#north american big brown bat

[jimkirkachu]

re: The Bat, my family's house is extremely old and we have hundreds of bats in our attic. sometimes they journey to the realm of the mortals (us). sometimes they do this every day for weeks on end. my mom's old method was to open all the doors and wait for them to decide to fly outside (better than house of screaming people). unfortunately once we did this during a blizzard and 1) cold. it was so cold. 2) THE BAT DIDN'T LEAVE BECAUSE THERE WAS A BLIZZARD

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope y'all are safe with so many bat friends!!!!!! 😳👀🤯😬 (I would absolutely be one of the screaming people, if my early morning encounter was any indicator 😂) At the same time... can't blame them for not wanting to fly out into a blizzard, I never want to be outside in the snow either lmao!! 😅😅

[todaysbat]

round two: silence is golden

The Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus) is named for its coloring—the silvery frosted tips of its fur looks like ice has formed on it. The holotype (the single physical example of a species used when it is first described) for this species was collected in Pennsylvania in 1796 by an individual identified as “Master Pancake”.

The Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) is a brown bat with long almost rabbit-like ears over an inch in length Close relatives of this bat include other big-eared bat species like the Virginia Big-eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus). Unlike other North American bat species, this species appears to be unaffected by White Nose Syndrome (a fungal disease in bats caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans), for reasons as yet unknown to science. The naturalist for which this species was named, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, was interested in such wide-ranging fields as anthropology and geology in addition to biology and zoology.. He also proposed a theory of evolution before Charles Darwin, and was one of the first to use the term in the context of the creation of new species in biological terms.

[alien-magnolia]

Stranger Things - Spookinktober —

Those Woods Look Scary, Eds!

Characters:

- Dom! Eddie Munson

-sub! Fem reader

- special guest: cryptid

Fic warnings: NSFW. MINORS DNI. Bit of heavy smut, d/s dynamics. Praise / degradation kink. Daddy kink. Semi-public sex. @sparklingsin

“How about here? Does that sound good to you, princess?” your boyfriend asks you, pointing to a map, dark brown eyes peering into yours. “Hmm, I don’t know Eddie. This place looks kinda scary…” you say, as you sheepishly rub your arm down on your pink sweater that you had on over your dress.

“Awww. Too scary for you baby?? Is the big bad monster gonna get you? That’s okay. You’ll have your freak of Hawkins to protect you,” he smugly smiles at you. You know he’s mocking you. But that’s just part of your dynamic. Eddie’s your daddy dom, and you’re his cute innocent girl. Who is very feminine, and does not like scary things whatsoever !! But he does enjoy to corrupt you, from time to time. You had a feeling tonight was one of those nights.

The two of you walked along the dark woodsy path. You both drove down to the woods at around 10pm. Now, at 10:15, the both of you have begun your walk. It was very narrow and steep, and Eddie had to help you climb over some of the branches, one of his hands around your waist, and one holding your manicured pink hand. Just to make sure you don’t fall, of course.

Suddenly, a branch poked you in the thigh, it’s wood penetrating your skin. “Ah… shit!,” you screamed, and winced in pain. Eddie, with a worried look on his face, went on to tell you to watch your mouth first. “Language, princess. Language. Remember my rules , yeah sweet girl? Now, let me see what scratched you here.” He sits you down and pulls out a flashlight, shining it on your leg. He leans in closer to your thigh, his tongue poking out a bit of his mouth. He is concentrating. “Ah there we go. I see the culprit. You got a little splinter, babe.” “Eds !! You begin to whine. “It hurts,” you say, with a big pout. “I know it does, sweetheart. You poor thing. I’ll pull it out for you , don’t you worry.” your sweet boyfriend replies to you. And then he does. Luckily he has a little bandage with him, and he puts it over your cut. He always came prepared, one thing you loved about him.

An hour later, it had begun to get colder. You held Eddie’s hand as he tugged you through a pile of damp, dead leaves. It was almost midnight, and as you looked up toward the inky sky, you could see the silhouettes of bats flying over the bare trees above. The branches swung above your heads like claws, shaking in the wind, violently attempting to grab at you. Suddenly — a few thuds could be heard off in the distance. You whined immediately and grabbed onto Eddie's arm. He brought you in closer and shone his (very dim) flashlight in that direction. Nothing to be seen. Yet the two of you felt something there… a presence of a sort.

“Eddie. I’m scared!!” you shriek, as you look up at your boyfriend, still concentrating to find where the noise came from. “Be brave for me baby. Be brave for me, sweet thing,” he tuts, as he runs his hands through your hair.

“Looks like we found our big bad monster. Legend has it that we got a wendigo in these woods…” he trails off. He shines the flashlight forward and the two of you keep walking. After a bit of thinking, you tug on his jacket sleeve and look up at him. “Eds.” “Hmm?” he looks up with his eyebrow raised. “What’s a wendigo?”

He chuckles. He loved it when he had to explain things to you. He wasn’t sure why, but it made him feel nice. “Well, baby, a wendigo is a type of monster, a cryptid, found in the North-American wilderness. It’s 15 feet tall. It has a skeleton head of some kind of deer, and a werewolf-like body. It waits in the woods, it hides, stalking its victims. And then, once it finds them, it drags them back to its cave of origin. And it eats their flesh. Skins them alive.” He spoke in his dungeon master voice now. You looked back up at him, completely terrified. To your surprise, he was laughing a bit.

He grabbed your shoulders and pulled you in towards his chest. “Aww. Is my baby all scared now?” he starts to mock. “No Eds.” You lied. You were actually terrified. “I’m being brave,” you say instead, not wanting to tell him the truth. “Good girl,” he smirks, and presses a few wet kisses to your forehead. The two of you keep walking on, until he decides to randomly grab you, and pin you up against a tree. “Eds…” you start. “These woods are scary, and it’s cold! What if the Wendigo is here? I might get my clothes dirty.”

He chuckles and presses a kiss to your cheek. “Don’t worry, princess. We can wash those clothes of yours. And if that cryptid is here, you got your big, strong, dungeon master to protect you,” he laughs, and does a little bow. “Maybe I’ll cast a little spell on him. But honestly, sweets, you’re the one casting spells here. Because you’re fucking irresistible,” he says, as he starts trailing kisses down your neck. His hand runs over your skin, tracing your chest a bit. “How about this deal, sweetheart. I protect you from the big, bad, monster, and in return, you let me eat that sweet pussy of yours,” he purrs at you. Even though it was dark, you could see it in his eyes. He was looking at you as if he wanted to devour you. Which he did. You didn’t mind.

“Okay, Eds,” you say, as you run your hand through his long hair. “That’s my girl.” As soon as you knew it, he started pulling up your dress. He loved it when you wore dresses, it was “easy access” for him, to reach your “princess parts,” as he called it. And boy, did he love those. You wore a lacy lavender thong tonight, his favorite as well. He pulled that off with his teeth, and soon enough, his big lips were on yours, sucking on your clit like his life depended on it. His two hands held your thighs in place. You squirmed a bit when he started to move his tongue around, licking up and down your folds. “Stop moving, sweetheart. I don’t wanna miss a spot. You know that daddy has to be very thorough…” he grunts, trying to bury his face even deeper and deeper between your legs. Before you knew it, you were moaning his name, your face all red from how thorough he was being. God, you loved it. His big hands gripped your thighs so hard that he usually left marks. Again, you didn’t mind.

“Eddie. Eds…” you start off, with a breathy moan. “Call me by my proper name, princess. You know the rules…” he taunts you. “Daddy…,” you start. “Wanna cum. Please. Please let me. Don’t wanna wait. I’ve been good!! I promise,” you plead to him. Eddie was a bit sadistic, in a way that sometimes he would edge you, make you beg real hard in order to get that sweet release. “Not gonna make you beg tonight. Since the monster’s here and all,” he smiles. You still wait for his permission. “What a good girl, waiting for me. Go on. Cum. Let it all out for me, baby.” And you did. Eddie offered to clean you up too, in that where he licks all the cum right off you. “Legs up, princess,” he says to you, as he puts your thong back on, and pulls down your dress.

——————————————————————

“Feeling less scared?” “Yes, daddy,” you smile, and stand up on your tippy-toes, to give him a few more kisses. “I feel relaxed and all better now,” you assure him. “Good. Here. Take my jacket, it’s getting a little too cold out here. Don’t want my girl getting sick,” he says, as he hands you his leather jacket. “Eds! I’m fine, promise,” you start. “Uh-uh princess, I don’t want you getting sick. Come on, put that jacket on,” he says to you, a bit sternly. “Okay,” you agree, and he even helps you put on the jacket. “All warm??” “Not yet…” you reply. He responds by putting his arm around you, pulling you close.

“How about we walk like this the rest of the way. You’ll be safer from the creepy wendigo…” he says, in that dungeon master voice of his. You giggle. When he did his silly voices, it always cheered you up. Maybe this night in the woods wouldn’t be so bad. You had your Eddie here to save you :)

If you liked this post, please help out a writer and reblog 🖤✨🫶🏻

[bite-sizedttrpg]

Bite-Sized! Monday Update 1

I have found all beasts that will fill the bestiary for the game.

Lizards in this world are called Drakes and there are quite a few to find, such as:

Broad-Headed Skinks

Coal Skinks

Common Five-Lined Skinks

Eastern Glass Lizards

Little Brown Skinks

Six-Lined Racerunner

Slender Glass Lizard

There is a single feline beast available to fight which is a bobcat.

Fish are another section in the bestiary. Consisting of:

Black Crappies

Bluegills

Bowfins

Common Carp

Red Swamp Crayfish

Warmouths

Different birds, which are referred to as Raptors, are some of the most difficult enemies. These birds are:

American Kestrels

Butcher Birds

Carolina Wrens

Crows

House Sparrows

Northern Cardinals

Red-winged Blackbirds

Song Sparrows

Rodents can also be found across the region. These rodents consist of:

Chipmunks

Common Muskrats

House Mice

Moles

Pocket Gophers

Shrews

Squirrels

Water Drakes, also known as amphibians, are there to defeat in combat. There are many to encounter, such as:

American Bullfrogs

American Green Treefrogs

Eastern Newts

Fowler’s Toads

Gray Treefrogs

Green Frogs

Marbled Salamanders

Spotted Salamanders

Spring Peepers

Woodhouse’s Toads

Snakes, also known as Wyrms, prowl the area. These deadly ambush predators are:

Dekay’s Brownsnakes

Eastern Garter Snakes

Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes

Glossy Swampsnakes

North American Racers

Plain Bellied Water Snakes

Red-bellied Snakes

Rough Greensnakes

Western Ribbon Snakes

Ending off the list of beasts are the Wyverns, which is the name for bats. These Wyverns include:

Big Brown Bats

Eastern Red Bats

Evening Bats

Hoary Bats

Mexican Free-tailed Bats

Silver-haired Bats

Southeastern Myotis

Tricolored Bats

There will also be insectoid enemies that you will be able to fight. Can you guess what area in the Americas this game's first setting takes place in?

[mad--max]

INTRODUCING MAXINE ‘MAX’ HUMMEL. 🧡 

BASICS:

Full Name: maxine violet hummel

Nicknames: max, maxie or maximilian (nick-named by her father)

Age: 27

Date of Birth: september 23rd, 1994

Hometown: hathaway, north carolina

Current Location: hathaway, north carolina

Gender: cisfemale

Pronouns: she/her

Sexual Orientation: bisexual

Religion: humanism

Occupation: receptionist at all american tattoo & piercing

Education: hathaway community college

Living Arrangements: lives with a roommate

Language(s) Spoken: english & spanish

Aesthetics: the smell of cookies fresh out the oven, flannels, the sound of a guitar strumming

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

Faceclaim: zoey deutch

Height: 5′ 4″

Eye Color: brown

Hair Color: brown

Piercings: earlobes, nose ring

Tattoos: a small butterfly on her right hipbone, a group of bats (stranger things inspired tattoo) on her right forearm, a saying on her ribcage that says, “not all those who wander are lost”, and a bride of frankenstein inspired tattoo on her left forearm

Fashion Style: depends on the mood she’s in. she can go from very tomboyish to full blown stevie nicks, 70s vibes, owns a lot of black clothing

FAMILY:

Mother: elizabeth hummel, deceased

Father: burt hummel

Siblings: kurt hummel

Pets:  waffles, bulldog

PERSONALITY:

Sun Sign: libra

Moon Sign: capricorn

Rising Sign: virgo

Label: the facade

Goals/Desires: travel around the world, visit greece and have a summer fling with three men who one of whom may potentially be her future baby daddy

Fears: not being good enough, failing

Likes: breakfast food, the moon, bottomless mimosas, the color red, horror movies (still won’t watch IT, clowns are a BIG NOPE), the sound of rain, vinyl records, fashion, spending too much money on stuff she doesn’t need but has convinced herself she needs it

Dislikes: people chewing with their mouth open, the word “moist,” birthdays (except her own), onions, people who don’t wash their face, when people say “everything happens for a reason,” bras that hook in the front, the heat, funerals

Positive Traits: independent, creative, confident, realistic

Negative Traits: petty, impatient, stubborn, critical

Habits: hums when she cooks, when she’s lying her nose flares, plays with her rings when she’s feeling anxious

Hobbies/Skills: yoga, playing instruments, mixology

FAVORITES:

Film: scream, thor: ragnarok

Book: pride and prejudice by jane austen

Song: running up that hill by kate bush

TV Show: stranger things

Food: breakfast food, especially waffles

Drink: white russian

Color: red

Weather: fall

HEADCANONS:

Maxine Hummel’s life depended on music, whether it was playing, singing or composing. From a young age, she made it crystal clear that music was her passion. Her first steps were urged on by the rhythm she heard from the radio. As far as she could remember; there was never a moment when she wasn’t listening to something one way or another. The brunette drove the Hummel household crazy with her constant beating on pots and pans – making a beat out of anything she could get her tiny hands-on, finding rhythms, and putting on shows for whoever would stop and listen. Every time someone brought out a camera, Max hammed it up so hard she nearly gave herself whiplash. It was apparent that Max had a knack for making music; which suited her as she always wondered what went on behind the scenes and how a song was created.

Her first instrument was the piano, and she started taking lessons when she was five. To Burt and Elizabeth Hummel – they figured, why stop there? They proceeded to hire tutors to teach her how to play the violin, the drums, the guitar – nearly every instrument imaginable. When it came to music, Max was a fast learner, although she would easily get frustrated at times, her tutors had always described her as ‘brilliant,’ with one of them dubbing her as a ‘little prodigy in the making.

When high school and college came around, she signed up for as many music courses as she could. In her eyes, she figured if she learned other instruments – it would suit her best, to keep her diverse. Thus, she started learning a bit of everything she hadn’t already learned. Messing around with software, Max didn’t know what she was doing, but it was something she was never getting bored of – creating different tunes and sounds.

For her 25th birthday, her dad got her the most precious items she’d ever own in her life; a Gibson Custom True Historic 1959 Les Paul, a synthesizer, and a professional pad controller. They are her loves, and most importantly, her pride and joys. Any opportunity Max had to break out her guitar or create beats were ones she was more than likely to take.

Loves dad jokes and will probably make a pun out of anything when the opportunity arises.

She’s got an obsession with horror movies. Although the movie “IT” scared her as a kid, thus creating her fear of clowns. To this day, she still hasn’t seen the movies.

Max’s a pack rat and will hold on to anything that was once important to her.

If you’re a fan of gluten, watching bad TV shows or anything involving breakfast food, she’d love to be friends.

[infactforgetthepark]

[Free eBook] The Way of the Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds by Gavin Van Horn [Nature Travelogue Philosophy]

The Way of the Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds by Gavin Van Horn, the director of the Cultures of Conservation for the Center for Humans and Nature nonprofit focusing on conservation ethics, is a nature travelogue book, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free Book of the Month for July, and is a combination of nature appreciation, travelogue, and philosophical meditation upon what it means to co-exist, as the author explores the small wild spaces found within big cities, and the species that manage to make their living in the urban landscapes. You can also watch a short video of the author discussing the themes of this book via his UCP author page.

Offered free worldwide through the end of July, available directly from the publisher's website.

Currently free @ [the university's dedicated promo page] (https://press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEbook.html) (ePub available with download options for both Adobe Digital Editions and Readium DRM, follow instructions provided on download link page, requires newsletter signup with valid email address), and you can read more about the book on its regular catalogue page.

Description A hiking trail through majestic mountains. A raw, unpeopled wilderness stretching as far as the eye can see. These are the settings we associate with our most famous books about nature. But Gavin Van Horn isn’t most nature writers. He lives and works not in some perfectly remote cabin in the woods but in a city—a big city. And that city has offered him something even more valuable than solitude: a window onto the surprising attractiveness of cities to animals. What was once in his mind essentially a nature-free blank slate turns out to actually be a bustling place where millions of wild things roam. He came to realize that our own paths are crisscrossed by the tracks and flyways of endangered black-crowned night herons, Cooper’s hawks, brown bats, coyotes, opossums, white-tailed deer, and many others who thread their lives ably through our own.

With The Way of Coyote, Gavin Van Horn reveals the stupendous diversity of species that can flourish in urban landscapes like Chicago. That isn’t to say city living is without its challenges. Chicago has been altered dramatically over a relatively short timespan—its soils covered by concrete, its wetlands drained and refilled, its river diverted and made to flow in the opposite direction. The stories in The Way of Coyote occasionally lament lost abundance, but they also point toward incredible adaptability and resilience, such as that displayed by beavers plying the waters of human-constructed canals or peregrine falcons raising their young atop towering skyscrapers. Van Horn populates his stories with a remarkable range of urban wildlife and probes the philosophical and religious dimensions of what it means to coexist, drawing frequently from the wisdom of three unconventional guides—wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold, Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu, and the North American trickster figure Coyote. Ultimately, Van Horn sees vast potential for a more vibrant collective of ecological citizens as we take our cues from landscapes past and present.

Part urban nature travelogue, part philosophical reflection on the role wildlife can play in waking us to a shared sense of place and fate, The Way of Coyote is a deeply personal journey that questions how we might best reconcile our own needs with the needs of other creatures in our shared urban habitats.

[icarusthelunarguard]

This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

It’s time for this week’s Horrible-Scopes! So for those of you that know your Astrological Signs, cool! If not, just pick one, roll a D12, or just make it up as you go along. It really doesn’t matter.

(Due to SOMEBODY suggesting replacement sign names, you may have a hard time figuring out which Horrible-Scope is for you. Just trust us, it really won’t matter anyway.)

Angry Cicada  

You are considered the symbols of carefree living and immortality, but we know you better than that. Your day-to-day life is stress filled and your life peaked seventeen years ago. Do yourself a favour; go to the beach and have someone bury you up to your neck in the sand for a few hours. Just be sure it’s at high tide so you don’t drown. 

Moody Sheep

You surround yourself with friends, but they don’t realize it’s for self protection and not social comfort. If one of them gets picked off, you’re still pretty safe. Trust Ralph and Sam to keep you on your toes this week.

Screaming Possum

The best part about being a Screaming Possum is… Getting to play dead. Except not. Possums don’t just play dead, they mimic being dead; going so far as to release a scent worse than if they evacuated their bowels. This week if you find yourself overstressed, consider overeating super-fatty foods and being trapped on the toilet for the whole day. Active ventilation is highly suggested.   

Crying Dragonfly

The only reason you’re crying is because you missed seeing “DUNE” in the theaters. Ornithopters are basically oversized steampunk dragonflies, right? This week channel your inner steam-punkedness, wear a top hat with gears on it, a wifi hotspot in it, and name it “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Lan”. 

Absurdly Coloured Fuzzy Caterpillar

Are you hungry tonight, ‘cause you’ve eaten basically everything in that one book! Do us all a favor; go to sleep, liquify yourself, and transform into a butterfly so you stop eating solid food and slurp up liquids from then on. If you’re thinking ahead, you’ll need at least a month to make honey mead. Better get started.

Lonely Crow

Corvids are social creatures, almost never lonely. They travel in packs, protect one another, and are not against recreating an Alfred Hitchcock movie scene if you piss one of them off. Crows are like the stars in “West Side Story” - and before you ask which side they’d be, just remember that they are not above carrying knives!

Mean Mama Bear

Back in the day, “Mama Bear” was a female police officer on the CB. These days being called a “Mama Bear” might be seen as derogatory, but you know better; You’re all nice and calm to those people right up until you rip their face off… metaphorically speaking, of course! We would never suggest you should do something actually violent to someone that richly deserves it. That would be wro-o-ong! This week be on the lookout for witnesses. 

Scary Bat

Bats are more scared of you than you are of them - it’s just a fact. The North American “Big brown bat” isn’t really that big. They have a wingspan of 30cm, or just over a foot across, and weigh less than an ounce. Once they’re flying around your living room you’ll think they’re bigger. Just close the doors, open the window, stand near the wall, and let them find their way out. Do NOT use a tennis racket on them!  

Courageous Squirrel

The funniest part about squirrels is watching them get drunk in the fall and winter. The saddest part is when you find out the three hour power outage was because one of them chewed through a 500,000 volt powerline. This week challenge yourself to doing something supremely stupid because it’ll be fun. If you screw up at least the pain will be over quickly.

Capricorn (Neat Rock)

Some Geologic Philosophy for you to ponder: 

The easiest way to make new rocks is to break old rocks.

Is it wrong to take rocks out of the wild and keep them in your home, trapped?

No matter how hard a rock is, eventually the tears from the sky will break it.

Think deep thoughts this week and do something nice for a stranger… for the crater good. And may the quartz be with you.

Leaf

Leaves are far more important than people think. Trees breathe from them, create food in them, shade the ground with them, and humans have learned which ones to make tea from. Your wealth is in you simply existing and it’s underappreciated. You matter to everyone around you, even if they forget to tell you themselves; never forget that.

Pretty But Ready To Kill Betta Fish

Before you all dismiss this animal description as ridiculous, you better listen up. In college there are only a few animals you’re allowed to keep as pets in the dorms; fish in a bowl is one. Most small fish aren’t a problem, but Betta!? My then-girlfriend’s college roommate owned one, and it was quickly named, “Bitch”. On returning to the dorms after class Bitch was not in her bowl, or on the tabletop the bowl sat on. No; Bitch had jumped OUT of the bowl, and… not content with THAT, had managed to Magikarp-flop around on the floor, under the desk, and tangled itself into a bunch of dust bunnies, for an unknown amount of time. And just to prove how much a bitch Bitch was… she lived until well after the end of the semester! This week… Be a “Bitch”!     

And THOSE are your Hobble-Scopes for this week! Remember if you liked what you got, we’re obviously not working hard enough at these. BUT! If you want a better or nastier one for your own sign or someone else’s, all you need to do to bribe me is just Let Me Know! These will be posted online at the end of each week via Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Discord.

[highways-are-liminal-spaces]

A brief ranking of the top 10 North American mammals, by ear shape:

1. Brown Bear

2. Black Bear

3. American Badger

4. Canada Lynx

5. American Marten

6. Polar Bear

7. Virginia Opossum

8. Abert’s Squirrel

9. Townsend’s Big-eared Bat

10. Pygmy Rabbit

[eeveedel]

WIP Sunday

Hello all, I was tagged by to post a bit of my current WIP alongside some “art” -- I don’t have a current moodboard but I thought I would provide some general ~~aesthetic pics and another preview of the rancher harry fic -- this time an HL meet cute! I hope you all enjoy, and happy Sunday

Harry heard a rapping at the screen door, and he grunted, shifting his weight forward so he could sit up and hoist himself out of his armchair.

He took a step forward on his good leg while his bad one dragged behind him. After a bit of walking around, it usually woke up enough for him to put more weight on it, but for now, after his rest, it was a dead weight of pins and needles behind him. It took a bit of effort to get to the front door, but he got there eventually. He grabbed his cane that was leaning by the door, and then opened the wood door, revealing just the screen and what lay beyond it.

There was a man in mint green scrubs and a thick corduroy jacket on his porch, perfectly centered between the big American flag hanging beside Harry’s door and the pots of tulips lining the front gate. The man at the front door was young. He had some creases around his eyes and mouth but his freshly shaved face looked so youthful, along with his bright eyes behind his big, wire frame glasses.

“Howdy,” Harry drawled, lifting his thermos to his mouth, “You must be — “ His tongue worked in his mouth, trying to come up with the name Margaret had given him last week. It wasn’t something common around here, and yet it still evaded him.

“Shoot, I’m sorry,” he sighed, pushing up the brim of his hat with his thumb, “Help me out, what’s your name, son?”

“Oh, I’m Dr. Tomlinson, but you can call me Louis,” he said. “Dr. Baldwin caught me up on some of the animals you have here and their needs, sir,” he said. “I know you have a pregnant cow nearing the end of term and a newly pregnant mare that just needs a bit of a checkup as your main concerns. She also told me you had a few roosters and a chicken coop, is that correct?”

Harry cracked a smile and nodded.

“Well, that’s correct. Seems like you did your homework,” he said. “Cherry’s gonna have a baby now damn day now and I just found out about Goldie last month.”

He took a sip of his coffee, shuffling his feet and readjusting his cane as he did.

“You don’t need to worry too much about the chickens, they nearly take care of themselves. Got a few pigs but those are going to market in a couple months, but you can take a look at ‘em if you want to.”

He pushed at the screen door, moving out onto the porch to meet Louis directly. When he was in front of the man, he could see Louis looked even younger up close, and he was nearly a full head shorter than Harry.

“Can I get you something to drink or anything before we go out?” Harry asked, taking the briefest moment to look the young vet over.

“Um, maybe a glass of water after we finish up? It is a bit hot out today, even though it’s January,” Louis rambled. “I mean, I came from San Francisco, so it’s still hot there— anyways, sorry.”

He exhaled, his cheeks already pink.

“Could you show me to Cherry first, please?” Louis asked. “I want to make sure she and her calf are in tip top shape.”

Harry smiled gently. The young vet was eager, and looked a bit flustered. He tried not to let his gaze linger too much longer, although he already liked him.

“Sure thing. I’ll show you out the pasture. Cherry’s probably out gossiping with her friends.”

He walked to the edge of the porch, taking the small ramp that was easier to navigate with his cane.

“Tell me, they have a lot of cows out in California, Louis?” he asked as they trudged along the path, “Because if this is your first one, I’ll give you a fair warning. Cherry’s a sweet girl but a little sassy.”

“Well, I grew up in San Francisco, so no, we don’t have a lot of farms there,” Louis said. “But I studied with a bit of everything in veterinary school, and went to a lot of farms up north. So yeah, I’ve worked with cows.”

“Good, good,” Harry nodded.

He walked through along the dirt path that led from the house to the rest of the ranch. He led Louis past the chicken coop and the large horse barn, moving out to the back part of the property with the cattle barn and the large pasture. His leg was starting to wake up, making his gait a bit less strained.

“Where did you study?” he asked.

“UC Santa Barbara for undergrad and then vet school at UC Berkeley,” Louis said. “I just graduated last spring, actually.”

“Congratulations,” Harry said. “Before you look at my girls, you wanna tell me know if you were bottom of your class?”

Louis laughed a little, scratching the back of his neck.

“I was actually valedictorian.”

“Damn. Undergrad or vet school?”

“Uh,” Louis said, smiling sheepishly. “Both? And high school.”

“Jeez,” Harry chuckled. “Well. I didn’t even go to college, so you’ve already impressed me many times over.”

They arrived in front of the enormous cattle barn and the wide pasture beyond it. Harry smiled to himself, lifting the hand that wasn’t gripping his cane.

“Yep,” he smiled to himself, “There she is.”

He gestured to the pasture, and specifically pointed to one of the cows, a rich red brown and swollen at the belly, who was smack in the middle of a group of five other black and white cows.

“Gossiping, just like I thought,” Harry said. He reached for the gate, going to unlock it, “Well, come on, you can give me your expert opinion.”

“Wow, she’s beautiful,” Louis marveled.

“Don’t let her hear that, it’ll go straight to her head,” Harry said. He opened the gate fully, then opened the pasture and turned around, holding it open for Louis.

Once they were both inside, Harry approached Cherry, cooing and clicking his tongue as he walked. She looked up and stared at him, chewing slowly on a thick clump of grass, but when she was done, she let out a low moo and slowly but surely waddled towards him.

“Here she comes,” Harry smiled.

They both stood and watched her as she slowly came over, and when she did, she immediately gravitated to Harry.

“Hey, princess,” Harry said. He set his hand on her head and gently stroked her with his thumb, smiling to himself as she blinked at him with her big, milk chocolate eyes.

“Louis’s gonna take a look at you, pretty girl,” Harry said. “You be nice to him.”

Harry kept petting Cherry’s head and then looked over to Louis. The vet was kneeling on the ground, unlocking the briefcase he had brought. It was funny, seeing him with a shiny, clearly barely used case. Margaret had always just shoved her tools into her ancient Jansport backpack, which was covered in twenty years’ worth of coffee stains and held together with duct tape and spite.

Louis took out a pair of latex gloves and a stethoscope, then moved closer to the animal. He gave her a settle pat on her swollen side, then put the stethoscope’s earpieces in. He set the metal diaphragm on her side, and Cherry jolted a bit, but Louis cooed at her and kept petting her side as he listened. He closed his eyes and nodded a bit as he moved the cold metal over her stomach, humming softly to himself.

Harry watched Louis carefully touch and examine Cherry, the young man’s hands gentle but sure as he did his job. Harry had had his hesitations before Louis arrived. But he seemed at home, and like he really cared about doing a good job. Harry could appreciate that. He had spent years building up trust with Margaret to work with his animals, but, maybe he was just getting sentimental at his age, or Louis really did have a special touch, but he immediately felt just fine with the younger man taking care of his herd.

After a few minutes Louis opened his eyes and ducked his head down, examining Cherry’s udders and nether regions. Finally, he lifted his head and pulled himself up, taking the stethoscope out of his ears and draping it around his neck.

“Well, she looks great,” Louis said as he peeled off his gloves and shoved them into his jacket pocket. “The calf’s got a nice, strong heartbeat. She seems about a couple weeks away, but just keep an eye on her – “

“Early labor, yeah,” Harry said. “I always start preparing at least a couple weeks in advance of the due date, anyways. My girl Caroline went into labor a couple years ago, fuckin’ 16 days before she was due, and I was in Austin for the weekend. Only time I left the house in months, and she picked that weekend.”

One of the white cows in the pasture mooed loudly, and Harry looked over his shoulder and glared.

“Yeah, I’m talkin’ about you, fuckin’ drama queen,” he scoffed. “She’s a good girl. And a tough one. Had a delivery all by herself and nearly gave me a heart attack when I got home and there was a new baby toddling around.”

He turned back to Louis, offering an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, don’t mean to bore you with farm stories right off the bat.”

“It’s okay,” Louis said. “I love to hear animal stories.”

“Well, let me know in a few months if you’re sick of cow stories. That’s nearly the only kind of stories we have in this town.”

Louis just laughed and lifted his hand, shifting his glasses up his nose.

“Would you show me to Goldie, please? Just to see how her early stages are going.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Harry said. “Goldie’s in the small barn, come on.”

[jimkirkachu]

I hope the bat is gone! One summer we had some roost in the eaves of the house. The animal control guy informed me about the no killing thing. So he put in this door, they could fly out, but not back in. Oh no I said, where will they go? He said, lady, I've been chasing this same colony around your neighborhood for 5 years!

Ooo, I like the sound of the one-way door, that's great! Our friend is definitely out of the house proper now, might still be in the garage but I can't imagine him not making his way out where we left it partway open to go find food. We're going to have to check around the house for the next few days to see if we can figure out how the little guy got inside in the first place... but apparently they can squeeze themselves through cracks or crevices as small as 1/4 inch, so we'll probably end up having to get our monthly pest control guy to check around for us since he has a more practiced eye.

But omg that story!! 😅😅😅 Your neighborhood must be a haven!! Sounds like almost every house around you probably has one of those doors by now, lmao 🥳 According to what I've read in the last 12ish hours, it's actually a very good sign if there are lots of bats in your area; I guess it indicates that there's a healthy balance of insects in the ecosystem, and bats are a huge defense for us against weird diseases carried by mosquitoes and other bugs. So I'm glad we both got them out of our homes, but I'm also glad we both got the chance to see them! Such a weird little adventure! 😂🥳🦇

[todaysbat]

You have probably answered this already, but which is the rarest bat specie in the world, and which is the most common?

I actually haven't been asked this question before (I think), plus I don't mind getting repeat questions, gives me a chance to check for new information.

Going by range, the hoary bat is probably among, if not the most widespread species in the world, found throughout North America plus a subspecies found all the way in Hawai'i. However, this solitary bat species is rarely seen within its known range.

Another possibility is the big brown bat, another North American species with a wide range. Unlike the hoary bat, this species is much easier to find within its range.

The rarest species of bats are both highly endangered species with tiny geographic ranges: the Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus) and Seychelles sheath-tailed bat (Coleura seychellensis).

[glaciernps]

Bat Week: Meet Our Bats!

Happy #BatWeek! Did you know that nine species of bat have been found in Glacier? Let's meet them!

1. Long-eared myotis (Myotis evotis): Named for its notably long ears, this bat is found all across Montana in suitable habitat and consumes enormous quantities of insects nightly.  

Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie

[alt text: Gloved hand holds a small brown bat with long ears]

2. Little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus): Also known as Little Brown Bat (LBB), it’s especially skilled at hunting in swarms of small insects. LBBs often catch prey with the tip of their wing before transferring it to their mouth!  

Photo: NPS/Dylan Schneider

[alt text: A bat with outstretched wings flies off the gloved hand of a researcher]

3. Long-legged myotis (Myotis volans): These western bats prefer mountain forests. They can detect prey from relatively long distances in open spaces, but also hunt well in cluttered habitats like forest canopies. 

Photo: Kristi DuBois

[alt text: A medium-sized dark brown bat with long legs on a tree trunk]

4. Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus): Studies of big brown bat feeding habits have shown that they eat significant amounts of crop and forest pests, like scarab beetles and cucumber beetles.  

Photo: USFWS/Ann Froschauer

[alt text: A fuzzy brown bat hangs upside down in a cave]

5. Silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans): These bats prefer roosting on or within trees, especially in old-growth forests. Their relatively slow flight distinguishes them from other species of bat.  

Photo: Kristi DuBois

[alt text: A brown bat with silver-tipped fur crawls up a tree]

6. California myotis (Myotis californicus): These bats are among North America’s smallest, enabling them to feed on especially tiny insect prey. It was not until miniature radio-transmitters weighing less than half a gram were developed that these bats could be tracked!  

Photo: Katie Smith, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

[alt text: Gloved hands hold a tiny golden-brown bat]

7. Eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis): North America’s most abundant ‘tree bat.’ Unlike most bats, Eastern red bats often give birth to twins, and can have litters of up to five young!  

Photo: Josh Henderson

[alt text: A strikingly orange-colored bat with a small baby clinging to it]

8. Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus): Hoary bats are easily distinguishable from other species by their fur’s frosty appearance. Glacier may be one of the most substantial migratory routes for hoary bats across the continent!  

Photo: Kristi DuBois

[alt text: A bat with distinctive frosty-looking fur clings to craggy tree bark]

9. Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis): These bats are more closely associated with water than most other North American bats. They can be very difficult to distinguish from little brown bats – one way to tell is by their echolocation calls, which occur at a higher frequency.  

Photo: Kristi DuBois

[alt text: A furry brown bat with mouselike appearance clings to tree bark]

Learn even more: https://www.nps.gov/articles/bats-brief.htm  

[warserset4]

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[themissinglynx]

Table Rock Lake Clans - List of Prefixes by Color

An exhaustive list of all possible prefixes in the Clans of Table Rock Lake

I may make a category list soon

Black

Ani - derived from the grove-billed ani Ant - used for small cats Bat Bear - used for big cats - derived from the American black bear Beetle Black Bramble - refers to the ripened fruit - derived from the blackberry bramble Cherry - refers to the fruit - derived from the black cherry Cicada - used for tabbies Coal Coot - derived from the American coot Cormorant - derived from the double-crested cormorant Cricket - used for solids or tabbies Crow Dark Duck Eel - used for long-bodied cats Evening Flint Goose - used for black and white cats Grackle - derived from the common grackle Hornet Loon - used for black and white tabbies - derived from the common loon Mink - derived from the American mink Night Raven Shade Shadow Skunk - used for black tabbies or black and white cats - derived from the striped skunk (tabby) and the spotted skunk (bicolor) Smoke - used for tabbies Soot Spider Starling Storm Swift - used for black and white cats Turtle Vulture - derived from the turkey vulture Wasp Weevil Willow - refers to the bark - used for black longhairs - derived from the black willow

Brown

Bat Bear - used for large brown cats - derived from the grizzly bear Beaver Beetle Bison - used for big cats Bittern - used for light brown tabbies with white - derived from the American bittern Brown Chicken - used for light brown spotted tabbies with white - derived from the prairie chicken Chipmunk - used for small tabbies Cricket - used for tabbies Cougar - used for large light brown cats Deer - used for light brown cats - derived from the white-tailed deer Duck Dust Eagle - used for brown and white cats - derived from the bald eagle Elk - used for large cats Frog - used for spotted tabbies Grebe - derived from the horned grebe Grouse - used for spotted brown cats - derived from the ruffed grouse Harrier - used for brown and white cats - derived from the Northern harrier Hawk - used for brown and white cats - derived from the red-tailed hawk Honey - used for golden-brown cats Lizard - used for tabbies Mantis Mink - derived from the American mink Moth - used for tabbies Mouse - derived from the house mouse Mud Nightjar - used for spotted brown tabbies - derived from the common nighthawk Oak - refers to the bark - used for tabbies - derived from the black oak Oat - refers to the flower - derived from the wild oat Pecan - used for tabbies - derived from the pecan tree Quail - used for spotted and white tabbies - derived from the bobwhite quail Rabbit - derived from the cottontail rabbit Rail - used for dark brown spotted tabbies - derived from the king rail Rat - derived from the brown rat Rock Rush - refers to the flowers - derived from the common rush Snail Soil Sparrow - used for brown and white tabbies - derived from the house sparrow Spider Stone Sycamore - used for big tabbies - derived from the American sycamore Tawny - used for light brown cats Teal - derived from the cinnamon teal Thrush - used for spotted light brown and white tabbies - derived from the wood thrush Turkey - used for big cats Turtle Walnut - refers to the nuts - derived from the black walnut Weasel - used for brown and white cats - derived from the long-tailed weasel Weevil Wigeon - derived from the American wigeon Wren - used for brown and white tabbies

Reddish-Brown

Alder - refers to the bark - used for tabbies - derived from the hazel alder Cardinal - refers to the female of the species Cedar - refers to the bark - used for tabbies - derived from the red cedar Clay Crane - derived from the sandhill crane Ibis - derived from the white-faced ibis Owl - used for spotted reddish-brown tabby and white cats - derived from the screech owl Pheasant - used for spotted tabbies - derived from the common pheasant

Gray-Brown

Armadillo - used for tabbies Bass Birch - refers to the bark - derived from the river birch Boulder - used for large cats Coyote Dove Elm - refers to the bark - used for tabbies - derived from the American elm Hare - derived from the American desert hare Hickory - refers to the bark - used for tabbies - derived from the bitternut hickory Kinglet Lark - used for grayish-brown and white cats - derived from the horned lark Lynx - used for spotted tabbies - derived from the bobcat Magnolia - refers to the bark - used for tabbies - derived from the cucumber magnolia Mole - derived from the Eastern mole Pike - used for spotted tabbies Pine - refers to the bark - derived from the shortleaf pine Sand Shell - used for tabbies Vole - derived from the prairie vole Warbler

Gray

Badger - used for tabbies - derived from the American badger Bass Bergamot - refers to the flowers - derived from the plant Blizzard - used for spotted light gray tabbies Boulder - used for big cats Burdock - derived from the greater burdock Carp Chickadee - used for small gray and white cats - derived from the Carolina chickadee Cinder Coyote Dark - used for dark gray cats Dawn - used for light gray cats Dove Dusk - used for dark gray cats Evening Falcon - used for gray and white cats - derived from the peregrine falcon Fog Goose - used for gray and white cats Granite - used for spotted tabbies Gray Gull - used for gray and white cats Hail - used for light gray cats Halcyon - used for dark gray or blue cats with a little white - derived from the belted kingfisher Haze Henbit - derived from the common henbit Heron - derived from the great blue heron Junco - derived from the dark-eyed junco Larkspur - derived from the delphinium Lichen - used for light gray tabbies Lizard - used for tabbies Lobelia - derived from the great blue lobelia Loon - used for gray and white tabbies - derived from the common loon Lynx - used for spotted tabbies - derived from the bobcat Mallow - derived from the common mallow Minnow - used for tabbies Mint - refers to the flowers - derived from the hoary mountain mint Mist Mole - derived from the eastern mole Moth - used for tabbies Murk - used for dark gray cats Nettle - derived from the American stinging nettle Nuthatch - used for gray and white cat Opossum - derived from the North American possum Owl - used for large gray and white tabbies - derived from the barred owl Pale - used for light gray cats Pebble - used for small cats Phacelia - derived from the purple phacelia Phlox - derived from the woodland phlox Pigeon Pike - used for spotted tabbies Raccoon - used for gray tabbies - derived from the common raccoon Rain Rock Sage - derived from the wood sage Shade - used for dark gray cats Shale Shell - used for tabbies Shrew - derived from the northern short-tailed shrew Shrike - used for gray and white cats - derived from the northern shrike Silver Slate Sleet - spotted gray tabby Smoke - used for tabbies Soot - used for dark gray cats Squirrel - used for gray and white cats - derived from the eastern gray squirrel Steam - used for pale gray tabbies Stone Storm - used for dark gray cats Sycamore - used for big light gray tabbies - derived from the American sycamore Thalia - used for gray and white cats - derived from the powdery thalia Thistle - derived from the common thistle Titmouse - derived from the tufted titmouse Trout - used for spotted tabbies Vervain - derived from the blue vervain Vetch - derived from the common vetch Violet - derived from the birdsfoot violet Wolf - derived from the gray wolf

Blue

Aster - derived from the flower Blue Bunting - derived from the indigo bunting Chicory - derived from the common chicory Gallinule - derived from the common gallinule Glory - derived from the morning glory Halcyon - used for dark gray or blue cats with a little white - derived from the belted kingfisher Indigo - derived from the blue false indigo Jay - used for blue and white tabbies - derived from the blue jay Swallow - used for blue and white cats - derived from the tree swallow

Ginger/Red

Apple - refers to the fruit - derived from the wild apple Ash - refers to the leaves - derived from white ash Bergamot - refers to the flowers - derived from the plant Blaze Bramble - refers to the unripe fruit - derived from the blackberry bramble Cardinal - refers to the male of the species Dawn Dusk Ember - used for small cats Evening - used for deep red cats Fire Fox - derived from the red fox Ginger Ginseng - derived from the American ginseng Hawthorn - refers to the fruit - derived from the red hawthorn Hazel - refers to flowers - derived from the Ozark witch hazel Holly - refers to the fruit - derived from the meadow holly Ivy - used for tabbies - derived from the poison ivy Maple - refers to the leaves - derived from the red maple Marigold - derived from the marigold Morning Lily - used for spotted tabbies - derived from the leopard lily Oak - refers to the leaves - derived from the white oak Persimmon - derived from the American persimmon Plum - refers to the fruit - derived from the American plum Pumpkin - refers to the fruit Red Spark Sumac - refers to the leaves or berries - derived from the fragrant sumac (leaf) and the smooth sumac (berry) Tanger - refers to the male of the species - derived from the summer tanger Wasp - used for tabbies

Gold/Cream

Amber Aphid - used for small cats Apple - refers to the fruit - derived from the wild apple Bee - used for tabbies Blaze Bolt Daffodil - derived from the narcissus Daisy - derived from the yellow ox-eyed daisy/black-eyed Susan Dandelion - refers to the flower - derived from the weed Dawn Finch - derived from the goldfinch Golden Honey Hornet - used for tabbies Lightning Locust - refers to the leaves - derived from the honey locust Lotus - derived from the American lotus Marigold - derived from the marigold Morning Mullein - refers to the flower - derived from the great mullein Mustard - derived from the black mustard Persimmon - derived from the American persimmon Poppy - derived from the celandine poppy Primrose - derived from the common evening primrose Sand Spark Tanger - refers to the female of the species - derived from the summer tanger Tansy - derived from the common tansy ragwort Tawny Velvet - derived from the velvet plant Yellow

White

Aphid - used for small cats Apple - refers to the flowers - derived from the wild apple Avens - derived from the white avens Bramble - refers to the flower - derived from the blackberry bramble Blizzard Bolt Bright Cherry - refers to the flowers - derived from the black cherry Cloud Clover - refers to the flowers - derived from the white clover Cohosh - derived from the black cohosh Cotton - refers to the seeds - derived from the upland cotton Dandelion - refers to the seeds - derived from the weed Egret - derived from the snowy egret Flax - derived from the bastard toadflax Frost Gaura - derived from the gaura flowers Hail Haw - refers to the flowers - derived from the blackhaw Hawthorn - refers to the flowers - derived from the red hawthorn Hemlock - refers to the flowers - derived from the poison hemlock Ice Light Lightning Lotus - derived from American lotus Milkweed - refers to the seeds - derived from common milkweed Mint - refers to the flowers - derived from the hoary mountain mint Mistletoe - refers to the berry - derived from the American mistletoe Onion - refers to the bulb and flowers - derived from the wild onion Orchid - derived from the Adam and Eve orchid Pale Parsley - refers to the flowers - derived from garden parsley Plum - refers to the flowers - derived from the American plum Rose - derived from the wild rose Sage - derived from the wood sage Sleet Snow Spark Swan White Willow - refers to the catkins - used for white longhairs - derived from the black willow Yarrow - derived from the common yarrow

Patched/Bicolor

Duck - used for black and brown cats Eagle - used for brown and white cats - derived from the bald eagle Falcon - used for gray and white cats - derived from the peregrine falcon Grebe - used for brown and white cats - derived from Clark’s grebe Harrier - used for brown and white cats - derived from the Northern harrier Hawk - used for brown and white cats - derived from the red-tailed hawk Iris - derived from the iris flower Jaeger - used for black and white cats - derived from various jaegers Jay - used for gray and white tabbies - derived from the blue jay Nuthatch - used for gray and white cat Merganser - used for black and white cats - derived from the common merganser Patch - general bi/tricolor Plover - used for black, gray, or brown and white cats - derived from the various species of plover Scaup - used for black and white cats - derived from the greater and lesser scaup Shrike - used for gray and white cats - derived from the northern shrike Skunk - used for black and white cats - derived from the spotted skunk Sparrow - used for brown and white tabbies - derived from the house sparrow Swallow - used for blue and white cats - derived from the tree swallow Thalia - used for gray bicolors - derived from the powdery thalia Thrush - used for spotted brown and white tabbies - derived from the wood thrush Weasel - used for brown and white cats - derived from the long-tailed weasel

Patterned

Speckle - used for spotted tabbies Spotted - used for spotted tabbies There’s others but writing them down would make this section bloated...

Tortoiseshell/Calico

Brindle - used for any tortie Clay - used for brown torties Copper - used for dark torties Dapple - used for any tortie Dawn - used for dilute torties Dusk - used for dark torties Eagle - used for darker torties - derived from the golden eagle Ember - used for small torties Evening - used for dark torties Fox - used for diluted torties - derived from the gray fox Fritillary - used for brown torties - derived from a tribe of butterfly Grebe - used for dark torties - derived from the eared gribe Kestrel - used for spotted red torties or blue torties - derived from the American kestrel Morning - used for dark or dilute torties Mottle - used for torties with little to no white Oriole - used for darker torties - derived from the orchard oriole Owl - used for brown torties - derived from the great horned owl Pansy - used for any tortie - derived from the garden pansy Patch - used for any calico Pheasant - used for brown torties Robin - used for brown torties - derived from the American robin Skipper - used for brown torties - derived from the skipper butterfly Squirrel - used for diluted torties - derived from the fox squirrel Tawny - used for diluted brown torties Toad - used for diluted torties Towhee - used for darker torties with white - derived from the eastern towhee

[padfootagain]

A Crimson Christmas (I)

Chapter 1: Saint-Malo

Here I am with a brand new series for my winter event 2019! I am answering the fake dating trope for Steve Rogers :)

Get ready to dive in some mystery for the holidays ;) It's not gonna be just fluff… although there will be some fluff, no worries!

Oh, and… canon? I don't know her.

I'm also very excited with this one, because I've decided to set the story in France, in one of my favourite places, that is not so far from my hometown. So I'm having extra fun with it :)

I hope you all like it!

Gif not mine

Word Count : 4086

There is a mystery in this story.

Or, actually, there are three mysteries tied up together in the events that will unfold here.

The first, and probably the most cryptic of all, concerns the circumstances of the death of a gentleman named Jean Le Kennec.

The second, and probably the most devastating of all, has to deal with the delivery of a package on Christmas Eve.

The third, and probably the most important of all, is to link with a man and a woman spending Christmas together because of a lie.

In order to describe the story as well as it deserves to be told, one should get a pretty accurate image of the city where the events will unfold, for the place itself is like a character in this tale. To do that, one should picture France first. Get as far west as you can on this tiny hexagon, then make your way North to the beautiful region of Brittany.

Landscapes as beautiful and wild as the ocean the land dives into, this part of France is one of the most interesting places you can go to in this country. Because of the magic of the landscapes, yes, but also because of the mystical atmosphere that hovers over the land. Houses of stones batted by the raging salty wind and heavy rains, boats of wood cracking through angry storms, and a past filled with druids, fairies and magic. The Celtic culture goes on there through the peculiar tongue still used by some, typical of this region, but also through the legends of disappeared ships, pirates and lost treasures, and Merlin and fairies in the Broceliande forest, of a king and a sword in a stone wandering there, and menhirs rising through fields to praise estranged gods.

In a word, this place is perfect for the kind of mystery this story will describe.

Concerning the inhabitants of this region, one would give a fairly accurate description of their character with ‘pig-headed but loyal’. Stubbornness is a common trait, and most might describe the people of Brittany as reluctant to change and foreigners, which might make them seem a little cold. But once you’ve earned their trust, there are no more loyal and generous people than them… in France at least.

Two more things need to be known about this local eccentric people, and they have to do with food. A 'galette' is a salty preparation, specialty of this part of France. It is basically like a salty version of a pancake made with a different kind of flour and filled, most of the time, with ham, cheese and an egg. They are not to be mistaken with 'crêpes', the dessert of the traditional meal. It is often filled with butter, or sugar, or chocolate, or salty caramel. Both have this similar form of a large and thin pancake, but the crêpes are sweet, and the two courses are made with very different recipes and flours. And Brittany people are a tiny bit touchy about the difference. Someone mistaking the two would have without a doubt once been thrown into a dungeon. Today, it is met with a tired sigh, and an explanation of the difference presented with a tone that truly means to tell 'if you make that mistake again, I will kidnap you in the middle of the night and throw you into the ocean during the next storm’.

The second element of food you need to know if you want to survive amongst this people is salty butter. Do not attempt to use sweet butter. The inhabitants will judge you and will think that, here again, the place where you belong is located closer to the bottom of the ocean than amongst them if you try. It is properly an insult to their entire culture.

Now that the people of Brittany have been introduced, let’s focus closer to where our story will take place. In Brittany, go all the way North until you hit the ocean, and a tiny bit to the East. You will find a tiny dot on the map there that indicates Saint-Malo.

The town stretches nowadays from the sea to further in the land, all the way along the beaches of brown sand. But this story takes place in the oldest part of town, around the castle.

Built on the edge of the sea, the castle is now the home of the city hall. All around it and a number of buildings, tall walls were erected to fight both the wild storms that strike the shores in winter, and enemy invaders.

Most of this part of town was rebuilt after the second world war, most of its buildings being destroyed by bombings and a large fire that tore to the ground up to 80% of the medieval houses that once stood there. The economic development of the town throughout the XVII and XVIIIth century, through the activities of the harbour, also led to some radical changes in the architecture of the town during that time. This was when the tall walls surrounded the city were built. The reconstruction of the destroyed town went on after the second world war to match in spirit the buildings that remained and yet expand the size of the streets to match the new needs that arose at this period. Which led to identical buildings filling up all the space, at the exception of the churches, the cathedral, the castle and the courthouse, along with the few houses that were still standing. All buildings have this rectangular, almost military stern look, but the use of this peculiar kind of stone to build them entirely, brownish-greyish shade of granite, gives the assemble charms that many tourists now adore.

If one of these tourists climbs up the steep and quite slippery staircases leading up to the walls, they will be able to notice, through the holes that once were meant for canons, that danger is never far in these parts. The large black rocks that crawl out of the foam and the waves are deadly for reckless vessels. The ocean is often violent, and large wooden trunks were planted all along the seaside in order to break the wrath of the waves before they would hit the carved stones of the wall. Many lighthouses colour the horizon in an attempt to clear a path for the sailors, and strongholds were built on large rocks and tiny islands off the shores of Saint-Malo to defend what was once a citadel and one of the busiest harbours in France. Most of these fortifications are unreachable at high tide, even today, and if someone was to find themselves stuck by the tide, they would find no way to reach the town again.

But through these rough elements, the beauty of the town is found as well.

Let’s focus further on, and we can begin our story by studying the tall blond man sitting up there, in a corner of a crêperie set against the inner wall of the old town, his galette gone and his empty plate waiting for a waiter to come and carry it away. The restaurant was decorated with taste, walls white and dark blue, meeting the shades of the ocean. The tiny tables were packed together to allow as many customers in as possible, and this American, who was distractingly looking out the window, seemed too big for the furniture. He had let his beanie and warm scarf on the table next to his plate, his warm coat set on his chair. It was raining outside, which was to be expected for this region, and even more so two days before Christmas. After all, the season of storms had begun.

He almost jumped when you came back from the ladies’ room to sit across him again.

"It won’t get any better before Christmas, you’d better get used to the weather," you told Steve with an amused smile, following his gaze to the street outside, where the rain was pouring, the wind so strong that the droplets fell at a weird angle.

"How did you convince me to spend Christmas here again?" Steve asked with a chuckle.

"I begged you. That’s how. And I promised that I’d owe you one.

"Hmm, yes, I remember now."

"At least, this isn't a real storm! We can still go wherever we please."

"I don't want to know more about these storms just yet."

"I didn't picture you as a man who would like to spend Christmas on a beach with sun and cocktails. I pictured you more… well, like you are now! Wearing a warm beige sweater and enjoying the cold of December."

"I can't believe I've refused that invitation from Sam and Bucky to go to Hawaii…" Steve shook his head and heaved a tired sigh, which only made you laugh.

"You're retired now! You have all the time you want to go drink cocktails under the sun!" you replied with a playful tone. "Besides, you would go crazy there. Doing nothing… that's not exactly you, is it?"

"Hiking there would have been great," he fought back, but he knew you were quite right, he fitted better in this cold weather than on a tropical beach. But he just loved bickering with you.

"But instead you helped a friend in need," you grinned.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this either," he shook his head again.

"Alright, so… let's say it all one more time. We've been together for a year, our first date was…" you left your lie for him to finish, checking if he had memorized everything.

"In New York, in Central Park, we went ice-skating," he answered with a tired voice that didn't match the amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Right! And now…"

"We're thinking about moving in together in New York, but we still need to discuss it."

"Have we thought of a part of town where we'd settle yet?"

"Not really, nothing is decided, it's a mere project for now."

"My mom will probably give you tons and tons of ideas for decorating an apartment, or places where we could live. Just… go along with it, okay?"

"Okay."

"They'll ask about the working together thingy, and both of us risking our lives as Avengers."

"Our relationship was never a problem in our work, as we can separate the two, and we are now both retired, so all is fine."

"I think you're ready, Mr. Rogers! Welcome to the Y/L/N family!"

"I wish I could say that it's a pleasure, but this whole business is utterly ridiculous."

"It's not! I won't survive another Christmas holiday with my parents trying to find me a boyfriend at all cost. Thank you for doing this, you're literally saving my life."

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you make it sound."

"Oh, no. It's worse!"

Steve let out a chuckle, the sound making you smile. After all, Steve's persona often oozed a saddened, melancholic aura. Most of his smiles and laughter didn't reach his eyes. These moments when you managed to bring real joy or amusement to his features were worth treasuring, and you always did so.

"And… I might have forgotten to warn you about something, but… hmm…" you slowly stuttered, suddenly choosing your words carefully and dropping your light tone for a more worried one. "My family might still hold a tiny little grudge against you… because of the whole… running-away-from-the-law-and-being-a-fugitive incident."

Steve's reaction was merely to place his face into his palm and heave a deep sigh.

"Sorry…" you whispered tentatively. "But it was a long time ago, I'm sure you'll do fine!"

"I hate you," was all he answered, his voice shushed by his hand.

"Of course, you don't. I'm your fellow retired super-hero! We should form a club for it or something… Call Tony, I'm sure he'd join!"

"You're babbling, and it won't make me forget the mess you've dragged me into."

"We've been through worse." You gave him a genuine smile, and the sight acted like a ray of warm sun touching cool skin. He could never be truly angry against you, detail that he found terribly annoying about you. His muscles instantly relaxed, and your smile carried the same message he always read on your lips then.

Everything would be alright.

You and Steve had been friends ever since that first mission against Loki with the Avengers. Of these new heroes, you and Steve had grown to be inseparable. Sharing ideals and your two moral compasses pointing in the same direction, your differences in personality were the greatest strength of the team the two of you made. You had helped him getting used to a new millennium, and he had been a strong support as you lived away from your family for years. You often thought that you had met each other at the best time, right when you both needed a friend the most. Maybe that was why the two of you had grown so close. Throughout this entire Avengers adventure, you had never let the other down, and none of you intended to act any different now that the two of you had helped defeating Thanos and owned a well-deserved retirement from the Avengers.

The future was a little blurry now. What to do with your life after spending years fighting?

You had decided to push the issue away for the holidays. For now, your family gave you enough of a headache without adding the big questions about your future.

"But I have to admit, that we have been through worse," Steve nodded.

"Like Singapore."

Steve rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe you're still bringing this up…"

"I broke my leg to save you! Because you were too dumb to guess that jumping off a building was not a good idea."

"I would have been just fine."

"You would have crushed your skull on the pavement. Do you have any idea of the amount of paperwork the whole team would have had to fill up if Captain America was turned into jelly like that? The answer is: an awful lot. I had to save you."

A tender smile grew over Steve's features. He had learnt to recognize that teasing tone of yours. He had grown into finding it rather cute. Sometimes, you hid your strongest concerns behind jokes. He accepted the boundaries around your heart, he had built tall walls around his too, after all.

"I'm pretty sure the paperwork will be worse if your parents are responsible for my murder," he replied.

"They won't be! They're adorable. And they're going to adore my fake boyfriend!"

You and Steve exchanged a smile.

"You can add that to your resume when you decide to look for work again: 'experience as a convincing fake boyfriend'. Might open some doors for you in the theatre business."

He couldn't refrain a laugh.

"Thank you for making such efforts to find me a job."

"You're welcome. Writing simply: 'ex-superhero, multiple experiences in saving the world against intergalactic threats' just ain't enough to find anything decent these days."

"You haven't told me what you've decided to do now."

"Because I don't know what to do. But I'll find out."

Another warm smile was exchanged, Steve's reaching the corner of his eyes but something sadder was still hidden in his blue irises. It was okay though, you would do better at making him smile next time.

You were interrupted by the waiter coming to take your plates and offer you the cards for dessert. It didn't matter though. For now, Steve was by your side, you reckoned it was all you needed to be okay.

 ------------------------------------------------------

 "Okay, it's gonna be fine, just relax."

"I am relaxed. You're the one who's panicking."

"I am not."

"You are."

"Oh, shut up."

Your walk from the restaurant to your family's house was short, a mere few minutes. Your family had owned a house in the old town for generations, your grandmother liked to tell you the story of how one of your ancestors used to be a corsair. Some in your family had been fishermen or in the military as well, although these traditions had waned and your parents were now a nurse and a teacher. Which your grandmother laughed at profusely, as she had been working at the docks herself and found it funny to call them both traitors.

Your family owned a large apartment in a building close to the cathedral. The building itself had been rebuilt after the second world war, but the large family had made sure to get an apartment large enough for them all. Your corsair ancestor had brought fortune to your family, buying a large house at the time. If the apartment was nothing compared to the historical house, it was still enough for your large family to fit in. Your grandmother still lived there, and the rest of your relatives had been dispatched through the more modern parts of town, or some, just like you, had left the town to build a life elsewhere.

But the traditional Christmas and New Year celebrations were always set in the ancestral flat. This year, the Christmas dinner would include your grandmother, your parents, your sister and her wife, your brother and his wife along with their two children, one of your aunts and one of your uncles, along with you and Steve, of course. As you had pointed to Steve, you weren't so many this year – considering your grandmothers many brothers and sisters who sometimes were invited as well - and at the exception of your aunt and sister, all were living near or in Saint-Malo. Which was why you and Steve had a room waiting for you in the apartment. You had proposed to go to a hotel, but your grandmother had sounded so offended on the phone that you had to give it up. So, Steve and you would sleep in the same room…

Despite the journey to the building being short, the rain was falling heavily on the town still, and you were both drenched when you reached the stern home. Your suitcase made loud banging noises as you climbed up the streets, the wheels banging into the cobblestones. Steve was carrying a large army bag on his shoulder instead, his beanie glimmering with raindrops.

"I swear, if she's not home yet, I will murder someone," you mumbled under your breath as you rang at the door.

"We could use the time to visit," Steve replied, looking around him.

You raised a hand and put on a tired expression.

"I am jetlagged, I am soaked wet, I am cold, I am exhausted, I am stressed out. I need a warm coffee and some gingerbread, not an adventure under the freezing rain. We'll visit tomorrow, it's a promise. Right now, I just want to get warm and dry."

"We've just eaten, and you want gingerbread?" was all Steve found to answer, but he was terrible at hiding how amused he was.

"You're saying that because you've never tried my grandmother's gingerbread. It's a secret recipe, even I can't know it. She says it will be given to us at the reading of her will."

But the door opened and you could find shelter inside.

You used the old irony lift to climb up to the third floor, and went straight for the door on the left. Your grandmother was faster though, already opening the door for you to enter.

"Oh, Y/N! Je suis contente de te voir!" she held you in her arms tightly enough to make you worry about your ribs.

"Moi aussi, mamie," you smiled and hugged her as well, before turning to Steve, who was waiting on the threshold. "This is Steve. Steve, this is Martine, my grandmother."

"It's very nice to meet you, ma'am," Steve offered her his open hand, but she disregarded it entirely, and she hugged him and gave him the traditional two kisses on each cheek instead.

"Oh, none of that 'madame' nonsense!" she admonished with a laugh and a heavy French accent. "Martine is enough!"

She took a moment to study Steve a little more through her thick glasses, and gave you a knowing look.

"Pas mal, ma p'tite! Pas mal du tout!"

You gave her a desperate look, but Steve merely laughed.

"Do you speak French?" your grandmother inquired, although you thought she ought to have asked before dropping her 'not bad, kiddo! Not bad at all!' at the sight of Steve and shaming you all the way to the next century.

"Un peu," Steve shrugged. "I learnt a little during the war."

"He's fluent," you rolled your eyes at his modesty.

"Oh yes! You were turned into a… oh, how do you say 'glaçon' in English…? Icecube! Yes! Y/N mentioned that! But come in, come in! Oh, you poor things, you're all wet. Sacré pluie! It keeps on raining here in winter."

"Mamie, it rains all year long here," you joked, owning a gentle slap on your arm.

"Chut! I've prepared the second bedroom for the two of you. Get dry, I'll make you some coffee. Un café guérit tout! That's what my father used to say: a coffee heals everything."

You dropped your bags into the room, unsurprisingly discovering only one bed in the room decorated in an old-fashioned way. You took a moment to both change into dry clothes, before joining your grandmother in the living room again. You sat in the sofa while she brought you some coffee.

"Here, all hot! How was your plane?" she asked.

"The flight went well," you answered with a smile. "No trouble."

"And the trains? You arrived in Paris, right?"

"Yeah, that part was a bit of a mess."

"Ha, strikes again," your grandmother nodded. "Ought to keep the politics on their heels."

You and Steve both giggled.

"On their toes, mamie, not their heels."

"Same thing. Has to do with their feet anyway."

"When is everyone arriving?" you asked her, sipping on your warm beverage.

"Tonight, so we can all meet Steve!" she answered with a large smile towards your fake boyfriend.

"Where's Bouton?" you inquired, looking around through the old furniture that smelled like soap, salt and foam.

"Off somewhere. Bouton is our cat," your grandmother explained. "He comes and goes as he pleases, but he loves Y/N a lot. He used to follow her everywhere whenever she came."

"I heard about monsieur Le Kennec too," you said with earnest sadness. "I was sorry to hear about his passing. He was our neighbour downstairs," you explained for Steve. "He always had crazy legends and stories to tell when I was a child. Did you go to his funerals, mamie?"

"Yes. Sad thing. The funerals were yesterday. Fell down the stairs, apparently. He was an old man, after all. Still, he was in such a good shape for his age! I would never had imagined he could die like this."

"A shame. He was very nice."

"And a little crazy. But that's why we loved him. I'll miss him."

"Me too. But, how are you? How's your knee?" you asked, but the old lady brushed your question away.

"Bien, bien! I'm fine! I'm not the interesting one here! So, tell me everything! How did you start dating? Are you happy? When is the weeding?"

"Mamie!" you stopped her, but she merely laughed.

"Just a joke! But I still want to know everything! And more about you, Steve! We have the afternoon to talk, I want to know everything. After all, you'll have to face my son-in-law tonight, and he's very… protecteur?"

"Protective," you corrected. "Yeah… kind of."

"Y/N failed to mention that," Steve gave you a look, but you merely shrugged in silence.

An alarm dinged in the kitchen, and your grandmother hurried to get the cake she was baking. Meanwhile, as your grandmother refused your or Steve's help, your fake boyfriend turned to you.

"So, your father is going to murder me?"

"Possibly…" you answered, your head in your coffee.

He heaved a sigh.

"Nice…"

First, he had to face your grandmother, who seemed to be very nice, but still, the questions would be many, it was obvious. And he had never been of the talkative kind. Lying the whole afternoon promised to be a challenge he would have rather not defied.

How would the evening with your family unfold? That was another level of challenge entirely…

 ***************************************

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[mythicallore]

Cryptids Proven to be Real Give Us Hope for These 5 Others

Cryptid Monsters Proven Real

Cryptid monsters are known to terrorize and typically reported by a significant portion of a population, or at least a large enough group to confirm that it is indeed an anomalous creature. In earlier years, these animals were brutes fought by hunters and fishermen on outings, and were exaggerated to prove their machismo upon returning home. But eventually these tales became backed by hard evidence, and today we know them well.

The Giant Squid

19th century Scandinavian whalers spoke of the Kraken; an enormous squid whose appendages were found in the bellies of whales and said to be as thick as a ship mast. Fishermen continued to report attacks by these tentacled monstrosities, to the disbelief of landlubbers back home. But eventually they returned with specimens, or found their carcasses washed ashore.

In 1853, a large squid with a horny beak and large throat washed aground in Denmark, baffling local scientists. Johan Japetus Steenstrup, a professor of zoology from the University of Copenhagen, identified the creature as a giant squid.

Today, the giant squid is a scientifically accepted animal, reaching lengths up to 40 feet long. Their enormity is attributed to something called deep-sea gigantism; a tendency for deep sea invertebrates to be larger than their shallow-water relatives. But the giant squid isn’t even the biggest mollusk of its kind, that title is reserved for the colossal squid, which reaches up to 46 feet in length.

The Platypus

The platypus is a rather bizarre looking creature and if you attempted to explain it to someone before its discovery, they’d almost certainly believe you were mad. So, it’s an egg-laying mammal with the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver, the webbed-feet of an otter, and the venom of a snake? Sure.

But now the platypus is a well-known creature, lending credence to the possibility of other cryptids that seem to be an amalgam of disparate species. When it was first presented to British zoologist George Shaw, he attempted to rip off its beak, believing it had been glued on. Eventually, he took scissors to the deceased animal, before he realized it was genuine. That particular specimen can be found to this day in a British museum.

The Frilled Shark

Sea serpents have stoked the fears of sea-farers for centuries, tormenting sailors and swallowing ships whole. From Texas to Norway, reports of sea serpents sprang up in local and national publications during the 19th century, depicted as gargantuan snakes devouring unwitting mariners while they innocently roamed the sea.

Today, the frilled shark could be considered the closest animal to these horrific serpent tales, appearing much like those descriptions written in antiquity, though comparatively smaller. The frilled shark was discovered in the late 1800s by German ichthyologist Ludwig H.P. Döderlein, and later described by Samuel Garman as, “such an animal as that described is very likely to unsettle disbelief in what is popularly called the ‘sea serpent.’”

So, it’s a shark, but a frightening one at that, with 25 clusters of 300 sharp, serrated teeth, the Chlamydoselachus africana is one of those relics from the days when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. It’s also one of those deep-sea dwellers, which is part of the reason they are so rarely seen.

Cryptid Creatures With Real Potential

The Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil, a.k.a. the Leeds Devil, is one of the more popular cryptids of modernity, appearing to thousands of residents, since its first official recording throughout several New Jersey towns in 1909. Scores of people in Trenton, Woodbury and Swedesboro reported a giant winged creature flying through the night, emanating a horrible scream. But as it turns out, Native American tribes in the area had been seeing the Jersey Devil centuries before.

One of the old wives’ tales of the devil comes from a woman named Mother Leeds, who became pregnant with an unwanted 13thchild, whom she cursed. The child was born normally, but then became a horrendous monster. To this day, it resides in the Pine Barren forests, over a million acres of land preserved on the state’s coast.

Described as a cross between a bat and a horse with a long spaded tail, the Jersey Devil has terrified residents of the state, who claim to have found maimed animals and other birds after hearing its cry. Some have written it off as a large bird of prey or a certain type of crane, but others say it is a surviving Pteranodon, a pterodactyl from the Cretaceous period.

Enter the hammerhead bat, a.k.a. the Big-Lipped Bat. The hammerhead bat falls into the megabat category which are exactly what you think they are – massive bats. Hammerhead bats can be found in mangroves, swamps, and forests at lower elevations, usually in Africa. Could the Jersey Devil be an invasive, or transported, Hammerhead bat population that established a home for itself in the Garden State? Ok, so it’s not a new species, but it would validate thousands of local residents’ sightings.

The Orang Pendek

Sumatra’s apeman cryptid, the Orang Pendek is thought to possibly be distant human relative known as Homo floresiensis, sometimes referred to as the real-life hobbit.

In the Indonesian language, Orang Pendek translates to “short person,” and it is believed to be an undiscovered primate species, that could potentially be of the genus Homo. Over the years there have been a number of Orang Pendek sightings by travelers, locals, and researchers who have come in search of the cryptid or stumbled upon it by chance.

The most common characteristics confirmed by these numerous sightings depict the Orang Pendek standing between 30 and 60 inches in height, or about 2½ to 5 feet tall. These cryptids are described as being covered in golden, brown, or grey hair and are bipedal, walking erect in the same manner as humans. But what’s even more bizarre is that they are said to have human-like facial features, differing noticeably in appearance from monkeys.

The Megalodon

Not just because they’ve recently made a Hollywood sci-fi horror about it, but the chance that a Meg could exist might be better than other cryptids who call the ocean their home. First off, the Megalodon actually existed as recently as 2.6 million years ago during the Early Micoene period, to the end of the Pliocene. It was essentially like a Great White Shark, but two to three times larger. It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine a surviving species of shark with deep-sea gigantism twice the size of a Great White. In fact there are other sharks that live at significant depths, including the Goblin Shark and the aforementioned Frilled Shark.

Bigfoot

Almost every culture has its version of Bigfoot; in North America it’s Sasquatch, the Chinese have the Yeren, in Nepal it’s the Yeti, in Australia it’s the Yowie, and in just about every other region of the world you can find a regional ape-like cryptid.

So where is the hard photo and video evidence? There isn’t really a good answer to that question, as Bigfoot is probably the most elusive cryptid there is. But why would so many disparate cultures describe the same type of creature over the course of centuries?

One could say that we have a predilection to create archetypes of mythical creatures that resemble versions of ourselves. There are also a number of other primate species that inhabit the world’s jungles, including one discovered just last year. Is it so hard to believe that a more sentient humanoid branched off from the many other ancestors Homo sapiens diverged from, like an evolved, surviving ancestor of Gigantopithecus?

Bigfoot is by far the most popular cryptid while also the most divisive, so we’ll leave it to you to decide. Are you a believer?