#i know mushrooms aren't plants but it's close enough

[plant-dad-sulu]

in a new annual tradition i am once again sick and cannot travel for new years so to pass the time at home i've started up my mini mushroom farm that i got for christmas. Stay tuned for upcoming mushroom updates

[mochinomnoms]

How would ptm jade react if Yuu told him about marine mushrooms?

I only know what wikipedia knows about marine mushrooms...unfortunately for yuu mind reading doesn't give them sudden infinite knowledge!

“You know, with as much as you...like mushrooms and stuff, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned anything about marine fungi.”

You felt a chill run down your spine and Jade's bi-colored eyes on you.

“Pardon?” Does my darling also love fungi? How could I have not known this?

You shifted in your seat, staring down at your notebook as you doodles between the margins. A small button mushroom that you'd absentmindedly drawn minded you of Jade.

And you just happened to be doing research with him for your group project in the library this day.

“Sorry, I just was thinking about it, and it's just surprising to me that you never had, like an aquarium type terrarium or something with them.”

You let out a nervous laugh, after all, it was just you two by yourselves. Riddle and Yev were busy with their dorms due to the Spelldrive Tournament, and your dorm still didn't technically qualify, since all your freshmen were officially in other dorms.

Such a wonderful laugh, I'd like to hear it more...

“Well, to my knowledge, they don't exist.” Jade leaned in, his eyes wide and full of excitement. “By chance, do such mushrooms exist in your world?”

Please tell me more! Tell me lies for all I care, so I may hear your voice...though you wouldn't lie about such things, would you?

You perked up. It was rare that you knew something Jade, or anyone at NRC, had no clue about. It probably wasn't intentional, but the way people would look at you when you had no clue about something make you feel dumb, even though you logically had no way of knowing even the most basic things of this world.

It was kinda nice to be the one to share knowledge with another person.

“Well, I don't know a lot, but they mostly exist in marine environments. I think a few hundred?” You leaned in closer, moving your notebook towards Jade as you started drawing again.

“I can't remember their names very well, but I've always been a more visual person anyways.” You drew a piece of driftwood, a snail, and a rock covered in lichen.

“This one grows in mangroves, usually on the places. But this one grows around the shell of a snail, who eats it. And sometimes lichen will grow with fungi, but I don't know a whole lot about them.”

You paused, pursing your lips in disappointment.

“Sorry, I don't know enough to tell you about them, I know how much you...”

Your words trailed off as you looked back up at Jade, who was resting his check against his palm. He was staring at you with faint smile, and soft, half lidded eyes and pink cheeks.

So beautiful...

Cheeks and chest going hot, you stared back, opening and closing your mouth as you tried to figure out how to respond.

“Uh, Jade, you're, uh, staring...”

Jade stiffened, straightening up and covering his mouth in embarrassment.

“My apologies. I was just....enraptured by your descriptions.” And you. “I don't mind that you aren't familiar, but I would like to heard more from you about marine fungi. Perhaps you can tell me all about your world's plant life? It never occurred to me that your world would evolve differently, but saying that now, it seems obvious.”

He smiled at you again, his teeth showing a bit more as he excitedly leaned in.

“You struggle in musicology, yes? Perhaps in exchange for your knowledge, I can help you with practice?”

Please say yes!

You paused. Various suggestive scenarios that seem more apt for a risqué site or story flashed through Jade's mind in giddy anticipation.

You know better. You know what Jade's hoping for. You shouldn't string him along, you're going to get embarrassed. You're going to get uncomfortable, you're...

Another daydream, one of you two curled over a book, as you leaned into Jade's side while his arm pulled you closer, invaded your mind like a parasite in your brain. He had a tender smile as you laughed at something he said, your free hand reached up to cradle his cheek.

Maybe parasite is a harsh word. When the thoughts Jade had were so sweet and soft, it almost made you want to give in.

Almost.

“It's okay, I'm just a choir member, so there's not much for me to improve on.” You could hear your more logical voice sigh in the back of your mind. “But I'm happy to share...if you help me figure out if the mushrooms growing behind Ramshackle are edible.”

I'm weak…

Jade blinked, processing what you said.

Really? “Really?” Even Jade seemed like he was anticipating your rejection.

“Yeah, why not.” You shrugged, Jade's internal excitement flooding into your subconscious and influencing your own emotions. “Means less money to spend on food, and I'm sure you know plenty of yummy recipes we can use if they do end up good!”

Jade rarely smiled, at least not genuine, bare-teethed smiles. Despite the sharpness of them, you weren't put off by them, or him, at all.

“I would be honored.”

[s-sputnik-k]

me: starts watching x-men (2000), is excited to finally be getting into the proper xmen release order

also me: has to immediately pause and take a long sigh and repeat to myself "it's based on comics from the 60s, it's fiction, it's fun sci-fi/superhero stuff, it's fiction, it's made up" when the first line talks about evolution making humans the 'dominant species'

I think I just need to rant, bc I love x-men but even in the newer films the repeated talk about humans being superior or dominant just really irks me. like at this point I think it's not even malicious, it's just genuine ignorance or misunderstanding of evolution (or a rule of cool situation, which is fair enough because, again, it is fiction). but evolution is LITERALLY just becoming more suited to your environment through natural selection. that's all it means

like, first of all, what is the metric for superiority? is it complexity? because I'm sure there are single cell organisms that are extremely suited to their environment. there are also mushrooms with thousands of sexes (my information did come from tumblr, ik, misinformation central, but I do tend to read into the fun facts I learn here afterwards)--we are definitely not the most complicated organism we know of. hell, fungus is so complicated, we put it all in one category when really, we have no idea what most of it has in common other than the fact that they aren't a plant, animal or bacteria (simplified bc I'm not bringing up a classification chart for this)

so maybe it's about longevity. I mean, humans have only existed for, what, 300,000 years? there are so many living things that have existed for significantly longer! and even if we assume optimistically that humans will last much longer into the future, we still aren't winning on an individual lifespan basis. there are literal sea sponges that live longer than us

so, alright, fine, maybe it's about intellect--that is one of our best traits as a species. but intelligence is just one of many, many factors in a particular living thing's evolution. for many creatures, it's better that they aren't intelligent. I'd be willing to bet there are creatures that have evolved to be less intelligent after it became unhelpful. our massive, energy intensive brains are extremely draining (not to mention dangerous in childbirth); some animals can't even justify having colour perception, why would they need to be able to do algebra? it's like if honeybees decided to measure the evolution of all animals based on how well they spread pollen or make honey. like, it's just not a helpful or relevant metric unless you are a honeybee

so, yeah, humans aren't more evolved, we aren't better evolved, we're just. evolved. we are what we are, based on changes in our environment, random mutations and natural selection. and Charles would KNOW THIS but I understand that talking about human evolution and how it led to mutants having cool powers is an engaging way to start a film about, yknow, human evolution and mutants with cool powers

so, I do eventually finish my heavy sigh and unpause the film. because I love these characters and this story, so I will simply close my ears the next time charles says the word dominant, and pretend it didn't happen so that I can enjoy the film without going on another rant

[sauriansolutions]

Here's a little snippet thing to get myself started at having a blog with, like, content.

I was inspired by the absolute silliness that is the class of TWST item called "Secret Snacks." I just adore the concept that you can boost your friendship with game characters by, apparently, stealthily feeding them illegal snacks during class?

All my (excessive number of) Jade cards have full vignettes *cries* but I just want to keep feeding him forever... help...

"Secret Snacks"

You are sitting next to J.ade in class before lunch. You can hear his stomach growling and whining every few minutes. 

You occasionally catch him frowning down at himself after a particularly egregious rumble, like he's trying to scold his belly into silence. You can't help but let out a quiet giggle at his stern expression, and Jade, realizing he's been perceived, shoots you a sheepish grin.

"So sorry," he mouths, sotto voce.

You reassure him that it's alright. 

Towards the end of class, you notice Jade reaching down to fold one arm around his middle. His stomach's complaints have gotten quieter, but they've also become more frequent, to the point that the gurgles have become a near-constant background noise. 

As you watch, Jade looks up to check the clock for the umpteenth time, then sighs quietly and slumps forward a bit in his chair, lips pressed tightly together in a disappointed pout. You look up, too, and note that here's still about fifteen minutes before lunchtime.

Poor Jade. Since agreeing to switch seats with Leona (who wanted a spot behind the tall student so the professor couldn't see him as well), you've noticed that Jade gets distractingly hungry like this every day, around the same time. 

Jade is usually perfectly attentive and studious during class. But you've heard he also has, what he terms, "poor fuel efficiency. So, you guess that this is around the time his energy reserves from breakfast are nearly depleted. 

His empty, grumbling stomach clearly makes the mer student unhappy and fidgety, shifting in his seat, shuffling papers aimlessly, or doodling in the margins of his notebook. 

You've seen Jade's actual sketchbook, so you know the eel is quite artistically talented. But, humorously enough, as lunchtime draws near, Jade's sketches seem to inevitably devolve from nearly-photorealistic drawings of mushrooms, trees, and plants, to simplistic and almost cartoony renderings of his favorite foods. 

Octopus dishes, you couldn't help but notice, feature prominently. 

You've even caught Jade gnawing on the decorative filigree around the edges of his magestone pen, once or twice. Thankfully, the pens are apparently spelled to be highly durable and shatter-proof. Still, the grinding sound of Jade's razorblade teeth on stone or metal makes you wince every time you hear it. 

Jade, now nearly drooling, is putting the finishing touches on a drawing of what appears to be a steaming plate of grilled octopus. 

... Not for the first time, you find yourself wishing you had something to feed Jade. 

Students technically aren't allowed to bring food into the classroom, but you've seen your fellow classmates covertly munching on candies, meal bars, and the like enough times during class, that you feel like sneaking in a snack or two couldn't be *that* big of a deal. 

Maybe tomorrow, you think, you'll slip Jade one of those packets of barbecue-flavored dried squid that are on sale right now at the Mystery Shop. 

Smiling, you jot down a quick reminder to yourself in your planner. Next to it, you draw a little cartoon eel. You give it a big, toothy smile, and add lots of cute little sparkles in its eyes. 

Satisfied with your work, you close your planner and wait for the bell to ring. 

Classes have been getting increasingly more difficult, as midterms are approaching. 

But now, you think, you have at least one reason to look forward to tomorrow's lesson.

[namedafterflowerstournament]

Welcome to the next part of this tournament : the Honorary Mentions ! You can see underneath the match ups for Round 1.

Which characters are part of the "honorary mentions" ?

Short answer : Unvalidated submissions from the original spreadsheet that didn't made the cut for any of the brackets for diverse reasons, including joke submissions

Long answer :

Unvalidated submissions because :

- the relationship between the name of the characters and the name of a plant was a bit of a stretch (wrong kanji, unlikely relationship etc.)

- I allowed mushrooms at one point as honorary plants (mushrooms, indeed, aren't plants) before the bracket became enormous and I decided to exclude them. This is why there are a lot of shroom related submissions

- there might be here and there characters that should have been in the main bracket but that I've forgotten to add

- there probably are other reasons and I'll add possible explanations when the submitters left none

You don't have to vote for "the most valid" submission, except if you want to. You can also vote for the one you like best, the one with the most absurd propaganda, the one against the one you hate or whatever. Enjoy yourself

No antipropaganda, please

However, you can go wild with your propaganda (but if you sound serious while you're spreading untrue propaganda, please use the unreality tag). Of course the initials C.R. (fake example) stands for Chlorophyllia Renonculus

[worldismyne]

When we were working on the print of the book, I wanted to include some first person fairy diaries of Bella explaining the fae lore from her POV. But that would end up being too expensive. If we ever get enough issues for an omnibus, I might put it back in. For now here's what I had.

Fairy Circle

Fairy circles are used to mark their territory; mushrooms are carefully planted to show all creatures where 'inside' and 'outside' are. Anything inside the circle belongs to them, including living things. Humans already know this, so don't worry if they wander outside the circle. They know how to find their way back home again :3 Really powerful fae could make circles as wide as whole towns back in the day! It's easier to maintain spells inside your circles too! But never, ever enter or hunt in someone else's circle, it's very rude! I think humans like to project their own fears about plopping their homes wherever onto us. If I took down someone's fences out of their yard, they wouldn't magically be homeless. I don't see why they think it would work on us.

Iron

Humans can make some pretty vile things and this is one of them! It's scratchy, it burns when you touch it and it's everywhere! I can't even eat anything that was cooked with an iron skillet, it hurts so much. Aunt Senna uses iron doorhandles on rooms she wants me to stay out of, but I have my ways ;)

Running Water

This one's really scary. When I was little, I fell in the creak and my body siezed up, I couldn't walk or move and my wings were all floppy and bloated. Even if I get too close, the noise, cold and the water in the air makes it hard to move or breathe.

Hunting

Fae need to feed on emotions to survive and humans provide a wide array of them. It's best to cultivate the emotions you favor before feeding, that way you don't empty out your host. Kinda like how you wouldn't chop down the tree to get to the apples. You'd run out! Cultivating positive emotions is very difficult to do if you're not the best and masquerading as a human. I personally prefer hearty emotions with passion as their main flavor profile, like resentment or pride. They're so much more nurishing than fear and less fleating too! A good passive way to nurish yourself are gifts. Things humans made and hold onto have risidule emotions baked into them! The less people involved making it, the more emotion it has in it. It's a shame humans have started favoring expensive rock things; the only emotions I can pick up on them are fear and bordem.

Oh except for family heirlooms! Items humans guard and pass down lovingly from generation to generation are goldmines. We used to have a bunch, like the princess's harp. Everytime you walked into the room, it was like you could taste every song ever played on it. ...it's gone now.

Gifts/Blessings/Curses

Humans like to use these phrases innerchangably, but they mean very different things! Gift giving is a way to bond with humans on their level. You give them something and they give you something back. It's a good way to start a healthy trusting relationship. And a good way to force greedy humans to be honest about themselves.

Blessings are made from the fae's own magic. It's a way of sharing your power with another person. Humans aren't the greatest at magic, so a blessing is best used on enhancing a trait they'll want to use. (Wisdom, Beauty, Fertility, etc.) It's immidiate acting.

Curses are spells with a delayed reaction. Anyone can do them, it's nothing that special. It's just, to get fairy magic to do it, very specific conditions have to be met for the curse to take place. The more specific the catalyst, the more powerful the spell. Ex. Aunt Leenan left behind a curse in the house that said the first man to propose at the house to anyone but her would get turned into an animal! It had to be at least 20 years old.

Blossoms

Have you ever wondered how humans decided what flowers mean? It's from watching fairies! People found that fairies who preferred certain emotions (like joy) would have blossoms that mirrored flowers they saw (like a daisy). If your tastes change, your blossoms and wings change too. I had always hoped I'd grow up to be some kind of rose, they're so pretty. Rose says I look like a Foxglove, but they can mean good and bad things, so I don't know what that means. Though I do prefer feeding off humans with strong ambitions >_>

Cousin Finn smells like a lavender, so I guess he prefers devotion? Sounds like it's scarce where he's from, no wonder he's too weak to hold a sword.

Talking to Humans (WIP)

Humans are obsessed with "meaning". If you're not blunt and direct; they will come to wild conclusions about what you "really mean". Even direct facts can get confused for insults if said "the wrong way". I find over explaining as directly as possible helps combat this.

There's a human saying that says "the eyes are the window to the soul" which is their way of saying they really pay attention to the eyes of the person they're talking to. Looking up or away is considered rude. Staring in one place is "off putting". So it's best to go back and forth between looking at their left and right eye.

Don't forget to blink!

Human's also do this thing called mirroring; where they copy the body movements and voice of the person their talking to. Being able to do this as soon as possible shows you like them and want to keep talking to them.

Humans strongly value how "unique" they are. They will try to express this through their apperance and hobbies; complimenting these things helps remind them that stuff they do for the sake of their emotional wellbeing has value too. Sometimes you even get free stuff! Do not bring up knowing other people who dress/do the things they do. Even to give them stuff. Aunt Senna calls it a "conversation killer", makes them clam up and stop talking :(

[saeonrpg]

A Rose in the Dark: Session 1.b "A Small Town Named Fisch"

4th of Suran, 1488 2e; Midday

Adelaide walked through the main road of Fisch. Outside the houses, the women of the town are busy with their work of the day. Any traveler who visits the town would wonder where the men of the town have gone. But there were no men here to begin with.

Fisch is home to the Black Rose coven. A group of witches who worship the god of death and decay, Jenai. By night, they perform dark, ancient rituals. By day, they are single mothers worried for their children.

"No more school!" The ghost girl exclaims, floating right behind Adelaide. "No more boring classes. No more grumpy Loviegna!"

"Viv, you ruined everything!"

"What did I do?"

Adelaide begins to pick up his pace. "Thanks to you, Loviegna isn't going to teach me magic anymore!"

"And? You hate her. Now you don't have to see her again."

"Yes, I hate her, but she's the only one who was going to teach me magic and now I'm never gonna be a sorcerer!"

"Just ask your mom. She can teach you!"

"It's not that simple…" Adelaide stops in front of the house of the Kulmird family, the best alchemist in the village. "Look, Viv. You've done enough to ruin my life, okay? Just go back. to whatever graveyard you spawned from!" With that, he enters the Kulmird residence and closes the door behind him.

"I… I don't know where that is!" Vivianne fazes through the door and follows behind.

The Kulmird residence looks unassuming from the outside, but inside is a wondrous home of alchemic study. All manners of flora engulf the walls of this home. Small birds with tiny watering cans fly from flower to herb, tending to the plants. Large mushrooms make for chairs and sofas, and the main feature of the room, large, cast iron cauldron, lies at the center. Adelaide's mother, Elise, is here stirring the cauldron. She had agreed to help the alchemist with a new potion.

"Adelaide, you're here already?" She looks up from the cauldron, a stern look in her face.

"The high priestess let me out early."

"What did you do?" Elise steps away from the cauldron, stomping toward Adelaide. Then stops. "No. Never mind. I don't want to hear it. Whatever it is, I'll fix it with Loviegna."

"Um… the high priestess said that I--"

"Not a word, Adelaide." She looms over Adelaide. "You have embarrassed me enough with your incompetence. We don't need anyone else hearing about it. Whatever you got to say to me, you say it at home. Understand?"

"Yes, mom."

At that moment, Ms. Kulmird arrives. She is a stout dwarven woman who likes to wear her brunette hair in a large, braided beehive. With her is her daughter, Yodde, who looks like what a child version of Ms. Kulmird would look like, but wearing braided pigtails instead. Yodde waves at Adelaide.

"Oh, the boy's here already?" Ms. Kulmird walks in with several baskets in hand. "What did you do this time? Or should I say, what did you not do?" She laughs to herself.

"The high priestess wasn't feeling well, so she let me go."

"Sure, sure. Here." She pushes a basket onto Adelaide's chest. "You may be no good at magic, but you are good at listenin', which I very much appreciate. So listen carefully." She pulls out an old journal filled with some of her own writings. She flips to a page with a drawing of a plant.

"This is the Viper Angelica, alright? It looks like Ghost Angelica, but it's not white, it's red, yes?" Adelaide nods, she continues. "I'm telling you this because I know those two runts and little Miss Perfect aren't gonna listen. Now go on! Go get the others and find me that Angelica!" She drops the rest of the baskets on Adelaide and ushers him and Yodde out the door.

"And remember!" Ms. Kulmird says as she sees the kids out. "If you see anyone, you seen and heard nothin'!"

Campaign | Next

[positivelybeastly]

❛ maybe there's a universe out there where we're friends. ❜ [Sarcastic Woolf for Bespoke Beast. AHAHAH... *sobs*]

"Does that thought give you comfort, or does it horrify you?"

It's a remarkably convivial tone that the Beast has adopted, and why shouldn't he have? It's a jolly occasion - he has a return visitor, even if she has been rude enough to turn up in the middle of an experiment.

Oh well. If it's another lesson, another truth, that she wishes to learn, then he'll teach it.

They sit at opposite ends of a long glass table, the pane fractured like a spider's web from six separate points, each and every one crackled impact from where another pile of Beastflesh's head had gone THUNK onto the surface. From white, grey, blue, red furred necks sprout flowers and mushrooms, a bouquet of viscera and vegetation that forms the most ghoulish garden of heads one could fathom.

The Beast that's still alive, the one that can still talk, is the one she's talked to - before. She knows him intimately. It's not quite the schoolyard trope of sneaky cigarettes behind the bike shed, of course, but they have shared a puff or two, haven't they? His smile is carnivorous as he pops open the lid of a snuff box.

"In another world, another time, another place, we might've been friends. A time honoured classic. 'We're not so different, you and I.' 'There's still good in you, I know it.' 'You weren't always like this.' They tickle me, Woolf."

The bouquet nearest her twitches. The motor impulses are still firing. The smell in the air is oddly sweet, each and every Beast scented differently. Each and every one of them clutching a snuffbox in their fingers, until the spasms reach the gnarled, clawed hands and they drop with a clatter.

Unsuccessful strains, but what is science but trial and error?

"Say I wasn't always like this. The fact that I am, in fact, now like this, speaks volumes, does it not? What does that say about how things have transpired? Nothing pleasant, surely?"

The snuff he pulls from the box pulsates. There's, of course, the requisite ground tobacco leaves - a Krakoan species, of course - but something . . . else, that the Beast has added. For kick. A biological incubator, a growth accelerant. Gene markers for every flavour of petalled oil sequencable.

"It says that the seed was planted. A thought formed. An idea gained purchase. Old beliefs fell by the wayside, replaced by newer, better ones - that is the march of progress, after all."

"And what happened then, Woolf? Was the seed uprooted? Was it dug out with fervour? Was the infestation purged?"

The Beast smiled as he brought up the snuff to his nose.

"Why, no. It was left alone. It thrived in the dark, in the wet, rich soil. And the seed, well . . . a planted seed will grow."

He inhaled.

A pleasant high fell upon him, and he fell back in his chair with a rumble. His eyes lidded, and he regarded Tess with almost a fond smile.

"Aren't we friends, Woolf? Is there no friendlier thing to do than to die in front of you? It is such a very private affair, after all. I wouldn't share this with just anyone."

He laughs again, the rancorous, ugly sound that Tess has come to hear and recoil from, right before the noise stops. He gurgles and seizes, and clawed fingers dug into the armrests of the chair as he went ramrod straight. His mouth opens, and a warm yellow sunflower blooms on his tongue, from his tongue, is his tongue.

Golden petals flourish from his eyes. Stalks and roots spider out of his nose and across his jaw, forming a tight, woven net of vegetation from lip to ear. From his furry chest slowly sprouts a glimmering garden of fungus, tinged a soothing chartreuse, and it's only as she looked close that she could see the roots were tinged blood red.

From behind her, a hand clasps her on the shoulder. It's the Beast she knew first, again. He seems to like wearing this body around her. In his own, twisted way, perhaps it's his way of showing a fondness for her.

Or perhaps he just wants to fuck with her.

"Hmm. Not my best narcotic. A one hundred percent failure rate thus far. Back to the drawing board, wouldn't you say, Woolf?"

[kendylouwhoo]

Relationship to psychedelics

To do or not to do that is the question. Some say you don't need them, while others do them so often. Masters have said they live in that state, so what's the point. Others get to those states without ever smoking a joint. But if you can see the false light that peaks its head in, you see the answer you know is true for you, and it tells you it's for all men and women. If you're using psychedelics to get to a certain point, then my friend you don't understand what these spirits bring in. They aren't just objects that teach you or help you see. They are real live beings connected to all trees. They are like friends, some come and some go. Some you will always hold close to you and will always know. A question is this, if you had a dog friend, would you say, I've learned enough from you, I've got what I've came for now be on your way. I don't think so, maybe some would, but when you love a dog he's your companion not just an object you throw away when you've gotten high enough and want no more play. Plant medicine is similar, a friend, a being you get to know more and more as you go. Though some stop at the door and say this beings not my friend, and that's fine, let it end. I am not for everyone and neither is the medicine. But if you get along, and love to sing songs, if you build a relationship and get to know one another, the medicine is just like a brother, or mother or lover. The relationship is deep and takes work just like any other to keep. When's the last time you asked the mushrooms how you could serve them? What offerings have you made? Are you trying to take or are you weaving a beautiful story? The longer you work with them the more you get to know them, they are beings just like you and me. It takes practice, intention and commitment, to really have a true friend.

Like any other relationship, it's can become unhealthy. Being codependent, looking to them for all the answers, I can't do it without you. Trying to numb out parts, listen dear, the medicine won't let you do that for long. You might start to lost it and shut off some parts. Become isolated, afraid of other people. You've stepped into the false light, that person over there they are not very clear and if I spend time with them they might get their dirty energy on me. So instead I will flee. Have you trauma bonded to the medicine? It's so terrible, but then so good. Like a never ending roller coster? Are you addicted to the highs and addicted to the lows and when the question comes up are you always chosing those? I can't live without you, never leave me! Look my dear, this relationship is unhealthy. What is your relationship with these little beings? Have you come narcissistic, is your intention just to take? Show me the answers, show me the way, there's the false light, the medicine knows better than your own inner light, and you just keep seeking, I know you may.

So what does healthy look like? How can you play in a truly healthy way? Do you intend on getting to know them, want to understand who they are? Do you want them to help you be a vestle for spirit to use you for the greatest good of all beings so you can know who you are? Are you going that far? What does healthy look like for you? How do you relate? Do you treat these beings with reverence, maybe take them on a date? How do you treat a being that you love? Are you treating them with your heart? You know, having a real relationship with them is like making art.

[comicaurora]

welp

"So… your text wasn't super clear." Bruno tugged his sneaker loose from a tangle of briars and narrowly avoided a low-hanging branch. "What exactly are we looking for out here?"

"Not deer." Serena cut smoothly through the tangled undergrowth like a shark in the open water. Bruno briefly marveled that, of the two of them, he was the one getting snagged on every passing treebranch. Serena's mane of curls, loose clothing and frankly impractical amount of jewelry seemed a much fairer target than his own close-cut jacket and sensible shoes. His ankle buckled on a treacherously loose rock and he stifled a curse.

If Serena noticed his heroic attempt to spare her child ears from the horrors of the f-word, she didn't acknowledge it. She was staring intently at a small cluster of points of light hovering just over her open palm. If one squinted, the arrangement almost resembled a bow, arrow nocked and ready. It twisted gently back and forth.

"Most things aren't deer," Bruno muttered, carefully avoiding a suspicious patch of greenery that might've been poison ivy and instead planting his foot directly into a toadstool.

"Not not a deer. A not-deer." Serena's eyes narrowed, and the stellar bow brightened. The arrow snapped to attention and pointed, quivering, directly ahead. She straightened and glanced back. "They're all over the place. I'm sure you've seen one." Bruno kicked loose chunks of mushroom off of his sneakers. "This isn't Avalon, dude. We don't really do forests here."

"Oh, they're not dumb enough to come to Avalon." Serena closed her fist. The starry apparition vanished. "But Gaia's a hub-world, and hubs have openings everywhere. Not-quites seep in through the cracks and fall into whatever shape fits best. Here, it's mostly deer."

A chill quietly settled on the back of Bruno's neck as he processed her words. "What are we talking about, buddy?"

She looked back at him in surprise. “Not-quites. Entities without a true shape. They're very common."

"I've never seen one!"

"Well, not as far as you know." She waved a hand breezily. "Mother thinks they come from the Cocoon realm, or at least its far edges. Their own forms are incomplete, so they copy others - but they don't really understand how they work. They move wrong, or they get the orifices mixed up. They're very common in the local folklore."

Bruno recalled an ill-conceived late-night viewing party of The Thing a few years back and shuddered slightly. "I'm familiar with the concept."

"I knew you would be." Serena pushed aside an intrusive branch and indicated a clearing ahead. "We've got one here."

Bruno crouched down behind the shrubbery and squinted into the light. The clearing was idyllically beautiful. Luminous motes danced through the sunbeams that streaked through the thinning foliage, dappling gently onto a cluster of six or seven deer calmly chewing the grass and clover that lushly covered the forest floor.

"I should get out of the city more," Bruno murmured, entranced.

"Don't get cozy. We'll only have a few seconds." Serena knelt behind the bush and traced an intricate pattern in the air, leaving faint glowing points at key nexus points.

"A few seconds for what?"

Serena drew back her arm with a flourish and snapped her fingers.

The sound rippled outward with a wave of power. The deer perked up, then quietly returned to their clover.

An ethereal figure exploded out from the treeline with a war cry, swinging a massive club with irresponsible abandon. The deer startled and scattered for the trees, save for one, who jerked its head back to the source of the initial snap and glared into the treeline with wide, glassy eyes.

Bruno felt a sudden, stomach-turning drop as he locked eyes with the deer.

That wasn't right. Something wasn't right. He admittedly hadn't seen many deer in his time, but were they supposed to look so… sinewy?

Serena smiled grimly, and the ethereal figure clamped his arms around the deer - the not-deer, Bruno corrected, as it bucked and thrashed furiously, legs flailing wildly in very unexpected directions. The figure - still ephemeral and faint as starlight, but now clearly identifiable as a tall, brawny, bearded man in some kind of short, belted toga - held firm, and shouted something triumphantly in a language Bruno didn't recognize.

Serena nodded in approval and stepped into the clearing, brushing the dirt from her skirt. Bruno stumbled after her, eyes trained on the writhing beast. It was trying to bite the starry spirit. Did deer bite? What did deer eat, anyway?

"Excellent work, Orion." Serena stopped short several feet back from the not-deer and regarded it coolly. It flailed and strained, snapping at her, but the spirit - Orion, apparently - had it clamped in a firm headlock, a star-studded bicep pressing against the not-deer's throat.

"…Big fan of your belt," Bruno murmured to the spirit, who gave him a cheery grin and nodded once before returning his attention to his grip.

With a shriek and a very unpleasant crack, the not-deer's mouth split open. Bruno recoiled as the lower half of the not-deer's entire neck peeled back, revealing a deeply upsetting mass of roiling muscle and teeth. The not-deer flailed its mouth-neck wildly, warbling a shriek that set Bruno's teeth on edge.

"That's more than enough out of you," Serena said loudly. Orion flexed his grip and the not-deer's shriek acquired a wheezy edge.

Serena carefully leaned in, keeping a safe distance from the maw. "Listen, if I were here to harvest you, I'd have had Orion snap off your horns. I'm here for information."

The not-deer paused its thrashing and rolled a quizzical eye at her.

Bruno leaned down to Serena's ear, not taking his eyes off the not-deer. "Harvest?" he whispered.

Serena waved dismissively. "It's a witch thing. Creatures from other realms carry their magic with them. It's quite simple," she said a little louder than necessary, "to harvest their parts for use in potions and artifacts. It allows us the use of realm magic we might not otherwise have access to. But today I'd rather not do that." She stepped towards the not-deer, which wheezed apprehensively.

"There's been a realm incursion in the city. I want you to tell us what you've seen."

The not-deer's gaze darted from Serena to Bruno and back. Then something pink shot out from its exposed toothy maw with a soft but deeply unpleasant squish and coiled itself up from the gaping neck-mouth like a cobra. Bruno was dimly aware that his face doing some very expressive things as the tip of the protruberance slowly split open lengthwise, like the mouth of a puppet.

"What's it to ya?" the not-deer squeaked.

Behind Serena, Bruno strangled a surprised bark of laughter. Serena folded her arms. "It's actively targeting mundanes. Putting something in the food. Whatever it is, it's predatory."

"Rich, coming from a witch." The not-deer rolled its eyes. Serena sharply glanced at Orion, who nodded once and tightened his grip. The ridiculous puppet-mouth wheezed. "All right, all right! I may have seen something."

Serena nodded once at Orion, who loosened his grip slightly. The not-deer shook itself and its neck zipped itself closed with a wet schlorp, leaving the ridiculous puppet-tentacle protruding from its mouth as the only clue that this was anything but an ordinary deer.

Serena sat on a small grassy hillock and gestured at the not-deer. "Anything you have will be helpful."

Orion followed suit and plopped to the ground with a thud, dragging the not-deer prone. It squeaked a faint protest, then rolled its eyes and tucked its legs under its body. Bruno tentatively sat on a dry patch of grass.

The not-deer sighed. "So listen. First off, I don't go into the city, all right? Cars hurt and people get all screamy when I pull myself together. It ain't worth the hassle. What I've seen, I've seen out here."

"Fine."

"A few weeks back, I was up in the Linne woods, right? Great spot. Flower fields, ponds, loads of deer, the works. It's late night, no tourists around. And I'm minding my own business, okay?"

Serena nodded. The not-deer shifted uncomfortably. "And then there's this… sound, okay? In the sky. Like wind, but it keeps gettin' louder. And that's when I start hearing the hounds."

"Hounds?"

The not-deer scuffed a hoof through the grass, digging up clods of dirt. "I don't see them, you understand. But I can hear them baying. Now I don't mess with no hounds, so I lose the skeleton and drop as flat as I can in the grass."

Bruno shifted in his seat as he stalwartly repressed that mental image.

"At this point the noise is all around me, okay? But I still can't see anything. And the deer, they're spooked too. They wanna bolt, but they don't know where to run. And then there's this rip." The not-deer gestured skyward with its tentacle. "It's been a clear night, but the sky flashes like lightning, and suddenly there's this dark cloud. Only it's not a cloud. It's a hunting party. All of a sudden I can't just hear dogs, I can smell them."

"The Wild Hunt," Serena breathed. Bruno started, but she raised a hand to silence him. "Later. Go on?"

"Well… they land. The deer bolt, and I can hear some of the hounds rushing after them through the dark. But I'm focusing on the boss, right? Cuz there's this big fancy dude on a horse who looks like he runs the show, and this lady riding next to him, and a lot of dudes behind them. They're all lit up by the moonlight, and I know they're solid and real cuz I can smell them, but they're almost hazy, like mirages or something. And I'm down in the grass, right? Well, I can feel it start growing. Flowers start popping up out of the ground around these jokers. Spring flowers."

Serena frowned. "That's… not right. It can't be."

"Hey, I'm telling you what I saw!" The not-deer rolled a fearful eye at Orion. "Back me up, big guy!"

Serena shook her head. "You said there were two hunt leaders?"

"Yeah, yeah! It was dark, but the dude had some kind of mask, and his clothes were - well, I'm no expert, but he had a lot going on. Patches, layers, maybe some armor? Looked kinda ragged. Lots of weapons, too, and I saw him holding a horn."

"Tell me about the woman."

The not-deer frowned, contorting its otherwise convincing features in a distinctly unconvincing way. "Very pale. Long dark hair, and a gown, I think. Hard to make out, but I think she had some sorta… tiara? Something glinting in the general head-region. And her eyes were real green - I could see 'em even in the dark."

"What color was her horse?"

The not-deer blinked. "What? I - white, I think? I said it was dark."

Serena nodded. "Okay. What did she do?"

"Well, when they landed, she got off her horse. But the guy didn't. She said something quiet-like, and the guy nodded, and then he blew that horn and took off again. Most of his crew went with him, but a handful stayed with the lady. She kinda… looked around for a bit, like she was sizing the place up. But she didn't seem too happy. After a bit, she got back on her horse and her and her crew headed off - east, I think. Hard to tell directions when I'm flat.”

Bruno was continuing to stalwartly not think about what a flat deer looked like.

"East." Serena looked thoughtful. "We'll need to keep an eye out for unseasonal wildflowers."

"We will?" Bruno leaned forward. "Serena, the Wild Hunt - my mom's told me about it. Her boss runs it."

"Sometimes. He's not always the hunt leader. And it's the woman I'm concerned about." Serena frowned, then stood. "Okay. You've been very helpful."

"Does this mean I can go?" The not-deer twisted its neck and blinked disarmingly, an effect thoroughly spoiled both by the tentacle situation and the fact that its neck was bent much more acutely than a real deer could have managed. "Cuz I've been so helpful?"

Serena nodded at Orion, who unhooked his arms from the not-deers neck and clapped it affectionately on the shoulder. The not-deer scrambled to its hooves and skittered for the treeline, joints snapping back into place with every stride.

"We're really letting it go?" Bruno murmured.

"It told us what we needed."

"Yeah, but it's…" Bruno struggled to find the words. "��…it's just so creepy."

"We're not monster-hunters. Creepy isn't a crime.”

The not-deer vanished into the trees. Serena nodded at Orion and said something Bruno couldn't make out, and the spirit's form dissolved into a glimmer of light streaking up into the daylit sky.

Serena clapped her hands. "Well! That was productive. Let's head back."

"Wait, it was? Do we know what's happening?"

"I think so." Serena strode back towards the trees. "I'll need to make sure, but the Wild Hunt is clear enough. And the woman explains a lot."

"She does? Do you know who she is?"

Serena quirked an eyebrow. "Magic food and mesmerized humans. White horse, green eyes, crown - and the spring flowers. The clues are all there."

Bruno sighed internally. "I didn't learn about realm magic in school, kiddo. Explain it like I'm dumb."

"Didn't you read Shakespeare?"

"I-" Bruno blinked. "…Yes?"

"Then you know who Titania is."

Bruno stopped dead.

"Ah," he squeaked. "We're really in trouble, aren't we?

I've sent a similar ask before, so if you didn't answer it because you didn't want to, apologies, but I have no way of knowing if you just didn't see it, so here we go-does the wild hunt exist in the urban fantasy thing, and if so, who leads it?

It does! It's kind of a strange phenomenon, and it's not always led by the same person. It's theoretically possible that there's more than one Wild Hunt, or that it's a strangely flexible composite ghost.

[madmushlove]

Slime Molds

If interest in fungi is an eccentricity, interest in slime mold is downright demented.

There are hobbies most people understand even if they don’t enjoy them.  Gardening is no taboo.  Practically everyone thinks flowers are pretty.  When they don’t, they must acknowledge that it’s they who don’t fit in.  

Birdwatching might not be common, but at least most people are acquainted with birds and understand their appeal.  Even the most joyless accountants, thinking these days mostly in monotonous sums, must still feel even a tingle of sadness if a little birdie happens to meet the front end of  their Civics or Impalas.

Most the world must have been at some point a birder but probably not a mushroomer.

Isn’t that part of the appeal?  Isn’t there something wonderful about a secret love all to yourself?  The obscurity of fungus attracts even as it repels.

Naturalist pariahs, though, have weirdos of their own.

Indulging in fungiphilia to the point where crusts and resupinate polypores electrify the imagination might still leave some feeling that they’re normal people with unusual taste.  

The line is crossed with slime mold.

Slime molds aren’t fungi.  They are members of that biological grab bag called Protista.  I’m no expert, but I have hunch taxonomists happily pick out life forms that fit into more comprehensive categories (animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and archea) only to get overwhelmed with the heaps that remain.

Screw this, taxonomists say. I give you Protista!

Some people say Fungi is the odd macro-kingdom out, because they are neither plant nor animal.  That’s conundrum enough for most.  But protists are neither plant nor animal, nor are they ‘neither plant nor animal.’

What do you think that, you stupid human?

Protists are Eukaryotic.  Most are heterotrophs, while some photosynthesize.  Most are single-celled, though some are multi-cellular.  Some start off their life cycles as individualistic cellular organisms, only to later assemble with others into a slug-like blob that moves as one before transforming yet again into sporangia.  

For a kingdom, if they can truly be called one, they are unique in that many are more closely related to members of other kingdoms than to each other.

They are sub-categorized according to their like.

Algae are like plants.  Protizoa are like animals.  And slime molds and water molds are like fungi.

At first, you feel a little self conscious about looking for and delighting in their appearance.  Then, you settle into it.

You look carefully after the rain wherever wood rots.  Just try not to confuse them with snail eggs.  

Their names are fun to say:  Pretzel Slime. Dog Vomit or Scrambled Eggs. Honeycomb Coral.  White Fingers. Tapioca.  Chocolate Tube Slime. Wolf’s Milk. Orange Pin. Raspberry Slime. Birdcage.

They are small. Look harder for them than for fungi.  And they are striking in both their complexity and simplicity.

I won’t pretend to know much more than that.  A little research quickly reveals, unsurprisingly, that I was taught almost nothing about them.

That’s the thing about much of nature, really.

It doesn’t come to you.

You have to find it on your own. 

[townofcadence]

He's thinking about everything, mulling over the unsaid horror of the carnivorous houses, of how things are different from what he's used to, of the fact that screams in the woods are normal and there's zombies that he hadn't run into around. It's like--- he doesn't know. Some horror story? But one of those abstract ones where the symbolism is symbolism but also physical and trying to kill you, or one where the world turns to a nightmare version of itself. At least there still seemed to be things that were harmless and interesting, but..... there was still a hint of morbidity in it all, that was definitely familiar, yet foreign in the fact that here it was mundane. Except also it wasn't before? Based on what she'd said about changing. Maybe it wasn't a new new thing, or something that just happened, but it was new enough that someone still alive remembered how it used to be before. It's almost concerning how nonchalant it all seems to be for Thursday with that in mind, but he tucks that thought away for a later time.

"Ah... well....." He rubs his chin in thought. The first word he could think to describe his home was 'normal', but that hardly described anything when normal could vary drastically. The clearing ahead they were moving toward with a blue glow would hardly be considered normal at home, yet here it seemed something like that was so normal Thursday hadn't even blinked at heading that way. "It's.... definitely different from here? The houses are just structures and don't eat you. I guess there can be zombies, but they're not like--- well actually I don't know. There's different kinds, but most of them aren't like the movies, but I don't even know if that means anything here." He rubs at his neck with a small patter of a laugh.

"There are....trees? Mn-- trees that look less-- the woods are less haunted looking?" Artair kind of wants to facepalm, but it's hard to describe anything when he's unsure of the baseline. Did they have zombie movies? Were they like the ones at home? Would 'normal trees' just mean the ones in these woods, what he meant, or something else entirely, to someone from here? "There's.... a lot of people, and most people don't know about the horrors out there. It's mostly just--- movies and media for them. It's there, but like-- the less you know the safer you are, almost? Most things look a lot safer I guess. Not that they always are, of course. Also I think most of our plants don't really scream. There aren't bodies littered around covered in mushrooms or anything."

If he'd planned to clarify more, it leaves him as they finally enter the grove. Ahead, the blue glow is obvious. He can see a multitude of those bioluminescent mushroom blocks, like a graveyard in the copse. They all decorate the lawn, a miniature asphalt parking lot the size of maybe two vehicles. Said yard leads right up to a building with sliding glass doors that seem to open and close of their own volition in an endless cycle. A banner hangs along the front-facing wall, over where the name of the store might've been, announcing a Black Friday sale with an uncomfortable multitude of colors and a few smiley faces.

The graves look like they might've been those unfortunate enough to be crushed underfoot a while ago, in an effort to enter the building. Considering he'd heard stories that reflected that about his own world, it was his best assumption. But he's not sure if they're luckier than the ones who probably made it inside. Even without shining his flashlight into those sliding glass doors, when they open his vision is clear enough he can see blood and what might've been viscera or other things, dried and coated onto the walls so thick it looked black. Mold seemed to have taken root too, maybe from the humidity and coagulated wet providing a damp environment. He could see the way it covered everything from across the lot, patches of sickly green and fluorescent orange. The only remains of whoever or whatever had managed it's way inside and become the market's meal are covered now in a thicket of fuzz, and tendrils that almost remind him of a circuit board. Even so, there are still some vague shapes he can recognize almost all too well, even at a distance.

His stomach knots. It's not fresh, that's for sure, but he can only imagine what the prior discovery Thursday had implied must have been like, just seeing this. He wasn't sure he'd want to see something fresh if given the choice. His brain can supply more than enough of an image of something wet and splattered with viscera, from his own past experiences.

He shakes his head. It wasn't new blood or-- other things, like the rest of a body; that meant they needed to keep moving if they wanted to figure out the origin of the screams they had heard. He tries his best not to acknowledge what he sees inside that building-- Thursday probably already knew, if she was familiar with the area, but it wouldn't help them any if that wasn't true. And she'd already been reminded of what she'd seen at least once. The less gruesome recollections they shone their flashlights down on, the better.

"Color me curious," Artair asks, walking with her over the edge of the store's parking lot and back towards the forest. "How do you navigate this place without getting lost? It sees pretty expansive. Do you just have a bunch of landmarks you keep an eye on?" Where he lives, there's a giant forest around town, and when people left the trails, getting lost was easier than you'd think. Getting found was all the more difficult.

As it is, Thursday does chuckle a little bit. "It is all a bit unusual, isn't it? Truth is, we haven't studied all these things all that much. I mean, I personally am not a biologist and I don't think anybody else in the Office is either. I've come out and looked at all this stuff, but I don't know anything about taking samples and studying them under a microscope or anything like that. The way we learned about some of the buildings being carnivorous is, well... you know..." she explains by way of not explaining, instead using her eyes and the way they roll off to gaze in another direction to explain instead. Someone was eaten by one and we saw it happen.

She hurries to explain that lack of explanation, though: "It was one of the zombies around here that it happened to. That we saw it happen to. They stumbled on in there, the doors all shut, and when they opened back up later, it- you know, the zombie, it- well, it was just, it- well, it- Yeah, it wasn't a pretty picture." Thursday is hoping the grimace on her expression is enough to explain this time, because the remains of that zombie really was something right out of a horror movie, and even she doesn't want to describe it.

"But to your point, even though there are a lot of dangerous things around here, there are a lot of interesting things too! Even some of the screams in the woods are interesting, hahaha. Like, there's some little flowers out here that I like to call party screamers, because that's what they do - they scream, but they also shoot this like silly string stuff out if you step on them, ahahaha." Thursday laughs as she keeps her flashlight aimed at the ground, picking her way around all the forest debris here and there.

"What are things like where you're from, Artair?"

[croa20an]

Listen "cottagecore" folks, you should be disgusted by this. Not reblogging it. That mushroom is ripped up from the root and won't have a chance to regrow. You're supposed to cut them with clean shears, not rip them up and decimate a small, important part of the ecosystem by taking food from little creatures in the woods. I hate this fucking "cottagecore" trend where spoiled brats go out and fuck up the woods and call it aesthetic. You're posting pictures of excess for attention. News flash: you're only supposed to take a FRACTION of anything you forage, to leave enough for other animals and the rest of the ecosystem, and give the plant a chance to spread. Just a few little plants and seeds or spores aren't enough. Pay close attention to how much is there at the beginning, naturally, and only take a small fraction of that, and only if you need it. Not just for pictures. And always use clean shears to cut the plant or mushroom, otherwise you could spread disease and destroy an entire population. Bring clean water and cloths with you to wash the shears after each use.

And another thing? RESEARCH these new lifestyles before you jump in. Book, internet, people older than you living locally and doing the same habits. And speak to/read up on conservationists too! Otherwise you're just going to destroy the thing you claim to love. This shit could very well destroy the last bit of wilderness and diversity in the world, little by little. One cat killed an entire species of flightless birds, never forget that. And on that note? Don't bring your fucking cats, or build them an outdoor fenced-in sanctuary if you're not going to keep them inside or leashed 24/7, the decimate songbird populations, among other things. The same goes for dogs, though they're MUCH less destructive and disastrous to the ecosystem than cats are, because they're just not as good at hunting, especially birds. Besides, coyotes roam and gladly devour cats and dogs that aren't leashed all the fucking time. Fluffy didn't get lost or kidnapped, she got pulled apart alive by coyotes because you didn't give enough fucks to either clean her shit up or teach her to shit outside.

Or worse, she caught rabies, and slowly suffered and went insane, dying of thirst and fear. Rarer than coyotes or highway pancakes, but it happens, and it's just about the worst death any creature can experience. A little boy with rabies was studied and asked what he felt, and it was a repetition of pain and terror and thirst, not wanting to bite but having no choice, keeping his memories and knowing who he was. Don't take chances with your pets like that, they deserve better.