#my water is also contaminated lol

[practicalsolutions]

I am a curious mfer, and I want some peace of mind. I don't think it's *that* bad. The VP sounded like he wasn't very concerned about the situation, but the town conveniently stopped posting the public water data for the last three years.

What if I take the water test strips and go an hour west? What if I test it myself? I'm going to be in that area anyhow.. Just to make sure we're not Times Beach-ing a rural town. We're better than that.

[phe-purple-parade]

Been waking up stressed lately, today's stress dream featured such hits as:

Contamination

Social exclusion

Supernatural beings

Preying on vulnerable people

Violent pursuit

Mental contagion

A performance to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'

Shopping

So,, a mix of anxieties..

[irishbreakfst]

Completely in love with the coworker I did field work with yesterday who within 30 minutes of conversation told me that he was interested in unionizing the workplace and had already tried once (the other field workers weren't interested bc we already make slightly above average pay, but thats also not the only thing unions are for so.), told me that I shouldn't feel bad about asking to work from home or not checking emails after hours, and told me exactly how much he makes and what raises he typically gets so I know to what extent to advocate for myself. He also likes channel 4 game shows and the two dozen comedians that are constantly on them (which I also like) and both of our SOs are in nursing jobs. Amazing vibes

[pancakeke]

hey just wnated to give a tip dont use tap water for the marimos, leave it out for 24 hrs, if possible use pond water or something with natural bacteria 🫡

I understand that you had good intentions by trying to give advice, but please understand that if I wanted advice I would have requested it.

and I'm really really not trying to be mean to you here, but this is a good example of how not knowing the context of someone's situation and then giving unsolicited advice can spread misinformation.

using pond/creek/river water for anything other than a pond jar is a bad idea. the contaminants this may introduce to an aquatic system far outweighs the benefits good bacteria may provide. potential water quality issues should be assessed by testing first. changes should be made based on test results, and only by means of safe chemical or bacterial additives.

good bacteria is most useful for eating up detritus and fish waste before its decay can create chemical imbalances in a tank. but I don't have any critters that poop and my marimo have never appeared to shed dead parts. if anything they generate more living tufts of algae that then start looking for a place to anchor themselves, which is a whole different problem.

again, sorry if this comes off rude but I see sooo much misinfo spread around the houseplant subreddits I follow as well as on instagram. a lot of it comes in the form of unsolicited advice that doesn't directly address anything at hand.

the (serious) fish/aquarium hobbyists are way more likely to be straight shooters, though I guess that comes with the territory when the hobby has a higher barrier for entry and it's easy to do tests that can back up your claims lol

my marimo have been cute and doing fine for the 6 years I've owned them. the only reason I killed one recently was because I neglected them all completely for months. I'm going a little more extreme with their setup now (like adding pumps and stuff) because this would either extend the time they can be left alone OR I'll want play with their habitat more, which means I'll check them more. also once I started looking at the types of aquariums equipment out there it all seemed fun and I wanted to get silly with things.

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Ah…thanks for the info. The standard in my country is betwen 4.5-5 in the morning to 5-4 in the afternoon. And then a break followed by labs until late into the evening. 6 days a week. And we dont get paid. Hm. I always thought i might be a whiny baby for it, because i always swung between the same, like, five sites, and they all had more or less this schedule, but i find it rather physically demanding, because we also get very few physical aid items (i got bad bones) and like no toilets, no water, food that is not nutritious, and stuff. You basically have to provide for yourself, the accommodations are not very comfortable, and whenever you make a request of something that you truly need for your health/would increase your work efficiency, you get treated like youre insane for considering it in the first place.

I guess thats the MO when you’re a student and need the experience for a chance at employment. I guess ill move to the US lol

That sounds... not great. However, I would caution you from thinking it's necessarily any better over here. While there are certainly outstanding dig supervisors who prioritize their archaeologists' safety and time, there are also many who fit the profile you described. CRM in the United States is notoriously demanding at the expense of safety. Someone died in 2022, and heatstroke/exhaustion is common. Companies expose people to chemicals and other toxic contaminants.

Students at digs often get the short end of the stick, and have different legal protections than paid employees. Ableism is rampant, as it unfortunately tends to be in fields that revolve around manual labor. I personally have transitioned to more lab-based archaeology for that reason.

You are not a whiny baby—everybody deserves to have their safety be a priority and be compensated for their time. It's my sincere hope that archaeology as a field can start reckoning with its harmful practices and cowboy culture.

-Reid

[rarepears]

We, the fandom of svsss, have had so many different concepts of BingYuan, including TILPS, (teachers i'd like to PAPAPA), plants etc-

BUT WHERE THE HOLY DUCK IS MY SPIRITUAL SENTIENT MOUNTAIN SHEN YUAN?!

A SIZE COMPARISON, AN ANT SIZED BINGHE TRYING TO COURT A MASSIVE ROCK SINCE HE BECAME A CULTIVATOR AND REALISED THE MOUNTAIN HE HID FROM BULLIES AT HAD BEEN PROTECTING BABY HIM FROM THE BULLIES OR SOME SHIT?!

(i may be buzzed. Like right now. Sorry, im lights out in aminjte now. But had to brsinrot befote lights out. Hoodnight.)

Luo Binghe is ready to become the world's number one landscaper and gardener! Well, first he was planning on clearing out all the human inhabitants on the peak (cough he was going to get rid of the entire Cang Qiong sect) until he gets the message - Does Shen Yuan shake his ass and cause a mini earthquake to get some rocks to form a message? lol - that Shen Yuan would be Very Unhappy if such a thing occurs.

So instead, Luo Binghe builds out a disciplinary committee to ensure that the residents aren't doing things that make Shen Yuan unhappy or feel pain. The latter includes things like deforestation, (uncontrolled) soil erosion, contaminated ground water, etc.

In turn, Shen Yuan makes sure that only the tastiest crops grow on his mountain - tasty crops that Luo Binghe can then use to cook and make delicious food for Shen Yuan to feast upon. Yeah, don't ask me how a mountain spirit that can feel everything on a mountain can also have a human form (without the mountain disappearing on him). Let's just say that Shen Yuan is like those tree dryad that protect their tree, or in Shen Yuan's case, a mountain.

[MORE IN #SPIRITUAL SENTIENT MOUNTAIN SHEN YUAN AU]

[devynconstance]

Cleaning Thrifted Fabric

Nobody asked for this but I recently acquired a whole lot of fabric from my great aunt (love her so much she's the best) and I just went through this whole process so I figured I'd share what I do for clean fresh smelling thrifted fabric.

The fabric I got was partially stuff she had stored away for a long time and partially stuff from garage sales so while I wasn't necessarily worried about bugs, I like to live on the safe side when it comes to potentially contaminating the rest of my fabric stash. So before doing anything else with the fabric, I like to put it in extreme temperatures, hot or cold, to kill off any bugs or bactera that could be on the material, and unfortunately I do not have the funds for my own personal fabric freezer (i dont like putting it next to my frozen food) so here's what I do instead.

After going through everything, I throw all the material into one garbage bag (I think it works better when everything's unfolded) and squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible before tying it off. The goal is to be as close to an air tight seal as possible. And then I chuck the whole thing into my car for a about a week. This only really works in the summer and winter when the temperatures are more extreme (I should also note my car sits outside so it gets really hot with the direct sunlight hitting it and really cold on winter nights). Technically speaking, I think you're actually supposed to do it a few times (as in letting it get back to room temperature and then doing it again) but I didn't do that because the car cools down overnight anyways. When the fabric has been sufficiently 'baked' it's time to move onto step two.

This next step tackles the musty smell that thrifted fabric and clothes can have when you first get them. Just washing them in the washing machine doesn't normally do much good on getting rid of it, so after getting the bag of fabric back inside, I clean out my bathtub and prepare to soak them. If you only have a few pieces of fabric to work with you can also do this step in a bucket or large pot but i definitely needed the full tub for this batch. I partially fill the tub up with warm water (just enough to mostly cover the material), and add about a cup of white vinager and liberally sprinkle baking soda on top, i dont have exact measurements here we just go by vibes lol.

(It doesn't really matter which brand you use but here's the ones I used this time)

And finally add your material. Please please be aware that the dye on the material can bleed quite a bit and stain the other fabrics, so if this is something that'll be an issue, do this in a few batches separated by color. I notice the biggest issue with the red dyes.

Make sure everything is thoroughly soaked and leave sit for an hour. I come back to it once or twice to move things around and make sure everything is soaking evenly. It won't hurt the fabric if you leave it sitting for longer, you can even leave it overnight if you want to, but an hour was plenty long enough for my purposes.

Finally, wash and dry as normal and you have perfectly clean, bug free, fresh smelling, fabric (or clothes) ready for your next project!

[mycochaotix]

wanted to take the time to snap some close-ups of my current plate projects and discuss them briefly. These plates are corn soak and peptone, 500 mL corn soak water + 10 g agar and 1 g peptone. Used light food dye no sparkles. I’m still evaluating glitter impacts. More on that later.

The first picture is a selection of inoculations from agar transfer. Haole, omni brain, omni mutant and unknown e10 variety from mystery wedge

Note the top left plate. Had agar buildup when I was pouring as I let it get too cool but the mycelium just has a little bit of a fun ride lol.

No noted contaminations on these plates at this time. Growths looks healthy some even looks ideal. Namely the bottom right plate and the plate directly above it, which are both the same strain of mutant.

I generally leave my plates, jars and tubs all around room temperature. Often sitting in the 73 Fahrenheit range 74. Something I’ve learned over the years is that temperature, at least for subtropical cubensis, isn’t as important as people may think when first starting the hobby. Yes it matters at a foundational level. And there are temperature extremes that become prohibitive towards the funguses growth, but I’ve had my apartment at 68 and 69° from inoculation all the way to fruiting. And it’s succeeded. Ive also done it in the 76-80F range when air conditioning ran out lol.

Generally it seems that cooler temperatures just means slower moving fungi, which ultimately leaves room for for faster, fungi, and or contaminants otherwise to take over your shit before your intended fungus does.

Worth noting, higher temps can also increase the metabolism of already naturally fast contaminants. ;)

Second picture is liquid culture droplet inoc tests, two plates for each of two variety strain. These are from my personal mentor in Cali. Excited to see how they turn out. No noted contaminant growth on them at this point growth looks healthy and matches growth on the jars that I also inoculated at the same time as doing this droplet inoculation.

Third picture is overgrown plates that I still haven’t done anything with. It’s always fun to just see what happens when you leave them. I ideally would be doing something with them before I start to see knots but even if I see knots, you can do stuff with the transfers with knots and even with the fruiting bodies and pin forms if you get them en vitro plate. If you have pins in a dish, you can still put it in the grain and cut up the pins and they will just be reclaimed and revert back to mycelium. 💯

Rest of the photos are close-up. One shots of plates in the order discussed generally speaking.

Keep an eye out for my round two quality assurance liquid culture testing. I will be putting out notice for the way to apply in the near future. If you are active and able to follow the program rules, it can be a very beneficial program for all involved ;);) you get free liquid culture I get input and feedback From mycopal who is interested in learning from me and also working with my genetics!! - quality assurance testers are given discounted prices on my supplies 💯

-mcx

Follow on their mycojourney! for more:

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Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

Discord: mycochaotix

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[dollsorwhatever]

Since the topic of glue seepage is coming up again I figured I would share my method, which is a combination of the Totally Awesome Soak and the Tea Tree Oil Method that I was using back in the day lol Keep in mind this method is a lot more labor intensive (and expensive because TTO is expensive) than most so it's likely not the best method for people who regularly collect Mattel dolls from that era or have large MH collections, but I do not frequently buy dolls with glue head so it works for me and I like the results so I thought I'd share lol TTO also has a risk of dissolving face paint (and will dissolve the scalp paint) so you have to be really careful with this method lol Another thing to note is that Oil can degrade certain plastics so there may be a risk of future damaged caused by the use of Tea Tree Oil on doll heads. This is a risk I'm willing to take, but it might not be for you, and there are better methods out there that cost less, have less required labor and are likely safer. While the TA method is definitely the best solution with the lowest amount of risk imo, I wanted to see if it would be possible to not just stabilize/harden the glue but completely dissolve it because I had worries about the glue eventually yellowing the scalp or interacting with the vinyl over time lol Tea Tree oil works well at dissolving liquified glue on the surface of the scalp, but it’s not very good at dissolving the thicker/harder (but still unstable) glue inside the head (and it’s hard to wash out) so i figured that an introduction of Totally Awesome into the mix would do something- and it does:

(Webarella after 1.5 weeks of treatment with no glue left inside her head, on any plugs or the inner surface of the scalp- with the exception of two tiny crumbs of hardened glue that rinsed out right after this lol) Another potential issue is that most glue-heads do not have knotted plugs inside the scalp, so there is an increased risk of the hair falling out once you dissolve the entirety of the glue- for this reason I recommend detangling your doll prior to glue removal so that you don’t have to do any hard pulling once you’re done de-gluing and ready to style! You can also re-glue the hair once you're done with a more reliable, non-leaky vinyl glue like E6000 or Liquid Fusion, that reroot artists typically use to secure plugs. I haven’t experienced any hair loss as a result of this (and I do a lot of shit to my dolls when I style their hair- tugging, flat ironing, washing etc) but I figured I would leave a warning lol  Tutorial below the cut!

Glue Melting Ritual (evil)

Things you’ll need for this dark ritual: -Tea Tree Essential Oil (preferably a large bottle)

-LA’s Totally Awesome household cleaner

-Two plastic syringes

-Shallow bowl

-Virgin sacrifice, optional Step 1- Remove doll head Step 2- Shampoo and rinse with hot water, from the faucet is fine

Step 3- Fill bowl with 50%  hot/scalding water and 50% Totally Awesome, keeping the water level below the doll’s face paint- just above the hairline is good Step 4- Lay dolls head upside down (neck hole facing up) into the bowl, making sure the water is not touching any face paint Step 5-

Shoot a quarter-syringe of tee tree oil directly into the dolls neck hole, rotating the nozzle inside to coat the entire inside scalp- BE CAREFUL, tee tree oil can melt face paint, this cannot touch the doll’s face.  Step 6-

Shoot Totally Awesome inside the neck hole until completely full- make sure you use two different syringes for TTO and TA so as to not contaminate the TTO and TA containers  Step 7- Place bowl somewhere safe, making sure not to jostle it around.

Step 8- Leave soaking for 24 hours, then rinse and scrub head with hot water and Dawn dish soap (you can leave it for longer but I like to redo it every 1-2 days), you’ll know it’s time to redo when the water is cloudy and full of dissolved glue Step 9- Fill head with water and shoot it into the sink until chunks of glue stop coming out- knocking the head (neck hole down) against your palm is good too Step 10- 

scrub and rinse with dish soap again to make sure the face is clean Repeat steps 1-10 until the head is completely squishy and there is no glue visible inside the head- it takes me about 1-1.5 weeks to completely de-glue a doll Step 11- Rinse and clean the inside of the head with dish soap and water, then scrub and shampoo hair and face until all glue and oil are gone (repeat 2-3 times each)

Note: do not stop scrubbing and rinsing the hair until the dish soap is able to form suds; if there are no suds, the glue and oil haven’t been broken down by the soap. Step 12- Condition and leave to dry- if the hair still feels oily or gluey once dry, repeat step 11 Step 13- Reattach head and style! Step 14- Thank the dark lord for your glue-free doll head, perhaps with an animal sacrifice under the full moon

[ambyandony]

yknow what I just thought abt it and it’s wild that squalo even lived long enough to encounter tiziano in the monster au.

like nevermind the fact he was dying of starvation and malnutrition but the dude was also swimming in the fucking Venetian canals for god knows how long. realistically he probably would just end up with some crazy fucking disease from swimming in the canals alone . if not just dying from the unsanitary water that he would have to breathe in 😭

honestly impressive even though the only reason why any of this happened was because i didn’t realise the Venetian canals were highly contaminated waterways. my guy has the most high quality plot armour just because I didn’t do research lol. listen the universe owes him one victory this may as well be it. But he is going to be so fucking sick when tiziano gets him up on land and he is also going to have absolutely no fucking idea what is happening

[intervalart]

Werewolf and Vampire AU Masterpost (specifically for the LAL western chapter)

I can't believe this is a thing I'm writing because this is normally NOT my thing, but the brainworms are very very real, so a few things I'm gonna get out of the way right now:

•The tag I use for this is "bark bark flap flap", so if you wanna mute it cuz you're sick of seeing it, please feel free.

• The end goal of this for me is not shipping. If it happens to end up that way, that's fine (I am even warming up on the prospect as I write the characters more), but overall I'm just playing with character chemistry. I'm stating this up front because of the explicit sexual culture around werewolves and vampires online. I will not be making any sexual content for this AU (ESPECIALLY not anything omegaverse, I have very little tolerance for that malarkey). At most it may be gore.

I would request you not use my AU writings/character designs/story beats etc for sexually explicit material, but obviously I can't stop you. Just keep it away from me, thanks.

The rest is under the cut, from hereon, gods help us both.

----

The overall premise here is set in the Wild West chapter obviously, but I'm not opposed to other timelines and their monster AUs hopping in for fun. (I know there's a popular theory about Oboro being a fish yokai of some kind, that one rocked)

In this AU, Sundown is the werewolf and Mad Dog is the Vampire.

"But Aima-" I hear you cry. "Mad Dog should be the werewolf cuz he literally has Dog in his name." You are not incorrect. And if you wanna expand on this yourself you are welcome to! But personally I think that since Mad Dog is already a tumblr sexyman fruitcake, his vibes work better with vampires overall. And Sundown is a stoic lone wolf anyway lol

ANYWAYS, there's monsters all around the Wild West, and the frontier folks are out there just tryin' to make it.

Mad Dog in this setting is still a Bounty Hunter, but also goes after monsters. He's still clever and crafty, but one night, he bites off a little more than he can chew, and the target he's pursuing gets the better of him and is interrupted before he can totally drain him, when causes him to turn instead. (Will make a post later discussing how vampirism and lycanthropy spreads in this universe, but the long and short of it is vampirism is a parasite, lycanthropy is a virus)

Sundown is the werewolf, in fact that's where his name came from in this AU (The sun setting and shifting into a werewolf). The current lore is Sundown saved his town from a werewolf, but got infected himself, and took out his own town.

Sundown and Mad Dog have still known each other a long time, but neither either of them knew each other when they were human. There's a bit of hypocrisy to them both, since Sundown could find others affected by the virus and stick around with them in a pack, meanwhile Mad Dog is still a monster hunter when he's a monster himself.

Annie in this setting is also a monster hunter, in training under Dallas.

O. Dio is a kelpie (design is still a WIP), and the Crazy Bunch is a group of aquatic monsters that roams around taking over water sources for their territory, and their main beef with Success is (since they used to be a mining town), some of their water runoff was contaminated by mercury.

Currently I'm just running on the premise of them hanging out, and being In Situations, with no real chronological story beats, but it's implied that Sundown wants to find a cure for his lycantrhopy (because therapy doesn't exist yet I guess lol). Or just be killed (like the canon). Whichever comes first.

Sundown has 2 forms, human and werewolf. He only shifts on the night of the Full Moon, and in emergencies/life or death cases. When he shifts, he usually doesn't remember the events of the night, only brief flashes and strong emotions. He does however have a brewed draught concocted of various vile herbs etc. that he can take the day of his shift that helps him stay more cognizant. But he can't always get all the ingredients for it, so it's not consistent.

Mad Dog has 3 forms, the humanoid form is the default, when he's running low on energy/blood he takes the little bat form, and he can take the big bat form whenever he wants, but it uses up a lot of energy, so he tends to not use it unless he has to.

Here's some reference for them so far (x) (x) (as a side note, I differentiate the big bat form with 2 thumbs and the small bat form with one thumb.)

----

I will add more links, refs, and info etc. as I drum it up, so if I reblog with edit notes... Y'all know why.

Also, as an aside, I don't know if I will continue to put this in the Live A Live tag cuz I don't wanna flood it with my silly AU when people are probably looking for canon stuff. I'll be open to feedback on that point though.

[macgyvermedical]

Ok, so, this is kind of a stupid question, but how do you go about bathing someone who's too injured/otherwise temporarily incapable of doing so themself? (Particularly with washing the hair?)

In the case of my particular story, if that helps I have a character who's had a bit of a rough time out on a several days' journey in the wilderness (so, you know, limited opportunity for things like washing yourself, even if you don't add in the Whump and such good stuff), brought to safety, and he's at this point sort of semi-conscious, has a fever bc infected wounds are fun, a couple of varyingly serious wounds in different places on his body, a broken collarbone, a badly sprained ankle, and major burns to one leg. (Yes, I know that's a lot, don't @ me lol.) I've pretty much looked up the treating the injuries side of things already, but I was hoping you'd help me with the question of how to bathe him?

Thank you so much for your help!

Eh, this level of injury would be pretty common for the floor I work on, maybe just getting surgery to fix the collar bone and wound care/antibiotics for the burn. I'd just want an answer to the question of why he's semi-conscious. Some options would be dehydration (common with large burns), a head injury (the most long-lasting of the possibilities), or the infection itself, especially if he's older or going into septic shock (which would probably require an ICU stay). So you decide.

Cleaning someone is a pretty basic nursing skill but it's something that pretty much no one knows how to do if you're not a nurse or nurse-aide.

You essentially start at the head and work your way down. You'll need either 2 packets of bath wipes (if you're fancy) or a bucket of warm soapy water (no-rinse soap makes the process so much easier). You'll also need wash cloths (many), towels, bath blankets, a fresh gown, a no-rinse shower cap for hair washing (again if you're fancy), a fresh gown, and fresh linens if also changing the bed.

Picture the patient lying on the bed with a blanket over them. Bring the bed up to waist level, remove the regular blankets and put bath blankets on the patient. Bath blankets are smaller cotton blankets that have a tighter weave and can keep the patient getting the bath a little warmer. Some places have blanket warmers so the blankets are warm when they are used. Which is nice.

You can start with the hair. Put a bath blanket or chux pad under the patient's head to protect the bed. You then take a shower cap and put a little warm water and shampoo/no-rinse soap in it. Then get all the patient's hair into the cap and mush it around until the hair is damp, then dry it with a towel and wrap the towel around the head.

Then move onto the face- try to do each eye and around the mouth with different corners of a wash cloth, working from inside to outside. Put that wash cloth in the hamper and get another one damp, and begin to work your way down the body, taking off the patient's gown in the process but keeping them covered with the bath blankets. Any time you wash something smelly or particularly soiled (crotch, butt, pits, feet, etc...), get another wash cloth. You shouldn't re-dip the same wash cloth because that can contaminate the rest of the water (usually with poop, and who wants that?).

Then you're going to have to roll the patient on their side to clean their back and the backs of their legs.

Once you're completely finished, you put a new gown on the patient and remove the bath blankets.

If you're changing the linen, this is way easier shown via video, so watch below:

It's generally a little... messier than this, but even if the patient can't move themself, an aide or nurse is usually able to do this by themself but it's a lot easier to have someone help turn and hold the patient while you're doing the rest of the stuff.

It's also important to think that the person doesn't stop pooping and peeing just because they're unconscious. A lot of times you're going to have to change at least the pad out from under the person and clean their peri area several times per day in addition to the full bath and linen change.

[anipgarden]

Fun notes from Hellstrip Gardening by Evelyn J. Hadden

I’d mentioned in my liveblogging notes that I’d share the cool stuff I learned/found interesting but my notes quickly got Very Long so they’re now their own post. Seeing as this is what I personally found noteworthy, I definitely encourage people read the book for themselves—you might find value in a place I looked over!

Working with Poor Soil

- Use plants that thrive in less than ideal soil

- Grow herbs 👀 many common perennial herbs like thyme, sage, and oregano prefer nutrient-poor soil and dry conditions make them more flavorful. BUT get your soil tested first. Nitrogen fixers will improve poor soils and manage fine on their own, like false indigo. Flax, penstemons, and salvias are plants that are well adapted to lean growing conditions. I found this interesting because whenever I plant salvias in my garden I give them Scoops of Compost but I guess its not needed lol.

- Deep rooted prairie grasses and flowers can withstand the extremes of clay soil flipping between too wet and too dry. Some sturdy taprooted plants can break through compacted soil.

- If your soil is BAD bad then grow in containers and/or raised beds! It’ll be less costly than trying to improve a huge swath of shitty soil on your own. They’ll also provide textural interest to the landscape.

- Use a fork or pitchfork to improve compacted soil, or a broad-fork. Near tree roots, try pushing a stick/stake/rigid object into the ground and then remove it to make holes where water and organic matter can enter.

- To boost fertility quickly, add dehydrated manure, leaf mold, mushroom compost, alfalfa pellets, or garden compost. I had no idea what an alfalfa pellet was before this.

- Grow annuals for a year, cut them off at the ground level in fall, and leave the roots to decay in place. Plants with big taproots will also help break up soil. Letting roots rot in place create channels of organic matter to aerate soil, hold water, and hold nutrients.

- Sheet mulch

- When it comes to contaminated soils, you can remove the top layer of soil and replace it with good soil, or add the fresh soil on top in raised beds or mounded into berms. If you aren’t in a hurry, certain plants and fungi can be used to phytoremediate or mycoremediate the soil. They remove contaminants and store them in their tissues—you have to remove and dispose of them after though.

- Sunflowers remove lead from soil and store it in their tissues. Increasing their potassium levels increases their effectiveness for this. Cut plants after the growing season and dispose as hazardous waste. Good news! According to this book, the lead and other toxins don’t really accumulate in the seeds, so its safe for seed-eating birds. And since its stored in tissues idk if it’d affect pollinators either?

- Cover bare soil under the phytoremediating plants with a thick mulch or dense ground-covers. For easy living mulch, the book suggests Dutch white clover, annual sweet alyssum, or johnny jump-ups.

- Phytoremediation and mycoremediation require a lot more patience than just removing and replacing soil. It can take a decade or longer, depending on the situation. Definitely test the soil before you use it for other purposes, even if you’ve been phytoremediating.

Working with Laws and Covenants

- Know what the regulations are. This can include what trees are and aren’t allowed to be planted on roadsides, if trees are allowed in strips of certain widths, plant height at intersections, etc. However its also possible that the city will plant a tree for you if its on their list and you qualify, saving you money.

- When confronting a restrictive regulation (esp if written decades ago) whether its from an HOA or a city ordinance, don’t assume it can’t be revised, varied, or taken out entirely after some prompting. Have a civil conversation about it, draw up a plan or describe your garden plan, maybe be ready to make a formal presentation.

- You’ll have more luck if you come to the bargaining table prepared to and willing to compromise, take feedback, address concerns with facts and examples. Offer to meet again after the landscape is in place. Honestly I find this point interesting because the mindset of a lot of people frequently is ‘ask forgiveness not permission don’t ask and fight them if they get pissed’ but also in some situations asking cordially can get the results you want more painlessly. (That being said if lawn lovers dig in their heels maybe then its time to rally the forces and protest it but yknow cross that bridge when you get there I guess)

- Know the applicable laws. Some states (the book lists Colorado, Texas, California, Nevada, and Florida) hqve laws preventing HOAs from prohibiting xeriscaping.

- When proposing/fighting for your garden, focus on practical benefits that are easier to quantify and communicate than emotions and personal values. An HOA might not necessarily care about pollinator habitat, but they might be more understanding of ‘reducing water runoff, erosion control, lower energy use, less water needs, and no noisy mowers and blowers to bother neighbors with and spend money maintaining.’ Assigning dollar values to the garden will help communicate other positives—even if its not your main focus. Speak to them in their language, not necessarily your own.

- Show pictures of examples! If there’s a similar garden elsewhere in town, tell them where they can find it to see for themselves that it Works and Looks Great. Show them that others are doing this kind of stuff and it’ll adjust their view on ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ landscaping choices.

- Consider adding barriers to your beds and paths to help neighbors see that it’s ‘managed’ and actively cared for/enjoyed. Including a path and maybe a bench or some chairs will help it read as more Orderly. Wider paths will also alleviate fears about ticks, snakes, etc.

- If your neighbors aren’t crazy about a meadow garden, a no-mow lawn or groundcovers can give the look and feel of a lawn without being lawn if compromising is needed.

- Get a garden club or other local group to back you up. If there isn’t one already 👀 make one.

Living with Vehicles

- Sometimes if you garden close to the road cars might accidentally drive over parts of it, especially if parking. Put plants that are more easily replaceable on the forefront, and don’t forget to aerate the compacted soil afterwards.

- You could also put in a low fence/wall, a row of rocks, prickly plants or shrubs, or brightly colored taller plants to make the garden More Obvious and Less Drive-On-Able. If it keeps happening maybe request a cautionary sign or speed bump be added, or that a visibility barrier be removed.

- If there’s part of the garden you wanna save for occasional driving/parking, use plants that can be mowed when needed, or install permeable pavement/gravel/driving strips through a low ground cover planting. You can add a barrier that can either be mowed down or moved when that area’s not being used.

- If you have a Hellstrip hellstrip (which this book ends up talking a lot about Total Lawn Transformations but there’s still a lot of hellstrip advice too) then the combo of asphalt on one side and sidewalk on the other is gonna make a heat island. Find plants that like the heat! Use that strip to extend your growing season for warmth loving annuals or even for edible plants like tomatoes, peppers, squash, and melons! BUT get your soil tested before you do that.

- Alternatively you could plant trees to help shade the area and cool it down

- MULCH

- You can plant things to help muffle the sounds smells and other effects of traffic, winds, and passerby. You’ll want a four season barrier for this—plant a variety of things that’ll either stay green and leafed up in Winter or at least add visual interest.

Living with Wildlife

- So apparently geese like to eat the blades of grass lawns??? I thought they were eating bugs IN the grass, not the grass itself. Anyways they especially love eating fresh grass in view of a shoreline so you could add a 20 foot wide buffer of tall plants between the lawn and the shore if you don’t wanna deal with Goose Poop

- Mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water but apparently can also lay eggs in really wet dirt which I DID NOT know so even a leaky faucet onto some dirt can cause issues with mosquitoes.

- According to the book, humans don’t tend to notice damage to leaves until it surpasses ~10%, and don’t notice a particular kind of insect until its population surpasses a certain number of individuals. So instead of trying to eliminate all leaf-eating bugs, aim to control their populations so the damage isn’t noticeable to you and the insect predators will remain in the landscape and continue controlling said population. However, I took note because hey if you plant host plants and either have so many of them or manage to sneak them into so many different places that the leaf damage becomes Barely Noticeable…. Idk that just feels like a good thing to take note of for Sneaky Pollinator Gardening purposes.

- In areas prone to ticks, make your paths wide enough to pass through without touching foliage. Also having other animals around can minimize exposure—pheasants, chickens, and guinea fowl actively seek and eat ticks while possums and raccoons attract them and kill them while grooming. HOWEVER. Mice and deer can be sources of tick reproduction.

- Diverse plantings can limit damage from both insect herbivores as well as larger herbivores like rabbits, deer, and birds. These animals are generalists but may focus on specific favorites, so a mixed variety might get nibbled a little but mostly left alone.

- As a general rule, herbivores are attracted to nitrogen content in foliage, plants kept well watered, and new growth. Pampered plants are more appealing.

- Planting favorites like clover or alfalfa in specific areas may keep herbivores from finding (or at least encourage them to ignore) other areas like a veggie garden. A mulberry tree may make birds ignore your other fruits. A well placed shrub can host a rabbit nest instead of the underside of a deck. Piling ripe seed heads of grasses and flowers alongside an alley or generally away from your house can lure mice away from said house (and possibly expose them to more predators along the way)

- Vertical gardens, cold frames, hoop houses, and green houses can protect edible plants from herbivores

- Maintaining an excessively tidy lawn is a high effort way to avoid contact with particular local species (ticks, snakes, black widows, scorpions, etc.) Gaining more knowledge might help find easier ways to avoid the animal and give more peace of mind. Slight modifications could keep the animal out of your immediate environment. Its possible they aren’t even interested. (This feels fantastic but I feel like the last time I tried to read up on ‘how to keep snakes away from house/out of garden’ the results were basically Dont Have A Garden And Dont Go Outside so)

- I now want a garden toad friend time to find a broken pot to put upside down in the garden

- Early spring bulbs like low iris, species tulips, hyacinths, and crocus will supply nectar at a highly valuable time of year, attracting pollinators to the garden.

- Cleaning up fallen leaves destroys butterflies overwintering under plants.

- Birds will be lured in by the sound of moving water.

- Include prickly shrubs and thorned trees to help give birds a hiding space from predators like hawks or urban cats. Just keep thorny branches out of pathways.

Living with Road Maintenance and Utilities

- If you live in a place where roads are sanded or salted in winter, try to find salt-tolerant plants for your area. To protect curbsides from water logging and salt buildup, slope the ground towards the road/path. Direct salt-laden runoff into a seasonal stream or rain garden planted with salt-resistant species. A berm and/or row of salt-tolerant plants can protect sensitive plants from said salts. Frequent shallow waterings create a buildup of salts in the top layer of soil—deep watering helps flush salts out of the soil.

- Plants can be damaged by piling snow, and soil can be compacted underneath. Make sure the garden includes an area for piling snow, possibly a rain garde or bioswale to shovel into/let meltwater flow to.

- call the local utility company before you make bigass changes to your lawn PLEASE don’t hit a utility line. Also don’t plant tough, deep-rooted masses of roots over shallowly buried utility lines. Consider paths of loose gravel/mulch/stepping stones, shallow-rooted ground covers, and/or annuals and other easily replaced plants.

- Vines can be grown on individual wires, metal fencing, latticework, or wooden poles. Match the vine’s growth habit to the structure you want it to climb. HOWEVER regulations may prohibit stuff like this, and you’ll have to be ready to move/remove any added trellising and plants when maintenance time comes around.

- Shrubs can conceal metal boxes and other equipment, or you can use perennials. When using foliage to hide electrical boxes and other utility containers, keep clear access to any doors and allow their complete range of motion.

- If you can’t/don’t want to mask an object, try shielding it from view in certain vantage points. Or incorporate the colors of the equipment into the garden by mimicking the color scheme.

Living with the Public

- Especially if you’ve got a sidewalk running through the front yard, you have to consider EVERYBODY who’s going through there. Strangers, neighbors, vehicles, animals. Pedestrian traffic is an important consideration—wheelchair users, strollers, children, dogs, and depending on where you are even horses are something to keep in mind.

- Elements that can encourage traffic include mat forming ground covers, level places, and paved/graveled/mulched open areas. Elements that discourage traffic include protective fencing, uneven or sloping surfaces, and plants that are tall or look uncomfortable to touch.

- To minimize damage from foot traffic, enlist self-repairing plants whose stems are capable of rerooting when they’re broken and come into contact with soil. Self sowing plants can seed to fill in bare spots, and running plants can spread to fill gaps.

- Protect your nonwalkable plants with edges, hedges, and other hardscape choices. Berming or hollowing planting areas while keeping paths level can be a more effective strategy. Or you can densely plant s low, prickling, spreading shrub to bar passage.

- If visitors will be parking on the street, make sure they can exit their cars safely, and provide a clear path to your door. Said path can be straight and wide, or meandering. Guests on wheels need to be considered though.

- Plants with high moisture content should be planted closer to the curb where fire is a concern. Idling cars can emit occasional sparks and you don’t want long dry grass catching a spark. Instead consider succulents or a rock/stepping stone border along the edge, and keep dry leaves/pine needles from accumulating near parking.

- Fruit or nut trees can yield a notable surplus. Check for gleaning organizations in the community that may pick your extra edibles for personal use or charitable distribution. Or leave them for neighbors to enjoy.

- When clearing paths consider people’s feet and their faces. Keep prickly branches out of the way, take note of sharp leaves or pollen-laden plants that can make a walkway into an obstacle course hazard. If your area is prone to ticks, keep vegetation far enough from the public walk that it won’t brush against people.

- Some people don’t fucking respect gardens, or don’t have manners. Don’t put super mega rarities or plants you can’t afford to lose where the public can access them easily. Or like. You can. But be warned I’ve seen at least 5 stories of people’s front gardens getting defoliated for ‘bouquets’.

- Frequent presence in a garden (or signs of it) can deter littering, vandalism, and other mischief. A garden that looks well kept can discourage negative attention.

- Consider the garden from several points of view. If you’ve got a lot of neighborhood kids and dogs running around, keep poisonous plants near the back. A mulching of large rocks can lead to trouble with rambunctious gremlins. Etc etc.

- The curbside garden can be a great way to build community. You can even encourage communal use. Include a bench for chilling near the sidewalk, fresh food free for all to pick, a sunflower house or bed of pine cones for kids to play, a bowl of water for passing dogs, etc.

- if you want more curbside gardens in your area, consider sharing extra plants, forming a neighborhood garden club, make a list of Good Neighborhood Plants, establish a local contest, give tours of your yard, persuade a local agency or organization to offer grants, and/or lobby to change restrictive regulations.

[metamatar]

Omg I’m in so-called portland! Chochu local and the momo stand are both at the food cart pod on sandy blvd. so good! The jade night market might coincide w your visit. The Portland art museum is mostly white people art. DNI. Also if you can make it to wy’east like Timothy lake you can swim <3 the water around the city is GrossTM. Dabney park and oxbow park are maybe slightly better. The Willamette and Columbia rivers r nasty in Portland. Also my ex worker at voodoo donuts and they have a union busting problem (so does Powell’s city of books) and also a rat problem. There’s hella fancy donut places besides that but all the south Asian besties say the donuts here r pretty wack. Peninsula park in northeast a way more accessible version of the rose gardens northwest.

ALSO ALSO ALSO I went to a bar the cheerful bullpen and they let me put on the Indy 500. 10/10 would go day drink there again.

appreciate this message a lot! tho im laughing at the idea of swimming in any water body in a city it did not even occur to me... i live in new delhi the yamuna is contaminated with heavy metals, sewage and so much effluent that it always has a layer of white foam on it. didn’t know pdx loves donuts! i do like them but only when they're not "elevated" so maybe i'll find a gas station to try Real American donuts.

i have only watched the indy 500 once but i love a bit of local racing culture! if i was around on any other week i would have tried to catch a portland thorns game (especially since most of the uswnt and canwnt players are back from early exits at the wwc lol.) but they're literally playing away :/

[robinsnest2111]

HEYY nikkimick/zombie anon back lol, hopefully this is okay to send (as I know you said you liked the idea if I’m remembering correctly) since you said you liked the idea, I thought I’d share a bit more of the story/background, if it’s okay! hopefully I’m not boring you with this, and if you don’t want to answer any of these, you don’t have to :)

a bit of a warning to you and to anyone who might read this, gore is discussed and decay is discussed/is the focal point.

it’s a combination of rabies and chronic wasting disease symptoms, and there’s phases, phase 0 is the days from 0-3, where the only symptoms that are slightly apparent are shakiness, lower blood sugar, and an itchiness, however these are rare and only a handful of people experience it. phase 1 is when the symptoms start to show more, the itchiness starting to get worse to the point where wounds are starting, arthritis occurs, stiffening of all of the joints and spine occurs as well as weight being effected

phase 2 is when it starts to get bad as hair loss starts, skin starts to shed off and get picked up by flies (a main spreader of the disease), limbs start to disfigure. the person now has an increased level of thirst to almost a feral level, however, they are hydrophobic, so they can’t physically drink. phase 3 is the dormant stage, almost like the calm before the storm. features start to decay. phase 4 is the final, where it’s the aggressive part that most people associate zombies with. the form of the zombie changes depending on how you contract it, so if you have water contamination, you’re almost the “normal” kind of zombie, but if you contract it from flies, you are basically a host for the flies and your body adjusts as such. however they all have hydrophobia, which is why mick in the story definitely has a base/bunker that is surrounded by water (even though contamination happens….hint hint…..)

very sorry for the long ask, this isn’t going into the story of the guys too much 😭 also do want to say since you said you’d be interested in reading a fic of it, im planning on posting chapters on my account when I get finished with the first! if you’d like to read it, ill def finally comment without anon on once the first one is finished (anon being on is a habit at this point lol)

omg that's so cool!!! sounds super well thought out and very interesting so far!

cannot wait to read it tbh

[blackwldcw]

Muse vs. Mun

Similarities:

Very intelligent. Mun had a 4.5 high school GPA and a 3.98 university GPA. Had straight A's through nursing academy labs, the English Literature program, and graduate program of education.

Also very clever. We know how to read people due to trauma. People think we have this uncanny ability to read in between the lines and predict what others are thinking.

Flexible and very good at dancing. Our fighting styles are also more akin to dancing than most-- Mun has taken taekwondo, belly-dancing, and sword-fighting lessons.

We're both goth lol.

We're both polyamorous! Mun has two partners irl (and not necessarily averse to more), and BA is in an open poly relationship with Blitzwing.

We overthink things. A lot. We also shake hands on having contamination OCD and BPD. However, we both recognise our sometimes faulty way of thinking and are seeking help. Mun has recently had to quit therapy due to money issues, but I will be starting it again once our other partner moves in, and Zim and I have a third source of income. BA also has a therapist in her main IDW verse.

We both use she/they and identify as non-binary.

We both have mommy issues. OOF.

We're both nocturnal by nature and love insects. However, while I love spiders, my favourites are cicadas and praying mantises.

We share all the same kinks

Differences:

Mun loves to write as a therapeutic hobby, while BA prefers scientific and historical research. Their writing style is clinical and aloof (and probably formatted in APA). I, however, model my writing style after the likes of Poe, Lovecraft, and Barker.

BA prefers soft or liquid foods, while I like savoury things like steak.

While BA has distanced themself from anything spiritual due to childhood religious trauma, my own trauma has caused me to embrace being a pagan and a witch. I worship the Norse pantheon, Lokí more specifically.

BA has made war-turning inventions, while the most I've done is make aspirin from scratch in a lab lol.

I love and miss my childhood home in California, while BA won't go back to the web-weaver tribe if you paid them.

BA has a fear of water/drowning, while I love the beach and swimming.

They are,,, a lot more patient than me lol. I have a more explosive temper and will get myself into a sticky situation rather than bide my time.

tagged by: stolen from the bae @xxdoctor-djdxx

tagging: @hellfire-saurian, @13urningstars, @riflesparked, @shiningsilverarmor, @captainseamech, & you!