#worsethanpixels

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@worsethanpixels replied to this post:

i wanna seee garden pics tho

Ohhh, you asked, and now you shall get the spam.

Part of this whole adventure has been an educational journey as I forcibly teach myself about plant species that are native to my area. I've discovered like 96% of typical gardening just grabs whatever pretty plant from wherever on the globe, with little to no consideration for if it's actually a good idea to introduce it to the local ecosystem. A pollinator could come searching through the lush gardens in my neighborhood and only find a distressingly tiny number of plants it has spent millions of years relying on.

So I've picked up the crusade to, over time, replace all the non-native plants in my garden with native ones. Not only is this good for wildlife, those plants will require basically zero care and maintenance. They're built for the worst conditions here, and no poor soil or summer dry spell will daunt them.

But anyway! Aside from the plants themselves, my favorite feature of my landscape is this stone retaining wall along the front of my property. It's got amazing character and grows the best mossy patches.

Above one portion of that wall is my front walk. I spent a long, sweaty time the other week sorting and arranging the rocks to edge the gravel path. Eventually I want to get big flagstone slabs to pave this walkway, but for now, the reddish stones complement the brick and the stone wall nicely.

There's not a whole lot flowering here right now – the non-native daylilies are just starting, but most everything else either kicked its payload a month ago or was too small and new to get a chance to establish and bloom this year.

This part here went from one of the most hopeless corners to one of the more interesting after I added Some Garden-y Stuff instead of spending a small fortune on plants to fill it out. There's a colorful little bee house for solitary nesting bees, a bird bath with a fountain, stepping stones inherited from my mom's house, an aged concrete container that's been successfully growing sedum with zero help for at least a decade (it's been completely untouched at the back corner of the house ever since I moved in – I'm kind of afraid that I might have wrecked its perfect balance by moving it here, but we'll see what happens), a little owl statue, and a magic glowing orb (which is a glass light shade I picked up at a thrift store years ago and filled up with solar-powered fairy lights).

One other little effort I'm proud of is all the labels I made for everything. Not only does this help me remember and memorize what everything is, it just makes things look that much more neat and orderly.

This is the beebalm-and-coneflower section, tucked between the lilies that have been here for ages and will eventually be replaced. Beebalm is supposedly excellent for attracting hummingbirds, but this area isn't visible from within the house, so I don't know if any have visited yet.

More coneflowers here, plus a bright orange pop of butterfly weed, which is surprising me by turning out to be one of my favorites. I was not expecting that. But look! A bee!

Bee!!!

Seriously, honeybees have been so rare to spot here lately, so this is very exciting for me. I have half a mind to check the local regulations to see if I could host a hive on my property.

So yeah, all of that is part of the contest judging. We'll see if they give a poop about it or not!

And now, my tomatoes.

They are barely in control, and there are so many green tomatoes in here. So many. They'll probably ripen all at once and I won't be able to use them fast enough. (Pro tip: however tall you think your tomato cages need to be, get taller ones. No, taller. A little taller still.)

Thanks for asking about my little side-hobby!

[calmturquoise]

UM TELL ME EVERYTHING POSSIBLE ABOUT PERCY AND OLIVER WOOD PLS, THAT SINGS TO MY SOUL IN A WAY THAT FEW THINGS DO

THEY ARE. SO CUTE!?

I headcanon them as being friends in school but reconnecting in their early twenties in uni (and then they get married obviously). They’re very different in many ways (with Oliver being more athletic and Percy more academically-inclined, which tbh is one of my favorite dichotomies) but they’re also both very motivated and driven people, and I <3 them together. (READ THIS FIC IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY.)

Also: they’re totally both ticklish, right? Like, obviously. Percy is very ticklish, particularly on his neck, ribs, and stomach. Much to his indignation, his siblings tend to be the hands-on type who use tickling as an annoying-sibling tactic, so its something he deals with quite often (though it’s different coming from Oliver). I think that Oliver’s ticklishness is much less known, especially because he tends to immediately come off as that-guy-with-the-singleminded-focus-on-Quidditch that people who don’t know him well have trouble looking past. However, he is ticklish, with his underarms and feet being the worst, and quite a few other spots that are mildly sensitive.

I see them as a couple who uses tickling when they know each other needs it and will be receptive of it; like, if one of them is stressed from schoolwork or Quidditch, respectively (stressed enough that they’d appreciate a distractor/stress relief, but not so stressed that they’re in don’t-touch-me-leave-me-alone-mode) then the other will tickle them. Or sometimes when they’re lying in bed or making out in a classroom together and just feel like being silly.

Look Percy gets so much shit and I’m not? Okay with it? There are several well-written defenses of Percy Weasley (x, x, x) that are far more eloquent than I could ever be but. He just got the short end of the stick, okay? He didn’t get a ton of respect from his family, and sure he was douchey sometimes, but who isn’t??? I love Percy okay don’t be mean to him.

[thebest-medicine]

I keep reading "Spideypool" as Spideypoo and both are v. cute anyway (just like that fic omg)

Omg thank you fam speaking of which I NEED MORE OH VERSE DEANCAS INTERACTIONS I AM THIRSTY AS FUCK GIRL PLSHALP I love you my spideypoo

[wordstrings]

i just reread all of Loopy & it made me feel so gooey inside and I just LOVE it and want to read ONLY it forever.

[#series: Loopy] Yeeeeeeeeeeee :)

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anonymous said:

hey, strings! I was going through some of your posts and came across the whole high ropes question stuff for your loopy verse and I’ve done it before! I can say this about them: if you get Dean up there, he’s gonna freeze up. People afraid of heights can do the easier courses for high ropes, but that is almost always the case anyway. I love it though! It doesn’t look like much but it can be a rush when you get up there, especially when you can barely feel your harness. (part 1)

(part 2) But if you need more info, I can assure you that it’s safe. Some places even have nets (besides the ones that you climb). Personally, my favorite ones are the rope bridges you have to cross and then the platforms that swing when you step on them (like at the playground, but much higher and you’re wearing a harness and a helmet).

[referenced post] YES! Yes, this is what I want to know! This is an excellent start, and if you’re willing/able to talk to me over messenger, I’d love to hear more, and/or have you on tap if I have questions! 

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okay wait so your last looper ask has my brain chugging along and I'm thinking about how majority of everyone in my life IS switchy as heck (which I love) and i tend to write/replicate that tbh but like really what the brain space is for people who are really just like ONLY MOSTLY ONE OR THE OTHER? LIKE I guess people who aren't ticklish or hate being tickled feel that but like I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THEM and like HOW THAT WORKS.

You are asking the WRONG PERSON, amiga. I absolutely looove wriggling my usually-keyboard-typing fingers over sensitive skin, and I also absolutely looove the feeling of those touches. BIG SHRUG

As far as Loopy ‘verse goes – best I can figure, Dean would start something for the sole (ha) purpose of getting retaliated upon. In the presence of another person, he’d much rather be laughing and squirming than doing just about anything else tbh. Cas, though... Cas has spent his life being a rule-follower, very straightedge, very boring. He’s got a rebellious streak; he just doesn’t know how to use it. The thought of making someone else lose control, while he keeps a tight hold on the reigns of the situation, gives him butterflies. If that someone is a strong, snappy, smooth-talking charmer who gives off a subtle “please wreck me, promise I’ll let you” je ne sais quoi, those butterflies multiply tenfold. He doesn’t care much for being made to squirm, but if nothing else, it gives him an excuse to wreak vengeance.

In a nutshell: they’re made for each other. :)

[wordstrings]

okay wait we've met up multiple times and never took a thumb pic and NEXT TIME WE HAVE TO

Did we… did we really not? Twice?? This must be rectified

[calmturquoise]

I read a crunchy review of the sequel and wanna be happy again — wanna do the ask game for Guardians of the Galaxy?

HECK YEAH

who’s the most ticklish character:

Gamora and Peter are equally ticklish, but Gamora will stab most people who try to tickle her, so Peter is the most ticklish one who actually gets tickled.

who’s the character that most people would assume is ticklish, but actually isn’t:

Rocket seems like he might, possibly, be ticklish, but he actually isn’t very ticklish at all (not to mention he constantly radiates “don’t touch me,” so anyone who isn’t crazy - i.e. anyone who isn’t Peter - usually isn’t willing to test it).

who’s the character that everyone gangs up on and tickles:

Peter

who’s the character that somehow knows everyone else’s tickle spots and reveals them to others:

Rocket (he likes blackmail)

who’s the character with one specific tickle spot that only one other person knows about:

Rocket will deny until the end of time that he’s ticklish but. The area underneath his chin is a little sensitive, a fact which only Groot is privy to.

who’s the most likely to win gang tickle wars:

Literally e v e r y o n e except Peter. Gamora, Drax, and Rocket are all so ruthless that any one of them could win (or punch each other before coming to an agreement to gang up on Peter instead), and Groot will just hover over them jumping in when he feels like it.

which character has a kink for tickling:

Peter has a tiny kink.

which character didn’t even know they were ticklish until another character tickled them:

Gamora had no idea that she was ticklish until Peter snuck up on her and tickle-attacked her (after which she immediately kicked him).

which two characters have tickle fights all the time:

Peter and Rocket always start tickle fights with each other (either Peter trying to get a rise out of Rocket, or Rocket wanting to torture Peter when he’s being too annoying). Rocket always wins (he’s vicious in tickle fights).

[wordstrings]

yeah wait so do you have a video of that au accent? I CANNOT FIND A SHORTER CLIP but i need to show it to everyone

I haven’t seen one come across my dash, but here’s a YouTube clip of the extended scene (a.k.a. basically every second of screen time he had). (The accent is even worse every time I hear it but WHO CARES.)

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anonymous said:

Since you're in that AU!Castiel mood, you should definitely listen to "Misanthropic Drunken Loner" by Days n Daze. That song kind of reminds me of a mix between this new Cas and the one from the other alternate universe from before.

[ music video | lyrics ] When you say “the other alternate universe from before,” I have to assume you mean End!verse from season 5. That, also, was a broken Cas who made me sad. :(