Plants for Garden in the French Pyrenees
May. 19th, 2025 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
donut_donut posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
little_detailsHi! I'm writing a novel that takes place in the French Pyrenees (modern day), and I'm trying to figure out what plants to place in this fictional garden.
More info:
The novel takes place at a villa owned by a middle-aged bohemian lady who moved there from Paris maybe a decade ago. Gardening is her hobby. In the back of the house is a potager (vegetable garden), and I've got that covered. But the front of the house has a flower garden, and I don't know so much about that.
It doesn't need to be plants that are native to the region, but it has to be plausible that they would be available and could thrive there. It's summertime (late July-August), and I would like there to be flowers, because we often see her pruning the old blooms. I assume rose bushes would work, but I would love some other options to work with. I've been picturing something like hydrangeas or rhodedendrons, but I don't know how common they are in this environment.
Some kind of ornamental tree would also be nice, for a character cry under. A flowering tree or large bush would be nice but not necessary.
She has somewhat offbeat tastes, so anything off the beaten track would be great, but it has to make sense for the climate.
Thank you!
More info:
The novel takes place at a villa owned by a middle-aged bohemian lady who moved there from Paris maybe a decade ago. Gardening is her hobby. In the back of the house is a potager (vegetable garden), and I've got that covered. But the front of the house has a flower garden, and I don't know so much about that.
It doesn't need to be plants that are native to the region, but it has to be plausible that they would be available and could thrive there. It's summertime (late July-August), and I would like there to be flowers, because we often see her pruning the old blooms. I assume rose bushes would work, but I would love some other options to work with. I've been picturing something like hydrangeas or rhodedendrons, but I don't know how common they are in this environment.
Some kind of ornamental tree would also be nice, for a character cry under. A flowering tree or large bush would be nice but not necessary.
She has somewhat offbeat tastes, so anything off the beaten track would be great, but it has to make sense for the climate.
Thank you!
To the surprise of everyone, especially myself, I really like the Murderbot adaptation so far!
May. 18th, 2025 09:49 amlizbeeYou can read my thoughts (along with spoilery stuff for TLoU and Andor) in my newsletter, but to save you scrolling past a lot of spoilers for other things, I'll also pop them here.
( Here's a cut! )
Murderbot first two eps, no spoilers
May. 16th, 2025 06:05 pmcesyJust seen first two episodes of Murderbot. It is not a perfect representation of the books in my head, but it seems reasonable within the constraints of a TV adaptation. I love it and will now go and re-read the book.
princessofgeeks has a more detailed post with spoilers.
princessofgeeks has a more detailed post with spoilers.Bruises sustained while kickboxing: pain level, realistic causes, healing time
May. 14th, 2025 01:28 pmneveryourgirl posting in little_detailsHi everyone,
MCU fanfic writer here! I need some advice on bruises and non-serious gym injuries/injuries from sparring or the like. Especially people with medical and/or martial arts backgrounds, please weigh in!
Character context: two non-superpowered hero characters (think Hawkeye or Black Widow), both are women, the injured character is in her early to mid-20s and has trained in different martial arts since she was a preteen
Scene context: It's basically a sex scene. Character A and B are long-distance and haven't seen each other in a while. Character A pulls up the other’s shirt and finds a fading bruise on her stomach. Character A asks about it. Character B replies that it’s a gym injury, because she got distracted during a kickboxing class. (The distraction was that she kept remembering a sex dream from the night before.) The moment is supposed to function as a brief interruption. It's basically 'not a big deal,' because they are both used to worse injuries, but it still makes character A pause, because like, Babe, why do you have a bruise I don't know about?
Injury details I've included: I described the bruise as “fading” and a “yellow-green mark.” It “hurt like a bitch” the first few days, but she can barely feel it now.
Timeframe-wise, I’m thinking the injury happened maybe two weeks ago, but I could change that. It’s not actually mentioned on page.
I have a feeling some of my details might be off? I did look up the different visual stages of bruises healing, but I have zero medical background, and all I know about kickboxing I learned from my google research.
So, my questions now are:
1. Does this injury make sense within the martial arts/kickboxing context? Is the bruising and pain level realistic? Or am I over- or underestimating it?
2. Does the timeframe make sense?
3. Would what I imagine as a kick to the stomach leave a bruise like that without causing more serious damage? Like, would the force necessary to leave a bruise also cause other injuries?
If this combo of injury and cause of injury doesn’t work, I’d also love to hear alternative suggestions if you have any!
Of course, this is Marvel, so there’s some major leeway since we repeatedly see characters without superpowers be kicked or fall from questionable heights and get back up again. But I really like to have my medical facts be as accurate as possible. (And if I feel the need to deviate, I at least want to know the factual realities I’m intentionally deviating from.)
MCU fanfic writer here! I need some advice on bruises and non-serious gym injuries/injuries from sparring or the like. Especially people with medical and/or martial arts backgrounds, please weigh in!
Character context: two non-superpowered hero characters (think Hawkeye or Black Widow), both are women, the injured character is in her early to mid-20s and has trained in different martial arts since she was a preteen
Scene context: It's basically a sex scene. Character A and B are long-distance and haven't seen each other in a while. Character A pulls up the other’s shirt and finds a fading bruise on her stomach. Character A asks about it. Character B replies that it’s a gym injury, because she got distracted during a kickboxing class. (The distraction was that she kept remembering a sex dream from the night before.) The moment is supposed to function as a brief interruption. It's basically 'not a big deal,' because they are both used to worse injuries, but it still makes character A pause, because like, Babe, why do you have a bruise I don't know about?
Injury details I've included: I described the bruise as “fading” and a “yellow-green mark.” It “hurt like a bitch” the first few days, but she can barely feel it now.
Timeframe-wise, I’m thinking the injury happened maybe two weeks ago, but I could change that. It’s not actually mentioned on page.
I have a feeling some of my details might be off? I did look up the different visual stages of bruises healing, but I have zero medical background, and all I know about kickboxing I learned from my google research.
So, my questions now are:
1. Does this injury make sense within the martial arts/kickboxing context? Is the bruising and pain level realistic? Or am I over- or underestimating it?
2. Does the timeframe make sense?
3. Would what I imagine as a kick to the stomach leave a bruise like that without causing more serious damage? Like, would the force necessary to leave a bruise also cause other injuries?
If this combo of injury and cause of injury doesn’t work, I’d also love to hear alternative suggestions if you have any!
Of course, this is Marvel, so there’s some major leeway since we repeatedly see characters without superpowers be kicked or fall from questionable heights and get back up again. But I really like to have my medical facts be as accurate as possible. (And if I feel the need to deviate, I at least want to know the factual realities I’m intentionally deviating from.)
Mapping of multiple in-game planets
May. 12th, 2025 01:52 pmisostone posting in little_detailsHello! I'm currently working on a project for a character who is a amateur (but enthusiastic) cartographer. They exist in the world of Outer Wilds, a game with multiple simulated planets(none more than a few kilometers in diameter). The simulated planets each have their own gimmicks (i.e Brittle Hollow, a hollow planet with a black hole in the center. Its crust falls into the black hole during gameplay, and most of what you can explore is under the crust).
How might I go about mapping these places in a way that'd be accurate and believable in the sense that my character could have drawn them up while exploring? What sort of notes should I be taking?
How might I go about mapping these places in a way that'd be accurate and believable in the sense that my character could have drawn them up while exploring? What sort of notes should I be taking?
Theobromine/chocolate poisoning in a human-bird hybrid character
May. 9th, 2025 02:08 pmbluerosekatie posting in little_detailsHello!
I have been looking into chocolate toxicity as it occurs in birds, since I want to write a scene where a human character with significant amounts of bird DNA tries chocolate and regrets it. I'm not planning on killing her, but I do want to figure out an accurate amount of chocolate to give her for it to make sense. Looking at the treatment methods, I would probably want a milder case of theobromine poisoning but enough to be a close call, if that makes sense. How much chocolate do you think she'd need to have, and what would be the proper course of treatment?
I have been looking into chocolate toxicity as it occurs in birds, since I want to write a scene where a human character with significant amounts of bird DNA tries chocolate and regrets it. I'm not planning on killing her, but I do want to figure out an accurate amount of chocolate to give her for it to make sense. Looking at the treatment methods, I would probably want a milder case of theobromine poisoning but enough to be a close call, if that makes sense. How much chocolate do you think she'd need to have, and what would be the proper course of treatment?
Pope Crave
May. 9th, 2025 08:31 amnarahtHalf the story around the election of a new Pope has been about the election of the new Pope (with JD Vance a side feature), but the other half seems to be around the sudden emergence of Pope fandom. Or Conclave fandom if you want to be precise.
Rolling Stone: ‘POPE CRAVE’ MEME ARTIST EXPLAINS HOW ‘CONCLAVE’ FAN ACCOUNT BECAME A REAL VATICAN NEWS FEED
Time: How Pope Crave Went From Conclave to the Conclave
My favorite exchange from the latter:
If I ever publish this novel of mine and get interviewed about it, this is going to be me: "When I was thirteen I watched the film Apollo 13. I did not like it a normal amount."
Rolling Stone: ‘POPE CRAVE’ MEME ARTIST EXPLAINS HOW ‘CONCLAVE’ FAN ACCOUNT BECAME A REAL VATICAN NEWS FEED
Time: How Pope Crave Went From Conclave to the Conclave
My favorite exchange from the latter:
TIME: Who is behind the Pope Crave account? How many admins? How many correspondents?Because although this may have surprised other people, you and I and everyone on Dreamwidth knows that if you were wondering what type of person would create a 100+ page charity zine about Conclave and then accidentally become a worldwide media fandom phenomenon, an international human rights attorney and an art historian turned film and TV artist are exactly the people you would expect. I'm only surprised there's not an archivist or librarian in the mix somewhere.
Susan Bin: I'm the lead admin behind Pope Crave. I'm the one with the password. There's another admin who helped co-edit the zine that we worked on. She is involved in queer Catholic ministry. She also is an international human rights attorney, so that's why she doesn't want to be publicly associated with cardinal memes. But she's the person who actually knows cardinals at the conclave. I'm an artist. I work in film and TV. I have a background in Catholicism. I'm not Catholic. My background is more from an art historian and archeological perspective. When I was in college, I studied Greek Myths on Roman Sarcophagi (with Professor Ruth Bielfeldt), and followed that trajectory to visual iconography of these narratives on Early Christian sarcophagi with a focus on Papal Sarcophagi (repurposing Greek Myths as Christian myths). Under Professor Christine Smith, I looked into the recordkeeping of the original placements of the Papal tombs from Old St. Peters to New St. Peters.
Long story short, Bin wound up on the Vatican beat because she really, really likes the Oscar-winning 2024 film Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, which is about the palace intrigue and power struggles that arise when cardinals are convened in Rome to elect a new pope. “I mean, you probably liked it a normal amount,” she says. “I did not like it a normal amount.”This is just good for my soul. I identify. Oh fandom, never change.
If I ever publish this novel of mine and get interviewed about it, this is going to be me: "When I was thirteen I watched the film Apollo 13. I did not like it a normal amount."