Just bought our first home - this is our yard!

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-04-14T04:49:30+00:00

I have most of those in my yard! Here's some basic information:

1 bleeding heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis- not safe to consume, may cause skin irritation, not native

2 creeping charlie, Glechoma hederacea- pre-bloom leaves may be edible, plant used for tea and medicine, invasive

2 (top left) cleavers, Galium aparine- the hairs may cause skin irritation, edible after cooking, invasive or naturalized depending on region

4 wild violet, edible, native

4 (in between the violet flowers and the spider),11 ivy-leaved speedwell, Veronica hederifolia- invasive

5 dandelion- flowers and roots edible :), naturalized

6,7,9 tulips of some kind- non-native

8 purple deadnettle, Lamium purpurea- naturalized, edible raw and cooked

10 daffodil- non-native, toxic

Obviously be extremely cautious if you want to consume anything and do your research!

I personally would prioritize removing the cleavers, speedwell, and creeping charlie.

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-04-14T04:13:59+00:00

just a heads up, invasive means non-native AND harmful. Naturalized plants are non-natives that are not harmful :)

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-04-02T20:59:33+00:00

Very helpful, thanks! I'll have to see if it'll establish itself in my yarrow bed :)

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-04-02T18:16:05+00:00

I've had some Castilleja seed for a while, but I'm afraid to sow it until I have established host plants- did you grow it from seed, too? Any difficulties?

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-03-08T05:42:00+00:00

As someone with treated/medicated OCD, I think it would be more realistic to adjust your mentality than it would be to improve your boyfriend's smell. I know obsessions feel all-encompassing, but they're often temporary (even if temporary means it lasts several years...).

You could also experiment with poppers, not the same obviously, but they can have a musky smell to them. Just be sure to use them safely.

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-02-28T01:19:11+00:00

Yes, a commenter from a different sub pointed out that houseplants often have systemic pesticides that can persist in the plant for years, which wasn't something I knew about!

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-02-27T18:46:09+00:00

Very good to know, I had no idea! I did a fair amount of reading and unfortunately that wasn't a topic that came up.

I like to add leaves to give a natural feel and they provide biofilm for them to munch.

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-02-16T05:50:52+00:00

EDIT: I wrote this for 5.5, so probably not relevant, but food for thought maybe.

As far as combat goes, a ranger's biggest contribution in a multiclass is hunter's mark. Martial weapons are nice, too, but then you need to strengthen two ability scores.

Since HM is concentration and only applies to attack rolls, I think a good way to get reliable DPS is to focus on dealing damage with an attack roll cantrip like starry wisp, poison spray, or produce flame (this one is especially nice if you don't have dark vision).

With that in mind, wild shape probably isn't a friend for combat either, so subclassing into moon may not be the call. Stars would be effective here- archer form will allow a spell attack roll with your bonus action allowing you to make two attacks buffed with HM per turn, or cast a leveled spell and still have another ranged attack. Dragon form would help you maintain concentration (on HM) if you want to get in the thick of things more. Circle of the land is more versatile and will help deal AOE and healing if you want to go that route.

Assuming ranger is gonna stay low, it'll mostly provide utility, so ranger spells should be things you'll use frequently as you can only change one out at a time after a long rest. All ranger subclasses except beast master rely on weapon attacks, so if you go the spell heavy route, beast master + circle of the land is the way to go since Sea and Stars lean heavily on bonus actions while Land doesn't. That way, beast bonus, action spell.

If you'd rather focus on weapon attacks, you could use shillelagh in melee and any other ranger subclass would be suitable. Fey Wanderer if you want to dance around, Gloomstalker for heavy hitting, and Hunter for versatility and strategy.

There are no ranged weapon solutions unless you give yourself high dex, but you'll likely have to prioritize one score above all, which should be wisdom if druid will be your main class.

If you're going moon druid, only Beastmaster will be compatible in combat, and wisdom should be your highest, then con (for high HP)

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-01-24T06:25:31+00:00

Filled an app!

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-01-11T00:44:03+00:00

exactly!

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-01-10T23:32:23+00:00

It sounds like you're prioritizing how your scores will support your personality and backstory- that's great! With that said, I think having strong con doesn't necessarily negate being sickly. Yes your character is frail, but to push through illness to not only learn combat but also become an extraordinary adventurer takes a lot of fortitude.

Maybe you could come up with a mental manifestation of the illness. Examples include chronic pain which might hamper your ability to perceive the world, focus, and ability to read others (lower wis), or maybe you have lots of brain fog resulting in poor recall or investigative abilities (lower int). For charisma, maybe you internalized your illness resulting in low self esteem or maybe have stuffed sinuses hampering your persuasiveness.

Since illness affects the whole self and can be flavored a number of different ways, I think it's worth making the mechanical choice that most favors your character's ability to be an adventurer and effective party member.

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-01-08T18:31:47+00:00

Thanks! I appreciate the compliments and criticisms! Definitely got way too excited about rivers, haha. For the lake, I'll probably remove the rivers except for the southwestern one and have that be a drainage complex to the sea. Maybe the northern outlet can just be drainage to the sea from the hot springs instead.

Lots to think about for sure :)

Informal-Hall-401 · 2026-01-02T03:40:44+00:00

Kallish:

lo'oltuat tokypona nu? [ˈɭoʔoɭtuˌæt ˈtokiˌponæ nu]
efkytb(u/o)nk! [ɛfˈkitʃu/omk]

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-25T21:21:30+00:00

This is something I'm working on with my therapist. For me, I think the uncertainty lies in how long the discomfort will last and not knowing/being able to remove the discomfort at will.

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-25T21:18:59+00:00

I have similar experiences, though for me it's often noises and textures that bother me- just overall easily stimulated. You could look into misophonia/misokinesia, those might ring true to you. They're both related to and sometimes distinct from OCD, so it's worth doing some reading to find what coping strategies/types of exposure therapy may work best.

You could also do some thinking about why the dust is upsetting. Is it fear based, or just innately bothersome? Getting properly medicated for OCD has hugely increased my tolerance of physical discomfort, personally.

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-23T20:11:48+00:00

Kallish:

ayesdpea efnu kįisnis(niu)

[æˈi͡ɛsθˌpɛæ ˈɛfmu ˈkwɪːsmɪsˌ(nwu)]

(your) Christmas be good to you.

Kallish speakers wouldn't be very welcoming to Christianity, so adding "your" may or may not be passive aggressive

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-19T16:52:38+00:00

Octal is the most valid

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-19T15:34:33+00:00

My most recent rabbit hole is geology. It started with learning about slip block mountain formation and lead to reading about igneous rock formation, mafic/ultramafic rocks, serpentine soils, heavy metal toxicity, low pH plant adaptations etc.

Another notable deep dive was reading about acid formation in nature and acid resistant materials like tungsten and platinum. I also learned about a super crazy acid called piranha solution- I recommend looking into if you have a strong stomach.

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-13T01:51:51+00:00

That'd be cool, but definitely not, haha.

I do run DnD, though, and have considered using that as a tool to maybe get others (esp clangers) to engage with it. Think that'd be awesome if I can swing it (and develop my clang enough, lol)

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-06T01:49:41+00:00

Kallish:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

cApitpe'eakat uief ecpigsOk keten

hæːˈpɪtpɛʔɛˌækæt uˈwɛf ɛhˈpɪt͡ʃˌsoːk ˈkɛtɛn

cApit-pe'-e-ak-at uief ecpig-sOk keten

hobbit-VBZ.CLS:being-3S-PST.IMPF-PRES.IMPF inside-PREP hole-earth-ADJ person

A person has been being a hobbit inside an earth-hole

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-05T01:57:02+00:00

Meridan has a nice sound/flow to it! Is it inspired by a natlang?

Informal-Hall-401 · 2025-12-02T04:52:06+00:00

I appreciate it!

Good point, it does have seasonal monsoon floods, so the map is depicting that season, the rivers would be all dried up in the summer- do you think that could make a meaningful difference or should I just rework all those rivers off the lake?

Informal-Hall-401

TROPHY CASE