#tannin

[smallestbubs]

sibling rivalry

[tetrabytez]

Part Two

Is your tannin sensitivity consistent?

I like all three (Red Grapes/Black Tea/Beer)

I like (Red Grapes/Black Tea)

I like (Red Grapes/Beer)

I like (Black Tea/Beer)

I only like Red Grapes

I only like Black Tea

I only like Beer

I dislike all three (Red Grapes/Black Tea/Beer)

Something Else/Allergic/Show Results

Voting ended onAug 21, 2023

Reblog if you vote for sample size, please!

Part One

[paleo-violet]

The color of tannin in stream water. You agree

[titleknown]

BEYOND HELLOWEEN #5: PETIT ROUGE, BREAKER OF SHIPS!

“I… regret, in my parochialism, I have not met many times with the tanninim peoples. For a time I feared them, for at once the existential dread from their demands and the absolute clarent moral truth of their desires. In this, I show my weakness.

If you meet her again, tell her the entrance nearest to what they seek is between the twin wrecks of the Gog and Meggido, and to ask for Sophia Blue, who she will know when she sees. I would be willing to talk if they do meet, Blue owes me, and I have much I would… be interested in discussing…

...Also, where did you buy that salve? I may have uses for it.”-Giobela

In hindsight, I probably should have predicted I would be waylaid twice. This time it was on a ship, though I had bought safe passage with my… payment. Perhaps it was in fact satisfying to see the Baron used as payment

And BEFORE YOU JUDGE ME, know that if I told you half of what he utilized my research for, you would be begging for far worse. I had in fact asked my human contact for this to back me up and he… he presumed at first that I was making an Aristocrats joke. Unless that means something VERY DIFFERENT to humankind, I believe I have made my point.

But the ship was wrecked when it reached the center of the sea, one of those great serpents, a tannin, got us. 

The price was too low, I should have known. In one second there was a flash of red flesh and rusted mettal and the ship was in pieces, and the tannin began to pick off those left one by one. I attempted to flee, but I too have stamina, and where would I go.

Sitting down on the timbers, I felt as if I would die there and now, so I might do one last kind thing, and released the shining lobsters. In this place, I felt as they would be safe. And as I did so, the shape paused. She came from the water and she spoke to me.

“YOU ARE NOT LIKE THE OTHERS. FOR WHAT REASON ARE YOU HERE?”

And that is how I met the terror of the seas, the great red beast of raw flesh and metal scars, broken from the Morningstar Skyscraper in Dis to the sea to become the breaker of ships, the greatest and wide-awake.

I informed her that my goal was to chronicle the non-demonic beings of Hell on the way to a friend. “THEN YOU MUST KNOW A TRUTH THE DEVILS WILL NEVER SPEAK HELL MUST FALL, IN RUST AND IN WATER. NO CHILD OF THE FALLEN STAR ALIVE PERMITS MY KIND TO EXIST, AND NO DEMON MUST BE LEFT SPARED. THIS IS WHY I AM THE BREAKER OF SHIPS.”

Ah, yes, the Leviathan rebellion. For in all empires there must be an underclass, and in Hell there are many. The tanninim were here before the fallen, and of the Fallen’s crimes, the conversion of the great serpents to infrastructure is amongst the greatest. I saw the refuse of what she had been built into before.

I asked about the rebellion of the devotees of Lillith, quietly and silently attempting to alter the pit in an image beyond hate. I was interrupted by her right in the middle.

“I DO NOT SPEAK TO THEM, FOR THEY HAVE NEVER SPOKEN TO ME. IF THEIR COMPASSIONS EXTEND TO US, WE HAVE NOT SEEN IT. WE DO NOT TRUST THEM. WHAT SOCIETY DO THEY TRY TO SAVE, I WONDER? ONE THAT IS BUILT UPON OUR BACKS, THE WRETCHED OF THE PIT?”

I noted she referred to a “we,” and asked her if she worked with any other varieties of Tanninim.

“...I WILL NOT SPEAK THEIR NAMES, BUT I DO. THEY… RESPECT ME. THEY FEAR ME. THEY DO NOT LIKE ME. THE CHILDREN OF THE FALLEN STAR AMONGST THE SEA SEEM TO ENJOY MY COMPANY. I AM… UNSURE OF HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS.”

There was further conversation. She remembered her parents and how they were taken from her, and has three guesses as to where they are if their frames still live. I aided in narrowing it down to two, which may have been cold comfort, but she still seemed to take some in such.

She then twitched and let out a howl that I… cannot convey in text. I saw a gash in her side, and asked if it hurt. “IT HURTS, THE SEA OF SALT AND ICHOR GNAWS AT MY SKIN. BUT IT IS THE PAIN OF FREEDOM, A PAIN FAR LESS THAN THAT OF CHAINS, AND A PAIN I WOULD ENDURE A THOUSAND YEARS MORE.”

I will note, when people say that, they are usually LYING, insomuch as the pain still DEEPLY SUCKS and they would rather live free without it. I do not think I could change the institutional issues that lead to her raw skin, which is perhaps why those of her situation believe pain is inescapable. Nevertheless, I offered her some healing salve.

I was thankful for buying it in bulk from that… well, let us call her an affable scoundrel of a crab-woman, which has allowed me to keep a canister of it on myself at all times. Most who know healing magic find it useless, and the attitude of wizards is that “the only wound that matters is the last one you take,” (which they are largely correct in until they aren’t), but for those who cannot cast themselves it is a godsend.

She… recoiled at first when I attempted to apply it to the wound, but convinced of my goodwil, she allowed me to apply it. It required the full canister, but it worked, better than I had expected in fact. I saw scales on the surface growing, an iridescent dark violet to blue-green in color.

I know that the tanninim can see, but as creatures born in darkness they do so without eyes. But, I could feel whatever she saw with, there was a look there in… some emotion I cannot quite name. I could perhaps attempt, but that would be gauche. My best description would be a sort of twilight between euphoria and anomie.

This was enough for her to offer me a ride. I get a sense that even amongst her comrades kindnesses like this are few, and the way she spoke of those she gained like treasures gave me further evidence.

Not that I fault those others. All creatures embedded in struggle do as they can; because it is far more difficult to do what you can’t…

...I apologize, that was inane, my brother-sister is far greater in philosophy than myself. She did hum-whistle an old lullaby as I rode upon her back. With her permission I may include it in the notes, but it is a composition about the passing of the ten moons before the pit emerged, the means by which the tanninim of old determined the need for sleep in a world without sun.

It is one of the rare relics of this place before the great wound of the fall was formed, and one I will cherish forever. I did not say this to her for fear of… well, for fear, but I wonder what happened to them in the formation of the pit. I have hypotheses on which may have been scattered, but investigation may be required. I hope what I find might give her some hope…

----------------------------------------------------

Given that my version of Hell is inspired by all that is terrible about the US, it is probably no surprise that beyond those treated as full citizens, there's an underclass or rather several. 

The damned are one, and another is the tanninim, the species that Leviathan was the ruler over. And yes, this is me using obscure mythology yet again, you know me.

For the record, they're not meant to be a direct allegory for any singular millitant oppressed group, just inspired by them generally combined with in-universe Watsonian logic. Tolkien was right about allegory even if he was dead wrong about the design of Hobbits (they should totally be weird bunny-things, it's a more interesting design, you bitchass dead coward).

As with all the Helloween stuff, the whole descriptions, designs, ectcetera from this project are free to use as you see fit under a CC-BY 4.0 license so long as I; Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator! Have fun!

[black-bird-red-belly]

This is a Tannin, it's an alien from the planet Lotan, and it's a quadrupedal hexapod. All tannins more or less are born with the same sets of reproductive organs, but gender themselves into several categories with age and experience, usually based on the circumstances of their own birth and whether or not they, themselves have had offspring.

They do not breathe through their mouths, instead breathing and even speaking through a peculiar gill-like labyrinth of tissues on either side of their body. This means that it is nigh impossible to choke one.

The species primarily lives in complex underground networks of caves and constructed rooms with a group of other Tannins. They are at least as intelligent as human beings, forming strong bonds with their clanmates. Their tails are prehensile, making them very dextrous despite their large size (similar to a large horse!)

[starryknight-dragonarts]

“The Aeon of Creation”
Director Paracelsus
the Aeon of Life

Gender:
Male

Background:
Director Paracelsus is one half of a pair of (formerly) conjoined twins, and the second in command to the true leader of the Legion. With the assistance of the Legion's other fellow doctor and advancements he had his brother surgically removed from his body so he may have more of a public appearance as a full dragon instead of being seen as a walking freakshow. He still lacks the ability to fly but his artificial arm makes up for it. Along with being the Director of the Legion's research he is also the "Aeon of Life" Head of a particular branch of the Legion responsible for the study and application of magic used to create and control Life. His claim to fame is the creation of Dragon Homunculi (or more accurately "Draculi") a species of artificial living dragons made with Alchemy. It has been a long process to make them viable but he intends to have his Draculi soon completley replace the need for kidnapped child experiments; why steal test subjects when they can create their own. It would rid their subjects of any external factors making them less inclined to resist or have flaws that could make them more difficult to use. With Draculi they can control every part of their biology and make them ideal for every individual experiment.

Personality:
Paracelsus cares a lot about how he is perceived by other dragons and his standing in society, he's boastful, pretentious, and doesn't care who he has to sacrafice or step over in order to be seen as a brilliant genius despite, but he basically lacks any real skill, talent, or intelligence of his own. The only thing he's really good at is being able to spin lies to make himself look good and taking credit for other dragon's ideas and accomplishments. Because his image is based on towers of lies, he can be very dangerous if he feels threatened and will use anything his his power and authority as Legion Director to keep other Dragons silenced.

Strengths:
Deception, Influence, Conversationalist

Weaknesses:
Unoriginal, Shallow, Insecure

Powers: Psionic



Stats
 Elemental Energy: 9/10 It's unclear how exactly Elemental powers are meant to work in conjoined twins whether they are meant to have 1 source of power between then or have two individual sources. It seems like in this case Paracelsus got the larger share of energy or leeched power from his brother.

Elemental Control:

6/10 He is a little above average with his elemental power because it helps give him power and control over others, but very limited in his application of his powers. He has enough Telekinetic power to move heavy objects around, and if he needs to get rid of somebody he can use his power to inflict so much mental pain that it drives his enemies mad or cause them to lose memories.

Intelligence:
4/10 He is good enough at posing as intelligent as long as he has control of a conversation but he's actually pretty average and has never once had an original or smart idea that didn't come from somebody else.

Combat Ability: 6/10 He normally would only be below average at combat when he had his brother conjoined to him because he had limited control of his own body and could not collaborate well, but since having him removed and his body enhanced he is a lot stronger than he should be. Still does not completely make up for a lack of combat experience

[ezekiel13]

Had to try explain what a Watcher in the Dark was to my 50 year old German teacher.

Brought my Watcher in the Dark plush with me for emotional support for my german speaking exam and then I get him out while revising with my german teacher like 30 mins before and she was like “who’s that” and then I had to try explain who he was. His name is Tannin.

[bumblebeeappletree]

Soy milk is an easy way to to create prints on fiber when using natural dyes that are tannin-rich. The protein of soy milk is an organic binder that invites stronger colors that last longer, so you can use soy milk to 'paint' one-of-a-kind patterns and whimsical designs on textile. This video tutorial will show you how to make prints with soy milk and dye with black tea on cotton fiber.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction - Soy milk prints

1:10 Soy milk as a binder

2:42 Kitchen dyes

3:23 Supplies

5:32 Fiber prep

6:32 Printing pad

9:14 Soy milk printing

11:42 Tea dye

13:10 Dyeing printed fiber

14:03 Results

15:19 Wrap up

15:49 Sneak peek of next tutorial

16:29 Blooper

SUPPLY LIST

Textile - cotton shown in video

Soy milk

Tea - black leaf shown in video

Measuring cup

Measuring spoon

Pot with lid

Tongs

Bowl

Mark-making tools - sponge, brush, stencil, etc.

Printing pad

Pins, tacks or painter's tape

Scrap cloth for barrier