#the oldest tree

[wgm-beautiful-world]

The oldest tree in the world is 6000 years old in TANZANIA

[marauders-bs]

"Jesus Christ," Evan muttered to himself. "Okay, who broke the lamp? Be honest, you five."

Kay Rosier-Crouch stood, eyes wide, beside her cousins Luna and Ascella and a broken lamp. Estrella and Cherie Potter-Black stood guiltily behind Kay as though the twins were attempting to hide.

"Honesty is the best policy," Lily tried when no one spoke up. "We won't be mad if you're honest."

"Oh, okay," Cherie said, looking relieved. "All the time?"

"All the time," James agreed, looking at his daughter.

"Uncle Barty taught me the word fuck because I asked him to," Ascella blurted from the corner.

Absolute, dead silence rung throughout the room. Evan knew Pandora had the most pissed off expression and really, really did not want to look.

"Aunt Andromeda is my favorite," Estrella said.

"Last year I snuck onto the Hogwarts Express to see Bianca and lied to you about it, and her dads knew."

Regulus looked like he was trying not to immediately Apparate to his brother's house in a fit of fury at Cherie's words.

"We use your Netflix account," Luna told Evan. "You should really change your password, you know."

"I don't even care who broke the lamp anymore," Pandora said. "I just need a drink."

Regulus stood up, sweeping Cherie into his arms. "Yeah, I'm going with you."

[sainz100]

Carlos Sainz | F1 London Live in 2017 | x x x x x

[serpentface]

Do psychotropic drugs and/or ritual play a role in any of the blightseed cultures? A pretty broad question, lol

Yeah that’s a very broad question, the answer is about as much as it tends to play roles in real history. Alcohol is pretty ubiquitous (outside of cultures that abstain from intoxicants) and used for a variety of purposes, opioids are commonly used in some parts for pain relief or recreational purposes, stimulants (usually in mild, natural forms) are used to provide extra energy, and hallucinogens are most commonly used as part of a larger religious framework (rather than for recreational purposes). Any more elaborate answer kinda has to be case by case in a certain culture or part of the setting.

I'll just take this as an opportunity to talk about the one established sect that pretty much REVOLVES around psychoactive use. This is the Scholarly Order of the Root, which is a sort of mystery religion + elite community of scholars who currently occupy the Ur-Tree and its forest in the far southern Lowlands (southeast of Imperial Wardin, on the same land mass).

The Ur-Tree is the obligatory Huge Fucking Fantasy Tree (and its surrounding forest). It’s a mass of vegetation about a mile tall and almost as old as Plant Life Itself, its upper branches are primeval plants, which become more modern the nearer they get to the ground (and each 'level' holds tiny ecosystems, some containing descendants of LONG-extinct arthropods/other small animals). Its lowest branches and the surrounding forest are contemporary plant life, and all is connected and protected by an incomparably MASSIVE fungal mycelium network (which is itself a living god).

A lot of the Scholars' more secretive practices revolve around experimentation with substance use with the goal of expanding the Mind and transcending the body to fully connect to the Dreamlands, and they have a supply chain of traders and mercenaries called Rootrunners who traffic substances into the Lowlands. Most of their psychoactive use is in a very intentional capacity and not just like, for fun, but a LOT of them are just straight up addicted to cocaine (in the form of alchemically refined bruljenum, which is used for practical purposes of its stimulant effect during long hours of work).

All known psychoactives are desirable for experimentation (particularly hallucinogens), with each having properties that either allow expansion of the Mind, transcendence of the body, or outright divine communion. Their effects are logged in great detail and interpreted to form the basis of the Scholars' understanding of the natural world and reality itself.

The most important substance is Ur-Root, which is root matter from subterranean levels of the Ur-Tree that have both their own intrinsic psychoactive substances and a very, very high concentration of living god mycelium. The tree root contains DMT and the mycelium has its own wholly unique effects (being an actual living god). They alchemically refine it into a purer, more potent form, and use it to expand beyond the body and directly commune with the Giants, a group of entities they have identified as the only true gods.

An Ur-Root trip starts off with minor visual distortion, which turns into shifting fractals that slowly obscure the vision. Eventually the senses are entirely taken over by a 'tunnel' of rapidly shifting fractals and geometries. In a complete trip, the experiencer gets a sense that they have been pushed through a membrane and entered another realm, finding themselves in a distinct experiential Space.

At this point they may encounter entities which communicate to them in a language impossible to describe but wholly understood. These beings are understood to be the Giants, or at least aspects of the Giants that mortals are capable of comprehending (they often take familiar tutelary forms of the Mantis or the Snake, or appear resembling the same type of sophont that the experiencer is, all composed of ever-shifting geometries). The experiencer often feels a sense of unconditional and endless love from these beings, though the Giants may be more hostile and may appear in the form of the Trickster (usually a cultural figure regarded as malicious, be it an animal or otherwise) in a bad trip.

(^Up until this point, this has mostly just been a DMT 'breakthrough' experience ft. 'machine elves' and the like).

They are then removed from this space and returned to something that feels like the real world, but is nearly unrecognizable. They have a sense of rapidly moving through time, and will usually see 'the spires' towards the beginning, which just so happen to look like this:

(source + some context via Implication- the spires are exactly what this art is depicting)

The experiencer continues to move across an unfathomable amount of time, occasionally 'seeing' other such flashes of unfamiliar landscapes and creatures, and yet also being devoid of all their senses, the 'seeing' is pure, unfiltered experience. There is a sense of interconnectedness with all life, and that one has become the forest (or even Life) itself. The sense of time is wildly distorted, the trip lasts only about 5 minutes but feels like an eternity and is understood as literal hundreds of millions of years.

The experiencer has usually lost any remaining sense of Self and individual consciousness during this phase (in which case this time distortion is usually a neutral or even peaceful experience), but some retain a fraction of their identity, and find themselves trapped and conscious while experiencing what feels like eternity (which can be LIFE-CHANGINGLY distressing, even after the fact).

(^This latter part of the trip is the effects of the Ur-Tree fungus).

The trip ends with a sense of rushing through the ground and back up into one's body, at which point they will abruptly return to their senses and consciousness. The details are then immediately retrieved via interview and recorded in immense detail. The whole experience is understood as having been full comprehension of the Dreamlands, communion with the Giants, and then a tour through the act of creation.

This is done as part of the initiatory practice into the inner mystery-religion of the scholars, and as needed for study by high scholar-priests. It is not taken lightly, both as it is absolute communion with the gods and reality, and in that it can be a very, very difficult experience. People who have gone through this often walk away with a permanently shifted perspective, often in a positive and/or comforting way- a sense of interconnectedness with all life, a peace with the concept of death, seeing less of a point in individual ego and the concept of Self, and comfort in the sense of divine love they (may have) experienced. This heavily influences the philosophy of the Scholars and has had effects by proxy in the religious worldviews of the region.

Details of this experience are closely guarded, and initiates are given absolutely no prior knowledge and expectations for their trip. This is seen as a necessity- their naivety will allow for a true, unfiltered experience, and can be used to gauge whether they should or should not be accepted. Those that have a distinctly bad trip upon initiation may be assumed to have been 'rejected' by the giants and thus denied full priesthood, though this largely depends on How they interpret their distressing trip- those who identify this as a test and harsh lesson in a journey to enlightenment may be accepted (as this is how fully initiated scholar-priests interpret and handle their bad trips).

This inner priesthood is only a small fraction of the Scholarly Order, and its greater function is as a hub of education and repository of knowledge, and Scholar-trained doctors can provide some of the best medical care available in the setting ('best medical care in this setting' only means so much but it's pretty solid, relatively speaking). Only a chosen few Scholars ever get to commune with the Ur-Root, and most of the divine secrets revealed in the process are kept hidden (though they indirectly influence the politics and worldview of the entire order).

[carmeltheslimy]

(📹🚧🌳)

[shieldmaiden19]

The Bridgerton boys really are all hoes.

Anthony - the ‘so intense it makes him stupid’ hoe

Benedict - the ‘hoe for a good cause’

Colin - the ‘self-absorbed, dumb of ass’ hoe

[jonathanbyersphd]

Nancy and Jonathan willingly said "there's only one bed" and y'all think they AREN'T endgame???

[alackofghosts]

in opposite energy to baby tree, my mom went to see the oldest tree in estonia a few months ago and in true estonian fashion has not been able to get over the experience still

[theposharoace]

My Pokemon Trainer-Sona with her team!!

All with actual pokemon I have and transfer to each game new game

[spartanjames-bootsfirst-art]

[randomingoftherandomness]

i JUST saw the spicy liyan fic!! this reminds me so much of the yuanyi moreg baby fic from earlier on. could we see liyan baby as well ?? 🥺

He tires far too easily and Li Lun can't help hovering a little more than is necessary. A hand on the small of Zhu Yan's back, a quiet and unwavering presence by his side while he is tucked up against him, sleeping. He does everything he can to be there next to him.

And between them, the swell of his belly is a constant reminder of the why.

They're immortal, ageless beings. There is much mysteries about their existence, much they themselves do not understand. It goes to reason that Li Lun has never thought about fatherhood or even siring a child. Sure, he has had his string of lovers, and so has Zhu Yan, but a child born in the Wilderness had never been on the forefront of his mind.

And so, as with most things in his life, when they discover that their recent coupling under the first full moon of the summer solstice had resulted in Li Lun's seed taking, he's distinctly reminded about why Zhu Yan is the reason for all the best things in his life.

"If you think any louder, I think you might just wake the baby."

Li Lun huffs, half amused and half offended that any child of theirs would be any less than pleased to hear his voice. He has already started amassing a collection of lullabies and stories for their baby to grow with. There's even a corner of their den that he has set aside for their little one.

"Worrying for no reason again?" Zhu Yan laughs, smoothing a hand over his belly. Suddenly, he pauses, eyes going big and round. Grabbing Li Lun by the wrist, he presses his hand over the underside of his belly, excited and grinning from ear to ear.

Li Lun cocks his head, curious but the answer to his unspoken query comes when he feels the push under his palm. A barely there distention that disappears just as quick. Li Lun holds his breath. And there it is again, now a rolling motion that he can track from the base of his palm up to his pointer finger.

"Is that..."

"Yeah!" Zhu Yan chuckles, a happy flush colouring his cheeks a pretty pink. "That's our little one."

Our little one. The words reverberate in Li Lun's skull. Just these words and their syllables is enough to bring a hot stinging to his nose and a prickle to his eyes. Our little one, their little one.

"Oh, you silly old tree..." Zhu Yan sighs, lips curling up in an endeared helplessness. Lifting his hands, he wipes away the stray tears that escape before Li Lun can hold it back in. "Whatever shall I do about you."

Thumb rubbing up against the skin of Zhu Yan's belly, Li Lun quietly thinks there's really nothing Zhu Yan can do. Not when he has made him happy beyond his wildest dreams. He tells him as much, croaking through the wetness in his voice.

Zhu Yan merely laughs, shaking his head before tucking himself back into Li Lun's embrace. "My silly old tree."

[greyrain23]

Busy day tomorrow 😵‍💫 wish me luck

[vox-anglosphere]

At 5000 yrs, the Fortingall Yew Tree is the planet's oldest living thing.

[balkanradfem]

i have seen old tjikko - a clonal tree that's the most recent of several genetically identical trees that have been growing in the same spot for nearly 10 000 years. it likely sprouted for the first time very shortly after the ice receded from that part of sweden.

unh I love her

[aroaceleovaldez]

im still thinking about Cassius from TOA being heavily implied to be a Zeus kid. we’re just left with that information. kind of fucked up.

[majouartings]

My finished piece for Dottolus' Dotnomicon: Grimoire of Wonders! I was going for kind of a folk-magicky vibe with my one, heh. The zine is available for FREE on itch.io at the above link, so definitely definitely check that out. The full list of artists and writers involved in the project can be found here; they've all done absolutely incredible work on this, and it's been super inspiring getting to see them all do their thing, so be sure to check them out too! Thank you again to @dotzines for having me, I had a really great time working on this and I'm so excited to see the end result!