#North Hills Animal Hospital

[zoesblogsposts]

o 625 words to know in your target language o

There is a really interesting blog called "Fluent Forever" that aids foreign language learners in tricks, tips and techniques to guide them to achieving fluency "quickly" and efficiently. One of the tricks is to learn these 625 vocab words in your target language, that way you have a basis to start delving into grammar with ease as you can understand a lot of vocab right off the bat. Plus this list of words are common across the world and will aid you in whatever language you are learning. Here is the list in thematic order

• Animal: dog, cat, fish, bird, cow, pig, mouse, horse, wing, animal

• Transportation: train, plane, car, truck, bicycle, bus, boat, ship, tire, gasoline, engine, (train) ticket, transportation

• Location: city, house, apartment, street/road, airport, train station, bridge hotel, restaurant, farm, court, school, office, room, town, university, club, bar, park, camp, store/shop, theater, library, hospital, church, market, country (USA,

France, etc.), building, ground, space (outer space), bank, location

• Clothing: hat, dress, suit, skirt, shirt, T-shirt, pants, shoes, pocket, coat, stain, clothing

• Color: red, green, blue (light/dark), yellow, brown, pink, orange, black, white, gray, color

• People: son, daughter, mother, father, parent (= mother/father), baby, man, woman, brother, sister, family, grandfather, grandmother, husband, wife, king, queen, president, neighbor, boy, girl, child (= boy/girl), adult (= man/woman), human (# animal), friend (Add a friend's name), victim, player, fan, crowd, person

• Job: Teacher, student, lawyer, doctor, patient, waiter, secretary, priest, police, army, soldier, artist, author, manager, reporter, actor, job

• Society: religion, heaven, hell, death, medicine, money, dollar, bill, marriage, wedding, team, race (ethnicity), sex (the act), sex (gender), murder, prison, technology, energy, war, peace, attack, election, magazine, newspaper, poison, gun, sport, race (sport), exercise, ball, game, price, contract, drug, sign, science, God

• Art. band, song, instrument (musical), music, movie, art

• Beverages: coffee, tea, wine, beer, juice, water, milk, beverage

• Food: egg, cheese, bread, soup, cake, chicken, pork, beef, apple, banana orange, lemon, corn, rice, oil, seed, knife, spoon, fork, plate, cup, breakfast, lunch, dinner, sugar, salt, bottle, food

• Home: table, chair, bed, dream, window, door, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, pencil, pen, photograph, soap, book, page, key, paint, letter, note, wall, paper, floor, ceiling, roof, pool, lock, telephone, garden, yard, needle, bag, box, gift, card, ring, tool

• Electronics: clock, lamp, fan, cell phone, network, computer, program (computer), laptop, screen, camera, television, radio

• Body: head, neck, face, beard, hair, eye, mouth, lip, nose, tooth, ear, tear (drop), tongue, back, toe, finger, foot, hand, leg, arm, shoulder, heart, blood, brain, knee, sweat, disease, bone, voice, skin, body

• Nature: sea, ocean, river, mountain, rain, snow, tree, sun, moon, world, Earth, forest, sky, plant, wind, soil/earth, flower, valley, root, lake, star, grass, leaf, air, sand, beach, wave, fire, ice, island, hill, heat, nature

• Materials: glass, metal, plastic, wood, stone, diamond, clay, dust, gold, copper, silver, material

• Math/Measurements: meter, centimeter, kilogram, inch, foot, pound, half, circle, square, temperature, date, weight, edge, corner

• Misc Nouns: map, dot, consonant, vowel, light, sound, yes, no, piece, pain, injury, hole, image, pattern, noun, verb, adjective

• Directions: top, bottom, side, front, back, outside, inside, up, down, left, right, straight, north, south, east, west, direction

• Seasons: Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall, season

• Numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 21, 22, 30, 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 50, 51, 52, 60, 61, 62, 70, 71, 72, 80, 81, 82, 90, 91, 92, 100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 10000, 100000, million, billion, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, number

• Months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

• Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

• Time: year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second, morning, afternoon, evening, night, time

• Verbs: work, play, walk, run, drive, fly, swim, go, stop, follow, think, speak/say, eat, drink, kill, die, smile, laugh, cry, buy, pay, sell, shoot(a gun), learn, jump, smell, hear (a sound), listen (music), taste, touch, see (a bird), watch (TV), kiss, burn, melt, dig, explode, sit, stand, love, pass by, cut, fight, lie down, dance, sleep, wake up, sing, count, marry, pray, win, lose, mix/stir, bend, wash, cook, open, close, write, call, turn, build, teach, grow, draw, feed, catch, throw, clean, find, fall, push, pull, carry, break, wear, hang, shake, sign, beat, lift

• Adjectives: long, short (long), tall, short (vs tall), wide, narrow, big/large, small/little, slow, fast, hot, cold, warm, cool, new, old (new), young, old (young), weak, dead, alive, heavy, light (heavy), dark, light (dark), nuclear, famous

[rjzimmerman]

Water buffalo escapes slaughter, evades police, becomes local celebrity. (Washington Post)

PHill, a water buffalo, recovering at Iowa State University’s Large Animal Hospital. On Aug. 24, PHill escaped from his owner who was planning to slaughter him, and he was subsequently shot by a police officer in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. He was captured humanely on Aug. 27. (Iowa Farm Sanctuary)

Excerpt from this Washington Post story:

A water buffalo who escaped as his owner tried to slaughter him became a folk hero-type figure in Iowa last week as the animal — who was also shot by police — was on the run for days.

Residents in Pleasant Hill, Iowa — a city in the Des Moines metropolitan area — first spotted the water buffalo on Aug. 24 in the middle of a roadway. Passersby were puzzled by the strange sighting, since water buffaloes are unusual in the area.

After multiple sightings, residents started tracking the large animal, and named him PHill (Pronounced Phil) after their city.

Pleasant Hill Police were alerted to the wandering mammal and spoke with its owner, who rents land just north of Pleasant Hill. The owner told officers he was attempting to kill the animal to butcher him for meat when the water buffalo escaped the property, according to Pleasant Hill city spokesperson Candace Bell. The owner told officers the water buffalo was “aggressive and dangerous,” Bell said.

On the same day the water buffalo escaped, an officer found him by a bank, next to a four-lane highway.

“That is when our officer took a shot to keep it from going into the highway,” said Bell.

After PHill was shot in the abdomen, he quickly ran off.

As police tried to track down the roughly 1,000-pound wounded animal, he made his way around town. Residents began to spot him curiously sniffing at their doorsteps and in their backyards, and ambling through parking lots and nearby trails.

There was a consensus that residents wanted to keep PHill safe. Soon, people were pleading for his protection.

“The outcry was, ‘Don’t kill him.’ Everybody was offering suggestions,” Henriksen said. “He’s just the cutest little thing.”

Henriksen created a Facebook page to provide updates on his whereabouts, and a clothing store started selling T-shirts that say: “FREE PHILL!”

“Let him be free! He’s cheated death at least twice! He’s earned it!” the store wrote in a Facebook post.

Iowa Farm Sanctuary — about 100 miles from Pleasant Hill — caught wind of PHill’s story and offered to take him in, as well as two other water buffalo kept by PHill’s owner, who officials said has been charged in the past for similar livestock incidents.

“This same owner has had cows and goats go missing so there is an investigation into how they’ve escaped and if all laws were being followed,” Bell said, adding that police do not know how or where the man obtained the water buffalo.

[alwaysdevilday]

So I found an interesting worldgen… (Icemourn Pt. 1)

Last night I got the itch to play some Dwarf Fortress (the Steam version because I love me some pretty graphics and menus) so I loaded it up and generated a world.

Much to my surprise, one of the options for a starting civilization (a nation of origin from which my dwarves can be from) was this:

What you're looking at is a civilization of one (1). The king of this entire nation is also its only member, and he spends all his time sitting in his castle alone at the edge of the known world surrounded by ice and frozen peaks. There ain't anybody else other than my seven starting dwarves.

I thought to myself "oh this is gonna suck, there's no way I can't do this", and decided to go for it. I was gonna raise this nation out of the dirt as if my life depended on it.

I chose a spot in the frigid coniferous forests off the landmass's southern coast. No close neighbors, just me and the bears and whoever decided to pass through.

For my preparations, I loaded up on the bare essentials until I ran out of points, gave my dwarves the standard spread of jack-of-all-trades skills and took a few animals for emergency food and protection. The water buffalo are hard to take down and although they eat a lot of grass in pasture, they yield lots of useful resources if I have to Do The Deed. War dogs would take up the task of saving my hide from any potentially dangerous wildlife.

I named the fortress "Icemourn" or Ushilleshal in the dwarven tongue. I thought it appropriate, given that the land remains frozen and blanketed with snow 9 months out of the year.

My embark location was rather auspicious, sporting a wide range of towering trees and plenty of fruit during the admittedly brief surface growing season. The presence of a small river and a natural (if shallow) cliffside did not go unappreciated.

My first task was to carve out a chunk of the hill into something more useful (and aesthetically pleasing). It was there that I would set up my home base, digging out soft and heavy earth to make room for rudimentary bedrooms and the first two workshop areas. The room to the north would be my first dining room, something I planned to convert to a tavern's main floor later.

Initial setup complete, I set about securing my dwarves' safety with some log walls around the entrance. A drawbridge would block all but the biggest and meanest of hostiles from entering in times of emergency. Thankfully, trees were so plentiful in this location that I almost certainly would never run out of usable wood (though that might spell trouble if elves decide to visit later).

That done, my next task was to start carving out the uppermost workshop and stockpile rooms to ensure that my dwarves could carry out essential tasks without being forced to venture into the harsh winter. Dirt walls are ugly and unpleasant, but they get the job done. Beautification would have to come later.

The bare essentials on their way, I had time to order my dwarves to dig deeper, down about 8 z-levels (units of height, estimated to be about 2 meters) until we struck rock. To my delight, the substance proved to be shiny black obsidian. An aesthetically pleasing material, and one I could make basic weaponry out of without having to go to the effort of setting up forges. And as a bonus, fire opal gemstones! Right at my fingertips!

By this time the year's thaw had come, right on schedule in the middle of the summer. Pretty! Warm! Hospitable!

This brought to mind the fact that sooner or later, I would need a water source, so I set my dwarves to tunnel out some of the loam towards the river, forming a subterranean channel that would pipe fresh water into a cavity beneath my entrance's "courtyard". A covered well would allow the dwarves access to drinkable water year round, without concern for it freezing easily.

As autumn approached, the first traders arrived from somewhere far away. I hastily set up a trade depot for them and dumped my sole bin of wooden crafts onto the offering table. By the time the deal was done, we had procured several barrels of alcohol (and the trader had procured a nearly 60% profit, absurdly) and had lightened our load a bit. Unfortunately, our three months of sunlight was over and the snow once again began to fall as the traders packed their things and hastily left.

Continued Later

[storiesbyrhi]

Bones and All - Chapter 14: Eat Me

Eddie Munson/Reader Series Masterlist

Warnings: canon typical violence/gore, swearing, abusive parents, animal farming/slaughterhouse setting (1 scene only); psychiatric hospital setting (1 scene only); discussion of religion; suicidal ideation/thoughts; murder; mid-level smut; no beta; updated each chapter

Synopsis: A Bones and All AU. What do you hunger for?

Chapter Summary: It's time to eat. 4390 words.

Author's Note: I have resurrected two canonically dead ST characters for this penultimate chapter. Gone too soon, imo.

“Well, if it isn’t my favourite little hellion!” Benny Hammond called as he appeared from the kitchen.

Eddie stood to greet the man, they hugged. “Hey, Benny. How you doin’, man?”

“Doing good, doing good. Heard you were back. Staying for long?” Benny asked, glancing at you.

“Shit. Sorry. Benny’s, this is Y/N. Y/N, Benny. Wayne and him go fishing sometimes. Used to live at the park till he built this place,”

“Nice to meet you,” you said.

Benny beamed and gave Eddie a strange sort of look very much designed to embarrass him. There were some raised eyebrows and smirking involved.

“And, ah, we… we don’t know how long we’re here for,”

“Sounds about right. You here for dinner?” Benny rounded the restaurant’s counter, speaking as he walked.

“Yeah. We’re grabbing some takeaway. Wayne’s home so thought we’d eat with him,” Eddie said, leaning against the counter.

Benny looked over his shoulder and through the window between the restaurant and the kitchen. The burger joint was busy, not too packed yet though. He’d heard one of the waitresses whispering about Eddie when she brought the order through, figured he’d come see his favourite weirdo himself.

“Shouldn’t be too long,” Benny said, rapping his knuckles on the countertop.

After a brief catch-up, you and Eddie returned to the truck and drove back to Forest Hills. The sun was setting over Hawkins, bathing the town in a saturated orange. When you pulled up in front of the trailer, you smiled to yourself, thinking maybe the thing could do with a coat of marigold paint.

Inside, Jeopardy! was on the television, Wayne answering along.  

“We brought dinner,” Eddie said, putting the paper bag on the kitchen bench.

Wayne stood and walked over, smiling at you. “Edward seems to have misplaced his manners. We ain’t been formally introduced,” he said. You could hear the Munson mischief in his tone.

Eddie froze. “Shit. Sorry. I just…” Forgot to introduce you both because you both feel like family, like part of me, and it makes no sense that you don’t know each other. “Dunno. Sorry.”

You and Wayne did the work for him, introducing yourselves. Wayne acted as if you belonged in the trailer, like it made perfect sense for you to have shown up and moved in.

After eating Benny’s exceptionally good burgers, a calm took over the trailer. Wayne was sitting in the corner armchair, and you and Eddie on the couch. When a commercial break during Miami Vice started, Wayne cleared his throat.

“So, you two heading back out soon?” He was trying to act casual, but even a mostly-stranger like you could hear that it was not a casual question.

“Probably. But it’s gonna be different this time.” You and Eddie hadn’t talked about any more specifics of Notre Dame, so it surprised you that he offered the plan up so early. “We’re thinking of getting a place up north. Near Notre Dame. Settling down for a while.”

Wayne looked at his nephew for a long while. He’d never truly understood Eddie. Never could reason why a kid that smart and that beautiful couldn’t find his place in the world. It never stopped him from loving Eddie though. Wayne loved his nephew like his own, and he’d never seen him so at peace. Whoever you were, Eddie had quite clearly found a part of himself in you and it had afforded him comfort and happiness. 

“Sounds good. Be up near Lake Michigan there. Maybe I could come see yas when the fishing gets good,” Wayne said.

Eddie smiled, the pride in Wayne’s expression too much for him to process.

“We’d like that,” you answered for Eddie. “I’ve never been fishing.”

���

Eddie woke first the next morning. A sunbeam shining through the blinds was lighting a patch of your bare back. You were sleeping soundly on your stomach, and Eddie stayed still, hugging his pillow, watching you.

The dust bunnies in the air danced, only visible when the sun hit the windows just right. The refrigerator hummed in the background, and beyond that all the normal noise of Forest Hills.

Eddie thought about his life. Despite the tragedy and the trauma, he had always pushed toward some form of happiness. He was remarkably resilient when it boiled down to it. Notre Dame, he thought, was going to be the proper start of his life though. Meaning no disrespect to Wayne or any of his friends in Hawkins, Eddie considered the plan to be the first domino in a line of things that would finally go his way.

When your eyes opened and you adjusted to the light, you smiled at Eddie.

“Hi,” your voice croaked.

“Hey,” Eddie whispered, reaching out gently to swipe his thumb along your cheekbone. “Sleep okay?”

“Yeah,”

“It’s better than the couch, huh?”

You nodded in agreement; the little fold out bed was definitely earning its keep. Eddie watched you stretch then settle back under the covers. You watched him too, as an idea made its way into his head and he suddenly rolled over so his back was to you.

“Spoon me,” he ordered.

“What?”

“I wanna be the little spoon… Please.”

It was too cute not to give in. Shuffling closer, you slid an arm around Eddie’s waist as you pushed yourself into the curve of his body. He took your hand and held it to his chest, your fingertips just able to feel the beat of his heart.

Soon your breathing fell in sync and you closed your eyes again. It took a while for either of you to say anything or move even a little bit.

Eventually, Eddie spoke first. “Wanna see Max and Dustin before we go,”

“Okay,”

“But I want to go soon,”

“Me too,” you replied, full of daydreams and fantasies about what life could be like.

With bellies full of mostly just coffee and toast, you and Eddie left the trailer and wandered over to the park’s playground.

Eddie was hung upside down from the jungle gym, while you laid on the ground beneath him. His hair almost touched your face. You were giggling at each other like school children when the cop car pulled up. You read ‘CHIEF’ along the side.

Eddie climbed down and positioned himself between you and the man who got out the Chevrolet K5 Blazer.

“Stand down, kid… Not here to arrest ya,”

“Easy mistake,” Eddie replied, earning him a small smirk from the cop.

“Who’s this?”

“Jane Doe. Kidnapped her on my way into town. Neighbourhood Watch rat me out?”

“Good to see you haven’t changed, Eddie.”

Eddie kicked at the dirt. You didn’t know if he was being defensive was the best route to take with the cops, but there was a genuine rapport between the two men.

“Y/N, this is Hopper. He’s… ah… one of the good ones,” Eddie introduced. “Hopper, Y/N,”

“Hi. That’s some high praise coming from you,”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie deflected. “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon,”

“Wow. Nice. Is that one of your songs? You write that?” Hopper quipped.

“Oh, you like it?”

“Yeah, love it.”

They had a momentary stare-off while you glanced around the trailer park to see if there was an audience. There was.

“Um… Did you… need something?” you asked, mostly intending to break the stalemate rather than enquire about Hopper’s visit.

“You here about Mike’s dad?” Eddie asked then.

“Yeah, you heard?”

“Mike was here with the others the night before last. His dad dropped him off. Called yesterday asking to keep an ear out. Trailer park gossip and all that,” Eddie explained.

“Didn’t see Ted drop Mike off?”

“Nah, think they all met up at Red’s first,”

“Max?”

“Yeah,”

“Right,” Hopper said, pulling his little notebook out to check Eddie’s statement against others he’d already gathered.

“Wayne wasn’t around, was he?”

“Nah. He’s still doing nights at the plant,”

“And you?” Hopper asked, pointing a pen your way. “You with the kids?”

“No. I was tired. From travelling. I went to bed early,”

“Ohhhkay. Got it.” Hopper put his notebook away. With his hands on his hips, he looked around, then asked, “So, Mike ever talk about his dad?”

Eddie shrugged. “Just the normal stuff,” Eddie answered. “Bitched when he had curfew. Bitched when he didn’t get enough pocket money. Bitched when he didn’t get what he wanted. Rich kid shit, you know?”

Hopper smiled, pulling a cigarette out and lighting it. “That'd be right… Alright, well, any of that trailer park gossip comes through, do me a favour and send it my way,”

“See something – say something. Sir, yes, sir!” Eddie replied, standing to attention and saluting.

“Jesus,” Hopper mumbled, turning to get back in his truck. “Stay out of trouble, alright? The both of you.”

You and Eddie nodded in unison and watched Hopper drive out of Forest Hills.

“Was he a good dad?” you asked Eddie.

“Who? Hopper?”

“No, Ted,”

“Eh, yes and no. Well, I mean, compared to mine – yes. Compared to yours – also yes. But I don’t think he gave a shit about his kids… And his wife is a total babe, you know? But everyone knows she…”

“She what?”

Eddie tried to suppress a grin, scratching his neck. “Let’s just say she’s clearly not getting the attention she needs at home,”

“Oh,” you replied, biting your bottom lip and nodding.

Eddie watched you for a second, gauging if you were going to spiral into an episode of grief and guilt.

“I bet he has a huge life insurance policy,” you said, surprising Eddie.

…

A few days later and you were parked out the front of Dustin Henderson’s house, the engine on Wayne’s truck still running. Eddie slammed down on the truck’s horn again.

“Jesus, Eddie. Give him a second!” Max yelled, kicking Eddie’s seat from behind. 

“Watch it, Red,”

“Or what? You’ll turn this car around and nobody gets ice cream, Dad.”

You tried to hold it in, but a small snort of laughter escaped. Eddie shot you a look. You shrugged back at him.

Dustin appeared, running down his drive and throwing himself into the back with Max. “Sorry! Mews got stuck up a tree!”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re wasting daylight here,” Eddie said, foot already on the accelerator.

Fort Wayne was less than two hours away, and the drive seemed even shorter with the entertainment of Eddie, Dustin, and Max’s constant banter and bickering. They all shut up as Eddie pulled into a free parking space and everyone got out of the car. The live music was already audible, and you were still a block away.

Max read about a comic book and vinyl record show, complete with bands and skateboarding demos. She’d seen a flyer up at Hawkins Arcade and had been ready to beg Eddie to take her. It was perfect though; he said yes immediately on the condition Dustin could come.

As soon as the four of you entered the huge warehouse full of super cool people and buzzing with life, the kids both dashed off.

Eddie shook his head. “So much for quality time,”

“We’ll round them up for lunch, ‘kay?” you said to him, taking his hand.

It didn’t take long for them to find their way back to Eddie though. Dustin would appear out of nowhere with something to show him, and Max would wander through with questions about whichever band was playing.

By lunch, you’d reformed and found a table in front of some food trucks. With two bites of burrito in his mouth, Dustin asked, “Did Hopper come see you guys too?” Dustin asked.

“He’s talking to everyone. That’s what happens when someone goes missing,” Max replied.

“He seems… nice… for a cop…” you chimed in. Eddie gave you a look. “What?” you threw back. “He was!”

“He’s definitely the least shitty one in the department,” Dustin agreed.

“And how would you know that?” Eddie questioned.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,”

“Ah, yeah. That’s why I’m asking,”

“Well, what’s your problem with him?”

“Thought you said he was okay?” you asked Eddie then, interrupting his back and forth with Dustin.

“He is. He, uh… He was good to Wayne when… my dad left. And everything. If I ever had to call the cops, I’d call him, alright?”

“Yeah, well, he's still not gonna find Mike’s dad,” Max said, causing the rest of you to look at her with pause. “I mean, he bailed, right? That’s what dads do.”

She left unsaid the clincher that it’s what hers had done after her parents divorced. It’s what she believed Eddie’s had done. Dustin’s dad wasn’t around but you didn’t know why. Maybe it was a hat-trick.

Nobody said anything for a minute.

“Well… Not to add to the list of shitty men who leave list, but um-”

“It’s not like that,” Max interrupted. She looked to Dustin. “Right? We don’t…”

“Oh, no! No!” he caught on.

“You don’t leave leave. We don’t see you like that,”

“Thanks, Red. You don’t have to…” Eddie gestured his hands around her and Dustin vaguely. “But, ah, yeah, in a couple day, me and Y/N are gonna head off again.” He paused briefly to read their faces. No sign of hurt. “We’re thinking of staying put somewhere though. Maybe, you know, rent a place or whatever.”

Max and Dustin’s expressions mirrored each other. They were neutral at first, but then they both started to giggle, giving each other knowing looks.

You and Eddie watched, a little puzzled.

“Okay, cool, good talk,” Eddie said as he stood, picking up his lunch trash and walking away to find a bin.

Eddie leaving made the kids laugh harder. You figured they had an in-joke or were just amused at how seriously Eddie delivered the news.

When they settled down, Max turned to you and asked, “Can I come visit? When you get a place?”

“Yeah. Of course,”

“Me too?”

“You too.”

Dustin carried his heavy bag of comics back to the truck happily at the end of the day. Max picked out a record and a graphic novel. Eddie bought a record for Wayne, but otherwise you both saved your money.

The kids were quiet on the ride home, lost in their fantasy worlds. You watched them in your sun visor’s mirror for a bit. They were easy to love.

Eddie reached out and threaded his fingers through yours. You were both ready for the next chapter.   

…

Notre Dame was a whole world within itself. It had thousands of people living their own lives. As you’d anticipated, not all those people were gracing the world with goodness. To you and Eddie, it was fish in a barrel.

For a week, you both watched him. He had a tiny apartment in a building of mostly students, although he certainly wasn’t one himself. Late 30s if you were being kind, but more likely pushing 42. He was small. Danger didn’t radiate off him, but something did that kept people at bay. Something nasty and noxious.

You played the dual role of bait and reconnaissance. Pretending to be a Notre Dame freshman, you struck up a conversation and found out his name was Bert and in exchange for the tiny apartment being rent free, he acted as the building’s handyman.

“Well, where’s the owner?” you asked him, twirling hair around your finger.

“Owns a bunch of buildings like this across the Midwest. Rents ‘em out cheap. As long I keep collecting the rent off the kids, send it to ‘em, he ain’t gonna bother me. I’m like my own man out here, you know?”

“That’s so cool. You’re like, the boss of this whole place, huh?” The sickly-sweet voice you were purring out made you feel dirty. In a bad way.

“President, more like it.”

When you met back up with Eddie later, you kissed him so hard he thought you were gonna bite his tongue out his head. “Don’t ever let someone like that touch me,” you told him seriously.

Eddie snorted. “Not letting anyone like anything touch you. You’re mine now.” He kept talking, asking questions about Bert, but you’d got stuck back at the start.

“Say that again.”

Eddie looked at you. “Say what?”

“That I’m yours.”

He saw your blown pupils and parted lips. In his deepest voice, Eddie repeated, “You’re mine now.”

You fucked in the back of the car you’d taken from a date-raping Polsci major. He’d tasted like meatloaf and Red Vines. His name didn’t matter.

…

Getting rid of Bert’s things was easy. He didn’t have much in the way of sentimental possessions, and the place wasn’t big enough to hoard anything.

Going through his mail and stacks of paperwork, you discovered his story was true. The owner of the building required a monthly cheque of combined rents. However, it appeared that Bert was charging the students more than necessary. He was skimming the top, allowing him to not only live rent free, but not work either, save for the odd handyman requirement.

“Think I’ll make a pretty hot handyman,” Eddie said, leaning against the doorframe between the living room and kitchen.

You were at the table and looked up at him. He was in only his boxers, with a toolbelt slung low around his waist. You wanted to laugh, but he did make a pretty hot handyman. Not letting the idiot win, you deflected. “What if I wanna be the handywoman?”

“Well, I thought this was more your style. Found it on one of the campus noticeboards while you were doing recon.” Eddie handed you a flyer. The college’s library had a casual shelving job going. “I know it’s not super fun, but… Books. You’ll probably overhear a lot of weird shit too. I don’t know,”

“No, Eddie, it’s perfect. Thank you.” You stood and let him pull you into a hug. “So… Is that a screwdriver or are you just happy to see me?”

…

On the verge of dropping the bags you were juggling, you unlocked the apartment's front door and went inside.

“Eddie?! I’m home,” you called to no answer. Figuring he wasn’t far behind you, probably replacing 2D’s kitchen lightbulb again, you began to unpack the groceries you’d bought. Flittering around the kitchen happily, you smiled to yourself.

For the month you and Eddie had assumed Bert’s place, 2D had been obsessed with your boyfriend. The two girls who lived there were Women Studies majors, and his long hair and good manners charmed them no end. They liked you too, but it was Eddie who had returned to their kitchen again and again to replace mysteriously blown lights.

From outside you could hear music being played through a loud and crackly boombox. Bravely we hope, against all hope; there is so much at stake, seems our freedom's up, sang Jimi Jamison.

It was only when you paused to crack open a can of Dr Pepper did you smell him. You cursed yourself for not being more alert, like Eddie had been trying to teach you to be. Hunting predators was making you sharper and smarter. You shouldn’t have been caught out like that.

Each step you took out of the kitchen and into the living room was slow and measured. The long braid of human hair sitting on the coffee table, spilling out of Sully’s bag, was the first thing you saw. Then, he emerged from the bedroom, holding one of Eddie’s t-shirts in his hands.

In the burning heart, just about to burst, there's a quest for answers; an unquenchable thirst. The music pulsed through the apartment. Neither you nor Eddie liked Survivor, but you’d like them even less now.

“Sully.” It wasn’t a greeting nor acknowledgment. It was a warning. “He’ll be home soon,”

“But he ain’t here now, is he, missy?”

“What do you want?”

Sully looked through you, eyes dull and lips pulled down into a melted frown. Neither of you moved, just stood watching each other with bated breath.

In the darkest night, rising like a spire; in the burning heart, the unmistakable fire.

“I ate with you. I dried off with you. Helped you on your way. That don’t mean nothing to you?”

Before you could reply, the man took a step towards you, then another.

“Stop. Sully.” You backed up into the kitchen and slammed the door between rooms closed.

Sully threw himself against the door, ramming hard. You yelped and frantically pushed the kitchen table against the door.

“You don’t wanna do this, Sully!”

“No, missy, YOU don’t wanna fuckin’ do THIS. Lemme in! Let! Me! In!” He roared with fury, the kitchen door shaking with each attempt to get in.

You were pushing the window open and trying to calculate if you could jump from three stories up without any major damage to your body when Sully went silent. No yelling. No banging. A trick, you thought, mere seconds away from climbing out.

“Baby?!” Eddie’s desperate voice shouted.

“Eddie?!”

You pulled the table away from the door and went tumbling into the living room. Eddie had a plastic bag pulled over Sully’s head, the older man’s hands flailing around trying to gain the upper hand.

“Knife! Knife! Go,” Eddie ordered.

In the short time it took to run back into the kitchen and pull a knife from the drawer, Sully had clawed a hole through the plastic and taken a deep breath in. It was enough to fuel him, finding grip in Eddie’s jeans and throwing them both to the ground.

They were fighting too quickly for you to do anything, then Sully landed an elbow into Eddie’s nose, causing him to fall back. Sully crawled towards you and you slashed the knife at him, cutting along his cheek.

With seemingly little care about the blade, Sully pulled you to the ground and put his weight on top of you. He smelt of death. Decay. Feasting on corpses and never brushing his teeth. He was a man possessed.

Rabid.

He snapped his teeth at you over and over until Eddie had his hands around his neck and face, pulling him up. Sully yelped with surprised, but moved fast enough to get Eddie’s ring finger in his mouth. Sully sucked in and bit down hard enough to sever the digit. He swallowed it whole.

Eddie hardly reacted, still pulling him off you. You saw it then. The knife was sticking out of Sully’s stomach. You’d managed to punch it into him at some point. Like Eddie, Sully was unphased by his injury.

You looked around for another weapon, too slow to see Sully rip the knife from himself and tear it across Eddie’s torso. The sound Eddie made froze you in place, terrified and unable to comprehend what was happening.

Sully began to laugh, a horrible high pitched sound that rattled you. You watched as he dropped the knife and bent over Eddie. He ripped open his shirt to reveal the deep gash along Eddie’s chest. Sully lowered himself and started to eat.

The abject horror broke you.

In one swift and violent move, you picked up the braided hair rope and went sliding to your knees next to Sully. You wrapped it once then twice around his neck, pulling tightly. Immediately, Sully kicked off Eddie and tried to get free. You were holding strong, tears streaming down your face.

Weakly, Eddie picked the knife off the ground and rolled onto his hands and knees. He walked on all fours to Sully and stabbed him in the chest with perfect aim. Sully’s heart was pierced. You felt the life drain from him.

Eddie collapsed onto the floor but you couldn’t let go of Sully. You pulled the rope tighter and tighter until it felt like you could pop his head off. When you finally dropped the rope, your hands were red and raw.

“Eddie,” you said, voice hoarse. Scrambling over to him, you held your hands over the wound and started to sob. “Eddie?!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he replied, words falling over each other. “S’fine, fine. S’okay,”

“No, no. No, Eddie. We have to get you to a hospital,”

“No, no, no, no. Baby, baby. You c-can’t. Can’t do that. Baby, babe. S’okay,”

“Stop. Stop, Eddie. You can’t die. You can’t leave me here. Okay? I can’t do this without you. I don’t wanna do this without you. So, get up. Get up,”

“Shhhh, baby,” was all he could say.

“No. No! Eddie!”

“Shhhhh, listen, listen to me. You’re-” He coughed up blood. “You’re gonna be f-fine. ‘Kay? Bu-but I need ya to-to do somethin’ for m-me, yeah?”

“No! No,”

“I d-don’t wanna… don’t wanna go to waste, understand? N-need you t-to do somethin’ for me?”

You held his face while shaking your head. Your tears landed on his chest, diluting the blood. Your lungs felt like they were going to go dry and crunchy.

Eddie continued with his dying wish. “Yeah, yeah, babe. You g-gotta e-eat me. C-can’t rot. D-don’t wanna… rot. B-burn. Don’t wanna… b-burn.”

The sobbing hurt so much that it was as if your spine was trying to shake itself loose. You laid your head down on Eddie’s chest, the smell of blood so strong it was making you dizzy.

“I love you,” you told him. “I love you, I love you.”

He was too weak to reply. You listened to his laboured and wet breathing, then shuffled around to look at the wound. Two things bloomed in you simultaneously. While your mind said, stop the bleeding and he may survive this, the monster in you yelled, EAT!

Eddie tasted like lust. His flesh sweet and his blood savoury. You wanted to keep him safe inside you. Swallow him, bones and all, and have him deep in you forever and ever. You wanted to feel him under your skin. Wanted to be one and the same. Wanted consummation. Wanted love. Wanted…

You screamed until your throat couldn’t anymore, then got to the phone and called 9-1-1. With your voice almost entirely gone, you managed to give your address and beg, “Hopper. From Hawkins. Call Hopper.”

Crawling back to Eddie, you held his hand and passed out.

What you wanted most was to never be alone again.

End Note: Spoilers for the novel/film below! I love the film's version of this sequence of events. When he begged to be eaten, and she did, I was sobbing. Genuinely sobbing. Then, when I read the book and it was so different and 10/10 anticlimactic, I was like... oh. That sucks. So, we have gone with the film version but I'm leaving it with the cliffhanger of how this pans out. See you in Chapter 15!

Fic Taglist: @azydrateanatomy @pussy-drunk @mrsdollardog @akiratoro420 @thatsbunnysmind

Eddie Taglist: @solomons-finest-rum @ruinedbythehobbit @munsonlives @sweetpeapod @depressooo-expressooo-blog @thorfemmes @hawkins-high @corrodedhawkins @grungegrrrl @lilzabob @mymoonisalways-in-scorpio @averagemisfit03 @ches-86 @ilovecupcakesandtea @onehotgreasymechanic @hazydespair @lacrymosa-24 @mel-the-fangirl

[yorshie]

How about 4, 7, and 11 please?

4. Mythical creature you think/believe is real?

I mean..... I'd never go hunting for any (sweats as I remember I'm suppose to go 'ghost hunting' sometime soon) but if we're being openly nonjudgemental, I kinda think all of them are real/were real at one point. Like they all have a little basis in reality. Unicorns were probably confused for a type of deer or other hind, the stories of bigfoot can't be that far fetched if you think about how nearly every other continent has had ape species so it stands to reason north america had one at some point in history- idk, a lot of the creatures I'm familiar with growing up are more culturally tied than a world wide thing, so I'm more inclined to believe they started as a story somewhere/or was a real animal that got twisted. We have some boogeymen (that I can't bring up really cuz it's taboo) that i just think 'yeah that totally started as an animal with either wasting disease or rabies or both', so, yeah. Maybe dragons were a big crocodile throwing salt water out it's nostrils, or another big lizard. Every time I think of sea serpent I think of the Oarfish and mermaids the manatee. Where I grew up the fog clings in the hills and they tell you to watch out for the Howler, it doesn't really matter if the Howler is just a bird noise or a bobcat in heat, when you hear it you're gonna go running for home, cuz even if it's not real there's plenty of big animals that ARE. that kinda thing, ya know?

7. What animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium.

Stingrays. I love stingrays. My husband took me to an aquarium with a touch pool a little while ago, and he took one of those "oh where has my wife gone" videos to poke fun at me because I had both arms up to my pits in the touch pool, just letting the rays flap all over me. I love the way they feel, how much personality they have, and how friendly they can be once they know you aren't gonna grab at them. Seriously, i only buy like one thing of food and once they realized it was out they still kept coming over. I just think they're neat little funky dudes

11. Anything from your childhood you've held onto?

Hm... a few things. I've got a couple stuffed animals, an old rocking horse that plays music, but my most prized possessions are two quilts my great grandmother on my grandpa's side made. She hand sewed everything, and I've got a dutch flower girl queen sized quilt she made before she died because she knew I was graduating from high school soon, and my son came home from the hospital in the last baby blanket she made. It was her way of showing love, especially because she didn't know all of us that well. She couldn't leave the house a lot the last decade of her life, and she had something like 70 great-grandkids lol. She kept track of us all by which of her kids we 'belonged' too whenever we showed up for family reunions, but since her house only had five rooms total we all played outside. So we all kept our quilts close because it was how she showed us she knew we existed.

[writingcorvid]

Skin And Bones

It was an odd thing, when that letter arrived. It was mid-October, and during a bored day of being cooped up in my apartment, I had a letter come through the mail slot. The return address was some insurance company I can’t remember the name of, and enclosed within were the details of an inheritance. It took me a couple of reads to remember exactly who it was talking about; a semi-distant relative of mine, an uncle on my mothers side. We didn’t see much of him, as he spent most of his days living in a sequestered little valley way up north. My mom didn’t talk about him much though, as he was much older than her. In high school by the time she was old enough to have memories that lasted that long, and he was long gone to college before she was even ten. 

Details get muddy there. He had a habit of falling into weird, esoteric occult-type stuff, from what I heard. A common fear among my grandparents was that he joined a cult, and that fear transitioned into him potentially becoming the new Ted Kaczynski once he wrote a letter saying he was going off grid. Bought a plot of land near some mountains up north, and decided that a more simple life was better for him. Thankfully, no such thing happened, but contact from him was sparse. Cards came at Christmas or for important birthdays, more often than not arriving either a week early or week late, and usually accompanied by some odd gift. A necklace made from a bucks antler, a wolf’s tooth, or something similar. Well-made, to his credit. On my 18th birthday, he even sent me an old buck knife. Weird, but not totally irresponsible. 

It became clear though that over time he was doing worse and worse. His handwriting became a bit less smooth and more scratchy, occasionally repeating words or even entire sentences. The quality of the gifts at Christmas became worse and worse, and before long, they stopped. And of course, the letter I held in my hands that day confirmed what happened. He passed in his sleep at a hospital in the nearest town to where he lived. The exact specifics were a bit muddy, and it was hard to tell exactly why he was there. The main suspects were either some sort of accident like falling down a hill, or even being attacked by an animal. 

I earned a small settlement of cash, but alongside that, I earned the right to his property up to the north. Life had me burnt out, and I welcomed a change of pace. Not as if I had anything else to do, I did have to head up and see what I wanted to do with the property anyway, be it to keep it, rent it out, or just simply sell it. I talked to my job, and they gave me a month off as “grieving” time. The next day, I packed some bags, loaded up my car, and drove northward. The drive itself was almost 6 hours, and it was an interesting change of scenery. My familiar urban setting of tall, bland office buildings of steel and glass, to the occasional humble farmstead every few kilometres, and eventually finding large, mountainous hills around me. 

I swapped towers of metal and glass for towers of stone, capped with snow. The property itself was within a small valley between two such hills, driving up a dirt road and cresting around the outside of a quaint little pond. Tall pine trees surrounded me on each side as the car gently rocked back and forth as I approached the house. Or at least, it’s what my uncle called it. It was well-made for sure, but quaint. Humble and simple, a log cabin with a faint metal chimney stack emerging from the far left side. A bit to the right and behind it was a small wooden shed, a wire of some kind running from underneath the shed door to the back of the house, and partially obscured by snowfall. I could see a few small windows running along the side of the house as well, curtains drawn. No lights appeared to be on.

The shed was the first place I checked, hearing a low rumbling as I approached. At first I was scared, thinking it was some kind of animal growling or something. I pulled open the door, and thankfully my fear was abated. Just a generator rumbling, with plenty of full gas cans beside it, and the generator itself seemed to be quite stocked up on fuel. From there, I went to the front of the house, and to the door. I walked up, unlocked the door, which I had the shoulder-check to get to properly open. Suppose that meant it kept the cold out well enough. 

The space clearly hadn’t seen much use in a while. A small but fine layer of dust covered just about everything I could see, with a few of my uncle’s old things still present. A spare coat and pair of boots sat next to the door, a couple family photos hung up on walls or sat on shelves. To my left was a wood stove next, and to the right of that was a large window, facing out into the woods. There was a bear-skin rug on the floor, with a few chairs positioned there, and a small table with a radio on it. Suppose he used that to keep up with current events. 

To the right of the furniture was a large bookshelf, crammed full of various books, old and new, with seemingly no rhyme or reason behind organization. Survival guides and manuals were intermixed with books about indigenous legends, and the odd novel for entertainment. Mostly horror and mystery type stuff, if I had to guess about them. 

A hallway led down to the right, revealing a doorway to a kitchen on the right, another closed door beyond that, and two other doors on the left, and a last one at the end of the hall. The first on the left was a bathroom, then a bedroom, and a simple closet space. Turning to the final door on the right, I was instantly hit with a foul stench and almost gagged as I turned to open the door. I covered my mouth and nose with my coat before opening up the doorway. 

I was met with a room buzzing with flies and filled with old, rotting meat. Clearly some sort of butcher room for whatever animals my uncle caught and killed to eat, evidenced by the pelts, furs, horns, antlers and other such inedible pieces. It seems he didn’t have the time to clean it up before being hospitalized. I retreated outside before I gagged too hard and began opening the windows and doors to start wafting out the smell. 

I spent the next hour or so pulling in boxes and bags from my car, both to package up my uncle’s old belongings and to unpack my own things for the month I’d be staying here. A room filled with half-rotted animal carcasses definitely won’t help the resale value. I thanked God and myself that I packed some masks, though they didn’t do much to keep the smell out, and I began to remove what was left out. I wasn’t too sure how to dispose of it all. I was certain that uncle just tossed pieces out to decompose and feed the soil or wild animals, but I doubt he threw it several garbage bags worth. It took me another hour just getting what I could into garbage bags without vomiting, and dragging it out as far into the woods as I could without getting lost. I didn’t want a bear or something to follow me home, after all.

I plugged in a fan next to the room to air out the smell through the open window, grabbed a mop and plenty of soap, and began to wash it down. By the time I was done and the smell was finally beginning to dissipate, it was well into the night hours. The moon was high in the sky, and devoid of light pollution in the surrounding area, I could clearly see both it and plenty of stars. A beautiful sight to at least put a bit of a better mood into a day mostly filled with what felt like endless driving, or half-rotting gore. After liberally spraying air freshener around the room, I retired to bed. Sleep came surprisingly easy with how tired I was from the day’s work. 

The next day, I took a very long shower to fully make sure the stink of rot was washed out of my clothes, and walked over towards the butcher room. The smell was slightly better from last time, but definitely needed more time to air out. I turned to leave, but noticed something just outside the window. I walked over to get a better look, and was more than a bit confused by what I saw. Hanging from a partially protruding nail was what looked to be a dreamcatcher. Small but ornate, sticks and twigs held together by blades of grass used in place of twine. 

I didn’t recall seeing it yesterday, but I figured it wasn’t too out of place. Uncle was very much into this bizarre spiritualistic type of stuff, so I thought nothing of it. I decided to let it hang while I opened up the window and let the fan continue to air out the horrid smell. In the meanwhile, I turned to the main area and began to put together my uncle's old things that I figured no one would want. Better to be donated and get some use. He was all about taking as little as he could and giving back as much as he could, so I figured he wouldn’t mind donations of old clothes, boots, and coats. 

I had gotten about 45 minutes into packing boxes full of my uncle’s old belongings, before I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I assumed I had just left the window open for so long that I got cold, but it wasn’t that. Everything else felt about room temperature. A sense of unease washed over me, a sensation like I wasn’t alone, a creeping dread in the back of my mind. 

Was it just some odd bout of homesickness? Being out in such alien and unfamiliar territory? Or was something truly wrong here? I sat up a bit more and looked around the room, and I swore for the briefest of moments that I saw an antler outside the main window of the living room. I blinked, and it was gone. I instantly shot up, grabbed my coat, and ran outside. 

I ran around to the side of the house, and before I rounded the corner, the smell hit me. I turned and saw the bag of rotting animal parts I had dragged out last night. It was now sitting, slumped up against the side of the house, ripped open and about half of the gorey mass within now gone. Not spilling out across the ground. Gone. The bag was ripped into, but why was it still so bizarrely neat? Why was it here? How was it here?

There was not a track in the snow nor a drop of gross meat-drippings in sight. With a huff I grabbed a pair of gloves and began to drag the remains back out into the woods, this time turning the raw pieces of carcass out into the snow and aimed to dispose of the empty bag once I had gotten home. 

I walked back towards the house, and saw another one of those dreamcatchers. Hanging right above the door, which was still open a crack. I froze outside the doorway, my heart stopping and breath hitching in my throat. I was certain that there wasn’t one there before. I wasn’t taking any more chances, and pulled out my phone to take a picture of the front of the house. Two dreamcatchers, one at the window of the butcher, and one just outside the main door. 

I went back inside and thoroughly examined every inch of the house with my old buck knife in hand. Thankfully, nothing out of place, nothing missing. Not even a speck of out of place dirt. I checked the closet, bedroom, every possible crawlspace where anything could have hidden, and thankfully found nothing. 

Thankfully, nothing else had really happened through the rest of the day either. At some point I made myself some dinner with some edible food stored in the kitchen, but most of the day was spent continuing to pack boxes full of stuff that no one else would take. I decided to leave the books. No TV or cell phone signal out here, so books would probably be the best thing to pass the time out here. Not that I was really complaining, I had plenty of books I had been meaning to read for a long time and simply haven’t had the time. May as well utilize my month off to the fullest.

I was done by the early evening, so I sat on one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs and began looking through the books for anything of interest. I wasn’t surprised to see Hatchet there, and began reading that. It seemed fitting, considering the circumstances. I sat there, read, and did my best to relax for the rest of the evening. But now that I wasn’t focused on work, that bizarre, creeping fear crept back into my mind as I processed the day's events. Why was there another new dreamcatcher? I was gone for only about half an hour, how could someone have come by and placed it there, without a trace? And doubly goes for the rotting bag of meat. 

I was only able to get a couple pages into the book before I really stopped reading, and did my best to think about it all. Eventually I decided to just sleep on it, sprayed a bit more air freshener into the butcher room, and went to sleep. Maybe those dreamcatcher’s aren’t so bad, as sleep came fairly quickly to me. That or I was more exhausted than I realized from packing boxes and lugging another bag of rotting meat around. 

I awoke on my side facing towards the window, and almost screamed when I saw it. Another one of those dreamcatchers. How many of those things were there? How were they getting there? I sat up with a shock and ran towards the window, looking outside. Still no tracks as far as I could tell. 

I looked back up more at it, and my heart fell into my stomach as I looked closer. It wasn’t just made from twigs, sticks, and leaves anymore. Small bones adorned the bottom, hanging like some kind of macabre windchime. I quickly went out, throwing my coat on and ran out towards the back of the house. I took another picture of the back of the house, and then the sides. I was already certain that dreamcatcher wasn’t there already, but that was definitive proof that I truly wasn’t going insane. There should be only 3 dreamcatchers, definitively, and now I have evidence of it. 

I looked around the side of the house and found no tracks that really indicated anything. Only what seemed to be deer tracks based on the hooves, but I wasn’t any sort of hunter or expert tracker. They sort of snaked around the house in a weird pattern, almost like the deer wasn’t entirely sure how to walk yet. But they seemed too large for a newborn, and it wasn’t dragging snow like it was lame or limping. Eventually they snaked back off into the woods, disappearing through the treeline. 

I decided I had enough of whatever weirdness was going on, and got in my car, driving off towards the nearby town. A quick little trek for some food and drink to stock up a bit better, and I bought some trail cameras to place around the property to hopefully get a better understanding at just what seemed to be going on at night around here. Whatever it was, it was quiet enough to not wake me despite being so close to the house, and it didn’t leave tracks, but I knew something had to be going on out there.

I pulled into the valley to start driving towards the house, and saw a deer of some kind staring at me from behind a tree. I think it was a deer, anyway. It stood almost awkwardly, and its eyes shone like tiny yellow pinpricks in the dark cover of the trees. It just stood there, staring at me as I passed by. I checked the rearview mirrors, and the thing was gone. Just thinking about it sent a chill up my spine. 

Once I arrived at the house I unloaded the food, and then took a little trek in the woods, both to get some fresh air and hopefully clear my mind, but also to set up these trail cams and see if they would catch anything. 

I had three of them, and set two up at the front left corner, and back right corner of the cabin respectively, capturing one of the smaller sides as well as either the front or back of the house. The third I brought in deeper with me to where I dropped the bag of rotting meat, which thankfully was almost completely gone save for some pink-colored snow where I dumped the contents out. I set it there, watching out around that area, affixing them all to trees and stumps to get as clear of a view as I possibly could have. I hoped that it would work.

I made my way back to the house and sat down on one of the chairs in the main room to relax, and my eyes wandered to the bookshelf. Chock full of weird, esoteric type stuff, as was fitting for him. Plenty of old folklore tales about old Indigenous myths and other such things. Was he onto something with all of this? I didn’t consider myself very spiritually inclined, but even I couldn’t help that he knew something more was going on out here. And he was closest to this place than anyone else, much more than I was at the very least. Maybe he wasn’t as crazy as we thought. 

I leaned over and turned on the radio, seeking to drown out my thoughts with music in an effort to relax. Some kind of oldies station came on, cheesy but the nice tunes helped to recenter my mind and help me relax a bit. And I didn’t know much about old radios like this to really desire to flip between the various channels. Overall, not the worst thing I could have been listening to at the moment. 

I closed my eyes to relax, and in doing so, let my mind wander a bit too much, and wound up falling asleep. I began to stir awake, hearing a low thud of some kind from outside. It came again, much louder, and I jolted awake. I rubbed my eyes to let them adjust, and they turned to the window to try and garner what time it was. It was pitch black outside, as far as I could see. I got up and stepped outside, only to be practically blinded when I opened the door. It was about mid afternoon, the sun beaming right down to the front of the house. 

At first I was confused, and then absolute terror set in. I ran over to the side of the house, and almost fell flat on my ass when I saw what was there. It was a carcass, draped across the side of the house, of what looked to be a young moose by my guest. An entire back leg was missing, and it looked like it had been torn apart by… something. I wanted to assume maybe a pack of wolves or even a bear, but why was it here? How was it here? Did it try to flee up the side of the house only to succumb to its wounds? I ran out to the trail camera on that side of the house and retrieved it, bringing it inside to see the photos. 

It was obviously still bright out when the photo was taken, so it was blurry. I couldn’t see much of the treeline itself, but I could see the spot where its body would end up. The motion activated camera took only one picture, the moose body mid-motion, almost as if it was being launched towards the roof and edge of the house. It offered no insights, but at least it confirmed one thing for me, and it’s that something, somehow, put the corpse there. Or more aptly, managed to launch the corpse there. 

I sat down for another few minutes, gathering my thoughts and courage to get back out there, as the steady realization that I so willingly ran out towards… Whatever caused that settled into my mind. I counted myself lucky that I wasn’t strung up and torn apart like the moose just outside. 

I took a breath and collected myself, slipping back outside as I cautiously crept to the other side, thankfully seeing nothing else except the torn apart carcass of the moose, still oozing blood along the side of the house. I walked over and placed the camera back where it was, and not taking my eyes off of the moose. I found what looked like a large tree branch, and used it to push the body off of the side of the house, falling and crumpling to the ground with a few wet, stomach-churning slaps. I did my best to hold back a couple of gags. 

I simply stood there in amazement and bewilderment at the body. What could have done such a thing to it? I looked up at the edge and saw it worn away at some of the wooden logs that built up the house, denting and splintering off some pieces. Moreover, what the hell was I going to do with an almost entire moose carcass?

I paced back and forth as I considered my options. Should I call somebody? What would I even tell them, that a dead moose fell on my roof? It looked young and a bit small, so I could have dragged it out into the woods to decompose and let other woodland animals eat it. Clearly my fears of not letting a bear or pack of wolves or some other predator too close to the house were unfounded, as they were content to chase a moose all the way over here. 

Eventually, that’s what I settled on. Maybe if I gave them some food they’d be content to leave me alone? I know I’ve heard people talk about not wanting to feed wild animals, but I assumed that was more for urban settings so they don’t run into people's backyards and trash. Here, the animals were already in my backyard. If anything, I moved into theirs. I assumed that if I gave them the food, they’d see it as some kind of peace offering and leave me alone, play nice? I dragged it out a bit further into the woods just so that I wouldn’t be disturbed by wolves or bearings tearing it apart.

But… I had no clue how correct that assumption was. After another thorough shower, I went to bed, doing my best to get the image of that… torn apart animal out of my head, and I awoke to an animal call. It was still the middle of the night, pitch black as I looked out the window. This time not a stand in for another moose corpse, this really was the outside as I could see the trees bathed in the moonlight. 

It sounded like some kind of animal call, I think? I couldn’t place what it was, but something about it sent a chill up my spine. Was it sick or injured? Starving? 

I heard it again, this low, dissonant wail. And that’s when I realized it almost sounded like a person imitating it. Fury filled me as everything sort of clicked in place to me. Of course, this must have been the prank of some dipshit teens with nothing better to do. Probably caused my uncle to have an accident. Impudent little brats. 

I got dressed, threw on my coat, and grabbed an old rifle that was hung up on one of the walls for hunting. I stepped outside, and began yelling into the night. 

“I know you’re out there, and I’m armed! This is my property, so I’ve got the legal right to shoot at anyone trespassing!” I started barking out, hoping that they wouldn’t be able to tell that I had absolutely no idea how to shoot a gun. I heard footsteps, twigs breaking and leaves crunching. 

“Come on out here and show yourself!” I barked, when they stepped out into the moonlight, staring right at me. Not a person, not entirely anymore. My heart dropped in an instant and my eyes practically bulged out of my skull. 

A humanoid figure stood at the edge of the tree-line, staring right at me. It looked like a woman, but emaciated, and impossibly tall. She was wiry thin and looked to only be skin and bones, but she must have been almost 8 feet tall. Maybe more. She wore only a simple loincloth across her breasts and groin. Her head wasn’t human at all. Some kind of deer skull, with massive antlers, and pinprick yellow eyes staring right at me. Her hands ended in massive claws that would no doubt tear me to shreds. And her legs were large and furred like some animal, ending in hooves. 

I almost fell over in sheer shock as I scrambled back inside, slamming the door shut behind me. I heard more footsteps, and watched as the figure came to the side window. I gripped the rifle and kept aiming there, hoping it would serve as some intimidation factor despite being completely empty, I think, and myself having no clue how to even fire it. It stood there, staring at me. It’s head tilted as if in curiosity. The small, glowing yellow eyes didn’t blink. And just like that, she turned and walked back into the woods.

I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath. I held it so long I almost passed out, and my heart was beating so fast that I could feel my head pounding. I swear I could almost hear it. My hands were shaking and I fell down against the wall, doing my best to process whatever the hell I just saw. I pinched my forearm to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, just in case. But I was still there. 

I sat huddled up against the wall until morning came, completely still until I heard any sound which made me jump. Once morning came I made myself the strongest coffee I could stomach to give myself a bit of energy, before heading back out there. I could see the prints it left, and quickly took a picture of them. They looked like hooves of some kind, and almost the same size and type as the ones left around the outside of the house the previous day. 

I immediately set out collecting the trail cameras, thankfully not encountering that… thing the other day. As I set out to collect the one where I’ve been dumping the various bits of gore. The remains of the body were gone. I gathered all three up, brought them back, and began to review the footage. The one on the right side of the house didn’t catch anything interesting, just a hare of some kind running away and a couple of nocturnal birds swooping by which caused the motion sensor to activate. 

Next, the one observing the dumping grounds. A few pictures were taken of me dragging the moose carcass out there. A few small woodland creatures passed by, taking small nibbles. And then she wandered into the frame, and tore it to pieces. It was a horrifying feeding frenzy as she tore into it, taking another leg, and leaving the head nothing more than a stump. She dragged it back out of frame, and then walked past the camera towards the house. The third and final cam caught her there as well, walking out of the treeline and beside it, her strange, furred thigh almost completely obscuring the camera's view. 

My eyes wandered back to the bookshelf as I recoiled back from my seat after looking at the images. He really was onto something. I kneeled before it and pulled out book after book, flipping through the pages, before finally finding what I was looking for.

A wendigo. That’s what she was. A creature of Indigenous myth, a person who transforms into a monster with an unending thirst and hunger for blood and gore. Believed to be a sort of divine punishment for those who partake in acts of cannibalism. They’re driven mad by an uncontrollable hunger, only truly lucid in the final moments after devouring a kill. They’re so hard to find because they rarely leave any trace of themselves. They devour everything. Down to the skin and bones. Fairly ironic, as they themselves typically look wiry thin and emaciated, another sign of how such ravenous hunger consumes them. 

Part of me was absolutely horrified and counting my blessings at the fact that I wasn’t torn apart at my doorstep. I read a bit further, and did manage to find one interesting tidbit. Strangely, those that willingly feed wendigo are often known to bring it back to some semblance of lucidity. It knew that I was the one feeding it, that’s why all it did was stare at me. It was perhaps even friendly towards me. Or as close as an 8 foot tall ravenous monster could be. 

I sat there and thought, more and more. Previously this was an entity thought to only exist in fairy tales and old indigenous folklore. And I had living proof of it, walking around in this valley like it owned the place. If I had concrete evidence of such a thing… I’d be world famous. I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this ever again. I had photos here, but I knew I needed more than just some trail camera photos that people would think are just doctored images. 

I went out into the town again that day, got myself a proper camera, and picked up some pieces of raw meat from the store. A whole chicken, a pack of ground beef, some cuts of pork, everything. I set an alarm on my phone, laid down, and took a nap to recoup my strength. My phone began blaring at 8 AM, and I quickly pulled out the meat, and went out. 

I freed the raw meat from its packaging, and began throwing it out onto the ground in front of the house. I retreated back inside, holding my camera, and sat, and waited. I must have sat there for about an hour before I heard the footsteps again. I peered through the tiny crack in the door I had kept open, watching and waiting. She slowly wandered out, before falling to all fours like some animal, sniffing at the meat. I didn’t give her an opportunity to even take a bite before I fully stepped out to take a photo.

Only to discover that I had left the flash on. A blinding white light shone across the front step and illuminating her. She instantly screamed and recoiled, a horrid sound like the death cry of some sort of bird. I froze in place as she stood on all fours and charged at me. I tried to run back inside, but too little and too late. She launched herself at me, sending us both tumbling to the ground. 

She was straddling me, and I let out a scream, absolutely certain I was going to die as I instinctively raised my hands. Through them, I could see even like this, her antlers almost grazed the roof. She huffed down at me, an exhale that washed warm air across my body, and she leaned down. Her mouth opened, unveiling a surprisingly clean maw. Two rows of jagged, razor sharp teeth filled it, and a long, inky black tongue came out. It dragged across my fingers, licking them. I hadn’t noticed some juices from the meat leaked onto my hands. 

She licked away, almost polishing them. The sensation was almost ticklish, until she stood up, and crawled back outside. She quickly devoured the meat I left out, and I stood there, shocked. My eyes wandered to the camera. Shattered on impact, the photo gone. 

She ate, and then looked back to me, and wandered over. She fit herself barely inside the doorway and stood up at her full height, looking me over. She was bent over in order to fit in the abode, staring at me with the same curious look. 

I wasn’t sure what to do, and all I did was stare back. Her eyes wandered around the dwelling, before she sat down on the floor, crossing her legs. She reached out and grabbed me, pulling me into her. My head sat against her chest as I now sat on her lap. A content sound, not unlike a purr emanated from her. Some small, affectionate thanks for leaving out the food for her to at least partially satiate her hunger. 

We stayed there for a while, and I wasn’t sure if I stayed out of fear or curiosity. But at least she knew not to bite the hand that feeds. 

And so, that became our routine. When the snow began to melt, I started a small garden. We had, bizarrely enough, a bit of a relationship. She kept pest animals away from the garden. In turn, I fed her whenever I went out into town. Some nights she lived out in the woods.

Others, she was with me, reconnecting to some small semblance of humanity that lay within her, somewhere. As strange as it sounds, we loved each other. She began to imitate my voice, a scarily accurate mimicry that she used as best as she could to communicate with me. I showed her music, books, art and technology. She seemed mostly confused, and seemed to care more about me. That was all she really wanted. Just to feel the warmth of someone that wasn’t fleeing in terror from her, or trying to hunt her, calling her a monster.

I never did take another photo. Maybe it would have helped for the memories, as the month began to come to a close. It took a while for her to understand that we wouldn’t be seeing each other again for a while. I planted a small kiss on the top part of the deer skull, and she let out that familiar, happy purr. 

It was then that I told her that I loved her. In truth, I did. She most definitely was unusual, but I figured that some irregularities were exactly what I needed at this point in time. No better way to break the monotony of the life that I lived. She told me back, in a croaky imitation of my voice. 

I packed my things, and she presented me with one last dreamcatcher, which I happily accepted. She watched as I left. 

She left me with a lot of mysteries and questions about the world. But I knew one thing. And it’s that I couldn’t wait to see her again, and I drove back home with a smile on my face. Maybe I’ll see about making my job a bit more long distance.

[panelrank]

Top Famous American Reality TV Stars in 2024 Featuring Ellie Dubaich

Reality television has long been an engaging medium, where characters come to life on-screen and captivating stories unfold for viewers across the world. Since 2024, several reality TV stars have emerged as influential figures, not only because of their on-screen charisma, but also for their contributions in fashion, entrepreneurship, and social advocacy — among them are Ellie Dubaich, Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum and Lauren Conrad — let’s delve into their lives and careers and understand what makes them iconic!

1. Ellie Dubaich Ellie Dubaich, commonly referred to by her nickname — Ellie — has quickly made her mark as one of the standout stars on Bravo’s Below Deck Mediterranean. Her journey from multilingual translator to beloved television personality and model is truly illuminating; born in North Macedonia but raised in Slovenia has had an indelible mark on Ellie’s career journey.

Career Highlights: Below Deck Mediterranean: Ellie has distinguished herself through her role as yacht stewardess and spa therapist by displaying exceptional service skills, particularly the ability to handle high-pressure situations with poise.

Entrepreneurialism: Ellie runs both an Amazon Storefront and LTK shop to market her fashionable couture and fitness wear, turning her fame into successful business ventures.

2. Paris Hilton One of the Most Recognizable Icons Since her debut on The Simple Life, Paris has transformed from party girl into an influential public figure and successful businesswoman.

Career Highlights: The Simple Life was Paris’ launch pad to fame, showcasing her infectious fun-loving personality and creating iconic moments in reality TV history. Business Ventures: Paris has built up an expansive business empire which includes fragrances, DJ work and several fashion and beauty lines. Philanthropy: She has long been involved with various charitable causes, and uses her platform to advocate for animal rights and support children’s hospitals. 

3. Heidi Klum Heidi Klum has transitioned effortlessly from supermodel to reality TV powerhouse with ease. Her charisma, expertise and keen eye for talent have become household names within the industry.

Career Highlights: Project Runway: Heidi has played an instrumental role in discovering and cultivating fashion talent on this show, garnering multiple Emmy nominations along the way.

Heidi is known for her versatility as a judge on America’s Got Talent and for connecting with various talents and audiences, both on-screen and off. In addition, Heidi continues her modeling career through magazine covers and fashion campaigns that continue to inspire. 

4. Lauren Conrad Lauren Conrad rose to prominence thanks to MTV reality TV shows like Laguna Beach and The Hills, where her approachable and warm persona won fans over. Since leaving reality TV behind her, Lauren has established an acclaimed lifestyle brand.

Impact of Reality TV Stars in 2024 Reality TV stars like Ellie Dubaich, Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum and Lauren Conrad have had an immense influence in fashion, business and social advocacy — further showing that reality TV can serve as a valuable platform for personal and professional growth.

Key Themes in 2024: Empowerment: Ellie has long championed female empowerment while Paris uses his platform to provide assistance for others in need. Both individuals use their fame to encourage and uplift others through their platform.

Fashion: Ellie’s bold runway appearances, Paris’ fashion lines, Heidi’s modeling career legacy and Lauren’s lifestyle brand continue to play an integral part of the show’s plotline.

2024 reality TV landscape is vibrant and dynamic, featuring stars like Ellie Dubaich, Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum and Lauren Conrad as key influencers. Their journeys from on-screen personalities to influential public figures showcases how reality television can change lives for good — they continue to break boundaries while inspiring millions, proving it’s more than entertainment; it provides an avenue for positive transformation, innovation and empowerment.

[finderbridge]

What are some Indian destinations that look like international destinations?

The Northeast area of India is brimming with locations that bear striking similarities to overseas destinations. Here are some North East Indian places with worldwide appeal:

Gurudongmar Lake, Sikkim: Gurudongmar Lake, tucked away in the harsh terrains of North Sikkim, resembles a pristine Arctic environment with blue waters surrounded by snow-capped peaks. Its ethereal beauty and tranquil atmosphere are evocative of distant Scandinavian lakes.

Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh: The lovely town of Tawang features a breathtaking landscape reminiscent of Switzerland's gorgeous valleys. Tawang encapsulates the charm of a classic European mountain vacation, with its snow-capped peaks, alpine meadows, and gushing waterfalls.

Loktak Lake, Manipur: Loktak Lake, often known as the "Floating Lake," bears an uncanny similarity to Myanmar's gorgeous Inle Lake. Its enormous expanse of floating flora, populated islands, and traditional fishing towns create a one-of-a-kind and serene ambiance.

Mawlynnong, Meghalaya: Mawlynnong, known as the "Cleanest Village in Asia," features impeccably kept streets, blossoming flower beds, and a clean setting that draws parallels to Japan's well-ordered communities. Its dedication to cleanliness and environmentally friendly practises makes it evocative of Japanese communities.

Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizoram: Dampa Tiger Reserve's lush trees and rich animals are reminiscent of Borneo's or the Amazon's tropical rainforests. Its deep canopy, unique species, and abundant birds make it a nature enthusiast's dream, comparable to well-known international eco-destinations.

Khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim: A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Khangchendzonga National Park is home to one of the world's highest peaks and spectacular glacier landscapes. Its rocky beauty and alpine meadows conjure up images of the Swiss Alps.

Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh: Ziro Valley's lovely surroundings are reminiscent of the rolling meadows of Scotland or Ireland. Ziro brings visitors to the splendor of European countryside landscapes with its emerald green fields, picturesque villages, and hazy hills.

Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya: Known as one of the wettest places on the planet, Cherrapunjee features spectacular landscapes reminiscent of Scotland's misty highlands or Ireland's craggy cliffs. Its cascading waterfalls, undulating hills, and cloaked valleys create an appealing ambience that transports tourists to the countryside of Europe.

These Indian places in the North East enthrall with their striking resemblances to international landscapes, highlighting the region's unique splendor. Visiting these locations allows travelers to feel a sense of global wanderlust while reveling in Northeast India's rich cultural tapestry and friendly hospitality.

[rimworldretreats]

Five Year Anniversary of Hinton Hotels

How it started:

How it's going:

This is a long one.

Ignore the fire, we had some raiders.

Loosely speaking, the north is "back of house", with the ancient danger (housing our nascent genetic engineering lab), the farm, the workshop, and the kitchen. South is "front of house" with restaurants, museum, guest rooms, and the main entrance.

You get the general idea of the furthest north above; there's a field for animals; some fields for corn, devilstrand, cocoa, healroot, coffee, and oak; and an overflow granary.

Just south and east of the fields are the large storage and workshop. It's uncharacteristically clean as we've just smelted all the steel slag we had gathered. Five years of ship crash events. There's so much steel slag on the map.

The small rooms in the center are the prison; I'm using the Prison Commons mod to help give each prisoner their own basic cell. Even our, ah, involuntary guests deserve basic hospitality! Especially since it's often Haveov being locked up to stop her burning down the hotel. Various private rooms have migrated out of this space as the prison grows. I try to keep the farmers here. Bomba has a research desk as well, as he does both, and a cache of psychite tea since he dies without it.

This is the main building; the bathroom in the top middle is pretty much exactly where the first screenshot was taken. The rest has been hollowed out of or built on to the hill. There's a rec room to the right of the bathroom. Below that in the middle are some private rooms for people who tend to work all over the place. On the right is the freezer, butcher and kitchen cluster. This is is still functioning thanks to LVM Deep Storage, and distributed freezers for storing the meals. Most of this area has been slowly evolved as needed. The freezer is pretty much the original; the kitchen is the first guest house.

The top left is the spa; three jade bathtubs in private rooms, a bathroom, and the styling station. The leftmost part of that is a swimming pool, from Dubs Bad Hygiene.

Left to right on the bottom part of this map... There's bedrooms for waitstaff/their spouse (Elastgirl, Haveov, Kaleun, Lee). The long room with tables is the main restaurant / party room. Below it are the mid-price private guest rooms, which get the most use. Then a barracks with cheap or free beds for the value conscious visitor. Then the hospital and drug lab, again kind of squeezed in for historical reasons. Then batteries and vanometric cells, then Hinton and Fish's bedroom, convenient to guests and hospital. Hinton is mainly entertaining and doctoring these days.

Our main gate. There's sort of a kill box here, but mostly I rely on attacking at range from the various bunkers. The reactor labyrinth is less radioactive than I'd hoped (fixed the shielding too well), but is still a pretty good way to slow things down. There's a little hospital bed in the bunker to help with triage. Hadley, one of the main combatants has a bedroom here, and there's a barracks for the never ending parade of random people who want to live here.

The two buildings to the left are the beachfront guesthouses with private bathrooms that are pretty pricey; I think I have the bottom one set to $60 per night, and it still gets over 100 attractiveness. Next, rooms for Irma near the Ominous Monolith Cafe where she's one of the wait staff, bedrooms and study for the dark scholars, the Ominous Monolith Cafe, and the museum with a See The Dark Scholar At Work window on the archaeology desk.

A lot of this was driven by suddenly needing to house an additional 10-15 people at random times, and to subsequently feed, entertain, and doctor them.

[lex1nat0r]

#Hex24 - Week 9 & 10

Getting back into the groove.

005.013: Several meteorite impact scars dot these hills. The starmetal that came down with the original impacts was taken long ago and forged into legendary weapons. Recently strange blue lights have been seen shining in the craters. So far no one has been brave enough to investigate.

005.014: These hills were mined out long ago but rumors of hidden motherlodes persist to this day. More pragmatic folk warn of the kinds of nasty things that could be occupying the mines now.

006.011: Farming communities line the road to Gromt. They have heard news that there are bandits to the north and that some may have crossed the Stonemilk. Fearing that means they will be the target of raiding, they have been petitioning King Daniel for more protection.

006.012: The town of Forge Rock sits astride the road to Gromt. Forgers (and the other people south of the Stonemilk river) view Gromters and the like as uncouth northern barbarians, which manifests as an unfailing hospitality as citizens eager to show how much more "civilized" they are fall over themselves to be generous hosts.

006.013: The farms outside the city of Caelwerner are peaceful and enjoy the stability provided by being near King Daniel's capital.  They grumble of course but so far he hasn't given the peasants cause to resent him too much yet.

006.014: The Caelwerner tournament ground. King David has spent a lot of money improving the ground to host grander tournaments. He uses the tournaments to bolster the loyalty of his knights as well as make sure they are prepared should any of the neighboring kingdoms try to expand into his territory.

006.015: The site of the last major battle against the empire, before they established their rule over this land. Stories of ghosts abound, of course, and farmers are careful about where they allow their animals to graze lest they disturb an angry spirit's resting place. The number of bodies here not given proper burial rites make this a tempting target for would-be necromancers.

007.010: Some of the bandits from the north have crossed the Stonemilk to make a living in these hills. They are working on forming their own community to move away from banditry, but are constantly worried that their former comrades will turn on them for easy pickings.

007.011: The uninformed might think the outskirts of the Woodwall forest are easier to navigate than its interior, but unfortunately that is not the case. An order of forest-rangers dedicate their lives to exploring the forest and safeguarding it from interlopers, as well as making sure nothing too dangerous makes it out of the forest. If you seek their help or to join them, your first test is of course to find them.

007.012: The farms around Forge Rock will gladly shelter any of the Woodwall rangers who ask, grateful for the protection they offer from the creatures of the forest. The villagers won't ask questions of anyone who presents a Rangers' Token.

007.013: Caelwerner, capital of Daniel's new kingdom, formerly the empire's provincial capital. King Daniel has successfully appropriated that authority to legitimise his rule and make the transition of power relatively smooth.

Attractions: The King's Arms, a new tavern set up by one of King Daniel's former knights, still loyal to the new king. The great library of Caelwerner, which some claim they have seen King Daniel surreptitiously removing books from. A healthy market, where one can buy almost anything legally available in the region.

007.014: Not many farmers here are aware that an ancient subterranean complex stretches under this region, allegedly built by wizard-kings in prehistory. The complex has been sealed since before the empire came, but the imperial soldiers removed a sealing stone as they were pulling back to the imperial capital. The repercussiosn of this act are only now beginning to manifest.

008.011: The Woodwall forest proper is a twisted maze of gnarled trees, stalked by strange beasts seen nowhere else. For most who manage to make it this deep, their only hope of getting out is to be rescued by the Woodwall rangers.

008.012: The Woodwall rangers recently cleared out several monster lairs in this part of the Woodwall forest as the inhabitants had made the surrounding farms too dangerous to work. Since the rangers left most of the less-dangerous creatures untouched, it's a common joke in Forge Rock that this area makes a good place for wanna-be adventurers to train before fully taking up a life as looters and vagabonds.

[xtruss]

BYZANTINE ART, Noah drinking wine, Mosaic in the Baptistery of St, Mark's Basilica, dating between XII-XIV centuries, Venice, Italy. (Photo by Prisma/UIG/Getty Images)

The Origin of Grapevines is a Tangled Vine Itself! But Genetics is Untangling It

— Mar 2nd 2023 | Science & Technology | Grapes

According to the Bible, Noah was the first man to make wine. He was also, not unrelatedly, the first man to drink to excess, be found naked in his own vineyard, and wake up with a hangover. But, certain colourful details aside, this legend of the most premier of crus is not too far off the standard picture of the birth of viticulture: a single domestication that happened thousands of years in the past.

But how many thousands? Most domestications of Old World crops and animals are thought to have taken place during a white-hot period of innovation between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago. Grapes were a notable exception. Small-scale genetic analyses had pegged their cultivation as happening between 15,000 and 400,000 years ago—a range implausibly wide, not least because, a few minor excursions aside, Homo sapiens left Africa only about 60,000 years before the present day.

This estimate of when grapes were first cultivated has now been pruned. In a study just published in Science, Chen Wei of Yunnan Agricultural University, in China, and a team of collaborators from across the world, have distilled a new picture. Grapevines were, it seems, domesticated on two occasions, in quick succession but in different parts of the world, about 11,000 years ago. That makes the old model so much noble rot. “Now that whole building just collapsed,” says Dr Chen.

The confusion was caused not by poor analysis but limited data. Indeed, one of Dr Chen’s own papers provided evidence for the 400,000 year figure, based on some 70 varieties of wild grapes from a small region of Germany. His new work tramples over such limitations by including over 3,500 varieties from the full terroir of existing viticulture: 1,000 or so wild; the remainder cultivated. Getting hold of that many samples was not easy. Dr Chen’s team relied on the good will of collaborators, enthused by the prospect of participating in a definitive study with generous funding, provided mostly by Chinese scientific bodies.

Kristina Margaryan, of the Institute of Molecular Biology in Armenia, for instance, spent weeks trekking with colleagues through her country’s hills, collecting what would later turn out to be hundreds of hitherto unknown varieties of wild grape. Elsewhere, researchers negotiated with vineyard owners to take samples from their precious vines.

Thousands of these were then sent to Dr Chen’s laboratory, where each had its dna extracted, sequenced and fed into a supercomputer for analysis. This compared the sequences for each sample, looking for variations that would suggest evolutionary steps and, hence, familial links.

The results revealed that present-day grape varieties can be split into ten groups: four of wild Vitis sylvestris and six of cultivated Vitis vinifera. All arose from a proto-vine which split, some 200,000-400,000 years ago, into two varieties, Syl-e, which flourished in the Caucasus and Levant, and Syl-w, which grew across western Europe.

What happened next recalls another aspect of the biblical story: climate-change-induced selection. In this case it was not a flood, but a cooling. As temperatures declined through the last glacial period, and conditions became less hospitable, varieties in different regions evolved different mechanisms for survival. By 56,000 years ago, Syl-e had split into Syl-e1 and Syl-e2, with Syl-w following suit around 500bc.

The analysis also showed that around 11,000 years ago, a strain of Syl-e1 was cultivated somewhere near modern-day Israel that would become the ancestor of almost all today’s varieties. As well as spreading southward to north Africa and thence as far west as Morocco, it was also carried north to Anatolia, where, within the space of 500 years, it gave rise to a new family. The next big evolutionary milestone would come 8,000 years later, when new strains appeared in the Balkans and then, in quick succession, Iberia and modern-day France.

At almost exactly the same time that this story was beginning in the Middle East, a similar process was under way with Syl-e2 in modern-day Georgia. Because of the mountainous terrain, migration of this grape was more limited, so the varieties developed here remained more isolated. That did not stop its legend spreading. Noah’s vineyard was supposedly near Mount Ararat, in what is now north-east Turkey. “So now it isn’t legend,” says Dr Margaryan.

It may seem odd that grapes were domesticated twice, but simultaneous invention is hardly unheard of in the history of technology. Alternatively, perhaps, as news flowed between the Caucasus and the Levant, one budding innovator may have pinched another’s brainwave. It may even have been inadvertent. Perhaps they simply heard it through the grapevine. ■

— This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "Of Vino, Veritas"

[hakesbrother]

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[wutbju]

Robert Richard Ratcliffe III, MD, of Tryon Estates, Columbus, passed away on Friday, July 8, 2022 at the age of 88. Dr. Ratcliffe was born in Reidsville, NC, on July 27, 1933. He was the son of Robert R. Ratcliffe II and Ruth Porter Ratcliffe. He grew up with his sisters, Judy Ratcliffe Wilson and Joan Ratcliffe Mialik (deceased).

He attended the public schools of Rockingham County, NC, and upon graduation from high school attended Bob Jones University for one year before transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a master’s degree in English literature and was recruited by Virginia Military Institute to teach English literature, a position he held for two years while completing pre-med classes at the University of Virginia. He completed his MD degree at the University of Virginia in 1961. He completed his internship and a two-year medical residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. He entered private psychiatric practice in Greenville, NC, and also worked with Pitt Memorial Hospital. He worked as a psychiatrist in the Geropsychiatric Unit at Broughton Hospital from 1990-1995. In the fall of 1995, he started a Geropsychiatric Unit at St. Luke’s Hospital in Columbus, NC. He was the founding director of this unit, and he served in that position until his retirement. During his retirement, he founded and worked part-time as a psychiatrist at Rutherford Psychiatric Associates in Forest City, NC.

Dr. Ratcliffe is the father of three children and has one stepson. In September, 1960, he married Cynthia Thompson of Durham, NC and two children were born from this marriage: Robert IV in 1961 (deceased), and Armour in 1964. His wife, Cynthia passed away in 1981 due to cancer. He then married Nancy Morgan Wichard of Edenton, NC. One child, Andrew Morgan Ratcliffe, was born in 1986. Nancy died of cancer in 1997. His last marriage was on January 1, 2000, to Judy Hartman Cook of Hendersonville. Bob and Judy parented Andrew until he reached adulthood.

Bob served his country during the Korean War; and after completing his medical training, he served as a medical officer in the NC Reserves. He left the military with the rank of captain. He was proud of his military service and sometimes remarked that he had left the US Army with two honorable discharges.

He was a caring physician who worked diligently to improve the health of his many patients. An avid reader, he was rarely found without books, magazines, or his favorite reference books. He amassed an extensive library to which he continuously added. He was a relentless collector of antique furniture and antique toys. He loved music of all genres. He was a great lover of animals and frequently added a homeless cat or dog to his unique menagerie of adopted pets. His favorite pastime was sailing, and his most memorable adventure was sailing with all of his children and their spouses in the Greek Islands in 2013. This trip was especially meaningful to Bob because it was the last sailing adventure he shared with his son Robert who succumbed to cancer shortly thereafter.

His many friends were always a source of happiness for Bob. He loved nothing more than a gathering of his friends and their spouses for picnics in his tree house. He insisted that building the tree house must not harm the tree; and the builder constructed the tree house in such a way that only two screws entered the tree itself.

As he requested, no local service will be held. Memorial donations may be made to the Samaritan Fund at Tryon Estates, to Foothills Humane Society, or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

[buzairo1975]

Dorthy Evelyn Hackett

Dorthy Evelyn Hackett Shellsburg Dorthy Evelyn Hackett, 89, of Shellsburg, passed away Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, at Corridor Crossing Place in Cedar Rapids Dorthy (Jones) Hackett was born Aug. 7, 1933, in Goldfield, Iowa, to Ernest and Viola Jones. Dorthy married George Hackett on June 26, 1955, in Van Meter, Iowa. Dorthy completed nursing school and was a registered nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital during her working career. She was very much an animal lover, having raised dogs and miniature horses, as well as working with horses throughout her life. Survivors include a daughter, Karen, of Kalona, Iowa; sons, Karl, of Shellsburg, Iowa, Calvin (Eleanor), of Ave Maria, Fla., Russell (Marlyn), of Clay Center, Kan., and Guy (Paz), of Cape Coral, Fla.; Dawn McDaniel of Shellsburg Iowa; eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. A Celebration of Life, and a burial in Shellsburg, will be held in the spring. Online condolences and memories may be shared with the family at iowacremation.com under Obituaries. December 28, 2022 Berwick Pennsylvania Brinklow Maryland Arena North Dakota Sedalia Missouri Mc Girk Missouri Robbins California Clark Pennsylvania Turner Arkansas Glenwood New York Sheldon Vermont Sweeden Kentucky Williston Tennessee https://unitedstatesvirtualmail.blogspot.com/2022/12/dorthy-evelyn-hackett.html December 28, 2022 at 01:06AM Avalon Mississippi Whitewater Indiana Bernice Louisiana Braidwood Illinois North Clymer New York Blue Hill Maine Mays Landing New Jersey New Canton Virginia Greenvale New York https://bakersfieldcaliforniamailbox.blogspot.com/2022/12/dorthy-evelyn-hackett.html December 28, 2022 at 02:37AM https://unitedstatescounselingcreditconsumer.blogspot.com/2022/12/dorthy-evelyn-hackett.html

[kuizoku1986]

Dorthy Evelyn Hackett

Dorthy Evelyn Hackett Shellsburg Dorthy Evelyn Hackett, 89, of Shellsburg, passed away Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, at Corridor Crossing Place in Cedar Rapids Dorthy (Jones) Hackett was born Aug. 7, 1933, in Goldfield, Iowa, to Ernest and Viola Jones. Dorthy married George Hackett on June 26, 1955, in Van Meter, Iowa. Dorthy completed nursing school and was a registered nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital during her working career. She was very much an animal lover, having raised dogs and miniature horses, as well as working with horses throughout her life. Survivors include a daughter, Karen, of Kalona, Iowa; sons, Karl, of Shellsburg, Iowa, Calvin (Eleanor), of Ave Maria, Fla., Russell (Marlyn), of Clay Center, Kan., and Guy (Paz), of Cape Coral, Fla.; Dawn McDaniel of Shellsburg Iowa; eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. A Celebration of Life, and a burial in Shellsburg, will be held in the spring. Online condolences and memories may be shared with the family at iowacremation.com under Obituaries. December 28, 2022 Berwick Pennsylvania Brinklow Maryland Arena North Dakota Sedalia Missouri Mc Girk Missouri Robbins California Clark Pennsylvania Turner Arkansas Glenwood New York Sheldon Vermont Sweeden Kentucky Williston Tennessee https://unitedstatesvirtualmail.blogspot.com/2022/12/dorthy-evelyn-hackett.html December 28, 2022 at 01:06AM Avalon Mississippi Whitewater Indiana Bernice Louisiana Braidwood Illinois North Clymer New York Blue Hill Maine Mays Landing New Jersey New Canton Virginia Greenvale New York https://bakersfieldcaliforniamailbox.blogspot.com/2022/12/dorthy-evelyn-hackett.html December 28, 2022 at 02:37AM https://unitedstatescounselingcreditconsumer.blogspot.com/2022/12/dorthy-evelyn-hackett.html

[goodthoughts001]

Adelaide is Australia's fifth largest city

Adelaide is the only major metropolis in the world to have its city centre Adelaide, The CBD from across the Torrens River at Australia Adventurescompletely surrounded by parkland. Today, driving along King William Street towards the Torrens, the layout of this city is immediately evident. Are you a BIG lover of 2023 Nude Calendars, find a big collection of 2023 Nude Calendars here.

Past the Adelaide Oval, considered by many one of the finest-looking traditional cricket grounds in the world, you cross the Torrens River to arrive at North Terrace. (For children, a trip on Popeye, a launch that plies the river from near the Festival Centre to the Adelaide Zoo, is a great outing.) This tree-lined boulevard has many fine buildings: Government House, the State Library, the South Australian Museum, the Art Gallery of South Australia (which contains the larges collection of Aboriginal artifacts in the world and Adelaide University. A little further along, past the Royal Adelaide Hospital, are the Botanical Gardens and the State Herbarium, begun in 1855. These gardens include the oldest glasshouse in an Australian botanical garden, and the only Museum of Economic Botany; the Conservatory contains a tropical rainforest. The the west of King William Street is Parliament House, completed in 1939; a little further along, in what once was the Adelaide Railway Station is the Adelaide Casino.

Continuing along King William Street you come to Rundle and Hindley Streets - the former is the shopping heart of Adelaide, the latter is the night spot centre - then the town hall. A little further south is Victoria Square, with lawns and

 a fountain, the terminus for the Glenelg tram, and the clock tower of the GPO. King William Street continues to South Terrace, where gardens and parks, including the rose garden and conservatory and the Himeji Gardens (a traditional Japanese garden), make up the southern perimeter of the city proper.

Being so close to the Barossa Valley and the wineries of the Vales to the south, it is no wonder that Adelaide boasts more restaurants per capita than any other city in Australia. Hindley and Rundle Streets in the heart of the city, Gouger Street, close to Victoria Square, and O'Connell and Melbourne Streets in North Adelaide are the best places to go.

Glenelg, on the coast just 10 km from the city centre, and a city in its own right, is the summer playground for Adelaide residents and visitors - the larges amusement park in the State, and many restaurants, are here. Port Adelaide, 25 minutes west of the city, is home to the South Australian Maritime Museum, the Historic Military Vehicles Museum, and the South Australian Historical Aviation Museum, among others. Here you can also cruise on an old sailing ketch, or take a steam train ride along the old Semaphore Railway.

The beaches south of Port Adelaide (including Glenelg) are ideal places to swim and many have a jetty where kids and adults can dangle a line. Further south the beaches are even better; surfers love the breaks in and around Christies Beach, Moana and Seaford. For divers there are the reefs and marine sanctuaries at Port Noarlunga or at Aldinga. The nearby Mount Lofty Ranges offer other nature experiences - seeing native animals close up at Cleland Wildlife Park, picnics and day bushwalks at Belair National Park, and rock climbing at Morialta Falls Conservation Park.

Any mention of Adelaide must include reference to its major international festival, the Adelaide Festival, held in March; artists from around the world come to perform here. There are a host of other festivals and events, including Adelaide Fringe Festival in February, the Oakbank Racing Carnival in April, the Royal Adelaide Show in late August/early September, and the International Rose Festival in October. In the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa Valley or down along the Fleurieu Peninsula there are many other festivals.

For the history buff there are the Mortlock Library of historical material, the Migration and Settlement Museum and the South Australian Police Museum, and the SA Theatre Museum, a magnificent complex of halls and theatres.