#but now I have an abundance of good sources

[cassandracain52]

The Batfamily on a roadtrip:

Bruce: The Driver. You really thought his control freak ass was gonna let someone else drive? Be so fr. Has a migraine the size of the WatchTower and has been seriously contemplating pulling over, getting out of the car, and just walking. Not anywhere particular, just walking away. Has already had to pull over twice to swap seating arrangements around and they've only driven 3 1/2 hours out of 11. (They will do this at least 3 more times before they reach their destination)

Barbara: Shotgun. Declared that as second oldest and second most experienced vigilante that the front seat was her birth given right. No one contested it(successfully anyway). Has been helpfully navigating the fastest route much to Bruce "I know where I'm going" Wayne's annoyance. (Her way was in fact more efficient and she is incredibly smug about it.)

Jason: Behind the Passenger seat. Wanted the front seat but wasn't willing to physically fight Babs for it which was what she assured him it would have taken to get her to move. Brought a backpack full of nothing but snacks that he is only sharing with people that aren't actively annoying him aka Cass. Keeps playing words with friends with Roy on his phone and is Kicking Ass

Cassandra: Middle Left. Volunteered for the middle seat because she wanted to sit next to Jason aka the Snack Source while still being close enough to comfortably talk to Babs and Steph. Is one of the few enjoying the drive and just in general living her best life. Somehow painted both her own and Steph’s nails perfectly while the car was in motion. No one is sure how she did this and they were watching

Stephanie: Middle Right. Was originally sitting Middle Back next to Tim but caused the first seat swap when she got bored and decided Tim made suitable entertainment(imagine like in Detective comics #1000). Bruce declared the car a "No Flirting Zone" shortly after. Pouted for all of thirty seconds before she realized she got to sit next to Cass and abandoned Tim without a second thought. Is also the person pointing to the window and going “cows!” Whenever they pass some

Dick: Behind the Driver's seat. Chose his seat while everyone else was fighting for shotgun because he wanted to be able to see Babs during the drive so they could talk without shouting.(he knew good and well she was winning that fight). Has had a few arguments with Jason but they didn't last or get out of hand with Cass between them. Did manage to steal a bag of chips from Jason’s snackpack while he was on his phone. The roadtrip was his idea and he refuses to admit it was not well thought out.

Tim: Back Left. Was thoroughly betrayed when Steph abandoned him to be left with the two youngest bats and said so at length. Only quieted when Jason threw a pack of gummy worms at his head with a demand for silence. Brought an abundance of handheld electronics despite knowing he gets car sick. He threw up on the side of the road 90 minutes into the trip and Dick confiscated anything that had a screen until they reached their destination. He is his own worst enemy. Has since resorted to playing the license plate game with Duke

Duke: Back Middle. Was originally in between Cass and Dick but had to move to sit Back Left next to Damian when Steph took his spot. He stayed there for exactly 45 minutes before Damian caused the second seat swap when he attempted to strangle Tim with his headphones because he was "breathing obnoxiously". Is now a human barrier and he hates it. Jason offered him a small amount of sympathy by offering him some Sour Patch Kids. Duke accepted them. Bruce was more sympathetic and gave him DJ control. Is mostly just talking with Tim who is bored since his electronics were taken.

Damian: Back Right. Attempted to attack Stephanie with a pillow because he “couldn’t listen to her and Drake anymore and she was closer” before the first seat swap occurred. Did not regret his actions in the slightest. Warned his father that nothing good would come from him sitting directly beside Tim, was ignored, and then moved when "nothing good" did indeed come. Despite these to things, he actually spent the majority of the drive with his headphones on full volume and messing around on his phone while he pretended to be anywhere other than there.

Alfred: In The Car Following Behind Them. Yeah there was no way he was getting in that car. He knows a recipe for disaster when he sees one. Didn't hesitate to "offer" that he would happily transport all the luggage and supplies and meet them there. Was already loaded up and ready to go in a separate car before anyone could question him. Somehow got there first and had made dinner for them when they all finally showed up with half the car at war with the other half. Peace was made only in the name of Alfred’s cooking

[aethersea]

I've always wanted to learn bookbinding, ever since I was a wee little nerd, but there are a lot of things I've always wanted to learn, and this one has both a daunting upfront materials cost and a daunting upfront research cost. however, my sister is a jewel among siblings and gave me for christmas last year a handy dandy bookbinding manual, a block of good paper, and a little bag of tools.

but I still didn't have a suitable workspace, nor any of the many important tools and materials that she didn't include in her gift. so I just read the manual and pined. until maybe a month ago I got fed up with pining, flattened a cardboard box for a cutting mat, and went to town.

and I'm real proud of myself, so here's me rambling, plus photos!

I went to the thrift store and got glue + some fabric to bind the cover, went to Michaels for a paintbrush (and later went back for a metal ruler lmao it's amazing how useful it is to have a straightedge for cutting the paper), and...could not find material for the cover boards. so I went home and pined some more. but the urges were too strong, so after a couple hours of moping I got a stack of printer paper at the grocery store (I could not bring myself to use the good paper for my first, inevitably weak attempts, I just couldn't do it) and started making a little booklet. which was a great idea, it turned out, since it makes for good practice with cutting the paper, measuring things, punching holes in the signatures, etc.

I have a big box of greeting cards from Michaels, which I used for the covers. it didn't feel like I was making a Real Book, so I got some colored paper from the stationery store and used that for end papers.

so fancy~

galvanized by this success, I ordered a stack of chipboard online to use for cover boards; and once I was confident that I could cut paper without making it look too stupid (getting that straightedge ruler sure helped lol), I made signatures out of the good paper, left them under some heavy books overnight since I don't have a book press, and then punched holes in them! (huzzah for this nice video on getting the holes right)

my sister's gift included good linen thread. it's unwaxed, but after some poking around on r/bookbinding it looks like that just means I'll have to be more careful to avoid tangles and keep good tension. I am fine with this. I can be extra attentive. (I considered just running it over a beeswax candle, but one commenter said if your wax has paraffin in it, it could melt in a hot car, ruining the spine. I can't guarantee my candle is 100% beeswax, I didn't make it, so maybe we just move on.)

I don't have good linen fabric to use for the tapes, but the important part there is that the fabric be thin, sturdy, and not stretchy. the probably-cotton I got from the thrift store fits the bill, so it'll do!

this is a french link stitch, which I got from this exceedingly good tutorial. apparently it's strong enough on its own that for a book of this size, I don't actually need tapes, but I'd already cut the things so eh here we are. and tapes plus french link will make it a stronger binding still (according to a friendly redditor on r/bookbinding), so we carry on.

specifically we carry on to the gluing step. now as I mentioned, I do not have a book press, and you....kinda need one for this step. you need to hold the book block in place with the signatures facing upwards, pressed together hard enough that the glue won't run down between them and stick the pages together (though you do want the glue to get between them just a little, just for like a 16th of an inch). you at least need some clamps and a couple boards to sandwich the book block with.

but you know what? I'm not a professional, this is my first ever book, if it's a little bit off it'll be fine. so we grab all the heaviest books off the bookshelf and improvise.

it's fine! I'm sure it's fine! and just in case it's not, I've tucked a bit of cardboard underneath to catch any glue that drips down so it won't land on the floor. see? I'm prepared! I'm acing this.

and actually, it really was fine. I used clear elmer's glue, applied with a flat paintbrush from the art supplies aisle at Michael's, and frankly I liked the way the flat paintbrush let me slip glue in between the signatures. I did poke around on a couple bookbinding sites to see what kind of glue I should use, and the gist is that although there are better options than this, elmer's glue is perfectly serviceable, and the main downside is it's not archival grade. but I don't need my first bookbinding attempts to last 200 years, that's fine.

the next step is to add the mull. mull is a specific type of fabric – extremely loose-weave linen – and the idea is to paste it down over the spine to essentially hold the tapes and signatures all in place in relation to each other.

but I don't have mull! so I'm using more of the thrift store probably-cotton, because it's thin enough and not really stretchy at all. I'm sure this will be fine too. I painted a layer of glue onto the spine, then left it to dry a bit while I measured and cut the fabric, then painted a generous stripe of glue down the center, where it'll affix onto the spine. then I added a bit more glue to the spine, just to be sure, and pressed the mull into place, rubbing it thoroughly to make sure it's firmly affixed to every signature, with no creases in the fabric or air bubbles beneath it.

honestly I might have overdone it on the glue. I've never done this before, I don't know! I think it's okay, though – I tried not to ever let it become a thick layer, just a slight coating, since the danger of too much glue is that it might crack once dry and weaken the spine.

and now we leave it in the press overnight to dry, and pick up the next step in the morning!

[gallusrostromegalus]

Hi Gallus, I'm doing some worldbuilding and you seem like you could be connected enough for me to find an answer to the problem of dwarven agriculture. Many problems are created by the requirement of no sunlight, as even the common response of mushrooms still need light to break down decomposing matter as a primary energy source. Currently, we're thinking that they use a special type of mushroom that breaks down rocks in an energy-producing reaction, giving them enough energy to absorb nutrients and grow - this would serve a second purpose in explaining why building a massive hollowed-out mountain fortress doesn't produce an equally large amount of gravel.

Any thoughts? We're grasping at straws kinda lol

Well, some thoughts:

There's plenty of cave systems (especially Karst Systems) that are at least partially open to Sunlight- especially the kind that have rivers running through them, which is something else that's really helpful for agriculture.

For Example: This Cool AF Sinkhole cave in china that has an entire Forest in it

Now There's a view to put outside the city Gates!

Karst specifically is a landscape where underground rivers hollow out the limestone underground and then the cave roofs fall in. This kind of landscape answers your gravel question nicely: the hollowed out mountain does produce an equal amount of gravel, but the gravel turns up as the sandy banks of the river system hundreds of miles away.

So, there's your sunlight that can be used directly, or reflected or magically transferred deeper into the cave system.

Or they just put more holes in the roof! Unless your dwarves are also vampires, there's no reason for them to not hollow out a few Skylights into the mountain too.

But let's talk some other cave ecology and agriculture!

For starters, your dwarves could be sitting on top of a literal gold mine that would allow them to trade for a lot of needed materials and crops.

And by gold mine, I mean Salt Mine.

Historically, salt comes out of hollowed-out mountains and is worth more than gold.

Also something the humans have historically fought a bunch of wars over, so there's some free political tensions if you needed that!

I can also mean the possible fucking enormous piles of bat guano that accumulates in Karst caves, which is the world's most insanely good fertilizer, and ALSO something that has been worth more than it's weight in gold.

Speaking of Gold, another thing that often lives in sinkhole caves in abundance is BEES. turns out, limestone stalactites are a terrific place to build a hive that is difficult for predators to reach, stays dry and the stone substrate means the hives can reach many tons in weight before they start having structural issues. That sweet, sweet insect-derived liquid gold is already important to Dwarves in a lot of folklore- it's really hard to have a Traditional Dwarven Mead Hall without the honey to make the mead, you know?

So you got your mushrooms, you got your sunlight-grown sinkhole crops, you got your traded goods and you got your source of alcohol- the only thing really missing from an ancient food pyramid here is a staple carbohydrate. To that end, may I propose our good Peruvian Friend: The Potato.

Grain crops aren't actually all that nutritious and were kept around in ancient societies more as legal tender that kept the peasants busy, because wheat or rice takes months to grow, an enormous amount of labor to harvest, and wheat also needs to be milled before it can be turned into food- all enormously time-consuming processes that keep peasants busy and easy to rule tyranically over.

Potatoes though? Pop one in the ground in spring and you can dig up fingerlings all summer, and if you make potato towers, you can harvest up to 40lbs of delicious, easy-to-prepare-and-store carb out of a single plant- a real space-saver for the limited sinkhole skyspace.

If your dwarves have cheese, the potato makes even more sense, because Potato+dairy is the easiest, most nutritionally complete survival food there is.

Finally, consider: Dwarven Vodka.

This post is open for anyone to comment suggestions on, but that's my take: put your dwarves in a Karst-sinkhole cave system, give them a highly in demand resource like salt or guano, bees, and taters. Boom. Whole agriculture, economy and political scheme starters.

[punkpandapatrixk]

🧝🏻‍♀️Mystical Glow-Up Secrets ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card

Your mystical glow-up is literally divinely ordained, no cap HAHAH I’ve got this vibe from the deck-bottom but let me start with this quote:

'A Humanity that thinks materialistically will produce frightful beings in the future, and a Humanity that thinks spiritual thoughts, will work upon and transform the future organism so that beautiful Human bodies will proceed from it.' – Rudolf Steiner

Oh, gosh.

We are in an era of spiritual consciousness. This is an era where we learn to reflect outwardly what it means to be a 5D-Consciousness Being. Living in a 5D consciousness, people naturally feel lighter, freer, younger, prettier, healthier, more fit, more stress-free, more energetic; all because people's whole vibrations are 'triggered' by a more spiritual ae-nergy.

ae is known as chi or prana or orgone in other languages; by synchronizing with your ae, ever so organically your body learns to derive vital energy from a purer source of consciousness—a high vibration of aetheric authenticity—that reflects in the physical world as a glow-up of the highest divine order~♥︎

As your Mind comes into alignment with the ae of your Spirit, so your Body becomes attuned to that Order. The significance of ae will only grow as more people come into a spiritual kind of liberation from the chains of insecurity propagated by the monsters in the media and politics.

No matter what the propaganda of the moment may say and try to do, you could always be the conscious individual that distils information and derives from this process only the essence of what is good for you on a personal level. If you’re happy, satisfied, confident and proud with your intelligent conscious choices, that spark of contentment is what truly makes a person glow from the inside out~★

education: Body Care and Grooming (1948)

technomagy: Facial Symmetry with Muscle Toning (Energetic Programmed Audio) by Sapien Medicine

deck-bottom: XX Judgement Rx, Silver Historian (Polydore Vergil), Priestess of Beauty

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Pile 1 – As You Mend Your Heart, Babe, All of You Gets Beautiful Again

assistance: what is coming is 100000x better than what is gone by doyouflow

what’s been taken from you? – 9 of Wands

Although this is a 9 of Wands card, I see that the entirety of your Pile is water-based. You’re someone whose heart is very pure and kind, and you’ve sacrificed a lot of yourself for being there for others. I’m hearing: ‘for a pessimist I was pretty optimistic, and I got nothing—NOTHING—but betrayal and abandonment, and I am exhausted.’ Being charitable around the wrong fucker can surely drain our spiritual aenergy!

You’ve been through multiple cycles of ‘exhausting’ friendships with people who couldn’t appreciate you for the delicate human that you are. They only saw you as this fiery, strong, charismatic capable individual who always managed to whip up a positive attitude in any circumstances. It never occurred to them—not that they’d care to wonder anyway—that maybe this time around you’re the one needing a hug.

Nobody cared; and even the ones who pretended to care, only wanted to know what your gloominess was all about. And they went on to talk shit behind your back and had a good laugh about it. ‘MU HA HA HA, turns out Y/N ain’t even that shit! Y/N is pretty pathetic/loser/crazy BU HA HA HA HA!!!’ Funny thing is, you always knew about their shit one way or another and the whole revelation broke your heart to pieces. Multiple times with different people… tsk tsk…

recalling fragments of your beauty – 9 of Cups

Well, now, I can see you’ve lost a lot of these ‘friends’ and worked on yourself to create new neural pathways towards a truer sense of spiritual abundance. I’m sure right now your Life is pretty OK in areas like finance and material security; your job or creative project is going swimmingly; you have a pretty good work-life balance; and for the most part you’re really enjoying the peacefulness of your solitary Life.

But if there’s one thing, I think you haven’t had a really good conversation with someone interesting in a pretty long time. I see that your eyes have not twinkled from being complimented by someone genuinely kind in a really long while. You’ve lost a lot of your affection for people and you’ve lost faith in being energetic and social. People always disappoint in the end because their hearts are ugly and they’re mean to each other. This deep-seated belief has caused your eyes to look dead and droopy.

Have you perhaps noticed that you’ve developed a set of sanpaku eyes? The minimalistic science behind it states that people could develop sanpaku eyes after going through a lot—like a FUCKTON—of heartache and disappointments. I think your case could be dealing with some kind of a ‘betrayal trauma’ or some variety of ‘injustice trauma’. Look ‘em up, babe~ ♥︎

sealing the deal with the Divine Feminine – Knight of Cups

If some years have passed now since the last time you were around your fake friends, or even frenemies, I want you to know that your beauty has not been lost to time or ageing. Nope. Not at all. That’s bullshit. I can see that you’re the type of person who ages very UNNATURALLY. If your natal chart has a lot of Water aenergies or you have strong placements in Water Houses, you’re defo the type of bitch that can TRANSFORM your physical appearance by sheer mood ;D At this point, you can’t even age coz that skin barrier is strong AF LMAO

THAT’S WHY! Your true mystical glow-up secret lies in your mending your pretty Heart~ You’ve never had an ugly Heart, obviously, and still now it’s not ugly or anything; but it’s the way you think about how deserving you are of a friendship or relationship that honours your complex sensitivity that needs to be acknowledged and RECLAIMED. Doesn’t matter how, doesn’t matter when or who’s coming next, I just want you to know that if this reading has popped in to your Life… Your Soulmates are coming to get you, bitch. Pack up and play in the sea! XD

The good times that you’re going to be having with your Soulmates, Soul Tribes, Soul Fam—however you may resonate—are going to refill the stars in your Heart, automatically reflected in your eyes~ ★_★v Hahah I promise you that you’re going to reunite with Souls who are very, very old friends with you. You’re going to live a very happy, passionate Life doing things you like with people you Love… How the hell do you think that’s not gonna heal all of you and make everything about you beautiful again?😉

Originally, you’re a beautiful bitch. And if you’ve also got some Capricorn/Saturn/10th House placements, it’s very likely you’re ageing backwards! What the hell even is that?? \`★_★`/

GODDESS OF BEAUTY🔻💙

beauty on the inside – Green Physician (Paracelsus)

beauty on the outside – Priestess of Inspiration

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Pile 2 – It’s the Passion in Your Heart That Reflects Outwardly Your True Inner Beauty

assistance: I TRUST things aren’t falling apart they are FALLING INTO PLACE by doyouflow

~wah, girl, you really gotta check out the bonus content for this one XP~

what’s been taken from you? – 5 of Cups Rx

Out of all the Piles, you’re the baddest bitch of them all, do you realise that? You’ve got the most unhinged aenergy about you XD You’re a psycho, you know that? You’re generally thought of as either unpredictable or uncontrollable, but you could also be both, unprovoked LMAO People think you’re a problem child, because you’re so gutsy. I’m literally not getting ANYTHING about what’s been taken from you ^_^; Are you sure you still need this PAC? XD

First of all, you literally exist in your own dimension. That’s why people can’t control you. They can’t tame you. You’re a weirdo, a maniac even, who does things your way, plans things according to your vision, and yours alone, for the most part. People think you’re rather selfish but it’s because you’re a girl, right? If you were a man they’d say you’re DRIVEN. And yes! DRIVE that Bentley, bitch! No, DRIVE that Tesla into OUTER SPACE, bitch! You don’t appreciate people telling you what you CAN’T do!

And you don’t like it when people gaslight you about your confidence just because they’re a little bitch. You love being a Supreme Bitch—you’re a girl on a mission; ain’t nobody got the aenergy to listen to nobody’s guilt-tripping. And in that sense, your spirit and psychology have never really been hit by society. Society has never been able to take away anything from you ♡

recalling fragments of your beauty – XIV Temperance Rx

I see that your Beauty has stayed intact for the majority of your Life. It’s not like you’d resonate with having lost fragments of your beauty to years of depression, malnutrition or anything of the sort? Your mindset has remained strong for the majority of your adult Life. You have a strong mentality and this is reflected well in your physical body. A glow-up is easy, as long as you want it. And for the most part, your glow-up is tightly bound to your sense of purpose.

You’ve always known you’re meant for great things. And from a very young age you already worked on your mentality. You REFUSED to be normal, you refused mediocrity. It wasn’t a walk in the park until you reached your conviction though. Your childhood was rather constrictive, either due to societal expectations…or familial expectations. The adults around you thought you didn’t notice but you saw all of these fences put around you, and they pissed you off. Even your peers couldn’t understand what you wanted to make out of yourself.

So you rebelled from a very young age. You were, yes, THEE problem child, only because the small-minded people around you were a problem to your goals! Such hindrance. And now you’re glowing up and grabbing all the money bags and they jealous? Are you even fucking kidding my butt? Your path towards a total glow-up of your mindset and real life was not always perfect, but what’s perfection? All of the struggles play into creating your lore👑

sealing the deal with the Divine Feminine – 2 of Cups

If you’ve never heard anybody tell you this, allow me to be the first. Your drive, your determination, your ambition and motivation, although these qualities may make you appear like a selfish bitch on the outside, I, ME, MYSELF, understand that you want these things not only for yourself. There are people in this world you want to protect and provide for. Maybe it’s your mother who was abused or left by her deadbeat husband, idk. Maybe it’s a sibling or a pet you want to give the best Life for, idk.

Maybe, you want to achieve success and fame and be seen by the world, because you want to save the world from the malady of its own crazy, idk~ You want to be an example, a healing presence, a voice of reason, a voice for the voiceless, idk? You may look a certain bitchy, scary way on the outside, but your heart is good; it’s PURE GOLD. You live for the betterment of someone else and if that’s not LOVE, what is?

What most people don’t understand about you is how your sparkle of beauty literally comes from this desire to protect and provide for someone other than yourself. You have a lot of Love in your heart, even if you don’t always admit it to yourself. Your entire Life, your glow-up has come from your being DRIVEN. Vroom vroom, MOTHERFUCKER .・°☆~ You leave a trail of stardust for your aenemies ♥︎

GODDESS OF BEAUTY🔻💛

beauty on the inside – Green Alchemist (Nicolas Flamel)

beauty on the outside – Priestess of Patience

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Pile 3 – When Your Existence is Useful to the Healing of Others, Their Love/Gratitude Nurtures You Back to Health

assistance: you get to be universes favorite by doyouflow

what’s been taken from you? – Page of Cups Rx

See, it’s crazy that literally a few mins before starting on you, Pile 3, I came across a quote that says this:

‘Some of us are such advanced Souls that we did not come here to be supported, but we came to be the support system for many. If you’ve had a challenging Life and feel you never had proper support or Love, that is because YOU are the Love and Support.’

Well, my heart broke, but…hey, there’s clarity and validation there😊

All of these cards are in reverse, telling me there’s a lot that’s been taken from you. Your heart, compassion, resources, money, hobby items, OMG, the list is endless! So much has been taken away from you. Either by people borrowing stuff without remembering to return or people getting a favour without returning it to you. At least, even when it seemed like they did return some favour to you…the return was either lacklustre or just…it didn’t feel right?

You’ve felt gaslit too much your entire Life. An incessant feeling of being unseen, unappreciated, unloved, could’ve eaten away at your self-worth. You’ve often been the miracle in someone else’s Life, but when it comes to you needing a transformation in your Life, where’s MY miracle…? I think you could have Chiron in 12th House or Pisces? That kind of placement is one where an individual constantly feels like they’ve been forsaken by God, or the positive forces of the Universe…

recalling fragments of your beauty – 3 of Pentacles Rx

The truth of the matter is, you’ve not been forsaken by your Spirit Guides. See, this message is gonna be especially resonant for you who do have Chiron or Saturn in the 8th or 12th House—that the Universe, your Higher Self and Spirit Guides have given you so little guidance and support, because you’re meant to learn how it feels like to be in the shoes of Humans. See, it’s not to say these Humans do not have support—babe, they CAN’T access the support because they’re BLIND and DEAF AS FUCK.

Humans are so embarrassingly divorced from their own intuition. Even the most religious folks are blind and deaf to actual angelic whispers. In many cases, because their false religions have taught them to worship wrongly and be obedient to evil authority and not question any injustice and wrongdoings. The more blindly religious a person is, the more separated they are from their own Humanity, because now their ears are deaf to empathy.

You came into this world to understand the twists and turns of how it feels like to navigate this crazy Matrix with so little guidance, so that one day, when you’re propelled into your main mission, you can remind and even teach people how to re-connect with Love—the true source of all compassion and Divinity in Human Form. When you remind people of their Humanity, you regain, and grow exponentially in Beauty ♥︎

sealing the deal with the Divine Feminine – 6 of Pentacles Rx

So, as you can see, you have a very important spiritual mission in this incarnation. I do not give a goddamn dime what you think you look like; whether or not you‘re conventionally attractive; whether or not you fit some bullshit beauty standards; YOU ARE FUCKING BEAUTIFUL when you’re seen sharing your healing gifts with the world! You do remember that a lot of historians say Cleopatra wasn’t perceived as necessarily that conventionally beautiful by most people, right? But that everybody was charmed by her intelligence and charisma when talking about politics?

Yeah, you give me that vibe, bitch <3 That the essence of what you do to alleviate sorrow in the world, when seen by others, when people listen to what you say, when what you do or write changes people’s lives for the better, when people feel motivated by your sheer aenergy to improve themselves—it’s that kinda shit what will help you regain your natural beauty, or manifest a glow-up ☆

When you engage in your Life’s main mission, it’s people’s Love for what you do and the Gratitude they feel for what it’s done in their lives what will aenergetically nurture you back to health. In a nutshell, people’s appreciation for your Life’s Work IS your support system in this world—later on in Life maybe if you haven’t started. It is your Purpose to be useful to the healing of others~ You’re defo gonna have an audience \^_^v Namaste, bitches~★ I honour all that you’ve been through and all that you’re going to do for this world~ You’re so LOVED!!! <3

GODDESS OF BEAUTY🔻🧡

beauty on the inside – Gold Historian (Raphael Holinshed)

beauty on the outside – Priestess of Love

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☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

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[kalki-tarot]

[🥀 ] FUTURE SPOUSE PERSONLAITY TRAITS

Pick A Pile

how to pick your pile!  

🦢 : from left to right — Instinctively select the picture that feels right to you, whether based on your thoughts or the desires of your inner self. Choose the one that resonates with you, keeping in mind that this reading is meant to be general in nature and may not resonate with everyone.

🦢 : Disclaimer — The images I used to select a pile were sourced from Pinterest, I hope the reading will deeply resonate with you. I'm not responsible for any decisions you make in your life from my readings. I'm just a beginner and these readings are just for fun.

I DON'T DO PAID READINGS. YOU CAN SEND ME AN ASK IF YOU WANT BUT PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.

PILE 1

Cards : the lovers, justice, the hanged man, 6 of cups, devil, queen of wands, ace of swords.

I think they are someone balanced, they have their masculine and feminine energy balanced.

They are deeply romantic as the lovers card came out. They are giving me gemini vibes. They might be your soulmate. They're very attractive and may be a lot of people have a crush on them. But they seem to mind their own business.

They are fair, logical, and love justice. They're the peacemaker in the group. Their friends or close ones might ask them for advices as they're great at it due to their rational mindset.

They're kind and generous. They'd like giving you gifts. They might be struggling or working hard in their lives right now.

They're kind of disinterested in outwardly things. They like to stay in their place. They might be unconventional, personality wise.

They have a playful, devilish personality. They like being social. They're outgoing and may have many friends.

They are unique! Not like others. They have fresh perspectives and visions which makes them lovable and interesting. They are eager to cease new opportunities and are innovative and creative. Thanks for reading.

PILE 2

Cards : the emperor, strength, Ace of swords, three of swords, the lovers, the hanged man, justice.

They are bold and family oriented. They are very masuline and might be traditional in sense of family. They will be the provider in the relationship.

They are a go getter type of energy. They act quick and make fast decisions. They will be straightforward in terms of what they want.

Someone might have broken their heart in the past which made them lik e this - cold and hard from outside. They might be stuck in this for a long time. But they'll be given justice when you'll enter their life and they'll treat you like a deserving King or Queen.

They might be cold from outside but they're soft for their loved ones and family.

If they like someone romantically, they're ready to do everything for them. Like I said before, they'll do everything for their loved ones.

For zodiac signs, they might be an Air sign and a little bit of Fire Signs.

PILE 3

Cards : 2 of swords, the hanged man, knight of pentacles, king of pentacles, 10 of pentacles, page of wands, king of wands.

They're someone who thinks and plans before they act. They are currently going through a phase in their life which requires them to make a decision, and they're thinking about it or introspecting things before making any choice. They're indecisive and have an avoidant tendency.

In love, they might offer you for a date or anything like that from their side. They might gift you a lot of things as they come from a financially abundant and secure family.

The page of wands represents someone who loves adventures and loves trying new things. Staying still in a single place for a long time is hard for them.

They might be directionless in their life before but now they're improving themselves and working towards their goals! This is a good sign of character development. They know what they're doing and how to improve it for better.

They might be a Fire Sign or Air Sign.

Thanks for reading. Please be kind in the comments, I'm just a beginner so don't take these readings seriously. Take what resonates. And ignore grammatical errors please, english is not my first language.

[cooki3face]

messages for singles from your divine counterpart:

message: hello, this one’s intended for those who are single, who are manifesting new love or manifesting a divine counterpart or manifesting their person as in “the one” I intend to do these in channeled message format so it’ll be a message that sounds as though I’m speaking directly to you. In life we have plenty of soulmates, plenty of karmics, some of us have a twin flame even as well. But whomever, you’re intended to end up with long term and indefinitely is who I’ll be channeling in energy today. My prayer for those of you who are choosing to receive this message is that it reaches those who are only in alignment with the prospect of love and divinely ordained connections and are willing to manifest happiness and abundance for themselves through action and growth. Our hearts are big enough to share and open up to many but I pray that those whom you choose to share your hearts with and those whom approach you with the prospect of sharing theirs are in true alignment with you and will treat you only with upmost tenderness and care. Bless. 💙

*purples and blues are significant once again, also fish. 🎣 lol wtv that means..*

***

i.

“I know that things have been hard for you, you may feel somewhat hopeless about your romantic relationships and about love. You may have entered this lifetime with strong feelings and a deep pull to romantic love and connections, you want to focus on someone, you want to love and be loved, you want for others to do for you what you so effortlessly do for them. I am all the same I promise. You feel as though what you’re looking for may not truly exist, you feel as through you’ve been hurt or mistreated so much that you have a responsibility to settle in order to be happy or that the people you find yourself attached to or loving deeply are the end be all for you and if they were to go that you’d be alone eternally. That’s just not true.

Hardship and the battle forward is rewarded with good things my love. Don’t be stubborn, don’t bury yourself deep into the ground and refuse to move, do not take root where you do not belong, where you do not belong does not have the nutrients to allow you to grow as I will. Where you do not belong will weaken your roots, will eat away at you, will tie you down and tangle you up in order to keep you from growing towards the sky. Do not allow the negative behaviors and actions of others interfere with the purity of your heart. To strive for better means only to remain strong and authentic in times of crisis.

To me, your divinity shines up towards the heavens like a beacon of hope and you are everything I have been looking for and praying for. I watch you. I study you. I hang on to your every word. You are home to me while several aspects of my spirit lain and remain frequent in movement. When I come to you, I’d have found myself but there is more that I will discover about what I need and what I truly desire out of this lifetime through you. You are so special, so divine, you are the single closest thing to the heavens. I will support you. Those who speak ill of you will be silenced. I will protect you. When one finds an angel, they are tasked with the responsibility of creating heaven for them and that is exactly what I’ll do.

In the now, I remain in the process of coming into alignment with myself, seeking out my own divinity as you seem to effortlessly have, I love you because you make me a better individual, you bring solace for my spirit after a long while having none, you pour into me light you’ve sourced from only the most authentic of places. Your growth means mine so please carry on, focus on what it means to find enlightenment and fulfillment in your own life and in your own reality, build things for yourself, create, find peace where you don’t have it by removing what disrupts it. I know that you love to talk and I will love to listen to you, we will stay up for hours having conversations and connecting with one another, I value your love for communication and your ability to speak and write so effortlessly about a variety of things, you bring with you wisdom wherever you go, your mind is a god given one.

I know god, I know faith, but I will not see it in all of its glory and essence until I meet you. You are the physical embodiment of divinity, of love, of spirituality, of power. Please do not be hurt by the way things have revealed themselves to be in your life and in love, move with grace, offer yourself forgiveness for not seeing the worst in others right away because it is not within your heart to do so. Acceptance is the key to inner peace, we must accept things as they are. I will tell you plenty that there is no peace nor purpose in trying to change things that are beyond our control or have already taken the form of which they already are. With me you’ll learn balance, with me you’ll learn what it means to be fluid, to be malleable and flexible. In more ways than one..

I bring and offer to you support and balance where you do not have it. De-center your romantic relationships at this time. De-center the prospect of searching for love or a divine counterpart. Laugh. Enjoy your life, have fun, love yourself, love the things you create, love the human experience. Seek out love and solace in every where but others whom you have to trudge through deep waters in order to find. I am with you in spirit. Look deep into your heart and you will find all my love and support.”

***

ii.

“I want only to create beautiful things with you my love, to create prosperity in our lives, to build homes wherever we go, to have children with you, to make love and love one another equally. But, before we can do that, there is something i need to let go of. Change is difficult, I know it to be true but we can only receive what we rightfully deserve when we open ourselves up to receiving it, we can only recover from what we will allow yourselves to release. I have so much to say to you but I can’t put into words all I want to say just yet but I am trying, I am growing. Where change comes and attempts to pull you away from wherever youve held yourself against your spirits true desires and wishes is where change threatens to pull me from as well.

My heart is heavy, I have many blockages to work through. I am afraid, and my past, my upbringing and my karmic cycles threaten always to pull me into the trap of continuing to live and love through generational curses, to fall into toxic cycles of repetition, or to continue not perpetuate cycles of abuse or bad habits. I feel restless all the time and my problem at this time, in this day and age is not feeling as though I have the capacity or strength to do the inner work to break heavy generational burdens that have been inherited to me.

I fought to be here, my spirit is weary, in my past life I lived a life or hardship, and in this one I bring with me heavy things, I said to God that I would come back and try again, but consciously, in my human mind, I don’t remember, I do not know the source of my trauma and my hardship in full. I feel as though on my journey into this world I was sent plummeting into the abyss. I feel the way the Morningstar felt when god cast him out. I feel your resistance, you do not want to speak with me or you do not want to hear from me. But I fought to be here. To be within this plain of existence and to come through this message to connect with you.

I do not blame you for the way that you feel, I know that I do not have the capacity at this time to give you everything you need and deserve and so as punishment for my behavior you’ve taken your heart away from me and given it to someone else or have locked it away elsewhere out of my reach. I understand. If you choose to part from me till the end of this lifetime and into the next I do not blame you and I will not be angry. I will live with regret. You no longer romanticize hardship, you have healed, you have outgrown me for my purpose within our past and I respect that, I respect your decision, I respect you. What I want most out of this life is to heal, to come into alignment with myself and to be with you, what you want is to be loved wholly and beyond fears and ego and for a very long time I could not do that for you and so you took yourself elsewhere. You are brave and you are strong. You represent what it means to be in love with yourself, to be in alignment, to be love, to grow, to prosper.

I will transform, I will make the changes necessary for myself like you asked me too. You told me once, that you wished for me self love and peace and I will find it. With or without you as you did in your life. I will reap the reward of healing and of growth and of freedom from karmic cycles and generational trauma. I will be strong and I will be brave just as you told me to be. I will take from the strength you poured into me that I stored away due to me not knowing how to use it in the past. I’m going to let go of all of these horrible things, I’m going to server my attatchment to my trauma. See? Now you are calm. You don’t scowl at me or frown, you’re calm and beautiful as you exist in my memory. I’m your twin flame. I am apart of you. The qualities that you dislike within me are qualities you dislike within yourself. We are one. You may have moved on from me, you may have grown, you may be in the process of creating things for yourself in your life, settling into commitments, loving yourself and loving others but I’ll be with you. In spirit.”

***

iii.

“The two of us haven’t yet met but I believe that I will find you one day when we’re ready to meet one another. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’m sure we both have in our lives. I know that you’re waiting for me and I know that at times you feel restless or exhausted or you may even feel lonely or frustrated due to the fact that you haven’t met someone who is perfectly suited for you as you think you’d observed in other peoples relationships.

Don’t envy others, in there situations there is proof of flaws as well however minimal. We have so much inner work to do and so much growth to embark on, I’ve not come, we’ve not come together because we’re simply not ready and it’s only a matter of time and the choices we choose to make in between time. Don’t wait up for me, don’t center your growth around love, set yourself free, allow your spirit to move through life and gain the gift of the human experience without desired outcomes or predetermined ideas about what will come if you choose to grow, if you choose self love, if you choose to come into alignment with your higher self. I would say all these things to you as a friend before I was in the position to say them to you as a lover.

Your value, your time, your energy, your worth are not attached to who you can become for others or what you could potentially receive for growing or becoming who’ve been meaning to be this entire time. Think about everything that you desire for yourself, consider your freedom and your return from spiritual poverty. Reevaluate what is truly important to you. We can only offer and give to others what he already have for ourselves. It is not your job to go out into the world and fall in love it is your job to fall in love with yourself and all of your divinity and come into true alignment so that I may come to you and offer myself to you in full. I want for you what you want for yourself… happiness, peace, support, safety.. you can hear my voice by now within your spirit, hold onto me. Take root.

Release your anger, release your frustration, do not allow yourself to be easily moved or threatened by others and triggering situations, don’t allow people’s behaviors whether they be negative or be in positive intention push you to be cold and apathetic or negative or rude. To love yourself is to love others. To be patient with yourself is to be patient with others. To forgive yourself is to forgive others. To be emotionally in tune and receptive is to see the truth in situations and make room for all truths. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrong doings. Ask yourself, my love, if you are these things you say you want, if you are all these things you say you want love to be, if you are in the energy to receive it. And then, when you are ready and you are able, I will come.

***

thankyou for listening guys, rest or be productive today in ways that matter, you choose. Be calm today, be reflective, be intentional. Show yourself grace and offer it to others. I love you, and I’ll see you another time! Bless! 🎣💜

[silica]

Tarot • pick a pile • general reading

Mystery Reading — pick a pile for your message *.☁️’’

Pile 1 — Pile 2 — Pile 3 — Pile 4 — Pile 5

☁️

Please pick the pile that you feel drawn to the most!

Pile 1

Pile 1, I see help being received after a long time coming. Abundance rolling in. You’ve been in a position of recovery for a while, that small sliver of hope you’ve been holding onto during this time will bear its fruits eventually. You may require the assist of outside support / outside support is on its way.

Something in your life previously has been knocked down completely, this thing is still very strong in your memory even now. I know you must feel it still to some extent. You must have empathy for yourself when coming to terms with this. Gentle steps in the right direction: self forgiveness and moving foreward.

I wish you nothing but the best pile 1. You deserve the good things coming towards you, you just need to accept them when they do arrive. Clinging to the past too much will only recreate those circumstances in the present if you’re not careful. The night has been hard and cold but the mornings rays will arrive soon enough. But try not to be too spooked by their warmth ok? It’s something new, and we tend to get used to the things we expect to happen. So when something different happens we tend to get sceptical almost. Your energy being too guarded towards the things you want to attract will make life unnecessarily harder for yourself.

Pile 2

Contemplating your own future plans, pile 2? You’ve been in a period of sleep for a while now, focusing on crafting the things you want to see in your world. The horizons glance yields summertime sadness. Yet that sunset will give rise to the possibilities of tomorrow once the night is over. The night is when the subconscious comes to power after all. Processing the happenings of yesterday, your memories are being replayed and new understandings are being gleaned from them. The behind forces working away when the world sleeps. That’s you at the moment pile 2. Working in the quiet of the night, burning the midnight oil as they say, to chip away at your dreams. A fine piece of work is coming into view. You’re processing the past so that you can create the future.

When the morning comes is something in your control here, when you’re ready the world will open up to you. Tempt the wands of fate and you’ll manifest the best thing you could have dreamed of.

Additional note: Someone’s mad at how well you’re doing in life I’ll tell you that much.. be careful though pile 2. Don’t underestimate the effects of others. You’ll be ok though; I don’t see you being that affected by this negative energy. It’s kind of coming you of nowhere though, so it may be unexpected to some extent.

Pile 3

What goes around comes around. The truth is being unearthed. Someone or something who hurt you in the past is being held responsible. And it seems to have been a long time coming, the righteous will is stronger than lies. Snow is falling. The world has changed and time has past, but your endurance in this situation is commendable. It’s not something you should just let slide. The accountability you’ve been waiting for will come to pass. Things are being payed up. Whatever has happened is something that has haunted you even when your life has changed a new. I sense that your life will also transform even more once it’s fully in the past and no debts remain unpaid. Good luck pile 3. Your patience will be worth it. (This may have been a legal or personal battle, or something else potentially, but the overall message is the same.)

Pile 4

Pile 4, it seems you’re still waiting on the outcome of a decision to pass. Everything is up in the air now, and you’re waiting for new information. Whatever it is you’re waiting on will arrive in good timing, from an understanding source. It may give more of an emotional effect than you were anticipating, this news may be not what you were hoping for. In fact you may be upset or disappointed. But fear not, there is a silver lining to this end. The beginning of a new dream, setting you sights on something higher I see. You’re being redirected towards something better. Whatever your choice here, you’ll be alright. Though I recommend hearing out what else could be out there for you. There’s no need to limit yourself to one path that’s not working when there’s an even greater one for you out there. Traditions can be broken at the drop of a hat. You have no holdover to promise the past your tomorrows. It’s the past, (maybe look into the concept of ‘the sunk cost fallacy’ as this seems to be in your energy at the moment) no need to waste more time on it. Endings always bring beginnings.

Pile 5

How come you’re holding yourself back from what you want? You have the resources to move forward, and yet, you don’t. Because of fear. You want that cup of warm tea and fresh bread, yet you deny yourself the idea of you being hungry in the first place.

I apologise if this is blunt but you need to step up into your power pile 5. No more faffing about. This is a cycle that can break anytime you want. You just need the strength of setting your mind to it. Baby steps if you must. Rebirth takes time after all, even after you are reborn a new, you still need to learn how to walk all over again. How to drink that cup of tea that you’ve always wanted. Gentle reminders can only go so far though, the blinding logic here is that you’ve hit a road block : yourself. Your own cowardice and self victimisation. It’s biting you in the ass man. There’s no need for guilt, that’s pointless, so is feeling sorry for yourself for feeling this way. That’s needless as well. You owe that to no one. Not yourself, you deserve better.

🗡️🫀

May the blade be in your service, the loyal weapon of your thoughts and motivations, working in your favour. And not wedged into your heart; cutting it open and letting yourself bleed out. The stain of red is only so important after a while, it’ll seem silly in retrospect to have worried so much. Our hearts still beat the same for tomorrow as they did yesterday and the day before. It’s the reminder that you’re still here, and that your dreams still are too.

Pile 6

You’ve been set up to make an important decision soon pile 6. It seems to be something you’re still in your mind about. To the chagrin of those around you seemingly; who just want you to make your mind up already and be done with it. I think you are wise to have waited to put more thought into this. It’s no small choice even if it seems like it on the outside. My advice here is that temperance is a virtue, sometimes the middle path is what yields the most results. A more subtle approach or letting go of false polarities might help here. Whatever decision you make will mean the death of something and the result of new found fortune. Sowing seeds for the first time in a long while. You’ll be alright, use your discernment properly here. Don’t jump too fast just to appease outside forces, that may cause you some regrets. Making a poor decision on your own judgment is upsetting, yet acting in haste tends to make the outcomes even more regrettable if things turn negative. You’ve got this pile 6. Slow down and think clearly, you’ve got enough time.

[lychniis]

tagged by @pearlsxandxpeonies on my main ( @ainescribe ) to share my wip folder!!! which is *laughs nervously* kind of maybe full of a whole lot of abandoned works but okay kijhgvfbghnjmk.

rules: post the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! tag as many people as you have wips!

GENSHIN IMPACT —

memory ( zhongli x reader ) ;

this project was written then rewritten so many times it may as well be a meme. the premise of this one is the reader being a god birthed from a human, who is sustained by the faith and belief. however, due to some mishaps in their early days. they've been cursed to be forgotten. i was heavily inspired by noragami in how yato struggled to be remembered by people around him to stop himself from fading out of existance. // angst, hurt - no comfort, chaptered fic.

in the sky, on the earth ( zhongli x reader ) ;

a oneshot ( a long long oneshot ) about zhongli meeting a khaenri'ahn doctor and falling in love. once more, we fall into angst territory because i like making people cry apparently. this is kind of based off of one of my oc's, one silentmoth and i keep yammering about ( we have pour own little found family scenario involved as well - it's fun kijhbgvbhnj ). // angst, hurt - comfort, eventual happy ending, oneshot.

the earth, encased ( zhongli x reader ) ;

this one is zhongli grappling on your mortality ( yay ) after a near death experience grants you a vision. and it's geo. and he's having a crisis. // angst, hurt - comfort, near character death, lots og hugs, oneshot.

sehnsucht, or the taste of longing ( diluc x reader ) ;

and old old concept i want to revisit. set during the three year period in which diluc was investigating the fatui, he poses as a fatui recruit and marries the reader, a snezhnyayan citizen and a double agent who works alongside him. its mostly marriage of convenience, blossoming feelings and diluc and the reader being sneaky sneaks while they fall in love. // angst, fluff, slightly domestic, arranged marriage. oneshot.

arare litus ( neuvillette x reader ) ;

a mermaid is washed ashore and nevullette finds kinship in them. but there are murders going on, the reader learns how to human ( very little mermaid esque ) and pretty soon the killer is kind of revealed to be an unexpected face. this fic took a darker turn when it was supposed to be fluffy. i had crys screaming in my dm's it was a doozy and i loved it XD. // fluff, smut, oneshot.

HONKAI : STAR RAIL —

and this all consuming hunger ( jing yuan x reader ) ;

a guideverse fic featuring a sentinel jing yuan and a guide reader. it touches on touchstarvation, mortality and loneliness and i lowkey a catharsis in a sense. it's very self indulgent, everyone is tired and needs a hug. // hurt - comfort, fluff, oneshot.

from a warm climate ( jing yuan x reader ) ;

a bit of an au fic with a small dash of ancient magus bride. jing yuan is a retired warrior and a pathstrider who works in a society where magic is urbanized yet practiced on the downlow. he finds the reader, a kinnara who was abducted by hunters and managed to escape badly wounded. they can't quite bounce just yet due to having their veena, a sentimental object and a source for their use of magic, taken away as well and seeks to find it out. jing yuan just accepts it lol. it's mostly domestic, with found family elements to it. // angst, fluff. hurt - comfort, found family, chaptered fic.

like real people do ( jing yuan x reader ) ;

kjhgfdcfvghj this is also a wip in my folders for a while now. but in short. the reader was once a follower of the abundance and now seeks to live a normal life post lan lux - arrowing their planet apart. contrasted with memory ! reader who wants ti keep living, this one wants to live a good life and die a peaceful death. the ending is flat out tragic. do not touch if you hate angst. // angst, hurt-comfort, no happy endings lol, still debating on chaptered or oneshot.

it will come back ( blade x reader ) ;

the premise is blade finding the reader who runs a clinic on a planet overrun by shady businesses and crime. their meet cute is basically them driving a scalpel into his medulla and killing him. blade in turn just...keeps coming back lol. i really need to stop wolfing on hozier songs for my titles but then again most of his tunes serve inspiration kjhbgvbnj. it might contain mature content. i'm still mulling over it. // slight yandere??? idk, violence, blade is a walking red flag and a sad sad man.

tagging — @crystalflygeo @perpetualcynicism @euniveve @moraxsthrone @masuchu @silentmoths @silkjade @thesparklingwriter

feel free to join in, whether you are tagged or not! thanks for giving me this chance!

[probablyasocialecologist]

In order to reach 350 ppm—the level we were at in 1988—we’d need to remove 500 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. To hit the pre-industrial mark of 280 ppm, 900 billion tons. If we were to use plants to accomplish this, we would need them to add 138 billion tons and 249 billion tons of biomass, respectively. This is roughly the equivalent to 1.3 and 2.5 Amazon rainforests, respectively, if we count both above and below ground biomass. So, what can we do with all that carbon? As the Amazon analogy implies, growing more forests would do the trick. In the last 10,000 years, the Earth has lost 7.7 million square miles of forest, equal to 2.85 Amazons. So we can exceed our target for atmospheric CO2 removal by returning to the 57% forest coverage of Earth’s habitable surface that we had at the end of the last Ice Age. That was the climate that allowed for the vast expansion of humanity, so that approach holds a lot of appeal. Additionally, the Amazon analogy demonstrates that vast reforested areas can support human civilization beyond simply sucking down CO2. The Amazon itself is a vast food forest filled with edible species that were planted 4,500 years ago by its human occupants, who built a thriving civilization based on the readily available food surrounding them. A contemporary global reforestation initiative should also focus on edible species, thus serving the dual purpose of creating an abundant perennial food source and sequestering CO2. A mature food forest can yield at least 2,100,000 calories per acre with minimal inputs, enough to feed two adults. A stable climate PLUS more free food than all of humanity could possibly eat sounds pretty good. It goes without saying that climate change is not the only ecological catastrophe facing humanity. We have crossed six of nine planetary boundaries, any one of which could spell our doom. A globe-spanning food forest would help address those looming disasters, such as biodiversity loss and biogeochemical flows, as well. But there are challenges to the forestry approach. Environmental conditions have degraded immensely in the last 100 years, and it's possible that not all previously forested areas would now support trees. Some estimates put the possibility of reforestation at half of the 7.7 million square miles lost and argue it would take thousands of years to accomplish. I have doubts about these estimates, but it's important to be cautious. Additionally, the principle of redundancy is crucial in permaculture, and it's not hard to see how it applies here: we would not want to put all our eggs in one basket with the future of life on Earth at stake. So how can we move faster while diversifying our risk?

[zootopiathingz]

Genuine question: Why do you ship Radiobelle? I've seen a lot of people doing it, and I'm curious as to what the appeal is!

The real question is, why do people ship anything? Why do we all see two or sometimes more characters interact with each other and imagine how cool it would be if they both had deep-seated romantic feelings for the other?

Answer: cuz we can!😌

Idk about the rest of you, but I don’t exactly have much control over what I ship and don’t ship😅 I just see the characters together and my brain randomly decides either “yes I want them to make out” or “nooo I don’t really see it”. (I am in no way a pro shipper though cuz no)

But as for Radiobelle specifically, there’s just something about them that my silly fangirl heart can’t resist. While I am fairly new to the HH fandom, I did watch the pilot around the time it came out and a small part of me did ship them back then. But I never really allowed myself to indulge in it and I just wasn’t that into the show anyway so I didn’t bother. Now, after actually watching the episodes and engaging in fandom content, I finally embraced the cringe to the full extent and let myself be consumed by the radio demon and his charming demon belle! :P

Now I’m aware that the majority of people don’t like Radiobelle, or even full-on hate it for multiple reasons. Sure, whatever. You don’t have to like every ship, nor does anyone expect you to! I can understand it’s not for everybody. The main thing that bugs me, though, is when people try to start arguments about why it’ll never be canon and why you shouldn’t ship it. “Charlie is with Vaggie and Alastor is aro/ace!” People ship Alastor with a multitude of other characters and nobody bats an eye,, why is it only when you see him being drawn with Charlie that you lose your shit and get offended about his sexuality being ‘erased’? (That’s a topic for a whole other post tbh). And people can ship Charlie with other people. Hell, they DO! I’ve seen numerous art of her and other characters.

Then there’s also the “Alastor thinks of her as his daughter!” See, I want everybody to actually watch episode 5 again and come back to me on this. No, he fucking does not. The only reason he was saying any of that was to get under Lucifer’s skin. That’s it. That was his whole intention. He doesn’t like Lucifer and wanted to rub it in his face that he has been a lousy father to his daughter, in comparison to all the ways he has helped her, with the hotel and whatever else.

Phew, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way! Onto why Radiobelle has stolen my heart!

I just love their dynamic and it all really started with the pilot. Alastor—this mysterious force of nature who can kill anyone and anything, is capable of unimaginable power and torture—randomly showing up on the doorstep of a hotel to help out. And literally no one else trusts him (reasonably so) but Charlie, the good-hearted soul she is, lets him in. She’s cautious, of course, but she’s giving him the chance to do some good because that’s what her dream is all about!

Now while I do wish they had some more interactions in the actual show, what we have so far is scrumptious✨ Alastor may have been giving an abundance of praise to Charlie to piss off her dad, but I don’t think he was lying. Deep down I’m sure he is enjoying the time they’ve spent together—even if he doesn’t fully realize it. Charlie defends Al’s sadistic behavior to her dad because he was doing it to defend the hotel (and bc he’s a cocky mf lol but it’s endearing to her in a way).

Oh and don’t even get me STARTED on episode 7 bro,, omfg the content!! The way he’s extra touchy with her even after they’ve made their deal. Her being nervous and stressed out but he encourages her anyway and verbally admits that he had faith in her the whole time. Him giving her his microphone—which is likely the main source of his power as shown in episode 8 (where he let her use his mic AGAIN!!!) which just shows how much he actually trusts her,, UGH it’s just 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻 give me more!!

Now, do I expect Radiobelle to become canon? No. Would it be fucking awesome if it did? Oh absolutely. But I know it won’t, and I don’t care! I’m having the time of my life shipping these two hell-dwelling idiots and I don’t care what anyone says about it!😋

[heartfullofleeches]

Maybe you can do Snow White for the fairytale thing where the hunter reader is walking in a forest and trips on one of the dwarfs and accidentally kisses Snow White which makes Snow White think they are their true love

The forest was a mystical place.

Anyone with functioning eyes and a boundary with reality would agree. As the sole human resident of the land, you have bore witness to a plentiful share of oddities, but nothing could ever prepare you for what was to come the day after. Mermaids and winged creatures. Giants and fairy folk no bigger than your palm. You developed a tolerance to these beings, but all paled in comparison to the utter headache you gained that fateful day.

The day had begun with you scouring the forest floor for stray branches. A good source of kindling for fires, and keeping out trespassers with varying warning signs and contraptions. With your eyes in the dirt, the events unfolding around you go unnoticed until its too late. Twisted, gnarled trees with hides the color of burnt lumber shooting upright and flourish with a radiant, pinkish glow. The sudden abundant growth of flowers and wildlife. Two harrowing signs of what you were soon to come across.

You start to realize as a squirrel runs by your foot. Narrowly avoiding stepping on the rodent's tail by a hard, you watch the rodent carry the flower in its mouth up a tree and drop down onto a glass container in the middle of the field. It drops the plant over the slumbering face in the coffin and joins the rest of the animals in mourning for the lost soul. As literal tears fall from their eyes you step back - looking for an exit that's already gone. You were not prepared for this.

Every now and again there existed those who didn't heed the warnings. A young woman on her way to her grandmother's. Children abandoned by their parents and taken in by a witch. The forest centered around these individuals and made their lives something out of a picture book. You've experienced this before and they're nothing short of living through a nightmare. You can't return home until their stories are over and sometimes that can take up to years. You never age, but you feel every waking moment to this day.

Who knows how long this time will take? The time isn't a major factor, but you rather not waste a second in this hell. If you wanted to leave on your own accord, you had to do things yourself.

You walk over to the coffin. A young person rests within. Their skin is as pale as fresh snow, rose kissed cheeks the only drop of color to their frozen face. They wear commoner clothing, but the crown tucked into their hair and necklace around their neck tell a different tale. There's a strange lump in their throat, flexing with every minor breath they take. Their lips hang open with the ragged draw of air they suck in, airways clearly blocked.

The forest animals tear into the safety of the trees as you toss your axe aside and shove the lid off the coffin. You drag the unconscious figure onto the forest floor and bend them forward, patting their back with pressured blows that increase in force as they spit and wheeze. When that doesn't work, you get behind and wrap your arms around their chest - thrusting upwards with your forearms. The blockage flies out with the fourth push, the stranger limp in your arms as their breathing controls to a stedy flow. Their eyes flutter open with the most doe like expressions as a faint smile creeps onto their face.

"My love?..."

You shove them off you and try to stand, but they ground you to the floor with surprising strength. Their cold hands grip at your face, moving stray strands of hair and wiping at the dirt that coated your skin. It's never been more clear to you how callused your hands have grown until their porcelain flesh comes into contact with your own.

"I knew you'd come for me... As the apple's curse took hold I didn't fear for a single moment because I knew you'd be there."

You shove their hands away as they ghost over a scar beneath your right eye. "Listen, I'm glad you're okay, but I'm not your lover."

"Oh, but you are! My family always told me true love's kiss is the only-"

"I didn't kiss you. You were choking on something and I got it out. This should be over soon so I should be going."

You try to get up again - this time their nails stop you.

"It may not have been a kiss, but there still is a contention between us. I feel it. It was fate that led you to me... Don't throw our chance at true happiness away."

"I told you- I'm not interested!" In an attempt to distance yourself from their claws, you reach for your weapon that was no longer in the vicinity. A short man with pointy ears wields your axe instead. The tool is bigger than his whole body, but he handles it well with the help of another. There's about seven of them in total. When they notice your puzzled stare, they point it at you.

"What are you doing with our Snow?"

"I'm not doing a thing. I'm trying to get home."

The formerly unconscious individual deem as Snow pins you in a chokehold to their chest. "Everyone! My spouse has found me. Like the stories go, true love's embrace has healed me. With their aid I will be able to return home and take the throne from my step mother, and we will bring a new era of peace to all."

The dwarfs break out in cheer which you quickly shoot down. "I am not who you think I am. I'm sure your real prince or... princess is on their way as we speak."

Snow gasps. "Oh no. I think the curse has been transferred over to them! We must return home as soon as possible and get them rested. I fear they might hurt themselves if they are unbound..."

The dwarfs pick up on their message with ease. The near dozen creatures work together to tie you by your wrists and ankles. Their sheer number and Snow's arm around your neck makes it an easier task. As more fuel to the fire, they kiss you when you are completely unable to defend yourself - giggling as thei cohorts pick you up.

"Don't worry, my love. True love's kiss will make you all better. No matter how many it takes."

[anipgarden]

Tropical Milkweed, Its Problems, and What To Plant Instead

I am writing this to atone for the sins of my past (handing out tropical milkweed cuttings to my friends and teachers before I knew better).

(Also let me make this clear I am Floridian I am writing this from the perspective of someone in the United States if you live in Tropical Milkweed's native range this doesn't apply to you go forth pogchamp)

Look online, on TV, in books, in newspapers, left, right, up, down, anywhere, and you'll see people talking about how planting milkweed is crucial, essential for the survival of monarch butterflies. Milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars can eat as they're growing, and the loss of it in our wild spaces is one of the most direct links to the ecological extinction speedrun of not just monarchs, but dozens of other insects who rely on its abundance of nectar-filled flowers to survive. You'll be urged to run, not walk, to your nearest garden center, buy as much milkweed as you can, and hurry fast to plant it in your gardens and be part of the solution, not the problem. The issue is that, oftentimes, the milkweed you leave the store with is a vibrant red and orange, with pointed green leaves, dozens like it lining the shelves across stores all over the nation...

Tropical milkweed. Scarlet milkweed. Bloodflower. Mexican butterfly weed. Asclepias curassavica. This plant is a being of many names, and our culprit of the hour.

'Culprit? Culprit of what?' Culprit of enticing people to buy it under the guise of helping, only to possibly cause more harm than good.

Let's discuss.

Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is a gorgeous milkweed (especially the yellow variety? ooh, that had me in a grip as a teen) that's easy to obtain--too easy. It lines the shelves of stores like Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot, and even hundreds and dozens of smaller garden stores, and is sold for reasonably cheap because its quick and easy to grow from seed and eagerly roots from cuttings. It's extremely popular with butterflies too--in many scenarios, Tropical Milkweed will be preferred as host plants over other related species like Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), and its also popular with other species of butterfly, bees, and wasps as a nectar source. It lasts well into winter in some areas of the United States, is quick to regrow when cut back, and doesn't die back for periods of the season like some other milkweeds do. It's eager to reseed, creating capsules with tens of dozens of seeds and scattering across the winds with the help of little silky parachutes much like the ones dandelions are known for.

'Ani, what's the problem with that? This all sounds like its great for monarchs!'

See, here's the kickers. In fact, here's several kickers. Here's an entire mollywhopping of kickers.

OE Infections

In the temperate areas that it doesn't die back over winter (or even, in some cases, where it doesn't die back during the season like other milkweeds), it can become a host for OE. OE is short for Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, and its a protozoan parasite that can and frequently does infect monarchs. As infected monarchs visit different plants--whether its to drink nectar, to lay eggs, or even just doing a fly-by of the garden--they drop spores from their wings that can then fall onto the leaves, flowers, and even any eggs already on the plant. As caterpillars hatch and begin to eat the plant, they ingest the protozoan, which begins the cycle anew. High OE levels in adult monarchs have been linked to lower migration success, reductions in body mass, lifespan, mating success, and flight ability. And that's if the caterpillars don't succumb prematurely to the infection, or if they're able to even exit their cocoon and fly once they finish pupating--deformed wings are frequently a result after infections. Now, OE is a parasite that's evolved alongside monarchs--and monarchs are usually able to handle an infection just fine, but if they're carrying a high load? That's where the problem lies.

What role does tropical milkweed play in this? Most milkweeds die back after blooming, at least once or even twice per season--and the parasite dies alongside them. As native milkweeds push out fresh foliage, its parasite-free, offering a healthy new buffet for caterpillars. Tropical milkweed... doesn't do that. If nothing's done, (at least in my state of Florida) tropical milkweed will stay fresh and green all the way up until the first real frost hits way in December--and that's if there's a hard frost, when you travel farther south. And during all that time, OE levels are building up on the leaves, so any future caterpillars that feed on this plant are doomed the instant their egg is laid on a leaf.

Its not that it's utterly impossible for a monarch to get infected with OE on any other kind of milkweed--monarchs are known for their traveling habits, and the chances of them happening upon a different milkweed plant than the tropical milkweed in your backyard is pretty high. But whereas native milkweeds die back and essentially reboot their system with fresh, disease-free leaves at least once a season, tropical milkweeds are like downloading a virus onto a USB and then passing it to your friends.

But that's not all, either. Time for kick 2.

Migration Interruption

Sit with me a moment and imagine you're a monarch butterfly. You're hardwired to know that as your food source starts dwindling at home, its time to get a move on and fly on down to the family's vacation home in Mexico for the winter. The buffets shut down, you exit stage left. But on your way to what's essentially a season-long smorgasbord with friends, you find... a buffet is still open. You're supposed to leave when the buffets are shutting down, but this one's up and running, lights are on, and plenty of people are there having fun, so you step in to relax. You'll take your trip later.

Now imagine a bit after you entered that buffet, the staff stuffed the guests into the walk-in freezer, locked the door, turned off all the lights, locked up the building, and left.

That's basically what tropical milkweed being 'evergreen' is doing to monarch butterflies in the fall and winter seasons. In areas up north where it can stay growing far later into the fall/winter months--or worse, in the south, where it can basically be evergreen until a hard frost (if one even happens), it can interrupt the monarchs' iconic migration cycle. They'll stay in place and continue breeding, living life like they aren't supposed to be a country away--until a frost hits, and they're dead in a snap. And if there's not a frost, you're getting a bunch of OE spore-ridden monarchs flying around a bunch of OE spore-ridden milkweed plants that the butterflies who followed the rules and overwintered in Mexico are gonna be returning to. POV you're starting a family in a house so laden with asbestos and black mold that there's practically black dust floating around.

This is already pretty bad. Can it get worse? Absolutely. Kick number 3.

It's Pretty Invasive (in the US)

It's fast growing, its eager to go to seed (so eager that it can flower and produce seed at the same time), its growing all throughout winter--which would be great, if it were native to the United States. Unfortunately, it isn't! As one could imply from the name, Mexican butterfly weed is native to--well--Mexico, as well as the Caribbean, South America, and Central America.

Further North into the states, and it's more of an annual--a plant that lasts maybe a year tops, dies back permanently, and you go buy more next year, or start from seed. Further south? It's a perennial, baby--which means its got even more time to spread its seeds and really thrive in the warmer climates of places like Florida, Texas, California, etc. Not to mention, as climate change makes temperatures rise, places where tropical milkweed is an annual may quickly begin seeing it stand strong all year...

I won't pretend to be a Professional Milkweed Identifier. I'm getting better at it with time, but I'm not a pro. But most of the time I go outside and I go 'oh, that's a milkweed!' its tropical milkweed. I've seen it grow in the sidewalk cracks of a gardening store I go to--its a clean four feet tall, always flowering, always making seeds. Tropical Milkweed is eager to escape the confines of your backyard, or make more plants in your backyard--I started with 5 plants one year, and the next year I had seven, then twelve, and that's just the ones that didn't get mowed over in the seedling stage...

But wait, that's not all! Kick number 4, baby!

Toxic to Monarchs????

According to the Xerces Foundation, emerging research suggests that tropical milkweed may become toxic to monarch caterpillars when exposed to the warmer temperatures associated with climate change.

'What the fuck, I thought milkweed was good for monarchs! How the hell does that happen?!'

All milkweeds produce cardenolides in their sap--a type of steroid that are toxic to most insects (and even people). Milkweeds create it to repel herbivores that would munch on it otherwise--except for milkweed butterflies (Danainae family), like our legendary monarch, as well as the queen and plain tiger butterfly. Larvae eat up milkweed leaves like there's no tomorrow, to stock up on those cardenolides and become toxic to their vertebrate predators--except for a few species that have evolved to become cardenolide-tolerant (black-backed orioles and black-headed grosbeaks). But, when cardenolide concentrations are high enough, it's too strong for even monarch butterflies to withstand--they die because of the very plant that's supposed to give them life. Kinda fucked up. Comparatively, many native species have lower cardenolide levels--and don't immediately go into flux at higher temps like tropical milkweed does.

'Wait, Ani, if there's all these problems with tropical milkweed, why is it sold everywhere?'

Capitalism. The answer is capitalism.

Well, actually, its a bit more complicated than that but it's also still capitalism.

The very same things that make tropical milkweed so invasive and such an issue are what make it so incredibly popular to sell. It's fast growing, and eagerly starts from cuttings as well as from seeds--which is perfect for growing tons of plants in quick and easy batches to send to vendors all over and get a quick profit. It's easy to grow from the home gardener too--its resistant to most diseases, looks gorgeous almost year-round, is quick to return in many areas without even the slightest sign of a die-back, and is popular with monarchs and other pollinators. Want to start a pollinator garden with quick results? Plant milkweed--and when tropical milkweed is all that you see available when you walk into your beloved store, it's what most people are going to get without thinking twice. Not to mention, when you hear it starts quick from cuttings, and you really wanna get your friends and loved ones into pollinator gardening, well... you get well-meaning people sharing invasive plants with their homies, like I did in high school. I've been pollinator gardening for around sixish-sevenish years (I think) and I didn't even catch wind that tropical milkweed was invasive until three years in! To say I was mortified doesn't describe it fully.

'Wait, three years ago? So information about this has been out awhile! Why aren't more places selling native milkweeds by now?! Why are people still buying this invasive milkweed and not native ones?!'

It's capitalism again! But in a different way.

Compared to tropical milkweed, many other milkweeds are a lot more... finnicky to get started, or grow in general. Many of them are a lot slower to germinate, are more prone to failing as seedlings and falling victim to things like 'dampening off' or 'too many aphid' or 'the vibes were wrong.' If they do germinate, they're slower to get to size too--I've grown tropical milkweed from seed in solo cups and gotten something about four inches tall within maybe a month and a half. Some other milkweeds I've grown from seed take about a month and a half to get more than four leaves, or even poke their little green heads out of the dirt. In addition to this, milkweeds have taproots--and some are a lot more friendly to the concept of 'transplanting from a pot to the ground' or 'growing in a pot at all' than others, and tropical milkweed ranks at the top of that list again. Not to mention, their willingness and ability to overwinter in pots--many native milkweeds fail that test, meaning that even if all the resources and efforts are put into getting a milkweed to grow from seed, it won't survive longer than a year in that pot. Considering most milkweeds don't flower until a year or so into their growth, and it's easier to sell plants that are flowering... many plants are a tough sell.

Another reason? Some native milkweeds are way more picky about when they want to make seed pods, or what conditions their seeds want to be grown in. If the seeds are hard to obtain? Good luck growing them in a production greenhouse. Let alone finding seeds for sale to grow them yourself at home--in my hunt for native milkweed species, I've seen packets of ten seeds sold for twenty bucks, packets of 25 seeds sold for anywhere from 50 to 100--meanwhile, you can find dozens if not hundreds of tropical milkweed seeds sold in a pack for maybe a dollar or five.

Let's be real. Producers haven't figured out the magic ticket to pumping out native milkweeds like they have with tropical milkweed--as such, finding native milkweeds for sale is rare, and they're often pricier. And as someone who's been to a native plant sale and found the stands sold out of milkweeds not even 30 minutes into the event--you are likely not the only person wanting native milkweeds. It is war out there in the garden parties.

And that's assuming you've actually found native milkweed for sale! As you get better with milkweed IDs, you'll be able to clearly identify the liars who are telling you they've got something that they don't, but for those who aren't In The Know--if you see a milkweed labeled like a native milkweed and want to buy native milkweed, it might be too late by the time you realize you just got sold tropical milkweed with a mislabel. Whether its on accident or on purpose, it still bites.

I've asked some of my favorite, smaller greenhouses if they'd be willing to start selling native milkweeds. Most of the time I get an exasperated 'I would love to.' But they can only sell what the vendors can produce--so if they can't find a vendor that's selling swamp milkweed (or at least reliably), then they can't give me swamp milkweed when I poke my head in asking if they have any in stock. Of all the times I've gone to dozens of different green houses and gardening events, in different cities even, to see if they have any native milkweeds I've only had success a few times--one small vendor who only has them in stock at events sometimes (and that's if I don't show up late), and the one time I rolled into a not-big-box-but-not-small gardening store near my friends house after being sad that I couldn't find it at a different gardening event. And the one I found there was the last one they had in stock for the next month or two. Until The Vendors get better at growing native milkweeds, your best bet is going to be growing it from seed yourself, getting a start from a friend, or dumb luck at smaller nurseries and events. It's rough out here, friends.

Granted! Keep in mind! That whole last paragraph was personal anecdotes. It's entirely possible that other places' greenhouses have already caught on, and I'm simply in the shadowlands where nobody's selling native milkweeds except for once or twice a year and selling out within 20 minutes of opening their damn booth. And I've heard tell of people getting milkweed popping up willingly in their backyards by doing things as simple as not mowing. I pray you have better luck than I do, young Padawan.

Now, keep in mind, there are people actively working on this. Whether its a team of university scientists dedicating themselves to a project, or a few home-growers in a sunny backyard and a greenhouse doing their damn best to grow native milkweeds as efficiently as possible for themselves and their friends, there are people working on this, sharing advice and communicating online. This isn't some unresolved issue that no one has noticed. We just... aren't at the end post yet. Until then, we scrounge for what we can.

'Oh no, oh god, I have a bunch of tropical milkweed plants in my garden!! Am I a bad person?!?!'

No You Are Not A Bad Person For Growing Tropical Milkweed

And I'm perfectly honest about that. Because I'm here telling you this and I've still got tropical milkweed plants in my backyard. As that one comic once said, about 10,000 people learn something new every day, and unfortunately today that 'new thing' is a bit sad and a bit untimely. In full honesty, oftentimes in my brain I refer to Tropical Milkweed as Starter Milkweed--its what a lot of pollinator gardeners end up starting with, because its just so available! But! There are things that you can do to mitigate the Damage that tropical milkweed can bring to your backyard butterflies.

Step One: Cut back your milkweeds! At least once a year, maybe even twice a year if you want. This will force them to put out new growth, which will be free of OE spores and give monarchs on it a good head start against the Disease. But for sure, for sure, cut your milkweeds back in the fall--once October hits, I go into the backyard and I snip down everything that's tropical milkweed. Usually at this point (at least for me), the milkweeds don't try to grow back again until spring. This is to prevent monarchs from seeing a buffet and getting locked in the freezer.

Step Two: Cut back seed pods! You would not believe how many seed pods milkweed makes. You see those little green footballs? You wanna snip these back ASAP. Even if they're tiny, but especially if they're bit. In peak flower production times, I'll go out there at least once a week and just do a look-back and cut them off. You can even yoink them off with your hands if you're in a rush--just don't get that sap into your eyes. If you do this, you're stopping seed production in its tracks--and don't forget, these plants want nothing more than to split those pods open and unleash a hellfire of flying seeds all over the place. They'll float on air, they'll float on water, they'll do whatever until they land on a prime patch of soil and get started.

If you see these you're a tinge too late. But also still yoink that off and Dispose of it.

Step 3: Don't give cuttings to your friends. It's tempting. If you're raising caterpillars in a little enclosure and see that every time you refresh your cuttings, the old ones have tons of roots and are ready for a little pot of soil and a name tag? Don't. Resist the best you can. Dispose of your cuttings whenever you go in for a trim.

Step 4: Consider replacing them with something else! I know I already went off about just how hard it was to find native milkweeds for sale, how expensive and difficult they can be to grow--but they're not impossible to grow, and putting in the effort could be worth it! Even as I speak, I'm trying to add as many native milkweeds to my garden as possible--and when I've got something that grows reliably in my backyard, I will eagerly rip up my aging tropical milkweed plants and promptly toss them in the bin so i can put a new, better milkweed in its place. Native milkweeds are more likely to be suited to your environment, making it easier to maintain and more welcoming to the pollinators we gardeners want to help. Not to mention, a lot of them are way pettier than tropical milkweed (in my opinion). Do some hunting online to see what's native to your area--your state's extensions office will likely be great for this! You've likely got great variety--the state of Florida has 21 native milkweeds! Who knows how many your state has! (Not me, I am Floridian, and I am already getting dizzy trying to learn about all 21 of our milkweeds).

Conclusion!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not gonna be the one to discourage someone from starting a garden, especially a pollinator gardener, and especially growing milkweed. But avoid tropical milkweed when you can--the harms it can cause far outweigh the quick satisfaction of a busy garden it can bring. Take some time to select a native plant more suited to your area, give it some friends and some time, and soon you'll have an amazing pollinator garden that'll be teeming with life!

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #12 – What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

I initially meant to read this back last year when it was up for a Hugo nomination, but well – honestly I forgot my copy in an airport waiting room and it’s presumably now living a good life somewhere in a New Jersey compose heap. But a friend had a copy and said they enjoyed it, so! Stole it for a few days, and very glad I did. It’s a quick, fun shot fungal gothic, great for stormy nights.

The basic plot is, well, it’s very explicitly Fall of the House of Usher with a slight admixture of Ruritanian Romance. The Ushers are a genteely impoverished family of minor aristocracy in Ruravia, a less than impressive principality in Eastern Europe. Alex Easton, Roderick Usher’s former commanding officer in some recent war (the Gallacian Army they served in having a habit of getting into these quite habitually) receives a letter from Roderick’s sister Madeline begging company and help, as she is deathly ill. Of course by the time Easton arrives the pair of them look like they’re one stiff wind away from dying, and the estate and the lands around it are both decaying and full of unnerving strangeness. The only person who seems happy to be there is Eugenia Potter, an Englishwoman and amateur mycologist studying the great variety of mushrooms and fungus to be found in the area.

So yes this is very much aiming to be Gothic Classic, at least in aesthetics and trappings. An overgrown and decaying estate several times too large for the last remnants of the family who now occupy it. Genteel madness and disease, hidden behind polite euphemisms and high walls. A deep, atavistic horror at parasitism and the desecration of the human (especially the well-bred, young and female) body by an alien presence. There’s even a cowboy for some reason. It definitely all works for me, but then my exposure to the genre is all a bit second hand.

Speaking of parasitism – mushrooms! The book expresses decay and desecration basically entirely through the idiom of fungal infections, both in terms of metaphor and imagery in descriptions and just in the actual source of the horror here. The lights in the tarn are fungal blooms, Madeline’s disease and her reanimation are both the result of almost drowning and inhaling that fungus into her lungs, and so on. There are two really effective horror beats in the book for me – the image of an infected hare which had just had its head shot off slowly jerking back to its feet as a dozen others placidly stood there and watched it be shot, and the moment of realization that Madeline’s oddly long and wispy body hair is in fact mycelia growing out of her skin – and both play off of this pretty directly.

I very awkwardly didn’t use any pronouns for Easton when giving the plot synopsis because the book actually plays around a bit with gender and pronouns in a way I’ve always loved and wish I saw more of. Easton is Gallacian (unrelated to the actually existing Galicia, I think), and the Gallacian language has a variety of pronoun sets beyond just he and she – one for children, one for God, and one (ka/kan) particularly for soldiers. Which, due to the exigencies of early modern warefare’s manpower requirements, eventually led to both men and women being perfectly eligible to become ‘sworn soldiers’. So y’know, Enlist today! Service guarantees citizen-transition!

(But actually I enjoy the thought and at least superficial sociological plausibility/consideration of what gender means in Gallacian society a lot more than how a lot of modern spec fic just kind of assues that every culture in the world has the perspective on gender of a well-educated 21st century progressive, material conditions be damned).

Anyway yeah, overall very entertaining read. Though Goodreads tells me it’s now the first in the series, which given how cleanly this one ended is not something that fills me with an abundance of faith.

[greenboyfriend]

choose a... thing! (tarot card reading)

image source "what do you need to know?" spaghetti monster: what is that, pipe cleaner? affixed to some... nuts? hey, don't take that the wrong way. ploom the caterpillar: i don't even have the words to describe this thing. desert rain frog: ">:(" book a reading through dm/ask!

spaghetti monster・。.・゜✭

it's time to stop dwelling on the past! yes, you've probably experienced some sort of heartache, whether that be through betrayal, loneliness, or a bit of both. rest assured, in letting go, you will be off to bigger, and much better things. one of your cards is specific to this deck: the future. this emphasizes that now is THE time to move on! leave what has been hurting you behind-- it's leaving whether you want it to or not. this is a major point in your life, as signified by death and amplified by the future, which can (and will!) heed significant results. the hierophant tells you that the answers you seek will be found through joining with others, most likely an organization of some kind. you must be part of the group, working and striving with others to make the change you seek. heartache doesn't last forever, but what you're about to do with this group will. it's a long road, but at the end of it is happiness, fortune, and abundance abound!!! hey, this is a lot more cheerful than the last one! yahoo!

(the future [from the transient light tarot], 10 of pentacles reversed, the hierophant, 3 of swords reversed, death reversed)

ploom the caterpillar・。.・゜✭

another spread about letting go!!! except this one feels more pertinent. well, let's be real, the last one was pretty dire, too... anyway. my little caterpillars, your cards are less about the past or future, and more about the present. in fact, only about the present! the 10 of wands shows that you've been shouldering too much on your back, likely relating to self consciousness, some sort of inability to say "no", and/or difficulty especially in regards to living in the moment. but here's the thing... you've gotta. the hanged man puts it clearly: in order to get what you want, this situation requires you completely let go of whatever it is you've been holding onto. whether that's how you're being perceived or otherwise, it must be shed. the hanged man is upside down, able to see the world from a completely different perspective. try to change how you see things. live in the present moment and see what you notice; what changes when you give your entire attention to what someone is saying? or the thing you're doing? is everything really as you thought it was after seeing it from this new perspective? however you need to enact this change, the time to strike is right fucking now, baby. the engines are revving and ready to GO!!! don't be scared, what happens next is destiny. o_<~✭

(8 of wands, the hanged man, 10 of wands, the present reversed [from the transient light tarot.])

desert rain frog・。.・゜✭

like those who picked pile 2, the time for movement is NOW, my little froggies! you must declare yourself openly!! you are blessed to have a good head on your shoulders, being intelligent and good at handling authority. however! moving forwards, you will need to learn how to temper this energy (knight of swords). sometimes, this can go too far, where unadulterated words can hurt someone, coming across as blunt. it's true that you do know a lot about the world, but you need to let there be space for others' observations and knowledge. you can't possibly know everything! after making this big declaration, or finding this missing piece of the puzzle, you will get to the heart of the matter, to sift between what is true, what is fake, and to learn what to say-- versus what to definitely not say. a useful asset later on will be using the energy of the queen of cups, which means you must react to others through compassion and kindness, and try to be in tune with their emotional undercurrents. easier said than done, right? however, with the use of your intuition and logic combined, it will be much easier to wade through this future situation. in the meantime, i'd use that talkative knight of swords energy to propel yourself towards... whatever it is you need to propel yourself towards. here's a tip, whenever i feel a lightness in my chest, i know the answer's yes, but a pit in my stomach, be expected to plummet!!!... or, um, "no" would be the answer for that one. good luck! im also getting that some (3?) of you have some sort of.. "telepathic bond." no idea what that means! good luck with that, too, though.

(8 of wands, knight of swords, ace of swords reversed, queen of cups reversed)

[meyousing]

𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒, 𝚄𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚋

𝚜𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜: you’re quite far under illumi’s control, unbeknownst to yourself. it isn’t until you hear some particular words that you begin to question your reality.

𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜: part two to subservient! sfw, major manipulation and gaslighting, light mentions of blood.

part 3 (final) is also here!

It was your greatest joy to know that you were being a good wife to your husband. Illumi was perfect, utterly so. You thrived to be as perfect of a partner as he was, you felt indebted to him just for his being so lovely. The way he protected you, provided for you, and would anticipate the extension of your family in the future, what more could you ask for? You were truly living the dream. 

As far as you could tell, you always felt this way. There was one night where these emotions were amplified, when you two slept together with Illumi’s implication of trying for a baby, and that experience only doubled the already abundant love you felt for him. Your first attempt at conception was unsuccessful, yet in spite of that you kept your hopes up. The prospect of having Illumi’s child was so domestic, you anticipated going through all of the highs and lows of parenthood, training your child to become the ideal Zoldyck assassin, with your perfect husband at your side as you did. 

On the topic of domesticity; you used to dread the family dinners, cowering away from the intense eyes of the other assassins and pretending to enjoy the food in front of you, when your appetite was mostly nonexistent. Now, you would eagerly listen in on their daily reports, politely savouring your meal as you did. Kikyo would still send you resentful stares every now and then, but it didn’t bother you anymore. Your only concerns were about Illumi now, with what he planned for you to do every day and night, ensuring that you took care of yourself to ensure that your body was in the right condition to bear a child. How thoughtful of him, truly! Everything was just so, so perfect. 

Yet, unless under false pretences, perfection is not genuinely attainable, is it? Your first suspicion arose when Illumi muttered something to himself a few nights back.

Laying at your side in bed, Illumi had bid you goodnight and turned away to fall asleep, but your hand on his shoulder stopped that. You were still sitting up, ignoring the voice in your head telling you that it was time to lay down now. In a moment, you told it.

“Sorry, I just wanted to talk about one last thing before I forget.” you spoke sheepishly, instantly retracting your hand when his eyes met yours in the darkness; still so visible despite the minimal lighting that only came from the dimly moonlit window.

“Yes?”

You subconsciously began to fiddle with your fingers, tentatively slouching over and leaning your weight to one side as you avoided eye contact. Somehow, you knew that asking about this would only disappoint you, as if it were forbidden subject matter, or to a lesser extent; plainly just meant not to be talked about. You couldn’t stop yourself from asking anyway.

“I know that you want me to stay away from anything involving…the more intensive work that you do, like training and stuff, but… do you have any idea of when I can start?” Your voice got quieter and more slurred the longer that you spoke, your apprehension clear as day. 

Illumi’s lack of visible reaction prompted you to keep speaking though, as if now was the only time that you’d be able to, before some unknown source hushed you for good. It felt odd that you were thinking that way, but you couldn’t help it. 

“I just don’t want to fall behind, I think it would be a little illogical if I’m to help our child become an assassin when I don’t even know the first thing about it. You can see why I would think that, right?”

A beat of uncomfortable silence passed, but was pacified rather quickly. 

“No, I don’t see why you are thinking that.” 

He seemed to have given almost no thought to your inquiry. That hurt a bit, but was overridden by confusion. Why wouldn’t he want you to start training? Surely you were making sense here… how could you help your child become an assassin when you didn’t even know the first thing about it?

He turned away then, mumbling something beneath his breath that you almost missed, had you not been extra attentive right now considering the weight of what you just dared to wonder. 

“She should’ve stopped asking about that by now.”

The next morning, before leaving for his job of the day, Illumi had woken you up while seated at the edge of your bed, his hand resting on your blanketed thigh. 

“Do you recall what you asked me last night, before we slept?”

“I asked you something?” you rubbed the fatigue from your eyes, trying to remember what it could have been that you questioned him about. “We just went to bed right away, didn’t we?” that was what happened from what you were able to recollect. You entered the room together after dinner, then went to bed right away, full and satiated from the lovely meal.  

“Yes, that’s exactly right.” He stood up, not sparing you another glance while casually brushing off his shoulder as he headed for the door in record time. 

“Have a good day!” you called out, tiredness still evident in your voice, the well wish sounding weak as a result. He didn’t respond, but you didn’t mind that as you turned back over to sleep in for a bit longer, your eyes closing at the same time as the bedroom door. 

Your second suspicion came about at the family dinner that same day. 

You gave a respectful smile to Silva, him being the last person at the table to share his job report for today. You bit down on a carrot and courteously covered your mouth with a napkin as you chewed, listening to how enthused he sounded to announce that his target had been successfully eliminated, as always. He finished speaking after that and began eating his own food, making you divert your attention back to your plate. That is, until the sound of someone clearing their throat made your ears perk up. 

“So, is this another day of no training for you, Y/N?” Kikyo’s chin rested atop her clasped hands, her elbows propped on the table in an odd show, considering how she was usually much more conscious of her table manners. This was something she had even corrected you on when you first arrived here, and you abided by it ever since, due to her strict tone and unforgiving stare each time you made the same mistake. 

“Uhm,” you coughed lightly, shooting her an apologetic glance due to your own ill manners. “Illumi has told me that I don’t need to train just yet, we’re looking to keep my physical exertion light in preparation for–”

You felt a scintilla in your mind, a sensation that told you not to finish that sentence. 

“Illumi should know that isn’t what we want.” She tilted her head slightly in his direction, her tone of voice a bit condescending to make up for her lack of visible expression, which was surely on the verge of scowling. Illumi barely paid her any mind, dabbing a napkin at the corner of his mouth. 

“This topic only concerns myself and my wife.” He kept his gaze on his plate, placing his utensils on it alongside his napkin as he seemed to be finished with them. 

“I trained rather heavily while I was pregnant. I did the most when I was carrying you, Illumi. That could be part of why you’re such a strong assassin now.” 

Illumi continued to act passive. To you, Kikyo’s words came across as offensive and discrediting of Illumi’s own training, though he very well could not have been acting and genuinely felt passive towards her words, since it did not seem that he would be changing his mind about what you were to do any time soon. It was hard to tell at times with someone so stoic. 

You, on the other hand, felt your eyes widen in concern. How did she know what you two had been planning? You hadn’t said anything, perhaps it was just motherly intuition? 

“In that case, maybe it’s time for Y/N to start, don’t you think?” You watched as her fingers bent and dug into the skin of her hands, indicating a rather harsh grip that she must have been exerting her annoyance into. You winced subconsciously from the sight, worried about what you may have done wrong in a situation that you did not have much control over (your mere existence just seemed to bother Kikyo either way). Illumi may have claimed that this topic only concerned the two of you, but he tended to be the only one making any final decisions, your input being long forgotten once his mind was made. 

“No, we’ll be doing things our own way. Y/N is her own person, I’ve planned for things to be done in a way that would be best suited for her, not you.” 

You felt your lips twitch upward at his words, bashful at his defence of your character and his typical attentiveness. He is so perfect, you thought to yourself, watching Kikyo’s own lips curl into a snarl. 

Illumi excused both him and yourself from the table after this, and you followed his lead rather hastily as he stood and exited the dining room, striding into the hall while ignoring everyone else’s watchful eyes. As per your routine, you knew that this was the walk to your bedroom to retire for the night. You trailed behind him, and on this walk, you reflected upon everything that had just been discussed.

 Kikyo was usually irked by you, but the more you contemplated it, you believed that her words tonight did not carry any malice. Well, maybe some attitude, but that was something you had grown used to; the intentions behind what she said came off as mostly curious, regardless of the snark. 

Kikyo would not be curious without valid reason. Was your lack of training something that had concerned her for a while now? She had not said anything about it until tonight, you almost forgot about the other times she asked previously, had this not served as a sudden reminder. It was odd that you forgot, but now that you remembered, you began to wonder the same thing as her; should you be starting your training now? If she trained while pregnant, surely you could begin now while not even being anywhere near that stage just yet? 

You couldn’t help but tug at Illumi’s sleeve diffidently, not waiting for any form of acknowledgement before sharing your piece. 

“Illumi, are you positively certain that I shouldn’t be doing some kind of training by now? If Kikyo thinks that I should be…” you trailed off nervously, much too anxious to speak your next words given his earlier reaction to any kind of defiance. “And there’s… there’s something in me that’s telling me I should be too.” 

“It should be telling you not to.” He stopped walking. You slowed your pace, until you stopped about a foot behind him seconds after.

“...What?”

“Your incessant questions about training were becoming tiring, Y/N. My patience was starting to wane the more that you asked, when I already told you that you need only to worry about staying healthy for a pregnancy as of now.” He turned to face you as he spoke, his eyes hooded and low with ire. You were caught off guard, his tone seemed slightly less levelled than normal, which was startling despite the miniscule difference. 

“Truthfully, I’m perplexed by how you have managed to continue asking me about this every day since I tried putting a stop to it.” His fingers found his chin in contemplation as he stared away from you and into the distance of the long hall. “How do you have such resistance?”

You could tell that this was not exactly a question that you were meant to answer; moreso something that he was asking himself. It wasn’t like he was trying, but nothing he said remedied your confusion after his second to last statement. 

“What do you mean you tried putting a stop to it?” 

He didn’t react to you, you could tell that he had likely tuned you out even as he looked back once more with the same look of pique on his face, the hand on his chin falling back to his side promptly. 

“It’s as if the needle has only caused more of a hindrance.”  

The needle? What, needle as in his nen ability? The one that he used to control others–

Your blood ran cold. You could almost feel it draining from your face, his indirect assertion sending chills down your spine. He wouldn’t do that to you, would he?

He approached you suddenly, and you flinched back given the information you just heard and were now heavily struggling to process. He didn’t allow you to move far, his hands bracing your shoulders with a grip strong enough to keep you grounded in your spot, though your fear-induced paralysis was already doing a sufficient job of that. His hair brushed over your cheek when he leaned toward your ear, one of his hands moving to the top of your head as his lips tickled the shell of your ear. 

“We are going to start over. Perhaps this intermission will serve as a reminder to the real you the next time you try making any demands.” 

His fingers crimped into your scalp as he tightened his hold, making you grimace and pull back into yourself as best you could, like that would provide some sort of escape from his suddenly very dark and intimidating aura. An aura that once seemed so loving, so devoted, so... perfect. 

“Unless you want this to happen again, prove to me that you have learned your lesson, starting tonight.”

You wished to respond, to apologize for angering him with your interrogations and insist that you would never do it again so he would let go of you, but any thoughts were cut short by an excruciating throbbing that began to resonate at the crown of your head. So excruciating, that you could barely process anything else before your vision instantly cut to black. 

Illumi caught your limp body once you collapsed into him, peeking over your shoulder and looking down to the bloodied needle resting in his palm. This case was certainly peculiar, you were the only person who had been able to challenge his control thus far. He examined the needle for a moment longer before hoisting you into his arms with one under your knees, the other supporting your back as he resumed your trek back to the bedroom. Even in his vexation, Illumi couldn’t help but feel a tinge of anticipation upon this revelation; such a promising sign for your future with the family, and as his wife. He knew that he made the right decision when he picked you, you were just so perfect for him.

© meyousing 2023. do not share/export my work on to any other platforms. do not translate my work. 

[accio-victuuri]

i was trying to find what quote they used in xzs vlog, first i thought it’s the mary poppins one, but theirs excluded the “fear”. when i searched again, what came up is the movie saving mister banks. did he watch it? 🧐

him singing / humming starry starry night was such a treat! and it’s not really a surprise that he would like that cause he is a van gogh fanboy ( plus a sad song which is is vibe lol ) . the use of bad guy by billie eilish is my fave tho! it’s so perfect!!!! it’s an upbeat song that fits the video but i wanna believe that it’s something more. like what i placed in my tag, some people wanna paint xz as this bad guy/person and he is throwing it in their face. say what you wanna say about him but he is out here living his best life being sexy and beautiful in Milan.

there was also a part where this was mentioned:

山不讓塵,川不辭盈 // 智行方圓,曲中求直

The mountains will not let dust fall, and the rivers will not let go of their abundance. Wisdom moves in a circle, seeking straightness in the curve.

the first part comes from "Inspirational Poems" written by Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty. It means that mountains can be so majestic because they do not reject tiny dust; rivers and seas can be so vast because they do not reject small streams. The meaning of its reflection is that if you want to achieve big things, you must also do small things well. You cannot aim too high and do not do things because of small things. Only by taking things step by step and working steadily can you achieve success and achieve what you want.

In terms of human nature, it means that you should never do good deeds because they are small, and do not do evil because they are small! When it comes to learning, people who have strengths should learn. Don't think that these strengths are worthless just because their bright spots are small. Only by being able to discover the strengths of others can you enrich yourself and become stronger bit by bit.

AND WELL ISN’T THIS XZ’s WAY OF LIFE? He is not afraid to give his all and do the small things to reach his goals.

“wisdom moves in a circle, seeking straightness in the curve" is an idiom, which means to describe a person who has clear goals and plans for doing things, and can flexibly respond to various situations without losing principles. while "Seeking straightness in the curve" means that he can respond flexibly in complex and changeable environments without losing direction and goals., being able to overcome difficulties and keep moving forward.

One of the reasons why i admire XZ! despite the chaos that is C-ent and what people expect from him — he does not compromise his principles 💪🏼 he has showed that time and time again!

FINALLY THE USE OF THE COIN. Which could mean different things but my favorite would be this one that points out how the last time he made a wish in the fountain using a coin. and now, he is holding it and doing these wonderful things again, like his wish has been fulfilled. He was able to come back and experience it again. 🪙

source: one / two