#red valerian

[mellygregs]

Red valerian.

Babbacombe Bay, Torquay, Devon, U.K.

July 2024.

IPhoneSE

[natureisthegreatestartist]

Say "hi" to the katydid who came to visit. The plant, by the way, is red valerian (aka Jupiter's beard).

[wiley-treehouse-gardens]

Treehouse Gardens

[dansnaturepictures]

29th May 2024-Water dropwort at the Weirs in Winchester, view at Lakeside Country Park, poppy in Winchester and the centre piece of glorious displays of colourful roses I enjoyed in Winchester today at Abbey Gardens.

Mallards wandering around the green in front of Winchester Cathedral, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Goldfinches, Song Thrush heard, my first bindweed, broad-leaved willowherb and yarrow of the year, fox-and-cubs, red valerian and buttercups were other highlights today.

[crudlynaturephotos]

[vampvalerian]

the queer experience is forgetting that straight people exist because i cannot imagine orin with a guy durge or gortash with a gal durge. what do you mean that they arent both there for the sake of gay toxic bloody relationships. what do you mean there’s straight toxic bloody relationships.

[houserosaire]

Prompt #26: Last

Silvaineaux’s eyes lingered for a moment on the space before the chapel door. Whatever snow had lain before it was now trampled flat by the back and forth passage of men and birds. Whatever secrets it might have revealed had been trampled under his own boots the night before. He shook his head and turned back to Cartier. “Make sure they’re getting through the last of the preparations to move out. I want to leave this place far behind us.”

“Yes, Ser.”

“Is Ser Valerian back yet?” Silvaineaux asked one of the men standing out beside the birds. 

“Not yet, Ser. He and Redding and Bardin went up that way, further into the trees.”

Silvaineaux nodded, shifting his hold on the reins and bringing one hand up to rest on Joyeux’s neck as he turned his own gaze to the treeline. The unease he had felt the night before settled in on him like a heavy cloak and he was grateful that the man watching the birds didn’t try to make any further conversation. Instead the man went back to fussing with the birds and Silvaineaux sat and watched the snow at the edge of the trees. It was not far to the treeline. He could easily see the tracks where they had gone in from where he sat.

Come out. Silvaineaux demanded in his thoughts. Any moment now Valerian would ride out of the trees, Bardin and Redding in tow. He would give his report and they would leave. Silvaineaux would never see the frozen font or the window with its broken saint again and he would be glad of it. 

Something stirred at the edge of the trees.

He had no sooner had time to discern the movement than it took shape. A riderless chocobo burst from the trees, two mounted men hard on its heels. The bird ran toward the rest of the mounts, chirping out the familiar little distress call of a bird in search of something. 

Silvaineaux went still, numb and stiff as a statue inside his armor. Blood dripped down the chocobo’s hind leg. He recognized the little seam where Valerian’s barding had been patched and the fine grey feathers of his familiar bird.  

He gathered his temper like he was tugging in Joyeux’s reins, shoved it down so that when Redding and Bardin’s birds trotted into sight he could meet them with a calm face. “Where is Ser Valerian?” He demanded of them. 

“I don’t know, my Lord.” Redding said. Silvaineaux had never heard the older hyur sound so humble and respectful. “We only fell behind him a moment, my lord, I swear it. Bardin thought he saw something in the snow.”

Silvaineaux turned to look at Bardin. 

Bardin lowered his head. “I thought I saw something… some fabric, a marker. You know I had family out this way before…” He gestured to the snow around them, ever present and stretching on forever. “I only stopped for a moment to look, Captain, I swear it. I said something but Ser Valerian must not have heard me. He rode on. I should have been louder.”

Silvaineaux ‘s fingers shifted on the reins, under him Joyeux stiffened and then danced in response to his tension. “Where is Ser Valerian, then?” He asked, forcing his voice to steadiness, speaking around the tightness of his own set jaw. “There is his bird. Did you notice it coming back without him? Did you look for him?”

“We were looking at what Bardin found. I heard the bird scream somewhere too far off.” Redding said. “And that’s when I realized how far behind him we’d fallen. There might have been shouting but between the snow and the trees and the hills. I’ve not got ears like you, Ser. The bird came tearing back past us and we thought we’d better come with it to tell you what had happened.”

“And have you told me that?” Silvaineaux snapped. “Because it seems to me you do not know what happened.” He took a deep breath. “Redding, with me. Cartier, with me! Laval!Get mounted, that bird is bloodied, we may need a medic. Bardin, you help see to that chocobo. I want everybody ready to move out the moment we come out of the trees.”

A breeze was rising. Silvaineaux could smell the chill of a storm in it as he waited the seemingly endless minutes it took Janvier Laval to tie his saddlebags into place and mount. He kept his hand steady on Joyeux’s reins to remind himself not to run off immediately as he wanted. 

They set off back along the tracks the others had left. In the fresh snow those tracks were easy enough to read, the rapid tracks of the frightened bird and following men gave way to the place where Redding and Bardin had dismounted and wandered around a small clearing. There past them were two sets of tracks. One of a chocobo moving at an easy trot off up the slope through the trees, beside it the tracks of that same bird rushing down the way it had come. Small spatters of crimson stood out stark against the snow at intervals. 

Those little flashes of color kept unpleasantly drawing Silvaineaux’s eye. They reminded him of the saint’s armor in the window. He thought of the saint’s cracked face and Valerian’s empty saddle and he touched his heels to Joyeux’s sides. Then he glanced back to make sure the men were with him. Looking back almost made him miss it, that first anomalous little mark. But as trees and snow flashed back he saw it again, drew on the reins to slow Joyeux enough for a better look.

The track of a boot, not far off the trail Valerian’s mount had made going up. Now that he sought it he could see another set, a different size, and then as they crested a small rise those tracks were all about, along with other clawed markings that were the track of neither man nor bird.  At the top of the small ridge the snow was trampled into a mass of tracks he could not truly hope to decipher but only to guess out. 

There, perhaps, Valerian had come out into the small clearing, paused to look over his shoulder as he realized Redding and Bardin had not followed. And there all around him tracks rushed from the trees and added themselves to a maelstrom of churned and bloodied snow. 

Silvaineaux swallowed and rode forward a little, adding Joyeux’s tracks to the edges of that mess long enough to see the tracks at the other side that went together in a mass down a little draw and deeper into the mountain. Too many tracks for him to reasonably follow with three men at his heels no matter how desperately he might want to. There was not enough blood there for a body. Just perhaps, Valerian still lived. He could gather the rest of the company…

A shadow flickered over the snow. Silvaineaux glanced up, and then touched Joyeux with the spurs. The warbird leapt back in under the shadow of the trees with the others. For a moment there was no sound but their breathing as they watched the shape of the dragon glide over, then wheel in toward the mountain, following in the sky the same line as those tracks. Numerous small shapes shadowed it. Silvaineaux closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of Valerian’s smile and that sturdy presence at his shoulder. 

Then he looked back into the wide eyes of the three men with him who waited for his orders. “Get back to the chapel.” He said, and every word felt like a betrayal. “We ride out. Now.”

[fontainebleau22]

The Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets AU I can’t stay away from! With thanks to @lazaefair for the original prompt and the wonderful artwork that goes with it.

Vasquez gets himself kidnapped and almost eaten, Faraday enlists Goodnight’s help to look for him, meets some new people and almost gets himself killed, and everyone learns some surprising things about their friends’ pasts.

[redwayfarers]

Howlers and minstrels in the night

Fandom: FFXIV Ship: Nika/Ianera Characters: Nika Perseis (OC), Ianera Maliriq (OC) Words: 772 Rating: Gen Summary: It's Nika's first night in Camp Dragonhead and he feels very out of sorts. Ianera is there to take care of him. Author's note: Once more, I am very baby into this game and this is all prone to change if I see fit in the future. That being said, I like how this came out, so I'm posting it!

The wind howls. The night they seem to have chosen to arrive at Camp Dragonhead is particularly sharp and particularly cold and Nika can’t help but feel grateful at Lord Haurchefant’s offer of hearth, dinner and tea. Ianera agrees, nodding along to whatever he says, and sometimes, he wishes she’d speak up in his place. However nice Haurchefant may be, one nice Ishgardian can’t rub away all of the soreness of his nerves left by his countrymen. 

Well, Ishgardians and so many other things. It all almost makes him snap, but he restrains his anger. Yet he can’t guarantee that the smiles he threw their way were anything pleasant.

One thing at the time, though. They met the guy, they were led to their lodging for the night at the very least, they fell fast asleep from exhaustion on the road. At least, until Nika’s own head decided to torment him, thus promptly cutting his rest short. 

No, he doesn’t want to talk about it. Just like he doesn’t want to talk about the bodies in Vesper Bay. Just how he doesn’t want to talk about how he saw the Perseis surname in Adama Landama graveyard and he didn’t want to look at the name, for fear it's his father’s grave and that his father now saw him break like a child’s toy and that he’d laugh, even if he knows full well his father’s not buried in ass end of nowhere. 

Nope, he has no fucking desire to talk about things at all. 

And now he’s waiting for the sun to rise, lute in hand, while the wind howls around him like a mad wolf. He sees a guard shift at the gates. He holds the lute tighter, in lieu of squeezing it to his chest. His head and feet hurt, and he wants to cry. It will make his headache worse. He wants to cry anyway. His body feels like a prison and like something wants to claw out, but he blinks the tears away anyway. 

He holds the lute tighter. His nails, long overdue for a cut, press against the wood. Wind plays a horrible tune, plucking strings at will. It’s a cacophony and he almost regrets bringing it out with him, but it’s the only thing of comfort he can think of. It’s the only thing keeping him from breaking down again. 

Nika closes his eyes and wills all this shit away. 

“Why aren’t you asleep?” A somber, gentle voice rings against the racket of noise, and Nika audibly breathes out. With a sharp turn, he sees Nera wrap herself in a woolen coat Lord Haurchefant provided them with, oversized on her small body. 

“I.. I’m tired,” he says softly. There’s no reply for a long time; part of him thinks the wind swallowed it. It’s funny, how he was just about ready to scream at Ishgard lords only hours ago, but now his voice is drowned in the night. 

“It haunts me too,” Nera says as she steps out. Her words are small and shaky, yet Nika feels them like a blow. From afar, the night swallows her, but her eyes, silver and gold, breach the picture she presents. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he bites out. It’s harsh, it’s rough, but he can’t look her in the eye otherwise. 

“Go back to sleep, then,” she asks, makes a few steps forward. Blue, blue, all the blues of her hair and skin, like the waters of Lominsa, where his moms sleep. 

“Let me be, Nera,” he huffs, “I’m–” He takes a deep breath in. His eyes prickle and burn. “I’m just–” 

“It haunts me too,” she repeats. He feels the pressure of her forehead against his arm and the warm touch of her fingers on his hand. “Go back inside, Nika. Your fingers are cold.” 

“I’m tired, but I don’t want to fall asleep,” he admits and lowers his eyes to his feet. Shame burns like poison. 

“You don’t have to sleep if you don’t want to,” he can hear the frown in her voice, “but just come inside.” 

“It is freezing outside,” he agrees. Her fingers play with his, and he could just rest his head on hers if he leaned down far enough– “I– Alright. It’s cold and lonely outside.” 

Nera simply smiles against his arm. 

He does sleep that morning, against all earlier claims to not wanting to. He can blame it on his tired body, or the comfort of her embrace that he knows she needed too, but when he wakes up again, the wind doesn’t howl quite so loudly anymore.  

[jhalya]

10 FAVOURITE MOVIES (THAT I AND I ALONE LIKE)

Thanks @iamstartraveller776 for the tag!

Leave your judgement at the door is all I'm saying :)))

1. Beowulf (1999):

2. Valerian and the city of a thousand planets

3. Pitch Black

4. Deja Vu

5. Gladiator

6. The Deep Blue Sea

7. AvP

8. Predators

9. S.W.A.T

10. The Red Planet

[spockvarietyhour]

Pre-Show at the Red Dirt

[shidoukanae]

Things about Paris the manhwa just does not fucking talk about:

-The thing he’s shown smoking in the beginning of the story is kava which apparently he’s using to treat insomnia. Which therefore makes his comments about how Helene's visage keeps him up at night in the manhwa very interesting in hindsight (and might also make sense why he feels maddened by her existence)

-One thing the light novel talks about that the manhwa doesn't do a very good job of is that Paris awakening as a dragon basically isolated him from the rest of the world to the point it's part of the reason why he was driven so mad. He's instinctually repulsed from humans as they're not part of the same species as him (which is!! very interesting worldbuilding!!! especially considering he takes on a human form!!) and has been left feeling alone for so long that it's basically made him unable to view humans around him as real people to care about

-Fian's existence in Paris's life is a REALLY FUCKING GOOD THING FOR HIM. You can just feel how much happier he is now that there's another of his species in his life and the overprotective big brother vibes he gives off towards Fian is actually stupidly cute.

Also really found it interesting too that he wants to keep away humans from Fian and shows possessiveness towards Fian because Fian is a dragon like him (and the fact he sends Lyla to where Fian is after figuring out that Lyla is Fian's "fairy" really speaks volumes of how much he cares about Fian)

-it's interesting to note too that Paris makes some interesting commentary where he laments why the dragons of Kylon want to get along whereas the siblings of Belliana want to kill each other. Him wondering if the instinctual bond dragons share can be broken is also interesting...

-Paris: I do not care for humans i only care for other dragons and will protect Fian if I have to from everyone but the fairy he adores

also Paris: so hey there's this really pretty elf descendant gal and i kind of maybe keep finding my thoughts straying back to her...pretty sure this won't be a problem though owO

-Paris’s first meeting with Helene (aka, the moment where he fell for her in the original novel ig) is when he goes to steal the Silver Dragon’s Heart Fragment. Considering him doing that is how he meets Helene in the manhwa, I can’t help but wonder if he’s the only character who gets to remain consistent with his OG!self in going insane in both the manhwa/LN plots

-Paris just,,, randomly helps Lyla out when Tyrone is trying to get back at her for insulting him,,, and i still think it's a crime that this scene got omitted from the manhwa (as well as scene of him following Lyla out of curiosity and then connecting the dots of who she is and leading her to Fian the moment he realizes how special she is to Fian). He's a fucked-up character but dear god do I find it impossible to hate him when he continuously shows the level of complexity that i crave seeing in characters

-”...his feelings for Helene were more of an obsession born of genuine possessiveness than love” 

*looks at manhwa!Paris*

Yep that’s certainly him to a T. Sure hope he gets character development in the novel so i have hope he’ll get it in the manhwa and actually fall in love with Helene instead of,,, that

-really love that Lyla is still canonically spooked by him (she should be!!!). All these additional details about Paris also makes me D: bc jfc she is not kidding when she says he’s a psychopath and i hope her timeline’s version of him is a lot better of a person (esp to Helene if he indeed is still on track to being love interests with her like in the manhwa!!)

-”male protagonist from a broken family” DO TELL MORE LYLA DO TELL MORE. I know his father’s treatment of him is kind of fucked-up from the manhwa but i wanna know more about his home life im begging!!

-also Lyla calling him the male protagonist is really fucking funny to me. Lyla dear I think you meant to call him the antagonist holy fuck

-not sure if Paris is on track to being lovers with Helene in the LN's timeline but the connotation is there that he will. really interested to see how their relationship will progress in this timeline because genuinely the chemistry between them in the LN is different from in the manhwa

[godlessbody]

rotating the ways my different dnd characters with deception proficiency/expertise lie. not actively lying but also doesn’t mean a solid 40% of the words he says. is lying but the lie comes more from the version of himself he is presenting to get what he wants than the things he is saying (though the things he’s saying can also be and often are lies, the performance of the false self is at least as important to the goal). is just a liar and at least a little manipulative and is on a constant level of performance but not one that’s really a lie, just a statement about the way the world is allowed to perceive him, maybe the most straightforward use of deception.

[princessbellecerise]

Morning Desires

Summary ✩ The beauty of Targaryen men is often said to be irresistible, and Jacaerys is no exception. After waking up early one morning, you find that you cannot, in fact, resist your gorgeous husband

Warnings ✩ Morning sex, smut, slight somnophilia, creampie, husband!Jace, blowjob, 18+

The sun was shining brightly when you woke up that morning, soft golden light pouring in through the windows and casting an almost ethereal glow over you and your husband.

When you opened your eyes, you were amazed to see how beautiful he looked sleeping so peacefully next to you. The morning sun shined down on him, making him look like one of those ancient Valerian gods that he spent so much time studying.

His brown hair was swept across his face, his pink lips parted. Soft snores could be heard falling from his lips and you giggled as he mumbled in his sleep.

Truly, you did not think you had ever seen a more gorgeous sight. It was rare that you got see Jacaerys so relaxed, so carefree. He usually spent his days and nights stressed about whatever the state the realm was in. Seeing him at peace was a sight that you drunk in greedily, brushing some of his curls from his face before sighing.

You did not wish to wake him, but an idea suddenly formed in your head and it left your core aching with desire.

It had been two weeks since you and Jacaerys had been intimate, and the feeling of his manhood pressed against your thigh, hard as a rock, reminded you just how much you missed your husband.

Before this stupid conflict in the Riverlands had broken out, Jace used to take you every night that he could. You would spend hours wrapped in each other’s embrace, soft words and gentle touches exchanged. You missed the feel of your husband. Now that he had been coming to bed so late, he was usually too exhausted for any activity other than sleep.

Today was actually one of the rare days that you had even woken up in the same bed as him, and though you felt terrible about it, the urge to feel him inside of you again was just too great to resist.

Lust had its grip on you this morning and you were not strong enough to deny it. Especially not when Jacaerys looked so delicious beside you.

You’d apologize later for disturbing his sleep, but right now, you needed your husband.

Gently, you positioned yourself so that you leaned over him, peppering soft kisses along his jaw and using a hand to trail up his thigh.

Jacaerys in his sleep shivered as you found one of his weak spots, sucking at the delicate skin and making sure to leave a mark. Redness spread over the several spots that your lips visited, licking and biting as you pleased while Jacaerys squirmed underneath you.

He still had not woken up, but his body was so used to your touch that he was involuntarily reacting to it. Several times did his hips buck into thin air, his cock growing harder the lower you kissed and the higher your hand went.

You smiled softly to yourself as he began to moan in his sleep, obviously feeling the way your lips had attached themselves to his chest.

You teased him by taking one of his nipples into your mouth, biting it like he does to you. For a few seconds, you sucked on it, leaving a love bite on his chest before moving on.

By the time you found yourself kissing his stomach, Jacaerys finally began to stir beneath you. His eyes fluttered open as you traced your tongue just above his hips, holding them down as your hand grasped his manhood.

He groaned, obviously awake now, and the sound prompted you to look up at him just as your lips found his cock.

You smiled deviously at your husband as he looked down at you with wide eyes, having the pleasure of seeing his pretty face just before you took him into your mouth.

“Fuck!”

Immediately, Jace’s hand reached down to tangle itself in your hair. Wasting no time, your husband guided you down on him, losing his breath as you managed to take his entire length.

You had done this many times before, so it was easy to open your throat, breathing through your nose so you wouldn’t choke. Using your spit, you eased your lips up and down his cock, your cheeks hallowing to give him more pleasure.

You were careful not to go too fast, but just enough to have him at your mercy. Jacaerys moaned and whispered sweet praises as you sucked his cock; ones that had your core throbbing with desire. A familiar wetness pooled between your thighs, your arousal burning hotter and hotter.

The sounds that your husband started to make only fueled your desperation further, and they indicated that he was almost near his peak. You did not want him to come; not yet since you still ached with the desire to satisfy your own needs. So, before he could reach his release and end your morning fun, you quickly pulled away and straddled him.

A desperate whine left Jace’s throat at the sudden loss of pleasure, but it was quickly replaced by a broken moan when you sank yourself onto his cock.

Together, you nearly collapsed at the feeling of being connected again. After two weeks, your cunt had desperately missed him and you could tell that Jacaerys felt the same.

Tenderly, he held onto your hips and threw his head back as you rode him. The morning light continued to shine down on him, bathing him in rich, golden light. It highlighted the sweat that had began to coat his face, his eyes looking like pools of honey as he kept your gaze.

Softly, Jacaerys pulled you down to meet his lips, capturing you in a passionate, fiery kiss.

Your moans were swallowed by his mouth as your tongues met, tasting the sweetness of one another and relishing in it.

As his cock slid in and out of your cunt, you felt a familiar pinch in your core that had you clenching around him. Jacaerys groaned as you began to bounce faster on his cock, releasing your lips so that he could watch you come undone. He held your hips steady and guided you into a pace that satisfied you both, your bodies so intertwined to the point where your release matched his.

Under a spell of desire, sleep, and desperation, your husband let out a groan as he shuddered underneath you. The last threads holding back his peak snapped, and you could feel his seed coating your walls as he let go.

Likewise, Jacaerys could feel your legs shaking as you clenched down on him and moaned. After so long, your release washed over you and clouded your senses, the pleasure almost as blinding as the light. To Jacaerys, it accentuated your features, making you look like a goddess as you came.

With your lips parted and your head thrown back in ecstasy, you looked like the absolute epitome of beauty. The kind of beauty that women envied and men worshiped.

Jacaerys swore that there was never a man as lucky as he was in that moment, staring at you with love and adoration as you collapsed next to him.

For a few moments, neither of you said anything. As the sun rose around you, lighting the room with a soft yellow glow, you took a minute to admire each other. It had been quite some time since you’d gotten a proper look at your husband, but honestly he was just as breathtaking as you remembered him.

“Sȳz tubis, issa jorrāelagon,” You told him softly, practicing the High Valyrian you had been studying.

Jace often teased you that your pronunciation sounded just as bad as his once had. Before he had become King, he had the hardest time memorizing what the letters sounded like. Apparently, your Valyrian wasn’t as good as you thought it was but there was no teasing from him this morning.

No jests. Jacaerys only wore a proud smile on his lips as he stroked your cheek, leaning in to plant a kiss on your soft skin before chuckling.

“Well, good morning to you too, my love.”

[dansnaturepictures]

09/04/2024-Great Crested Grebe and chicks, red valerian, buttercup one of my first of the year and view at Lakeside Country Park today.

Blue Tit, Great Tit, Moorhen, herb-Robert and the exciting and hopeful sight of my first Orange Tip butterfly of the year my seventh species of the year were other highlights.

[thejudeduarte]

Valerian is a no go

"valerian was attracted to jude in a way that was se-"

everyone: