#ming ferns

[carinuseanpaganism]

Gravel Backyard a picture of a sizable contemporary gravel retaining wall landscape in the shade and tolerance to drought in the spring.

[kanehopkins]

Retaining Walls - Landscape Design ideas for a large modern drought-tolerant and shade backyard gravel retaining wall landscape in spring.

[gamemakxr]

Retaining Walls - Modern Landscape

Inspiration for a large modern drought-tolerant and shade backyard gravel retaining wall landscape in spring.

[bluefuzzball]

Gravel - Front Yard

Here is an illustration of a sizable, contemporary, drought-tolerant front yard gravel retaining wall landscape in the spring.

[ultimatenightcore]

Gravel Front Yard

Inspiration for a large contemporary front yard gravel retaining wall landscape in the spring that is drought-tolerant and shade-tolerant.

[kaleloverboy]

Front Yard - Contemporary Landscape Here is an illustration of a sizable, modern, drought-tolerant front yard gravel retaining wall landscape in the spring.

[japanickinginyamanashi]

Modern Landscape Austin Here is an illustration of a sizable, contemporary, drought-tolerant front yard gravel retaining wall landscape in the spring.

[unicefindia]

Front Yard Austin picture of a spacious, contemporary, drought-tolerant, and shady front yard with a gravel retaining wall in the spring.

[whitewizard89]

Retaining Walls Landscape (Austin)

[bloodstainedlovers]

Contemporary Landscape

[wyrm-o-lantern]

Contemporary Landscape - Landscape

[lockedndenied]

Gravel in Austin

[vampiricallyxspeaking]

Front Yard Gravel

[badass-at-fandoming]

Happy VtM FangFest24!

Despite my current level of Busy, I really wanted to meet @fuckyeahlabynight's Fang Fest challenge! Tarot is such a fun idea. 😁 Earlier this month, I ran a poll on what to draw, and "portraits of different canon characters" won by landslide. Here's the first half! As a further treat, I paired each character with a flower whose meaning brought out more elements of their character and card. All flower meanings are from A Victorian Flower Dictionary by Mandy Kirkby. Find it on Indiebound here.

If you'd like to squeak in entries for this challenge, check out the kick off post here! I babble more about my character & flower choices below the cut.

Day 1 - Ramona as the Fool - Daisies double down on the "Innocence" theme of The Fool. From the Clan Novels to her appearance in LA by Night, Ramona goes on a wild journey which attempts to break her. Against all odds, she survives and comes out stronger, choosing kindness, art, and whimsy in LA by Night instead of brooding over the shitstorm she was forced through. It's like, at first Ramona was innocent, then she chooses the innocent happiness of small joys. Yeah, she'll do what she needs to survive—but she doesn't let the experience overtake who she chooses to be.

Day 2 - Ambrosio Luis Moncado as The Magician - HEAR ME OUT. He's the Magician Upright and Reversed. Moncado has plans upon plans. They succeed much more often than not, but Moncado also gets in his own way sometimes. The flowers are geraniums. The pencil thin leaves convey ingenuity—yes, Embracing Lucita was a good, unexpected idea—but red geraniums indicate stupidity. Maybe if he drank more respect women juice, she would return his calls.

Day 3 - Ming Xiao as the High Priestess - In her mortal and immortal roles, Ming Xiao acts as an advisor and knowledge keeper for her communities. She also has a terrible habit of withdrawing and not sharing tidbits. Maidenhair fern seemed a perfect fit: it references the feminine and it conveys a sense of secrecy.

Day 4 - Emma Blake as the Empress - I think Emma Blake deserves nice things and barely got the chance to stand on her own. Her "flower" is actually wheat. Emma is essential to the The Victorian Trilogy, just like wheat is a building block of civilization. The narrative wants to grind her down and devour her, like the violence done to wheat to make bread. Wheat is a staple—but for the gluten intolerant it's a poison. There's also the association with Ceres, the mother who, in her rage and sorrow, created winter over her stolen child. I'm like, really happy with this pairing, can you tell

Day 5 - Baron Samedi as The Emperor - What a fun dude. Though he's not always a good father/sire, Baron Samedi takes care of his clan, even at the risk of his own life. The leaves in his pocket are sorrel, which stands for parental affection.

Day 6 - Hesha Ruhadze as The Hierophant - Hesha's story is all wrapped up with faith and spiritual institutions: either following their precepts or secretly defying them for a greater good. Why is he naked you ask? the monocle stays ON during sex Ignore that. Look at the passionflower. Look up a picture of a passionflower. It stands for faith and looks like an alien.

Day 7 - Ilias cel Frumos and Sascha Vykos as The Lovers - This choice was very obvious, haha. Without Ilias, Vykos' life is full of disharmony, arguments, and hatred. United, they blossom. The flowers above them are lilies of the valley for "return of happiness." The drawing is a redraw of this picrew

Day 8 - Karsh as The Chariot - Just like chamomile ("energy in adversity"), Karsh does not quit! Cut him down; he returns stronger! In v5 Modern Nights, I think Karsh would be conflicted over his position in the Camarilla, and the Chariot brings out that tension. B. Dave Walters performed a fantastic Karsh in LA by Night, and I used his outfit and picture from We're Alive: Frontier as an artistic reference.

Day 9 - Halim Bey as Strength - Halim is a gentleman, through and through. He gently persuades, deftly handles his British customers, practices compassion gracefully, and endures like one million billion microaggressions without snapping. That takes strength. The dahlias are for dignity, which he has in spades. The decolonization comment came from me wondering how he feels about the British monarchy these nights. Like how Hesha is wrapped up with faith, Halim is wrapped up in colonization.

Day 10 - Aristotle de Laurent as The Hermit - This one was easy. Since he finished The Book of Nod, Aristotle seems to be quite content puttering around his collection and directing Lucita, Anatole, and Beckett to dig sites. He was The Hermit Upright. With their associations in mythology, queerness, and loneliness, hyacinths seemed a good pick. The purple shades add in the message "please forgive me," which reference his and Beckett's falling out. When he betrayed Beckett, Aristotle's Hermit card Reversed.

Day 11 - Beckett as The Wheel of Fortune - This card fit the (un)lucky Cuthbert "Gehenna is a cycle" Beckett so well! Aristotle and Beckett's portraits mirror each other, because I wanted to tease out their potential for reconciliation. I've drawn Beckett before, but this one came out looking younger and softer to me, which calls back to Beckett's neonate days. The two chrysanthemums symbolize truth (i.e. his constant goal) in British culture. In China, chrysanthemums are, among other things, symbols of the queer male community. Cause, yanno, they kind of look like buttholes. 😅😂 I had to do it do 'em okay

[dear-indies]

hi there! i hope you're well! i have a lot of muse for a vampire character as of late but i'm unsure what kind of fc i'd like to go for. do you have any fcs you can recommend and/or would love to see used in a vampire role? i have a reference for women as i usually write them, but i'm open to any ethnicity, age and the like. thank you so much in advance!

Shohreh Aghdashloo (1952) Iranian.

Ming-Na Wen (1963) Macanese, part Malaysian.

Lucy Liu (1968) Chinese.

Carla Gugino (1971)

Poorna Jagannathan (1972) Indian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Kim Seo-hyung (1973) Korean.

Mahershala Ali (1974) African-American - is going to play Blade so he has to have a mentioned - has spoken up for Palestine!

Dominique Jackson (1975) Afro-Tobagonian - is a trans woman.

Danai Gurira (1978) Shona Zimbabwean.

Jaime Murray (1976)

Yao Chen (1979) Chinese.

Maggie Q (1979) Vietnamese / White.

Janina Gavankar (1980) 75% Indian 25% Dutch.

Angelica Ross (1980) African-American - is a trans woman - has spoken up for Palestine!

Kim So-yeon (1980) Korean - vibes in Penthouse.

Miyavi (1981) Japanese / Korean-Japanese.

Krysten Ritter (1981)

Beth Ditto (1981) - is queer - more fat muses and more fat vampires please - has spoken up for Palestine!

Yetide Badaki (1981) Nigerian - is bisexual.

Mahesh Jadu (1982) Indo Mauritian.

Du Juan (1982) Chinese.

Riz Ahmed (1982) Pakistani - has spoken up for Palestine!

Dichen Lachman (1982) Nepalese Tibetan / White.

Billie Piper (1982) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Amir Eid (1983) Egyptian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Michael Malarkey (1983) part Palestinian - also played a vampire in The Vampire Diaries.

Jena Malone (1984) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Asia Kate Dillon (1984) Ashkenazi Jewish / Unspecified - is non-binary and pansexual (they/them) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Rahul Kohli (1985) Punjabi Indian - uses he/they - vibes in The Fall of the House of Usher - has spoken up for Palestine!

Nathalie Kelley (1985) Argentinian, Peruvian [Quechua, possibly other].

T'Nia Miller (1985) Afro Jamaican - is a lesbian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Natalie Morales (1985) Cuban - is queer - has spoken up for Palestine!

Diane Guerrero (1986) Colombian - vibes in Doom Patrol - has spoken up for Palestine!

Alba Flores (1986) Romani, Spanish [including Andalusian] - is a lesbian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Michaela Coel (1987) Ghanaian - is aromantic, boycotted the Sydney Festival 2022 for Palestine.

Lee Soo-hyuk (1988) Korean - also played a vampire in The Scholar Who Walks the Night.

Sonoya Mizuno (1988) Japanese / English, Argentinian.

Cody Fern (1988) - vibes in American Horror Story.

Morfydd Clark (1989) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Mishel Prada (1989) Puerto Rican, Dominican Republic, and Mexican [Spanish, Portuguese, African, Indigenous], some French - has spoken up for Palestine!

Luke Baines (1990) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Kiowa Gordon (1990) Hualapai and White - vibes in Blood Quantum - has spoken up for Palestine!

Kelly McCormack (1991) - is queer - has spoken up for Palestine!

Vico Ortiz (1991) Puerto Rican - non-binary (they/them) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Tanya Reynolds (1991) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Paloma Elsesser (1992) African-American / Chilean, Swiss - has spoken up for Palestine!

Yumi Nu (1996) Japanese / White.

Blu del Barrio (1997) Argentinian - is non-binary (they/them) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Jessica Alexander (1999) - has spoken up for Palestine!

Lizeth Selene (1999) Mexican [Unspecified Indigenous, Black and White] - is genderfluid and queer, uses she/they.

Odessa A'zion (2000) Ashkenazi Jewish, English, some Irish, Northern Irish, Welsh, German - has spoken up for Palestine!

Rachel Zegler (2001) Colombian / White - has spoken up for Palestine!

Hey anon! I replied to an ask like this HERE which has woman listed from mid twenties to early thirties, here are some suggestions not from that list though!

Please let me know if you'd like something more specific!

[vitalphenomena]

MARYANNE BARKAN works at a strip club with Chloe Keaton.

BIANCA CABRERA CERVANTES is friends with BUSY NOLAN. BUSY NOLAN is Kitsey Nolan's assistant. BIANCA and BUSY have children with Edwin Miles. BUSY'S son is SAMUEL NOLAN.

RIAN DOYLE is a member of Archetype, along with LOUIS YOUNG, NOAH YU, KENNEDY ST. CLAIR, KAI-MING SONG, Trevor Quinn, Ada Harper, Molly Sommerset, Hania Mar, Cary Alcock, Yancy Murray, Isobel Morgan, and Zosia Kaczmarek. (SPIRIT HARRIS also has a non-canonical verse within Archetype.) (Charlotte and Dana also write muses in Archetype.)

VERONICA FANG hosts get-togethers for her group of friends, including LOUIS, KENNEDY, HANNA ROBINSON, Ezra Haven, Cassius Bairn, Edwin Miles, Élodie Morin, and Yancy Murray. Also they're all fucking.

LOUIS and Houston Morin have a son, MAXWELL YOUNG. LOUIS and an NPC have a daughter, Xia Young.

HANNA and Edwin have a daughter, Simone.

CAIN GLASS is a member of the cult of KIERAN GLASS. CAIN has a daughter, GABRIELA GLASS, with other cult member JENNY FINNIGAN (NPC). KIERAN has a son, CULLEN GLASS, with Susanna.

FELICITY HARTMANN has a daughter, AMELIA HARTMANN, with SOME GUY PETER. Cassius Bairn steps up as AMELIA'S stepfather.

MACKENZIE KNIGHT, CASS HWANG, and JM Hamilton are in an open polyamorous relationship. MACKENZIE KNIGHT, ELIJAH KNIGHT, and Shipley Knight (written by Charlotte) are siblings. Their father is IDRIS KNIGHT. MACKENZIE, CASS, and JM raise RACHEL KNIGHT. ELIJAH was in a romantic relationship with Henry Sinclair before MACKENZIE murdered him. Henry and ROSE SINCLAIR are siblings. ROSE marries Gabriel Monday and has two children with him, NAOMI MONDAY and Jane Monday. Henry raises GRAHAM SINCLAIR and Freddie Sinclair.

BECK BOY is in a family/"pack" with Rudy Boy, Lake, Fern, and Valen and Saya (who don't have blogs right now but are written by Dax and Charlotte respectively). BECK is actively hunting HARRIS HARRIS and BURNS HARRIS.

BURNS HARRIS, HARRIS HARRIS, LILA HARRIS, JUNIPER HARRIS, and SPIRIT HARRIS are THE HARRISES we know the drill by now. SPIRIT HARRIS and Flynn Nichols are exes. SPIRIT and Ezra Haven are married. JUNIPER and Flynn have four children together.

DAVY NICHOLS, PHOEBE NICHOLS, Maisie Nichols, and Lucy Nichols are siblings. ALEX HAVEN and Theo Haven are siblings. The Nichols and the Havens are cousins.