#bought my first plant and actually managed to get it to grow

[miodiodavinci]

zola anniversary one week from today , , , , , ,

#not gonna lie lads the regret is hitting me Most Deeply™ #not to get too far into a spiral but it does have me sitting here like #what have i even done these past several months?? #i recorded some utau libraries and set about going through oto hell #started on some diy projects that i still have yet to finish #started playing games again for the first time in a long while #bought my first plant and actually managed to get it to grow #completed my plp2 cover and started on another #but really it feels like i've done nothing at all ; ; ; #it feels like i've just been paralyzed by responsibilities day after day and exhausted by brain fog and lack of sleep #and intellectually i know i was super burnt out and Had™ to drop my anniversary plans #because i'd dreamed too big and i had too much going on #but it just #feels like shit man ; ; ; ; #first zola anniversary i've ever missed since i started and it's the big decade celebration #when they're getting updated no less #god ; ;

[anipgarden]

Adding To or Starting a Garden

AKA, the beginning of the Plants-Related section of this series.

This is my third 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! 

Got an area of lawn you’d like to convert to a wildlife haven? An area you can stick some hanging baskets in? Want to know how your garden of tomatoes and zucchinis is already putting in a lot of work? This is the section for you!

It would be dumb of me to not acknowledge that the act of gardening can come with a lot of costs. Buying seeds, buying plants, buying soil, raised bed materials, mulch, etc. … it can all get a bit daunting, let’s be honest! But there’s quite a few ways to get seeds and plants for free or extremely cheap, which I’ll be addressing in this section! The next section will be all about addressing the other Costs in gardening and how to mitigate or eliminate them entirely.

Also, do keep in mind; there’s no need to try and convert a whole area from lawn to garden or unused to garden at once. In fact, it could actually be extremely beneficial to do it a little at a time--maybe four or five square feet to start out.

Front Lawn (or Managing Principles)

If you live in a place where you’re required to have a grass turf lawn (HOA’s come to mind…), try replacing it with native grasses instead! You could even possibly use a low-growing ground cover plant like clover to a similar effect! Reseeding/replacing an entire lawn can be a big upfront cost, but even just letting the lawn be a little messy and tall helps. If the lawn gets patchy, leave the bare spots for a little while and something different will likely pop up! Pioneer species will fill the gaps and provide benefits to other plants around them, support animals, and more! If you want to take the guesswork out of it, you could always research what the pioneer species are in your area and plant the ones you like most. 

Obtaining Seeds for Cheap or Free

The cheapest way to start a garden is by far via seeds. However, seeds can be a bit complicated to grow, and some sources make them… way overpriced. Fortunately there are ways to get seeds for little to no cost! 

Some places sell seeds for as low as a dollar, 50 cents, or 25 cents! The packets may not have a lot of seeds, but it’s definitely a good start for a low budget! I’ve personally bought cheap seed packets at Walmart--the Ferry-Morse and Burpee brands are not what we’re looking for here. Typically the cheaper ones I’ve found are American Seed (which is owned by Green Garden Products, which also owns Ferry-Morse, Livingston Seed, McKenzie Seed, and Seeds of Change. Do with that information what you will), but they’re rarely stocked near the Ferry-Morse ones in the Formal Gardening Section. I’ve most often found them on end caps near the gardening section, so you may have to weave through a few aisles to find them, but once you do there’s an array of flower and vegetable seeds to select from! Alternatively, I’ve found seeds at Dollar Tree sold 2 or 4 for a dollar in Spring as part of their seasonal product; however, when they’re out of stock, they’re typically out of stock for the year. Try to check them out early in the year!

Otherwise, other seed companies like Urban Farmer or Botanical Interests will often have semi-frequent sales in spring and fall, when people are stocking up on seeds--joining their email lists can help you be the first to know when a good sale is going on!

Some foods from grocery stores will provide seeds that you can use in the garden as well. I’ve had the most luck with store-bought bagged beans, peppers, and tomatoes. Some people have had luck with watermelons, apples, citrus, squash, and more. Do keep in mind that you likely won’t get the same variety of fruit/vegetable as the one you bought--the resulting plant may look different and taste different.

Give it a shot! Pick some beans you like--if they don't grow well, at least you can eat the rest!

If you live in the US, food-producing live plants, bare roots, and seeds can often be purchased with SNAP benefits. But what does growing fruits, veggies, and herbs have to do with boosting biodiversity? While food crops aren’t typically native, they still provide valuable shelter for native insects. Some plants even have intricate relationships with native fauna--like the squash bee, a solitary bee which exclusively pollinates cucurbits like pumpkins, squash, and zucchini. And we get to benefit more directly as well! If you’re planting a diverse range of foods in your garden (as opposed to the swaths of single-plant farms that typically produce what’s sent to grocery stores), you’re supporting high levels of biodiversity by providing a variety of plants for creatures to live and hunt around.

Most of the time, when we think of boosting biodiversity with a garden, we think of a colorful flower garden teeming with pollinator species. However, if we’re striving to use native species, it can be a bit difficult to find some species in stores. I can say from experience that trying to find any wildflower seeds other than butterfly weed, purple coneflowers, and black-eyed-susans is… challenging, if you limit yourself to stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. You might occasionally get lucky with an ACE Hardware or a local nursery, but even then sometimes it can be hard to track down who in your area is selling what--let alone if you live in an area where no one really is selling native plants or their seeds. Not to mention, even once you find a local or online store selling the seeds you want, they can sometimes cost a pretty penny. So what do you do?

If you have the option to, consider gathering native seeds yourself! Get good at identifying the native flora and fauna--or at least, a few target plants and their lookalikes--and get ready to go! Learn where they tend to grow, when they’ll be seeding, etc. Try to identify the plant before it goes to seed (for most plants, it's easiest to identify when flowering), then check back regularly to gather seeds. Typically, if I want to learn how to collect seed from a specific plant, I just search it on Google or YouTube--oftentimes, I'm lead to the GrowItBuildIt Youtube page, so it may be a helpful resource for you as well! Of course, make sure to leave plenty of seed behind so the wild population can repopulate, and seed can feed other creatures in the area. A good rule of thumb is to take no more than 1/3rd of what's available.

Buying seed in bulk is an option if you can afford the upfront cost. Try teaming up with a few friends to buy some bulk seeds and split them amongst yourselves--you’ll get tons of seed! Prairie Moon is a popular site that'll sell seeds by the pound if you can afford the price--though they're in the US, and I believe they focus on Midwest and East Coast natives.

If you want to cheat the system, don’t buy bulk sunflower seeds--buy bags of sunflower seeds being sold as birdseed. They’re typically all black oil sunflower seeds, but they’ll sprout, and they’re fairly cheap for the amount you get!

However, beware generic wildflower seed mixes! Many brands like to sell wildflower seed mixes in big box stores like Home Depot, Target, or even Dollar Tree, but they’ll often include flowers that aren’t native or possibly even invasive in your region! Before you make any purchases, double check to make sure the contained seeds won’t do more harm than good! A quality source of native seeds will provide English and Latin names for all seeds included, and will be native to the region or at least non-invasive. 

See this? I don't trust this.

There’s a good handful of programs online that’ll send you free seeds if you’re planning to start a native habitat project! Poke around online and see what you can find; you might get lucky! The best time to start looking for these is fall and winter, I find--by early spring, many of them are either done or beginning to wind down... though some also start up in spring. Ultimately--just check regularly! You never know what you can find!

Other Ways to Get Plants

Don’t want to start from seed? That’s fair! You can try cuttings! Just be sure not to take too much of the plant while you do so. Make sure you’ve gotten a few leaf nodes on your cutting, and cut any flowers you may have gotten. Make sure to leave some blooms and foliage on the original plant for the creatures in the current habitat--you don’t want to destroy one habitat to make another in your garden. There’s tons of methods of rooting cuttings, many of which have different efficacy rates for different plants, but that’s a topic for another post.

If you find seedlings growing in a place where they won’t be able to sustain themselves long-term, or are in danger of being destroyed, consider relocating them! You may be able to gently dig up and transplant the seedling to your garden. Don’t do this if they’re in a place where they can easily survive--ideally, you’ll be taking plants from sidewalk cracks, heavily maintained public gardens, roadsides, etc. Do be careful while doing this--ensure your safety first!  

You’re totally allowed to join gardening communities like clubs, facebook groups, and more before you’ve even put a trowel to the dirt. These are great places to learn information and advice! Many gardeners are more than happy to help out a new gardener, and will eagerly provide seeds, cuttings, or even baby plants! Talk to some people about your gardening journey and what you’re hoping to do, and you just might find some kindred spirits--or at least get more people interested in the topic! 

Seed and plant giveaways and trades happen all the time in gardening clubs, as well as online! Just poke around and see what you can find! Some are explicitly trades, meaning you’re expected to send something in return, but once you get your feet on the ground with some plant knowledge you’ll be stellar! You may be able to explain you’re just starting out, and someone may send you seeds without expecting a trade, but I’d suggest trying giveaways first. 

Poke around online and see if there’s a local chapter of your state’s native plant society. From there, you’ll likely be able to find a calendar of events--many of them will host plant sales in the spring, with a bunch of native plant seedlings ripe for the pickings if you can make it out and have some money to spare! Fair warning, though, you’ll want to get there early if you can. If they say they’re starting at 10, try to get there by 9:45. Year after year, there’s always record turnout, and they sell out of plants faster than ever. Just trust me on this. I’ve been let down; hopefully you won’t have to be.

Some libraries are beginning to host seed libraries! Check around and see if your library has one! Ideally, the system works best if you also have seeds to contribute in return, but if you’re just starting out I’m sure they won’t mind you taking some seeds! Just consider saving some seeds to contribute in the future and pay it forward. If your library doesn’t have a seed library? Consider asking if they’d be willing to start one! Community interest is a great way to get the ball rolling on projects like these, but they’ll only know the community is interested if the community tells them they’re interested!

Volunteer to Garden for/with Someone Else

Maybe someone in your area wants to garden, but is struggling to find the time/energy. Many elderly people who used to garden simply can’t anymore but still would like a garden. Other people may love to have a helping hand in their garden. You might even find a few people in your area interested in renting and sharing a community garden plot with others, so they don't have to handle it all on their own! They may be interested in increasing biodiversity right now, or may be willing to if it’s brought up to them. You might be just the kind of person someone needs! Since it won't be your garden, you’ll likely need a bit of permission and collaboration to get anything in particular going, but it’s worth a shot and a way to maybe even make friends! 

Again, your mileage may vary with some of these. You may not know where there's a bunch of wildflowers growing in your area, or maybe your local library doesn't have a free seed library. That's okay! Do what you're able to, find what you can find, get what you can get! And there's never any shame with starting small--in fact, starting small can make the project easier to manage and expand when you're able!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to start growing plants cheaply--low cost seed starting set ups, essentially. There's a lot of good options, many of which I've used myself even! Until then, I hope this advice is helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

#biodiversity #solarpunk #gardening #outdoor gardening #growing from seed #ani rambles #out of queue #the biodiversity saga #i will be honest I have never flat out approached people to offer to help them garden #HOWEVER. People HAVE approached ME asking ME to help THEM with/plan THEIR garden #granted it was after I'd been gardening for a good few years. and its mostly family or family friends but yknow #people would be like 'oh wanna help me with my veggie garden?' even before I tried growing vegetables #i don't think the library near me has a seed library but you just wait until i. get the courage. to go to the library regularly. #i've seen people also make their own little seed library structures kinda like a little free library but like #i dont think my neighborhood is about that life. #if any of yall have those though it could be a great resource! also send pics because I love seeing them #not to say that this post should become a giant seed trade but if it did become that i would be the opposite of mad #if there's any typos blame my sister shes got the hotel room at like 60-something degrees and I am FREEZING #welp time to shut up now bye

[heartfullofleeches]

Male lui with a reader who helps out at the shop, maybe one day they're working the counter and a customer starts yelling at them and Lui comes out meat cleaver in hand with some blood on them

Watching the sun rise from the shop window, his arms hold tight around your waist; fingers locked with yours at your hip. A morning ritual for you both as your partner bragged about the scene your first day. Grey locks fall against your cheek as his lips follow suit.

"You sure you gonna be fine by yourself?"

"Been here a while already. I'm sure I'll manage."

The butcher plants another kiss to your temple, kind eyes cast down at you like you're the center of the world. "Still getting used to having you on board. Not that I mind. Just a lot to take in. Don't push yourself too hard, Cher."

He squeezes your shoulder, reaching down to double tie your apron as you flip the welcome sign to open. With everything else in order you part ways for the time, Liu heading to the back of the shop while you head over to the counter. It's been about a month to the day since he asked if you would like to work in his shop. He was hesitant at first with all the equipment and scars he got himself, but the business had always been family orientated plus it meant he could keep a close eye on you.

You got used to things pretty quick. Your job was simple after all. Manning the register and giving Liu the orders, sweeping before closing. With the size of your town, business was steady and you met your fair share of regulars and friendly faces. Though you had yet to tie the knot, Liu had asked you to wear the ring he bought you so you wouldn't get as many wondering eyes.

Today was your first encounter with a rude customer. Some guy you could tell by looking was from out of town from his clothing down to the way he carried himself. He seemed annoyed before he even walked up to the counter, face scrunching up at the red meats behind the glass. You throw on your best customer smile and turn to face him, the curtains behind you parted ever so slightly.

"Hello, what can I do for you today?"

"You sell this, right?" He lifts up his phone, showing you a picture of what looks to be Liu's noodle soup. A staple in your home when you got sick. Your smile wavers.

"Yes, but-"

"Give me four bowls of it, and can you change your gloves before you get it?"

"That I can do, but we... actually don't have the noodle soup today...." Your voice trails off as anger flickers in his eyes. Every day of the week was a different soup based meal on the menu. Just to have a little variety and use up the excess meats before they spoiled. Noodle soup was three days ago, and Liu's dishes were so popular in town they sold out that very day.

You scramble to pick up the conversation. "It's chili day, if you'd like that instead."

The man's face grows redder the more he raises his voice. "Are you fucking kidding me? Do you know how out of the way this town is? I've been driving for three hours to get here."

You back away as he leans against the counter, thankful for the glass wall separating you. "I understand how frustrating that is, but we don't have it right now-"

Spit flies as the man begins to shout. "Well maybe you should make that clear next time! I swear, if I miss my boat I'm going to come back here and.....and.."

All color drains from his face, skin pale as a sheet in the face of whatever he was staring at. So used to the smell of blood and focused on calming the man down you didn't hear him leave the back. Looming behind you, clever in hand, Liu stares the man down. If looks could kill he'd be twenty feet under. The amount of blood drenched into Liu's apron dyed the pure cotton a deep maroon. It drips off the flat blade, hitting the floor with a wet splat. Liu's voice comes from his throat in a low grumble completely unlike him. Growling like an agitated animal in warning.

"And do what?"

The man tries to take back his words, flinching and ducking to the floor as Liu swings his arm outwards - planting the cleaver in the chalk board beside him.

"If you looked to your left, you would've seen today's special. It ain't polite to harass people for a simple error, but you won't do it again, right?"

The man nods.

Liu tears the cleaver from the board and points it at the door. "I know you won't. Leave."

The man picks himself off the floor and rushes for the door. Liu mouths something to him that makes his eyes go wide.

"See you soon."

You lean against Liu's chest, welcoming the stench of cold blood. "Thanks for the help...."

His eyes soften. Liu places the knife down and wraps his arms around you, leaving small kisses in your hair. "Nothin' to thank me for. Just doing what's right. Your safety will always be the most important thing to me, Y/n. Should we close up early today?"

"You don't have to do that for me.."

"No sweat off my shoulders. I got a few things to do back home too. Go get your stuff. I'll take care of everything else."

"... Okay." You take off your apron as you head out. Liu looks down at the register. The man's stench and his finger prints are all over it. Shutting his eyes, Liu can still hear his frantic heartbeat about two miles out. Still in town - likely at a gas station. If he hurried he could catch him on foot so you could take the car home. As you return, Liu offers you an apologic smile.

"Hey, would you be fine heading home yourself? I have more work out for me than I thought. I'll make it up to you as soon as I get home."

#yandere oc #yandere x reader #yandere #yandere imagines #yandere headcanons #yandere scenarios #yandere x you #yandere insert #yandere blurb #yandere drabble #yandere oneshot #male yandere

[morhido]

Canon didnt give me enough amity and willow content so i'm making it myself

Willow accidentally left this hairclip at amity's house and amity kept forgetting to give it back to her. After their friendship ended, it stayed tucked away at the bottom of a drawer, blending in with the rest of the clutter until amity could almost believe it was hers in the first place.

(But she could never forget. It had been one of willow's favourites, after all. It pained her to keep the reminder of what had been broken – of what she had broken – but she didn't have the heart to just get rid of it.)

The day after her trip to willow's mindscape, amity asks her to meet her after school so that no one will see – because she can't prevent boscha from bullying willow if she's been kicked out of her inner circle. She half expects willow not to show up at all, but the girl eventually slips behind the bleachers outside the grudgby pitch, with gus nearby but out of earshot.

Willow, barely managing to meet her eyes, mumbles out a greeting and a, "so, uh... what did you want to talk to me about?"

Amity flounders through an equally awkward greeting, coughs, and then quickly holds out two things. One of them is the hairclip, and the other one is an old, crumpled sachet with a label.

"Dino muscipla seeds?" willow reads, slowly taking it and turning it over. "What... is this?"

Amity rubs her thumb along the hem of her uniform. "When we were seven, at lake lacuna. We were looking at flowers and you complained about wanting to be on the plant track, even though your dads wanted you to be on abominations. So i bought a pack of seeds so we could do some gardening together – but my mom wouldn't let me ruin our garden, and your house didn't have a proper garden at the time, but i wanted it to be a surprise so i never told you – and then i could never find a nice enough place to do it, since, y'know, i was seven – and then i never, um, actually found a place, ha. Uh, but i thought, since you have your garden now, um, maybe you could – i don't know – use them? Finally? So, uh. Yeah."

Her hand twists on the edge of her tunic. She diverts her gaze and pretends to be watching an ice ant scuttle across the ground.

"Oh," willow says airily, gaze still fixed on the packet. "Um, thanks."

She doesn't offer to plant the seeds together, like originally planned. Amity doesn't expect her to. She might have done, a lifetime ago, but there are still weeds growing in the cracks of their long-shattered sisterhood.

Willow also takes the hairclip in amity's other hand, and brightens upon seeing the familiar petals. "Oh, i was wondering where that was!"

"You left it on my bedside drawer at a sleepover," amity supplies. "Then i, uh, kept forgetting to give it back, until..."

The words mesh uncomfortably in the air, lingering like a miasma for an agonisingly long five seconds. Willow runs her finger across the clip, amity picks at the seams of her clothes. Neither of them look at each other.

Then willow slips it into her hair and gives it a gentle pat. "Thank you. Again."

"No problem," she mutters.

They wave their goodbyes. Willow shows the seeds off to gus and they walk home together, like always. Amity disappears behind the school, opting to take the long way to her house.

Willow wears the hairclip for the rest of the week. And the week after that, and again the week after that. Until it's broken in their fateful grudgby match, then she keeps it in her own drawer alongside king's charm bracelet, one of gus' spare paper clorps, and a rock in the shape of a flower from her dads.

One night, when amity is cleaning out her bedroom, she spots that empty space in her drawer where willow's clip should be and her heart siezes. But then she remembers willow gently touching it when luz said it looked pretty, periodically tapping it to make sure it was still there, fidgeting with it when she was struggling in class, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear so it was easier to see.

She remembers gus pointing out how often she wore it, and willow softly responding, "yeah, it was my favourite when i was younger, but it got lost for a while. I'm glad i finally have it again. I kinda missed it" and fighting off an obnoxious grin.

And she remembers her following it up with, "oh, by the way, i got some new seeds! Wanna help me plant them? Dino muscipla – it's carnivorous!" and finally allowing herself to smile at the sound of willow's voice.

#*banging pots and pans* i am NOT fucking stopping until my willow and amity friendship quota is met #anyway. i rewatched understanding willow and i have thoughts #not coherent ones! but they're up there!!! #toh #the owl house #toh willow #willow park #toh amity #amity blight #gekkering

[heididthat]

Introducing for the first time ever: Mr and Mrs Zechariah Church!

(With photos and an exclusive interview with the stylist!)

Written and Edited by: Anna-Marie Kingston-Layne

You heard right folks, a new power couple has made their official debut! On a beautifully warm and sunny afternoon at Newcrest Wedding Chapel, A-List stylist to the stars, Amaya Kingston-Brown, married the San-Myshuno Times Bestselling Author after just over two years of dating. The wedding, hosted three Sundays ago, was witnessed by the pair's extremely close friends and family members, including World famous rapper, August Lovett and his entrepreneur/influencer wife, Alanna Lovett.

Fresh from their honeymoon, I sat down with Kingston-Brown to hear her thoughts on that special day and how her relationship came to be.

First and foremost, congratulations on your nuptials! How did you manage to pull off such a small, intimate wedding as someone who is well known?

“Thank you, Ms. Layne. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to have a family centered wedding,” Kingston-Brown stated. “From the maid of honour and best man to the officiant, I wanted everything to be our family members. I'm fortunate enough to be loved by a man with similar values. We were very meticulous about choosing where we wanted to hold our ceremony. Newcrest is often seen as a dead zone and we both live there, it just fell into place.”

Above: Pictures of Zechariah Church and Amaya Kingston-Brown, with the wedding officiant, B-Tier street Artist, Jeremy Layne.

What was the inspiration behind your wedding theme?

“Funnily enough, we had no theme. My whole life is about creating trends and themes but for my own wedding? We just did everything based on feeling and some how, it came together seamlessly.”

Seriously, no theme?

Nope. Just love and vibes.

So you bought your dress without having any direction?

“Actually, my friend and fellow stylist, Darovan made my dress. She insisted. So I was the first person to wear a dress from her now released bridal collection! When I put the dress on, I knew that no matter how our wedding looked, it would be perfect. She made sure Riah's accents on his tux also matched my dress. We were surrounded by people who knew us so well, we didn't have to do much so we could just enjoy being engaged. It was such a blessing.”

I'm seriously impressed. Tell me then, how did this relationship even come to be? In our interview a few years ago, you said that you were indifferent to romance.

“Hahaha, I can't believe you remember that! Honestly, I have my youngest sister Crystal to thank for that. Zechariah and I were neighbours and I never looked his way because I didn't think there'd be anything there. I was definitely interested, but I'm so dang introverted, there was no way I was asking him out.”

Photos from the reception

Who made the first move, then?

“He did! It came completely out of the blue for me. We spent a few months growing from neighbours to friends and then one random day in the spring, he asked me out. He didn't even get the question out before I said yes,” she laughs. “I was so tense during our first date that I thought I'd ruined my chances. We'd went to the park near by and spent the afternoon there for a picnic. I was avoiding eye contact, speaking very few sentences but he was so patient with me. At one point, he slid his finger under my chin to get me to look at him. I don't know where the confidence came from but I ended up planting one right on him!”

So you kissed him first?

“Yes! And then swiftly ran away. I was so embarrassed, I had a tiny crying fit in my room, over analyzing every where I went wrong, thinking he probably thought I was weird. At this time, I knew I had it BAD for Riah, so if he found me weird, I was 100% prepared to disappear into the abyss.”

Well clearly that didn't happen! So, what did?

She smiled faintly before starting again. “A few hours later, he stopped by the house with a bouquet of tulips and asked for us to be exclusive. Apparently, my nervous rambling was— and still is a major turn on for him, haha!”

More photos from the reception.

How did you know Zechariah was the one for you?

She smiles faintly. “When I stopped questioning myself when I was with him. When I realized I could be 100% myself with him without feeling self-conscious. Not only does Riah make me feel safe, he makes me feel so loved. Despite how difficult I was, he chose to love me everyday in spite of it. Also, he's not afraid to tell me where I messed up and how I can improve. He's always putting my needs before his own. He's so selfless, it's ridiculous.”

He actually said something very similar about you! You two are very in sync.

“Really? Wow. You know, personality wise we're so different but we're soulmates in every sense of the word.”

What are some of your fondest date memories with you and your now husband?

“Ahh, you said husband!” She glowed brightly, continuing. "Gosh, we've had so many great ones. My favourites are definitely the ones where we talked all night under the stars or when he'd pick me up just before dawn to watch the sunrise.”

Are you planning on sticking with your current branding or are you rebranding with your new name?

“As much as I like my last name, I'm very excited to be Mrs. Church. When we'd just got engaged, I practiced writing out my name to see how I could potentially incorporate it into my brand. Then I decided, I wanted to keep my professional and personal lives separate. The best way to do that was to keep both of my names. So on paper, I'm Amaya Church. When I'm working, however, I'm Amaya Kingston-Brown. Who knows, I may feel different in the future but this is currently what's happening.”

The Churches, pictured above, in front of their new home.

Last questions, Mrs. Church: how was your honeymoon and what's next for this relationship?

“It was absolutely wonderful, a well needed vacation. Tartosa is beautiful at this time of year and the locals were lovely. We stayed right on the beach.”

Pictured above: Amaya Kingston-Brown (front) and myself, Anna-Marie Kingston-Layne (back).

“As for what's next, we recently bought a house in our hometown and since we're both financially stable and we've done our own self reflection, like working on our mental and emotional health, we're thinking about maybe adding a few additions to our little family in a few months or years, maybe a dog or maybe a baby. I have a feeling it'll be soon, if the way Riah looks at me is any indication 😏.”

Interviewing Kingston-Brown is always a treat. She proceeded to disclose some plans for her brand being made public very soon so be sure to stay on the lookout! She also told us that Church's new romance book duet will also be releasing at the end of the month.

As for me, I couldn't be happier for my older sister and my new brother in-love. Congratulations to you both again!

#mama the rolling stone #black simmer community #black simblr #my sims 4 #heididthat #Amaya Kingston-Brown #Zechariah Church #Annie Kingston-Layne

[ribinapan]

we meet.

“that’s a lot of seeds.” her eyes glanced over the piles and piles of small packets in my basket, obviously not looking really happy about having to scan all of that one by one. i glance behind me, nervous, but it’s not like there’s a line. i’m the only one there this late.

“ah, uh, yeah.” i chuckle, “um, i know how many i have if that, uh, if you have like, a quantity butto–” she’s shaking her head before i finish my sentence, and it dies in my throat.

“ah. well… sorry.”

she blinks at me a couple times, and then starts to pick the packets out of the cart.

beep. beep. beep. beep…

she’s pretty. she’s got a lot more piercings than i do, and piercing (haha) brown eyes that seem to glare into my soul. her hair’s tied up in a loose ponytail, and it’s about three different colors. it doesn’t look washed, or brushed, but the way it frames her face still seems to manage to scream ‘this woman’s gorgeous’ in my face. i hate people who are pretty like that. i almost stop feeling bad about the 33 morning glory seed packets, but then i look down at my basket and feel the guilt well back up in me again,

“aren’t these that kind of flower that only bloom once? for like, an hour?”

“hm?” i’m broken out of my ‘pretty girl’ trance, and do another little nervous chuckle, rubbing my arm. “ah– oh. yeah. morning glories. yeah.”

“and you bought…” she looks at her screen. “so far, more than $23.49 worth of them?”

“oh, well– um– yes.”

“...why?”

“ah– well– you know. the– name. they usually start blooming early morning, and they last a couple hours. i planted like, a fuckton once, woke up real early around the time they bloomed every morning til they did. sat there with them til the sun came up and kept coming back til they died. it was– well, it was kind of– really pretty.” like you, my brain supplied, but i thankfully kept my mouth shut.

beep. beep…

she finishes scanning, ringing me up for a total that ends up somewhere around fifty dollars, but i don’t care enough to look, just trying to get out of there. she drops something into my bag and i think it’s the receipt, so i grab it, mumble a thank you, and book it out of there, already deciding to buy all my flowers in small trips next year, the guilt following me out.

i don’t realize until i get home, but she didn’t ever get to give me my receipt. i pull a little folded piece of paper out, and unfold it, confused.

Maybe you can show me these ‘morning flowers’ sometime?

xxx-xxx-xxxx

-nico

i think i fainted.

~

i own an acre of land i got from my grandparents.

yes, just an acre.

nothing on it, and i can’t afford to put anything there. so i nailed some sort of shed-like thing together, and i grow flowers all around it and all over it. it’s my little hide out spot. i camp out there with the spiders and the screaming bugs when i want to feel like it’s just me against the world. i scatter the morning glory seeds all around it.

they’re best when they creep up it slowly, growing through the spaces and blooming all over. it makes me feel like a fairy.

when i brought nico for the first time she laughed, because it really just looked like a big space of flat dirt and a pile of wood.

but i kept bringing her back, and slowly all the other flowers started to bloom again. i showed her where the morning glories were peeping up, and she asked me when we were actually going to get flowers out of them.

“ah, we’ll– probably have to wait ‘til early summer.”

her head shot up in shock. “like, almost a year?”

i smiled a little. “ah, yeah. i guess you have to stick around at least that long, then.”

she blinked a couple times, then smiled back, slinging an arm around my shoulder.

“i don’t think i’ll have a problem with that.”

~

a taylor swift concert. i wasn’t expecting that at all, definitely not from nico, but she was squealing like a little girl and trying to buy pre-sale tickets and pacing around my kitchen like it was a gym, like she was going to wear a path into my floor.

now,

i wouldn’t mind

a permanent reminder of her.

she had almost everything planned out meticulously until she glanced down at the city it was in, and frowned.

“oh, i hate driving over there.”

nicolette had a fear of driving, i learned that pretty quickly. she had a couple set places she could go, but otherwise she had to be the passenger. i shifted uncomfortably, and then said,

“i’ll go with you. i’ll drive.”

the words came tumbling out of my mouth before i could rethink it. i hate taylor swift.

but her face lit up like a fucking christmas tree, and her brown eyes found mine and held them captive there, and i knew i wasn’t going to take it back.

“really?”

“really.”

she came over, squealing, jumping on the sofa and pushing me back. our noses touched.

“i could marry you right now.”

ah. my brain supplied, that means more taylor swift concerts.

~

your favorite album

came out again, in cd–

signed copy.

i went to three

book stores

(our favorite spot,

the one

thirty minutes away

the one you hated

riding to.)

and one more cd store i found on maps.

i found a copy and stared at it, standing in the middle of the shop, just, there. wondering if you’d respond if i sent it to you. wondering if you’d do anything if i gave you anything at all.

i went home.

~

“viola,”

she says while i’m tending to some of the morning glory vines, snipping away and trying to lead the trail up my little encampment. i act like i can’t hear her, even though i can, even though i really, really don’t want to.

“vi,” she says again, a little louder, “we need to talk.”

“did you know that morning glories can be invasive?” i responded again, “if they find a spot they like, they really don’t want to leave.”

“vi.”

i turned around, facing her with the snippers.

“nico.”

she looked at me. she didn’t look sad. she didn’t look guilty. her face just looked hard. cool, maybe. i knew she thought i had done something wrong. guilt coiled up in my stomach like a hungry snake. had i done something wrong?

“we need to talk.”

.

.

.

~

“you know,”

i said to a vine that had made it to the top of my shed,

“you hurt me, too, i think.”

no response,

obviously,

but saying it made me feel better.

~

you didn’t get to see them,

the way they climbed up to the sky,

the way they bloomed,

one

by

one

you didn’t get to see them,

but they bloomed

anyway.

i picked one off right after it bloomed, crawling

out into

a sea of color

without you

(we were supposed to see this together.

we were supposed to see this together.)

(they bloomed anyway).

~

i was still holding a now wilting flower, sitting in front of my shed, when my friends woke up behind me.

“vi?” mer said, sitting up, rubbing their eyes groggily. “you’re already awake? that’s fucking new.” they joked.

i turned around, closing my fist around the flower. “yeah. never really got used to sleeping outside.”

they nodded, then open their mouth to say something, but i watch as their eyes catch on the flowers outside. “oh my god! they’re bloomed!” they elbow riley hard, who groans, rolling over to push his face into his sleeping bag in response. “get up, jones, you fuckin’ moron! you’re going to miss it!”

“give riley a minute. they do stay bloomed for a couple hours.” i laughed, the tension uncoiling from me as mer shook riley awake.

the three of us step into my gigantic flower bed together, turning around to see the new blues, purples, whites, pinks– that have joined us, that have turned the entire space into a sea of color– and i let out a little whoop.

“good job, vi.” mer says. “you made a really pretty way to absolutely topple the local ecosystem.”

“oh, shut up, mer.” riley nudges them, “let her have this.”

mer eyes me, obviously thinking a bunch of mean things but deciding to say none of them. “i guess vi can have their invasives this once.” they look back out over the garden. “she did pick a really pretty way to be bad for the environment, after all.”

i eye mer back, wanting to say a bunch of nice things, like:

i love you. thank you for being here. im so glad you decided to hurt your back and cramp for the next two days to do this with me, even though its out of pity, even though you’re only both here because you know someone else was supposed to be, even though you’re standing here making fun of me. i love you, for being here, to call my flowers pretty, for standing by me even though i care about a terrible person, when you’re right here, an example of the perfect person, the perfect people. thank you. thank you so much, and i’m sorry i am ruining our local ecosystem for one morning’s worth of pretty a year.

“yeah,” i smile, taking a deep breath with my whole chest, staring at my friends standing in the middle of my tons of flowers, with the sun rising behind them and my new little fairy-mound of a shed. “yeah, really pretty.”

~

morning glories

didn’t need

you

to bloom.

i won’t either.

-(i won’t, i won’t.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a little vent short story / poem that i thought i’d share bc i made funky little cover art for it, here is my good ol flower lesbian character, viola

#very loosely based on jamie growing moonflowers in bly #short story #lgbtq #sapphic #original writing #original art #digital art #poetry #poem #wlw #breakup #a little bit of found family #vent #morning glories

[dqv-writes-stuff]

My First Fic! It's a Kazuha x Reader

{ Smoke in my Lungs }

              A Kazuha x GN!Reader Fic

TW: Angst, Smoking, Addiction

Summary: You are the owner of a local flower shop in Inazuma. You started your business under a fake name to evade the Shogun’s vision decree. Also, you have a Cryo vision.

A/N (Author’s Note): Hi. No, I don’t know if Glaze Lilies are for funerals, it just kinda made sense. Also, I worked as a florist and still do as a part-time job, so all the flower-related jargon should be pretty accurate. Also I really dislike the use of “y/n”so it won’t really be used in this story.

————————————————————————

Chapter One

  You never imagined yourself becoming a florist, but since starting your business out of desperation and convenience, you’d grown to love your work. At first, it was a feat for you to keep even the heartiest of plants alive. You had even somehow managed to kill a succulent. You think it may have had something to do with your Cryo vision, which was inlaid in a necklace you never took off. It was always tucked under your shirt for fear of it being stolen. 

However, now three years later you have made quite the progress. You’d grown into a relatively successful small business with a consistent clientele. Despite being a native Inazuman, you’d struck a deal with the ship captain who visited you every once in a while. You gave her Naku weed -a local delicacy which was banned in Liyue and Mondstat-in exchange for seeds of flowers you couldn’t get your hands on here because of the Shogun’s trade embargo. 

This was how you found yourself handing Sweet Flowers and Dandelions to one of your regulars, on a typical Tuesday afternoon.  He was an old man with a round face and wrinkles from a lifetime of smiles. He bought this exact bouquet for his wife every week. 

What a lovely husband! You thought, wondering if his wife ever grew tired of the same gift. 

This thought was quickly dismissed when you heard the little jingle of the doorbell. Your eyes flitted to the outline of the man standing before you, his body slender and agile. You took a double-take and suppressed a shy smile as he approached the counter top. You were surprised by how short he was, but his height was oddly endearing. His face was plastered with a somber expression and his presence brought a heavy weight into the shop that wasn’t there before, as if the air had suddenly become thicker. 

This shift in mood immediately killed any flicker of interest you’d had in the man, well, mostly. You shuffled nervously, rubbing the sore spot on the back of your neck with your hand. He stood at the counter, patiently waiting for you to initiate the conversation. 

Noticing your mistake, you cleared your throat and fumbled your words.

“Hello there, um, how can I help you today?”

The man’s eyes were a dull amber color, as if he were a mere shell of a person. He looked up, not quite meeting your gaise. He mumbled something you couldn’t make out, and reached to his hip for a sack of Mora. 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t actually catch that, sir. Could you please repeat yourself?” You managed to get out in your best customer service voice. 

“A dozen Glaze Lilies, please.” He said, his voice smooth like butter. He had the sort of voice you could picture telling stories around a fireplace, or soothing you to sleep after a nightmare. 

Glaze Lilies, while beautiful, are reminders of tragedy. They can only grow where blood has been spilled, which you had learned to your dismay. Many small cuts and bandages later, you had grown your first Glaze Lily. Since then, people who ordered them usually arrived to  pick them up in all black, since Glaze Lillies are a standard offering at funerals. 

The man’s dismayed expression certainly matched his order, you mused. Jotting down his order in your store ledger, you habitually bit at the skin around your fingernails. It was a bad habit you had picked up as a child and had latched onto ever since. You had managed to tame it over the years, but whenever you were anxious you tended to fall back on your old habits. 

You continued going through the usual motions of an order. “And your name sir?” You held eye contact with the man, noticing the bright red streak in his hair. 

“Kaedehara Kazuha.” His tone was not snappy or ill-mannered, but rather short and to the point. 

Your attention snapped away from your customer when you felt your cat, Juniper, brush against your leg. He let out a loud yowl, demanding for you to pay attention to him. 

“What do you want?!” You let out impatiently, not looking up from your ledger. You heard a faint “mrrow” from Juniper in response. Sighing, you finished filling out the details of the form. 

“Baby boy, not right now, okay?” You leaned down and picked up the creme colored menace, holding him gently in your arms. “Sorry, that’s Juniper. He’s quite needy.“ You apologized with a warm smile. Turning back to face Kazuha, you were surprised by the sudden flush that had crept onto the man’s cheeks and ears. Maybe he got second-hand embarrassment from the way I talked to my cat? You wondered. 

“Um.. excuse me, would you mind if I pet your cat?” Kazuha asked, unsure if this favor was too much to ask for. 

“Of course!” You replied, happily. “He’s quite the attention whore, help yourself.” You turned and walked to the backroom after sweeping aside the tapestry that hung as a curtain to separate the shop from the storage area.

Startled by your coarse language, Kazuha chuckled to himself. This was a much needed distraction from today, and he was grateful for that. 

You returned a few minutes later, arms full with the bouquet. It was about average size, with a wrapping of clear film around the flowers, held together by a soft blue ribbon that you’d put extra care into making look beautiful.

Kazuha was sitting in one of the plush chairs you had in the waiting area, with Juniper snuggled up in his lap, a purring fluffy mess. He was softly stroking Juniper’s back, telling the cat what a good boy he is. 

You chuckled at the sight and accidentally startled both the man and the cat. Kazuha’s ears reddened with embarrassment. 

“Oh, excuse me. I didn’t think anyone was there.” He wouldn’t look you in the eyes, his face tinted with a light dusting of pink. 

“It’s alright, I tend to love all over any animal I come across as-well.” You smiled at the man whose complexion was slowly returning to normal. “I have your order ready, sir.” You traded him the cat for his flowers, noticing Juniper had shed all over his nice robes. “Oh, sorry about that. Let me go get something to fix that with..um, are you okay?” Midway through your offer for help you noticed his somber mood had returned, as if a switch had been flipped in him. 

“I know this is rather unprofessional of me, but what’s the occasion for these flowers.. or rather, did something bad happen?” You asked tentatively, not wanting to pry but for some strange reason you had the intense desire to comfort him. 

Kazuha took a deep sigh and you saw that empty expression on his face again, so vacant but at the same time filled with so much regret and loneliness. He started to form a sentence then swallowed it down. “It’s the anniversary of my friend’s death.” He said, looking at the floor. 

“Oh.” You felt awful now, instantly regretting your question. “I’m so sorry…is there anything I can do for you?” You weren’t good with grief or grieving people for that matter. Fiddling with the chain of your necklace, you set Juniper down on the floor with a soft thud. 

Kazuha bit the inside of his cheek, as if in thought. “I know this is a lot to ask, especially of a stranger, but would you mind accompanying me to his grave? I just.. can’t be alone today. And you remind me so much of him, I think he’d love to meet you.” 

You were taken aback at his sudden request, but more than happy to comply. “Oh, yeah, of course. I’d be more than willing to.” You smiled softly and walked across the room to flip your “Open” sign to now read “Closed”. It was getting pretty late anyways, and all of your pre-orders had been picked up that morning. 

Five minutes later, you had locked up the shop, turned off the lights and were walking in silence together. Your hands were stuffed in your coat pockets, and his were gently carrying the bouquet. 

A few more minutes passed and you two were there. A small monument lay in an alcove with a ray of moonlight beaming through. Kazuha laid the flowers beside the monument and sat down on the grass. You joined him, a concerned look framing your face. He sighed, his head between his knees. He started to quiver, the ground beneath him wetting with his tears. 

You scooted closer and silently rubbed his back as he cried. When he looked up, his face was red and blotchy, his lips trembling. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t’ve dragged you here.” He apologized. This was your breaking point. You wrapped your arms around the weeping boy. Your act of kindness was well-received, and Kazuha returned your tight embrace. You felt your shoulder moisten with his tears but didn’t mind. Softly rubbing the crying man’s back, you felt at peace with the world, even if it was only for that one moment. The pitter-patter of rain was suddenly audible, and you felt that it fit the night’s somber mood. 

And for the first time, in a long time, you finally let yourself cry. 

In the rain, and the cold, and the night, two strangers sat huddled together, wrapped in each other’s arms, seeking comfort; all their troubles overflowing into the rain that poured from the sky in sheets. The air rumbled with the faint sound of distant thunder on the horizon. 

The moon shone down on the pair, engulfing the two of you in a seraphic glow, as if the archons themselves were attempting to shroud you from the raging storm outside. You opened your eyes, and saw Kazuha looking back at you, a pained smile on his lips. 

#kazuha #kaedehara kazuha #genshin x reader #genshin impact #kazuha x reader #kazuha x y/n #strangers to lovers #flower shop #slow burn #angst #kazuha angst #kazuha and tomo #hurt/comfort #addiction #fanfic #this will destroy you #happy ending #strangers to friends #friends to lovers #first fic #fanfiction #fic #kazuha fanfic

[ask-healthy-light]

Jasmine Tea: yeah, well I do often make beauty products, and they are all natural.no chemicals needed.

Nature

"There are a great many things that only a trained eye can see. What most folks don't realise, is that you're not born with an eye for things like this, you actually have to go out, somewhere that you usually wouldn't go, and practice until you could do it blindly. Look and see for yourself, and try, try, try, and don't stop trying. It took me more than one attempt to get here."

"I could find a certain beauty in all living things, and living so close to the Forest, less than a stone's throw away, all of the time, I'd see many things that made me adore nature. Birds, singing from their nests, the rainclouds, uncontrolled and free, all the plants that grew where they wanted, not because they were told to be there and grow into this, but they would just be."

"One of the first things I remember, as a filly, was having a fascination with all things that grew. Nature, wind blowing through the trees, flowers, grass, and the peace and quiet that came with it. I'd sometimes sneak out while doing homework to just walk around the Forest, even though my old folks warned me to stay out of there. There, seeing how things grow, it truly inspired me."

"I know, I've been told many times, my name doesn't fit my profession as well as others. You'd expect me to work in a tea shop, to run a small café, baking small cakes and making tea and all that. Yeah, well, I do, in fact, often make beauty products, and they are all natural. Knowing so much about nature, I can find great natural ingredients everywhere. No chemicals needed."

"The reason is because of an accident that happened a few years ago. Fortunately, nothing happened to me, and though there were quite a few folks who got hurt, everyone ended up alright. The teacher had given us a homework assignment, one of the last of the year, to document a plant that we found. A tree, a flower, or even some vegetables that your parents bought for supper."

"Where I come into the story, is that I knew more about the Forest, and I could find better plants to write about. Walking around, I had sketched the appearance of some plants into my notebook, and I carefully took some of the flowers I found, having dug them out to place in a pot at home. Maybe to care for it, and to watch it grow. But that would have to wait."

"While I was walking around, a strange, striped Pony ran past me, apologising as they did, and they ran deeper into the forest. I decided to follow them, finding hut, with the door open, and I saw them busy inside, stirring a large cauldron, and looking very worried. A bit nervous, I walked over and knocked on the door, and asked her if everything was alright."

"As I looked around, seeing many pots of dried plants and herbs on the shelves, she replied, speaking in rhyme, and mentioned an accident in town, saying: 'I am sorry, but I have no time to converse. I have to hurry, before what happened gets much worse.' Shrugging off my confusion, I asked her what happened, and if she needed any help, which she gladly accepted."

"While I was grabbing some of the vials, that were high on the shelves, just out of reach, she continued stirring, and explained: 'First a big boom, then a cloud of green; it was one of the worst sights I had ever seen. Soon after, the mixture I had made fell down; then villagers ran out from all over town. Pegasi, Unicorns, Earth Ponies too; what had occurred, nopony yet knew.'"

"'But when we looked closer, it soon became clear; a factory process had failed, close to here. Everybody tried to help as best as they could; while I ran to my hut back in the woods. That was when I met you, a moment ago; I hope you understand my haste, now that you know.' As I managed to grab the vials, my bag fell down, revealing the flowers I had taken along. When she saw them, she gasped and said:"

"'The flowers you gathered are perfect to use; for into the healing essences to diffuse.'"

(Thanks for reading part 1 of this little request story! If you'd like a story of your own, feel free to send in an ask!)

Part 2!

Featuring: Jasmine Tea from @ask-light-rain-and-buds

#nature #bonus #my little pony #writing #oc #jasmine tea #zecora

[weazeltech]

November milestones

This month has been a wild ride for me (in a good way), I've released the first demo of my Autumn Garden TD, and got 30 downloads! I didn't expect this many since at the time of release I didn't have this many followers, the game was supposed to be browser based, but I couldn't get the web version to work. So if you downloaded my game, Thank you!

You can check out my game here: https://weazeltech.itch.io/autumn-garden-td

Followers Growth

With more progress on the game being made, there were more things I could post on social media, also with the twitter fiasco this meant more people would be flocking to other social networks like tumblr, I also decided to not post on twitter anymore for a few reasons:

I wasn't getting much return from my efforts there, it is a bit of a polarizing platform where if you already have followers it's easier to get more since your posts will get promoted, and if you're someone who's just starting it gets harder to grow there. I'm also more comfortable with posting on tumblr so I feel like expressing myself here is easier for me.

And lastly I feel that what happend to people who got fired by the new acquisition of twitter was unfair and don't want to support there because of it, even if the platform doesn't actually stop being a thing, which being honest it will stay open for a long time if you ask me, or even be bought by someone else if it fails enough.

With this being said, during the month of November I've gained a total of 20 new followers (woowee) on tumblr alone. I created a mastodon account on the gamedev server and that is already at 32 followers. And cohost, which I find neat (but I still won't switch it in favor of tumblr) is at 17 followers.

I'm at a point I've never managed to reach when doing "marketing" which is that I feel like if I keep at it, my audience will grow, I still don't have any financial incentive to do so (even though I really need one) but this is greatly gratifying to see the results of my labor somehow appearing.

If you're one of my new followers, thank you so much, it means a lot to me, and maybe someday being a game developer can become a sustainable job for me.

What's next?

Going forward I'm going to keep on polishing my game, if you follow me you may have already seen a bit of it appear on your dash, new animations, new UI, new plant, new enemies, those are all being worked on, but haven't been added into the game yet.

One more exciting thing is that Godot 4 is coming out! The game is currently being developed with the beta version, so there is still a bit of uncertainty and there are some bugs that aren't my faut that I need to deal with on my code so it can slow down progress a bit, once the 4.0 version comes out I can work with some peace of mind that the engine is in a somewhat stable version.

Once I feel like the game has enough features to create an update I will post it here on my blog! I hope you enjoy the things that are to come.

#gamedev #indiedev #textpost #autumn garden td #marketing

[ananxiousgardener]

Garden Log #4/14/2024 - Morning

I bought 80 bags of 1cuft garden soil foolishly expecting that to be enough for my garden (even adding the remaining 13 bags from last year), but I'm down to 37 bags and I've only filled one row out of the 4-6 rows I'd hoped to do.

I'm going to make some shorter plots for planting some squash, zucchini, and cucumbers, just because I really want to keep those as separate as possible to avoid the issues I had last year with powdery mildew. I also need to make space for beans, though I'll likely just end up inter-planting them with all the other plots.

And corn! I keep forgetting to make a plan for the stinky corn. It grew well last year, but I didn't harvest any of it at the right time and it was way too chewy to enjoy. I might be able to interplant corn with some of the vining plants, though I'll need to check the compatibility between them first.

I also need to decide where I'm going to be transplanting my catnip plants as I have five that should be transplanted, and they're supposed to work well as companions for most veggies.

I've also got to clean out the greenhouse so I can lay the weed guard down so it doesn't get overgrown like last year. I wish mulch and gravel weren't so expensive because it would be nice not to have to worry about the weed guard getting blown away like I have in my garden. Then again, if it's blown away in the green house then that's likely my least concern.

Yesterday I managed to plant... maybe eighteen garlic cloves, at least twelve sweet onions, two dahlia roots, seven potatoes, and two yellow cherry tomato seedlings that I found growing in my greenhouse. Oh, and two sunflower seedlings that I also found! All went directly into the garden. I'm considering planting my broccoli and cabbage seedlings in as well, but I'm concerned about slugs eating them or raccoons and opossums digging them up.

I should probably put up the electric fence before it actually does become an issue. They're too nervous about the weed guard to go digging right now, but it's only a matter of time.

I hope I can make some garden logs every now and then as it really helps to keep my interest up and it's fun to remember the progress I've made, as well as a reminder to when I planted things. It is getting a little late in the morning, though, and I need to take some seedlings out to the greenhouse and uncover some plants in the garden before the sun hits them.

#Garden Log #4/14/2024 #april 2024

[roseredsnow]

Day 58!

01/07/2023

But first some good news, I've been unemployed since January because my lats job was actual hell and since I saved up enough I've managed to be picky with applying for jobs and now just as I was down to my last couple hundred (I live with my parents) I've finally got a job as a Gardener again! And they do some other bits that keeps us employed over winter because that was why I had to leave my last gardening job.

Second bit of news is I paid too much income tax so I got a refund which ties into the rest of the post because I've just been put planting some Heather's and Lavenders I bought yesterday with some of the money.

You can't see the Lavender too well in that photo they're all baby plants so that I could get a load for cheap hut hopefully they'll grow big, I checked the lavender and its definitely the English varient and the hearhers said Scottish on them which I'm like 30 minutes from the border so even if England did have a different type it doesn't matter too much round here.

Now to the main part I'm usually at

There's now two Lavenders and one heather amongst this bit as well. Unfortunately the cherry tree I planted doesn't seem to of made it but these plants will hopefully go better, the garlic is still growing at least and there's no more litter since I was last there.

I also planted one of each plant by the bus stop as well so those ones I'll be able to keep a better eye on.

#solarpunk #guerilla gardening #guerilla garden #solar punk #hopepunk #gardening

[pantsusnifferr]

2021 best of post!

I procrastinated so hard last year when i was about to do my 2021 reflection! Now that i am thinking back on it, my memory’s a mess and im starting to confuse things that have happened in 2020 with those that happened in 2021. I will to the best of my ability, try to remember the biggest highlights of 2021 while writing my reflection of 2022 in a seperate post. Highlights of 2021 1. Went out of my way to watch fireworks with my sister on Jan 1 even though i didn’t feel like it. I remember i wanted to have less regrets and i definately felt like that was one step worth taking. 2. Went out of my comfort zone and decided to go out with a couple of people i met online! Definately not an unpleasant experience for sure, but i still feel like i have a lot of grow, it was something i felt like i needed and something i never thought i’d ever have the patience to do. 3. Continued HEMA and made my first sparring montage and entered my first tournament! HEMA has became such a big part of my life back in 2021, I am so glad i started it back during the end of 2020, i remember the social anxiety i felt and the apprehension before i stepped through the doors of Bastion. But I am so glad i did! It was exciting, it was something that i look forward to every week of the day, it was my obssession and something i love. I remember going to different clubs, eventually finding Oriflamme and learning italian longsword. And i concluded that year with Bashfest! My first tournament where i absolutely got wrecked haha. (But i didn’t come in last.)

4. Made geniune friends with people from HEMA, maybe E was right, perhaps i am not giving people enough chances back then. But I was glad i did, it started with going out to eat at that okonomiyaki place at the new year’s eve. And we became close and fast friends ever since. It is sad that circumstances have changed and we’ve all drifted apart, but it gives me a little hope that i’m still able to form meaningful friendships with people if i were to give them a chance.

5. Managed to diffuse a situation with a difficult and crazy business relation. I never want to deal with someone like that again, the length of time we spent on him and the amount of stress we’ve got just isn’t worth it. I was so close to quitting the entire thing but thankfully we managed to resolve everything amiciably. And the dude moved on to selling other plants, he’s someone else’s problem now. 6. Sold my switch and got an OLED switch! Isn’t really a highlight but i actually started playing it a lot more! Turns out having the ability to dock it to my PC is something i sorely needed! 7. Received my full hema kit! Too bad the jacket couldn’t fit me properly though. 8. Upgraded my PC! 9. Painted many fencing masks for myseld and my clubmates! 10. Acheived a 4.0 for my GPA. I got no idea if this is the start of me taking my studies more seriously or the start of all my unecessary stress, i still have to thank my friends who helped me out with my studies and exams though! 11. I got my vtuber model fully rigged and animated! I wasn’t satisfied with it fully so i continued to sit on it for almost 6 months before i did anything with it in 2022. A few people were essential to this step of mine, i was excited and really happy that i might actually get a chance to scratch this creative itch of mine. Too bad i fell out with one of my ‘teachers’ though. 12. bought a VR headset! 13. made a lot of shorterform videos for the company 14. was deep into fitness and diet, i managed to consistently exercise and be slightly healthier during this period. 15. Did our first live zoom workshop with gardens by the bay! managed to intergrate my streaming techniques and equipement for work! I am glad i am able to apply some of my interests to work this way. 16. Reconnected with El and RK from my AirForce days, glad to know that these guys always got my back. 17. started trying to put myself out there. 18. started investing...with mixed success.. 19. Got my feder and my rapier this year! 20. Reservist lmao, useless stay home do nothing, but i did have a nice long chat with people i used to know back during my time in service.

#2021 bestof year in review

[covdiggingdeep]

Rosie Bolton, Greg Muldoon and Nora, backgarden in Stoke, Coventry. Plot taken on August 2020. Greg: We’ve been out here quite a bit since we last saw you. Over the summer I’ve been managing five different gardens and Rosie has had so much on with work. Rosie: I planted loads of seeds and they all came up really nicely but then they all died because it got really hot. We’ve been away, too. Greg: All things considered we’ve had a lot from here and everything that’s gone in the ground has been successful. The Alys Fowler-esque side of the garden is all thriving. We’ve been getting lots of fresh herbs out of there all the time. Rosie: I’ve got a fancy new apple tree which is still a baby, it was from the apple tasting day at Food Union, it was one of the ones which are red all the way through. That’s my highlight of the season. I’ve got a grapevine in the bathtub over there. Greg: The bathtub has kind of been the main focus, we’ve got the really nice smelling rose bush. Rosie: It’s a really beautiful smell and a proper deep red colour. When I bought it it said it was ‘highly scented, smells like over-ripe pears’ which sounds disgusting but actually it’s really nice. We’ve got a random sweetcorn in there because it didn’t have anywhere else to go. I didn’t think it would even take off. It’s a rainbow corn, a maize one. Greg: I think that’s the thing with a lot of the food growing in this garden is that a lot of it has just been leftovers. It’s all stuff that we couldn’t find places for in other gardens. Rosie: I’ve bought a few things for myself. The sunflowers self-seeded. The ones we planted didn’t do that well but both of the giant ones self-seeded and we didn’t pull them up. Greg: We save the seed-heads for the birds, maybe save a few seed for us. Rosie: I guess because they self-seed they have a bit of a head start. They go along with the season. Greg: Nora helps depending on what mood she’s in. She loves watering and harvesting. She demands beans everyday! She had her first sweetcorn from the garden this morning. How was the sweetcorn Nora? Nora: Good. I feel better now. Sweetcorn! It was hot. Burnt myself. Hot. Greg: I’ve been organising lots of plant and seed swaps and so I’ve been picking different things up. We’ve got some barbecue rosemary here which is really interesting. The sweetcorn we’re growing is black maize, the beans we were growing is a heritage variety called Golden Gate. The parsnips were from the Bedworth Seed Swap which were a heritage variety. Rosie: Carrots are heritage as well. I got some from the Real Seed Company. Greg: We still have an allotment in Rugby. I think going forward, what I’ve learnt trying to tend a lot of these spaces, and also reacting to the way the climate is changing, is that there’s been more reflection on how we do things this year. Maybe typical allotment-ing standards are going to change a little bit. Less mono-cultures. I’m looking more into agro-forestry now - lots of perennials and wild natives and keeping the entire ground covered but with lots of varieties of different plants. Not just rows of beetroot then rows of carrot then rows of parsnip. It’ll be more like soft fruits with different vegetables growing around it. Reflecting on walking through a forest and how you don’t necessarily see the same variety of plants growing in one place. It’s always a mix. I want the allotment space to reflect that and possibly the same in the garden. Rosie: My main thing I have to say since we last spoke is that the weather has just been insane and everything has been getting scorched. Greg: We’ve known it’s coming for a while. Rosie: Some houses are set up so you can see the garden when you’re not in the garden and you’re constantly there. Ours are not so much as it’s down the side, it’s a bit disconnected. It would be nice for it to be more connected to the rest of the house somehow. There are various ways we can’t afford. Greg: We choose low maintenance stuff to plant here, things we can leave, like sweetcorn and squashes, beans, soft fruit. But even that could’ve gone better, which is why I mention agro-forestry. The way we treat the allotment needs to change. Going a couple of times a month isn’t enough. It’s not practical for growing some of the stuff we want to, so we need it to be even more low maintenance and self-sufficient. Self-seeding flowers and lots of herbs and things that can over-winter. Things that aren’t reliant on lots of water.What’s nice about having the side that Rosie’s been focusing on is there’s loads of things to pick, we’ve been making really nice herby salads. Rosie: I can’t remember the last time we bought a bag of salad leaves. We’ve had this lettuce here as a cut and come again. Lots of mint, too. I sow things I like to eat. There’s loads of stuff here popping up that was obviously planted before we moved in, so we still find surprises. Yellow raspberries are self-seeding still from next door’s bush. Greg: The raspberries finished really early this year, last year we were still eating them way into September. They stopped around July this year. We want the back garden to reflect how we feel about our food source. We like to try and source as much food that is as fresh and organic as possible with as little plastic as possible. It’s nice to walk out here and see what you’ve got. Rosie: It’s handy as well. I get into ruts where I’m unimaginative about dinners and if there’s something you’ve got lots of then its a good starting point. I made parsnip cakes the other day. Greg: Often I don’t know what my salads are going to look like but I come out and see we’ve got feverfew, chard, mint, lettuces, carrot tops, beetroot leaves, rosemary, sage, edible flowers, marigold, borage, then all of a sudden it’s like ‘man! This salad is 20 plants deep!’ Rosie: And really intense! Greg: You feel good afterwards. Advice wise, if you’re going to grow food in the back garden, make sure its an aesthetic you’re going to find pleasing. Sometimes allotment spaces just look like work which can feel disheartening. Your garden wants to be a place of sanctuary and a place of peace. Think about plants that are visually pleasing as well as being tasty and edible. Rosie: It’s nice having birds as well. They’re nice to look at. We want to work on that more. Greg: They fertilise the ground, it’s important for biodiversity.

[danishmuseuminterns]

It's Sweet Corn Season: Notes on Sweet Corn and American Kindness

Hooray! Sweet corn season has arrived in Iowa! Tim, our Facilities Manager, invited me over to pick up some sweet corn from his friend’s field. An invitation I gladly accepted, as I have been developing a deep fascination of the crop’s cultural and economic importance here in the heart of the Iowan corn belt. Actually, sweet corn was originally grown by several Native American tribes. The Iroquois gave the first recorded sweet corn to European settlers in 1779 and it soon became a popular food item in the southern and central regions of the United States - and has been so ever since.

Tim's invitation was a delicious chance to try some of that stuff everybody keeps talking about, so I was more than happy to spend a few hours learning some new stuff about corn.

After driving to Audubon, passing the gigantic Albert the Bull statue along the way, we went out in the cornfield with blue skies above and that powerful July sun shining down on us. Field corn can typically grow 7 – 10 feet tall, while sweet corn plants are several feet shorter, Tim told me.

We quickly managed to fill up a wagon with fresh sweet corn and Tim introduced me to his drone, so I could see the cornfield from above - you sure don't want to get lost around here! We returned afterwards and made the harvest ready for our dinner. Tim turned on his grill, and made some of the best cheeseburgers I have had in a long in time, while his friend, Michelle, and I, prepared the sweet corn for our meal.

Iowans take their corn seriously, and I was surprised to see how efficient one can indulge sweet corn with two corn holders and then simply coat it in butter. The dish we made is called ‘corn on the cob,’ which means that it has been boiled (but can also be steamed, or grilled) whole and the kernels are then eaten directly off the cob or cut off.

It was a funny night and I truly enjoyed expanding my knowledge on sweet corn and eating some all-Iowan food in great company.

And great company is what it is all about.

From day one, I have enjoyed the friendliness of my colleagues at the Museum of Danish America. Recently, Shelli from our development team invited me to the Shelby County Fair, where we enjoyed a country music concert and saw a lot of new farm equipment and different animals. Most importantly, her sweet husband introduced me to the mighty brats straight from his grill and Shelli had bought icecream from Dairy Queen and mixed it up with her awesome homemade brownies. Julia, our Registrar, planned a whole day of fun activities in Winterset, Iowa, where we visited a variety of cool museums (who knew quilting would be so interesting!), and Deb, our Development Manager, invited me to my first Fourth of July celebration and made the day a perfect memory for the scrapbook. And Nan, our Design Store Manager, invited me over to the cinema where she volunteers in the weekends to watch the new "Elvis" film.

Furthermore, the first day I arrived, Diya, the Albert Ravenholt Curator of Danish-American Culture, invited me to the Farmer’s Market in Des Moines, which is among some of the finest in the nation. And tomorrow Diya has invited me to join her and other colleagues for some paletas in Des Moines, which I look very much forward to.

I am lucky to be surrounded by so many sweet people and I really cherish the friendly and kind gestures like that. It makes you feel welcome, which is really important when you’re so far away from home. But it also gives you a great chance to develop new friendships, while simply creating some amazing memories along the way. My experience with Americans has always been good, and I guess that’s part of the reason of why I am so fascinated by the United States.

Whenever I have been in this nation, I have been met with open arms, genuine curiosity, and I am so grateful for the friendliness I have encountered and the people I have met on my American journey: This is the land of the generous and home of the kind, both being important parts of what I consider American characteristics.

Best from Anders Tornsø Jørgensen

#corn #corn on the cob

[hortascountrysidenotes]

Heat

The lack of rain in the east is now becoming critical.  We had a small amount of rain on the Sunday of the Jubilee but owing to incessant drying winds, any benefit that might have given was soon eliminated.  I am having to fill the reservoir in the greenhouse and even my rainbutts which make watering so much easier have had to be topped up with the hose.  Large shrubs are looking sad so several in particular the Viburnum plicatum and Cornus kousa have had a good long soak.  But watering is time consuming!  Am managing to keep the veg going and we are getting some great results.  French beans are just kicking off having now pulled up the broad beans - think we had the best season ever for them with plenty in the freezer - I must remember Suttons Long Pod for next year - they have been excellent.

Covid struck but thankfully not badly and my trip to Italy was never in jeopardy until my traveling companion developed a violent toothache the night before departure.  We postponed the trip - late August now, and actually maybe lucky as we would not have had great weather and my friends in the mountains reckon that by the end of August most of the summer crowds are falling away.  As long as the airlines work we should be ok!

I have got some interesting squash/courgettes now producing - the Tromboncino on the frames - they are delicious - am not sure how large I am supposed to let them get but on the basis that small is good they can be eaten as per courgettes and if i let them get bigger will be treated like squashes. 

Roses are mostly over so a huge dead heading operation yesterday.  However we are now starting to see the early autumn colours in the garden - purple sedums, dahlias flowering and the first michaelmas daisies just showing colour in their buds.  I have removed a bit of catmint from the front of the main border as although it is wonderful in May, we really have too much!  I went off to West Acre Gardens again this week and bought a plant I use a lot for others but dont have here, which is Stachys Hummelo - a Piet Oudolf special - being only 40cm high when flowering and with neat rosettes of leaves, it is a perfect front of border plant.  Sadly they only had two so I shall have to wait to put in the second little patch to balance things.  I also found another bright red Monarda Fireball so patched that in to the border to keep the repetition going.  They are also flowering now along with the Achillea so colours are improving after two quiet weeks.

A dog test for Bertha on Sunday - it will be incredibly hot but I am hoping she might go well.  I went for a quick sharpen up lesson this morning - she is very responsive now and learns fast.  Fingers crossed we have a good run.

Winter veg planted out! how quickly the seasons zoom by.  Purple Sprouting broccoli and Cavolo Nero plus the few leeks I got to germinate.  I have also sown some Fennel - I try this most years with mixed success - it certainly needs a lot of water so as soon as it germinates I will be super vigilant.

Swallows everywhere on the common - we wonder if our pair will have another brood.  We are endlessly amused by the moorhen family which seems to grow and grow - about 4 different age groups now come to the bird table!  Plus a family of mallard have arrived on our pond which is one of the few on the common to still have water.

Dorset next week for a few days and a catch up with a very old friend not seen for many years.

[angelamajiki]

PAIRINGS: Father! Yandere! Enji Todoroki x Daughter! Reader

CW: yandere, incest, soulmate AU, fluff, slight angst, nsfw, kissing, praise kink, virginity kink, size kink, bathroom sex

A BNHarem Collab!

AN: my longest piece to date! the prompt this month was sex work, so i decided to stretch the prompt and do sexual slavery. wanted to go for a softer version of daddy endeavor, so please enjoy <3

5.2k words

The mark on his wrist was one that was shared with yours. Enji had given up on finding his soulmate, deciding that his career and legacy were far more important than some silly marking on another’s body. Love was something he thought he could go without. But when he saw your bright eyes gaze up at him, your chubby hand wrapped around his index finger, his heart had fallen hard—such a sweet, gentle thing. No traces of fear, of disdain, of disgust for him as a human being. Just pure curiosity and unconditional love. His heart leaped for his little girl.

Enji was determined, then and there, that he would never fail you, not like he forgot the others.

Oh, what plans he had for you, his precious princess. He couldn’t wait to spoil you, to marry you and start a new family once you were old enough. Rei realized this as well. Her youngest daughter, her last hope at salvaging her broken family, was to be had by her husband. The thought frightened her, especially after seeing the adoring look in her husband's eyes when she saw him cradle you for the first time. It was so unlike the stoic nature he held for the other children when they were born, only caring to see that they were healthy before leaving off back to his agency, never giving them more than a fleeting touch. It was nothing like when he held you, snarling at any nurse who dared to take his soulmate from the grips of his arms.

Something that had Enji’s conviction more so than his career was something to be feared. Your mother swore to herself that she would not let her husband ruin you.

Once he fell asleep with you tucked in the crook of his arm, a social worker came and collected you to be sent to a foster home and be set up for adoption. It was better than falling into the hands of the monster of a husband.

After the death of Touya, the pair decided to have one more child in hopes of fixing their broken family, but Rei now knew it was for naught. Nothing could save them know, especially now that Enji had nearly burned the building down when he discovered that his little girl was gone, just hours after he had finally found you.

Rei alerted the commission as well for your protection, that utter bitch of a woman. They very well couldn't have the number two hero caught in an incestuous bond with his daughter, now could they. All information of your whereabouts was hidden from him, blacklisting him from working with any foster children, lest he loses his hero license. Enji may have lost you for the time being, but his patience grew as he did. They couldn't keep him from you forever. You'd be reunited one day; he knows it.

The first time he saw you again was when you were fifteen. It was your birthday and the day he had become the number one hero officially, plenty of reason to celebrate. Usually, he would have taken the time to sit near the rose bush he planted in your honor in his courtyard on your birthday, renewing his vows to find and love you to the best of his ability. Enji took great pride in keeping your memory alive with the bush for his beautiful little rose gone too soon from his grasp. But there you were, mere meters from him.

The foster home you stayed at took you out for dinner when he was meeting with Hawks after the billboard awards. Your eyes were unmistakable, a perfect cerulean just like his own. He was so close, yet so far. My, how you had grown since he saw you. Unlike him, you bore your mark proudly on your wrist, not ashamed to admit to the world who your soulmate was. Not like you actually knew who it was anyway.

Enji was prepared to leave Hawks at the table; a new flame lit under his ass, one far more exhilarating than the thought of being the number one hero. He was up and on his way to speak to you before Nomu attacked him. Damn villains, they'd pay for separating the two of you once again. But his conviction only grew stronger. It wasn’t hard to find you after that; he knew what city you were living in. Instincts lashed out at him, demanding that he go sweep you up and hide you away. No, no. That would make you frightened; he can't have that. He’ll watch from the sidelines, waiting until you were of age to make a move. He was curious to see just how life as a foster child was treating you.

Growing up in the foster system had been a nightmare from hell for you. A cursed child is what they saw you as when your skin sprouted flames every time it was touched by the human hand, burning everything and everyone who came in contact with it. From the moment your quirk manifested, you were an outcast, an untouchable, unlovable freak. Someone destined never to feel the touch of their new parents, their lover, their soulmate.

It wasn't long before you realized that you would remain in the foster system until you aged out. Who would adopt a child they couldn't hug when they cried, hold their hand when they crossed the street, snuggle up to when it was chilly outside? Any potential parent was taken aback by your quirk once you reached for the warm touch of mommy and daddy, only to singe their hand or burn a hole in their shirt.

You learned quickly that your touch was something to be feared, that you were something to be feared. You supposed that’s why you looked up to him so much. So much so that you thought about him late at night when the loneliness seemed to drown you in the sea of your insecurities.

Endeavor was the only one who could understand you, understand your quirk. If only your soulmate mark could match him, maybe you feel the warmth of another human being without hurting or mauling them with your power. Abrasive he may be with the media, but there something about him that was so comforting and endearing to you. In your eyes, he was simply misunderstood, a gentle giant amongst the mass personalities of the other pro heroes.

Watching his interviews brought you comfort when you were lonely, his merchandise made you swell with pride and confidence, and his posters on the wall reminded you that you were never alone. It was a silly crush, but it made you feel better about your miserable life.

You even got to see him on your birthday! Well, not exactly. You happened to be in the same restaurant when your foster parents took you out for your birthday. It was apparent that they just felt bad for you, having looked after you for 15 years only to still have custody of your sorry ass. You were almost certain that they were going to kick you to the curb the morning of your 18th birthday.

Too bad they never had the chance. That fate would have been much kinder than the reality you faced now.

Once the Paranormal Liberation Front had effectively ripped society up by the roots and let the tree of life rot for the world to see, your foster parents packed their shit and left the country while you were at school. You’d been alone in the world ever since and were snatched off the streets, ready to be sold into slavery by the villains of the world. Your quirk was the only thing keeping you from being bought like a bitch from the auction floor.

Enji, on the other hand, was more than eager to do just that. After his public smear campaign by his allegedly dead son, he was dead to the world, finally abandoning his family for good in hopes of finding his beloved daughter. His life was dedicated to searching for you, having managed to track you down through his vigilante work. He likes to lie to himself and say that he’s continuing to fight for the greater good, but Enji does it just to have the chance to see your sweet face again. There wasn’t much to go off of, but he’d rather see his fiery end than to give up. That's how he found you at the auction.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Another auction night was approaching, which meant another night of humiliation and being displayed like a slab of meat for a crowd of degenerate wolves. Your quirk was the only thing keeping you from being sold; no one wants a fucktoy they can’t touch. It reduced you to physical labor for your captors, but you were better fed because of it. That didn’t mean they still didn’t try to sell you.

After being stripped down into nothing but a collar, leash, and a muzzle, you were brought to the stage and shoved in front of the ravenous, roaring crowd. You could feel their stares seep into your bones, the grime from the floor on your bare feet only adding to the overwhelming sensation of disgust you couldn’t even begin to describe.

The crowd’s excitement was raucous, jeers and shouts echoing off the halls of the underground auditorium. Masks covered their faces for the sake of privacy lest a vigilante break-in and hunt them all down. Even in the lawlessness of the world, heroes were still crawling everywhere to trail after even the slightest scent of villainy. Doesn't mean they’ll win, but hey, the death of a hero is just the same as the auction was to them.

“Up next, a darling girl with a fiery quirk!”

That was your cue. A handler had a fierce grip on your leash, giving it a few tugs for good measure as the crowd laughed at your stumbling. The auctioneer began to list your qualities and physical attributes, including your quirk.

“And she’s a virgin!”

Added for good measure, the crowd fell silent after listening to the abilities of your quirk. You couldn't hate it anymore; it's what was keeping you from being someone’s onahole until the day you kicked the bucket.

“Can I get $10,000?”

Ah the starting bid. The silence was relieving. Just a few more moments and you'd be off that damn stage.

“No? Going once, going twice, going-”

“One million.”

A booming voice came from the back row, the depths of the shadows to further hide the masked man who just bought your life. Why did it sound so familiar?

“Outstanding! One million dollars for the young lady!”

“Going once.”

It couldn't be.

“Going twice.”

This can't be happening.

“Sold for one million!”

No!

You were supposed to be unwanted, just like you have been your entire life! Yet some mysteriously familiar man outbid the entire auction for little ol’ you.

“Off the stage, bitch.”

The handler snarled, yanking you off the stage and causing you the fall and bruise yourself in the process.

“Watch it!” He spat, picking you up by the roots of your hair. “The merchandise needs to be handled carefully before reaching the customer. Let's hope he doesn't mind some bumps and bruises. For your sake.”

“That won't be necessary; I'll be taking her as is. Immediately, if you will.”

The mysterious man stood had already made his way backstage and behind you, standing formidably over your stark form. Your hair was released, dropping you back to the floor.

“Excellent, sir! I’m more than happy to get this welp off my hands.”

A brief exchange was made while you recovered on the floor, shaking in fear as the situation weighed heavily on your already broken self. The handler took the money and returned to the back room, leaving the two of you alone together.

The stranger crouched down to you and extended a hand to brush the stray hair out of your face, touch remaining tender and gentle when you flinched harshly.

“My poor girl, what has the world done to you?”

His coat enveloped your body as he scooped you up in his arms. The scent of him comforted you more than you would have liked to admit. Teakwood and coffee grounds filled your senses as he held you flush against his chest, leaving the auction house with a renewed sense of vigor.

You were placed in the backseat of a car before he dressed you in simple pajamas.

“Rest. You deserve it.”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

At some point in the car ride, you let yourself fall asleep only to wake up in a cozy king-size bed wrapped up in a soft blanket next to a warm fireplace. The false sense of comfort lulled you for a few moments before your situation hit you like a ton of bricks. The anxiety you'd had known your whole life had finally kicked back into gear, forcing you out of bed and into the rest of the house.

It was daybreak, the sunlight slowly trickling in through heavily curtained windows as you walked through the halls and into the kitchen. The man was standing over the stove, sans mask, dressed in a wife-beater and his pajama bottoms. It couldn't be-

“Come in; breakfast will be on the table in a moment.”

Now you were certain.

“Who are you?” Your voice barely above a whisper. “Why did you buy me at the auction?”

A deep, rumbling chuckle flowed from the man.

“I think you know the answer to that, little one.”

His focus was retained on the meal in front of him. “I’ll explain myself over breakfast. Now sit.”

You couldn't help but feel compelled to obey him. While sitting, you took the time to honestly look him over for the first time in your life. Never did you think you would be so close to your childhood crush in such a domestic setting.

He had noticeably greyed but still possessed a majority of his red hair. Muscles were still taught and budging, but he had grown a little bit of a belly. Endeavor was as handsome as ever, aged like a fine wine that you couldn't wait to sip on.

The food was placed in front of you as he took the test next to you.

“Eat and have some water. Then we’ll talk.”

Once again, you obeyed him without question and refrained from eating like a rabid animal. It wasn't even a question, so much so that it is evident that you hadn't had a decent meal in a long time. You were still muscular from the labor you did for your handlers, though.

And Enji liked that about you. How resilient you were, he loved that you inherited his strength but still possessed Rei’s gentle nature. Not that he wanted to credit that woman for anything, but he couldn't deny the obvious. You were his strong, beautiful little girl who had to endure so much because his bitch of a wife decided to separate you from him.

But he was here now, ready to give all his love and protection to his only love. It took everything in his power not to swoop you up from your seat and hold you in his arms until his last breath.

Enji watched you eat, pride swelling in his chest at the thought that you liked his cooking. He couldn't help but wonder what your favorite meals were as well. There's certainly all the time in the world to get to know his little girl now that he had you. And he was never going to let you go.

Your breakfast was devoured quickly, both out of desperation for a real meal and answers to your questions.

“Why did you buy me from the auction?”

It was a complicated question, but you wanted a simple answer.

“I’m your soulmate.” His wrist was on display as he reached across the table to hold your hand.

For the first time in your life, you felt safe. Your one, shining hope was meant to yours and he wanted to be yours. You didn't even question how he knew at all.

His touch was warm and slightly rough, but it was welcome all the same. Even though your skin was lit aflame at his flesh against your, he paid it no mind. He was built to take your quirk, to take you.

“Endeavor…”

“Please, call me Enji.” His thumb rubbed over the palm of your hand. “I’m sure you feel better after having something to eat.”

“Why don't you go take a bath? It’ll help you relax, I can take care of your dishes.”

It was strange how insistent he was on taking care of you, but you can't say you don't enjoy the attention. He seemed to care for you in a way that went beyond caring for a partner, or in your case, a soulmate. But who were you to judge? It wasn't like you had a lot of experiences to use as a comparison.

Making your way back to the bedroom, you took the time to study the house you were in. A traditional, well-kept home, it practically looked like it was untouched. And maybe it was; buildings and homes fully intact were hard to come by these days, let alone ones that were clean and warm.

Enji seemed to lull you into an instinctual sense of safety, even though he bought you out of slavery. Just because he was your soulmate didn't mean that he had good intentions for you, but somehow, his presence alone filled a void in your heart that you had forgotten was even there.

Once you made it to the bathroom connected to the master bedroom, you drew yourself a bath just like Enji had instructed you to do. It wasn't the wisest decision to let your guard down like this, but the man already had plenty of opportunities to fuck you up by this point.

The water was warm and inviting when you sank yourself into it; you couldn't remember the last time you had warm water to clean yourself with. It made you feel light and hazy, slipping into a headspace you had long forgotten—a place of safety and comfort.

Three raps on the door pulled you from your haze as Enji entered the bathroom with fresh towels. Despite the fact that he had already seen you naked, the intimacy of the situation only left you feeling more vulnerable than ever.

“Let me help you.”

He kneeled next to you outside of the tub and pulled a lavender chamomile shampoo from the tub’s shelf. There was room to protest, but you couldn't find yourself willing to do so.

Water was poured over your head before he started a lather in your hair, gently scrubbing your scalp for a while. Even this simple touch made you shudder, it was a long time since you last felt the warmth of someone’s touch. And everything about this man was warm, for you at least. His words, his touch, his heart.

Conditioner was added to your hair as well before he moved onto washing your body. The scrub was gentle across your skin, his hand following after it to help keep the suds from rising too much. Strong hands massaged your back and your neck, both of which needed the much-deserved relief.

“So tense.” He murmured, mostly to himself.

There was a comfortable silence shared between the two of you as he massaged out all the knots and kinks that had built up over the years with your handlers. His touch should have made you flinch but you found yourself pressing into it. A small moan escaped your lips as he worked through a particularly tender spot on your neck.

“Are you enjoying this?”

His lips ghosted your ear as warm breath tickled your cheek and neck.

Your face flushed with a fiery warmth from a combination of the steam, your embarrassment, and the man whispering sweet nothings in your ear as his hands worked at your tired skin.

“Let me help you relax, sweet thing.”

Enji picked you up momentarily to slot himself behind you in the tub. Placed on his lap, you gasped when you could feel his erection hard against your back. Fear started to trickle into your veins as you squirmed slightly, attempting to get out of his grasp.

“Shhh, it's alright, you're okay.” His hand made its way to your throat and rested there gently, stroking over your artery with his thumb. “I’m not going to hurt you, sweetheart. Let me show you how much I've missed you.”

His touch made you feel alive, feel wanted for the first time in your life. You couldn't help but whine when his other hand made its way down your body, gently groping your breast as his lips were pressed to your ear.

“Do you trust me to take care of you?”

His fingers toyed with your nipples, obviously skilled.

“Do you trust me to make the sweetest love to you?”

Another whine caught in your throat as his hand went further, cupping your sex in his much larger hand. He kneaded gently, pressing a soft kiss to your temple when you writhed in his grip.

“Please! Enji-”

Shushing you gently, Enji’s thumb made its way to your clit to stroke in small circles.

“How does that feel, sweetheart?”

You were used to touching yourself, but oh God it never felt like this.

“Good!” You managed to choke out in a wanton moan. “So good! Enji, please, I need-”

A warm pair of lips sealed over yours, silencing you once again. Enji knew how wrong this was, to take advantage of you like this without revealing the truth. But he wanted at least to just once to have you in his arms willingly and eagerly. He wanted to kiss you breathless, listen to your cries and feel your nails dig into his skin as he gave you all of himself without a fight from you. He can worry about revealing himself to you later.

The rough pads of his large fingers started to apply pressure to your clit as his middle finger slipped into your tight hole under the water.

“Don't worry, little one. I'll give you what you need.”

Soft kisses were trailed along your cheek and hand that was on his that was still holding your throat tenderly. Finger pumping in and out of you, Enji whispered sweet praises to you as he felt your hole clench around him.

“Doing so well for me, sweetheart.”

Your breathy moans and whines only served to harden his cock. He felt like a teenager all over again, closing to cumming just from the sound of your voice.

Another finger slipped into your tight core, careful not to overwhelm you too fast. It was obvious you'd hadn't been touched before, not even by yourself. You felt full but greedy for more of his touch.

“Deeper, Enji! Please, can you?”

You were babbling at this point, writhing in his lap as he fingered you nice and slow with thick digits. Enji hummed as he pressed further into, curling his fingers into your G-spot.

Your cry was loud as he began to abuse your most sensitive spot, fully squirming in his arms as tears of pleasure breached your eyes. The sensation was too overpowering for you, making you thrash and arch in his arms.

“Shh, you're okay, sweetheart. You're okay; I'm right here.”

His fingers continued to stroke in a curled fashion, thumb still circling over your twitching clit. Enji kissed you again, deeper and more fierce as he began to fuck you earnestly with his fingers.

“Cum for me, darling.”

Squealing, you gripped his forearm and cried helplessly into his mouth. The build was slow and intense, allowing your orgasm to wash over you in waves of pleasure rather than a blinding, quick light.

“E-Enji!” You wailed. “Enji!”

You shook in his arms, holding onto the larger man for dear life as you experienced your first orgasm. It seemed like Enji knew your body better than you did.

No words were exchanged between the pair of you, but you could feel the tension of your desired hanging thick in the air. This man was going to take your virginity, here and now.

Enji removed his hand from your throat and between your legs in order to maneuver you to sit facing forward in his lap.

“Are you ready for me?”

His honesty made you flush even more. Biting your lip nervously, you hesitated to answer. Were you ready? It wasn’t like you had much of choice; the man could very well take you by force if he so chose to. But you felt safe in his arms, safe with him.

“Let me help you, my love.”

Warm, large hands gripped your backside as he held you steady above his cock. Your hand reached down to line yourself up with his throbbing sex, lowering yourself down on it slowly.

It burned in the best way, stretching you out fully as you pressed your forehead against his chin.

“Good girl, taking my cock so well, darling.”

A pitiful whine left your throat at the praise, hands gripping the forearms that held you in place.

“Can...Can you hold me?” You whimpered. “Please?”

Enji’s arms enveloped you and pulled you flush against his, tucking your head into the crook of his neck as you continued to lower yourself onto his cock. Your breath tickled his ears, making him groan lowly once he bottomed out inside of you.

“Such a sweet girl you are, taking all of me on your first try.”

Another whine responded for you as you ground your hips down on his.

“E-Enji.” You whimpered his name over and over again like a prayer. “Enji!”

“Be still, little one.” Hands back on your hips, holding you in place near the tip of his girthy length. “Let me take care of you.”

Hips in place, the man began to thrust up into you slowly, holding you tight as he stood up from the water. You only gripped and nuzzled yourself into him further, letting out sweet whines and whimpers into his ear while he thrust into you.

Your back was placed against the cool tile of the wall when he tilted your chin up to meet his gaze. Even in this position, he was still at least another head taller than you.

“Look at me when I make love to you.”

Through wet eyelashes, you gazed up at his eyes and let your mouth hang open as he rolled his hips into yours. His eyes shut briefly when he moaned, hissing at the feeling of your wet cunt hugging his cock so well.

“You were made to take my cock, little one.”

Arms reached up to wrap around his neck as he thrust into you, taking his time to make his strokes slow and deep. His hips were flush against yours when you asked him, “Kiss me, please? I want all of you Enji.”

Your bold proclamation stunned him for a moment before yielding, placing a deep kiss and a hot tongue against your lips.

His thrusts became faster as he kissed you with more passion and vitality. For an old man, he certainly had his stamina up to par. Your fingers thread through his red and grey tresses, tugging him closer to you gently as you moaned shamelessly into his mouth.

The pleasure in your core was more intense, fiercer this time around as his thrusts became hard and fast. The sounds of both of your moans and skin slapping against skin echoed off the tiled bathroom walls as the both of you felt your orgasms coming.

“Enji, fuck!” You whined, beginning to squirt on his fast-paced cock. “I-I’m cumming; I’m cumming!”

“Cum for me, princess.”

With a choked sob, you creamed yourself all over his cock, which continued to pound into your hole before he groaned your name and came deep inside you.

Nothing but the sounds of the water sloshing and your labored breathing could be heard as you both came down from your highs.

After a moment of rest, Enji pulled out and wrapped you in a towel before laying you gently on the bed. A towel was wrapped around his own waist as he looked at you fondly, brushing stray hairs out of your eye sight as he sat next to you on the bed.

“I must ask, how did you end up at the auction site?”

What a loaded question, but the intimacy you two shared allowed for it.

“I was kidnapped off the streets after my parents abandoned me when the prison break happened.”

He sighed gruffly and took your hand in his.

“What utter fools, tossing aside a beautiful rose such as yourself.”

His thumb traced over your soulmate mark. You still had yet to know how he knew before ever meeting you.

“It's alright; I never considered them my family. I just wish I could have met mine, but at least I met my soulmate.”

A crinkled smile adorned his face.

“You've done more than meet them.”

What could that have meant?

“I’m your father and your soulmate, little one.”

A rock hit the pit of your stomach as you retracted your hand from his.

“That isn't a funny joke, I'm serious.”

“So am I.” His hand was quick to snatch your back. “What could I possibly gain from lying to you?”

“P-Prove it.”

“Our soulmate marks, I saw yours the moment you were born in the Hosu hospital before my wife separated us all those years ago. I can recite your birthday if you'd like me to, for good measure.”

Fuck, he really wasn't lying. A lump formed in your throat as tears sprung in your eyes.

“Why would you do this to me?” You whispered, barely even able to hear yourself.

“Because I love you. I love you so much, sweetheart. Ever since I saw you for the first time in the hospital, my entire life has changed because of you. All I ever wanted was you.”

Enji was quick to shush your cries, using his free hand to wipe your tears away.

“Will you forgive me for being selfish?”

The disgust and horror filled everyone of your senses, especially when you came to a realization that he was everything you've ever wanted.

What came out of your mouth next stunned the both of you.

“You can apologize by begging on your knees and cleaning me up with your tongue, Daddy.”

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