#weeds are plants too

[samhatch]

Tamlin's fight against plant discrimination

I had this idea kicking around in my head that Tamlin really hates the term 'weeds'. Because a weed is just a misunderstood plant who's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That developed into this little story featuring a future Lady of Spring.

I had always loved gardening. And ever since entering the Spring Court and becoming Lady of Spring, I had more time and resources than I ever could have dreamed of. Not to mention a perfect climate all year round. I was limited to spring crops, but I had no qualms with that. If planted and cared for properly, I could grow a number of herbs and vegetables, including some edible flowers. The only problem was the damned weeds.

I tended to my garden every day, putting my love, my energy, and my magick into the soil. But the ragweed and the dandelions threatened my harvest, reappearing in droves every morning. I dealt with them ruthlessly, pulling them up by the root and tossing them onto the burn pile.

After a long, sweaty morning battle against the weeds, I finally prevailed. I sat for a moment appreciating my flourishing vegetables before heading inside. “My beautiful beets, you're doing so well! And my darling dill and precious peas, I'm so proud of you!”

When I entered the house, I stopped into Tamlin’s study to see what my husband was up to. He was always working away at some kind administrative task in the mornings. He noticed me hovering in the doorway immediately.

“Hello darling, what have you been up to?” he said cheerily, but kept his eyes focused on his work.

“Just weeding in the garden,” I said with a smile, removing my sunhat and loosening my kerchief. “I think the strawberries are nearly ready to bear fruit!”

He set down whatever he was working on, bearing a slightly annoyed expression. “Rebecca, we've talked about this,” he scolded. He only used my full name when he was cross. I sighed and rolled my eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to say. We'd had this argument a dozen times.

“There's no such thing as weeds. It's incredibly offensive to the foliage. Just because a plant is growing somewhere you don't like, it doesn't give you the right to call them names.”

“I know, I know!” I interrupted before he could give me the full lecture. “But what would you have me call them then? They're not just any old plant, they don't belong in the garden. They'll choke off the vegetables!”

“You call them what they are!” He replied, exasperated. “Dandelion, Thistle, Curly Dock, Oxalis. They all have names.”

“Alright! Yes, I understand they have names,” I capitulated quickly. There was no point rehashing the same tired argument I knew I wouldn't win. “But whatever they're called, they have to be removed. They're jeopardizing the harvest.”

“Do you talk to the plants in the garden?” He asked pointedly.

I was confused where he was going with this, but I answered, “Well, obviously, of course.” Even the mortals understood the value of talking to crops. The relationship between gardener and garden was its own kind of magic.

“Mhm,” he hummed as if confirming something he already knew. “And do you talk to the dandelions and thistles?”

That put me at a loss for words, stunned out of any kind of quick response. The thought had never occured to me. “Er, no. I've never talked to them before,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Do you think that maybe the other plants are jealous of the garden’s attention?”

I felt a pang of guilt throb in my chest. “Plants can get jealous?” I asked naively. Not only had I ignored the poor things, but I'd ripped them out by the root and discarded them.

Tamlin's expression softened. He could feel the remorse I had for the havoc I wrought on the poor ground ivy this morning. He rose from his seat and maneuvered around his desk to stand in front of me. “Of course they do, darling,” he said in a consoling tone, wrapping his strong hands around my dirt covered fingers. “There's not a single living plant or creature that wouldn't want to be closer to your warmth.”

I rested my face on his chest. I finally understood why the term ‘weeds’ upset him so. “In all the times we've had this discussion, I never realized the plants were capable of such complex feelings. I knew the chard was always excited to see me, but I didn't know the others might feel the same way. Maybe I didn't want to know.” It's easier to destroy something if you don't acknowledge it as a living thing.

“The blame isn't entirely yours,” he admitted. “I should have done a better job explaining things to you. I hardly ever go into the garden and speak to the greens myself. If I'd been more attentive to the garden, you might have learned from example. I'm sorry I never gave you the opportunity.”

“I'm sorry too.” It finally felt like this old argument would be laid to rest.

Tamlin grasped my shoulders and pulled away to look at me. “I have an idea. Would you like to have a picnic for lunch? We can go to the meadow and visit the dandelions and bittercress. The more we visit them, the more content they'll be to leave the garden alone.”

“That sounds marvelous,” I smiled. “I'll just need a few minutes to freshen up.”

“Wonderful. I'll have the kitchen put something together for us.”

As I left the study, a terrible thought suddenly came to mind, and I turned back to Tamlin. “Tamlin, is it alright that we eat the plants if they have feelings?” I was horrified by the idea that I’d been eating sentient beings.

He chuckled slightly at the expression on my face. “As long as you never harvest more than the gifts they have ready for you, it's alright.”

I sighed in relief, and made my way to the bedroom to change out of my gardening clothes.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!

[natureisus]

Bur bristle grass

[pastafossa]

Been a bit since I showed the whimsical Native Plants Only yard we put in two years ago, but I'm happy to say that, save for one lil evergreen tree that didn't make it, all the rest of the plants are doing quite well!

[snarp]

Calling social services on myself for what I've done to this poor rosebush.

[the-lark-ascending69]

android!Robin has several technical problems, the most important ones having to do with her memory card, battery and motor skills.

Androids are supposed to have perfect photographic memory, but Robin's memory is poor even by human standards. She tends to forget where she left her keys, what she was going to do when walking into a room, etc. She forgets her schedule all the time, as well as Nancy's, and can't remember a recipe to save her life. Dustin and Suzie say it's a problem with the connections needed to access her memory card, rather than with the memory card itself. It's fixeable, but extremely difficult and expensive. Robin wants to get this fixed and she's working hard to pay for it - she doesn't want to be an inconvenience. Nancy will support her decision, but she really isn't bothered by Robin's poor memory. She just hopes she's doing it for herself and not to make herself "easier to handle" for other people (she's been told that's what her worth was based on her entire life).

She's only had one memory card her entire life (as far as she knows). Nancy's greatest fear is Robin hitting her head and it breaking. One could potentially take out the memory card and delete it or install a new one - that is Robin's greatest fear.

At one point, her connections get so bad there will be days in which she can't remember Nancy at all, or what her own name is. She'll act almost like a normal android those days - following orders, not speaking unless necessary, not expressing emotion unless instructed to, etc, though her poor motor skills, battery problems and bad memory will make it difficult. It freaks Nancy out every time, and she always tries to get her to snap out of it as if she were human, before accepting that love can't solve this problem, and calling Dustin and Suzie to fix it. She'll pay any price if it means having her Robin back.

Robin lets herself be turned off without complaint, without even the terrified shudder Nancy used to feel when she forcibly did it during their first weeks together. Robin's docile obedience as she let Nancy do this to her, and the way her body went limp in Nancy's arms, never failed to bring Nancy to tears.

It would take days for Dustin and Suzie to fix some of Robin's problems. This one took between one and two weeks. Longest it ever got was 16 days. During that time, Robin would lay lifeless on their workshop's table, her battery sitting somewhere else to prevent her from turning on automatically. Dustin insisted that he and his lady (as he called Suzie) worked best when their kingdom (their workshop) was untouched by foreign hands, so Nancy wasn't always welcome to visit Robin in that state. Nancy was relentless, though, and she usually managed to convince him to let her in for a few minutes. He thinks it's pointless - it's not like Robin can feel her there. She can't even dream. It doesn't change anything. In fact, he worries Nancy will be more disturbed than comforted, because Robin's entire skull, neck and spine will be exposed - only it's not bones and flesh inside, but metal and plastic circuits, plates, chips, wires and pistons. He's careful to at least put her face back in place when Nancy visits. He expects her to be taken aback by the sight, but instead, Nancy's eyes are full of so much worry and care and adoration as she observes Robin's lifeless body. She doesn't dare touch her - she doesn't want to hurt her. But she misses her so deeply.

When it's all finished, Nancy takes her back home with the utmost care and tucks her into bed. She waits by her side until she turns back on, and softly talks to her, asks her how she's feeling, brings her some water and asks her questions, to see if she's back to normal. Because it's all recorded in her memory card, Robin can remember everything - can remember the time she spent not knowing who she is, thought she can't remember if she was self-aware during those episodes. Whenever she wakes up, she's just happy to see Nancy, and wants hugs and cuddles from her, but she begins to cry out of fear as she tries to remember the details of not being. Nancy holds her every time, asks her if she wants to watch cartoons or if she wants her to read a book for her, to keep her from spiraling. She hates seeing Robin look so small and scared, but she also knows she's not scared of anything Nancy can protect her from. The horrors haunting her come from her own mind and her own nature.

(Dustin and Suzie make a copy of Robin's memory card and give it to her, just in case).

Dustin and Suzie take care of any fixes Robin needs. They're much nicer than any other technician at the previous repair shops she's been to. The most usual fixes have to do with weakness and stiffness in her knees and hips, especially on her right leg (it got broken pretty badly during a beating by her last owner - Billy Hargrove. He wanted to make her unable to walk. The person his father sold her to next did a poor job fixing her). These fixes are usually quite simple and take very little time. She will refuse to see them, though, until she reaches her breaking point when she struggles to stand up, or when she suddenly falls to the ground. It always worries Nancy to death - she's terrified of Robin hitting herself and suffering even more damage. It always takes some convincing for Nancy to get her in her car and on their way to Dustin's workshop. Sometimes, the fix will be so simple they don't even need to turn her off. Nancy holds her hand during these.

The third big problem is her battery. Thankfully, her battery is detachable and easily replaceable. They only had a mayor issue with it once, and they had to order a new one. Robin's model is rare enough that it took over a week to get there. During that time, they installed solar pannels in the balcony and Robin had to be connected to them with long, thick cables that stretched all around the apartment. It was more amusing than anything else, having to step around the cables and make sure none of them got accidentally disconnected. Cloudy days made her pretty much useless and had her lying in bed watching cartoons all day. She was completely turned off after sunset and she was up by sunrise. Needless to say, she couldn't leave the apartment for the week and had to call in sick to work.

Good thing was, though, that the new battery worked much better than the previous one. It lasted much longer. Nancy had only seen her this excited a few other times. The way she kicked her bedroom door down with a wide smile on her face as she yelled at her to come to the kitchen just made Nancy smile with adoration. Robin showed her the box in her hands - she was shaking with excitement - and asked Nancy to help her install it. She turned herself off and Nancy did the rest - disconnected cables, take out old battery, install new one. When she turned Robin back on, she was more full of life and energy than she'd ever seen her be. Free from her cables, she immediately grabbed Nancy's hands and dragged her outside - the sun was shining and she wanted to run around in the park, to roll on the grass and count the cloud and photosynthesize with a good book in her hand. To Nancy, she looked like a puppy, or a happy little bird just released from its cage. She could never say no to her, they would spend the entire day outside if Robin wanted to.

[cryptid--bunny]

Pony Park Boys; Friendship is Bullshit

sorry for posting so much in the past hour. I'm lonely </3

[thedreadblog]

So, about Ghilan'nain (spoilers ahead!)

Looking at the new trailer and also having seen a feeeew scenes with spoilers, I noticed the flower on Ghilan'nains mask/headpiece. And I began to wonder, with all the weird growth we've seen in the world we'll be able to run around in soon, if those aren't tentacles we're seeing...

but roots?

Here she's on top of a building, strangling a statue of crow (?). There are plants, like Ivy, that grow on, over and into buildings and manage to get into every nook and cranny to take root. They're also known to "strangle" trees if they grow too abundant on and around said tree.

[winemom-culture]

Decided I’m gonna get really into working on our yard.

The thing is: the yard is like 80% weeds. No exaggeration

[kirstielol]

i got my plant order today!! unfortunately they didn't have the brassavola nodosa orchid (ofc the plant i was looking forward to the most lol), but i've already ordered another one from an orchid shop. i'm planning on mounting it above the water section on the cork bark backing.

it looks soo good with plants now, i can't wait to watch them all grow in!! the creeping ficus in the back should grow and crawl all over the backing and completely cover it in leaves🌿 should look really nice in there once it all grows a bit!

[flufflecat]

bill found our home gardening project

[sonknuxadow]

mannn i forgot how annoying it is to not have access to all the basic tools in the earlier days of a new animal crossing town . for the love of god can i please get an axe

[suckinitup]

honeslty now im just thinking about what flowers to make grow out of william’s skin. i think white chrysanthemums would be nice but i think strangling vine would be even better

[ainawgsd]

I have 3 hours before I have to be at work. And so so much that I could/should do. Now watch me spend those 3 hours paralyzed by indecision and sitting on the couch doing none of those things.

[vampyroteuthid]

it's free salad 👍🏻

[rubenesque-as-fuck]

Update on my attempt to make a bonsai lemon tree 🍋 Got some shaping wire added and trimmed away some of the growth, but I didn't want to cut away too much. Set up a lamp with a plant grow LED to give it more light. Feeling good about it so far!

[emeraldreverie]

i was so productive in the garden space today, it was nice. it's been a while since temperature and availability coincided

i set up the second and third parts of the trellis system i am contriving for next real growing season. it seems sturdy enough and provides significant space

i'll need to figure out a fence type system to protect the seedlings until established, but that's an overwinter thinking puzzle