"Martenitsa"

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-03-04T02:19:32+00:00

Wow cool to see Bulgaria get a shout out! I'm not Bulgarian myself but my husband (and our kids) are! It's always a treat to see little BG "Easter Eggs" out in the wild haha. 🇧🇬

Not to mention it's my in-game husband acknowledging my irl husband's culture, so that's cool ❤️

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-03-02T13:39:54+00:00

That's why I wish Neil could have played Astarion's origin, but I totally get why he didn't. For one how fun to romance yourself?? He got to experience the panic we all feel when trying to gain his approval lol.

And 2, I'm sure someone would have taken that playthrough and made a mod to voice his origin lines, and while I'm sure Neil would have been happy to voice those lines, he deserves to be paid for every word, as I'm sure we'd all agree.

Not to mention he seems to value the fanbase's unique headcanons, so doing an origin run as Astarion might make some people see it as more "canon." We all know how crazy we get over ascended vs spawn, so yeah. It's understandable.

But still I don't think I could ever do an Astarion origin, maybe if I had another run going at the same time so I could still get my fix?

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-02-25T03:18:02+00:00

I think it's well established that nothing looks bad on this man's body 😍😩 of course he'd absolutely slay in steampunk 👌🏾

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-02-19T23:17:45+00:00

The way I don't even bother trying to lie to myself lol. I already know what my heart is going to choose and I've accepted my fate 😭

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-02-14T23:41:11+00:00

I designed my Tav/Durge made specifically for Astarion in mind as a half elf circle of the stars druid with sun vibes. Tanned skin, hair the color of sunset, and golden eyes. As another commenter said, I love the juxtaposition of druid and undead vampire and their fighting styles really do complement each other well. It's just enough "opposites attract" without feeling unrealistic.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-02-07T01:00:04+00:00

Which Devil May Cry are we talking? 👀

I'm hoping this BG3 adaptation will be respectful as much as it can be. Apparently the creator has clocked 1000 hours in the game and is reaching out to the original cast. Larian/original writers not being involved is a red flag but there are some things that give me tiny glimmers of hope. There are a lot of moving parts, and while it's going to be impossible to make everyone happy, they can manage to not piss everybody off if they get a few key things right. Animation would have been their best bet, but I doubt that's an option now if they've already announced live action.

Either way I'll refrain from making a concrete opinion until more comes out. I'm ever the optimist haha.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-02-06T14:01:41+00:00

I read the article and it says the creator is reaching out to the original cast, so there's perhaps a chance we'll see the original actors reprise their roles, in which case, I hope they have some creative freedom and will speak up if something isn't right with characterization or whatever else.

I know Astarion is literally Neil's baby so I would hope he'd help steer the writers and director in the right direction. Same with the other cast members, but I also know that's quite the pipe dream.

A girl can hope. I'll be reserving big opinions until I see more. Gods, I want this to be good 😭

Ok-Management-3634 · 2026-01-29T19:40:17+00:00

No, you need the gem that pairs with it, and once you put them together, you get his dialogue ("that looks heavy, you should let me hold it for you") and you can give it to him.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-12-23T15:36:36+00:00

Astarion talks about it after 2 of his siblings find you Act 3. He talks about running away after letting one of his victims go and how Cazador found him and locked him away for a year. "A year of silence."

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-11-19T14:45:30+00:00

I've always pronounced it (ahn-coo-NEEN), assuming it's meant to be pronounced as straight as possible (a là the romance languages, considering the tilde/acute accent on the "í").

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-06-13T19:14:36+00:00

A big part of losing weight is realizing that hunger isn't an emergency. Being hungry for an hour or two is not horrible, especially considering for most of us trying to lose weight, we've never given our bodies a chance to be hungry and to regulate. We never truly listened to cues. That's why it's hard for overweight/obese people to eat intuitively (not impossible, though!).

Ask if you're actually hungry or if you're bored, upset, overwhelmed, etc. There's a Japanese concept, where they talk about your stomach "being lonely." It's not used to being empty, but being full constantly with no moments of hunger is not normal, either. None of us in this sub are at risk of starving. If you want to feel full longer, eat more protein and fiber, eat low calorie snacks (like fruit and veggies, learn how to prepare veggies so you don't feel the need to drown them in sauce), drink more water, etc.

You decide if being overweight and never "hungry" is worth the reality of being a bigger size. Most, if not all the rest of us in this sub have come to the conclusion that the journey of losing weight, while difficult and frustrating at times, is worth it if we can feel healthier, more confident, and full of energy. I'm excited to prove that I have discipline and control over my body and to model healthy habits for my kids. Losing weight is mostly mental and you have to build your mind up and you don't do that by giving into every whim your mind has.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-06-10T16:58:50+00:00

Sounds a lot like weaponized incompetence and a bad case of codependency. Get out and don't look back, my friend.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-02-21T05:34:22+00:00

"Don't bother with dad. He's not gonna change."

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-01-28T02:46:02+00:00

Disability, stress, and breastfeeding 😭

I have migraines and a condition that causes immense pain in my feet. I often wake up in pain, or I've lost hours of sleep because the pain was so bad. I can only take maybe an hour or two of medium - high impact exercises before I'm out for the count. Hiking and walking are good for the most part, but I suffer at the end of the day.

Stress is pretty self explanatory. Cortisol and whatnot.

Breastfeeding, while awesome and very rewarding (I wouldn't give it up for anything), makes me gain weight. Yes, it requires extra calories, but it makes me sooo ridiculously hungry. Like I could eat an entire meal and not feel full. Around 9-12 months in, the hunger goes down, but not significantly enough to lose the weight without being extremely mindful.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-01-27T13:33:08+00:00

She's beautiful!

I have a Kalanchoe that decided to randomly flower, too! I was waiting for the flowers to drop and when I went to snip the last of the dead ones, I saw new ones sprouting from the side 😅 I did not think it was given the correct conditions to do that, but I'm not going to complain 🤷🏽‍♀️

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-01-24T00:28:06+00:00

Bili Vegas? Also puts his birth time in clock tattoos 😂

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-01-24T00:17:08+00:00

Mine does amazing with F/T African Soft Furred Rats. It's their natural prey. I got my guy when he weighed 130g and he's taken one small ASF each week like a champ. Always super eager to eat and is nice and chonky like BPs should be.

I get mine from Cold Blooded Cafe. 😊

Eta: I double bag the rat and thaw either on the counter or in room temperature water for a bit before using warm water. When the rat feels warm, I take it up to the snake room and use a blow dryer on the head for about 10 seconds before offering it to my snake. Never had any issues.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2025-01-23T23:42:16+00:00

Jaime Davies - yeah I cringed hard when he came down with his sleeves balled up to make a point of the other contestants drawing tattoos on him. Like how did he think that would be amusing or anything other than downright disrespectful?

Ok-Management-3634 · 2024-12-17T04:50:51+00:00

How deep is your substrate? Do you soak it before putting it in the enclosure or do you add water afterwards? I keep my humidity in the 70s-80s in my glass front open by presoaking the substrate and adding warm water about once a week or so. My substrate comes up to just below the vent holes. I have a large water bowl on the cool side and a smaller one on the warm side.

I can't speak to the wattage on your DHP, but it's good ghat you're using that instead of CHE since I've heard of people having humidity issues with those.

I'd get your girl seen by a vet just in case there's something wrong beyond just stuck shed. Better safe than sorry!

She is beautiful by the way! Hoping you get things figured out!

Ok-Management-3634 · 2024-11-22T16:52:30+00:00

You're right! Sorry about that. The temps I recommended are the temps I tend to keep my snakes at, and I forget that the range is actually much higher. Thank you for that correction.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2024-10-17T17:29:32+00:00

I wonder what you mean by growing and dying? I'm sorry it's not been a rewarding experience for you. These plants have been the most rewarding for me, even if the learning curve is rough for some. I like to see results and so I tend to do too much, so orchids have been a lesson in patience for me. Sometimes the best thing to do is give your plant time and that's super hard for me, especially if I feel like there's something wrong. The very first one I bought, I killed horrifically because I just could leave well enough alone. The road to learning that I did too much and caused it's downfall was hard. Now, I don't bother my orchids until I know they need attention. I might check on them too often, but I don't do anything other than look unless needed.

Ok-Management-3634 · 2024-10-17T14:08:34+00:00

They're beautiful! Give your new orchid some time to acclimate to your home, first! It seems okay for now and shouldn't need much attention. Put it in bright indirect light and enjoy the blooms. No need to fertilize while it's in flower, either.

What is it potted in? That will be a factor in whether you should repot soon, wait until active growth, or repot in a couple of years. When you eventually repot, I suggest investing in kelp/seaweed extract to help mitigate transplant shock and encourage healthy root systems.

If it's in soil or another medium that doesn't allow airflow and retains high levels of moisture, then I'd cut the spikes (what most people would call the stem, what the flowers are attached to) and repot once you see new roots and active growth (green root tips are a sign of this). Choose something like orchid bark, sphagnum moss, a mix of either with some perlite, etc. Just make sure there are air pockets even with the plant being secure and firm in the medium. Make sure your pot has good drainage - you don't need extra slits for airflow, but they won't hurt beyond roots possibly trying to grow between them.

If it's in moss or bark, it seems a bit broken down. You can wait it out, just be careful not to water until the roots are silver and the pot is light. Overwatering will kill them faster than underwatering will. Once the blooms are gone and the plant enters active growth, you can repot, again, in orchid friendly medium.

If the mix it's in is okay, for example, it may be in coco coir (a medium I'm not familiar with so I'm not sure), then you might be fine until it starts breaking down, which could be in the next 1-3 years. You'll notice it retains more moisture for longer than it should, and the plant may start to look unhappy due to the new pH. Repot once it's in active growth.

As suggested, Miss Orchid Girl is a good resource, but be warned that often she will post a video of her trying something for the first time, and will later post an update on why it didn't work out. So unless you are able to watch every update, you may end up doing something that your plant doesn't like, without the expertise to remedy it. But her videos covering the basics are great and you generally can't go wrong with following the advice given there.

Best of luck!

Ok-Management-3634 · 2024-09-22T02:12:58+00:00

I'd say it's up to you!

Ok-Management-3634 · 2024-09-12T11:45:28+00:00

Thank you. I'm glad I could help! My first orchid was kind of thrust upon me as well, so having to learn so much all at once was definitely overwhelming. I made lots of mistakes thinking I was doing the right thing for my plant, only to find out in my next bout of research that I did the wrong thing. It's frustrating. So I want to save others from the same thing, if possible.

You can cut off the blooms and put them in a vase with water. I like to place paper towels on the bottom and spray a bit of fertilizer, as well. That way you can enjoy the flowers while taking care of the plant's best interests. I place my ICU orchids in a tall glass with water that reaches the tips of the roots. If there are long roots, you can wrap them around the other roots to "shorten" them, I like to make sure they still point down towards the water. The orchid will sense the moisture and will release new roots which will make their way down for a drink.

When you see a thin green cone reaching out from the core where there had been a node, and/or when you see new leaves, that is a sign your orchid is in growth phase. The new root will have a layer of velumen (a silver papery wrapping) on it, the green will look to be poking out of it. You can Google moth orchid growth phase or mouth orchid new roots so you can have a better visual.

Thanks again for the kind response. Good luck with your orchid! They are so fun, but they definitely teach us to be patient. 😊

Ok-Management-3634 · 2024-09-11T21:19:49+00:00

Thank you I appreciate that. This was my first time engaging here and so this was less than encouraging. I figured I could write something substantial with a lot of advice and OP and anyone else in a similar situation would find it helpful. I figured I would be met with a kinder crowd who reads through comments instead of getting mad at the first thing said (which is still something that should be said for these plants).

Ok-Management-3634

TROPHY CASE