#garden maintanance

[orlessioi]

How To Maintain Rooftop Garden Design and Maintenance in Your Home

Rooftop gardens have become a popular trend in urban settings, providing a green oasis amidst the concrete jungle. They not only enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home but also offer environmental benefits, such as improving air quality and reducing heat. However, maintaining a rooftop garden requires careful planning and regular upkeep, especially in a bustling city like Hong Kong. In this blog post, we'll explore the best practices for rooftop garden design and maintenance in your home, with a focus on Professional Gardening Care in Hong Kong.

1. Assessing Your Space and Environment

Before diving into the creation of a rooftop garden, it's essential to assess your space. Understand the structural capacity of your roof to support the weight of plants, soil, and containers. The climate in Hong Kong is subtropical, so consider plants that can thrive in high humidity and varying temperatures.

Consult with a professional gardening service, like Orlessioi, which specializes in Professional Gardening Care in Hong Kong. Their expertise can help you determine the right plants, soil types, and irrigation systems that will best suit your rooftop garden. Orlessioi's team can also evaluate whether your space needs additional waterproofing or insulation before you begin planting.

2. Selecting the Right Plants

Choosing the right plants is crucial for the success of your rooftop garden. In Hong Kong, opt for native species or plants that are known for their resilience in urban environments. Some popular choices include succulents, herbs, and small trees that can withstand the heat and humidity.

To ensure your garden thrives, consider integrating a mix of ornamental plants and edible herbs. This not only adds visual interest but also provides fresh ingredients for your kitchen. When selecting plants, always keep in mind the amount of sunlight your rooftop receives. Shadier areas might require shade-tolerant plants, while sunnier spots are perfect for sun-loving species.

3. Creating a Sustainable Watering System

Water management is one of the most critical aspects of rooftop garden maintenance. Overwatering or underwatering can both lead to plant stress and failure. Installing an efficient irrigation system, such as drip irrigation, can ensure that your plants receive the right amount of water without wastage.

For those seeking Professional Gardening Care in Hong Kong, a service like Orlessioi can design and install a sustainable watering system tailored to your garden's needs. This might include rainwater harvesting systems or automated irrigation that adjusts based on weather conditions. Regular monitoring and maintenance of these systems are vital to avoid leaks or blockages.

4. Soil Management and Fertilization

Healthy soil is the foundation of a thriving garden. For rooftop gardens, it's essential to use lightweight, well-draining soil mixes that won't put too much strain on the building's structure. Additionally, regular fertilization is necessary to replenish nutrients in the soil.

In urban environments like Hong Kong, where pollution can affect soil quality, consider using organic fertilizers and compost. These natural options promote healthy plant growth without the risk of harmful chemicals leaching into the environment. Professional gardening services can test your soil and recommend the best fertilization schedule for optimal growth.

5. Routine Maintenance and Care

Maintaining a rooftop garden requires ongoing attention. Regular tasks include pruning, weeding, and checking for pests or diseases. Mulching is another critical practice that helps retain soil moisture and reduces weed growth.

To ensure that your garden remains vibrant and healthy year-round, consider scheduling regular maintenance with a Professional Gardening Care in Hong Kong provider. They can handle more complex tasks like pest control, seasonal planting, and structural inspections. Regular check-ups by professionals can prevent small issues from becoming major problems.

6. Seasonal Adjustments

Hong Kong's climate varies throughout the year, with hot, humid summers and cool, dry winters. It's important to adjust your gardening practices accordingly. During the rainy season, ensure that your garden has proper drainage to prevent waterlogging. In the drier months, increase watering and consider using shade cloths to protect plants from harsh sunlight.

Seasonal adjustments also include rotating crops or introducing new plants that are better suited to the current weather conditions. This keeps your garden dynamic and resilient.

Conclusion

Maintaining a rooftop garden in your home is a rewarding experience that offers numerous benefits, from improved air quality to a peaceful retreat in the heart of the city. By following these tips and enlisting the help of experts in Professional Gardening Care in Hong Kong, like Orlessioi, you can create and sustain a thriving green space that enhances your living environment. With the right care and attention, your rooftop garden can flourish year-round, bringing a slice of nature into your home.

[dmandco]

Property and Garden Maintenance | DM & Co Estate & Letting Agents

Do you require essential work to your Property or in need of any Garden Maintenance?

Quotations to address relevant Maintenance/Remedial Works Required

Arrange for the Landlord’s Annual Gas Safety Checks

Arrange for the Landlord’s Annual Boiler Service

Arrange for Domestic Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR)

Arrange for Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)

Arrange for Approved Inventory/Schedule of Condition Service

Garden Tidy

Learn more at: https://dmandco.london/dmco-other-services/

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

(Image IDs featuring character dialogue are described as such:

Background

Character (Pose, additional character/elements):

"Dialogue")

Aura Blackquill fascinates me as a specimen. Much of that is tied to her initial introduction in Case 5-4 - specifically, how Athena reacted to her.

We've had our fair share of blowhards and hagglers that got under Athena's skin. She's complained a lot, got backed into a corner, even brought into an emotional shut-down on two occassions. Her reaction to Aura is unique, however.

She's quiet for a good chunk of the conversation, tucked away in her sad pose until Aura goes on her monologue about how she doesn't trust emotionally-motivated humans to run the courts. That causes Athena to pipe up a little, though she's not quite angry - Widget is still in it's "Sad" mode from earlier and only switches to "Angry" after Aura compares her to an animal (Athena isn't fond of that).

This doesn't hit me as a reaction Athena would have to any old cold-hearted cynic. She's seems genuinely hurt that Aura of all people is saying these things. When Phoenix tells her to get a hold of herself when she gets genuinely angry and wants to punch Aura, it doesn't carry the same comedic vibe that her doing the same with Gaspen or L'belle did; it's not righteous anger at a garden-variety scumbag. This is Athena hearing someone vilify everything she knows, is, and cares about in spite of whatever image she held of that person prior to this engagement. It's not like Simon either, who still held good intentions and Athena especially in high-regard. Aura's loathing is the real deal and it hurts Athena to witness.

So let's go over some connections and theming, shall we? Athena will stick around as our reference point but the focus from here-on will be discussing Aura and how her history and contrast to one or the other Cykes paint a picture of who she is, why that person would be uniquely equipped to push Athena's buttons and eventually force her to confront the even that changed both of them.

In order, we'll be discussing:

Aura Blackquill's relationship with the Cykes

How both of them treat Metis' creations

CLONCO and how it could act as a proxy for Athena

A small detour to discuss Aura's relation to Simon

(I'll be using it/its pronouns for PONCO and CLONCO)

Auf gehts!

Aura Blackquill & the Cykes

So who is Aura? At face-value, she's a robotics expert working for GYAXA. Her contributions are largely in the automated machines she has designed and built for the Space Centre, alongside her partner Metis Cykes (mother of Athena Cykes), an arrangement she was quite content with.

Aura is known to have collaberated with Metis on projects based around Athena's hearing, PONCO and CLONCO in particular. Her proximity to and implied relationship with Metis puts her in a uniquely knowledgeable position regarding the inventions made to improve Athena's life. Granted she handled the hardware side of things while Metis carried the psychological/software end, but they were still both building emotional robots based on and for an emotionally unique child.

We don't know much, or anyhting explicitly, about Aura and Athena's relationship prior to UR-1 and any information we can glean from current-day interactions are heavily coloured by Aura's suspicion and intense hatred. We could assume that Athena's condition (and the consequences of that on her social development) made her a difficult child to work with. Aura's grievences here would be an exaggeration of the problems she had with someone so high-maintanence. Athena's most relevant flaw, in Aura's eyes, is revealed in what she says here:

It's well-established that Athena did not believe Metis loved her when she was a child. Aura was the one working the closest with Metis to create the gifts that would help Athena, and yet? She still hated her mother. We know Aura finds human irrationality loathsome today; the idea that Athena could still despise Metis, even though she works so hard to help her daughter, goes against both Aura's values and the labour of someone she deeply cares about. Although this might also be in lack of consideration for Athena's unique emotional situation - this will be relevant when we come back to CLONCO so I'll cover that when we get there.

For now, we know that Aura was enough of a different person to willingly help Metis with projects that aided someone else; someone she saw as selfish and ignorant of her mother's efforts. Said projects were also research into psychology, as well as to provide emotionally intelligent companions to space-travellers. While I'm sure Aura enjoyed the prospect of building rational machines to stem emotional instability in human astronauts, she was still heavily involved in creations that tie strongly to emotionalism.

Her tirade denouncing that idea in favour of rational thought is a cut against Metis' work and what Athena had been surrounded with and chose to study with vigour. Notably - despite hating her mother - Athena felt as though Metis supported her pursuit of psychology from beyond the grave.

In short, Aura's rational mindset has gone so far as to vilify a strong passion that both Cykes held. Largely due to how her point of contact with the subject was making things for a strange, ungrateful little girl who seemd to have repaid them by killing her own mother.

The Robots: Athena's Affection & Aura's Abuse

I feel that both characters attitude towards the GYAXA robots visually represent the way they see and respect human emotion - a subject that both the Cykes intimately studied and that Aura appears to loathe in the present - when it's applied to something that has zero moral or social consequences for treating in any way (ie PONCO and CLONCO are effectively "Who You Are in the Dark" tests for these two).

Athena clearly loves the robots. PONCO especially with how she greeted it like we would a family pet while she was investigating with Phoenix:

As a child, Athena humanised the robots to a degree even she thought was excessive; most obviously by wrapping them in bandages and writing "get well soon!" messages on them:

Aura has no such respect for CLONCO. She hits it, leans on it like a prop, tinkers with its insides while it's still running, even strangling it at one point. She goes from altering its mind to full-on overriding CLONCO's control of its body for herself. She does have reasons for why this is fine; CLONCO is an unfeeling machine and its body is just a proxy for its actual "brain" that's running remotely somewhere in the Space Centre. That said it's not hard to see that her abuse is related to her anger - both the underlying grief for Metis and more explicit rage when kicking Phoenix and Trucy out of the lab.

Both of these robots are walking remnants of Metis' research, which has already been discussed. Even if Athena hated her mother, she was fascinated by Metis' work and inhereted a passion for psychology from her and the environment she created in the Space Centre. Understanding people's emotions with enough accuracy to mirror them yourself is a core trait of both her and the robots. Aura, on the other hand, has love for Metis but not the subject of human emotion that both Athena and the robots are intrinsicly tied to. Beyond that, she's acting irreverantly to an object that gave Athena fond memories of the days before UR-1. To Athena, these were the only positive connections she had besides Juniper and Simon. To Aura, they were just another inanimate creation and later something to take her grief-driven anger out on despite their connection to Metis.

CLONCO as a Young Athena Proxy

CLONCO already acts as an effective tool to show how Aura antagonises the things that make Athena, Athena; her dismissiveness of emotion, the mistreatment of Metis' research, the vitriol for what brings Athena joy in the past and present. An argument can be made that CLONCO also represents another angle to Aura's hatred; that of the young Athena Cykes she once knew in the past.

Let's take a quick look at CLONCO a moment:

It's almost identical to PONCO in that it's a robot built to understand and "feel" human emotions (to a dubious extent). Immediately though, we see that CLONCO unstable and uncanny compared to PONCO. It doesn't display the same emotional range as its counterpart - in fact, it largely remains in its "Neutral" state except for when Aura attacks and tinkers with it. There, it displays "Sad" and "Shocked" emotions that imply to be simulating discomfort and pain from what she does to it ("Sad" can also mean "Fearful" based on what we know of Widget's representation of emotions).

CLONCO's instability visibly affects its ability to emote and communicate with others. Both it and PONCO have childish personalities. This could act as a stand-in for Athena Cykes - at least, how Aura seems to see Athena Cykes.

Aura Blackquill sees Athena as an emotionally unstable child. It's not without precident; Athena was poorly socialised and likely couldn't process her hyper-empathy quite as deftly as today. People's emotions were the cause of most of her pain as a child due to her enhanced hearing. Her mother's inability to communicate effectively to her when giving her headphones that seemed to just hurt her definitely didn't help. Young Athena Cykes had plenty of issues that point to an emotionally unstable upbringing and she might have been in a bad state for longer than UR-1 (Widget having an 'emotionless' setting despite being made prior to that event speaks volumes).

Remember when I mentioned that Aura's annoyances with young Athena were not fully considerate of her situation? With CLONCO being an "emotionally" unstable, child-like entity that Aura seems to be fully responsible for, I believe that her abusive attitude towards it reflects how much she's come to loathe the image of Athena Cykes she has built in her head after years of dealing with intense grief and suspicion. CLONCO never acts maliciously of course but given that it's a creation of Metis Cykes that bears at least some resemblance to the person Aura believes is responsible for her murder, her violence towards it could have a deeper layer than CLONCO just being a convenient target for her wrath.

In short, Athena has witnessed someone she knew who cared about her mother very much do the following:

Mistreat the very inventions she (Aura) and Metis made together

Attack an object that brought Athena great joy as a child

Talk mad shit about Athena and Metis' main field(s) of study

Call Athena stupid for valuing emotions above rational thought

Smack what may be a stand-in for an emotionally stunted child

And all of the above with a tone of voice likely seeped in wrath towards her and grief for Metis.

Aura's antagonism towards Athena is what ultimately pushes the latter further in her character arc; that Aura hates the fact Athena managed to avoid the consequences of UR-1 is what drives her to push the issue, force Athena and her circle into a situation where they must confront this awful event head-on. For this, Aura needs to be someone who can and wants to push Athena's buttons in a way few (if any) others can, and that is achieved by establishing an intense loathing for everything that represents Athena as a person in just one scene. Later scenes with Aura further expand on this and it is a ride to watch unfold.

Brief Detour: Blackquill & Blackquill

Real quick, I wanted to highlight how Aura relates to her brother Simon. Both have traits and views on UR-1 that stand in stark contrast of one another and take actions that clashes with the other.

Let's start with their modes of thinking. Simon, as a psychologist, views the UR-1 incident within that framework. To him it isn't concievable that Athena Cykes would murder her own mother despite lacking concrete evidence against it. This and his reasonable assumption that the phantom could have swung by for the psyche profile (an event he planned in advance against by hiding it with Taka) were enough to motivate his taking of the blame. Even when no evidence had surfaced of the true series of events, Simon stuck with this until push comes to shove and he has no choice but to confirm that Athena is a very likely suspect (note that he never explicitly says that she did it even then!). Aura by contrast is a mechanical engineer. She uses deductive reasoning and verifiable evidence to piece things together. At face-value, looking at the events of UR-1 with that lens points to Athena being the one responsible. While her biases against Athena - emboldened by this percieved crime - had caused her to irrationally tunnel onto this conclusion, the fact that she's a rationally-minded scientist had caused her to assume that she was still being completely reasonable.

There's also Simon's self-sacrificing nature versus Aura's vengful tendancies. Protection versus persecution. One Blackquill literally gives up his own life to ensure that injustice doesn't pass to someone he cares about, while the other dedicates their life to enact justice on the one she believes is responsible. Part of that is making sure UR-1's ruling does not harm her brother of course, though as she says in the conversation that has taken up much of this essay:

Revenge is unavoidably a part of her motivation, contrasted with Simon who would rather sacrifice himself over anyone else.

It explains their conflict quite well; Aura is frustrated that Simon is taking what she sees as a very illogical, self-desctructive path to protect someone who doesn't deserve saving. Simon meanwhile disuades her from helping him escape, knowing that she would make damn sure Athena would get what she thinks she deserves. Interestingly this is where Aura and Athena's motivations line up the most. Both want Simon to be free and the latter comes to accept that freeing him means coming to terms with a terrible truth.

Both Aura and Athena take steps towards a conclusion that will ultimately harm Athena, the former already accepting the ugly truth and the latter so repressed the realisation can't take root until the matter is forced out. If anything, Simon is keeping both characters from dealing with this idea and would have completely removed himself from their lives, causing even greater loss for them.

Post-Essay Ramblings

Aura is a character I could chew on all day. Part of that is because she knocked it out of the park for me right off the bat with her initial introduction and Athena's reaction to it.

We have a character who's lesson is to embrace your emotions, to find those you can trust and give space to process the mental storm. As part of her arc, she has a connected character who beats the crap out of a product of emotion to push her to confront that storm by force. It genuinely makes me sad that this is the only time Athena and Aura interact in the entire game.

No, I'm serious, this scene is the only time these two ever talk to one another. These two, who have a fraught history and a setup for a tense dynamic while having the same motivation of saving Simon Blackquill, only interact once. I can begrudgingly see why in the sense that Aura wouldn't go out of her way to make chit-chat with the girl who killed Metis Cykes, though there are still things you could do with that idea in mind. Personally I'd have killed to see Athena's reaction to Aura finally accepting that she didn't kill her mother, especially when their first interaction had set up a great deal of conflict.

Athena was in the room when Simon apologised to Aura, maybe the two could have had a word there? Perhaps it would have cluttered between Apollo's resolution and Simon's apology. I don't know. I'm just sad we didn't get a follow-up on their first interaction.

Yeah, that's all I got. It's been a long post so to quote Aura herself:

Just don't spill it on the Kerfus.

[roseadleyn]

ARIA ROSCENTE FALLING FOR A DANCER,,, IMAGINE THEM JUST DANCING IN AN EMPTY BALLROOM OR THE READER DANCING DURING A BANQUET AS PART OF A DANCING TROUPE OR SM

you've hit me in the heart. again.

this is before aria got married because no cheating kids. also switched a little something up

reader's personality is like.. applause by lady gaga and i only realized after writing the fic

idk it's historical so no wheelchair no travel, my mind isn't working it's 4 in the morning (mm, that rhymes nicely)

-

𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐲. || 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞.

word count: 1.6k

lily means majesty. i wanted to emphasize how the reader appeared to aria during the dancing, and how aria appears to reader because of how beautiful she is. it's not a perfect fit and i don't like it, but i'm dead tired and i cannot look or think for/of a new title, so yeah. sorry for the upcoming, messy, cringe oneshot btw 😇

— rose.

the sun is rising and you realize something.

everyone has a dream in life.

that dream can be anything, really. from getting a sweet house with a little garden to aiming for the stars, a high education, a majestic performance — it all depends, from people to people.

but dreams change, do they not? do dreams not vary over the course of a life? maybe that's exactly what happened with you.

you started out with a dream, too. your dream was to travel, to wander, to traipse over the world. to see the sights, to visit the empires, to take a taste out of every culture. to meet people, to wear the clothes of a foreign land, to take pride in your own and then finally, to settle down in your very own dreamland with a friend or two or maybe a husband. and you threw your heart and soul into this dream, working all throughout school days, talking to people, arranging your group, running here and there to set your travel documents in order, and by your graduation you were sure and ready and full of excitement.

alas, these dreams were not brought to success, this happiness was not to last. you were so close, the dream brought tantalizingly close, so near that you could almost, almost taste it on the tip of your tongue.

until you couldn't.

a week before your scheduled departure, a mix up with your papers that cannot be fixed happens — the loss of those papers, and of course remaking them is too much time, isn't it? your group has to leave in time and back home, pillows and blankets pile around you to block out your endless tears, to block out the feeling of hollow, ringing emptiness, dreamless, hopeless. what good is a person who can't support themselves?

eventually — okay, well, it takes a while but — eventually, you direct some leftover optimism elsewhere.. you decide you'll dance until the papers return, dance with everything you had. now all your time is given to practices and training and development, until you've perfected your voice and your dancing, and people are sure you sound like an angel from the seventh heaven and you dance as smoothly as water flows in a stream.

unfortunately, news of your success can only travel so far. you are still barred from traveling, so you dance in your little space. and slowly with time, you fall in love with it, with bending your body, with maintaning your balance. the beauty of your dancing, the harmony of your voice, is so immense that the Marquess Sarah invites you to perform at an event that she will be holding. she lets you know the guest list, and the important, difficult-to-pronounce noble-esque names make you strive to perform the best you can, pushing your physical limits to the last straw while your mental stamina is far from running out.

when the big day arrives, you step on the stage with stars glittering in your eyes and a tiara on your head that might as well be a coronet of blossoms. you give out your sweetest performance yet, heartbeat pitter-pattering in your chest, movements fluid, voice smooth, the gentle remains of a smile on your face, and for a moment you lose yourself, dancing only for your abandoned dreams and forsaken hope of travelling.

the melody slows to an end and you come to your surroundings with a little start, slightly shaken by all the loud sounds, but it's only applause. all around you, the nobles are giving you a standing ovation, some even standing to do so. you grin, small tears forming in the corners of your eyes, surprised and stunned at this support. amongst those who cheer, a girl catches your eye — slender with blonde hair and green eyes, devastatingly beautiful, politely clapping along with the rest of everybody else.

aria brings her hands together and claps for you, sincerely meaning her applause. she's not a stranger to good performances, not since her whole adoption thing but.. your performance. that was something aria hadn't seen in any of her lives.. wait.

hazy, golden memories swim to the top of her mind. afternoons spent strumming the strings of a violin, running through the corridors with interlinked hands during the hot summer, dawn gone dancing underneath the slowly rising sun. whispered confessions, the brightness of a chandelier, the moment of triumph when you performed for the imperial palace and the overwhelming feeling of pride in her heart — yes, she knew you alright, and this time she was determined not to let her own stupidity curse you to a fallen dream, again.

after you're led offstage and the conversation breaks out, she gets up and heads to your dressing room. she has no issues persuading the knights and finding the large, ornate marble door to your dressing room. she hesitates, trying to remember more of you.. why hasn't she remembered before, when she returned? then she could've come straight to you instead of wasting both her and your time.

a knock on the door, and a confused 'come in!' are all aria needs. she opens the door and looks up, forgetting how to breathe. you haven't changed a bit — still the same compassionate eyes that are the windows to the kindest soul she's known, the simple, minimalistic make up style that you loved so much and never left the house without, your hair that she used to do in ringlets and braids and whatnot. you're so.. majestic. the careless beauty, the easiness and grace about your ways. she feels her heartbeat speed up, and sternly tells herself to get a hold.

'hello, good evening. my name is aria roscente. i just wanted to congratulate you on your performance, it was quite beautiful.' she hates herself for the too-nice tone and the plastered smile.

i knew you better. you don't deserve to be talked to like you're just anyone.

you don't notice — of course you don't. you beam at aria and she prays you don't notice the tips of her ears turn pink.

'thank you! it's very kind of you, lady roscente.'

you fidget with your fingers, trying your best not to look aria in the eye. she's so effortlessly lovely, so.. majestic. she triggers some hidden memories that you didn't know you had — laughing until you can't breath, doing each other's makeup, playing tag in the fields above her house. above whose house? you can't seem to recall.

you're doing well at hiding your self-consciousness until aria says, 'i would like you to come to a tea party this thursday with me and some friends.'

you look up, hardly daring to believe it. 'me? why?'

'i'm sure my friends want to congratulate you.'

'what for?'

'being such an immense success at your first big performance.'

when you still look hesitant, aria adds, 'marquess sarah will be there too.'

you weigh the options in your head. if you went, your influence would be increased. if you didn't, people might start whispering about you, in the street, tea houses, anywhere.

then again, people whispered about you all the time.

the tea party arrives and starts. aria greets the guests and makes polite chit chat, but all she can think about is you. will you arrive? what if you decide not to come? wait, did she remember to place your favorite desert on the table?

finally, you walk into the room, looking bashful and beautifully out of place. dressed in white, a single ribbon woven through your hair, she stands up to pull you into her embrace and never let you go before she remembers that the nobles with slander her to her death... again.

'i'm glad you could make it.' instead, she smiles at you, and then addresses the room at large. 'everyone, this is the dancer from marquess sarah's party, and i invited them to show our appreciation for their marvelous performance.'

a hushed murmur resounds throughout the room, the ladies nodding and mumbling about your performance being excellent. aria notices you give a pleased smile and decides to let you speak.

'thank you for your support, everyone. but, quite honestly, it's hard at times. there are whole days where we don't eat and our entire dancing troupe has severe damage to their toes because of how uncomfortable our dancing shoes are. and...'

as you tell them about the ups and downs of being a dancer, aria can only think about how much she's missed the lilting tone of your voice, the sweetness of your lips, the dreams and hopes in your eyes. the only reason she invited you was to have some time alone with you, anyways, and these noble ladies were going to judge you no matter what, so why not cut your little speech short?

'if i could have a moment, everyone?' she signals to you to follow her after 10 minutes — thankfully, you see the sign — and strides out of the room. almost 12 minutes later — okay, so what if she was counting? she just wanted to see you! — you walk outside, smiling and flushed. she feels a hint of jealousy, especially because none of those women, with the exception of Sarah, mean well towards you.

as you walk, the atmosphere becomes heavy and awkward. so you break the silence, saying, 'lady, why did you bring me outside?'

aria gives you another smile. 'i wanted to dance.'

'dance? oh, my lady, you don't mean — with me?'

'who else? besides, i'm not asking you to be a permanent teacher for me or anything. just dance with me.'

later on, aria would realize that the pair of you reached your destination that day even though the two of you never discussed where you were going.

everyone has a dream in life, but everyone can have several. her dream has always been freedom, liberation from her death, but now she realizes that freedom is not revenge or seduction or gambling through tricks of time reversal at the casino. freedom, aria thinks, as the sun sets, is to be with with you. her freedom is you.

taglist: @elychee, @loekas, @mysticmeena, @parkykwho, @d10nsaint, @hmerus / @rouecentric (your request! sorry it's late), @sidra-29, @dxmoness, @lady-navier0357, @xphantasmagoriax (if you mind being tagged then i'm really sorry, please let me know) @giyuus0nlywife, @that-one-pretty-bitch, @nxccolo, @yevenly /@hevaenly, @dion-s-lawyer, @ykassu / @ylxntis, and @ithil-lucien.

[edwinspaynes]

"send me ask about thomastair or matthew"

12 days of Christmas, Qs about our beloveds!

what are all three of them watching during the holiday season?

What would a skincare / make up routine (if he wears it) be for our Matthew on an average morning?

if each of them were on social media, what would be their go-to social media app and why?

who would you consider the most street smart, book smart and the most emotionally smart and why?

what would be each of their fav holiday traditions this time of year?

One can allege that both characters are super alike but extremely different in a lot of ways. so how do you think Matthew and Magnus in personality overlap and where do they differ?

what are some questions you HATE receiving in your ask about these three characters and why?

Between Thomas and Alastair, who is assigned what choir and why in the maintanance of their flat at Cornwall Gardens?

Who is more prone to bouts of sadness between thomas and alastair and what does the other do to help them feel better or take them out of their funk?

What are some of their favourite dishes they make for each other? They give me the vibe of being massive loving home bodies so i'm curious to know your take on what they make for food and what are their go to dishes!

What are in each of their stockings and who gave what to contribute to stuffing their stalkings (for all three of them! Matthew and Thomastair)

Last day of christmas question :) - What are YOUR predictions/wishes of who/what the scene each of them will be, in the better in black novella? :))

Ily! I hope you liked this! it took me over half an hour to think up q for what i was trying to do hahaha

Nice I'm so glad that I saved this for when I was high.

I think that they're watching various shows and Christmas movies. But I also think that they're watching their usual things.

This is actually so interesting : https://www.beautifulwithbrains.com/beauty-history-cosmetics-in-the-edwardian-era/. So he had Concoctions and creams with Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Almond Oil, Lanolin, Petrolatum, Witch Hazel and Glycerin.

Matthew is a Tumblrina and you can pry that from my cold dead hands. But also probably TikTok and Instagram, because he can't stay away from the travel videos for long. He has a whole IG page to his travels (@/wilde-wanderer, of course). And he has tons of followers who love the aesthetic landscapes and dog pictures. Thomas is a Duolingo boy - languages? Owls? Definitely, and that's most of what he does on his phone. But he does have a Twitter account to share his scores to, and he competes with Alastair to try to get ahead of the other one in their target languages. Thomas also uses his Twitter to follow accounts in Spain and language learning accounts. Alastair hits it big on YouTube because Thomas encourages him to showcase his piano. So he has many followers. It's really amazing for him, and he posts new things frequently. Kind of like VSQ, but solo piano.

Street smart is Matthew because he has all walks of life experience. Like this dude woke up wrapped in the Union Jack one night when he was drunk (Waterstones edition bonus letter). He could get by in back alley deals and make his way thrugh the world. Book smart is Alastair because he grows up lonely and reads a lot, and also he has a natural curiousity for life and the world around him. Thomas is emotionally smart, he sees minute details in people and can tell what they need so they can feel better.

Thomas likes to make cinnamon bread. Alastair likes to sing and play carols. Matthew likes to decorate and make beautiful.

MATTHEW AND MAGNUS okay. I will make a venn diagram:

Idk dude

ALASTAIR CHORES: cleaning the counters, cleaning the floors (he is a very cleanly man and just does these things), cooking dinner for both THOMAS CHORES: laundry, organizing (can reach tall cabinets), cooking breakfast for both. both characters do dishes

I think both are equally prone to bouts of sadness. I think Thomas will be more prone then Alastair to bouts sadness for a while, first, because of terrible grief over his family members. Alastair will still be in that "thank God I can breathe" phase but not in te "oh god how can I breathe i have to learn" phase, which will come in time and be the worst bit. But I think that Alastair has a shitmine of trauma to process and it will be incredibly emotional journey for probably the rest of his life, so he will be the most prone in the long run. Both of them are of course there for each other, I think that they hold each other and they talk about what the grief is and they comfort each other and they feel acceptance and support for one of the first times ever. I love them.

Thomas and Alastair, right? Yeah lol I wrote in my fic they spent a long time together alone and then they had their friends over and they wanted to get rid of everyone and be alone together again. I think they're, like, each other's favourite person. I think they are like being in a partnership. in all things. Like , if Alastair does something wrong, Thomas still has his back. And if Thomas does something recless, Alastair is not mad with him but he is worried for his safety. Anyway, I'm higher than I want to be. This is not the question. I think that thomas makes Alastair a lot of Persian food when he wants to, but he is kind of not a naturally amazing cook so he has to be taught by Alastair. Alastair shows him though and it is fun and romantic and bonding experience. I think Alastair makes for Thomas handmade trifle. It is his favorite dessert. Also salads without a hint of celery.

I will draw an image

I jsut want them to be IN the short stories! It's important to me. My mutual posted a post about how Cassie said something promising. Also when I asked SoS team they sent me a ;).

[fluffysminion]

Love-in-a-mist is a flower with a wonderful name that has a long history of being grown in British gardens. Hailing from Southern Europe it’s not miles off being native (which is a fuzzy concept in Britain for reasons I’ll eventually get around to writing about) and it self seeds in a small area which makes it a great low maintanance plant to grow. Plants like this are good for wildlife gardens in the UK precisely because of this self seeding behaviour - they are annuals that you do not need to buy each year, and have the ability to move around to find their ideal conditions without the risk of them spreading everywhere and taking over. One of the most delightful things about a garden is how they change over time, and there is something I find especially wonderful about putting together a stable community of plants, each with different nutrient needs and prefered microclimate, and watching them move about in a slow motion dance - each one changing the conditions just enough that one of their neighbours takes that spot next year, and they move into the space left by another plant.

[wifiwulf04]

Sunstreaker: "It's Iacon's art sector and Kaon's... one of the borders between sectors. The Pits, or at least the state sanctioned arena, connected to Iacon's High Court.

For all the beauty of Iacon, most see it as the colour of life, of the energon that flows through all our lines, but Sides and I saw it for what it was: built out of the energon of the lower class to cushion the lives of the upper class.

Kaon was a... mash of upper and lower class, not that there wasn't a clear disparity. It was a city of production, energon factories run by slavers across the road from high class residences. The building with a single glyph was the slave's housing. Across from it was energon production, where the energon mined was processed into commercial energon. Next to that is where the energon was stored before being shipped out.

The pyramid was the Temple of Primus, where the Primes ruled from. On the Kaon side was... I don't remember, but I think it was Kaon's court. Maybe it was even the Pits that we knew, shielded from aerial view. It was probably the Pits.

It's day time in Iacon and night in Kaon. The binary stars (Alpha Centauri A and B) Cybertron anchored itself to thanks to the Simfur Temple against... a moon (Luna 1) in Kaon's sky."

Sunstreaker: *He pauses to look at the others*

Wulf: "You liked the crystal building, and the park in the middle?"

Sunstreaker: "The park was nice, lots of maintaned... [untranslated]."

Wulf: "Technograss and crystal trees?"

Sunstreaker: "They weren't crystal. Maybe silica? We didn't exactly study biology."

Wulf: "I get it. The museums?"

Sunstreaker: "The three domed buildings are linked. The green building was an art museum, more art history and kept away from natural lights. The building next to it had a clear ceiling, probably made of crystal. The third had a retractable ceiling, it was an observatory. Closed in the day and open at night."

Wulf: "And the crystal building?"

Sunstreaker: "An art museum that always had new exhibits. It was more for the upper class than the other one... It was also where I exhibited my work for a while, before everything went to slag."

Wulf: "The double-helixed building next to it?"

Sunstreaker: "That was the work of some pompous Towers mech. I... don't know much else about it, other than the fact that whoever he commissioned should have done better."

Wulf: "Shoulda commissioned you?"

Sunstreaker: "I don't do architecture. Sides was the more... math-oriented one."

Wulf: "Duly noted." *They look amused* "What about the crystal-shaped buildings?"

Sunstreaker: "The slanted ones were the Towers. The rest were other high class mechs and the largest building was where the Iaconian Council... met? Lived? Never found out."

Wulf: "Might very well have been both. Avengers assemble and all that." *They snicker to themself while Sunstreaker looks confused*

Pyreseus: "Focus, dove. Sunstreaker, anything else you want to say about this piece?"

Sunstreaker: "... No. I've covered everything. It's long gone."

*Wulf blocks the view of Sunstreaker as Pyreseus approaches him*

Wulf: "Right, we were going to put this up on Ko-fi, but Sunny's attached to it so it stays with us! He's drawing up plans for the next one though, which is?"

Sunstreaker: *muffled, out of sight* "Praxus' crystal gardens. The part with specimens from all over Cybertron."

Wulf: "Right! Can't wait to see that, and so far he's been amenable to putting it on Ko-fi, but we'll see. Subject to change. For now, next thing that's definitely going up on Ko-fi when it's done is chibi!Sideswipe pride stickers. Until next time, that's all, folks!"

Transcribed by Robin

[wantcn]

open starter, do not like ( m: lily adams - also available: anna, olivia )

plot: br*eding facility. possible h*co.w ; my muse was found to be one of the very few last f.ertile females and so she was sent away to a facility where they keep all the fe.rtile women. your muse is there either as one of the very first visits where they will fuck to get her kno.cked up or she's already pregnant and he has the right to come and visit her to check on her progress in the pregnancy and can fuck her again and decide about changes to her life etc.

open to: could be just two strangers who met for this situation or maybe they knew each other from before she was at the facility. any additional k.inks, ideas, connection ideas welcome. age gaps & taboo welcome.

SHE HEARD HER NAME BEING CALLED from afar and paused in the middle of taking another step as she saw the two people coming over. the woman easily recognised one of the facility's handlers in his white labcoat and with a touchpad in hand, but it was the other man that caught her attention. Lily arched a brow at him, her head tilting to the side as she stood there and saw him take her in. the facility had a lot of rules about everything happening on day-to-day basis. including the clothing that all the women wore. there was no tight clothing, no pants, no no plastic in the fabric. all the women were given were simple, white cotton dresses that allowed for easy maintanance. and even easier access whether by a doctor or a client. "good morning." Lily greeted, looking from one man to the other as they continued their conversation as if she wasn't even there. she rolled her eyes at that, though did not put too much interest in whatever the conversation was about, simply looking out across the enormous garden at all the colorful flowers in bloom. it was truly a heavenly sight, if not for the fact that it was nothing more than a pretty cage to keep them in. "i was about to take a walk before my doctor's appointment for the day, has there been a change of plans?"

[journeydb]

June 22 2023 Boulder and Longmont

I rode Gazelle up Flagstaff Road to the turnoff to the amphitheater on Flagstaff Mountain this morning and then back home, blessed by spectacular views of Boulder along the way.

Our friend and neighbor, Mo, has been out gardening in his yard since he retired a few years ago, creating the most exquisite gardens with the help of the crew he hired to plant a lot of the flowers with him.

Our peonies are blooming in the front yard and, now that it's summer, a LOT more flowers are going to fill this space with color and vibrancy.

The new garden that Beverly, our friend and gardener, and I designed and built, with the help of Jonathan and his crew, the guys who mow our lawn, turned out really well and the plants are filling in the space beautifully. Replacing the grass that was there meant using less water and providing habitat for bees and other pollinators.

Tonight Bruce and I attended the I Have a Dream of Boulder County's Donor Appreciation Dinner at our friends Jason and Emily Vallery's spectacular home in Longmont, which at one point belonged to Ken Pratt, a very famous local business person who was instrumental in the development of commercial and residential neighborhoods in Longmont.

It was wonderful to see some familiar faces and to meet some new people at the dinner. We have been involved with I Have a Dream Boulder County since we "adopted" along with our friend Edie Ortega, the second class, which was at Pioneer Elementary in Lafayette, after the first class "adopted" by Bob and Diane Greenlee in 1995. We promised to give all the children, who were third graders at the time, the support they needed to graduate high school and enter the university of their choosing.

Our friend, Jason, speaking with Bruce in the photo above, was one of those students. He DID graduate high school and went on to creating a very successful career in the computer industry, working for companies such as IBM and Apple. We couldn't be more proud of him. Now he is giving back to the organization which gave him the opportunity to succeed and he is on the I Have a Dream board and is involved in funding other classes.

Jason's wife, Emily, is a smart, friendly, kind person and the make such a beautiful couple. They have three children, a teenage son, and two elementary school age daughters.

Jason took us on a tour of the house and then I wandered around myself because there really wasn't a lot of food I could eat and I wanted to socialize with people anyway.

The landscaping is also beautiful and it's a very big lot which requires a lot of maintanence.

Perla Delgado, the CEO of I Have a Dream, kicked off the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking Jason and Emily for hosting the event. I Have a Dream Boulder County is one of the largest affiliates of the national I Have a Dream program, with twelve classes of Dreamer Scholars and a staff of twenty five people. Perla took over the leadership of the program from Lori Canova five years ago and she has been doing an excellent job.

Perla introduced Elyana, the first speaker, who has been on the staff for nearly twenty years, wearing many hats and now she is the director of the Americorps program, having started with I Have a Dream as Program Director of the Kalmia class. Elyana is the mother of three adorable children and she will probably retired next year to devote more time to her children as they grow. She deserves a LOT of credit for helping to grow this amazing organization over the years. Elyana spoke eloquently of her involvement with the organization and her words brought back a lot of memories. In addition to Bruce and myself being class sponsors, I was on the board of directors for ten years and also saw a lot of changes happen over that time.

The next speaker was a Dreamer Scholar who praised the organization for its commitment to the students, their families, and the community. She was also very impressive. Jason spoke briefly about his experience as a young child of divorced parents and how much the program meant to him, and still means to him.

It was an emotional evening and I had a lovely time reconnecting with friends like Dee Perry, another class sponsor who is very active with other nonprofits in Boulder County.

Emily did a great job of organizing the event and I imagine they raised a good amount of funding for future classes and to support the current operations of I Have a Dream Boulder County, as well as informing folks who might not have been as familiar with the program about its impact.

[elbiotipo]

Is this exaggerated and silly, yes. Do I support terraforming (lifeless planets)? also yes.

Life is precious and deserves to be preserved, and space habitats won't do it. We should spread it to the stars, and not in tin cans where they might go extinct as soon as they stop being maintaned, but in planets where they may last millions of years, long after we're gone, maybe long after our own Earth and Sun are gone. In fact, if we find other kinds of life, we should do that too. Gardens all over the stars, with all kinds of species, a million different biospheres, a million different evolutionary paths over millions and millions of years. Fuck yeah I support terraforming, fuck yeah I support making the stars bloom green.

Every time I go into youtube I get a "terraforming is a bad idea" video. You know what, I'm going to do a 8 part series on why terraforming is a great idea and we should terraform everything from Mercury to Pluto.

[totallawnandgardencare-blog]

A good home is looking beautiful by areas compound, hence if you are looking for a lawn care in Perth then you can contact Total Lawn and Garden Care to taking care of your lawn.

[hillsqualityturf]

How do you know that your artificial lawn turf needs to replace? Here are few important tips on lawn turf replacements. Check this out here..

[ira-hydrangea]

Twisted Wonderland Princess Tutu AU (Heartslabyul Part)

Becoming a so-called magicless student is not a part of Yuu's plan. But still, it is a perfect disguise for them and thanks to their necklace, their magic power has been sealed. 

Now the next part of the plan is searching for another blot monster. The monster from the dungeon has this dark energy that is just perfect to be harvested. If they can collect at least 5 more dark stones from Blot monsters then the Raven can be resurrected. The problem is where to find it.

-Riddle Roseheart-

You didn’t think much about this short young man but oh boy, it’s so hard playing an innocent victim. Their cheek hurt from all the smiling, they need to give.

Until this young man gives them the invitation to the Unbirthday party. Of course, as kind students, they accepted it.

The days go as usual. Smiling, laughing, and helping.

When the unbirthday party started, they must admit that the clothes of Queen of Hearts are perfect clothes for Riddle. It goes fine until Ace shows up the tarts that they make from the chestnut they collected.

Yeah... Riddle just smashes it into the ground. And this student's eyes go wide.

‘I want to curse hi-’ That is what they thought until they caught on to the dark energy that swirling around Riddle. That is the sight they hoped to see. You smirk. The target has been locked.

And so at night, Using their true raven form (Similar to Rue aka Kraehe transformation). They go among the flock of Raven towards the Heartslabyul.

Unsurprisingly, Riddle can’t fall asleep. So he decides to take a walk.

Riddle has been walking down the hallways with a scowl on his face. Lately, he caught the students that try to sneak around in the kitchen. Of course, it was [OFF WITH THEIR HEAD]. So now, under the pretext of patrolling. Riddle decides to roam the hallways and the garden.

He starts to hear some noise around the lake in the garden. Thinking that it was a student, he fumingly start to walk down towards that area. But he soon stops on his track as he notices someone in ballet clothing dancing around the lake. He soon got hypnotized. By the way, that person moves. So elegant and charming.

But soon the person's pace starts to get closer to the lake. Panicked, he want to remind them about that until his heart stop when the person just casually dancing on the surface of the water.

“What th-”

“Finally letting yourself out, young Queen?” A soft voice comes out from the person and Riddle notice that he has already stepped out from his hiding place.

“Um, this-”

“Hehe~ Relax, young Queen. I’m not going to scold you for watching me dancing.” The girl/boy starts to get closer to Riddle.

“Did my dance captivated you?”

“No. I mean Yes. I mean who are you? How dare you step inside this dorm-”

“My poor Queen. To think that your hard work to maintaned your kingdom is not been noticed. They mocked you. Your subject blame you for their incompetence and for their misfortune. It’s not that hard for them to follow the rules. But they break it so many times... Isn’t that right, my queen?”

“Shh... I mean no harm. Just try to enjoy my night in these lovely surroundings. Did you want to join me, My Queen?”

They ask as they offer their hands toward Riddle. No words can be utter from Riddle as he accepted the invitation. Soon the two-person start to dance around on the lake's surface.

Riddle absentmindedly followed the dance and answered, “Yes.”

“You remind them so many times. But instead of listening, they decide to rebel. Isn’t that what have been happening? One cards decide to try their luck to become a queen. He challanged your authority.”

Riddle gulp as each word sinks in towards his mind. He can’t look away from the person's eyes that look at him with gentleness. They still dancing and didn’t care if someone will come to see them like this.

“But fret not, my Queen. If you manage to show your absolute authority this time. No one will dare defy you again. Show them what happen if they challanged your authority. And then... nobody will dare questioning you again.”

Still in the daze, the dance soon comes to an end. As Riddle still standing in the land looking at the person's face. The person just smiled and give them something. A necklace with a bright ruby stone.

“A little gift from me, my Queen. For soon, you will need its power.” They whisper as strong winds start to come out from nowhere.

“Wait! What is your name?” Riddle shouts while shielding his eyes from the winds but the last thing he remembers is just a small smile from the person before they disappear.

Skip to the days of the duel. Riddle still can’t get forget the dance that he shares with that mysterious person. He looked towards the arena while clutching the ruby stone that he wore in his necktie.

That person's words still ringing in their minds and when the duel starts. Riddle just swiftly ended it all. Showing his absolute authority.

But just like the story goes, another start to show the same rebellious behavior. And soon a riot happened. Anger is all Riddle feels. Especially when the magicless student starts to follow suit.

“You are only an useless student that can’t do a single magic! Who are you to question my authority!”

“Riddle-senpai, that is not what I mean-” Yuu tries to explain.

“SHUT UP! I HAVE ENOUGH WITH THIS CHILDISH BEHAVIOR! IF YOU DIDN’T WANT TO LISTEN THEN IT OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”

“Riddle-senpai!”

Feeling a sudden burst of power, the stone around his tie starts to glow, and soon he is embraced inside the burst of red light. And from that light, a True Queen of Hearts has been born.

(Let me skip it. The fight scene is pretty much the same. The group manages to defeat Riddle with the help of Yuu.)

After the overblot:

You manage to see Riddle's memories and can feel a pang in their hearts. They saw how the young Riddle had been treated and forced and how Riddle feel.

‘Somehow... I can’t help but feel-’ They slap their face hard. No. They didn’t have time for these human feelings. This will only become an obstacle for them in the future. Acting like a human makes them weak. They must be searching for the next stone so that their mission will end soon. That is what Yuu thought as they watch the rest of the memory with cold eyes.

Riddle manages to wake up after the overblot and start crying while saying the story. The so kind Prefect offers them a tissue. And the issue soon is finished with no more damage.

“Btw, Riddle-senpai. What is the glow that appear before your overblot? They seems coming from your stone?” Ask Deuce curiously.

“Ah,I didn’t know- Wha- Where is the stone gone too?!” Riddle looks around franticly, trying to find the stone.

“Maybe it accidentally destroyed when you run amok earlier. Why? Is that a special stone?” asked Trey. Riddle stays silent for a while before shooking his head.

“...Forget it.”

“???”

Meanwhile, Grim is founding another black stone but before he manages to eat it. A raven swoops in and takes the stone from him. Yeah... he pretty much acts grumpy soon as a stupid bird manages to take his food. He will remember this.

To be Continue ⏩

[dom-bastiansmythe]

Sebastian chuckled when he heard the friendly nickname Diego had for him, then after the other got into the car he drove away, down the main street of town to head to literally the other side of it, which was where his house was. "Aw, that's so thoughtful of you, thank you" he said, laughing under his breath when Diego said that about his house.

The truth was he had someone taking care of the house, at least twice a week, since there was maintanence to be done, especially around the small garden and the pool. The day before he had asked to buy some food and drinks for them to have too, although he also thought they could order something out, in case there was need to it. "Then I'll be the one who stays sober, because I have to drive back to school after" he said and winked at him, then after a while they were pulling on the driveway of his house. "Welcome. Now, let's go in" he said, grabbing his bag and walking ahead of him.

Diego was anxiously waiting for Sebastian, who was taking his own time; but he smiled when he saw the all too familiar car. "Hey, asshole" he chuckled and opened the door on the passenger seat and leaned in to touched his shoulder against his friend's.

"I got a bottle of the best wine I had, in case your house is empty and covered in dust" he chuckled. "And I plan to get very drunk!" he exclaimed excitedly as Sebastian drove them to his house.

[chrisshappygardeners]

Construction services are used to build commercial & residential properties. These services are in great demand. The constructors & engineers can develop, design, and supervise properly to construct a building.

[oraclekleo]

ALL REQUESTS ARE CLOSED

Hello! As you can see from the Bio and updated pinned post, all requests are closed for the time being.

This applies to both K-Pop (or celebrity) and Personal requests.

It applies to both ways of requesting - through Tumblrs inbox and through the e-mail.

Please don't try to seek loop holes. I will not accept requests delivered to me through private chats nor comments.

Oracle Kleo is leaving to stay in countryside soon and the internet connection is going to be miserable there.

I'll be back in 1-2 weeks, I assume. It's not a vacation if you are suspecting me from this. I will still do my job only remotely. And add some manual labour to it as my cottage garden needs maintanance.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

P.S. There are some readings scheduled for the days when I'm away so you won't experience a complete drought.