@keian44 for @tarrynlee

I’m not saying I’m definitely an NPC, but if I am a protagonist, the game I’m starring in is probably free-to-play.

Makes sense:

Black Coral Chapter 21: Dead Water

Solavellan, Mermaid AU. Ongoing.

Masterpost | Read from Chapter One | Read on A03

My ko-fi

An alternate version of this chapter has been made available here, with content warnings for what was edited and what wasn’t listed at the top. I felt there was one scene at the end that could use it, and it was easy enough to edit so I provided it.

Aevalle has spent days now in a whirlwind of preparations, endless meetings and briefings with Cassandra and the others, hours spent with Keeper and Dagna, watching the dwarf take sketches of runes and doing her best to answer her hundreds of questions while Dorian or Solas interpet.

She feels like every moment she spends with her friends is stolen—Varric sneaking her away for another game of Wicked Grace, determined to get her to actually play this time, or scarfing down food at the tavern with Sera and Bull, or hiding away in the library with Dorian, supposedly helping him pour over books of magic but really just catching a break.

Solas meets her every morning on the battlements—he’s always there first, and he is always watching the sea when she sees him, his hands behind his back and his shoulders set in a straight line. He stares out past the waves, his gaze resting somewhere beyond the horizon that she can never make out.

She only has a moment to study his expression before he notices her—and then his posture relaxes, and his entire face lights up with a small, warm smile.

“Good morning,” he always says—always sounding a little breathless, as if her presence has made it so.

Keep reading

Hey team, just a quick reblog because I realized how easy it was to edit the ending of this chapter for content, haha. So if you feel like you need it, it’s available!

his first hops 😂❤ credit: @thekangaroosanctuary

Overwatch heroes as dogs (x)

Bathing Beauties

@elodieunderglass look how aggressively they are BIRBING

Cleamnsed Birbs

Some knowledge ✊🏾

yoooo this is dope

look at the little scales on my glittery weevil son! they’re called “photonic crystals” and are each only a nanometer in size

In which one of the best accounts on Twitter, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, writes you a nice limerick defending the singular “their.” 

[IMAGE: A screenshot of a tweet by Merriam-Webster. The text reads: 

If you’re a stickler for grammar, prepare to be irked by the singular ‘their’ Tho it seems a mistake The position we take Is if the word is in use we don’t care

It is accompanied by a link to the Merriam-Webster website, to a page titled “We Made You a Bunch of Usage Limericks.”] 

Meet The Ghostworts

I love parasitic plants and I love liverworts. Imagine my excitement then when I learned that there are at least two species of parasitic liverworts! These bizarre little plants are currently the only parasitic non-vascular plants known to science. 

The first description of a ghostwort dates back to 1919. Although no description of habitat was given, the account describes a set of liverwort thalli containing no chlorophyll and whose cells were full of mycorrhizal fungi. They were assigned to the genus Aneura and that was that. Further descriptions of this plant would not be made for more than a decade.

Proper attention was not given to this group until the 1930’s. More plants started turning up among the humus and mosses of forests and wetlands throughout Finland, Sweden, and Scotland. A more thorough workover of specimens was made and the plants were moved into their own genus, Cryptothallus, which accurately captured their subterranean habit. They were given the name Cryptothallus mirabilis.

Another species of Cryptothallus was discovered in Costa Rica in 1977. It was named Cryptothallus hirsutus. Only one other collection of these species was made and it remains the lesser known of the two species. It is interesting to note the disparity between their ranges, with C. mirabilis inhabiting northern portions of Europe, and C. hirsutus only known from those two collections in Central America. Regardless, these odd liverworts have received a bit more attention in recent years.

It seems that the ghostworts manage to capture the attention of anyone who looks hard enough. For instance, a handful of attempts have been made to cultivate ghostworts in a controlled lab setting. Originally, plants were grown exposed to varying levels of light but try as the may, researchers were never able to coax the plants into producing chlorophyll. It would appear that these tiny liverworts are in fact some sort of parasite.

Proper evidence of their parasitic lifestyle was finally demonstrated 2003. Researchers were able to grow C. mirabilis in specialized observation chambers in order to understand what is going on under the soil. As it turns out, those numerous mycorrhizal connections mentioned in the original description are the key to survival for the ghostworts. The team showed that the ghostwort tricks fungi in the genus Tulasnella into forming mycorrhizal connections with its cells. These fungi also happen to be hooked up to a vast network of pine and birch tree roots.

By tricking the fungi, into an association, the ghostworts are able to steal carbohydrates that the fungi gain from the surrounding trees. Like all mycoheterotrophs, the ghostworts are essentially indirect parasites of photosynthetic plants. Their small size and relative rarity on the landscape likely helps these plants go unnoticed by the fungi but much more work needs to be done to better understand such dynamics.

In 2008, phylogenetic attention was paid to the ghostworts in order to better understand where they fit on the liverwort branch of the tree. As it turns out, Cryptothallus appears to be nestled quite comfortably within the genus Aneura. Because of this, the authors suggest disposing of the genus Cryptothallus altogether. Outside of simply placing this species back in its originally described genus, it affiliation with Aneura is quite interesting from an evolutionary standpoint.

Other liverworts in the genus Aneura are also known to form mycorrhizal relationships with Tulasnella. Unlike the ghostworts, however, these liverworts are fully capable of photosynthesis. Because these intimate fungal relationships were already in place before the ghostworts began evolving towards a fully parasitic lifestyle, it suggests that the saprophytic nature of Tulasnella fungi may have actually facilitated this jump. 

The cryptic nature of the ghostworts has left many a botanist wanting. Their subterranean habit makes them incredibly hard to find. Who knows what secrets this group still holds. Future discoveries could very well add more species to the mix or, at the very least, greatly expand the known range of the other two.

Photo Credits: Brian Eversham [1] [2] [3] [4]

Further Reading: [1] [2] [3]

Euphorbia obesa, 1 year + 8 months

Everything is going smoothly in the seedling community planter. The obesas are huge and probably old enough to flower this summer.

I haven’t watered any of the seedlings in this pot all winter, but none of them are showing signs of dehydration.

Let’s pay a visit to the Department of Awesome Anamorphic Artwork where everyone is trying to wrap their brains around this amazing 3D calligraphy and lettering created by Turkish graphic designer and electrical engineer Tolga Girgin. His playful letters defy both gravity and reason as they appear to sit upright, drip down on, melt off, dance around and float above their respective pieces of paper.

Head over to Tolga Girgin’s Behance portfolio or his Instagram feed to check out more of his eye-popping lettering.

[via Colossal]

@theshitpostcalligrapher

Tagged by @sasseffect, thanks for the tag!

It took me a moment to figure out how this works (Tarryn helped) but I’ve bolded the things that are true for me.

appearance - i am 5'7 or taller - i wear glasses - i have at least one tattoo - i have at least one piercing - i have blonde hair - i have brown eyes - i have short hair - my abs are at least somewhat defined - i have or had braces

personality - i love meeting new people - people tell me i am funny - helping others with their problems is a big priority of mine - i enjoy physical challenges - i enjoy mental challenges - i am playfully rude to people i know - i started saying something ironically and now i can’t stop saying it - there is something i would change about my personality

ability - i can sing well - i can play an instrument - i can do over 30 pushups without stopping - i am a fast runner - i can draw well - i have a good memory- i am good at doing math in my head- i can hold my breath underwater for over a minute - i have beaten at least 2 people arm wrestling - i can make at least 3 recipes from scratch - i know how to throw a proper punch

hobbies - i enjoy sports - i’m (was) on a sports team at my school or somewhere else - i’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else - i have learned a new song in the past week - i exercise at least once a week - i have gone for runs at least once a week in warmer months - i have drawn something in the past month - i enjoy writing - i do some form of martial arts (tae kwon do as a kid)

experiences - i have had my first kiss - i have had alcohol - i have scored a winning point in a sport - i have watched an entire tv series in one sitting - i have been at an overnight event - i have been in a taxi - i have been in the hospital or er in the past year - i have beaten a video game in one day - i have visited another country - i have been to one of my favourite bands’ concerts

my life - i have one person that i consider to be my Best Friend™ (I have several) - i live close to my school/work - my parents are still together - i have at least one sibling - i live in the united states – i have hung out with a friend in the past month - i have a smart phone - i own at least 15 cds - i share my room with someone (my wife ^_^)

relationships - i am in a relationship - i have a crush on a celebrity - i have a crush on someone i know- i’ve been in at least 3 relationships - i have never been in a relationship - i have admitted my feelings to a crush - i get crushes easily - i have had a crush for over a year - i have been in a relationship for over a year - i have had feelings for a friend

random - i have break-danced - i know a person named jamie - i have had a teacher who has a name that is hard to pronounce - i have dyed my hair - i’m listening to a song on repeat right now - i have punched someone in the past week - i know someone who has gone to jail - i have broken a bone - i have eaten a waffle today - i know what i want to do in life - i speak at least two languages - i have made a new friend in the past year

I wish I have eaten a waffle today haha. 
Tagging @m-periwinkle @pyrrhy @dr-jekyl @theivorytowercrumbles @tarrynlee

Hoo boy, ok let’s do this. The bolded things are true for me. I’ve added comments in square brackets. Somehow I feel like this was meant for someone much younger than me?

appearance - i am 5'7 or taller - i wear glasses - i have at least one tattoo - i have at least one piercing [two, in fact - one on each ear] - i have blonde hair - i have brown eyes - i have short hair - my abs are at least somewhat defined - i have or had braces

personality - i love meeting new people - people tell me i am funny - helping others with their problems is a big priority of mine - i enjoy physical challenges - i enjoy mental challenges - i am playfully rude to people i know - i started saying something ironically and now i can’t stop saying it - there is something i would change about my personality

ability - i can sing well - i can play an instrument - i can do over 30 pushups without stopping [had to try this to see, and yes, but juust barely] - i am a fast runner - i can draw well - i have a good memory- i am good at doing math in my head- i can hold my breath underwater for over a minute - i have beaten at least 2 people arm wrestling - i can make at least 3 recipes from scratch - i know how to throw a proper punch

hobbies - i enjoy sports - i’m (/was) on a sports team at my school or somewhere else [rowing, high school] - i’m (/was) in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else [up until grad school] - i have learned a new song in the past week - i exercise at least once a week - i have gone for runs at least once a week in warmer months - i have drawn something in the past month - i enjoy writing - i do some form of martial arts 

experiences - i have had my first kiss [does a peck that just caught the corner of my mouth count?]- i have had alcohol - i have scored a winning point in a sport - i have watched an entire tv series in one sitting -i have been at an overnight event [like sleepovers in elementary school? Or like conferences that are a whole weekend long so you have to book a hotel for them?] - i have been in a taxi - i have been in the hospital or er in the past year - i have beaten a video game in one day - i have visited another country - i have been to one of my favourite bands’ concerts

my life - i have one person that i consider to be my Best Friend™ - i live close to my school/work - my parents are still together - i have at least one sibling - i live in the united states – i have hung out with a friend in the past month - i have a smart phone - i own at least 15 cds - i share my room with someone

relationships - i am in a relationship - i have a crush on a celebrity - i have a crush on someone i know- i’ve been in at least 3 relationships - i have never been in a relationship - i have admitted my feelings to a crush - i get crushes easily - i have had a crush for over a year - i have been in a relationship for over a year - i have had feelings for a friend

random - i have break-danced - i know a person named jamie - i have had a teacher who has a name that is hard to pronounce - i have dyed my hair - i’m listening to a song on repeat right now - i have punched someone in the past week - i know someone who has gone to jail - i have broken a bone [the doctor said my wrist was just sprained, but it still gives me problems, years later, so I’m pretty sure it was broken. Based on my expert medical opinion]  - i have eaten a waffle today - i know what i want to do in life - i speak at least two languages - i have made a new friend in the past year

By: miniature-calendar

8 of the world’s most bizarre flowers:

1.) Swaddled Babies

2.) Flying Duck Orchid

3.) Hooker’s Lips Orchid

4.) Ballerina Orchid

5.) Monkey Orchid

6.) Naked Man Orchid

7.) Laughing Bumblebee Orchid

8.) White Egret Orchid

Orchids kinda don’t wanna be flowers, huh.

@m-periwinkle