#this video took me way too long but once I'd commited to it i had no choice but to finish it

[homicidalbrunette]

Here's 3 minutes of Katya and Trixie acting like an old married couple

[dailyadventureprompts]

Tableskills: Creating Dread

I've often had a lot of problems telling scary stories at my table, whether it be in d&d or other horror focused games. I personally don't get scared easily, especially around "traditionally horrifying" things so it's hard for me to recreate that experience in others. Likewise, you can't just port horror movie iconography into tabletop and expect it to evoke genuine fear: I've already spoken of being bored out of my mind during the zombie apocalypse, and my few trips into ravenloft have all been filled with similar levels of limp and derivative grimdark.

It took me a long time (and a lot of video essays about films I'd never watched) to realize that in terms of an experience fear is a lot like a joke, in that it requires multiple steps of setup and payoff. Dread is that setup, it's the rising tension in a scene that makes the revelation worth it, the slow and literal rising of a rollercoaster before the drop. It's way easier to inspire dread in your party than it is to scare them apropos of nothing, which has the added flexibility of letting you choose just the right time to deliver the frights.

TLDR: You start with one of the basic human fears (guide to that below) to emotionally prime your players and introduce it to your party in a initially non-threataning manor. Then you introduce a more severe version of it in a way that has stakes but is not overwhelmingly scary just yet. You wait until they're neck deep in this second scenario before throwing in some kind of twist that forces them to confront their discomfort head on.

More advice (and spoilers for The Magnus Archives) below the cut.

Before we go any farther it's vitally important that you learn your party's limits and triggers before a game begins. A lot of ttrpg content can be downright horrifying without even trying to be, so it's critical you know how everyone in your party is going to react to something before you go into it. Whether or not you're running an actual horror game or just wanting to add some tension to an otherwise heroic romp, you and your group need to be on the same page about this, and discuss safety systems from session 0 onwards.

The Fundamental Fears: It may seem a bit basic but one of the greatest tools to help me understand different aspects of horror was the taxonomy invented by Jonathan Sims of The Magnus Archives podcast. He breaks down fear into different thematic and emotional through lines, each given a snappy name and iconography that's so memorable that I often joke it's the queer-horror version of pokemon types or hogwarts houses. If we start with a basic understanding of WHY people find things scary we learn just what dials we need turn in order to build dread in our players.

Implementation: Each of these examples is like a colour we can paint a scene or encounter with, flavouring it just so to tickle a particular, primal part of our party's brains. You don't have to do much, just something along the lines of "the upcoming cave tunnel is getting a little too close for comfort" or "the all-too thin walkway creaks under your weight ", or "what you don't see is the movement at the edge of the room". Once the seed is planted your party's' minds will do most of the work: humans are social, pattern seeking creatures, and the hint of danger to one member of the group will lay the groundwork of fear in all the rest.

The trick here is not to over commit, which is the mistake most ttrpgs make with horror: actually showing the monster, putting the party into a dangerous situation, that’s the finisher, the  punchline of the joke. It’s also a release valve on all the pressure you’ve been hard at work building.

There’s nothing all that scary about fighting a level-appropriate number of skeletons, but forcing your party to creep through a series of dark, cobweb infested catacombs with the THREAT of being attacked by undead? That’s going to have them climbing the walls.

Let narration and bad dice rolls be your main tools here, driving home the discomfort, the risk, the looming threat.

Surprise: Now that you’ve got your party marinating in dread, what you want to do to really scare them is to throw a curve ball. Go back to that list and find another fear which either compliments or contrasts the original one you set up, and have it lurking juuuust out of reach ready to pop up at a moment of perfect tension like a jack in the box. The party is climbing down a slick interior of an underdark cavern, bottom nowhere in sight? They expect to to fall, but what they couldn't possibly expect is for a giant arm to reach out of the darkness and pull one of them down. Have the party figured out that there's a shapeshifter that's infiltrated the rebel meeting and is killing their allies? They suspect suspicion and lies but what they don't expect is for the rebel base to suddenly be on FIRE forcing them to run.

My expert advice is to lightly tease this second threat LONG before you introduce the initial scare. Your players will think you're a genius for doing what amounts to a little extra work, and curse themselves for not paying more attention.

Restraint: Less is more when it comes to scares, as if you do this trick too often your players are going to be inured to it. Try to do it maybe once an adventure, or dungeon level. Scares hit so much harder when the party isn't expecting them. If you're specifically playing in a "horror" game, it's a good idea to introduce a few false scares, or make multiple encounters part of the same bait and switch scare tactic: If we're going into the filthy gross sewer with mould and rot and rats and the like, you'll get more punch if the final challenge isn't corruption based, but is instead some new threat that we could have never prepared for.

Art

[luvfy0dor]

“There Is No Other Love, It's Only Yours ♡⁠˖” BSD Men x GN!Reader ੈ✩‧₊˚

╰┈➤ Dazai Osamu, Chuuya Nakahara, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Sigma

Warnings; Maybe ooc, barely proofread

Description; how the bsd men say ‘i love you’ without actually saying it (sigma does actually say it but that's besides the point)

A/n; Next fic post will be a request! Sorry they're taking me so long : ( this is a new style of writing for me and it's really short, but I figured I'd give it a shot. It might be a little whack though because I'm real tired rn I took an hour long nap before writing Sigmas

Dazai says ‘i love you’ best through physical touch and small gestures of the sort, specifically touching your hands. As soon as you're within his reach, your hand is in his and his thumb is rubbing over your knuckles affectionately. His lips brush against your knuckles when he gives excuses to Kunikida on why he can't make it today with your sleepy form right next to him on the bed. He'll press kisses to each knuckle while he listens to the blonde tell him the amount of absences and early leaves he's had in the past month and quietly sigh. He doesn't care where he is either, he's shameless in his affection and will happily grab you by the waist or hand infront of a crowd. He loves to show you off because you're the best thing to happen to him, but if you're shy he'll tone it down to keep you comfortable.

“Ah! There you are. I've been looking for you. Give me your hand so I don't lose track of you again...ah, you got me! I did just want to hold your hand, but what's the harm?”

Chuuya shows his love through acts of service- I know a lot of people probably would assume gift giving, which he does love to do, but he finds himself commiting acts of service more frequently. Every time he notices you seem tired after work, he'll do the chores that you had accidentally forgotten, even if he's tired. He plans dates for the two of you atleast monthly, always picking a restaurant or activity he heard you mention wanting to try. He does find himself spending money when he sees things that remind him of you, but he thinks spending time with you is even better. If he takes your car somewhere, it's always coming home with a refilled gas tank. If you need to lift something heavy, he offers to use his ability to help you. He'll do your laundry whenever he notices it piling up and bring you coffee, tea, or water in the morning when you're still lingering in bed.

“Mornin' sweetheart, I got you a drink. Be careful not to spill it, s'real dark in here and opening the blinds doesn't help any...we got a date tonight, by the way. You said the new restaurant sounded good so I figured we could go tonight if you're up for it.”

Fyodor spends quality time with you. He likes to keep you nearby when he reads or works, although he prefers when you're on the quieter side during those activities. Otherwise, he's happy to talk with you for however long the two of you are content with. Usually you'll have conversations over a game of chess, which he almost always wins while you're attention is divided between talking and playing, but he's a good sport about it. He'll give you pointers on how to do better in the next game. He'll play his cello for you, too. If he finds your hobbies interesting enough he'll take part in them. If you paint he'd be more than happy to join you, chatting with you while your brushes paint images of scenery and figures on the once blank canvas. He prefers what are considered more sophisticated hobbies, but he'd watch a chick flick with you or let you teach him how to play your favorite video game if it really made you happy.

“If you're as determined to win a game as you say you are, you should probably make an attempt to put more focus into the game. I do love hearing your voice, moya lyubov, but thinking about how you're going to move your pieces and talking are counterproductive. We can try it again, or we could do something else, whatever you'd like, Myshka.”

Nikolai shows you his love primarily through flirty words and loving touches. Whenever he walks next to you, his hand is on either your lower back, hip, or in your hand. When sitting with you, he'll fiddle with your fingers and play with them harmlessly, occasionally fighting off the urge to bend them back far enough to break them. In the same heartbeat, hell bring them to his lips and press kisses to every finger tip while telling you a flirty joke. He often lays his legs across your lap or lets you lay yours over his while you play with his hair. Sometimes he'll walk up behind you and whispers a pick up line in your ear with a large grin on his face. He likes seeing your reaction and watching you squirm in embarrassment in his grasp.

“You must be an artist, my dove, because you are so good at drawing me in! Hey- you can't go anywhere just because you thought my joke was cheesy! I can find some wine to go with it if you'd like, hehe.”

Sigma shows his love through the way he trusts you. Obviously with everything he's gone through trusting people became really difficult for him, but you came along and earned that trust when you proved that you were a permanent factor in his life and wouldn't betray him. He trusted you enough to let you into the Aerial Casino and stay with him regularly in his quarters. He let his walls down around you and opened up about his origin story. He would let you get physically close to him and touch him, coming to love the feeling of your lips against his, pressed in a sweet kiss. Though he still kept his independence and a desire to not depend solely on you in fear of betrayal, you could tell that he had come a long way from the man he once was after his experiences in the DOA.

“I felt so foolish after I fell for Fyodors tricks again, but dealing with the distrust and suspicion I held towards everyone else was just as hard as the realization of messing up again...thank you for listening to me, you've helped me so much. I don't think I could ever repay you enough...I love you.”

A/n; AHHHHHHHH I'm so tired but fuck it we ball I gotta write chisme for Spanish and it's going no where I lied to my teacher and told her it was almost done it is not almost done I have barely met any of the requirements for it but I won't do it if I don't post something so

[wheeeezeboi]

I am a living ghost

When I was a little boy my mom worked as a maid, sometimes for homes, sometimes hotels and offices, and this was during the time when my parents were split up. They're back together now, but that's a different story.

As you may know, maids don't make a lot of money, and childcare is expensive. For at least the summers, sometimes more than that, I would get dragged along to her work. She would sit me down in waiting rooms, supply closets, staff break rooms, where ever, and tell me "You gotta sit down and shut up because you're not supposed to be here right now. You have to stay put and don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you first. You don't want me to get fired, do you?" Sometimes there would be a tv or magazines in those places, but it was very boring most of the time.

I internalized that it was okay to leave me behind and alone because I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to exist. And the best thing I could do was not draw attention to myself. I got very good over the years at blending into the furniture. I would be left alone or with strangers for hours, so my mom could make money to keep me fed and housed.

Whether or not there was entertainment around, I'd still usually get bored quickly, and would wander off inside my mind. I'd stare at the wall and paint a mural on it in my mind. I'd retrace the route we took from home to the hotel (or wherever) and remember as many details as I could about the surrounding. (I have excellent directional sense.) I had many such games. Sometimes, I didn't even have the energy to imagine, and I would just zoom out from my body and let time pass me, losing sight of my surroundings until my mother came back for me hours later. It felt like I really had became one with the walls, as flat and emotionless as they were. I later learned this was called dissociation.

And later, when I was diagnosed with RRMS, and it became clear that it would be much simpler and less painful for me to get on disability income rather than get a job, I once again felt this disconnect from the real world, like I was a ghost haunting a cramped corner rather than an active member of society. I was always there, but I didn't really exist until spoken to. Like an Amazon Alexa, but more useless because I could barely help myself let alone anyone else.

The SSDI was enough to get me my own apartment when I was 19 but not to afford much else. I thought I wanted independence from my family because I felt I had to prove I could do something right and be an semi-functional adult, but it was so lonely. I was too disabled to travel very far out of my neighborhood, so I had no friends. I spent what everyone said was supposed to be the best years of my life completely alone in a small apartment, depressed, watching youtube videos on my phone. I tried to commit suicide 4 times, but usually I was to lazy to get beyond the planning stage. Did you know that diphenhydramine is both the active ingredient in OTC sleep aids, and in benadryl. So if you try to kill yourself by taking 20 unisom sleeping pills, you will not die, but you will trip major fucking balls and see demonic horse-spider hybrids and hear disembodied voices alternate between "kill yourself fucking loser" and quoting vines and tv commercials. The lethal dose of dph is closer 2500mg or more.

I watched a lot of ghost hunting/ found footage horror shows. Not just Buzzfeed Unsolved, also Sam and Colby, and explore with Josh, and Loey Lane and slapped ham. (My phone just auto-capitalized those names and it just occurred to me how infrequently I capitalize names in my writing. My thumbs hurt so bad typing this long post, Alhamdulillah for auto correct.) Any way. I found ghost shows to be comforting rather than scary. I like the idea of there being something after death, especially the idea that maybe we get to chose whether we want to stick around or move on. The afterlife as described in my religion never really appealed to me, so maybe I don't even want to move on.

I thought about the ghost sitting around in the same dark musty room for decades with no one to talk to until one day these two goofy dudes show up and it's gotta be the best day of their afterlife. I felt I could relate to that. Most places have more than one ghost I've deduced. So there you have another guy to talk to for all eternity and they can never leave. A built in buddy. And trust me, if I'm stuck haunting a place with other ghosts, even if they are an axe murder, they WILL be my buddy. They will see that you can't resist the K-man for very long. 😁 We're going to have so much fun playing waiting room games and haunting anyone who comes through, maybe we do some kissing. We'll see.

And the best part is, our minds will no longer be tied to our shitty, uncooperative, broken bodies. We will be free.

Anyway, I have irl friends now and I live close to a library. So I don't want to kill myself anymore.

And that's my backstory for why I am the way I am.

[legowolas]

Some more New Era thoughts:

First of all I'm now very sorry for ever doubting that they could dispose of Daisy's attraction to women. I do have complaints about hers and Andy's marriage which I'll get to in a minute but the Daisy/Myrna content was PRESENT

The Mary/Myrna content was not as abundant as I had wished for but honestly I've built ships with less. At least Mary went to see her movie and called her hot. Also they stood next to each other a few times which is always good and I'm SURE I can work with the voiceover thing

Also I'm kind of sad about her lack of affair 😭 I mean, I wasn't really expecting an affair (especially not with Myrna), it was mostly wishful thinking, but tHEY REALLY MADE A MARY/DIRECTOR (I forgot his name 😔) AFFAIR SEEM LIKE A POSSIBILITY AND THEN BACKTRACKED.

I'm too angry with Henry Talbot to even put it into words. All I will say is Mary my queen I would treat you so much better than him

Anyway, what the fuck was with Cora being sick?? What was the point??? What did it add to the movie besides misery???? Riddle me THAT Mr "it's a feel-good movie" Fellowes

Also wHY THE FUCK DID THEY KILL VIOLET ON-SCREEN. I WAS EXPECTING THEM TO JUST END IT LIKE THE LAST ONE AND BE LIKE "oh yeah Violet will die soon 😔" BUT NOOOO WE HAD TO SIT IN THE FUCKING CINEMA AND WATCH THE LIFE LEAVE HER FUCKING BODY. WHAT THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

In other news, the Daisy and Andy marriage is as much of a nightmare scenario as I'd imagined. They just keep on making Andy more and more unlikable don't they. I mean, I still love him, it's not his fault the writers hate him, but like??

HOW COULD THEY HAVE DAISY TURN AGAINST MR MASON THIS IS A NIGHTMARE

WILLIAM DIDN'T DIE FOR THIS I'M GOING TO THROW A TABLE

I'm conflicted on Daisy's schemery in this movie, because on one hand, I hate the circumstances, but on the other hand, I love seeing her be evil <3

The Baxley proposal was cute, but like,,,,,,, idk I don't have solid thoughts on it bc this movie just didn't put me in the headspace to enjoy anything about it :////

Anyway as if all of this wasn't bad enough... straight Albert?? Really???

Okay I saved Thomas for last because once I get started on him I am not going to stop.

I know a lot of people don't like the implication that he just stays at Downton because he thinks it's the best he's going to get, which is fair, but honestly, I got way more of that feeling with his elopement??

Like, maybe this is just because I don't like Guy that much, but I didn't really get the feeling that Thomas was interested in him at all? I feel like he just accepted him because he thought it was his only chance at being in a committed relationship, and just,,,,, idk I didn't like it.

There is exactly one positive(??) thing about this, which is that I can now parallel him to Sybil :)))

However, this is not nearly enough compensation. And I'm so sorry but my desire to ignore this movie does outweigh my devotion to Thomas and Sybil. So I think I'll just take the fact that she borrows his evil music and be happy with that

Where do I begin with Richard.

This is the worst thing that could have happened I think. I really really thought they were just going to pretend that Richard didn't exist and I mean I would have been angry about that as well bUT THIS IS WORSE.

Genuinely I would have preferred if Thomas cheated on him. Do you know how long I've been plotting the Richard "Before He Cheats" music video in my brain????? It's been fucking months. And they even took THAT away from me.

AND they took away the pre-existing Richard's wife extended universe which exists in my brain. Y'all. They were neighbours growing up. She's a lesbian. I haven't decided if he marries her before or after the war but it happens at some point and they move to London and get a flat. She's a very good cook and makes all their food bc Richard can't cook for shit. But it's fine because she can't sew for shit and Richard fixes all their clothes. She works in a bakery. Her girlfriend is Lady Anne Acland (one of the women at that dinner with Mary and Henry and Evelyn and Tom in S6). She ships Richard and Thomas very hard. Her name is Maggie. I'm very attached to her. AND NOW THEY TELL ME HE'S MARRYING SOME RANDO?????? SERIOUSLY I'M GOING TO SUE.

(I honestly didn't even ship Thomas and Richard very much after I found out about the deleted phone call scene (I KNOW IT WASN'T ACTUALLY IN THE MOVIE SO IT'S NOT TECHNICALLY CANON BUT IT'S THE INTENT THAT MATTERS TO ME), but then I had a dream about Richard's wife being a lesbian and trying to set up Richard and Thomas and THAT was what made me think the ship could work. And now they take my lavender marriage happily ever after solution away. What the FUCK)

Anyway. Dead Violet, runaway Thomas, Baxley endgame..... there definitely isn't going to be a third movie and they really just ended the whole fucking franchise like this. I'm currently on S6 in my permanent Downton rewatch but girlies I might just have to go all the way back to S1 to calm my nerves 😩

Also as if I wasn't already personally offended enough, they had to imply that Robert was a Cancer. Are you fucking joking. I do not claim him, Leos I apologise but I am tossing this one to you

In conclusion, I think the best thing about this movie was Thomas with sideburns

EDIT: Oh also I did like the old Hollywood-esque music near the beginning but then they got rid of it almost immediately?? ://

[rigelmejo]

i just want to say you always inspire me SO much to keep working on learning language. motivation is always an uphill struggle for me but seeing your dedication keeps me going and trying to shoot for more!

You motivate me!!!!!!!!!

Genuinely, whenever you share how you've studied or what you've done ToT I want to learn from what you did! I'm like "well Yue managed to do this! so maybe eventually I'll be able to too!"

Also. I don't know how much you get motivated similar to how I do but. I think sometimes for me the biggest challenge is how to make myself "just DO something" ToT

I tend to be such a perfectionist, and to study languages I absolutely kept self sabotaging myself because of that. In school classes, it didn't hurt me as much because teachers made me keep engaging with new material (but I had other issues in classes lol). But when I started studying on my own, it made me want to just re-read beginner materials (or whatever I was studying) over and over instead of engaging with new things to learn so I could actually improve. I had to set goals to do Actual things in the language, because when my goals were just 'go over X study materials' I'd just keep repeating them and refusing to move forward. Then when my goals were Actual things, I couldn't perfectly re-do them over and over to try and be perfect! Because I simply cannot be a perfect speaker, reader, listener, writer, for years. Even if I try to be a perfectionist - I'm not going to understand a text 100% at my level even if I look everything up, there's still nuance I won't get for years lol. Even if I try to perfectly master how to say X, I won't master pronunciation for a long while. So those goals got me to just... realize I needed to stop Being perfectionist and be happy with doing things 'good enough/understanding enough.' And then finally I stopped being perfectionist so much when going and engaging with reference materials - and just trying to read Through them, listen Through them, and then review later when I'm done as needed if I run into those aspects again while Doing things like reading/speaking etc and need some clarification.

I started making goals after that to "just go through X/try X steps" and not care if I understand everything or do steps perfect. Just getting myself to willingly DO them is the hard part. And if I do them, even imperfectly, I'll learn Something and make Some improvements anyway. Which is good enough for me.

So uh. That's probably not part of your motivation problem lol ToT. But if u happen to tend toward perfectionism too, maybe u relate somewhat.

Also! Your advice to 'do what you want most'!!! Again genuinely you don't know how much you end up motivating me!!! Last summer when I got back into japanese, I didn't really know how committed I was or my goals or how to motivate myself to keep trying when I'd spent 2.5 years learning barely anything and then had a long break. And because of you I went and was like screw it, I'll play what I've always wanted to play and understand in japanese! That's the ultimate goal I had wayyyyy back when I started! But it felt way too hard to be possible! And because of your advice I did end up trying to play, instead of waiting until I was "better" and "more prepared." It was hard! But it was also much closer to achievable than I had thought it was gonna be. You're advice really took me from "too worried I know too little to engage with any real japanese outside of learner materials" to "I can actually try manga! I can buy the Parasite Eve novel and maybe chip away at it with a dictionary! I can go play a game in japanese when I want and follow some of it!" To just actually Doing the things I was hoping to even Start to do, once upon a time.

also like. slightly related but. I love learning by doing. And the fact you did manage to learn and improve by playing video games and reading and looking some things up, figuring some things out from context. You succeeding showed me like... the way I tend to learn can actually work for some people. Because you know how it is when you look stuff up - some people will say it works but its 'inefficient' compared to some things (but another method isnt efficient for me if i wont do it lol), and other people will say 'its way too hard to dive into real materials so EARLY and make any progress'. Which. You and me are proof it is doable. You can be as prepared/unprepared as we were and still do okay and make progress. My point is just like. I definitely admire how you learned and since you succeeded I felt more like I could manage to do this too.

tldr: anyway please feel free to share whenever you're up to some study method! or working on things! or things you've done before! your progress is awesome and u motivate me a lot too! ♥♥♥

[stories-by-rie]

2, 8 and 21 for the a soft, stay at home ask game ^^

thank you so much royal!! I can't believe how long this took, I have to do soooo much reading but I successfully finished one task. I thought I'd only answer this after 3 tasks, but I feel I deserve those three questions yes thank you!! I will make sure to do the other two tasks right afterwards >.>

8. if you were going to write a non-fiction book on any topic, what would it be?

Interesting question, I don't have a topic I am actually knowledgable enough about? Originally, I thought I'd stay in academics and commit my life to science after uni graduation and then I might have maybe written a book about whatever scientific field I would have wounded up in, but I am not certain anymore that I actually want to do that so x) So the only thing I could write about is writing itself? Maybe a book about how to magic system your way through your fantasy novel. But then again, there are people who actually study literature and stuff so why would I write that? x)

21. a youtube video you find useful, entertaining or relaxing

YES perfect I actually ranted about this here on my main before here but there's this video that totally baffles me, it's super relaxing, a whole mystery, and slightly creepy if I think about it too long. It's an 1 hour version of always with my from the ghibli soundtrack, but there's somehow so many background noises (like a passing train, key rustling, someone touching the mic) and it doesn't make sense the whole video leaves me with question marks. I absolutely love it. I am also so confused.

2. how many houseplants in your room, and what kinds are they?

A glorious question, please let me introduce you xD I numbered the photos just in case tumblr messes up what it looks to me like right now (I know it will). Also they technically have all names but I constantly forget them? so x) And it’s all under the cut cause long and bad formatting :( (short answer, 23 and many different kinds!)

[meanwhile, I am doing this ask game if you want to send me an ask!]

Picture one (it’s very dark, sorry):

ficus benjamina (it’s doing so so well!! :D)

peace lily (one of my faves! Aka Amalia)

parachute plant (currently sadly not blooming)

aloe vera (big child it was soooo tiny when I got it, no it takes up more space than me T-T)

and calathea (so pretty very artsy)

picture 2:

hibiscus (still alive wow)

gardenia jasminoides (aka Berta the Third, aka Olfie)

uhm. A baby succulent idk I found it on the floor once and made it grow roots and now it’s there and it’s tiny?

snake plant (this has a name I forgot it)

ufo-plant (Mechthild Senior)

picture 3:

my carnivore, Drosera capensis (aka Drosie), currently looks dead because winter but there’s already green coming back!

picture 4:

spider plant (aka Arachne)

picture 5:

money tree! This is my newest addition, doesn’t have a name yet. And also that’s one of eluari’s illustrations in the background ^^

picture 6:

those are also plants! We got a cactus there it’s going strong, I honestly only got this one because it looked so pitying back then.

Also the big green one just had “green plant” on its label so idk what it is :(

and the small one is also a green plant xD I am so bad with this lol

picture 7:

one monstera (aka Mona)

two philodendrons

picture 8:

another carnivore, a sarracenia

a fern, asplenium antiquum

picture 9:

those are my “they aren’t dead they just have a hard time” plants.

One is a wine?

The other is a succulent I overwatered two weeks ago T-T idk how to save it, it’s still green? But also nothing yet made it grow roots T-T

picture 10:

also a green plant succulent? I am so bad with succulents someone take them away from me xD

that’s it :) i also have plants outside on my window sill but they’re currently not visible so!

[angelsswirl]

Vellichor

The One With Very Chaotic Pool Party

"Sugar, we're going down swinging."

Peyton knocked on the door harshly, "Ryland! Hurry the fuck up! Everyone's already here and I haven't even gotten to shower!"

A huff came from behind the locked door, "Go use the one in moms' room!"

"Oh! I can't believe I hadn't thought of that!" Peyton rolled her eyes, even though her older sister wouldn't see it.

"See, there you go."

"That was sarcasm, dipshit. Mom is in there."

"Peyton! Don't call your sister a dipshit!" Jisoo yelled from somewhere in the house.

"How did she even hear that?"

Ryland finally exited the bathroom a few seconds later. Her hair was tied back in a immaculate ponytail with a baby blue scrunchie that corresponded with the rest of her hot weather outfit.

Peyton glared at the young woman, "What were you even doing in there? You look exactly the same?"

Ryland gasped, terrified, she quickly backed into the bathroom again and slammed the door shut.

"Sleep with your eyes open." Peyton muttered at the locked door.

"Peyton! Stop threatening your sister!" Jisoo yelled again.

"What the hell?!" Peyton yelped.

You frowned as you left your bedroom, Kaleb sat on your hip, his swim trunks and rashgaurd coincidentally matching Ryland's baby blue outfit.

"Your mom's right. You need to stop threatening your sister with bodily harm when she does something you don't like."

Peyton's frown deepened, "It wasn't a threat. It was a suggestion. I'd hate for it to be an unfair fight."

You just stared at your youngest daughter, "You know, when Lia dropped you on your head as a baby I didn't really think it would manifest itself into this."

Peyton pouted, "Lia dropped me?!"

"Well, technically it was Jisoo and you landed on the bed. Just..head first. In your mother's defense, she didn't know Lia was going to jump onto her stomach. You were on her chest. It was like those big air blob things you see at summer camp on a lake. It was actually kind of funny. You thought it was too while you were in the air. After you landed, not so much."

"And somehow I still love you." Peyton deadpanned. In all honesty, that story made a whole lot of sense.

"I love you too!"

Kaleb tugged on the collar of your shirt lightly, "Build?"

You smiled at your youngest, "Yeah, we can build. I think mama moved your legos outside, is that okay?"

Kaleb thought about it for a second then nodded. He didn't care where his legos were as long as he got to use them.

You urged Peyton along one more time, before setting off to the backyard.

~•~

"You're going to burn a whole through the poor kid's head if you don't stop staring." Sana said as she pushed the meat around the grill some more. She didn't know what she was doing really. But she was precariously watching a YouTube video with instructions. YouTube University to the rescue once again.

"She wants to defile my child. I know this as fact. That's all I was thinking about at that age." Jisoo said without breaking her gaze.

"And yet, you remained a virgin until 27. Funny how stuff like that works itself out." Irene spoke up, she shooed Sana out of the way of the grill and set about fixing things.

"If I lost my virginity at 27, how would I have had Lia? Oh, you were joking." Jisoo pouted.

"Got it in one." Irene's words dripped sarcasm, "I thought you got over that. Seulgi and I met at 19 and 18, you didn't seem to have a problem about that then."

"I was also 19 and neither you or Seulgi are my fucking daughter. How would you feel if Maya just suddenly walked into your house claiming your sworn enemy's kid was her mate?"

"I killed all my enemies back in the late 90's."

"Could you give me two seconds of sincerity, Irene? Please." Jisoo's shoulders slumped.

Irene rolled her eyes, "Is Maya happy in this scenario?"

Jisoo looked as though she didn't want to answer that question, "Well...yeah."

"Then I'd be happy for her. Like you should be with Ryland."

Sana nodded along with Irene's statement, "As far as I can tell, neither Rosè or Taylor are bad people. Ryalnd is happy. Shouldn't that be all that matters?"

Jisoo huffed defeatedly, "Fine. You're right. I'm going to go talk to the kid."

Jisoo practically stomped off in the direction of the teenager.

Irene looked on with a proud smile, "You know, Sana? I think our little girl is finally growing up." She wiped a fake tear from her eye.

"The ribs are burning." A voice stated from the side of them.

"Shit!"

"Oh hey, Jennie. When did you get here?"

~•~

"Ryland, do you mind if I scare the shit out of your girlfriend? Thank you." Before Ryland could respond, Jisoo dragged Taylor away by the arm.

Taylor stood up straighter and puffed out her chest, "Hello, Mrs. Kim. My name is Taylor Bae-Park and I-"

"Look, kid. I don't need all of that. I just need to know a few things. Do you love my daughter?"

"With every single breath I take."

Jisoo tried to keep her scowl to a minimum.

"Are you treating her right?"

"I like to think so."

"Are you pressuring her into anything she doesn't want to do?"

"Of course not."

Jisoo sighed, "That's...good to hear. Alright, if you end up going all the way with this thing then so be it. Just promise me this, if she ever starts acting like...well, herself and you can't take it anymore, just bring her back. Her mom and I are use to it."

Taylor nodded stiffly then saluted, "You have my word!"

"Did you just sal-you didn't-I'm not..whatever." Jisoo took a sip of the beer she had completely forgotten was in her hand.

Taylor began to walk away, but Jisoo stopped her, "Hey, Taylor? Tell Chaeyoung I said 'Hi'." Taylor nodded with a smile, then jogged back to the edge of the pool.

Jisoo stayed rooted to the spot, almost jumping out of her skin when arms encircled themselves around her waist.

"That was very hot." You practically purred into Jisoo's ear, "You being all protective mama bear. It's a shame we're hosting this little get together, because if we weren't I'd get down on my knees for you and-"

"Okay! Why don't you put a pin in that thought for now, while I go completely submerged myself in the pool for about 10 minutes, yeah?" Jisoo shuffled out of your arms frantically.

You only laughed hysterically as Jisoo awkwardly hobbled to the pool edge then jumped straight in.

"20 years later. Still got it." You gave yourself a mental pat on the back.

~•~

"Jesse Kim! You are way too old for me to have to tell you to stop standing on tables." Lisa shouted up at her son. He had always been a climber. He had given her and Jennie multiple heart attacks as a baby.

Jesse only smiled charmingly at his mother, then set about continuing to do what he was doing, "Friends, Family! I have an announcement to make!"

He had managed to catch everyone's attention, though most of them probably wanted to see if Lisa would throw a shoe at him to get him down.

"As you all know, I was going to go into my second year of college at Julliard, but what you don't know is that last week I got a signed a record deal with Columbia records!" He smiled brightly.

The rest of the partygoers clapped enthusiastically.

"But they suck."

"Peyton!"

"Not only that, but after talking with my 'rents, I've decided to say fuck college and I'm going to perform full time."

"You just couldn't keep it PG, could you?" Lisa took a long sip of her chilled wine. Jesse shook his head with a happy smile.

There's a scraping of a lawn chair against pavement and a dissatisfied huff. No one really notices accept for the people closest.

Jisoo moved to go talk to her oldest daughter, but stopped when a hand is placed on her shoulder.

Jennie shook her head subtly, "I think I have some aunting to do on this one."

Jisoo looked a bit skeptical, but let Jennie walk off in Lia's direction nonetheless, "Alright, but come get me if you need me."

"I got this, Chu."

Lia had stormed around the house to the front stoop. She sat on the step with a huff. An angry tear hit her cheek just before being forcibly wiped away.

"What's up, Li?" Jennie sat on the step next to her. She had a feeling she already knew what the problem was, but it wouldn't do her any good to assume and be wrong.

"...I was supposed to be like you and Aunt Seulgi. But no, I just had to get that stupid disease and it just had to ruin my fucking voice." Lia squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the oncoming spillage of tears. There's an idle throb in her throat as if to taunt her.

Jennie rubbed her back softly, "I know that this is hard for you, Kid. If I knew Jess had planned on doing that, I would have talked him out of it. You know how he gets."

Lia only shrugged and shook her head, "It's whatever. What's done is done. Peyton commited to SUNY. I should be used to it."

"I don't think you should have to get used to your life passing you by. You're not a failure. So, what? You can't sing anymore, but that's not all you are. You're a successful youth soccer coach. You just graduated college. You're completely independent of your parents. Those are all things to celebrate."

Lia nodded softly. Jennie did have a couple of points, "It's just...hard."

"I know, Li, but you're not alone. You've got me, your parents, your siblings, and all of your other family and friends to help."

"Yeah, okay." Lia nodded.

"Now, you want to get back to this party?"

Lia nodded resolutely, "Yeah. Mama said I have to beat Taylor in a game of Chicken Fight to assert my dominance."

Jennie only sighed, "Yeah, that sounds about Jisoo."