#and google thought it was a picture of grass

[mango-ti]

btw I saw 2! praying mantis just out on the field when i went out to help my mom walk home with groceries??!

the first one we ran into I noticed because i thought it was a weird looking plastic straw (i have bad eyesight don't make fun of me) and stopped to look and was like "wait what the fuck" and there was another one way further up ahead

I'm so fucking happy i always thought praying mantis were cool af and always wanted to see one irl, but i didn't think i would see one literally a few minutes from my house!!

3 photos under read more so no one who doesn't like bugs has to see them

talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same!!

[screampied]

gojo planned to confess his love to you on valentine’s day.

he had the entire thing set, he was anxious, pondering just what your reaction might be. you were forever on his mind — even now, he was picturing your smile, imagining you returning the words and accepting your gifts. his heart swooned at the thought, the feeling of you finally returning your feelings to him. he’s had a deep love for you as long as he could remember.

“she’s gonna say it back, she’s gonna say it back.”

he repeated those words in his head like a mantra.

just the thought of your name made gojo’s heart race at such a speed. he was in love with you. he figured today would be the perfect time to tell you, smother you with compliments, decorate pretty roses in your hair and maybe snag a polaroid picture with you to keep in the back case of his phone.

although, once he finally meets up with you, he’d never know how foolish he really could have been.

you’d be somewhere outside by yourself, perhaps sitting on the grass and soaking in the humid sun with the most gorgeous relaxed expression. he texted you prior that he wanted to tell you something, very subtlety.

he felt his heart beat pick up at the sheer sight of you—you were so effortlessly pretty. trapped in your own little world. gojo trods his feet up to you, hiding his hands behind his back with a gift he had prepared for you. it was a necklace with a bunch of your favorite candies inside. he also had a cheesy card that read, “do you have a name? or should i just call you mine.”

it made him snort, he found the idea off of google.

as he kept making his way towards you, dragging his feat, he’s repeating his sappy speech a million times in his head. he straightened his tie, reaching for his pocket to grab a rose out of his pocket before he stopped once he saw geto approach you …

with a kiss.

gojo had a slow reaction, he felt like his breath got snatched from his chest. a tough snatch to where he could barely breathe. geto stroked a thumb against your chin before after a few brief seconds, he pulls away. you smiled at him before geto surprised you with a big box of what appeared to be a gift.

“oh..” gojo mutters, feeling trapped, as if his feet was stuck in place. you looked so happy, he started to feel stupid. he’s so ensnared into his own loud screaming thoughts that he doesn’t even realize that you’re standing in front of him now.

“satoru. hey. you wanted to talk to me about something?” you utter, glancing up at him, wondering why his body language was so awkward and stiff.

his jaw tightened before he blinks twice, sighing out a soft. “huh? oh that—oh, it’s uh, nothing,” and then he forces a fake smile on his face. he was too late to win your heart, and it costed his own to be shattered into a million glass pieces.

“are you sure?” you pry.

he gives you a nod, and you literally slip from his fingers the minute you turn your heels to walk away. gojo felt numb, tears started to swell into his eyes as he brought the gift up to his chest.

a single tear runs down his cheek as he watches you walk off into the sunset with geto, cursing to himself mentally that that should have been him. he had a force smile, because in the end — at least you were happy.

“happy valentine’s day,” he sniffles, knowing the true meaning of heartbreak at that particular moment. “i still love you.”

[upon-a-starry-night]

Number Neighbors Pt. 17

Natasha Romanoff x Fem! Reader

Natasha Masterlist Series Masterlist

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: slight violence/ blood/ weapon/

Summary:  When you catch sight of the newest trend going around you know you’re all but bound to at least try it, it was harmless anyway. What could possibly stem from something so little?

----

You don’t know why you went out in your part of town this late at night. You were just trying to cope with your feelings for Nat and your confusion about Leon and it was all getting to be too much. Not to mention the recurrence of your PTSD.

You just needed your comfort food and now it was going to cost you your life. Or your dignity.

You suck in a sharp breath as you take another left, several feet behind you the man in a dark hoodie does the same.

Was this really how you were going to die? 

Your phone buzzes frantically in your hand but you’re terrified if you look at it he’ll suddenly be right behind you.

The occasional glance behind you is doing you no favors and the nearest police station is a mile away according to Google Maps.

Could you make it there before he made it to you? Would he sense where you were going and attack you?

The sound of your phone ringing spooks you as the ringtone blares.

A ringtone you set specifically for Nat. A ringtone you weren’t sure you’d ever hear.

Mind racing, you wonder if it’s an accident. You wait a second for her to hang up or for your phone company to send you a text that says “Haha you were so desperate we decided to prank you! Now pay your phone bill!”

But the sound continues and you stare at her profile picture as your heart pounds. It’s a picture she sent you of her flipping you off. It’s only a shot of her hand and some grass but you saved the photo immediately nonetheless. 

Your finger hovers over the accept call button. 

Now that the moment that you’d been waiting for had finally come, why did you feel so scared?

Pressing the accept button, your phone is suddenly thrown out of your hand as a body bumps into yours. 

Usually, your first instinct would be to apologize but considering what they interrupted the first word out of your mouth is a frustrated “hey!” before you take in the figure in front of you.

Your blood runs cold and you glance behind you to see that the man that was following you is no longer behind you.

The man in front of you gives you a menacing smile, his teeth are yellow and crooked and you subconsciously take a step back, causing the man to reach out and grab your wrist.

“Hey now, this doesn’t have to be hard if you don’t make it hard”

A shiver runs down your spine and you try and pull your wrist free from his grip to no avail.

“Please,” you try and plead “please let me go”

“I just want some money that’s all” his eyes are red and irritated and you realize that you might not be dealing with a sober person right now. The thought does nothing to help your growing fear. He takes another step closer to you and you flinch “C’mon I just want-” 

The man stumbles back clutching his head. Your head is spinning and you don’t understand what happened until you see your bag of ice cream on the ground. Looking down at your shaking hand you see it stuck in a swinging position.

When did you do that? I guess in a flight or flight situation you were fight.

You pouted at your ice cream on the ground before an angry grumble from the man in front of you turned your attention back to him.

“You fucking bitch!” Spit flies from his mouth as he screams at you and you cringe, taking another step back as the man pulls something from his pocket. 

Terror fills your system as you notice it’s a pocket knife

“All I wanted was some money but you had to go and make things worse for yourself didn’t you?”

The man lunges at you and you quickly move to the side, trying to remember what you could from your rewatches of Criminal Minds. You really should have invested in some self-defense classes.

The man stumbles forward, almost losing his balance. Maybe you could use his intoxication to your advantage.

Attempting to throw him off, you try to push him to the ground while he’s frazzled but his hand catches yours as soon as it touches him. He jerks his hand with the knife forward and places the blade uncomfortably on your throat.

You swallow and feel the cold metal move as your throat bobs.

Tears immediately pricked your eyes. Was this how you were going to die? You were just starting to make friends with people from work. There was so much you still wanted to do. People you still wanted to meet. Your eyes drop to your phone on the ground, the screen is black and it looks like there’s a crack across the top. 

You were so close to hearing Nat’s voice. The thought turns your fear into frustration. Staring into the eyes of your assaulter you notice his face is drawn in anger. 

Why is he the one who gets to be angry? Why is he screaming? He attacked you. 

Your thoughts turn from frustration to rage and your body is fueled by adrenaline. You swiftly knee him in the balls and push him off of you. 

He crumples in pain for a second before sloppily swinging his knife in your direction.

The blade manages to slice your left shoulder and you hiss as a stinging pain takes over your arm.

You feel warm liquid seeping into your shirt, it’s a stark contrast to the cool night air but you ignore it in favor of defending yourself.

The man attempts to swing at you again but is unable to keep his balance in his inebriated state and he falls forward on his arms. He grunts in anger and attempts to get up but both of you spot the blood on the floor at the same time.

You freeze and blood drips from somewhere under him and you notice he fell on the arm that was holding the knife.

“Ah, shit-” The man attempts to move again but flinches, all he can do is sit there panting in pain. The sight of the sticky shiny red blood on his hand makes you dizzy. You don’t know what to do or how to even begin helping him.

You take a step back, crouching down to grab your phone and wincing when it shoots pain through your shoulder. You deduce you probably need stitches as a pained voice pleads behind you

“Hey hey hey wait- don’t-”

“Hey!” A boyish voice shouts from somewhere not too far away and panic fills you. This does not look good for you. Not to mention you weren’t feeling all too great from your wound either. If there was another voice nearby that meant this guy could get help soon and you could run.

You spared one more glance at the guy who ruined your night and then booked it in the other direction clutching your shoulder. Hoping that whoever else was there wouldn’t follow you.

~

A few minutes of running later your shoulder is throbbing and your shirt is thoroughly ruined as blood still trickles from your wound. You couldn’t put as much pressure as you wanted because of your running and you feel a little light-headed from blood loss when you spot the police station a few buildings away. 

Relief floods your body as you push yourself toward the building and when a kind female police officer rushes over to you in the lobby you don’t even realize you're crying until your vision gets blurry and she’s whispering comforting words in your ear.

You hear her call for a medic before exhaustion overtakes you and you pass out.

Pt.18

A/n: Giving you two chapters this week because I love you guys and I hate cliffhangers~ Starry

---Taglist--

@marvelwomen-simp @cd-4848 @wandanatlov3r @rebeltombraider @ctrlamira @fxckmiup @aliherreraaa @natsxwife @la-douler-ne-finite-jamais @romanoffsgal @moistblobfish @natashaswife4125 @elenimoris @how-to-disappearrr @screechcat @toouncreativeforausername @ordelixx @autorasexy @blacklightsposts @vmpnano @jono723

[goosefruit]

5 times vanessa brought you flowers (drabble collection)

vanessa shelly x fem!reader

tw: none

a/n: i need her to show up at my door with a bouquet of flowers ples

Hydrangeas

The first time Vanessa showed up at your door with a bouquet of flowers was on the night of your first date. 

She nervously shuffled her feet, wondering how you might react to her last-minute grocery store purchase. In her defense, she had just finished working a night shift mere hours before she had to start getting ready for tonight. 

An arrangement of baby blue hydrangeas laid in her arms, with little white flowers filling the gaps. 

Vanessa had stood in the flower section of the store for a good half hour as she tried to decide on the perfect offering for you. The obvious choice would be roses, but she was afraid of coming off too strong. 

After all, she had only known you for a week, after dancing with you at a bar. Even then, there was a spark between the two of you that she had never felt before, and she knew that she would do anything to have this work out. 

So she decided on something perhaps even more thoughtful than roses. 

The hydrangeas had caught her eyes the moment she saw them. They were the same shade of blue as the sparkly aquamarine earrings you always wore (she knew because you were wearing them the night you met, as well as in most of your Instagram pictures). Something about the delicate hue reminded her of your soft smile and gentle eyes.

Those same blossoms of blue were seen in your favourite vase for months after, its petals dried and preserved.

‎‎ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ°•. ✿ .•°

Wildflowers

For your one year anniversary, Vanessa had planned a picnic in a nearby meadow. 

You sat under the warm May sun with your eyes closed, leaning against your girlfriend's shoulder. The occasional cool breeze tickled your skin as you basked in the sunlight, sighs of delight falling from your lips. 

In every direction, fields of colour stretched on for miles. Flowers of all shapes and sizes were beginning to wake from their winter slumber, with many already in full bloom.

Groggily, you opened one eye to admire how wonderfully Vanessa’s blonde locks gleamed in the afternoon light.

“Hey honey,” she smiled when she noticed you staring. Giving you a peck on the forehead, she began to stand up. “I’ll be right back.”

You thought about following her, but were in way too comfortable of a position for your muscles to want to move. Instead, you laid back on the picnic mat and listened to the birdsong overhead. 

Vanessa returned soon after, prancing towards you in her pretty pink sundress. She held out a brilliant bundle of wildflowers: reds, blues, oranges, and yellows amongst various shades of green. The stems were tied together with a blade of grass, assembled into a perfect little bouquet.

“For you, my beautiful girl.”

‎‎ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ°•. ✿ .•°

Lilies of the Valley

This time, Vanessa had to ask the Internet for help.

You and her had been in rocky waters for the past week, arguing over trivial things such as who was going to do the dishes. 

She knew that you were only matching her attitude, as she had been quite unfair in how she spoke to you lately. Really, she didn’t mean it—the long, stressful shifts at work had gotten the better of her, but instead of talking it out, she pent up those emotions until they overflowed. 

Vanessa knew she had to do something to clean up the mess that she had created. 

A Google search for apology gifts gave her a list of ideas, and she set out for the store while you were at work one day. It took her several tries before she found a florist that supplied what she was looking for.

The vase held a bunch of delicate little white flowers, each hanging off of thin green stems in rows. There must have been at least a hundred of them, every one perfectly bell-shaped. 

She recalled that you had once stopped to admire a patch of these on a walk, which is why she recognized them almost immediately when they came up on her search. Apparently, they symbolized apology, amongst other things. 

Knowing that she would already be at work by the time your shift ended, she left the flowers alongside a note on the dining table:

My dearest Y/N,

You are my world, but I haven’t been treating you like it lately. I’m sorry that I’ve been a terrible communicator, and for taking out all my stress on you. You didn’t deserve that.  

I got you a little something here: Lilies of the valley. It has a pretty name, just like you.

I know it doesn’t make up for how I acted, but take it as a token of my love. Really sorry I can’t be home tonight; you know how my shifts are. 

Maybe we can do something fun when I get back?

I’m going to do better from now on, my love <3

-Nessa

‎‎ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ°•. ✿ .•°

Roses

On Valentine’s Day, you received the sweetest, reddest roses. 

Vanessa had taken a day off just to prepare for the occasion, taking it upon herself to decorate the entire apartment with candles and petals. 

At her insistence, she picked you up from work, wearing a suit so nice it made you feel underdressed in your plain blouse and jeans. The look was completed by a rose between her teeth, one corner of her mouth lifted in a gentle smirk. You giggled at how ridiculous but sexy she looked.  

She presented you with a bouquet she had hidden behind her back, a dozen more roses bound by lace and gold wrapping paper. 

Each flower had been carefully handpicked by her, the process having taken her nearly half a day at the florist’s. She made sure to select only the most vibrant ones, with every petal intact, for her babygirl. 

They smelled so good, it made your heart flutter. Of course, you knew that roses were known for their fragrance, but something about getting them from the love of your life made the sweet scent all the more mesmerizing. 

To top it all off, the lace holding everything together had the same colour and pattern as that chic white lingerie set you knew she loved seeing you in. 

You took a mental note to change into it before the evening’s fun.

‎‎ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ°•. ✿ .•°

Paper flowers

You were puzzled when Vanessa took an unusual interest in the crafts section of the dollar store. 

Your girlfriend had never expressed herself as an artistic person, always leaving all the home decor DIY stuff to you. But now, she was buying stacks of coloured paper and disappearing to her office with them for hours at a time. 

You had been reading on the couch one Sunday afternoon when you felt her hands cover your eyes from behind. 

“Don’t peek! I have a surprise for you,” she whispered excitedly. 

You nodded, keeping your eyes shut as she set something down on the table in front of you. 

“Okay, now open your eyes!”

The product of her mystery project blew your mind beyond words.

In a tall glass vase, she had placed paper flowers of all different colours, each resembling different species with shocking accuracy. They were folded with such neatness that you immediately understood why it had taken Vanessa so long. 

“I saw a video online, so I knew I had to make some for you,” she grinned cheekily. “The papercuts were all worth it.”

You grabbed her face and kissed her, all while a singular thought circulated through your mind: How many other hidden talents did this woman have?

[e-dubbc11]

Afternoon Delight

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google

Pairing: Billy Russo x F! Reader

Warnings: Dirty talk, a LOT of it. Reader and Billy both have filthy mouths in this one so 18+ please (no minors or I’m telling), some swear words

Word Count: 1.6k-ish

Summary: Reader is reading and waiting for her boyfriend to bring her lunch in the park. A very handsome man takes a seat next to her, the book she’s reading is one of his favorites.

A/N: This is my contribution to May’s writing challenge over on the Thirsty For Cox discord server. This month’s prompt was sundress season and I honestly didn’t mean for it to get dirty but my brain had other ideas. Oh the book I took the quotes from is The Picture of Dorian Gray. I hope you like it!

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕 💕

A gentle summer breeze rushed across your exposed shoulders as you sat alone on a park bench reading your book on an early Saturday afternoon. The subtle rustling of the trees above your head prompted you to look up and watch the sun highlight the veins in the leaves as the wind moved them in multiple directions.

The warm afternoon sun shone through the leaves on the trees, drawing attention to bright green patches of grass all over the park. It was a beautiful day.

Your boyfriend told you earlier that morning that he would meet you in the park for lunch and you couldn’t wait to surprise him with the new dress you bought.

Black with white polka dots, adjustable spaghetti straps, long with a deep V-neck and a drawstring closure, it was perfect for a day like today and you were sure he would love it on you.

Continuing to turn the pages of your book, you looked up the walkway and noticed a very handsome man walking toward you wearing a gray suit.

He had ebony colored hair, a short well-groomed beard and as he came closer you noticed his eyes. He had beautiful yet very mysterious deep brown eyes, the kind of eyes you could just get lost in while he was talking to you. They looked like two flat black marbles and they were looking directly at you.

There were empty park benches everywhere, so you didn’t think he would take a seat next to you and yet, he did. As he sat down, he smiled at you. You’ve never seen a more perfect smile on top of an already incredibly handsome face.

He said hello, you said hello back and returned the smile he gave you.

A smile like his could get you into some serious trouble but then he doubled down and opened his mouth to which you heard his soft tone, his voice was smooth like warm honey with a slight New York accent.

“I love that book.” He said.

You almost forgot you were holding a book, he was quite the distraction.

“Me too.” You said. “This is my fourth time reading it. Do you have a favorite part?”

You asked him, hoping to throw him off guard to see if he’s actually read it or if it’s some lame pick up line.

“Well…let’s see.” He said. “There are so many.”

Got him.

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.” Chapter 2, page 23

“Oh and…”

“When we are happy, we are always good, but when we are good, we are not always happy." Chapter 6, page 106

The fact that he had those passages memorized, shocked you to your core and you felt slightly embarrassed and ashamed that you doubted him, but it turned you on at the same time.

“I’m sorry, I thought that…” You said.

He interrupted you.

“You thought it was a line, didn’t you.” He said with a sly grin.

Very few people surprised you, especially tall, handsome men just strolling through the park.

“I do apologize Mister?” You asked.

“Russo…Billy Russo.” He said extending his hand for you to shake. “I read that book a lot when I was deployed overseas.”

“Deployed? Wait, lemme guess…” You said as you carefully looked him over from head to toe. “You were a marine.” You were biting down on your lower lip, and fighting the desire to draw him in close by his tie.

He continued to stare at you with those intense brown eyes of his, he could not look away and neither could you. He held your gaze and felt yourself start to blush every time he smiled at you.

“How did you know?” He asked.

“Well…actually, my boyfriend was also in the Marines.” You said in a low breathy tone.

His smile disappeared.

“Well your boyfriend is a lucky man, I’ve never seen a more beautiful smile…on anyone.” He said.

He took the words right out of your mouth, you felt the same way about his smile.

Billy moved his head like it was on a swivel, looking all around him. “So…where is this boyfriend of yours? If you were mine, I’d never let you out of my sight.” He stated.

The struggle to keep from smiling was difficult, and you replied. “Actually, I don’t know. He said he would meet me here for lunch and he’s never ever late.”

You weren’t sure if it was the rays from the sun or Billy that was causing the warmth to rise to your cheeks.

There was something you wanted from Billy but maybe you shouldn’t ask. Although, what harm could come from reading a few pages from your book to you?

There was just something about his voice that was captivating. The way the words rolled off of his tongue was musical and hypnotic, like he was meant to read them aloud.

As he read, he’d glance away from the pages for sentences at a time to look over at you. He had memorized a lot of the passages, staring at you as he recited the words.

At one point, he stopped and lost his place because he was too busy staring at you.

“I’m so sorry.” He said. “I have to tell you, I’m very distracted by this beautiful dress you have on. Although I’m not sure if it’s the dress or the woman wearing it, maybe it’s both. I can’t believe your boyfriend let you leave the house without him, lookin’ like that. Every man that walks by this bench is having the same thoughts as I am.”

Trying to swallow the lump in your throat, the ache between your thighs grew hungry for him.

“Oh? And—what sort of thoughts would those be, Mr. Russo?” You whispered.

“Impure ones.” He hissed as he looked you up and down.

Your fingers lightly danced across the glowing skin on your chest and moved up to rub the back of your neck as his tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip.

“Thoughts of taking you back to my place, hiking that dress up over your hips and fucking you so hard you can’t walk right tomorrow, pinning you against the wall, and having your legs wrapped around my waist, pulling me deeper into that sweet pussy of yours. I wanna hear you scream my name over and over again until your voice cracks, and I bet you’d look really pretty sitting on my dick.”

Gently, he touched your bare shoulder, and brushed the warm soft skin of your arm with his calloused fingers, those words sent shivers down your spine despite the hot afternoon sun.

Shuddering at those sinful thoughts, you leaned in to him so your face was closer to his yet your bodies remained apart and whispered against his mouth. “Is that right? Anything else?” You asked before sucking on his bottom lip.

“Or just ripping it off of you because it covers that gorgeous body of yours, then using it to tie you to the bed so I can look at you all spread out, ready to take my cock. Those are the kind of thoughts I’m having.”

A bead of sweat had dripped from your neck down your chest and in between your breasts, your panties were soaked from listening to Billy describe what he wanted to do to you, and if he wanted to fuck you right there on that park bench, you would probably let him.

“Maybe I’m having similar thoughts.” You said softly. “Maybe I want to see you on your knees in front of me, your head underneath my dress, and your tongue fucking me until I can’t see straight.”

You were so distracted by him, you forgot why you were sitting on that bench in the first place.

He inched closer to you so his thigh was touching yours, the look in his eyes was primal, his long slender fingers touched the side of your face, his other hand grazed the top of your breast and then he pushed some of your hair back behind your ear so he could whisper to you.

“Role playing is fun, isn’t it sweet girl. I don’t even need to touch you to know how wet you are for me. Love the new dress. I know I was supposed to bring lunch but I didn’t think there would be a snack waiting for me when I got here.” He said with a devilish smirk and gave you a kiss on the cheek.

You reached out to brush his beard with your thumbs and let out a little chuckle. “Wow…And I thought I’ve heard every cheesy pick up line there is, my love. Are you done flirting with me? Where’s my lunch?”

Billy held up one finger. “Number one, I’ll never stop flirting with you, number two, you’re wearin’ MY lunch…and I promise I’ll get you something to eat, but I need to get you home now otherwise we’re both getting arrested for indecent exposure.” He said with a wink. “I held out as long as I could. I’m pretty sure I flatlined when I first saw you. You look fuckin’ hot, baby.”

You leaned in close and gave him a hungry kiss, your tongue twisted with his and your teeth nipped at his lower lip which made him absolutely feral for you.

“Well let’s go home then, Mr. Russo and don’t forget our book.”

Tag List: @mindidjarin @saintmurd0ck @wheresthesunshinesblog @rafaelakelley @idaoftheburningmind @snowkestrel @xdervyxccgh @mattmurdocksscars @fakehappy27 @music-indie-tv @fictional-hooman @kayhi808 @munsonownsmyass @gijos @celestialams @idek-what-to-put @anastasianeedstoread @ratsys @k-marzolf @nutmeg17 @rosaleenablack

Others that might enjoy: @itwasthereaminuteago @fluffyprettykitty @jvanilly @simple-lovebot @russosafehaven @mrsbillyrusso

If you’d like to be added to (or removed from) my tag list for the ever so handsome Billy Russo, just let me know and thank you again for reading! 💕💕💕 If I tagged you but didn’t want to be, just let me know and I’ll never do it again

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Ant-Mimic Longhorn Beetle - Cyrtophorus verrucosus

When you sit down in the grass to read a book, you would definitely expect to feel some curious insects crawling on your arms and legs and to see some flying insects taking an interest in you. What I was reading, I won't reveal yet, but to see this insect was surprisingly relevant, if unexpected! When I felt a crawling sensation on my leg, I expected to find a Carpenter Ant and instead found this Longhorn Beetle posing as one! I always took it as an anecdote that this Ant-mimic not only appears as a Carpenter Ant but also feels like one as it moves across an arm, hand or fingers. But now, I wholeheartedly agree; the feeling is eerily similar as is the swift locomotion this Beetle made as it navigated my hand. Its running would have resulted in blurry pictures, but it eventually stopping to clean its feet and antennae, which allowed a better look at this specimen. The mimicry on display is astounding and is enhanced by the body modifications relative to other Longhorns. The relatively compact head pressed into the thorax gives the impression of a large head with mandibles. The elongated abdomen is dotted in a conspicuous curved pattern that seems to outline an Ant's thorax and abdomen form. This may very well convince non-insect predators to leave it alone as it goes about its day and plunges into spring-blooming hardwood tree flowers. On these trees, they will will also enjoy nectar and pollen in a fashion similar to Ants, but with more effective pollination!

Should the disguise fail, this Beetle does have wings to escape with, but reveals an orange-yellow abdomen as it opens its wingcase (which looks similar to the abdomen another type of Hymenopteran as seen in the first picture of this post). As a reminder, this Beetle specie has been found with 2 color variants, one black (this one) and one with brown from the abdomen's midsection to the bottom of the thorax. Each form is thought to aid in the mimicry of a particular Ant specie (Camponotus pennsylvanicus - Eastern Carpenter Ant and C. chromaiodes - Ferruginous Carpenter Ant). In addition to resembling different Ants, this Beetle also resembles another genus of mimicking Beetle - Microclytus. It's only natural given that the two genera are sorted into the same Tribe - Anaglyptini! If that's the case, just how do you tell the two apart in North America? I was confused at first given the information available so I'd like to set the record straight. Cyrtophorus Beetles have a pronounced knob at the corner of each elytrum (the wingcase, Picture 5 offers a good glimpse), and their thorax shape is more arched and pinched in compared to Microclytus. Information on this Beetle keeps referencing knobs at the base of the pronotum, but to me, the edge of the elytra seems to be the accurate location.

Pictures were taken on May 8, 2024 in Hamilton with a Google Pixel 4.

[lichen-punk]

1, 3, 9, 20, 25, 27, 28, 39, 45, 47 SORRY THIS IS SO MANY LOLL

o my goodness ok im putting a cut here for everyone's sanity cause all these questions got me excited

Do you have a favorite place near you to “touch grass”?

theres a little woodsy park near my house just within easy walking distance which is easy to get into regardless of time of day or night and has an incredible hill where you can sit under an oak tree in the tall grass and watch the sun or the moon come up or set depending on time of day and year and i love love love it one of the only good things about my town i go up there for my Rituals And Things gkjhsf

3. If you could see any extinct species in the wild, what would it be?

im a sucker for megafauna id love to see an irish elk or an aurochs or a woolly mammoth that would be so so cool

9. Do you have a favorite nature photo you’ve ever taken?

here's some of the best photos ive ever taken in my life, and then some pictures from the hike back to the cabin when we realized the sun was setting sooner than we thought it would and it was about to get WAY too cold for how we were dressed

20. What’s your favorite poem or song lyric about nature?

definitely a gerard manley hopkins!!! he's my fave poet ever and half his work is about nature. i'm torn between two, tho: i think my favorite of all time, really my favorite poem entirely, is the windhover (ive been trying to copy and paste it here without ruining the formatting but it is not working alas so you must google it sorry), but the last stanza of another of my favorites of his poems, inversnaid, is also just. fucking killer

What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

25. What’s your favorite plant to grow yourself?

i unfortunately live in a terrible spot to grow stuff, the yard of my family's little house is like. straight dry clay and entirely shady, so my thumb has never gotten even the barest hint of green to it. one day id like to grow wheat or corn or some such tho

27. What’s your favorite outdoor activity?

honestly????? i love to just Sit And Observe. i used to love love love swimming in creeks and lakes and things, but obv i havent swum in anything for a very long time. hopefully i will again one dayy im also a big big fan of a fire for singing around. and to be honest shakespeare doesnt feel right unless its performed somewhere outdoors and beautiful now

28. What’s your favorite local animal you see all the time but still love?

ALL OF THEMMMMMM we get raccoons and possums and squirrels and mule deer and black tailed deer and crows and ravens and pigeons and rats and mice and apparently frogs i learned recently and newts and theyre all my best friends and i get so excited when i see them

39. What ecosystem do you consider your “home” ecosystem?

absolutely all american pacific northwest shit i love a temperate rainforest with redwoods and doug firs and such and then the deciduous layer underneath all ferns and moss and little creeks and then the harsh cliffs down to the beach all cold and foggy and windy. that's where i Belong easy peasy. i do also associate the more aggressively californian Beige Grassy Hills With Lonely Scrappy Little Coast Live Oaks or Valley Oaks On Top type biome with home and growing up, but its always been a little too harsh and dry and sunny for me here.

45. What is your favorite wildflower?

o god thats hard i love wildflowers. im a sucker for daisies, obv, and i love forget-me-nots and california poppies and indian paintbrush and columbine and and and

47. What is your favorite species of tree?

o no thats hard too!!!!! ummm probably oak trees, especially white oaks like the valley oak or the oregon white oak, especially the really big old wise looking ones, but i also adore sequoioideae and other conifers, unsurprisingly, and rowans and apple trees among others hold personal spiritual significance, and theres this specific kind of maple or sweetgum idk what it is but they grew outside the theatre i grew up in so they always make me nostalgic. OH and i LOVE the smell of california bay laurel thats the Good Summertime Smell for me

[genesisgijinka]

I have returned with another essay on worldbuilding.

Part one: Design.

Your world has more animalistic pokemon. Going for a more... Adapted to a real functioning world where physics and biology are mostly in accordance with how it would work here.

My favourite example of this is this post. In it is pictured a Gardevoir. I don't know if the design is still accurate, but said gardevoir is less a funny alien creature and instead an elongated owl.

Another amazing example of this is the Power Scale post. The beastly legendaries and especially Arcy look sick. With "unrealistic" features like Arcy's fence gate being adapted into much more believable features/body parts.

That being said, we get to

Part 1.5: The Point

With most pokemon being animal-ified, there are some where that just isn't realy feasible. Good contenders for this are the magnemite line, a ton of Grass types and otherwise plant pokemon, and a bunch of object pokemon

small list of examples: Chandelure, klefki, Sudowoodo, oddish, bellsprout, shroomish, grimer, gastly, voltorb, Porygon, Koffing, Cofagrigus, and Ditto. (to be honest, ditto needs its own section)

How would you handle pokemon like that?

I kind of like the idea of naturally occuring mechanical life. You open up a dead Magnezone and there's just a load of gears and electric components in there. (imagine steampunk but with electricity instead of steam)

similarly, How would Gijinka of robotic/ object mons work?

Part 2: Pokespeak

In the anime all Pokemon speak Pokespeak. With pokemon being more animalistic, How do you handle them communicating?

Same question with the sentient mons situation from the anime. Most if not all pokemon on the protagonist's team (COUGH Pikachu) are of similar intelligence as a human, they have complex logic, can read, experience the entire spectrum of emotion, can perfectly understand language, etc.

How does that work?

That'll be it for now.

Part 1-1.5

Yep, gardevoir design is still accurate. Most of my design process for figuring out how I'm going to interpret pokemon design is deviating from a lot of common things that I see. Continuing with the gardevoir example, it's one of those pokemon that you don't google bc everyone just turns it into a booby waifu. I looked at the face and kinda went, 'Hey, that looks like the facial disk of an owl,' and started there.

For things that aren't easily interpreted, I switch to scribbling around with shapes. The Arceus fence thing was more inspired by the biblically accurate angels thing from the book of Revelations bc i thought that was funny lol. Sometimes I just give up tho and things like sylveon still gets it's weird ribbon things bc it's a Fey and they are not beholden to normal rules.

Other ways I design pokemon is by trying to figure out what niche they would fill and how would they have evolved to fill it bc nature is bonkers like that and doesn't like empty spaces. The universe of Genesis is absolutely riddled with ambient energy, so you get things like sentient almost-rocks and minerals or florauna creatures that make up plant types since everything is essentially swimming in a sort of low-key primordial soup. Sometimes a loose spirit just really thinks that chandelier is cool looking and would make a good home. The Good Soup™ makes it easier for that spirit to move its new body and now you have a new pokemon! All that loose energy gives life to things that on our world, would not work. But hey, such is magic-science.

There are lots of different paths I can take, so I don't really have a set process of how I generally do it. And there are so many theories of how certain pokemon came to be - either through in-game lore talked about in the pokedex/from NPCs or someone with their red string on the wall making a spider's web of what's going on in the world of pokemon - that I can take some of those and just run with it. For example; you brought up ditto. Congratulations! You've discovered Prime's "siblings," since I'm using the theory that ditto were Rocket's failed attempts at cloning mew. Little blobs that use the energy of the world around them to craft bodies several times their mass and size, using moves that they don't normally learn.

Robotic/object gijinka would depend on which pokemon is the base form. There's a whole lot of human in a gijinka which keeps things to a mostly human base (this is how I ignore the egg types in gijinka when it comes to reproducing and y'know, keeping your culture alive), so it would mostly boil down to types. If someone was of the magnemite line, they'd have iron/steel deposits in places where the skin is thin, like how Heph does on his knuckles, a characteristic of a steel type gijinka. They'd also be more prone to generating static electricity. Or a doctor giving a vanilluxe gijinka a check up has to have a different base body temperature to test against since ice types have a body temp that runs a little bit cooler than most others (fire types have the opposite problem. Razor has torched off shirt sleeves before, which is why he's almost always in a tank-top of some sort)

Part 2

How do pokemon communicate with each other? Idk, the same way they do in Tarzan. They just, can. Smth smth, pokemon speaking with their hearts, not words. Pokéspeak isn't suuuper well understood, mostly due to not having enough cases to study, but it does very rarely crop up in people from time to time. N is canon to the Genesis timeline (not sure when just quite yet but anyway) and he can fully understand pokemon. Biggest theory is that it's stored away somewhere in the human DNA, a leftover from when pokemon and humans were once considered the same, ala Sinnohian lore. Kinda like how every now and then irl there's a human baby born with a tail. Tail genes are still in our DNA, but it gets switched off at some point during fetal development.

That being said tho, some pokemon have managed to learn human language, in a way. Unown being the starting point for many languages in the world used to communicate more with people back in the day, but now it's considered a mostly dead/slightly resurrected language like Mayan.

The abra line are particularly clever and good at figuring out human patterns. Champion Red from Kanto taught a lot of his pokemon sign language as part of their training and a few of them can sign back at him. He's rarely seen without his kadabra, Pythagoras, and she's the most fluent out of all his pokemon. It's still broken and incomplete tho, kinda like how an african grey parrot would string words together.

A lot of how pokemon speak to each other is mostly body language tho, which even in humans is calculated to make up a whopping 55% of how we communicate with one another (38% is vocal tone and a measly 7% is the actual words and their dictionary definition/context. So it's no wonder why so many people get into arguments on the interwebs with black text on a white background) Pokemon still pick up on all of this, and with their different way of communication, they can still usually pick out human meanings just fine.

[lovely-vermin]

Kitty cat!

A/N:This was inspired by @swoonbots Welcome home inspiration list and I’ll probably make a lot of stuff based off of that list! GIF was founded on Google under the words ‘Car gif header’ also not proofread,nothing on my page is proofread

Summary:The neighborhoods domestic kitty cat who purrs and cuddles nicely

Warnings?:Y/N is referred to as Kitty or kit sometimes,Sally collects Y/N’s shed fur to make costumes,Hell is said but I don’t consider it a bad word(REMEMBER WELCOME HOME WAS A KID SHOW IN THE CANON ARG! SO THEY USUALLY WON’T CUSS OR WON’T AT ALL THATS WHY IM SAYING THIS!),Eddie’s is larger because he’s my favorite and wanted to write for him more =0]

Romantic or platonic?:Can be seen as either!

Characters:All the cast that I know of! + Matteo

Wally darling

-He’s often seen with you as he cuddles you. He loves your fur! He’ll just pet your head causing you to purr.

-First time he heard you purr he stopped and then smiled widely as he started to pet you more! He doesn’t know why but he LOVES the sound of your purr

-If he’s stress he’ll just hug you as he doesn’t really need to breath and your fur comforts him a lot!

-Smiling as you looked down at your small friend it was such a funny sight to you. “Wally? What happened” his words came out muffled as he didn’t move his face but it did make you giggle!

Barnaby

-he was at first…worried at you as for some reason most Cats and dogs hate each other. Yet you didn’t hate him and he thought it was a complete act

-Once he realized it wasn’t an act he will literally ruffle your fur 24/7

-People believe it’s a contest for y’all to see who gets the most head pats or ruffles from each other…their right as well

-Wally looked around for his two furry friends until he saw them asleep under a tree. You were on Barnaby’s chest as you were the smaller one. “Aww how cute,luckily I have my camera!” He quickly took a picture fast then silently went away.

Sally Starlet

-She loves your fur like it’s odd. Sometime without thinking she ask if she can have your shed fur for costumes which use to surprise you but now you just let her have them

-when she’s stress or overwhelm she cuddles you as your fur comforts her a lot! She falls asleep on your chest sometimes!

-Sometimes she just face plants onto you without warning then fall asleep. It happens at sleepovers mostly as she just only does it at sleep overs.

-“Kitty! Is it okay if I can have some of your old fur?” The fallen star smiled at you as you sighed and got a box out for her. For some reason she uses your shed fur as apparently ‘it’s great for costumes’ yet you just allow it. “Here ya go Sally” “Thank you kitty! You’ll be the first to see the new costume!” The fallen star jogged to her home leaving you to chuckle at her actions.

Julie Joyful

-she was the first one to find out that you purr before anyone else did. The way she found out? You were sleeping in the sun purring making Julie squeal a bit,somehow didn’t wake you up.

-She does ANYTHING to get you to purr. She just LOVES the sound of you purring as somehow it’s music to her ears! Also when her family met you they also LOVED your purring sound,honestly just feel like the rainbow monsters love the sound of purring for no reason

-Julie is mostly seen with you as everyone plus you know that she just loves the fact she can hide in your shadow. Sometime she makes it into a game that she has to stay in your shadow or she loses,she wins often!

-laying in the grass you felt someone lay on top of you but you couldn’t tell if it was Wally or Julie but looking down you saw it was your familiar rainbow monster smiling widely at you. “Heya Jules” “Hi kitty!” “Ya need anything?” “Nah! Just wanna lay on you” “okay jul” that’s how it usually was,you and someone cuddle(or they lay on you) in the grass under the sun as you like the sun a LOT!

Howdy

-He finds you pretty sweet! When he found out you purr he thought he did something wrong as he’s never heard that before until you told them that’s how your species show your love/happiness without saying it. He was so relieved at that

-Now your Fur is a different thing. He knows you can’t control it and that you try and get almost all of it out before coming to his shop when it’s shedding say but when he just sees the fur his ground he kinda gets annoyed but quickly pushes that annoyance away when he remembers it’s sorta difficult for you to shed without help of a tool so his annoyance is over fast!

-He’ll stare at your tail confused,he knows that Barnaby’s sometimes moves when he’s happy and he’s adjusted to it but yours move for no reason!? You’ll have to explain again why it’s like that. He sorta understands but sometimes he’ll get distracted by your swaying tail until someone or something breaks his trance. It’s laughable when the others just see a confused caterpillar look at the swaying cat’s tail as if it’s some unknown object he’s never seen

-The doors bell ring signaling to Howdy someone has entered to see it was you,luckily it wasn’t shedding day. “Heya Kit!” “Heya Howds” the silence was very comfortable as you don’t talk while you shop often but it never did feel awkward as your food was usually calm and collected. Soon you paid for your stuff but you brought out a rock that looked like him. “Here I made you” “Aw thanks kit!” “No problem! Have a nice day Howds!” Howdy smiled and waved by as you left. He’s happy he met you :)

Eddie dearest

-LOVES YOUR PURRING AND CAT EARS! I don’t know why I just feel like if you allow him he’ll pet you ears giggling like a mad man there’s no reason other then he just loves your ears!

-When he heard you purr he stared like the pikachu shocked face meme but then it was a smile. He now knows a lot of ways to make you purr he just loves to hear it!

-When he gets breaks he’ll cuddle you as your fur comforts him a lot. Sometimes he’ll fall asleep when he cuddles you as it just makes him really sleepy! So your not allowed to move if he’s asleep on you basically it’s the reversed If a cat sleeps on you your not allowed to move but instead of you the cat it’s Eddie the mail man

-Currently you were just staring at the little flower that bloomed in your garden you heard Eddie so you sat up to look at him properly. “Hello Ed!” “Hiya Kitty! You got mail from..Your grandpa!” “Hell yeah! Gramp mailed me! Thank you Ed! Hold on! I got something for ya!” The mail man smiled but stood in confusion as you ran inside with your mail quickly. Soon you emerge from your humble of home without your mail but a gift wrapped oh so nicely. “Here! You can open it!” Eddie smiled as he opened it to see a hand made stuffed animal,it was a smiling rainbow making him smile. “Thank you Kitty!” “No problem! Wanted to say thanks for all the hard work you do!” Eddie was smiling the rest of the day more the usually.

Frank

-He’s fascinated by you! I have a feeling he doesn’t really know what cats are completely so when he sees you he wants to learn more about you! With your consent and only telling him what your comfortable with of course! He doesn’t make his neighbors feel uncomfortable!

-When he heard you purr he stared at you shocked for a while until you snapped him out of it. He immediately asked what that sound was as he’s never heard it! You explained to him what you told Howdy making him remember that every time you purr around him

-He likes how soft your fur and cuddles re. He often doesn’t cuddles but Eddie kinda pulls him in to cuddle with you two and once Eddie is asleep he doesn’t move as he knows the ‘Sleeping Eddie’ rule so you two talk about butterflies or anything to pas the time.

-“Heya Frank! Hope I’m not interrupting something!” Frank turned to you smiling a bit. “Nothing at all Y/N,what is it that you needed?” “Oh nothing! Just made ya something as a thanks for helping me get use to living here” he was confused as he looked at the gift until he opened it to see a stuffed animal version of his favorite butterfly with a smiliy face making him now you made it. “Thank you! I appreciate it!” “Of course!”

Poppy!

-She’s curious about you. She doesn’t know if you are kinda like Barnaby or different as you also have a tail and also because I feel like she’s use to running away from cats and not being their friend but she’s willing to learn!

-When you hugged her she experienced what the town calls ‘The fur affect’ that was made because of you. All her worries and anxious thoughts just evaporate into thin air which she loved so she hugs you often as your fur keeps her calm and sorta sane in a way!

-Now your purring she thought you ate a bee and looked kinda scared until you laughed at her reaction confusing her. She understood that the laughter wasn’t mean once you explained what the purring actually meant. She likes hearing you purr but sometimes wonders if you ACTUALLY did eat a bee and just trying to calm her down

-Poppy was hugging you as she felt down and your hugs cheered you up. You were drawing and didn’t mind the fact she was hugging you but you made sure every once in a while she was okay. When you checked up on her now she was asleep making chuckle at your sleepy chicken/hen/bird(I don’t remember what she was sorry!)friend.

Matteo Beloved

-Matteo absolutely loves soft things and your fur being soft made his friendship meter with you SKY ROCKET! He’ll also make you things or come with you to get deshedding tools for you as he sorta needs those tools for someone…that someone is his fluffy ass bear pet that lives with him

-He loves the sound of you purring as it makes him sleepy so he’ll often fall asleep if you two are cuddling and just purr as that is his way to fall asleep. Your somehow the only one to get him on a normalish sleeping routine so take that how you please

-He always ask before he touched your fur as he doesn’t wanna make you uncomfortable. He loves the softness and when you two are cuddling her tries to burry his face in your fur which is really ticklish so it ends up with him winning and you giggling. Surprisingly as he’s the boogie man he doesn’t really need air so he can just leave his face there until you ask him to get up

-Soft snores came from the boogie man asleep on your chest. You accidentally purr once and now you put him asleep in two seconds. Sighing but smiling you just looked at the sky,it was beautiful so maybe that also helped him fall asleep. Your not allowed to move now as he and Eddie basically share the ‘Do not move the sleeping cat’ rule with you now which is ironic really it was as they fell asleep on the cat aka you and now you can’t move!

[f3v3rdr34ms]

Friend Break up and Dreams

Sixty days or two whole months. I remember sitting on my bed wondering what I did wrong, why I'm so different from all my friends. How they could speak their minds and when I asked for something to change I was different. I was 'emotionally too much' for them to handle and that they were exhausted. I was exhausted too, not that they noticed or seem to care. I understand now that maybe I am too much sometimes and that my feelings are so big I physically can't keep them in anymore. I know that me once a month breaking down saying I can't do this anymore and begging to be helped was not something they agreed to when becoming my friends. They wanted parties and a picture perfect friend group. I don't know why I can't be like that if not for them but for me, I want nothing more than to be the picture perfect friend. But here I sit on the same bed in a new house I moved into fifty nine days ago.

Thirty six days ago I swallowed my pride and texted them, hoping maybe before I leave they'll want me back even if they don't mean it. Three of them responded day of, bits of small talk but when I stopped texting so did they. I got a "I am too drunk right now I'll respond later" text from one and days later I received "Aww I love you too" led to small talk then nothing. A few days later another from someone else saying how much I meant to them followed with a "how are you I saw that you did that thing how was it?" then nothing. Two of them, who never even bothered to text me back for whatever reason I'm not sure. I'm not sure I'll ever or want to know.

Weeks went by and I became angry and resentful my stomach churned over and over thinking about it. I met new people that I'll be going to school with soon and things seemed to better itself with time, I would see them all the time, together of course, and it hurt but I began to accept it. I forced myself to move on. In a few months I'll be gone and meet new people then lose those people and meet new people again. They weren't my only friends of course but it's hard to hang out with people who moved to various parts of the country regularly. I think my pain was due to the fact for the first time in years I was completely utterly alone.

But lately I've been having dreams which isn't a new thing but these have been different and caused to once again swallow my pride and schedule a therapy appointment.

1: It was a normal dream of me doing something with someone in some place, couldn't tell you. When we walk around to a corner and. this person that I am with in this dream starts pointing to a snake in the grass. Which in case you didn't know (I know you didn't) I am extremely irrationally afraid of. The snake which had a diamond pointed head immediately makes eye contact with me, then starts chasing me. In the dream course I am running away screaming but I am running in slow motion while the snake of course is doing the opposite. I dont know what happened next because I woke up.

That next day I google "what does it mean if you dream of snakes", a couple of things come up. New transformations, you're nervous, or that there is something toxic in your life. As the day continue I felt off, paranoid is a better word. I felt like I couldn't trust no one. When I called my best friend about she asked me "you dream almost every night you must have dreamed of snakes before? Do you remember?". And I thought to myself when did I last dream of snakes then I remember, a few days before my 'problem' with my past friends. I thought it was strange then I moved on.

2: My second weird dream was I was drunk or high or something at what I felt to be a party. I knew I had some friends there but I couldn't tell you who or where they were at. I remember looking at a screen at some point and watching a goddamn Tik Tok to one of my former friends lip-synching to some stupid audio and the caption went "at least I'm not goddamn as emotionally exhaustive as" and spelt my name with some asterisks and some random hashtags. In the dream I felt like I was about to pass out from either being too fucked up or anger and I ran. I grabbed my nearest friend and said "look, I told you they were talking shit!" and woke up.

That was at 12:42 in the morning, I immediately texted my two childhood best friends hoping one of them were awake.

Fourteen hours later, someone from my former friend group texted me.

"How are you?"

Funny question.

Led to small talk, being left on delivered.

I sit here now writing into the world feeling better about my situation. I know I am not perfect and was probably more emotionally tiring to people I had known a couple of years than I had meant too. But I was emotionally tired too. I didn't know that's how they viewed me

So sixty days, almost sixty-one days actually I am sitting here on my bed.

[irismfrost]

August 13/14 - Last Day

Today, I unfortunately didn't really do much. I was going to go to one of the places some of the other travelers went but it was a 3 hour train trip to get there and I wasn't going to be ready for that. I also did not sleep well. The nasty train station bento box was not enough food for dinner - figures. So I woke up in the middle of the night with a hungry headache. So I tried to eat what little food I could find and drink some water and lay down until I felt good enough to sleep. And by the time morning came around, it was back so I made my way to hotel breakfast. Again, I'm so glad I bought that. Then I went back to sleep because I was still so tired after getting about 5 hours for the past 2 nights. Then I got lunch at this place that is supposed to be healthy and have good ingredients and the ions in the air are supposed to heal you. The vibe was in between a rock store and a whole foods but with more mid food. But I ate it all. And then went back to doing nothing.

Then I thought that I should at least try to explore. I've barely bought any trinkets here. So I went to try the ferris wheel that I've been staring at outside my hotel window for the last few days. It is located inside a mall, which I thought was strange but after further thought, it made sense. You could see the whole city which was nice and I spotted my hotel (I think). I got dinner at the mall and it was a sit down place. You order from the tablet and so I Google Translated each page and a lot of the time, the translations are a bit off, so I don't put a lot of stock in them; I mostly use it to get a general idea of what it is and make sure there is no meat. And looking back, boiled whitebait and cod roe may not have been the right choice for me, but that's the pasta I ended up deciding on. I felt like I was eating my guppies. This place had pasta with the toppings and you pour your choice of their "famous" broth over the top (comes in a little tea kettle). They also have a tofu bar with what I assume is their "famous" homemade tofu. It was also pretty good and I think the other vegetarian girl on our trip @thenotsosecretdiaryofbiyu would have loved it. I also got these rice cakes for dessert and it was okay. It was literally sweat rice and beans with a mochi-like topping with flavor. I had a feeling it wouldn't be my cup of tea when I ordered it, but I thought it would be good for me to try something that is supposed to be a traditional dessert. I am trying to like the foods here (and Taiwan), and I think that I may have gone too far outside my comfort zone this time, but I am so ready to just make my own food.

The weather here is nicer than what it will be in Florida when I get back. Taiwan was hotter and reminded me more of a hotter and more humid south Florida. Japan reminds me of north Florida/ Georgia. And they have similar latitudes so that makes sense.

The Osaka airport once again is a mess. I am having an issue checking into my flight with a different airline after I get to the states, but I got all 3 of my boarding passes when I checked my luggage. Everything about the airport makes me paranoid but I have made it past the multiple layers of security. After checking my bag, I went through security. They only check your boarding pass at this point, not your passport. My bag got flagged, but I was okay. Then I went through an additional layer of security. This was to check your passport and your picture scan and it was all through a machine. Then you are safe. There were less food places throughout - they were really only at the entrance of the gate. It's interesting to people watch at the airport. I saw this one guy with a haircut that looked like someone found a patch of grass and just plopped it on the top of a shaved head. A lot of the dudes here have what I think is a perm that's brushed out and looks scraggly but textured and I think it's just the "look". It's not a good one.

The South Korean Airport (ICN) had a layer of security even for transfers. I've never had an international layover before, so maybe this is normal. You went through the security checkpoint where they scanned your bags and they also scanned your passport here. They also have no vegetarian food at this airport. I found an egg sandwich - the bread was sweet and I didn't like it. I searched this entire airport for a meal and probably walked a mile with my duffel bag. I passed a Starbucks at one point and may have to go back before my flight and see if they have any food for me. Everything has pork in it. And I can't get vegetarian meals on my flight because I was supposed to do that 24 hours in advance but it wasn't a part of the online check in; I was supposed to call but can't make international calls without charges so I was doomed from the start. So, I'm hoping my protein bar and whatever food I can find in this airport before boarding starts will hold me over until Seattle. Unless they happen to have a vegetarian option on the flight anyways, which happened on the flight to Taiwan, so there's hope. I think the flight attendants will help me though, I'm not too worried.

As I was finishing my scrapbook and packing up my things, I am happy that I'm here but also happy to leave. I've had quite the time on this side of the world and so many unique experiences that will stay with me forever. I'm just so grateful for this opportunity. Our professor (Yeh laoshi) and Chief created a great program for the first time and went through a political nightmare to make this happen and Peter was the best tour guide I could've asked for. My experience wouldn't be possible without them, and my classmates of course. My participation on trip to Taiwan, and by extension Japan, was really due to a stroke of luck, some spontaneity, and having the necessary resources to go through with it. I definitely regret some of my purchases and wish I had spent my money elsewhere LOL, but at the end of the day it's the memories that matter more. Iris signing off ✌🏻

[ssj2hindudude]

Aru shah birthday headcanons? Thank you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARU SHAH 2023

So, Google says she was born in 2005, meaning this would be her 18th birthday!

Aru: That's right everyone. Henceforth, Aru Shah is officially a fully grown adult!

Everyone: 🤨

Aru: Ok, a grown adult!

Everyone: 🤨

Aru: FINE, AT THE VERY LEAST I AM AN ADULT NOW! MEANING I AM NOW FREE TO PARTY, DRINK, AND HAVE SE-

*Krithika clears her throat*

Aru: ...but I won't until I'm ready and well informed.

Krithika: Good. (Mini, you'll get your check in the mail)

Aru: What?!?

Krithika: LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED

The Scene: a small gathering of close family, friends, and others (cough cough Aiden). You would think it would be at the museum again, but after the Sleeper's attack...yeah not taking any chances. They just had it at Aru's house.

Round 1: Presents

Mini:

Is this a day planner?

Practical, isn't it? You can finally get things in order and-

Mini, some of the best things in life are surprises.

So are some of the worst, but not this time. Why don't you open it?

*opens* *SQUEE* A HOME DEPOT GIFT CARD

With practically infinite spending directly linked to Naga-loka's treasury, courtesy of the King.

DUDE I LOVE YOU

Brynne

I made the cake, isn't that enough? Ugh, fine, if you wanna be spoiled about it. Tear into this.

*opens* An old Marvel comic?

YOUR old Marvel comic. Spider Man, First Issue

YOU TOUCHED MY STUFF?!?

I didn't just touch it. I also took it somewhere (with Mini's help) and had someone take a look at it. Take a look at the bottom

OH MY- IS THIS-

Go on, say it!

YOU GOT IT SIGNED BY STAN LEE IN THE AFTERLIFE?!? BEE, YOU'RE AMAZING!

I know.

Twins

Ok, don't be too disappointed with ours

Guys, you're my sisters! It's the thought that counts! But just so we're clear, being young isn't an excuse to be cheap

And being old isn't an excuse to be material, but that's beside the point. Here.

WHOA! This green sari is like waving grass! And the glimmering silver makes it look like lightning is coursing through it! AND ARE THOSE REAL EMERALDS?!?

Of course, I'm not an amateur.

Open mine, open mine!

A tea set? Sheela, that's sweet but you know about Starbucks, right?

Is Starbucks enchanted to give you clear visions of memories like your own personal tv?

Shut up! It does not!

Try it!

*sips* I'm not crying am I? (She never tells anyone, but her first choice was her first memory of her father before he transformed)

Kara

Your sisters told me you like to read, so I picked this up for you. I hope you like it!

"The Serpent's Secret" interesting! Did they also tell you I'm a Slytherin?

No, I knew that already! As if I'd forget my sister's house.

*record scratch* What?

What?

(Little did Kara know, along with her book, she also gave her sister the gift of hope)

Mom

Ok, you don't know this, but I called in a quick favor from one of my old bosses...and a little bit from Mini's father.

Nepotism. I like it!

Aru, I want you to say hello to an old friend!

Mom, that's just BB

BB?!? Is that what you've been calling me all along?!? Such utter disrespect for your old teacher!

(Needless to say, everyone was in tears with that little blast from the past)

Round 2: Cake and Concert

No one knows how she pulled it off, but once again Brynne proved herself a master of amouse-bouches by making Swedish-fish tiramisu the size of a small desk. Everyone agreed it was light, flavorful, and not too tart due to the fish (and not just because she would've pummeled them otherwise)

While they were eating, Rudy's big gift was a surprise concert from Rudy Rox...and when everyone refused, he just had Mini teach him how to make a mixtape instead. It was fire, but also disorienting to move from Aiden's big song to the LOTR soundtrack. Still, Aru plays it everywhere she goes to this day...

Round 3: Pics

Everyone gathered around the living room for a picture to capture the moment. Obviously Shadowfax took them. Aiden's been taking pics all night (yes especially the embarrassing ones). It's hard to describe everyone's expressions in a way that makes them look as blissful as any other family, so let's just say it was perfect enough for Aru...

*Secret* Round 4: Aruden Time

*later, outside*

I forgot to give you your present

You pulled me aside. Like hell, you forgot

Hell?

I'm a big girl now, I can use big girl words

Then I guess you won't need this little girl present *runs*

Oh no you don't! *THUMP* Pinned ya!

Why are you like this Shah? (As if I didn't want that.) Why don't you see what you got?

*opens* *soft gasp*

I know it's not as good as Home Depot, Stan Lee, or Resurrected Boo, but I at least hoped it would be something you like-

*holds him tight and pulls him into a deep kiss* I love it!

And I love you, Shah. Happy Birthday, Aru.

You're probably wondering what he got her...well so am I, they never told me XD

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARU SHAH!

[savebatsartedition]

Last Scratchcraft spam post of the night! (These are about three years old as well.) Idk, these might be a repost on tumblr but I'm posting them just in case. :)

Scratch link: X

More notes under the cut!

This one is more casual than the last ones because I am extremely behind on episodes and I already shared all this fanart with them lol.

Also, quick note, as these are doodles, they tend to be kind of bad, and also the designs are very off on some of them, no references were used.

Oh and, I got Fox's (specifically) wrong, I will fix that in the future, I was "referencing" their scratch oc (saw it the day before.) because I didn't have anything else to go off from at the time. I thought this was important to mention straight up because it seems to be very important to them.

How far up did I go?

Storm holding a grass block because he's an Enderman. (Sometimes.) (I REALLY HATE THIS DRAWING I JUST AHHH)

Storm just existing.

Court lol.

Mallonations.

Okay so this isn't all Scratchcraft but my favorite endermen characters.

Hoodie people pog

Step 5: Win and Get Clout

Fox with a fox.

It's bad, but the shading on the tail is good enough to show y'all.

Storm with cat ears and tail and no helmet because I don't know how to draw helmets.

Saltyy with rabbit ears because he put on a rabbit's head, but I don't know how to draw rabbits. (I have also only ever seen one rabbit before so that's my explanation.)

Storm just existing again.

I'm not super good at watercolor, but this picture still doesn't do it justice lol. (Storm)

This is a "stick figure" version of Alex, and it's pen and watercolor paint lol.

I just wanted to draw, so Magic, Taz, and Storm. (I was looking at everyone's skins and realized I hadn't drawn Taz or Magic yet, and my Storm needed a re-design.)

DaPotatoStuff that I drew on google keep.

Saltyy but bird hybrid.

Hunted because I realized I hadn't drawn him yet in this and that was sad.

Crab walk pog (Did y'all hear Mallon's crab walk story? It was great.)

Alright, this time I used Scratch bitmap, paper, google keep and the default DeviantArt editor for my art.

Songs: Einsamkeit from Hetalia No Thank You from K-ON Boy Division by My Chemical Romance

OCs belonging to: @unknownscratcher1234 or Kenpoviper on YT @haunted_enderman or StormLordZeus on YT @huntedskelly or huntedskelly on YT @Mallonations or Mallonations on YT @AlexStudiosinc or AlexStudios inc. on YT @foxlife37 or foxlife37 on YT @ThePotatoStuff or ThePotatoStuff on YT @SALTYLIZARD96 or Saltyy on YT Magic02 on YT TazzlXT on YT

(Also note that I also drew Ranboo (another MCYTber) and Feyd from GK999.)

[theadventuresofamuslimrevert]

CONTENTMENT.

Assalamu Alaikum!

So I’m really excited to do this blog today with this topic – contentment.

Google defines contentment as “a state of happiness and fulfilment”. So how exactly can we achieve this state? How can we be content with our family and friends, with what we have, with what we’ve been given, with what we’ve not been given, with our blessings and our trials?

It certainly is easier said than done believe i know first hand believe me.

So much is expected of us women. Somehow in this rat race of dunya that we live in we have to be super. “Super mums”, “superwomen” super everything. We need to excel in every aspect of life or else we are somehow not significant enough.

Before we point fingers at others or society I really do feel that the main cause for this is our very own self esteem. If we are happy, if we are content, if we are satisfied then – what anyone says or does SHOULD NOT matter.

It is all in us.

It all begins with us.

What we let in, what we let influence and affect us, our moods and our thoughts.

Not one of us have it all regardless of what people might say or how they act. It is never what it looks like from the outside believe me. The grass always look greener on the other side but its not true. Looking on – at our sisters we somehow feel oh wow. But each of us fail to realize that to each our own competencies, our own strengths and our own weaknesses. All of us – have difficulties, trials, hurdles, blockades that we need to work around.

“Be kind. For each fights a battle none knows naught about”

It never is what it seems. So instead of sitting and wishing about what others have been blessed with. We need to get going.

Supplicate!!

So our beautiful deen is not simply a religion it is a way of life. I say this because we have been taught everything that we need to survive and excel in this world. We have been taught the best of mannerisms. Our Sunnah encompasses all facts of our life. Our internal interactions and our external interactions.

We’ve been taught how to eat, drink, dress and even relieve ourselves! How to purify ourselves with water and even in its absence! The How to’s encompass all aspects of our life. – Glory be to Him. We’ve even been taught such beautiful supplications and one of these which include seeking contentment – my topic for today.

‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to supplicate:

“‏اللهم إني أسألك الهدى  والتقى، والعفاف، والغنى‏”‏ ‏

“Allahumma inni as’alukal-huda, wat-tuqa, wal-‘afafa, wal-ghina

(O Allah! I beseech You for guidance, piety, chastity and contentment).”

So we need to supplicate to Allah, to make us content, to make us happy with what we have. To guide us to the right path, the right friends, the right priorities. Supplication is after all worship.

Goal!!

“Life is like soccer. We need goals”

We need to have goals to achieve. Having a destination in mind helps us pause and redirect every so often. It’s so easy to get carried away and go with the flow. Having that goal in mind or written somewhere is like a flashlight, a torch. It guides us, makes us see reality and focus and prioritize.

Without working towards a target or knowing where our ultimate destination is we can never really get there.  Without a goal – we don’t know what it is we are striving for. It will be what takes us through the daily grind.  It need not be all laid out in concrete. Sometimes it simply does to begin. Often times we undermine our selves, but we should have lofty goals. It is the first step towards getting there.

Having a goal make us see the big picture. With faith and hard work we can get there! After all we are supposed to “tie the camel and trust the Lord!”

Pack it in!!

So none of us have it all, or know it all. Every day is a learning curve and I believe we have two choices to deal with whatever life hands us. Either we sit and moan, grumble and complain and end up discontent, dissatisfied and disheartened or we pack it in and do what we can with what we have. The latter attitude is I believe what is needed to be content.

Contentment cannot be monetized. I believe contentment goes hand in hand with Baraka. It is not in our pay check or in the storied house that we live in or the vehicle that we drive. Being content with what we’ve been given starts with our attitude.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated

The Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“Look at those who are lower than you (financially) but do not look at those who are higher than you, lest you belittle the favors Allah conferred upon you.”

So sometimes yes, we will feel if only we got less money troubles, that most sought after promotion at work and then we’ll be content thats normal we are human for goodness sake if we didn't I dont think we would be human. But we do not know what tomorrow will bring so be patient. We have to change our attitude. We have to learn to accept what we have, to make the maximum of what we have, to do what we can with what we have.

We need to bring Alhamdulillah back into our lives, childrens lives, our families lives and also our friends live. We need to remember that we’ve been taught everything that we need for survival and to get content we need to begin with Alhamdulillah. Reading about the vast meanings of Alhamdulillah and what it means is a great way to start!

Educate ourselves!!

In this materialistic world where brands and possessions dominate and surround us and society and social media has us wanting more. It is easy enough to be discontent. The latest phone, the latest fashions. We are bombarded with new and innovative every turn we take. It’s like keep up or be left out. But the more ilm we have, the more awareness we have of our goal, the more content we can be.

True ilm, will bring us humility.

True ilm will make us more receptive.

True ilm will be our savior.

True ilm will aid us prioritize and see the big picture.

Friends!!

Birds of a feather, flock together.

As the saying goes we are – who we surround ourselves with. So striving to mingle with the kind of people who have our same priorities, same values, same ideas go along away in achieving contentment. The company we keep, the kind of activities that occupy our past times all work towards either giving us the contentment that we so need or making us discontent. 

What do you think I have i missed anything out??

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

European Longhorn Robber Fly - Dioctria hyalipennis

Firstly, you have have seen this specie on the blog before but with an entire different. Originally I pegged this specie as the "Common Robber Fly", but I've recently learned that this insect actually has a common name...as titled above (all prior posts have been updated to reflect this change). The common name of this lithe Robber Fly references its introduction to North America in the 1900's from Europe. The second part of its name doesn't reference what it hunts. It's far more likely that the reference is to the elongated antenna jutting from the depression between its eyes! The antenna length of this specie is a far cry from the absurd length some Longhorn Beetles' antennae. However, the Y-shaped antenna are quite long relative to the antennae of other Flies, especially given the Fly's size. With how the antennae are positioned and outstretch, they likely use the many chemoreceptors in conjunction with their great compound eyes to seek out surrounding prey in their vast, green environment. Based on the images here across many days of observation, their hunting strategy is very effective! As mentioned in earlier posts, Robber Flies will perch on a good vantage point and wait for a tantalizing insect to pass by. The Fly will then burst onto its prey, snaring its with its spindly legs and jabbing it with a sharp proboscis (technically, it's the hypopharynx)!

When the smaller insect is caught and neutralized, the Fly can enjoy its meal of liquified insect soup. Looking closely at the prey items caught here, this specie has expertise when it comes to catching smaller Flies or Fly-like insects such as small parasitic Wasps. One individual was even lucky enough to pierce into the thoracic gap of a Plant Bug (likely a Two-Spotted Grass Bug)! If they can overpower it, they can catch it, and in the case of the latter catch, I had a thought. When insects such as Plants Bugs (or Beetles) fly, they open their outer wings to reveal their flight wings. When they do so, they leave their abdomen vulnerable to attack from behind or the sides by a hunter of precision. Particularly, the sharp Flies of Asilidae who search for soft spots to subdue prey! In addition to the captured insects in the images above, this specie also targets Bees (some Sweat Bees in particular) and has also been reported to try its luck against Grasshoppers. Catching the latter would be very impressive given that it must be done mid-hop, but a sharp beak and strong legs can make the difference. On the subject of legs, look at them to distinguish from other similar genera of Asilidae. For example, Eudioctria species appear near identical, but with black legs. On the other hand, Micropanther Flies (Atomosia) have a similar build but with a more bulbous abdomen... and they are much, much smaller.

Pictures were taken on June 6, 10, 11 and 16, 2021 with a Google Pixel 4.

[moriwanderer]

Okazaki, Week 1

Week 1 complete! When I first arrived, I was pretty ok with Hiragana and could barely make out Katakana. By the end of the first week... well, I can read Hiragana pretty well! That said, I've learned a decent amount of vocabulary and learned how to ask questions when I don't understand something, so that's a plus. We are using the Marugoto level A1 book and we're up to section 7 in it now. Yesterday we had an "interview" that felt more like a conversation... just in Japanese. And I feel like I did pretty well, so that's good! I think?

The above picture is of a park I get to walk through twice a day! Honestly it's not much more than a rainwater catchment pond, but in Japan they've stocked it with koi and planted cherry trees around a walking path they've built around it. In the states, it'd basically have a big chain-link fence blocking people from getting close. I've noticed that most of the houses around also have extremely well-manicured gardens in very, very small spaces featuring a plethora of plant types. I haven't really seen much in the way of lawns at all, although vacant lots certainly fill with grasses and weeds pretty rapidly.

I've been utilizing the corner "konbini" (convenience store) for dinners and such. For lunches, there's a regular grocery store nearly in spitting distance of Yamasa, so I've been picking up onigiri (jelly donuts) there. Honestly, even at 24hr konbinis, things are surprisingly cheap here. I've also now checked out not one, but two(!) multi-story malls nearby and... well, I think I've come to the conclusion that if you pay people a living wage and then some, they'll have money in their pockets that they can then use to purchase nifty things they actually want. In the states, malls are a dying breed, and everyone blames online retail. I don't think that's the real problem.

This evening I decided to take a short hike up to a nearby observation deck... thing. Kyogamine Tenbodai, per the maps of Google anyway. It's atop the closest foothill of a mountain chain. I'm still tryina get used to how time works here. It's not as bad as when I was in Maine and the sun thought it was a good idea to rise at 4 in the morning, but it's still like 2 hours off of what I'm used to. By the time I got to the park, it was already getting dark. And I still had way too many stairs to climb.

But climb them I did. And climb. And climb. By the time I got to the top, I was drenched in sweat. But it was so totally worth it. Why? Well, watch the video! Sorry that the quality isn't the best, phone cameras don't handle the dark well. Then, I got to climb back down. All those so many much stairs.

Worth it? Most def.

See ya' on the flipside!