#like mushrooms and birds and spiders (etc.)

[oatmealdaydreams]

thoughts on mushrooms?

Fuckin love mushrooms. They're so pretty with all of their varieties!!

Like Amethyst Deceiver mushrooms? The ever-classic Fly Agaric mushrooms? Mycena Interrupta mushrooms??

So yeah, love mushrooms :D

[persephonaae]

While I’m sitting here posting all the things I found this morning I’m reminded I wanted to say: if you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution that’s easy to stick to this year I have a great idea for you! Go make an iNaturalist account! It’s easy, it’s free, it’s on both desktop and an app! Just upload pictures, you can even upload it with your best guess as to what something is (you can even put something like “flower” or “mushroom” or “bird” if you really have no clue) and there’s usually some people in the community who go around and help you label it with a more specific identification. (And of course you can take a look at local observations and try to help others identify!)

While I always recommend going on more hikes and into your local natural ecosystems, I know this is also not always the easiest or most accessible thing for everyone. But the great thing is that it really doesn’t take much to start observing and learning about your local species! Take a picture of that bird in the parking lot, that plant growing out of the crack in the sidewalk, that worm on the ground, that mushroom on a small patch of grass, that spider in the backyard! The options are more endless than you think! And if you’re really struggling to take pictures yourself, just browse local areas in iNaturalist; take a look at what other people in your area are observing! It’s still a great way to learn about native plants, animals, insects, fungi, etc… You really don’t know how something you might find in your every day life might be something special and unique to the ecosystem around you, and even the most common species can become exciting to see when you know what it is.

Go forth and fill your 2024 with biodiversity!

[path-of-grass-and-leaves]

Creating a Backyard Land Spirit Profile

Working with land spirits can help connect you with your local ecosystem, and for some practitioners is a crucial aspect of bioregional magic. Some folks, like myself, consider themselves to be initiated by one or more land spirits.

When I use the term land spirits, I am referring to a few different things. First are the collective spirits of various plants, animals, and insects present in a specific bioregion. An example of collective, in this context, means that if I'm petitioning help from the spirit of violets, I am working with the spirit of all violets present in that area rather than a singe flower that grows in my yard.

The next is the land guardian, which in my practice is a more powerful spirit with claim over a specific territory, like a forest, river, or neighborhood.

Sometimes these two concepts are separate and sometimes they're interchangeable. It all depends on personal practice, culture, local folklore, etc.

One thing that has been extremely beneficial to my practice has been creating a backyard land spirit profile. This method has been useful for spirit work and "green" magic, but more importantly, it's helped me immerse myself in my local ecosystem and I get to meet a lot of cool animals and plants.

Here is an over-simplfied example of my backyard land profile:

Ecosystem: Central Interior and Appalachian: Mixed woodlands, close to possible floodplains

Soil Type: Clay in garden bed, Loamy near/beneath shrubs, Sandy in sunny areas of the lawn

Flora:

Cultivated- Paradise Apple, Highbush Blueberry, Rose of Sharon, Dog Rose, Black-Eyed Susan, Sundial Lupine

Native - Bloodroot, Wild Strawberry, Common Violet, Wrinkle-Leaf Goldenrod, Blue Wood-Aster, Horseweed, Fireweed, Deer-Tongue Witchgrass, Common Milkweed

Invasive - Round-Leaved Bittersweet, Yellow Toadflax, Creeping Bellflower, Common Mugwort

Naturalized - Dandelion, Broad-Leaf Plantain, Deadly Nightshade

Notes - Various mosses, unidentified mushrooms growing on lawn and lichens found on some trees/shrubs.

Fauna:

Mammals - Raccoon, Opossum, Striped Skunk, Grey Squirrel, Chipmunk, Feral Cats, Deer mouse, House Mouse

Birds - Cardinals, Chickadees, Catbirds, American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Crow

Reptiles and Amphibians - N/A

Fish - N/A

Invertebrates - Dotted Wolf Spider, Leopard Slug, Tiger Bee Fly, Monarch Caterpillars, Peach Root Weevile, Narrow-Winged Mantis, Fireflies

Ecoregion and Soil Type

The first thing I did was determine what type of ecosystem my yard used to be. In an urban/suburban area this was a bit challenging.

I started by identifying a few wild plants and finding out where they usually grow. Most of them seemed to prefer shady woodlands and rich soil. There were also a couple of pioneer species present in the sunnier and more disturbed areas of the yard.

Next, I took a look at surrounding wild areas. We are close to a mountain and a large river. There are woodlands near and within the city made up of mostly hardwood and conifer trees. I knew from memory that certain areas close to my home are likely floodlands.

After that, I found a bioregion map of my country which showed that my state fell under the category of Central Interior and Appalachian. I searched this region on landscope.org and was able to determine my specific ecoregion (not shared here for privacy reasons).

From there I started making educated guesses. I determined that my backyard was likely a mixed hardwood and conifer woodland sitting very close to what might have been a floodplain.

For my soil type, I took samples from different areas of my yard and used an online guide to determine what kind of soil I had. Most of it was sandy or loamy, but my flower beds seemed to have some clay.

Using all this information, I had a general idea of what kind of plants and wildlife would be present without human intervention. It also helped with deciding which native plants to start growing.

Plants

Throughout the year, I went out to the yard with a wildlife field guide and a couple identification apps and identified every plant and insect I found. I grouped the plants into four categories: native, invasive, naturalized, and cultivated. This isn't shown in the example, but I also grouped them by season and the time of year they appear.

Naturalized refers to plants that have integrated themselves into the environment without inflicting damage to the local ecosystem.

You'll notice that under the cultivated section I included a few native plants. This is because those plants were introduced by me and would not be present without my intervention and I wanted to make that distinction.

The importance of native and naturalized plants is obvious, but what about cultivated and invasive? Keeping a profile of invasive plants helped me keep a record of which noxious weeds I need to remove. From an ecological perspective, their removal is crucial to the survival of my native plants and garden crops. From a spiritual perspective, this can be an offering or act of service to the local land spirits. Some of these plants, like Common Mugwort, are both valuable for workings and fine to harvest in large quantities since they are invasive.

Cultivated plants are also important. Many of these plants, like my Blueberries, Apples, and Rose of Sharon, were here before me. The importance of plants introduced by humans is greater than you'd think. First, they are usually crops and flowering plants and provide food for both humans and the local wildlife. Secondly, I live in an urban area, and my land spirits are likely very closely associated with people.

I researched all of my plants and took note of growth patterns, toxicity, medicinal uses, ediblity, native region/habitat, ecological significance/impact, etc. Then I moved onto folklore and symbolism and started working with the spirits of a few plants, performing divination, leaving offerings, harvesting them and including them in rituals and spellwork. I did this in groups to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Please note that you should always properly identify plants and be aware of potential toxicity before harvesting, especially if you plan on burning or consuming said plant. Also steer clear of protected or threatened plants and keep harvest to a minimum even for abundant native species.

Wildlife

My next project was writing down every species of animal and insect that I had encountered in my yard. I grouped them into several categories: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. In real life my invertebrates section is separated into several subcategories (orb weavers, beetles, etc.).

Next, I used basically the same system I did for plants, researching their native range, preferred habitat, behavior, diet, ecological importance. Then I started looking into folklore.

Finally, I started integrating them into my practice and working with their collective spirits. This involved using animal symbolism in rituals, leaving offerings, and performing a lot of divination.

Remember to never interact with or directly feed wildlife. If I'm making offerings outdoors it is usually fresh water, scattered birdseed, and acts of service like creating habitats and growing plants that a specific species enjoys. If scattering birdseed, do so in the morning to keep too many animals, like raccoons, from entering your yard at night.

Side note: Keep a record of what appears in your yard each year! For example one year we had several chipmunks and one year I saw none. One year we had no fireflies and the next our backyard was covered in them.

Tying It All Together

Once I had my backyard profile completed, I started working with the collective spirits of select species. I have an offering schedule, perform communication, and petition these spirits regularly in spellwork. I use certain plants that I harvest for offerings and use for tinctures, infusions, cooking, and crafts. I use symbols of local animals in crafts and spellwork.

After working with the "smaller" spirits, you can start seeking out specific land guardians by using a combination of divination and research of local history and folklore.

On a mundane level, I am now able to cultivate an appropriate ecosystem for the local wildlife and start projects to support it. Examples of this are pollinator gardens, stick and brush piles for fireflies and small animals, growing seed-rich and fruiting plants for birds and mammals, winter shelters and TNR plans for feral cats, and more.

I also like to take notes on plants and wildlife that I encounter in my general area that don't usually make it into my backyard. For example there have been coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and black bears spotted in my neighborhood.

I want to stress that I live in a semi-urban and relatively populated neighborhood and I have a small yard. The brief example of of my land profile doesn't cover even a fraction of the wildlife I have encountered in my backyard. There is so much life in urban and suburban areas in need of our support.

[transylvanilla]

chandler 🫧 he/him 🫧 adult 🫧 taken (11/13/22) 🫧 transmasc genderfluid 🫧 white

Aesthetic and funny reblogs mainly. Grunge, stuffed animals, furry, art and random thoughts. I reblog nsfw sometimes so please be 18+ if u follow. Dm me to say hi I don't bite. Dxed with autism and borderline personality disorder so be patient please. DNI racists, zoos, pedos, terfs/swerfs, ableists, proshippers, nazis, any other type of dickhead I didn't mention. Lmk if u need something tagged

I like danganronpa, yume nikki/2kki, zero escape, your turn to die, haibane renmei, neon genesis evangelion, doki doki literature club, omori, btd/tpof, brba/bcs, et cetera

Tag directory under read more

🐺 tags 🐺

#chandlercore = me fr

#charismacore = her fr

#scarlettcore = sister fr

#readme = personal chat tag/most original posts

#asks = asks

#nsft = not safe for tumblr/not safe for work (18+)

#inspo = inspiration. I want to make this/make something inspired by this

#reminder = stuff I need to look at later

#important = usually politics, world events, etc

#kin tag = items, animals or characters I relate to or associate with (very non-seriously. only for fun)

#plushies = plushies

#food = food

#fruit = fruit

#furry = furry art/fursuits

#fashion = stuff I wanna wear

#web graphics = graphics and neocities stuff

#coding = coding stuff

#angels = angelic imagery

#pooltoys = pooltoys and inflatables

#december city = ???

#anthropop = ???

#hearts = heart patterns

#stars = star patterns

#spirals = spiral patterns

#mushrooms = mushrooms

#oceanic = sea creatures and the ocean

#snowy = snowscapes/winter pics I think look cool

#myart = art made by me

#myface = me

#puppies = canines (dogs, wolves, hyenas, etc)

#cats = kitties

#rodents = rodents (mice, rats, hamsters, capybaras, etc)

#bunnies = bunnies

#bugs = bugs and spiders

#ponies = horses and ponies

#big cats = larger cats. mostly leopards

#birds = birds

#bats = bats

#dragons = dragons, snakes, crocs, lizards

#bears = bears

#seals = seals

#badgers = badgers

#skunks = skunks

And then I usually tag fandoms (i.g. #homestuck, #yttd) and specific pokemon (i.g. #houndoom) only if I recognize them

Updated 10/23/24

[gorey]

lighthousecore is like. buckwheat with mushrooms. scar tissue. dada&surrealism. fiona apple&andrew bird&rory ferreira&phil elverum. traffic cones. stacked jewelry. donnie darko. lapsang souchong with honey. remain in light (1980) by talking heads. twin peaks. black timbs. nicotine addiction. twirling our cane between our fingers. modelo limon chelada. mutilating language how we see fit. pulsars&magnetars. labyrinth motifs. spiders&cicadas. defective streetlights. rainbow pocketknives. petty theft. toy cars. dissociative drugs. underground tunnels. you spin me round by dead or alive&tainted love by soft cell. arugula salads. november. lithium carbonate. color-changing LEDs. sunday morning by wallace stevens. deer&foxes&owls. playing the keyboard. being a schizoautist. cloudless nights. quantum mechanics. eyeball with wings. stick n poke tattoos. our collection of davids (lynch, tennant, byrne, sylvian etc). soviet jewish sensibilities. anarchism. orange candles. our big coat and the camo jacket raven gave us. smudgy dark eyeshadow. divine madness. grilled octopus. lying to our psychiatrist. tasteful sadomasochism. leonard cohen&anthony bourdain. dancing badly but often. echolalia. fluorite&gray jade. animal bones from antique shops. rhode island wilderness. craving chipotle even though we used to work there. symbolism&metanarratives. stuffed animals. glass figurines&little vases. trying anything at least once. lavender bath bombs. london fogs&dirty chais. wandering off. inability to play video games. picking random shit up off the street. smoking big weed. thelonious monk&theodore roethke&vincent van gogh&daniel johnston&all our other bipolar icons. being semi nocturnal. being most at ease with people who don't give a fuck. procrastinating on doing our T shot. stéphane grappelli&django reinhardt. ylang ylang&vanilla scents. black sharpies. doing it weird scared and alone. loving bmore in the face of all its bullshit. attention intention & motion. power outages during thunderstorms. four o'clock sun in autumn. vivid inscrutable dreams. fear&desire at the same time. harsh noise. jade plants. igor stravinsky&claude debussy. word salad. refusing to feel powerless. and of course the number 27

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

Dark Angel Interview: Emery

For my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club series.

I had previously asked for 'interview' questions for Emery, and I eventually got around to answering them. I'll do the same for Phoenix when I get a moment.

Tag List: @katries @summertimefun1982 @blxxckheart (If you want added to the tag list, let me know)

Food / Drinks She loves a wide variety of foods, only thanks to exploring so much with Kenny and the Bucks during her travels. Stir-fry is amazing, wontons, and some sushi. Just depends on her mood. Italian foods are probably her favorite overall- pasta, pizza and gelato. Seafood is amazing—but only crab, shrimp, and lobster. Emery doesn’t like much of anything else (Squid? Ew. Clams? Double ew.) Spanish cuisine is also really good; authentic is even better. She don’t really like super spicy foods though, it upsets her stomach; and she absolutely refuse to eat mushrooms or anything slimy.

Drink wise, mostly water or flavored water. Occasionally, she’ll drink sweet tea and some juices. Hot cocoa and coffee are amazing; Emery will never turn down stopping at Starbucks. Alcohol, she don’t really drink too much. She don’t like beers or wines—there’ve been a few fruity drinks she’s found that she likes, but only ever drinks 1-2 of them, and even then, there are months, sometimes almost a year in between drinking. She just doesn’t have the urge to drink a lot of alcohol.

Animals Emery absolutely loves dogs and cats! They’re her all-time favorites. There’s a lot of animals she likes; horses, dolphins, monkeys, turtles, birds—the list could go on.

The list of what Emery don’t like is much shorter and simpler. She could live without spiders, especially the larger ones. Mosquitos are highly annoying. Emery also suffers from ophidiophobia – irrational fear of snakes. She’s not been a fan of them for as long as she can remember. Bad experience as a kid.

Favorite Games This is a broad category, so let’s break it into chunks.

Video Games: Elder Scrolls are a big favorite of hers- mostly Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online. Raft. Sims franchise. Resident Evil franchise. Mortal Kombat is always a favorite of hers. Racing games, wrestling games—she’ll try just about any of them.

Board/Card Games: Poker, Apples to Apples/Cards Against Humanity, Monopoly, Clue – you name it, she will play it! Emery LOVES game night.

Places to Live/Visit She’s only ever lived in a few places. Emery was born in Colorado and lived there up until she was 18. After, lived in California for a while before making the long move to Japan. Now, she currently has an apartment in Florida.

Japan was definitely a top-list place, both living and visiting. The country is just so beautiful and the language is mesmerizing. Emery could listen to Kenny speak Japanese for hours and never tire of it. Italy is another place she has been lucky to visit; stayed there for almost four days due to a layover issue. Absolutely remarkable country, super nice people.

She’s wanted to go to England since she was a little girl—and has had a few opportunities to go, but unfortunately, something always comes up and Emery can never go. Maybe one day…

Favorite Music/Movies/TV Shows/Books Another broad topic that we’ll separate.

Music: Very open to different music- classical, pop, rock, etc. The only kind she doesn’t really listen to is screamo and most rap

Movies and TV: Supernatural is her go to; Doctor Who, Sherlock, Avengers, Once Upon a Time, CSI’s, NCIS’s, Criminal Minds, Forensic Files. She loves crime shows, magical/fantasy, and cooking shows. Also American Ninja Warrior. And don’t even get her started on anime.

Books: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. Anything from James Patterson. And a bucket load of manga.

What does she look for in a guy Great body and a nice d---

Nah, just joking.

Emery is a sucker for blue or green eyes, and ‘long’ hair (something she can run her fingers through). Someone who’s funny/has humor, has a sensitive side, makes her feel safe and loved.

Common interests are always nice, but not exactly necessary. He does have to like animals though. That’s a deal breaker there—and she don’t mean snakes. If that’s the only animal he likes/wants/has then it aint gonna work.

Doesn’t have to be taller than her, but Emery does like being picked up and carried around. Piggyback rides are the best thing ever. She’s naturally cuddly and sometimes clingy, so he’s gotta be able to put up with that.

Don’t even get her started on accents or being multilingual.

Another key thing is, he’s gotta be able to help her through the dark times. When the voices and memories start getting to be too much and she start falling down the ‘rabbit hole’. His being able to help her through it, or stop it from getting bad, is definitely something she looks for.

Does she want a family? A family would be nice, but she’s not completely sold on the idea of childbirth. She saw her mother go through some complications with Emery’s little brother and the possibility she could go through the same thing (or worse) scares her. The idea of having a little body running around with her DNA and the DNA of who she loves though, is very tempting. Perhaps one day, with the right person.

What does she like to do on dates and for fun? It depends on the day and how she’s feeling. Sometimes a simple movie at home with popcorn, snuggled under a blanket together is more than enough for her. Or, another home date would be just playing games together, either video or board games. If it’s venturing outside of the home, then she’s all for going to museums, arcades, swimming (only at pools though- she hates swimming in lakes/rivers because the possibility of a snake slithering around her that she can’t see). Mini golf, walking through a park, window shopping, the zoo, or even going to an animal shelter and volunteering for a few hours. She doesn’t do sporting events too often, but for the right person, she would consider it.

(Unique) Nicknames she has for her boys. Kenny: Ken, Kenbear Nick: Nicky, Nemo, Nii Matt: Mattie, Minion, Nii Kyle: Kye, Kye-Rye Riley/El Phantasmo: Phasmo, Rye Damian: Damo, D, Papi Priest, Mi Hombre (my Man) Adam: AC, A-Bay, Chugathon Hangman: Cowboy, Hangy, AP Wheeler Yuta: Yoots Orange Cassidy: Cass, J (like Orange Juice/OJ—but just a J) Darby: Darbs Jay White: Switchblade, Switch Kofi: Koph/Kof, KK Finn: Finnabon Jeff Hardy: Nero, Jeffie Wardlow: Cerberus (3 headed dog, Greek Myth), Wardaddy

(Unique) Nicknames her boys have for her. Kenny: Ree, Angel, Angelface, Kitten Nick: Ree, sis, Matt: Ree, sis Kyle: Ree, sis Riley/El Phantasmo: Ree, shortie, Damian: Ree, Princess/Princesa Adam: Ree Hangman: Ree, Darlin’ Wheeler Yuta: Ree Orange Cassidy: Ree, R Darby: Ree, Cifer (Lucifer, a fallen angel) Jay White: Ree, Princess Kofi: Ree, lil sis Finn: Ree Jeff Hardy: Ree, Reno (Nero but letters are mixed up) Wardlow: Ree, Puppy,

Who started her main nickname, Ree? Kyle, shortly after he started helping train her back in early months of 2014.

[mixelation]

vagueposting but i link to the post pissing me off and quote it. so not vagueposting at all but the blog has a massive following so it's not like. bullying

there is A Post i keep seeing, despite my best efforts to scrub OP from my dash, and it's specifically this version

reasons this post annoys the bejeebus out of me:

This is not a dunk on fandom—love the energy!—but I dream of the things we all could accomplish if we devoted some of that love and passion to the living creatures of planet Earth.

This is absolutely a dunk on fandom. You have literally structured your post around calling out "fandom" for not spending energy on something you think is more worthwhile. "Oh, no, OP meant in addition to fandom activities--" Nope! Maybe that's what they wanted to say, but they did not frame their post this way. The singled out fandom, played the "not to mean but--" card completely straight, and then somehow laid their environmental anxieties at the feet of fandom. They genuinely sound like one of those PTA moms who gives themselves anxiety over what innocuous things other people's kids do in their free time, which do not affect them at all.

[...]

Let me tell you a secret. Talk to gardeners and ecologists from your parents' and grandparents' generation, and you will recognize the same kind of people [as artists], passionate, socially awkward and probably some flavor of neurodivergent, except their blorbos are lichens, salamanders, mushrooms, bats, turtles, and birds.

These people were the ones that taught us how important those creatures were in the first place. That learned how to study them and wrote down what they observed.

Here's a neat little rhetorical device where OP isolates people "from your parents' and grandparents' generation" as separate but still accessible entities. This magical mood of loving nature is so close to you, but you've been isolated! Forgotten the old ways! These magic old people infused you with love for nature, and learned how to.... study them and write down what they saw...? No one was studying ecology or studiously improving gardening methods before your grandparents. There are no gen Z ecologists. There are no magic nature-loving people who also do fandom. Nuh-uh. It's just these magical older generation gardeners with all this secret knowledge.

Also, I never talk about (one part of) this, but I am a neurodivergent scientist running a fandom blog, and I do think claiming ecologists/gardeners are all "some flavor of neurodivergent" is a super weird take. First, ecologists (and scientists at large) are diverse people, not some cute stereotype in your head. Second, don't diagnose strangers, jfc. Third, "some flavor of neurodivergent" does not automatically make someone your friend or your magical relatable nature guide who wants to infodump all their cool nature facts like a trained dog.

IME ecologists and other people working in conservation ARE hype to tell you about their research and work, but I think linking this trend of enthusiasm to "oh, probably your local cute neurodivergent person--" is harmful in more ways than one to, like, everyone involved.

Here is something important: People cannot care about saving what they haven't even heard of.

This is true, or at least dogma I've heard actual conservationists say. It also has nothing to do with "fandom."

When I first started researching plants, I was shocked and horrified to find the internet almost empty of informative resources. No pictures, no paragraphs written by knowledgeable people, no cheat sheets, no diagrams.

There is not a single photo of a couple-months-old American Sycamore sapling anywhere on Google. Not one.

This is not true. There are in fact many plant identification websites, along with insect, spider, bird, mushroom, etc websites, often run by government organizations, botanical gardens, plant nurseries and nature enthusiasts. They often look like they were designed in the early 2000s and never updated, and there's not a really good umbrella website (except maybe iNaturalist?), but these resources definitely exist. If you google "Platanus occidentalis seedling" or "Platanus occidentalis sapling," you can indeed find the photos OP claims do not exist (examples: x, x). This is the piece of the post that pisses me off the most, because by claiming things literally don't exist on the internet, you actively discourage people form seeking them out.

Side note: I actually blocked OP over a different set of posts where they blogged at length and with extreme performative concern over not being able to find a specific type of study, which was a study design so common anyone who's spent more than thirty seconds figuring out google scholar could have found one. Posts like this are not actually helpful for general science education and instead just upset people while simultaneously misinforming them and discouraging them from doing their own searches.

When I started doing educational events at the place I volunteer, I had to write stat blocks and handouts about my trees MYSELF. From scratch.

So does the information literally not exist, or did you compile existing info into a streamlined form to fit your purposes....? How did you learn the information? Did one of the magical old people tell you?

Everyone I've talked to has said the same thing—I would like to plant native species and create a place for wildlife, but there isn't any information.

Don't let people tell you that you can't do anything. We already have scientists. We need artists. Bloggers. Enthusiasts. Hobbyists. Shitposters. We need love, passion, and obsession.

These things exist. These types of spaces exist in real life and all over the internet. Why are you writing like they are a dying breed? Reddit might have its problems, but there are tons of subreddits filled with enthusiastic people who will help you figure out a native plant garden. There is almost definitely at least one desperate conservation group who has this information available for your area (try googling your region and "native plant" - example: "bay area native plant" brings up the California Native Plant Society). You will have to spend some time reading, but I promise the information is there if you spend as long on google as you do making posts like this. You are harming these groups by writing as if they don't exist or are barely functioning due to lack of community support.

We need people whose talents are in editing, photoshopping, shitposting and meme-making, because the internet is where the conversations of the world happen, and we need to be talking about the living things of our planet that are in peril. Their beauty. Their importance. I'm completely dead fucking serious here.

I do agree with this point. Scientists are trained to make graphs, but they're not trained to make graphic design, if you know what I mean.

However, OP's goal is......

Do y'all have any idea how powerful a force your enthusiasm is?? To save the world, we need people who are like that, but about niche bees.

Imagine the most feral and unhinged of freaky fandom folk.

Now imagine someone who is Like That about prairie grasses.

To... have "fandom folk" redirect their energy at.... plants and bees? The subsequent blogging indicates that OP simply wants more blogs that post photos and art of plants and fungi. Okay, cool. What does this have to do with fandom? Do you know that fandom is a hobby for most people, and they go off and do other things in their life that might not be apparent to you, a stranger on the internet? Do you know how many of these magic ecologists and conservationists spend all day doing the work you want to see, and then go goof off in fandom to relax? Do you know that you do not have the right to control or criticize people's harmless hobbies, which do not affect you?

Someone else reblogged and added this comment:

Unfortunately fandom is mostly character analysis, and plants have no character to analyze so this will never happen

Also, the most helpful thing for them to do to save the planet is to donate money to those already doing it, not clogging up the system with terribly thought out newbie orgs

OP decided to reply to this comment more than once, jumping on the idea that "plants have no character" as ridiculous and then making fun of the idea of donating money. I want to emphasize that OP reblogged this person twice, which solicited their many followers to jump on their wording and yell about making plants blorbos, rather than think about any of OP's supposed points about conservation or gardening or environmentalism.

This person, apparently: the only form of doing good in the world that exists is donating money to a charitable organization. There is no such thing as work or outreach or education only money

In the ideal world, people would have dedicated jobs for the things described above. There are people who make a living off of doing scientific illustrations, and I would love for there to be more paid positions where artists and trained educators work with scientists on outreach. Established organizations do need volunteers, but they also need money so they can hire trained professionals to do the things OP is calling on fandom for.

Anyway, as a scientist and a fandom blog, here's this:

What you do with your spare time is up to you. If it's posting weird headcanons at 2 AM, whatever. You do you. You do not have to direct energy at saving the world or whatever.

If you're interested in ~touching grass~, I recommend googling for state/national parks in your area, as they're easy to identify and often put on cool events. You can also google for specific societies or hobbies, or places like botanical gardens and nurseries. Hobbyist mycologists are wild people, for example. These orgs often have volunteer days if you don't have a lot of time to commit.

Are you an artist, graphic designer, or illustrator? You may be surprised how many groups would love to have you design a pamphlet or logo! They will generally give your the information they want people to know and not just have you put together your own information unless you volunteer to do so (source: anecdata from scientists I know who also happen to be talented artists).

Memes are cool, but if you're trying to use them to ~spread information~, please do your best to fact check and then also provide citations. If you make a viral meme of bad information I will be forced to write a vent post about it. :P

[mitta-likes-moths]

Hey there, I was wondering if you have any miniforce headcanons? If not, that’s cool, happy Valentine’s Day btw

*in the distance you hear cheers and what sounds like screams of happiness, although you’re not very sure. It seems they’re circling back to you!*

any ways- *evil laughter*

-Out of all of them, Max and Lucy are the tallest, Sammy being the shortest

-Max is 0”10

-Lucy is 0”9

-Volt is 0”7

-Sammy is 0”6.5

-It’s not super noticeable but when Volt wants to agitate him he’ll make some short jokes, that usually gets him riled up enough to take whatever challenge or dare was mentioned

-They’re all really strong

-Like come on, academy training and the fact Sammy used to be able to fly gives obvious hints they’re all stronk

-At one point when Sammy was insulting someone he said something along the lines of their head being more hollow than his bones (that’s been in my head for too long)

-This is the exact reason he can jump so high

-When Volt gets spooked or something his tail gets really poofy

-The group regularly picks up Sammy because of how short and light he is, he doesn’t even fight it at this point, he has accepted it as part of his life

-Lucy is the queen at Mario Kart but she doesn’t play it often because it gets kind of boring when you win every time

-By herself at least, beating her is basically a flex and it’s fun to hear the other’s reactions while playing while somehow avoiding sabotage, irl and in game

-Though she is queen of Mario Kart, Sammy is the king of drifting, even when he has been affected by a mini mushroom he will still somehow drift like a god (teach me your ways)

-Despite obviously bad with fast vehicles Volt still chooses the fastest option thinking he’ll win this time

-He doesn’t, but at one point he actually chose a different vehicle and cried happy tears when he got 4th place

-Max is pretty good at it but he and Lucy are the best at accepting defeat, it’s just a never ending competition with the everyone else

-Owl pellets

-Sammy will pull out a bucket at any given moment and puke out an owl pellet and set it off to the side

-Speaking of, he puts any food with bones into his mouth whole and puke out said owl pellet later on, but this doesn’t happen THAT often

-Max is a closeted vocaloid fan

-He can also do a perfect Peppy impression and Volt will occasionally ask him to say “Do a barrel roll!”

-He subconsciously says this out loud at any given moment

-He once saw a small stream and was just in his head, absolutely not, and chucked dirt on the spot

-He came home with a dirty tail and a dirty tail only

-He also has a big fear of spiders, the spider mechon only sort of resembled one which is why he wasn’t scared

-Leo, Lucy, and Sammy are the bug handlers of the group

-Pascal would make an amazing dad and I will fight you on this, it doesn’t matter whether he kidnapped the child or not

-This is canon, but they will all throw hands with a stranger for each other

-Gender is irrelevant and dorms at the miniforce training academy were based purely off of personality and such

-What birds lack in as much endurance as other animals due to hollow bones, they make up for exponentially in speed, agility, and etc.

-The group has physically asked Susie what a gender was and were confused at the fact they wear clothes 24/7

-Animals have non anthro forms as well as their anthro forms that we commonly see in the show, it’s just an ability that not many animals know about anymore

-There are animals that do live with humans and we just don’t see it in the show except for the main four

-Sammy is multilingual, he knows Cambodian, Spanish, asl, etc.

-Susie’s last name is Agnello

-Sammy is insecure about his laugh and dancing skills, part of the reason he doesn’t do either very often

-Even though they’re both awesome

-The crew on tv is the equivalent to Elmo on rove

-Once when Volt was aggressively bargaining, again, Sammy said something along the lines of, “ah yes bargaining, the third stage of grief”

-Sammy walks really quietly, he’s scared a lot of people on accident and maybe on purpose but you didn’t hear that from me

[headspace-hotel]

Fantasy creature design prompts

Land creature adapted for flight—don’t just slap wings on an animal and call it a day, think about how the creature’s physiology would change!

Creature adapted to caves/total darkness (no eyes, sensory whiskers, etc)

Imagine that the only creatures with magic in your world are invertebrates. What are some of these creatures? (Bonus points if you don’t use cephalopods, insects or arachnids!)

Deer with Weird Antlers—but what are those weird antlers for? And exactly how weird can antlers get?

An amphibious creature, as comfortable on land as it is in water, with gills, lungs, or both.

A creature that doesn’t belong in a tree, adapted for an arboreal lifestyle.

A large animal, but VERY VERY SMALL. Bonus points if you don’t go for the obvious ones like elephants or whales.

Just, the wildest and most nonsensical possible theory for what Bigfoot actually is.

Symbiotic relationships! What would a symbiotic relationship between a large hoofed mammal and a species of algae be like? A feline and a type of fungus? A rodent and a plant?

A creature that, like an angler fish, becomes fused to its mate.

A creature that is fully aquatic, adapted to live somewhere that isn’t water.

In your setting there is a scummy, nasty pond. What is a good reason not to dip your toes in there?

A creature that is just as dumb as a post. These things are notoriously stupid. What adaptations do they have for survival that allowed them to give up on developing cleverness?

A creature that hides in plain sight. What would a creature adapted to hide a magical mushroom forest look like? A Demon Hellscape? What about in a Fantasy Wal-Mart?

Giant arthropod that’s not a spider, centipede or scorpion.

Domesticated Arthropods that are friendly! What are they used for? Can fuzzy moth fiber be spun into wool?

What sorts of pests or parasites would plague a dragon?

What sorts of predators would a dragon have to worry about?

Creature that relies on senses other than sight, hearing, or smell. What are these senses, and how does it use them?

Bioluminescence! But why is it bioluminescent?

A Varmint. Like a raccoon or opossum, this creature is a pest and it gets into your garbage and it’s SO ANNOYING and there are so many of them!

Eusocial creatures that build large nests or hives, but that aren’t insects. Bonus points if their social order doesn’t revolve around a “Queen.”

A creature that spends much of its life standing very, very still. Why does it do this, and how is it adapted for that kind of lifestyle?

A creature that’s just ENORMOUS. Like HUGELARGE GIGANTIC. Why is it so big?

Imagine a world where humans obtain magic through some kind of parasite. What is it, what what effects does it have? How does it benefit from this relationship?

Imagine a creature whose prey is, specifically, humans. What kinds of adaptations would if have for this?

Creatures that do not reproduce sexually. What do they do instead?

A creature that is commonly ridden. But, what made this creature a better candidate for domestication than any other creatures?

A creature that, like the Creepers in Minecraft, explodes. Why would a creature do this?

A creature that, like a hagfish, can produce massive quantities of slime. What kind of creature is it, and what is the slime for?

A creature that, like a web-spinning spider or ant lion, constructs some sort of trap or snare for its prey. What sort of creature is it, and what sort of trap do they set?

A creature that, like a peacock or bird of paradise, has some incredibly elaborate display structures to attract mates. What are they?

A creature that is very, very, VERY poisonous. What is it? What about its appearance warns predators that it’s not a good option for a meal?

A creature emblematic of courage, like a lion, or of nobility, like an eagle. What qualities would a creature that a ruler or conquerer would like to be compared to have?

A creature where if you’re compared to it, it’s definitely an insult or even a swear word. Why does it have this reputation?

A creature that is nearly as intelligent or as intelligent as a human, but that isn’t “good” or “evil” in a sense that we would understand.

Social creatures where the females are larger or more dominant than the males.

A creature that seems that it would be INCREDIBLY difficult to domesticate, but domesticated. Explain how and why.

Three breeds of the same creature: one used for plowing and pulling heavy things, one used for swift transportation, and one used in war.

Three breeds of the same creature: one used for pit fighting, one used for herding, and one used for hunting.

A domesticated creature that is not being used to ride, pull things, guard things, produce food or fiber, hunt or retrieve, as companions, or any other common reason for domestication—why are they useful or needed?

A creature that, like a cuckoo bird, leaves its young to be cared for by parents of other species. What species does it target, and how?

An extremophile—a creature that is adapted to incredibly harsh and hostile conditions, such as polar ice caps, hydrothermal vents, or active volcanoes. How does it live there?

A creature with a non-standard number of limbs. Explain this adaptation.

Imagine that after human extinction, a different species evolves to fill our niche, developing great intelligence and tool use. What species is it, and how does it adapt?

[starkey]

22-24! for the writing asks! :)

Ahh thank you!! <3

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

Ehh I pretty much exclusively use scrivener, which lets you do the whole shebang right there in the app? I love a paper notebook as much as the next person but it turns out the only way to get me to do anything is to lower the laziness barriers as far as possible, which means using apps... my whole life is basically in Notion (bullet journal organiser thing), Scrivener (writing projects), and Bear (every other notebook under the sun - courses and exam prep etc). I use Simplenote for obligatory Notes App Musings.

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

Ehh I usually just write in my living room? God my living room is so cluttered, it might take a minute to paint a picture of this :') I live in an old tenement building, so the ceiling is high, and the floor is a light polished wood. There's a kind of old-fashioned gold-coloured pendant chandelier hanging from the ceiling, but I'm a lamp kinda gal, so theres two standing lamps with golden stems, waterfall fairylights in the window, and fairylights along the mantlepiece and in a little glass dome on my desk. The desk is an old-fashioned-style writing desk in a dark powder blue, and matches the tv stand and the end tables. On the desk there's a monitor and a light-up clickity clackity keboard, as well as a gold letter rack with various cards and letter writing sets. On the end tables are my collection of Turner coffee table books. The fireplace and doors are also powdery blue-grey, and the fireplace has Spanish tiles in it. There's two tall golden candlesticks on the mantlepiece, with blue candles in them, and an ivy and a spider plant (moving in gifts) - there's also photographs and two bookends in the shape of greek columns. There's bookshelves along two walls, with lots of little bricabrac on them - a ceramic fairy mushroom, another moon planter, a cross stitch made by my friend, an origami bird and dragon, and several small manta ray soft toys. There's a dark blue velvet couch and armchair, gold and blue cushions with plant and dragonfly patterns, and a variety of larger sea-creature soft toys (Blahaj, some manta rays). There's a blue rug with a thick pile that has a pattern a bit like water, with dark and light shades. Against the free wall, there's an arched mirror with a grey blue frame, with a monstera plant and record player in front of it, and on the other side of the room there's a bay window with neutral curtains, some hanging plants, a gold crescent-moon-shaped planter, and metal curtain tiebacks in the shape of limoncello vines. (phew)

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

I pretty much need to do a rough outline and a draft 0, but I really don't enjoy it very much :') Writing is like the only creative thing I have where I hold myself to a really high standard, and it's probably the only thing I show debilitating perfectionist tendencies in (in general I'm pretty lenient when it comes to my own failings as a human). Draft zeros always force me to confront much worse writing than I'm really comfortable with, and the transition from nice safe perfect imagining to messy shitty drafting is always a misery for me. I much prefer drafts 1-3 where I feel like there's a bit of positive feedback around me liking what I've written.

[with-love-from-hell]

Ok now that we got to know about your mc, then how about now us fans get to know you?

I am really curious to get to know more about my sissy! (Sorry I actually called you my sissy 😓)

Oh goodness lol. I didn’t expect people to want to know about me but sure! I’ll give you a few things! I won’t share my name, just for privacy reasons (I do have an abuser who floats around tumblr spaces in Anime communities so this is part of the reason for the pen name in the first place) But I will give you some small little factoids!

I am 26 and My birthday is in September! (Libra gang!!!)

She/they pronouns!

I identify as Grey-Asexual and Panromantic

I am gender fluid, but not in a binary way. I often fluctuate between feeling like a cis women and not experiencing any connection to gender at all. 

I have two siblings, both sisters. I am a middle child- if that wasn’t obvious. 

I am from the Midwest United States (I wont a give specific state because of the above mentioned reason, but I will tell you it’s closer to Canada!) 

Like my MC, I have vibrant red hair, though it’s not natural. I have to dye it to get it this way lol. My natural hair color is Strawberry blonde!

Again, Like my MC, I am very short. I am just a hair below 5′3″.

I am currently engaged! My partner and I are planning our wedding currently. 

My religious affiliation is currently Pagan! I grew up in a Christian household, but it wasn’t a strict one. Mostly just church on holidays and when my grandparents visited from out of town. 

Like I said in my introduction, I am a sexual and domestic violence survivor. I also have a lengthy history of various trauma that I have worked very hard to overcome. 

I also have diagnoses of OCD, PTSD, and a Purging-Type Eating Disorder

I have a Masters Degree in Psychology, and a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and Philosophy. I plan on going back for a Doctorate Degree in Counseling in a few years! 

I currently work as a Therapist! Some of the things I tend to focus in my work is trauma, body image, depression, and anxiety. 

Likes: animals (especially dogs, wolves, giraffes, birds, cats, and reptiles), high fantasy (dragons, D&D, etc), flowers (particularly lilacs and lilies), horror, stand up comedy (John Mulaney and Jim Gaffigan are my favs), cooking, writing, reading, music (hard rock, indie, and alternative are my favorites), nature, water, butterflies and moths. 

Dislikes: loud noises, bright lights, any type of bigoted asshole (homophobes, terfs, racists, ableists, etc), mansplainers, centipedes and spiders, people who talk down to others

Favorite foods: Corned beef, cabbage, dumplings, beets, sushi, Salmon, chashu ramen, rhubarb anything, cranberry anything, popsicles, mushrooms, anything with garlic

Favorite colors: Black, Purple, Blue; I also really like the combination of cerulean blue and tangerine orange (like the Nickelodeon Logo!!!) 

That’s all I can think of for now! Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to know!

[barnesbabee]

[Don't Starve/DST tips for beginner players]

1. CHARACTER CHOOSING

The character you play plays a big role in the game, as they're not just for aesthetic, each character has ups and downs and as a beginner you should choose the most neutral characters before you get a handle of the game. In singleplayer Don't Starve you can only unlock new characters with XP, but in DST you have all of them available to you, so choose wisely. Here's a small guide on each character:

Wilson: he's the starting character, so naturally he's the most neutral one. He doesn't really have pros or cons, he just grows a pretty cool beard.

Willow: the firestarter. She's my main so I have a lot to say. Willow is a good character, although her sanity is low she's very useful. In regular Don't Starve she spawns with a lighter, but in Don't Starve together she spawns with a lighter and Bernie, her bear. Willow's sanity goes up if she picks flowers, like normal players, but she also gets more sanity when she's around fire or when she burns things, so when her sanity is low you might want to leave base or not walk around forests because she can start a fire. The sanity gain with fire improves during the day. She's also really useful because in DST when she's insane she can put Bernie on the floor and he'll become a huge bear and fight monsters for her. This is all amazing but as I said she loves fire, so she hates cold, and winter is especially hard for her. She can freeze quicker and it's really annoying and it's hard to do anything that involves not being around warm fire, so if you're a new player I don't really recommend playing Willow at first because winter is already hard as it is. This being said, during summer she's also more resistant to heat strokes than other characters, and she also doesn't take fire damage unlike other characters.

Wolfgang: Wolfgang has great stats and he's really strong, but you have to be constantly feeding him or else he'll get weak. Also he's 'afraid of monsters', which means his sanity drains quicker than other characters when he's around hostile mobs.

Wendy: Wendy is someone I recommend to new players, because although her stats aren't the best, and although she doesn't hit very hard, she comes with Abigail. Abigail is her dead sister that you can spawn from the flower Wendy carries, and Abigail is useful because she can fight for you. Most mobs in Don't Starve use close range and with Abigail you can use long range which is very useful. Just make sure you don't get hit because Wendy's HP isn't the best.

WX78: it's a bit of a shit character if you ask me. Definitely don't play this one. When he gets hit by lighting he gets charged up and can be a light source + walk faster, but he only eats gears (which are hard to get on their own) and he gets rusty if it rains, I honestly don't like him.

Wickerbottom: I don't have much experience on her, she's really smart and she comes with an extra crafting tab that allows her to craft books which she can use to spawn stuff. It's useful but I don't have much insight on her.

Woodie: I play him a lot in DST, and he's really great overall. He comes with an axe (Lucy) that is infinite (it doesn't wear out like other axes) and he can chop trees down really quickly. However during full moon he can turn into a Goose (runs fast), into a Moose (attacks with force) or into a Beaver (can chop trees faster and without an axe), but when he comes back to being Woodie he will be hungry (hunger will be at 0) so you have to make sure you have food around.

Wes: garbage.

Maxwell: He can create shadows to fight for him, chop for him, etc... But for every shadow he permanently looses HP (which means that, for example, if his HP sits at 150 max, when he makes a shadow the max will be 120HP). It's useful but you have to be careful not to take any damage, and as a new player that might be hard.

Wigfrid: She's a great fighter, and she's able to craft a helmet (best protection in the game I believe, at least from the regular ones) and a spear which are exclusive to her. However she only eats meat and it can be a little hard for new players as carrots and berries are the easiest food to get.

Webber: he's recently had a rework so he has a couple new things. Webber is a spider, and he can now make them passive, wake them up, and put them to sleep, which is great to farm/harvest stuff. Webber isn't attacked by spiders like other players, but since pigmen are afraid of spiders they will hit Webber as well. Not a terrible character to start with either!

Warly: Warly comes with his own special crockpot and he is a great cook, which means that your hunger heals better when you eat something he made. The downside is that he can't eat anything he didn't make in his crockpot, which can make it a little hard.

Wormwood: I recently bought Hamlet (which is how you get this playable character or DST) and man, my thoughts are divided. He's a good character as he can plant seeds without needing to make crops, however he's extremely flammable (he can't stand too close to a fire), he looses sanity every time he chops a tree or picks a flower ('cause he's a plant and he doesn't like hurting his friends). Something really annoying about him is that he doesn't heal by eating food like other characters, he only heals with the spider glands or with manure (shit). So he's not an ideal character to start with. He does grow a cool flower on his head during spring though.

Winona: She's a really badass character and I really like her. She's a builder, so she can build things other characters can't (like catapults) so she's really effective when it comes to defending the base and helping out against mobs like hounds. However she does lose sanity any time she crafts anything, so it can be a little hard to deal with her.

Wortox: I don't know much about him, but he can teleport and he can also heal players with his magic. If you ask me he's a little overpowered for the game.

Wurt: I don't know much about him and I've never had anyone play him, all I know is that he doesn't get attacked by merman since he's one of them.

Walter: he's a little scout boy that comes with a slingshot and a dog. The dog can grow big and Walter can ride him which is good for fleeing, but after riding for a while the dog will throw him off.

Sorry for not having much on the last 3 but they're fairly recent compared to others and I haven't seen much of them or played them.

Most times during DST people choose characters that help others, so you can help each other and get the most out of the game.

2. SANITY

Sanity plays a big part in this game. You lose sanity by being in the dark, or by fighting mobs. Some characters have special ways of losing sanity, for example, Wormwood loses sanity by picking flowers or chopping trees. How do you fix your sanity? For all characters (except Wormwood) you can get sanity by picking flowers. With 12 flowers you can make a garland in the hat tab and it will slowly restore your sanity. You can also pick green mushrooms and cook them for more sanity. Just like some characters lose sanity in a 'special' way, some characters gain sanity in a special way as well, such as Woodie when he chops trees and Willow when she's near fire or when she sets anything on fire.

If you let your sanity go down you will start seeing shadows, those shadows become real if it goes down enough, and said shadows will start attacking you, which isn't great because they're a lot, so watch out for that.

3. SURVIVING WINTER

Winter is hands down my least favourite season because Im a Willow main :)

What happens during winter? It starts to snow, so players can freeze, deerclops might appear, crops stop growing. The biggest issue with the winter is that food is hard to find. Crops and berries don't grow anymore so what do you do? First of all you will need to find a clockwork before winter. What are clockworks? They're metal mobs that drop gears when you kill them. You need gears to make a fridge, so you can store a lot of food for winter. If you store food in a normal chest it will rot quickly, but in a fridge they last a long time. You should also build a crockpot which is fairly easy, and in a crockpot you can make better food, you can also take nearly rotten food and make it good by cooking it, and you can use 1 stick or 1 monster meat to make good food, as you can't normally eat monster meat 'cause it drains sanity and HP.

What can you do for the cold? You need to find beefalo, and with the shears (which you can craft in the tools) you shave the beefalo, so you can make a winter hat. That hat will help with the cold. You can also make earmuffs, by catching 2 live bunnies and sticks, but the hat isn't hard to make and it's better. MAKE SURE YOU CARRY ENOUGH TO MAKE A FIRE AT ALL TIMES. In case of emergency if you get cold and start dying you need to have something to warm you up. You should also make a thermal stone. It doesn't take a lot and it keeps you warm. (You use the thermal stone by setting it down near the fire and letting it geete warm)

You should also make bird and rabbit traps to get meat during the winter.

Beware of the deerclops, if it appears try to lure it away from your base because it can destroy everything you built. If you want to fight it, make sure you fight it away from your base, but if you don't you can also lure him somewhere else and then run away. The Deerclops will de-spawn after winter is over.

Try not to make your base near the sea 'cause penguins will spawn and they're very fucking annoying + they can destroy your shit.

4. SURVIVING SUMMER

Summer is also very fucking annoying but much less than winter.

What do you need?

Some crops survive, but some of them die, so getting food isn't as annoying to get, but it's still scarce, so you should also try to get as much food as you can during spring time.

You should get ice during winter from the glaciers, and also more gears. Some crops/trees/grass might start to burn during summer, and with gears and ice you can make an ice-fligomatic. The ice flingomatic will throw ice to things when they start burning and will extinguish the fire, so when you come back to your base it's not all in flames.

During the summer you can't stand near fire or you'll die of heatsroke. Remember Nitre? That yellow shit you leave behind after mining rocks because you need inventory space? Yeah you'll need those to build an endothermic fire. It lights up your nights and keeps you cold, however you can't cook in it.

The thermal stone from winter also works during the summer.

Keeping a bunch of ice from winter in your fridge also works. If you eat the ice it will make you colder.

RANDOM TIPS

1. Don't hit pigmen/beefalo when there's many around you. They will gather up and kill you.

2. DO NOT try to kill penguins. They might be easy to kill but not so much when they all gather around and kill you.

3. Always keep armor+spear on you in case hounds start to come and you're not at base.

4. Don't steal tall birds' eggs (blue with white dots). The tall bird is very strong and aggressive and it will follow you for the egg and try to kill you.

5. Don't eat the mushrooms unless 100% necessary. Mushrooms always have a side effect, like they might give you sanity but take HP.

6. You can use mushrooms and monster meat (which you shouldn't eat by themselves) and cook something in a crockpot, thus turning something inedible into something edible.

7. When it rains, more during the Spring than anything else, it might start raining frogs, it's not a bug, that happens. Try to get away from base so they don't swarm there, as they're very annoying.

8. ALWAYS build a lightning rod, during a storm the lightning can hit something and set it on fire, and you don't want your stuff being burned. The lightning rod collects the lightning and protects your base.

----

This is all I can remember, I am more than happy to answer any questions anyone might have! @atinystray here it is!!

[sunmoon-starfactory]

Market Markup - Market Vendors

This is a set of vendors meant to help players obtain ingredients that they don’t have in their hoods. Be it gameplay style self-imposed restrictions, a non-traditional seasonal set up, or just plain bad luck when it comes to built in randomness in stations. Each Market Vendor allows a sim to straight buy items that are unavailable in the catalog such as Herbs, Spices, Hunting Products, Fantasy Items, etc. They will have to buy the item at a higher price (or lowers if you're lucky!) than the item they want is worth naturally, maintaining the balance and usefulness of players growing and foraging items rather than just paying for them. In this download is ONLY the market vendors and NOT the products they sell, as these are intended to compliment the sets they are linked to. You will have to download the original set to use them.

More info below the cut.

Download Market Vendors - SFS

Download Sign Board - SFS

Download - The Keep

Extra Credits and Thanks:  Fire_flower, Skyrim, Sunni, Maxis.

Herbs, Spices, and Wildflower Vendor Requires Herbs, Spice, and Everything Nice, Mining or Salt Stations, Fantasy Flavor TSM Herbs, Fantasy Flavor DAI Crafting Plants. Allows a sim to buy at markup; herbs, spices, wildflowers. Salt Sacks, Salt Cellars, and Saffron sell for higher according to their original higher value. Only fresh herbs, spices, and wildflowers are sold here, not their ground and jarred or bulk counterparts. Oddities Vendor Requires Restless Roots, Samhain, Dragon Hunting, Tree of Life, and Mining. Allows sims to buy at markup; Werewolf Tail, Mega Bat Wing, Spider Glands, Cursed Horse Shoes, Ectoplasm Pod, Thorn Branch, Taproot, Tainted Sap, Invigorating Sap, Tainted Root, Golden Apple, Mana Stone Powder, and Dragon blood, bones, claws, fangs, horns, meat, scales, and wing leather. Forage Goods Vendor Requires Wild Mushrooms, Giving Tree, Wild Bees. Allows sims to buy at markup; any mushroom, any poison mushroom,  branches, bird’s nest, jug of sap, bag of tree nuts, and wild beehive basket. Pelts and Hides Vendor Requires It’s a Trap, and The Game’s Afoot, Cash Cows, Got Your Goat, Horsin’ Around, The Whole Hog, Counting Sheep. Allows a sim to buy raw animal pelts ONLY. Wild Berries Vendor Requires Wild Berry Bushes 3.0. Allows a sim to buy the EDIBLE version of any wild berry or the leaves of any wild berry bush. Harvest Baskets of berries are not sold here. Edible Fruits Vendor Requires An Apple A Day Ultimate Fruit Collection, Grapes of Rad. Allows a sim to buy any EDIBLE version of a fruit. Harvest Baskets of fruit are not sold here. Garden Crop Vendor Requires To Boldly Grow. Allows a sim to buy any Garden Crop harvest. Seedlings are not sold here. Each of the basket/crate vendors has a varying amount of slots so that they can be decorated to a user's taste. Can be found in Hobbies > Misc. Collection File Included.

Bonus #1: Sign Board

This is a decorative signage board. It comes in a large and small size with the smaller being slaved to the larger. Signs are properly flipped to each side so no weird backwards wonk should happen.

It comes in 27 pooklet wood colors, and a total of 120 recolors for the paper signage. Are they all historical/accurate? No, but they're fun to look at and I included a wide variety of use that can span several time periods/fantasy settings.

Bonus #2: Vendor Sign Board

And for those who would like a less obtrusive or specific look to their vendors but want to maintain easy access, the Vendor Sign Board has been created. It matches the size of the small deco board but they share the same functions as their counterpart vendor objects and have separate GUIDs so all may be used together based on preference. All Vendor Signs are slaved to the Sign Board Master. Recolors for these specific vendors have been included.

[desainn]

83 Mythical Creatures & Descriptions

This list does not include…

Sci-fi races (sullustian, eldar, sangheili, duros, etc.)

Half-breeds (half-orc, half-elf, etc.)

Sub species (Mirrodin vedalken, hill dwarf, mountain dwarf, etc.)

Types of giants (human giant, giant spider, giant worm, etc.)

Literally thousands of mythical or divine beings I did not think of

1. Saproling - A diverse race of plant entities that dwell in the forests of Dominaria.

2. Dwarf - There are two main races of dwarves (According to WoTC): hill dwarves, and mountain dwarves. They are fairly self-descriptive, however mountain dwarves have improved vision in dark environments. Dwarves are known for their metalworking abilities, short stature, and sturdy build. Some sources claim they can live for an average of 400 years.

3. Elf - A highly debated race prominent in tales ranging from Santa Claus, to MTG. Ignoring the idea of the tiny shoemaking elves of Earth, elves are human-height, thin, agile, stealthy, and in-tune with nature. Warriors of this species often use light swords, long bows, daggers, and staffs.

4. Vedalken - Tall, blue-skinned, knowledgeable beings from MTG and D&D, but most prominently the former. Vedalken have six fingers on each hand. Mirrodin Vedalken have four arms, but that trait is reserved to only members of the Vedalken race from that plane. Believing perfection to be inachievable, Vedalken. Jew progress as a never-ending march to a state of perfection that can never be achieved.

5. Merfolk/Merrow - Female merfolk are commonly known as mermaids- the aquatic (or sometimes amphibious) race of blue- or green-skinned humanoids with fish tails, and oceanic jewelry.

6. Elemental - A diverse group of magical beings centered around a specific element. These are most commonly fire, life, ice, water, and lightning.

7. Angel - Heavenly, winged humanoids. Disregarding Christian ideas of angels, they can be skilled healers, or marksmen. You already know about this one.

8. Demon - The unholy counterpart to angels. Often winged, demons pocess magic capabilities encompassing fire, death, and anger. These beasts reside in the underworld, or hell.

9. Specter - Cloaked figures armed with scythes, who ride undead beasts through the sky. Opposed to flesh, many specters are made of black mist enveloped in dark cloth.

10. Goblin - Thieves, hooligans, and mechanics. Goblins are often in the background committing some silly crime. They can be utilized as comic relief, or cannon fodder, whichever results in their death the quickest (because seriously, these dudes have the highest death rate of anything in this list)

11. Orc - Large, lean warriors wielding clubs, or other blunt weapons. Orcs are commonly portrayed with green skin, and two large stubs of teeth on their lower jaw, sticking out of their mouths.

12. Giant - A collection of large, clumsy humans, spiders, worms, or serpents.

13. Centaur - A mythical Greek idea of a man (or woman) made of a horse from the waist down. Skilled with a bow, or lance.

14. Siren - Two ideas. One: mermaids that sing to lure unwitting sailors into treaterous seas. Two: humans with light blue wings on their arms.

15. Nymph - Nymphs wander in forests, disguised a women. When a traveler approaches, sword sheathed, and shield lowered, the nymph allows its illusion to fade, revealing an evil monster beneath.

16. Minotaur - A bipedal bull with two arms, and two legs that runs around in mazes. “Minotaurs hate tar tar sauce. They’re deathly allergic to tar tar sauce”.

17. Screecher - A flying zombie-demon that screams as it glides.

18. Fairy - Tiny winged humans that flutter through forests. Often times, they will betray travelers, and loot them.

19. Pixie - A fairy that doesn’t lie about being evil, it just accepts that it is. Occasionally, pixies will catch something on fire.

20. Unicorn - A mystical white horse with a golden or ivory horn on its forehead, often bearing pink or blue tails and manes. They love to plunder their horns into tourist’s chests’.

21. Ogre - Either Shrek, or a dungeon-dwelling humanoid with ten blue tentacles, each wielding a different weapon.

22. Troll - A small, dirty man who will collect tolls for crossing bridges. Nothing a crossbow can’t fix.

23. Zombie - The reanimated corpses of lost ones through the use of magic.

24. Fomori - An advanced aquatic race, that builds beautiful cities under the sea. In addition this, they possess vast arsenals of explosives.

25. Stitcher - A zombie made from parts of many deceased creatures.

26. Djinn - Blue- or gray-skinned, mountain-dwelling monks with the ability to levitate themselves.

27. Thrull - A beast faintly resembling a gray-skinned, Balt ox with no horns. The Orzhov Syndicate of Ravnica utilized thrulls as pack animals for transport, and as a container for storing mana, until it would be sucked out of the creature.

28. Rendhorn - A cross between a rhino, and a wolf.

29. Arynx - A large wild cat.

30. Aven - Humanoid birds that live on Dominaria.

31. Semicore/Wierd - An artificial creature that contraditicts its own existence. For example, a membrane of water, and an interior of fire.

32. Naxie - Merfolk-like, semi-humanoid, aquatic and residing in unusually deep forest ponds and lakes, groups of naxies drag travelers stopping for a drink, into the water to eat them.

33. Dragon - A fire-breathing, reptilian beast with near-impenetrable scales. Dragons also boast wings, enabling them to fly.

34. Drake - Similar to a dragon, but leaner.

35. Draco - A serpent dragon that cannot breath fire.

36. Serpentine - A humanoid shake.

37. Truffle - A mushroom person.

38. Hydra - A three-headed dog from Hades.

39. Kobold - Small dragonic men from D&D.

40. God - Magnificent, holy, divine beings. No one knows for sure. Let’s keep it at that.

41. Ent - Tree-like golems that reside in forests. Some ents offer wisdom, others kill travelers.

42. Reaper - A cloaked, reanimated skeleton armed with a scythe, and wielding death magic.

43. Reanimated Skeleton - A skeleton made living through the use of necromancy. Can be destroyed with a hard push.

44. Golem - Living rock or metal creature, sometimes tasked with the defense of an area.

45. Gremlin - A red-skinned animal on Kaladesh with an appetite for Aether.

46. Cyclops - A one-eyes humanoid, sometimes appearing to be human, but other times as large as an orc.

47. Pegasus - A winged horse.

48. Titan - A god-like creature with great strength, and power. Not quite a god, but not a mortal either.

49. Ghoul - A ghost that retains some remnants of it’s past body.

50. Ghost - A spirit that escaped it’s body after death.

51. Phantom - A formless ghost that remains in the mortal realm.

52. Harpy - A colorful bird with a woman’s face.

53. Manticore - A powerful demon lion,

54. Werewolf - Werewolves are sometimes thought of as humans that morph into savage wolf humanoids, in the presence of a full moon. Other times, they remain wolf beings at all times.

55. Elephantine - Humanoid elephants.

56. Wyvern - A sky-dwelling dragon that resides on floating islands, that is sleek, white-, blue-, or green-skinned, and about a three-fourths the size of dragons.

57. Dragonborn - A powerful dragonic man, also called a half-dragon. Skilled with blades of all sorts.

58. Aetherborn - Aetherborn are gray-skinned, black-eyed humanoids spawned spontaneously as a byproduct of the Aether refinement process on Kaladesh. The Aether that makes up heir bodies is gradually returned to the Aethersphere, and in only 3 to 4 years, they have dissolved entirely. One adult human contains enough Aether to allow a single Aetherborn to survive 12 more days. Some members of this race with questionable morals (most notably Gonti) will kill humans in scores, to preserve their own lives.

59. Spirit - A shapeless ghost that retains the ability to communicate with the living.

60. Haunt - A spirit visible as a cloud of thin, black mist, a faintly glowing core, and often wearing a tattered gray cloth.

61. Mimic - Mimics hide in dungeons as chests, or doors. When an unwitting dungeoneer opens the mimic’s disguise, a purple-tongued, toothy beast attacks them. Chest mimics are able to hop around.

62. Vampire - Pale-skinned humans with two pointed fangs, yellow or red eyes, a black cloak, the ability to live forever, a fear of sunlight, and a thirst for blood. Some sources claim that humans bitten by vampires become vampires themselves, however this is unlikely. Weaknesses include silver, wooden stake to the heart, and garlic.

63. Humonculus - One-eyed, blue-gray skinned humanoids created artificially. Though stichers in a technical sense, Humonculus are alive.

64. Devil - Red-skinned, long-horned humanoids that explode upon death.

65. Skywhale - Long-finned whales that float through the atmosphere effortlessly.

66. Griffin - A lion with an eagle’s head, wings, and feet.

67. Abzan Hound - A humanoid dog, skilled with a bow.

68. Leviathan - A large sea serpent whose size is comparable to that of a whale.

69. Nice

70. Naga - A large snake with human arms and facial features near the head.

71. Slime - Gelatin creatures that bounce around. Slimes retain their shape as a flat gumdrop.

72. Horror - Mutant creatures merged together. Mutants have multiple of everything, are terribly boney, and are encased in a loose and thin sheet of skin.

73. Myr - Drones crested by the Mirrodin, that could do nothing but watch the corruption of their planet at the hands of the Phyrexians.

74. Chimera - A winged lion with an eagle’s head, and a snake for a tail.

75. Ooze - An acidic, shapeless slime.

76. Nim - A corrupted zombie reanimated without the use of magic.

77. Hobbit - Short humanoids somewhat resembling a cross between dwarves and humans. They live in houses built into the hillsides, in the Lord of The Rings.

79. Sky Manta - A stingray that flies in the sky.

80. Souleater - A demonic creature that comsumes souls opposed to organic matter.

81. Dementor - From the Harry Potter series, dementors have no legs, wrinkled gray skin, a circular mouth, and “look like something that decayed in water”. They guard the Azkaban Prison.

82. Eternal - A zombie transferred into an artificial body to make it stronger, live forever, and travel through planar gates.

83. My gf

Tell me anything I missed; it will only cause this list to grow stronger, much like any attempt at killing a semicore with pyromancy.

[dansnaturepictures]

7/9/20-Monday at Lakeside and home 

It was nice to notice the little spider in the first picture I took today in this photoset in the shower as I worked this morning, I’ve noticed so many this year in and out. I wanted to make the most of some sunshine as I went out for my daily exercise walk taking the second picture in this photoset of a sunflower growing on our balcony and multi-coloured hanging basket above which it has grown to be beside now a nice view of them. 

My Lakeside walk (I took the fourth picture in this photoset of a view here over a lake in the sun which was nice) was dominated by wildflowers today I took so many pictures of ones I knew, knew a little or not so much and put my new Plant Net app which I got on Friday to good use for identifying them lots of flowers looking good in a decent bit of sunshine. It was brilliant to be immersed in flowers, I took the third, fifth and seventh pictures in this photoset of bird’s-foot trefoil, purple loosestrife, and meadow-crane’s bill. I also photographed great willowherb along the path to the lake through the fenced off area where the trefoil was and buttercup by the entrance to Lakeside today. I think this was one of my best ever days of flowers and if I had to say them they’d probably all be this year. I have admired and photographed flowers on my walks for years and more and more you could say as they went on purple loosestrife is one I photographed by the river Itchen years ago and got told what it was and it has been part of a small collection I kept with me as ones I knew for years. But this year I have just loved seeing and photographing flowers a lot be that domestic in our garden or the ones that excite me most wild ones out in the main habitats we visit especially through this summer I have just taken such an interest in flowers and appreciated them more and more and with my new macro lens which allows closeup pictures with the detail I’ve not seen anything like before in fairness to my trusty old (now spare) macro lens which I had for nine years and its really been a deep exploration into flowers. Its interesting how key my macro lens has become for me. In the first days of lockdown just coming out of winter, as will happen after the mushroom season quietens down my macro lens did not come out on walks with me the first few months as with butterflies then mushrooms of autumn then flowers my uses for the lens the lens always has a hibernation over winter it was weird to have my macro lens on walks with me very often the only lens I used on days I didn’t take my backpack. But here we are now when more often than not the macro lens comes on my walks at the weekend further afield and its so common place. Over the winter when we focus on birds more etc. and weather might be unpredictable my bridge camera will more often be one I take alongside my DSLR camera and normal lens on further afield walks as it’ll be more likely to be needed for photos and I shall miss not having my macro lens but a great moment to look back on it today. 

The app is useful as I said as I am nowhere near where I am with birds, butterflies, mammals and dragon/damselflies with my knowledge of what they all or some of them are. I am using the app to try and identify each new wild flower I see now but if I don’t get a result from that I may use other means but I may just post it on social media as simply “flower” as the caption so if you see that and you happen to know the flower or I’m not sure sure or got one wrong feel free to tell me I always rely on that a lot too and have been grateful of all the help I ever get online from so many kind people. I think knowing the species gives me a greater sense of appreciation for the flowers to be able to record what they were in my memory and otherwise. The flowers today in sun in a time its feeling very autumnal out gave me back a slice of summer. Common Darter dragonflies whilst an autumnal sight too and in abundance at Lakeside at the moment added to this too. 

And it was as though autumn had done a slight disappearing act next as I walked through the areas of trees on a little path behind the visitor centre and steam railway station a place I had searched for White-letter Hairstreak butterflies to no avail most of the summer as someone said they were there. I had scaled down my search and going there weekly rather than daily in my lunch time and some evening walks as the hairstreak’s season has ended I would imagine and in August the rich green leaves synonymous of a White-letter Hairstreak sightings gave way to yellow of autumn I even photographed this. But today they were not around, and the reason I believe is when those leaves and so many others I have seen changed colour early this year really in August we were then battered by storms. So they blew off the trees, leaving the green ones in many areas yet to turn left so it looks like no coloured leaves are left. And its created a very interesting autumn that the coloured leaves will come in stages almost. Albeit I did notice some yellow leaves further down the track as I took the sixth picture in this photoset of the scene. 

As I walked on and to the east of concorde lake I took a path small path into undergrowth so as to easily social distance from fisherman going about their business on the jettys as I often do and I came across some striking red mushrooms on the ground a few in an area. I took two pictures of them including the eighth in this photoset. 

I ended by taking the ninth and tenth pictures in this photoset on the walk home of two of my summer star birds and stars of recent weeks at Lakeside two of the Great Crested Grebe chicks looking nice and big now they are growing so much and independent which is brilliant to see I got nicely close to them on the big westernmost lake and a Stock Dove again in the eastern section of the northern fenced off nature reserve area. Great to see, a nice Monday of wildlife and photos. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary today: One of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebes, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Robin, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Starling, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Common Darter and spider. 

[colloguing]

The DNA goldmine no one is talking about.

Although scientists have been telling us for decades that most (90%+) of our DNA is ‘junk’, the sections of DNA which do not code proteins actually have a number of important (but to date unpublished) functions. One theory why these have not been made public by 2020 is that the discovering government agency is still working on how to remotely decode the contents of DNA (to unencrypt its archive so to speak - see 2 below). They are concerned that if people know what is there to be read, others may rush to decode before them. After alll having read the below, imagine what you could work out about someone by having just a strand of their hair or by shaking their hand.

1. Purposeful Mutation - Science tells us that DNA randomly mutates and only when a mutation is, by coincidence, helpful does it create a competitive advantage. This, we are told, randomness leads to the development of distinct species. Many people find this unbelievable and when they see millions of species designed perectly for their environment, they attribute the variation to a god-like designer. In fact, neither the random mutation or designer theory is true. A large amount of DNA is dedicated to reading and processing inputs from the host’s physical and mental experience and coding (with the brain) planned genetic alterations which are expected to prrovide a competitive advantage. These alterations take place in the father’s sperm or the grandmother’s egg cells, to pass to the next generation (or third generation in the case of egg cells).

This is how, even within a few generations, a species can develop a camoflague for its natural environment which would, by random chance, have a one in a trillion chance of occurring. It’s the genetic equivalent of a chess computer, working through inputs (sight, hearing, emotions, food intake etc.) and selecting optimal code change responses. Of course the traditional binary theories can still apply to supplment purposeful mutation. For example, a change which seems beneficial will also be aided (in its spread) by natural selection. Also, if you believe god created the earth and everything in it, it is an easy step to say he created them in a corporeal (real, tangible) form; which necessitates DNA, just like a tree requires water, and that requirement does not make it any less real. 

2. Ancestral Archivation - Another important function of DNA is to act like a database of critical memories from prevous generations. It’s like the original encrypted USB key, working with the brain as the hardware. Basically, when you experience things in life, your brain processes them all and forgets most. But if something is important for good or bad reasons, your brain will convert it from short term to long-term memory. There is a secondary phase to this, where if a long-term memory stimulates the right parts of the brain emotionally, the recollection will be converted and store in DNA to be passed to future generations. This is why a sall portion of DNA is actually still ‘junk’ or unallocated to use a more appropriate word. It’s like the space which is available for writing future memories. 

Take for example a child who has never seen or been exposed to the idea of a snake, who is suddely presented with one. Generally, they instinctively fear it and know to move away. The same is true for most dangerous situations, because an ancestor has been bitten and so painful or distressing was the experience that the key points of the incident are burned into the DNA for future generations. And of course because everyone’s life is different, variations wil occur in the genetic archives of different people. One person may have had an ancestor who was bitten by a poisonous spider, and their ancestors may have a phobia of spiders; whereas another absent that ancestral archive may not have the same aversion. 

The same is true of animals. Take a migrating bird or animal, which can move hundreds or thousands of miles to reach an ancient nesting site or watering hole. Some can even find a second one in a time where their main one is inaccessible or unproductive. Or take even the humble chicken. Many plants are poisonous to chickens, but they simply avoid them; even where a chicken is raised in isolation it will generally not eat any of the hundreds of plants which are poisonous to it. It’s like they are born with a copy of numerous botanical encyclopedias and pictoral guides.

The code can also, like long-term memory, be overwritten if not in use. As humans have evolved and have for thousands of years learnt to record information, specialised in roles within larger groups of other humans, moved away from their native habitats etc. knowing genetically which mushrooms are safe to eat or how to kill a wild boar, for example, has not been important code to pass on. Replacing such primal archives in the DNA vault of modern humans are how to work well in teams, strategies for resolving conflict, and how to recognise serious threats to life; which could go some way to explaining why some people appear to be borne with a dislike of people they may associate as coming from another tirbe, whereas others have no such aversion.