#but hopefully it gives insight

[headspace-hotel]

I am summoned yes

Keep in mind that I am not an expert and mainly going on my own observations and reading

None of this is entirely wrong, but some of it depends on the situation a lot.

The first thing I would point out, is that back yards/ lawns in the USA (presumably the target audience, seeing the map) may not look anything like that soil profile because they are often severely degraded soil. Housing developments often used to be pasture land or agricultural land, which usually caused severe degradation, construction often destroys what's left of the upper soil layers, and lawn maintenance continues the damage with severe compaction and a brutal schedule of regular disturbance.

The diagram itself is confusing because it labels the vegetation growing on top the "O" horizon, when the O horizon (If I remember correctly) is supposed to be the duff layer, the layer of leaf litter and debris that protects the soil. However, in a lawn there isn't enough O horizon to label, because it is constantly getting disturbed. Grass clippings can form a type of litter layer, but this often has to be raked up because there is not enough decomposing organisms to rot the clippings, and they just form a crust that slowly kills the grass.

The layer labeled "A" you can see if you go to a place that hasn't been plowed, overgrazed or logged in several decades. True topsoil is incredibly rare to find these days.

What you will often see in a back yard type setting is a layer 4-10 inches where there are roots, insect activity and some decomposed matter, and below that a nearly sterile hardpan formed by compaction and lack of robust weeds and larger, more active animals to break it up.

(If you have trees that drop leaves and don't rake them, you're more likely to have more fertile soil to work with.)

This is to say, you can show a diagram that's like "These are the soil layers" but often people will not be able to SEE that when they dig, and the reason why is that their soil has a long history that often resulted in the loss of upper soil layers.

My back yard soil, looks to the eye like it lost the O, A, E, and B horizons at some point in recent history. It has a very mineral odor and only 4-8 inches below the surface you begin unearthing large rocks (like, up to 40+ lbs rocks)

In one particular large area of my back yard, there is only about 8-12 inches of soil in total. Below that, there are large stone slabs with cracks in between, and eventually when you remove the slabs there is solid bedrock.

It is important to note: this doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with it. Kentucky has a habitat called a cedar glade or limestone/shale barren where there is a large expanse of almost bare bedrock or rocky land with very thin soil, where Redcedar trees are the only trees that can grow because they are good at wedging their roots into cracks in the rocks.

This habitat only exists in Tennessee, Kentucky, and parts of Georgia. And this habitat is actually where most of our rarest, most elusive plants are found—in these barren, rocky places that look like scrubby wasteland to the untrained eye.

So it's really hard to say the history of the back yard. Did it erode down to a thin layer of soil after years of abuses, or was it a cedar glade that was stripped of its majestic cedars, and gained a layer of soil after the erosion caused mudslides from the hill above?

There is another complication: the backyard is also a wetland. Fools that we were, we tried for years to fill in the mucky areas that collected water, and we were always baffled by the one spot on the hillside that was always lush, brilliant green and saturated with water even when it was hot. But then when I started to learn about habitats, I realized that the back yard was not a lawn with bad drainage, it was a wetland that had endured the indignity of being transformed into lawn. In fact, it was lucky enough to have a seep—a spring too slight to have any visible flow of water, that just slowly leaks out water into the soil.

When I protected that spot from mowing, upon it grew a bunch of tiny rushes with brown seed capsules on their tops, like pint size cattails. They belong to genus Eleocharis, spikerushes. I love them!

I laugh to see the suggested test of seeing how fast a hole will drain of water, because I have dug a hole 1 foot deep in my back yard and it takes a couple weeks without rain for it to drain. That's why I dug it—it's a shallow little pond.

It turns out, that the Limestone Glade Seep is a special habitat all its own, and it is thrilling to realize that my own back yard could qualify as one.

Oh, soil, oh, stone, I wish I knew your history...

Create Your Own Soil Profile!

A garden’s soil is the base of all its growth, and knowing how to properly  interact with your soil can make all the difference!

Step 1 Site Observations

Take a few photos of your site (project area)

Note down:

what vegetation is there?

is it near water?

the slope

approximate exposure to sun

Step 2 Take a soil profile

Set out a tarp or a garbage bag

Dig a hole about 3 feet deep (you may want a friend’s help!)

Place that soil in piles onto the tarp, sorted into different soil layers

Remember horizons! (O, A, E, B, C, R(bedrock))

Make a sketch of a soil profile, and measure the depth of each horizon

The top of the profile should start with 0 cm

Refill the hole, and try to return each type of soil in order!

Step 3 Build your profile

Describe each layer of soil, moisture/structure/color/smell

Use the “feel” method to take notes

Step 4 Drainage

Dig a hole 1 foot deep and 1 foot wide(ish)

Fill the hole with water and measure how long it takes to fully drain

An ideal time is around 10 to 30 minutes!

Note down the time

Keep in mind that even if the soil type would suit desert-like plants more, think of the weather. If it rains a good deal the drainage can matter less(or more!)

Step 5 Biological Activity

Bury a pair of cotton underwear(I know it’s silly)

Wait about 60 days

Unearth the undies, the more tattered they are the more activity there is!

Step 6 pH Testing

OSU Lab for Oregon, and many states have soil testing labs

Soil pH Meter

DIY Test

Step 7 Hardiness Zone

This just takes looking at a map!

Hardiness zones can tell you about the weather’s highs & lows in a particular area

USDA Plant Hardiness Map

And that 's it! It's a lot, and you don’t have to do everything. Each step can provide a better view of how to properly support your garden, and can be fun activities to do with friends and family!

I’ve included a template for a complete soil profile, but feel free to make them as fancy as y’all want!

Sincerely,

records of dirt

[bri-cheeses]

Barty’s name. Woah. I just discovered something.

So, his full first name is Bartemius, obviously. You know where Joanne probably got that name? The Bible. NOW HOLD ON, don’t leave. This isn’t about to get religious, I’m just saying that this is how I found out about it.

Anyways, I’m fairly certain JKR took that name from a blind beggar named “Bartimaeus.” “Bar” means son in Hebrew, and so this name means “Son of Timaeus.” Timaeus means honorable in Greek, which is what the New Testament was written in. And now on to the actual meaning of Bartimaeus—I know you’re probably think, “oh, it means ‘son of the honorable’.” BUT IT DOESN’T.

Well, actually, it does, if you’re assuming that the “Timaeus” part came from a Greek word. But a lot of people say that Timaeus actually comes from another Hebrew word, which pretty much translates to “unclean” or “impure.” So Bartimaeus also means “son of the unclean.”

Now what I think is interesting about this is that it shows the duality of Barty Crouch Senior, who is seen as this really important person who’s honorable and extremely respected by pretty much the entirety of the wizarding world. But to anyone who sees his true colors, he’s horrible and a dirty/impure person (imperious curse on Barty Jr, the way he treated Winky, etc.).

So I just think it’s interesting that Barty’s name is a clue to what his father is actually like.

[unspecifiedfigure]

tumblr can have a little bat eddie too as a treat

[probablycatastrophic]

how to turn a bird into god using cosmere mechanics

so let's say you had two full mistborn/feruchemist/awakeners/forgers. we'll call them Person A and Person B. Person A and Person B begin to burn nicrosil and duralumin over and over again (assume that they have infinite metals) targeting each other. this builds up an extremely fast chain reaction of increasing allomantic levels (nicrosil increases the power of the other person's metals, duralumin buffs nicrosil). they then ingest purified dor and store the investiture in their nicrosil metalminds. then, they begin compounding nicrosil, amplified to ridiculous amounts by the nicrosil-duralumin chaining they did previously. they now have unlimited amounts of investiture derived from purified dor (this is known as the Infinite Investiture Glitch). Person A worldhops to First of the Sun and goes to Patji's Eye. Using their unlimited investiture, they then Forge a maggot to have consumed the entire perpendicularity, inheriting all its investiture. Here's where the awakening comes in. Person A repeats the Infinite Investiture Glitch for their own breaths, achieving every heightening and gaining unlimited breaths. then, kill the maggot. does it lose the investiture from the perpendicularity? no. then Person A uses the unlimited breaths to Awaken the maggot and make it sentient. Then they Forge the maggot, using their unlimited investiture, into a full mistborn and feruchemist. they Command the maggot to preform the Infinite Investiture Glitch on the investiture derived from the perpendicularity they consumed. they should now obtain-shard level investiture. then, the maggot is fed to an aviar. if the symbiosis applies correctly, the bird should ascend to shardhood. the bird god has arrived. bow down to the bird god

[puhpandas]

steel wool has the hugest opportunity in the world for a sb 2 like. vanny cassie plotline of her having been manipulated by mimic to be its new minion by framing Gregory during the elevator scene to cut off her one support system. gregory vanessa and freddy protags fleshing them out with dialogue as characters but also their motivations and what theyve been doing for years. have their long absence in games period but also in universe from helping the glamrocks/setting up mxes be explained by showcasing their fear and trauma by them just wanting to get away and they thought they were safe but they werent. have cassie be the reason they have to jump back into the fray and realize no matter what they do theyll have to kill mimic for good to be truly free even if they're afraid. plot of the game is Gregory trying to convince cassie he didnt do it and that shes being tricked and it takes all campaign to get through to her, probably after an intense dramatic climax. have Roxy be there by Cassies side to show how Freddy abandoning them at the Plex affected her and the 2 sides of the same coin the 2 of them have going on regarding sentience and their relationship with the characters they were designed to be with Freddy who got to be free and roxy who didnt. the actual vanny comes back as a big betrayal towards mimic after killing glitchtrap in hw2, either to become an antihero or to try and take over as mastermind. superstar duo reunite and names cleared. throughout the campaign Gregory finds out about ggy and its revealed in a room with documents about patient 46 and tapes where a final tape is found and Gregory speaks in it or is addressed by name. he grapples with it and not remembering it. btw setting is a modern day fallfest which is like amusement park size instead of small festival. boom peak game

[markbandanawitts]

day 39

this is probably the only headcanon i have that actively goes against the canon but it doesn’t mess up any plot points so whatever

i’ll probably get back to my regular art after this since i don’t have anything else to yap and draw about at the same time

[cherrygorilla]

Zack's Basic Info

As seems to be a recent theme with me, I really struggled coming up with faceclaims for Zack. I think Chosen Jacobs (first pic) is the one that feels the most right in my head, but I could see the others (Miles Brown, Noah Gray-Cabey and Jaden Smith) all working well in their own ways too. No one else seemed to be able to get that mischievous grin of his right lol.

Name: Zackary Ghalen Davis - his mom named him Ghalen, meaning calm in Ghanaian, because he was such an easy, quiet baby. But then he learned how to speak and she's never had a moment of peace since.

Nicknames: He pretty much solely goes by Zack. He'll occasionally get a (very cringeworthy) 'Zacky boy' from his dad, and, in the very few interactions he's had with Ethan, he's had 'Zack-attack'. But 99.9% of the time it's just Zack. 

Age: 14

Date of Birth: 30th of November

Zodiac: Sagittarius

Birthstone: Topaz

Nationality: American, Ghanaian and Greek

Sexuality: Straight

Birthplace: St Anthony's Hospital, St Petersburg, Florida

Current Residence: Pelican Drive South, St Petersburg, Florida

Occupation: Middle school student and a newspaper delivery boy

Talents/Skills: Karate, basketball, having insanely good aim (not used for many things thus far in life other than crushing at paper football games in class), never failing to make his friends (especially Bentley) laugh, packing away ungodly amounts of food (his portions are HUGE if he has any control over it), and knowing many, many random facts, mostly about dinosaurs

Birth Order: Middle of 3

Siblings: Jordin Nicole Davis (17) and Angelo Cameron Davis (9)

Parents: Jamal Dimitri Davis and Effia Morowa Davis 

Signature:

Height: 5' 10'' when he's fully grown, but 5' 4'' for now.

Race: African American

Eye Colour: Dark brown

Hair Colour: Dark brown

Glasses or Contact Lenses: Neither

Distinguishing Features: He's almost always got some sort of pen ink on his hands where he's scribbled something down he needed to remember, a weird little squishy lump of skin from where his stitches didn't heal properly after he fell off a skate ramp and took a gnarly chunk out of his knee, and a slightly chipped front tooth from that very same incident.

Mannerisms: Compulsively needs to fill silences with senseless ramblings, unbelievably loud snoring, cracks his knuckles at every available opportunity, and almost always stands with his hands in his pockets.

Health: He’s lactose-intolerant but he does not give a fuckkkkkk lmao - if anything, it just encourages him to eat more dairy. But besides that, nothing really, he's pretty healthy. His mom wouldn't hesitate to (lovingly) diagnose him as a lazy-ass though - and she'd probably pull him up on his terrible posture whilst she’s at it. 

Hobbies: Skateboarding, karate, picking arguments with Kona, binge watching horror movies, eating through entire family size bags of chips in one sitting, collecting random stickers (which he covers like 90% of his belongings with), and wasting all his allowance at the arcade.

Greatest Flaw (in their opinion): How argumentative he is. He has very strong opinions and is super strong-willed, which can be a good thing, but can also make things really difficult when he runs into someone who disagrees with him. He can take it really personally and get really fired up, even if it's not that big of a deal, just because it's hard to process other people's views. Sometimes he doesn't even care what it is he's arguing about; sometimes he just likes playing devil's advocate because he likes to debate with people. His mom always pulls him up on it though, because sometimes his enthusiasm for challenging others can come across as rude, which is never usually his intention. 

Best Quality (in their opinion): His passion. Even though it can land him in trouble sometimes, and brings out his biggest flaw, he is proud of how much he dedicates himself to the things he believes in. He never half-asses things he cares about, he'll put his all into it no matter what. And that extends to his relationships too - he'll stick by his friends through anything, and will defend them until he's blue in the face if he has to. He can be perceived as lazy because of how laidback he seems, and can be lazy when he wants to, but if he wants to do something, whether that's for himself, or for someone he cares about, he won't be able to focus on anything else until it's done.

Biggest Fear: Dying. One of his cousins died in their teens and the shockwave of grief it sent through his whole family really freaked him out. He wasn't necessarily super close with the guy, but he'd spent a fair amount of time with him at family gatherings growing up, so the abruptness of his death really shook him up and changed his whole perspective on life. He very much adopted that 'needs to live life to the fullest' mindset, which is probably why he can come across as a little overbearing and intense sometimes. And he can act rather impulsively, but he'd rather that be the case than living with regrets if that looming cloud of grief were to come and swallow him whole again. 

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor

Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Rocky Road

Favourite Colour: Red

Favourite Number: 3 - one of the many reasons as to why the triceratops is his favourite dinosaur

Favourite Movies: Nightmare on Elm Street, The Karate Kid, or The War of The Worlds (yes, he and August geek out over it together, and yes, it's adorable)

Favourite Songs: You Should Be Dancing by the Bee Gees, School's Out by Alice Cooper, It's My Life by Bon Jovi, and One Love by Bob Marley

A place they want to visit: Egypt, he's got a real fascination with the Great Pyramids so he'd love to be able to see them in real life.

[milos-lil-corner]

i think Splendorman and papyrus would be best friends, me thinks

or at least splendorman would think papyrus is pitiful at first before finding them charming, while papyrus sees splendorman as a tall potential friend that is slightly offputting. idk, i need to reread up on the papyrus lore from my undertale days

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[rookflower]

do you have any tips or tutorials for anatomy and poses? you always make it look natural and fluid!

hiya! I'm not really a professional so take this all with a wee grain of salt, but beyond the two common tips of "practice" and "use references" that I would second, I find it's always helpful to keep the skeletal structure of legs in mind when coming up with poses for cats! Simplified, a quadruped's legs look something like below- keeping these joints etc in mind, you can then push poses while keeping limbs (vaguely) on model!

I usually start a sketch by laying out a pose, planning where I want to put these Z-shaped legs, as well as aspects like a character's head, muzzle, ears, and tail. Think about expression here too- is your character feeling tense or relaxed? Shy or confident? Grumpy or cheerful? Try to accommodate for what you want to get across in posture, stance, and tail position.

Then, build over that guideline and add details!

[nutty-saccharine-btv]

Hows ur relationship with Lifty or Russell

❥ " Lifty's a cool guy. He's super down-to-Terra, really knows what's up. I like that about him. I'd say we're on good terms. "

❥ " Russell... I don't usually get to talk to him much. He's always out on the water, and... well, you know how I am about water. But when we do talk? He's got some interesting things to say. Somethin' about a sea serpent or a kraken here 'n' there. Pretty enjoyable dude, I'd say. "

[the-whispers-of-death]

Searching for the Right Words

A/N: I didn't want to put this in the regular post because I've been writing Kali & Stone's stuff like it's a story but I wanted to give context for this post, so here's an author's note. So this is still technically before Valentine's Day Gifts, which showcases the letter Kali wrote. This is because Kali gives me this vibe that he would've been very nervous/awkward when writing his letter to Stone, simply because it has been a while since he wrote to Stone last. And keep in mind, they haven't talked since the funerals of Kali's old squad. So this is just me writing about his process and all of the discarded letters he wrote but felt weren't right until he got to the one he sent to Stone.

Asks are open, feel free to pop in and talk or request something!

Kali had been at the Shadow Company's base a month before he decided to write a letter to Stone. He told himself it was because he had to first settle in at the base, had to first get used to being around these new people. And it was an adjustment.

It wasn't because the Shadows were different from the Marines Kali was used to, they were just a bit, but he was used to those who were called eccentric. Marines could be eccentric when they weren't working, you had to be a little odd to be in the Marines. It was just an adjustment for Kali because of the past year he had.

But once he started getting used to being around the Shadows, his thoughts drifted to Stone. He'd find himself joking and laughing with several Shadows and he'd think about Stone. Of course, Stone never really laughed with Kali, most of their interactions were Kali being the one who was playful, but Kali was still drawn to egnimatic man. Grumps, after all, had appealing qualities.

The thing was, Kali's last outing with Stone was at the funerals of his old squad and he hadn't exactly been chatty with Stone at that point in time. It wasn't anything that would necessarily make Stone hate him, but it made Kali feel guilty nonetheless. However, Kali's therapist said keeping in touch with at least one person from before his old squad died would help with his grief, show him that he didn't need to leave everything from his old life behind, and Kali did miss Stone.

So after going to a bar with some Shadows and coming back to the base drunk, Kali sat in his quarters on base and stared at the piece of paper in front of him. It was just waiting for him to write down his letter to Stone.

Dear Vikram,

Wait no, that felt too personal. While Kali did have the privilege of using Stone's real name, he didn't know if Stone would appreciate it, especially since Kali's letter might be opened and read by military postal workers to ensure it wasn't laced with any poison or held any military secrets that weren't supposed to be shared.

Dear Stone,

No, that didn't work either. While it was Stone's callsign, it wasn't the name Kali used with him. Kali sighed and rubbed at his temple, his half blue-half black mask off now that he was alone.

Why was this so difficult? He had written Stone many letters over the years, the only soldier that kept touch with Stone out of the many soldiers Stone served with. He knew to use the nickname "Ox", but part of him was haunted by the fact that now he was the only one to use that nickname for Stone.

He forced himself to write the nickname, finally able to write the proper way to address Stone. Now it was just onto what should be the contents of the letter.

I'm sorry for not speaking to you in a year. So much has happened with me.

Kali sighed again and crumpled up the piece of paper, throwing it in the recycling bin nearby. Too impersonal.

I ache for you, my body remembers the way you used to sit beside me. My eyes long to see yours again, to see the stars in them again. My ears strain to hear your voice.

That letter got thrown into the recycling bin with Kali getting very flustered at what he wrote. That was too personal.

He leaned back in his chair, his temples throbbing even more. That was his problem, it had only been a year since they last spoke, and yet he didn't know if he should write as if they were still close. But they weren't exactly strangers.

The thing was, Kali didn't know what they were. Even before the death of his men, Kali and Stone had never put a label on their relationship. As far as Kali knew, Stone tolerated him at best. What if all these years, he had deluded himself into thinking Stone was his friend? His best friend, at that.

Damn him for falling in love with Stone despite the distance between them. He knew better than most that Stone was misunderstood, that he wasn't truly the cold and stoic man everyone knew. He could sense Stone's want to have someone in his corner, but every time Kali reached out as someone a little more than a friend, Stone would pull back.

Kali just had to remember how he used to talk to Stone before, and that was easy. He often replayed memories of him and Stone interacting over and over again, like he was some lovesick puppy. And maybe he was, but it helped.

The words flowed onto the page easier when he got into the mindset that it was just one of the many letters he had written to Stone, and it was. There was no need for him to overcomplicate his thinking, he knew Stone would understand his absence of talking. So he wrote his apologies, subtly expressed his longing to be in contact with Stone again, but left it so that it was Stone's choice.

That was the most important thing, for Stone to understand that Kali would understand if he no longer wanted to exchange letters with Kali. it would hurt, but he'd understand.

Once Kali finished his letter, he folded it up and placed it in the envelope. He stamped it and then got to setting up a care package to go with the letter. He figured it'd come around Valentine's Day, so he decided to also send Stone's favorite Indian snacks with the letter.

He boxed it all and wrote the proper mailing information, using the postal office on base to send it. All he had to do was wait and hope Stone would send a letter back.

Reblogs are welcomed & appreciated!

[quatregats]

water Lily for mats, snail for ander, clouds for adan and axe for everyone!

forgot hamide, bat for her!

Yayay thank you!!!

MATS

🪷 what gives this character inner peace?

This is a really good question because he spends so much of this in inner turmoil that “inner peace” feels kind of like an impossible state for Mats – but I think that for him, he’s very happy for a brief while on the steppe when he’s surrounded by people and working hard on rewarding manual labor. Pushing his body to its physical limits for something that brings a net good into the world (rather than destroying things or preparing for destroying things) would probably be the only thing to calm him down.

ANDER

🐌 do they carry their home with them or is it a place?

I think to some degree Ander carries his home with him, since he’s lived in many different places and not really been able to settle down in any of them. But if he has a home, I think it’s his mother – they have their fights but he loves her more than anyone and a place feels like home if she’s there.

ADAN

🌫️ how does this character feel about lying?

See the answer here for cultural background, but Adan is southern-er and generally a pretty well-behaved kid, so definitely doesn’t lie – the general southern way is avoidance, so asking direct questions indicates some level of interpersonal trust, and therefore Adan doesn’t often have to lie, but probably wouldn’t anyways.

HAMIDE

🦇 biggest material fear (ie heights, bugs etc)

Hamide is the little girl who ran away to live with wolves, so her fears are fairly few, but I could see her being deeply upset by blood. She doesn’t like to see other creatures suffer unnecessarily, and doesn’t really like violence in any form.

EVERYONE

🪓 would they make it to the end in a horror movie?

I think that all four have the ability to make it in a horror movie – they all have the savvy or fortitude to fight and come out on top. However, if they were together in a horror movie and only one could come out alive, Hamide would just disappear before the horror even got started and you wouldn't know what happened to her but you might assume she survived, Mats would definitely go first (cocky and overconfident), Ander would want to have final girl energy but would be the next to go, and Adan would be the actual final girl.

[heynhay]

u already know.

[incognitomacchiato]

6,7, and 71 for ur tiana oc perhaps 👁️

6. What sense do they most rely on?

Taylin definitely smell and taste! As an aspiring cook it is important that she has a unique palette to taste a variety of foods and what kind of seasoning, herbs, species, ect. They need. She also uses her sensitive sense of smell as an advantage, though potent smells can overwhelm her easily. 

7. Is your character an optimist or a pessimist?

Taylin is a mix of both. Generally she is more on  the optimistic side, she relies more on her hardwork to get what she wants but gets very pessimistic when things that don’t turn out her way and instead of looking on the positive side she starts having doubts and fears. When she is really desperate she  wishes on things, like stars, dandelions, stuff like that. Hoping they come true one way or another. 

71. How kind is your character?

Very. Taylin values her friendships and family overall, her parents were always big on respecting others and she took it to heart. Though one of her shortcomings is when she is so focused on something like work or a task she can be dismissive and aloof to others, causing her to be perceived as rude. Though this is not her intention! 

[asklordfelwinter]

Writer! Do you have any headcanons for in lore felwinter? We have so little on him!

// I imagine that he has a Russian accent, seeing as Rasputin speaks almost exclusively in reversed Russian.

// He knows he has a reputation, but he doesn’t know how to handle praise or other expressions of admiration very well. He’s more used to threats after all

// (this one is particularly self-indulgent but you asked so you have to deal with me :p) I also like to think that, thanks to Rasputin being what he was, Felwinter can exert some degree of influence over other Exo. At least in the direction of, say, giving them orders they find very difficult to refuse. One of my Guardians is an Exo that came to the Iron Lords and it led to some interesting discoveries on both of their parts.