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ask-professor-laurel · 3 years

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Shiverwood Facilities

(This is a WIP, will probably be updated fairly frequently!)

PREFACE

This blog is a headcanon blog- it is not run as canon, and everything said is my own personal headcanons. The goal of this blog is just to explore the Pokemon world and the lore in ways that canon does not, I don’t claim anything I say to be canon or superior to anybody else’s headcanons.

This blog ignores game mechanics, as they don’t apply to the more realistic approach I’m taking here. I’m operating more under a blend of manga and anime mechanics. Storylines in the games may be acknowledged, but game mechanics (level up system, IVs and EVs, etc) are not canon to this blog.

A note from the person who runs this blog: I am by no means a medical expert, or an expert in real life animals. This is all for fun, and is just my fun way of having a blog for a self-indulgent Pokemon OC. Do not take anything I see here as real-life medical or animal handling advice- I am not a professional in any way.

(I also want to note- I was inspired by the Professor Peach blog to start my own, so shoutout to them for giving me the idea!!)

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What do we do?

Shiverwood Facilities itself is dedicated both to Pokemon research and Pokemon care. Our work is primarily based on Pokemon behaviour rather than on any specific Pokemon type, with our primary work being researching into a broad spectrum of Pokemon behaviours, and the care of Pokemon sent to us for care or rehabilitation. We also act as an in-between for Pokemon that need more intensive rehabilitation we can’t offer and we can often take in Pokemon that need to be removed from situations, but who don’t have someone to take them in quite yet.

On the research side of things, I (Professor Laurel) am in charge of most aspects of it. My research is centralized on Pokemon variants, the environmental causes, and the behavioural aspects. I’m also a behaviouralist myself, with a background in that sort of research, so I’m a bit of an encyclopedia on Pokemon behaviour and the habits of various species. I’m most familiar with Dragon, Grass, and Bug type Pokemon, but I can help with pretty much any typing.

Our site is equipped to deal with Pokemon that need care or minimal rehabilitation- anything more intensive we offer to just hold onto the Pokemon in question until someone more qualified can come and pick them up. Pokemon care here covers mental wellbeing and physical health- we have several behaviouralists onsite, including myself, who can get to the root of the problem and help a Pokemon emotionally, as well as trained medical staff who can deal with anything physical, be it injuries or something chronic. Our medical facilities are equivalent to a Pokemon Centre, and we often take in injured wild Pokemon for short stays before releasing them, but we’ll also help out trainers who pass by, or anyone who needs to bring in their Pokemon for a longer stay, free of charge. Any Pokemon left with us, whether found after being abandoned or being surrendered from bad situations, will most likely be rehomed, if not taken in by someone on staff.

We offer tours of the facility, as well as tours of the local habitat. These are both guided either by myself or another staff member with a capable team, just in case. Public areas are clearly marked with signs, same with warning signs for any areas that might be dangerous, and areas closed to the public. We also host a couple of events every season that serve to raise awareness of our work, Pokemon care, Pokemon wellbeing, etc for the public.

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Who are you sending your questions to?

Professor Arthur Laurel! That’s me- you can call me Arthur if you want, I’m not big on formalities. I’ve talked about myself already, but I’m the person who will be receiving and answering all of your questions.

I have a smaller team of Pokemon from my trainer days, and all three of them are my trusted partners and some of my very best friends.

Cloudhopper - My Dragonite. She’s been with me the longest and is my partner, gifted to me as a starter as a Dratini when I was going to set out on my Gym Challenge. She’s also a certified service Pokemon, as well as a flying Ride Pokemon. Known for being very protective, usually the one to get me out of trouble, but also very sweet and loving. She does have a wicked sense of humour, though, watch out for if she feels mischievous.

Honeybite - My Appletun. He’s larger than the average Appletun, standing at over 3 feet tall, and known for being the sweetest cuddles there ever was. He’s been with me nearly as long as Cloudhopper. Honeybite’s famous for his cuddles, but don’t underestimate him for his sweet face, he’s quite the little powerhouse when he wants to be, but luckily for us he chooses peace.

Sweetbug - My Vespiquen. She was the last addition to my team, but it’s still been a good decade of having her by my side. She’s a mother hen type between myself and her Combee hive, with a fierce protective streak that has us keeping her hive closed to the public. She often offers honey as a gift to those she cares about, so you can always tell someone’s having a good day when they’ve got a little jar of honey that they didn’t get from me.

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Where are we and how can you find us?

Shiverwood is a bit of an exaggeration for a name- we’re located just north of Ballonlea, near the mountains surrounding Wyndon. We’re just north of being hot and humid, and just south of being freezing, so we have some cooler weather for most of the year, although summers can get quite hot. There are designated paths through the thick forest outside of Ballonlea that lead to us, so finding your way isn’t too difficult, but for those who don’t want to travel on foot we can also be reached through Corviknight Taxi and easily spotted from the sky on a flying service Pokemon. We don’t have any water access, the only body of water being a nearby lake, as well as no train access. Walking/riding or flight are the only ways to reach us.

We’re in this area on the standard Galar map.

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What kind of facilities do we have?

MAIN LAB - This is the largest building, it’s the main research facility and where you’ll find me if I’m not cooped up in my lab or out in the field. It also contains a smaller medical facility equipped for minor injuries for both people and Pokemon. Mostly open to the public.

LAUREL’S LAB - Within the Main Lab building. I keep it open to the public for the most part, just know that it’s a mess most of the time, because I believe in organized chaos. My team can be interacted with here if they’re in the mood for it, so if you’ve ever wanted to hug a Dragonite, now’s your chance.

POKEMON CENTER - It’s not an official Pokemon Center, but we call it one because it’s easier. It’s equipped to handle anything from massive medical emergencies to permanent and semi-permanent residents who require more care. Also equipped for human care. We often offer supervised positions to learning medical students so that they can gain experience under the watchful eyes of our doctors. Some of it is open to the public, but the rooms are restricted to trainer and friends and family only, and surgery rooms are completely off limits.

ZEN AREA - This is a combination of a building and a bigger outdoor area. This is where the behaviouralists care for Pokemon’s mental wellbeing- think of it like therapy for Pokemon. The outdoor area is open to the public, but inside the building only the entrance is accessible. This is because inside is where Pokemon who may be volatile or aggressive are cared for, to prevent them from escaping, or harming other patients. We call it the Zen Area because it can be very soothing, patient or not.

CONTAINMENT - Where we hold the Pokemon we’re temporarily holding for someone to come collect. This area is completely closed off to the public due to the usually very aggressive or unpredictable nature of the Pokemon who stay there. This area is meant for temporary stays- it’s a sizeable enough area of the woods right at the base of the mountain, and there’s a pond in there that’s surprisingly deep. This area can handle a wide variety of Pokemon, temporarily, but it can’t handle every single species. In those cases, we relocate them to another facility as quickly as possible.

GREENHOUSES - These are the warmest places in the facility, mostly inhabited by Grass Types, but also home to quite a few Bug Types. Open to the public and plants are available for purchase, with a wide range from leafy greens to berry saplings. The Pokemon here are tamed, and can be adopted. There is one that’s closed off to the public due to the Combee hive in there, but the honey can be bought!

TRAINING FIELD - Most of us are trainers, so we have a standard battlefield set up for battling! It isn’t equipped for Dynamaxing or Gigantamaxing, but that isn’t a worry since we don’t have the means to do so in this area. Trainers are welcome to use the field for practice, and to see if any staff would like to battle with them. I’m usually up for a good battle unless I’m busy (or recovering from something), and it’s great fun to spectate during your breaks!

MIRROR LAKE - Named after the Giant’s Mirror, Mirror Lake hosts numerous Water Types that prefer the colder waters. We have a Lapras who lives there and she’s very friendly, though she’s never been captured and we don’t allow the public to ride on her. She picks and chooses on the staff who she’ll allow to ride on her back and if you try to force it, she throws you into the water. We have other trained ride Pokemon for water rides, and the shallows can be nice to dip your feet in during the hotter summer, though the water never gets above chilly temperatures.

SHIVERWOOD FOREST - Likely named during the colder winter, Shiverwood is the forest we’re built on the edge of. It’s technically still the Glimwood Tangle, but we have stronger wild Pokemon around, as well as some other species you won’t find south of Ballonlea. There are trail tours, but we generally advise not wandering into the dense forest, as it’s very easy to get lost. You’ll often be able to see the wild Sylveon and Umbreon packs, as well as some Deerling and Sawsbuck herds, lots of Impidimps and a few Morgrems and Grimmsnarls, and plenty of Zubats. If you’re lucky, you might spot a Trevenant!

MOUNTAIN TRAILS - We have several mountain trails to hike on if you don’t mind the chillier weather up there. Most of the caves have danger signs posted in front of them and we often have staff posted near them, but several caves are open and free to explore! We have a Gigalith who lives deep in the caves who comes out every once in a while and is a real sight to behold, and higher up the mountain for more experienced climbers, you may get to see a very friendly Froslass. Other than that you can expect to find Geodudes, Gravellers and Golems, more Zubats, Roggenrolas and Boldores, and most common Rock Types. If you’re very lucky in the winter, and if you’re patient and brave enough to climb up to see the Froslass, you might just see an Aurorus if you wait around long enough. She’s very elusive, but breathtaking to see. Just don’t get on the wrong side of any Abomasnow or Beartics you see up there- keep to the trails and don’t go without staff.

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You said events?

I did! We host a couple of events every season, raising awareness for our work and for Pokemon in need to the public. The events we host are all free and are open for everyone, and we always put out plenty of notice and signs so everyone knows!

SPRING

Shiverwood Trek - Every year, early in the spring, we put on the annual hike where everyone who shows up early in the morning joins us for a hike through the forest! We do Pokemonspotting throughout, and this is usually the time where you get to interact with a lot of wild Pokemon and see the sights that Shiverwood has to offer. This is also the only event where we go off the trails- since the foliage won’t have fully come in, it’s much easier to get through, so we always explore “new” (we explore before taking random people in for safety reasons) areas. Afterwards, there’s a lunch and then we offer the usual guided tours. I usually lead this one!

Wake-Up Call - A lot of Pokemon come out of hibernation in the spring, and after sleeping for so long, they’re quite hungry! Come on down and make up baskets of food grown here in the Greenhouses, and join us in going through the forest and setting baskets around for anyone who might need it. You’ll often get to see sleepy Pokemon stumbling around, and let me tell you, you haven’t lived till you’ve seen a sleepy Greedent fall asleep eating the basket it found.

SUMMER

Summer Barbecue Bash!! - Just what it says it is! It’s a massive barbecue party we hold from early afternoon to late into the night every summer. We team up with Kabu and other Fire Type experts to bring in Fire Types to help with the cooking, as well as putting on shows of them displaying their talents and powers. It’s a lot of fun, just remember to bring sunscreen!

Scavenger Hunt - This one’s more meant for the younger ones, but we host a big scavenger hunt in the easy forest trails and the easy mountain trails for people to complete! Everybody gets a prize for finishing, but first free to finish get a bigger prize just as a bit of incentive. This usually brings out the families, a lot like the barbecue bash, and is a lot of fun to set up and help out with. Staff get to be wonderfully cryptic and unhelpful (unless it’s with the little ones- we’re a bit more helpful there) and it’s good to get out into the sun for a bit. We hold this one a couple times throughout the summer.

FALL

Fall Forage - As fall comes in, a lot of local plant life starts to wither for the colder weather. Right at the beginning, we lead people around for foraging, and anything they find they can choose to donate to us or take home for free. There’s a lot of Pokemonspotting to be had, a lot of exploring, and at the end of the day we take some of what we’ve found and we make a big community pot of soup! That’s become a tradition for the forage over the years, and it’s probably my favourite part after spending the whole day gathering plants in the chilly weather.

Sawsbuck Sendoff - Every year in the fall, the Sawsbuck and Deerling herds that live in the area migrate towards the mountains for the winter. They come through the area in big herds, and this lasts usually 2 - 3 days. This started off as something unofficial, but the popularity of it led to us advertising it as a sendoff, where we all gather and watch the Sawsbuck and Deerling herds migrate. You can also help clearing their way with us if you want, it’s a volunteer operation and we repay you with food, but you basically just help us clear the way and set up food and water stations, plus you might see some early groups come through! Can’t go up to the herds for safety reasons, but watching them is quite beautiful, and very rewarding to see your hard work pay off when they eat the food you set out for them.

WINTER

Into the Unknown - Named a bit dramatically, because we definitely know where we’re going, but winter’s event is cave exploring! This is the only time of year we open up some of the more restricted caves, and we take people deep into the caves to explore. We check them all out in advance, of course, to ensure safety, but this is the one and only opportunity a year to get into some of these caves and explore deeper into the mountain. This is another one I tend to lead, and it’s great fun, but it’s also got a lot of hands on deck and on standby just in case. A lot of prep goes into this one and honestly, it’s probably my favourite event to host! There’s hidden waterfalls, glittering caves, and this is the only way you’ll see some Pokemon like Noibats, Noiverns, and some elusive Ghost and Dark Types.

Winter Harvest - We do this one a few times throughout the winter. Winter Harvest is when we take what we’ve been growing in the Greenhouses and the public can come help us make food packages that we donate to Pokemon shelters, and to families in need. This one usually has a big turnout and it’s a great environment all around; just people helping each other and drinking hot chocolate. I participate every year, and help with the deliveries along with staff and volunteers.

Besides those, we also host regular adoption events. People can come through anytime to see if they’d like to adopt any of the Pokemon we hold here, though we do have fairs on a regular basis to promote the facility’s adoption services.

You can also find some courses here- we offer them to anybody looking to learn, no age limit (just a minimum; 16), but they can be very helpful when applying for certain lines of work. I also offer referrals and letters of recommendation as a professor, and the staff are also qualified to do the same as medical experts and behaviouralists.

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FAQ

Q: What kind of questions can I ask?

A: Anything and everything! I’ll always answer to the best of my ability, be it behaviour, medical, or just you wanting my thoughts on a certain species or concept. I’ll always be sure to be clear when my answers are uncertain, theoretical, or if I just don’t know. But anything you want to ask, ask away!

Q: Can I come to you for medical advice?

A: Within the Pokemon world? Absolutely! If you’re looking for real-life medical advice from the author of this blog, who is an arts student who works part-time retail, you are not going to find anything helpful!

Q: Why is my question taking a while to get answered?

A: I (both myself and Arthur) get very busy! I check this blog whenever I can, but I don’t always answer right away because my answers require time for me to sit down and think it out. I answer every ask I receive (unless it’s really weirdly personal or if there’s clearly something really bad about it- then it’ll be deleted) and I do so as quickly as I can, but I pride myself on quality answers, so it might take me a bit!

Q: Do you hand out starter Pokemon?

A: Not in the way you think! We do adopt Pokemon out, but we’re not like, say Professor Oak. Adopting a Pokemon out here, even to a child, involves a screening process of the adopter (anyone over 18 and if younger than 18, their legal guardian(s)), and a lot of paperwork. We have to make sure everything is going to work out, after all! But we don’t just hand a new trainer a Pokemon, no.

Q: Can I leave my Pokemon there for a short while?

A: Absolutely! We don’t have a designated daycare area, but we will ensure your Pokemon gets the best care and stays in the area best suited to them. Feel free to leave them with us, but we do ask that it not be long, so try to come get them within 10 days unless you give us notice it will be a longer period. While you’re away, your Pokemon will be allowed to roam (with supervision) in any area that best suits it, and I’ll personally assure you that staff are more than happy to keep our Pokemon guests company, haha :)

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girlsluvbot · 5 years

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MATCHMAKER pt.1

pairing: roseanne park × fem! reader

genre: fluff, angst

about:

matchmaker /ˈmatʃmeɪkə/

noun

a person who arranges marriages or initiates romantic relationships between others.

"an enthusiastic matchmaker who continually tried to pair off the difficult bachelor with unattached ladies"

a/n: i'm back!!! hehe this goddamn thing took so long to write, i both despise and adore it with every fibre of my being. enjoy my blood, sweat and tears in the form of a fic.

You loved your job. Very few people are lucky enough to be able to relate to that statement, and you were thankfully one of them. Hell, not only did you love your job, you were extremely good at it.

Since you were a little kid, writing nas always been your biggest passion. Wether it was writing short stories, poems or essays about the french revolution, you were always happy when you were able to put your feelings and thoughts onto paper. This was the main reason why you became the manager of your local newspaper during middle school, high school and eventually even university.

You've won multiple writing contests and even people who had no idea what your name was knew one thing about you: you were an amazing writer.

Years of practice, your impeccable set of skills and a recommendation letter from your university professor secured you a job at Vogue almost immediately. After all this hard work, you finally achieved everything you were looking for. You were truly happy.

Until this very moment.

"Well, I don't know," the woman sitting in front of you made a disgusted grimace, "it just lacks any emotion whatsoever. I've quite literally never read something so stiff and akward."

And here they were. The first words of criticism you have ever recieved. You were so used to everyone praising your work, you didn't know how to react or respond.

Three months ago, you would have never gotten into a similar situation: simply because there was nothing about your work to critize. But a lot has changed in the past few weeks, and not exactly in the good kind of way.

When you first joined Vogue, you were the head editor and journalist of the spread dedicated almost entirely to interviews. Thats what you did, talked to celebrities and wrote about them. And that's what you were good at, almost too good.

Just a year after working in the magazine you got promoted. You were still the head editor, but now of a completely different part of the journal: one dedicated to a single topic. Love. This was bad news, very bad news.

Why, you ask? The reason was fairly simple but no less embarrassing. Even as the head editor of a spread all about love, you've never experienced it yourself. In other words, you've never been in love. And how are you supposed to write about something you know nothing about?

Your boss looks at you and shakes her head. She reaches for the stack of papers on the table in front of her and starts reading, "For example; 'His lips brushed against mine. They were soft. The kiss was short but sweet. I loved it.' What the actual heck? I kiss my cat more passionately than this." she took off her glasses and started massaging the crook of her nose.

"Listen, Y/N, I've read your previous pieces and they were simply wonderful. But this? I don't even know what else to say without hurting your feelings."

"I'm so sorry. I know, it's just that I dont have much experience in said area." you don't finish the sentence, hoping she somehow gets the memo. She doesn't.

"What area?"

"Love. I dont have much experience with love." you blurt out the words that have been on your mind nonstop since the day of your promotion.

"Oh, you poor thing" she leans back in her chair, her eyes scanning your every move, "Isn't that unfortunate."

You nod your head slowly, trying not to get offended at her words full of pity.

"How are you supposed to write romance stories then? This won't work." the woman grabs a post-it note

"Are," your voice cracks in the middle of the sentence, "Are you firing me?"

"Are you crazy? Of course I'm not," she hands you the piece of paper with a phone number, "We just have to improvise for the time being. Do you know Roseanne Park? She's the manager of our Matchmaker spread. You can be her assistant for the next few months, help her around, learn a thing or two. Hopefully your writing wont be so...bland after."

To be completely honest, you didn't handle changes well. Maybe that's why you were standing in front of your new, and hopefully temporary, bosses office, trying to build up the courage to knock on her door.

One of the reasons why you were so nervous was that Roseanne Park, the manager of the Vogue Matchmaker was insanely attractive. Admittedly, you did some online stalking the night before- okay, a lot of it. Here's the thing; you were a planner. Whether it came to your career, writing or even relationships, you liked to beprepared.

That's why after a few hours spent on the internet, you knew everything. The name of her sister (Alice Park), if the had a pet (yes, a fish named Joohwangie) and who her favorite band was (The 1975).

You weren't usually like this, so head over heels for a girl you haven't even met. But your writing, the reason you were here in the first place, didn't usually suck so after all, some things really do change easily.

Just as you reached for the dark wooden door in front of you, it opened before your hand could even touch it's sleek surface.

"Oh!" the tall woman stopped in her tracks. Thanks to your thorough internet digging, you instantly recognized her. Roseanne Park. Your new boss. A 'matchmaker' if you will.

"You must be Y/N! I've heard that you're going to be my assistant for a bit." your cheeks heated up for no apparent reason. Did she know the reason why you got transferred here so quickly? Every molecule in your body wished and prayed to every possible god out there that she didn't.

"Yeah, that's me!" you finally composed yourself enough to speak, but that didn't mean your voice didn't sound like one of a twelve year old boy going through puberty- high pitched and squeaky.

You examined her face more in depth, and realized quite a few things:

She was somehow even prettier in real life. How? you had no idea. Some people just really won the genetics lottery, you thought.

Her hair was red. Like undeniably, undoubtedly red. In all of the pictures you found yesterday it was either brown or black, so this change caught you off guard. You couldn't complain though, because this girl looked like a hotter version of Ariel with a much better sense in fashion (and music).

"Have you been standing out here for too long?"

"Oh no, I just arrived." lying has never been so easy.

"Great! I'm gonna go downstairs to grab a package but you can look around the office while I'm gone," she opened the door a bit to let you walk in.

You did as she told you and entered the room. The door closed behind you without you noticing, the only thing you could focus on was this girl's office. It looked just like you would imagine heaven to look like- full of light, white furniture and expensive looking leather couches.

There were pictures everywhere: a dozen of four young girls (one of them being Roseanne), a few more of her with famous celebrities and one of a familiar looking face- her sister.

You carefully walked towards the table in the middle of the room, not wanting to damage anything. You noticed quite a bit of unexpected clutter, and above everything a print of the brand new Vogue issue. A woman on the cover flashed you a beautiful smile as you picked it up. The headline stated: Kim Jisoo talks acting, NYFW and love.

You flipped the glossy magazine pages to find the spread dedicated to said interview and noticed just what you were looking for: the author of the article. The credits at the bottom of the page revealed a nice surprise- Author; Roseanne Park.

"Well what do you think? Is it a good article?" your soul almost left your body when you realized who was standing next to you. You quickly put the magazine down, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to touch your stuff. I just saw the cover and..."

"Oh my gosh, are you kidding? That's completely okay, I don't mind." she pointed to the journal, "That interview is actually one of the favorite pieces I ever wrote, and not just because it's about Jisoo. Plus, my friend took the pictures, so it was extra fun." She opened the spread again and pointed to a name credited right next to hers, Photographer; Lalisa Manoban.

"Oh wow. I've seen her pictures before, they're really good. I with I could take photos like that. Seriously."

Here's one thing to note: when you're nervous, you ramble. Like a lot. Some people would say its better than staying silent, but let's be honest- it's like stepping into a puddle instead of mud. Not a disaster, but there's still plenty to complain about.

Thankfully, Roseanne only giggled, "I know exactly what you mean. I hope you'll get to work with her someday."

You both stared at the magazine spread for a second before Roseanne broke the silence.

"But now, let's get to bussines. Sit down please, this might take a while," she pointed tkwards one of the leather couches you noticed earlier and took a seat at the other side of the table.

"So, as you probably already know, my name is Roseanne Park. As a manager of Matchmaker, my job is to read these letters," she grabben a handful of papers for emphasis, "and respond to them, give advixe basically. The title 'Matchmaker' comes from the fact that the majority of the letters talk about love. Any questions so far?"

When you shook your head no, she continued, "As my assistant, your job is fairly simple. You're going to sort and read through the hundreds of letters I recieve weekly and pick the most interesting ones for me to feature. And occasionally, you might accompany me to a few interviews. Sounds good?"

You slowly nodded, processing all the new information. Letters, answers, interviews and a hot boss. That doesn't sound so bad.

"Great. So Y/N," she suddenly stood up, "Would you mind going with me to Subway? I'm starving."

By the time you were finished with lunch, you had a new point to add to your list of realizations about your new boss:

She loves food, and by loves I mean LOVES.

The moment you arrived at the restaurant, food was the only thing she would talk about. She told you about what she had for dinner and breakfast, what kind of snacks she hid in the office and what kind of salad she was getting alongside a baguette.

After she actually managed to get a bit of calories into her system (thanks to a foot-long chicken turkey sandwich) the conversation finally got more interesting.

Don't get me wrong, you could listen to this girl talk for hours, no matter the topic. But after listening to a thirty minute long monologue about why pineapple pizza is the best thing ever invented, even you have reached your limit.

"So," you start, in an effort to break the ice, "how long have you been working at Vogue?"

She squints at the toast in front of her, trying to remember, "About five years? Yeah, it's gonna be five years in May."

"Oh wow, that's impressive."

She tilts her head, "Is it? I mean, when you work as often as I do, time just goes by. I don't even remember the last time I went out with my friends to discuss something that wasn't work related."

You pout, regretting the choice to ask her about work.

"But at the same time, I love what I do so I can't really complain. What about you though? Why did you decide to become a journalist?"

"Oh, I started just a year ago. And I studied literature, so I guess becoming a journalist made sense."

"Why did you study literature then? There's so many other better paying jobs out there."

"I don't think anyone works in such a field for money, that's for sure," you try to lighten the atmosphere, "Well, my mom wanted to become a writer, but she got pregnant before she could finish her book and she's been pretty much busy ever since. I guess her love for books kind of rubbed off on me."

Roseanne nods, to let you know she's listening. "I'm glad you and your mom have such an important aspect of your lives in common. My mother wanted me to become a lawyer, I doubt she's ever read even a single fiction book in her entire life."

"What does she think about your job now?"

Her lips tighten and she crosses her arms. "I don't know. I haven't talked to her since," her eyes seem empty, their signature spark gone. You can tell you struck a nerve. "I haven't talked to her since I moved out."

"Well, I'm sure that she's proud of you," you can't help but add.

Rosie lets out a dry laugh, "You don't know my mother then," she slowly pushes her plate away, "I think I'm full so I'm gonna head back to the office."

Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut. You learned this the hard way.

You head back after your lunch break ends, alone. Even though Roseanne walked you through everything she expects you to help around with, you know that your job doesn't start and end with sorting through letters.

You softly knock on the office door before heading in. She's already sitting there, behind her desk. Without looking up from her laptop, she scoffs, "You're late."

"It's just five minutes," you shrug, not taking her tone seriously. Finally, she raises her sight to meet yours. Even without her saying anything, you understand. Do not play around with fire.

You mumble an apology and quickly run to the small hallway at the other side of the room which leads to your own (significantly smaller) office.

"What makes you think I'm done?" Turning around, you notice that her eyes are piercing through your back. Unsure of what she expects you to do, you walk back in front of her.

"While you were out there doing god knows what for two hours," you resist the urge to roll your eyes, "I already did your job and sorted through the letters. You're welcome."

She walks around the table and pushes a thick stack of papers against your chest, "That means you'll be doing my job and write replies to them. Can you handle that?"

You try not to show her how terrified you are. You? Giving relationship advice? Sounds like a recipe for a royal disaster. Instead, you rise your chin and smile, "Yes ma'am."

She visibly winces at the formal title, but still nods and returns to her seat. You take this as a sign to head back to your spot and do your job. Well, her job for now.

You sit down calmly and shuffle through the papers, trying not to look too freaked out. What the heck are you going to do now?

A quick peek at your boss reveals that she's either busy with work or just flat out ignoring you.

Trying to remain collected, you pick out the top letter from the pile. The first paragraph reads:

Hi Rosie! I'm a huge fan of your Matchmaker spread :) I never thought I'd be the one writing you a message but here we are hahaha. (Let's hope this gets featured!)

You roll your eyes but continue reading,

Me and my boyfriend have been dating for just about two months and I would describe our relationship as 'lowkey'. We first met at a bar a last year but we surprisingly didn't immediately hit it off.

With a raised eyebrow you skip over a page full of sappy descriptions and relationship stories, before getting to the end of the letter.

So what should I do? He's really sweet but I'm not sure if I'm ready to meet his family just yet.... please help! Love, Courtney.

You fold the paper back to it's original state with a quiet gulp. What on earth did you get yourself into?

#blackpink #blackpink scenarios #park chaeyoung #rosé #rosé fluff #rosé angst #rosé smut #rosé x reader #girlfriend rosé #blackpink rosé #blackpink rose #rose angst #rose fluff #blckpink fluff #blackpink angst #blackpink smut #roseanne park #rosé park

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sailing-elitsha · 3 years

Text

Carrebeean, Here we are!!!

As I said before: 5783 nautical miles we sailed towards this little paradise where we are still on quarantine anchorage. Waiting on the PCR result is always making me a bit nervous, especially this time. If we are tested negative, we have the chance here in Grenada to get the AstraZeneca vaccines and we will travel much freer than we do now.

But no boredom: a little leak in the hand wash basin, try to clean the mud off ELITSHA, friends and family to speak to, small other repairs, taking the lead in UBUNTU again since we have full and unlimited internet on board, planning and booking Zora’s and Su’s tickets towards us, baking bread again and of course swimming and snorkelling.

But let me talk first a little bit about Suriname and our short sail to Grenada. Suriname was for a long time a Dutch colony. Since 1975, this country is the smallest independent state in South America. The previous president unfortunately abused his power and all the resources the beautiful country has, for example gold, aluminium, oil, bananas got exported unwisely and the profit went into the presidents and his friend’s pockets. That is what Surinamers were telling us. In the meantime, there is a new president, but there is Corona as well. The ECO tourism, Suriname was good and well known for, stands still and the country is in a bad state and shape. At the banks of the Suriname river, entering Suriname, you see big and then I mean really big villas. According to the locals they belong to friends of the former president and to drug lords. A very familiar story to us South Africans. The Netherlands is still involved and helps where they can, but a few days after we left Suriname they closed the country: total lockdown. Just above 500 000 people live in Suriname and most of them in and close to Paramaribo. People are currently getting infected and dying in huge numbers from Corona: not enough hospital beds, not enough vaccinations, not enough oxygen……… not enough doctors and nurses. Their rainy season is terrible this year due to the ELNino effect and its really tuff for the poor population. After a good week in the Marina and a road trip through the rural part of the country to a big dam where people are searching for gold, visiting banana plantations, visiting Paramaribo with a lot of rain we said goodbye to the populated part of Suriname together with Elitsha and we sailed into the Commewijne river. This was so romantic and special. The jaguars, caiman and anacondas were too scared of us, hahahahha. We did not see them, but we heard and enjoyed the voices of the jungle, saw and heard millions of birds, parrots and all kind of other noises. It was magical. Three days we were totally one with nature, did not see any human being, together with Elitsha.

Coming back from Commewijne river was coming back to happy reggae life. Looking for a spot ashore to get our dingy on board for the trip to Grenada, a fisher of New Amsterdam waved us to come next to his fisher boat. Loud reggae music and a very friendly crew invited us for coffee, tea and biscuits……….and dagga and rum………..Unfortunately, we had to say thank you no (dagga and rum out of question, of course). The threat of getting infected just before we go back to sea again for a couple of days made us kindly refusing the offer. Even though we chatted a while with them and they helped us to get the dingy motor on board. And that’s how Surinamers are, chatty, always happy to assist and help, curious and interested about who you are. As I mentioned before people told us in advanced, that coming to South or Central America or the Caribbean with a South African flag would ask for problems. That was one of the reasons why we registered Elitsha in Germany. But we always say that we are from Cape Town, we don’t hide that and up to now we had no bad experiences. People are impressed that we come from that far to visit their small country and want to know if we like it. They loved the fact that we speak Dutch, because Dutch is still the first language in Suriname. Anyway, after chatting to the fishermen, we tied everything nicely, slept a short night and left New Amsterdam and Suriname at 6 am on the 25th of May.

Aware of the thread of Venezuelan pirates (Surinamers and NOON site (cruiser website) informed us about it), we sailed at a safe distance from the coast. Even though we choose to pass trough the Galleon’s passage between Trinidad and Tobago, but we choose to pass it close to the Tobago side, away of the Venezuelan coast. On our way we saw a fair number of oil platforms, huge ones, with huge flames, we could see from far. This was also a bit spooky. We had 35 to 40 knots of wind and a good speed to leave the oil area and the Galleon’s passage behind us. I think, pirates do not like rain. We had tons of rain and no pirates though……..although: Dick told me later, that 40 miles out of both coasts, the Grenadian and the Tobagonian, a fast open boat with 3 men in it sped past us. We think they were checking us out, how rich we are. The stretch between Tobago and Grenada apparently is also declared as an unsafe area. That is what we heard later when we arrived in Grenada. Our neigor, Steve, always has a gun with him. Happily, with enough wind and a strong currant we passed Tobago at 4:30 in the morning and arrived safely in Grenada at 17:00 on the 28th of May.

Close to the harbour at the quarantine anchorage we spoke to our South African friends of the Aventura, a young couple with 2 dogs and his parents on their way to emigrate to Panama. We saw them in every harbour we visited up to now. They left Suriname a few days earlier then we did. They craved for blue water and thought jaguar, caiman and anaconda would perhaps love their dogs too much. In any way, nice to see them again. They explained the Grenadian procedures to us and on Saturday we went ashore to register with the health department. We inhaled the positive and relaxed Grenadian vibe immediately: steel drum music from the taverns, people on the streets, Corona is almost dealt with.

And in the meantime, 1 week in St George, we are declared negative and are allowed to explore the island. Paul, a registered tour guide grabbed his chance. Slandering around the harbour he almost forced us to have a tour with him. The cruise ships are missed by restaurants, tour guides…not by us. Paul told us, that they on “good” days had 6000 tourists from cruise ships ashore. Dick and I were quite happy to escape these “good“ days. Pity for Paul, that’s why we went with him on a long trip through St. George at noon and let him earn some ECDs. Hot and up and down, I was exhausted at the end. We didn’t walk much for the last 2 months at least..

Grenada is the spice island: nutmeg, gloves, cinnamon, and other spices grow here. They have a golden waterfall and many more attractions. We will explore them all and share with you. For now, we experienced the spicy side of the island by drinking shandies with nutmeg, eating ice cream with nutmeg and gloves and some other weird things you would think its really ugg, but in reality it’s absolutely amazing.

We are registered for Astra Zeneca vaccination and yes, we are in a marina with a nice club house and WIFI and not on anchorage or at a mooring buoy. For the first time in almost 3 months, I am able to go and stay where I want on my own. For somebody like me, who likes her independence, its heaven. Opposite of our little paradise, there is another marina, posh and expensive and not really our style. Elitsha, would feel a bit lonely between all the posh-million dollar-yachts. I don’t know, if I mentioned before, that a lot of other cruisers, have fancy and well-equipped boats with freezers, bread baking automates, washing machine, water cooker……. you name it. Our only luxury is a fridge, a BBQ and a good stove with oven, cosy and exactly what we need no more and no less. Anyway, Elitsha got a good clean-up. Sticky, a local guy, Dick and I made her looking pretty again. The water of the Suriname river was dirty through mud and chemicals, they use for the gold extraction industry, we learned. And this was very difficult to get off the hull-0987654Qasdfuiop[.

My home office is in the marina’s clubhouse, with more than brilliant views! Unfortunately, UBUNTU for Africa’s operations manager, who took over financials and admin of the NGO from me, resigned a few days ago. That’s why I am back on the job and working every day for an hour or 3. Alene Edson Smith, local social worker, who was already involved in the family program and took over my job at Kronendal Primary, is doing the hands-on jobs, where you have to be involved personally onsite, like team meetings, meetings with principals etc. For now, we won’t have stretches which will take more than 3 days and we have internet and WIFI. No problem to work though. I love my work as much as I love cruising. To combine both is absolutely great.

For the rest the NGO is in good hands, with our after-care team, Barbara Heye, who is mentor to a single mother with 3 kids. And as I mentioned before Alene Edson Smith, well known in the valley through her involvement through her own NGO, Serenity, took over the reins at Kronendal Primary from me and is mentor to 5 families in our NGO. We share the lead of UBUNTU for Africa. What I can do, I will do, where personal presence is needed, Alene will be hands on. She will lead the sound and music studio, which will release their first CD soon. Lelo managed to get 2 new volunteers into this project, for marimba and music production. Ricardo will remain taking the lead on Silikamva side and Alene will have a firm look and hand on the project.

After care is just running. Andiswa and her team also get support from Alene. But this team of 5 is just doing what they can do best: love our children and supervise, support, teach them and make sure that they are safe.

Questions for the kids:

1. How many kilometres did we sail from Cape Town to Grenada?

2. Which language do the people speak in Suriname?

3. What kind of currency do we used in Suriname and which one in Grenada?

4. Please explain, what the modern pirates of the Caribbean are up to.

5. What is the name of the small entrance to the Caribbean between Trinidad and Tobago?

Sponsor sail:

For the ones who want to take part in our sponsor sail: We have sailed 1812 nautical miles. You can donate a cent, a Rand, a Euro or whatever per nautical mile. We are sailing for these amazing schools: every nautical mile and each Rand counts. To UBUNTU for Africa,German NGO.

The money will go to the UBUNTU for Africa projects: after care at Hout Bay Primary School and the music project at Silikamva High School. This organisation I started 12 years ago (www.ubuntuforafrica.com) Of course, you will receive a tax certificate.

Ubuntu for Africa-Kinder-, Jugend und Familienhilfe in Südafrika

Volksbank Boenen e G

IBAN: DE91 4106 2215 0054 5799 01

For South Africans and others, who want to donate directly to South Africa (also with tax certificate): please donate to Kronendal Primary School (www.kronendalprimary.com). I worked for 10 years at Kronendal Primary as a school counsellor. This school struggles financially due to the consequences of the Covid Pandemic and deserves our support.

KRONENDAL PRIMARY SCHOOL trading as CUIM (“the account holder”) holds the following account with

First National Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited (“FNB”): Account Type BUSINESS ACCOUNT

Account Number 53452884035

Branch Code 204009

Branch Name HOUT BAY 345

Swift Code FIRNZAJJ

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notebooknebula · 4 years

Video

youtube

Brad Smotherman on Flipping Real Estate

https://www.jayconner.com/brad-smotherman-on-flipping-real-estate/

Brad Smotherman manages a 7 figure flipping business, and hold notes across Middle Tennessee. We invest in multiple states, and have houses from Michigan to Georgia right now.

Real Estate Cashflow Conference: https://www.jayconner.com/learnrealestate/

Free Webinar: https://www.jayconner.com/training/wtgtmn-webinar-rev2-podcast/?oprid=&ref=42135

Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $64,000 per deal.

The Private Money Academy http://www.JayConner.com/Trial

———————————————————————-

Jay Conner (00:01): Well, hello there! And welcome to another exciting episode of Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner. I’m Jay Conner, your host of the show. Also known as The Private Money Authority. And if you’re brand new to the show, here on this show, we talk about all things that relate to real estate investing. We talk about investing in single family houses, commercial projects, small apartments, self storage, land deals, notes. And we also talk about how to get funding for those deals creatively and with private money. Now, if you’re brand new to this show, I’m known as The Private Money Authority, because from 2003 to 2009, I relied on the local banks and mortgage companies to fund my deals. But then I got cut off with no notice in 2009, but it was one of the biggest blessing in disguise. I was introduced to this wonderful world of private money.

Jay Conner (01:02): Since that time I’ve never missed out on a deal. I’ve rehabbed over 400 houses. Done even more deals creatively. And the reason I’ve never missed out on a deal since 2009 is because I got the cash ready to buy those all cash deals. And as we know, most of the sellers require all the money. So I’ve got a brand new free gift for everybody that’s tuning here on the show. And that is, I just launched The Private Money Academy. Which is a monthly membership where we actually have two live zoom conference a month with yes, yours truly me. For at least an hour to an hour and a half answering all your real estate investing questions. Getting you plugged into private money and funding for your deals. And we also have a hot seat session where we will take one of the members of the Academy, put you in the hot seat, analyze your business, and create a plan to take you and your business to the next level.

Jay Conner (01:57): So I have a free gift for everybody tuning in, and that is four weeks absolute free access to The Private Money Academy. And you get to come on the next two live shows for the Academy membership. Absolutely for free! You can take advantage of that and learn all about it after the show today at http://www.JayConner.com/Trial that’s http://JayConner.com/Trial Be sure and check that out, come on in to the membership for free, and I’ll see you on the inside of those live zoom conference coaching calls.

Jay Conner (02:41): Well, as you know, if you’ve been tuning in to Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner, we have amazing guests and experts here on the show. And today is no exception. Before I bring my special guest out of the green room and here to the forefront. Let me tell you just a little bit about him. Well, my guest today is a real estate investor and a mentor. And he owns and manages a seven figure per year flipping business. So my guest and I, we’ve got a lot in common. Well, his passion is being a top house flipper in the nation. And his other passion is also helping other newer investors build a sustainable real estate investing company. Well, with 11 years, he started back in 2010 on the real estate investing side. With 11 years in the real estate investing business, he’s invested in over 15 States. And yes, today on today’s show, we’re going to be talking about how do you do this business remotely and totally virtually.

Jay Conner (03:41): He also has houses all the way from Michigan to Georgia. And today he has completed over 550 transactions today. Yes, he knows what he’s talking about from experience. In addition to that, he focuses on buying single family flips creatively. Using both subject to the existing note strategy, and he buys a lot with owner financing. In fact, he is known as the Owner Finance Guy. He also uses the strategy of selling retail or with owner financing, with creating wrap around notes. I know you’ve heard that terminology. Wrapping around a note. And if that’s sort of a new term to you or an old term, and you don’t know what it means, we’re going to talk about that on today’s show as well and how you can utilize that strategy as well.

Jay Conner (04:34): Well, he is also the host of one of the top 100 business podcasts in the nation. And the name of his podcast is Investor Creator. And there on the podcast, he teaches new and seasoned real estate investors. How to take their house flipping business to a multiple six or even seven figure income without sacrificing freedom. After all, what do we want in this real estate investing world is, wealth and freedom. And my guest today is an expert in that area. My guest lives in Nashville, Tennessee. And with that, welcome to the show, my friend and expert, Mr. Brad Smotherman! Brad, welcome to the show!

Brad Smotherman (05:18): Jay, I appreciate you having me on. I have a feeling we’re going to have so much fun with this. I’m just going to have to take a nap after we get done.

Jay Conner (05:24): Yes, you are! My lands! Brad, I’m so excited to have you on. And I know just by your intro, your bio and the short period of time that we’ve been around each other, we’ve got a lot in common. In fact, my best guess, one of your core values, and one of your secrets to success is having the mindset and the framework of putting other people first, having their interests ahead of your interest. Would you agree with that?

Brad Smotherman (05:52): Hundred percent! A hundred percent!

Jay Conner (05:54): So Brad, first of all, you look entirely too young to be this successful, but anyway, I’ll go beyond that statement pretty quickly. You’re from Nashville, Tennessee. You grow up in Nashville?

Brad Smotherman (06:06): I did. Born and raised.

Jay Conner (06:08): You’re sing country?

Brad Smotherman (06:10): No. I don’t see anything. And that’s a good thing for everybody that would have to listen. So for the people that know how to sing it I’ll just listen politely like everyone else.

Jay Conner (06:20): But now you enjoy going to the Grand Ole Opry, right?

Brad Smotherman (06:22): Oh, certainly! And like I was telling you guys before I’m out taking my grandmother to see Merle Haggard there twice, and we saw George Jones once and just had a great time. So, absolutely!

Jay Conner (06:33): That’s awesome. Well, I’m excited to have you here on the show today. Brad, because you’re known as the owner financed guy. You’re an expert in the area of buying houses on terms controlling them creatively or whatever. So first of all, if you would explain to the audience, what is your business model look like?

Brad Smotherman (06:59): Well, I think my business model is a little bit different than most because everybody out there, especially the past five or six years, what they wanted to do is, you know, they wanted to wholesale something. They wanted to fix something and flip it. And you know, the past 10 years we’ve had an explosion of these fix and flip TV shows. And frankly, Jay, those shows just give me anxiety. Like I can’t watch them. Literally. I went to the dentist the other day and asked me what I wanted to watch as I’m sitting there in the chair. I was like anything, but this HGTV stuff, right?

Jay Conner (07:25): Well, wait a minute, Brad. Now, why would I, why would a reality show that I’m sure is real, that shows you how to make a hundred grand in 30 minutes with no headaches. Why would that give you anxiety?

Brad Smotherman (07:36): Well, just like, you know, I mean, it’s not real. And then, you know, secondly, I’m looking at what they’re spending on the kitchen. I’m thinking I could do it for a sixth of that. And then the person buying the house, it’s like, well, what do you do for a living? And they say, well, we catch butterflies and rainbows all day. And our budget’s 2 million bucks and it’s just like, it just doesn’t seem exactly genuine to me. But maybe they’re just in a different market, a better market than I’ve ever seen. Let’s just say that.

Jay Conner (08:01): Yeah! I get it, Brother, I get it. Sorry to interrupt. What’s your business model looks like?

Brad Smotherman (08:04): Yeah. And that’s a hundred percent fine. So, you know, I started in 2010 and my background was very similar to yours in a certain way, although I didn’t live it. So I worked for a builder developer. Well, I sold real estate through college and everything was going really, really well up until the crash of ’08. And in 2009, the bankers came in and said, well, sorry, we’re going to have to call your loan. You have 30 days to pay us off. And as you know, during that time, there’s really no way to refinance commercial lending, you know, especially a development loan. And so it bankrupted them. And luckily I was able to learn the lessons from the crash without actually having to be involved in the crash. And so when that happened, I realized very quickly, I didn’t want bank money in my business. Very similar to what you’re dealing with. Right?

Brad Smotherman (08:46): So it’s like, guys, being able to raise private money is paramount to this business. Like what Jay is talking about is super, super important. But, so I got started in 2010 and back then, you really couldn’t wholesale because no, very few people had an equity position that was big enough to where you could wholesale it. And then also the fix and flip model was very difficult because that couldn’t get money. And so I had to find another way. Well, what I found worked. Has always worked and what I feel will always work is creating owner financing. And so what we do is we buy creatively when we buy and then we sell with owner financing and a vast majority of our transactions. We still go retail at times and that’s okay. But what we want to do is we want to create longterm cash flow with longterm capital assets. And for me, I’d rather have that in mortgage notes. I feel like it’s far more scalable than rentals. We’re able to get paid to take the note in most of our transactions. It’s not like I’m putting cash out there to invest. We’re getting longterm assets given to us. And I just had to find another way because I couldn’t, I didn’t want to wholesale, I couldn’t wholesale. And the fix and flip model looked like really difficult to me during that time. And so we’ve been pretty much doing a similar model ever since.

Jay Conner (09:53): So to recap what you just said, tell me if I got it right. Your core model is buy on terms, buy with owner financing, buy with subject to, buying creatively without paying all the cash. Take that same property, turn around and sell it creatively to a new buyer with owner financing or what have you. So let’s break that down. First of all, you said, the reason you do that is because you want to build longterm wealth by leveraging an asset that’s going to continue to pay you monthly for a long time. Is that right?

Brad Smotherman (10:38): A hundred percent. That’s right.

Jay Conner (10:40): So in today’s market, I know from my own business, I know from my students’ businesses that finding a deal today in the multiple listing service is a bonus. The deals are not in the multiple listing service buying large. So we have to find our deals off market. We have to find houses that are not in the multiple listing service. So if you don’t mind pulling back the curtain for us just a little bit and give us a little sneak peek as to what is working for you today to find these people that have houses for sale, or maybe they haven’t considered selling their house. How do you find these deals?

Brad Smotherman (11:30): That’s a great question. Well, I mean, as we know, everything starts with a motivated seller. So the foundation of the business is marketing for motivated sellers. Now for me, real estate is a means to an end. I mean, if I can do this business with dump trucks or swimming pools, I would do that. I’m not in love with houses. They break, they smell bad. Some of them. One of my apprentices yesterday in San Antonio, he’s buying a house that has 70 cats in it. And I can’t imagine how bad that is, but you know, at the end of the day, marketing comes down to two different avenues. We can do sweat marketing, or we can do paid marketing. Man. When I started, I didn’t have any money. So I had to do the sweat marketing side of things. And so the examples of that would be, you know, putting out bandit signs, you know, although you’re paying for the sign, what I would do is I would put them out Friday night and pull them up early Monday morning.

Brad Smotherman (12:13): And so a hundred signs, a couple of hundred bucks would last me three or four months, right? So that’s more of a sweat technique as opposed to leaving them out. Another one that were having a lot of success with is actually networking with wholesalers because wholesalers are slave to the 70% rule. We’re able to go in and do deals that they can’t do, right? Because we buy creatively as opposed to just throwing cash offers around all over the place. Right? So I’ve got an apprentice in Texas. He’s done three transactions this month, where wholesalers are bringing him the deal. You know, one of them is at a 0% owner finance rate. Now why a wholesaler would want to make a $5,000 assignment fee on a deal where we’ve got like four years and this thing is going to be paid off and we’ve got an $80,000 note on it.

Brad Smotherman (12:55): I don’t really understand. Okay. So that’s a couple of options in terms of sweat marketing. What I hope for people is that they understand that marketing is an investment. It’s not a cost. So effective marketing should at a minimum of 25 X. So if you’re spending a thousand dollars in effective marketing per month, you should over time buy at $25,000 per month in equity. Right? As an average. Now, what I hope for people is that if you have to start with the sweat side, that you go to the paid marketing side, as soon as you can. Okay? So in my world, the best paid marketing that we can do is Pay-per-Click so being there on Google ads, whenever they’re there, like people are searching for us. Searching, sell my house fast, or companies that buy houses. We want to be there. When people have already realized that they have a problem and we can be there to offer a solution, but it has to be done very well. I know a lot of people that have lost a lot of money when it comes to doing Pay-per-Click campaigns, because they don’t understand how to drive traffic number one, and how to create conversion. Once someone is, has landed on a page number two, but those are examples of sweat marketing paid marketing that we use in our business.

Jay Conner (13:57): Excellent! So as we know, and most of our audience here knows. When talking to an off market seller, a person that owns a single family house, you know, they don’t have it in the multiple listing service. They have some type of motivation. Most of these people are going to be anticipating when you’re starting that conversation with them of you buying their house. Most of these people like 99% of them are more having their mind that, well, if I sell my house, I’m going to get all the money, right? I mean, it’s like, that’s the traditional way. I sell a house, I get all the money. But now, you come along and you are going to be talking to them about creative selling or them becoming the bank. Or there’s a note and they’re going to get payments. What are your secrets? And as our friend Eddie would say, talk off points. Well, what are you, what are your secrets or scraping that takes a person that’s never considered selling on terms and waiting for all their money over time, from the point of then expecting to get all the cash up front?

Brad Smotherman (15:06): That’s a great question. And what I would submit to you is the first thing that we can’t do is make offers. So in my world, I really feel like an offer is a commodity to shop. And I can’t even begin to tell you how many houses that we’ve gone in and bought because, you know, two or three other investors had gone in and left an offer behind for them to think about. And then we come in because we won’t give them our price. They’re giving us a price. We’re making sure that that’s the least that they will take. And then we’re going to switch it to terms. So let’s say that someone says, well, and we talk about things in terms of cash at closing. So if somebody owes a hundred thousand dollars and they want to sell the property for 115, then I’m going to switch it and say, well, so your cash at closing is $15,000.

Brad Smotherman (15:48): So assuming that they would sell to me for that $15,000 cash at closing, then I’m going to say, well, you know, I can do that. If we can do it another way, and this is how we can make it work. So I’ve never given them a price and they’ve given me the price. So I mean, what we’ve done there is we’ve made it very difficult for them at that point to really begin to pull back and think about it because we’re giving them their number. We never give a price ever. Now, Jay, there’s some times that we do pay cash for properties, we just bought one outside of Huntsville, Alabama, about a month ago that the people had paid $160,000 cash for it in 2012, we paid 15,000 for it. And, you know, it’s like at that price, I don’t really feel the need to negotiate terms.

Brad Smotherman (16:29): You know, it’s like, we’ll just pay the 15K. And I thought about it. It kinda hurt my feelings to not get 0% owner financing on that 15. But I was like, you know, they need the money. They need the 15 grand we’ll just go ahead and pay it. But the short answer is I think the real skill is to, to be able to negotiate with people, without giving them a price, giving them an offer. I feel like if you give an offer, it’s a commodity, a commodity for them to shop. I also think it’s kind of acrimonious. People feel like they’re good negotiators because somebody can say, well, I want $200,000 from our house. And you can say, well, how does a hundred thousand sound? I don’t think that’s negotiation at all. I think that’s horse trading. And like my family came from the agriculture world.

Brad Smotherman (17:09): So, I mean, we were pig farmers. I mean, and I saw that growing up all the time, you know, that doesn’t work for houses as well. Like if we can make people realize that we’re not there to take advantage, if we can make the number work, then we will make it work. But there’s equity. There’s two types of equity. There’s equity at price and equity in terms. So if we can create equity in terms, a lot of times that’s a better equity position for us to have as a longterm play, as opposed to just like really working in the 70%. If that makes sense.

Jay Conner (17:37): Do you ever offer or give multiple offers or multiple strategies of saying, okay, if you want your price, we can do it this way. If you’ve got to have all cash, we can do it this way. And if you want a third option, we can do it this way. Or do you, most of the time stay with say the the terms negotiation and conversation?

Brad Smotherman (18:02): And that’s a great question. So we don’t do like the three offer strategy of like, we can do it this way, this way, or this way, this way, because what I’ve found, at least in my own personal experiences that I had people say, well, I want this price with that term.

Jay Conner (18:14): They want to pick and choose the way they want it.

Brad Smotherman (18:18): Yeah. It was like, we’ll take this closing date. We’ll take that price with those terms. It’s like, well, that’s not really how it works. What I’ll say to that is it’s really common for us to, to bounce back and forth between price and terms. So if someone says, okay, this is the price that we want, they’ll say, well, if you want it like that, here’s how we can make that work. And they said, well, that doesn’t work for us. And then we’ll go back and say, well, is that price the least you would take? And so we start talking about pricing in. And I’ve had situations where we have to kind of go back and forth three or four times before we land somewhere. And it’s generally somewhere kind of in the middle that we find that people will work within kind of the median based on what they’re hoping for. You know, if we can substantiate pricing and values and costs to where we can show like, Hey, these are the numbers that you’re working with. Like, this is the value. This is the cost to get it there. Here’s my breakeven number. You know, what are you hoping for your cash at closing people generally tend to be a little bit more reasonable if we can substantiate why they should accept a lower price and what they were hoping for.

Jay Conner (19:15): When you have someone that is agreeable or at least open. They’re open to the idea Terms and, you know, taking payments or equity over time or whatever. Do you, in your, in your conversation, do you tell them how long or how long the term of the note would be? Or do you ask them what’s the longest they could go? Or how do you get to that agreeable length of the note?

Brad Smotherman (19:51): Yeah. So what we talk about is in terms of some now and some later, so we’re going to talk about it and say, okay, how much cash do you need at closing to make it work? And they’ll give us a number and we’ll kind of negotiate that. It’s like, okay, if I can get you X at closing, then how soon were you hoping to get, no, we do it this way. We can either do payments every month, like an annuity or retirement plan, or we can do a lump sum in the future, which were you hoping for? Generally, people kind of gravitate towards the payments per month. But the thing that we never mentioned is interest. Okay. We never really talk about terms. We’re going to talk about it in terms of, you know, $20,000 at closing and $500 per month until paid.

Brad Smotherman (20:27): And so people are kind of looking at that and saying, especially if they’re a landlord. Guys, if you’re, if you’re dealing with a landlord that has free and clear property and they’re tired landlord, you should absolutely be able to negotiate owner financing because these people are open to receiving payments. That’s what they bought the property for in the first place. Well, if we can just kind of segment it to being like, well, how much do you need at closing? What would you like a lump sum in the future? Or would you like monthly payments? Generally, they’re going to say, well, I’d love monthly payments and we can negotiate something, but we never really talk about it in terms of, well, it’s a 10 year loan and here’s the rate we never mentioned. Certainly we’d never mentioned interest. We don’t really ever talk about the term as well.

Jay Conner (21:03): So you would agree that most of the terms that you structure are payments with no interests?

Brad Smotherman (21:10): Correct. A hundred percent. I’ve only paid interest twice on owner finance deals. And both of those were properties I wanted. They were both lake properties and I was like, I’ve gotta have this. I think I paid a 3% rate on one and four and a half on the others.

Jay Conner (21:24): I love it! I love it! Well, Brad, now let’s really change gears from the owner financing thing and the term thing to this world that you’re in of investing remotely. My lands! You are in, you’ve invested in 15 States. You invest from Michigan to Georgia. And when I asked you a question that could take you three days to answer, but you got about three minutes instead.

Brad Smotherman (21:55): We’ll work with that.

Jay Conner (21:55): But how in the world do you invest remotely in 15 different States? And we know what, we know everybody’s concerns are. I mean, how do you find those deals, you know, out there in a different state, what’s your boots on the ground? How do you make sure you’re not being taken to the cleaners? How do you manage all that stuff remotely? And you know, my land! You can’t drive by it and see what’s happening to the property. I mean, what does that world look like?

Brad Smotherman (22:24): Yeah. And you’re right. That would be about a three hour answer. But to put it into three minutes, the first fundamental that we have to understand is that the farther away we are from our own personal market, the cheaper the property must be. So we have to have a higher discount. Now, I’ll buy something at 60 cents on the dollar cash in my backyard, but I’m definitely not going to do that, you know two States away, right. So we have to have a greater discount because you’re a hundred percent, right. We’re going to have issues that we don’t expect right now. We don’t have, you know, a large amount of like workforce that can help us in these deals generally. Right. So what we’re going to do is we market to areas that we like, okay. And because we’re marketing in big geographic areas, our lead cost is actually quite a bit lower.

Brad Smotherman (23:12): It’s substantially lower. So we can do one of two things. We can either have a lower ad budget, or we can keep our ad budget the same and have maybe three or four times a lead flow. Okay. So let’s just say we have four times the lead flow. Well, what that means is that, that deal that comes around twice a year, three times a year is going to happen for me roughly every two months. Or, you know, the deal that happens every four months is going to happen for me every month. So I can be a little bit more picky based on what I’m looking at. And so in terms of the value, the decisions are very easy, actually. So I mean, case in point, we just bought one in Montgomery, Alabama. The property had a comp across the street that sold in in February for 76,000, we bought this one for 13, so we have it under contract.

Brad Smotherman (23:59): And so once we have an under contract, we go into due diligence. So the first thing we’re going to look at is value. So what is the value based on what we expect right now? So we feel like roughly this thing’s worth $75,000 and I can probably owner finance it for 89 or maybe 99,000 with a 10K down payment. You know, at a minimum 10K. So with that, we’re gonna talk to two or three brokers in that market, real estate agents that are gonna give us CMAs. Give us an idea of value. And then we’re going to then once the value looks okay, we’re going to switch to condition. So we’re going to get actually a home inspection on this property. Okay guys, once we have three different CMAs from agents and they all kind of make sense for one another, like there’s congruency in those three CMAs, and then we go and we get the home inspection, we’re going to know really everything that we need to know in terms of that property, especially with the discounts that we’re buying.

Brad Smotherman (24:48): So, I mean, the question being is that a little bit more risky than buying it around backyard? It certainly is. Whenever, if you were paying dollar for dollar the same amount, but if you’re paying 60 cents in your own backyard or 20 cents in another state, then I would ask you, well, which is more risky at that point. Okay. So short answer, we’re going to get things under contract that we feel pretty comfortable with. Then we’re going to verify and find the facts that we know and what we don’t know. At that point, we’re going to make a final decision. Sometimes we have to renegotiate price most of the time we don’t, because it’s just such a severe discount on the front end. And I mean, in terms of management, the thing is that we’re owner financing most of these, almost all. And so if we’re owner financing things, we’re serving the least served in the most underserved buyer pool in the country.

Brad Smotherman (25:32): There’s a lot of people that need owner financing. And since March, this is what I heard from Eddie Speed yesterday. And Jay, I know, you know, Eddie. So he said that if a hundred people could get a mortgage in March before this COVID thing hit, then right now there’s 64 people that can get a mortgage that’s left out of those hundred. Well, what happened to those other 36 people? Did they just decide not to buy? Well, no, they need owner financing at this point. So we’re serving a very needed, a very underserved buyer pool that needs owner financing. So sell the house with owner financing, create the note. I don’t want ownership and property. I feel like property is liability. We want to own the paper. Okay. So we create owner financing. So the house owner financing to have a longterm cash flowing asset. And in a nutshell, that’s how we buy remotely.

Jay Conner (26:18): To what extent do you buy houses remotely with owner financing? To what extent is, are you comfortable with the amount of repairs or rehabbing involved?

Brad Smotherman (26:33): Yeah. I mean, we’re not going to rehab anything. So if the property means that the grass cut, somebody better go cut the grass because we’re going to buy it. We’re going to sell it as is, you know, the best example that I have with this. I had a house that I bought for $2,000 one time. And now I don’t understand why people do what they do sometimes. Jay, I know that doesn’t resonate with you. I’m sure that you’ve never seen anything that didn’t make sense. But for me, I see a lot of things that don’t make sense in my world. And this lady sold me the house for $2,000 and she had just done new vinyl and new windows on the exterior. They surely looked great, but she said, I don’t want you to go in the house because I’m afraid you won’t buy it.

Brad Smotherman (27:07): This was maybe six or seven years ago. And I’m actually going to look at houses. I said, well, respectfully, I have to go look at, you know, I have to go inside. And so this lady, the roof look kind of bad, but I didn’t realize how bad the roof was. She did new vinyl, new windows. She didn’t do the roof. And so water had been pouring into this house for like four or five years. And so like, literally the back half of this thing was gone. I mean, it was like molded. It was soft, the subfloor, you couldn’t stand in the kitchen, all this, it was a mess! But we sold it with owner financing. As is! Like, I’m not going to do that kind of construction. I’m not a construction guy. Literally I had to come over. I had to have a handyman come to my house and replace the doorknobs because I don’t know how to do any of that stuff. So like, I’m terrible.

Jay Conner (27:46): You and I have something else in common, my friend!

Brad Smotherman (27:49): Glad to hear that, man! I think we’re like kindered souls just, probably not from the same parents, just generationally, but you know what I’m saying? We’re cut from the same cloth.

Jay Conner (28:00): A brother from another mother.

Brad Smotherman (28:04): For sure.

Jay Conner (28:07): So you’re not gonna do any, you’re not gonna do any major rehabs. I get it. So my lands! How do you find, so are you finding most of these deals remotely in other States? Again, as you mentioned using Pay-Per-Click. Google Pay-per-Click.

Brad Smotherman (28:25): A hundred percent. So, I mean, these are people that are actively searching to solve a problem and we’re there when they need to be.

Jay Conner (28:30): I love it when people are looking for me and I’m not looking for them.

Brad Smotherman (28:34): Big difference because people don’t understand the difference in the negotiation structure. So, I mean, if I’m contacting someone to sell me something, versus someone contacting me to buy something, that’s a huge difference in the frame of negotiation. And so we always want to be where someone is searching for us. If we can be, of course, there’s always exceptions. You know, like anything works some of the times. So we can do the text, we can do the direct mail. I used to do 70,000 direct mailers a month. I don’t do any of that anymore because it comes down to, I don’t want to contact someone to sell something. I want people contacting me to buy something.

Jay Conner (29:08): Final question, Brad. At least almost final question I have to, I have to precursor that. So we know how you’re finding these deals. You got all these people that need owner financing. They don’t know there’s a way. So how in the world do you get the word out to all these people that you’ve got owner-financed terms available? How do you find the buyers?

Brad Smotherman (29:29): And that’s a great question. So our big three are Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, and then putting yard signs out that say owner financing. And so…

Jay Conner (29:38): My number one on a, so I sell, I don’t do owner financing out here in this market. That’s another conversation. I do a lot of rent to own. I love your model. Regardless. It’s the same buyer, whether they’re buying owner financing or they’re buying rent to own. But with that, Facebook marketplace, hands down. Is my best lead source for finding these owner finance buyers.

Brad Smotherman (30:04): Yeah. It’s really amazing. I’ve got a, I’d say she’s at least half time and probably closer to three quarter time. And the poor girl, she probably has carpal tunnel by now because like you post a house for sale with owner financing and all of these buy-sell-trade groups. And like, you can see like the computer almost begin to melt because it’s overheating from all the people responding. And it makes sense. I mean, it’s really common in a market. So I’m in Nashville, Tennessee. The last time I checked, there were 2,700 houses on the market on the MLS to service everyone that could get mortgage financing. Well, there were three that were offered with owner financing and they were mine. And so it’s like, if that’s the case, you can see the disparity in the supply demand curve. You have a huge group of demand for very, very little inventory. And so selling the houses never really been a problem.

Jay Conner (30:53): I love it! Brad, I know my audience wants to stay connected with you. How can they stay connected with Brad Smotherman?

Brad Smotherman (31:00): Yeah. So for those that are interested more on owner financing and what we do, then you can listen to my podcast, Investor Creator, on iTunes and the various other platforms. And if anybody wants to reach out to me directly, feel free to do so. At http://BradSmotherman.com

Jay Conner (31:13): That’s awesome, Brad! It’s so great to have you here on the show, Brad, I really enjoyed our conversation. I know the audience did as well. And so let me give it to you for parting comments and final advice.

Brad Smotherman (31:26): You know, the thing that I want to say to people is, always would try to instill the amount of hope that I can, you know, I think a lot of people want to do this business and they have a lot of fear. And I remember how that was in 2010 when I started, because you know, I started in the brokerage business. I was a realtor and not a super successful one at that. I made a living, but you know, whenever I decided to be an investor, I thought, gosh, like nobody’s going to leave a loan in place. Nobody’s going to sell out a discount. Nobody’s, you know, and it’s the same thing that I’ve heard, you know, and here’s kind of like the hierarchy of beliefs that fell down for me. I thought nobody would leave alone in place. Well, that happened.

Brad Smotherman (32:01): And then I thought, well, nobody’s going to sell at 50 cents on the dollar. And then that happened. And then I thought, well, nobody’s going to give me 0% owner financing. And then that happened. And then I thought, well, all of this is because we’re that good in person. We can’t do it on the phone. And then we started buying all of those on the phone. And so at the end of the day, I mean, this business works. It’s an amazing business. It changes lives. And if you feel compelled, you have a passion for the business and you have a passion to help people with their problems and you can do very well in this business. Stay with it.

Jay Conner (32:28): That’s awesome! Brad, thank you so much. And thank you! My audience for tuning in. It’s always great to have you here. And I know you found this episode very valuable. I’m Jay Conner, The Private Money Authority. Wishing you all the best and here is to taking your real estate investing business to the next level. And I’ll see you on the next show. Bye for now!

#Jay Conner #Private Money Lender #Real Estate Business #Real Estate #Real Estate Investing #Real Estate Investor #Real Estate Profit #The Private Money Authority #The Private Money Academy

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abbi-normals-brain · 5 years

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A Credible Threat

An interview between a human from Australia, and a highly credulous alien tasked with cataloging and rating potential threats and hazards throughout the galaxy. Derived loosely from a recent writing prompt I saw lurking Reddit. I don't post there, so here it is.

"We had a war with them, you know."

The human puts the "cigarette" to his mouth again. The smoke activates the extractors, which are calibrated to remove all toxins from the atmousphere almost as soon as they appear. You scroll through your notes with one tentacle, looking for a mention of whom he's referring to.

"A war? With the...the large criminal faction typically referred to as 'The English', I presume? I understand your people were exiled from--"

The human interupts you with a harsh laugh, like the sounds made by the dogs you'd unsuccessfully tried to interview earlier in this experiment. You make a note to re-open the issue of whether these sounds may constitute a spoken language after all.

"A 'criminal faction'! Ha, that's a good one! But Nah, mate. I didn't mean England. I mean the damn emus."

"...emus?"

"Emus." Ash falls from the glowing tip, and you nervously check your notes. Who let him have that thing? It must constitute some kind of hazard rating. The preliminary analysis from the lab decribes the item as 'a thin tube of bleached fibrous material containing dried plant matter of the Earth genus Nicotiana which has typically been impregnated with preservatives and other compounds. Nicotiana is very toxic in large enough doses, and alters neurochemical makeup with consistant exposure, but it is vanishingly difficult to expose oneself to these conditions unintentionally, particularly in a well-ventilated space. One end is hot when in use, but the items were judged largely harmless and placed in the lowest threat category.' Hm. Fine. Doesn't seem right, but the lab technicians generally know what they're doing.

"Expand on this, please."

"They're bloody emus! What else is there to say?! You mean to tell me you guys went cruising around in your little UFO grabbing up randos from all over Australia--"

"We actually took samples from an evenly distributes pattern of points across the surface of your world."

"And NONE of them told you about emus?!"

"No."

The human snorted and shakes his head. You enter a few notes, waiting for him to continue, and when he doesn't, you do.

"You are the first subject to mention them. Frankly, the first to mention war with an non-human animal at all, and I can't say I'm not suspicious of your claims."

"Suspicious? Mate, it's just how the place is. First thing people think of when they think of Australia."

"The Galactic Travel Guide is familiar with many of Earth's most dangerous predators outside of yourselves. We've heard about the lions. We've heard about the hippos, and how they're actually much more dangerous than the lions. We've heard quite a lot about the moose. We've even heard of your screaming, spitting black and white geese. We've even heard of the small population of flightless dragons with necrotic saliva. But the idea of creatures such as these attempting to make war on the dominant sapients of the planet--"

"It was a little more than an attempt, mate," the human muttered.

"You don't mean to suggest--"

"Yeah. Yeah, they won."

"..."

"Twice."

"Is it something about your treatment aboard ship that makes you so obstructionist in these interviews? You know that if you simply answer our questions about the hazards your species navigate on your planet, we will return you to your home. Most of our other samples have completed this task, been mindwiped of the experience, and returned to their normal lives."

"Nah, the food's great. The room's comfortable. I'm not 'obstructionist'. I'm just tellin' you what's out there."

"And what else is there?"

"Kangaroos."

"Go on."

"Long tail. They can stand on it a little. Hops along on its back feet as fast as a car, but can't move backwards. Massive, vicious sharp claws too. Tall as a man, almost, and punches like a freight train. And they breed pretty fast, enough they're pests in some parts."

"Pests as in, an animal populous enough to cause damage to human settlements?"

"Yeah, they put up special fences in some places to keep them out."

"Fortifications?! Just for these creatures?!"

"We also got'em for crocodiles."

"We've heard of them before, from a subject in..." you check your notes, "Egypt."

"Ours are bigger. And meaner. World famous for it, really."

"So you say."

"And I bet that guy didn't tell you the kicker about crocodiles. If you're looking for a threat rating, well... See, they just...keep growing. Most of them come in at an average size, but sometimes there's one....as long as they have enough food to support themselves, they literally never stop growing, AND they don't age like you and m--well, like me. So they could hypothetically get to be older than dirt and bigger than a bus if you fed 'em enough."

"Right. Moving on. Setting aside macrofauna, how would you describe the toxicology profile of your land? Insects, plant and fungal life, etc?"

"Extensive! World famous for that too!"

"Of course you are."

"It's not all bad. Some of our animals carry their babies inside--"

"Yes, we're aware of the ordeal that is mammallian reproduction and would thank you not to bring it up."

"No no, the marsupials. Like the kangaroos. The babies are born as just this tiny fetus that crawls by itself into its mother's pocket until its got hair and stuff."

"So now you're saying the kangaroos wear clothes?"

"No, the pocket is in the skin."

"For Glob's sake, if you think I'm such a fool that I'd enter this in the GTG databases--which 100's of bargillions of S'zezdars rely on for their very lives as they attempt to avoid the many deadly threats in the galaxy--"

"Can't be that deadly out there, if you're this scared of kangaroos."

The thick mane of barbed spines down your back rattled against each other as they rose up straight--"like a porcupine" a different human subject had said. You were starting to lose patience.

"Human." you said with a measured firmness that made the human pause and look warily at you, shifting eye contact between your various ocular organs as they bulged, pulsing with pale yellow light. "What the GTG does may seem silly to you, or pedantic, or useless. To be quite frank, this is because you as a species live on a tiny ball of spittle and haven't even been to the bottoms of your own oceans yet. Out here, in the vastness of all space, where the species like us who have earned the privilege, this is a literal matter of life and death. Living, thinking, sapient being in numbers that your species literally can't comprehend depend on accurate up to date information on the unimaginable array of threats that await them off-world."

"Mate, I'm sorry, I'm really not here to condescend. I'm actually trying to help you."

With a conscious effort, you pull your spines back down into a relaxed position. They make a single simultaneous clacking sound, like an old mechanical lockbox.

"Then please give my work the gravity it deserves."

The human put the "cigarette" in his mouth again, and exhaled thoughtfully., giving you a curious look.

"...so, uh. I take that means you don't wanna hear about the platypus?" You're about done with this subject. He's been holding up the experimental process for days. His claims get more and more outlandish and obtuse with each interview. Clearly you're not going to get accurate information about this subject's natural environment from the subject himself. An away mission will be necessary to verify details first hand.

Your tentacles flex and curl nervously. But what if what he said was true, or at least had a grain of truth to it? You consider it for a moment and discard the idea. If the location were really that dangerous, they would be downplaying it to exaggerate their own power over such a hostile environment. Clearly they're doing the opposite, trying to exaggerate the danger. Or more likely, fabricate dangers completely. He must know the land has no natural defenses and doesn't want to be overrun by hostile Galactic faction. Or maybe they just want adventure tourist dollars--this is for a travel guide after all. You decide in an instant that you're calling his bluff here and now.

Either way, this subject is being ejected from the study post-haste. You release the thin panel of a screen you'd been taking notes on, and grasp the microphone of the voice COM in your desk firmly among your suckers.

"Guard." you say flatly. A heavily armed and armoured S'zezdar slithers into the room immediately. "Take this one for mindwiping and send him home. We're going to have to check out the local flora and fauna on the surface ourselves." You distantly worried about the tongues-lashing your supervisor would give you about it, and about how you handled this subject in general, but getting out on an away mission again would be worth it.

The guard looked surprised.

"Without even a preliminary threat rating for the area?"

"Don't worry. I'm expecting no problems at all."

The guard grabbed the human by one of his upper appendages. The other appendage crushed the synthetic foam filter of his "cigarette" device into the table. The human didn't resist as the guard pulled him up out of the chair. Instead, the human stretched out its mouth. Sideways. You almost feel like it could reach his ears if he tried. You've seen no record of this facial expression in humans. You don't like it. It shows too many teeth.

"A'right, bye then, mate. Good talkin' to ya..." The human... (you cast about for the word for a moment) laughs. As the guard drags him to the medical bay, he calls back once more over his shoulder.

"Good luck with the emus!"

#writeblr #australia #emu war #emu #playpus #crocodile #kangaroo #alien #interview #ufo #My writing

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bumblewave531 · 3 years

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toraberaa · 6 years

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“Out of this world!” those were the words that I uttered after witnessing the impeccable beauty of Mt. Ijen.

Mt. Ijen is not just an ordinary mountain. It is a volcano. And not just an ordinary volcano but an active one. It is a stratovolcano which sits 2,799 meters above sea level (9,183 ft). A hazardous volcano that emits toxic fumes and a home for highly acidic lake.

Literally, it was a “hell” and figuratively speaking as well. My hike was hellish. There were too many struggles I faced. I know that without these hardships, the story that I would tell will be definitely lame. Kidding! Nevertheless, I overcame it and I was rewarded with a beautiful sight. I saw a “heaven”. It was a bizarre feeling. I’ve never seen so sublime in my life. It’s a mixture of apocalypse and nirvana. A violent act of nature. Many of the locals said this phrase “Eye on Heaven, Foot in Hell”. It’s amazing how these two places coincide. How God beautifully designed it.

With that said, I entitled this as “Where Heaven and Hell meets”

Day Minus Zero

It was August 6, 2018 when I left Bali. A day after magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit it. I thought on myself that it was far from the epicenter thus, it was much safer to go on high areas. I was worried that there would be a tsunami at that time. Nah. Who was I kidding? I just surfed earlier on that morning and the real reason was, I scheduled to go on that day based on my plan. The D-day.

It was hot and sunny in Bali and for few hours and kilometers away, I was welcomed by drizzle at Banyuwangi. (I will edit this post later to provide info on how to go to Banyuwangi from Bali)

Loooong and winding road

Approximately 5 hours of bus ride, I arrived at Ketapang port at 8:30 PM. There were only few people around and it feels like it’s already late at night. It was difficult to hail a taxi or even an ojek (motorcycle taxi). No one shows available too in Grab. I went to convenience store and asked around. Some can’t understand English. Somehow I could tell that they understood what I’m trying to convey and they were willing to help. They referred me to a cab who knows a little bit of English and said repeatedly “House stay?” I said “Yes. Mango home stay” and hopped in. I hoped we were at the same page after I confirmed. I checked on my GPS and it was a relief that he knows where we were heading.

I arrived at Mango Tree House Home Stay and I paid him 40.000 IDR.

The Mango Tree House Home stay

“Philippines?” Mr. Arif, the owner of the house, greeted me. I acknowledged him with a nod. He said he was waiting for me. As we entered the house, he asked me again “Tea or coffee?” “Coffee will do.” I replied.

While he was heating the pot, he showed me my room. It doesn’t have an air condition but it have an electric fan. It’s okay since it was cold. The room have also a single pillow and a bed. That’s it! You get what you pay for. (By the way, the room was only 65.000 IDR) The room was just good enough for an overnight. After all, I just came here for Mt. Ijen.

House Special!

Mr. Arif served the coffee and we just had a conversation. We talked about my experience in Indonesia, difference of our countries (because Indonesia and Philippines were kinda the same) and other stuff. He had a good sense of humor and very entertaining. A moment later, another guests arrived. Mr. Arif introduced the new guests to me. They were a German couple who came from Probolinggo, just after the Mt. Bromo tour. He said I would be joining them for the Mt. Ijen tour tonight as well as the two Italians who arrived earlier than us. And guess what, they were also a couple. (Not jealous. lol!) Mr. Arif told us that he was still waiting for the French guy to arrive. I was hoping. Not that I wanted to be a fifth wheel but it must be a minimum of 6 persons to avail the package to Mt. Ijen.

As the night getting late, Mr. Arif suggested to take quick dinner near the home stay. The German couple decided to take a rest while I took a quick dinner at warungs (a small family owned business restaurant).

Solved! My dinner for 15.000 IDR only

The tour will start by 12 AM. It was 10 PM already. I went back to the home stay and took a quick nap.

I woke up exactly 11 PM. I packed up for the things I needed — headlights, gloves, jacket, camera and etc. Checked! I went to the living room and I didn’t saw yet the Italians and Germans at the living room. Maybe I was too early? I guessed I was really excited for this tour (which was true). I wished I stayed a little longer in bed.

I saw new faces in the living room. The French guy was already there, along with two lovely gals who were also French. He said that he was too tired and he would not go for Mt. Ijen tonight while the two gals were scheduled tomorrow.

We had a little chit-chat. Yes, only a little. They were talking in their native language. Since I can’t understand them, my mind wandered and I imagined The Little Prince. (LOL!) The younger lady (too bad, I couldn’t remember her name) was so considerate as she kept me entertained. She even asked the others to speak in English so I could also join their conversation.

Few minutes passed, they showed up. So it would be just a group of five — 1 Filipino, 2 Germans, and 2 Italians. Good thing that Mr. Arif was really kind. He didn’t want to disappoint us. Instead we avail the package tour from the agencies, he would be the one who will drive us to Mt. Ijen.

The Road to Mt. Ijen

From the start, it was already a challenge, the weather condition was not that good. It’s drizzling. We were starting to doubt if we could see the blue fire tonight. Blue fire is one of unnatural phenomenon that is happening in Banyuwangi. I believed this was also the reason why travelers would go here. Mr. Arif said that “We can’t tell. It’s nature.” He seems to have a good point. After all, nature is really unpredictable. But he also made our hopes high and said “But you will go above the clouds, so it will not be raining.”

“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” – Zig Ziglar

Around 12:30 AM, we leave at the home stay and drove towards Mt. Ijen. It would be a long drive for about an hour. I sat at the front seat while the others continue to rest at the back seats. I can’t catch some nap even I wanted to. Plus, I sat next to Mr. Arif. I should keep him a company and needed him to stay awake. With this, I just witnessed how difficult the roads to Mt. Ijen.

Excessive moisture in the window.

It had a zigzag road. For a few moments, the roads turned to a jungle with no lights on the road — trusting only the headlights that the car provides. The road also became muddy due to the weather condition. As we went higher, the fogs appeared. Mr. Arif wiped the windshield every time as the window had moist. I’m very glad that Mr. Arif was a skillful driver and knew the road.

The Base Camp

We reached the Base Camp at 1:36 AM. Mr. Arif handed us gas masks. After that, Mr. Arif called me and told me the best tip ever. “This is the only tip I can give to you. At the counter, say “Satu” (it means one) and just give 10.000″. We both knew that I looked like an Indonesian. The price difference from foreigner to locals was 90.000 IDR. Good guy Mr. Arif!

Mr. Arif guided the others and I headed to the ticket office alone. I needed to be alone to pull this trick. When I got there, I followed his advice. I confidently said “Satu!” as if I spoke a magical phrase “Open sesame!” in One Thousand and One Nights. However, the ticket officer said something I didn’t know. I repeated “Satu!” but the stare of the officer didn’t quite look good. (Uh-oh! Busted!) Our plan didn’t worked out. The ticket officer went outside and that moment I thought I would be penalized or could be worse. But he just pointed me where I should buy. He meant “Where the foreigners should buy”. Whew! I think this was not the first time it happened to them. Some also tried this scheme perhaps. But what embarrassed me more was when he spoke to me and I tried to push a little harder saying random Indonesian words that I learned. I believed in his mind you would read “Nice try!”. (LOL!)

I went back to our group and paid the foreign price. “What happened?” the group questioned. I reported and I said “I think he was asking for smaller bill. I saw the ticket it was only 5.000 IDR. Maybe it’s something with my accent too.” Mr. Arif said that someone might already overheard us and tipped the officer. “Too bad.” Mr. Arif responded with a chuckle and patted my back. “It’s okay!” I replied. Well, it’s actually fine. No regrets. Although the price difference were very significant, to be honest, spending 100.000 IDR was already cheap for the exchange for what we would discover later. (I’m telling you now that it was very worthy after I finished the hike.)

Jump Off

We started at 1:58 am. This was where the real struggle began. First, it was cold. Maybe because we were already in high altitude and rain also contributed. They said that the temperature sometimes drop from 15°C to 10°C. Second, it was dark. Pitch dark. It was nice that I bought a headlamp since it was not included in the trip. Third, we have no tour guide either. Even though if we avail the package, the tour guide was excluded. Mr. Arif told us that it wasn’t required and we don’t need to. “Mt. Ijen trail had only one trail — where you enter is where you exit. Just follow the crowd and you will not get lost.” He was right. There were many people who were also hiking. These people were not only tourist. Some were just local people — guides and miners. Yes, the sulfur miners. And so on and so on.

The gates were already open.

Our group, the Mango Tree House party (I made that up inside of my head), agreed that we could walk together instead doing by yourselves. While walking, I introduced myself and started a conversation. The name of German couple were Patrick and his girlfriend (Sorry! I forgot the name!) And the name of Italian couple were Andrea and her boyfriend. (Yes…I also forgot the name.) The Italian couple didn’t talk too much. It was Patrick’s girlfriend who talked to me a lot. That was why it was a shame to forget her name. (If you ever found my blog and read this. Let me know so I can apologize.).

Along the way, we saw some locals who had a push cart. This is what they called “Human Taxi”. Some says it costs around 400.000 IDR in exchange that they would take you to the top.

The Struggle is Real

Few minutes later, I felt that I’m having difficulty to walk. Besides that it was still raining and that makes the terrain slippery. But because I surfed before I went here, it’s now paying toll on me. I felt the pain in my upper body and I got blisters on my toes. Although minimal, I felt the irritating pain every time I took a step. I was thinking why I did that knowing that I would hike later. Nevertheless, the show must go on. And by speaking, while hiking, I still managed to document or video myself.

We saw a shed. I took some minutes to rest, while others went to toilet. Some also put layers on their body. This was supposed to be our last stop, and we should moved all the way from the top..well..uhmm let me repeat that. This was supposed to be “their” last stop. Because for me, it’s not. As we back on track again, I felt now the fatigue and every steps were now heavy. My heart was pounding like a jack hammer. I was leading before on our group (excited too much) and now I was lagging behind. Their stamina was fascinating. I knew I haven’t had a good rest just like them. That’s what I told to myself just to fool my mind.

“You are in the cottage”

We arrived at the “cafeteria”. I stopped again and took a rest for a while. It was my life saver! I was a fool that I forgot to brought water. If there’s no store available, I might desperately beg someone to give me some water. After I bought a bottled water, I gulped it immediately. As I checked my group, they were nowhere in my sight. I lost them and I think they didn’t notice me. That’s why I said that was our their last stop because I realized they didn’t took a break here.

I proceeded even without them and just a few moments later, the nature called me. I wanted pee. I don’t know if there would be another stop after the cafeteria. I don’t want even to go back there. I went astray and I did the “tabi-tabi po” style (common Filipino culture) and asked Mt. Ijen for forgiveness. Thank goodness it was pitch dark.

To the Summit

We needed to be on top quickly. It’s because blue fire only show itself in darkness. This was also the reason why we needed to hike at midnight. It would not be longer visible once the sun had risen.

I moved quickly as I needed to catch up with Mango Tree House party. I hoped that at some point I would see them. And just when I thought. They were there, waiting and searching for me. I heard from afar “It is him?” as I went closer to them. I saw their faces with a sign of relief. All of them were worried about me. They asked if I’m okay. I answered them that I’m fine and I apologized to them. I suggested that they could continue without me. I don’t want to become a burden or the reason why they will not see the blue fire. Still, Patrick’s girlfriend insisted “No, you can tell us if you want to have a break. We will wait for you. Okay?” Isn’t she sweet? (It was really a shame that I forgot her name. I wish one day, I will remember it.)

When we got back on track again, she noticed that I’m running out of breath and curiously asked me “Do you smoke?” I honestly replied “No, I’m just fat.” and she laughed.

I stopped recording and documentation for a while to save some energy.

MDPL means meter dari permukaan laut which literally translated as meters above sea level (MASL)

We were already walking for about 2 hours from the start. They said that 3 hours was the average time to reach the top. I felt we were already near. I saw already the caldera and the trail changed to flat terrain. At 3:26 AM, we finally made it to the top.

To the Dragon’s Nest

Actually, to went down close to the crater was prohibited. Only the workers (sulfur miners) were allowed. Not to mention that it was dangerous, but it was also slippery at that time. However, many of the visitors ignored this warning and continue their way to the crater. It was at your own risk. We talked to each other if we wanted to continue. It was early to go back and we decided to continue our way.

The trail going down was very narrow. At least one person could fit in. There were no hand rails. One wrong step and you would fall. Take note that the terrain here was rocky. To jump or skip would make stones or rocks fall.

We, the uninvited guests, were attacked by the vile stench of Mt. Ijen halfway down the steep trail. It was an acrid and sour smell. From here, we wore our gas mask. This made hard for me to breathe.

This was the time, Patrick and his girlfriend turned around and decided to go back. I was behind them and I could tell that they were having a difficulty going down. They said it was very dangerous and they don’t wanted to risk it. I didn’t persist. They wished me good luck and I replied them to take care. (Later, when we were on our way to house stay. Patrick was vomiting along the way and got sick. It was a good call for them to turned back.)

As for the Italian couple, who were just right behind me. I saw that they hired a guide who gave them a helping hand when descending. They were now in good hands and we parted away from each other as I had to do breaks. So from here, I did it on my own.

The Devil’s Gold and the Ijen Warriors

I saw sulfur miners as I moved closer to the crater. According to some, these sulfur miners carries a load for about 30-50 kg (60-110 lbs) for each basket. If you ever saw them along the way, please stop for a while and give way. I also noticed that some of them didn’t have proper equipment, they didn’t wear gloves and gas masks. Despite the dangers and the risks they could encounter, as I heard, most of them went twice on a single day to doubled their sulfur mine. And you may probably wouldn’t believe that the cost of their tough grind is only 800 IDR per kilo.

These sulfur miners were the real mutants. Where did they get their superpowers? This probably one of the toughest job in the world! With their amazing feat, they have earned respect and fascination on the tourist. Some of them tried to carry the loads or took some photographs with them and leave a small tip. Some gave things like cigarettes which they said to be their favorite, which was kinda ironic. While some of the sulfur miners created souvenirs for extra income. These were shaped sulfur which comes in different shapes and size with a cost of 10.000-50.000 IDR. I bought a teddy bear shaped sulfur for 20.000 IDR for keepsake and to helped them. Please don’t haggle anymore.

The yellow ore is the sulfur. This is already extracted from the volcano.

Behind me is what they called “Devil’s Gold” where the sulfur miners risked their lives for these.

The Heart of Mt. Ijen

I arrived at the crater at 4:15 AM. They were already a lot of people waiting for the blue fire. As I stood on the ground and took a rest, I saw people who were still going down. I was fascinated to saw the alternating lights, blinking and flickering. Looked back how far that I got just to arrived here.

What I saw afterwards was more fascinating than this. As I extended my sight upwards, I saw the illumination of the moon and the brilliant stars. I saw the Milky Way and a glimpse of the universe. What a lovely sight to see. I stared for a while and made me forget the exhaustion even just for a second.

I was worried if the blue fire would appear tonight. So I looked around for the other spot. And I finally saw the blue fire.I said “This is it?” A stranger replied “Yeah, it’s the blue fire”. Deep inside I know it’s the “blue fire”. A fire that was blue. But it’s not what I pictured based on what I Googled and it was just a small one. It looks like the one you could see when you light up a denatured alcohol or a flame in your stove. At that time, my headlamp was still on. But even after I turned it off, I appreciated it somehow.

The Eccentric Blue Fire

11 minutes passed and the blue fire finally appeared. The one that I was expecting. We were all in awe. All of us in crowd said “Wow!” in chorus. I moved closer to the blue fire. We all know that the blue flame was the hottest and the most intense part of a fire. They said that it could be at 600°C yet I can’t feel hot nearby the blue fire. I haven’t thought of this at that time. I was overjoyed I guess. But I admitted that I was reckless at that time.

I stopped recording and just watched the marvels of the world.

There are only two places in the world that the blue fire can be observe — Iceland and Indonesia.

While Indonesia is just close to Philippines, it has also a larger blue fire area compared to Iceland.

It looks like a lava, that’s why most of the people mistakenly called it as “blue lava”. The flames were so pure and so mystical. It was like a heart of Mt. Ijen, burning so brightly indicating its life force. Once the flames go out, it would lose its appeal. Eventually, that happened.

The Blue Acid Lake

After some time, they extinguished the fire and we were now enveloped in toxic fumes. This was the time our gas masks became really useful. These smokes were very nasty. Even with our gas masks on, I could still inhale the smoke that I needed to stop my breathing for a while. It was also irritating to the eyes. It singed that made our eyes teared.

As the show already finished, like what I said earlier, some people started to climb back. Even we were engulfed by smoke, I chose to stay for several reasons. They were still people going down. With the trail so steep and it’s still dark, I was worried about the traffic and there might be falling rocks or debris. I might also lose my balance and fall. If I stay, it would be a perfect time to recover and saved some strength. To add, it’s too early to went back. I wanted to see the blue acid lake. I have checked where the blue acid lake located. It was still dark at that time and I’m unable to appreciate its true beauty.

I looked for a spot and hid behind a big rock. At least, it would protect me from toxic smoke. In order to survive until sunrise, I needed to stay low, curl down, closed my eyes, and stopped my breath.

Around 5:43 AM, as dawn washed the darkness from the sky, the blue acid lake was revealed to be an enchanted beauty. I have seen similar turquoise blue water in Kawasan Falls at Cebu, Philippines and Kuang Si Falls at Luang Prabang, Laos but this was an exception. It was not the type of waters you want to dive into.

It was deceptively beautiful!

Mt. Ijen is also known for the World’s Most Highly Acidic Lake. (Hitting two birds in one stone) According to research, it has a pH lower than the battery acid or almost zero.

I wished I could stay longer to admire the acidic lake. However, I already ran out of luck and the toxic smoke was slowly engulfing us. I couldn’t take it anymore and my body was now reacting to it. Short-term exposure to highly concentrated levels of toxic smoke could be deadly. It could lead to breathing difficulties, may burn the lungs, corrode the skin and can even melt your teeth. Yikes! It’s time to go back.

After Dark

It was 6:37 AM when I reached Mt. Ijen’s peak again. This time, I was greeted of an awe-inspiring sight. The sun light slowly gleaming the caldera. The sky was deep blue and the cloud was the same height as where I stood as if my hands could reach it. The cold wind blew so strong you could hear its whistle. The field became lunar-liked as if I was transported or stepped on another planet. While revisiting the sight of blue acid lake and smoke came from the sulfur, it somehow reminded me of the movie “The Planet of the Apes”. So calm yet, destructive. I also like the blending of colors — bright yellow and turquoise blue.

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I never had this scene in my entire travel. This was what the philosophers called “the sublime”.

Totally out of this world!

Below was a short impromptu documentary that I made. Enjoy! 🙂

Sometimes, the most phenomenal things in life require a little danger, and climbing Mt. Ijen certainly is one of them.

Mt. Ijen – Where Heaven and Hell Meets "Out of this world!" those were the words that I uttered after witnessing the impeccable beauty of Mt.

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livingcorner · 3 years

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Your Ultimate Guide to Square Foot Gardening | Gardener’s Path@|how to square foot garden@|https://gardenerspath.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/square-foot-garden-FB.jpg@|21

It’s been a buzzword in the gardening world for decades: the square foot garden, a revolution in small space gardening everywhere.

It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out what this basic concept entails.

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It involves carefully measuring gardening plots. Careful planning can have a huge impact on how much food you grow, and how much waste you can avoid.

But for traditional gardeners and acolytes of other styles (like myself), we may need a bit more of a formal intro!

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What is square foot gardening, and where did it come from? What’s so great about it? Why do people still use the method in gardens today, and why is it so popular?

Sure, it involves the clever use of square foot measurements to get the most out of your growing space. But nowadays, with a burgeoning local food movement and a passion for home growing, knowing all the ins and outs of this ideology means a whole lot more.

Without further ado, let’s dig in and take a look!

So, what is square foot gardening anyway, and where did it come from?

In essence, it is an approach to growing food that incorporates companion planting, intensive spacing, and getting the most food possible out of a small space.

It all started in 1981 as a concept developed and coined by civil engineer Mel Bartholomew, author of Square Foot Gardening.

Square Foot Gardening, available on Amazon

In his experiences as an urban planner, Bartholomew brought attention to less efficient and productive methods of traditional single-row gardening. A hobby gardener himself, he combined his city design and planning skills with his green thumb to come up with the ever-practical square foot garden – and thus, his book was born.

The book quickly caught fire as an exciting new way to grow more food in small spaces, not only for the average gardener but to also improve health, ergonomics, space use, and even food security among populations in need around the world.

Its first edition is known as one of America’s bestselling gardening books of all time, with over a million copies sold.

Decades later, the book continued to be top-tier among gardening guides – so continuously purchased, used, and enjoyed, that a long-awaited update of the book was released in 2006 as The All New Square Foot Gardening, followed by a second edition in 2013. You’ll find it on Amazon.

All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space

Even now, Bartholomew sporadically updates his concept with new techniques and information to be more informed with modern gardening methods and fads that befit today’s gardeners.

A book that is so persistent as a horticultural classic must contain some kernel of truth, right? That’s exactly the point: this method of gardening is timeless, a classic that’s still relevant at a time when food issues are at the forefront of household concerns.

This led him to release yet another wave of square foot gardening books. Bartholomew’s second edition of All New Square Foot Gardening was published in 2013. It explores many of today’s hot gardening trends including vertical gardening, pest control, and gardening with your kids.

Even though it was conceived decades ago, the essence of its greatness still shows in space-saving, DIY food production techniques for the home that aren’t at all difficult to adopt.

Can you learn them yourself? Of course! Let’s take a look at how you can make these methods yours.

First of all – what exactly are the benefits of square foot gardening? Why is it a worthwhile approach to gardening in the first place?

For the backyard gardener, or even the newbie to urban homesteading, this perennial method is your perfect food-growing option for more than just a few reasons:

Grow as much food within a small space as you would with some traditional row-planted gardens

Compact 4-by-4 foot raised bed garden makes for easy access

No need for a big yard – grow food on patio, balcony, or smaller plot

No weeding at all (with the right setup using weed-free soil mix)

Less work and strain on the body

No negative effects or damage to the yard

Incredibly easy – ideal for new gardeners

Save money with minimal management by sourcing your own food

That’s right: with this clever gardening approach, you are essentially sourcing your own food from tiny spaces, saving yourself money and hardly having to put any work into it!

And no – you don’t need that huge backyard or tiller you once assumed you might to get started.

Due to the tight, compact, yet healthy spacing implemented using this method, you can competitively produce as much food as you might in a larger space that was planted using less-space efficient row crop methods. Due to the tight, compact, yet healthy spacing implemented using this method, you can competitively produce as much food as you might in a larger space that was planted using less-space efficient row crop methods.

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Sure, traditional row-cropping guarantees healthy plants with ample spacing between rows, but square foot gardening begs the question: couldn’t more plants be used in those spaces as well?

Plus, in a 4×4 foot raised bed structure (the method’s standard raised bed dimensions), you don’t have to do anywhere near the amount of work required for the in-ground planting of a larger plot.

With the purchase or construction of such a bed (whether wood, plastic, fabric, or even DIY from makeshift cinder blocks) and the addition of a bottom lining, you can keep your bed completely weed free – thus eliminating out a good chunk of the gardening work entirely.

Adding a lining to your 4-by-4 foot raised bed growing space ensures that it stays weed-free, and reduces the amount of work you have to do.

This is especially true if you add a seed-free soil mix rather than planting in soil from your own yard, an important aspect of Bartholomew’s method.

The method’s standard 4-by-4-foot total raised bed growing space is also the perfect size for reaching across to get to just about any spot in the bed, whether for weeding, planting, amending – you name it. This is quite the ergonomic option!

Plus, the techniques for setting up and planting are incredibly easy to learn, and can even provide the perfect medium for a beginner who is just starting out on their first adventures in edible gardening.

Of course, anything truly great tends to draw at least a little heat! Some critics of the method state that, in spite of its space- and work-saving techniques, startup can be expensive – the purchase or construction of a raised bed may be costly, as can getting your hands on completely weed-free, nutrient-rich potting soil or compost.

My comeback to that? Sure, you might ring up startup costs in the $100 range (though the initial cost tends to be much lower if you’re a smart bargain-hunter or handyperson), but think about the ultimate impact on your food budget (and self-confidence that will be gained in growing your own food) over time!

That’s right: over time, you’ll save money on your food budget by growing your own food (while feeling good and healthy about it!)

Sourcing your own food straight from your backyard with this method is also an excellent way to feel proactive about changing your part of the food system for the better.

By growing an edible garden organically and by using this method in your own backyard, you’re getting produce straight from your own soil at much smaller environmental and health costs, in comparison to the average grocery store produce.

The Basic Setup

Square foot gardening has a time-honored, well-tested place in the gardening world, with many noticeable benefits to gardening and lifestyle.

But what are the special techniques that bring about such awesome results?

At their foundation, they are very basic and ridiculously simple to learn:

1. Get Your Grow Space

First, build (or buy) a 4-by-4 foot raised bed box (lined with weed barrier landscaping fabric if you want less weeds and you’re building on top of other soil).

2. Put In Your Preferred Soil

Fill it with fertile potting soil (part peat moss, compost, and vermiculite, or another mix of your choice – preferably weed free).

3. Lay Out Your Grid

Overlay a square foot grid atop your box for plant spacing, then plant your seeds.

4. Get Growing!

Water, grow, and presto!

All of these steps seem pretty simple, right? Nothing new to most of you green thumbs out there.

But you might have noticed the obvious thing that makes this method different from other techniques: the square foot grid.

According to Bartholomew’s canon, this grid is typically an easy-to-make, homemade measuring tool crafted from long, thin slats of wood (particularly lath) that are then cross-hatched and fashioned into square foot-sized squares.

This grid is then fastened atop one’s 4-by-4 foot wooden beds, and used to measure and designate specific 1-by-1-foot planting areas for various herbs, veggies, and more.

If you’re not the handyman (or handywoman) type, these grids can be found for purchase on Amazon, primarily made of fiberglass material.

Mr. Garden Grid Kit

Or, you can build your own with wooden lath, though I have also seen gardeners and farmers use a temporary string-and-post setup to cast their measurements instead of wood.

Growing on the Grid

It’s these grids that create the magic of the whole concept, and which in turn help to make the whole endeavor of gardening this way so easy.

It’s simple: certain vegetables are planted in certain amounts (the number depending on the plant) within each square, at their ideal distances from one another. This then maximizes each plant’s space and nutrient use while crowding out weeds as a living mulch, allowing you to grow more veggies in a small space, and even boosting plant health through companion planting (which we’ll get to later).

Depending on the type of vegetable, herb, or even fruit that you are planting, one only plants so many seeds or seedlings within each square in a continuous grid-like spacing – while the actual grid itself helps to measure and keeps your rows looking neat!

Simply put, all you really have to do is consider the number of plants you need per square, plant them, and make sure to space them at healthy distances in a grid formation within the larger grid.

It’s wonderfully easy – no doubt one of the reasons why it’s a technique that’s caught on like wildfire!

Below, we share the general number and spacing rules for the most common vegetables you might like to plant in your square foot garden.

1-Per-Square Plantings

Simply form one hole in the center of the 1-by-1-foot square of your choice, and plant your seeds (or transplant your seedling), keeping in mind the seeding techniques and layout guidelines that you’ll find later in this article.

Celery

Corn

Eggplant

Kale

Lettuce (head)

Okra

Oregano

Parsley

Peppers

Potatoes

Rosemary

Sweet potatoes

Tomatoes (staked)

2-Per-Square Plantings

Plant these seeds side by side within the square, at the recommended seeding distance with an appropriate support trellis.

Cantaloupe

Cucumbers

Pumpkins

Watermelons

Winter squash

(Up to) 4-Per-Square Plantings

Plant these in a square with each seed or plant forming one of the four corners. They should be placed at equal distances from each other and from the border of the grid, with one hole close to each corner of the square space.

As noted, some of these veggies do not necessarily have to be planted 4 per square. If you want to grow a little less food, you may do so.

Basil

Garlic (for growing larger bulbs)

Kohlrabi

Leeks (for growing larger plants)

Lettuce (leaf)

Onions (for growing larger bulbs)

Winter radishes

Rutabaga

Summer squash (with cage)

Swiss chard

Tomatoes (with cage)

Zucchini (with cage)

(Up to) 8- or 9-Per-Square Plantings

Plant these in a grid- or square-like pattern within the square space (i.e. 3 plants long by 3 plants wide, forming either a square or a square-shaped ring border, simply making sure that they are equidistant from one another and the border of the grid.

Like with 4-per-square plantings, don’t feel pressured to plant that many of each vegetable if you don’t necessarily want that much food!

Green beans (bush or pole)

Beets

Cilantro

Garlic (smaller bulbs harvested, but more plants)

Leeks (smaller but more plants)

Onions (smaller but more plants)

Peas

Spinach

Tomatoes (with no supports)

Turnips

(Up to) 16-Per-Square Plantings

Plant these in a grid or square pattern within each square space (i.e. a maximum of 4 plants long by 4 plants wide). Make sure they are equidistant from each another and the border of the grid to avoid crowding.

If you don’t plan to thin or pick any of these vegetables for quite awhile, plant less if you like – you might prefer to use the 8- or 9-per-square spacing method. This will allow their root size to grow larger without leading to bolting or disease.

Carrots

Parsnips

Radishes

(Up to) 2-Per-4 Planting Squares

The veggies in this category need LOTS of space to flourish, and a more complex arrangement of the square grid method is required than for other crops.

Depending on the number you wish to plant, just make sure they have ample space from one another and the sides of the grid.

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

What About Perennial Vegetables?

Unfortunately, some vegetables simply aren’t ideal for the square foot garden, namely perennials that require more space to grow. The foliage of these plants grows too large and creates too much overshadowing to grow in a companion planting style close to other veggies in a garden.

These include:

Artichokes

Asparagus

Rhubarb

The ferns of full-grown asparagus would fall over onto other plants, as would the growth of artichokes and rhubarb. You’ll have to keep these separate!

Another unique aspect of this gardening technique is found in the way you plan your growing space – or more specifically, where every plant and veggie is going to go within that space, in order to get the maximum benefits out of your small garden.

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Techniques like companion planting are a big part of this, too – namely, the mutually beneficial inter-planting of different species with one another for natural perks like insect resistance and disease prevention.

Within your 4-by-4-foot space, carefully selecting the type of plants that you plant together – and even where you plant them within your container, and within each space of the grid – is very important.

You can use the following tips in combination with the grid setup guidelines described above to plan which squares will be best for which plants, especially if you’re planting many different things.

Making a mock-up and getting all of your arrangement ideas down on paper is a great idea for this part of the planning process!

Below is a list of the best companion planting layout tips for your square foot garden – so you can produce the most productive, happy, disease-free, and harmonious harvest possible!

The exact placement of these companion plantings in your square foot garden is important.

Companion Planting Tips

Not all plants get along. Some compete with one another for nutrients, or attract harmful pests that can be detrimental to certain plant neighbors.

On the other hand, some special pairings do exactly the opposite: they bring out the very best in each other, attract the right insects or pollinators, and create the perfect healthy balance.

Before planting your seeds (or transplanting your seedlings) into your raised bed, do the necessary research to determine what you should plant together within each square.

Stay tuned for a deep dive into companion planting in the very near future.

Adopt and adhere to these very straightforward guidelines for the best results – especially if you’re companion planting in your bed (and you should be)!

No Monoculture

Always plant your square foot garden with a variety of mutually benefitting plants, since one variety planted closely together will attract more pests and disease.

Keep Height in Mind

If planting short sun- and heat-loving plants with taller ones, make sure to plant taller veggies (e.g. tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants) on the north side of your bed to allow shorter ones (like basil, bush beans, celery) to get their share of the sun’s rays.

On the other hand: If mixing tall plants with a blend of shade- and heat-loving plants, plant your tall ones right in the middle. Plant shade-lovers on the north side of them, and heat-lovers on the south side.

Border with Veggie Protectors!

Border your growing space with alliums (i.e. onions, garlic, leeks, shallots) since these repel insects and pests (but keep them far from beans).

Add a Flourish of Color (and Pest Control)

Planting certain herbs and flowers – such as sage with brassicas, or marigolds with nightshades – helps to repel certain insects like egg-laying butterflies and nematodes.

Starting Out

So you’ve decided which veggies you want to grow in your little garden – and now you know exactly how many to put into each square.

Here’s the next step: getting them started from seed!

In the same vein as planting using a grid, square foot gardening employs its own unique approach to seed starting. This involves thinning out weak seedlings so you only give nourishment to the strongest, most (potentially) successful ones for the most productive garden.

When planting seeds:

1. Form Holes for Each Seed

First, form holes in each square using your finger or another tool, correlating to the number of plants you will be growing (which depends on the type – reference the list provided above).

Make sure holes are set up in an equidistant, grid-like fashion within each square, so that plants are equally spaced apart in their correct number – this arrangement will differ depending on the total number (either 1, 2, 4, 9, or 16).

2. Place and Plant Your Seeds

Plant 2 to 3 seeds of your chosen vegetable in each hole. Cover lightly with soil, then water.

3. Watch Them Grow

Once sprouted, choose the strongest-looking seedling from each set of 2-3 seeds that you have planted and remove the others to give it clearance. This will become your final, full-grown vegetable or herb!

Some may choose to direct seed straight into their bed, as the instructions above demonstrate. However, lovers of the seed-starting and transplanting tradition don’t have to change their ways to make this gardening method work.

Planting appropriate veggies (i.e. those that do well with transplanting) in smaller containers first, then sizing them up before transplanting into their final space, works just as well if you enjoy that method – and especially if you want to get started earlier on your garden indoors during cold seasons!

Setting the Pace

Once your seedlings and sprouts are well on their way in your square foot garden – well, you know the rest!

Water regularly, harvest, and enjoy. You’ll be amazed by how much food you can cultivate in such a small space, and with so little work required once your seedlings have sprouted. And once you’ve harvested everything you can eat, it’s shockingly simple to plant another succession and have delicious veggies again in no time.

If some seedlings don’t do so well, just plant new seeds in their place. However, it’s wise in more crowded squares (such as in 8-, 9-, and 16-plant spacings) to wait for other successful veggies in the same plot to reach maturity and harvest first, so they don’t overshadow and crowd out your tiny new plant introductions.

Not only will you have a flourishing, quaint food garden with minimal effort in comparison to what it takes to manage a full-sized one, you’ll also see significant savings in terms of your food budget.

Who doesn’t want fresh, homegrown produce straight from their own yard (and the fruit of their own labors) and from their very own hands? Nothing beats veggies you grow yourself.

You can also practice this method with practically no change, potential negative consequences, or damage to your space. There’s no need to dig up your garden soil – you can set up your square foot garden on your patio, balcony, or lawn without breaking any soil (or even a sweat)!

Of course, keep in mind that not all raised beds may be appropriate for all surfaces. With any bed you build or buy, look into the details on where the best setup should take place without creating drainage problems, rot, or damage to the surface blow, depending on your product or design.

About Adrian White

Adrian White is a certified herbalist, organic farmer, and health/food writer and expert. She aims to bridge the world of natural, holistic health and nutrition to the realm of organic foods, herbalism, gardening, and sustainability – or “Food as Medicine” – throughout her writing.

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source https://livingcorner.com.au/your-ultimate-guide-to-square-foot-gardening-gardeners-pathhow-to-square-foot-gardenhttps-gardenerspath-com-wp-content-uploads-2016-08-square-foot-garden-fb-jpg21/

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frustrated-writer-skyeknight · 3 years

Text

My OCs I'm still struggling to rewrite in my original story.

Here’s the plot so far and in a hiatus lol

🔥

“Thank you for your patronage!” Kyl beams, accepting a payment. “please come again.”

The woman smiles back in response, giving her own thanks before leaving the bakery. As soon as she steps out the shop, the boy sighs in relief, thankful that the last customer he had to deal with today was a mild elderly.

Kyl lets his smile fall with a heavy sigh, massaging his jaw with a hand. He huffs, running a hand through his hair, still peeved about a particularly irksome situation from the morning. He does what he can to give courteous and fair treatment to all customers, but that didn't make it any less aggravating to be polite to the brutes who intentionally made his job difficult, just to mess with him, for spending most of his time inside the bakery.

He knew he was different from most boys his age. Even his friends back home has ambitions of becoming knights or mercenaries in guilds, any job that meant action and adventure. Some of them don’t necessarily have a goal, but are still keen on mastering a weapon of sorts to be able to see the world as a wandering explorer.

As for Kyl, it wasn't that he found it completely satisfying to be a baker, and while he does see the appeal of the excitement that comes with the lifestyle aspired by his friends, compared to his own repetitive routine as a baker, he considers the peace it brings comforting enough. Kyl figured that if he was going to settle with being a baker for the rest of his life, he might as well learn how to deal with a wider range of customers.

Right now, he was assisting his uncle Teodor in his branch.

Teodor was like any typical Hearth family man. He was devoted to his craft, which only came second to his family. Even if it means being short on help, he wouldn’t let his wife, Myrah, lift a finger when she wasn’t in the best condition to do so. He did his best to replicate Myrah’s special recipes for some of their regular customers, but he wasn’t having much luck. The next person who could come close to baking them was his youngest nephew, Kyl. That was why he was here.

Kyl has a lot of relatives and they handle their own branch in their respective hometowns. Although not famous to get nationwide recognition, each was doing well. This was the first time that he was away from home for a long period. Because of a recent brawl which resulted in Myrah’s bad back, they were short staffed. Even though they were just three, they got by well enough. And it wasn't like there were never instances in the past that only two of the three would be the ones working the shop. It was especially the case back when Dru was a young toddler and prone to fever every now and then. Teodor had his fair share of moments when his blood pressure was too high and he needed rest to relieve his stress. But that never took a while, and they'd recover in a few days. This was the first time there needed to be a full month of resting for recovery, and neither Teodor nor his son could compete with Myrah in baking particular products even if they follow her recipe. But somehow, Kyl can come close.

Asides from lending a helping hand, Kyl was curious to find out the different challenges his relatives here faced, since they reside in a larger town. In a way, it was a welcomed change of pace from his dull routine back home. Since his hometown seemed more like a small, remote village than anything else, with a grand total of twenty houses, everyone was a regular customer, and it seemed like they had a fixed time when it came to making a purchase. But Kyl could also see the downside working where business had to be fast-paced in some parts of the day.

On his first day working with them, Kyl was overwhelmed by the number of customers alone and how fast they expected him to serve them. The orders and deliveries almost made him break down. If it wasn't for his cousin, it might have actually happen.

Dru was older than Kyl, and to an extent, taller. His height wasn’t the only thing big about him. Because of the sacks of flour he regularly carried to and from the storage, plus the dough kneading he does daily gave him well-developed biceps and he maintained an admirable muscle tone. That, with his dark, brown hair, and warm chocolate eyes, reels in the young ladies into their shop, sometimes mostly to gaze upon him than to buy bread. With his gangly physique and awkwardly tousled light brown locks, Kyl was envious and can only hope to grow into the same built. His only noteworthy quality in terms of appearance were his green eyes.

Kyl wonders if body size affected temper because his dad had a similar large build, and they both tended to be a bit of a hot-head at certain times. Kyl figured it could also be due to because life in a bigger town being more stressful in comparison to remote villages like his own. His dad said that he used to live in a bigger town in his youth, and he had violent tendencies back then. His cousin wasn’t necessarily violent though, and was nice enough when it mattered. For instance, even when he made a show of how it peeved him to have to pick up after him, Dru made sure Kyl got some learning experience out of it and guided him through it so he could do better the next time around.

He had claimed, “I don't want to keep doing your workload for you, brat, so get it right next time.”

But Kyl realized that his cousin guided him during his entire time with them, at least more than Teodor even when he was present to take over anytime if Dru really didn't want to. Just like this morning with those troublesome guys. While he was given an idea what to expect from difficult customers they usually encountered, he didn’t think handling patrons like those guys would be as irksome as it had been. He almost snapped back at them before Dru showed up and took care of it himself.

His cousin didn't even go about lecturing him about proper work etiquette afterwards, didn't push the point about treating customers nicely at all times like Kyl expected him to.

“People can be jerks without being aware of it,” Dru had said, ruffling Kyl's hair. “don't let them win by showing them how affected you are.”

In the end, Kyl found that he enjoyed the experience in spite of the hardships and difficulties. Plus, he enjoyed spending time with these particular relatives again since the last time had only been a three day visit when he was a toddler. He was almost sorry that he would be returning to the repetitive routine of his small village life soon. But at the very least he would be comforted by how peaceful it was compared to all this.

“Good work today, boys.”

Teodor comes out of the kitchen with Dru, each carrying two small baskets of bread. One basket seemed to have more bread than the other. But while they differ in quantity, their contents remained similar. Both contained , flat leaven manchets, rounder oatcakes known as clapbread made by Dru who can bake them best with a little spicy flare to it, the usual staple white cockets and powdered biscuits, Kyl version, because it didn't exactly capture the taste Myrah manages and only came close. Still, the youngest Hearth felt accomplished that it still sold well, even if it wasn't sold out the way Myrah's batch would've been.

I'm still not done preparing the batch for the local orphanage, but I can take care of it myself. You two handle the priorities for today.”

At the end of each day, the Hearth family always make it a point to give out their leftovers to the less fortunate. It was what Kyl's great grandfather always believed in, that kindness and acts of it goes a long way.

Kindness is the most hopeful provocation, He used to say.

Teodor hands them two sheets of paper. One sheet had a family name written down along with the name of their members plus an address. Then as Kyl looks over his cousin's shoulder, he noticed that the other piece of paper was a slip more than a sheet. It wasn't constructed the same way the other was either. There was only a single word written.

Kean.

There were only two reasons why a person would not have a last name. Either he was a grown orphan, or beings called a Mana user. Humanesque creatures with a questionable place in society. Kyl has never met one before, but from what he can gather by the gossips heard at the town square and the opinions of his family was that they do not contribute much to society, but at the same time, they did not require anything from it either. They seemed to exist for the sake of existence itself. However, since society cannot get anything from them some people find it meaningless for them to exist at all. Until much recently, a law regarding no tolerance for discriminatory acts did not extend to Mana users. Closer study implies that most riots arise due to the instigators’ acts of reproach towards the mentioned Mana users. Therefore, for the sake of holding the peace, a proposal to revise this law was underway.

By this provocation, the instigators are making the most of the time left that they can mistreat the Mana users without consequences.

“Kean...” Kyl mutters, finding that the name was familiar. He mentioned his musings, ‘did he come to the shop recently?’ he wonders. “Did I write a receipt for him, or...”

Dru makes a look. “Yes, because Mana users carry money despite not having jobs.”

“Do they?”

Dru gapes, checking if Kyl wasn't just pulling his leg. He forgot that growing up in a small village had the tendency to make people ignorant of common knowledge in larger areas. Plus, this was Kyl. While he didn't live in the province and just at a small village he could be pegged for a country bumpkin with his level of ignorance.

Teodor smacks his son upside on the head in reprove. “Druant, be nice to your cousin.” he scolds, and Dru realizes he said that out loud by the way Kyl is glaring at him. “Anyway, the answer is no. They don't. It's unlikely because Mana users don't seem to need the same bare necessities that we do. That being said, they don't require money. And the name should be familiar because I mentioned him to you once when we talked about your aunt's case.”

“Oh yeah,” Kyl says. “You said there was a fight. Was this Kean guy involved?”

Teodor nods, “You could say that. While your aunt was the unintended victim, Kean was the targeted one.”

“Except mom seemed have gotten the worse of it.” Dru scoffs.

Theodore frowns at his son. “We don't know that for sure. The fighting stopped when they realized they’ve injured someone else as well.” He says. “We haven’t seen Kean after so we don't know how he came out of it. That’s why he's a priority tonight. It occurred to Myrah and she wants to have it checked out.”

“If we find him,” Dru quips. “Come on, Kyl. Let's get going.”

Teodor calls out after them, “Don’t stay out too long,” he says, “the last thing I need is to tell Myrah you guys were found dead on the streets chewed on by some wild animal.”

“Wait, what?” Kyl blinks, turning back. “what wild animal?”

Teodor laughs, and Kyl figured he was teasing him. He scowls while Dru snickers, “How simple.”

🔥

Once they were outside, Dru opens his mouth and tries to say something. But figuring out what it was, Kyl beats him to it.

“Yeah, I can take Kean’s basket.” He says.

“I, uh…” Dru blinks, his mouth moving wordlessly before he simply nods. “Yeah… okay, thanks.” He gives Kyl the basket with the lesser bread.

Kyl pauses, as if in thought, before speaking once more. “You don't happen to agree with those who beat up this Kean guy, do you?”

“H-huh? Oh…” Dru mutters, worrying his lower lip. “Um, well, of course I don't like it that they started that whole fight because of it. I mean, mom got hurt and…”

Kyl narrows his eyes, “You know that wasn't the question.” He says. “Do you hate their kind, too?”

Since he hasn't really encountered one yet himself, Kyl doesn’t have any real sentiments towards Mana users. However, if they weren’t actually hurting anyone he didn't see how it was justifiable to hurt them or anyone, generally speaking, just because they weren't actively involved in society. He can understand getting annoyed, but anger was a little extreme for him.

“I…” Dru starts before sighing, “look kid, don't get me wrong. I don't hate Mana users, if that's what you mean. At least… I don't think I do. But if you've seen one up close, with the blank look in their eyes as if they weren't even alive… I don't know. It's creepy.”

“I see. But you know, it's okay to be scared. Pretty sure even Knights get like that, I'd be surprised if they didn't.” Kyl says. “I don't think you’d be disqualified just for that.”

“Huh?” Dru's eyes widens. “what are you—”

Kyl rolls his eyes, “Dru, I'm not as simple as you think. I've seen you training late at night when you're supposed to be sleeping like the rest of us. And the bulletin board at the square mentioned needs for recruits.” He says. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure things out.”

“Kyl, you can’t tell dad or mom about this, you hear?”

Kyl frowns. “If I wanted to be a rat, I would’ve mentioned it the first time I saw you training after taking a piss. You really could’ve picked a better, more hidden place to do that if you didn’t wanna be caught, by the way.” He says. “but they’re gonna find out what you're up to anyway, especially once you sign up. And sure, maybe he'll be a bit sad that you're not interested in baking full-time, but I don't think uncle would forbid you if that’s what you really want.”

“Yeah. If. That’s the key word.” Dru sighs, shaking his head. “I’m not really sure what I want either. But I do know there’s more I want to do than be a baker for the rest of my life. I mean, maybe I wouldn’t mind retiring as one. But that’s definitely not all I want to do. You live in a small village, maybe you’re happy with how simple that is. But come on, you can’t tell me that you never thought about it.”

Kyl shifts his weight absently, not sure what to say. “We better get going, don’t you think?” He didn’t wait for a response, already turning and walking off.

Forgetting about one minor detail.

🔥

Kyl groans, berating himself. He forgot that he had no idea where to even look for this Kean fellow. These were the moments that Dru could be justified for calling him simple. Even having a vague description of this guy might’ve been helpful, seeing as those he was asking didn’t care much to give him any useful leads. All he got so far for his efforts were either questioning looks or scorn. He gave up asking when he got the latter, and settled for just winging it. Stopping once more to rest, he leans against a wall of some random home. He’s pretty sure he searched the entire town, at one point he even got lost because some of the houses look the same: two-storey, beige cedars with mahogany doors and red roofs. He had to back track towards the main square to get his bearings.

At the moment, all he can assume was that this guy was homeless with the lack of address, maybe even a hermit if he was the only Mana user in town—or out of town, if that were the case. Kyl definitely wouldn’t want to stay in a place where he was treated poorly. Earlier, somebody did suggest that he ask the last people to have an encounter with him, but the boy had suspicions that they were the cause for his aunt Myrah's condition in the first place and also made her concerned for the guy’s well-being and he definitely didn’t want to have a run in with those types himself.

Therefore, he settled for walking all over town and hoping he gets lucky.

The sun was setting and each step Kyl took was getting heavier. He wasn’t any closer to finding his priority assignment than he was hours ago and it was already passed supper. Certainly, he could’ve just taken some of the bread from the leftover basket but since it wasn’t meant for him, all the more for someone less fortunate than him, it didn’t seem right to Kyl to do that even if he was feeling rather unlucky at that moment. Yet he was exhausted. Still, he didn’t want the bread to go to waste but he wasn’t going to consume them himself. He figured he probably had time to search for someone else before it got too dark.

Just when he turns to the next corner, he finds himself falling forward. Kyl yelps as the contents of the basket were sent flying. The boy groans, pushing back brown fringes from his eyes. He huffed, brushing his hair back.

“Ow…” He winces, getting up slowly. He’s pretty certain he had a scratch or two. ‘I should really watch where I’m going.’ He thought. He gets back on his feet and pats what dirt he can from his trousers. ‘what did I even trip on? It felt thick…’ he muses. He scans the area and a scream catches on his throat. “AH!” Kyl breaks into a cold sweat under a second, and he was legs suddenly felt boneless. Nevertheless, he was about to make a run for it when his conscience caught up with him.

It was a dead body.

As much as he was tempted to do so, he couldn’t just leave it there. Slowly, he approaches the body, making sure there were actually no wild animal that, in hindsight, his uncle might not have been completely joking about. As he got nearer, he realizes that it wasn’t a corpse. At least, the body still felt warm. It was easy to think the person was dead, though. The guy, as it seems to be, was completely motionless that even his chest seemed like it wasn’t moving. The indication that he was, in fact, still among the living was the low moans that escaped his mouth.

Kyl sighs, running a hand through his hair. ‘Well, he’s alive. Now what?’

He couldn’t very well leave this person lying here. He could take him to the nearest clinic but that was right across from the East side square, which was on the other side of town. He considers taking him back with him. His aunt was almost fully recovered so he wonders if his uncle would appreciate another patient to care for.

‘Well… as dad always say, "you’re not a Hearth if you’ve got no heart…."’

Decided, Kyl hefts the guy up, slinging his arm carefully over his shoulder, and wraps his own arm around the stranger’s waist. There was a sound of thunder and the skies grew darker by the time he saw the roof of the bakery.

🔥

Despite their collective surprise, and forgetting their worry on why he was late, they didn’t make much of a fuss when Kyl brought in the guy he found. Teodor didn’t mind caring for another infirm but he was a bit upset about the bread but he eventually got over it.

“Can’t do anything about it anymore, after all.” He says.

Dru was fine with it as long as he didn’t have to share his bed with the guy. Kyl figures it was only fair and he wasn’t oppose to sharing. The guest room wasn’t his own room, after all. After that matter was settled, Kyl went to take a bath and have something quick to eat since it was late and he didn’t want to sleep on a full stomach. Myrah was finished giving the stranger a sponge bath by the time Kyl returned to his borrowed room.

“Hasn’t he woken up yet?”

Myrah shakes her head, “No, but I've taken care of his injuries. No broken bones, which is a relief. He’ll be fine after some rest.”

Kyl smiles. “That’s good to hear,” he sighs. “I’m just glad it wasn’t a dead body mangled by some random wild animal.”

“Your uncle said something again?”

Kyl blinks, “Again?” he repeats. Myrah just chuckles in response and the boy decides to drop it. “Anyway, I’m sorry to have bothered you with this while you’ve just recovered, auntie.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Myrah says with a careless wave of her hand, “my back doesn’t even hurt anymore, and I couldn’t leave this to your uncle or Dru. Those two are hopeless when it comes to tender care.” She rolls her eyes.

Kyl smiles slightly, “Is that why you keep calling me specifically for those massages?”

“Bingo.” Myrah winks, “You know, it’s a bit funny that I had your uncle make sure you get Kean some bread and you ended up bring him home without the bread.”

Kyl cringes, thinking that his family really valued their bread. Then, he starts. “That’s Kean?!”

“Oh goodness, you didn’t know?”

Kyl shakes his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah… not at all.”

“Didn’t the hair tip you off? I mean, it’s blue.”

Although there was no explanation, at least none publicly known, all Mana users seemed to have unnatural hair color. In the back of his mind, Kyl did question it once he returned. But since it was dark out earlier, he didn’t notice it at first. He thought the guy had black hair, because the hue was of a darker shade, almost like cobalt. Still, that was the notable difference. When it came to physique, they were similar except Kyl may be more well-toned in comparison, as a result to hours baking.

“I’ll remember that next time.”

“Nnh…”

Kyl and Myrah turns toward the bed. “Oh, he’s waking up.”

Eyes opens slowly, and Kyl understands now what Dru meant earlier. Their eyes really did have an eerie feeling to it, but for some reasons, this made the boy intrigued rather than scared.

“Where am I?”

🔥

Kean’s bleary eyes finds two individuals standing before him, and he recognizes the woman. She had been there when those townsfolk attacked him, but he has never seen the boy before.

“Miss Myrah, hello.” He sits up.

Myrah smiles, walking over to comb his hair back. Kean just continues staring, even while she examines some remnants of wounds that, he notices, were treated. He figures that those needed more time to heal. She didn’t seem to mind Kean’s lack of concern with that way she pokes around his injuries, already expecting the stoic response. Most Mana users, if not all, seemed to possess the quality.

“It’s good to see you awake, Kean. I wondered what happened to you after our last meeting.”

Kean’s expression remained blank. “I am sorry to have caused you worry.” He says with a curt tip of his head. “May I ask how I was brought here though?”

“Ah, that would be my doing, mate.” Kyl answers, “I found you passed out and decided to bring you home.” He grins. “Perfect timing, too. Just before you got caught by the rain and end up sick with the cold.”

Kean replies, “Oh, Mana users do not get sick the way humans do. So it did not really make a difference,” he says. “you could say it was pointless.”

Kyl stares at the Mana user, not having a response for that take on his act of kindness. Myrah watches her nephew, trying not to smile. She may have an idea what was going through his mind.

“Thank you, anyway.”

“Um, wow. Okay,” The boy feels like he should be irritated or something akin to that. However, he found himself just wondering what was the matter with the guy. “Can you say it like you mean it, at least? I mean, with more... conviction.”

Kean’s tone remained as is when he responds. “Oh, okay. I am truly grateful for the unnecessary aid to my predicament even while I was unaware of the needless attempt.”

“Er,” Somehow, Kyle felt even worse than he was with Kean’s first response. “‘Truly grateful’ is not shown on your face at all…” his shoulders sags.

Myrah couldn’t help it this time. She laughs.

🔥

The following day was definitely an interesting one.

During breakfast, Kean was refusing a big portion of the meal Teodor was insisting on him because the man found Kean simply too thin for a boy his age. The Mana user reminded him that they don’t age the way humans do. In addition to that, they did not require an intake of nutrients gained from food consumption since, according to him, 'Simple meditation to be one with nature' was sufficient to keep them going. Both Kyl and Dru shared the same expression; their eyebrows were furrowed, and they had creases on their forehead, staring at Kean first then at each other as if trying to make sense of that explanation. Nevertheless, Teodor still made Kean eat with the notion, 'As long as you can eat, eat. We get food from nature, too.'

Kean had no argument for that.

Afterwards, when Myrah found the poor condition Kean’s clothes were in she had him try on some of Dru’s old clothes. The one closest to his size and proportions was still slightly big on him so she had it adjusted. After putting it off long enough, they finally opened shop an hour later than usual. Teodor said it wasn’t really a problem since the month was almost up and they already made their quota. Kean offered his help since they did delay on his behalf.

That’s when things turned eventful.

Kyl knew that Mana users had strange abilities, but like most things about them, he never really understood exactly how strange. While he didn’t have to mention it out loud, Dru wasn’t wrong in his thinking that living in a small, almost secluded village tended to result in a certain degree of ignorance. Kyl’s first time witnessing these abilities happened by watching Kean all throughout the day.

First, it was with the wooden stove they used for baking. Since it rained last night and they forgot to cover their firewood, Dru and Kyl had a difficult time getting a fire going. Kean decided to lend a hand and ended up overdoing it. Dru and Kyl did stand a little too close, curious to see what Kean would do. He burned the wood a little more than what was necessary, and the fire quickly rose. It consumed the stack of wood and due to the water, the crackling of wood also came with bursts of ashes. Fortunately, no one was hurt and Dru managed to close the steel door to tame the flame before it could escalate. Because of that though, he ended up covered in ash himself. Kyl couldn’t help but laugh even while he was a mess himself, since it wasn’t compared to Dru who almost resembled some kind of gigantic charcoal. The older Hearth didn’t know whether to be more upset with Kean or Kyl. But since the Mana user was giving his apologies, no matter how bland the tone, while his cousin was just laughing his head off he decided that Kyl would be doing most of the dough kneading for the day.

After the initial rush hour, they took a break. While Kean and Kyl were passing by the foyer when they saw Myrah frowning and nagging Teodor over some Orientalis out the back door. Apparently, the flower patches were all wilting because, according to her, Teodor didn’t water them as constantly as he was supposed to. Seeing her distress, Kean steps forward and, with a wave of his hand, he revived the dead flowers, regaining their pinkish vibrancy along with a translucent glow, as if they were freshly bloomed. Myrah widened her eyes before running towards Kean to embrace him in gratitude. Teodor sighed in relief, mouthing his own thanks.

The next event transpired shortly after Teodor declared that they no longer have to bake more bread to replenish their stocks for the day. Kyl and Kean was given the task of organizing the kitchen and take inventory of the remaining ingredients while Dru helped his father in the shop. The ladder was misplaced when the boys went into storage so Kyl had no way of checking the top shelves. Before Kyl could ask Kean to look for it while he double checks the lower shelves to make sure their listings were accurate, the Mana user brought his palms together and blew on them. Kyl eyed him questioningly before he felt light all of the sudden and the next thing he knew, he was floating weightlessly off the ground and higher into the air. Kyl freaked out when his hands reached the ceiling and forgot all about taking inventory; when Dru went to check what the noise was about, he almost had a heart attack. With his attention diverted because of that, Kean ended up dropping Kyl on his cousin.

Finally, Kean and Kyl were sent out to give the day’s leftovers to the chosen priorities. As a precaution, Myrah gave Kean a cloak to wear so those fellows who beat him up before wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Just when they were on their way home, it started to rain once more. Kyl managed to find a tree to stay under, and while they were still being rained on, it wasn’t as bad as when they were out in the open. He suggested waiting it out but then, he saw Kean out there and on the spot he stood, the rain seemed to go around it. He beckoned for him to step out, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he stepped out. The hand outstretched towards Kyl glowed and now, the rain avoided Kyle as well. With that, they made their way back.

However, Kyl was certain that the cloak didn’t serve it’s purpose of concealment after that stunt.

🔥

Kean and Kyl were resting up when they got home, just waiting for supper to be ready. Kyl decided he would work on his swordsmanship since he was returning home tomorrow.

Arriving was simple, since he had a special transportation to get him there directly. At home, despite not having much to brag about, they did have farms that specialized in breeding Aero Aves, large birds that have a gentle nature and have impressive homing instincts. Licensed agencies train these birds to carry passengers along with their packed belongings to long or short distances. But at the time, they only had money for Kyl to take a one-way trip service. There were additional fees if the traveler wanted to have the Aero Aves to come back for a return service. Furthermore, since he was journeying home on his own this time around, he would have to leave town. In spite of it’s large size, the town didn’t have its own port. Therefore, he would have to travel on foot first to the nearest town his uncle said had one so there was a chance Kyl would be running into some trouble.

Myrah wanted to request for an adventurer escort from the local guild, but Kyl refused. For one moment in this trip away from home, he wanted the accomplishment of doing something independently. Still, he did hope that the road to the next town didn’t have wild animals or, worse, strong monsters. He knew that monsters do not normally attack humans unless provoked. As long as he kept to the main road, he would be okay. However, he also needed to consider robbers. Although, in between baking and deliveries, he couldn’t find time nor energy to train regularly so he hoped he wouldn’t be having any of those encounters at all.

“Kyl, are you heading outside?” Kean speaks up just as Kyl was half way out the door, “has the rain stopped?”

“I think so,” Kyl replies, “I just wanna train a bit to prepare for traveling tomorrow. But auntie would kill me if I use my sword inside.”

Kean tilts his head to the side, “I do not believe miss Myrah is capable of such atrocious acts, such is not compatible to her kind nature.” He says flatly.

“Atro…” Kyl frowns, brows creasing before shaking his head. “No, uh, I mean… well, it’s cramped up in here as it is. I’m gonna need more space to move around better.”

Kean nods in understanding, “I see. An open area is optimal for such actions. I’ll accompany you since, yes, I agree. It is cramped inside.”

“Uh... huh?” Kyl was lost for a moment, giving the Mana user time to walk pass him and towards the back exit of the house. “Well, okay then.” He shakes his head before following Kean out.

When they got to the back of the house, just a few feet away from the storage. Kyl starts by working on his stance and repeating basic movements to warm up. After which, he tries to envision possible scenarios, recalling the common wolves that would attack travelers and thinking of the tips his dad gave him on how to handle such an encounter. When he was satisfied enough, he went on to wielding his sword and hitting his imaginary enemy with the blunt side. If he ever did encounter robbers, he didn’t feel good about killing them. He did not believe it was his place to decide who should die. He keeps this up until he his attention was finally drawn by Kean, settled on top of a water barrel. By his still position, Kyl could guess that this was him in meditation, the breathing seemed to follow a rhythm as well. That was when he recalls the conversation from breakfast.

“Is that really filling for you?”

Kean pauses, mid-exhale. He slowly blinks his eyes open, finding where Kyl stood.

‘Er, maybe I shouldn’t have interrupted?’ Kyl winces, rubbing the back of his head. ‘It is meditation, after all…’

If Kean was perturbed by being broken out of his concentration, it didn’t show. “For something to be filling,” he starts. “there must be a containment variable. I am not a container.”

The boy finds that he was getting used to the way Kean spoke, “No, I mean…” he pauses to think, “does it make you… well… not hungry?”

“Mana users do not really experience hunger.” Kean replies, “For humans, food is necessity for the recuperation of energy and nourishment along with water. Internally, my body does not require those intake. However, similar to you, I do require hydration as do all living things in nature. What I am doing now is sufficient in terms of sustenance, if in any circumstances I neglect my meditation practice I would feel sluggish till I am able to do so again.”

Kyl frowns, scratching the lower part of his chin. 'Isn't that similar to hunger in essence?' he wonders, “But then, you're still able to eat food, so...”

“That's because, as sir Teodor stated, food came from nature after certain alterations so I am able to consume them, similar to how I can consume water the way you do. In addition, our anatomy are similar except we do not possess cells and the like.”

“You really need to use small words, Kean.” Kyl sighs, suddenly losing energy to train. “It's hard to keep up with you. How are Mana users different from humans when we look the same?”

Kean pauses, as if in thought, before responding. “You know what Mana is, right?”

“Uh,” Kyl thinks about it, “it's like magic, right?” he says, sheathing his sword.

Kean shakes his head, “No. Mana is considered the power of the elemental forces in nature. Fire, water, wind, and Earth. It is easily understood that Mana users are able to manipulate this power. But what is not known by most humans is that Mana users are Mana themselves.”

“Huh?! You're Mana?”

Kean nods, “Humans possess a certain type of acid that connects them to their roots. Consequently, as we do not possess the same substance, the concept of family does not exist in our kind.” he explains.

“No family?” Kyl frowns, “Then how were you born?”

“I was not born, as such would require a mother and father role. I was formed.” Kean corrects, “Mana users come to be when there is a large amount of Mana force in a given area. Sometimes, we rise from the sea. If that happens then the user would be limited to manipulating water elements. Alternatively, if we come from a volcanic area, then fire elements would be the limitation. In addition, we would have corresponding nullifying effects to their elemental adept. A fire adept are incapable of being burned, and a water adept would be capable of breathing underwater.”

“Huh, well, I guess that makes sense... somehow. I mean, I got the gist and all.” Kyl hums, “But wait, how are you able to control all four elements?” he questions, recalling the events of the day. “Are some specialized Mana users like that? Is there a name for that?”

At this, Kean says nothing. Instead, he looks down in contemplation.

“Uhm, did I say something wrong?”

Kean shakes his head. “No, I just do not have an immediate answer so I was thinking how to respond,” he says, “To be honest, I cannot know the exact area where I came to be. This is one of the things about myself I do not have knowledge of. Most Mana users are able to recall where and that is usually the optimal place for them to meditate. Considering what I told you earlier as well, I do not possess any nullifying qualities either. On some occasions, some areas produce Mana users quite often. If they so wish, those users reside there therefore making themselves into a tribe.”

“Oh,” Kyl mutters, frowning. “does this bother you?” He would be worried himself if he didn't know where he came from, or if he was different from others to that extent; the way Kean seemed set apart from his kind.

“To be bothered implies that I feel apprehension or discomfort, which are somehow manifestations of fear. I am not inclined to emotions so no, I am not bothered.” Kean replies, “I go by survival instincts alone, so I suppose it does not matter where I come as I do not possess that knowledge yet am still be capable of living.”

Kyle frowns, not certain he would actually call that living. His uncle was right when he said that Mana users seemed to exist for the sake of existence alone. He couldn't wrap his mind around it.

'What was it like,' he wondered, 'to be without emotions?' Before he could think up a response, Dru calls them for supper.

🔥

Later, Kyl was preparing for bed when Kean mentions something.

“Huh? You're leaving?”

Kean nods, “I decided to stay here for this day to help out, to give my thanks for their kindness. I would like to leave right now, but miss Myrah insists I stay one more night. I do not really wish to trouble them, but I agreed,” he says in his usual manner. “I will depart come morning, I apologize in advance if I am gone before you wake.”

“Uh, no, well... You don't really have to apologize for that.” Kyl says, “But... you mentioned not having a family, or a tribe. So that means you don't really have any home to return to,” he frowns. “where will you go afterwards?”

Kean shrugs, “Mana users do not require a dwelling. It is inconsequential, as the weather do not normally bother us as much as it does to your kind. Even those in tribes usually do not establish such things.” he tips his head slightly. “I thank you for your concern on my behalf, however.”

Kyl scrutinizes this individual that he has come to know, and he doesn't know how to respond. For some reasons, he didn't want to see him go and never know what would become of him afterwards. Kean seems like a nice guy in spite of his somewhat detached tendencies, which was now explained to him. Still, it didn't seem right to him. It was like having a nice feeling after doing a kind deed that makes it all the more worth doing. For that reason, Kyl always wanted to offer his helping hand whenever he can. But for Kean, it seems like he only saw every single act he does as a form of obligation or the like.

Then, something occurs to him. “You said that you're not inclined to emotions, right?”

“That is correct, yes.”

“But does it also mean you're incapable of it?”

Once more, Kean didn't respond immediately. “I never considered the thought. I suppose it is possible, but it seems inconsequential to surviving.”

“And you're just fine with that?”

Kean tilts his head to the side, “I apologize, may you be more specific?”

“It's just...” Kyl hesitates, “I think it would be better if you were able to feel something every now and then, you know?”

Kean replies, “No, I believe I do not. As I said, such is irrelevant to my kind.”

“It's got nothing to do with relevance.” Kyl says, “I know, I'll show you how it's done!”

Kean just stares blankly, “Show me… How to finish what?”

“No, no that kind of 'done.' I'll show you what it means to feel, how to say 'thank you' with conviction.” Kyl grins, “maybe even teach you how to use simpler words, too.”

Kean continues to stare. “I do not comprehend.”

“Yeah, now you know how it feels.” Kyl rolls his eyes, smirking. “I figure since I'm also leaving tomorrow and you don't really have anywhere to go, why not we just go together?” He beams, “Believe it or not, even if I live in a smaller area, we have more to do since we also got a farm to manage along with the bakery.”

Kean nods, as if in understanding. “I see. So, you require my company for temporary assistance in this endeavor. Very well.” he says.

“What? Wait, no. I mean, I guess your help would be appreciated. But no,” Kyl shakes his head, gesturing with his hands as if to dismiss the idea. “I just... I enjoy your company, I guess you could say, and it would be nice if you could get something out of it as well.”

Kean tilts his head once more, “I have. The quaint accommodations here is well appreciated.”

“Er, not exactly what I meant.” Kyl sighs, “But this is why you're coming with me. Just... Stick with me, okay? Like a 'from now on' thing than a temporary one.”

“Hm,” Kean hums, “I must decline.”

“Huh?”

“This is what you humans call a 'proposal', is it not? I understand that it is something done between a man and a woman, also with the binding emotion of love. I am neither a woman, nor do I feel any such emotion towards you. Also, are you not a little to young to engage in such a thing?”

Kyl’s face feels warm, and he waves his arms dramatically. “No, no, no! That is not what this is!” he protests. “Sheesh, why do you have to make it weird?”

“I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding.” Kean tilts his head forward, “You are red."

Kyl gives him a certain look, "Wow, wonder whose fault that is..."

"I believe it's mine; I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable." Kean said, "I am not accustomed to any human asking for a long period of companionship with me; you are quite strange, Kyl.”

Kyl glares at him, “You're the last person I want to hear that from, mate.”

“All the same, I must decline.” Kean tells him, “I do not wish to trouble you, and a long term connection, which you are requesting, can prove bothersome.”

Kyl raises a brow, “What do you mean?”

Suddenly, they heard some vague noise that later turned into disturbing racket. “This is what I mean.”

🔥

“What on Gaea...” Kyl trails off as he and Kean reach the ground floor, the noise only getting louder.

They follow it, and head towards the bakery kitchen then through the threshold leading to the shop's counter. Kyl walks towards the windows and find a group of men swarming their main entrance, their outsize arms flexing as they visibly attempt to push pass the double, oaken doors. He even notices that they were the same guys who messed with him the day before. Dru pushes against the force to keep them at bay, his corded muscles ripples under the strain.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Dru's head jerks in reaction, but he keeps his focus on the door. “Maker's name... Kyl?! Please tell me Kean's upstairs!” he grunts.

“I am here.”

“Damn it!” Keeping his weight against the door, he turns around in favor of looking at the other two, “you're the last people I wanted coming over. Where's dad?!”

Before Kyl can answer, Myrah steps in the room next and Dru almost cries in dismay till she opens her mouth. “Your father's making sure our other entrances aren't being broken into. He escaped afterwards to look for the local knights.” she says.

“What's going on?” Kyl repeats, frowning. “Why are those men trying to get in at this hour?”

Dru glares, not in the mood to be answering any questions. “Search me! Whatever it is, it's definitely not for our bread!” he grumbles. “Now get back in your room with mister magic there!”

“That is not my name.”

Dru lets out a long-suffering groan.

“Are those the guys who beat Kean up?”

Dru huffs and in-between grunts, answers. “Kyl, for eternia'sake, you really are simple. Can you not understand the situation?! Now, help me or shut up!”

Kyl huffs indignantly, but goes over anyway and helps Dru push back. Kean raises a hand and ask if he could do anything to help, to which the cousins collectively responds with a loud, 'No.' Kean puts his hand back down and walks away, most possibly back to their room like earlier instructed.

Eventually, the weight on the door suddenly lessened, and the shouting ceased while a stern, authoritative voice was heard. A knock comes from the door, along with the familiar voice of Teodor.

“It's me, Dru. Open up.”

Sighing in relief, Dru rolls his shoulders to stretch out the kinks. Kyl opens the door in his stead, revealing his uncle on the other side speaking with an unfamiliar man. His hair was slightly below shoulder length tied back by a black cord, its pale golden color shines against the dim light of the bakery, he was also dressed in an Adventurer's garb; he wore a long, deep blue inner tunic, a scarlet sash wraps around his waist with a scabbard secured against it. There, the man sheaths his weapon, a two-handed Claymore, which may indicate that the adventurer was left-handed. Kyl wonders if he actually used it earlier, or if it was just to intimidate the men.

The man exchanges a hand shake with Teodor before he pauses, and looks over to Kyl who stiffens at the sudden attention but he relaxes at the stranger's easy smile. His jaw was defined, almost as well as Dru's, maybe even more so. It was also clean-shaved, as if the man grew a beard frequently and had to shave as much.

“I couldn’t find any knight,” Teodor explains, “Thank the reapers, I ran into this fellow.” He says, gesturing to the man.

The adventurer bows his head, “Always a pleasure to lend my services,” he says, “My name is Lyxander.”

“Thanks for your help, sir.” Kyl says, “I’m Kyl.”

The man nods towards him, but diverts his attention to Dru. “And your name is?”

“Me? I’m Dru, short for Druant.”

Lyxander hums, sizing him up carefully. “You seem to have the makings of a great swordsman,” he muses, “How’s your training, Druant?”

Something about that catches Kyl’s attention. It wasn’t any doubt that Dru had an impressive built, but most men didn’t necessarily acquire that physique only through the training of a knight and such, all the more was it how one would be identified as a swordsman.

“Actually, he’s a baker.” Teodor interjects, “What he knows of such a thing is enough to get him by a journey from one town to another.”

Lyxander looks between Dru and his father, the former seems be fidgeting quite a bit. “Oh, I apologize. I didn’t realize that…” he pauses, “well, never mind. If you are ever interested, I am looking for companions to accompany me in a… well, let’s call it an undertaking for now.” He smiles, “I will share more, should you choose to express interest; I will be at the guild. Have a good night, now.”

“Well,” Teodor hums, scratching his backside. “that was an odd exchange.”

Dru takes a breath before speaking, “Dad,” he starts, “can we talk?”

“Hm?”

Kyl looks at his cousin, and understanding dawns on him. “I’m going to check on Kean.”

🔥

A few minutes later, the conversation moved inside with Myrah now included. Dru explained his intentions of exploring the world, as he did not find the fulfillment in being a baker all his life. Teodor listened all through his ramblings, which Dru didn’t expect at all. Finally, the man sighed when his son promised he would remain long enough for them to find a suitable replacement.

“No, son.” Teodor says, “there’s no point, the Hearth bakery is run only by the Hearth family, and those married into it. That’s how it’s always been. We’ll keep the shop going as long as we can manage, but if it’s time, then we’ll close it down.”

Dru widens his eyes, “You don’t have to do that,” he says, “I won’t be gone forever, I’ll come back, once I’m ready to settle down.”

“Are you sure?” Myrah asks, her tone mild, “you just said you do not find fulfillment in being a baker. If you don’t find it fulfilling now, it can’t be certain that you will later on.”

Dru frowns, his eyes now downcast. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“Don’t feel guilty, son. I’m not doing this out of spite,” Teodor promises, “All things must reach its end, even those things that we’ve found solace in for so long. Such is the nature of life.” He says, “what’s important is that you find what it’s worth. May the Maker guide you in this path, son.”

Dru looks back up, smiling at his parents. He stands and goes over to wrap them in his arms, “Thank you...”

The small family remains that way for a short while, when Kyl comes running into the room in haste. The three breaks contact, and turns towards the young lad who seems out of breath.

“What’s up?”

Kyl frowns, shaking his head. “I think Kean left.”

🔥

Kyl and Dru made preparations to leave the following morning. All the while, Kyl couldn't believe Kean actually left without a proper good bye. It may have something to do with him being a Mana and not having the courtesy to do so, but he had enough of that to return the favor by helping them run the shop yesterday. Plus, Kyl did say he wanted Kean to accompany him when he returns home. It's true that they were still talking about the matter, and Kean had yet to give a confirmation. In fact, the Mana user did imply that it would be an inconvenience for Kyl if he were to keep him company. However, since it wasn't settled Kyl had hoped Kean would reconsider.

"Why do you even care so much?"

Kyl looks towards Dru, pausing in his task of checking if he was all packed, "Huh?"

"About Kean," The older Hearth clarifies, "You said you guys got interrupted before anything was settled, but the guy did say it wasn't a good idea. That's pretty much his say on the matter. Taking it in face value, he declined."

Kyl frowns, shaking his head. "But it wasn't going to be any trouble for me, and he left before I could explain that to him."

"Kyl, he's a Mana user." Dru reiterates, "He managed this long without emotional attachments, he can do without it. Now come along, I need to walk you out town before heading to the guild."

Kyl frowns as he watches Dru making his way out. He should've known better than to explain his case to him. While they were as close as they can be, considering their age gap, they didn't share the same ideals most of the time. Moreover, Dru did give his sentiments regarding Kean's kind and while he didn't detest them to the extent of wanting to hurt them he also didn't sympathize with Kean the way Teodor and Myrah do, the way Kyl does. Resigned, Kyl double checks his things before following him out.

Dru walked Kyl out town before heading to the guild to talk with Lyxander, and most probably get his adventurer certification. With a backer, he would be able to acquire it within the day. Kyl wished him good fortune even as he didn't know how to feel about his cousin's decision; that it could mean the Hearth Bakery closing shop in this town in the later years. He considered talking to his parents about moving in with them officially; his relatives weren't getting any younger and while Dru promised to visit whenever he was nearby Kyl wanted to make sure they're checked on regularly.

Before that, he needed to get home.

So far, staying on the path was working well for him. The only encounters he had were the regularly rabbits and fawns, who scurries away at the mere sight of him as he was more likely to predate on them than they were to him. Before he could think he would arrive to the next town with no trouble at all, he encountered said trouble though not in the form he expected.

There was a creature caught in a net, suspended off the ground. It growled, trying to claw its way out. Kyl notices that its tail was short, its hind legs were longer than its front legs. With this, he figures it was some kind of lynx. But it was strange because, as far as Kyl knew, this region of Gaea didn't have packs of wild felines roaming around. Bears and wolves were more common if he wasn't mistaken, and while he usually is, his father made sure he knew and remembered what kind of wild animals he would most likely run into heading back home. The second thing that bothered Kyl was the fact that it wasn't hunting season, so it was only tolerated to attack wild animals if they attacked first, making this lynx a victim of poachers considering that it was caught and now hanging in a net.

This brought Kyl to his third problem. 'How do I free it without getting attacked myself?'

He frowns, wondering if he should return to town and report the issue. But then if the offenders were on their way back to collect their prize, they would be able to get away before the local knights would be able to do anything about it and take the lynx with them. Then, Kyl remembers the packed lunch his aunt gave him before he left.

"Okay, here goes."

Kyl walks towards the trapped lynx. As expected, once the creature sees the brunette approaching, he starts to growl and snarl at him. Kyl flinches a bit, his hands going up instinctively. He bends over and lays a pair of underwear—one he was looking for a reason to get rid off for a while since he really didn't like how itchy it was. He places pieces of meat on top of it and looks up at the lynx.

"All right, I'm not going to hurt you. See? You can even have this after I free you."

The lynx stares back at it, and for some reasons, Kyl thought it was giving him an a certain expression and he could picture Dru giving it to him. He shakes his head and climbs up the tree and the lynx actually stops snarling, and was just observing him. He sat on the branch that the net was tied on before cutting it with his sword. He hasn't sharpen it in a while, so it took a few seconds before breaking through completely. The lynx drops to the ground and, with remarkable precision, untangles itself from the net easily enough. It walks towards the offering, swiping it off the garment before devouring the meat and jumping towards the bushes and away from the area.

Kyl narrows his eyes and jumps to the ground, picking up his underwear with the tip of his sword. "Guess it didn't like you, either." he places it back inside his bag, before turning and continuing on his way.

When he saw a group of men running towards him; familiar men, at that.

"You—" The one at the front, the self-proclaimed leader whom Kyl thinks goes by the name of Jinn aims a glare right at him, casting side glances at the ruined trap. "a scum-lover, now a rotten vandel? You just love pissing us off, don't you?"

Kyl frowns, "Scum lover? Are you talking about Kean?" he grumbles, clenching his fist. "a scum for something he is, as oppose to hunting animals off season and going against the law?"

"You really love to test my patience, don't you?" Jinn glowers, stepping forward.

[Narrative plot of Kyl being rescued by the lynx, now in a humanesque form. I haven’t written it yet lol. I’m bad at action scenes.]

"You're welcome, and before anything else I would like to highlight that when you're offering food, don't put it on top of your underwear."

Kyl cringes at that, "It's clean."

"Not the point," Lynx made a look, "How would you feel if someone served you a meal on their underwear?"

The brunette rubs the back of his head, "Well, I thought you were an animal so..."

"That's an offense to animals everywhere; most pick their food off the ground, not where your genitals have been."

Kyl's cheeks turns flush, and he decides not to reiterate that it was, in fact, clean.

#Myart #OC #Original story

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livinginlandmarketing · 4 years

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In late January, Mammoth Mountain was hit with more than 100 inches of snow just as Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the latest stay-at-home order.

And, while the fresh powder beckoned cooped-up eager skiers and riders, it also was a pivotal lesson in how resort officials would navigate this year’s season amid tight COVID-19 restrictions while still providing a fun place to enjoy the outdoor winter wonderland in the High Sierra. The resort opened on Nov. 13, after the longest off-season in its history.

“It was quite a weekend,” said Stacey Cook, who heads up the mountain’s newly created COVID-19 Enforcement Team. “The storm kept building in the forecast and at the same time, we saw the stay-at-home order being lifted. It was the perfect storm.”

Crowds began forming at the few open lifts across the vast mountain and wait times stretched to as long as 55 minutes. Access to the mountain was limited to IKON pass holders and advance paid ticket sales. By that weekend, resort officials announced the mountain was “sold out.”

“Everyone showed up all at once,” Cook said. “We wanted to make sure we had safe operations and waited until ski patrol finished their avalanche blasts. I don’t know if any communication would have suppressed the guests’ stoke.”

Then, two weeks later, the mountain got some more fresh powder with about 18 more inches. Skiing conditions were much better and the mountain opened a lot sooner. The next fresh snowfall is expected Wednesday, March 10 and the mountain is expected to provide skiing and riding until at least Memorial Day. The summit now has 224 inches and Main Lodge has 184 inches.

To keep its guests safe, Mammoth Mountain has invested $1 million in COVID-19-related resort enhancements. This includes new technologies and sanitization procedures to help with physical distancing and public health and to reduce contact points throughout the resort.

Skiers and boarders wait in lift lines near Canyon Lodge, where COVID-19 restrictions are in place. (Photo by Erika Ritchie, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Skiing in the COVID era

That late January weekend was eye-opening as crowds began forming at the lift lines. Masks are required indoors, in lift lines and on lifts, in gondolas, shuttles, and when social distancing with others outside who are not part of your travel group.

Cook’s team members — dressed in orange vests — were on hand to make sure guests had their noses and mouths covered and that kept a 6-foot distance. Bandanas and gaiters are already part of many skiers or riders’ gear, so that part wasn’t that difficult, officials said.

But, some who tried to grab a sip of a beverage or maybe cool down after an exhilarating run and pulled down their face coverings were quickly and politely addressed.

“A lot of it is observation and talking to guests,” Cook said. “How do we make them believe what we’re doing is necessary? We’re constantly battling the misconception of being outside without a mask is OK.”

Chris Dahl, a lift operator who is on Cook’s team, brought an unusual amount of enthusiasm to the waiting lines at Chair 5. He’s found a way to make COVID-compliance fun by bringing a sort of entertainment to the crowd.

“It’s almost a whole year into the pandemic and I can see a lot of people are pretty tired of it,” said Dahl, of Fullerton, who is working his first season on the mountain. “I take that attitude because it helps make my experience more fun. I think people gravitate towards it because they’re also excited about being on the mountain and they want someone to share the energy with.”

Since the first storm, Dahl said he gets a good level of compliance but sees better cooperation from California residents than those who come to Mammoth from out-of-state.

The lift lines are distanced. For skiers, that isn’t too hard; it means lining up tail-to-tail and, for some, including just about one more foot of separation.

“We do get some people who squeeze up tight,” Cook said.

The late January storm showed Cook and her team how to get ahead of the game. In some cases, that meant opening lifts earlier and getting ahead of any crowds forming by the beginning of the day.

“That weekend, we were never able to get people spaced out.”

The COVID team works with mountain hosts — part-time workers and local volunteers dressed in yellow vests — to advise skiers and riders where to go on the mountain.

Three-step enforcement

While the majority of guests comply with the COVID protocols, Cook said some balk. But, the mountain has a three-step plan for non-compliance. Many times the mistakes are innocent and people have either forgotten or aren’t aware.

“We correct the mistake and we’re nice about it,” Cook said. The second time it happens, we educate them on why it’s important and how we’d like to keep the mountain open. The third time, corrective action is taken; it’s noted in their profile.”

Each guest has a profile whether they are an IKON Pass holder or not. A first warning is noted in the profile. The second time non-compliance happens, their ski pass is turned off for a week. If it happens a third time, the pass is revoked for the season.

Cook said a lot of notes have been made in profiles and more than a dozen passes have been revoked so far this season.

COVID protocols have also affected the Panorama gondola that travels to the summit. It no longer picks passengers up at McCoy Station at mid-mountain. Those who ride must board at Main Lodge where capacity is limited to single households. The Village Gondola — which runs from Canyon Lodge to the Village at Mammoth — limits capacity to 25% with open windows, even in inclement weather. Seating is arranged to ensure a six-foot distance between people from different households.

If you want to get more proficient at taking turns, ski and board lessons are private to ensure only people within a household are placed together.

Mammoth Mountain basking in sunlight after a recent storm. (Photo by Christian Pondella, Mammoth Mountain)

Lodges and après-ski

And, with the restrictions on the mountain, there are similar safety measures being taken at all of the resorts’ lodges.

Hand washing and sanitizing stations are placed throughout lodges at the resort. Places like railings, bathrooms, door handles, tables and chairs are being disinfected regularly.

Guests will miss some of the traditional ski getaway fun like eating hearty breakfasts and lunches inside lodges, having a place to warm up a shivering child with hot cocoa and the ever-popular and expected après-ski at some of the mountains’ bars and restaurants.

While the lodges aren’t open to gather, there is plenty of outdoor seating where visitors can enjoy takeout food and drinks. The mountain also has opportunities for advanced ordering and pickup options through the Mammoth Mobile App. There are also pop-ups on the mountain where guests can pick up drinks and snacks.

At Canyon Lodge, for example, the ever-popular Canyon Beach has been a place to hang out socially distanced while relishing the pure joy of a bluebird ski day. At Main Lodge, there’s plenty of space on the sun decks outside with views to the mountain’s famed Unbound Terrain Parks.

“It’s not the same experience, but it’s still a good experience,” Cook said. “Have a plan to grocery shop or eat lunch in your car. Call and ask questions, look on our website and don’t come unprepared. Our employees don’t want to be the police. This is a place to be kind and enjoy life. Show up with an attitude of fun and patience.”

In Mammoth Lakes, all restaurants are open for outdoor dining, takeout and delivery.

The best place for a fun après-ski is likely your lodging. If you need to stock up for groceries and want to avoid large groups and long lines, avoid times between 3 and 10 p.m., especially on Friday and Saturday.

While COVID may have changed some of the experience, Mammoth’s terrain remains amazing. The wide-open bowls, steep canyons and long groomers are there to welcome eager skiers and boarders back. Here are some of the best ski runs that just may make you feel “normal” again.

A skier is covered in powder on Mammoth Mountain. (Photo by Peter Morning, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area)

EXPERT

Hangman’s Hollow: Perched near the summit of Mammoth and accessed by the gondola, Hangman’s Hollow is an adrenaline junkie’s dream. Large rock faces and drops take you through the “hollow” and into a powdery landing. This run requires skill and bravery.

Climax: Towering just below the gondola, Climax is a steep, daunting run that provides some of the best turns on the mountain. Drop over the edge and get buttery turns. Funnel through a few chutes; then it’s back to wide, fun slashes to the bottom. Don’t fall because you’ll have an audience watching from the gondolas above.

Dropout Chutes: The Dropout Chutes, which take skiers right under Chair 23, are filled with some of the best snow on the mountain because they capture the Mammoth “wind buff.” Skiers and riders pass by large rock formations in a tight chute and then hit wide, long, grin-inducing turns that are hard to beat.

West Bowl: Some of the best “first tracks” on the mountain on a powder day. On an average day, it can be a technical mogul field. Accessed from Face Lift Express, West Bowl requires a slightly technical traverse to drop in; then it’s a wide-open bowl, usually all to yourself.

Paranoid Flats: The “Noids,” as locals call them, may not feature the rocky chutes of some other double black trails, but they are steep, fast and require a little finesse to access. Whether you choose 1, 2, 3 or 4, Paranoids give a run of a lifetime when they’re hit right.

Avalanche Chutes: Off Lincoln Mountain and Chair 22, the “Avy Chutes” are a ton of fun for advanced skiers or riders — especially after a storm. Chair 22 is an option when the top of the mountain is closed. You can get fresh, steep tracks while snow falls. The chutes collect a lot of snow, and a short hike takes you over to a choice of three.

Boarders cruise groomed runs above Canyon Lodge. (Photo by Erika Ritchie, Orange County Register/SCNG)

INTERMEDIATE

Road Runner: Road Runner takes skiers and riders on a scenic 3-mile tour of the backside, all the way back to Main Lodge. The views of the Minaret Range will take your breath away, but don’t get too distracted — there’s a steep dropoff on your side.

Stump Alley: It’s a misleading name. Stump Alley is actually a wide treeless run with tons of space to work on turns. With just enough pitch to pick up some acceleration, you can carve down at full speed and treat yourself to some pulled pork nachos at The Mill at the bottom. This tame blue run has varying conditions and can be confidence-inspiring.

Solitude: Taking you from the top to the bottom of High Five Express, Solitude is fun and wide. If you’re feeling adventurous, the left of the run is lined with trees you can cut between and find hidden pockets of powder. Just make sure you don’t cut through the trees completely, or you’ll find yourself going down the more advanced Face of Five trail. Solitude is the perfect practice for making turns down steeper terrain or to get comfortable picking up downhill speed.

Gold Hill: Starts off at the top of Cloud Nine Express, which is known for having some of the best snow after a storm. Gold Hill definitely provides that for the intermediate skier or rider. It’s a long run with tons of fun side hits, tree runs and powder stashes.

White Bark Ridge: If you’re looking for a relaxed run off the backside of Mammoth, head over to Chair 12 or 13 and take some laps on White Bark Ridge. Shorter than Road Runner, White Bark Ridge provides amazing views and is less of a thigh burner.

A view of The Minarets — a series of jagged peaks — visible from Chair 16 on Mammoth Mountain. (Photo by Erika Ritchie, Orange County Register/SCNG)

BEGINNER

Sesame Street: If you’re at Main Lodge, Sesame Street can be a good place to build confidence on the slopes. It’s an easy run with access to beginner freestyle terrain. Sesame Street has some of the best views of the top of the mountain to give you something to work toward.

School Yard: Out of Canyon Lodge, head to School Yard to learn your heel from your toe turns. School Yard is a long, easy beginner run that is a perfect place for all age levels.

Pumpkin: Out of Eagle Lodge, Pumpkin is a long, mellow run perfect for beginners to get comfortable on the snow. Often with fewer crowds than other beginner runs, Pumpkin has space to learn how to nail your turns.

Wonderland Playground: This is the perfect space to learn and get comfortable in the park, whether you’re new to freestyle terrain or just looking to have some fun. With small jumps, ride-on boxes and rails and an 11-foot halfpipe, this is the place to start your park progression to the big leagues.

St. Moritz: If you’re feeling comfortable on the beginner slopes but aren’t quite ready to make the jump to an intermediate run, check out St. Moritz. Take the Panorama Gondola to McCoy Station and make your way down the wide, mellow beginning of Stump Alley toward the top of Forest Trail. St. Moritz is an advanced beginner run that takes you back to Main Lodge and allows you to gain more confidence on the mountain before hitting intermediate runs.

-on March 05, 2021 at 01:36AM by Erika I. Ritchie

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