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cosmos-coma · 2 days

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Glass Desks

A/N: Just a silly little scene I've had in my head for bit now since I work as an occasional house cleaner to try and get by. I got surprised by someone coming in on my last clean and just had to turn it into something.

Pairing: Mafia! Bucky Barnes x House Cleaner! Reader

Words: 1,055

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A sigh escaped Bucky as he ran a hand down his face. He was supposed to have meetings all day today- ones important enough that he’d rearranged everything around them- yet within the first two hours something had already come up and his associates were forced to reschedule.

“Hey, boss? We’re here…” Sam said from the driver’s seat, pulling him out of his thoughts and making him look up at the large empty house before him.

His empty house.

He wouldn’t trade his line of work for the world, truly, but between both the secretive and potentially violent nature of his job, it didn’t exactly leave much room for pleasant company.

He sighed again as he stepped out, “Thanks Sam…. That should be all for today, but I’ll call if I need you.” He said and patted the roof twice before it pulled away.

Making his way up the stairs toward the entrance, all seemed normal at first glance- that is until he spotted an unfamiliar car parked around the side.

It was an old car, parked out of the way in the shade- not quite a beater- but they definitely didn’t make its model anymore. It was non-descript and would blend in with a crowd if needed, but more importantly: it wasn’t one of his.

He moved toward the door with far quieter steps now, listening intently for the intruders. Multiple voices came from inside as if trying to talk over each other in layered tones. Chairs and doors clunked and creaked as they were moved about, followed by the moving voices- were people searching for something?

Instinctively his hand found the gun in his jacket. ‘Sam didn’t say anything as he left… Did he really not notice the car? No-Sam was one of his best men… Maybe he already knew they were here..?’ Bucky thought.

Either way, he wasn’t taking any chances; his fingers closed around the gun’s handle as he cracked open the door, the weapon a comfortable and familiar weight in his hand. His steps were silent as he entered, their practiced paces unknown to anyone but him.

However, instead of finding an enemy gang searching for secrets he found…. You.

You were hard at work in your own little world as you went about cleaning the second floor. You bobbed and sang along to the music emanating from your back pocket, your voice layering over the original as the rags half tucked in your belt swayed with you. The mobster couldn’t help but crack a smile.

He had completely forgotten. Usually, on days when he was meant to be out of the house for hours on end, you would be scheduled to come clean. But apparently, no one had informed you about the change of plans.

You had been hired on as his house cleaner a few months ago, helping him keep things together while work kept him endlessly busy. But despite having been on the payroll for a while now, he still hadn’t found the time to officially meet you- that is, until now.

He couldn’t deny that you looked… rather silly if he was being honest, but your unparalleled passion only made it all the more endearing. His head shook with a faint smile as he watched as you moved into his office. Shutting the door behind him with a soft click, he was halfway up the second-floor stairs when he heard you suddenly break away from your song.

“Ugh…,” you sighed loudly to yourself, still thinking you were the only one in the room, “what kind of an asshole has a glass desk? I mean, really- Do you have stock in Windex? Is that what it is???” You asked snarkily to no one in particular, but this was too good for Bucky to pass up.

“Not yet. Should I?” The mobster found himself biting back his laughter as he leaned against the office doorway behind you.

“At this rate? You should really-“Your mouth clamped shut faster than it ever had before, your entire body freezing on the spot as his response finally processed. Your eyes were wide as saucers as your thoughts ran on a panicked loop ‘Oh no, oh god, oh shit, oh fuck. you really just had to insult the infamous White Wolf of New York… In his own home… In front of his own men… Are you STUPID??’ you yelled at yourself internally and quickly put on a brave face, turning off your music and turning to the unfamiliar voice behind you.

Your stomach nearly dropped as you realized it was not only “one of his men” it was, THE man. You instantly recognized him from the few photos scattered around the house; the sharp stubbly jaw and blazing blue eyes were unmistakable, not to mention the hint of the metallic arm you caught between his suit sleeve and glove. You couldn’t deny he was handsome- even more so in person than he was in his photos.

“Mr. Barnes…!” Your voice squeaked out, but he just held his same amused smile, looking anything but upset. “I, uh… I thought you had meetings all day today- I didn’t mix up the date, did I..?”

“Not at all…” he said with a quiet laugh. “My meetings got rescheduled part way though, so I thought I’d spend the evening working from home. Little did I know it’d be the perfect place to get financial advice too.”

Your face burned with embarrassment as you relived the very recent moment yet again, “Right, uh, about the whole ‘asshole’ thing, I-”

But he simply waved you off, “Don’t. It’s refreshing to get an authentic opinion, and honestly? I don’t even like that desk.” He admitted, his heart stirring in new ways as your whole body relaxed and he could finally see you as you usually were, “and, ah… if you wanted to stay for a while, I sure wouldn’t mind the company- I could use a little advice in the stock market.”

You bit your lip to hold back your grin, you wouldn’t get too ahead of yourself, “Oh, me? I don’t know if I’d really be suitable company while I’m cleaning.”

A thought seemed to pass over him then as he nodded in agreement, “Hm, you’re right..” he smiled, “Perhaps we should just have dinner then… how’s tonight?”

______

General Bucky Taglist:

@writingmysanity @simpxinnie @goldylions

If I missed or accidentally tagged you lmk! Wanna be added General Bucky taglist? Please ask/DM me!

#I want to do more mafia bucky eventually but it probably won’t follow the same characters #same reader I mean #mafia!bucky #mafia!bucky barnes x reader #mob au #bucky fic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #james bucky barnes x you #james bucky barnes x y/n #james bucky barnes x reader #bucky imagine #bucky barnes imagine #james barnes x y/n #james barnes x you #james buchanan barnes x reader #james barnes x reader #James

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dr3amofagame · 3 days

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thinking about c!dream earlier on in the server just makes me sad man. like, c!dream has never been a perfect character. he's always been flawed, always been a bit of an asshole, always had control issues. but also he knew that. he tried to work on that. he and tommy were friends, despite being flawed people with their own issues that would bump into conflicts because of the ways that they differed. c!dream tried, god, he tried; he wasn't even on the server, when the drug van happened, and walked into a place with someone who was practically a stranger to him building a wall and calling for war and having turned half the people dream knew against him, apparently, for no reason that he could've known at the time, and he had looked straight at tommy and tubbo and asked if that was what they really wanted when wilbur told them that there was no such thing as dual citizenship. he tells tommy when he has to sell a disc for spirit's leather even though tommy had surrendered the discs to him at the end of the revolution because he knows it'll matter to him. he and tommy truce, multiple times, and c!dream gets tangled into conflicts that literally don't involve him repeatedly and gets targeted Because He's Dream repeatedly and he plays along with that trivia contest and he gives gifts to fundy and tommy after terrorizing them a little for fun and he plays along with the dreamon thing and he keeps getting pulled into fights that weren't his but tries to make them a little more fair when they get him involved. he fucks around with tommy and they have fun, they're friends, and when he and wilbur look like they're in danger dream is one of the first to find them and lend them real, practical, valuable aid. he calls himself "Big D" in that book and he tells the man that wrote him as a tyrant that he doesn't want to be a villain in the story anymore. he asks tommy if he's okay, and watches that kid's back when he walks alone and unarmed into manberg, and fights with him at the battle of the lake and all of that is thrown back in his face as being a lie. half the intial community structures that exist were built by him; the community house, the nether portal and hub, the prime path. during a time where every other piece of leverage got burned or killed (rip the casualties of the pet war), dream was kind of known for being one that could be fairly traded with, that would minimize permanent damage. the kills in the final control room were originally to strip lmanburg of their gear, which he had kept in a chest so it could be returned to them after the war.

like no c!dream isn't perfect at the beginning of the server. yes he's kind of a jerk sometimes, kind of an asshole sometimes, kind of neurotic most of the time. but god dammit like c!dream does try to mitigate the worst of his control issues, when they flare up early on; the initial disc war ends with tommy getting his discs back as well as a stack of diamonds, in exchange for a netherite chestplate. he's a flawed character and he's still someone pretty friendly on the whole to most of the server, he's also kind of just known for being a little weird. he gives gifts randomly. he fixed creeper holes, and houses, and went along with bits. like whatever im a c!drolo c!dream woobifier and i admit it lol but for as much evil as he ends up doing, pretty damn consistently early on, he's . friendly? kind? funny? helpful? their neighbor. their friend. c!dream isn't just some stranger that flew off the handle; he's someone they knew and lived with who had his actions taken in bad faith because the goddamn story said so and kept fucking trying anyway until he believed the lie too. like he was just a guy!! a guy they knew and lived with!!! like my god

#this is not coherent but #alsjdfaks;jf;j #like maybe i sound deranged when i say this but he was literally just a good dude #not a perfect person definitely an asshole sometimes and how violence and such gets redefined when you look back #makes this all a bit messier considering people kind of killed each other a lot back then bc respawns meant nothing #but. he was literally like. like he was just a normal guy who actually tried pretty damn hard to be good to the people he cared about #and SPOILER ALERT !!! HE KIND OF CARED ABT MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON THE SERVER AT THAT POINT

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capfalcon · 2 days

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i love the leverage offices, each and every season, because of what they represent and how they change the crew.

in LA, the city is very much featured. i actually had the joy of presenting a court case next to the leverage building, and i love the 12 step episode because it reminds me of my city. but in terms of the crew, it's high octane. lots of big corporations, lots of stunts and cool tricks. the office is sleak and dark and sort of exactly what you'd expect from a bunch of high priced thieves hidden offices. it also symbolizes their relationships. they're coworkers, right now, part of a crew, something sort of getting close to a family. i loved the taco details in the hurley episode tho, im from LA and tacos are pretty much the first thing i get whenever im anywhere in the vicinity.

and then the second office is so good!!!!!!!! the bar and nate's apartment. and i love this, especially when nate is sober in season 2, because the bar is literally like a manifestation of his demons and his choices. like elliot said, very catholic. but the fact that the crew work in his home, that's a really big step. they've become his genuine family, food in his fridge, using his shower, etc etc. and he's embraced his part in this crew more and more, doing these jobs sober, not just in pain and drunk.

the bar is also just a gorgeous setup, and boston is a beautiful city. i think it lets them sort of play with the old school charm of boston, and it's a much cozier environment, the couches rather than office chairs, nate's kitchen in the background. it also lets sophie and nate's relationship sort of blossom without having to create a new set (nate's apartment) because we already know he lives there. plus with all the jobs they do in boston, police, loan sharks, etc, it's such a perfect setup. in the bottle job, the bar is actually a real character, it has a place in the con, it's traded over.

and then portland, oh my god. such a beautiful city and i think it suited their final run well. hardison got to build his restaurant and elliot cooks for it, parker settles in and makes more friends, sophie and nate are actually together. the big bird job is so fun in portland, as well as the corkscrew job. the seasons grow and change with the setting, and i love each one of them, and what it means for the crew.

#AHHHH #leverage #nate ford #elliot spencer #alec hardison #sophie devereaux #parker

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veilishkyow · 3 days

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Wish Upon A Star, Stargazer Azul!

PROMPT: Azul fulfilling his duties as this year’s stargazer.

Words: 1.6K words

DISCLAIMER! My horrible description of Kalim teaching Azul how to dance (I took what I saw from the rhythm part of the event!) ++ Possible OOC characters?

— < ++ > —

I am a contributor to @twst-charity ! And here is a commission for @twsted-seas !! ^_^ i hope you enjoy this little work i’ve made in the midst of crazy exams @_@

:: VIP ROOM ::

It was the Starsending, the day in which students around NRC would be bestowed a wishing star. This year, headmaster Crowley had tasked Azul and a few others with collecting the wishing stars around the campus in any possible way he could.

Azul sighed as he rested his forehead on the palm of his hand . “My my," he chuckled. “The headmaster surely knows how to burden his students, alright..”

“Haha, does it trouble you, Azul?” Jade let out his signature chuckle as he held his chin between his thumb and his index finger. Floyd groaned, obviously bored with all of this. “Come onnn~” He let out an exaggerated sigh as he hunched over. “Why’d we ‘ave to get involved ?”

“Indeed, the headmaster has quite the odd picking.. Especially seeing how Azul still has to oversee the lounge while handling this task as well. I mean.. Collecting the individual stars.. Practicing the dancing..” Jade squinted his eyes as he chuckled.

That seemed to make Floyd be in a.. Better mood. “Aha ha! Azul, doing the silly dance?!” He grinned as he fixed his posture, his hand on his waist.

Azul could only sigh in exasperation as he shook his head. Right.. He had to fulfill other duties aside from collecting the stars. Perhaps he should ask the other starsenders this year?

– TIMESKIP –

:: CAFETERIA ::

Azul walked along the cafeteria, searching for someone in particular. His eyes scanned the crowded room and eventually landed on a particular hyena with sandy brown hair.

“Shishishi, told you I could do it, now hand over the goods!” Ruggie was talking with a random Heartslabyul student who handed the hyena madol before leaving.

“Ruggie!” Azul called out to him as the hyena beastman jumped, not expecting him to call out to him.

Ruggie looked at Azul with a sigh and a grin. “Got another odd job for me?” He asked Azul, turning on his heel and looking at Azul.

“Not this time,” Azul gave him a closed eye smile as he pushed his glasses up with his middle finger. “I was merely looking for you to ask, what are you going to do to collect the wishing stars?”

“Shishishi.. Now, if you want to know the trade secret.. You have to pay up!” The hyena beastman chuckled as Azul sighed. “Very well.” He handed madol to Ruggie as he grinned.

“Well, I’ve just been doing typical dirty work for it.” Ruggie replied calmly. “But I doubt you’d get your hands dirty for it! Shishishi!”

Azul seemed to take in Ruggie’s comment before nodding. Perhaps he should ask Rook..

— TIMESKIP —

:: POMEFIORE LOUNGE ::

“Roi d’Effort!” Rook greeted Azul with his signature smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Rook,” Azul greeted the huntsman back. “I was simply going around asking the starsenders picked for this year on how they’re going around collecting the wishing stars!”

“Oh! Well, I have been getting them with quite ease! Nobody can truly hide their wishes from a hunter!”

Azul sweatdropped as he heard it before clearing his throat, “Well, that’s one way to put it.. Thank you. Rook.”

– TIMESKIP -

:: VIP ROOM ::

Azul was in the VIP room, sitting on his desk as he wrote on the parchment in front of him. He was thinking of ways to collect the wishing stars whilst looking over contract details regarding the lounge. Multitasking! Azul sighed as he leaned back.

Azul would continue to go around, looking for the rest of the starsenders, they all gave him their own ways on obtaining the wishes.

That put Azul into thought.. A thought appeared in his head, similar to a lightbulb lighting up. Every single stargazer he’s asked has given him an answer in which they all got the wishes in their own way.

So, he too should get it in his own way, right?

:: MOSTRO LOUNGE ::

The next day, Azul announced that the lounge will be having a 10% discount to whoever gives their wishing star to him.

“To everyone who hands over their wishing star to me. Will be getting a 10% discount off of any item on the menu! Only available for those who share their wishes.”

How come you didn’t think of this earlier? You’re a genius, Azul. He thought to himself.

As the day came closer to nightfall, Azul sighed, finally. He had collected most of the stars around campus. He chuckled to himself as he looked over the sale reports. Excellent. Jade walked into the room with Floyd following behind.

“Haha, it seems that we have more sales today than on any other typical day.” Jade hands over the sale reports of the day to Azul.

“More sales on a typical day means more work.” Floyd huffed as he put his hands into his pants pockets’. “It was allll soooo boringggggg!” Floyd complained, drawing his words out longer.

Azul nodded as he looked over the sale reports. He was lost in thought as he looked over it, silencing Floyd and Jade’s talking, until Jade called out to him directly.

“Azul, when will you begin practicing the dance?” Jade asked, his signature smile on his face as he closed his eyes. It was spoken with a playful tone. “Oh! Ya! Totally forgot ‘bout it! So, when will you practice?” Floyd continued, a grin on his face as he imagined what Azul would look like dancing.

Azul looked at them as he panicked slightly, though he didn’t show it. He coughed into his fist. “Ahem.. Well, I’ve scheduled a practice with.. Kalim..!” He totally lied, but it wouldn’t be so hard convincing Kalim to help him.

– TIMESKIP –

:: SCARABIA LOUNGE ROOM ::

“And that’s why I need your help, Kalim, you certainly know a thing or two about dancing. So, could you help me?” Azul was in Scarabia’s dorm. Talking to the housewarden, Kalim.

“Hahaha! Of course I can!” Kalim answered enthusiastically, his hands on his waist as he let out a big toothy smile. Jamil, who was beside him, sighed out in exasperation as he face-palmed. “You still have things to do, Kalim.”

Azul slightly deflated at that– He totally forgot about Jamil, he’d certainly want Kalim to focus on other things. And it wasn’t hidden that the vice-housewarden had quite the distaste for the scheming housewarden of Octavinelle.

“Oh! C’mon, Jamil! Azul’s our friend!”

But of course, Kalim would ignore any important task if it meant helping out a friend of his.

“Your friend, maybe..” Jamil sighed as he rolled his eyes. “Come on, Kalim..” his hand on his waist while the other was resting against his forehead. Before Jamil even knew it, Kalim was already telling Azul of all the different techniques he’d have to learn before learning the actual dance.

“Astaghfirullah.. Allah keeps testing my patience today..” Jamil mumbled under his breath, sighing. Knowing that Kalim had already decided what he’d have to do for the rest of the day.

– TIMESKIP –

:: WOODS BEHIND CAMPUS - ANCIENT TREE ::

“Like this–?” Azul was cut off as he fell, an annoyed sigh leaving him. He just couldn’t keep up with Kalim.. Perhaps it’s because Azul had never danced, with two feet or even back when he was in the coral sea. “I don’t know how you’re able to do all this Kalim.. Especially while keeping that upbeat expression and that enthusiasm of yours..”

Kalim could only let out a laugh as he pulled Azul up by the arm. “Come on! It’s simply, first.. You do this, then this!” Kalim first moved his leg and feet, making it so that his left foot would nearly be touching her right leg before doing it reversed and repeating around two to three times. “One, two, three!” Azul watched and copied his exact movements in a sloppy manner, but it was still something!

“I don’t understand why I have to do all these movements one at a time..” Azul sighed, he could be in the VIP room by now, filling out documents and such when Jamil interrupted his thoughts. “It’s good to practice your leg movement before moving to focus on your arm movements then combining the two.”

Azul sighed before moving his gaze back at Kalim who was ready to do another set of movements. “And then, you do this, Azul!” Kalim swung his right leg a little bit out while jumping a little, he grinned as Azul followed his manner. “That’s right!”

After a few more tries, Azul got less sloppier and did it much more cleanly.

“Now! Onto arm movements!!”

Azul sighed as Kalim seemed to be rather enthusiastic about it. Had he really not broken a sweat through this entire ordeal? Before they could move onto the next practice of movements, Jalim entered the room.

“Why don’t you take a break first? I’m sure Azul and you have exhausted yourselves, Kalim.” Jamil walked in with a basket filled with nutritious food and drinks to replenish their energies.

“Oh wow! Thanks Jamil!”

“I.. Indeed, thank you, Jamil.”

– THE DAY OF THE STARS SENDING CEREMONY –

:: WOODS BEHIND CAMPUS - ANCIENT TREE ::

Azul sighed as he saw the amount of people in front of the tree. You have worked long hours, practicing, perfecting this!

Along with his fellow star-senders, he steps in front of the crowd and they begin their star-sending performance.

“Woah! Look, Jamil! Azul’s really doing it!” Kalim seemed excited, knowing his help had paid off. “Hmp, he really is..” Jamil could only let out a small smirk.

– TIMESKIP –

:: VIP ROOM ::

Days had gone by since the star-sending ceremony. Azul looked over the reports from the last few weeks and this week, he had noticed a surge in the sale reports. Was it due to the discount? Nono, of course not. Or perhaps his wish did come true, for Mostro Lounge to blossom even more.

He chuckled, looking at the papers with a grin. “Now this.. This is a star-sending miracle!”

#azul ashengrotto #azul #twisted wonderland #twst #twst azul #twisted wonderland azul #twisted wonderland fic #not an x reader

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stelladess · 1 day

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On power creep, card games (mostly as an example) and gacha. Also how to prioritize what characters/cards to try and get. Kinda felt the discussion around power creep in the context of gacha is often kind of... incendiary and not very helpful, we are all here to have a good time.

So, this was mostly some stuff I have been thinking about in relation to Arknights, because I do not play Star Rail as seriously and play no other gachas then those two. I have played the yu-gi-oh card game since I was a little kid (some of my earliest memories is learning the game from my brothers or playing Kaiba the revenge on PC) so I am coming at this from a primarily TCG perspective and with the prior background of "has played game which has been made unrecognizable by power creep, and still loved playing it." So obviously, this already predisposes me to not see power creep as the biggest deal.

So... first of all, the incentives that causes power creep! Well this is pretty straightforward, the way a trading card game or a gacha makes money is by making you want to spend money on new cards/characters. You also need to have a solid team or deck as a whole, usually you cannot just brute force your way on a single powerful card or character. As a result to prevent players from just getting one strong team/deck and then never updating again is why we end up with power creep, since the option of just outright banning cards tends to piss people off even more and is straight up not a thing they do in gacha games. As a result, since players will usually not want to spend money/pulls on a character who will not improve their team/deck, especially when its so often chance based what you even get, it means that to make people keep pulling packs you gotta upgrade the power over time of new units. Generally the developers want to keep this at a slower pace, since it feels bad if someone gets a great character/card and then one month later they are weak, and if people feel like what they put in do not pay off they will not keep playing. But occasionally there are bigger bursts of power creep to kind of bring the state of the game to a new level, often brought on by accidentally making something too strong, at least that is how I think this goes from my experience. But for example, if when Typhon came out her damage was worse or just on par with Rosa, how many would have pulled for her? Sure you´d get some who would because they like her story, personality, design, etc. But not that many would have if we are being completely honest here.

This is not to say that power creep cannot be a problem, especially if too severe, as already touched on earlier it feels really bad when your favorites no longer hold up. I just want to highlight that it is an inherent part of the game that cannot really be avoided. It can also add a big pressure to feel like you have to keep up by getting all the new characters or cards, which can cause a lot of stress due to the random nature of who you get. Which is where the other thing I wanted to talk about comes in....

You do not need every strong or limited character. And in fact you wont use most of them because you have finite team space. In a trading card game you focus in on a playstyle you like, or a few if its affordable enough, and then focus on building and enhancing those instead of getting every good card in the game. I think this is the healthiest way to view it in a gacha too. Prioritize who suits your playstyle and your team, or to fill weak spots you got (or you just like as a character of course). You do not need all the top tier characters in the game. You can skip multiple top tier characters in fact and still do just fine, these games are not balanced around the assumption you have *every* single one of the best characters or cards. And in fact, having to slowly make adjustments to better suit your needs is, to me at least, one of the most fun parts. And a lot of the strategy and fun of these kinds of games disappear if you have access to all the strongest options and can just brute force things. It is not healthy for your mental state to fret over having to have all the best options and it makes the game less fun, to me at least. These games assume you only have maybe half of the top tier options, and you can beat pretty much everything with that if you put some effort into strategizing, which is fun~!

#arknights #i think tagging it as arknights is appropriate here at least?#my “gambling preys on people in bad ways” vs how the limitations caused by the randomness adds a fun level of strategy for me opinions clas

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anipgarden · 11 months

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Adding To or Starting a Garden

AKA, the beginning of the Plants-Related section of this series.

This is my third post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps!

Got an area of lawn you’d like to convert to a wildlife haven? An area you can stick some hanging baskets in? Want to know how your garden of tomatoes and zucchinis is already putting in a lot of work? This is the section for you!

It would be dumb of me to not acknowledge that the act of gardening can come with a lot of costs. Buying seeds, buying plants, buying soil, raised bed materials, mulch, etc. … it can all get a bit daunting, let’s be honest! But there’s quite a few ways to get seeds and plants for free or extremely cheap, which I’ll be addressing in this section! The next section will be all about addressing the other Costs in gardening and how to mitigate or eliminate them entirely.

Also, do keep in mind; there’s no need to try and convert a whole area from lawn to garden or unused to garden at once. In fact, it could actually be extremely beneficial to do it a little at a time--maybe four or five square feet to start out.

Front Lawn (or Managing Principles)

If you live in a place where you’re required to have a grass turf lawn (HOA’s come to mind…), try replacing it with native grasses instead! You could even possibly use a low-growing ground cover plant like clover to a similar effect! Reseeding/replacing an entire lawn can be a big upfront cost, but even just letting the lawn be a little messy and tall helps. If the lawn gets patchy, leave the bare spots for a little while and something different will likely pop up! Pioneer species will fill the gaps and provide benefits to other plants around them, support animals, and more! If you want to take the guesswork out of it, you could always research what the pioneer species are in your area and plant the ones you like most.

Obtaining Seeds for Cheap or Free

The cheapest way to start a garden is by far via seeds. However, seeds can be a bit complicated to grow, and some sources make them… way overpriced. Fortunately there are ways to get seeds for little to no cost!

Some places sell seeds for as low as a dollar, 50 cents, or 25 cents! The packets may not have a lot of seeds, but it’s definitely a good start for a low budget! I’ve personally bought cheap seed packets at Walmart--the Ferry-Morse and Burpee brands are not what we’re looking for here. Typically the cheaper ones I’ve found are American Seed (which is owned by Green Garden Products, which also owns Ferry-Morse, Livingston Seed, McKenzie Seed, and Seeds of Change. Do with that information what you will), but they’re rarely stocked near the Ferry-Morse ones in the Formal Gardening Section. I’ve most often found them on end caps near the gardening section, so you may have to weave through a few aisles to find them, but once you do there’s an array of flower and vegetable seeds to select from! Alternatively, I’ve found seeds at Dollar Tree sold 2 or 4 for a dollar in Spring as part of their seasonal product; however, when they’re out of stock, they’re typically out of stock for the year. Try to check them out early in the year!

Otherwise, other seed companies like Urban Farmer or Botanical Interests will often have semi-frequent sales in spring and fall, when people are stocking up on seeds--joining their email lists can help you be the first to know when a good sale is going on!

Some foods from grocery stores will provide seeds that you can use in the garden as well. I’ve had the most luck with store-bought bagged beans, peppers, and tomatoes. Some people have had luck with watermelons, apples, citrus, squash, and more. Do keep in mind that you likely won’t get the same variety of fruit/vegetable as the one you bought--the resulting plant may look different and taste different.

Give it a shot! Pick some beans you like--if they don't grow well, at least you can eat the rest!

If you live in the US, food-producing live plants, bare roots, and seeds can often be purchased with SNAP benefits. But what does growing fruits, veggies, and herbs have to do with boosting biodiversity? While food crops aren’t typically native, they still provide valuable shelter for native insects. Some plants even have intricate relationships with native fauna--like the squash bee, a solitary bee which exclusively pollinates cucurbits like pumpkins, squash, and zucchini. And we get to benefit more directly as well! If you’re planting a diverse range of foods in your garden (as opposed to the swaths of single-plant farms that typically produce what’s sent to grocery stores), you’re supporting high levels of biodiversity by providing a variety of plants for creatures to live and hunt around.

Most of the time, when we think of boosting biodiversity with a garden, we think of a colorful flower garden teeming with pollinator species. However, if we’re striving to use native species, it can be a bit difficult to find some species in stores. I can say from experience that trying to find any wildflower seeds other than butterfly weed, purple coneflowers, and black-eyed-susans is… challenging, if you limit yourself to stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. You might occasionally get lucky with an ACE Hardware or a local nursery, but even then sometimes it can be hard to track down who in your area is selling what--let alone if you live in an area where no one really is selling native plants or their seeds. Not to mention, even once you find a local or online store selling the seeds you want, they can sometimes cost a pretty penny. So what do you do?

If you have the option to, consider gathering native seeds yourself! Get good at identifying the native flora and fauna--or at least, a few target plants and their lookalikes--and get ready to go! Learn where they tend to grow, when they’ll be seeding, etc. Try to identify the plant before it goes to seed (for most plants, it's easiest to identify when flowering), then check back regularly to gather seeds. Typically, if I want to learn how to collect seed from a specific plant, I just search it on Google or YouTube--oftentimes, I'm lead to the GrowItBuildIt Youtube page, so it may be a helpful resource for you as well! Of course, make sure to leave plenty of seed behind so the wild population can repopulate, and seed can feed other creatures in the area. A good rule of thumb is to take no more than 1/3rd of what's available.

Buying seed in bulk is an option if you can afford the upfront cost. Try teaming up with a few friends to buy some bulk seeds and split them amongst yourselves--you’ll get tons of seed! Prairie Moon is a popular site that'll sell seeds by the pound if you can afford the price--though they're in the US, and I believe they focus on Midwest and East Coast natives.

If you want to cheat the system, don’t buy bulk sunflower seeds--buy bags of sunflower seeds being sold as birdseed. They’re typically all black oil sunflower seeds, but they’ll sprout, and they’re fairly cheap for the amount you get!

However, beware generic wildflower seed mixes! Many brands like to sell wildflower seed mixes in big box stores like Home Depot, Target, or even Dollar Tree, but they’ll often include flowers that aren’t native or possibly even invasive in your region! Before you make any purchases, double check to make sure the contained seeds won’t do more harm than good! A quality source of native seeds will provide English and Latin names for all seeds included, and will be native to the region or at least non-invasive.

See this? I don't trust this.

There’s a good handful of programs online that’ll send you free seeds if you’re planning to start a native habitat project! Poke around online and see what you can find; you might get lucky! The best time to start looking for these is fall and winter, I find--by early spring, many of them are either done or beginning to wind down... though some also start up in spring. Ultimately--just check regularly! You never know what you can find!

Other Ways to Get Plants

Don’t want to start from seed? That’s fair! You can try cuttings! Just be sure not to take too much of the plant while you do so. Make sure you’ve gotten a few leaf nodes on your cutting, and cut any flowers you may have gotten. Make sure to leave some blooms and foliage on the original plant for the creatures in the current habitat--you don’t want to destroy one habitat to make another in your garden. There’s tons of methods of rooting cuttings, many of which have different efficacy rates for different plants, but that’s a topic for another post.

If you find seedlings growing in a place where they won’t be able to sustain themselves long-term, or are in danger of being destroyed, consider relocating them! You may be able to gently dig up and transplant the seedling to your garden. Don’t do this if they’re in a place where they can easily survive--ideally, you’ll be taking plants from sidewalk cracks, heavily maintained public gardens, roadsides, etc. Do be careful while doing this--ensure your safety first!

You’re totally allowed to join gardening communities like clubs, facebook groups, and more before you’ve even put a trowel to the dirt. These are great places to learn information and advice! Many gardeners are more than happy to help out a new gardener, and will eagerly provide seeds, cuttings, or even baby plants! Talk to some people about your gardening journey and what you’re hoping to do, and you just might find some kindred spirits--or at least get more people interested in the topic!

Seed and plant giveaways and trades happen all the time in gardening clubs, as well as online! Just poke around and see what you can find! Some are explicitly trades, meaning you’re expected to send something in return, but once you get your feet on the ground with some plant knowledge you’ll be stellar! You may be able to explain you’re just starting out, and someone may send you seeds without expecting a trade, but I’d suggest trying giveaways first.

Poke around online and see if there’s a local chapter of your state’s native plant society. From there, you’ll likely be able to find a calendar of events--many of them will host plant sales in the spring, with a bunch of native plant seedlings ripe for the pickings if you can make it out and have some money to spare! Fair warning, though, you’ll want to get there early if you can. If they say they’re starting at 10, try to get there by 9:45. Year after year, there’s always record turnout, and they sell out of plants faster than ever. Just trust me on this. I’ve been let down; hopefully you won’t have to be.

Some libraries are beginning to host seed libraries! Check around and see if your library has one! Ideally, the system works best if you also have seeds to contribute in return, but if you’re just starting out I’m sure they won’t mind you taking some seeds! Just consider saving some seeds to contribute in the future and pay it forward. If your library doesn’t have a seed library? Consider asking if they’d be willing to start one! Community interest is a great way to get the ball rolling on projects like these, but they’ll only know the community is interested if the community tells them they’re interested!

Volunteer to Garden for/with Someone Else

Maybe someone in your area wants to garden, but is struggling to find the time/energy. Many elderly people who used to garden simply can’t anymore but still would like a garden. Other people may love to have a helping hand in their garden. You might even find a few people in your area interested in renting and sharing a community garden plot with others, so they don't have to handle it all on their own! They may be interested in increasing biodiversity right now, or may be willing to if it’s brought up to them. You might be just the kind of person someone needs! Since it won't be your garden, you’ll likely need a bit of permission and collaboration to get anything in particular going, but it’s worth a shot and a way to maybe even make friends!

Again, your mileage may vary with some of these. You may not know where there's a bunch of wildflowers growing in your area, or maybe your local library doesn't have a free seed library. That's okay! Do what you're able to, find what you can find, get what you can get! And there's never any shame with starting small--in fact, starting small can make the project easier to manage and expand when you're able!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to start growing plants cheaply--low cost seed starting set ups, essentially. There's a lot of good options, many of which I've used myself even! Until then, I hope this advice is helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

#biodiversity #solarpunk #gardening #outdoor gardening #growing from seed #ani rambles #out of queue #the biodiversity saga #i will be honest I have never flat out approached people to offer to help them garden #HOWEVER. People HAVE approached ME asking ME to help THEM with/plan THEIR garden #granted it was after I'd been gardening for a good few years. and its mostly family or family friends but yknow #people would be like 'oh wanna help me with my veggie garden?' even before I tried growing vegetables #i don't think the library near me has a seed library but you just wait until i. get the courage. to go to the library regularly.#i've seen people also make their own little seed library structures kinda like a little free library but like #i dont think my neighborhood is about that life.#if any of yall have those though it could be a great resource! also send pics because I love seeing them #not to say that this post should become a giant seed trade but if it did become that i would be the opposite of mad #if there's any typos blame my sister shes got the hotel room at like 60-something degrees and I am FREEZING #welp time to shut up now bye

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