#Spotted St. John's Wort

[vandaliatraveler]

A hike in the Cheat River Canyon on a hazy, mid-summer day brings a great many rewards, both large and small.

From top: Fractured and pitted sandstone gives testimony to the canyon's ancient struggle with the elements; black cohosh (Actaea racemosa or Cimicifuga racemosa), whose towering flower spikes stalk the old woods like magical beings; the colorful rock harlequin (Corydalis sempervirens), an endangered fumitory that haunts the canyon's rocky outcrops; pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys), a parasitic plant closely related to Indian pipe; spotted St. John's wort (Hypericum punctatum), which is distinguished from the invasive St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) by the numerous black dots on its flowers and leaves; downy rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens), a shade-tolerant terrestrial orchid that favors oak-hickory woods; shrubby St. John's wort (Hypericum prolificum), a mounding, deciduous shrub of open, sandy woods; orange-fringed orchid (Platanthera ciliaris), a stunning late summer beauty of Appalachia's moist meadows and open woods; a hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe) visiting a late-blooming milkweed; a silvery checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) drinking up the nectar of a butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa); an American green crab spider (Misumessus oblongus) stalking a black-eyed Susan for its next meal; a large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) being perfectly beautiful on a lazy summer day; and last but not least, a hulking patch of eastern Jack-0'-lanterns (Omphalotus illudens), which contrary to what field guides say have never glowed in the dark for me (I love the toxic little beauties nonetheless).

[dansnaturepictures]

03/08/2024-Radiant shades of blue and purple: One of my first Chalkhill Blues and harebells of the year at Stockbridge Down and views at Stockbridge Common Marsh as well as Cinnabar moth caterpillar at Stockbridge Down and Tufted Ducks probably young at Stockbridge Common Marsh.

Other highlights across the two locations were an excellent Essex Skipper also my first of the year taking my year list to a pleasing 40 to make it my fifth highest ever butterfly year list, Small Skipper, some of the most Meadow Browns I've ever seen with eighty counted in a Big Butterfly Count at Stockbridge Down, Gatekeeper, Large White, Common Blue, Wavy-barred Sable, Silver Y, Six-spot Burnet, a bird of prey quadruple in Buzzards, Kestrels, Red Kite and Sparrowhawk, Goldfinch, Swallow, House Martin, Seven-spotted Ladybird, dashing Hornet Mimic hoverfly, wild basil, marjoram, common toadflax, centaury, bird's-foot trefoil, knapweed, herb-Robert, meadowsweet, eyebright, dark mullein, soapwort, rosebay willowherb, purple loosestrife, St. John's-wort, ragwort, bramble flower and blackberries and blackthorn sloes.

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

Spotted St. John's Wort - Hypericum punctatum

[oculusxcaro]

"Oh shit." Khare said, immediately clapping a hand to her mouth as she hadn't meant to swear out loud. It just... kind of slipped out as words tend to do when you've been surprised, though she quickly regretted saying anything at all when the other person noticed they were no longer alone. Awkward since it was illegal to be trespassing out back, let alone caught rummaging through the diner's waste bins in search of old food... The waitress hestitated, fingers clutched tight around the relatively fresh(er) bag of leftovers waiting to join the other bags in the skip. It had been cold lately what with still being winter, and by cold it was fucking freezing, the sort of cold that made pickup difficult thanks to the icy roads and frigid winds that made it painful for people to be outside longer than a solid three seconds. Her attention soon jumped back onto the person, Khare lifting her hands up in a placative gesture. "Hey, I'm not going to tell you off or - or anything like that! Just... you want something a little uh, fresher? At Pauli's we doesn't believe anyone should starve regardless of who they are." Or what they couldn't afford.

[awionetka]

❝ 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧…? ❞ ft. 𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫

you've faced them all. ghosts, demons, evil spirits and overconfident men who couldn't even properly hold their guard. but being tasked with tracking down the prince who vanished off the face of the earth almost a decade earlier might have just been the first, even for you.

𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫: fluff (?), suggestive. runaway heir!Xavier x bounty hunter!reader. implied romantic history. false identities. a fantasy esque setting with some elements of slavic mythology.

𝐜𝐰: foul language. mentions of alcohol. blood, injuries, weaponry. a semi-detailed fight with a demon.

𝐰𝐜: 2.5k

The last time you saw the Royal Palace, you were no more than thirteen. 

Clinging onto your father’s sleeve and somehow deadly convinced that the guards would spot you in the crowd and give an order to turn back and walk away with nothing. As still merely a child, you weren’t even supposed to be there in the first place, marching towards the open gates in search of a job. But your father insisted that this was the most adequate way for you to learn his craft – through observation – even if it meant smuggling you underneath his robe onto the castle grounds.

A lot had changed since that day, starting with the obvious – you no longer needed to watch in order to absorb your parent’s knowledge, if anything he could be the one learning from you. It took long, meticulous years of trial, error and everything in between to become one of the most skilled bounty hunters the Kingdom had to offer, but you succeeded, and no one could rip that away from you, no matter how hard they’d strain.

The white steeples of the Palace shimmered in the rising sun, sending almost magical reflections onto the town situated below. Usually you’d thrive in moments like these, when the outside world was still half-asleep and easy to fluster. But the rustle of papers tucked into your pocket successfully steered you off that, serving as a bittersweet reminder of what was to come next in your journey – what you had little to no control of.

However first things first; you needed a pint of good, moderately priced beer and something tasty to sink your teeth into.

Two mistakes were made by you that day (maybe more, but in your current state you couldn’t be bothered to count). Mistake number one: cheap alcohol first thing in the morning, followed by the most hefty breakfast plate they could offer. Mistake number two: you had, once again in your miserable lifetime, assumed that you could take on a divoženka not only purely by yourself but also without any preparation – and that included having absolutely zero St John’s wort on your person while entering the demon’s domain.

The first one was understandable to a degree, as you inherited your father’s resistance to liquor (it was merely a couple of beers, too!). The second one… not so much.

Leaning against the nearest tree with one hand wrapped tightly around your forearm, you stared back at the divoženka, as though your gaze alone could cause her to perish. 

"You bitch!" you spat, adjusting the grip on your sword in one swift move. "I just bought this fucking shirt!"

Letting our the most ear mutilating shriek, she lunged forward, forcing you to back out last second.

Your time was running out. At this rate, the demon was going to tire you out to literal death before you could manage to land a single blow, let alone a critical one. You had to think of something good and it needed to be done fast.

Ripping off a stripe from your freshly bought (and freshly ruined) shirt, you haphazardly wrapped the fabric around your forearm as a makeshift bandage. The wound stung horribly but at least that provided you with the information that it wasn’t too deep of a gash. 

You were never one to back out, even when the battle seemed unsalvageable, but that day you had someone else to protect – a young woman from the nearby village who got taken by the divoženka on her wedding night, straight from her lover’s arms. So if you wanted to escort the bride back where she belonged, she needed to become your priority this time.

Letting out one final steadying breath, you rushed straight at her, scraping the partly exposed skin of your knees as you slid next to the demon, eager to finally put your sword to good use.

But then, she grabbed onto your arm viciously, making blood trickle from in between her abnormally long fingernails. You screamed, pain so sudden and overwhelming it made you lose your footing and fall right at her feet with a thud. 

As often as you dealt with demons, malevolent spirits or just simply evil fucking humans, you were rarely one to call out to the kind and doting side of the realm, so as the divoženka raised her claw, you realised that you had no one to pray to, to make your demise quick and relatively painless. So you just shut your eyes, bracing for the impact and mentally cursing yourself out instead.

And then… nothing.

No brutal mutilation of your body, no deafening shrieks, not even a sound of your own laboured breathing. The world turned quiet, as though someone transported you back to the day it was even formed.

Just as you were starting to convince yourself you were actually already dead and this – whatever it could be – was some sort of afterlife, someone spoke, and the sheer familiarity of their voice sent a shiver through your body.

"So…" the person hummed, tone kept in sharp contrast to the situation you found yourself in. "Are you… getting up? The ground doesn’t look too comfortable."

Your eyes flew open in an instant, landing right on the one who’d just saved you from inevitable demise. And even though you didn’t need to ask the question that came next, you did it anyway, just to feel the word roll off your tongue, gentle and comforting.

"Xavier…?"

When the two of you met, Xavier was about to get decapitated and you were covered head to toe in striga guts.

He absolutely adored this story, smiling fondly each time it resurfaced and even twice as much when he had one too many beers to drink. After some time, you grew to enjoy it too, letting a fog of memory cover the "meet-ugly" and turn it into something that looked and sounded and felt like fate. And maybe, especially if you added all the other times you stumbled into Xavier on complete accident (and more often than not, also in the middle of going through a rather unfavourable situation), fate did in fact have a plan for the two of you, even if it included getting beaten to absolute mush in the middle of some dingy monster cave with nothing but a makeshift torch to protect yourself with.

Surely, it was a comforting thought, and after a few of those times you and Xavier had to fight (or run, for that matter) for your lives, you were starting to believe it too. Especially late at night, cooped up under a scratchy blanket in some seaside tavern you stopped at during your travels, eyes wide open and heart beating just slightly too fast for it to be considered regular. Wondering, worrying, when you’ll be seeing him again. If you’ll be seeing him again. Each time the two of you crossed paths, it was as though a shooting star passed you by, granting just one, tiny wish, then moving onto greater things. The two of you had never made a single promise, not even a mere mention of seeing each other again appeared in any of your numerous conversations. Besides his name, as well as a whole lot of random trivia about the man, Xavier was an enigma, in a true sense of the word.

But then, there were also the other nights. Ones you spent dancing together in taverns, bodies so close that your sweat dripped straight onto his bare skin. Leaning into each other’s presence, wary, curious. Needy. Legs brushing as he sat next to you on the bed you rented for the night, looking up at you in a silent plea.

It was then when you felt the most alive, so painfully aware of the heat radiating off him as your hands trailed down Xavier’s neck. And when he kissed you, hungrily and unapologetically, you could feel yourself unravel right there, on his lap, held together only by the gentleness of Xavier’s hands on your back. Feeling him, letting him feel you, proved to be the most ecstatic state you had ever found yourself in, so close to reaching the purest of joys, your soul began to tremble.

And yet, the two of you had never crossed the final line.

You weren’t sure why that was. Perhaps Xavier was fine with just this, being your occasional battle companion and friend, dance partner and the one you embraced as his lips dragged along the skin of your neck. You rarely stared at him outright, careful not to stir up what was already there, but when you did, he seemed... foreign. As though he wasn't exactly supposed to be there, more suited to something, or someone, greater.

Still, he was there with you, maybe for a couple of days, maybe just few hours, it mattered not. He laughed at your jokes, even when you didn't find them particularly amusing yourself. You played cards together, oftentimes teaming up against your unfortunate opponents of the night, swiftly relieving them of the heavy burden of the few additional coins in their pockets. However besides causing mischief, you helped each other too, offering words of advice or trading secrets of your joined craft in hopes of getting to see each other again, still alive and moderately well.

Or, you treated each other’s wounds, letting the gentle touches linger for just a little longer, more akin to a heartfelt promise rather than pure duty or guilt.

Just like in that moment.

"That bad?" Xavier’s brows furrowed with unshielded worry as he continued applying the ointment onto your damaged skin.

You allowed yourself just one, laboured, heavy sigh.

"It’s not good…?"

Even though your eyes were firmly shut in hopes of somehow warding off some bits of the immense pain you were experiencing, you could practically feel the way he smiled at your response.

"I’d be more concerned for you if it was good, to be truthful," he muttered instead, voice as soft and quiet as a shared secret. "Just a bit longer. I’m almost finished."

Offering a strained hum in reply, you dug your nails into the checkered blanket laid atop the bed.

The room was spacious. After barely making out alive that day, you decided to treat yourself with something a little closer to average living conditions and, hopefully, less than five odd looking bugs eager to share the bed with you that night.

You were sat on the bed, a stack of patterned pillows behind your back, and he knelt in front of you, carefully examining the fresh wound from earlier. It was a while ago when you noticed how skilled Xavier was at first aid – not like he wasn't a talented human being in general – and yet it never ceased to surprise you just a tiny bit each time he got to work.

"Is there something on my face?"

Your head snapped up. "Sorry...?"

"It's done." Xavier gave you a small smile, placing his hand on the bed to help himself up. "You were exceptionally brave this time. Stamina made of steel."

His eyes glistened when he said that, a silent invitation to a few bits of playful banter.

"Oh, fuck you. The last time I treated your wounds, you fainted before I could even do anything."

"I dare say it was your outstanding stitching skills that were the catalyst." He hummed in reply, one hand raised to his chin in exaggerated wonder. "True excellence occurs so rarely, my body found itself in a state of pure and utter shock."

Lip corners raised just slightly, face still fully towards you even though he was already next to the door. Xavier was lingering.

"I'd like to see your stitching skills someday, then."

His expression turned rigid. "I hope you will never have to. Have a good night, starlight."

As much as you wished for him to stay just a little longer, begin a new topic or maybe just exist somewhere close, within an arms reach, you knew that Xavier had to leave so you could sneak downstairs and gather some intel from the regulars at the tavern. It wasn't that you didn't trust him to keep a proper secret; you were forced to take a literal oath that successfully prevented you from sharing what you were truly after – the missing prince.

It still felt nonsensical, at least to some degree, how it was you that got chosen for this task, out of all the bounty hunters this kingdom had to offer. And while you were more than sure that you were being trailed by the royal guard (you hadn't noticed them yet, but you did have your suspicions), each assignment you accepted was treated with utmost care and consideration, as you never did anything halfway.

That was precisely why you were already reaching for the handwritten descriptions that were given to you that morning – eye colour, expected manner of speaking, things of such nature – when something unexpectedly caught your attention.

"Xavier, wait."

He froze with his hand wrapped around the doorknob, glancing at you above his shoulder. "Yeah?"

There was a patch of dirt on the back of his shirt, right above the waist, and an irregular cut right through the material. You gestured for him to come closer, knowing well that whenever Xavier got hurt, he would become absolutely hellbent on keeping it from you.

"I'm fine," he muttered then, clumsily trying to minimise your suspicions.

You grabbed Xavier by his arms and forced him to sit next to you on the bed. "Take off your shirt."

He stilled for a brief moment, body stiffening under your touch, and if you weren't already focusing all your attention on his back, you'd fail to notice the difference.

"Yes, ma'am..."

Grabbing the leftover ointment and bandages, you positioned yourself behind him, hunched at an awkward angle that made you huff. "Fine, my ass..."

You covered the cloth with remnants of some disinfectant you'd found earlier in your bag, forcing your eyes to stay focused on Xavier's wound and Xavier's wound only.

But, oh, how hard it was to prevent your gaze from wandering all over his back, shoulders, neck... It took each and every ounce of self restraint that you possessed to halt your hands before they could slide along the sides of his torso, outlining the faint scarring that covered it in some places. Your hands or your lips, for that matter, as you could already imagine yourself trailing tender, open mouthed kisses down his spine, stopping right next to the...

"Is it that horrid of a sight?" Xavier's voice brought you back to reality in an instant, although now your thoughts were already beginning to race, tumbling into each other in haste as you desperately tried to make sense of what was right in front of your eyes.

You forced yourself to respond. "I've seen worse."

Pressing the cloth right onto his skin, you exhaled shakily.

In the detailed notes, given to you back at the castle, there was a description of a rather unique, mid-sized birthmark in a shape of a dagger which was to be situated at the very bottom of the runaway prince's spine.

Precisely where you found the one belonging to Xavier.

[cozy-writer]

The prisoner and the healer

Pairing: John Murphy x reader

Summary: You treat a hurt John Murphy stuck in your towns prison cell. When he escapes and you find out he's contaminated with hemorrhagic fever, you folllow him to his camp.

Woordcount: 4K

Icon credit goes to: @suckedit

Masterlist

“Y/N, I need you to take a look at our new prisoner.” My clan leader gruffly said as he walked past me. I stopped in my tracks to look at him. 

“We have a new prisoner?” I asked confused. I hadn’t heard about any of this before. 

“Yes, he is one of the sky people. We might have roughed him up a bit.” 

“He probably deserved it.” I spat out. Ever since the sky people had come to earth, life had become chaotic. The twelve clans and the sky people had been at constant war and as the healer I had been busier than ever patching up my people. I quickly checked the bag hanging from my hip, making sure I had everything I needed. 

“I’ll go and see him right now.” My clan leader nodded at me and I went on my way. 

I unlocked the door to the cage the prisoner was being held in. He was sitting against the wall, head hung low. I was sure he was sleeping, the torture might have tired him out enough for him to close his eyes. 

As I stepped closer, he suddenly stirred, a scared look overtook his face and he tried getting farther away from me, back pressing against the wall, hands up trying to keep me at bay. 

“Don’t worry, I’m just here to clean your wounds.” I muttered as I sat down in front of him. He still looked wary, but didn’t try to get away from me. I moved my hands to his face, then stopped. He still looked so scared. 

“I’m not going to hurt you.” I reiterated and after he looked at me for a couple seconds he nodded at me. I softly grabbed his chin and moved his face around so I could see all the small cuts  scattered over the skin. 

I used a small piece of clean cloth and some salt water to clean the wounds out. I held his face with one hand and worked with the other. I picked up a small jar with some calendula and chamomile paste and smeared it over the cuts. 

“This is going to help you heal your wounds and stave off infection.” I muttered. He didn’t respond, which I understood, he had just been captured and tortured for information, of course he wasn’t going to talk to me. 

Lastly I checked out his knuckles, which were bruised and busted. I grabbed my bag and pulled out a small vial of St. John’s wort. The oil would help with the bruises and I applied a generous amount of it on the skin. 

I stood up from my spot on the floor and looked at the prisoner. “Try and get some rest. You’ll need it.” And with that I closed the gate behind me and walked back towards my clan leader, ready to give him an update on the prisoner.

__________

My clan leader hadn’t asked me  to check up on the prisoner, but I still snuck a look when I walked past the cage. The cuts on his face had started to heal and I didn’t notice any new wounds. 

“Hey!” I had just turned back around when I heard his voice. “Hey, you! Healer!” I slowly turned to face him. 

“I know you don’t like me, but I haven’t had anything to eat since I got here. I’m starving.” He looked pathetic. 

“Why should I help you?” I wondered aloud. 

“I ain’t no good dead, am I?” I sighed. 

“I’ll be right back.” 

I snuck into my kitchen, hoping my father wouldn’t spot me. When I saw no one around I grabbed some bread and tugged it into my bag, then turned for the back door. 

“Y/N? Is that you?” My father’s voice came from behind me. I fell silent in the doorway. 

“Yes, it’s me.” I said. I didn’t think he’d be home. He had been fighting for the grounders since the war started and I figured he’d be getting orders for their next attack by now. 

“Can you take a look at this, now that you’re here anyway?” I walked over to him, checking over his face and not noticing anything wrong. 

“It’s my arm.” He groaned as he lifted it up for me to see. 

His arm held a deep gash from one side to the other. I didn’t gasp, it was not the worst injury I had seen from the war, but it did make your blood boil. Was I really about to help the enemy, while they hurt my family and friends? 

I gestured for my father to sit down at the kitchen table. “This needs stitching, dad. It’s going to hurt.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” And I know he was telling the truth. He was the strongest person I knew. I placed my bag on the table and rummaged through it, coming up with a needle and thread. 

I silently stitched up the wound. My dad only occasionally flinched from the stinging pain, but didn’t say a word. 

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He finally said as I finished. “I know you are extremely busy these days.” He wasn’t kidding. I was one of only two healers in the clan, and with the war raging on my patients had started to add up. 

“It’s fine,” I said. “Really. I just wish this war was over. I hate not knowing if you’re coming home.” I spoke barely above a whisper. 

“You are strong, Y/N, if I don’t come home, you keep on fighting. And know I’ll always be with you. Here.” He pointed at my heart. “And here.” Then pointed to my head. I fought the urge to hug him, but in the end I did anyway. 

“Ai hod yu, dad.” 

“I love you, too, Y/N.” He placed a kiss on my head. “I have to get ready for our next attack.” I nodded at him.

“Be careful.” 

“Always.” He said as he stood and walked out the door. 

I remembered the bread in my bag and walked back towards the cage. I made sure no one saw me as I got closer, not wanting to give the elders any reason to punish me. 

I held the bread out through the bars. The prisoner quickly walked over and tore it from my hands, inhaling the bread immediately. 

“Just so you know,I’m giving you this food, because I can’t wait to see you get torn apart. I will keep healing you, just so they can keep torturing you.” I growled. 

“I didn’t do anything. I was banished from camp.” 

“Your people did enough.” I spat. 

“I’m going to die here.” He wailed.

“Death would be too easy for you. It would give you mercy when you don’t deserve it.” 

__________

The next following days I was kept busy with patients hurt from the ongoing war. I’d only heard about bullet wounds before, but now I was seeing them in real life and it scared me more than anything when I found out how much damage they do. 

“Yu gonplei ste odon.” I muttered when another one of my patients died. I closed their eyes for them and said a silent prayer. I was so fed up with all this death that I grabbed a knife and marched over to the cage where the prisoner was being held. 

I paced back and forth, knife held tightly in my right hand. 

“You deserve a thousand cuts for the death of my people.” I seethed. 

“Your people started all this.” The prisoner countered. I looked at him confused.

“What do you mean my people started this?” 

“Jasper was speared by one of your people, that’s how all this started!” The prisoner yelled. I heaved a big breath of air. 

“You’re lying.” 

“Why would I lie about that?”

“Easy, you want to get out of here. You want to save your people.” The prisoner sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re right.” He muttered. “I want to go home. I’m John, by the way.” You squinted your eyes at him.

“I don’t care who you are. You just want to get out of getting hurt.” 

“Is it weird that I want to survive? That I want to go back to my people?” He asked helplessly. 

“It’s Y/N.” I sighed. 

“I’m guessing you’ve had a rough day?”

“How’d you guess that?”

“Well, you’re stomping around holding a knife and you’re covered in blood.” I looked down to check myself out and noticed I was in fact covered in the blood of my patients. 

“Your people are using guns and doing an awful lot of damage. I can’t treat bullet wounds. I don’t know how.” I slid along the wall to the ground, brushing away a few stray tears from my cheeks. “I just don’t know what to do.” I let the knife fall onto the ground, too tired to fight John now. 

He stayed quiet for a surprisingly long time, giving me time to think. 

“If only we could agree on a truce.” John finally murmured. 

“I can’t trust your word. You could be lying about this Jasper guy getting hurt first.” 

“I’m not though.”

“But is it so hard to believe that I do.” I said, tearing my eyes away from my shoes and staring at him in the dim light. He sighed, shaking his head. “I just want to go home.” 

“Don’t we all?” I said, more for the people fighting the war than for myself. Not wanting to elongate this conversation, I quickly stood up and stormed away. 

__________

“Healer?” A voice said from the doorway to our clinic. I looked up from my patient and faced my clan leader. “Yes, ambassador?” 

“Can one of you check on the prisoner again? He might have a couple more wounds that need tending to.” I look over at Pru, my coworker. She was still in the middle of trying to stem the bleeding of her patient. 

“I’ll go.” Pru looked thankful and nodded at me. “Thank you.” When I turned back to face our clan leader he was already gone. I grabbed a couple more pieces of cloth and checked my bag to see if it was full of ointments and treatments, then made my way towards the prison cell. 

I heard his moaning before I saw him. He was laying on his side, clutching at his stomach. 

“Y/N, please help me. I don’t want to die.” Silent tears were streaming down his face. 

“Don’t use my name, I don’t need the town to think I’m working in your favor.” I said as I opened the cage and stepped in. I pushed John onto his back and he grit his teeth. 

“Show me.” I instructed as I gestured to his stomach. There was a big bloodstain on his shirt, but considering every part of his body had a wound of some kind, the whole shirt was covered in it. No way to see what the actual damage was. He lifted his shirt and there was a big gash bleeding profusely. 

“Well, it will hurt for a bit, but I think you’ll survive.” I said after taking a good long look at the wound. I poured some salt water on the wound and John hissed in pain. 

“I know, I’m sorry, but I need to do this.” John only grit his teeth more. I stitched the wound closed and applied some topical ointment to help it heal and prevent infection. 

“I’ll check in on you tomorrow.” 

“Can you please bring me some more food when you do?” He pleaded. 

“I’ll see what I can do.” I muttered as I repacked my things. I stood up and closed the door behind me. 

I stopped with my back to the cage. “Were you telling the truth?” 

“About what?”

“About Jasper?” I asked, now facing him. 

“Yeah, we didn’t even know there were other people on earth. We were always told it was uninhabitable. We weren’t even supposed to survive once we landed.” He couldn’t sit up, so he told his story laying down. 

“What do you mean?” 

“The Ark, the home we were living in in the sky,” He pointed to the roof. “It was dying.”

“How?”

“We were running out of oxygen. So we delinquents got sent down, kind of like lab rats. Just a test to see if earth was habitable. And if not, then they at least saved some more air for themselves.” 

“That’s messed up.” I said, shocked at his confession. 

“Yeah, that was life on the Ark, messed up.” 

I didn’t know when I made the decision really, but at one point I couldn’t rightfully keep him locked up. If what he told me was true, he deserved to go back to his people. He didn’t deserve to die in a prison cell surrounded by people he didn’t know. That’s why when I left I didn’t close the door fully, giving him a chance to get out and survive. I quickly walked away, not wanting to give myself the time to regret my decision. 

I wasn’t until a few hours later when I figured out how much I fucked up. Pru walked into the clinic, trying to clear the blood from her hands with a rag. 

“This war is taking too many lives.” She huffed. 

“I’m just hoping we can end it sometime soon.” I declared. 

“It should be.”

“What do you mean?”

“The prisoner,” She started, “He escaped.” 

“He did?” I feigned confusion. 

“Yeah, but not before I gave him hemorrhagic fever. He’s going to infect his whole camp and we’re going to win the war.” She said wickedly. I swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat. I really fucked up with releasing him, but then again, Pru would have probably gave him a way out as well. 

I need to find a way to his camp and warn them all, save who I can save and end the war somehow. 

“Can you handle this?” I asked Pru, pointing to my patient lying on the table. 

“Sure. You need something?” 

“Just need to take care of something real quick.” 

“I got you.” So with that I walked to the edge of our town, desperate to find a way to John’s camp. I couldn’t let all those people die. 

The town was mostly empty, with all the warriors fighting the war, which made it easier for me to sneak out. I wasn’t the best tracker around, but I could follow John’s dragging footprints to his camp. I hiked for a day, sometimes losing his tracks and then finding them again. Other times I had to hide from my own people, trying not to get caught finding my way to camp. 

I heard the yelling of teenagers way before I reached the camp. It sounded like they were scared. Maybe the hemorrhagic fever had already taken over the camp? 

“Grounder!” Someone yelled from inside the camp. Then before I knew it a whole row of soldiers had their guns pointed at me. I instinctively held up my hands. 

“I don’t mean no harm.” I pleaded. 

“Why else would you be here?” I swallowed thickly. 

“One of your friends was captured by my leader. I helped him escape, but I didn’t know he was sick.”

“Bullshit, of course you knew.” A guy with black hair said. He looked like he might be the leader of their camp. 

“I didn’t, I swear.” I protested. “He’s got hemorrhagic fever. I can help your people heal.” 

“Why would you do that?”

“John explained to me that we might have attacked first.” I could hear the guy murmuring something to someone else out of sight. 

It took a couple minutes of staring back and forth before I heard my name being called.

“Y/N?” I searched for his face in the crowd. And there he was.

“John!” He looked terrible. His many cuts and bruises not yet healed, but now there was also blood pouring down his eyes and ears. 

“You need to rest. Rest and hydration. There is no cure for the disease, but you can heal from it.” I explained. 

“Why would you come here and risk your own life?” The black haired guy said. 

“I’m immune, it can’t harm me.”

“Bellamy, she wants to help. Accept her help. We need it.” John argued. 

“Bellamy,” I started, he looked my way. “I’m not here to harm anyone, I want to stop this war, but your people are in no shape to fight it. Let me help.” 

“Why should we trust you?” Bellamy asked, gun still pointed at my head. 

“I don’t know, I don’t have anything to prove to you that I’m on your side. But what am I going to do? I have no weapons, no warrior training, how much damage could I possibly do?” Bellamy seemed to consider this for a moment. 

“Fine, let her in. But someone is with her at all times.” He hollered. 

As I walked through their gate, a girl came up to me and patted me down. 

“She’s clean.” She finally said.

“Good. Stay with her.” Bellamy said as he walked up to the dropship. “Clarke?” It took a couple of seconds but then a blonde girl walked out of the ship. 

“Yeah?” 

“I got a grounder healer here ready to help you out.”

“Grounder?”

“She helped me.” John informed. 

“I could use all the help I can get.” She said. Bellamy pushed me into the direction of the dropship and I followed Clarke inside. 

“You’re not scared to catch this?” She asked. I shook my head.

“I’m immune. There is not much I can do, but keep you hydrated and comfortable.” Clarke nodded. 

“That’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

“How many dead?” I asked as I looked around the dropship. 

“Three so far. Hoping to keep it that way.” Clarke answered. 

“What made you follow me?” I heard from behind me. I turned and faced John. 

“You.” I said. “You told me about Jasper and about the Ark. You made me care for you.” A smirk appeared on John’s face. 

“See, Clarke, I am loveable.” I rolled my eyes at him and I could see Clarke doing the same. I smiled at her. “Let’s go, we’ve got people to save.” 

I went around the dropship, helping people sit up and drink a bit, clearing away the blood that smeared across their faces and generally tried to lift their spirits. 

“Clarke?” I tried to get her attention. “My people will try and attack you very soon, they know the disease will render most of your people unable to fight. They will come.” 

“And we’ll be ready for them. We’ve got people on watch at all times, we’ve got guns and Raven is working on something to delay them right now.” I furrowed my brows. “We want to destroy the bridge.” She explained. 

“That’ll only keep them at bay for so long.” 

“I know, but it’s a start. We just have to hope Raven gets better fast so she can deploy the bomb.” 

“She's sick too?”

“Unfortunately.” 

We worked together for the rest of the day and night. The following day I wanted to check in on John.

“I’m going to get some fresh air for a bit.” I told her, then walked out of the dropship. I found John by the water station. 

“It’s good to see you up and about. You look better.” 

“I feel better.” He said with a smile. I returned it. “How do you feel about being here?”

"I'm not sure. I hate the war, especially now that I know what my people have done. I just want it to end.” 

“Well, we’re glad to have you. You’re a real asset.”

“I don’t know about that, but I’m willing to help.” 

“I wanna thank you for letting me go.” He said softly.

“If I hadn't, your people would still be healthy and alive. They’d be able to fight.”

“They’re getting better, we will be able to fight. Thanks to you.”

“Clarke had it all under control.” He shook his head and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Clarke couldn’t have done this on her own.” 

“Clarke told me you think your people are going to attack soon?” Bellamy asked as he walked my way. I turn away from John, facing Bellamy.

“Yeah. They’d want to use this disease to weaken you, but I heard Raven is planning to blow up the bridge?” 

“Yes, she is. We hope to stop them.”

“It’ll only slow them down a bit, it won’t stop them. They are hellbent on killing you.” I explain. “But I am willing to blow up the bridge for you, I know Raven is sick, you need someone else to do it.” 

“Why would you do that? It’s dangerous. You know nothing about bombs.” John interrupt. 

“Raven could explain it to me. I can do this.”

“Then I’m coming with you.” Bellamy looked between the two of us, then smiled and shook his head. 

“You two go at it.” 

“Come on, let's go find Raven.” I tell John and we walk back towards the dropship. John walks us over to Raven. 

“Hi Raven, I’m Y/N. Heard you had the idea to blow up the bridge? We could do that for you if you can explain how it works.” 

Even Though Raven was exhausted and struggling to get through it, she explained everything in detail and I felt sure we would be able to do it. 

Raven had already done the hard part, making the bomb. Now all we need to do is get to the bridge and blow it up. Bellamy gives John a gun and I immediately stop in my tracks. 

“I’m not going to shoot you.” 

“I know you won’t, but those weapons have killed so many of my people, forgive me if it scares me.” 

“I would never hurt you. And if we blow up the bridge, we won’t have to hurt your people either.” I nodded at him. 

“Okay. Let’s go then.” 

It takes us a good hour to get to the bridge, and I often wondered if we were already too late and that my people had made their way over the bridge already, but once we got there, I knew we were the first ones to arrive. 

I took the bomb out of my pack and placed it in the middle of the bridge. John kept a lookout and I quickly scurried back to him for safety. We laid down in the grass and he held out the gun in front of him. He missed the first two shots. Both going wide of the target. 

Then, after taking a breath, he shot the last round directly into the bomb. A big explosion happened, rubble flying everywhere. I ducked my head down and protected myself with my arms. I could feel pressure above me. I figured it was the rubble falling on top of me, but once the ringing in my ears calmed down and lifted my head, I found John bowed over me, protecting me from the debris. 

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Are you? You took the brunt of the force.” I checked him over once I got on my knees. His earlier wounds hadn’t healed yet, but I couldn’t find any new ones from my first inspection. 

“I’m fine.” He calmly said. 

I stood up and turned towards the bridge. “We did it.” I muttered. “We fucking did it!” I yelled the second time. I turned back around and jumped into John’s arms. He smiled at me and I went in for a kiss. It was quick and our lips barely even touched before I pulled back again, embarrassed with what I just did. 

“We did fucking do it.” He said, going back in for a second kiss. I clung to him, wrapping my arms around his neck to keep him close. He kissed my forehead and stirred us in the direction back to the camp, his arm wrapped around my shoulders as we walked.

[rederiswrites]

Worked in the front garden this evening. Reginald came and visited me. Got a total of eighteen plants in the ground in the front, and did some potting up of succulents in the back.

Everything in this corner is just lovely. My columbine is even more beautiful this year than last, and the yarrow and bee balm have spread and grown so much in this, their second year. I'm so excited to see them bloom. I think the natural purple bee balm is further down and we have the red in this photo.

My calendula is entirely self seeded now, but this one plant must have found a sheltered spot, because it's far outstripped the rest and bloomed such a vivid orange that it kinda screws with my camera. That, and one escape dandelion.

In the back left are the many seedlings of funky-colored echinacea. The plants were pretty puny last year, but this year they're coming up thick! There was a red variety and... Something else? And an absolutely wild one called "green twister" that had pink and green flowers. I grew that one from seed last year, and an very eager to see if it's still there, because it didn't bloom last year. I do wish my actual echinacea purpurea had spread so much, but I only see a couple new plants in that area.

This was a surprise find when I was weeding. There are two next to each other and none anywhere else, so it's a sure thing that I planted them. I *think* it's St John's Wort. Don't actually remember planting that so uh... Sweet.

I won't make you stare at a few leaves trying to figure out what I'm trying to show you, but I will say that within the last week I've seen new growth of a bunch of unusual natives I'd pretty much written off as lost money. I ordered them in late fall last year, and then because of The Sick never getting better until this year, I only got any of them in the ground by--i genuinely think it was December. They died back to the ground by mid-January, and I'd put them down as (quite a bit of) wasted money. But now I find myself pretty unmistakeably in possession of four Cardinal flower plants, six Rattlesnake Masters (best plant name ever?), two wood betonies, and at least four things that are definitely deliberate but which I cannot yet identify. Penstemon? I don't know, but I'm thrilled. I thought it was all lost, but in fact it's almost all growing! Unearned blessings for sure.

I lied, I will make you stare at leaves.

Seedling bonanza! Poppy, calendula, wild violet, and in the bottom right a massive concentration of something that's far too small to id but given the placement might be a return of the toothache plant. I am intimidated by the future task of thinning. But what bounty!

More seedling mania. Here, calendula, marigold, and a few chamomile. I'd expect there to be a LOT of reseeded coreopsis here too, but if so I can't id it yet.

My succulent garden continues to be one of my great joys. And just look at all that new growth on my prickly pear! It would be amazing to get flowers and fruits this year. Just think, this was two pads in a pot last spring! By next year I'll have to start harvesting just to keep it back.

Tree pretty.

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

My Garden Flowers Part 4

All photos mine. The Pennsylvania pellitory is edited for because the plant app I took the photo in washed it out. The scarlet bee balm is edited for colour because that old phone's camera sucked.

In order of appearance:

091. Pennsylvania Pellitory (Parietaria pensylvanica) A common garden weed, but as it's native it can stay in some places.

092. Perennial Flax (Linum perenne) In spite of the name she sadly didn't come back or reseed. Shame because she looked really nice in that area. Oh well. I'll have to try in another spot.

093. Showy Tick-Trefoil (Desmodium canadense) She tricked me! I thought she hadn't made it as she hadn't come up by late June so I got another one and put her in a different area...only for this one to come up. And if you're thinking, oh, she's just a late bloomer, I should have waited, well, she came up in May this year. Because of course she did.

094. Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginiana) She smells like something you'd want to season steak or something with and would probably do very well at that but I've never cooked a steak before. Maybe I'll try her in pesto some day.

095. Devil's Tongue (Opuntia humifusa) She flowered for the first time last year and is flowering again this year!

096. Fragile Prickly Pear (Opuntia fragilis) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet. She's still quite little. I might break off a piece of her to try growing in that really tough spot. If she can survive summer to winter in a pot, surely that area shouldn't be too harsh for her.

097. Thrift Seapink (Armeria maritima) She's tough enough to survive winter in a pot and did so for three years, but last winter was apparently too much for her. Again, I think it was just too dry. She was pretty much only happy there in the spring and fall, though, so maybe it's just as well. The new one I planted elsewhere seems happy in all seasons.

098-099. Lance-Leaved Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata) Usually only the cultivars have those red markings! I'm assuming there's been some cross-pollination with other gardens because I did not plant that. My tickseeds are all straight amber. Unless she independently produced the colour on her own as a sport. Interestingly enough, none of them are showing that colouration this year.

100. White Sagewort (Artemisia ludoviciana) I wasn't actually supposed to have this one. I'd ordered the less aggressive A. frigida, but oh well. Maybe she'll attract American lady butterflies some year. Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet. She smells like something you'd use to season stuffing.

101. Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) After several attempts in different areas, trying my hardest to follow what the information online said she would need, but somehow failing, this one at last seems to be doing fine.

102. Dotted St. John's Wort (Hypericum punctata) I didn't plant that. Either a gift of the wildlife or a dormant seed came to life when I removed the grass.

103. Roundhead Bushclover (Lespedeza capitata) Another one I've had several attempts with, but she seems to like it there.

104. Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa) Flowered nicely that year and I thought she didn't reseed because she didn't come up last year but there is a plant this year! It's good to remember that seeds can lie dormant for some time. :)

105. Upright Prairie Coneflower "Mexican Hat" (Ratibida columnifera) This is a cultivar and has since passed away during the winter.

106. Rocky Mountains Bee Plant (Cleomella serrulata) She reseeded for several years but apparently not this one. Hopefully they're just skipping a year and will come up next spring. If not I'll have to attempt a different area. Anyway, pretty much the whole plant is edible with preparation, and lots of insects love the flowers.

107. Spotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata) Beloved of many insects. Sometimes I just like to sit next to her and watch the activity.

108. Wild Black Sweet Tomato (Solanum ptychanthum) She began as a weed on this property, but not anymore. She is a welcome part of my native garden with her wonderful fruits in the summer.

109. Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) The wild type this time, but no evidence of reseeding this year. :(

110. Alpine Rock Cress (Arabis alpina) She flowers in April before most trees have even blossomed.

111. Field Chickweed (Cerastium arvense) By the time I got to plant her in the fall some years ago, I was sure she'd die over the winter. She didn't but struggled through the warm months. But she managed to bounce back the following spring and makes a nice little carpet now.

112. Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

113. Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) Finally decided to flower this year! She is the only orange species of milkweed native this far north.

114. Upright Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera) The wild type. Didn't like that spot in the winter either, so I'm trying a different area this year.

115. Fringed Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum ciliolatum) Not the most colourful or compact, but makes a nice spray of pale blue violet over her dark green foliage.

116. Bluestem Goldenrod (Solidago caesia) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet, but she's likely to this year.

117. Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) She's been on the property long before I got here. Not pictured as I haven't gotten any pictures yet since she is very tall.

118. Field Pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta) Compact and low-growing foliage create a mat, with these delicate stems poking out with what looks like kitten toes that pass for the plant's flower.

119. Aster (Symphyotrichum) I don't know what she is yet, but she decided to take up residence with my pussytoes and I guess that's okay. Haven't gotten pictures of the flowers yet.

120. Dotted Blazing Star (Liatris punctata) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

[prairiefirewitch]

It’s planting season and all the rain has been gratefully received by my plants and trees. This year I’m yet again attempting more food plants, this time in containers so I can move them to shaded spots when the temperature soars. I’ll try lavender again, hopefully getting enough for a hydrosol. The clary sage is huge and I’d love to get some flowers this year. There’s already a bumper crop of wormwood, oregano, and catnip and the valerian and St. John’s wort look happy too. The new variety of mugwort looks ready to shoot forth and I’m excited to harvest a little in a couple of weeks. What are you growing this season and how are you coping with warmer temperatures where you are?

[firewindearthsea]

Hi! Thanks for reaching out in my community building post. :) Do you have any posts regarding to how to make our first herbal teas rom garden safely? I am interested in harvesting and preserving food this way, and I am a huge tea fanatic :D Have a nice weekend. <3

Hi! I don't know if I've posted about it before, but I can write one for you now.

Safety

There are two main dangers, the first is misidentifying something and accidentally poisoning yourself. If you're confident you know what you have then that's fine, if not you can always ask for help identifying things.

The second danger is taking something that interferes with a medication you're on or a condition you have. The famous one is St John's Wort, infamous for getting people pregnant (prevents birth control from working). If you're healthy then don't worry too much about this. Most herbs are fine in edible amounts, but if you're drinking the same type of tea every day then you should research the medicinal properties and side effects of long term use.

Another example is too much black tea (as in regular, normal tea) can prevent iron absorption, so don't drink it when you take an iron supplement and cut down on it if you're anemic.

Once you know what you've got and you're comfortable eating/drinking it, it's time to make tea! Most herbs can go straight into a mug from the garden, but you may want to dry the leaves/flowers/berries first for better storage. Drying them also changes the flavour of the tea.

Preserving the herbs

I like to use a dehydrator, but in the summer I just lay my herbs out on trays for a few days in a nice dry spot and shake every now and then to see if they're crinkly. In wet climates they'll just go mouldy with that method.

You can also hang them in bundles in a nice warm dry spot, like the lovely old fashioned French kitchens with the shiny copper pans hanging from the ceiling with bundles of herbs.

Another method is to dry them in the oven, on the lowest possible setting. This risks burning them, so be careful. You can also stick them in the oven when it's cooling down from baking other things.

If you're drying large items like berries, fleshy flowers, or roots, it may be easier to cut them into small chunks first so that they dry faster. Just make sure they're fully dry before you store them, or they will mould.

Making the tea

You can make a tea from just one herb if you like (herbal remedies from just one herb are called 'simples') or you can make blends to suit your needs and tastes.

Generally it's best to use water that isn't quite at boiling temperature, but don't stress too much about that.

Some herbs will need a long while to brew, others will be ready much faster. Experiment with what you like, some can also get bitter if oversteeped.

There's also the matter of separating your drinking tea from your herbs so you don't have a mouthful of powdery chunks. There are some really cute reusable tea strainers out there, though they do let some plant matter through.

You can also buy reusable or disposable tea bags/tea filters. They're easy to find here in Germany but I can't speak for other countries, I think you should be able to find them online though.

I hope you have a lovely weekend too!

If you're interested, I run a small herb community on discord. We'd be happy to help you with plant ID, and we also have a weekly botanical art session where we get together and paint or sketch while chatting. I'm also hoping to run little workshops on there eventually.

[aurorawitch]

Protection spell - anointing with oil

Anointing is one of the most powerful ways to shield yourself and your home. When you bless with infused oil, you create a barrier that repels negativity, blocks curses, and strengthens your spirit. Every drop carries the energy of the herbs, your intent, and ancient wisdom.

Anoint your doors, windows, and body with purpose, and know that no harm shall pass. Your home becomes a fortress, your spirit stands strong, and protection surrounds you.

Trust in the power of this ritual. It is simple, yet unbreakable. Choose the herbs: European or Tropical.

European Herb Protection Oil

(Base: Olive or Sunflower oil)

Rue – Wards off evil and hexes

St. John’s Wort – Protection from dark energies

Mugwort – Shields against psychic attacks

Bay Leaf – Strengthens spiritual defenses

Thyme – Clears negativity and enhances courage

Rosemary – Wards off negative energy and enhances clarity

Tropical Herb Protection Oil

(Base: Coconut or Sesame oil)

Guava Leaves – Breaks curses and repels negativity

Neem Leaves – Strong spiritual protection

Pandan Leaves – Wards off evil spirits

Lemongrass – Cleanses and blocks negativity

Betel Leaves – Protection from malevolent forces

Add herbs to oil and bless it with this chant:

Power of Earth, flow into my hands,

Gather within, to the herb’s command.

Herb, awaken! Herb, arise!

Join with oil, be sanctified.

Give what is mine, add what is thine,

Blend and strengthen, make it divine.

Through body and soul, let power grow,

Shield and protect, let blessings flow.

Banish, cleanse, renew, restore,

Guard me in strength, forevermore!

Apply the Oil

Dip your finger into the oil and rub a small amount onto the chosen areas.

Use circular motions or symbols (e.g., a protective rune or cross-like motion).

If you prefer, gently warm the oil between your hands before application.

Choose Your Application Points

Forehead (third eye) – Enhances spiritual awareness and shields the mind.

Temples – Protects thoughts and repels mental attacks.

Neck – Blocks energy drains and psychic attacks.

Heart Area – Strengthens emotional protection.

How to Anoint Your House for Protection

Wrists & Palms – Wards off negative energy when interacting with others.

Feet – Grounds and protects from harmful influences in your path.

How to Anoint Your House for Protection

Choose Key Areas to Anoint

Doors & Windows – To block negative energy from entering.

Thresholds & Corners – To seal and strengthen protection.

Fireplace or Stove – To guard the heart of the home.

Mirrors & Reflective Surfaces – To prevent energy from lingering.

Bedposts & Cribs – For personal protection while sleeping.

Draw a protective symbol (cross, pentacle, rune, or simple dot) on each chosen spot.

While anointing, chant:

"No evil shall pass, no curse shall last,

No foe’s cruel words shall take hold fast.

My home is guarded, safe and strong,

A fortress sealed where I belong."

Stay safe, stay guarded.

[dansnaturepictures]

04/08/24-Sunflower in the garden good to see one out a strong symbol of summer, a resplendent Silver-spotted Skipper at Perham Down among my first of the year today an excellent few minutes watching them fizz around the meadow and still, views at Shipton Bellinger and St. John's-wort and wayfaring tree berries at Perham Down.

I also enjoyed seeing beautiful Bullfinches at both locations, Rooks, Buzzard, Magpie, lots of Meadow Browns, Gatekeeper, Common Blue, Peacock, Red Admiral, Large White, Brimstone, creeping cinquefoil, rosebay willowherb, wild parsnip, eyebright, woolly thistle and exciting views of my first ever Tawny Longhorn beetle and Purple Bar moth.

[destinyc1020]

What's with Austin liking these ADHD videos on ig?😂

https://x.com/butlerlovespell/status/1799614744959332490?t=JcJLKIRMC1kRcEeiIuPMbQ&s=19

X

Thanks Anon! I had seen the other "likes", but hadn't seen this one lol. 😅

Idk Anon, maybe Austin relates to these posts because he has ADHD himself?? 🤷🏾‍♀️

I know he's been open in the past about suffering from depression and anxiety, but he might also have ADHD....especially since he liked so MANY of these ADHD-related posts lol. Perhaps he'll say something more concrete in the future about it in an interview?

I always have a soft spot for people who struggle with various mental health issues because I suffer from anxiety myself, and I get overwhelmed pretty easily as well. Thankfully, I've gotten some medical help for my anxiety, so I'm able to cope and get through life MUCH easier now 🥰 After fighting against it for so long, it's honestly been a game-changer for me, and my only regret is that I didn't take medication sooner. Can I function w/out medication?? Yes, of course! But I didn't like going back to the type of person that I was w/out the meds. 😭

(**DISCLAIMER: Btw...this isn't an endorsement for medication... You don't have to use meds to cope with anxiety or depression if you don't want to... I'm just sharing what helped ME personally after I had literally tried just about EVERYTHING in the book... deep breathing, ashwagandha, St. John's Wort, a shift, exercise, working out, getting more rest, headspace, herbs, counseling/therapy, magnesium, potassium, massages, reading the bible, prayer, etc...����😓)

Anyway....Kudos to Trevor Noah also for also sharing his experiences with ADHD and depression outwardly like this! 🥹👏🏾 I'm always very proud of people in the public eye who can speak out about their struggles, especially when a lot of times, you don't even realize that people are struggling internally. I would have never guessed that about him. 😔

It always helps when people in the public eye speak out about their mental/emotional health struggles, cuz it helps you realize that you're not alone, and that it's okay....

[ashetheshade]

Got some St. John’s Wort, because I don’t need a prescription or anything to get it. It’s still in the car where I hid it because my mom treats coffee like meth, and she’d probably die on the spot (or I would die on the spot who knows) if she knew I was taking dRuGs.

I am hopeful, but I know enough about medication to not take it before work, in case it does something crazy. If this doesn’t work I’m going to find a meth dealer, and do actual drugs. (I’m mostly joking)

It’s been 5 years and quite frankly at some point you have to call a draw with your mental health and just use some of the wonders of medicine instead of toughing it out. I would use actual adhd medicine, but I’d need to talk to my doctor about that which is significantly more annoying.

[decimera]

St john's wort is starting to bloom all over the city, and here's this nice little spot by the creek

[govindhtech]

HalluMeasure Tracks LLM Hallucinations & Hybrid Framework

Find HalluMeasure, a hybrid framework that assesses AI hallucinations using logic and language.

This novel method combines claim-level evaluations, chain-of-thought reasoning, and hallucinatory error classification.

Large language models (LLMs) do not search a medically validated list of drug interactions for queries like “Which medications are likely to interact with St. John’s wort?” unless instructed to do so. Instead, it lists St. John's wort-related terms by distribution.

How to spot llm hallucinations

A mix of real and maybe made-up medications with varying interaction risks is likely. These LLM hallucinations or misleading claims still hinder corporate utilisation of LLMs. While healthcare has ways to reduce hallucinations, recognising and measuring them is still necessary for safe generative AI use.

The latest Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP) paper describes HalluMeasure, a novel method for measuring hallucinations using claim-level evaluations, chain-of-thought reasoning, and linguistic classification into error types.

HalluMeasure extracts assertions from the LLM answer. The classification model splits the claims into five primary groups (supported, absent, contradicted, partially supported, and unevaluatable) using a distinct claim classification model by comparing them to the context-retrieved material relevant to the request.

HalluMeasure also categorises hallucination claims into eleven language faults, including entity, temporal, and overgeneralisation. Finally, compute the distribution of fine-grained error categories and assess the rate of unsupported claims (classes other than supported) to calculate an aggregate hallucination score. This distribution helps LLM builders improve by revealing their LLMs' flaws.

Deconstructing replies into assertions

Breaking an LLM answer into statements is the first step. A “claim”—a single predicate with a subject and (optionally) an object—is the simplest unit of context-related information.

The developers evaluated at the claim level because categorisation improves hallucination detection and atomicity improves measurement and localisation. People differ from existing techniques by directly extracting assertions from the whole answer language.

The few-shot prompting claim extraction methodology presents task required rules following an initial instruction. Sample replies and manually extracted assertions are supplied. This extensive prompt teaches the LLM to accurately extract claims from each answer without modifying model weights. After extracting claims, classify them by hallucination kind.

Advanced claim classification logic

The traditional technique of requesting an LLM to categorise extracted claims directly did not meet performance standards. Also used chain-of-thought (CoT) reasoning, where an LLM must defend each step in addition to accomplishing a goal. Shown to improve model explainability and LLM performance.

Five-step CoT prompts use few-shot claim categorisation examples and tell the claims classification LLM to carefully examine each claim's faithfulness to the reference context and record the reason for each analysis.

The team compared HalluMeasure against other solutions using the standard SummEval benchmark dataset after implementation. With few-shot CoT prompting, performance improves by 2 percentage points (from 0.78 to 0.8), bringing us closer to large-scale automated LLM hallucination detection.

Area under the SummEval dataset receiver-operating-characteristic curve for hallucination identification solutions.

Fine-grained error classification

HalluMeasure helps design more targeted LLM dependability therapies by providing more exact information regarding hallucinations. From verbal patterns in frequent LLM hallucinations, individuals propose a new set of error types beyond binary classifications or the widely used natural-language-inference (NLI) categories of support, reject, and not enough information. Temporal reasoning might be applied to an answer that states a new invention is being utilised when the context suggests it will be used later.

Knowing the prevalence of mistake types across LLM replies helps concentrate hallucination mitigation. Allowing more than 10 turns in a discussion might be examined if a majority of wrong statements contradict a context-specific argument. Limiting rounds or summarising previous turns may lessen hallucination if fewer turns reduce this mistake kind.

HalluMeasure can help researchers spot a model's hallucinations, but generative AI's risk is shifting. Therefore, studying reference-free detection, employing dynamic few-shot prompting tactics for specific use cases, and integrating frameworks will continue to advance responsible AI.