#nepenthe would feel it EXTRA BAD

[iironwreath]

Silence [Nepenthe]

[context: the gilded thorns had a brief encounter with a weakened avatar of lolth and her clerics & paladins ended up losing their powers for about two months b/c we fucked up her plans]

Nepenthe wasn’t in Dumaran when it happened, but in the aftermath, she could have imagined what it was like: a fortress falling to its knees, crying out as one.

It was like having a vital organ wrenched away from her. There was blinding, deafening pain, and no part of her was spared. Nepenthe didn’t remember falling, but she was on the ground, writhing as a scream ripped out of her throat. In almost four centuries, Nepenthe had never known agony like it.

The pain didn’t let her down gently—it rolled away from her like a stone down a cliff, picking up speed before it slowed to a halt, broken apart and smaller than before. She hadn’t passed out, but she wished she had—her nerves twitched in shock like she’d been struck by lightning. A swift death would have been kinder.

Her armour weighed twice as much, pinning her to the floor. She gulped in air, her throat raw and her lungs feeling half their size. Someone laid a hand on her arm and she struck out wildly at them, snarling.

Directed at her: “Nepenthe, Nepenthe—“ Then, aimed up: “What is happening to them?”

She wanted to tear off her armour and lay on the cool, sweet earth. Her world returned in inches. They were underground—on their way to intercept one of the Dynasty’s little contingencies that “spread the word” of the Luxon to neighbouring communities. She focused on that—how she’d planned to imbibe Lolth’s blood, revel in her might, and slaughter them for her Queen.

The blood. Lolth’s blood. She found the will to sit up, supported by one of the hobgoblins. The floor trembled as a few others ran between the people who had collapsed, including Arjun.

She fumbled for one of her vials and laid it in her shaking hand. Lolth’s blood, usually a lustrous silver, had faded to the dull, flat grey of old iron.

Its pull was gone. Wine, reduced to water.

She dropped it and tugged the cord of her holy symbol at her hip. The acid-green gemstones of the spider had lost their clarity. Rust had infected the limbs and it looked brittle enough for a child to crumple in their fist.

Her dread mounted. She tried to cast a basic spell—a cure wounds. Nothing happened. She tried another—a holy shield. Nothing. Another, this time not a spell, but spreading the fingers of her divine sense. Her awareness stayed firmly within herself. She had called into the dark and only her voice echoed back.

Nepenthe had not known true silence since she lived on the surface, before Dumaran. Even when the world around her was silent, she had always had a reliable connection to Lolth, creating music and song in her blood, waxing as Nepenthe's power grew. Without her as her bulwark, she was stumbling into empty air.

Who was she, without her?

“To Dumaran,” she growled, stroking her neck. “We’re going back to Dumaran.”

[weirdo-with-a-nametag]

Brain is tv static with random frames interspersed

Think I'm like. Really stressed and jumping between topics to try and find something that helps / feels good

Topics:

Anyone know a good health tracking app for adhd people? I want one that like pops up when you open your phone, maybe? But is unobtrusive. Like maybe you just rate your mood or whatever when you open your phone, and it closes, and you go about your business. I just hate every app and paper method I've tried but really want to track some stuff

Pigeon. ? Pigeon as pet?

Service animals re: cats, pigeons, my cat specifically, and then also ESAs and also what to use as treats while training my cat (he's pretty happy to learn behaviors with praise and pets as reinforcement, but treats would make everything move much faster, but I haven't found something I want to give him so we've just been y'know. Chillin)

Service animals re: what tasks can my pet potentially do that would help me? I don't really know a lot about service animals and there is a Huge range. If anyone has suggestions, or places to read about it, I'd appreciate it! Mostly thinking they may help with anxiety, sensory, and mobility/fatigue related stuff. Not much of a need for medical alerts.

Bioactive enclosures for my snakes, need to research their biomes and make progress on designs and equipment specifications

Also. Hit a seriously hard patch and haven't been handling them much at all this month so that's not great

Casting stuff. Saw jewelry today made of metal casts of claws, skulls, etc, and they were really well done and made me want to do that

Some taxidermy / vulture culture stuff I won't get into right now

Puzzles????

How to organize my room

Need a shower

Need to organize bathroom

So Much Schoolwork

Uhhhhh trying, but not making much headway, to figure out how I want to do my music collection. Also really need to clean my records..

Make?

Food??? Ew.

Dental hygiene ://

Plampts. So many. Houseplants need maintenance, many need repotting. Keep taking in people's problem plants and like, they're doing better, largely, after being trimmed and watered and whatnot, but need repotting. Also need to trim some aquarium plants.

Also need to put water in tanks. And spray nepenthes.

Laundry.

Gotta pick up trash in my room. There's so much. Everywhere. Why.

Schoolwork. I'm so behind. So, so stuck. Kind of feel like I'm dying.

Going on a picnic tomorrow. Have to figure out what still needs doing for that, probably need to go to the store.

Leo needs water. I'm so....ugh, I'm trying so hard, but it feels impossible. I do my best to take good care of my pets, and I think they live pretty good lives most of the time, but sometimes I get like This and completely drop off the face of the earth and then like, wake up or whatever and two weeks have passed by and I have not cleaned a water bowl! That's a serious problem!!!! I do not know how to combat that, really, besides more reminders. Having someone around who is willing to like, help, when things are especially hard, would be great, but I don't live with my partner right now and do not feel like I can ask anyone here for that. But I can't put my animals at risk. I check on them every day, and if their bowls are dirty I do take them out and clean them, but sometimes (like now) i cannot get myself to do it without a pressure like a dirty bowl, or a feeding day. And like, it's really important that they have clean water. I'm talking to myself here but like, if anyone has advice. Please. With the tank redesigns and upgrades, the bowls will be more accessible, which will help because one of them is very heavy at the angle I have to pick it up, and another requires moving a lot of branches and is best to take out while the snake is out (this is Leo) which is fine because I love my boy, but adds time to the process, and makes it harder to start, you know? Maybe if I just got more bowls - I could take the bowl out and immediately replace it, fill the new one, and replace the decor and snake, and then clean the bowl as a separate task? That would be easier for my brain. Currently I have a Specific bowl I prefer to use for each tank, and then everything else is Just In Case, but I mean. Acquiring extras is something I want to do anyway, and it may help with several problems, so. Yeah. I'll try that. But also, any other ideas, guys?

Anxiety: can't stop picking at my face, skin, nails, cuticles, scalp, pretty much everywhere with callouses, also scratched a mole off my face, which is something I've been trying Not to do for a while, so that's...not great. Can't find my earmuffs, and also all of my headphones are painful? Ears are really sensitive lately.

Been playing a lot of Moth Game (flutter: starlight if you wanna be friends say hey I don't know how to do it but would enjoy talking about moths if nothing else. The game is just like, an idle ish collecting game with cutesy versions of different species, and very little actual information, but it's still fun, and if anyone else is on there and also Into Moths like I am, hiiiii) and like it's fun and cute but also greatly impacting my productivity, and raises my stress levels during events, which is most days, so the game has. Not been helping. But I can't stop because then I'll miss Exclusive Moths.

Anyway. Had baklava and two mugs of Thai tea today and the sugar has made me nauseous.

Trying to journal. Hurts to write. Also takes too long. Also my handwriting is very bad. But typing is..not as good

Want to draw. Thinking about drawing cats

Plants again! Want to make seed bombs, have seeds, have most of the other ingredients, just need to put em together, basically.

Really sad :(

Or am I?

Weird noise coming from dining room?

Birds. Spent half an hour at least on the deck tonight listening to a hundred different bird calls (literally) to identify one I was hearing, it was a pine siskin, which I checked early on but the recording was bad and I didn't realize which call was identified. Anyway, cool to put a name to a face, so to speak.

Need to practice for ASL

So much.....to do...

Only had like >3 hours of work this week which was not great because money, but also like I'm really feeling those 3 hours....

My cat is basically refusing to come into my room? Which is very strange and I'm worried something is Off but cannot figure out what. Also means less cuddles which means I'm sad.

It feels strange whenever people follow me, the attention is nice but I have no idea what content y'all are here for. So to everyone: hi, enjoy, hope my random personal posts aren't a surprise to anyone who followed for like. News reblogs and informational stuff.

Do I even have it in me to..be successful in school? Should I drop out of college? I'm struggling really hard and do not feel like I'm building on the skills I need to continue, so like. Uh.

My dad is being. Abrasive.

Mom and grandma are very angry lately

Housemate is also angry, about things i thought we were on good terms about, so I am stressed because like,, are we okay?

Can't find my eye mask :(

Yoga? Like...restorative yoga? Need to track down my PT stuff. And. Do it.

Need to put the stickers on my license plates....oops...

Still haven't found my antidepressants! Yay!

Do I want to store my stuff in open bins, or with lids? Which stuff needs spill protection and stacking capability and which stuff needs easy access?

How to earn money without..chaos

Gotta go to the pet store tomorrow. Have to compile my list of pet store items i need. Uhhhhhhhhhh

Also I have an essay due tomorrow that I've barely started. So. Wooooooo

Kt tape for supporting arches / inner ankles? I keep messing up my ankles, and part of it is walking wrong because I don't have the energy to engage the muscles in my feet/legs right to like, avoid injury, and part of it is I just need new shoes inserts. But i wear slippers a lot and they do not have arch support and it hurts. PT to help with this also but Where Is It

Family can't seem to get dish soap I can use, so I've just been having to avoid washing anything by hand, or being in the general kitchen area while anyone uses the stuff, which has led to more of my dishes sitting out, and more conflict over dishes. Lovely.

How hard is it for parents to learn they have to respect boundaries? Very hard, apparently. And you're supposed to just sort of remind people, and explain, over and over and over but like at this point my self worth is actually pretty good and the lifetime of proof that they do not want to listen? That's making me want to stop trying. Like, if you're not going to respect my boundaries I'm just not going to involve you in my life. I'm not talking to my dad right now because of this. Maybe I'll decide to lay things out to him, again and again and again again, maybe not. And I'm comfortable saying that's on him.

How to drink water

Am I dehydrated or are my hands just completely callous now. My fingertips have such hard skin. Why? It's uncomfortable. This is part of why I've been biting them.

Also testosterone. Been having a lot of trouble doing my shots, because anxiety and physical freakouts, but also not feeling super urgent about it. Which I'm realizing may be a sign i need to look at the effects so far and the possible effects of continuing, and see what they make me feel. It's possible I'm where I want to be as far as T, and don't really want to stay on it. A big thing for me is a deeper voice, so it seems time to take a look at whether I like my voice where it is or want to see if it'll drop any more. Etc etc

Miss my lil sisters

Saw a lot of cool rocks today. Huge (like hand sized) ammonite for $28. May go back and buy one because. Wow.

Want to plant food plants

Also my natives. Whole garden plot standing empty with a bunch of stuff waiting in nursery pots, needing to go in the ground. Because I can't get out of bed. Love that. Stuff is dying out there, I'm dying in here, there's a poetry to it and I do not want to romanticize suffering so I will say this: I brought a Bucket full of moss home a month ago and planted it and now go outside sometimes to drench my moss and it is very rewarding because the stuff is just so green. Incredible. When the rest of my plants are finally in the ground, that feeling will only intensify. But, for now, the moss is very nice.

Made a glow in the dark bead lizard from memory during therapy yesterday, and I love him. Also, still struggling with bringing up autism and psychosis topics with my therapist. Still very worried about. Things. Would like to get a new person? But sometimes she is helpful? And we have a routine. It's very hard to break the routine. Maybe I can set some time aside during the summer, to figure out what to do there.

Term ends in a couple weeks. The task of catching up, of passing, seems impossible. I really need to pass my courses. I'm on academic warning, because my GPA is lower than it should be, and if I can pass all of my classes this term I can get off academic warning but otherwise I'm not sure what will happen to my financial aid.

My phone is playing the same 50-100 songs on shuffle and I don't even particularly like most of them and it is very strange

Got my face wipes! Hooray, i can wash my face again

Been eating too much sugar in general. It's making my joints hurt more, and the nausea

Pet a dog the other day. I miss that. It would be really nice to have a dog in the house again. The exuberance, the cuddles, the tail wagging, the walks... I'd really like that. Maybe once I'm out in my room, tanks and catio built and everyone is situated, I'll look into getting a dog instead of a cat next. Was planning on holding off in case I'm not physically able to take them out on walks and such, but I've been pretty successful at doing this job, and I think that my main hurdle for walking really is motivation. Dog walking is a strong motivator for me. Best to start by fostering, or just do Wag, for a while though. I'm feeling overwhelmed with my current responsibilities, and here I am talking about getting a dog. Good job, me

How do you get wax off of somewhat water soluble rocks? My housemate broke my lava lamp on some of my rock collection and I am not sure how to get some of them clean without damage.

I am...pretty sure there are collared doves nesting over my room but it seems they're less common around here than I thought? But they are..pretty distinctive. Like if I'm wrong, what are those birds. Some very distinctly colored feral pigeons? Who are nesting here, in a tree, without their flock, and who happen to have pretty much the exact same pattern?

Probably should go to the dollar store and get some bins for organizing

Been wanting to keep a bin by the door and stock it with stim/fidget stuff people can just .have ..like extras of some of my favorites and other things i can get ahold of, to offer to my friends who haven't really had the chance to explore the world of stim toys

Hands are really just not doing great the last several weeks. Arthritis type pain cropping up more and more in all the little joints, making it hurt more to write, type, or just use them for whatever. Coordination isn't great because of that distraction, and because my hands/arms are slow to respond and kinda weak. Most people would say I'm not using them enough but I've been doing 15ish hours of manual labor per week, so maybe it's the other direction? More water would help. If only it wasn't so heavy.

I haven't taken a single shower since I started my job. Which was March 29th. That's not great.

Practiced parallel parking today. 10/10 still very bad at it.

Having anxiety that my friends think I'm lying about things, faking, and are watching me to see if I'll slip up. So that sucks. Can either talk about that directly or indirectly, or just shut up about those things until I can get my brain under control again. I'm not sure right now if the reassurance would work as a reality check or make me believe it more, right now, so might hold off on the talking bit for a little while.

Saw, smelled, picked a couple pretty roses. Good times

At this point I'm just trying to list all my thoughts so that maybe I'll be able to sleep and not worry I'll forget

My mom has put her spider plant on the deck, and it has maybe five living leaves. I have no idea how she killed such a well established spider plant, the last time I saw it it was so happy. Did she stick it in a corner and forget to water it? Whatever happened, it is now in the Plant ER, so hopefully I'll be able to...help get it on the up and up again

Leo is such a pretty noodle. He's so pretty. He's posing. Hi, baby boy.

Oh, he saw me moving around and decided to come say hi. Sorry little man, i did not mean to disturb you. Please resume lounging. I can't bring you out right now, I'm trying to sleep.

Also, terrariums. Water features. Need to ask. Someone. The one who was making that super cool garter snake enclosure and blogging the progress? With the lazy river and pool? About maintenance on that kind of setup. My milk snake really enjoys water, and I'd love to put a water feature in his tank. But I'm unclear on how to keep it clean, or honestly where to start. Don't want any huge falls or anything, though it actually may not make the humidity too high if I did maybe a small drip wall into the pool? That seems like something he would enjoy, and a good way to support different types of plants. But like, that's the thing, it's bioactive and I haven't done that before and no amount of research is ever enough.

Oh, Shogun has a dirt hat. How cute. I love when they do that

See, this is the thing. My snakes make me so happy. All three of them are actually hanging out where I can see them from my bed right now, and it's really nice. I want their lives to be the best possible, and I think I have the resources to do that. Which is so exciting. Now if only my brain and body would cooperate. It would hurt quite a lot to have to re-home any of them, but the most important thing is their health and quality of life, you know? If I can't get my act together somewhat, it may be that one or all of them would be better off with another keeper. I don't know. It's just, i talk about all these tank ideas and all this husbandry standards stuff but how much of it actually gets applied to my own animals whose lives are in my hands? How well am I caring for them, really?

Oh!!! My red thread! I thought that was gone forever.

Anyway, please do not worry. My snakes are healthy. I pay attention, and watch for signs of illness, and they're okay. There will always be places to improve, and the water is a big one, but most of the time i change their water out frequently, I'm just worried because of bad depression and fatigue times, you know? I'm working on making the most self sustaining systems i can, in part so that I am sure they'll be okay if I mess up sometimes. Just saying this because I hope you guys don't feel like you need to worry about the welfare of my pets. They're okay, i just always want better for them, is all.

Anyway, the sun is coming up and I should probably go to sleep. So uh, thanks for reading, if you read all of this randomness, and if anyone has thoughts or advice on anything in this post, i would welcome it! Good night!

[thebudgetgarden]

The Budget Garden 1: Maiden of Stand Peony (V-Premium)

Hello Cardfighters, I wanted to begin this budget deck series with a deck that is very near and dear to my heart, as it is a deck that is a part of my favorite clan, Neo Nectar, but that is also a deck that can be created with less than 20 euros, or even less depending on how cheap you can find the main boss units of this deck.  Maiden of Stand Peony is a deck that rewards aggressive plays and board advantage, and as such, even though it’s a very cheap deck, it’s a deck that can steal wins even from the strongest decks in the current meta landscape. 

We will begin by discussing the Grade 3 line-up, as well as what choices one can make to make their deck a tad bit more personalized.

This is our main boss unit, Maiden of Stand Peony, and she has the following skill: [AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, call up to one Plant token to (RC). If this unit is on (VC), call up to two Plant tokens instead of one. (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost) [AUTO](VC):When it attacks, COST [Counter Blast (1) & retire four rear-guards], call four plant tokens to your (RC), and if your opponent's vanguard is grade 3 or greater, this unit and all of your token units get [Power]+10000 until end of turn. Maiden of Stand Peony is a deck that produces board advantage through tokens, while also being a multi-attack engine that gives power to herself and all of her token friends while your opponent’s vanguard is grade 3 or greater. That restriction, however, doesn’t mean that she’s completely useless as a first ride, as putting a force 1 marker on your leftmost or rightmost R circle means that that particular column will hit for 20k, twice, in the worst case scenario.  Maiden of Stand Peony is the main moving piece of this deck, so playing 4 copies of her in your deck is paramount to your deck’s success. Right now, Maiden of Stand Peony will set you back at about 6 euros for a playset. Now, a cardfighter that is familiarized with Peony’s mechanics might choose to just play just 4 copies of her for the entire grade 3 line-up. However, other players might choose to run some back-up grade 3′s for extra power, so these next few choices are for them.

Maiden of Iceberg is a very cheap and strong back-up grade 3 unit, and she has the following skill: [AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, COST [Counter Blast (1) & Soul Blast (1)], call up to two plant tokens to (RC), and this unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn for each of your plant tokens. (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost) More tokens and more power, that is the name of the game in this deck, and Maiden of Iceberg is an excellent candidate for this deck. First and foremost, she is an amazing unit to use in conjunction with force 2, as she is always going to be getting at least 15k-20k power with her own skill, making her especially potent in matchups where getting your opponent’s damage count very high is vital to finish the game off.  Maiden of Iceberg is also exceedingly cheap, as she’s only gonna set you back 0.80 cents for an entire playset.  These 2 grade 3 units might be enough for most cardfighters to build a solid base for the grade 3 line-up, however I’m going to mention a few more cheap options for the players that wanna go a bit beyond. While these options are a great addition to the deck, they usually fall under the category of tech choices, rather than staple cards that you need to play.  The 2 grade 3 units in this category are the following: 

Maiden of the Trailing rose, who has the following effect:  [AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, call up to one plant token to (RC). If this unit is on (VC), call up to two plant tokens instead of one. (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost) [ACT](VC)1/Turn:COST [Soul Blast (1)], and three of your plant tokens get [Power]+5000 until end of turn.

And last but certainly not least, Maiden of Protea, who has this very unique following effect:

[ACT](RC):COST [Retire this unit], and

call

up to three plant tokens to (RC).

(Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost)

Maiden of Trailing Rose is the first of the Neo Nectar clan, and it shows. Not only is she a powerful Vanguard unit that generates tokens on both the v and the r circles, but her secondary skill allows her to power-up three of your plant tokens, adding a very nice 15k of total power to your board for a single soul blast. 

Maiden of Trailing Rose is an excellent addition for the Cardfighters that feel like they want another boss unit in their deck. If that is the case, Maiden of Trailing Rose is an excellent addition, as it works very well as a first ride target, allowing for magic numbers to be hit from all columns. If you want her to be a part of your deck, she is going to set you back at about 3.25-4.00 euros.

Maiden of Protea is an odd-ball in this line-up. While she was initially noted for her very cute design, she is one of the few Neo Nectar units that saw almost no expermentation. That is because of her unique design. With the advent of Order Cards in the new Vanguard format, Overdress, cards that get used just once for a great effect aren’t that weird, at least not anymore. Maiden of Protea is a unit that doubles as an order, that allows you to get a board full of tokens for no cost whatsoever, apart from retiring herself. 

Maiden of Protea is a very unique addition to the deck’s lineup, and I implore the Cardfighters that will experiment with this deck to try her out. Being an over-looked common card, she wont set you back more than 0.40 cents, at most. 

There are many many more points to be made about the grade 3 line-up, but if your budget allows you to add more expensive cards, replace Maiden of Iceberg and Maiden of Protea with any number of Cornflower Flower Maiden, Ines and Arboros Dragon, Sephirot. These cards are more expensive but they are also the next step to building the competitive version of this deck. 

The grade 2 line-up is also interesting, being a mix of massive power increases, as well as a lot of utility for those who find that they do not have enough value generation in their deck.

We are going to begin with a few choices that turn your token units into cards in your hand, allowing you to survive into the late game and outvalue your opponent in both hand and board advantage. We have three main candidates for this list, as the space for the grade 2 slots is quite tight. 

Those three card-draw connaisseurs are the following: 

Spiritual Tree Sage, Irminsul, a card with the following effect:  [AUTO](RC):When placed, if you have two or more grade 0 rear-guards, COST [Counter Blast (1)], draw a card, and all of your units in the same column as this unit get [Power]+5000 until end of turn. Simply put, Irminsul is excellent. He is a card that has a very easy time fullfilling his condition, and an even easier time giving a column a total of 10k power, as well as a draw, all for the cost of a counter-blast. Irminsul is great for grade 2 rushing, pushing the power level of boards, turning your generations into advantage, as well as allowing for a single column to demand a 20k shield block out of your opponent. In my opinion, Irminsul is a must and should be run at 3-4 copies, which are gonna set you back at less than 1 euro.  Our second candidate, the stunning and beautiful Maiden of Nepenthes, and she has the following effect:

(excuse me for the japanese text, the effect is translated properly.) [ACT](VC/RC)1/Turn:COST [Retire a plant token], draw a card, and until end of turn, this unit gets "Boost", and [Power]+5000. [AUTO](RC):When it boosts a grade 3 rear-guard, you may have the boosted unit get [Critical]+1 until end of that battle. If you do, at the end of that battle, put this unit into your soul. Maiden of Nepenthes follows the exact notion of what this deck can do when faced with a slower, card advantage-based value deck, something along the lines of Megacolony or Oracle Think Tank. This maiden is unique, as she literally turns a token into a card in your hand, but she doesn’t reduce the overall power that is present on the board, effectively giving you advantage for no cost whatsoever. The secondary skill is a bit tougher to use effectively in this deck, but if you’re willing to stick with Neo Nectar in the long run, she has also seen play in Ahsha, which is the most popular Neo Nectar build, as of now. A full playset of her is gonna cost you about 2 euros, and I think that she’s a great card to run at 2 or 3 copies.  The last card in this section that requires a bit of our attention is Maiden of fall Vine, a very unique card which has the following effect: 

[AUTO](RC):When placed from hand to the (RC) with a plant token, draw a card, and this unit get [Power]+5000 until end of turn.  Talk about a unique effect ! Maiden of fall vine is one of those few cases where game mechanics and card interaction is specifically stated on the card text, so some new players may be initially confused. She needs to be called on an R circle that already has a pre-existing plant token unit on it, in which case she will inherit the power of said token, as well as replenish a card in your hand. You might notice a lot of similarities with Maiden of Nepenthes, and you would be 100% correct, however, Fall Vine is usually more favored as she is less restrictive and more cost-effective, allowing for a wider range of plays and combos to be made with her. Maiden of fall vine is a card that is integral to our strategy, therefore it needs to be a 4-of in our deck. She is also going to set you back about 3-4 euros, although she can be found for much cheaper online.  These grade 2 units are very powerful, and should be present in any token-based deck so that they may turn the board advantage that is provided by most Neo Nectar units into hand advantage. However, we have a few more miscallenious grade 2 units that need a quick look-over, those being:  Bad Boy, Walgackey, a grade 2 unit that has a very familiar effect, which reads: 

[ACT](RC):COST [Retire this unit], and call up to two plant tokens to (RC). (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost) Maiden of Protea’s son has turned out to be quite the bad apple, but he can still be very useful in our deck. Retiring himself for 2 token units basically fullfills the entire condition of Irminsul, sets us up for Maiden of Fall Vine, and also further assists with Maiden of Nepenthes. A card with a simple effect that complements our entire deck. Walgackey is a flex slot, meaning that he’s not necessary, but he is a very cheap card, which is only gonna set you back about 0.40 cents for a playset,  However, grade 2 units can also bring the pain with very high numbers, which is the unique case of Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant, who has the following effect:

[AUTO](RC):When placed, this unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn for each of your grade 0 rear-guards. Apart from being near and dear to my heart, as he is a part of my favorite deck ever, the Musketeers, Kaivan is just an all-around excellent attacker for the Neo Nectar clan. Just like Maiden of Iceberg, Kaivant gets a nice 5k boost for each of your token units. In many board states kaivant gets a massive 20k attack boost just by being called from your hand. Kaivant is also only 20 cents, so an entire playset will not cost you more than 1 euro.  For the non budget options, as well as a few more unique card choices the cards I would recommend are the following: Pansy Musketeer, Sylvia, Osmanthus Maiden, Anelma, Maiden of Fine Ale

[AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, you may call a plant token to (RC). (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost)

[AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, COST [Counter Blast (1) & Soul Blast (1)], draw a card, and call up to one Plant token to (RC). (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost) [CONT](RC):If you have a rear-guard on your (RC) with the same card name as your grade 3 or greater vanguard, all of your units get "Boost".

[ACT](RC):COST [Counter Blast (1) & Retire this unit], look at three cards from the top of your deck, call up to two cards from among them to (RC), and put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order. All of these choices bring some unique elements to this deck. Sylvia is an unconditional token summon, which is excellent for rushing and value plays, while Anelma requires both a counter blast and a soul blast to give you a card that both gives you a token and a card in your hand, both of which are excellent effects. Maiden of Fine Ale is an option that a few select lists run, as it turns herself into one of your high-value and low cost units, as well as thinning out the deck a tiny bit.  The grade 2 units are an integral part of every single Neo Nectar deck, as the majority of grade 2 Neo Nectar units are amazing cards both in conjuction with other cards and just by themselves. 

Moving forward, we have some very nice options for our grade 1 units, as the Neo Nectar grade 1 units are known for being power-houses in the early phases of the game.

We begin our grade 1 escapades with the most vital units of the deck, which are going to be 2 very high power grade 1 units that will give us value, and close out the game for us, those being Maiden of Flower Carpet and Maiden of Dream Shower. 

[AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, you may call a Plant token to (RC). (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost) [AUTO](Drop Zone):At the end of your turn, COST [retire two Plant tokens], and return this card to your hand. This ability may only be used by a card with the same card name once a turn.

[AUTO](RC):When placed, if your vanguard is grade 3 or greater, COST [Counter Blast (1)], and all of your token units on (RC) get [Power]+10000 until end of turn.  Wow. Where to begin with both of these units? They are both quite excellent at what they do, but let’s begin with the more unique out of the pair, Maiden of Flower carpet. Flower Carpet is, by far, the best grade 1 Neo Nectar unit, as the token generation works on both V and R circles, it is unconditional with no cost, and she recycles herself by retiring 2 token units, effectively turning 2 useless units, that have little to no usage on your opponent’s turn into a 10k shield blocker, that can also be used for even more value next turn. She is a tiny bit pricier than the rest of the cards at about 4 euros for a playset, but it is well worth it for such an effect.  Maiden of Dream Shower is a win condition, plain and simple. Her effect has a few caveats, requiring both a counter blast and your vanguard being a grade 3 unit. However, the power she provides is game-winning. She is a card that, in many cases, with provide a whopping 40k power on your board, and paired with multiple copies she mades even your weak initial attacks before Peony’s skill quite deadly. She pairs fabulously with force 2, and in many circumstances she can blow your opponent out of the game. A glass cannon, to be sure, but a cannon nontheless. She is also exceedingly cheap, a common that is 10 cents per copy.  Our Grade 1 line-up continues to impress with our next few entries, as we take a look at 3 more token generators, as well as a very unique board buff. Our token generators are: Fruits Basket Elf, Maiden of Sweet Berry, and blowball squire.

[AUTO](VC/RC):When placed, call up to one Plant token to (RC), and if your vanguard is grade 3 or greater, Soul Charge (1). [CONT](RC):During your turn, if your vanguard is grade 3 or greater, this unit gets [Power]+5000.

[AUTO](RC):When placed, if you have no plant tokens, call up to two plant tokens to (RC). (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost)

[ACT](RC):COST [Soul Blast (1) & retire this unit], call up to two plant tokens to (RC), and if your vanguard is grade 3 or greater, those plant tokens get [Power]+5000 until end of turn. (Plant tokens are grade 0/[Power]5000/[Critical]1 and have boost) There is not a lot to be said here, Cardfighters. What you see is what you get, cheap, strong, easy to use token generation, with some different varieties of spice. Blowball is a very unique sort of token generation, being insanely strong but only really being “active” on the first few turns of the game. Maiden of sweet berry is an excellent booster and a soul charge engine. Fruits basket is 2 tokens, as well as a nice power boost for said tokens. All of these cards have merit, however In the example list that is going to be provided, Fruits Basket Elf is the card that I have decided to run. All of these cards are excellent for what they do, and they are gonna set you back at about the same price, 20 cents for a copy. 

General overview of the deck, example decklist.

I truly do believe that Maiden of Stand Peony is one of the strongest Budget decks that you can make for a very low price. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what you can do with this deck, and I have neglected to mention quite a few options for all of the grades, as the ones that I mention are both a combination of being very cheap and very affordable.

I will showcase the list that I am currently using, which cost me less than 20 euros. 

Grade 3 

4x Maiden of Stand Peony

2x Maiden of Protea

Grade 2

4x Maiden of Fall Vine 

4x Spiritual Tree Sage, Irminsul

2x Lily of the Valley Musketeer, Kaivant

2x Maiden of Nepenthes 

3x Bad Boy, Walgackey 

Grade 1

4x Maiden of Dream Shower

4x Fruits Basket Elf

4x Maiden of Flower Carpet

Grade 0

1 Starter

8 Critical Triggers

4 Heal Triggers

4 Draw Triggers (Perfect guards)

This is a very basic list that is easy to pick up, easy to play and very very fun. Not to mention that once you learn how to use the deck effectively, you can steal wins off of very powerful decks.

Closing thoughts and special thanks. 

Thank you all for reading, especially if you have read this far. Sharing my thoughts and deck ideas with you guys has been proven to be great fun, and I would love to hear any constructive criticism about the formatting, any ideas that you may have or any Deck Recommendations that you might have for me. If you do, or you just want someone to talk vanguard with, please dont hesitate to contact my Discord (Bloom#8890), I would love to hear your thoughts of any of these topics.  Special thanks to my best friend Ophelia for pushing me to make this blog in the first place, you’re the best buddy :) .  That’s all for now, Cardfighters, see you in the next blog post ! Bloom aka thebudgetgarden.

[songsofacagedbird]

Is that BALIAN “BALO” DRISKELL? Wow, they do look a lot like EMILIIE DE RAVIN I hear SHE is an EIGHTEEN year old high school SENIOR. Word is they are a REGULAR student at Luxor Academy. You should watch out because they can be NAIVE and SENSITIVE, but on the bright side they can also be BUBBLY and OPTIMISTIC. Ultimately, you’ll get to see it all for yourself.

the basics //

Full Name: Balian “Balo” Grace Driskell

Preferred Name: Balo Driskell

Age: 18

Birthday: February 23rd

Zodiac: Pisces

Gender & Pronouns: Woman (She/Hers)

Sexuality: Balo doesn’t label her sexuality, she’s part of the LGBT+ community (and has canonly dated both girls and boys) but she doesn’t feel comfortable labeling it personally.

Occupation: N/A, she occasionally does commissions though (both art and in like making clothes)

Relationship Status: In a relationship with Cade Carroll (npc) since early May 

Place of Birth: Rochester, New York

Hometown: Saratoga Springs, New York

Country of Citizenship: United States

Languages Spoken: English (first) and French

deeper dive //

Hobbies and Talents:

 ○ Sketching (in particular people and animals, an inspiration board for her sketch book can be found here.)

 ○ Painting

 ○ Gymnastics (her leg is her left leg! By “her leg” I mean the leg she leads off with / does her split with for her floor routine / has better balance)

 ○ Fashion Design and Sewing

 ○ Cheerleading

 ○ Gymnastics

 ○ Yoga

 ○ Roller Skating

 ○ Scrapbooking

 ○ Dancing (a hobby, not a talent)

 ○ She can touch her nose with her tongue

Favorites:

 ○ Color: The entire rainbow, Balo has issues with picking one favorite color so she doesn’t choose.

 ○ Food: Balo’s not the biggest on food but she has a weakness for popcorn. Extra butter, light on the salt.

 ○ Animal: Cats

 ○ Drink: Hot Chocolate

 ○ Flower: Sunflowers

 ○ Book: a fairy tale collection she got from Zander when she was a child

 ○ Holiday: Christmas, to the point she’ll start decorating as early as she can. (June? Why not!)

 ○ Movie: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

 ○ Scent: Strawberries, real a bit more than the artificial but she adores both.

 ○ Place: Her “little art studio” (technically just a corner of her room with her art supplies).

 ○ Quote:

“Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.” - Unknown

Bêtes Noires:

 ○ Color: Dark brown, although she won’t admit to it

 ○ Food: Chicken à la King

 ○ Animal: Spiders, Balo does not like spiders and would like to stay far away from them

 ○ Drink: Matcha

 ○ Flower: Nepenthes peltata

 ○ Book: The Divergent Books

 ○ Holiday: 4th of July

 ○ Movie: Rugrats in Paris, she thinks it’s practically a horror movie

 ○ Scent: Garlic

 ○ Place: The Driskell family home in Saratoga Springs

health //  

Conditions:

          ○ Anorexia Nervosa

          ○ HIV

Allergies: N/A

Sleeping Habits: Balo gets to bed usually at a good time and sleeps 8 hours at a shot.

Exercise Habits: She exercises multiple times of day, between gymnastics and cheerleading, it’s important she’s in prime shape. Dance and Yoga are her go-tos outside of practice.

Addictions: N/A

Drug Use: Very rarely. After a bad LSD trip (when she wasn’t aware she was being drugged until after the fact), she’s very wary of drugs on average.

Alcohol Use: Occasionally. Balo doesn’t have a high alcohol tolerance, she gets tipsy after one drink and if she keeps drinking, after a couple the odds of her stripping are extremely high. (It’s not a sexual thing, she overheats and doesn’t really think about the consequences).

personality //  

MBTI: ESFP

Enneagram: 2w3 (The Helper with The Achiever Wing)

Alignment: Neutral Good

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Percy Jackson Parent: Iris

Pokémon Type: Dragon

Pokémon Subtype: Ghost

Winx: Nature

appearance //  

Height:  5′11” – not at fc height (I enjoy her being a few cm taller than Zander too much to put her at fc now #oops)

Tattoos: One

Scars: None

Piercings: Ears

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Fashion:

 ○ link to balo’s closet

 ○ link to balo’s shoes

life at luxor //  

Classes:

 ○ Communications

 ○ French

 ○ General P.E.

 ○ Visual Arts

 ○ Fashion Design

 ○ Human Biology

 ○ Beginner Ballet

Clubs and Activities:

 ○ Art Club

 ○ Cheerleading (Flyer)

 ○  Gymnastics

fun facts //  

 ○ Balo has been attending Luxor since her Freshman year.

 ○ Balo’s kind of a literal ray of sunshine who believes (almost) everyone is truly good at heart.

 ○ Very easy to manipulate, please manipulate her. I’ll literally give you my firstborn.

 ○ Usually you’ll see her running around with a smile trying to brighten everyone’s day. She tries to put everyone’s happiness before herself, however, she’s slowly getting better about forming boundaries.

 ○ While it’d be easy to assume Balo’s dumb, that’s not quite the case. She only remembers the information she wants to. The issue is... most of the information she wants to learn is relatively useless. Want to know how to sew sutures? She’s your girl. Want to know the definition of cannibalism? Well, ask Jack how that goes.

 ○ She has two teddy bears and an American Girl doll living on her dresser. Duffy, Shelley-Mae, and Robin Banks. They’re decorative, but they make her happy.

 ○ One of her best friends is Logan Keller, the boy who went missing during the summer camping trip. The two are still in touch, and extremely close, so occasionally he gets mentioned here and there, but it’s still a sore spot for her (I am still in touch with the person who played him, so I run stuff by his mun when / if he comes up).

 ○ Jack’s adoptive parents recently adopted her, although she hasn’t said a lot about it. Your muse probably won’t know unless one of the two directly told them (or they heard it from Zander). It’s not a secret, she just didn’t make an announcement or anything.

 ○ In October 2019, Zander had an intervention for her to force her to get help for her eating disorder. She was in inpatient until April 2020, when she returned to Luxor.

 ○ Cheer and Gymnastics team member from Freshmen year until her intervention, and she returned to both teams this fall with the new school year.

 ○ Balo’s left handed (the only one of my muses that is a lefty)!

 ○   I’m aware Balo’s family page can be complicated, please feel free to dm me with questions. Also, please remember Balo doesn’t know she’s Daniel’s daughter, let alone the fact there’s even a chance Lance isn’t her father, which means your muse has absolutely no way of knowing this.

 ○ Befriended a stray racoon on the Lake George campus she named Reese Withercoon.

 ○ Literally only just said her first swear word this June, we’re very proud of her for finally getting that done. (#ThanksAxelAndLeo)

 ○ Balo finds the Winnie the Pooh theme song extremely soothing, which resulted in her naming a certain group chat with a set of friends the 100 Acre Woods - because she finds spending time with them soothing too.

 ○ I’m always willing to discuss my muses, so feel free to hit me up if you have any questions at any point.

a tl;dr history  //  

 ○ Balo’s home life growing up was far from perfect. Her father, Lance - is an abusive alcoholic, and while her mother tried her best to protect her children - she also covered things up without hesitation because she loves her husband. It wasn’t uncommon to see a Driskell in the ER with a lie and people willing to back up the story.

 ○ Balo was conceived during the time Lance and Cassandra were seperated the only time that her mother tried to leave. She’s completely unaware that she’s not Lance’s biological daughter (as is everyone else).

 ○ She’s been attending Luxor since freshman year, although she had to leave in the middle of her Junior year had to leave for a few months to attend extensive inpatient treatment. She came back in April, although she could not rejoin the cheerleading and gymnastic teams until her therapist confirmed she was doing well (so the start of her senior year) because of concerns about her well-being.

 ○ She was disowned following her HIV diagnosis over the fall. Over the winter, the Fieldings adopted Balo.

 ○ I strongly recommend skimming Balo’s timeline page before interacting with her. These are just the bare minimum basics, and there're more things your muse may know on there.

wanted connections //  

 ○ Friendships

 ○ Someone to manipulate her, please I beg you

 ○ Anyone who knows her from the gymnastics and/or cheer teams, or the art club

[ssa-montgomery]

Word Prompt

Below is a list of words that I found on Pinterest that have some meanings that I thought would work perfectly for prompts.

To make a request just send me a word (or two) through a message or an ask and tell me what character/ship you want! I do character x character and character x reader for Supernatural, Merlin, Shadowhunters and Hannibal! You can give extra detail about what you want if you’d like :) I do crack, fluff, angst and smut.

If you’ve already requested something off me don’t worry they’re on the way!

Busticate - To break into pieces.

Drapetomania - An overwhelming urge to run away.

Kairosclerosis - The moment you realize you’re happy.

Apodyopsis - The act of mentally undressing someone.

Whelve - To bury something deep; to hide.

Brontide - The low rumble of distant thunder.

Decathect - To withdraw one’s feelings of attachment as in anticipation of a future loss.

Lypophrenia - A vague feeling of sadness seemingly without any cause.

Saudade - A desire to be near someone or something distant.

Ecophobia - A fear or dislike of one’s home.

Preta - A wandering or disturbed ghost.

Wonderwall - Someone who you find yourself thinking about all the time, the person who you’re completely infatuated with.

Athazagoraphobia - The fear of forgetting, being forgotten or ignored, or being replaced.

Nepenthe - Something that makes you forget grief or suffering.

Merak -Pursuit of small, daily pleasures that all add up to a great sense of happiness and fulfillment.

Dystychiphobia - The fear of hurting someone.

Anam Cara - A person with whom you can share your deepest thoughts, feelings, and dreams with your soul friend.

Anagapesis - No longer feeling any affection for someone you once loved.

Sciamachy - A battle against imaginary enemies; fighting your shadow.

Wabi-sabi (not wasabi) - The discovery of beauty in imperfection; the acceptance of the cycle of life and death.

Thalassophile - A lover of the sea.

Latibule - A hiding place; a place of safety and comfort.

Fernweh - An ache for distant places; the craving for travel.

Eccedentesiast - Someone who hides pain behind a smile.

Mizpah - The deep emotional bond between people, especially those separated by distance or death.

Absquatulate - To leave without saying goodbye.

Zugzwang - A situation where every possible move or decision is a bad one, or one that will result in damage or loss.

Cafune - Running your fingers through your lover's hair.

Basorexia - The overwhelming desire to kiss.

Thanatophobia - The phobia of losing someone you love.

Alexithymia - The inability to express your feelings.

Naceur - One who stays up late.

Cheiloproclitic - Being attracted to a person’s lips or mouth.

Forelsket - The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

Oculoplania - Letting your eyes wander in order to assess someone’s “charms”

Redamancy - The act of loving the one who loves you; a love returned in full.

Clinomania - Excessive desire to stay in bed.

Agathokakological - Composed of both good and evil.

Serendipity - Finding something good without looking for it.

Magoa - A heartbreaking feeling that leaves long-lasting traces, visible in gestures and facial expressions.

Gymnophoria - The distinct feeling that someone somewhere is mentally undressing you.

Tacenda - Things better left unsaid; matters to be passed over in silence.

Torpe - A person who is desperately in love with someone but cannot admit their feelings or approach them.

Gumusserui - Moonlight shining on water.

Querencia - A place from which one’s strength is drawn where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self.

Dozakh - A place of torment one believes they are in when separated from their lover; hell.

Saudade - A nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant or that has been loved and then lost; “the love that remains.”

La douleur exquise - The heart-wrenching pain of wanting the affection of someone unattainable.

Retrouvaille - The joy of meeting or finding some again after a long separation; rediscovery.

Kilig - The rush or the inexplicable joy one feels after seeing or experiencing something romantic.

Induratize - To make one’s own heart hardened or resistant to someone’s pleas or advances or to the idea of love.

Cingulomania - A strong desire to hold a person in your arms.

Razbliuto - The sentimental feeling you have about someone you once loved but no longer do.

Mamihlapinatapai - A look shared by two people each wishing that the other would initiate something they both desire but which neither wants to begin.

Croodle - To cuddle or nestle together as from fear or cold.

Sphallolalia - Flirtatious talk that leads nowhere.

[kritharaki]

Rating plants ive personally owned/ own on a scale of 1- 10, 1 being sucks i hate it and it also died for no reason and 10 being i love it and it is flourishing with my at times shitty care

1. Dracaena fragrans nr1

The one that looks a bit like a bamboo palm tree. Solid 7/10 i think she is pretty and you usually can tell exactly when she needs water because her leaves curl. However has had little to no growth since i got it and i cant figure out why, -3 for that

2. Dracaena fragrans nr2

The one that looks like a palm without a stump. 10/10 ive been trying to kill it for over a year and it refuses to die. That could be spite. But she is very recomendable i think... top five things she survived so far being 1.overwaterd cause if i have water leftover she gets it 2 sunburned. I forgot her outside after repotting. 3 being dropped. Standing in the darkest corner of my room 4. Being dropped. Again. 5. Forgot to water it for like two weeks cause ive moved it to another room . I would give it a -5 for personality because im mad at her but that is personal between me and her.

3. Succulents

All of them. No matter if purple or greenish. 2/10 some people love them, i hate them. idk what im doing wrong but so far ive had five? And only one of them still is alive. Either they rot or dry out. Idk who recommends them to beginners i hate them.

4. Cacti

Nice. 9/10 i dont like them because they are spiky and im an idiot, but they really are not easy to kill. One time i overwatered one and it got mushy, but since it still is alive over two years later i guess it doesnt count. They really are a great starter plant i think because they survive on very little care, and if you grow out of being a beginner you can get to the more challenging ways of caring for catci (that still are quite simple i think)

5. Monstera deliciosa

9/10, i think they can be quite tricky but only if you dont believe in yourself. They also are easy to propagate which always is a huge plus. U get more plants out of one. Its genius i love it. I got mine at ikea and on god it has doubled in size in like a year???? They should get extra points for looks because they are really nice and green

6. A yucca palm

9½/10 Idk..... ive had to repot it once but idk if it has even grown since i got it. Its a very nice and easy planta nd it looks good but doenat have much action to talk about. I wouldnt know how to kill it either so id consider it a nice starter. The very bottom leaves get yellow and krispy but that apparently is normal so no need to worry, thats just how it grows.

7. Gummy tree

6/10 i worry about it all the time even though it doesnt do anything that should worry me. But it has very few leaves so it cant loos that many which gives it a feel of walking on thin ice. Stressful. Very pretty tho should get extra points. Also remind me to ask my grandma for tips because hers is literally 60 years old.......... so maybe its like the monstera you just gotta believe in yourself

8. Orchids

I have got two, a purple ikea one and a papophilium or some shit. 4/10 They are really pretty especially the pap,,, paep,,,, the expenisive-ish one❤ but i hate them. What do they want. No that isnt true the ikea one... well ive accidentally overwatered it right after buying it because i didnt realize the pot it came w had no drainage which then lead to me removing both soil and half the now moldy roots. And orchids dont need soil so id just put it in a cup of water every once in a while...... that is really easy to forget tho and now shes dry and shrively :( the expensive one i accidentally let it stand in a saucer of water and now theres mushrooms in the soil thingy which is bad i think. Gets extra points for also surviving being dropped twice

9. Spider plants

My beloved. 10/10

I got one from ikea but then decided the single plants in the pot were to overcrowded so i took them out and seperated it into three. I probably ripped half the roots but they survived and now are flourishing. One of them has an offshoot going on rn, which leads me to the other two i have, my mom got me them as cuttings from her office plant and i left them in just water for at least third a year oops. They started getting a lil moldy so i planted them and now they are going strong again. Love. They also are really easy to propagate because offsphoots are everything but rare in an older(ish) plant, and also really easy to grow from there. Another one id consider a good beginner plant because all they want is water and a place on the windowsill. The latter is optional too but they do get nicer there i think. Ig they also wouldnt say no to the occasional fertilizer but again they do not need it i think.

10. Pileas

7/10, almost killed my big one by putting it into a too big pot AND shady place at all the same time. In the midst of winter. Cant recommend it. Have now put it back into a smaller pot and shes flourishing again. The small one i have i cant say much about. She does her job and is very smol. Also worth mentioning is you dont have to water pilea babies more than big ones it makes them mold <\3. I think its an easy plant if you dont fuck around to much. Propagating them can b really easy too because the offshoots just. Grow there. And u ideally have to cut them and put them in water. The last time i tried this was winter. Bad idea doesnt work. Trying it again rn ig ill update this section accordingly.

11. Clusia rosea

6/10 ive too put her into a too big pot cause i dont have an intermediate one so she looks stupid now. Has grown a lil since i got it 2 years ago, but thats fair cause i dont really care for her that greatly. Mediocre to me idk

12. Peperomia polybotrya

0/10 so far its getting yellow and i cant figure out why. Need to google how to care for them.

13. Venus fly trap

7/10 Doesnt work anymore idk why :((..... a bit sad but ive moved her to the bathroom that usually helps. They really are a cool gimick and theoretically very easy to take care of, you literally just gotta make sure its in water amd standing in a sunny place at all times. I think mine might be lacking fertilizer or maybe just humidity. We will see, ill update this section too

14. Nepenthes

9/10, mine had a rough start cause i interpreted 'keep in humid place ' as 'spray with water every day' so i overwaterd her. She lost all her pitchers but i now know they just do that in winter. Unless u have a growlight. She has been moved to the windowsill in the bathroom now and is flourishing there :))

15. 3 bonus tips

1) dont propagate plants in winter unless you have grow lights or want them to die. Or live somewhere really warm maybe

2) cheap plants r not inherently worse than expensive plants (now i dont own any expensive plants but since my cheapish once work fine........yk) but especially plants from like. Chain stores like ikea often need to be repotted shortly after buying..... ive heard its a marketing thing cause if you dont do it they just get yellow and ugly and youll have to buy a new one yk. But repotting them is manageable i think so its fine you just gotta know it ig.

3) if somethings going wrong for no reason and you have a window in your bathroom put the plant there it usually helps a lil. And if it doesnt well than at least the plant dies in a peaceful place...... jk theres probably several great checklist online tho that might help you find the cause of it so dont despair <33

[theemdash]

{writing} tag game!

tagged by the marvelous @thewriterkatie :D

1. What kind of genre do you like to write? Why?

Fantasy, more YA than anything. There’s a little extra something about fantasy that feels right to my fingers, and nine times out of ten, that’s just what comes out. There are too many larger-than-life what-if? situations that evolve - who could say no to that kind of muse?

2. Which do you like writing better, heroes or villains?

Heroes - but only because I can’t quite figure out villains. I can’t quite get my muse to work out the concept of “bad” people. Antagonists, sure, but soon I start worrying if they have enough to eat at home, if they’ve gone to bed on time, did they get their homework done, and suddenly, they’re a little baby hero. Oops.

3. Do your characters have a favourite type of weather?

...I’m sure they do once they tell me.

4. Romantic or platonic relationships?

Both! BOTH! You can’t have romantic without the platonic, imo, and some well-written platonic ships are just as exquisite as the romantic.

5. Which OC of yours would you get along with best?

Excellent question... I have no idea! All of them? None of them?

6. Would you survive in your OCs’ world? Why or why not?

Edgehaven, you bet. The Werenight? Nope, not at all. Not that the Werenight would want me, so I’d be left for the beasts or the music or both.

7. What would you say is one of your “quirks” as a writer?

"One.” (*laughs*)

8. Are there any writing “rules” that you break consistently (ie. commonly said rules that you just don’t follow)?

Writing is a craft, and a craft takes practice, and practice means you either A.) forget the rule exists, or B.) break it and find out what happens. So, yes, no, maybe. All of the above.

9. What does “show don’t tell” mean to you?

It means nothing to me. It means if I can’t tell the poignancy in the difference between showing and telling, between submerging you into the moment versus carrying you along by the hand, between the cadence of the plot and the rhythm of the words, then a three-word over-used piece of “advice” is not going to get me there.

10. Post a recent snippet of your writing. Do you like it?

not that recent, but in the last month, a not-terrible tidbit from a nepenthe!au:

He grins. “When are we heading to your parents’ place?”

The temperature in the apartment drops and Liv’s eyes steel. “When we feel like it,” is all she says.

“Olivia, when did they say to come over?” he asks her retreating back.

The hair dryer switches on from the bathroom, and he presses his lips together. Grabbing his phone, he dials and answers his own question. By the time Liv returns fully dressed in a velvet skirt and tights, he’s buttoned up his shirt and fastened his watch. “Your mother says we can head over there as soon as we’re ready.” He watches Liv tuck her hair back with a bobby pin. “Are you ready?”

“You called my mom?”

“I called the house; your mom answered.”

“You have the house number?”

“I have both your parents’ cell phone numbers, too.” Monty pulls on his jacket. “And your grandma.”

“Her cell phone?”

Monty nods.

Liv rolls her eyes and slips on her ankle boots. When she looks up, Monty holds out her coat. She hesitates.

“Are you okay if I come?”

“Yes, God, yes.” Liv sighs and slips her arms into the sleeves. “It’ll be nice. Different.”

There’s a beat of silence where her heart squeezes. She meets Monty’s eyes as she turns around, sniffs, and motions to the door. She locks the apartment door behind them then loops an arm through Monty’s as they walk to his SUV.

The traffic is light through the city, some roads through downtown yet untouched by snowplows or vehicles; the snow falls weightless and biting, white and pearl when the midmorning sun sprinkles through. At the red light of the intersection next to the park, Monty sets his hand just above Liv’s knee, brushing his thumb against the ribbing of her tights.

OKAY, now the tags--or rather, cop-out time--CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED. <3