#Local Legend

[lsdegenerate]

[astaldis]

A most interesting read

@cake-shop-rarepair-bingo​    @witchermonstermayhem​

Prompts: Reading Aloud, Write a fic based on a local legend, Grim giants

Fandom: The Witcher (TV, novels)

Pairings: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & The Hansa | Geralt's Company Members, Maria Barring | Milva & Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Words: 2520

"Cahir, you can read, can't you?" Milva suddenly asks out of the blue while they are sitting by the campfire together. It is a nice evening, not raining for once, and two fat rabbits on spits are roasting over the fire. With a grumpy expression, Geralt is perched on a tree stub across the fire sharpening his sword, as far away from Cahir as possible, nothing new here. Regis is off somewhere in the woods to collect herbs and mushrooms, and Jaskier is busy close by scribbling something into this inevitable scroll of his that he is so secretive about.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I can't. But I have this book."

"It'll soon be dark, Milva."

"It's a thin book. Will you read it for me? There's still plenty of time before those bunnies are done. Please?"

"It's not a romance, I hope?"

"How would I know? I can't read!"

"Alright, then. We'll see what it is, I suspect."

"Just one moment," Mila says, almost jumping to her feet with excitement. She fishes a little bundle from deep inside her saddlebag. She unwrapps it. A thin, leather bound book emerges, no, more a booklet than a book. Tenderly, she strokes across its binding with the fingers of one hand before she passes it to Cahir.

"It's a children's book," he says, surprised.

"What if it is? My father bought it for me because of the picture. It's the only thing I have to remember him by."

"Didn't you say your father died when you were a kid? You've had the book for years and nobody has ever read it out for you?"

"There was never the time, or the right person. I want it to be special." Cahir raises his eyebrow questioningly. However, Milva does not elaborate.

He opens the booklet. On the first page there is a beautifully crafted, somewhat scary looking illustration. In the centre a horrible giant hurling rocks at frightened people. A devilish face crowned by a pair of pointed horns is peeking out from behind a gnarly oak tree on the left, wiggling its forked tongue at the desperate humans. Not a picture you would expect to see in a tale of love, and neither in a fluffy children's bedtime story. Looks like an exciting legend or heroic adventure. The script is big and easy to read even in the falling twilight of the evening.

"Once upon a time there was an evil giant by the name of Mils," Cahir begins.

Continue reading on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47385469

This is the Mountain called Milseburg after the Giant Mils, it’s about 25 km from where I live. How the mountain came into being is one of the most famous local legends here.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milseburg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milseburg

[soapdispensersalesman]

My hometown lost a local legend today

Imro van Hetten (67) from Suriname pursued a career in Thai boxing in the 70s, fought and the Netherlands where he owned the champion title of Noord Holland. He then went on to pursue a career as Italo Disco DJ in the 80s under the name Android during which he composed the track Skydancer

Unfortunately, during he career as a DJ, he got addicted to cocaine and ended up in the psychiatry. He became homeless and became well known in Utrecht. During the 2000s, he went viral when a video of him surfaced the web where he as a homeless person would tell strangers in Utrecht about how he was a UFO pilot.

That's initially how I found out about him in the first place, the fact that he had such a fascinating backstory blew my mind and is in somewhat inspiring to me.

Rest in Paradise, Imro! Wishing you beautiful UFO flights in "Het Derde Dal Universum" <3

[blockforest]

A close up from my reduction print for the story of Pengersick Castle in Cornwall. As featured in my zine with Kirsty Logan, a few copies are still available over on my webshop! https://buff.ly/3yD3Je0

[fieriframes]

[BUILT DINER CAR NUMBER 790 AND DELIVERED IT RIGHT HERE TO GARDENER, MAINE. NOW UNDER ITS FOURTH OWNER, THIS LOCAL LEGEND]

[toast-part-two]

Whales of the Great Salt Lake

(TW animal death, animal cruelty, thalassophobia)

[Image ID: A black and white stylized whale image. The whale is breaching the surface of the sea and is blowing a spout of water into the air. Its tail is coming out of the water in the background.]

Hey y’all welcome back to another cryptid post. The cryptid energy of this creature doesn’t come so much from the creature itself, but it’s location, the Great Salt Lake. 

As the leftover dregs of the massive prehistoric saltwater Lake Bonneville which drained about 15,000 years ago, Utah’s Great Salt Lake is a natural wonder. 

[Image ID: a map of the former Lake Bonneville laid over the state of Utah and spreading into Nevada and Idaho, and about half the size of the state of Utah. It covers the area of the Great Salt Lake, only a fraction of the size in comparison.] 

With a salinity six times that of the ocean, the Great Salt Lake is a death trap for anything other than bacteria, a couple algaes, and brine shrimp, aquatic invertebrates the size of a pencil eraser. A few freshwater streams flow into the lake, providing lagoons for select fish and shorebird species, but the lake itself its mostly inhospitable. 

This makes the claim that several Australian whales, (known to exceed 50ft in length,) are alive and well in the Great Salt Lake, (about 42 feet at it’s deepest,) pretty hard to believe. 

As a Utah resident myself, I’ve always had a soft spot for these whales. We’ve all had an uncle or neighbor spend a night out on the lake looking for them, and occasionally sightings of them still get published on blogs and Facebook posts. They of course never existed in the first place, but it’s still a fun story. 

It began way back in 1890, when a local paper called the Utah Enquirer began documenting the efforts of one James Wickham to provide the budding economy of the newly settled Salt Lake Valley both with a novelty tourist attraction, and a cash crop of whale meat and oil. As whales are extremophiles, known to thrive under immense water pressure and in freezing temperatures, James believed the incredibly salty Great Salt Lake to be no match for them. The Utah Enquirer claimed that James began his project back in 1875, but records of this initiation could not be found. 

The June 24th, 1890 article goes as follows. 

“Intelligent newspaper readers have not forgotten the inauguration 15 years ago by Mr. James Wickham, a scientific English gentleman of the whale industry in the Great Salt Lake. As considerable time was required for the development of the experiment, the subject has passed out of the public mind but it has by no means been forgotten by naturalist or capitalists interested in the whale fishery.

The whale is the largest and probably the longest lived animal. They have been known to grow 100 ft in length and live to the age of 400 years. It is a mammal, or, in other words, suckles it's young. The project of Mr. Wickham was greatly assisted by this fact, for the difficulty that would attend the obtaining of whale eggs in the deep seas is at once apparent. It was only necessary to obtain a pair of whales in order to begin the propagation of animals under domestication. The southern or Australian whale was selected as the best suited to the Great Salt Lake. The greater part of two years were occupied off the coast of Australia by a vessel sent especially for the purpose and continued efforts to capture the young whales without injury. The feet, however, was at least accomplished, and the beasts, each about 35 ft long, were shipped to San Francisco in 1873 in tanks built expressly for them. 50 tanks of seawater accomplished their overland shipment to ensure plentiful supplies of the natural element.

Mr. Wickham came from London in person to superintend the "planting" of his Leviathan pets. He selected a small bay near the mouth of the Bear River connected with the main water by a shallow straight half a mile wide. Across this strait he built a wire fence, and inside the pen so formed he turned the whales loose. After a few minutes inactivity they disported themselves in a lively manner, spouting water as in mid-ocean, but as if taking in by instinct or intention the cramped character of their new home, they suddenly made a beeline for deep water and shot through the wire fence as if it had been made of threads. In twenty minutes they were out of sight, and the chagrined Mr. Wickham stood gazing helplessly at the big salt water.

If the Great Salt Lake were in Asia it would have been called a sea. It is 75 miles long and from 30 to 40 wide, so it is easy to perceive how readily the whales could vanish from sight. Though the enterprising owner was of course, disappointed and doubtful of results he left an agent behind him to look after his floating property.

Six months later Mr. Wickham's representative came upon the whales 15 miles from the bay where they had broken away, and from that time to the present they have been observed in intervals by him and the watermen who [sic]ply the lake spouting and playing.

Within the last few days, however, Mr. Wickham cabled directions to make careful inspection and report the developments, and the agent followed the whales for five successive days and nights. Discovering that the original pair are now 60 ft in length, and followed about by school of several hundred young, varying in length from 3 to 15 ft. The scheme is a surprising and complete success, and Mr. Wickham has earned the thanks of mankind.

Catching whales in the Great Salt Lake and following that business on the dangerous Greenland Coast are two different things. The enormous value of the new industry can be better appropriated by remembering that a single whale produces 20 tons of pure oil."

Article can be found here

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a modified train car. A large window on the side shows a young whale floating inside the train. There is a building behind the train on the left side, and some trees on the right.]

Claims that whales live up to 400 years and also lay eggs notwithstanding, the legend sparked to life again in the twenty-first century with the appearance of the image above. This photo depicts one of the whales in its train car bound for Salt Lake City. I’d love to believe the photographic evidence as much as anybody, but unfortunately this image was debunked in 2019 by the Utah news outlet Deseret News, who tracked down the creators. They revealed in an interview that this image was used to promote their business of preserving old photos. 

Further investigation by Deseret News revealed that there never was any Mr. James Wickham or his crew of biologists, no record of them anywhere other than the Utah Enquirer. 

And in a final blow to the story’s credibility, the Utah Enquirer published a denouncement on July 22, 1890, about a month after the original story ran, saying “It would be impossible for any whale to exist in the waters of the Great Salt Lake.” 

Full text here

Despite the fact that whales do not and cannot exist in the Great Salt Lake, sightings continue to crop up. The most famous instance of this continued phenomenon happened almost a decade ago, when a twelve-foot humpback whale reportedly appeared in a field in Farmington Utah, about ten miles from the Great Salt Lake. 

[Image ID: A dead whale lying on its side in a grassy field. Two men in the top left look down at it.]

Inconsistency in whale species aside, the image above brought a renewed fascination and belief in the Whales of the Great Salt Lake, (one I admittedly got caught up in,) before being debunked again by Deseret News in late 2015.

The Great Salt Lake, like most places in the world, is full of oddities and legends both real and made up. The lake boasts tales of pterodactyl sightings and mosquitos the size of helicopters. A troup of animals that escaped their traveling circus and were left to wander the desert. A creature with the head of an alligator and the body of a horse that charges at campers, and Pink Floyd, the flamingo that escaped Salt Lake City’s Tracy Aviary and spent a few seasons on the lake hanging out with swans and seagulls. 

[Image ID: A flock of birds on the Great Salt Lake, both in flight and on the water. Most are black and white California Gulls, but there is one pink flamingo flying in the right center of the image. Mountains are visible in the background.]

(You guys should look up the story of Pink Floyd the flamingo it’s pretty great.)

Lake Bonneville is theorized to have been a thousand feet deep, and to have drained into the Pacific Ocean. Fossil evidence suggests that sea life would migrate up the channels and swim above what is now desert and mesa and scrubland, and maybe even down in what would become the Great Salt Lake 15,000 years later. Maybe whales joined them. Maybe, for a brief moment in time, Utah had whales. 

But, if that ever was the case, those whales are long dead by now. It is with a heavy heart I must conclude that there are no whales in the Great Salt Lake. Even so, it’ll always be my favorite local legend <3

Source

Source 

[red-mister]

10000 posts!

certified tumblr master 😎

[hopeless-nihilist]

I'm not so good with words, but here goes nothing...

I don't know much about real-world legendary people stories , for example, for me, the real legend I know is a local legendary woman named: zarqa al yamama -which might translates to the blue eyed of the yamama - she lived in her village on a plateau , she was infamous for her blue eyes and her ability to locate invading enemies from a distance of one week , so the enemies of her tribe decided to hide behind trees which they carried. Zarqa noticed what was going on and alerted her tribe that the trees were moving towards them and that they hid soldiers behind them. To her dismay, members of her tribe thought she was going mad and chose to ignore her warning. The troops of the enemies - Hassan alHimyari- eventually reached her tribe and killed every man in the camp, then they tore out Zarqa's eyes and crucified her. (Wikipedia)

If you know of a local legend of your hometown pls share. I'd like to know something of them

[coloradomartini]

Rattlesnake Kate: The Snake Killing Women Who Made a Dress and Shoes from 140 Snakes

I first heard about Rattlesnake Kate when visiting Colorado's Greeley History Museum. On display was a 1920’s flapper dress entirely made of rattlesnakes with a necklace made of large rattlesnake rattles. I thought who would make such a dress?

I first heard about Rattlesnake Kate when visiting Colorado’s Greeley History Museum. On display was a 1920’s flapper dress entirely made of rattlesnakes with a necklace made of large rattlesnake rattles. I thought who would make such a dress? Well, a Longmont woman named Kate McHale Slaughterback. Better known as Rattlesnake Kate. The more I dug into her story the more I was intrigued. Read…

[mr-ninja1]

The Serpent Awakes

Afternoon Everyone! Just wanted to let folks know that if you or someone you know is looking for volunteer/community service credits, that Creekside Publishing is making their "Serpent Awakes" project available Till May 11th. For this one they count virtual and physical placement of the flyers.

[eastsidemags]

Art Walk with Drift

The Montclair Art Walk is back and we’ve got local legend, artist extraordinaire and amazing human DRIFT coming by with a bunch of his art pieces to showcase!

Customers are welcome to join in the festivities and come by to see his amazing work. You’ll even be able to talk to Drift directly and purchase some of his work if you absolutely cannot live without it!

Drift will be here from 4pm-9pm so stop by and check it out.

Also make sure you check out the other amazing Art Walk locations around downtown Montclair!

[star-wrld]

gorgug should autocrit on all future popularity rolls for his time at augefort because you can not tell me this school filled with teenage anarchists would see that video of him oinking at a cop and not think he's the coolest guy alive

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Woods are Waiting by Katherine Greene

 Dark, creepy, unsettling story filled with local myth and legend that sees superstition filled townsfolk battling to keep their offspring safe from The Hickory Man.

 What I liked: * The woods as a character in the story

* The idea of using that beliefs can have a huge impact on a community

* Cheyenne, Natalie, and Jack – childhood friends that find themselves dealing with a sinister situation when they come together again after being apart for five years

* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing

* That all the mysteries and threads of the story are tied up neatly at the end of the story

* That even though I read the end and thought about not reading the middle, I am glad I read it all

 What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about how easily some can snuff out the lives of others

* After finishing the book, I wondered what Cheyenne had been doing for the years she had been away. I wondered if I had missed it or if it was missing from the book.

 Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I read more by this author? Yes

 Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 4-5 Stars

     BLURB

 In the tradition of Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware, Katherine Greene’s debut thriller is a dark descent into the sinister traditions and customs of a small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet no superstition will prepare childhood friends Cheyenne and Natalie for the macabre truth that awaits them. Cheyenne Ashby knows the dark and disturbing history of her hometown of Blue Cliff, Virginia, all too well. It’s why she left. Growing up deep within the woods with her eccentric mother, Constance, she was raised on the unusual customs and generational superstitions linked to the local legend of an evil entity that haunts the forest. Five years ago, the bodies of three children were found in the woods. It was a man—not a mythical beast—named Jasper Clinton who was convicted of these heinous crimes. For five years the town breathed just a bit easier with a real-life monster behind bars. But when another child goes missing, Cheyenne and Natalie are determined to discover the truth and uncover the town’s dangerous secrets rooted in its terrifying past. The two women must confront the reality of the superstitions they always believed in and their town’s complicated connection with who—or what—lives in the woods.

[theriverlandspodcast]

Alright folks! Prepared to be creeped out-- The Riverlands Podcast presents to you The Haunting of Dogface Bridge! 

What started as an email from a listener has finally become an entire episode about this weird place in Northern Indiana that is more than the legend suggests.

So stay warm out there, get snuggled in and prepare to get creeped out!

[fieriframes]

['Cause this local legend has been in the same family for nearly seven decades, with owner Bill Kuppel taking the reins from his dad in 2003. We are in the middle of nowhere. Yep.]

[bet-on-me-13]

Bruce Wayne beats the shit out of a Vampire!!! Not Clickbait!!!

SO, after Danny is adopted by the Batfam and they accept his Halfa Status, he gives them all their own special Fenton Deflector Badges that will prevent them from being overshadowed and lets them touch ghosts even while intangible

Of course Vlad finds out that his little Badger got adopted by an entirely separate Billionaire and wants to get revenge.

So one day, while Bruce is walking down the street, Vlad tries to overshadow him. He is hoping that he will be able to destroy Bruce’s public reputation and then sell himself Wayne Enterprises, making himself the richest man in the world and making Danny run to him instead.

What actually happens in that Vlad collides face first with Bruce’s back and is knocked to the ground. Bruce turns around, recognizes Vlad, and starts beating the everloving crap out of him.

And across the street, some people are recording it. It looks like a Looney Toons Sequence, with Bruce and Vlad fighting with a bench concealing their view, Vlad and Bruce appearing above a bench, with Vlad holding bruce in a chokehold before Bruce kicks him in the *redacted* and they both fall out of view again,  Vlad trying to crawl away before Bruce drags him back behind the bench, Bruce standing up just in view above the bench, and then proceeding to deliver an Elbow Drop. Basically every comedic fight element you can think of.

The Video gets posted to Youtube and goes Viral within the day.

Danny has a GIF of Vlad trying to crawl away and getting dragged back as his Screensaver. The GIF if him getting kicked in the *redacted* is his Background.