#it is instead woke up new by the mountain goats which a friend pointed out is a great pre game harry song | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

faerybones3 · 2 months

Text

Which Witch

Fìli x witch!reader

tags: flirty banter, witchcraft, stab wound, palm reading, fili is a flirt, the dwarves get very drunk lol, thorin is an asshole

word count: 2.8k

previous part | series masterlist

Chapter Two

The man facing you was beautiful and ethereal. You had never seen beauty like his before. You could have looked upon his face forever.

You called to him, “Who are you?”

He did not answer. He turned from you and began walking away.

“Wait, stop!”

You tried to follow him, but you felt as though you were walking underwater. He was getting further and further away, but you knew you must reach him. You ran with all your might, trying desperately to catch up to him. He finally stopped, and when you reached him, you grabbed his arm, turning him around to face you again. You needed to look upon his face, just once more.

But as he turned, you saw that his face was gone. In its place was a gaping, black void.

You screamed and released him. Was that laughter? He was laughing at you. The noise seeped into you and you could feel it under your skin, crawling like thousands of spiders. You continued to scream as the laughter grew louder, threatening to consume you.

You woke with a jolt, head pounding. Your surroundings were unfamiliar at first. You saw a straw floor, and great wooden beams. It appeared that you were in a building meant for a giant, making you feel very small.

It wasn’t until you saw the huge honey bees and goats on the other side of the great room you were in that you realized where you were. You were in Beorn’s great hall. You had met him many times, and he was a good friend to your people.

You stood on wobbly feet and wondered to yourself how long you had been asleep. The events leading up to you passing out were a blur of swords and goblins. Your throat burned and it was tremendously hard to swallow; you knew you must have horrible bruising there. Raising your shirt, you saw that the wound in your abdomen had been cleaned and well-bandaged, though you noticed that it would need new wrappings soon. You quickly gave the rest of your body a once-over, noting the various scratches and bruises.

Suddenly, you heard laughter coming from the end of the hall, and your head shot up, remembering your dream. The dwarves were all sitting at a large table, talking boisterously amongst each other. When they noticed you slowly walking over, they all stopped speaking and looked at you. One of them, with two large twisting braids in his gray beard and holding an ear trumpet, rose and walked to you.

“Right, I’ll be needin’ to see to that then,” he said, gesturing to your soiled bandages.

You let him lead you to a bench next to their table. He introduced himself to you as ‘Òin’ and you gave him your name as well. You winced as you raised your shirt and he started to re-do your wound dressings, but you were grateful that he had a gentle hand. As he was working, the rest of the dwarves went around and gave you their names. You learned that the blond dwarf you had stolen the sword from was named Fìli. The last of them, and the leader if you had to guess, did not introduce himself. He instead walked to you and eyed you skeptically. You eyed him right back, holding your ground. When he spoke, he was stern.

“How did you come to be in the company of goblins?”

“I was traveling solo through the Misty Mountains when I was ambushed and taken. They kept me prisoner for three days.” Your voice came out as a rasp.

“Why did you help us?”

“Would you rather I hadn’t?” You asked with a wry smile. Some of the dwarves exchanged looks, but the leader simply narrowed his eyes.

You sighed. “It’s just what any decent person would do.”

The leader seemed unfazed, “What are you, some elf half-breed?”

You raised an eyebrow. “If you would use your eyes, master dwarf, you would see that I am no elf.”

“A witch, then?”

Òin had completed his work by this point, and you gently pushed his hands away and thanked him. All of them watched you with expectant looks, some curious and a bit wary. You had heard of the skepticism of Dwarves, and you knew that it most likely extended to the magical arts.

Throwing caution to the wind, you nodded. A few of them broke into whispers.

“I’m not going to try and curse any of you, if that’s what you’re so worried about,” you said quickly. They didn’t seem convinced, especially the leader.

“I would not expect any of you to understand, closed minded as all you lot are,” you said. You were getting annoyed at their prodding questions and the pain in your side was making you irritable.

They became quite offended at this.

“We saved you, did we not?” said the one who had introduced himself as Kìli.

You locked eyes with him. You saw an endearing kind of innocence that comes with youth in his eyes. A certain desperation to prove himself. The dwarf sitting beside him, Fìli, had to be his brother, not just because their names were so similar, but they had the same tilted mouth, the same mischievous glint in their eyes. Fìli was definitely older, more hardened and learned in the ways of the world, his beard longer and braided, unlike his younger brothers. With the slightest flush, you realized that this was the face you had reached for in your semi-conscious state before you had passed out. His face had been haloed with the rising light of the sun and he had looked almost angelic, like one of the Valar sent from Valinor itself to heal you.

“I do believe Gandalf is to thank for our saving,” piped up the halfling, Bilbo, breaking you from your thoughts. You had never met a hobbit before. He had a kind nature about him and you immediately liked him the best out of the bunch. It also helped that he seemed to think your criticism of the dwarves was quite amusing.

“Speaking of,” you said, standing from the bench. “Where is he?”

“The garden I believe,” said Bilbo.

You made your way over to the large oak front doors of Beorn’s hall, the dwarves watching you silently, their expressions poorly concealing their obvious mistrust.

Wrenching open the doors, you breathed in the fresh outside air and turned back around to face the dwarves, who were still watching you intently.

“Thank you,” you said to them, before turning and marching out to look for the wizard, not bothering to shut the doors behind you.

—

The warm summer sun had just set over the tops of the mountains, leaving the sky an inky blue color and making you shiver a bit in your spot on the ground, where you sat comfortably watching the dwarves dance and sing around the fire, in their usual merry mood. The hot mug of tea in your hands did much, however, to fend off the chill of the evening as it was three times the size of your head and gave off the same amount of warmth that a small campfire might.

It had been four days since your arrival at Beorn’s hall, and you were surprised at how much the dwarves had warmed up to you in so little time. Once they knew for sure that you were not going to put a spell on them or kill them in their sleep, they decided it was alright to look you in the eyes and once they learned that Gandalf had decided to more or less trust you, they became downright friendly and had all but welcomed you into their little troop. Even the leader, whose name you found out to be Thorin, had stopped glowering whenever you came near him.

A baby goat had made its way over to where you were sitting, looking up at you with big curious eyes, his ears covered in fuzz. You couldn’t help the smile that touched your lips. Reaching out your hand, you patted him gently between his eyes. Looking quite timid, he seemed to come to a decision about something, and then plopped down right next to you, laying his head on one of your legs that was stretched out on the straw-covered floor. Your smile grew as you looked down at him, this innocent little creature.

You heard a chuckle nearby and whipped your head around at the sound.

“Hello, there,” said Fìli, coming to sit with you, a large mug in his hand as well, but you knew that his was filled with something much stronger than tea.

You nodded at him politely. He shifted to sit with his legs crossed and one of his knees brushed your thigh, but he didn’t seem to notice. You both sat in silence, watching the other dwarves and listening to their drunken singing and shouting. Dwalin was sitting at the massive table in the middle of the hall, arm wrestling Glóin who had his face scrunched up in concentration. Thorin and Balin stood a little to the side of the group, laughing loudly at all the others as they danced around Bofur, who was currently very drunk and singing at the top of his lungs in what was probably meant to be the common tongue but sounded more like animated babbling.

You laughed heartily at the scene and turned to Fìli. “Are they always like this?”

“You’ve no idea,” he replied with a smile.

Ori had just pulled Nori to him and was attempting a two-man jig, which made you and Fíli laugh even harder.

Several minutes went by like that, with you and him laughing together at the ridiculous things the dwarves were currently doing. You found that you didn’t need to fill the space between you with pointless chatter, as he had an easy air about him and the small silences between your laughter were not awkward.

But it was then that you remembered something.

“I’m sorry for taking your sword,” you said, a bit of your composure lost. “I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Hm? Oh, it’s alright,” he said. “Just don’t do it again.”

You turned your head to look at him, but he had a smirk on his face. Relieved, you smiled back.

He continued, “What did you do to it? Those words you were speaking?”

“It was just a spell,” you said, shaking your head a little. “For my aim to be true and for protection.”

He gave you a skeptical look and raised one thick eyebrow.

“Cynical, are you? I thought you were traveling with a wizard.”

“Yes, well . . . “ he trailed off.

“Well, what?”

He met your eyes reluctantly, looking you up and down in the process. “You just don’t really look the part, is all.”

You scoffed. “Just because I’m not old and wizened doesn’t mean I can’t possess magic.”

He nodded, his mouth forming a little ‘o’ as he turned back to watch the dwarves again, but you could tell he didn’t really believe you. You reached your hand out to him. He looked at it, confused for a moment, before you made a beckoning motion with your fingers. He still didn’t understand.

“Hand,” you said simply.

Reluctantly, he put his rough and calloused hand into yours. You took a moment to gently trace the lines in his palm with your fingertips, almost caressing his hand.

“You’re the eldest of two.”

“Anyone here could have told you that,” he said matter-of-factly.

You shot him a look and he shut his mouth with a smirk.

“You worry for your mother at home. You have since your father died. You also worry for your brother. He’s reckless and easily gets into trouble.”

You paused to look up at him, and this time, you had his full attention.

“You’re on a journey to a home that you have never seen before,” you said, tracing the line that wrapped around his thumb. “It looks like you’ve had quite the adventure already, more than you bargained for. And this one here-” your fingertips brushed his hand right below the base of his fingers. “-is called your heart line. See how yours is kind of coarse and splits there? That means you are passionate and very intuitive when it comes to those you love. You also always put others before yourself, but you suppress a lot of your true feelings, especially when it comes to romantic relationships.”

His face had flushed pink when you looked up at him again. You looked back down and continued.

“You have much anxiety; more than you let on. On the surface, you are very well put together, you were raised to be of course, but much like a river you are raging underneath it all. You put on a facade to appease everyone around you, but you are constantly sick with worry. You are always trying to prove yourself, most of all to your uncle, because one day, everything will fall upon your shoulders and no one can know that you are scared to death.”

You looked up at him. He was watching you with rapt attention, a look of complete shock on his face. You cleared your throat.

“Should I-”

He didn’t answer; it didn’t look like he could quite form words at the moment, but he shook his head. You nodded and dropped his hand.

“Sorry,” you said awkwardly, your hands fisted in your lap.

He seemed to have found his voice again. “No, no, it’s alright. Just a bit jarring, that’s all.”

“Well, at least now you know that I’m not a fraud,” you said with a smirk, attempting to put him at ease a bit. He smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

After several minutes of slightly uneasy silence, he spoke again.

“So, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Well, you know all my secrets now. Only fair if I know some of yours,” he said with a wink.

You rolled your eyes, but smiled at him as you said, “There’s not much to tell. My life is not half as interesting as yours. I grew up just south of here actually, in a village bordering the Anduin. Mother and father were merchants who traded frequently with the elves of Mirkwood.”

“How did you become a witch then? The elves?”

“I actually don’t know. Just woke up one day with everything in my head.”

He definitely did not believe this, but thankfully didn’t press the matter. Instead, he asked, “What’s your family like?”

“They’re wonderful. My younger sister and I used to beg our parents to let us go with them on their travels to the Woodland Realm. We were never allowed to, though, until we were older. I know that dwarves don’t really get on with the elves, but my people were quite close with them.”

You paused for a moment, and your voice became heavy with emotion, almost regretful, at your next words. “My family was everything to me.”

“Was?” asked Fìli.

“I left my village almost three years ago.”

Again, he didn’t press you for more answers, sensing that it was not something you were keen on talking about. Instead, he stretched his arms and sprawled out on the floor, leaning his weight on his elbows.

“You’re right,” he said playfully. “My life is much more interesting than yours.”

You laughed and smacked him lightly on the shoulder.

The baby goat, who had been snoozing on your leg all this time, woke up just then and gave you a contemptuous look, as if you had woken him up on purpose. He got up and sauntered off, probably to go and find his mother.

“So tell me about this adventure you’re on,” you said, turning to him again, yawning, and then cupping your chin in your hand.

Fìli laughed. “Ah, well, where do I start?”

He then launched into the tale of his and the dwarves’ journey, talking animatedly and sparing no details. You heard about their arrival in Bag End and the recruitment of their fourteenth member, Bilbo. He told you all about how they had been captured by trolls and would have been eaten if not for Bilbo’s quick thinking. Then they had found themselves in Rivendell at the behest of Gandalf and stayed there for two weeks. After their stay in Rivendell, they were traveling through the Misty Mountains when they had been captured by goblins, and you knew the rest. Towards the end of his story, you had grown very sleepy, and by the time he was finished, you had laid down and were half asleep, trying desperately to stay awake. When he had finished and noticed that you were falling asleep, he chuckled to himself. You heard him say ‘goodnight’ to you and you just barely felt a blanket being pulled over your body before you fell into a peaceful sleep.

#fili x reader #fili #fili and kili #the hobbit x reader #the hobbit #thorin oakenshield #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #archive of our own #lord of the rings x reader #witchcraft #ao3 writer #thorins company #bilbo baggins

31 notes · View notes

thesunicarusfellfor · 3 years

Note

Hello! I'm in love with the way you write c! Ranboo like hsgsj- amazing! So I would like a request Yandare c! Ranboo and tubbo with a soft reader that is oblivious on how they act twords them but loves them unconditionaly (just fluff please maybe maybe put a Micheal seen in there as well because Micheal is the best character 😌)

I think this is the best compliment I have ever received... Thank you so much🤍🖤

I didn't know whether or not to do headcanons or a full-length fic, so I went with a shorter story if that's alright. ^^ if it's not feel free to send another request!

FYI THIS CAN BE SEEN AS PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC

Too Sweet (For This World) Yandere!C!Ranboo x F!Reader x Yandere!C!Tubbo

It was very common for you to see something out of the corner of your eye, but when you looked, you only saw a bunch of purple particles drifting slowly towards the earth due to gravity. You just assumed there were quite a few endermen still hanging around Snowchester, or some of the goats had come down from the mountains when you saw small little horns peeking out from behind bushes.

There were a couple times a day where you accidentally and very conveniently bumped into Ranboo out in the crater of L'Manberg or Tubbo when walking around Snowchester. It honestly was funny to you that you always seemed to bump into them when you were feeling sad or lonely. Plus, after talking to them and spending time with them, your problems almost magically seemed to disappear!

Such as, there was one time when you were helping clean up the red vines around buildings and Fundy was nagging at you for being so slow or bad at doing everything. After storming away and ranting to Ranboo about it on the verge of tears, Fundy practically scrambled up to you the next day shaking and almost crying, apologizing for every single thing he's ever said or done.

Huh... Maybe he felt that bad about it to the point where he was crying?

Although Fundy never said anything mean to you again, he also stopped hanging around you completely.

When you mentioned this to Tubbo, he explained that Fundy must not have been a real friend and that he and Ranboo would always be there for you before anyone else.

Once the mansion was built, the two platonic husbands eagerly invited you to stay with them, even saying they had Foolish make a room specifically for you! At first, you quite enjoyed your home around L'manberg, but then one day you returned home to a wall of your home completely destroyed by vines, deeming it unlivable. Although a tad convenient..

Tubbo and Ranboo had heard about it through your sobs when you called them, saying you had no clue what to do anymore. They had arrived at your side in almost minutes and quickly helped you pack and move everything to the mansion.

"I thought Snowchester was like... Half a day's walk away from here..." You sniffed, rubbing your red and puffy eyes. The two men of greatly varying heights tensed up momentarily.

"We were in the area." They both blurted out at the same time before glancing at each other.

Tubbo cleared his throat first, "I was in the nether, but luckily for you, I was close to the old L'manberg portal!" He smiled softly at you as you three walked away from your old home.

"M-Me too!" Ranboo coughed awkwardly, causing Tubbo to shoot him an odd look that you decided to brush off, "Now, uh, come on! Michael needs to meet his new mother!"

You blinked in surprise at the new title but didn't question it much, assuming it was simply just a title. Unbeknownst to you, your two best friends already thought you were part of their platonic relationship, despite you never agreeing nor denying, or them even asking.

It took a few days, but the zombie piglin warmed up to you and practically saw you as another one of his parents, which made Ranboo and Tubbo extremely happy. Instead of placing you into one of the regular rooms, they had Foolish turn the basement into two heavily secured rooms a few days before your house had been destroyed, strangely enough, and even designed one perfectly to your liking!

After washing the fruits you had, you walked towards the bookshelf and pulled on the fake book that caused the shelf to swing open. You walked down the quartz stairs after shutting the hidden door, then made your way up to one of the two doors with a pink sign with 'Michael' written in yellow cursive paint. Punching in the code, the iron door slid open and you stepped in before closing it behind you.

A loud cooing grunt was heard and the sound of quiet tapping echoed through the room before a pair of arms wrapped around your leg. "Hello, Michael." You giggled softly as Michael made grabbing hands up towards the bowl of fruit. Placing it down on the table, the child eagerly ran over and began munching on the food as you brushed over the books on the shelves to find one you haven't read to Michael before. "What about... The story of Persephone?"

A disappointed grunt was your only response.

"Guess I did read that one... Hm... Oh! What about the story of Icarus?" This time his response was a happy squeak and tippy taps of his hooves against the warm quartz floors. You sat down in the rocking chair and waited until the child scrambled over and jumped into your lap.

You opened the book and began reading to him for an hour until your eyes slowly slid shut to the quiet snores of the child of your two best friends, who at this point was beginning to see you as a mother.

Quiet 'meh' sounds and 'vrrr'ing noises and a dim flash woke you up from your spot in the rocking chair. Cracking open your eyes, your arms shifted around the nether hybrid as you saw Tubbo holding a camera making happy bleating noises, while Ranboo, who was the source of the buzzing noises, took the book you had been reading from your limp hand to put it back on the shelf.

"What time is it?" You murmured softly to keep the child asleep as you rubbed the back of your stiff and sore neck.

"It's about 5:30pm. Still rather early. Tubbo walked over and gave you a gentle yet affectionate headbutt while he scooped Michael up from your lap to bring him to bed. This caused an odd whining noise to come from the enderman hybrid before he quickly walked over and rested his forehead against yours, resting it there for a few moments before pulling back, his cheeks flushed the same colours as his eyes.

You giggled softly and gave him a gentle pat on the head as he helped you up. He held onto one of your hands as Tubbo eagerly went for the other, jokingly sticking his tongue out at Ranboo who gave a noise of mock offense, causing you three to giggle softly as you left Michael's room and went upstairs.

Tubbo and Ranboo weren't big fans of you leaving the basement on your own, and you were rarely allowed to leave the mansion even with the two boys at your sides. The former president told you it was because he heard rumours of Technoblade searching around for all the members of his cabinet back when he was in charge of L'Manberg, and he just wanted to protect you.

You saw no problems with his story as it was extremely believable. Your history with Technoblade hadn't been the cleanest and he would've definitely taken one of your canon lives back during the attack on L'Manberg, had a stray black and white firework not saved you that day. It had fired off and must've swerved a way that wasn't predicted, because it hit Technoblade hard enough in the chest to knock him away from you.

You don't remember much of that day, except for Ranboo immediately running over to you and dragging you away from the destruction and chaos. Thanks to him, you were almost completely scar free and standing proudly at three canons lives.

A gentle hand on your shoulder brought you back to reality and you saw two sets of eyes staring at you with concern. "Hey... Are you feeling okay?" Ranboo asked softly, tilting your head up to place his free hand against your forehead, "See. I told you she should be getting more sunlight, Tubbo!"

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" You laughed softly at their worry, rubbing your thumbs along the back of their hands, "Just... Remembering the war with Dream and Techno..."

"What about it?" Tubbo asked, bringing you into the living room to sit down with your friends on either side of you.

You pursed your lips together for a moment as you looked at the ground, "Just how... Scary Techno is. And how he was about to kill me without a care about who or what I was."

Angered growling and seething noises came from Ranboo and Tubbo as you felt their grasps tighten around your hands, almost to a painful degree. You looked up and saw their expressions stone-cold and steely although vastly different from each other.

Ranboo's green eye was purple, and the black tone of his skin was beginning to seep into the side with the lack of colour. The corners of his mouth were slowly splitting open wider and wider as his lips parted, allowing you to see the glowing purple colour inside his mouth.

Tubbo's was less obvious. His eyes were blank but also had a bright fire, one burning for revenge, reflected in them. His ears weren't flicking and neither was his tail, his entire body stiff except for a faint sound giving away the fact that his teeth were grinding together.

As much as you tried to endure it, the grip became too harsh and you couldn't help but give a small pained gasp. This caused all physical contact with you to suddenly vanish as the two boys immediately flung themselves away from you, horror and fear in their eyes.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

"Are you okay?! Do you need an ice pack?!"

"Or a bandage from my claws?!"

They were both kneeling on the ground in front of you with both of your hands in their grasps again. They repeatedly turned your hands in their own, testing the joints and checking for marks or bruising. "Boys, boys!" You laughed softly, placing your hands on their heads to ruffle their hair gently. You pulled your left hand adorned with two beautiful rings and held it up for them to see, flexing it and moving it around, "See? Perfectly fine. No pain whatsoever!"

While they seemed to have calmed down a lot, they still seemed to be extremely upset and guilty. "I'm still going to get an ice pack... We don't want our wife to be injured..." Tubbo murmured as he quickly got up and walked towards the kitchen.

"I will get started on dinner. And as an apology, I'm making your favourite. (F/f)." Ranboo tried to be a little more upbeat than Tubbo, but you could still see the small amounts of guilt as he turned and followed after the goat hybrid.

Sighing softly at their overreactions, you leaned back against the couch...

Before doing a double-take.

Adorned with rings?!

You quickly flung yourself forward again and looked at your left hand. On your ring finger were two diamond rings, one gold with a green gemstone, and the other silver with a black gemstone, both glistening a faint purple from enchantments...

...

When did these get put on you- wait... Did Tubbo say... wife?

#tubbo x reader #yandere tubbo x reader #ranboo x reader #yandere ranboo x reader #mcyt x reader #yandere mcyt x reader #mcyt #ranboolive #ranboo #tubbo #dream smp #dsmp #ranboo dsmp #ranboo dreamsmp #tubbo dsmp #tubbo dreamsmp #tubbo mcyt #ranboo mcyt

1K notes · View notes

icarushasfallenfromthestars · 3 years

Text

Too Sweet (For This World) Yandere!Ranboo x F!Reader x Yandere!Tubbo

I think this is the best compliment I have ever received... Thank you so much🤍🖤

I didn't know whether or not to do headcanons or a full-length fic, so I went with a shorter story if that's alright. ^^ if it's not feel free to send another request!

FYI THIS CAN BE SEEN AS PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC

Huh... Maybe he felt that bad about it to the point where he was crying?

Although Fundy never said anything mean to you again, he also stopped hanging around you completely.

When you mentioned this to Tubbo, he explained that Fundy must not have been a real friend and that he and Ranboo would always be there for you before anyone else.

Once the mansion was built, the two platonic husbands eagerly invited you to stay with them, even saying they had Foolish make a room specifically for you! At first, you quite enjoyed your home around L'Manberg, but then one day you returned home to a wall of your home completely destroyed by vines, deeming it unlivable. Although a tad convenient..

"I thought Snowchester was like... Half a day's walk away from here..." You sniffed, rubbing your red and puffy eyes. The two men of greatly varying heights tensed up momentarily.

"We were in the area." They both blurted out at the same time before glancing at each other.

Tubbo cleared his throat first, "I was in the nether, but luckily for you, I was close to the old L'Manberg portal!" He smiled softly at you as you three walked away from your old home.

"M-Me too!" Ranboo coughed awkwardly, causing Tubbo to shoot him an odd look that you decided to brush off, "Now, uh, come on! Michael needs to meet his new mother!"

A disappointed grunt was your only response.

"What time is it?" You murmured softly to keep the child asleep as you rubbed the back of your stiff and sore neck.

You giggled softly and gave him a gentle pat on the head as he helped you up. He held onto one of your hands as Tubbo eagerly went for the other, jokingly sticking his tongue out at Ranboo who gave a noise of mock offence, causing you three to giggle softly as you left Michael's room and went upstairs.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" You laughed softly at their worry, rubbing your thumbs along the back of their hands, "Just... Remembering the war with Dream and Techno..."

"What about it?" Tubbo asked, bringing you into the living room to sit down with your friends on either side of you.

You pursed your lips together for a moment as you looked at the ground, "Just how... Scary Techno is. And how he was about to kill me without a care about who or what I was."

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

"Are you okay?! Do you need an ice pack?!"

"Or a bandage from my claws?!"

Sighing softly at their over reactions, you leaned back against the couch...

Before doing a double-take.

Adorned with rings?!

...

When did these get put on you- wait... Did Tubbo say... wife?

302 notes · View notes

southerneldritch · 3 years

Text

-A Year Later, Misha-

The smoke rose in a thick line from the burning embers of the tip of the cigarette, an off brand from the shop in town. Misha drew in a deep and long drag as he looked out across the night sky above the cold southern expanse of the Tronador valley. As he went further up the mountain, it was nice to look back towards the small lights of Puerto Varas, where he had received the intel that pointed him up this impressively cold mountain. Misha was no stranger to cold, but with how hot it was in the town this August he hadn’t expected the trek to plunge him into frigid temperatures. Nevertheless, with his collar lifted and another smoke lit, he marched forward.

The night was getting colder and the path, if you could call it one, was more than likely made entirely by wayward goats without intention or significance. Santino knew better than to give Misha bad intel, especially with something as important as this, but still there was a nagging at the back of Misha’s mind that this could be a trap.

He’d had a few difficult tussles since he left the comfort of the states to pursue what truth he had seen, what memories had been returned to him. Briefly, he considered the nightmare of New Orleans and what he’d had to do with the good Doctor. The sight of what that man had become, what that man committed to before slipping under the floodwaters of the ill-gotten city was still clear in his mind. Misha liked that his mind felt less like a mystery than before, but he was torn when he thought of the life he had built in Avenyork, the friends….friend he had made.

After another long drag of the cigarette, Misha found himself spotting the low light of a small cabin tucked into the mountainside. “Finally. I hope they have a fire going” he muttered to himself as he trudged on. Arriving at the small cabin, he could hear some music playing from inside. It sounded Russian. With a firm knock he stood out in the cold for a moment before the music fell silent and the door was cracked open. Dark brown eyes stared out from the warmth of the structure. “¿Sí, Qué quieres?”

“¿Oleg está aquí?” Misha responded. There was a slight look of confusion on the face of the man holding the door.

“Hablas español mejor que Oleg” He smiled and opened the door wider, gesturing for Misha to step inside.

“lo hago pero no lo prefiero.” Misha smirked as he stepped through the doorway, adding “¿Habla usted Inglés?”

“Si, but is not as good. But Oleg prefer it too.” The man, short in stature, shut the door behind Misha and led him to a chair at a table in the middle of the room. Misha could smell some sort of soup or stew being made on the fireplace and there was a small phonograph player on a small table to the side. “Oleg tried to make me learn Russian, HA” he laughed “Not happen”

“Russian is not easy language to master. Don’t worry my english is very good.” Misha sat down roughly, tired as he was. “Where is Oleg?” His eyes drifted around the room and saw a small bed tucked in the corner and a single door into the back room.

“He went to gather last few ingredients for stew” The man sat down across from Misha “Mi nombre es Mateo, ehhh” A pause “My name, Mateo. You?” His clothes were a bit large for his build and he seemed calm, despite a stranger banging on his door at this late hour in the mountains.

“Misha” Misha stated as he absorbed the room, gathering as much as he could. “And how did Oleg come to find you?”

“Oh as most. The people in town. They know my skills” He smiled and folded his fingers together. His nails were clean and bright yet something dark was under them. “And what is Oleg to you?”

Misha paused and considered the question. “Old friends,” adding, “How long do you think he’ll be?” He kept his eyes on swivel as he watched Mateo’s every move.

“He not be much longer” Mateo smiled wide, teeth looking wet. “Last ingredients are most important.” He gestured towards the pot next to the fireplace.

“Yes.” There was a pause in the room. The cold of the outdoors permeated everything despite the roaring fire. “The final touches are always important.” Before the pause could go on much longer, Misha asked, “So I heard music as I approached. Shall we put some on while we wait for Oleg?”

“YES!” Mateo exclaimed, his voice almost heavy with excitement. “Please go crank up the record” he half laughed “Oleg brought very good”. Misha stood and made his way towards the phonograph. It was an old thing that looked worse for the wear, and there on the pad was an old Russian record. The crank made an awful noise as he turned it. The creaking, clanking and the sound of the spring tightening was a mixture of bizzare and otherworldly sounds that caused the hairs on Misha’s neck to stand up on end.

As Mateo reached the last click of the player, Misha noticed an imperial Russian coat on the floor by the fireplace. Heavy outerwear that would work well in the growing cold outside the house. A coat Oleg would not have left without care. Misha’s stomach turned to sand and there were alarm bells going off as he felt his muscles tightened without thinking to do so.

“So Oleg?” Misha spoke as the record wurred to life with the sounds of a Russian folk tune, he turned back towards Mateo and regretted his decision immediately. Mateo with wide open eyes was looking directly at Misha, though he had not turned his body, only his head which was situated facing almost entirely the wrong direction. His mouth looked as if it had broken free and his head cocked backwards as a horrific guttural sound of nightmares filled the small cabin. Misha reached for his pistol as Mateo’s form folded and ripped and slid off of the large creature now flinging itself at him. His gun had only gotten out of the holster before the creature was on top of him. Slamming Misha down hard, the gun slipped from his hand. His head was spinning but his training kicked in harder than ever. The snarling maw of the grotesque thing was dripping down onto him as he kicked his heel back and slammed it hard into the beast. The creature folded back and shrieked. It grasped at its side that was bleeding a thick red ichor.

“Piece of Shit!” Misha exclaimed as he rolled over and tapped his heel again, the blood stained blade retracting into the side of his boot. Tumbling to his feet next to his revolver and snatching it up to look towards the creature writhing. Drawing a deep breath with a mixture of words under his breath Misha steadied his pistol on the shadowed and dripping beast. The upbeat tunes of the Russian folk music punctuated the snarl of the thing as it whipped around to face Misha.

“YOU ARE TOO LATE FOR FRIEND '' The voice spilled from various holes around the thing. With sounds of gravel being forced through flesh, the tone still somehow sounded like the small man of Mateo, even if the creature had very few traces of his flesh sticking to its dripping form. Within a second it lept towards Misha and without a second guess the gun belched fire. The small piece of metal tore through the creature, though it was not enough to stop its energy. Slamming down in front of him and bringing a thunderously hard slam into his side, the creature sent Misha hurling into the wall at the back of the shack. Wood splintered as the low light of the cabin was lost.

Misha woke, lying inside the small back room, “Uhhhghhh.” He let a moan escape before sitting up. The bodies of curious travellers and seekers of information alike were strung up and stored around the room. Likely as some sort of food source. “Oh Oleg,” he muttered as he eyed the opening now splintered through the wall into the main room of the cabin. “I guess you didn’t come as prepared as you should have.” Misha began to unload the revolver and slips his hand into an interior pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a few special looking cartridges with emblazoned symbols upon the shells. Before he was able to load them, the mass of the creature barges through, up, over and towards him.

“YOU SOON DEAD NEW RUSSIAN!” The creature gurgled forward with a sense of pained anger. While the previous strikes may not have been lethal, they certainly hurt. It clearly was angry now. Seeing it close the distance with its previous speed, Misha abandoned loading the gun and braced himself instead. No amount of training can steel one against the purely physical blows of a wretched beast. Misha found himself tumbling back out of the hole his body had just made in the wall. He managed to land on his feet and was able to load the special rounds.

“Not quite yet you piece of SHIT!” He called out mocking the creature as the last round click into the cylinder and he snapped the gun shut. The hammer set, he began to speak softly as the chamber emitted a soft glow, faint but there. “I’m not done with you!” He exclaimed as he saw the twisted gleam of the eyes of the creature peer over the hole in the wall.

Releasing a growling shriek the creature retorted, “YOU DIE NOW OTHERS ARE FOOD ENOUGH!!!” as it launched over the broken timbers and slammed foot after foot, hand after hand towards Misha. Its jaws unhinged as it lept but before it bit down into the flesh of this painful nuisance, Misha dropped down, dodging the thing and letting loose two shots directly point blank into its belly. Hellish green and blue fire erupted from the wounds as large bulbs exploded around the impact zones. The creature cried out and slammed into, then through, the outer wall out into the cold snow of the mountainside. It let out a weak chitter of pain and confusion.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here Oleg.” Misha slowly stepped over the rubble of the wall and towards the thing. It’s body convulsing and folding, bones twisting inside its loose skin. “But this thing won't hurt anyone else.” Misha stood over it and let loose a loud single shot through what could best be described as its ‘head’. A few moments of the bright burn of green and blue light and the echo of the shot through the mountains, and Misha was alone.

New snow began to fall silently. He flipped open his notebook to a page full of names. He crossed out the last name on the page, ‘Oleg Fedorov.’ The steam of his breath was thick as he let out a long long sigh. With a fresh cigarette in his lips, he glanced at the Verum Private Detective badge paper clipped into his notebook. He looked into the cold night.

Softly, to the silence, he says, “I think I miss home.”

(by J. Daily)

#paranornal #southern eldritch #microfiction #writing #eldritch #supernatural #creepy #spooky #action #monster

10 notes · View notes

theshapeshifter100 · 3 years

Text

Wolf and Raven: Old Friends Chapter 5

First

Masterlist

Wolf returned to camp later that night, while the fire was still burning. Erina had fallen asleep by now, but Satyarani was still awake.

As a wolf, she lay down next to the fire and rested her head on her paws, not looking at anyone.

“I am sorry, Wolf,” Satyarani said, making Wolf perk her head up. “I should not have brought it up.”

Wolf let out a soft whine and shook her head.

“I do not wish to listen to the pair of you argue and snip at each other for this entire quest, but the two of you need to calm down before we can try and talk again.”

Wolf huffed.

“I do hope that was a huff of agreement.”

Wolf briefly swished her tail before laying her head back on her paws and trying to sleep.

---

She was back in the tent.

Torchlight could be vaguely seen from outside, but otherwise it was dark. No, it was the cell now. Still dark, only a single torch to light the room

She was alone. Alone hurt, but alone was safe. It hurt more when she wasn’t alone.

As soon as the thought manifested, she wasn’t alone.

A shadowy figure stepped towards her. First it looked like Raven, then after another step it was Raven of Old, then Erina. Finally Nevar towered over her.

Heart thumping in her chest, Wolf tried to back away. Her back was already to the wall. There was nowhere to run.

Her hand reached to grab for her staff, but instead closed on empty air. Nowhere to run and defenceless.

The metal mask loomed, moving from plain to horned and back. There was a tugging in her mind and the feeling of a tree trunk slamming into her forehead. She screamed as like a fish on a line, thoughts were dragged out. A map, the talismans, Haryad-

---

She was awake.

Wolf immediately cast around her staff, finding it next to her and grabbing it, hugging it to her chest. She rolled onto her back, staring up grey sky, breathing rapidly as she hugged her staff. As far as nightmares went, that hadn’t been too bad. Rough, but not the worst.

There was a rustle of grass and Wolf shot up upright, searching for the source. A rabbit stared right back at her before darting into the undergrowth.

Wolf slowly lowered her head into her hands, barely registering that she must have shifted in her sleep. More sleep seemed unlikely now.

She looked back up at the sky. It had to be before dawn, with thick clouds coming over. She really hoped that it wouldn’t rain.

She looked over at the fire, which had mostly died. Only a few embers were glowing in the ash.

On the other side was Erina, curled up on a sleeping mat with her cloak around her like a blanket. As if she knew Wolf was looking at her, Erina inhaled sharply and her eyes snapped open.

She also sat up, scanning the area and taking in the sleeping Satyarani, and the awake Wolf.

Erina narrowed her eyes at Wolf before laying back down and facing away.

Wolf remained sitting, staff held between her knees and hugging them, staring at the embers. She was aware of the weight on her hip, of the bottle of Dreamless Sleep that she had forgotten to drink from.

---

Satyarani woke up with the sun, once again being the only one with a decent night’s sleep. The three of them packed up camp and began to trek towards Flint Drop. Both Erina and Wolf were yawning as they walked, but slowly managed to wake up as they approached the mountain.

Flint Drop was well named. The mountain face was sheer, with safe passage few and far between.

Satyarani handed Wolf back her cloak before changing into a dust cloud, in order to fly to the top and wait. Erina and Wolf, as they had done in their youth, strapped their staffs to their backs and climbed the old-fashioned way.

It was almost nostalgic. Wolf would mostly scale mountains with four paws, but she had scaled them like this, to prove that she could. Even Raven of Old back in the day had scaled Flint Drop by hand, rather than soaring over it.

Wolf found herself out of practice however, so had a few close calls as climbed behind Erina. Meanwhile Erina appeared to have no such problems and quickly pulled ahead.

Wolf felt some degree of embarrassment when she reached the top of the rockface and the two princesses were waiting for her.

“Not a word,” Wolf growled as she handed the cloak back to Satyarani.

“I was not going to say anything,” Satyarani assured, wrapping the fur cloak around her shoulders.

“I was. Perhaps you’d like to find a wolf friendly path on the way down?” Erina asked in a mocking tone.

“Do not tempt me.”

The trek across the main part of the mountain was easier, but if you go up, you must go down.

Erina tied a rope to a sturdy outcrop and began to abseil down the sheer rock face. Wolf waited at the top with her cloak on and with Satyarani, who was going to untie the rope and turn into dust to get down.

Something was making Wolf’s hackles rise, but she could not put her finger on it.

Still, Erina reached the bottom, and it was Wolf’s turn to go.

She grabbed the rope and instantly let go like it burned.

A growl built at the back of her throat as something unpleasant churned in her stomach. It was just rope, what was the matter?!

She grabbed for it again, but when she touched it her feet were scrambling back and away. She could feel its bristles, tough fibres digging in and tightening-

“Wolf?” Satyarani asked with concern.

Wolf looked down at her hand. It was fine, she had abseiled many times. Just, not within the last couple of decades.

She tried for a third time, but now her hand trembled, and she could not bring herself to touch it.

“WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?!” Erina bellowed from the base of cliff.

“…I WILL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY DOWN!” Wolf responded.

“WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS!”

“I WILL CATCH UP!”

“I WILL GO WITH HER!” Satyarani called down the rockface.

Erina dramatically threw up her arms in response. Satyarani untied the rope and let it fall, and once Erina had gathered it up she turned and continued her way down the mountain.

“Are you well, Wolf?” Satyarani asked.

“…I do not think I have been well for a very long time,” Wolf admitted. “And in this moment? I do not know.”

“I see. Let us find another way down then. You are familiar with this mountain?”

“Mostly. There should be a wolf trail somewhere. There usually is.”

The wolf trail was still dangerous. In truth it was more of a goat trail, with Wolf having to leap from safe point to safe point. Still, it was easier with four paws.

It was afternoon by the time Wolf made it down, followed by a patient Satyarani as a dust cloud, who gave her helpful tips on where to jump next.

Once back on the ground Wolf gave herself a shake before casting the air for Erina’s scent. She trotted north, making for the River of the Rising Moon.

Satyarani changed to human to follow, but kept up remarkably well.

They found Erina talking with Haryad a few miles south of the river as the sky turned orange.

“…moving onto the northern most edge of Green Lady Wood for their second talisman,” he said.

“Aye. Any news from Raven of Old?”

“He has been moving quickly, for he is making his way to place his fourth talisman.”

“That is excellent news to hear,” Satayrani said as she stepped towards Erina. Wolf shifted mid step.

“There you are, I was starting to worry,” Erina frowned. “I am concerned, about how easy this has been. There has not been a single demon spotted so far.”

“Nevar is likely hoping that we will not be able to fight him off, or possibly impede us in reaching the portal,” Wolf suggested, face twisting as Erina turned to face her. “Do not Erina, please.”

Surprisingly, Erina did not jump on the potential bait. “I fear you may be right,” she sighed.

Wolf was surprised. “What did you say?”

“Do not make me say it again.”

“I am not entirely certain I heard you the first time.”

“You heard me loud and clear Wolf.”

Wolf was grinning despite, or perhaps because of, Erina’s annoyed expression.

“Some things do not change,” Erina sighed before turning to Haryad. “Please inform Cyrus and Raven that we will be camping along the River of the Rising Moon, with plans on crossing tomorrow.”

“I shall!” Haryad disappeared into the horizon.

Erina looked back at Wolf, opened her mouth to say something, then decided against it.

“What is it?” Wolf asked.

“I…” Erina shook her head. “I am too tired to start a fight with you. That was the first genuine smile I have seen from you.”

“…Oh.”

Erina cleared her throat and without another word began striding north.

Wolf glanced at Satyarani before following Erina.

They camped where Erina suggested, watching the waters of the River of the Rising Moon rush past.

Erina watched it warily, eyes flicking up and down the bank.

“Erina?” Satyarani asked.

“It is an old habit. Demons used to patrol this river, and I could not cross to avoid them.”

“Why? It is fast to be certain, but it does not appear deep.”

“While Nevar held dominion here, the waters became cursed. To touch it was certain death. And now, logically I know the curse is likely broken, yet still…”

“I am certain you will not be concerned if I fell in to test this,” Wolf commented lightly, whittling a new lump of wood.

“Wolf I do not think that is helpful,” Satyarani said.

“Wolf… no.”

“Very well, it was merely a suggestion.”

“That does remind me,” Erina turned to Wolf. “Why did you not abseil down Flint Drop?”

Wolf paused. She had been trying not to think about it.

“I am, uncertain. Something made me feel uneasy.”

“Did you not trust my rope?”

“That was not the problem,” Wolf tapped the side of her head. “Here is the problem.”

Erina furrowed her brow and looked away. “…I see…”

She was saved from having to continue her train of thought as a raven flew in. It landed just outside the campsite and shifted, revealing that Raven had flown to them.

Wolf immediately got to her feet. “Raven? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, yes. Everything is proceeding smoothly. Wolf, I was hoping to speak with you for a moment.”

Wolf glanced at Erina and Satyarani before leaving her whittling tools by the fire and walking to Raven. The two of them stepped away from the firelight.

“Are you certain you are well?” Wolf asked, now having a closer look. Raven looked pale, and bags were beginning to form under her eyes.

“I have not been sleeping well,” Raven admitted quietly. “I had hoped that you still have some of the Dreamless Sleep potion you used in the Lands to the North?”

“Aye, I do! One moment,” Wolf felt around her belt for the correct bottle, then after a second found an empty bottle. She poured some of the potion into the new bottle and handed it to Raven.

“That should tide you over for several days,” Wolf informed. “I will try and brew some soon. Return if you need more.”

“You are too good to me my friend,” Raven stowed the bottle away carefully.

“I could say the same of you.”

Raven gave a small smile. “I thank you Wolf.”

“How is Cyrus?” Wolf changed the subject. “Has he lost his voice yet?”

“Not as of yet, although he is making an admirable effort,” Raven looked over at the campfire. “How are things here?”

“Tense,” Wolf decided to be honest. “But slowly improving, I think. Time will tell.”

“Cyrus has been telling stories,” Raven looked over at Erina. “I do hope your relationship repairs somewhat.”

“What stories has he been telling?”

“Old glory day stories. The battles with Nevar, how he met you, some of his accomplishments. I did not think listening to the finer details of how Time Wells function would be boring.”

“He does enjoy the sound of his own voice,” Wolf commiserated.

Raven nodded. “Aye,” she raised the bottle. “Thank you again my friend. I will leave you now.”

“Give Cyrus my best.”

“That I will,” with that Raven started shifting, but paused as Erina called over.

“A moment Raven, if you please!”

Raven returned to her human form and looked at Wolf quizzically as Erina came over.

“There is something I wish ask you, privately,” Erina shot Wolf a look.

“Very well,” Wolf conceded irritably. “I will not be far if you need me. Safe travels,” Wolf walked back to the fire.

Erina and Raven spoke for a few minutes, Wolf doing her best not to eavesdrop. Still her name and ‘staff’ and ‘Nevar’ pierced through her ears. Erina didn’t seem to get the answers she was looking for, as Raven shifted into a raven and flew west. Erina walked back, face equally as stormy as the sky.

Wolf watched Raven fly away until she could no longer see her, before turning her attention to Erina.

“What did Raven wish to speak to you about?” Erina asked before Wolf could.

“She asked for some of my potion of Dreamless Sleep,” Wolf gestured to the bottle on her belt. “I will be looking for ingredients to make a new batch tomorrow.”

“I see,” Erina didn’t appear too convinced. “Do you still remember how to make it?”

“I believe so. Why, are you offering aid?”

A muscle worked in Erina’s jaw. “Perhaps. I will think on it.”

“…I see,” of all the responses, Wolf had not been expecting that. “And what did you ask of her?”

“I merely asked her to confirm something for me,” Erina sighed and looked long and hard at Wolf. “You did always insist on being difficult.”

“Excuse me?”

“Raven confirmed your story, and while I am not ruling out making portals in the night, I…” Erina shook her head. “Never you mind.”

“…No matter,” it did matter, but Wolf wasn’t sure if she had the energy for this. “I will sleep now,” she took a swig of the potion and curled up to sleep.

---

Yeah, Erina being alone on the Island for four years dodging demons, that's going to leave some marks. I haven't really got much to comment on the chapter itself, but I will say this about the River of the Rising Moon. When I was preparing this fic I rewatched Raven: The Island, as you might expect, and then I went back, cross referencing with the wiki to find specific challenges, and a I noticed that the three teams mostly stuck to a certain area. The Lions were usually in the southeast of the island, the Eagles in the northeast and the Wolves in the West. There is at least one challenge at the River of the Rising Moon, by the Lions, which should have been in this area, but when the map did it's travel thing, it scanned over to the west! Where the Wolves where and nowhere near where the Lions were usually!

Okay, I could have ignored that I'll admit, but I didn't, so there's no challenge remnants here. In hindsight, it should not bother me this much. Instead it bothers me greatly.

2 notes · View notes

awastelandheart · 4 years

Text

Sebastian’s personality analyzed through his theory-crafted natal chart: The perspective of a professional astrologer.

PART ONE: SUN SIGN.

i apologize in advance to any capricorns i unintentionally read to filth in this post.

i think out of all the bachelors & bachelorettes, Sebastian has the oddest, most abrasive post-marriage dialogue. i’ve heard plenty of people over the years complain about how awkward being married to him is & i, myself, tend to not marry him when i play since locking him in pelican town like that when he so clearly wants to leave feels bad. even before marriage as well, he has a lot of almost cringey & certainly concerning dialogue. Sebastian’s not a man that’s made for marriage or long term relationships i think, at least not in his early to mid 20s which is how old i believe he is in canon. unlike the rest of the bachelors & bachelorettes, his character arc & development don’t do much for melding him into someone worth being with. even Shane who is troubled in a much more obvious way than Sebastian has more moments of reflection that convince the player that he’s a good person despite his flaws. Sebastian may seem to be gentle in his internal struggle, it’s easy to believe that, at most, he’s rude & depressed, but i think there’s a lot more to unpack here that suggests he’s violent, angry to an awful degree, & possibly the worst marriage candidate, if not just the worst townie out of the whole cast.

to start off with, i believe Sebastian’s sun sign is Capricorn. my reasoning for this is a blend between a post on reddit i found that used a simple algorithm to convert the in game dates to real dates. taking into account the slightly flawed method that gives each date 2-3 days worth of wiggle room, “ january 17th ” implies he’s on the Capricorn side of january. to be honest, when i was first thinking about what sun sign i wanted Sebastian to have, i was leaning towards Aquarius since he has several lines about escaping the town & wanting his freedom ( both being very Aquarius-like qualities ), however i think the case for Capricorn is much easier to make. to start off, i’ll give a run down of the most defining Capricorn characteristics, then i’ll move onto showing in-game examples of how Sebastian demonstrates these traits ( while leaving room for his other natal positions that i’ll extrapolate on in more posts to come ).

Capricorn is an earth sign, reveling in stability with a handful of almost toxic traits to display if that stability isn’t achieved. ruled by saturn, or kronos if you wanna get greek, Capricorns are at a constant war with themselves between the general human experience & cutting out as much superfluous expression & feeling as possible. the story of kronos is very reflective of the Capricorn struggle: it’s the tale of a man ( god, but that’s not important ) whose wife is predicted to bear a child who will surpass him & take his legacy. kronos, in his anxiety to prevent this change, begins eating each of his wife’s children as they’re born until one day, his wife replaces one of the newborns with a rock so that it will survive kronos’ consumption. of course this leads to the child growing up & indeed surpassing kronos just as the prophecy foretold. the lesson to be learned from kronos is one of restriction & the inevitability of time.

between their earthly reliability & love of practicality, Capricorns are viewed as the traditional fathers of the zodiac sphere. they guard their values of yesteryear close to their chest. anything too different is cast far away from themselves or, rather, consumed until all traces are disposed of. thankfully not as stubborn as poor Taurus ( another earth sign ), Capricorns have a touch of adaptability in all their logic. their modality is cardinal, implying they take charge of situations. they are the leaders next to Cancer, Libra, & Aries: any good leader knows when to give up their morals for the betterment of their charge. to boot, Capricorn is represented by the mythological creature, the sea-goat ( a creature created by dear old kronos, himself, consisting of the torso of a goat & the tail of a fish ); the goat half delivering on that steady earthly nature of an unrelenting climb to the top of a mountain called life, yet the inclusion of the ocean in this aesthetic implying an amount of emotion only water signs can relate to.

in the typical male-dominated, fatherly way, however, emotional expression does not exist for Capricorns, resulting in this implied depth to lurk well below a Capriorn’s surface. they are deeply independent in a way that leads to intense loneliness. they must do everything for themselves, another thing lovely kronos has taught us here. why look for a different solution to this problem when i so clearly have found one for myself, the ruler of saturn proclaims. a Capricorn’s independence is almost panic charged in this way. they so dearly want to be seen as capable that they will shred their own livelihood as a price. they are masters at self control for it, each having taught themselves the art of stoicism from a young age. Capricorns are at best, friendly in a superficial way. knowing their loneliness is created by their own hands but never knowing how to move passed their own cold & distant heart to enact any change necessary to improve their relationships.

something that is often associated with Capricorns & the other earth signs is the act of earning money. while Taurus enjoys earning money to support their lavish, venus-ruled lifestyle & Virgo sees money as something to worry over thus resulting in them hoarding it, Capricorns crave for their income to be stable & plentiful in order to provide for their loved ones, or for the more lonely Capricorns, to provide for themselves.

saturn is the first planet to take a substantial amount of time to complete its cycle through all the signs. compared to earth, which takes one year to complete its solar rotation & jupiter which takes 12, saturn takes upwards of 30 years. we astrologers take that as symbolical for how Capricorns get significantly better with age, as well as their “ slow & steady wins the race ” attitude. Capricorn is a sign of wisdom but only at the hand of experience. young Capricorns frequently find themselves discontented with their environment & lifestyle, craving a stability that cannot exist without first having established themselves in the world. every seven years it’s said, a Capricorn reaches a new level of understanding & maturity, as it is about every seven years that saturn completes 1/4th of its solar cycle.

Capricorns, like Scorpios, love their privacy. regarded as one of the more shady signs of the zodiac, a Capricorn is the type of person to have everyone believing they know everything there is to know about them while simultaneously only ever revealing surface level knowledge about themselves. Capricorns love having friends & spending time with their loved ones, however they lack a sense of trust that would allow them to form deeper connections. while a Capricorn does experience their emotions as thoroughly as the rest of the zodiac, they have an equally intense insecurity about expressing them. a Capricorn lives their life wanting to be depended on or at least wanting to provide for those that do depend on them. emotions are seen as a weakness that cannot be spared.

with the basic personality of a Capricorn outlined, i’ll now go through some choice quotes that demonstrate these traits & then talk about a few parts of his heart events that do the same.

“ if i just disappeared would it really matter ? ” “ i was thinking... people are like stones skipping over the water. Eventually we're going to sink. ” “ what am I going to do today ? probably nothing.”

when the player first meets Sebastian, he is overtly depressed & never goes out of his way to hide it. there is a solemn dark cloud filled with rain, ready to burst constantly following him & it’s difficult to ignore. this seriousness is very characteristic of many signs, Capricorn being one of them as it is ruled by Saturn, an outer planet with a very melancholic tone.

“ hey, don't let me stop you from getting your work done. if you aren't busy i don't mind if you stick around. ”

this quote demonstrates the productive mindset of a Capricorn. compared to all the other bachelors, Sebastian is the only one to ever really consider the player’s work schedule.

“ i was so close to screaming at mom for throwing away my old comic collection ... but something stopped me. hmm ... with age comes wisdom. ” “ the older i get, the less i'm drawn to the city. ” “ sometimes i feel so angry ... but when you show up i always start to calm down. maybe i'll mellow out with age. ”

while these quotes are also depicting other personality traits, for now i want to emphasize Sebastian’s constant referencing to the passage of time. time is always on a Capricorn’s mind, even the less self aware ones always feel the effects of its passage harsher than other signs. after dating & at points in marriage, which is when these quotes are from, Sebastian begins to view time as something more positive & optimistic. he recognizes that he has anger issues, at the very least, & hopes they’ll get better as time goes on. it’s quite the feat to make a Capricorn see growing older as something positive instead of something anxiety inducing, so from this alone we can really tell that Sebastian is absolutely in love with the player, without a doubt.

“ i couldn't sleep last night so I went for a night ride on the motorcycle. i need to stay independent, even though we're married. that's just how i am. i still love you, though. ” “ hey ... want some coffee ? i needed some ... woke up early from a nightmare & i just couldn't fall back asleep. ” “ hey. i couldn't sleep last night so i took a walk to the caves. ” “ i'm going to take a walk today. i need some time to myself. i'll see you in the evening. ”

Capricorns tend to be almost predisposed to sleep issues due to their immense amount of anxiety that comes with the disconnect between productivity & incapability, or craving emotional connection & viewing emotions as unnecessary. Capricorns are also fiercely independent, so independent that it’s no surprise Sebastian’s the kind of person to sneak out of bed & go off alone when feeling anxious instead of waking his partner up for comfort.

“ i don't want to get soft now that i'm a married guy. maybe i should start eating more hot pepper & working out ? just an idea ... ”

while i’d also be willing to chalk this expression up to Sebastian being anxious about not passing as masc, i’m also willing to attribute this to a Capricorn being afraid of time passing & “ missing out ” on life. growing soft can be a fear of a sign so dedicated to seeming tough & dependable.

“ i don't really feel like doing work today. maybe i'll see what's on tv. ” “ i did some work on the laptop today. ” “ i'm debating whether i should work or just read comics all day. ” “ you know, i should be doing something productive right now. i just lose focus too fast ... maybe i should drink more coffee ? ”

Sebastian references his work so frequently, in typical Capricorn fashion because the urge to justify one’s pleasures by mentioning the fact that they’re also being productive is something ever-present. they are a very guilty breed; on top of their other burdens, they feel especially bad for moments of relaxation or times when they should be doing something, but cannot bring themselves to.

“ you’re probably making a lot of money on your farm, huh ? i guess i should get a job soon … ” “ we should raise more slimes. in big quantities they can be really profitable. ” “ i did some work on the laptop today. i was actually brainstorming some ideas for a game i want to make. with your farming income, i can afford to do what i want with my life. it’s pretty amazing. thank you. ” “ hey. look at me. never forget that i love you ... you’re everything to me. now go make us some money. ” “ are we doing okay on money ? i don’t want to have to sell my laptop ... ” “ *sigh* ... if gas wasn’t so expensive i’d ride my motorcycle to the city today. so what do you do when you aren’t working ? ”

Sebastian talks SO much about money & to me, it’s really hard to imagine concernedape didn’t intentionally make him a Capricorn with this much dialogue about income when no other bachelor or bachelorette has any mention of the topic ( except for harvey who mentions he’s afraid he’s not bringing in enough money from the lack of people in town ). the biggest one that jumps out at me to really signal a significant change in his personality after marriage is when he mentions having the freedom that comes with a steady income, a freedom that now allows him to do what he really wants which is, apparently, to make a video game. another one that jumps out at me here is his immediate association with feeling like he should get a job after assuming the player is making a lot of money. since income is such an important subject for Capricorns, it’s easy to imagine Sebastian feels inferior in comparison to the player since he’s “ just ” a freelancer.

“ i often felt unappreciated at home ... but here i feel like i really belong. ”

this quote kind of hits Capricorn’s need to be appreciated & useful directly on the head & is a good transition for me to talk about the fact that Sebastian never progressed very far in his career while living at home with his family because he felt unappreciated. compared to how he almost immediately has a dialogue line after marriage where he tells the player he’s been inspired to make a video game, it’s easy to see the almost instant maturity Sebastian obtained just from moving out; something he had assumed was in the far off future, implied by his heart scenes.

now let’s break down Sebastian’s heart events.

his first heart even opens with him busy working, already a very Capricorn setting honestly, as i’ve said a few times now since Capricorns are prone to productivity. Robin enters after a moment & informs Sebastian that Abigail is looking for him, to which Sebastian responds to ask if his mother had informed Abigail that he’s working. Robin says that while she had, Abigail still intends on visiting Sebastian at some point today. Sebastian’s next piece of dialogue is very important.

“ *sigh* no one takes my job seriously. ”

this is an incredibly Capricorn thing to say, both because Capricorns always feel the need to be taken seriously & also due to their signature insecurity about income.

the scene continues so that the player can ask Sebastian what his career goals are. he explicitly says: “ well, i’m trying to save up so i can move out of here. probably to the city or something, ” which by itself is obviously very Capricorn, both nailing their need for income, their constant validation that they deserve what they want, & their desire for independence, however his dialogue continues for another textbox that contains the most Capricorn lines i’ve ever heard.

“ you know, if i went to college i’d probably be making six figures right now … ”

Sebastian is so very & obviously obsessed with money, it’s crazy to think he’s any other sign but Capricorn. this portion of the heart scene ends with him saying,

“ but i just don’t want to be a part of that corporate rat race, you know ? ”

this dialogue i’m willing to attribute to another one of his signs at a later date in another post, but in my experience, i’ve known several Capricorn suns that feel the same: that while they strive for a stable income, they hate participating in capitalistic culture.

this first heart scene ends with Sebastian dismissing the player, saying he “ has to get this module finished by tomorrow, ” indicating he has a very set schedule when it comes to his work. organization being yet another characteristic trait of Capricorn.

Sebastian’s second heart scene opens with the player catching him working on his bike. after a moment of introspection, Sebastian starts talking, again, about how when he saves enough money, he’s going to get out of the valley, just him & his bike. this scene doesn’t have anything specifically Capricorn about it & i plan on revisiting it when i talk about his other placements.

likewise, Sebastian’s third & fourth heart scenes don’t have anything outrageously Capricorn in them -- in fact neither scene tells us very much about Sebastian in particular aside from pointing out that he likes tabletop games ( which obviously isn’t exclusively Capricorn by any means, but i’ve known so, so many Capricorn suns that have been hardcore into dnd over the years ... ) & has social anxiety. i’ll most likely dip into his fourth heart scene a little more when i talk about his other placements, though.

Sebastian’s fifth ( & final before marriage ) heart scene is, of course, important, & probably the most memorable for anyone who’s played Sebastian’s route, but it honestly doesn’t tell us much about his core personality. what it does tell us is how he acts & feels when he’s in love, so i’ll definitely come back to this scene when i talk about his venus position.

& that’s on his heart scenes !

so, in summary, i believe Sebastian has a Capricorn sun because he shares many qualities with how astrologers perceive the position. of course this is all just my personal interpretation, but i hope this was an interesting read & shed some light on the kind of person Sebastian is !

#stardew valley rp #stardew valley #stardew valley meta #stardew valley headcanon #stardew rp #i seriously apologize to any capricorns i called out with this #i want u all to know i have a 4 position capricorn stellium so #by writing this i also called myself out #🐸 did i even make a sound? it’s like i never made a sound ― about.#ok to reblog!!

39 notes · View notes

toad-mode618 · 6 years

Text

East

This past week has been one of my favorite of the summer, mainly because I was able to share it with my family! They arrived in Laramie last Thursday evening and I quickly got to work giving them the full experience.

We started by eating at my favorite restaurant in town, the Crowbar and Grill. This restaurant had a wide range of interesting meals and, in my opinion, puts most Carbondale restaurants to shame. After this, we called it an early night and my family went to a nearby hotel to sleep before moving into Elizabeth’s house for the remainder of the week. The next morning we ate at my favorite breakfast spot before driving out to the Snowies!

The Snowies were the location my family needed to see first as I felt the range really embodied the beauty and splendor of the area in and around Laramie. It was a beautiful day to make the drive and I think they really enjoyed hiking around the bottom of the craggy peaks. The long drive also allowed them to see many other things that made Laramie so special, such as the pronghorns, prairie dogs, and snow fences covered with bald eagles and ravens. On this drive they were also able to see the Lindzey, Bufford, and McGee toad sites. It was great to be able to convert my written words to a physical form for them!

During that evening we took in the farmers market and also had a dinner with Brent. It was great to introduce my best Wyoming friend to my family and we had a great time sharing stories of our summer in Laramie! Once we had finished, I spent the rest of the evening with Isabel, Brent and some of my other friends in Laramie playing video games until 4 in the morning.

On Saturday I slept in until 2 and woke up just in time to grab lunch with my parents. They had spent the morning perusing the downtime Laramie shops for local art and fudge. This was our laziest day and we took things pretty easy.

After another late start on Sunday I decided it was time to get my family back outside, so we headed to Veedawoo (I will never know how to spell or say this correctly) where we spent an hour hiking and climbing rocks in the park. My sister and I even found a small fat man’s squeeze that I tried to navigate, but with not much luck. Huh, maybe things aren’t too different out in Laramie!

That night I spent my last evening with Brent before he departed for Iceland on a 10 day trip with his dad. Once again I cannot explain how great of a friend Brent was to me and he will always be a large part of my Wyoming stories.

Monday was the day I was most excited for because I was going to be able to give my family a good taste of what I had been doing all summer, but before I could do that I had to enter data. This did not take too long, however, and before noon Andy and I were headed to Red Buttes to attach telemetry trackers to 2 new toads that will be followed this fall. This was long and drawn out and before I knew it it was 2 o’clock. I alerted Andy of this and he allowed for myself and 2 techs from the Leadville Zoo to go meet my family and begin a toadlet release at Outrider.

Both parties found each other quickly and after bleaching our boots we were ready to release over 100 toads! Not only was it a great feeling to be able to introduce my family to this, but the techs from Leadville had also never done a release before and were visibly eager. Seeing this I wasted no time and took us to one of the best toad release sites on the property! It was a quick experience, but a fun one for all involved!

I spent that evening at Lovejoy’s talking to Shannon while she tended bar. She was another great friend addition in the wild Wild West and was always fun to spend time with and talk to. I felt that she, Brent and I became a sort of motley 3. Did I mention they were both fantastic?!

Finally, Tuesday rolled around and I knew I had to begin packing up for my departure on Wednesday. Of course I did not pack at all Tuesday and instead spent the day seeing more friends, shopping, and eating at my favorite Laramie digs. It was the perfect final day.

At 9 in the morning Wednesday, Izzy and my mom took the rental car and headed for the Denver airport, while my dad and I stayed behind to finish up cleaning the house so that a new renter could move in. When this was finished we made a final shopping stop before heading out on our road trip back to Carbondale. This was not going to be a straight shot trip, however, as my dad and I planned on hitting the Black Hills and the Badlands on our return home.

By 6 on Wednesday we had reached our first stop, Mount Rushmore. I was a bit apprehensive about seeing this site as I find it to be very touristy, but once I learned the history of the man who created the monument I began to really respect what it was and what it stood for. The Black Hills that surrounded it were also incredibly beautiful and were wonderful to drive through! In my future travels I plan on visiting there again!

The next day we started by entering the Badlands, which was my favorite part of this road trip (other than being able to spend time with my dad). While we were there we saw countless fossils, which of course we could not take for ourselves ;), Buffalo and even a handful of bighorn sheep. These sightings were really cool especially when paired with the sighting of a mountain goat the day before at Rushmore!

Shortly after seeing the bighorn sheep we departed the badlands and began the more questionable part of our journey, our trips to Wall Drug and the Corn Palace. Back in the 30s or whenever my parents had last been through the town of Wall, the drug store was a booming tourist trap. Well things had not changed too much and tourists were still being trapped by the thousands. We used the restroom and had had our fill of the place. Next stop Corn Palace. Things can only get cooler right? Wrong! The Corn Palace was a largely brick building covered in murals made out of corn. The highlight of this stop was the popcorn and the jokes my dad and I made about the experience afterwards. It was a good laugh! Around 9 o’clock last night we arrived in Omaha and had dinner downtown before hitting the hay. We had a long day ahead of us on Friday.

Well today is that Friday and we have currently been driving for 8 hours and are now only 30 minutes away from Carbondale. My summer journey has been beyond anything I imagined and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I met incredible people and experienced no drama, which is a big upgrade from my homestead in southern Illinois. I also honed my skills as a biologist and a technician. I am now mentally stronger than I was before I left and feel more independent than ever before. At this point in life I feel like I can overcome any obstacle by using my mind and my words. Be ready Carbondale, my final year is gonna be a big one.

2 notes · View notes

erinelezabeth920 · 6 years

Text

Days 17-18: - Quito

Day 17:

It was Saturday. It was a tired day. I woke up late. I hadn’t slept in since god knows when. Not too late though because that damn equator sun shines right through my window. I went down around 8am and had breakfast with Monica; she thought I was going to Quilotoa today instead of the day before. My Spanish was probably off. I was hoping she would do my laundry today because it was beyond tragically low (hadn’t been washed since the hospital, since I arrived to Quito). She said something that the lines were all full (air dry clothing after hand washing), and she would do it tomorrow. Damn. After breakfast I went upstairs and diddled around until 10:30am. At 10:30 I headed out the door wearing shorts and a T-shirt (still held out hopes for laundry, maybe…). It was bright and sunny out. I wrapped my scarf around my shoulders. I tried out a different bus route to the Spanish school which sent me the completely wrong direction, so I just grabbed a taxi instead. I waited out on the steps for a few minutes until Kat showed up. Star showed up directly after; we sat on the steps and chatted, trying to ignore the gazes of the men at the barber shop next door. Soon a younger woman showed up, who we figured out was our tour guide. Michela, either a friend or daughter or something of one of the Spanish teachers was a local college student who was studying history and tourism. She wanted to practice giving tours, so the teachers asked if any of us were interested. It seemed like a nice way to spend a Saturday.

Mike and Ana arrived a few minutes later, and we set off. Kayla was getting her hair done, and Erin was at home mourning the loss of her phone (it had gotten stolen on the metro, just after we had said goodbye from margaritas after Quilotoa). We headed on the crowded metro to the historical district. It was honestly beautiful. We had been there before, but it was basically the first day and I was so out of it I don’t remember much. The day was perfect, sunny and not too hot. Michela told us about the history of the buildings, the Spanish conquistadors, and showed us the statue in the Plaza de Independencia when Ecuador become its own country. We went into the public library, and into some breathtakingly amazing churches of which I have no photos because it’s not allowed. With Spanish colonial architecture, narrow streets, churches and historic buildings, Quito was actually the first city in the world to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I had thought that Michela would speak in English, but she didn’t know it well enough she said, so spoke Spanish. I missed some things, but it was good practice and I asked Mike and Ana to translate a lot. She spoke of politics, the Spanish influence, and Incan relics. There is so much depth and history to this place that I can’t begin to scratch the surface. I stood on the roof of the old library, surveying the city.

People were out everywhere. Tourists and locals alike. The historic center has old buildings, colonial style and cobble streets with vendors selling ice cream, fruit and empanadas. We had lunch at an almuerzo place (3$). After lunch, Kat and Mike headed out. Ana, Star and I opted to stay to visit the Museo del Ciudad. Michela had to head out, but set us up with a tour guide (also in Spanish) for 3$. It was honestly one of the best experiences I’ve had here. The museum was beautifully laid out in an old building where each room explained a historical period of time in Quito. From the geography, to indigenous people, where they lived, what they ate, how they moved from hunter gather to society, the overtake of the Incan Empire (which only lasted 40 years who knew?!) to the first Spanish conquistadors, mass massacre of the indigenous people (what else is new), colonial period, independence, and finally modernization (also didn’t know Ecuador only adopted the American dollar 10 years ago, to avoid inflation and the total shit that is happening to Venezuela right now). Anyway, two extremely informative hours, listening in Spanish. How completely American, that I can live in a place and know nothing about it. After the museum Ana, Star and I bought street churros and they were amazing.

After that I went home. I was tired. I napped for an hour then went to meet Kayla, Erin and Star for dinner at a pasta place in Plaza Foch. Erin was in better spirits. It’s just mentally and emotionally draining to feel constantly unsafe. But dinner was nice. I was exhausted but hung out with Erin and Kayla for a little- we looked for a place to dance in Plaza Foch, but it was too early and everyone was hustling us trying to get us to come in for a drink. I got annoyed and was going to slap the next guy that walked up to me with a menu, so we took a taxi up to the gay bar where Mike and the others were meeting. After another annoying conversation with the bartender about cover charge, we paid the stupid 10$ went in and danced for a little. I’m getting familiar with all the popular latino songs. (Erin already knows them by heart.) It was a typical gay club, flashing lights and music and men who can dance. Mike, Jojo, Ana and Mayra showed up shortly after. I danced with them for a bit; Erin, Mike and Jojo were in their element. I was tired though, just overstimulated from a lot of people in small spaces with smoke and bodies, which is essentially all the public transportation is in Quito, so I said goodbye around 11:45 and caught a cab home.

The cab driver didn’t have his meter on. He told me 5$. I told him absolutely not, 3$. He said no, 4$. I was pissed the whole ride home and gave him 3.50$

Day 18:

Sunday was just wonderful. It was a bright, sunny morning. I ate breakfast with Monica and Hernando. We sat and talked for a long time; I told them how I was an outdoor guide back home and showed them pictures, of the mountains in Washington, the mountain goats, the cherry blossoms. I brought down my laundry (finally). Monica asked if I wanted to go to the market, but I told her I was meeting friends to watch the world cup game.

Heading outside, the city was dead. I don’t know if it’s the Catholicism, the World Cup, or both, but everything felt quiet. The streets were empty and people were biking happily where usually cars are zooming and honking. The first bus I took was playing the game on the radio. When I got off at the park, a street vendor was listening on a portable radio. I took the second bus up toward the clinic and got off to find the bar we were meeting at. The streets were empty, just occasional cars and bikes. The day was absolutely beautiful. I met Erin and Kayla outside, and we walked in to a happy, popping bar. I ordered a mojito and Venezuelan mozzarella sticks. It was a fun atmosphere.

After the game we (the 8 of us) walked to Parque Carolina, a big park nearby. We went to the botanical gardens, and wandered around for a few hours looking at the different plants, flowers and ponds. After that we found a nice grassy space in the park to plop. We read, took naps and took turns watching stuff so people could go buy food. The park was extremely busy, almost like an amusement park with a little river of paddle boats, food vendors everywhere, and a little sketchy looking ferris wheel. Families were playing, happy. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the energy felt different. More carefree. Probably the Catholicism. Day of rest. At one point a family with a guitar and a harp came right next to us and played. It was wonderful. The little boy kept running away with the maracas.

After the market, I stopped for pasta and a glass of wine. It was okay but overpriced. I had bought a 2$ teenage vampire novel in Spanish off the street and tried to translate it. I got through one page. After that, I headed home. I had tea and bread with Monica, Primo, Pablito, Anai, and Hernando. It was nice. After that I headed to bed.

I don’t know how to explain it, but it was a special day, weekend really because I wasn’t jetting off somewhere in search of adventures. Sunday especially felt, well NORMAL. Waking up late, chatting with the family over breakfast, meeting friends to watch the game, hanging out in the park. That’s what typical Sundays are. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it was a marker, an accomplishment of sorts in the most tranquil of ways. We were past the point of two week, of the adrenaline of a vacation, and were just, for a brief quiet moment, living. In Quito.

It’s kind of a beautiful thought.

#ecuador #travel #blog #writing #studyabroad #southamerica

1 note · View note

thehikingviking · 3 years

Text

Hole in the Mountain Peak (11,306 ft) via Lizzies Basin from Weeks Trail

We woke up to a wet and overcast morning in Wells, Nevada. The weather forecast predicted a sunny day, but I was having second thoughts regarding our planned hike up Hole in the Mountain Peak, especially after a long night with the baby waking up several times to cry. We had driven a long way just to reach this point, so I intended to see this through. Clouds began to dissipate as we drove towards the trailhead. We left Highway 232 and passed through an unlocked gate as we transitioned to a dirt road, and what I assumed to be a private property easement. The road slowly deteriorated as we continued up Weeks Trail. Your vehicle’s off-road capabilities will determine your starting point. I hoped to reach the end of the road, but we ended up a little less than a mile and 900 vertical feet short; Ugh! My Jeep is getting older and I didn’t want to push it, so I reversed back down to a flat spot and strapped baby Leif to my chest. There was an individual camping in the sage brush below us, and another vehicle making its way up the trail below us. After a few hundred feet of hiking, the vehicle eventually caught up to us. I asked Asaka to stick out her thumb, but he drove right by us. I told Asaka that next time she should show a little leg, but then the truck stopped and waited for us to catch up.

He was happy to give us a ride, and just didn’t want to stop his momentum on one of the steep sections of road. He was a friendly older fellow who was planning to depart for an overnight fishing trip to Steele Lake. We chatted about the outdoors for the short drive and he dropped us off at the end of the road. What a score that was; eliminating 500 vertical feet of climbing was what I needed. Once at road’s end, the clouds cleared enough to expose the “hole in the mountain”.

We said goodbye to our new friend and entered the brush where a cairn marked the starting point. The trail was overgrown, but only knee to waste high.

This section didn’t last very long, and we soon transitioned to a birch forest. We weaved through the patches of trees, spotting cairns here and there to give us assurance that we were on track.

We reached a point where the GPS tracks I had loaded onto my phone split. I noticed a use trail that descended into Lizzies Basin. I reasoned that a small amount of elevation loss would be worth it if it avoided any further bushwhacking or potential cliffs.

There is no big lake here as the map suggests, but instead a marsh of sorts. There was a light trickle in the stream. The use trail disappeared but the terrain was wide open and it was clear where to go. We aimed for the large chute on the right side of the amphitheater, which appeared to be class 2.

The shifting clouds above gave periodic views of the hole in the mountain. I hoped that all the clouds would clear up by the time we reached the summit.

We took our first rest at the base of the chute.

The chute was very steep, but the grassy sections made the rocks stable. We took a slow and methodical approach for this section.

The chute took some time, but once we reached the top we were less than a thousand feet from the summit. We took another long rest here before starting up the final section of the ridge.

As we made our way up the talus slopes, several large mountain goats ran over the crest of the ridge. They moved too quickly for me to take a photo, and Asaka missed them altogether.

I was concerned about class 3 scrambling which was reported in some trip reports, but what I found was a benign series of ledges that were easy to navigate even with a baby in tow. Leif had begun to cry, as it was now his feeding time, but we were only a few minutes from the top. I decided to push through, making it to the summit shortly after. I was tired but relieved to have made it. To the north was Humboldt Peak, and the general direction of the Hole in the Mountain.

To the west was Tent Mountain.

To the north was Greys Peak.

To the east was Lizzies Basin.

Even though we were hundreds of miles away, the views were still spoiled by the California wildfires. A lot of the nearby points along the ridge looked just as high as we were, so I was relieved to find the summit register, verifying the prominence of 4,849 ft.

Not long after signing the register, Leif became very upset, and we had trouble finding out what was wrong. He was either hungry or cold, or both, and after failing to get him to calm down, we decided it was best to just go down and figure it out below. Once we dropped down a bit, the wind died down and the temperature got a little warmer. He fell asleep in the carrier, and I did my best to not disturb him as I delicately descended the talus.

I was pretty tired by the time I reached the top of the chute, but Leif was still sleeping and decided to keep moving.

We took another rest once at the bottom of the chute. I was tempted to give the baby to Asaka for a short while, but I also wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I could carry the baby the whole way.

We picked up the old use trail down by the creek and followed this back out to the road.

We descended the steep road until we reached the car.

From there, we began our drive east to the trailhead of Pilot Peak, which I planned to climb the following day.

0 notes

grimelords · 6 years

Photo

My October playlist is finished, please enjoy it. From 14 minute 70s acoustic guitar instrumentals, Armand Van Helden bangers and Christian music I’ve had a lot of feelings about this playlist has it all in four hours.

Love Love Love - The Mountain Goats: Posting on the web about Mountain Goats songs you've had a moment with is about as universal as it gets, so here's mine for this month. I woke up one morning with the line about Sonny Liston in my head one day after not listening to this song in years. John Darnielle is perhaps the only person on earth I'd trust to write a song about Kurt Cobain's suicide and he does a very simple and beautiful job of it here. Ben's My Friend - Sun Kil Moon: I discovered Sun Kil Moon way after I probably should have via that guy who was doing parody songs of him last year. This song is fantastic because it takes so long to make its point, and like so much good art is just some middle aged guy recounting his every thought and movement for four minutes. You Were Meant For Me - Jewel: I was trying to remember how Dreams by Fleetwood Mac went and all I could think of was this song, and settled on singing it to myself instead. Sober - Lorde: Sorry to be a normie but listening to Lorde break down this song on an episode of Song Exploder was incredibly good and it definitely made me appreciate the way the brass sounds a lot more. Melodrama really does get better and better as a cohesive whole the more I listen to it. Night Moves - Bob Seger: We as a society need to bring back Power Voice I think. I've been obsessed with this song for months now and as far as I can tell Bob Seger has precisely zero other good songs, which is unfortunate because this one is so good. This also is another song about getting the Lamenting Night Hornies because you heard a thunderstorm that reminded you of the times in your youth that you Fucked and it's, in my opinion, very beautiful. Cairo - San Fermin: This is on the list not only because it's a good song but also unfortunately because of Podasts. San Fermin guested on an episode of Improv4humans and got absolutely roasted about this song so I highly recommend the ep. UFO - Sneaky Sound System: It's unfortunate that Sneaky Sound System's highest played song according to Spotify is the Nicolas Jaar remix of Big (an all time top ten piece of music) because it's really overshadowed the rest of their incredibly good singles. Do you remember 2006? What a time to be alive. UFO (Van She Tech Remix) - Sneaky Sound System: This is my absolute pick of the month and I have been raving to everyone who'll listen but nobody cares, I cannot get enough of it. Do you remember when Justice came from France to bless us all with the secret of bass and we betrayed them by inventing Skrillex not three years later? Van She remember. Charlie Chazz & Rappin Ralph - Duck Sauce: I believe there is a real argument to be made that any song that doesn't refer to the listeners collectively as Party People is absolutely worthless. Duck Sauce's album is a completely underrated classic in my opinion, it's a go-to mood elevator from beginning to end and for some reason has a subplot thoughout about aliens transmitting coded messages to influence human evolution, which is a big thumbs up from me. I Took Your Picture - Cults: Guess what Cults are still really really good. I haven't given this album enough time yet but this bassline has invaded my dreams so that's a good sign. Pavement - City Calm Down: The way this layers and builds into and through the chorus is so satisfying. I love this sort of thick synth production and the contrast between the different registers of his voice is so satisfying as the chorus comes back again. Pogo - Digitalism: Australian electronic music had a real moment around 2007 between Digitalism, Van She, The Presets, Midnight Juggernauts, Cut Copy and all them and I'm realising retrospectively that it was very, very good. Semicircle Song - The Go! Team: The world's best band are back and their new album isn't out until fucking January! This song features big horns and a bridge that's just a montage of children telling you their star sign so that's how you know it's good. The Garden's All Nighters - The Number Twelve Looks Like You: It's a real shame that #12 broke up after this album because it feels like they were really on the edge of something. Over 4 albums they morphed from a straight ahead grind band into some sort of math-prog thing approaching it from a whole different direction to everyone else. I love the idea of writing such an expansive, complex song seemingly just about living in New Jersey. The way it transitions into the groovy latin part is so nice and the solo is just beautiful; and unlike other bands in the same sort of sector they never make a joke of genre switches either, they just keep moving forward with a smile. Paris/Orly - Deux: I forget how I first came across this album but it’s easily the wankiest thing I absolutely love. An 80s French synthpop duo that only ever released a cassette and some singles that got reissued by a label called Minimal Wave a few years ago. It is absolutely the best. New wave mixed with Kraftwerk and synthpop except incredibly french and cool as well. I constantly have their song Game And Performance in my head but this one was my obsession this month. Walking Into Sunshine (Larry Levan 12" Mix) - Central Line: There’s something very authentic about disco songs that are lyrically all about working all week all day every day, and desperately needing a break to perhaps, dance your worries away in a new york discotheque. Cradle In The Crater - The Number Twelve Looks Like You: This is maybe my favourite #12 song because it appears to be about some kind of super child who came from space and perhaps wrought havoc on the citizens of earth, but told in a very real and emotional way like it’s a story about someone they really knew. It reminds me of Mother 3 and the good times I had as a teen playing that game with my best friend, so that’s an added bonus. Under The Ice (Extended Version) - Topo & Roby: Italo disco forever. This song is a duet between a woman and a robot where they relay the story of him coming from a distant planet in a spaceship and crashing on the north pole then getting trapped under the titular ice where he waits to I think murder me. Now that I think of it it’s world similar to Cradle In The Crater. It sounds so good, far better than a novelty song like this has any right to. There’s also a video with someone’s 80s mum dancing with an incredibly shit robot on youtube if you’re interested. Outta The Woodwork - Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett: I really love the covers they chose for this album because they both really make it their own. Outta The Woodwork really sounds like a Kurt song now and I love the strong piano giving the song the harder edge the lyrics deserve and Kurt just lazily soloing to hell any chance he gets Peepin' Tom - Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett: I think I almost like this version more than the original, making it just an acoustic thing but still keeping all the dynamics of the original is so nice. I love specifically the deep bass voice of ‘peepin’ to the high ‘tom’. It satisfies something weird in my brain. Mercury (12" Version) - Bloc Party: I can’t believe i’ve lived this long without ever knowing that there was a 12” version of Mercury out there. The song I always felt was way too short to contain the amount of energy it has has a 7 minute version that well and truly lays it out into a slow intense burn instead. Electric Feel (Justice Remix) - MGMT: Just to get my 2007 opinions straight Electric Feel is not a good song. Kids is a good song but Electric Feel isn’t. That said: this remix comes damn close to making it good. Justice figured out the secret sound and we’re all the better for it. Comin' Apart - Gary Wright: There’s no greater joy than tracking down a sample and finding out that the original song is also a banger. This pairs extremely well with My My My as a sort of extended intro. My My My - Armand Van Helden: I posted that playlist a couple weeks ago of songs mid-2000s bangers with extremely horny videos and this is a highlight from that. I'm always amazed with how much mileage great producers can get out of a relatively straightforward sample because this hums along for almost 7 minutes and only gets better. Laser Life - The Blood Brothers: The Blood Brothers are one of the few bands that scratch the brain itch I have for totally bonkers Mars Volta markov chain lyrics phrases like 'Oh dream machine I'm a pound of flesh inside a drum machine dream'. They're also the only band I think that can get away with having this sort of cabaret swing feel in a song with a lot of screaming and not have it be absolutely unbearable. Camouflage, Camouflage - The Blood Brothers: Where a lot of The Blood Brothers early songs were just chaotic bursts, they have a few songs that spread out into a long multi movement ideas culminating in very good final lines like 'I couldn't see the love and affection it was camouflaged as a jungle of erections, and I couldn't see the skeletal lightning it was camouflaged as a young machete' 16 Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford: The mistake people make in covering this song is trying to match the extremely grim lyrics to the music, but this version succeeds exactly because it's on some upbeat Frank Sinatra shit with the clarinet refrain sounding like a children's song while still being very much about dying face down in the dirt from arsenic poisoning. Take This Hammer - Leadbelly: On the other hand you have a song like Take This Hammer from a guy who really worked on a chain gang complete with involuntary WAH sounds to time your hammer strikes to, and it's still so much more upbeat and positive musically than it has any right to be looking at the lyrics. San Francisco - Foxygen: There's something about the chorus of this song, and they way the phrases of the two voices line up where if it gets stuck in your head it just goes around and around and around forever and it is absolutely maddening so I thought I'd share that with you all. El Manana (Metronomy Remix) - Gorillaz: This remix reminds me of Studio to a degree with the way it just moves forward with no regard for regular structure. It's gutsy to remix a song and somehow restructure it so the chorus doesn't even sound like it's the chorus anymore but just another small part in a slowly winding up machine. Monkey Gone To Heaven - The Pixies: The way he's screaming that GOD IS SEVEN in this song I feel like if Black Francis hadn't made it in music he'd be running a very successful incomprehensible conspiracy website. This is a song I can get very lyrically involved in when I'm in certain moods, nodding my head like the creature in the sky DID get sucked in a hole and now there's a hole in the sky, and we're all in trouble because of it. Cannonball - The Breeders: I like this song because it feels like everyone in the band is working on their own unique structure. The clean guitar especially just comes and goes at will through the whole song, the lyrics start whenever, the rhythm guitar just keeps strumming along. It all comes together for the chorus and then they just go their own separate ways until it's chorus time again. S.A.D. - Kirin J Callinan: The production on this song just amazes me, especially as it moves into the later choruses the sheer weight of the chords is just crazy. The barest suggestion of guitars chugging in the background but blending into the huge synths chords. Combined with the vocals it's the most threatening pop song I've ever heard. Wrapped up in plastic thrown down the stairs feeling fantastic. Water Coast Blues - Honeyboy Edwards: I feel like Honeyboy Edwards has gotten a raw deal from history. When he died most of his obitaries made a big point of how he was one of the last living people to know Robert Johnson personally. Which is an important detail but it overshadows Edwards contributions in his own right as a guitarist and songwriter who had a 70 year career. The album this recording's from is a really good compilation that gives an overview of his whole career, mixed with interviews with Edwards and Alan Lomax that are just amazing. Anyway just listen to the playing on this song because it is incredible. The bass figure he switches into when he says 'when I had money'? Phenomenal. Another Leather Lung - The Sound Of Animals Fighting: The Sound Of Animals Fighting was a supergroup of a bunch of guys from RX Bandits/Chiodos/Circa Survive and bands like that coming together in animal masks to make the most pretentious band possible at the time. There's a lyrics on one of their other songs where he sings 'the artist! the true manifestation of struggle!' which is quite good. But outside of that they did make some very good music and the second half of this song where it takesoff is really something. Bone Machine - The Pixies: It's amazing Black Francis hasn't been linked to a string of murders in the mid 80s honestly. This whole song feels like evidence. Also the way he says 'I was talking to peachy peach about kissy kiss.. [incredibly long, awkward silence] ... he bought me a soda. he bought me a soda and he tried to molest me in the parking lot hep hep hep hep' is perhaps the most amazing verse ever. Stomping Tonight On The Pennsylvania/Alabama Border - John Fahey: This is John Fahey's best song and I've listened to it probably 4 times a week for the last 4 years. It is quite honestly an eternal mood. Ares - Bloc Party: War! War! War! War! I love the guitar in this, because it's just textural noisemaking more than anything else and mixed with the vocal manipulations in the chorus it's just absolute chaos. It's such a shame that everyone in Bloc Party either left the band or had their brain removed after this album because between this, Mercury and Talons it was truly an incredible moment. Special Rider Blues - John Fahey: I can't believe I only found out this month about John Fahey covering Skip James, and even that it took me this long for me to listen to the full version of his America album. Mark 1:15 - John Fahey: I also learned that on account of cds only holding 80 minutes of music, this 14 minute reissue version of Mark 1:15 is 2 minutes shorter than the original vinyl version and I'm completely riled up about it and demanding a second, definitive reissue to restore them. Regardless, this song is an absolute masterpiece and when it switches into the portion of When The Springtime Comes again about three quarters of the way through it's just amazing. Swim - Nicolas Jaar: Here's another quite long and involved piece of music from the other side of the spectrum. It has a very similar feeling to Mark 1:15 really, so if you liked that persevere through this. It's taken me such a long time to get around to listening to Nymphs for some reason but I'm glad I finally gave it a shot because this song especially is a real masterwork. Crimes - The Blood Brothers: A third Blood Brothers song for you, If you didn't like the other two there's a chance you'll like this one because it's much more sedate. This song is also a good first Blood Brothers song because the way the second vocalist sounds when he finally turns up is really funny if you're not expecting it. This is another on the long list of songs I seem to just always have in my head and sing to myself when I'm walking around. NRG - Duck Sauce: Are you ready for the most powerful 12 minutes of your life? It's the entirety of the NRG single by Duck Sauce. I like to think of it as a purposeful multi-movement work rather than a song and two remixes because that's what it feels like. Starting out we have the original, incredible instant power of NRG. NRG (Skrillex, Kill The Noise, Milo & Otis Remix) - Duck Sauce: and next we have the absolute peak of the work, the fever pitch. See if you can guess which part Skrillex was responsible for. I love the addition of miscellaneous woos and yeahs among the already busy main riff, I absolutely love the bass which sounds like some kind of steel drum pulled down four octaves. I love the distortion on the vocals in the second half as it slowly gives you time to catch your breath. NRG (Hudson Mohawk Remix) - Duck Sauce: The we move into the comedown, the HudMo contribution where the drums somehow sound like they're coming from next door like the party has passed you by and moved on to enliven your neighbours. I love the snare building and then splitting into triplets like it's going to drop before the peace of the synth gives way to the rolling thunder drums hafway in. On The Other Hand Baby - Etta Baker: I don't know what to say about Etta Baker. She's incredible and it's an absolute shame that she didn't really get recorded until she was about 70. This album was recorded when she was about 92 and her playing is still amazing. Crucible - Sleigh Bells: You have to give Sleigh Bells credit for still going strong four albums in if nothing else. Somewhere along the line they adopted this sort of corny rock chick thing that wasn't really there in their first album and I think it works against them but I really can't get enough of the instrumental of this song. The distorted brass and string amongst everything else especially. I feel like there's a much better song buried in here somewhere but I'll take what I can get. Pirate Blues - As Cities Burn: As Cites Burn are another good example of a metalcore band absolutely mellowing out into a indie rock band over the course of three albums, and the result Hell Or High Water has turned out to be one if my favourites of all time. This song especially is an obsession, and I love a band having the sense to no longer make metalcore, but learning enough from it to take a song to a a huge crescendo when they need to like this one does. Timothy - As Cities Burn: Between As Cities Burn, mewithoutYou and a couple of other christian bands I was very nearly converted in highschool and it still informs a lot of my uh theistic thought in a strangely unembarrassing way. This song, from their second album where they were sort of caught between their metalcore origins and the full fleshed indie rock of Hell Or High Water is one of their best. Yelling at god about your dead friend is a massive thing to write a song about but it's done so well and it builds and builds before dissolving into a sparse, thoughtful solo for a good six minutes into a beautiful ending.

listen here

#playlists

103 notes · View notes

rosequartz-and-agate-blog · 5 years

Text

Leavenworth 2019

We just got back from our second trip to Leavenworth, this time with Brandon and Maddie. It was definitely needed, I think for both of us.

Friday,

We got there a few hours before they did, so we got to wander on our own for a little bit and take pictures of stuff to show our parents. We had lunch at the Bavarian Bistro and Bar- a German pretzel with Beechers cheese sauce, and some sweet potato fries. You had a mule, and I had a pomegranate vodka cocktail of sorts. We finally got to check in to our room, took advantage of our privacy 👉🏻👌🏻 and then had a nice soak in the jacuzzi together before watching Fast and the Furious. Our friends finally got there, so we met up at Visconti’s for dinner. You and Brandon had some red wines and a port(?). Maddie and I had the only moscato they offered. You had oven roasted Wild Ocean Prawns with lemon basil butter, and I had probably the best Pollo alle Parmegiano I’ve ever had. Maddie and Brandon both had their Salmon special of the day, of course we had to have dessert. I got their raspberry cheesecake - which was delicious - and the three of you had their Crema Carmella, which was basically Crème Brûlée before the torch - also delicious. We followed our dinner with a walk to the Leavenworth Cider House, where we each had a flight of 5 ciders, and played cornhole. We beat them. Your favorite cider was One Tree Staycation - a pineapple and mango cider. My favorite was Locust Vanilla Bean - I think that’s self explanatory. We called it a night after that.

Saturday,

We woke up around 8:30, took a shower, and walked around the corner to the Argonaut Sidewalk Cafe to get some coffee. I got ready, and we met our friends at the Renaissance Cafe for breakfast. You had the biscuits and gravy, and honestly could’ve shared it with someone and still been full. I had the Kristienne - some dollar size pancakes and scrambled eggs. You shared your bacon with me since I don’t like sausage. After we got some food in our tummies... it was time for wine tasting.

We took them to the Woohoo Winery room. We ended up getting 3 bottles- (of course) our 2017 Late Harvest Riesling, a Berry Sangria, and a mulled red wine with Cabernet Franc and Merlot, spiced with Cinnamon Nutmeg and Cloves (that we’re saving for the holidays) to serve warm, called Gluhwein.

Then we made our way to D’Vinery Eagle Creek Winery, where nothing stood out, but Brandon needed a break after this one because he’s a weak bitch lightweight. We went to a few shops: one being Schocolate, where we got apple butter for my sister; another being Krampus games, where we got our long awaited D&D dice and a book for it. We stopped at the Sausage Garten for Pretzels. You found a habanero sauce that you really liked there, but I forgot to ask what it was before we left. You didn’t know I wanted to, but I’m sorry that I didn’t anyway.

We found another winery to do a tasting, but I can’t remember which one, and I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures. We also went to Viadolce Gelato and got some sweet treats to cool down, and walked through the Art Show that was going on. Eventually we made our way to the Icicle Ridge Winery, where we shared Sweet Flights, Purple Haze goat cheese (with lavender and fennel pollen), and crackers. All 3 of the wines in our flight were delicious- but we both liked Apple of my Eye the best, versus Cheery Cherry and the Blackberry Riesling.

Next was Milbrandt Vineyards tasting room. This is where we met Deborah, but she told me I can call her Debbie. We bonded over drinking wine alone, but with our cats. She kept giving you more tastings so she could talk to me more and I kind of silently adopted her as my grandma - which is ok since her grandson is our age! She gave you a little taste of their special “Members Only” fancy red wine and oh my god. I hate reds, but I loved that one. I wish we could’ve bought a bottle. Anyway, we had to leave. Maddie needed food.

We ended up back at the cider house, where we got flatbread pizzas, fries, and a couple ciders. This is also where our awesome game of Giant Jenga took place. We even impressed ourselves with it, since most of our moves shouldn’t have worked. Brandon and Maddie both have headaches at this point because they’ve started slowing down on drinking. We are still fine and comfortable because we’ve been steadily drinking since 11am. But now it’s dinner time...

At Mozart’s. We went in not knowing how much anything costs, because their online menu didn’t show prices. Turns out, it’s not cheap - surprise, surprise! We all got the same thing; Filet Mignon. Correction: $50 Filet Mignon. None of us got actual drinks, just water, and our bills were still about $100 each couple. But fuuuuuuck that was some GOOD steak. No regerts.

After dinner, it was past our bedtime. We went back to our room, you passed out pretty much immediately, and I fell asleep 20 minutes into the Goblet of Fire.

Sunday,

Our last day in Leavenworth. We woke up at 7:30 - and that was after forcing ourselves to sleep in a few times - and got ready for the day. I had to wear shorts instead of a dress today since I have a painful rash from my damn power thighs chaffing. Yesterday’s sunburn had already healed, but within 20 minutes of being outside, I had a new one starting. We got white chocolate lavender mochas from Argonaut again, and played Pokémon Go around town while we waited for Maddie and Brandon to get ready. We looked in a couple shops that opened early for some different apple butter, but couldn’t find any. But oh, this weekend had gone so smoothly... it would be a shame if I’d forgotten my purse in the room that we already checked out from. You can count on me to mess something up. We got about half way back to our room when they said they’re finally ready. It was a struggle, between my thighs and my ankles, but we didn’t keep them waiting too long. Louie’s was our breakfast spot this time. We left sad, though. It wasn’t as good as last time we were there.

After breakfast Maddie and Brandon had to check out of their hotel. We got taffy in the meantime, then met back up with them by the art show. We walked through town again, this time checking out the parlors, knickknack shops, and chocolatiers. We didn’t get anything. By the time we got through all of the shops, it was about 11:45 and we were ready to go home. We grabbed our wines from Woohoo, and made a quick stop at Rocky Mountain Chocolate for some caramel apples - 2 cheesecake and 1 peanut. We parted ways with our buddies, and made the journey home.

0 notes

cyb-by-lang · 7 years

Text

OSF AU - All the Little Children (4/?)

Part 4: Wherein the preteen gang war comes to a head and the Hero appears.

Content Warnings: Swearing, canon-typical violence, and Garp being a shitty grandparent. Those first two have a lot to do with the third. So, canon-typical everything, really.

Naruto’s day had started out terrible and didn’t look like it was getting any better. Sure, there’d been a brief reprieve from the onslaught of headaches recently when the kid with the straw hat made him laugh, but the rest was awful. First, he woke up in the same weird world where his sister and his parents weren’t anywhere around—not even close—and the food was weird and his only friends were in the same boat as him. Though he liked them anyway. Second, some crazy old guy barged through all the traps and destroyed like half of them completely, then Naruto had to send clones along with Fū to lure the guy away after he gave Gaara even worse tanuki eyes. And now the same weird thief kids from before were showing up to ruin his concentration while he tried to make security seals with nonexistent supplies.

“Hold still, you bastard!” shouted Freckles, swinging again and again.

“You hold grudges worse than an Uchiha!” Naruto replied, in between ducking under a nasty swing and skittering away from the kid. He found a safe spot—ish—in a tree about ten meters straight up the trunk, clinging to it with chakra. “…Well, okay, maybe not worse…”

Another hit cracked the bark along a tree, and then the whole freaking thing started cracking too!

“I take back my take-backs!” Naruto shouted down at Freckles as the tree toppled. “Are you really trying to kill me?!”

“Take me seriously, dammit!” Okay, Freckles was definitely way too much like Sasuke.

Naruto bit the edge of his thumb, making hand seals faster than he’d ever done recently. By the time the tree hit the ground and Freckles and Top Hat could get a clear shot at him, Naruto slapped his hand into the other and summoned his backup.

And threw it in Freckles’ face.

“I am not a kunai, dammit!” Yang Kurama screeched in his little-kid voice, but he still bit onto black hair and hung on, scratching with all his tiny fox claws.

Freckles screamed, dropping his pipe staff thing and trying vainly to get Yang Kurama to let go. “OW! OW, SABO, GET IT OFF!”

Naruto took advantage of the other blond’s distraction and threw himself at the new opponent, who was probably named Sabo. It answered a few questions. Though Sabo blocked Naruto’s first kick with his own pipe, Naruto just readjusted his next kick on the way in and basically stomped on the kid’s fingers instead.

Before Naruto could decide which one to go after this time, a tiny fist shot past his face on—oh wow, Straw Hat could stretch!

…Wait.

“EH?! You’re the kid Fū was talking about!” Naruto said, catching the flying fist as it started to retract.

Instead of the kid reeling his arm back in, Naruto’s greater mass ended up pulling Straw Hat toward him. He hit and bounced off, and Naruto didn’t budge since he had his feet anchored to the ground with chakra. Still, once Naruto let go of his hand, he didn’t seem hurt. He actually glared up from the ground and from under the brim of his hat and yelled, “I won’t forgive anyone who hurts my friends, even if you know Fairy and Coconut!”

“Fairy and…and—AHAHAHAHA!” Naruto cackled, unable to stop himself. He heard Yang Kurama sputter, kinda, before he had to catch the mini-fox. “Old Man Yang, did ya hear that?”

“Get any ideas and I will bite you,” grumbled Yang Kurama, though he sounded a bit amused. Just a bit. At the back of his voice. “Pah, I’ll be spitting out hairballs for a week.”

Naruto rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear the tears of laughter that had popped up. When he could see again, all three of the kids were glaring at him. Freckles had a bunch of red scratch-marks on his face and neck, which were just barely not bleeding in some cases, Sabo’s left hand was swelling up from the kick, and Straw—no, Luffy—was so angry he was practically red.

Aw, crap. Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets, scowling. “Look, I didn’t want to fight any of you. But you attacked first!” He took a step back, already turning to go. “So quit freaking following me!”

“NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL?!”

Ohshit.

Naruto got his arms up in time to block, just barely, and then Fū’s foot hit him right where his arms crossed over one another. “It’s not my fault, dammit! They attacked first!”

Fū leapt off from the point of impact, landing in a crouch, and then stood up to point an accusing finger in his face. “I told you to avoid fighting kids! You’re strong enough that it’s not fair!”

“What did you want me to do, chuck them off the mountain with Shadow Clones?” Naruto shoved Fū’s hand aside. Gah, Fū was way too protective of kids who obviously knew how to fight. How in the world did she expect to pass the Chūnin Exams back home? “Freckle-face over here tried to crack my head open like four different times!”

“That’s not—LUFFY?!” Fū began, before doing a double-take. She didn’t sprout wings, at least, but she ran right over to the littlest kid and knelt in front of him, basically at eye height. Chōmei even popped out of her backpack like it was no big deal, which probably meant the repairs at base were done. “Luffy, what happened?”

“I’m not talking to you!” Luffy declared, crossing his arms and turning his face away like he didn’t have a spine attached. “I don’t like people who hurt my friends!”

Naruto was already backpedaling before Fū could so much as twitch, ready to dodge her fury with a Replacement jutsu and run back to Gaara if he had to.

“I-I-I’m not your friend anymore?” Fū’s voice sounded all choked up, and Naruto slowly let his stance go back to normal. Cautious, but normal. She sniffled, then said, “You’re—y-you’re not my friend?”

“F-Fairy—I,” Luffy stammered, his eyes welling up as he turned his face back toward her. His nose was running like crazy, too. “Y-you can’t c-cry! You’re gonna m-m-make me cry!”

“What the hell is this?" Yang Kurama muttered, before Naruto picked him up and set him on his shoulder.

And—how was Chōmei crying?! He was a bug! He didn’t have tear ducts! “We c-can’t be friends either?”

Naruto stared for a while, then looked over the crying trio to the other two boys. They shot looks at each other, but they looked about as confused as he felt. When they looked at him to see if he had any more ideas about what to do, he held up his hands in surrender. There were some things not even ninja training had prepared him for, and this weird crying contest-slash-self-perpetuating loop was on the list.

Then Yang Kurama’s ears perked up, brushing Naruto’s ear. “That man’s coming back this way.”

“Oh, we were supposed to tell you that,” Chōmei said, still sniffling.

“Aw, crap.” Naruto darted forward and crouched next to Fū. “Fū, Fū, that freaky guy’s coming back. We need to go.”

“No!” Fū scrubbed at her eyes with her sleeve, then glared up at him with her face still awfully red. “We’re not—”

Naruto tensed, his hand gripping her shoulder. Fū cut herself off with barely a sound, her head whipping around to let her glare into the woods. And on each of their shoulders, their Tailed Beast partners were sitting at attention.

And the screaming maniac emerged from the woods. “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRATS?!”

The guy was huge, which was really unfair now that Naruto thought about it. He was about the Third Hokage’s age, if not older, but really fit and really fast. And weirdly stealthy for a guy the size of a bear on stilts and wearing a bright yellow flower shirt, but Naruto didn’t have a lot of room to talk there.

Naruto squared his jaw as he and Fū automatically took defensive taijutsu stances. If they weren’t gonna run, it’d be a fight. And Fū’d never run if she wanted to protect someone. Hell, the only reason she’d run all around the mountain before was to lead this guy away after he broke Gaara’s nose. Gaara’d be fine, but apparently so was this guy.

“There you are!” the bear guy said in a more menacing tone, as he loomed over them.

“Oh shit!” Freckles squeaked, even as he shoved Sabo to get him to move. “Gramps!”

Luffy made just a terrible wordless screeching noise, immediately running in the other direction.

“Eh?!” Fū was blindsided, and Naruto didn’t feel all that much better himself.

This freaky bear man was their grandpa?! Then why were they reacting like that?

Naruto’s eyes narrowed and the battlefield looked different. On his shoulder, Yang Kurama’s hackles rose and all of his tails stood up as he donated his chakra. When the transfer was complete, Naruto’s fingernails were like claws and his eyes were red and slitted and his birthmarks stood out more than ever.

Fū, next to him, had pulled her first pair of wings out and her eyes were glowing too.

“Hey, you old goat!” Naruto snarled, his voice dropping an entire octave as he and Fū blocked the guy’s way. “Leave them alone!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Freckles’ voice rang out. “Are you crazy? You can’t beat him!”

“So what?” Fū asked rhetorically, her wings buzzing. “Get going, all of you. We’ll keep him busy.”

Naruto slammed his hands together, then readied his favorite mass-use technique. “Better the devils you know than the devil you don’t. Now let's do this!”

#Ocean Stars Falling #All the Little Children #Naruto Uzumaki #Sabo #Monkey D. Luffy #Portgas D. Ace #Fu #Monkey D. Garp #Chomei #Yang Kurama

41 notes · View notes

chydesirae · 6 years

Text

The High Uintas Wilderness

We lay on a boulder large and flat, bodies well-worked and weary, staring up at the tops of pines, perfectly content to just lay there, looking. I still find it funny, the improbability of moments. Here I am, in the high Uinta wilderness beside a glacial lake with a man from Georgia who I barely know. But wilderness finds a way of connecting unlikely souls.

We hiked the eight miles to the Four Lakes Basin and I couldn’t shut up. I rarely talk when I hike because I feel like it defeats the purpose, but it had been a while since I’d talked to anyone much at all. I find I am developing a social anxiety, reflecting too much on what I say after its said, how I am perceived, wondering if I am annoying or seem like I’m bragging. The fact that finally I was able to release my thoughts and the nerves brought on by newness would not allow my words to stop and so I talked and talked. I learned many new things about this new person, but I was most impressed by the fact that not only could he keep up, he could out-hike me. Now this was certainly new.

Up at 10,000ft my elevation had doubled. I am climbing up a rocky trail, 30lbs on my back with a man whose hobby is to bag 14ers. My legs felt fine, but my lungs were looking for more oxygen. I leveled my breathing and sunk into the rhythm, focusing on swinging arms and moving legs. Finally, my words stopped. Once we reached the basin we hiked another mile until we found a good spot to camp. There it was, a clearing in the trees just a couple hundred feet from a clear cold lake. We set up camp, pumped water, smoked a blunt, and felt our bodies become boulders, heavy as we sunk into the rock. The wind whispered “your burning” as it cooled my reddening face. I put on sunscreen and we went down to the lake. My foot went in, numb, and out. Hell no, no way. He submerged. Good on you man, you’re fucking crazy. It’s pretty awesome. Back on the rock we cooked dinner, we smoked more weed, and talked about random things while killing countless mosquitos. Ants must have wandered past their fallen bodies, wondering what war had occurred here. The sun set over the canyon edge without much of a show. The canyon ridge of quartzite was laced with boulder fields and talus slopes, lush with pinyon and rising up over 1,000 feet, seeming to jet out as a sheer vertical fault from the basin of the blue lake. He gawked at the novelty of the landscape and I had to admit I’d never seen anything quite like it either.

Both of us are well traveled, we’ve spent our lives outside of college traversing the country, leading people on bar crawls through major cities and teaching them to set up tents in national parks. I’ve spent summers backpacking through states, cycling from one ocean to the other. He’s spent weeks on end hiking, many summers rafting and snowmobiling through remote regions. We spend every weekend we can as mini-adventures. But despite our lifestyles, our affinity for the outdoors, and similar dispositions, the chemistry was lacking. There was a divide. The sun dropped over the edge and we lost 10 degrees in no time. Soon it was cold. High 30s at most. We did not want to sleep though we could not keep our eyes open. We talked and dipped in and out of dreams, waiting for stars to illuminate the sky. Huddled under a blanket we kept each other warm, but not a hand wandered out of place. He was respectful.

Day two I woke up at eight. He emerged from a bundle of blankets perched in a hammock as I took my first sip of coffee, the sun shining warmly on my face. We spoke softly and moved slowly, time did not matter. We packed a day bag and decided to make a loop around the lakes and follow the canyon walls back. Our end destination was Lake Amy, she was small and we’d hoped she’d be warm. We made a path through forests thick with logs, probably victims of bark beetles. Weaving through logs and strands of lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, and Douglas fir my mind was more at rest. I felt my confidence returning. I whistled occasionally and expected to see bears. We came to the first lake of the day – Dale, and quickly found the second (Jean) beside it. We thought those who named these lakes unoriginal or perhaps sadistic – Jean, Dean, Dale, Daynes…easy names to mix up in conversation. We sat and took photographs of the landscape and each other. Ate food and took in the scenery. Didn’t need to speak much as the landscape told a story. We saw a couple hikers walk by on the path not far from where we sat. I began to feel more comfortable with him.

We continued on, walking around the lake’s edge. The grass and moss felt like a thick sponge, perhaps a bog was forming. Wildflowers dotted the landscape. We walked up hill and came to another lake, which was somewhat unexpected and unnamed on the map. It was warmed than “our” lake and so I stripped down to my underwear and swam. His eyes did not wander, I did not feel as though my body was meant for anything other than movement. It was a shallow lake, and the water made me feel reborn. Perhaps baptisms were intended for ice water. When I got out of the lake the wind was sporadic enough to give me the chills. He gave me his towel and we sat on a rock. The sun warmed me, and I randomly thought of poptarts heating in a toaster oven. I told him this random thought and we laughed and dubbed the place Lake Poptart. For the first time I felt a new energy emanating, a curiosity brought on by proximity and bare skin. Neither of us acted on it. How can I simultaneously want something to happen and fear it will happen and not want it at all?

We resumed our meander without any rush, over scree and boulders, covered with a lime green moss. Huge spiderwebs connected these rocks, acting as trip wire. He moved across the boulders with agility, as well as fallen logs and wet rocks. Calls himself a mountain goat, and I felt like a newborn deer with legs unsteady. The rocks were fascinating colors, and finally I made my way to the other side. We passed by another shallow lake and continued to ascend. In search of Amy we went as high as we could go without beginning a class four scrambled. And then we found the throne.

The throne was what we found instead of Amy. A huge rock exactly like a chair, we could have fit four on its “cushion”. We sat and looked out over a vast view, saw that we were in a bowl. Surrounded by the Wasatch range and Uinta mountains, some canyon walls and plenty of pines. We could see large lakes in the distance and imagined we were the kings of the world. We smoked a blunt and saw smoke bellowing in the distance. Wondered if we should worry but figured that wouldn’t do us any good. The fire was far enough away.

After an hour passed and I had coveted his sweatshirt, I realized he must be getting cold. We made our way back down to camp, discovered a makeshift fort and some wreckage from a plane years ago. Found some carrins and followed them as they traced the edge of the lake until we were back at camp around 4. We had spent the day hiking three miles, I’ve certainly never done that before. We resumed our lazy position on the large boulders and watched the clouds pass for an hour, pointing out shapes and making small talk.

The evening passed as we passed the pen back and forth, I read a few chapters in a children’s book and he sat happily in silence. We waited to see a good sunset, but it was hidden behind the cliffs and we were too lazy to walk for a better view. Like the night before the cold crept in and again we moved in close for warmth, this time with more blankets. After a while I placed my hand in his, just to see how it would feel. It was comforting, and good to be connected. That’s all it had to be. But I recognized something I did not know before. I had built myself a wall that had never been there before. I literally could not let myself feel much past anxiety or doubt. With him I felt calm, like there was no pressure. I recognized our differences, thought that perhaps we could both use a companion. A friend. Maybe he wants more, I did not ask. But it did not seem like that was the only way, as it has with others. I wanted to express how much I appreciated his restraint, or perhaps he was uninterest. But I didn’t want to make things weird or to say the wrong thing. We found ourselves again in and out of sleep, listening to Gregory Alan Isakov, I let myself think about Taylor again, but only for a moment, and then I let myself let those thoughts go. Like the smoke, it does no good to worry about what is distant and out of my control.

#writing #prose #journal #adventure #uinta mountains #wilderness #backpacking #social anxiety #respect #explore #high uinta wilderness #jounal

1 note · View note

tnaypi3 · 6 years

Text

PHILIPPINES 2018

OTON, ILOILO

Our first ever stop upon arriving in Iloilo - Anhawan beach resort where my cousins and I frequented on weekends. About a 10min drive from our house.

Iloilo City - how we Filipinos celebrate when an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker - hahaha!) comes home. Participating humans consist of dearest family, highschool and college friends.

Alex was so mindblown how the bill only came out Php3500. Roughly $70.

GUIMARAS

Day 2, we visited family from my mom’s side. It took about 15mins via pumpboat. Naturally the whole gang came along.

It’s more provincial than Iloilo. Air is fresher and life is simpler and much slower.

Alex falling in love with my cousin’s Shih Tzu pups

We spent the whole day being toured around Guimaras island via car by my cousins, popping in and out of different beaches and views

My lovely maternal cousins and cousins in law

Met my first niece!

OTON, ILOILO - Nes & Tat’s beach resort

About a 10min walk away from our house. Spent way too much weekends here with cousins and friends as well. So nostalgic!

Happy that pretty much everything still looks the same.

We didn’t ask what exactly was going on but it really seemed like goats have taken over the resort haha!

Guimbal church - further south, one of the oldest churches in Iloilo. About a 25min drive from home.

And some more goats.

One was VERY friendly

Family from my mother’s side. Silver haired woman on the left is my mom’s fraternal twin sister and woman not looking is my grandmother.

College friends and I showing Alex how kareoke is just another favorite islander activity. Also our last day night in Iloilo.

We had to relocate to the building’s garage cause they had to close

My bestfriends, my cousins that I grew up with. We lived together under one roof since I had to move to the states in 2011. Tall guy behind is my cousin Monica’s suitor. So traditional, so cute. And Josh who’s beside Alex is same age as Ryan

BACOLOD - a neighboring island, a city about 2hrs via ferry from Iloilo

L-R: Moses & Fergie, my highschool bestfriends, cousin Monica & Tita (aunt) May.

Without my grandma in Iloilo, Tita May spoiled us with the best lutong bahay, literally meaning cooked at home. She made the usually pork/chicken-based Filipino dishes vegan. It was the best treat, Alex said it was like waking up to a hotel with the heartiest meal every morning. On top of that were the sweetest tropical fruits and native pastries. ( I have to find those pictures to add them here!!!)

LAKAWON BEACH RESORT, BACOLOD

Quiet little paradise. I wish my whole Iloilo fam were there but my uncle had to a major construction project going on, cousin Clarisa had a concert booked many months ago in Manila and my youngest cousin Josh had his prom the night before and couldn’t make it to our early call time.

Testing our outdoor/underwater camera. One of my fave pics on this trip. Philippine sun looks good on Alex!

Sharing some yoga fun and bliss with loved ones.

So happy my highschool bestfriends took off from work to spend the weekend with us though!

We did a 20min sunrise yoga and meditation led by Alex and myself. They loved it.

Twisty unpside down tripod

We woke up early for this view! Nothing like sunrise watching with special people by your side.

Next eldest cousin, Monica

My little sunshine

CEBU CITY - 45min plane ride away from Iloilo

My uncle conviced us to spend the night at his mother and sister’s place instead of a hotel.

They had a framing business and an art gallery.

Hearty Filipino dinner spread over catching up and exchanging of stories. How spoiled are we!

They had a mattress brought out and placed in the middle of the gallery for us. It was so dreamy.

Next day was Valentine’s day, thus the all red ensemble. Saying goodbye after another hearty meal before we headed down south to Badian, Cebu.

BADIAN CEBU - rainforest, canyoneering, waterfalls

This was supposed to be our canyoneering day but it got canceled due to a typhoon. We explored the area instead and found ourselves the infamous Kawasan Waterfalls.

After 4 hours of canyoneering the next day, little did we know we were gonna be invited to jump this waterfall by our tour guides. The last and grandest jump of many.

all about that provincial life

“exploring the neighborhood”, Philippines style

After being told that canyoneering might still be held off the next day due to the typhoon (though it was already on it’s way to another part of the country), we woke up to a go signal, woohoo!

Only best shared with this human.

It’s as dreamy as it looks. Just a bitty chilly.

Bedroom view

SANTANDER, CEBU

Two days later, further south, we woke up to this beautiful farm. At this point, I really felt ever so embraced, pampered by nature.

Listening to a schirping oundbath from the farm’s resident birds

Three hours later, we were in a ferry on our way to Siquijor. Known as the mystic island where most mountain-dwelling shamans, healers witch doctors are from, I actually grew up fearing even just the name of the place.

Over the years though, this reputation has been dispelled, thanks to social media maybe? Travel-thirsty explorers made the island more and more famous each year through word of mouth and of course, blogs, instagram and facebook.

It was more beautiful than I’d ever imagined.

I can’t believe we actually stayed in this beautiful paradise.

Plus a yoga studio???

Breakfast of champs!

Breakfast with a view is an understatement on this one

And playful island pups????

400year old Balete tree

Ancient church in Siquijor

Cambugahay falls. What a sight. What a feeling.

We had the sweetest tricycle driver who took us around. Apparently Siquijor is the third smallest province in the country. Like Guimaras, you can also drive through the whole island in one day.

Thankfully, Alex doesn’t have to tild his head sideways or crouch because the roof is tall enough. The other ones, including jeepneys (our mode of public transportation in Iloilo) he had to because he was too tall for it. Way too tall, haha!

Golden hour at Salagdoong beach. There was another ledge with a 35ft drop in the water but we were too spent, literally from jumping waterfalls and from one place to another. We opted for sunset watching & cold beer, mmmm!

Day2 at Siquijor, unveiling the beauty of Lugnason Falls. This one is so underhyped which is a good thing. It was quiet and there was just a couple when we got in.

These sunkissed boys are tour guides that’ll meet you by the road before descending your way to the falls. It’s not allowed to go to the waterfalls without them. Beside Alex is our guide, Ricky. He’s a wild one and I love it. I thought I was done jumping for the day, still feeling the effects of the previous days’ jumps. Alex and I were swimming and hanging out when from above, I heard Ricky calling me and pointing the giby his side “She’s gonna do it! Come on up Christine, jump!!!!” And I was like “Say no more!!!!!” It was a 35ft drop and felt like heaven. I bade Siquijor, my favorite one goodbye by jumping 3 (or 4???) times.

Siquijor forever in my heart

PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN

Our new home for two nights!!

Place is not by the beach but they had pools and we were not complaining!!!

Squeezed in a quick but intense hike at Mt. Magarwak. For roughly 2 hrs back and forth, we climbed up the steep mountain for that extra toasty look, haha!

Alex’s breakfast buds and good morning committee. The next morning there were four.

EL NIDO, PALAWAN

Currently one of the most hyped places in the country. But rightfully so. People are sweet and the beaches are like no other. Though I might have said or felt it for every destination we have been to :)

Another super sweet tricycle driver who made our afternoon trip to Nacpan Beach such a magical one. He insisted on us going all the way, further in to the beach so we can have a more private beach to ourselves. AND BOY, WE DID.

Countless coconut trees welcoming us to Nacpan Beach

We were joined by my highschool friend, Kitz. She also doubles as secondary tour manager and customer service whenever we need to do some sorting over the phone.

Unforgettable afternoon with these lovelies

Golden bliss

Moon rise cheshire smile

EL NIDO Day2- island tour

This boat was almost made for us

We saw roughly 9 or 10 islands all day

Stalking Alex stalking fishes

Hidden Beach

Best snorkeling experience ever

Paddling to the lagoons. I have better footage here but in video form. I will have to edit and compile them soon!

MANILA

National Museum

300 yr old (???) St. Agustine Church

Last hurrah with friends based in Manila

Happy puppy

Bye PH, you are perfect.

#mrmrsbecks

0 notes

josephkitchen0 · 6 years

Text

Buckeye Enthusiast Keeps Heritage Hens Safe With Livestock Guardian Dogs

By Brenda M.Negri – You can hear the dedication and sound reasoning in Washington farmer and heritage Buckeye breeder Barbara Judd’s voice when she says why she uses Livestock Guardian Dogs to keep her rare breed of poultry safe from depredation:

“Buckeyes were once in the Critical Category established by the Livestock Conservancy. I decided the best protection I could give them would be Livestock Guardian Dogs.”

Using Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) to keep sheep, cattle, goats, alpacas, and other mammalians safe from harm is an age-old practice, although relatively (approximately 30 years) new in North America.

Some of the more common LGD breeds in use are the ever popular Great Pyrenees, Akbash, Maremma, Kuvasz, and Anatolian Shepherd. Rare breeds such as the Spanish Mastiff, Pyrenean Mastiff, and Karakachan are increasing in popularity and use. Putting LGDs to work to guard poultry, ducks, turkeys, geese, and guinea fowl is more of a recent movement in line with the increased number of hobby farms, small family ranches, and homesteaders. It’s a commitment of time, patience, and more patience, but LGDs can be successfully trained to guard poultry, and many have come to depend on their dogs to keep their flocks safe from depredation.

Ice Storms, Power Outages, Blizzards... Are you ready?

Let our experts help you prepare for the worst. Start your emergency preparation by downloading this FREE Guide. YES! I want this Free Report »

Ensuring your pups are raised around chickens and taught how to behave around livestock can add peace of mind to the chicken-raising operation.

Barbara Judd agreed to share her story as to how she came to raising Buckeyes on her Washington farm, eventually choosing two sibling LGD pups and two adult siblings from my ranch and kennel operation in Northern Nevada.

“I had decided I wanted to breed Buckeyes. I had fallen in love with their personality, and their story is intriguing as well,” says Judd. “Buckeyes are a notably personable breed, very active and noted for being especially vigilant in the pursuit of mice. They also are very friendly with people and lack the tendency to feather-pick each other. The males emit a full range of sounds beyond those typical of many other chicken breeds, including a dinosaur-like roar!”

Judd subsequently got on a wait list for chicks from Laura Haggarty and Pathfinders Farm in Kentucky, and received her hatchlings in spring of 2014. Recently Judd moved to a 55-acre farm she calls “Froghaven” near Salkum, about an hour north of Portland. Here she plans to increase her Buckeye flock.

“My goal is to become the go-to person for Buckeye chicks and pullets in Western Washington,” she said. “I love this breed. They are a great dual-purpose chicken for homesteads and fit in well with a back-to-the-farm sentiment.”

Barbara further adds: “The cocks can grow to eight or nine pounds and are good meat birds. While as layers they are not quite as productive as a White Leghorn, for example, I understand them to live and produce for a longer period of time than the breeds that were developed for their egg-laying ability alone.”

Barbara’s new farm has a host of predators and wildlife, as did her previous one. She admits to not having given much thought to predators at first, but one day commented to a friend, “If I lose a bird to a predator, it will be that one,” pointing out one of the gold sex-links she had. Less than a week later, she discovered a pile of gold feathers, not 20 feet from her house, in the afternoon. Her dire prediction had come true. She immediately began researching how to keep her chickens safe. “My chickens were not raised to be coyote food,” she quips.

Judd read about LGDs: “But I was extremely put off by the prevalent and popular descriptions of hands-off training and minimal human interaction. Any dog I own is a part of my family, and I felt the hands-off, do-not-touch descriptions I read just didn’t make sense for us.”

Later that summer she lost another hen to a coyote. Now, she was determined, as well as furious, and bound to find a solution. Judd spent the evening researching LGDs on the internet and found me.

As it happened, I had a litter of LGD pups on the ground at the time, sired by my trusted old Great Pyrenees, Peso, and a rare Italian import Pyrenean Mastiff female, Atena.

Barbara sent me a puppy application. “The stars aligned,” she chuckles, and the Judds became proud new owners of Lucy and Patty, nicknamed, “The Pockets,” as they were the two smallest pups in the huge (16 puppies) litter. As if predestined, they also hung out together and were inseparable. Barbara took the pair home at about 10 weeks, and LGD Chicken Guarding 101 began!

Patty and Lucy’s litter had already been exposed to my own mixed flock of 40 Cochin, Brahman, and Polish layers, with daily visits into the coop and chicken yard. Barbara wisely bought two siblings who roughhoused with one another and wore each other out playing instead of taking out their young energy on livestock and fowl. The pups had also been exposed to neighbor children, cattle, and sheep and were showed great promise as guardians.

“Which brings up another point,” Judd adds. “The importance of selecting a knowledgeable and reputable LGD breeder. I had always had rescues as pets … these dogs were to be working dogs, not pets. They were to be socialized and part of the family but I needed them to be LGDs — guaranteed — not maybes.”

The Training

Once settled in at the new home, Patty and Lucy’s training continued with older, calm hens who were less flighty, and thus less inclined to tempt the pups into chasing. Judd made the training time a “treat time” by positive reinforcement. Each pup received a treat before each short, 10- to 15-minute class. Soon, they were reminding her it was time for school.

“I knew this process would take weeks, if not months,” Judd adds. She kept the chickens and pups in a small, very manageable area and sat with them. No distractions were allowed: no pet dogs, no children.

“We spent time just hanging out with the chickens, and always ended on a positive note before they got tired.” As time progressed, “The Pockets” became calm and confident around the fowl, remaining alert and interested, but no inappropriate behavior. Judd increased the time the pups were with the flock gradually.

“I came at training the pups in a slow and systematic, careful manner. I learned … from previous dog trainers and read the books by noted dog behaviorist, Turid Rugaas. The pups became part of the daily chicken routine. As puppies, they needed protection too as they were far too young to fend for themselves, so they were never left alone overnight, for example.”

Judd was also learning about unique LGD behavior, which is markedly different than non-LGD breeds. “I can say they are nothing like other dogs I have had. They won’t fetch, they don’t play tug o’ war. They do seem to notice every detail around them.”

Judd’s observations are accurate. LGD breeds guard on instinct, not so much training, although the owner will enable, foster, and encourage that guarding instinct with positive reinforcement and gentle reprimands when a pup makes a mistake. Tying a dead chicken around a pup’s neck is an oft-quoted “solution” for problems but only encourages confusion and distrust in the pup and shouldn’t be done. There are no shortcuts to doing “Chicken 101” with LGD pups, and the owner has to commit to the time and patience it takes.

One night, Judd woke to one of the pups barking at a bookcase. “I had moved a large photo onto that bookcase, and Lucy noticed — something’s not where it belongs!”

A more telling incident happened a week or so after Barbara brought The Pockets home:

“We’d spent a lot of time around the chickens, in their run or out foraging. One early evening we walked by the run and no chickens were in sight. Patty was immediately stressed! She sat down, whining at the run. The chickens had simply put themselves in the coop for the night, so when the hens poked their heads back out to see what the commotion was about, Patty relaxed and was immediately satisfied.” Judd continues, “You could see the wheels turning in Patty’s head. ‘Oh that’s where they are. OK, everything is fine now!’ I was amazed and impressed. These were certainly the right dogs to protect my chickens.”

From the time I began raising and using LGDs, I have always understood the importance of running these dogs in the right numbers — just as they are in Spain and other countries where the pastoral life is still alive and very much a fabric of their society. I’ve continually lectured my clients about the advantages of running enough LGDs to properly cover the acreage, terrain, predator load, and stock they have.

Barbara Judd acquired her LDGs from Brenda Negri. The litter had 16 pups, and Judd took the two smallest pups.

Dogs, like humans, must sleep and rest too, and one LGD cannot last long if it is expected to carry the load of three or four dogs. In addition, should one dog become ill or injured, by removing him from duty, an operator’s flock or herd becomes immediately more vulnerable to attack. Where predators can easily take down one LGD, a pack of three or four dogs will present a much more serious deterrent to threats. On my ranch, my several dogs work in “shifts,” so there is always coverage, 24/7. Some dogs may do a “perimeter patrol” farther out at the edge of my five acres while the others stay closer to the flock, barns, and my house. Although my closest neighbors continually lose goats, sheep, horses, calves, pet cats, and chickens to packs of coyotes, feral dogs, mountain lions, and birds of prey, I have never suffered a single loss here.

As introductions currently progress at Froghaven Farm, “The A-Team” is getting to know “The Pockets” and all is going well. The Judds will keep their heritage flock of Buckeyes safe and sound from depredation with four very devoted Livestock Guardian Dogs. “Since we brought Lucy and Patty we have never lost a single bird,” Judd says, and with the addition of two more dogs, they won’t be losing anything in the future, either.

HOW TO BUY A LGD PUP

• Buy pups who are only purebred or crosses of purebred, recognized LGD breeds. LGD breeds crossed on non-LGD breeds are unpredictable and high risk.

• Buy from established breeders who will give references, customer support, and have a proven track record of producing good guardian dogs.

• You get what you pay for. Quality LGD pups typically start at $500 and go up from there. Quality going adults can cost $1,000 on up.

• Never bring a pup home younger than eight weeks of age and make sure all puppy vaccinations are complete, as well as several dewormings.

I• f possible buy pups that have been started on and exposed to poultry and fowl. Make sure they have been regularly handled and socialized with people and are not skittish or frightened when approached.

• Make sure your fencing is puppy escape-proof and secure.

• Remember that rearing LGDs to guard poultry is a labor-intensive endeavor with no magical shortcuts. Patience, time, and persistence are keys to success.

• LGD pups take up to two years or more to fully mature. Don’t expect adult work from an immature dog.

Originally published in the February/March 2016 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Buckeye Enthusiast Keeps Heritage Hens Safe With Livestock Guardian Dogs was originally posted by All About Chickens

0 notes