#also I'm not even picturing frogs at this point I'm picturing it more like. fantasy ppl. not witches but closer to like

[welcometogrouchland]

Btw in a hypothetical amphibia/toh au, Luz is Marcy, Willow is Anne and Amity is Sasha, except Luz is the Heart gem, Amity is the wit gem and Willow is the strength gem. Amitys green hair era takes on the connotations of her toxic need for perfectionism, and Willow's calamity powers invoke both the catharsis and the danger of her mind during understanding willow. In case you were wondering

[scriptflorist]

Perhaps out of your realm but I'm writing fantasy and I wan a man eating plant. Like a giant version of the venus fly trap with tentacles. Now, what part of the actual venus fly trap does not work with this and thus I'd need to change out? Like different cell structure, new enzymes, etc?

Hey there,

The question is less could a gigantic flesh-devouring Venus flytrap be the demise of a human and more how you intend the plant to eat tbh. See, Venus flytraps don’t actually eat the way we think of eating with a stomach and all. They kind of work more like… plant spiders. Because what they do is they digest proteins they cannot get elsewhere in their natural environment and what remains at the end of that process is nothing more than an insect husk to be swept away by the wind. Which translated to a person could turn out pretty gross, but would most likely leave only teeth, nails and bones behind. Venus flytraps generally combat biting and clawing with poison, so there is no reason why a human would have any better chances than a caterpillar.

Generally, the plant would have to be big enough to fully close around its victim, because a trap that cannot close completely around its food it is in danger of rotting. Which happens because the food cannot be digested, even if the insect dies because it’s stuck. Simply put an open trap cannot digest anything so it will eventually turn black and die. The ideal prey-size for a trap is maximum a third of its own size which paints a rather horrifying picture when considering the average human height.

The largest prey on record for a Venus flytrap is a frog because skeletons have been found in them, however these plants generally do not get very big so it couldn’t possible have been very large frogs. Yet. Frogs. So there is quite the gap your story will need to bridge. Because the standard size for a trap is one inch (2,5 cm) and just double that is already considered large.

Alternatively the plant in your story could, you know, actually eat. With teeth and all, which would also suggest the existence of a stomach and some semblance to animal sentience. In this case however you’re breaking reality hard and fast, which good news you get to be the master of your own creation, there just aren’t any comparable examples of this.

In short, the actual Venus trap works fine, if it already evolved to feed on such large prey it’s enzymes and poison will have adapted at this point. The more concerning question is how the food is digested. If what you want is simply a gigantic Venus flytrap that works like a flytrap congratulations all you need to for your story is to scale it up to make sure it can eat properly. They are already able to digest flesh and the only reason we are safe is because well… they are teensy. And all they can eat at this size are scraps of reptile meat.

If the plant in your story however is supposed to chew, the first question should be how and then where the stomach is and how it breathes and whether it needs to breathe while it chews and how that works exactly. Could photosynthesis be the answer or does it need an extra breathing tube? Or maybe it doesn’t chew, maybe it just does a Big Swallow like snakes or frogs? Does its jaw have things in common with a flytrap? If there is saliva involved does it drool when it’s hungry?

In the latter case there would definitely have to be alterations made to the genetic makeup of the plants, for which you could of course borrow from real life examples of predator animals.

– Mod Jana

https://www.livescience.com/15910-venus-flytrap-carnivorous.html

https://venusflytrapworld.com/how-big-is-the-biggest-venus-flytrap/

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[thelegendofclarke]

Just venting I need to get this out:I firmly believe that there are Key 6, not 5, players in ASOIAF. And Sansa is one of them. GRRM has himself named Sansa as one of his key protagonists (there were 6 in total inc Sansa) and also that Sansa,Arya and Bran's journeys were paramount for him. I know this subject has been done to death &I'm really sorry for imposing on you but yeah to me,based on all this,Sansa is one of the Key 6. (you dont have to post it. Just venting. Thanks for reading)

Hi! Sorry to bother you again. I’m the Key 6 players anon. You don’t have to post my initial ask. I know the whole thing has been done to death. I was just venting and getting it out of my system. I hope I didn;t offend. Thanks for understanding.

Hi Anonny!

Oh gosh please DON’T apologize, you didn’t offend me at all in the slightest! I am just slow af and take forever to answer things and am generally The Worst… But my Ask is always open for venting! Especially venting about people who don’t ~recognize, respect, and appreciate~ the Noble and Poetic Land Mermaid that is Sansa Stark.

Yeah, the Key Players debate does continue to be a kind of ~weird bone of contention~ in the fandom for some reason. I think (and like to hope) that a lot of the time when people talk about or make fanart for the Five Key Players, that they aren’t excluding Sansa or leaving her out maliciously. I think they might just be going off of, or wanting to acknowledge, the five main characters GRRM listed in his original outline for the series in 1993.

But you’re right, I have definitely seen people who insist that Sansa is not a main character or key player in the story, which simply isn’t true. GRRM even identified her as a main character himself in 2016:

I’d thought the whole story could be told in three books, and that it would take me three years to write them, a year per book. That picture was taken just a few weeks after I blew my first (bot not my last, oh no) deadline on the series. Ah, how innocent I was… little did that guy in the picture imagine that he would be spending most of the next two decades in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros with Tyrion, Daenerys, Arya, Sansa, Jon Snow, Bran, and all the rest. (x)

And even if GRRM’s word alone weren’t enough, Sansa’s character is vastly different from how she was originally planned. In the original outline GRRM basically had the Arya character involved in plot lines that now belong to Arya, Sansa, and Meera Reed (homegirl would have been BUSY AF); and the original Sansa character was basically who we would now identify as Margaery Tyrell if you are looking for a comparison. The original Sansa character ended up marrying Joffrey and bearing him a son and then choosing him over her family and ultimately paying the price. It was always ~super obvious~ to me that GRRM figured out that it just wasn’t going to be logistically possible to have the Arya character do everything she needed to do. I mean she was basically going to have to be in a minimum of two places at once: fleeing North beyond the wall with Bran AND in KL/WF getting entangled in a love triangle with Jon and Tyrion. So he ended up splitting and then modifying Arya’s storylines for the characters we now know as Arya, Sansa, and Meera.

The Sansy Pants as we now know (and love) her does start out a lot like the original Sansa, with dreams of marrying the prince and having his babies ect. She also does play a big part in what some people see as the betrayal and downfall of her family. But unlike the Sansa in the original outline, our Sansa learns. Her observations and inner dialogue become more and more keen and shrewd and move further and further away from the romantic fantasies and naivety that characterized her original POV. The romantic and fanciful AGoT!Sansa does make appearances throughout the series as Sansa wistfully, and sometimes resentfully, recalls the girl she used to be. But AGoT!Sansa’s memory is consistently suppressed and rejected in favor of a sharper, smarter, more cunning, and more guarded perspective (She hasn’t left her romanticism behind completely though as we know, just like she hasn’t forgotten her true identity. She is still Sansa Stark; “Lord Eddard’s daughter and Lady Catelyn’s, the blood of Winterfell”). 

If anything, this proves to me she’s going to be a Key Player and central to the story’s endgame. Like her siblings Sansa has lived through extreme atrocities and incredible adversity and come out the other side stronger and smarter, but still kind an noble. And like Bran has been honing his supernatural abilities and Arya has been honing her physical abilities, Sansa has been honing her own intellectual abilities. Her growing political savvy and transition from Pawn to Player is incredibly similar to Bran’s growing confidence in his magical abilities. Just like Bran is gradually becoming one of the central characters for the magical endgame of the series, Sansa is transitioning into her role as a key player in the pragmatic and political endgame of the series.

And going along with that, I think another reason people have a hard time believing that Sansa is going to be a Key Player is because she isn’t magical. All the other five Key Players (Bran, Arya, Jon, Dany, and Tyrion) have some sort of magical ability that’s central to their arc. Whether it’s dragon riding or blood magic or warging or being brought back from the dead, they all have some sort of magical skill and/or experience. There is, of course, the fact that Sansa could have been a warg or a skin changer, but her ability to do so essentially died with Lady. But honestly I think that’s kind of beside the point…

In the end I don’t think it matters that Sansa doesn’t have any significant magical abilities, because I don’t think GRRM is trying to write a story solely about magic where the magical storylines and characters are the only important ones. I think he is more writing a story that is set in a world where magic exists. ASoIaF isn’t divided into magical storylines vs. political storylines, the two co-exist and are of equal importance. Whether you want to view ASoIaF as a political world where there’s magic or a magical world where there’s politics, it still stands to reason that the lives of the characters are going to be affected by both. Just like the magically inclined Dany is driven by royal aspirations and entangled in political endeavors, the politically savvy Sansa does interact with and has been affected by magic. 

Both these things occur simply based on the fact that both exist and are pervasive over arching themes in the universe GRRM has created. Even though Sansa doesn’t have any obvious magical skills like Arya and Jon, she has interacted with magic and it has been a prevalent theme in her arc. Here are just a few examples:

The name Sansa actually means “invocation and charm” in Sanskrit. And while yes, this could just be a play on words with Sansa’s power to charm others, it gets brought up again in he advices Petyr gives her to seduce Harry the Heir: “Charm him. Entrance him. Bewitch him.” Seduction is described here like a spell. 

The Ghost of High Heart Prophecy- “I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief. I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells. I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.” The bolded part is pretty clearly speaking of Sansa at Joffrey’s wedding. The purple serpents in her hair with blood dripping from their veins is referring to the silver hair net with purple amethysts given to Sansa by the Tyrells which they used to smuggle poison into the wedding feast. The “serpents in her hair” also really strongly parallels the myth of Medusa, who could turn men to stone with just one look.   

The smallfolk also talk about Sansa and the Purple Wedding in terms of magic and legend when telling the story to Arya and The Hound: “The northern girl. Winterfell’s daughter. We heard she killed the king with a spell, and afterward changed into a wolf with big leather wings like a bat, and flew out a tower window.” (Arya XII, ASoS) Not only do they say Sansa preforms a spell, but also that she skin-changes into a bat-wolf, all references to the dark arts. 

The remaining direwolves often think of think of “the sister they had lost”, which is obviously Lady. And it’s significant that because Sansa lost Lady, her brothers can’t track her the way they do their other siblings. This indicates that there is in fact a magical bond/connection between each Stark and their wolf allowing them to connect with and track each other as a pack, and that with Lady’s death Sansa’s magical connection was severed. 

GRRM has also explicitly stated that all the Stark children have warging abilities: “[On whether the trait of being a warg ran in the Stark family] I don’t know if I want to get into genetics - this is fantasy, not scifi… I don’t think this is necessarily a ‘Stark’ ability, though all the children have it to one extent or another. They also realize it to one extent or another.’

Her presence in Bran’s dream in AGoT (Bran III) where she is surrounded by shadows, each representing characters she has and possibly will interact with (The Hound, Jaime Lannister, and possibly Robert Strong)- “One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.”

Maggy’s Prophecy- Sansa is also potentially the “younger and more beautiful” queen in Maggy the Frog’s prophecy about Cersei. And while she might not ~actually~ end up being the younger and more beautiful queen, Cersei believes she could. This is significant because it shapes Sansa and Cersei relationship and fuels Cersei’s hatred of Sansa from the first time they meet. It’s the same reason Cersei hates Margaery, they are a threat not only to “all she holds dear” but also to her power. 

SO tl;dr Sansa Stark is ~important af~ and DEFINITELY a Key Player in ASoIaF. I know you already knew this haha, but just take comfort in the fact that there is a gd mountain of evidence against anyone who claims differently. So they can just sit there in their Wrongness and be Wrong :)

[citycfangels]

text: casey ⇄ adriana⇄ raquel

Casey: on a scale of no big deal to trump and kim jong il almost starting a nuclear war how big of a fuck up would you say sleeping with your ex is?

Adriana: that depends on the ex, which one of them are you talking about?

Raquel: if you say Eric, I think we have the right to disown you.

Raquel: I’d also say it’s less of a mess up and more of like a mental break down a la Britney Spears.

Casey: okay first off not everyone can have an abnormally perfect relationship like you Raquel and second Aide you aren’t even with someone right now.

Casey: so it was Eric. It’s not that bad right?

Adriana: ouch, thank you for reminding me i'm single

Adriana: yes Casey, it's bad. i get that he's hot and the bad boy attitude can be attractive, but he's an asshole. and i barely use that word

Raquel: You can’t use the word abnormal and perfect in the same sentence, they cancel each other out. And yes, I’m in a relationship but that didn’t come without hard work.

Raquel: I’m with Aide on this one. I don’t know what you see in him.

Casey: it’s not like you have to be single. You can always just go and hook up with a guy.

Casey: you guys act like he was the worst. He wasn’t that bad was he? I’m not texting for a lecture guys.

Casey: he’s just really good in bed.

Adriana: i haven't found the person yet, but that's not the point

Adriana: visually he's a 9, but come on, you're too good for him

Adriana: you're not having feeling for him again, right? because i'd be worried

Raquel: eventually you’ll find the right guy. He’s out there.

Raquel: giving him a nine is still giving him too much credit. He’s like a 7 even in just the looks department.

Adriana: let's not talk about me and my love life, thank you so much

Adriana: oh honey, don't do that. just no. not him

Adriana: not even if the sex is amazing

Adriana: if you ever go back with that idiot i will be seriously rethinking my choice on friends

Casey: Just know that if you don't get a date in a month we're singing you up for online dating.

Casey: No one said getting back together. I still hate him.

Casey: maybe I should just start dating women. Quit men cold turkey. That could also solve your dating problem Aide. What do you say? be in lesbians with me?

Raquel: yeah, we'll sign you up for online dating.

Raquel: and leave me as the third wheel? Get your own gay Casey. No incestuous relationships within our circle.

Raquel: yeah, we'll sign you up for online dating.

Raquel: and leave me as the third wheel? Get your own gay Casey. No incestuous relationships within our circle.

Adriana: i hate you, girls 😑😑😑😑

Adriana: good, or else i hit you. and maybe him too

Adriana: woah there baby, i want dinner and flowers first 😘

Adriana: Quel, you have Charlie, what are you talking about?

Raquel: you love us.

Raquel: I don't believe in violence but you both can expect a mean cold shoulder.

Raquel: Charlie isn't you guys. Yes I'm dating someone but that doesn't mean I suddenly neglect you two. At least I don't think i do.

Raquel: Do I neglect you guys?

Casey: you don't hate us at all.

Casey: Oh, was I not making it obvious? I totally am flirting. Me actually dating a model, how can I not try to get at that.

Casey: Oh you totally neglect us for Charlie, and you can tell him I said that.

Raquel: CUT IT OUT.

Raquel: already did tell him and sleeping with Eric has made you bitchy.

Adriana: tell him hi!

Adriana: and i hate to say this, but i agree. tell me that was the last time, please

Raquel: guys are you sure you don't want to just talk to him?

Raquel: yeah, last time because if he's just going to make you bitchy then he's not doing something right.

Casey: okay, I get it. Not Eric fans.

Casey: Last time.

Adriana: nope, not really

Adriana: if he was that good in bed, you should be happier at least, unless he didn't give you an orgasm

Raquel: okay just making sure.

Raquel: well it wouldn't be the first time...

Casey: okay does everyone know that that's a kink of mine or....

Casey: well I could always help with that 😉

Adriana: we do.

Adriana: dirty girl 😏😏😏

Raquel: CUT. IT. OUT.

Raquel: and yeah everyone knows. That shouldn't be a kink btw that's just torture. If Charlie ever did I don't think I'd talk to him much afterwards.

Adriana: i've never tried that and i'm not sure how would i react. that could be either hot or incredibly infuriating

Casey: Oh, it's hot. Just as you feel his abs tighten and when he's like grabbing onto you real tight you just change the pace a bit. You keep going letting him know you're in control and then you just tell him he can't come. It's all about power and control and it makes him want to fuck you harder next time. You can't do it every time because then you're torturing yourself too but you can always say that if he's good and if he makes you come that you'll return the favor. Make him get creative.

Raquel: like I said. If Charlie did that to me, I wouldn't talk to him for a while. You can always just have great sex the first time around instead of prolonging something both people want.

Adriana: i feel like i've read porn right now

Adriana: and weren't you trying to not think about sex with him?

Casey: That wasn't even smut. If you want porn I can suggest a few authors who are experts in the genre.

Casey: I need to just have sex with someone else. Someone good who's not Eric.

Raquel: well my boyfriend is taken so I don't know who you can sleep with who is a guaranteed A+ but good luck with that.

Adriana: can i just say how much i love that you're defensive of your man? damn

Adriana: i don't know anyone either, so i can't help

Raquel: of course I stick up for my man. He's the love of my life and I mean he really is the best I've ever had. I don't need to go into near smut writing but there's a reason why I came back and why I'm so happy. You know even if it's not just sex.

Raquel: that's what it's all about. Once it stops being just about sex it's when you really get to fall for someone.

Casey: well that leaves me out. The chances of things being more than sex for me again are down into the negatives. Thanks for getting y mind off the sex and back to the real reason why eric and I didn't work which was how jealous he got and how I had to be like only his. Monogamy is over rated. Again, I should do girls only and then make it a polyamorous relationship and I'll be set.

Casey: you do not want a man like Charlie. Quel had to train him like a puppy, and I'm pretty sure he probably still has his accidents on the carpet.

Adriana: that's a good point, but monogamy isn't that bad?

Adriana: so you're hoping to have two or more girls in a polyamorous relationship or would it be for the sex?

Adriana: omg

Raquel: have you ever even been with one girl? You might be over selling yourself Case.

Raquel: also Charlie's not a dog. He might have been rough around the edges at first but he's fine. And there are no accidents anywhere.

Casey: Okay, semantics Raquel, who cares if I haven't been with a woman before and it would only be for sex and not for a relationship.

Casey: I'd be sticking with what I know and what I'm good at.

Adriana: you may want to start with one and then go for the orgy, babe

Adriana: so you'd say he's perfect now or...? because if that's the case, i hope he has a sibling

Raquel: an orgy? And have her try to pull the denial game on multiple people. She wouldn't stand a chance. She can't handle two people.

Raquel: Nope, he's an only child and from Canada so any relatives are there. I got the only one. Looks like you're going to have to keep kissing frogs.

Casey: an orgy is more than three people and more than I would be willing to have. Two people I can deal with.

Casey: because they'd be related to Charlie. Like sure he's nice and all but there's no way anyone should want to see more of them. Besides, you hit the genetic lottery it's why you make the big bucks.

Adriana: i know i'm pretty, thanks for the reminder. still, it doesn't have to be that bad???

Adriana: plus, i'd be a something-in-law to quel

Raquel: You'd be the girl dating my boyfriend's relative. Not something-in-law. Charlie and I aren't getting married.

driana: not yet, and knowing how in love you guys are with each other, i can see a wedding happening in a couple of years. mark my words.

Casey: yeah, see no one believes the whole we aren’t getting married thing. I’m already calling maid of honor.

Raquel: WE. ARE. NOT. GOING. TO. GET. MARRIED.

Raquel: like yes we love each other. I will love him forever but without marriage.

Adriana: he looks like a guy who would get to his knees and not only to talk french between your legs.

Adriana: let me fantasize about your wedding, geez. i want to be a maid of honor too

Casey: you aure that’s the only thing you’re fantasizing about? You’re picturing Charlie boy on his knees a lot there.

Raquel: not funny

Raquel: no. No wedding fantasies. No thinking of me getting married or fighting about who wants to be maid of honor because it isn’t happening. I’m not getting married.

Adriana: ew no. and not because charlie is ew because i'm sure he's 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 but he's our girl's man, so no fantasizing about that

Adriana: don't you want to get married or is it because you think he doesn't want that?

Raquel: please don’t 👌🏽 about my boyfriend.

Raquel: are you kidding? I know he wouldn’t want that. He’s fine with being with me and he knows there is no chance of me ever leaving him but adding the whole wife title, and a ceremony and just the whole thing it would be too much. It’d freak him out and probably ruin my entire relationship which is so good.

Adriana: ew no. and not because charlie is ew because i'm sure he's 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 but he's our girl's man, so no fantasizing about that

Adriana: don't you want to get married or is it because you think he doesn't want that?

Raquel: please don’t 👌🏽 about my boyfriend.

Raquel: are you kidding? I know he wouldn’t want that. He’s fine with being with me and he knows there is no chance of me ever leaving him but adding the whole wife title, and a ceremony and just the whole thing it would be too much. It’d freak him out and probably ruin my entire relationship which is so good.

Casey: or you’re really trying to blame it on him freaking out when really it’d be you going crazy.

Adriana: how do you know? has he told you he doesn't want to get married to you?

Raquel: Guys, I know my man. I don’t need him to tell me we aren’t getting married, I already know that and I’m okay with it. It’s not like I have it all planned or anything. I am fine. You two are the ones who brought up the whole marriage thing in the first place.

Adriana: okay, then don't. sorry i ever mentioned marriage.

Adriana: i guess the only one who wants to get married someday of us is me... in the very distant future

Raquel: which is fine. That just means I get to be maid of honor at /your/ wedding. You never know. You could find a guy pretty soon and he can be as much of a hopeless romantic as you are.

Adriana: yeah, because the romantic guys aren't hiding under the rocks.

Adriana: and who said it couldn't be a girl? 😏

Adriana: but those are hard to find, so it's not happening any time soon

Raquel: I know it's not going to be a girl because you're way too into heteronormative culture.

Raquel: we can always sign you up for online dating. Casey and I can probably find some guy for you.

Casey: Quel is just doubting your lady love

Casey: the chances of you finding a guy to give you the orgasm you have been wanting is pretty high on those too. I say risk it.

Adriana: and having a creep in my bed? no thank you. you girls either find me someone in the traditional way or i pass

Raquel: I’m not doubting her lady love. I am all for lady love. I’ve been with a girl before but that is beside the point.

Raquel: traditional doesn’t always work but if that’s what you want maybe we can go out soon just the three of us.

Adriana: isn't jdate for jewish people, Cas?

Adriana: when you guys have it ready, i want to see what you put on my profile, is that possible?

Casey: You don't have to be Jewish to be on the site.

Casey: You can date a jewish person.

Casey: nope, I'll just give you a time and place where you're meeting this person and be hiding somewhere so that I know he won't kidnap you and sell your organs on the black market and you'll have a good date.

Raquel: this is going to be a disaster. Let me do it. I have better luck with guys. Casey's going to end up setting you up with some body builder with a bdsm fetish.

Raquel: this is going to be a disaster. Let me do it. I have better luck with guys. Casey's going to end up setting you up with some body builder with a bdsm fetish.

Adriana: that's the way to leave this world. i wouldn't have any other way.

Adriana: can i take a look before it's up????

Casey: no you can't look at it.

Raquel: I'll send you screenshots.

Casey: I hate you both.

Adriana: you love us 😘

Casey: I'm tolerating you two now.

Raquel: You love us and you've already admitted that you have at one point wanted to kiss ussss so suck it.

Adriana: hey! i don't attract them, and i don't think i've ever done that

Adriana: keep them away from me, pleeeeeease?

Raquel: don't worry, I'll keep the crazy ones away. I know how to pick them.