor tree, but also found in plants like Rosemary), Menthol, Cannabis, Incense, Ginger, Menthol (mint). TRPA is activated by: --- Mustards (mustard, radish, horseradish, wasabi), Cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon), Tobacco, Cannabis, Wintergreen oil (aka what gives mint candies/gum its flavor), Shogaols (found in Ginger and Sichuan peppers) TRPM is activated by: --- Eucalyptol (oils from Eucalyptus plants), Menthol (mints),  --- Cold temperatures

Hmm...does anything on this list sound familiar in a snz context??!?!?!?!

Wait, is this why things like pepper, cold temperatures, mint, spices, and strong smells make people sneeze? It sure is! When certain TRP channels are activated, they send signals to your body that trigger protective reflexes (eg. sneezing and coughing) to get rid of the irritant. Everyone's cellular make-up is as unique as they are, and we all react and respond to external stimuli in different ways. Some people might only get a runny nose when exposed to cold temperatures, while for others it might trigger sneezing.

🌱 FUN FACT: There have been studies examining TRP channels in the nasal cavity and the role they might play in allergic rhinitis. There have also been studies on specific TRP receptors in the nasal mucosa comparing patients with and without allergenic rhinitis. There is even this study on the nasal effects of camphor, eucalyptus, and menthol!

Learning Tools and More Resources

See where plants grow on a map: Want to know where specific plants grow? Input the plant species (or the genus or family -- now that you know what that is!) into the search bar, and it will show you its global distribution range based on user-submitted data. You can also narrow results down to a specific area. Note: This data is compiled through user-submitted data and may be erroneous. For best results, filter search results using the “Research Grade Observation” option. While the results don’t provide insight on historical range, native vs. introduced species, it’s a great tool to get you started! Pollen Allergen Tool: An interactive chart that shows common allergenic proteins and which plants produce pollens containing them. Repeated Disclaimer ⚠️ The following resources are shared for information purposes only. Many plants, including some on these lists are extremely toxic, dangerous – or even deadly – if used, consumed, or prepared incorrectly. Sternutatory Plants: A list of sternutatory plant species compiled by the USDA Sternutatory Plants: A second list, compiled using various data sources. This paper published in 2021 on the use of sternutatory plants in herbal medicine, TRP activity. and this banger of a quote: "Sneezing had great significance and value throughout history; it exerted a strange fascination on humans" I protest the use of past-tense, but alas. Folks, this paper is Snience (Snz Science) in action. If the following excerpt is any indication:

The End!!

THANK YOU for reading if you got this far, and congrats on making it to the end of this post! I hoped you learned as much as you horned (if not more) and I hope this little guide can come in handy one way or another.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, if you ever have any questions on any of these topics, please feel free to reply to this post (or send me an ask if you prefer to be anonymous) and I'll do my best to answer! 💚🌿

xoxo, Leni 🌼

[w1ngxd]

I’m traveling for work this week and hadn’t been off the plane five minutes before my coworker said “if you’re allergic to oak pollen, it’s really bad here right now so good luck.”

[airborneglitter]

I've never drawn anthro characters before - as you can probably tell - but I always thought they were really Neat?

This is Josef. He's a European hare. Botany professor, agricultural scientist and gardening enthusiast, who may or may not have some trouble with some plants, though he refuses to let that get in the way of his passions.

[xghostlightx]

You can imagine hot people sneezing whenever you want, it's legal and no one can stop you.

[quosterking]

Fantasy snz thing, but has anyone considered that magical spells might have some sort of physical component about them? An illusion spell manifesting in powdered colors to represent an explosion, but the magic itself feels like fine dust that isn’t harmful. Or an enchantment spell feeling like carbonated fizz when it attaches to one’s senses and overwhelms them.

I’m so certain that magic itself is itchy, and I imagine being in the presence of it could make someone sneeze. I also say this because I think the visual of magic tingling around at someone’s nose while they’re trying to fight back a sneeze from it is very fun.

[n0seferatu]

pro tip: if your coworker who you work next to every day asks if you are allergic to her perfume and you lie and say no because you got flustered having it acknowledged, she may continue to wear that perfume

[svftstar]

i wanna know what your guy’s favorite way of covering is :pp personally i’m a big fan of cupped hands!! please let me know!

hand

cupped hands

tissue

fist

elbow

palm

no covering

into the shirt/sweater

something else

Voting ended onMar 27