#sorry just wanted to use that emoji

[3999isdead]

I finished the drawing 😈

[iknowwhereyousnoozeatnight]

this one's for all the yuri enjoyers out there — nsft under cut

meronia event prompt(s): scar

[anipgarden]

Cheaply Starting Seeds

This is my fourth post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Having a high-quality seed-starting setup can feel like an ultimate but distant dream. An entire shelf--an entire room, even, filled with grow lights and plant trays in the optimal setup to make tons of plants? Tons of garden tools, each with a diverse and dedicated purpose? That’s just not an option for some of us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get started at a low cost!

Seed Starting Set-Ups

Speaking from a somewhat biased Floridian perspective, I’ve had great success starting seeds outside! My usual set-up is on a rarely-used outdoor patio table that’s moved to a sunny spot in the yard, but I’ve even grown seeds in solo cups on sidewalks, or directly in the ground, with great results! 

Some seeds grow best when they go through a cold period before germinating, while other seeds aren’t affected much by it and just wait for warm weather. As such, a viable option is to sow your seeds in late fall, let winter roll by, and wait until the seeds sprout on their own come spring! I would try and mark off where you planted said seeds, so you don’t lose track of them and accidentally dig them up.

Alternatively, if you want to get started while it's cold outside, a popular option I've seen is to grow in milk jugs! There's a lot of different ways to do it--everyone has their preference--but if you're already drinking things like milk or juice or sweet tea, and you're going to get jugs at some point in time--why not use them for gardening?

An easy way to clear up a section of lawn to create open gardening space is by using a sheet mulching or lasagna gardening method (though I like to call it the Cardboard Snuff-Out). Place cardboard or newspaper down in fall/winter to mark out where you want to garden. Layer compostable materials like grass clippings and wood chips on top of it, or potting soil/bagged compost. It’ll decompose over Winter into an organically rich bed that’ll have killed the grass and weeds underneath it. You don’t have to break out any tools and sweat over it come spring, and the cardboard itself will slowly decompose as well!

Though it's often recommended to plant things directly into the ground to decrease watering needs and increase nutritional independence, there’s plenty of reasons you may not be able to. Whether you’re renting, living in a place without a yard, or even just can’t or don’t want to break ground in a yard, you can still help biodiversity by growing in pots. Some plants have rather extensive root systems and aren’t well suited for pots, but there are still plenty of options available for plants that’ll boost biodiversity, be beautiful to look at, and grow just fine in pots! A recommendation is to get a larger pot, if you’re able, as it’ll hold onto more water and need watering less often. Not only are potted plants great for providing food for insects, but they can be shelter for other creatures too--there’s been a good few times I’ve moved a pot and found a frog or toad living underneath it.

If you don’t have room for pots on the ground, you could consider using hanging pots or window boxes! These can be great and easily-maintained options to provide food and habitat for insects and birds in an urban living situation like apartments or townhouses, but they can also be a fun way to add even more habitat to an already-robust home garden. You can even make an entire mini habitat in a window box or pot! I can personally say I’ve seen tons of pollinators visit my yearly hanging basket garden that consists of about five to seven plants, and I’ve always loved the idea of having a window box for blooms right out my window. Just make sure that it’s safe--make sure they’re securely fixed, and that whatever they’re hanging from can handle their weight when they’re freshly watered and loaded with plants. 

If you want to start indoors, you don’t necessarily need grow lights or heat mats (though it will make things a bit easier.) I’ve successfully grown milkweed, peppers, tomatoes, zucchinis, and even sprouted lemon seeds in college dorm rooms, and kept tomato and pepper plants in a dorm room on a sunny windowsill. For the most part, you need a nice and sunny window, some kind of container, and a source of heat (in my case, I used anything from a space heater to the warmth of my laptop running nearby. If you don’t have any sunny windows, or enough windowsill space to start plants on, its possible to obtain cheaper grow lights. One year, my mom bought me some gooseneck grow lights that could clip onto things for cheap off of Amazon. (Fair warning, though, they did light up my entire room in purple. I lived alone that year (covid year, my roomies bailed), so it was fine, but it was kind of trippy,)

Another year, when I was in an apartment on my own, I bought a grow light modeled like a normal light bulb from the lightbulb aisle in Lowe’s and put it in my desk lamp. Growing seeds indoors can make them grow fast and leggy, so it’ll help if you can keep a desk fan on them so they focus on growing strong instead of tall and fast.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a friend with a nice set up, you could see if they’re willing to let you borrow some of their space to start your own plants as well! My set-up in college was by no means High Class, but I was still more than willing to start seeds for my friends who asked!

Containers for Seed Starting

So now that we’ve talked starting seeds indoors and out, we need to address what to start them in. It’s important that whatever you’re using has drainage holes, and be large enough to support your plant (starting something like milkweed or a squash in a tiny little pot won’t yield great results). Fortunately, there are options here!

If you’re looking to buy pots, Dollar Tree will sell some small plastic pots for cheap in the spring! They’re kind of thin, and won’t last forever, but they’re great for a few uses and don’t cost a lot of money. Something that’s a bit more pricey but are longer-lasting, in my experience, are the Burpee SuperSeed trays. They come in different sizes, but I’m fond of the 16-cell trays--they have silicone bottoms and are made of a nice solid plastic with a tray to hold water, so they hold up for a long time and are easy to clean and reuse!

Burpee seed tray, my beloved.

What’s better than a cheap pot? Free ones, and there’s plenty of options there! I’ve seen people use toilet paper or paper towel rolls as pots by folding the bottoms in and have it work well for them! I think this method would work best if you had some kind of tray to keep them moist, because mine dried out fast last time I tried this method. I’ve also seen people make pots out of newspaper with a few different methods, and the people who use this method love it--apparently, the roots pass through the paper easier and it decomposes faster when buried, so you can just transplant the whole pot and avoid any kind of transplanting shock. If you don’t have any newspaper on hand, you can likely ask your friends or neighbors! 

I’ve gotten lots of mileage from reusing old containers by poking a few holes in the bottom with knives or scissors--just be careful while you’re doing it! I, personally, am more likely to use an already-used solo cup for it--they’re a nice size, so they hold a good amount of soil and moisture and give the seedling a good amount of root space. I tend to write the plant information on the side of the cup in sharpie marker, or on an index card in pen. I’ve also heard of people making use of egg cartons, fruit containers, yogurt cups, milk cartons, soda bottles--the more you start thinking about what you could easily poke a hole in, the more options start coming around!

This photo may be from 2018, but I'll still regularly reuse cups like this! They're also great for cuttings!

As you start planning to move your seedlings into the ground and preparing planting sites, you’ll likely need a few tools to do it! How do you get these? You may be able to borrow some tools from a neighbor! As long as you make sure to return them in good condition, depending on how friendly your neighbors are, they might be totally fine with you borrowing their tools for awhile. If you don’t want to take that route, there may be a tool library you can borrow from, or a mutual aid group that can loan you tools for awhile. Either way, borrowing tools is cheaper than buying them--though, if you do have to buy tools, cheap hand-tools from Walmart or the dollar store work just fine. They’ll even last a good while if they’re taken care of when not in use! I've even seen places like Ross sell some tools and pots in spring!

Spotted in a Walmart gardening section by the registers, 2023.

Of course, your mileage may vary with these. I genuinely cannot think of the last time my house got a newspaper, and as I've mentioned I don't have to worry about snow. Similarly, maybe you don't use plastic cups when you can help it, or don't have a particular affinity for eggs and yogurt. Maybe there isn't a tool library in your area--I sure don't know if there is in mine--but it could still be worth poking around and asking a neighbor!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to support your plants for cheap--we're gonna be talking compost, mulch, and trellises. Until then, I hope this advice was helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, your success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[magicbungelic]

One of my newest tics is just going like this 🤙 ?? Idk where that came from honestly but it's better than randomly hitting my face

[astxrwar]

hm. thought too hard about 50+ y.o. gray-haired senator bucky. have to lie down

[trujellyfish]

thinking too hard abt how this rise of "mental health" discussion still only seems to focus on the Cute and Quirky symptoms and still demonizes other mental health (personality) disorders

like my carefully curated tumblr space is fine, but everytime i get sucked into insta reels i inevitably see tens of different reels of the same 3 symptoms of autism/adhd

like im glad theyre getting this positive moment but it just kind of fucking sucks to listen to people talk about how they ToTaLlY have a "touch of the 'tism" and ur friends are sending u "relatable adhd memes" so u think u have a little more support and understanding but then u mention how ur struggling with self harm and suicidal thoughts and violent/disturbing intrusive thoughts and suddenly everyone's like

😳

whats the matter babe, my mental health problems not palatable enough for you? :/

[welcometogrouchland]

WATCHING AND DREAMING BINGO CARDS. Mostly made up of injokes from me and my friends but some are more serious predictions.

[scapeg8ats]

also no offense but if you don't read resources unless they benefit you...how am i supposed to trust YOUR resources? something i learned in school is that taking in academic sources that oppose your view is good for helping you inform yourself of your opinion and of the topic you're trying to talk about. of course they still have to be from reliable sources but idk some of y'all will be like "i don't wanna read your GARBAGE RESOURCES" when they're...peer-reviewed published studies?? and i am BEGGING you to learn what peer review truly means and what it actually takes for some of these journal articles to be published period.

now granted my "school" experience with this was a college level course. it was english 101, so not much, but that's still like. gonna be different sometimes. but some of you—too many, tbh—do not know how to have an informed discussion. which is fine, because it's a skill, but some of you also aren't willing to learn the skill so like.

[sammygender]

the thing thats always missing in conversations about gender in general is the fact that 'cis', as an identity, is not a innate Thing Some People Are, but rather a state of acceptance society grooms us into from birth

[blanketempress]

Yayyy OC asks!!! I request A, B, D, & E for Antoine, Arzel, & Lorenzo because I can't choose :'3 Thankie!

thank youuu <33

Anton

A) Why are you excited about this character? 

He's pretty fun to play, he's trying very hard but also acts without thinking which is great bc it means I get to do some stupid things I want to do every now and then.

He's mortified about his fucking ups but I'm not, he's my chew toy and my punching bag, I want to make his life worse 💖

B) What inspired you to create them?

I was interested in clan Malkavian and the Madness Network + found out about the archetypes of the 6 main mathuselahs we hear about ; the Dionysian whose name is self explanatory, Addemar the hermit/scientist, Tryphosa the Sybil/advisor, Brude the scholar/historian, the Black Hag witch/prophet

All six of these archetypes were pretty interesting but I picked Brude for a bloodline, then I read more about kindred historians, found out about the Mnemosyne cult, and I tossed the Church of Caine in the mix bc it made sense for a scholar to be involved with it

For his wet cat personality, I just thought it was funny to play a vampire w no backbone, and malkavians make great depressed sad wet cats. It transformed over time into him being deadly afraid of the Beast. He’s not (always) afraid of people or situations per say, he’s afraid of losing control, which is very fun to me personally

 D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? 

He’s a recycled version of an older OC, so I already had the big lines, he just looks more fucked up and a little older, I didn’t have to change much over time

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

I think we'd get along at first, then he'd infuriate me so much, then we'd get along super well forever as we go through different stages of friendship

He gets along with everyone who isn't actively trying to kill him

Arzel

A) Why are you excited about this character? 

He's pretty fun to play, I like playing characters with high strength or high charisma and he has both

He fits more than well into the vtm victorian world and he's pretty nosy which means I can go and be as nosy as I, the player, want to be

B) What inspired you to create them? 

He's a recycled version of another OC of mine, who was built to be ruthless but still charming

I was invited to play VTM V5 but I didn’t know ANYTHING about the setting like, aside from the fact that it was about vampires. I read a lot of lore and I thought the 'warlord' side of the Ventrue clan was under-exploited and it's a shame. I also liked the idea of a Ventrue with humble origins but enough ambition and leadership to grab every opportunity to climb the ladder

Still hesitated between clan Brujah and clan Ventrue but in the end he kind of made a stereotypical Brujah and a more interesting Ventrue

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? 

He always had roughly the same looks, I already had a solid base with Ombe, I didn't have to tweak it much once I had decided on the general vibe 

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you? 

I think we'd get along but in a polite colleagues way 

We wouldn't be friends but I'd be happy to work w him and have a chat from time to time and I think he'd be in the same state of mind

Lorenzo

A) Why are you excited about this character? 

he’s a little freak who does crimes

I can't wait for the consequences of his actions to come bite him in the ass

B) What inspired you to create them? 

Spite, mostly. And I think necromancy is always fun to play with

In the VTMB game one of the reasons someone might not be embraced was bc he's gay, so I decided to make a gay trans Giovanni, that was literally my main motivation

Then I read the Giovanni handbook, which has all the trigger warnings in the world bc they really, REALLY wanted to make the most edgy and gross clan soooo bad, and I knew I just had to make that character out of spite

Then I had the brilliant idea to go "but wait. they're italians, they're all related, and spanning multiple generations. the petty personal drama must be INSANE" and it went downhill from there

I also thought the "you're bored out of your mind" archetype was an interesting base

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? 

We don’t talk about my very first draft where he looked like a 12 years old with greasy long hair

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you? 

I think if we were stuck at a party we can’t leave we’d have a decent conversation then never cross paths again

[badnewlifesmpideas]

Oh hey I'm the wheat anon there as well! :)

Also Gem and Pearl avoid heat mostly due to natural instincts. (You don't want to meat) due to this Gem put a hood over Pearl so she wouldn't be struck by lightning

Oh so I was right! That was what I guessed, but I thought it might be weird if I was wrong, so I didn't ask lol :D

Pearl has gone outside in exactly one (1) storm, and promptly decided to never do it again. Her metal plating might protect her from getting damaged by the rain, but that doesn't mean she can't get electrocuted!

-Raven

[yangjeongin]

sometimes i really do just think about that interview skz did with tumblr and the fact that they know tumblr exists and the mass twitter exodus to tumblr and i look at my posts like

[pinkfey]

mother wound sunday 💃

[lelianaslefthand]

kaya and astarion in unison when she rejects his advances at the tiefling party bc she's a lesbian:

[deadrlngers]

not my mom having the funniest exchange with the dog rn. she told him "don't come in the kitchen" bc water fell on the floor and she had to clean and ofc raoul straight up walks in and gets his paws wet and walks around the rest of the kitchen making a mess and she so angrily said "they didn't put the raw material into him". she didn't explain what she meant by 'raw material' but it made me laugh so hard i fell on the floor and couldn't get up for 5 minutes 😭😭

[cupcakewebkinz]

Here guys have my favorite dragon in Dragon Adventures under the cut for suspense, he's also a moth so obligatory tw time! (Triggers are are tagged)

Insect/bug/moth dragon shown below, look at your own risk

This is Matcha, I mentioned him in tags earlier in a reblog and I felt like it was a crime to not show him