#snapdragon black prince

[dreveel]

Goth Garden; {Credit}

[auroralynne]

Vaun - Snapdragon

Snapdragons are associated with graciousness and deception, and it's said that concealing one makes a person look fascinating and cordial.

The Black Prince variety is just perfect for Prince Vaun, my favorite character from the Dragon Seer series by @skaylanphear. The first book "Deathborne" is phenomenal, I can't wait for the sequels <3

You can find it here:

[mia-ugly]

Cardiac

Epicardium

The outermost layer of the heart, mesothelial cells and fat, a cushion of protection with TOM written on it in sharpie. He joined my class in Grade 6, chisel-tipped and quiet and an easy choice when asked which Boy I Liked. Which Boy I had a Crush on. That was the year my mom drew eyelashes on me with thick black pencil before a play where I was meant to be  beautiful. I wasn’t, but I tried to make myself fit into a beautiful shape, just as I tried to fit the indent in your couch cushions, the foot of your bed, the pillows on the floor, a burrowing owl who would say the right names, make the right choices, pretend I knew who was Hot and who was Not, pretend I knew which house was Tom’s, that I walked past it on my way home from school with my heart like an electric peach, so bright he could see it from his bedroom window.

Brian was the Backstreet Boy I chose from thin air, bad answer, should’ve picked Nick, but at least I didn’t say Kevin, sorry Kevin, he seems like a pretty great dad these days, maybe we all chose wrong.

You would peel apples and read the future in the shape they left on the floor: what is the first letter of your husband’s first name? Light candles and ask the ouija board ‘does he like me? Does he love me? Is he the one?’ Commune with the spirits just to beg them for love stories, and spin a globe and close your eyes and put your fingers down to find out where we’d meet the man-of-our-dreams.

But I wasn’t dreaming about anyone.

My dreams were glass and silver, like the colour of the only eyeshadow my mother owned, brushed powdery and stale up to my eyebrows in a play where I had to sing and a prince had to fall ruinously in love with me in front of everyone I knew. I shone pale blue with shame, and that night, I was the only one at your house who didn’t know the macarena - sat in your basement, watched you dancing, like I was looking into an aquarium filled with strange fish. Later, you’d teach me the steps, like you taught me to fold paper into those fortune-telling finger games, salt-cellar, snapdragon, pick a colour, pick a number, 1-2-3, who will I marry, who will I marry, who will I marry. You put on “Kissing You” by Des’ree, told us to listen in silence and think about the boys we loved, and I wore my longing like a mask that didn’t know it was a mask. Thank you Tom, thank you Brian and Robert and Adam, thank you every boy who let me hold his name in my mouth like an ice cube. The letters burnt my tongue, but at least my mouth wasn’t empty. 

Myocardium

The thickest of all three layers, muscle that makes the heart contract, lets it beat beat beat like a kickdrum. I told my first girlfriend that I’d been in love with my best friend growing up, but it wasn’t true, it was just a rhythm I wanted to replicate, to awkwardly dance to. I’d seen the movies and I thought all gay kids had to say it, like it was a shared purple ache in the flesh of us, a thumbprint on a plum. I wanted to feel that bruising early love like everyone told me I should, but it wasn’t like that with us. I wasn’t lying awake looking at the hair on your face, the fascinating black sideburns that you shaved off, like you shaved off the hair on your arms, like I did too.  It wasn’t like that, and the night we said we would travel the world together after college, wouldn’t get married or have children, was also the night you said you were glad you didn’t have any gay friends, and remember that book we found at the second-hand store? The air was drowned with dust and Loving Someone Gay shocked us out of papery silence, made you laugh so much that I laughed too, and then I took that book and rolled it up and shoved it down my throat, got paper cuts under my skin, shredded my trachea like tissue paper wrapped around a present.

I wasn’t carrying any torches. Not even a candle or a match.

Your fingers were never in my hair as you pinned it back, you never leaned in and pressed an eyelash to my cheek so that I could wish on it. I wouldn’t have let you touch me. My face my hands my hair, I hated being touched, cringed away from it like a shameplant, and the not-wanting felt almost worse than not-being-wanted. Felt lonely, always the first person awake in your silent basement, bodies scattered like petals on the floor all around me. There was nothing I could do but wait, wait and read your parents’ headache-coloured paperbacks, Louis L’Amour and Danielle Steele, Christ, I hated them, but I would still sit there, paging through Haunted fucking Mesa or whatever, counting down the minutes on the clock, waiting waiting. Sometimes I would hear your father praying in the kitchen but it never woke you up, and I wanted to ache like Courtney Love ached, wanted to feel anything at all except bored and choking on paper, I wanted a drumbeat underneath my skin but it was all silence and darkness and purple muscle, and your father kept praying, ringing bells like they were birds, and I kept waiting to hear music.

Endocardium

Before the world ended, you pressed play on a discman and flooded my life with the Cranberries.

Before the world ended, I looked up at the ceiling and found it strung with hanging lights, each one of them a city in between us. Before the world ended, I asked you if people could yearn in their thirties, if that was allowed, and I didn’t know the steps to this dance but maybe you could teach them to me. Suddenly there was an electric peach in my mouth and it was shining through the spaces between my clenched teeth, anyone could see it, even you. I thought my skin was too thin, my bones too brittle, thought anything I felt would tear through me or grind me down, and maybe it still will but I’d let you press our hips together, iliac crest to iliac crest, let you paint Valentines in red against my lips and mermaids on my cheekbones, let you braid my unbraided hair. Even if it meant you had to touch me

I would let you make me over. 

Sometimes the distance feels less like miles, more like inches. Like it could be the space separating your eyelashes from the tip of my nose, could be a hand’s width on a sleeping bag where I’m still awake because you’re lying next to me (and we watched an awful movie with Drew Barrymore in it.)  Before the world ended, everything was cold metal and antiseptic, we were hunkering down for the longest winter, planning, preparing, frantic, scared, surviving, sick and I was still the first person awake in a strange basement but suddenly finally now of all the goddamn times I was waking up watermelon-flavoured. My mouth was hard candy, glossy-sweet, and suddenly finally now I was the girl with the most cake, I was peony season, I was Nick Drake and the whole moon shining and the whole sun rising I was pink pink Pink PInk PINK.

[arcdiris]

My piece for @humbuns Flowers for Malleus collab!

I choose Black Prince Snapdragons for the name, and they can represent strength, grace, and deviousness which I’d say fits our black prince quite well!

[ladyloveandjustice]

My favorite Manga and Graphic Novels I Read in 2022

I read 54 different manga and graphic novel series in 2022 (you can see them here, from the beginning until the print novels start with Hench. I only included one from each series for my own weird reasons but I'm up to date on everything except Adachi and Shimamura and Prince Freya, which I dropped for now). You can also see my favorite novels of 2022 here! 

Here are my favorites!

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

A young girl gets involved with a witch who has has lots of skeletons (animal and otherwise). I’ve always loved Leyh’s work, and this is her usual super queer fantasy that has everything I adore- cute art, cool witches, animal magic, older butch lesbians with eye patches, lovable characters and lots of sweetness.

SHWD by Sono.N

It’s refreshing to see a dark sci-fi yuri about incredibly ripped adult women fighting monsters, and it really pulls off the horror of the monsters well with some gripping action. The characters were pretty charming too and there was a lot of attention paid to the trauma of the situation.

However, it does have a 'character who looks like a child', which is not my favorite trope for a lot reasons. It bothers me a bit less than other series because the art style does not do cutesy. She just looked like a short adult. The reasoning for having her there was...interesting, I'm not sure where they'll go with that, but it's original, though potentially weird?

Anyway, I like what it's doing and I'm interested to see where this goes. I hope we continue to get a variety of yuri like this published over here!

The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This by Takashi Ikeda

Two ladies- 32-year-old anime screenwriter and 22-year-old newbie anime voice actress- live together and navigate their romantic relationship. It’s mostly done in short vignettes, but the central couple has a fun dynamic and the art is nice, and some plot threads slowly develop as the books go on. It’s a cozy read, and it’s nice to see the ups and downs of an adult relationship where they share living space. I also find the 32 year old attractive, to be honest, I’d date her.

Until I Met My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki, art by Yoshi Tsukizuki

An autobiographical story of the first religiously recognized gay marriage in Japan. It’s not super lengthy or meaty, but it’s a sweet read.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

You might have heard of this book based on how it was banned in a lot of places, it’s simply an autobiographical story of growing up genderqueer. It’s a breezy read with some nice evocative art, and Kobabe is pretty relatable.

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney, Art by Robin Smith

I read a bunch of the DC standalone YA offerings from the library this year and found most of them to be a let-down, but this was a good one. It follows a young Nubia, a black girl who discovers she’s an Amazon related to Wonder Woman herself, and uses her abilities to confront some very real dangers and injustices, while also struggling against racism and other forms of prejudice. Satisfying, solid YA.

Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? By Matt Fraction, Art by Steve Lieber

Another library read. A fun riff on the zaniness of Silver Age Jimmy Olsen comics with a healthy does of humor, it follows the bizarre life of Superman’s BFF as he tries to avoid assassination and does some viral YouTube videos .I especially liked the weird but sweet relationship Jimmy and Clark had in this, and the gentle dunking on Batman.

Run Away With Me, Girl by Battan

Maki’s girlfriend, Midori, broke up with her during her high school graduation, saying she had to “move on” to dating guys now that she was grown up. Ten years later, Maki runs into Midori and finds she’s in an abusive relationship with a man she’s engaged to after getting pregnant. Maki asks Midori to run away with her, but will she?

This is definitely a darker yuri- the abuse Midori faces escalates, and the dude she’s with is basically an incel- but it’s handling the subject matter well so far and I’m really interested to see where it goes. There’s been a notable amount of yuri lately that’s tackled the belief that love for other women is just a childish phase, but this is the first one I’ve seen that explores what happens to a woman who believes that and forces herself into a heterosexual relationship. The abuse Midori faces is not at all framed as her ‘just desserts’ or anything, but a tragic circumstance that happened to a woman who was desperate to fit in and not be alone. The art is also fantastic and distinctive. I really hope it sticks the landing!

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki

A slice-of-life foodie yuri manga! Nomoto cooks more than she can eat, and she notices her next-door neighbor is a big eater and invites her over. A very slowburn romance strikes up. I got interested in this because of the authors marriage equality activism, and it’s a cute read. It’s laid back and slow paced, but there are nice moments of realism that make it very grounded- the way the women talk about being mistreated at work, Nomoto complaining that all the fashion articles she look up talk about impressing men- it was relatable! I also liked that Kasuga is large and butch and doesn’t have to look conventionally ‘cute’.

Cheer Up: Love and Pom-Poms by Crystal Fraiser

A cute YA about an acerbic young lesbian joining the cheer squad and repairing her relationship with her people-pleasing trans friend. It’s for a younger audience, but it’s a sweet romance with adorable art.

I Want to Be A Wall by Honami Shirono

I’m interested to see where this one goes. An aro-ace woman and a gay man in love with his (seemingly, so far) straight best friend enter a marriage of convenience. Yuriko’s obsessive BL fandom can get annoying, but it’s always refreshing to see the ace character represented and the manga is realistic about the struggles we face. I’m rooting for this one!

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon by Shio Usui

A slow burn office lady romance, it’s just downright cute. It might be a little slowpaced for some but I enjoyed it!

Catch These Hands! by Murata

I’m a huge sucker for delinquent girls, so the story of two former delinquent girl rivals who meet again as adults, only for one to challenge each other to a fight with the condition that she’ll date her if she loses? Sign me up! This is, unfortunately, a little uneven- the second volume was kinda eh and introduced an annoying side character with some questionable tropes-but the third volume picked things up again and included a wonderfully absurd training montage. Though it starts with one of the women wanting to change and appear less like a delinquent and more ‘normal’, the clear message of the series is she doesn’t need to. If you don’t like any kind of violence, no matter how weird and divorced from reality, this isn’t for you though, as there is the whole challenge-to-a-fight thing, but it’s tongue in cheek and wacky enough I don’t mind.

Continuing favorites:

Witch Hat Atelier- Can't believe Witch Hat punched the 'funny anime pervert' trope to dust like it deserves, while also exploring and denouncing victim blaming in a genuinely affecting way. This manga is legendary. Also I'm very worried for everyone.

Yuri is My Job!- Really escalated wonderfully with it’s tangled web of relationships, rich backstories, and commentary on how people, especially queer people, often put on a performance. What IS the true self? One character’s commentary on how she wanted her work place to ‘like romance without the romance’ (a la class S) yet can’t suppress her true romantic fantasies was especially well-done. There’s also a character saying ‘friggin’ heteros’. The accurate representation we need, clearly. I just really enjoy this cast of characters.

Spy x Family (A Yor arc! Finally! And there’s just as much murder and mayhem as that should entail!), My Love Mix Up! (continues to be adorable), Yona of the Dawn (dramatic backstory reveals!), How Do We Relationship? (it’s really interesting to read a gay romance where the central relationship is acknowledged as not good for both of them and they try to move on), Delicious in Dungeon (the dungeon adventures are ramping up!), A Man and His Cat (more kitty cuteness), The Way of the House Husband (more hijinks), Bride’s Story (another volume of the beautiful historical epic! It’s been a while.), The Adventure Zone graphic novels (continue to be a lot fun with fantastic art), I Think Our Son is Gay (continues to be a sweet look at a mom supportive of her gay son), Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun (I’ll always love these idiots) and My Wandering Warrior Existence by Kabi Nagata (another entry in Nagata’s moving autobiographical series about the struggles of mental illness, self reflection, and queer exploration).

[burgermcdond]

ARUGH CLASSPECTED COOKIE RUN CHARACTERS (both ovenbreak and kingdom)

only my favorites though hhhhhb

Pomegranate Cookie-Jadeblood, Maid of Doom, Dersite

Sugar Swan Cookie-Fuschia Blood, Muse of Heart, Dersite

Lotus Dragon-Violet Blood, Bard of Hope, Dersite

Lychee Dragon-Fuschia Blood, Thief of Heart, Dersite

Strawberry Crepe-Rust blood, Knight of Mind, Prospiter

Hydrangea-Fuschia blood, Maid of Life, Prospiter

Cotton Candy-Bronze Blood, Maid of Heart, Prospiter

Sugar glass-Rust Blood, Page of Light, Prospiter

Timekeeper-Purple blood, Lord of Time, Dersite

Blackberry-Indigo Blood, Seer of Doom, Dersite

Lilac-Violet Blood, Rogue of Void, Dersite

Crowberry-Violet Blood, Thief of Void, Prospiter

Sour Belt-Teal Blood, Rogue of Breath, Prospiter

Kumiho-Cobalt Blood, Thief of Heart, Dersite

Unicorn Cream-Purple Blood, Rogue of Hope, Prospiter

Yogurt Cream-Purple blood, Thief of Life, Prospiter

Truffle-Mutant Blood, Seer of Doom, Dersite

Blueberry Pie-Indigo Blood, Maid of Light, Dersite

Sea Fairy-Teal Blood, Muse of Hope, Dersite

Moonlight-Indigo Blood, Muse of Light, Prospiter

Peach-Olive Blood, Maid of Time, Prospiter

White Ghost-Mutant Blood, Mage of Doom, Prospiter

Blue Lily-Rust Blood, Sylph of Light, Dersite

Pond dino-Indigo Blood, ?? Of space (you can suggest on this maybe?), prospiter

Okchun-Olive blood, Knight of Doom, Prospiter

Blue Slushy-Indigo Blood, Page of Breath, Prospiter

Abyss Monarch-Jade blood, Mage of Doom, Dersite

White Lily-Fuschia Blood, Page of Hope, Dersite

Pure Vanilla-Gold Blood, Muse of Hope, Prospiter

Black Pearl-Prince of Life, Dersite, Cobalt Blood

Crimson Coral-Knight of Time, Dersite, Rust blood

Mozzarella-Seer of Mind, Prospiter, Olive blood

Affogato-Maid of Void, Dersite, Violet Blood

Snapdragon-Page of Blood, Prospiter, Fuschia Blood

Langue De Chat-Mage of Light, Prospiter, Teal Blood

White Pearl-Muse of Life, Prospiter, Fuschia Blood

Clover-Maid of Life, Prospiter, Olive Blood

Linzer-Thief of Mind, Dersite, Rust blood

Fettucine-?? of Doom(You can suggest), dersite, gold blood

Caramel Arrow-Rogue for Breath, Prospiter, Olive Blood

Pumpkin Pie-Maid of Doom, Prospiter, Purple Blood

Pastry-Prince of Doom, Dersite, Violet Blood

Stardust-Knight of Light, Dersite, Indigo Blood

Strawberry-Rogue of Void, Prospiter, Rust blood

Pistachio-Knight of Life, Prospiter, Teal Blood

Popcorn-Maid of Hope, Prospiter, Gold blood

Matcha-Page of Doom/Life(unsure), Prospiter, Olive Blood

Stingray-Muse of Breath, Prospiter, Purple Blood

Centepide-Thief of Light, Dersite, Rust blood

Dark Enchantress-Lord of Doom, Dersite, Purple Blood

Longan Dragon-Lord of Doom/Void?, Dersite, Indigo Blood

MY FUCKING GOD MY HANDS HURT

[froppy-butterflyfan2000]

What is Ivy's favourite flower

Black Prince Snapdragon: Deception and graciousness.

Pink Rose: Sweetness, femininity, appreciation, and admiration.

Foxgloves: A symbol of magical and mysterious, insincerity, and a balance between harm and healing/embody resilience, harmony, and balance.

Hollyhock: Ambition and Abundance.

[deepdarkdelights]

Why did you decide to name it Bouquet Series? And is there specific meanings of the flowers that connect with the story you chose them for?

Hi! Thank you for the question!

When I started my blog, I would put flowers on the banners of my fics and I would pick flowers that would specifically match the vibes of the story! The first fic I ever wrote here was not a part of the bouquet series but I included the asphodel flower in the banner.

When I wrote ten series I used the red striped carnation and once I created the connected universe of fics I used flowers in all of those banners. Together they all formed a bouquet so I called it the bouquet series!

I have made a list of these flowers' connotations (their normal ones and some negative ones), but it's been so long since I brought it up so I don't mind writing them out again!

10 Series: Red striped carnations - "no, rejection or refusal"

Positive: Red dahlias - "betrayal"

Porcelain: Buttercups - "childish, childishness"

Cut: Black Prince snapdragons - "deviousness"

Persephone: Burgundy roses - "a love not yet realized"

Forbidden Fruit: Lily of the Valley - "innocence, purity"

The Stranger: Red spider lilies - "lost memories, rebirth, final goodbyes"

[christinaroseandrews]

If you're willing to go for some annuals, there are some absolutely pretty much black as heck petunias out there. They even have a varietal that is pretty purpley black with bursts of white on them. And if you get lucky they will self seed, aka they'll drop their seeds and come back next year.

Snapdragons are often biannual and self seeding and they grow well where I live in Michigan. There is a cultivar called black prince which is a deep deep red that is almost black. There are also White cultivars.

Columbine (the flower) has both White and a darkish red almost blood red option called Black Barlow. Where I live in Michigan, they are perennial and shade loving. Columbines are also one of the few flowers that actually naturally have blue flowers. The type of caulifying that is the state flower for Colorado the Rocky mountain columbine is a pale grayish blue and white flower which would be a good mix in my opinion for a tuxedo cat that is a two color flower.

I love the pansy suggestion. Again pansies can self seed and often come back the next year depending on where you are.

I also tend to like hosta for good ground cover and shade loving areas. They die off at the end of the season but come back with a vengeance and they put out pretty white / purplish grayish flowers.

I didn't see it suggested, but have you considered white roses? Roses absolutely love being a part of a memorial garden and the thorns on them can be reminiscent of the kitty claws. :)

It really depends on how much shade versus how much sun you have. If your memorial garden is in a more shaded spot, you're going to want a shade loving flower. If it's in a Sunny spot then you're going to want a sun loving flower.

This is a beautiful way to remember your kitties. I hope this helps. :)

A Question for the Gardeners

I want to make part of my yard a little memorial garden for my late cats. One was white, one was a tuxedo. Does anyone have suggestions for perennials with white and black-and-white flowers that are relatively easy to grow? (I have no idea what I'll do for the silver tabby, but she's doing pretty well for now). I know that plants don't produce true black, I'm okay with that.

I was considering a large white crocus and some black and white tulips for the spring, but want something that will bloom later in the spring/summer as well.

I have seen the white black eyed susan (Thunbergia alata) but it might be too cold for them here (Pittsburgh, PA) and they may be invasive. I have done well with coneflowers in my front yard and previous homeowner let crocus take over the back yard, so it does well there.

Advice welcome!

[olmosgarden]

planting out some ‘black prince’ / maybe some ‘tall deluxe’ snapdragons. spread some veggie compost first

[thatmexisaurusrex]

Just Some Queer Books I Love

Just some queer books I love:

Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Once Upon a Princess by Clare Lydon Harper Bliss

The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly

Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Powers

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee

Perfect Rhythm by Jae

The Boy in the Red Dress by Kristen Lambert

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee

Snapdragon by Kat leyh

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Rock and Riot by Chelsey Ferundi

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Colthurst

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

In the Vanisher's Palace by Aliette de Bodard

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

The Night by May Archer

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone

Spell Hacker by M.K. England

This Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie

Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Court of Lions by Somaiya Doud

A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian

The Afterward by E.K. Johnston

A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell

Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole

The Disasters by M.K. England

Scorpio Hates Virgo by Anyta Sunday

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

Once & Future by A.R. Capetta

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

A Phoenix Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell

Crier's War by Nina Varela

[niftybucklesblog]

Ghoul & Gardens: Goth Gardens

Good evening folks and welcome to my Nifty Buckles Folklore Podcast

I'm Nifty Buckles And I explore various folklore topics each week from the weird and wonderful or downright spooky.

And on this podcast we are going to explore Goth gardens what kind of flowers to plant and potent plants that are just an interest used in mystery novels.

Goth lovers, Halloween and Samhain are only 93 days away.

ignore this >Halloween countdown link https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/halloween

Start here:

Growing up as a child, my father created a beautiful rose garden with a variety of colours in our backyard and I helped him plant it under his supervision. I have also planted my own perennial gardens over the years which I thoroughly enjoyed digging in the dirt and later to see the lovely results of our hard work bloom.

A Word of Warning:

If you use a pitch fork for the soil make sure only an adult works with it, my older sister accidentally stuck the pitch fork into her shoe she was wearing. Ouch!

After much screaming and crying my father rushed her to the hospital. She still has the scar on top of her foot to this day.

Below is a great Goth Garden Chart to help you create the Goth garden of your delight.

Potent Plants:

Queen of the Cosy Mystery, author Agatha Christie was known to keep a Potent Plant garden which she would write about into her murder mystery novels. Agatha Christie’s Potent garden still remains to this day and is maintained at Torrey Abbey Garden in England.  

In Agatha Christie’s novels  4:50 From Paddington and They Do It With Mirrors the murderers were responsible for poisoning several characters in these books with Aconite.

Another example of this, can be found in Agatha Christie’s novel “The Caribbean Mystery.” In this novel, Belladonna was the preferred murder weapon.

Belladonna was utilised as an ancient herbal remedy as a seditive. In traditional witchcraft it was applied as a salve (pronounced sav) mixed with poppy and opium which would cause hallucinations to aid witches in flying to their covenstead or to experience a bacchanalian carousel. This toxic plant helped activate their visions and astral projections.

This beautiful art below gives one a feeling of flight the witches may have felt after using their shamanic salve.

Witches on the Sabbath (1878) by Luis Ricardo Falero

These are just a few plants grown in a Potent garden since they are lethal and you wouldn’t want your child or pet to nibble on them accidentally.

I suggest you grow some non toxic dark flowers and decorate with live moss to grow over Gothic statues to attain the Goth garden you dream about.

Below a beautiful moss covered statue by New England Garden Company

Seeds:

In Eastern European Folklore millet seeds, rice, carrot and linen seeds were used for protection against Vampires and were placed inside of vampire coffins or on their grave-site to keep the Vampire busy. Vampires tend to display signs of OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder so they would spend hours picking up each seed before they attack their prey. The village folks would spread seeds along the road that led from the revenant’s grave to its’ home.

Fennel seeds helped wards off evil used like Garlic to ward off Vampires. Traditionally, Cunning folks hung bundles of fennel over doorways and stuffed it into their keyholes to stave off demons, angry ghosts and witches.

Snapdragon seeds look like skulls in public domain

In Flowerlore Snapdragons symbolise grace, power, deception and deviousness, The ancient Romans and Greeks used snapdragons as an amulet to ward off evil.

Black Prince Snapdragons make a magical pick for your Goth garden.

Once you grow your goth garden you may never know what or who maybe attracted to it.

An example of real ghost sighting in a garden comes from Jenkyn Place, Hampshire near the English village of Bentley.

A spectral housekeeper named “Mrs Waggs,” haunts the place and a woman in white has been observed roaming the garden along with reports of a phantom coach entering the driveway.

And on that note, thank you for listening to my podcast.

I've been your host Nifty Buckles of Nifty Buckles Folklore Podcast streaming it to you wherever you are.

Over Sea

Over Car

Nifty Buckles voice is never far.

References:

Greenway Kate 1846-1901, The Language of Flowers https://archive.org/details/languageofflower00gree

Christie Agatha The Potent Plant Garden, Patterned After Agatha Christie’s Novels https://www.seniorwomen.com/news/index.php/the-potent-plants

Hansen, Harold A. The Witch’s Garden pub. Unity Press 1978 ISBN 978-0913300473

The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Dead © 1994 pp: 545-546

Jenkyn Place, Hampshire Garden Article https://lady.co.uk/most-haunted-places-uk

[obsidiendo]

Duessel smiles. An apple and carrot are exchanged, and he gives the latter to Sieglind. He watches as Snapdragon greedily eats her treat and huffs with happiness, her tail swishing to add to her emotions. "All the houses seem to have their virtues. For example, the Black Eagles seem to be extremely talented with magic -- I've met a professor from that house who cares very much for her students' faith abilities."

He thinks about his own position, his choice to be a Golden Deer professor out of all the houses. He does not regret it for a moment, but when the year turns over and he is asked to re-negotiate his contract, he might choose the Blue Lions. Prince Dimitri is a caring and dutiful leader, and Duessel would be pleased to be able to assist in guiding him towards ruling his kingdom.

That is very forward of him to assume the boy would want help from this old man; still, though, if asked he would do just that. Duessel wishes for a liege, yes, but more importantly he wants to teach, impart his wisdom, and help guide.

He wants to fix past mistakes. He wants to stand for what he believes it. He wants to be a strong moral guide for those who need someone steady.

"The Golden Deer could use someone like you, King Xander. You have demonstrated a lot of patience already, if this is any indication of your person." He reaches out, touches Snapdragon's chin. She huffs again and he knows she wishes to ride.

Without hesitation he steps outside of the stall. "I will show you a place that Snapdragon seems to like. Let us get our saddles and take them for a trot."

horse girl mentality does not end in your teenage years

[fourthage]

03 August 2022

I need to do my state of the garden pictures (I did take them for July, just never got around to posting them), but in the meantime let’s check on plants in the back.

Missed the first mature bloom on the hibiscus, but it is loaded with buds so I’m not too broken up about it. Second picture is one about to open.

My one and thus far only snapdragon from seed. Sadly not the black prince variety. The purple flowers behind it are angelonias.

The perennial sunflower has finally started to grow. I hope it grows as fast as the annuals and I get blooms the first year.

Joe Pye Weed blooming (with bonus bee)!

And I thought the borage was a bust, but I spotted buds today. I’ll get the pretty blue stars after all.

[ketchup-monthly]

Night Talks - Chapter 2

@anxious-ace Chapter 2!

Loceit (pre-relationship)

Tws: alcohol mention, flower mention

It wasn’t until a month later that Logan found himself alone with Janus again. It wasn’t that they were deliberately avoiding each other, they just never seemed to be in the same place at the same time without Remus or another side around. The month had gone surprisingly well, especially with Virgil moving from the Dark Side to the Light Side, and any problems that could have arisen from that. As Virgil spent most of his time in his room—no longer a crypt, but a dark room with purple accents and fairy lights strung up near the ceiling—to get used to one thing at a time, the misunderstandings were few and far between. That’s not to say that there weren’t disagreements and accidents from those under his watchful eye, but the blame for most of them was to be placed on Patton and Roman.

As it was the last time he had run into Janus, it was late at night, though this time, Patton and Roman were asleep and Virgil was either asleep or enjoying quiet time in his room, free from an overly energetic prince. Logan was doing his final checks of the commons before checking the tenets of the Light Side, making sure that lights were turned off, countertop appliances were turned off, and there wasn’t anything left out on the counter that would attract pests or go bad. Logan was so focused on getting into the kitchen, on making sure there was nothing in the toaster or blender and that they were turned off and unplugged that he missed the dim light from a lamp in the corner of the seating area.

Logan shuffled around the kitchen, messing with appliances, and taking something green with a strange metallic sheen to it but a sticky texture and a strange smell out of the toaster before putting it in a tupperware container and placing it on the portion of the counter where he always left Remus’ experiments or pranks when he found them. After checking the rest of the kitchen, Logan sighed and walked back out into the sitting area, where he noticed a lamp on, light directed at a side curbed up in one of the armchairs. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Janus, staring forlornly at the pages of a book, eyes unmoving aside from the occasional sluggish blink.

“Janus?”

His head didn’t move, but his shoulders jumped up towards his ears before lowering to where they were prior.

“Why are you still up, is Remus setting off the fire alarms again?” Logan perched on the edge of the other armchair far as he could get from the other, not wanting to invade his personal space.

“I don’t miss him. I don’t miss the ambient sounds of another person in the room. I definitely don’t miss the sarcastic comments, or the secret smiles, or the way he used to look at Remus and I as if we meant the world to him. The days long past, when he was but a child, I don’t wish we had them back.”

“Virgil, I’m assuming. Wait one moment please.” Logan stood up, heading back into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of red wine from the fridge and two wine glasses. He set the glasses on the table between their chairs and uncorked the bottle, pouring it into the two glasses. He held a glass out to Janus.

“Here. Would you like me to tell you about what’s been going on on my side? With Virgil and the others? And in return, you could tell me about Remus?”

The other side took the glass and sat up, book closing and falling to his side. “Of course not. Care to converse over a game?”

He snapped his fingers, producing a deck of cards adorned with a black rose design on the back. He twisted, sitting cross-legged, sideways in the chair, facing Logan.

At the unexpectedly sharp noise, Logan looked closer, noting that Janus wasn’t wearing his gloves, for once. His scales didn’t just cover the side of his face, it seemed, as there were lighter scales creeping up the back of his hands. They looked to be in better condition than the ones on Janus’ face. Logan wondered what they felt like, if they were cool to the touch, if they were rough or smooth, if they felt like a real snake’s scales or like something else entirely.

He shook his head and looked back into Janus’ mismatched eyes, focusing again. “What game?” Logan pushed the wine glasses to one side of the table and put the wine bottle on the table behind him.

“Not Gin, that’s for certain. You must be aware of the rules, yes?” He carefully removed the cards from the box and methodically shuffled them after removing the jokers, eyes straying to look back at them.

Logan nodded. “I have played Gin before, Virgil taught me a few weeks ago, though I admit I have not played it very much since.”

At the mention of Virgil, Logan noticed a slight twitch on Janus’ face, as if it fell for a second before a mask was put back in place, resulting in a small hollow smirk resting across his lips.

“Very well.” He dealt the cards, giving them both ten cards and the extra card to Logan to start.

Logan looked at his hand, noticing familiar faces on a couple of his cards. “Janus, what theme is this deck of cards?”

Without looking up at him, moving his cards around his hand instead, the other answered. “Thomas. Look at the jokers.” He pushed them across the table into Logan’s line of sight.

On each of the cards was an image of Roman and Remus, the first a mostly black and green one where they rested back to back, each holding a flower, Roman gazing down at a wilted amaryllis forlornly and Remus smiling nicely, a vibrant handful of angelica clutched in his grasp. The other was mostly red and white, Roman, flushed and smiling, looking off into the distance with a bouquet of red roses held gently to his chest. Behind him is Remus, a single overgrown rhododendron losing petals from the tight grip Remus had on it, a manic grin on his face.

Logan’s eyebrows rose at the beautifully detailed images. “You designed these? They’re incredible.”

Janus nodded, peering up through his fringe at Logan, gauging his sincerity. “Thank you.” He gestured towards the table. “Shall we play?”

“Of course, allow me to take a minute to look at my hand before discarding.”

Logan looked closer at the cards in his hand. A five of clubs, a seven of clubs, a five of hearts, a seven of hearts, a jack of spades, an ace of spades, a four of spades, a six of spades, a jack of hearts, a kind of hearts, and a six of diamonds. He placed the six of diamonds into the center of the table and looked closer at the ace and the face cards.

The ace had Patton on it, a white camellia tucked behind his ear, holding a blue hydrangea with white jasmine flowers placed around it. The figure on the card is smiling, eyes crinkling at the corners, form haloed by forget-me-nots.

Virgil was the side placed on the jacks. He was sitting down on a patch of clover, white flowers poking up above the green mass, hood down but still bunched around his neck, playing with a single red columbine. A crown of edelweiss and what looked to be coriander woven in sat atop his purple locks, the white and green making the color stand out more.

Before he could look further at the king, a throat was cleared, causing him to look up.

“Are you going to play a card, Logan? Or simply sit there all night.” He was smirking, no hint of malice in his words.

“Apologies, I was admiring the craftsmanship.” The logical side looked down at the pile, seeing that his six had been taken and replaced by the two of clubs. He drew a card from the draw pile, picking up and putting back down the king of diamonds.

While Janus was taking his turn, Logan looked at the king. Since it wasn’t Roman, or even Remus, it had to have been Janus. He wouldn’t put Logan on the king on the deck of cards he had created, would he?

He had. The king card had Logan on it, gazing off to the side, a small smile on his face, a book gently pressed against his chin, a blue hyacinth bound to the front with twine. A laurel of violet and clematis adorned his head, and there were a couple herbs that Logan didn’t recognize laying at the bottom corner of the image. It could be rosemary, but he wasn’t as sure as he was about the identity of the other flowers.

He looked back up from his hand to see Janus glancing at him expectantly before turning back to the discard pile, where a five of spades now lay. Logan picked up the five of spades, exchanging it for the jack of spades. He watched carefully as Janus drew a card from the draw pile and placed it into his hand, face betraying nothing. He took another card from his hand and placed it in the discard pile, the nine of hearts.

As Logan had no need for it. He drew the queen of clubs from the pile and held it carefully, looking at the new design, that was of Janus, as he was the only side not yet included.

His eyes and mouth were closed, and his head was tilted down slightly, facing directly out from the card. In his ungloved hands he held a snapdragon, an anemone plant, and a belladonna. Pinned to his collar was a black-eyed susan, and tucked into the band of his hat lay a single sprig of lavender and a bittersweet blossom. It was a very beautiful card, but it didn’t sit right that Janus looked so sad in the image.

Logan placed the queen onto the discard pile, for it to be snatched up immediately by Janus who put a card face down and laid out his winning hand: the king, queen, and jack of clubs, the king, queen, jack, and ten of diamonds, and the sixes of diamonds, hearts, and clubs.

“A good game. I suppose you weren’t going to tell me about the others. A shame, for I so wanted to talk about Remus.” He sighed and took a sip of his wine.

“Hm. I must know less about this game than I thought. Another round? I’ll speak as we play, and this time I will not lose so fast.” Logan handed his cards back to Janus, who shuffled them expertly, the bridge making a satisfying sound.

He smirked, dealing out the cards again. “Tell me, then.”

Logan placed down the first card. “Patton almost burned the kitchen down again while trying to make cookies in the toaster. I’ve told him several times that he cannot do that, and even put a sign up on the toaster in the Light Side kitchen, but I believe he ignores it and Roman encourages it.”

Janus nodded and took his turn. “Delightful. Remus flooded our space with sewer water. Luckily, he claims that there was nothing actually in it, at least in the dark common area, but it still smelled horrible and left my shoes and pants with a wonderfully unique texture.”

“I would love to assist with one of his experiments sometime.”

“He’d be delighted if you did. Perhaps our commons would finally be clean. It must be your turn.”

“Thank you. While Roman is a, granted, very good singer, as one of the creativities, I would very much appreciate it if he could cease for a while so I could work in peace and quiet.”

“I don’t understand at all how you feel. Remus never does that, ever. Though his singing is closer to screeching. Used to drive Virgil nuts. He’d hide himself and refuse to come down or out.” Janus’ face fell again.

“He still does that, usually when Roman is being overbearing. Patton tries in vain to lure him down with cookies, but given that Patton tries to cook them in the toaster, I believe Virgil is within reason to refuse them. It’s unfortunate that it comes to it, but I have to take his headphones hostage.” Logan smiled.

The other side smiled back at him, a bit sad. “His foundation and eyeliner were always safe from me when he would do that with Remus and I. Even then, when he came down, it was straight for the snakeskin jacket and the shoes. I assume he still wears them around the three of you?”

He shook his head. “No, we haven’t seen him wear them yet. Must be just for you.”

Janus placed a card face down and laid out the cards in his hand, frowning. “Surely we don’t have time for another game?”

“We do, if you’d care to.” He handed the cards back to Janus, who pushed them back to him.

“You shuffle this time, and I’ll deal them.”

Logan clumsily tried to mimic the smooth motions that Janus had when he shuffled the cards. It wasn’t working quite right, the cards not all doing what he was having them do. Getting a bit frustrated, he handed them back. “How do you get them to do that?” he asked, a small pout on his face that he would deny being there.

“It came naturally to me.”

Logan had noticed a particular lilt to Janus’ voice that appeared only when he lied, and knowing the fact that he had to practice to be able to shuffle cards the way he could set Logan more at ease.

Janus dealt the cards and the game began. “I wonder what went wrong.”

“The two of you are very different individuals, but you are also very much the same. The space between you now may help you in the future, allow you to see past yourselves and see the other properly.”

“I suppose.”

“I’d suggest giving Virgil space until he feels like he can come to you and start a conversation. Don’t force him, but make sure he can tell that you are genuine about your intentions with him. One thing I’ve learned about Virgil is that he likes knowing that people are genuinely interested in talking with him or being around him.”

Janus smiled up at Logan. “Thank you.”

The two finished their game quietly, sipping their wine until their glasses were emptied and Logan placed the final card upon the discard pile face down, signifying a win for him.

Janus’ smile grew, the fangs on the left side of his mouth becoming visible. “An excellent game. May we play again soon.”

He took the cards from Logan and put them back in the box as Logan took the wine bottle and empty wine glasses back to the commons kitchen. Janus followed him after stowing the cards back wherever he had procured them from.

“The cards really are beautiful, you know.”

The human appearing side of Janus’ face flushed. “Thanksss.”

Logan turned to look at him. “I must ask though, why do you look so sad on your card? Aside from the twins, everyone else appears happy or content.”

“I am a mystery, Logan. If Logic himself cannot investigate, I fear Thomas is done for.” A small, self-deprecating smile painted his lips. “Goodnight, Logan.”

He walked away to the door that led to the Dark Side.

“Goodnight, Janus.” Logan retreated to the Light Side after having checked the lights and doors again, stopping in front of Virgil, Patton, and Roman’s rooms to make sure they were asleep before heading to his own room and drifting off.

Flower Meanings:

Roman- Amaryllis (pride), Red Rose (romance)

Remus- Angelica (inspiration), Rhododendron (danger, beware)

Patton- White Camellia (you’re adorable), Blue Hydrangea (gratitude for being understood, frigidity and apology), White Jasmine (Sweet love, Amiability), Forget-me-nots (true love memories, do not forget me)

Virgil- White Clover (think of me), Red Columbine (anxious, trembling), Edelweiss (courage, devotion), Coriander (hidden worth/merit)

Logan- Blue Hyacinth (constancy), Violet (watchfulness, modesty, faithfulness), Clematis (mental beauty), Savory (spice, interest), Rosemary (remembrance)

Janus- Snapdragon (deception, graciousness), Anemone (forsaken), Belladonna (silence), Black-eyed Susan (justice), Lavender (distrust), Bittersweet (truth)

[fandomsandfeminism]

Greetings, what recommendations do you have for queer fantasy - books, comics, TV shows or movies? I'm familiar with Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Sense 8, and Steven Universe - as far as TV shows go. As for books, comics, and movies I'm in need of some recs. Also if there are any must read/watch recs that aren't fantasy I'm very open. Hope this isn't too broad. Thank you :)

Let’s see. 

TV:  

- Dragon Prince (Netflix)

- I am not Ok with This (netflix)

- Umbrella Academy (Netflix) 

- I’m gonna put Black Sails on this too even though it is SWASHBUCKLING HISTORICAL PIRATE FICTION! (Starz and Hulu? I think?) 

Comics/Graphic Novels:

- The Deep and Dark Blue

-Mooncakes

-Snapdragon

-Nimona

Books

-Black Sun

-An Accident of Stars

-Huntress

-Of Fire and Stars