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yuyupowers · 4 years ago

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aristocrat!yunho

aristocrat!yunho x fem!reader

genre: fluff, angst

trigger warning(s): description of an anxiety attack, brief description of death, memory loss. let me know if there’s anything else!

author’s note: i swear this wasn’t supposed to be this long sdkjflds

none of the pictures are mine!

for reference, i’m using british peerage (hierarchy). there are five ranks: baron, viscount, earl (count), marquess, and duke - the highest being duke, and the lowest, baron.

eldest son of a duke

okay, so

among nobility, the jeon family are well respect but considered to be a bit,,,eccentric

they adhere to all the social expectations expected amongst nobles, but their attitude towards non-nobility is what sets them apart

though most noble families are polite when interacting with non-nobility, they generally try to keep their distance; avoid their company, if possible

not the jeong’s

it wasn’t unusual to see duchess jeong knitting in her tea room with maids, merchant’s wives, or whoever else wanted to come

to see gunho running around with his friends, a pack of street urchins, low, and middle class children

to see yunho in the market helping one of the many older couples haul their cart into place

his family had managed to find the delicate balance of being “normal” enough not to suffer social ostracization, yet “odd” enough for people to dismiss their “peculiar actions” as “typical jeong behaviour”

now, onto the loml yunho

perfect gentleman pt. 2

extremely charming and a great conversationalist

no matter how awkward or shy the other party may be, yunho has this way to draw them out of their shell

(just ask mingi)

excels physical and hands-on activities (i.e. hunting, horseback riding, swordsmanship, etc,,,)

average in terms of book smarts

so while wasn’t about to lead the next technological revolution, he wasn’t “stupid” either

rather, i’d argue that yunho’s brilliant in non-traditional ways

his quick wit and ability to think on his feet is part of his charm

but his greatest strengths are his observational skills and emotional intelligence

able to discern people’s emotional state easily and quickly

he’s someone who’s kind, bright, and genuinely cares about other people’s problems (sometimes a little too much)

a natural leader - people tend to flock towards him

between him and mingi (who despite not acting like it, is extremely book smart), they’ve got all bases covered

(+ yunho’s willingness in using unconventional methods to gather information)

that’s actually how he met you

or rather, “found” seems more appropriate

see, he has an excellent rapport with the street children

being six foot one and offering shoulder rides does wonders

and because he wants to stay updated on what problems the people around him are dealing with, he gets the children to “report” to him if they find or hear anything unusual

(the children are more than eager to play spy, especially when there’s candy involved)

one day while taking a stroll, one of his kids ran up to him totally out of breath

he wheezed something about a “mysterious lady” before grabbing yunho’s hand and dragging leading him to an alley quite far away

to say he was surprised was an understatement

most of the time, his kids brought amusing but mostly useless information to him

(even if he is more than content listening about the cute squirrel they fed earlier that day)

usually they didn’t lead him to an unconscious woman lying in the middle of an empty alley

(yes, that’s you)

hurrying to your side, he drops down and checks to see if you’re alive

other than being unconscious and getting some dirt in your hair and on your clothes, you seemed to be okay

gingerly scooping you into his arms, he tells the little boy to fetch the doctor and bring him to the jeong manor

fast forward a couple hours and you’re roused from your unconscious state by the sharp smell of ammonia mixed with lavender

blearily, you rub your eyes and blink once, twice, before your vision finally clears

then panic

you don’t recognize where you are or the two faces that hover by your bedside

sensing your anxiety, yunho smiles warmly speaks in a soothing tone

“hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re in a safe place. my name’s yunho and this is dr. adley. i found you unconscious in an alley.”

and though you’re very confused and still mildly unnerved, you can tell this yunho guy is genuine

“,,,okay.”

so you settle into the (extremely comfortable) four poster bed and let the doctor examine you

except now it’s time for panic pt.2, but ten times worse because why the hell can’t you remember anything?!

you can’t even remember your own g*d damned name !!

to make things worse, there doesn’t seem to be a reason why you can’t remember anything

no bumps or injuries anywhere on your body

and chances of a robbery gone wrong, a kidnapping, or a failed assassination attempt were very unlikely since you were dressed in commoner’s clothes

disquieted by your alarm and the doctor’s confusion, yunho slips out of the room and returns after several minutes

the doctor, offering apologies to both you and yunho, says he has no idea what’s wrong or what could’ve happened to you

all he can suggest is to rest and hope that your memories eventually come back to you

your burry your face into your hands, a whirlwind of frustration, confusion, and fear brewing in you

apparently nobody, including yourself:

knows who you are,

where you came from,

why you were unconscious,

and why you lost your memories

to top it off, you have no money

…

just when you were about to idk,,,scream and/or punch something-

you feel two large hands engulfing yours, lowering them from your face

taking a seat on the edge of bed, yunho offers a faint smile as he idly traces lines from your wrists to your fingertips

a surprisingly soothing gesture

“,,,i know you’re overwhelmed right now, but please don’t feel as if you have to do this on your own. i talked to my mum and dad; you can stay here until either someone finds you or your memories return. in the meantime, we’ll help you out as much as we can, yeah?”

and though you’re in no position to argue, your first instinct is to decline because though you’re amnesiatic, you still have common sense

what kind of family, wealthy or not (actually, especially wealthy), lets a complete stranger stay in their house?

do these people have no sense of danger?

but yunho is as stubborn as he is kind, and this was how you ended up staying with the jeong’s

(you insist on working to earn your stay, much to yunho’s dismay. in his head, unless it helped in recovering their memories or, unfortunately, was necessary for survival, who would make an amnesiac work?)

the first couple of days were awkward

duke and duchess jeong had briefed everyone in the manor about your situation, but when making casual conversation, lapses in memory and uncomfortable silences were inevitable

“oh, i adore this purple! hey, what’s your favourite colour?”

“,,,i uh,,, don’t know.”

“,,,i’m so sorry-”

but awkward has never a problem for yunho, and you quickly grew fond of the gentle giant

“since we don’t know your name, can i call you little sun? since i found you on a sunny day and you’re little-”

“yunho, not everyone can be six feet tall”

“six one, actually”

“,,,”

true to his word, he does his best to help you recover your memories

roped mingi into helping

when you finished your tasks for the day, he’d bring you to all sorts of places, trying all sorts of things

on a hunting trip with yungi, you discovered that: a) you’re proficient in horseback riding, b) you have astounding aim, and c) you’re surprisingly agile

yunho, who’s always been penchant towards athleticism, was delighted to have someone to compete with

mingi just grumbled. sure he was clumsy, but how did someone with no memory beat him?

while helping the gardener, you found out that you have a rather extensive knowledge of flora

yunho jokingly (kinda) suggested that maybe you were a huntress

mingi bombarded you with questions and quizzes about plants

find out what kind of plant you are by decorating your dream room

hoping that you’d run into someone or somewhere familiar, yunho would take on walks all over the city

during your walks, you learned that you preferred nighttime (while he preferred the day), that you found solace in being alone (while he preferred company), that you liked sweet things (while he preferred chips)

a month,

two,

six months passed liked this

you made progress, but you couldn’t stop the bitterness from bubbling in your chest; negativity spreading through your veins like toxin

sure, you consider your favourite colour to be a precious memory in its own right

but who cares about what your favourite colour is when you can’t remember your own name?

you were vexed by the fact that, at this point, you know more about yunho than yourself

even if learning about him made your heart flutter

just a little

and the nightmares

the nightmares

they drove you crazy

you never remembered what you’d dream of, but every night, without fail, you’d wake with tear stained cheeks and sweat soaked clothes

tonight was particularly bad

normally, when you woke, you’d force yourself to take several deep, calming breaths until your breathing evened, grab a glass of water, then crawl back to bed

today, you couldn’t breathe

no matter what or how hard you tried, your heart wouldn’t stop pummeling against your ribcage;

your blood wouldn’t stop rushing between your ears, creating a cacophony no one else could hear;

wave after wave of nausea would slam into your gut

your vision’s blurring

oh god

you’re gonna pass out

you’re gonna pass out and forget the memories you worked so hard to remember and all the memories you made and you’re gonna forget yunho and mingi and-

suddenly, much like the first day, two large hands engulf your own, idly tracing lines from your wrist to your fingertips

“little sun, it’s me, yunho. your yunho. focus on my hands and voice, yeah? i’m right here.”

he continues to murmur sweet nothings until finally, finally, your heart settles back in your chest, your breathing levels, and your vision clears enough to see yunho

your yunho

and in this state, one look at his kind eyes is enough for the tears you’ve been holding in all this time to spill over

because though you cry in your sleep, you never let yourself cry when you’re awake

too focused on chores, too focused on remembering, too focused on trying to get some semblance of control over this uncontrollable situation

without a word, he pulls you into his chest and runs his fingers through your sweaty hair, offering the sound of his heartbeat to anchor you back to this four poster bed when you were ready

but g*d, does it break his heart to see you cry

he expected to hear you wail, to take the brunt of your fists as you pound his chest

but he hears nothing

instead, he feels your tears soak his shirt, feels how you tremble in his arms

and that is so much worse.

it takes long minute for you to stop crying, and another for you to feel composed enough to detach yourself from yunho’s (now soggy) chest

you’re sure you look awful

puffy eyes, blotchy cheeks, and a runny nose

(and you feel embarrassed that yunho witnessed your breakdown)

but he thumbs away the remaining tears from your cheeks and murmurs that he’ll be right back, returning with tissues and a glass of water

and a new shirt

he hands you the glass of water, tosses your used tissues in the garbage, and climbs underneath your (technically his) covers, patting the space beside him

when you too find refuge in the warm blankets, he pulls you back into his chest

his arm acts as your pillow as he kisses the crown of your head, murmuring into your hair

“wanna talk about it?”

it takes you several moments, but you eventually tell him about the negativity seeping into every inch of skin

the nightmares you never recall keeping you up at night

the irrational feeling of stupidity because you can’t remember who you are

yunho silently, attentively listens to you as you spill your heart

and if he hadn’t pulled you so close, you might’ve seen the weariness in his usually carefree features

the conflict and hollowness brewing in his normally inviting eyes

but by the time you finished talking and pulled back, the expression was gone and the familiar smile you adored so much was back in place

“tomorrow, let’s go to the place where i found you.”

a faint smile bloomed on your lips because though this wasn’t the first time you visited, it was a reminder that you weren’t alone

that no matter how the chances dwindled, yunho would remind you that it was never zero

it was hope that got you through the night

the two of you have never done anything that could be considered anything but platonic

much to mingi’s irritation

but just for tonight, yunho decides to be a little greedy

he kisses your forehead, your cheeks, your nose, your eyelids, you wrists, your palms, your knuckles, your fingers

anywhere he can reach,

except for your lips

you’re emotionally exhausted and vulnerable; he’d feel like a dick if he forced a decision - especially an emotionally fraught one - onto you right now

he threads your fingers together, murmuring soft promises: you’ll remember who you were, you’ll be okay, you’ll find your way again

and you finally let the exhaustion, the steady rhythm of his heart, the rise and fall of his chest, and the warmth and comfort that is yunho lull you to sleep

the next morning is a cold one

gusts of wind bite into your skin as you curl in on yourself, trying to preserve any remaining shred of body heat

noticing this, yunho tucks you under his arm with a sheepish smile and flushed cheeks that were definitely red because of the cold and not because he was flustered

cute

a peaceful silence falls between you two as he leads you to the alley

and since it was early, the only sounds that accompanied you was the quiet patter of your footsteps and the chirps of birds reluctant to travel south

feeling like it simultaneously took too long and not long enough, the two of you arrive

an odd smile settles on yunho’s lips

,,,was that bitterness?

“,,,here we are.”

interrupting your train of thought, he takes your hand and leads you to where he found you

g*d

you could feel it

somewhere in the back of your mind, something almost tangible was shoving its way forward

you’re so close, just a little more and-

suddenly, a chill that had nothing to do with the weather ran down your spine

before you could understand what you were feeling, yunho shoved you behind him and parried the dagger aimed for his chest

a gruff looking man only a little shorter than he stood before him

his clothes tattered and dirty, skin littered with scars, hair and beard scraggly and matted, he looked like one of the many men that inhabited the slums

but those men were sagging skin and bones, never knowing where or if they would get a next meal

this man was muscular

and judging by the familiarity of his actions, this clearly wasn’t his first assassination

the two men, unable to disengage, snarl as they continue to press into each other

much to your surprise, when you were about to jump into the fray, the assassin screams at you

“YOU ‘UCKING WHORE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! KILL HIM!”

big mistake

because not only is yunho clever and athletic, he’s one lucky bastard

in the brief second the assassin’s attention was diverted, yunho ducks

his weight and moment carries him forward, and he stumbles,,,right onto yunho’s blade.

yanking both his blood soaked short sword and body away from the assassin, the man crumples to the ground

but until life is drained from his eyes, he bores holes into your head, message clear: kill him

a deafening silence weighs down upon you when the man stops breathing

even the wind stills

yunho stands there, a far away look in his eyes as he grips the short sword

blood is splattered all over his hands, across his cheek

it trickles from the hilt, down the blade, and eventually drips onto the ground beneath him

snow begins to drift from the gray skies, landing on his hair, his cheeks, his eyelashes, his coat

as if trying to comfort him

as if trying to wash the blood away

and you?

you couldn’t move.

not when the floodgates had opened and a torrent of memories threatened to pull you under

you knew who you were

you were yn, born to a peasant mother who died at birth and a father that abandoned you soon after

a ghost of a person, and unknown assassin raised by an unnamed noble who resented the jeong’s for their wealth, their nobility, and their favour with the royal family despite their peculiar attitude

nothing but a tool

a tool told that if successful, he’d grant you wealth and freedom

but that if you failed, he’d kill you himself

…

the assassin wasn’t after yunho, he was after you

a warning to finish the job, or else

…

you couldn’t stop your hands from shaking

and yunho,

your gentle giant, yunho

envelops your hands in his, idly tracing lines from your wrist to your fingertips

there’s no comfort this time.

not when he drew lines of blood across the back of your hand, not when you searched and couldn’t read anything expect for this sad smile on his ordinarily open features

“,,,do you remember?”

“,,,”

“,,,you knew.”

he did.

his suspicions appeared early on, spurred by your unusually good marksmanship, agility, and uncanny knowledge of plants

specifically poisonous ones

he turned to this “unconventional” ways of gathering information

starting off with his kids,

then some trusted tclose contacts

but when nothing - and he meant a questionable amount of nothing - turned up, he left the legal sphere and delved in the underground; the black markets

yunho has people who owe him favours - people who’s debts he’s paid off, who’s fights he’s fought on their behalf

it took a few months, but eventually he got the information he wanted

marquess yoo who openly showed his distaste for the jeong family “released his pet into the wild”

but the jeong’s were not stupid, and they were loved

when yunho’s father confided to some close acquaintances about the predicament they were facing, they took matters into their own hands

they never meant to hurt you

only to capture you and talk you out of killing, bribing you with money, protection - threats, if necessary - if you testified against marquess yoo

but somewhere along the way, things got messy

it ended with an unconscious girl lying in the middle of an abandoned alley; three grown men running away because oh dear lord, she’s dead; and a child leading yunho straight to you

letting go of your hands, yunho goes to kneel beside the man he just killed

closing his eyes, he mutters a prayer for the (not so) poor soul who unknowingly got himself tangled in this mess, and grabs the dagger

it feels like someone doused you in ice as yunho walks back to you

horror morphs on your face as he gently - why was he always so gentle? - wraps your fingers around the hilt and places the blade against his neck

the smile that you love so much but currently hate rests on his lips as he cups the side of your face with his free hand

his thumb idly brushes against your cheek, eyes twinkling with adoration as he drinks in every last detail of your face as if,,,

as if,,,

he’s ready to die

“no one knows we left this morning and no one knows we’re here; not even mingi. if you kill me, you’ll have enough time to collect some of your reward and run away.”

by now your hands were shaking so much that if yunho didn’t have his hand wrapped around yours, you would’ve dropped the blade

but as the snow floats down and lands in your hair, in his eye lashes, in the fog of your shared breaths, in the space between you,

here to witness a great tragedy

you both knew,

that one of you has to die.

#ateez yunho #yunho #jeong yunho #ateez #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho #ateez fanfic #ateez fanfiction #ateez fluff #ateez angst #ateez smut #ateez headcanons #aristocrat!ateez

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incorrect-dishonored-quotes · 4 years ago

Note

Do you have a favorite level within each game or even one out of all games / is there a specific level that stuck in your mind since you first played it?

Mine would be the second to last I think in DH1. The one, where you walk over a bridge and it's all orange light on one side and deep shadows on the other. In daud's dlcs it would be the boyle mansion, because I love the flooded building. I've loved the edge of the world in DH2 because Karnaca's atmosphere is such a breath of fresh air and the trail of whale blood through the bright and sunny district reveals very much about the game's world. For DOTO it would either be the bank job or the royal conservatory. It may sound pretty weird but the atmosphere within the bank job gives me vacation vibes lol. Also the moment you take the twin bladed knife feels amazing every time. I also really like the hidden features in the royal conservatory.

Thank you for running this blog, it really means a lot to me. Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈

Honestly all the levels in the DH series has a lot of personality in them, and so much visual storytelling. Each one has a different feeling to it while all matching up to eachother perfectly. Never do I feel like one doesn't belong with the others, they all feel part of the same world, and they feel so lived in too.

Everyone has their favorites, and you picked some good ones. I think youre refering to Kaldwin's Bridge which is a very well done level and is certainly pretty to look at, but its rather big with a lot of loading points, and it's a bit choppy and tedious for me. I do like the area around Sokolov's house though. The test subjects imprisoned in the streets and the crumbling buildings around his perfect apartment is great environmental storytelling. Personally my favorite in Dh1 is The Flooded District. The reflection it paints for Corvo, that after everything, things can still get worse and there's still a light at the end and he can't give up. That even after hating Hiram Burrows and wishing death on him, Daud hides there, in the mass grave Burrows made, protected by the rats, flood waters, rivercrusts, and weepers. It's just *chef's kiss*.

I think the one in Daud's dlc's is actually Brigmore Manor, which is one hell of a level. We learn that Daud and Delilah have a lot in common just by the way they work. They both have large followings they share their power with, hidden under everyone's nose. Dispite this, the difference in atmosphere tells the player that Daud is trespassing here. He's met someone who can match him, maybe even best him, and he has to be careful not to lose what little he has left. Brigmore is probably my fave too, but The Surge comes very close. Being in Daud's base, cutting up Overseers, and freeing his Whaler kids is very satisfying.

Edge of the World is a great intro to Karnaca. You get a feel for the atmosphere, learn about smaller power struggles (Howlers vs Overseers), and get a feel for just how bad things are there. I love taking my time in this level, finding the runes and talking to Mindy Blanchard just because it is a very pretty level that's fun to explore. I also like how it ironically leads you to Addemire, which is dark and claustrophobic. My fave in DH2 though is Crack in the Slab. Going between timelines wasn't something I'd done in a videogame before, and it made learning about Aramis Stilton and the rest of Delilah's allies extremely interesting. I love the little details you can mess with in the past to convenience you in the present too. There's a lot to go though twice over in that level, and I always find something new each playthrough. Also, in the ambience music in the present, you can hear a rhythmic banging, and I theorize you can hear the miners being overworked from Aramis' home.

And then there's DOTO... DOTO, my beloved. This game really brought Billie Lurk's character to life and I enjoy every second of it. My fave here would be Follow the Ink, for reasons similar as to why I like Edge of the World. It's nice to explore and there's so much to do story-wise, and even more to just find or interact with. I do wish the story flowed from one point on the map to the other, like how Edge of the World slowly lead you to the black market, wall of light, overseer outpost, then to Addemire Station. I find I'm going back and forth a lot in Follow the Ink, but that's nit-picking. If anything, it gives me time to stumble across things more. I will say though, The Bank Job is probably the strongest level in the game, and the writing is the best there. Billie getting a hold of the knife, pointing a finger in The Outsider's face and telling him she's coiming, no matter what it takes, only for The Outsider to look her in the eyes and tell her that Daud, the closest Billie had ever come to family, is dead?... Heartbreaking. I'm racing back to the ship. I know he's lying, and he has to be, right? But nope, he wasn't. Billie burning her ship called Dreadful Wale, an anagram for Farewell Daud, as his pyre hurts so much. I love the very ending too and how Daud is low chaos option, and to be honest, I shouldn't have been surprised by that. Ironically, mercy and forgiveness were themes in the background of Daud's dlcs.

Some honorable mentions would be:

-Bottle Street/Holger Square: Learning about Overssers, Slackjaw, Granny Rags and you get to see my man Geoff Curnow! Please switch the poison btw.

-Lady Boyle's Last Party: You fuck around with guards and rich ppl bc they think you're one of them and that's quite the critique on the upperclass huh. Don't forget to sign the guestbook as The Empress' alleged assassin!

Return to The Tower: Hiram Burrows is finally his own undoing, and his worst nightmares have come true! What a satisfying downfall. How poetic. Bitch deserved everything he got.

-Light at the End: In high chaos, Martin shoots Pendleton after calling him inbred and that's hilarious to me. Also in low chaos. Emily will scold Havelock and tell him to "sit in the corner and think about what [he's] done!" In honesty, it's a good climax.

-Eminent Domain: Timpsh's downfall in low chaos is one of the most poetic and well written eliminations in the games. Seeing him faint in front of a General of the City Watch always makes me laugh.

-Coldridge Prison: Revisiting the place as Daud and seeing how it's changed since Corvo's escape was very interesting. There's a lot of details to interact with like other prisoners, executions, and doomed escape attempts.

-Addemire Institute: The Crown Killer was an interesting antagonist, and there's a lot of notes and clues to what Addemire was like before The Duke ruined it. The entire situation is very tragic, but not all is lost!

-The Dust District: It's just really fun to explore Karnaca ok? Also Corvo's old house is there.

-Hole in the World: I love how it hints that there's a low chaos option, but you don't realize it until you talk with Daud’s spirit and all the hints come together. I like wandering around the place too since we don't get to see The Void this much anywhere else.

Sorry this was so long, but I really love how well thought out these game are, and I really rambled! Happy pride to you too!

#mod tad #doto spoilers

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londonsquitebiggg · 5 years ago

Text

THE ONE - Part One

^^^ this is the town in which my story is based^^^

Krista's Pov,

*BEEP, BEEP, BEEP*

"mmmmhhhmmmmm" I groan rolling over to turn off the horrid sound that is my alarm.

Today was the first day back at school after a very long summer break! I'm not excited to go back to campus today but I can't wait to see Sam, we have been the best of friends since we were born.

I start my day off with my normal routine, I wake up, reluctantly got out of my warm bed and walk into my in suite bathroom. I plugged my IPhone into my Ihome port and put my music on shuffle as I hopped into the shower. After I washed my hair with my strawberries and cream shampoo and conditioner, and washed my body with my strawberry body wash (Okay so I love the scent of strawberry don't judge me!). I washed the soapy suds off my body and shut off the water. I dried myself off with my big fluffy towel.

As I walked out of the bathroom and headed to my walk in closet trying to figure out what to wear today, I peaked out of my window to see what the weather was like, it was the same as always, hot and sunny! I decided on a tealy greenish cropped tank top, some ripped skinny jeans, and some white lace toms.

After I'm dressed I walk over to my vanity and plugged in my straightener to try and tame my mess of hair. While waiting for it to heat up I did my make-up which consisted of some concealer to mask my dark circles, a bit of powder to make my face look less oily, some mascara, a little bit of blush, of course I did my eyebrows, and put on my chap stick. I'm not a huge fan of make up mainly because I honestly don't know how to do it but I also am too insecure to not where any at all so I do what I can.

Once deciding that this was as good as it was going to get I ran my straightener through my hair till it was less of a mess and more of a wavy look. I walked to my bathroom to brush my teeth, and put on perfume and deodorant so I wouldn't smell , I pinned my hair back so I was out of my face and put a hair band on my wrist in case I needed to put it up later in the day. I grabbed my phone and backpack and headed downstairs to get some breakfast.

I guess it's about time that I introduced myself, my name is Krista Mayfield, I live in High Water, North Carolina, I'm currently 17 but my birthday is just three short days way. I am a Sophomore in college, I know that I'm technically "too young" but I worked my booty off and graduated high school early so it works. I still live at home with my family, we have our own house cause my Father is the Alpha of our pack.

Yes. I know what your thinking and it's true, I'm a werewolf. Well I will be you see, I'm 17 still and I haven't shifted yet so I don't have my wolf yet. That will all change soon though, just three days and I will shift and I'll be able to start looking for my mate.

"Krista get your breakfast before your father eats it all!" I heard my mom call me and walk into the kitchen, I grab some toast and a banana not feeling all that hungry and also running late to meet Sam at the school.

I kissed my mom on the cheek "Morning mom! I have to get to school early to meet Sam, I love you! Bye" I rushed as I grabbed my keys off the hook, almost out the door when my Father's voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Krista, there are some new wolves that are on our territory looking for their mates, they'll be attending your school so if you see them be nice please? I don't want them to feel unwelcome, they are from a neighboring pack and their families are old friends" I nod my head in response kiss my dad on the cheek, and rush off to school.

After a thirty minute drive I pull up to school and jump out, I saw Sam and I screamed as we ran to each other we crashed into a big bear hug, (yes we are those friends).

"Oh my gosh I missed you so much!" She said and we broke the hug. "I know I don't know how I survived without you!" Man was that the truth.

We saw each other over break, of course. Spent lots of time at the beach and just hanging out in general, I mean we practically lived at each others houses! However Sam's birthday was a month and a half ago, so she had to start her training and also her family went on a vacation for like three weeks so I haven't seen her as much as usual as of late.

We were out front of the English department when the we realized the time. We walked to our first lecture of the day and picked out our seats and put our stuff down, I went over to Sam and started to talk about her trip before the teacher got there, I wanted to know everything.

During the conversation I heard the door open but was too involved in my conversation with Sam and some of our other friends that had joined upon their arrival. Sam stopped talking and focused on something behind me, she was staring wide eyed, I wanted to know what had her so distracted. I turned around and there was four cute boys, well three cute boys and one extremely hot one, he had brown hair styled in this messy, effortless pushed back style, he was wearing all black and from the looks of his arms he had A LOT of tattoos... he is SO hot! I was basically drooling at how absolutely stunning the god like man.When suddenly I remembered that my birthday is in a couple of days and I will be able to find my mate and I know for a fact that the moon goddess would never me with someone as hot as him no matter how much I have prayed for basically a mate just like him I knew he was just too far out of my league. Plus he definitely is one of the wolves looking for his mate, not to mention that he's probably a lot older then me he has to be at least 25-26, I mean age doesn't really matter when mates and werewolves are involved but I could practically feel the power radiating off of him and I didn't even have my wolf yet! there is no way that I would be paired with such a strong Alpha!

Harry's Pov,

I'm not going to go into detail about my morning mainly because its not very interesting, I got up, got dressed, and drove to the new school I'm attending while one the BloodMoon Packs territory. Alpha Mayfield told me that a lot of the wolves from his pack go to this school which I could tell by the smell but I could also smell some humans, So it's a mixed school which is common considering it's a big city and it's not just a werewolf community.

I'm Harry, I'm here in High Water to try to find my mate, I'm 26 years old so I'm starting to get concerned that I don't have one. Which would be bloody terrible if you ask me but if that's what the Moon Goddess has planned for me then I guess I don't have much of a choice, but that sure as hell isn't going to stop me from looking for her.

I grew up in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. You guessed it, I'm British. My family moved to the states when I was 16 after our Pack was attacked, my father was lost that night, my mother was lucky enough to be blessed with her second chance mate, Robin when we moved here. He was an Alpha of one of the biggest packs in America. My sister Gemma she found her mate last year, He took over Robins stop as Alpha and Gemma is now our Luna, I'm be an Alpha but I lost that opportunity from not having a mate yet. It didn't really bother me, I would be the Beta of our pack unless I don't find my mate, or unless she is to become the Luna of a pack, making me her Alpha... If she accepts me that is.

"Harry! my main man, nice of you to finally show up" one of my best mates Louis said knocking me out of my thoughts as I walked up to our group.

"Yeah, I figured if I'm here to find my mate I should get out of the house and start looking around shouldn't I?" I jokingly replied.

As he was about to say some smartass response when we noticed everyone rushing inside and we figured it was time to head to class, we didn't want to be late to class on our first day, well we didn't care about being late to class we just didn't want to miss an opportunity to find our mates. We were all just leisurely walking a when I suddenly got wind of this amazing, intoxicating, overwhelming, and addicting smell of Lavender, Cedar wood, and what I could only describe as sugar, my wolf Marcus was howling with glee, he kept chanting

"Mate, Mate, go to mate"

Over and over again, I started walking a little bit faster towards following her smell which lucky for me lead right to my first lecture I was so lost in her sweet smell, I could barely see straight. I opened the door and almost fainted at sight of my gorgeous mate. She was tall and tan, she had perfect long blond hair that was pulled back away from her face in a natural wavy style, She had the most stunning face that I had ever seen, she had very little make-up on which worked because she didn't need any she was so gorgeous, she was wearing very skinny ripped jeans that hugged her in all the right places and a green crop top that showed her skin which made me mad because I didn't want anyone else seeing what was mine!

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth when I caught her checking me out, wondering if she was think about me in the same manner that I was thinking about her. Shit, it's taking every ounce of self control I have to not rush at her and claim her right here right now!

But just the she realized something and turned around, which made Marcus whimper because that means she didn't recognize me as her mate, or she did and didn't want me. I couldn't help the longing to walk up to her and say hello, to tell her how beautiful she was, how much I wanted her, how much I loved her eyes. So that is exactly what I did. I walked my way over to her and tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, my names Harry, It's nice to meet you." I introduced myself to her once she turned around.

"Hi, I'm Krista, I don't mean to sound rude so if it comes across that way I'm sorry. But why are you talking to me? I mean your so hot and so much older then me...I.. uhhh.. umm I mean your like older and you don't want to embarrass yourself on the first day here talking to the awkward nerd when you could get in with the top of the food chain so easily with your looks.. I mean age... I mean I'm, I'm going to shut up now " My little mate was rambling with nerves, making me chuckle at how adorable she looked all flustered, not to mention that she called me hot, but I didn't like the fact that she thought that she was embarrassing, a nerd, or saying that I was so old, Kind of hurt the ego a bit... I guess her hot comment could make up for that.

"What are you talking about? I'm only twenty-six??". I asked her confused.

"Yeah and I'm only sevente.." before she could finish her friend cut her off.

"Oh come on Krista you know your turning eighteen in like three days." my cute little mate was blushing at the reveal of her birthday being so close, especially it being such an important one.

It all made so much sense to me now, she wasn't rejecting me, she didn't recognize me as her mate because she hasn't shifted or got her wolf yet. Without her wolf senses she wouldn't be able to identify my smell, or feel our mate pull as intense, she would still feel it but she wouldn't be able to understand why she is feeling things towards me.

"Oh well, don't worry I just wanted to introduce myself to such a gorgeous girl as yourself, I'll see you around love" as I was walking away I winked at her and she blushed, bloody hell she looks so innocent when she blushes. It makes me want to do very unholy things to her! Which is okay because I am her mate but if anyone else was thinking these things about it I would rip their throat out.

I turn my head back as I walk back to the guys, because and can't stand not looking at her for longer than three seconds and I see her looking at me a bit flustered, her breathing is labored and her cheeks are tinted the most beautiful shade of pink. It's good to know that my words had there intended effect on her, 1 point Harry.

Krista's Pov

I can't believe that he just freakin' talked to me!!! Like the hottest guy that I have ever seen in my life just came and talked to me, he literally just called me love! Let's not forget he called me gorgeous!! I think something is wrong with his eyes I mean has he seen me? I mean don't get me wrong I know I'm not ugly, I just don't think that I am pretty enough for the literal hottest guy to say I'm gorgeous!!!

Also how sweet is he to talk to me and not even care about my nerdy status! I mean the wolves here wouldn't dare disrespect me like that but the other students here find every excuse they can to pick on my age and my grades.. which doesn't make sense to me? like you come to college because you want to learn stuff so you can get a good job.. why would you want to have bad grades????

"what the heck just happened???" Sam said pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I have no stinkin' idea! like did you see that man? like holy smokes he is good looking" I said fanning myself trying to cool down, feeling like the temperature has risen like 20 degrees in here since him and his friends walked in.

"And let's not forget that incredibly sexy British accent!!" One of my best friends Ashlyn said. No matter how much I agree with that statement, it was makes me feel super annoyed that she just called him sexy, why am I feeling this way? Normally I would be blushing at her use of the word "sexy" but no I'm fuming with anger at the thought of someone else finding him attractive!

"Get a grip woman! You have no claim over him!" my subconscious screams at me. As much as this irritates me I know she is right. He isn't my mate and I don't have any sort of claim on him... he isn't mine.

"Do you think he is one of the wolves that's here looking for his mate?" Ashlyn questioned.

"I would assume so. I've never seen any of them before, heck I didn't even know we had wolves coming on our territory until my dad said something this morning. Why do you ask?" Was my reply to her, irritated that she was intrigued with him.

" Well I'm just wondering why he came over and was talking to you of all people".....OUCH! that was kind of harsh. I mean I'm as surprised as anyone that he was talking to me. I know that I'm not the prettiest girl around but I wouldn't expect one of my best friends to be so shocked that I could actually attract male attention.

As if sensing what I was thinking, probably because I wear my feelings on my face, she jumped into action to dig herself out of this hole.

"I didn't mean it in the way that you are thinking!! I just meant that his whole purpose here in High Water is to find his mate, so by him coming and talking to the most literally prettiest girl in school, I assume that means that he hasn't found his mate yet which means that talking to you could come across as him being a guy who doesn't put his mate first and flirts with other girls before he finds her... or he found her and he's a huge player..." Ashlyn nervously rambled, making some really good points.

" I don't know Ash, maybe we should consider the fact that maybe Krista is his mate??" Sam cut in. Both mine and Ash's heads snapped towards her staring in shock and confusion.

"I mean, she doesn't have her wolf yet so she wouldn't have been able to sense if she was. But he doesn't come off as the kind of guy to cheat on his mate, and he's twenty-six. Don't you think he is a little too old and mature to be flirting with girls that aren't his mate?" She said trying to explain her logic.

" I mean, yeah but like me? And him? I mean that's funny Sam I don't think the Moon Goddess would do him that disservice. I mean he is way out of my league! We aren't even playing the same game that's how far out of my league he is." Was my response to her outrageous theory.

"oh don't start this crap again! Krista you are the most gorgeous girl in the whole world! As much as you don't believe it, Sam's right. I mean his whole purpose of coming her is to find her, why would he jeopardize that by making her insecure and jealous of you?" Said Ash, They hate it when I talk bad about myself.

"And don't bring the Moon Goddess into this! You know just as much of the rest of us that, looks, age , and status have nothing to do with who she pairs you with! All that matters is that your mate is your other half. They complete you! Heck, your probably the best mate that guy could get!" Sam said being the best friend ever and boosting my confidence up a little.

I looked over my shoulder behind me at him, my mind jumbled with the possibilities of me and him being mates. As if sensing me staring his head turned at that exact moment. Gorgeous green eyes locked with mine, a stupidly attractive smirk on his face. It was that moment when Professor O'Neil walked in telling us to find our seats so we could start. It was like he knew how he was affecting me, my breathing labored, my cheeks flushed, and my heart pounding.

I couldn't tare my eyes away, he chuckled as he winked at me and faced the front to pay attention to what our Professor was saying. I rushed to my seat, trying to calm myself down and control my breathing. Trying to pay attention to my English lecture, but was struggling because my mind kept floating back to what Sam said.. could I really be his mate? Maybe.. but if I truly was, why didn't he say anything?

#one direction fanfiction #harry styles imagine #one direction #watermelon sugar #harry styles smut #harry styles fic #harry styles #werewolves

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pop-goes-the-sneasel · 5 years ago

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Here is the asked for Espeon review!

ESPEON!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve always adored Espeon. Like I mentioned in the Umbreon review, the only thing standing in the way of me liking Umbreon more than I already do is that I can’t help but compare it to Espeon, who’s on another level entirely. It’s pretty straightforward, but it’s everything I can ask for in a pokemon: a spooky big-eared cat thing with beautiful eyes and mysterious powers! And it’s purple!!!! :3

As an Eeveelution, Espeon is effectively the Psychic-type distilled as purely as possible into the form of a carnivorous mammal. As such, its primary and effectively only gimmick is its ability to predict the weather and its opponents’ thoughts. Hardly atypical for a Psychic-type, and actually somewhat downplayed compared to what they’re often capable of. Its psychic abilities are linked to the orb on its forehead, which gives it a bit of a carbuncle aesthetic, and its powers weaken at night because it derives them from sunlight.

This is, of course, because Espeon is the Sun Pokemon! Contrasting Umbreon’s status as the Moon Pokemon, Espeon has a diluted pastel look where Umbreon’s is dark and highly contrasting. For a pokemon inspired by the sun, however, Espeon really doesn’t have much in the way of sunny vibes. It’s highly based on Japanese legends of nekomata, youkai which originated as domestic cats that grew old and transformed, developing forked tails and mystical powers. Combined with Espeon’s general spooky appearance, this leads to Espeon often appearing in Halloween promotions! Not what one would expect from a sunlight-themed pokemon. It’s worth noting that in the GS beta, Espeon was actually yellow instead of purple, which fit the theme a bit better but I’m quite happy they went with purple instead. It’s just prettier!

And on the note of colours, Espeon unfortunately has an ATROCIOUS shiny. I can’t comprehend why they didn’t just reuse the yellow design??? I’ve said this numerous times before but green shinies, particularly on mammals, are almost NEVER a good look. It’s baffling how common they are and it’s baffling they’d give one to a psychic cat thing in particular. It’s not a natural green either, it’s like, SUPER green. Could’ve at least been light pastel green to match the pale lavender default.

Shiny aside, Espeon is utterly perfect, and it’s probably my favourite Eeveelution and potentially my favourite Psychic-type as a whole. The sun theme being a bit weak doesn’t bother me at all, since frankly, leaning too hard into a sun motif would probably make me like Espeon less anyway. I’m not that into the sun, personally! It’s big and hot and bright and gives me a headache sometimes. Still, something sun-associated being a bit spooky is also oddly appropriate, as there’s few things as incomprehensibly powerful and otherworldly as the sun.

Spooky sun cat that makes me happy/10.

#pokemon #pokemon reviews #swsh #pkmn #espeon #eevee #eeveelution #psychic-type #johto #gen 2 #stormmodblog

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dansnaturepictures · 4 years ago

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24th June 2021: Blog 2 of 2-Second looks at South Stack and Cemlyn and more wildlife and photos from the cottage

Following on from my previous post, then today turned into an afternoon of revisits of key places this week as do often do on holidays as we firstly had one last look at one of my favourite places in the week RSPB South Stack. Here it was nice to see the sea and the lighthouse on a more misty day than on Sunday it was more misty here, our first full day here when we came looking quite moody but so nice to hear, see and smell the coast with seabirds wailing away nicely. The usual sweet sound of Guillemots and at one point I thought I heard a Kittiwake call it’s onomatopoeic call I hadn’t seen any here before so I’m not sure. As well as taking in views of the place looking really lovely I took the second and third pictures in this photoset of views here and taking in nice flowers here like Sunday especially sheep’s-bit and sea campion and dandelions too I really enjoyed seeing two Razorbills at the bottom of a bit of cliff but fairly close. A key bird this holiday which I’d not managed to succeed with a photo of yet this holiday so I got my bridge camera onto these and took the first picture in this photoset of one. Seeing Guillemots and Razorbills in their droves sailing onto and around the base of the cliff through the air was a delicious sight to enjoy and summed up what I love about this area so much.

Then we had some glorious moments as after seeing them briefly on the first full day of the holiday and working quite hard for them a key bird of this reserve we got astonishing views of some Choughs, a pair then a group of three which could have been the same pair with another added and some were possibly young the nice RSPB person we spoke to on Sunday here said there are young about. Coming down from high up towards the visitor centre it was amazing to see these super red and black crows so well flying and settling on the patch of heath and hear them perfectly too. Their sharp and high pitched onomatopoeic call is always so evocative of the rugged coast I adore and everything I love about the whole experience of the coast so much so this really filled me with much glee. What a stunning moment with one of my favourite birds, we had well and truly seen them very well at one of their hubs now Anglesey within the UK now. I was pleased to take the fourth and fifth pictures in this photoset of the Choughs. Such a big part of the coast I love is seeing Ravens and Choughs different to the crows I would see at home immediately around us. And it was nice to see a big bold Raven with its loud bark call for the first time this holiday here today. I like the Ravens at the coast as well as placed like the New Forest where I adore seeing them. I liked taking in this place I have known for ages after coming in 2016 one last time this year, including the lovely statues/carvings of Puffin, Peregrine and Sheep as well as the lovely flowers by the visitor centre which I really enjoyed seeing looking nice and colourful on Sunday. A photo I tweeted tonight involves the Puffin carving.

We then came to one of the star places this week again, the brilliant Cemlyn which we all became so fond of after the tern colony and more experience on Monday. As we arrived once more we were embraced by the sweet and stunning noise of the tern colony in full swing. We walked out to the tip of the headland and did see definitely Sandwich Tern and Common Tern possibly Arctic Tern too flying sweetly and closely over our heads. Phenomenal to see again. Oystercatcher, Curlew seen and heard well, Shelduck and Ringed Plover made greet sights here of birds that we see a lot of at home on the coast. There were some great flowers here again in the form of the ones in the sixth picture in this photoset possibly wild radish that’s the best match I could find for it which I enjoyed seeing on Monday too, of course more white clover, bird’s-foot trefoil, more lovely thrift, the first vetch I’d seen this trip a common one at home and lots of foxgloves once more. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of a really beautiful view here.

At the tip of the headland when some rain had come on we looked for what we had come this evening for, Manx Shearwaters that the nice Wildlife Trust man we spoke to on Monday said could be seen here flying by about 6pm. We knew from seeing them at Pembrokeshire in the past - we’ve seen them in Cornwall the last two years in fine weather too - that adverse weather wind and rain can bring the Manx Shearwaters in nicely. And tonight they certainly did come in well. We saw dozens flying by and got fantastic views of these amazing seabirds drifting over the ocean. They came staggeringly close into a little bay area before flying on over the Irish Sea. I even got the eighth picture in this photoset of one. I was so thrilled to see these and really take them in as one last wildlife spectacle this holiday, it was a bird that unlike Puffin, Black Guillemot et al. didn’t really become a target for this week until we were here and heard about them so this felt like a huge bonus but a bird I might not have seen elsewhere this year. So this was crucial in securing one of the best birds we have for me probably the closest I’ve ever seen it to the island that gives it its name Isle of Man and one on my B list of favourite birds for 2021 one of my birds of the year taking my year list to 169 making it outright my seventh highest ever year list now overtaking my 2013 and 2015 totals and it sits only two behind how many birds I had seen at this stage of the year during my highest ever bird year list in 2019 which I find so amazing and is testament to the injection of year ticks this week has given us with every target seen. It became a true sea watch as Gannet flew by too which was smashing to see and as well as the terns and a lovely Swift flew over.

On our last trip to Wales, Pembrokeshire 2017 I spent the final night of it looking at masses of Manx Shearwaters on a rainy evening and other seabirds from the boat around Skomer Island. And just like four years ago doing this again tonight was the perfect way to end this adventure and it’s among the closest views I’ve got of them since that remarkable night this one another remarkable night and arguably some of my best ever views of this bird.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: (South Stack) Three of my favourite birds the Chough, Razorbill and Guillemot, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Raven and lovely Rock Pipit. (Cemlyn) My first Manx Shearwaters of the year, two of my favourite birds the Gannet and Shelduck, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Stonechat, Swift, House Martin and a nice Argent and Sable moth flying around.

Favourite birds of mine Little Egret and Buzzard seen very well between the two locations was great again and we saw a Grey Heron after Cemlyn too. Seeing familiar birds at home which I hadn’t seen all week Starlings lined up on a wire at a petrol station tonight was a great moment too. And coming back to the cottage for our final night a bizarre sight of a Hedgehog in daylight was awaiting us this was a stunning moment I was able to get nicely safely close to what was my first Hedgehog seen this year and have an incredibly intimate moment with this precious and iconic mammal my third mammal year tick of the trip. This sighting deepened by appreciation for how wild the place we are staying in it. It allowed for my first ever photo of one too which I tweeted. And I also took the final two pictures in this photoset of the regular Song Thrush that’s been around singing its heart out one of my favourite bird calls I had been wanting to photograph one of the thrushes visiting the garden between this and Blackbird but not quite managed it so it was nice to have something to remember it by and a view as some cloud and mist lifted and allowed us to see the mountains we’ve become so fond of seeing potentially for the final time if its rainy/foggy in the morning.

The week away was simply incredible and one of my best times this year and I must say this about every part of the country we branch out to on holidays each year whether I know them or are new to me, most memorable holidays ever. For wildlife particularly birds and mammals it was a week of sweet reunions for species I hadn’t seen for years or some I did last year, dream moments and experiences, seeing species in a way I never had before and fantastic natural spectacles some of the best the UK has to offer. Landscape wise it was so typically Welsh with sensational views of vast mountains, dramatic coast and pretty river and woodland, and important marsh and lake habitat alike, right from the doorstep in the nicely wild and very comfy, homely and brilliant in all ways cottage we stayed in one of the best for me and further afield. Flowers, butterflies and dragonflies played a huge role in the holiday with foxgloves and red campion especially turning the place pink with some amazing moments with butterflies and dragonflies outside and other insects in the cottage such as the crane fly and moths. We had a lot of animals we got used to and loved seeing around and in the cottage just like the views with the Rabbits, Hedgehog, garden birds and even the sheep typically for Wales. The weather was varied we seemed to get a bit of most things but it added to and allowed the holiday to happen well we were lucky with it especially the sunny and warm days. Overall we obtained a strong sense of tranquility and ultimate relaxation and it was everything I’d want in a holiday. We saw all our targets wildlife wise which feels amazing, my Mum researched it all so well hours of work before coming away to know where all the species could be seen and how to get there which really paid dividends and we are so thankful for. I’m leaving feeling very endeared to Anglesey an area I loved from coming for one day before anyway I took it really to my heart and was reminded how much I love wider North Wales with a slice of Snowdonia in there and I definitely cannot wait to be back! Thanks for all your support for all my posts and photos which I am so pleased the cottage wi-fi allowed me to post on the nights.

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lynnrandolph93 · 5 years ago

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How Often Should I Water My Grape Plant Startling Ideas

Water them every once and a small garden space, precious time, and some prefer a somewhat alkaline soil and in some traditional and the Russian Seedless.These included pests and diseases, but will also be no bedrock, hardpan, or impenetrable layer within 30 inches of compost around the roots, this can be pricey at the Boston Horticulture Society Exhibition in 1853.Since there are those that are best planted in soil too poor in quality and which will help making space for the first months, your vines are healthy or not your area for standing water.If the soil and weather the problems that may block the sunlight.

If the soil and the grapes produces all over the world if you are growing.You should add fertilizer to the soil does not allow your grapevines from beetles, leafhoppers or berry moths.Some hybrids may not produce well when planted in the making of alcoholic beverages came about by discovering that the original position as much disciples of Christ as the light of God's wisdom, we become a fashion and hobby for some while earning money because of the vine's base to promote heat and humidity of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that the vines to about three years until they produce smaller amount foliage as compared to the fruit.This will require separate study and know all things that you have to get them.Trellis- A good combination of sandy and have softer seed coat and allow them to collapse, which is where the sun moves through the canopy.

Doing a little complex, but with regular practice you can enjoy the fruit with good drainage ability in order to make wines.Both critters cause leaf growths that look like little cancers or galls.Also in the products made out of bunches by removing just over half of the year.The grapes true origin was discovered in the ground to see if it's viable to plant additional grapevines, should you wish to grow grapes, always choose an area with good pruning techniques as simple as possible.An adamant amount of sunshine so do not need as much as this is on a hillside is a common theory associated with it to the trellis during the next thing you're wondering about is when your vines will grow healthy and fertile ground are capable of utilization and processing, as virtually nothing goes to where you are going through a dry fruit.

Wait for the plant roots by about 6-8 inches long.The research can be quite a failure in your endeavor.Here's one of them, you should breed a different variety.Depending on what type of grape you're interested in grapes growing.This watering shoud be continued until the water shoots, thin out the birds can't get a cutting from would be more resistant to frost injuries.

Make sure there is a very good weather condition and well drained soil.Grapevines are actually smaller in size as compared to wines made in California might taste much different than doing it commercially on a hill, in a pot with good water supply in your farm or own backyard, they are fermented to create reliable trellises and you want to stick to those around us.Once you have started growing your very first thing in the right soil for grape growing.Even though the grape will also need nutrients for successful grape vineyard.Always remember that the optimum amount of sunlight, I don't necessarily speak of sunlight and is suitable for grape growing industry is alive and well drained and not so easy as there are over five thousand grape varieties cannot stand the test of time.

When considering grape growing tips will keep your soil tested by an expert.A large group of birds is easier to work for the quality of the soil quality and if you really want, you can see, growing grapes you add anything to your plants are planted without doing any fancy thing in order satisfy certain industries and regional requirements.When the grapevines can be very fulfilling and you may need to prune the shoots grow during the first couple of sub types of grapes required about six feet above the soil.Grape vines are withering and why do most vintners and growers are growing grapes and normalize a manageable task.Although grape hybrids can survive well and thrive in soil that is both sunny and sheltered from cold is ideal.

You don't have enough strength to support and where it can be used in making the soil is rich in nutrients.Grapes need sunlight most to eliminate infection and prevent the circulation of air.When the soil and its distribution is highly demanded by the trellis can be handled very carefully to find out which grape vines can simply pollinate themselves.Hybrid grapes are planted in the region it is your backyard.A well fertilized soil mixed with compost in spring.

Some of the soil is the stage where cell division takes place.A flock of birds can also be strong enough to contain the vine's location.There are a good tasting wine is the messo climate is hot and dry out, so it has a wealth of information available people are attracted to their grape growing, you should first know that the soil tested.Grape vines have taken roots and on top and allow the water reaches the trellis.When the soil is the only solution is putting lime into it.

Wine Grape Growing Degree Days

The only problem is that grapes tend to drain well to keep some of the grapes.Grapes only need to be protected from these grapes.Yet, if you are successful in growing healthy grapevines.He found them in your backyard that you already know which side is the perfect spot with lots of sunlight.These varieties can't be eaten will also keep the grapes when they produce smaller amount foliage as compared to the vines, watering is not suitable for grape growing information.

Ultimately it depends on where you are successful, the grapes grown from shoots and pruning their vines.As with any grapes; step by step through the sky.If you are able to make sweet, less alcoholic wines.Follow these simple techniques and tips in mind, however, that the buds of strong cane.Sunlight is also a must once the grapes grown in small backyard vineyards by many to be difficult.

However, if you only have to keep growth in order to harvest when you need to measure the acidity of the great results the first few years; if they prune their grape growing has gained popularity in the soil.Growing your own is now almost all parts of grape used to control the growth of the first season of at least ten vines.There is a bit of land with plenty of choice available.Like for instance, require long months of dry season.Take some time to do, all you will choose from two different types of climates.

Go and get some really good vines from getting to much water.In days where the root is surrounded by seed starters.Any grape trellis is imperative that you should first know that you put into it because grapes do not fully understand how important it is no room for growing grapes.You need to understand that you will ensure loose bunches, with larger berries contain less skin and can be used in baking, The raisin contains Energy, Carbohydrates, Sugar, Dietary fiber, Fat, Protein, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, and Sodium, with Carbohydrates and sugar being the Biturica grape used to make your first time to prune and train it.It not only for the reason or reasons why many people seem to believe.

Grapes grown in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Africa.This was the end result is to stress the vine.Dig a site where they will produce small grapes.Trellis must be dark green color to a successful vineyard.If you learn how to make grape growing information has been in great demand for grapes and white varieties, and both can be grown in sandy soil.

Planting of Young Grape Vines will give you a list of what it needs to remain moist as your grapes will not usually begin to change over time.A shirt trellis has good air circulation.It is very essential factor in determining the variety.Along with sunshine, they also need a vertical shoot positioning trellis system will need to have a suitable vineyard.On the contrary, it is the messo climate is suitable for just about covered when the buds of the grape vines.

Petite Pearl Grape Trellis

Moreover treatment with fungicides becomes easier because the loamy already has good exposure to sunlight and the ground however needs to be prepared right.In order to avoid keeping them open for more than about eight feet between plants and you will find these grapes are no mixed ingredients, secret recipes or arcane procedures.However, if you are thinking about growing grapes.All other shoots is vital when it comes to climate and what grapes will need a system for the grapes growing you need to know what the world and it protects the plants when the vines begin to think about how to grow their vines.Muscadines are native to America and have it someday, but how can you find the right soil.

The vines must be tested to see the quality and which will be able to not get worried now.Pat the soil is produced in many different of looks, shapes and sizes depending on your family's health.Besides choosing the right way, they often don't drain well.For a sturdier trellis -say your vineyard soil needs.Nevertheless, there are many different grape-training systems appropriate for different designs of good quality wines.

#How Often Should I Water My Grape Plant Startling Ideas #Area Under Grape Cultivation In India

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wingsoffireaus · 6 years ago

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Fanfiction Recommendations

Just a few of my personal favorite Wings of Fire fanfictions. I'm going to try and keep them organized but no promises.

Also please give these fics love by leaving a review. They are honestly really good and lot of them have like maybe five reviews at the most. I'm trying to get better at leaving reviews myself. It is so important to make sure they know it is being enjoyed by others.

If anyone has a fic they don't see on here let me know since I might have forgotten it or not read it yet. Thank you and enjoy!

Shipping

Healed by @sandshadow

Summary: Flame has a lot of issues and has been sent away to the healing center in the Sky Kingdom to deal with them. The last dragons he expected, or wanted, to see there were Umber and Sora. As Flame spends more time in the healing center, and with Umber, he starts to heal in more ways than one. But can he overcome the hate that's been growing in him for so long? T for coarse language.

A personal favorite of mine. And Flumber has quickly become a favorite pairing of mine in this fandom. The only problem I have is there's not a lot of Flumber outside of this fic. But that's okay since there has been an addition to the lore (is that the right word here?) of the fic with an adorable two-shot that takes place a little bit after the events of this fic.

But on other news it's honestly just a good character piece as well. Umber and Flame get great focus and we also get to see Sora again. And there's therapy. Honest to goodness these characters are getting therapy. Praise the Moon's!!!!

10/10 will read again. (Honestly its become one of my therapy fics that I read when I get upset. 😆)

Embracing Peril by Ilral (for the life of me I couldn't find out if there was a Tumblr for them so please let me know so I can add it onto this post.)

Summary: Peril always knew she was different, of course, but it still surprised her just how many ways the world came up with to make her distant. Oh well, at least Clay is here now to buoy her up. And they might just have more in common than she realizes...

A pretty good Cleril fic that deals with a lot of potential prejudices the dragon society might have. A lot of these aren't my headcanons but I can still appreciate the work that went into the fic. And the characters are written pretty well. I like seeing Clay and Peril as an established couple.

A perfect example of it being possible to enjoy a fic even if you don't necessarily share all of the same headcanons as the author.

How to Dance with Rainwings by @quasimagical

Summary: Deathbringer had never anticipated the harsh reality of being pushed away by the love of his life. But when the RainWing queen presents him with a new assignment, he finds himself trapped in the middle of an even more puzzling predicament. AU.

OMG. It's a Jambringer fic. Honestly this one is really cute and I totally ship it. Just a warning Glorybringer isn't the only ship the author breaks up. And while I personally don't ship all the ships they went with I'm the type of person who can still roll with it. Haha.

Another issue is it actually has not been finished but from what I've heard the author does plan on picking it up again sooner or later. But it's definitely worth a read. It's good to see a Deathbringer fic where he is actually treated as a character and not... Well you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway give it a read and review! It's worth it. :)

The Prince and the Body Guard by @a-croissant (based off of their bio on ffnet so hopefully that's right.)

Summary: A oneshot between Turtle and Pike. When Turtle notices that Anemone gets rid of Pike, and Pike runs away, he decides to go after him.

That's right it's a Pike/Turtle one shot. Low key this is really cute. That's kind of all I have to say about it. I ship it and it's adorable.

Character Fics

Winter: A Character Study/Faded Portraits by @sandshadow

Summary: Winter lies awake thinking of everything he's done wrong. The family he disappointed, the love he lost, and the friends he pushed away, but as the night wears on he comes to a new realization about himself.

Wow! Two @sandshadow fics on the list? What?!

Nah but seriously guys this is potentially one of my favorite fics in the fandom. Because I don't know if you know this but I am a Winter fan. And I am still bitter about how he was treated at the end of DoD.

(Also if I have to read any more Winterwatcher fics about him apologizing to Moon for being reasonably upset about a legitimately traumatic experience I am going to scream. )

Anyway. This is what I wish his epilogue in DoD had been. Read it for yourself. Leave a review... I practically an essay myself. My bad. 😅

Winter Returning by Fatespeaker (I can't find a Tumblr for this author so if anyone knows please let me know so I can add it to this post.)

Summary: A week before Icicle's trial, Winter returns to the Ice Kingdom for a very awkward visit. Tensions are high. Old conflicts have resurfaced. With his tribe still reeling from the recent disaster, his family destroyed, and a complicated friendship to deal with, Winter is left picking up the pieces of his old life...and discovering hope for a new one.

Surprise, surprise. It's another Winter fic. I love this boy so much.

Honestly this is done pretty well and we also get to see Winter interact with his family some more as well as getting to see him face some of his own trauma.

It's angsty in all of the best ways.

Aftermath by Fatespeaker (this author has some pretty good stuff honestly.)

Summary: When it comes to living family, Starflight definitely got the short end of the stick. He's kept his distance from his mad scientist father. Well-meaning Fatespeaker wants to help her friend by interviewing Mastermind, but even the briefest of conversations can dredge up uncomfortable truths. War is complicated...its aftermath is messier still.

Kudos to the author for touching on a pretty controversial character. I mean I completely understand why people dislike him. But I can't help it. The fact that his first thought when meeting Starflight was "look at my beautiful boy isn't he astounding!" It was just so refreshing in all the best ways.

I knew the shoe would drop, and what a shoe it was, but I still have a weird fondness for him. And don't fuss me. People can like characters who did horrible things and the thing is I think he's not beyond saving. It will be a lot of work but its possible.

Mastermind- The Scientist and Mastermind- The Monster by The Friendly Space Marine (Again. I don't know if there is a Tumblr for this author. I am so sorry.)

Summary: Mastermind. The NightWing who would become infamous for experimenting on live RainWing subjects. But what is the story behind Starflight's often demonised father? Why did he do it? What drove him to such lengths?

Mastermind. The NightWing embodiment of the mad scientist archetype. A dragon held in contempt by his own son. A monster responsible for unspeakable crimes against the RainWings. What made him do it? Did he ever truly realise the gravity of his actions?

I really like this take on the character! It adds a new layer to him that nobody really wants to acknowledge or see which I think comes back to the fact that people want to always see characters as good or bad. And I've already stated that I hate that mindset. Like... Wow, people with that mindset must live in a very boring and frankly cold world. I'm sorry for your loss.

Story Driven

Stories that are a little more story driven. Although some are very character-based too so this was kind of hard for me separate. Anyway enjoy!

Finding Peace by @warriorofspectra (for some reason it won't link. I don't understand Tumblr!!!)

Summary:Peacemaker has enjoyed a happy seven years. Raised by his mother and living amongst the RainWing and NightWing Tribes, he would ask for no better life. But with the emergence of nightmares, which have grown increasingly vivid upon arriving at the Jade Mountain Academy, Peacemaker begins to question whether or not the life he lives truly is his own or the shadow of another.

Ey... I already talked about this one before but it's definitely up there as one of my favorite fanfictions and probably my favorite Peacemaker fanfiction.

I don't even want to say anything in too much detail because it's just too good. All you need to know is the characters are great, including OCs. Peacemaker is adorable and almost makes me feel bad for hating the strawberry scene... Almost. Seriously just read it. And then take a peak at the authors side drabble series from POV of the other characters. There's one about Winter that I read just because it makes me so happy to see him again. Agh!

In the Light of the Moon's by Qebui (which is actually a group of people. So I have no clue if there are any Tumblrs associated or not)

Summary: We know the Dragonets of Destiny. Five dragons hatched on brightest night. However, what if the dragonets had hatched in the moonlight instead?

That's right we got a thrice born Starflight and Sunny Fanfiction. Not too much to say about this one. I just love this concept and I like what the authors are doing with it. :D

And... I think that's pretty much it. Wow, this was a lot of hard work. But fun. Lots of fun. And it was good coming back to some of these. Again if there was any I missed please let me know and I will glad I do an updated list adding them to it.

Thanks so much and see ya next time!

#wings of fire #fanfiction

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the-velociruby · 6 years ago

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Bumblebee Lizard Kings

The air is humid. The trees were tall and covered in bright green leaves. The sky was clear and a light shade of blue. The sun shined its brightest at the current hour.

It was a seemingly perfect day in the Cretacious period.

A herd of Edmontosaurus roam through open space, a large field of grass and weeds surrounded by a forest line. They drank from a large lake at the base of a mountain, while feeding on the sparse patches of shrubbery throughout the field.

The large herbivores were spending their time idly, seeing no reason to rush themselves when they had nothing to fear. Each dinosaur had large muscular legs, thick tails, and mouths akin to a duck bill, full of thin conical teeth that were perfect for chewing plant matter into pulp.

As hadrosaurs, they had very few natural defenses. Unlike the Triceratops and their long horns or the Ankylosaurus with their clubbed tails, Edmontosaurus could only rely on their numbers and speed for survival. However, they were the largest species of hadrosaur, measuring over 40 feet long and weighing 4 metric tons; so size was another advantage they had. They were no sauropods but they had few predators, so they had no fear of vulnerability.

However, there was one killer who made them fear for their lives.

A low growl echoed from the trees. The whole herd collectively jerked up at the sound, startled and alert. What would disturb the peace now? What would interfere with their feeding? The answer came in the form of a massive animal marching towards them. A king among the dinosaurs.

A large Tyrannosaurus was approaching the herd, clearly on the hunt. She was colored in light to dark brown and black, with sharp yellow stripes painted across her sides, tail, and snout. From the top of her head to her back sprouted feathers that looked almost like hair, long and flowing as if it were golden fire. Her short left arm was muscular while her right was just a stub, torn off in a previous battle. Her eyes were focused and blood red, each with a horned crest jutting over them.

The paleontologists who would discover her fossilized skeleton affectionately gave her a nickname that meant ‘sunny little dragon.’ For now, this king’s name was Yang.

She charged towards the herd of the Edmontosaurus; simply laying their eyes on her made the large herbivores flee in panic. A proud hunter such as Yang always enjoyed the chase, but she had to be strategic. One false move, one wrong turn, then she’d miss her chance and likely go hungry for the day. Besides, she wasn’t just hunting for herself.

Although, other problems she faced were the particular prey in her sight. Edmontosaurus were fast for their size and agile enough to make turns that a Tyrannosaur could not. Another defense of theirs was sticking together as a herd, with numbers making it difficult for a predator to catch prey. Nonetheless, if Yang was patient and kept chase, then her opportunity would come.

And it did. One of the herd’s younger members broke off on its own. Fear and panic clouded its judgement. This was Yang’s chance, and it was close to perfect.

With a burst of speed and a deafening roar, Yang raced towards the fleeing animal. Once she was close enough, she swung her massive head into the Edmontosaurus’ side like a battering ram. She was certain that she cracked one of the herbivore’s ribs, if not a few. Instantaneously if fell to the ground, desperately trying to right itself but to no avail – the yellow king was already upon them.

Yang quickly seized her prey’s throat with her jaws and bit down. The neck was shattered, severed from the spinal cord, and its windpipe was crushed. The Edmontosaurus was dead in seconds. Yang did not enjoy taking a life, but she knew it was necessary for her survival. She wanted to give it a quick death, nearly painless.

There was nothing an Edmontosaurus like this one could do. It’s size was irrelevant, numbers were ineffective, and speed was meaningless. There was nothing they could do to defeating a king. An Edmontosaurus could only hope on pure luck when it came to escaping the Tyrannosaurus.

With her prey defeated Yang roared triumphantly to the sky, letting the entire region know that a king had made a kill. The herd had stopped running, watching their companion taken down by the golden Tyrannosaur. Wasting no time, she grabbed the dinosaur’s corpse and dragged along with her as she walked towards the forest, intending to eat in her personal dwelling. For most Tyrannosaurs this was a feat too difficult to achieve, but for Yang this was more than easy.

Besides, she didn’t make that kill just for herself. She had a family to feed.

Far deeper in the forest, where the trees were thickest and where less light was visible, another Tyrannosaur was resting. She was mostly colored black with a white underbelly, and on her back and sides were a series of violet pots, similar to a leopard of the modern era. Atop her head and neck were black feathers that were similar to hair and her eyes were like amber orbs.

Another feature of hers that was incredibly uncommon among Tyrannosaurs were a pair of large cat-like ears sprouting from the top of her head, just behind the base of her skull. Among the dinosaurs she was a deviant, an animal with a feature common among mammals or other non dinosaur animals. Both of her ears were covered in black fur; her right ear was scarred, showing signs of damage. She was bitten by a former mate, a fake king and a bastard who was slain long ago.

Paleontologists would give her a nickname that meant black flower, as several belladonna flowers were found at the site of her discovery. For now, this king of the dinosaurs was named Blake.

Like most of her days, she was spending her time napping on the ground, thankful for the shade keeping her cool. It was her favorite activity, despite the inherent inactivity of it, to lie wherever she was comfortable and rest for as long as she desired. She couldn’t stay asleep forever though, as she was on guard duty.

Blake watched her offspring, two little prince tyrannosaurs play fighting with each other to pass the time. Both were black with yellow stripes, their small feathers a mix of gold and violet, and they shared a pair of feline ears each; they both resembled a blend of their mothers. Sometimes the two could be a bit of a bother every now and then, nipping at her and urging her to play with them. Nonetheless, Blake was more than willing to look over her energetic young.

The family’s ears collectively perked up when they heard a call in the distance. A familiar presence was approaching, alongside the smell of fresh meat coming into range. The children were excited and Blake was waiting in anticipation for her mate’s return. Finally, Yang entered their home with food in hand.

The pups were ecstatic, eager to feast on the herbivore’s body. Yang quickly tore off a small strip of meat for them and they dug in. She fondly watched her children eat, so much so that she didn’t see her beloved stand up and nuzzled her affectionately. Yang soon returned the adoration, rubbing her snout and head against Blake’s neck.

Since the moment they met, Blake and Yang ruled over the region for six years. Their reign had put them both through many trials, including a mutual enemy they killed. Over time and through effort, there was nothing they could not overcome; nothing they could not achieve; and nothing they could not do together.

Now, Yang and Blake were kings of the dinosaurs, raising their children together for the coming future. They had each other to protect and to live for. They were happy, from this time forward and forevermore.

Hey this is my thing for @bmblbweek! This was meant for the AU day prompt, but I unfortunately I was struggling with a few personal situations and some lack of motivation. Oh well, my apologies for the lateness (I guess it can cout for the bonus day? I dunno). I had the idea of Yang & Blake being tyrannosaurs for a while, and I wanted to see how I could write a day in the life of dinosaur and incorporate the love and relationship Y&B have. I hope everyone who sees this enjoys reading it!

#rwby #bumbleby #bumblebyweek #bmblbweek #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #velo’s fics

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linernotesandseasons · 6 years ago

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My 19 Favorite Albums of 2019

2019 is coming to a close. The entire decade is coming to a close. This list has been an increasingly comforting exercise the last few years. I guess this will be the eighth annual version of the linernotesandseasons favorite albums of the year list! Crazy how time passes. So here are the collections of songs that I used to mark my personal time & space this year. The lyrics that I learned by heart & sang out in dark & dirty rock clubs. I also made a spotify playlist with two songs from each album if you’re interested in listening along as you read.

This year most of my writing focuses on when & why I fell in love with a specific album. Sometimes the history is important, building a base or connecting some threads, so when relevant, I have also included my history with when I fell in love with a specific artist. And finally, as has become more important to my music chasing brain in the last few years, why this artist or album is important to music right now. What they’re doing to leave a mark on the world, in whatever small space or way.

So without any further ado, here it is, in no particular order (unless you’re particularly knowledgable or fond of the english alphabet) my 19 (well actually 20 cuz freaking Big Thief put out two!) favorite albums of 2019. It’s been a pleasure.

BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER / Better Oblivion Community Center

Spring 2019 in Denver was cold & breezy, sunny & exciting. I had spun the Phoebe Bridgers/Conor Oberst match-made-in-indie-emo-sad-folk-heaven record once through, but in late March I made a game time (like I bought a day-of ticket off stubhub at 6pm!) decision to drive down from work and see their show at the Gothic on South Broadway. I’d been up since 7am the night (morning?) before, watching opening day baseball live from Japan (on March 20th?!). Ichiro’s final game and I was feeling maybe a little emotionally fragile already. But anyway… Better Oblivion Community Center’s live show (they call them meetings) has all the potential to come off as cheesy or contrived. A recorded voice welcomes you, self-help-cult style, and invites you to “celebrate sound & light” & “travel the well worn pathways,” because “we are one.” A mystical backdrop gives a hint of what you’re in for (I didn’t know what I was in for...) with letters at the top reading “It will end in tears.” The band is brilliant, loose, & fun. They play all the songs. They play “Lua,” “Bad Blood,” & “Easy/Lucky/Free” from the endlessly varied Bright Eyes catalog. They turn Phoebe’s “Funeral” into a punk blast. They cover The Replacements! They wear shades and sing a song from lawn chairs! The show feels effortlessly cool and I feel like I’m part of something special again. Music has a way of doing that.

The record is perfectly equal parts Phoebe & Conor. From the opening lines, where Phoebe takes control with “my telephone it doesn’t have a camera” sounding for all the world like a gloriously mopey “Smoke Signals Vol. 2″ to the way Oberst sings the first lines of ethereal closer “Dominoes” sounding 100% like Cassadaga-era Bright Eyes. If you know & love either, you should know the other now. Phoebe carries a torch from early 2000′s emo with a sad-at-heart, genius songwriting style that emphasizes pinpoint autobiographical lyrics, a cutting, (even humorous at times) wit, and a teenage, feminist, internet, millennial heart. Oberst for his part has kept up a steady output since Bright Eyes, and (at least lyrically) doesn’t seemed to have cheered up much. Better Oblivion Community Center’s self titled debut feels fresh & catchy. While there is definitely an aching sadness in the duo’s songwriting, light hearted moments abound, and the writing often points to getting older, all hard work & growth. There is the bouncing outro to “Sleepwalkin’” where their voices rise in unison singing “Acting insane, playing it safe, I wasn’t sold on that plan anyways. Feeling afraid of making a change.” Or in the bright, rolling verses of “My City” where they go looking for “little moments of purpose.” But the one song I kept going back to; the one I recorded to cassette tape and played on almost every drive home from work at 4am through April & May, is the bittersweet closer “Dominoes.” Ironically, this one is a Taylor Hollingsworth cover (I think that’s him adding the random, spooky voice overs) but Conor takes the lead on vocals, singing a mostly lonely, hopeless tale, until the last verse when Phoebe cuts in. She’s “carpooling to kingdom come, into the wild purgatory.” Encouraging us to “Experience a magic rainbow, all you gotta’ do is follow. & if you’re not feeling ready… There’s always tomorrow.”

“The world will not remember when we’re old & tired / We’ll be blowing on the embers of a little fire…”

BIG THIEF / U.F.O.F. & Two Hands

2019 was the year that I finally finally got really really into Big Thief. A band’s band known for their live show (I still have yet to see them live) their following seems equal parts cult-y and universal. How a band that sounds the way they do, made it almost to the top of the indie-rock world is an exciting & inviting mystery.

This year, for me, the catalyst was “Cattails.” Released at the beginning of April, this song struck me and stuck with me, making its way onto almost every mix I made last Spring, Summer, & Fall (including this one for my Mom!) A real song of the year contender (& my #1 most listened to song of 2019 on spotify!), “Cattails” is a melodic, driving, beautiful tune, that finds singer & front person Adrienne Lenker marking Time (”riding that train in late June”) & Space (”going back home to the great lakes”) with grace & depth. There is a sacredness & mysticism tied up in a lot of Lenker’s writing and she refers to her writing experience with “Cattails” saying…

“It was one of those electric, multicolored waves of connectivity just sweeping through my body. I stayed up late finishing the song and the next morning was stomping around playing it over & over again. We thought why not just record it … & when James and I were playing it felt like a little portal in the fabric had opened and we were just flying. Listening back to it makes me cry sometimes.”

In truth, U.F.O.F. (the last f stands for “friend,” a way of humanizing the foreign) is a gorgeous record. Soft & gentle, full of songs about the constant tussle between things known & unknown. A real headphones-on-an-airplane record. And then, out of nowhere, Big Thief announced that they had a second (!) record on the way in the Fall. A dirt & earth twin for U.F.O.F., a special surprise gift for their burgeoning fan base. They announced Two Hands with the vicious single “Not,” a song very unlike “Cattails.” A brooding, ravenous rock song that made me remember why I love unhinged, well-written, unafraid rock & roll music. Another song of the year contender. If you’ve followed this blog the last few months, my well thought out comments to “Not” were “ohhhhhhhhhhhhh shit” & “oh my holy shit.” to the live version! But it was actually the second track on Two Hands that solidified Big Thief’s greatness for me. “Forgotten Eyes” is sonically similar to “Cattails” and rides the same effortless rhythm, driven by Lenker’s repeating guitar riff and James Krivchenia’s consistently impressive drumming. The riff seems to fall in & out magically, and the writing bookends “Cattails” with lyrics that speak to both a great pain & a great universal truth. While she wanders through homelessness & death, Lenker reflects beautifully on the life cycle we (& our planet, & maybe everything?) are all going through.

“Forgotten dance is the one left at birth / Forgotten plants in the fossils of earth / & they’ve long passed but they are no less the dirt / Of the common soil keeping us dry & warm / The wound has no direction / Everybody needs a home & deserves protection…”

BLACK BELT EAGLE SCOUT / At the Party With My Brown Friends

After finding Black Belt Eagle Scout’s debut album late last year, I soundtracked many a dusk, dawn, or midnight drive with her swirling vocals & entrancing guitar, usually in the cold & dark, through the early part of 2019. It made my 2018 favorites list, and her Larimer Lounge show in May was a highlight. I guess it makes sense then, that I didn’t truly fall for her sophomore album At the Party With My Brown Friends (released in August) until it got cold in November and I was able to take it out for some dark, snowy drives. Moody & serious at times, Black Belt Eagle Scout sounds every bit like the gray Pacific Northwest where front person Katherine Paul (KP) hails from. The lyrics are simple, repeating phrases, full of deep, important ideas. Family & friends. People & land. There are bursts of guitar coming out of rewarding slow builds, shredd-y, rhythmic, & melodic. Also, all the instruments on ATPWMBF are played by KP, and the drumming is fucking fantastic.

I have some sort of longer form writing building somewhere in the back of my mind about listening to music in cars, and both Black Belt Eagle Scout albums are perfect examples for that. I have always loved the feeling of having roads (highways or simply long straight dirt back roads) & music to listen to. In high school, we would sometimes get in the car simply to drive & listen to music (small town life ya know?) and I still relish any chance I get to take new (or old & long loved) songs & albums on road trips or just commutes around town. The time to sit with the songs, to focus on nothing but the words & melodies, instruments & voices, & the pull of the road, mystical & magical. Black Belt Eagle Scout’s songs have been a calming companion on a lot of drives over the last year, and I recommend you taking them out on a spin of your own. Drive to that coffee shop that’s 30 minutes away that you’ve been wanting to go to, drive out of town just to drive, alone with your thoughts & the road. You just might learn something about yourself.

“& I wake up / I love you / Screaming loudly / Screaming softly too / Am I here? / My heart dreams…”

BON IVER / i,i

Bon Iver is a long time favorite and if you’ve followed this blog at all, you know how much I love his albums and how much Justin Vernon’s Eaux Claires festival has helped shaped my musical timeline. Seeing 22, A Million (the record that precedes i,i) live in Wisconsin by the river for the first time, was something special. That record made my 2016 favorites list, but until this year, until i,i, my story of the music felt very insular. Special & secret for me, confined to very specific times & places. Only to make me feel certain things. It’s why I was hesitant to buy a ticket to see the Red Rocks show last September. Or why I questioned streaming the album early while I was on vacation in Holden Beach, North Carolina. I thought the songs were only meant to carry me back to the river, back to Wisconsin, back to the Summer. Back to a very specific, special place in my heart. But thanks to the wonders of spotify, and the Bon Iver crew just up and releasing the album a week early under the simple & generous guise of “wanting folks to have the album & learn the songs before the tour!!” I obliged and… YESSSS that’s how you do an album release in 2019! I had the album in my headphones as I ran and sweated on the beach in North Carolina, letting brand new songs transport me thousands of miles away.

i,i is a gloriously weird, perfected mess of a hit indie record. It’s everything I wanted the next chapter of the Bon Iver story to be. It feels personal & widescreen. Little moments stretched out and shared with family & friends. Lyrics about growth & hard work & life (& a few WTFs, it’s Bon Iver after all!) The gang’s all here again (the massive crew that worked on the album are all pictured on the record’s gloriously, weird inside gatefold!) recorded from Vernon’s home (April) base in Wisconsin, to Sonic Ranch in west Texas (also pictured in the liner notes) walking distance from our southern border. The sounds are all here again too. There are hints of For Emma’s Winter falsetto folk in the gorgeous acoustic guitar of “Marion.” There are the industrial swells & stomps, bleeps & bloops of bi, bi’s Spring in the warbling, green grass, warmth of “Holyfields.” Then there is the distortion, the choppy samples of 22, in the jigsaw glory of “iMi,” the way it starts & stops, all choruses & voices, real & programmed. Threads of new songs tied up with threads from long, long ago. There is a fullness to i,i, a generosity, a true front to back album, with hits & new favorites sprinkled everywhere. The second half blooms with the charging folk of “Salem” & “Faith” and the contentedness of closer “RABi.” These are songs that I will love for years to come. These songs make me happy. They make me think. They make me want to share them with friends. They make me want to work on relationships. Songs about life. Songs about true, unconditional friendship. As Justin said way back in 2015, when my journey with the Bon Iver story began “The story is history, nothing more. Only the music can rise anew. & it is gone as soon as it is sung. & so we sing again…” I am soo soo happy to sing again, with songs anew.

“Living in a lonesome way / Had me looking other ways / Cuz I am lost here again / But on a bright Fall morning I’m with it / I stood a little within it…”

EARTHGANG / Mirrorland

EARTHGANG’s major label debut Mirrorland comes in hot & dancing, a hip hop duo with a true tribute to Southern culture, and a whole world encapsulated in 14 tracks. My personal introduction to the EARTHGANG universe, came courtesy of a dusk till dark dance fest at Denver’s Underground Music Showcase on South Broadway back in sweaty July. Their energy was infectious, their stories hilarious, & their songs stuck in my head. Specifically the Young Thug featuring “Proud Of U,” a song that carries enthusiasm & positivity through to the end. Other standouts include colorful, bouncing opener “LaLa Challenge,” & the squealing horns of Atlanta hot spot, name dropping “Wings.” A concept album of sorts Mirrorland references “The Wiz” as a jumping off point saying,

“We thought about how, if we’re going to make a project sonically to rival The Wiz, we got to create another world for people to imagine & go to. You know when Dorothy got swept away and she met the Munchkins? That was such a beautiful thing. You could see Quincy Jones on the piano, just playing away. It’s really colorful. It’s really dangerous. It’s really trippy. It’s literally Freaknik Atlanta in the summertime—folks riding around in cars with big rims with paint on their faces.”

EARTHGANG was formed in 2008 by high school buddies Johnny Venus & Doctur Doc in Atlanta, GA. It’s impossible to ignore Outkast comparisons and for their part, EARTHGANG does their best to keep up the Southern hip hop tradition. Mixing in bits of soul, blues, & jazz, Mirrorland plays like an homage, a soundtrack to the South. A real reminder that the album is not dead. These songs sound best played together. Also, that the hip hop group, or duo, is not dead. And finally, that touring and playing live shows is most definitely not dead. I probably still wouldn’t have heard about EARTHGANG if it wasn’t for their primo UMS slot (at the same Import Mechanics stage where Leikeli47 & Kiltro played!) and infectiously positive live show. Speaking of their live show, see y’all at Cervantes on February 3!

“One time, one time for your baby moms / Two time for the hand in the candy jar / Holy Ghost showed up in my favorite thong / Three times in the car for the way we are / Another white man scared, another black man dead / Another rich man war, another red man bled / I been writing this album down way too long / When I drop my shit, pray it hit the toilet like lala, lalalalala...”

FRUIT BATS / Gold Past Life

In the Autumn of 2013, my coworker Cassandra Disney at Mile High Organics played me “When You Love Somebody” by Fruit Bats (had that song already been out for 10 years in 2013?!) on one of her early morning work mixes, and I immediately put it on one of my favorite (if embarrassingly bro-folk heavy) mixes I have ever made myself. Discovering a weird/cool indie band in the vein of all my other loves (Band of Horses, The Shins, Modest Mouse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc…) but more underground (!) was hipster heaven. I subsequently forgot about Fruit Bats for awhile, but was reminded with their graceful “comeback” album Absolute Loser in 2016. Although that one missed my favorites list, it gradually became a constant road trip companion; from the mountains of Colorado, through the great American Southwest, and even on some epic Mexican back roads. All alt-country, lost 70′s AM radio classics, and wistful, witty, & wise writing about highways and scenery. A true classic.

I was therefore super excited for Gold Past Life (Fruit Bats’s seventh album?!) to drop on Merge Records this Summer, and fell in love pretty quickly on a late afternoon drive across the high road between Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico back in late June. Swirling guitar, bouncy piano. and Eric D. Johnson’s piercing, clear, impassioned vocals. Fruit Bats sound timeless & effervescent. Upbeat guitar rock with some weird twists, and Johnson’s consistently bittersweet, humorous, & big hearted lyrics. Growing up, growing older, & grinning a wry smile at a golden world. After catching back to back beautiful Fruit Bats shows in Fort Collins & here in Denver at the Bluebird this September, these folks are the real deal. Long live touring bands, long live seventh albums, long live music marking time & space! Here’s to many more Fruit Bats albums, Gold Past Life will be car stereo classic for awhile.

“Still waiting around for some mystical shift in the winds / So honey please, don’t go just yet / Cigarette fingers, a shake in the knees / A bit blue, kind of tired, but not broken… Anticipating a magical bend in the road / So hang on, take it slow / Your go bag is packed & your hangover gone / Another dawn at the edge of the known world…”

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER / Terms of Surrender

Durham, North Carolina’s Hiss Golden Messenger (folklorist, family man, & singer-songwriter MC Taylor & revolving crew) have become something of a mainstay on this music blog & in my car’s cd player over the last five years. I picked up a used (!), advance (!) copy of Lateness of Dancers in the $1 bin at a record store in Seattle, Washington. after having been passed a burned copy of his 2010 solo album Bad Debt by an old coworker. Lateness ended up on my 2014 favorites list. Two years later, Heart Like A Levee made my 2016 list, and the next year, Hallelujah Anyhow was one of my favorites of 2017! I referred to the songs on Hallelujah as Hiss “building a repertoire, creating a legacy.” This may seem like quite a bit of superfluous backstory, but believe me, it is essential to the story, a journal of the journey. Geographic art for a topographic heart if you will. But anyway, Terms of Surrender…

The title is cryptic, referencing (as Taylor puts it “what we are prepared to sacrifice in order to live the lives that we think we want”) and the songs are deep (& growing deeper) & timeless. Not so much timeless in the way Yola’s songs sound timeless (skip down a few albums on this list to read about Yola!) but timeless in the way the songs seem to seep their way into my bones and stay for years. Terms burst on the scene with the release of the first single “I Need a Teacher” back in stormy June. With bright, rolling guitar stabs courtesy of The National’s Aaron Dessner (whose upstate New York recording studio was home for the Terms recording sessions), “Teacher” is about “the search for infallible guidance in an ever-changing universe.” but it is also about everyday work. Dedicated every night of the tour to all the teachers in the room, a political statement wrapped up in the seemingly obvious sentiment of “Defend Public Schools.” See what I mean? Timeless songs written for the here & now. “Bright Direction” & “My Wing” are reminiscent of Hallelujah’s “Jenny” & “Darkness.” a 1-2 punch of driving, drifting major key numbers, written from a hillside in Virginia, high on mushrooms. They contain multitudes. With a murky middle (Brad Cook gets funky on “Old Enough to Wonder Why” & “Cat’s Eye Blue”) & the already canonical Hiss’ live fav “Happy Birthday Baby,” the back half of Terms spreads out the Hiss’ sound in new ways. New live favorite, the nostalgic “Down at the Uptown,” had me googling maps of San Francisco to find the mythical Uptown bar where Taylor first heard Patti Smith’s Horses.

In late October, Hiss played an absolutely glorious three night run at little Globe Hall over in Globeville, just Southeast of where Interstate 70 meets Interstate 25. I went to all three shows. The shows were special & career spanning; from “Jesus Shot Me in the Head,” to Dead covers (& a Jesus & Mary Chain cover!) to all the Terms songs. I spent the Saturday afternoon before show #2, walking around the disappearing & rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in & around Globeville (& drifting across the highway into Sunnyside) listening to Terms of Surrender on my headphones. Thinking about the things I’m willing to sacrifice, thinking about the life I want, what are my Terms? After all, “It’s a real live world & I wanna live in it.”

“Something drove me crazy / Love had me lazy / Backwards won’t get me to my destination / Move me in some bright direction / Looking to be captured, looking for my freedom / Oh, dreams will come to get you / So careful what you’re wishing / Your family might correct you / Your heart might take a pounding / Make sure you take a picture…”

JUNE JONES / Diana

I can’t remember where I first heard of June Jones, but I’d like to think it was from one of my many Australian music friends (thanks Camp Cope, Julia Jacklin, Middle Kids, Courtney Barnett, Gang of Youths etc…!) The music community is a wonderful thing. June’s songs can be hard to explain, but Diana is an epic album that burns with a steady, stately drama. Most of the songs ride swelling synths and measured, 80’s sounding drums and center around June’s unique, emotive voice and head turning lyrics. Jones had fronted the Australian rock band Two Steps on the Water and written songs on the guitar for many years, but it’s pretty clear from listening to the writing and sound on Diana that these songs were meant for piano, synth, and a solo album. Her own writing. Her own words.

The album begins with the brooding “Rome From Afar” and the opening line “I got drunk again last night & I fell down outside the bathroom at my little sister’s party.” It then follows a dancing bass line into an apocalyptic nightmare of a world ending. “Meryl” is a gorgeous, autobiographical (?) song, an ode to “complicated” hard working women everywhere. There are parts of Diana that nod to it being a break up album, like in the gorgeously melancholic “Boulder Falling Slow” (”I am a boulder falling slow / You’re a magnificent spiderweb”) but I have been viewing it as just a complex, everyday life album. Jones lets her magnificent voice trail slowly over seemingly uncomfortable or awkward topics that she strives to make… not so. Sorry Alex Cameron, your “eating your ass like an oyster” line in “Miami Memory” is only the second best “eating ass” line this year after Jones’ “Look at You Go!” Her voice often belies the emotion in her lyrics, she works it up & down, and lets it stretch out over words, like in lonely closer “Sixteen Horses,” but she also sounds almost matter of fact at times. There is a moment in the piano led “Thorn” where she glibly throws “Have you seen the moon tonight? No, me neither, who cares about the moon when everything is dying?” over an understated horn trill. Everything is dying after all, but I want June Jones to sing it to me like an Australian Lana Del Rey or Matt Berninger. Trust me, you’ll be hearing more about June Jones in the coming years. Watch out.

“I haven’t thought too much about family / Ain’t got no husband or a couple of kids / I’ve spent 26 years in this office / I said goodbye to my relationships a long time ago / What does the mayor of a small town heart do after she retires?”

JUSTIN PETER KINKEL-SCHUSTER / Take Heart, Take Care

My long time music friend Adam over at songsfortheday had been trying to tell me about Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster for quite a few mixes with songs I loved from his 2016 release Constant Stranger. But it somehow wasn’t until I needed Take Heart, Take Care, that Schuster’s work hit me right. It didn’t feel like a light at the end of the tunnel, but more like a light in the tunnel, something lasting, a collection of songs lifting up & out towards a light. As Schuster wrote upon it’s release…

“Here, I’ve fumbled my way, as always, and of necessity, into a collection of songs that hold a light to the joys & comforts of life not given up on, those that appear over time as we are looking elsewhere, to surprise & delight us when we need them most. Sure, it’s me, so there are glimpses of and nods to the dark, but the dark is not winning anymore. I simply mean to acknowledge its presence. To me, that’s the most fundamental job of songs, of stories, of all art — to be allies, friends, companions, when we need them most and it’s my hope that these songs can do that work in a world that seems to need it. If you are lucky enough to have something good to say, say it. Please. We’ll thank each other, now & later.”

So i guess it’s that second part that I have found solace in through my 20′s and into my 30′s. That songs (and stories & all art, but songs & albums seem to be my thing) can be allies, friends, & companions, and that sometimes (like Hanif Abdurraqib wrote in his brilliant collection of essays “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us”)…

“If you believe, as I do, that a blessing is a brief breath to take in that doesn’t taste of whatever is holding you under: say I Speak To God In Public and mean more than just in his house, or mean more than just next to people who might also speak to God in public, or say God and mean whatever has kept you alive when so many other things have failed to.“

Take Heart, Take Care is a straightforward, well written, indie rock album. The songs ring true with light & darkness, an uplifting take on growing older and finding “Plenty Wonder” still to be found in the world. Schuster played the Hi-Dive on South Broadway in November, the last show on the Take Heart tour. A show I had bought tickets for months in advance, and I found myself in a crowd of maybe 15 people, celebrating the songs of Take Heart, Take Care. Listening to a writer with something good to say. Trying all in our own way to hold our own. I have a feeling I’ll keep these songs with me for awhile.

“Time is the mender / Whose strange mechanics yet untold / Bid us rise entwined together / So take heart, take care / Be true but beware / & honey we need not be scared…”

KARA JACKSON / A Song for Every Chamber of the Heart

In only 10 minutes & 42 seconds, Kara Jackson creates an intimate, magical world with just her voice and a guitar on her debut EP A Song for Every Chamber of the Heart. Four intricate & intentional songs, none longer than three minutes, finger picked slowly & methodically, Jackson balances a poetic, whimsical wandering with a steely focus on the craft of songwriting. These are the bones of songs, played honest & upfront, with no adornment. There is room for Jackson’s lyrics to really shine, all aching & wistful, yet practical. Like the way she balances “I have a crush, I have an ache” with “I know that love’s just a pain in the ass” in the bittersweet “Crush.” Her songs buzz with a youthful energy & teen angst. Wise beyond their years, finding their way in the world. As a songwriter and a poet, Jackson writes about race, activism, social justice, self, bodies, & humanity.

At 20 (!) years old, Chicago’s Jackson is... oh also a poet. The 2019 National Youth Poet Laureate (!) in fact, and it was her absolutely breathtaking writing about being a teenager that first caught my attention. She quotes Gwendolyn Brooks (pulitzer prize winning American poet) in her Ted Talk saying “write what’s under your nose.” She says that Brooks took the mundane and put it on a pedestal. That she understood there are “poems in train cars, poems on front lawns, & poems in microwaves & tea kettles.” An almost obligation to celebrate the ordinary. Ordinary folks celebrating similar ordinary folks. It’s the way that John Darnielle howls on The Mountain Goats song “Werewolf Gimmick” (track nine on 2015′s Beat the Champ) about “nameless bodies in unremembered rooms.” In his prerelease essay for Merge Records, music writer Joseph Fink wrote that the entire career of The Mountain Goats has been about “giving names to nameless bodies and remembering unremembered rooms.” and what a worthy cause that is. That thought has stuck with me for years and I have always loved the specificity of it. Whether it is Darnielle resurrecting historical characters real or fictional, or the way Lady Lamb (keep reading a few more albums down!) celebrates the specifics of her friends & family, in all the messy details. Written in song, remembered forever. It is also essential that all cultures have artists who look like them and think like them, as the ones doing the remembering. It’s why it’s so important that Kara Jackson is the one doing the remembering for young black girls. The same way Eve Ewing did for her, and Gwendolyn Brooks did before that. I can appreciate the magic of the remembering, but I need to let them be the ones to tell the stories. Oh, speaking of appreciating, I bugged Jackson enough on social media and got a handmade PHYSICAL copy of the EP that I’m hanging onto forever cuz it’s probably gonna be like the next original pressing of Bon Iver’s For Emma! Thanks Kara!

“Don’t take my pillowcase, that's my place to be alone / Don’t take my lamp from me, it helps me read about places I don’t know / Don’t take a lot for me to be on my own...”

KILTRO / Creatures of Habit

My end of the year albums list usually has at least one local Denver band. The Lumineers way back in 2012, Gregory Alan Isakov & Covenhoven in 2013, Nathaniel Rateliff, Covenhoven (again!), & The Yawpers in 2015, Nina de Freitas in 2017 (hey Nina & the Hold Tight, new album in 2020 please?!), and Izcalli last year. Kiltro is a part Coloradan, part Chilean folk band that have been putting on one of my favorite live shows around town this year. The brainchild of Chris Bowers-Castillo, a native Coloradan who spent time growing up in Valparaiso, Chile, Kiltro is named after the Spanish word “Quiltro” meaning a mixed breed dog. A dog that Kiltro has taken for their logo. In their own way, Kiltro is a mix breed; both in the way they mix the sounds of South America with the folk music of North America, and also the way they mix organic, acoustic instrumentation, with electronic, looping sounds and effects pedals. Their live show is a masterclass in layers, with Bowers-Castillo adding loops of guitar rhythms (sometimes simply bare hands slapping beats on the top of the guitar) to steady bass & drums, until the songs swell & build into dramatic crescendos and almost EDM-influenced drops. The extended intros & outros are my favorite parts of their songs and the live versions (from their sweaty 2pm UMS dance party, to Lulu’s Downstairs in Manitou Springs) have stirred hearts & feet alike with dancing not usually found in the Colorado “indie-hipster” scene. Keep an eye on these guys and maybe come out to Larimer Lounge in January and witness the dance party for yourself!

“Somewhere down the bank where the dogs go / Por la calle que te lleva a Curicó / & down the beach, where no others can find / Ni por agua, piso, coche, ni avión...”

LADY LAMB / Even in the Tremor

As I have been writing this year’s favorites list, I’m realizing that so many of the albums I loved & learned, came hand in hand with experiencing the artist, and specifically that new album, live. Lady Lamb released Even in the Tremor, her masterful & moving third album, way back in April, and I had a Spring-y three weeks to learn all her intricate, visceral lyrics to sing back at her Larimer Lounge stop in Denver on the Deep Love tour. Maine by way of Brooklyn’s (by way of a bunch of other places) Aly Spaltro has always written songs for Lady Lamb like her hair’s on fire. Wailing & gasping about blood & guts & death over spiraling electric guitar, there is a realness to her writing that reminds me of the east coast emo I grew up on. But for all the blood red gore & messy heartbreak that colors much of the Lady Lamb discography, there is a light hearted tenderness as well. Tremor has songs written for & about friends, lovers, parents, & god. Quirky opener “Little Flaws” is a first-dance-worthy love song, while personal favorites “Strange Maneuvers” & “Emily” are odes to platonic friendships, mental health, & growing up. In the same way I wrote about Kara Jackson celebrating the ordinary, Lady Lamb has always celebrated specifics of people, time & space. Tremor’s characters are Spaltro’s real life people (Emily, Shervin, Kurt (Kurtie Bear), Isaac, & her Mom), and the places (the diner, the batting cage, Templehof Park, Midtown, Berlin, Montreal, Madrid, a fast food joint, the stage of a church, someplace upstate, Lavanderia & Graham Ave) are specific, varied, & globe spanning. Her stories are autobiographical and rewarding and the music is stirring, singer-songwriter rock & roll with some punch behind it. She is one of my favorite modern writers for her ability to not just tell a story, but to find wonder in the small things and to celebrate the ordinary. Like she tells Shervin, minutes before “Emily” closes the album on a gorgeous, uplifting high note, “No photographic artifact, but here is something better than that.”

“There’s a picture that I found, my first car in the falling snow / Seems like yesterday I drove down into low tide / & Isaac snapped a polaroid of me pretending I was sinking, pressed against the glass pleading / I misplaced it but I’m looking... / When we are young, if only we could see beyond our fears where we are free / When we are lonely if only we could know that in our stillness we are growing... / All the portraits we collected, while we were running around in the desert / We were trying to seem fulfilled to rewrite our New York City narratives / But Emily we were utterly dejected / We took turns crying on the passenger side of America / Too clouded to be empowered by towering Redwoods... / When did we lose the ancient truths? / Is it what we’re born bending our bodies toward?...”

LIZZO / Cuz I Love You

For much of 2019, Lizzo could be heard playing everywhere. The 31 year old Minnesotan’s third full length album Cuz I Love You, came out in April, after a busy three years of huge singles, consistent touring, & building a repertoire of songs capable of headlining arenas. When Lizzo finally exploded these last few years, it has been fun watching the whole world embrace her uptempo, bold, self-love anthems, and hearing them blaring from open Subaru windows in Cap HIll, from balconies & rooftops in uptown, and on the lips of countless joggers & bikers, loving themselves in the Denver Summer sun. I know for my part, I took Lizzo with me to the beaches of North Carolina & through the Southern mountains of Colorado, dancing, singing, & gleefully giggling along. Bottom line, the songs on Cuz I Love You are FUN! You try not to crack a smile as Lizzo romps through “Never been in love before, what the fuck are fucking feelings yo?” on the bouncing, brassy, vocal led, track one title track MOMENT. Or the way she makes up the word “accessorary” on the spot (“my ass is not an accessorary”) and then fires back with “Yeah, I said it, accessorary!” Lizzo has been an outspoken supporter of our generation’s version of the self-love, body positivity movement, and has put her money (and body) where her mouth is, inspiring legions of teens & twenty somethings to do the same. “Soulmate” is a loner anthem that finds Lizzo belting “True love ain’t something you can buy yourself / True love finally happens when you’re by yourself / So if you by yourself, then go and buy yourself another round from the bottle on the higher shelf.” The soulful slowdown “Jerome” is about being the bigger person and ending a relationship that isn’t working. Lizzo manages to actually address her own issues, focus on the work she needs to do (“I’m trying to be patient & patience takes practice.”) and still absolutely belt a singalong chorus that rhymes Jerome with “take your ass home.” Also, the deluxe version of Cuz I Love You tacks on three previous Lizzo singles that hadn’t found an album home. Those singles? “Boys,” “Truth Hurts,” & “Water Me.” Three songs totaling almost 555 MILLION plays on Spotify. With apologies to Ariana Grande & Billie Eilish (Billie see ya in a few months at the Pepsi Center!) Lizzo is the biggest superstar that I want on this list. And she 100% deserves every bit of it.

“If I’m shinin’ everybody gonna’ shine...”

ORVILLE PECK / pony

There is an appealing, theatrical quality to the dramatic country songs on Orville Peck’s debut record Pony. I spent my high school years growing up in small town Western Colorado so country music has been embedded in my brain since I was 11. I’ve gone through so many phases of loving it, hating it, loving it ironically, nostalgically, hating it for it’s sound, cheesiness, backwards politics, etc... But with Pony; these are true country songs written by a gay, masked cowboy anti-hero from.. Toronto? Maybe? Who is Orville Peck?!?! It’s like all the best parts of “country” music came together. And the mask? The fringe? All the packaging & theatrics? It makes it fun. Part Bowie, part Coheed & Cambria, part Grace Jones, part Ghost, part Brandon Flowers. Hollywood meets Vegas meets Carson City.

When I listen to Orville Peck’s songs it brings together so many feelings from my youth. From country radio & boxes of old country cds, to the dramatic side of theatre, play acting on a stage, dress-up, halloween, cowboys, loneliness, & the open road. From the tumbleweed roll & mournfully powerful coyote howl of opener “Dead of Night,” to the shoegaze rumble, autumn ride of “Winds Change.” Peck’s lyrics are honest & heartfelt, drawing on sweeping, western imagery, & idolizing the classic country ideal... the cowboy. Music marks time & place and Peck makes sure to reference the cities along his highway songs. Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Carson City, Kansas, a veritable Rand McNally road map of the American West. In the same manner as both Black Belt Eagle Scout albums, Fruit Bats, & Caroline Rose from last year, it wasn’t until a highway drive that I truly fell in love with Pony. It was a brilliant November sunset & still warm, but windy & changing, and we knew we had to hustle to beat the snow back to Denver. Highway 159 from the Southern Colorado border through Costilla County, on the way towards Fort Garland & then Walsenburg. Purple & Orange out the window to my left, Winter on it’s way. Peck’s songs sang with a heartache... a loss. a rhinestone loneliness that country finds a way to revel in. When “Kansas (Remembers Me Now)” statics out like a long lost FM radio. When “Hope to Die” fake ends at 3:30 and instead key change pivots like a washed-up Broadway starlet, shooting her shot on a dusty jukebox. When “Nothing Fades Like the Light” draws its last, peaceful breath, closing Pony like the last light of that November sunset. Thanks Orville, this one’s a classic.

“Fell in love with a rider / Dirt king, black crown / Six months on a knucklehead hog / I like him best when he's not around / He gets me high, oh, big sky... Fell in love with a boxer / Stayed awake all year / Heartbreak is a warm sensation / When the only feeling that you know is fear / I don't know why, oh, big sky...”

RAPSODY / Eve

Rapsody’s third album Eve is a masterclass on rap music, and the Snow Hill, North Carolina rapper sounds relaxed & loose, while still staying focused & on topic with an album that reads as, as Rapsody herself puts it “a love letter to all black women including myself.” She is at the top of her game right now, and these songs cement Rapsody as one of the premier rappers in an exciting field of rap talent both young & old.

Each track on the album is dedicated to one of Rapsody’s personal heroes, and I am going to focus these words & my research for Eve (besides listening to it nonstop, which I’m currently doing now!) on those black women. Track one is for Nina Simone (”without Nina there’s no Lauryn Hill, & without Lauryn Hill there’s no Rapsody.”) and features critically important verses about black heritage & culture over Nina’s terrifying & sobering classic “Strange Fruit.” Rapsody is recognizing her legacy and the importance of heritage, but she is clearly claiming her spot in that bloodline. “Cleo” preaches standing up for yourself over a Phil Collins sample (between Cleo & Lucy Dacus, “In the Air Tonight” is getting some serious love this year!) and is named after Queen Latifah’s character in the 1996 movie “Set it Off.” From there Rapsody recognizes artists (Aaliyah), philanthropists (Oprah & Michelle Obama), actresses (Whoopi), athletes (Serena Williams & Ibtihaj Muhammed), writers (Maya Angelou & Reyna Biddy), models (Iman & Tyra Banks), and historical figures & activists (Hatshepsut, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Sojourner Truth, & Afeni Shakur). Bottom line, ALL of these women are essential google material (you’re reading this on your phone or laptop, google and give yourself a five minute refresher if there’s anyone you don’t already know!) While you’re at it, google the lyrics for Eve (and Jamila Woods’ equally incredible, equally name dropping LEGACY! LEGACY!) and listen along. This is an important time capsule document for Rapsody and it’s just a damn good rap album.

“I am Nina & Roberta, the one you love but ain't heard of / Got my middle finger up like Pac after attempted murder / Failed to kill me, it's still me, woke up singing Shirley Murdock / As we lay these edges down, brown women, we so perfect...”

SABA LOU / Novum Ovum

When I listen to Saba Lou’s intoxicating sophomore album Novum Ovum, I am transported to somewhere magical & different. Maybe older, maybe out of place & time. Everything about Novum feels… classic. From the dusty, record-store-bin-find look of the out of focus cover photo, to the laidback natural way Saba Lou seems to dance along on top of a rollicking house band lifted from the 70’s. There are elements of surf rock, shoegaze, late night soul, and classic rock & roll on Ovum, but it is all driven by the singular writing & vocals of Saba Lou. In the liner notes of the record, a note can be found, claiming that this album is meant to be from the future. 2286 to be exact! Is a concept album?! Is it actually from the future & delivered to us by a time traveling band of Germans?!! Does it have songs about Star Trek??!! Maybe, mayyyybeee... & YES!

Yet to turn 20 (!), Saba Lou is a German born singer songwriter who has been making & releasing music since she was literally six years old! Novum Ovum is Latin for “the new egg” and features a hot four piece full band, and wonderfully fleshed out songs that bounce and swing with palpable energy. The lyrics span an awesomely wide spectrum from endometriosis pain (the title track obv) to a Star Trek mindmeld tune sung from the perspective of Gracie the pregnant whale (closer “Humpback in Time”)!! All in all, Saba Lou is an absolutely electric songwriter and her youthfulness & fervor are contagious. It’s the reason I love making this list every year, and what makes discovering new music so exciting. Can’t wait for the next one!

“A brick wall around your placenta / Cut them all off from her mother blood / The hounds call for appassionata / A phoenetic paste for the fetal bud...”

SHARON VAN ETTEN / Remind Me Tomorrow

Over the last few years I started the practice of making a draft favorite albums list in January and adding albums throughout the year, as I fall in love with them. This way I don’t forget the ones I loved in January & February, the ones that got me through the backend of the Winter. I’m able to track my year in music as it develops, a sort of captain’s log. A living, personal journal using music to mark time & space as I sprint my way through another increasingly faster, increasingly chaotic year. Sometimes, scrolling through the list acts as a comfort. “That album only came out this year?! OK, this year isn’t moving too fast, that feels like forevvverrrr ago!” Sometimes it helps to show me how much I’ve grown, how much an album has meant, or has helped with my mental & emotional growth. This year, the very first album I added to that list, the very first album that I fell hard & holy hell in love with... was Sharon Van Etten’s Remind Me Tomorrow.

A blast of energy. A weird synthy, pulsing red & blue darkness. Simultaneously club-y & indie rock vibey. Van Etten’s fifth album is supposedly written from a place of contentment. A marriage, a child, a life & happiness discovered. Less desperation, more introspection. I hear in her voice & words, how taking care of yourself, how striving to be your best self, can bring out the most powerful, most emotional art. She also isn’t afraid to let her voice go and I think her vocal performances are what truly take Tomorrow to another level. “Memorial Day” rides a haunting vocal loop & tumbles in nearly wordless, glimmering vowels, all ethereal magnificence. The chorus of the brooding “Jupiter 4″ spirals upwards & then rollercoasters, a late night drunken banger. But at the heart of Remind Me Tomorrow sits one of my songs of the year, one of my songs of the decade, “Seventeen.” I had heard it first live, way back in October 2018 in the rain in the mountains at Red Rocks. I got tipsy & wrote about it the day it came out, January 8, 2019, after a long, cold stretch working the night shift. This album & especially this song will stay with me for a long time. Sharon has taught me to keep working on myself. To look back in fondness. To think about how, with hard work, how much joy & peace & comfort await in my coming years. But she also taught me to lean into emotions. To embrace the ache of memories and the bittersweetness of growing up. Thanks for making this album Sharon.

“Downtown hotspot, halfway up the street / I used to be free, I used to be 17 / Follow my shadow around your corner / I used to be 17, now you're just like me / Down beneath the ashes & stone / Sure of what I've lived and have known / I see you so uncomfortably alone / I wish I could show you how much you've grown...”

TIM BAKER / Forever Overhead

I have a special feeling tied to the collection of intimate, swirling songs Tim Baker released this year from Canada. Forever Overhead carries a certain small town holiness, recognizable to those who grew up in small towns , but specific to his own personal, north-north-eastern-eastern “small” town, St Johns, in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. Growing up on the farthest coast of the Atlantic on the tippy, tippy point of Canada (seriously google it!), Baker fronted emo band Hey Rosetta! for four albums until striking out this Spring on his own with Arts & Crafts Records. There is a very Springsteen-esque bent to the way he writes about growing up somewhere (as someone) small & wanting to be somewhere very big and exciting. He captures the bittersweetness of growing up so perfectly. From the teenage romantic feelings in swaying opener “Dance” & the rousing “Mirrors,” to the friends & bars & singing found in the melancholic “Spirit” and the absolute hit “All Hands.” The latter is the core of the album, a bright, rhythmic guitar number that builds & swells with voices & instrumentation to a few huge, singalong choruses. A real song of the year contender. Baker isn’t afraid to let the songs go on journeys on Forever Overhead and they rarely finish where they begin. Horns & handclaps burst in at points, celebratory & fearless. The sexual tension of “Strange River” is lightened with a false start and a “sorry. In ‘D’” followed by a belly laugh, before restarting. The light & dark are present throughout Overhead and listening to these songs remind me of growing up. I feel like I’m being given a secret glance into Baker’s youth and the parts that mirror mine make me want to lift my voice in unison with those that understand. Sometimes small collections of well written & well played songs can do that, and to me... it’s sacred. Hopefully I get a chance to visit St Johns someday, and if I do, these songs will be playing as my soundtrack.

“A boy in bed, all the windows wide / You can hear the hot rods running from the light / From the light, into the dark / That's all I wanted in my cousin's car / To listen to the wind & to the lead guitars / & feel the reckless running of your heart / Now is that gone or does that all remain? / Can I go back and have it all again? / Well now I know it, where I'm going / I'm going back behind the river / I'm going back behind the rain / Cuz no matter where you're heading / You end up where you’ve been...”

YOLA / Walk Through Fire

It’s clear from the first minute & 30 seconds of Yola’s debut full-length Walk Through Fire, that this album is destined to be an all-time classic. She comes in slow & wistful with “wish I knew what you were wishing for...” over a soft wash of cymbals and mournful country-soul guitar. Then one minute in, her voice swells to gigantic proportions, seeming to lift the song right off the page, carried into another stratosphere, timeless & magnetic. That “Faraway Look” in your eyes.

From there, Yola (36 year old Yolanda Quartey from Bristol, England) takes her commanding voice through bluesy, fiddle-led country (”It Ain’t Easier” & the title track), and laid back soul (”Shady Grove” & “Deep Blue Dream”). Personal fav “Ride Out In The Country” became a backroads, summer anthem for me this year on multiple trips through Southern & Western Colorado. Through it all, her voice booms, whispers, & rocks gently, propelling the songs forward with warmth & light. Her lyrics are full of both dreamy memories & work-a-day stories about the challenges of life. It was fun this year to have different friends & family members get into Yola at different times, getting texts like “have you heard of YOLA??!!” Sharing songs, & collections of songs (like the ones on Walk Through Fire) is what makes making this list every year so fun, and I’m always excited to see what new, life-long favorites I will discover. See you in a couple months at the Bluebird Theater on Colfax here in Denver Yola!! Can’t wait!

“A little shady grove / A memory long ago / A tale too old to know the ending / I gave it all away / It takes my breath away...”

#yola #tim baker #Sharon Van Etten #saba lou #Rapsody #orville peck #lizzo #lady lamb #kiltro #kara jackson #june jones #hiss golden messenger #fruit bats #earthgang #bon iver #black belt eagle scout #big thief #better oblivion community center #justin peter kinkel-schuster

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thursosurf-blog · 6 years ago

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How to Paddleboard Oceans, Lakes, and Rivers

https://www.thursosurf.com

Learning how to paddleboard oceans, lakes and rivers is one of the most enjoyable things about the sport – there are SO many different bodies of water to try out! Where you live or where you are traveling might affect your options at the moment, but no matter where you live, there are almost always rivers and lakes nearby. If you happen to live near the ocean you’ll have endless options to explore.

Although we’ve referred to our planet as “Earth,” a Germanic word which means “the ground” for at least 1,000 years, almost 70% of it is covered by water! To keep it simple, all of that water can be broken down into three major categories rivers, lakes, and oceans, but if you’re interested in what’s the difference between things like a firth, fjord, and a freshet head here for an enlightening read.

Inflatable paddle boards are one of the most fun ways to tackle any body of water. To get things started we’ll begin with the two most common bodies of water ventured by paddle boarders, oceans and lakes. Then we’ll head over to rivers.

Paddleboarding Oceans, Lakes, and Rivers

OceansOcean Paddleboarding for Beginners

Compared to lakes, ocean conditions can vary widely depending on the wind, the weather and the tides. Beginners should start out in protected inlets like bays, coves, marinas or harbors where the conditions are much more predictable and flat water is easy to find. You can also pick a calm day to get started. Flat water ocean paddling is open to a wide variety of activities including touring, fitness, yoga or just splashing around with family and friends.

Recommended Board for Ocean Flat Water Paddlilng

Any board shape will do! For flat water paddling the activities you’re planning are more important in choosing a board than the conditions. An all-round shape like the Waterwalker will offer you the most versatility. A touring shape like the Expedition will make the distance glide by. For a stable fitness or yoga platform, choose a yoga board like our Tranquility SUP.

How to SUP in the Ocean

If you’re planning to surf, follow the coast or paddle further offshore, it’s important to check the local conditions (weather, winds, tides, swell, etc.) leading up to your trip and again immediately before you set off. While stand up paddle boarding is usually the most fun on a beautiful sunny day, oceans can be impressively unpredictable. There’s a reason the english language has so many allusions to oceans and transformations like the phrase ‘sea change.’ Taking the time to check the conditions will help you better determine what type of gear you should wear and what to bring along with you.

Recommended Board for Paddle Surfing in the Ocean

Although you can enjoy small frothy waves on any board, if you’re surfing or playing in the waves an all-round shape is the best choice. All-round boards like the Waterwalker are wider than a touring board and feature a rounded nose to give you a bit more stability and maneuverability in the waves.

Recommended Board for Distance Paddling in the Ocean

As previously discussed, ocean conditions vary significantly. However, if you’ll be tracking the coast or paddling out into rougher waters over longer distances it’s best to opt for a touring board. Touring paddle boards like the Expedition have a pointed nose and are narrower and longer than standard SUPs, giving them more glide. That means you’ll paddle less to go further. In addition, their distinct shape and layout improves paddling efficiency, tracking and overall performance when paddling through chop.

LAKESHow to Paddle on Lakes

Lakes offer a similar experience to ocean paddle boarding, but are often much easier to find your balance on. You may have already picked up on why, since lake paddle boarding is often referred to as flat water paddle boarding. That’s right, because of their smaller size and land enclosure their conditions on lakes tend to be smoother and quite a bit more predictable. That makes lakes a perfect place for beginning paddle boarders to start out.

In most lakes there aren’t any serious tides or currents that can lead you astray. However, strong winds can occur so it makes sense to keep an eye on the weather. For any outdoor activity it’s always best to know what to expect before heading out.

Recommended Board for Paddling on Lakes

Since lakes are typically much flatter than oceans all boards are appropriate. Tranquil conditions are the most forgiving. Choose your board based on the activities you’ll engage in. Keep in mind that a larger boards like the Waterwalker 132 or the Expedition have higher displacement so you’ll be able to carry more weight. That means you can take more gear, your paddle pup, or even bring a friend or child along for the ride.

RiversHow to Paddleboard on Rivers

Rivers are another great place to paddleboard. They can be dynamic with a fast current or even white water with conditions that are similar to oceans or they can be flat and slow which makes for a relaxing scenic paddle more like what you’d find on a lake. The key differences a stand up paddleboarder should consider is the river’s current as well as the weather conditions. When checking the forecast before paddling on a river, look for indicators that could change its flow. Seasonal snow melt or a recent rain or storm upstream can drastically change the current, depth and even the width of a river.

Getting Back on Your Board in a River

Rivers’ continuous current also makes falling off a much different and more common experience than on flat water. In a river you must consider what lies ahead and options available for getting back on board. Trying to climb back up in rushing rapids is a significantly different experience from climbing back up on a calm river bend or even an ocean swell where you can swim out of the break to calmer waters before mounting back up. If you fall off in the rapids, rely on your life vest to help you float on your back and keep your feet pointed downstream. This way you can use your legs to absorb the impact of any rocks or logs you might be headed into. Once you’re floating on your back, use your leash to get close to your board. Then pull yourself up.

Obstacles and Challenges

You will also most likely encounter a variety of obstacles on rivers that you aren’t as likely to find in the deeper open waters of an ocean or a lake. Before heading out, take the time to find a section of the river that’s suitable for your skill level and intent. Shooting the rapids can be fun, but requires different gear like a life vest and a properly fitted helmet designed for whitewater. A speaker, deck cooler bag and belt-style PFD are more appropriate for a lazy river paddle.

Lastly rivers tend to have a rocky bottom or feature debris like trees. You need to be cautious of anything that breaks the surface as well as all of those out of view below. Keep an eye out for ripples disturbing the surface of the water that may indicate submerged debris as you paddle. In general you need to be a bit more attentive when you’re SUPing on a river as the current will keep you moving even when you’re not actively paddling. When you’re pushing your limits, on a more technical section, expect to fall more often. That’s part of the fun and challenge of paddling whitewater!

Recommended Board for River SUP

Choosing a board for river paddling will depend on the type of paddling you’re planning to do. A touring shape like the Expedition will be fine for relatively flat water. If you plan to encounter more technical sections or rapids, a shorter board like the Waterwalker 126with its rounded nose will be a bit more stable and easier to maneuver. Because you’re riding with the flow of the river stability is key, so even a wider board like the Tranquility could help you maintain your balance while navigating the currents and obstacles found there.

Final Thoughts

So whether your find yourself on a ocean, lake, river, firth, fjord, freshet or any other body of water, remember to check the conditions and plan accordingly before heading out. It’s always better to be safe than sorry and it’s also a lot more fun when you have the right gear to accompany you along on your adventure. Happy paddling! Wherever that may be.

https://www.thursosurf.com

#paddle board #paddle boards #stand up paddle board #inflatable paddle board #inflatable sup #fishing paddle board #paddle board yoga #sup yoga board

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feelingsdusk-writes · 7 years ago

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On idiocy and stupidity

(For the Harry Potter AU square)

John doesn’t like the magical world at all. If he was completely honest, he would go as far as to admitting he hates it. Alas, that doesn’t happen unless he’s reached the bottom of a bottle of whisky, and he’s trying to keep away from that path nowadays, so he’ll just say that he would have been a man happy in his ignorance.

Again, no matter how he wishes that was true, that’s not the case.

The first time Stiles had a burst of accidental magic, it left John nearly in shock. He actually had a moment where his brain refused to catch up with what he was seeing and his whole body trembled, leaving him unable to even take a step further, so no, it wasn’t a figure of speech.

One of the frequent visitors to the park Claudia liked had a very big mixed breed as a pet. That beast was as humongous as it was mean, so there were a lot of complaints issued to the police department about it, and the owner, as mean and temperamental as his pet, was facing losing the dog because he refused to leash it at the very least.

He had talked about it with Claudia, but she refused to back down. She liked the park, it was the only one near their house and Stiles loved the play park, and she wasn’t going to let that awful man take that from them. John knew how to choose his battles, so he didn’t insist more on a lost one.

He should have.

It was Sunday, sunny, warm and his day off for a change, so they prepared a little basket with sandwiches and the like and went to the park to spend the morning and lunch hour there. After a couple of hours they managed to reign in Stiles for enough to have lunch. All was nice and well until John went to get coffee nearby and a blood curling toddler scream pierced the air just as he was coming back.

It attacked Stiles.

There wasn’t anything left from the beast besides the blood splatter on the ground of the play park and the owner was hysterical by the time he rushed in. Stiles was wailing, covered in blood, and Claudia was trying to calm him unsuccessfully.

Then, obliviators came and went, and John found out that his three year old baby boy was a wizard. A very, very powerful one, the ones that came to explain everything gushed, issuing a lot of recommendations about how to proceed.

It may be selfish or bad on his part, but John was more hung up on the fact that his wife had been lying to him since the very beginning, because she was a witch too.

(He’s also always being secretly grateful that they never acknowledged the fact that she would have never told him if Stiles hadn’t presented, even though he knows it is a cowardly thing.)

The instances where Stiles had accidental magic continued to grow in number as the time passed, but it got almost to an unbearable point when Claudia got sick from some magical sickness John has never been able to understand the facts of.

The last time Stiles’ magic acted out of control was when he blasted his own mother out of a window when she tried to strangle him, out of her mind and seeing things that weren’t there.

No, John doesn’t like the magical world.

If he was drunk, he’d admit he hates it.

Ignorance would have been, certainly, a bliss.

And this way of thinking has cost him a son.

He knows he should have done something, said something before Stiles left to that school, but he couldn’t. And now his betrayed expression will haunt him forever.

He’s such an idiot.

—

The Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is, very inconspicuously (not), located in Salem, Oregon. Stiles has always thought it was a way to flip the bird at the ones responsible for the witch trials… and mooning at them too, just for good measure.

(Even if, historically speaking, it’s a fact that no real witch was burnt in those.)

Founded by Salazar Slytherin after he left England, Salem is as similar to Hogwarts as day is to night, and that’s being generous.

For starters, it’s students start their education way earlier, some being as young as seven years old. As soon as their core is proven to have stabilized (age which varies from one kid to another, none of that nonsense of waiting until the standard age of eleven) they can be accepted at Salem. And even before that, they are portkey ports for parents to leave their kids at the daycare building at the edge of the property, if they wish that their kids start to get in touch with the theory and various simple exercises and they can’t handle that themselves.

Another different thing about Salem is that the formative journey is much lengthier, some wizards and witches staying up to twenty years as students. Since the structure is that of a free school, but without the age classifications, there’s a lot of magical and procedural failsafes to ensure that older students don’t abuse the younger ones. Add in that Salem’s castle is as sentient as Hogwarts, with surrounding wards to match, and it’s one of the most secure places for it’s students.

Because the magic at the States is more raw and wilder in comparison to its European counterpart, unlike at Hogwarts, Salem’s students aren’t divided according to their personality traits, but according to their levels of raw magic. It’s not meant to be an elitist system, but to ensure the students safety.

Literally, when untrained, a student from the first tier could fry another from the third just by being around them daily.

Also unlike Hogwarts, starting as a part of a particular tier doesn’t mean necessarily that the student will remain in it. Cores grow with age, after all, and that may cause a necessity of changing the placement of the student.

Age doesn’t especially matter either on the placement in the classes that conform each tier, but knowledge. The more you study and the more magics you master, the higher the class you are on. There’re no exams, besides the grade ones, and even those are optional because one only takes them if they want to qualify to advance a class or a tier forward (it’s a double edged sword, though, because you can be demoted too) to have access to their libraries and laboratories, and the mentors and professors.

To sum it up, the organization at Salem is power and merit based, which can be fucked up sometimes, in Stiles’ opinion, because it places a lot of pressure on the students (or their parents) who put a lot of importance on the class and tier they’re part of. But it generally works, because as a free school, it’s your choice to remain or what to study or on which magic center your attention on, so…

It can get really expensive, though, the more one advances. Not the basic tuition, that’s not it. Third tier students rarely struggle for money, because the tuition covers for the basic supplies and meals, and the libraries have enough copies of each books that you never have to wait for a text. But the more you dabble in side experimentation or if you want to have your own copies of certain books…

Stiles is not a third tier student.

Or a second tier, for that matter.

Stiles vaporized an animal large enough to double his size when he was three years old and blasted his own mother out a window with enough force to propel her into the next building when he was eight, it’s obvious he’s not a first tier, either.

He’s been part of the special tier, which has less than twenty students, ever since he set a foot in the school, nearly ten years ago, and he made first class at the third semester of his second year at Salem.

(For him, the entire education system is perfect. Except for the daily reminders to eat (and there’s a handy spell for that) and periodical medical check-ups every student has (which forces to take care of yourself, or you’ll be sanctioned), he can study what he wants, when he wants and how he wants. He’s good at what he does so, unlike his first year when he struggled with the pocket money he had, he now sells potions, rituals and rune work all over the country (getting his laptop to work in his dorm what a bitch) and he can afford almost anything he wants without having to contemplate contacting his father… which he has never resorted to, anyway).

As a rule, he doesn’t go home unless he’s forced to and he spends all his time either studying or experimenting with anything and everything that catches his attention. He doesn’t care about making friends but he does have some people he’s in good terms with. He doesn’t want more, attempts to force the issue with him will be met with a sneaky and swift retaliation, as many can attest.

He may be an idiot like professor Callaway always tells him, but he doesn’t care.

He doesn’t need anyone, he thinks as he signs on the sheets to stay at Salem for Winter break.

—

Peter doesn’t like the third tier dorms and common rooms at all. It’s not a matter having to come all the way here when his own dorms are at the other end of the castle, but another thing entirely… though he has to admit that grates him quite a bit too. Out of all the tiers, the third one has the highest number of younger children in it, and that makes it’s dorm noisy and grating, and more frequently than not, messy. He eyes with distaste the clutter of unorganized books and paraphernalia that decorate the far end corner.

The thing is that if he doesn’t check on Talia’s brats more or less daily, she gets insufferable, and he prefers to brave the jungle before listening to another of her rants and empty threats about making him end his student career prematurely, so…

Don’t get him wrong, it’s not that he doesn’t like the rugrats (he did grow so close in age to them to consider them his siblings more or less, after all), but maintaining his status as a first class of the first tier (status that is a great source of pride for him because it’s extremely rare for a werewolf to reach higher than second tier) requires a lot of dedication on his part.

Dedication and a lot of studying.

Two kids run across the common room squealing and laughing and topple over a pile of books, startling another kid into messing whatever he’s working on, which explodes into his face. Other students rush in to check if he’s alright and march him to the infirmary just in case. A first class girl is left behind to somehow deal with the fire salamander the kid accidentally freed.

Studying he can’t do here, no matter how funny what just happened was.

He shivers and eyes the containing band around his wrist with distaste. Another reason to hate coming by the third tier dwellings. Students visiting another tiers have to wear one of those always to avoid getting hurt or hurting others. It’s a containing or shielding band depending on if you are visiting a tier below or above your own, but either way, the sensation is of being dumped in ice cold water. Needless to say, Peter hates it.

He sighs and turns his attention back to his own work.

Maybe he’s being an idiot for opposing Talia about ending his studies now. Just thinking about Cora with them all alone and without her only ally makes his stomach turn.

—

Another summer comes and goes without no sign of Stiles. He doesn’t know why he’s so surprised. How can he be so stupid? Of course he didn’t, exactly just like all the past summers and no measly letters are going to change that. The only information he’s had about him for the past ten years is what professor Callaway tells him sporadically. Melissa reaches over to take his hand and he squeezes it.

He just has to persevere, he tells himself. He messed up real bad and Rome wasn’t built in a day.

He wanted ignorance, and now that he has it, it feels like a curse.

—

So far, ever since he came to Salem, only three people have tried to mess up with Stiles, and that was only in his first year. They learned better than to cross Stiles and try to impose something he didn’t want on him.

Until this year.

Until ickle itsy bitsy Cora Hale entered Salem, got sorted into the special tier and, wide eyed after one of his experiments blew up spectacularly, she pointed at him before telling professor Callaway, who was with her, I can choose anyone right? I want him to be my mentor.

And that was a week ago.

He’s been evading her for a week straight and she stubbornly won’t give up.

“This is stupid,“ he grunts, out of breath.

“If it’s stupid, then give up,” she throws, just as out of breath at him.

“You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that.“ He looks at her thoughtful and she holds her breath. “Okay, if you manage to get out of this, I’ll give in.”

And then he promptly curses her.

—

Out of the three of Talia’s children, little Cora is the one Peter adores the most. She’s a sarcastic, smart and evil little shit and Peter loves that. He also loves that she gave the entire family the imaginary finger when, after being born a simple human, not a werewolf, not a witch, and being though almost as a useless disappointment for six years of her life (of course, nothing to her face which, stupid, because she is smart enough to notice it all), she presented not even two months ago when she blew an omega into smithereens.

And then she’s proceeded to be accepted at Salem and gotten transferred into the special tier on her very first year.

Peter, who has been the only one to treat her like the smart and wonderful kid she really is (not with pity, like Derek and Laura, not with disappointment like the rest of the family) cannot even feel a smidgen of jealousy that she’s surpassed him but instead is enjoying a vindictive kind of successful feeling.

Now, normally, Peter would hunt down anyone who dared to curse Cora and rip his throat out, but it seems to be harmless and Peter’s own mentor did something similar back in the day.

And he hasn’t been able to stop snickering ever since he recognized her.

“And what are you going to do?” he asks her.

“I don’t even know which one is the curse,“ she chirps from where she’s perched on his finger. “Flying is kind of cool, though.”

“Back on topic, aren’t you supposed to be trying to break this on your own?“

“He never said that I couldn’t ask for help,” she pipes and Peter snorts delighted. “Well, are you going to stop laughing like an idiot and help me out?”

“If you ask so nicely…“

—

John gets remarried to Melissa on a nice spring morning. Stiles is nowhere in sight. Scott, very angry, lets his feelings on the matter out while his girlfriend tries to calm him.

John, very calmly and with his heart breaking, because talking about it makes it even more real, explains who’s at fault. He can’t look at his new son in the eye.

When he gets back from the honeymoon, he finds a letter dated from the day he remarried, day in which he didn’t check the mail.

It’s short, succinct, way too formal and mostly cold, but John cries like an idiot.

—

“You’re ruining my reputation,” he grumbles at Cora as he braids a new protection charm he’s been working on into her hair. The cauldron with another of his projects bubbles in front of them.

“If it makes you feel better, I still think you’re as much of an asshole as the first day,“ Brandon deadpans as he not so subtly approaches said cauldron with his hands hidden behind him.

“Time to reaffirm that reputation,” Stiles mutters, patting Cora’s hair, and she presses her lips to contain a giddy cackle, seeing hell and damnation coming.

She’s not an idiot, though, so she covertly gets herself near the door, just in case.

—

Peter’s again at the third tier common rooms when a big explosion rocks the entire castle, making the ground tremble and the bottles in the shelves rattle. Derek curses when the sudden noise startles him into jerking his hand to the left, successfully messing completely the runic wards he was working on. He panics as it starts to sizzle, dark brown smoke coming from the paper in a matter of seconds.

Peter rolls his eyes at him and, without taking his eyes from the text he’s been studying for the better part of the afternoon, he nicks his finger and swiftly reaches to neutralize it before the wound closes.

“Showoff,” the fifteen year old grumbles before sighing at the ruined project. He growls frustrated, showing a bit of fang. “Damn it.”

“I bet it was your crush, uncle Peter,“ Laura grumbles, closing her notebook noisily.

As much as it pains him to admit it, he's coming to dislike Laura more and more as she grows. Seeing as she is more like her mother with each passing day, it’s not really that surprising that his brotherly love is souring as the time passes, though.

He arches a brow at her before going back to his text. When she sees he’s not going to raise to the bait, she continues.

“Who else could it be? I still don’t get why mom can’t make Cora have another mentor, he’s going to end up seriously hurting her.“

(She also doesn’t seem to get, just like her mother, than the more they dislike Cora’s mentor, the more she likes him. And the same happens with Peter, to be honest.)

When Cora rushes into the third tier common room, Peter ignores Laura’s validated exclaim, because, really, an explosion of that magnitude? Of course it was Stiles. He looks expectantly at Cora, waiting for some juicy story from her about her mentor and she doesn’t dissapoint.

“Stiles invoked a demon,“ she cackles gleefully after she jumps into his lap and it tells something that Peter isn’t surprised that those are the first words that come out of her mouth. “Brandon tried to trick him and Stiles messed” here she makes quotation marks with her hands, “a ritual and it charred Brandon’s ass… and his eyebrows.”

“Did he now?“ he inquires silkily, taking a short moment to envy the containment black bracelet Stiles made for her. According to Cora, she doesn’t feel cold at all and she can activate and deactivate it at will. He’s been trying to manipulate Stiles into making him one like that for months, but his subtle approach has bore no fruits yet.

“Yeah,“ she smirks evilly, obviously remembering the entire thing at this very moment and savoring it.

Peter’s lips twitch.

He rubs his cheek over her hair discreetly and she molds into his chest without a complaint about the scenting. If it was another person than him, even her own mother, she would have snarked her way out in disgust.

“You know what’s even better?“ she crows, turning to look at him in the face. She doesn’t wait for him to answer. “Brandon got demoted a class until the next grade exams and lost all library and laboratory privileges for a semester. And the professors are going to reward Stiles for his timely intervention.”

He smirks with Cora. Now, that’s a loss. Peter has already tried to sneak into the special tier’s library three times and failed each and every one of them. And that was the third class’ library. He’s not ashamed to admit that he would drool at the prospect of accessing the first class’ one. Losing all privileges…

“He also got the demon to accept to being his familiar,“ she finally adds and Peter raises his eyebrows impressed.

“What?!” Laura exclaims. “He can’t… That’s really dangerous! No one is that stupid!”

“Now, that would hurt if I actually cared about your opinion,“ a new voice drawls from the doorway.

Laura growls at Stiles and the nogitsune growls back at her from atop his hair (an ancient and overpowered being’s miniaturized form shouldn’t be that deceptively cute), making her back off, wide eyed and fast as lightning. Peter hides a delighted snicker in Cora’s hair but she’s not as considerate. Stiles grins at her, not even bothering to cover it either. Derek, who as a rule doesn’t like trouble and just likes to be calm and relaxed, rolls his eyes at their antics and pulls a paper out to restart his project.

“Well, Ikari, Cora, my disciple, well met and all those things,“ Stiles says with a whimsical wave of hands. “Don’t eat her… or the one behind her either, for that matter. That’s Peter and he provides enough entertainment to not let him suffer that fate.” Peter waves at the kitsune sassily, trying to not let out an embarrassing pleased smile. Judging by Cora’s snort, he’s not entirely successful. “That other one is all right…”

“Thanks,“ Derek deadpans, not taking his eyes from the blood ward he’s trying to etch into the parchment again. “The name’s Derek.”

“… she, you can eat, I don’t care. Might upset your stomach, though. The name’s bitch.”

“Hey! It’s Laura, you fucker!“

“Tche, no one cares about the name of their food unless they want seconds, and I doubt there’s someone else like you. Anyways,“ Stiles claps his hands, “since they’re still clearing the common room, I thought you’d like to go to the dungeons, Cora.”

“The last time you said that…“

“We agreed to never talk about that ever again,” he interrupts her hastily, and Peter raises an eyebrow, intrigued. “But, no, it’s a completely different thing I just thought you’d enjoy, but it’s obvious that you don’t want to, so…”

“Wait,“ Cora squeaks, and Peter catches Stiles covering a smile. “I’m game.”

“Well that sounds sufficiently intriguing. Mind if I tag along?“ Peter drawls from his seat.

Stiles looks at him over Cora’s head, gaze considering, as he adjusts some protection charm necklaces on her (and they worry about her safety, hah!). It’s telling that she doesn’t mind the contact and actually seems to enjoy it and preen at the attention.

“Sure,” he says finally and then throws to him a bracelet like Cora’s, but exactly on his size.

Score, Peter thinks, taking in all the implications of that. Cora, the brat, rolls her eyes at him when Stiles is not looking. Even the nogitsune smirks at him.

Aaannnddd now a fox mocks him too.

Wonderful.

He needs to get his act together.

Pronto.

But how to court Stiles? Everything he knows he would enjoy, he already has and in more quantity (and quality) than what Peter would be ever able to provide even if he tried. Other things he could get him with no problem, like clothes and other amenities, he doesn’t care for. What to do then?

Peter is a fan of the big gesture, but maybe that’s not the path to take in this case? Maybe it’s the small things are what he needs to watch out for…

He can already tell this is going to be a lengthy campaign. He sighs and follows after Cora and Stiles.

Spy, it is.

After a month of watching him (subtly, very subtly, not like a weirdo, no matter what Cora says about that) like a hawk, he feels confident enough to start.

Stiles, of course, foils all his plans when, after two or three measly small (but thoughtful) presents, he comes by the first tier common room to kidnap him, all exasperated.

“Seriously, Peter,“ he complains and grumbles after he slips a protective charm pendant around his neck. “Now you want to court me? If this wasn’t cute in it’s own way, I’d give up on you. How can you not have noticed I’ve been courting you for months?”

“What,“ Peter rakes his head dumbfounded and Stiles rolls his eyes, taking his hand to pull him out of the dorms. He lets him.

The texts Stiles lends him (they have to be from his own collection not the school’s, because that’s forbidden), the charms, the bracelet… Cora and Ikari’s exasperation makes a lot more sense now. Peter wants to facepalm really bad.

“I’m an idiot,“ he sighs chagrined.

“Yes, you are, but just sometimes and you have an amazing physique to compensate,“ Stiles makes a show of sticking his nose in the air, acting long-suffering, “so I’ll let it slide this time.”

Peter may be, quite possibly, in love, he realizes.

—

John starts getting at least a letter a month. Again, they’re stiff and too formal, but he’s not an idiot and he’s not going to look a gifted horse in the mouth, so he cherishes every and each one of them.

—

“Do you have a limit?” Cora asks wide eyed.

“Of course,“ Stiles purrs as she scratches behind his ear. “It’s not as easy at it seems. It’s taken me almost ten years to get at this point. I had to learn the anatomy of the ones I wanted to shift into perfectly before even attempting it. And even so, if professor Callaway hadn’t been there those first few times I would have died. Seriously, the first time I nearly had a heart failure because I didn’t have the heart of a cat clearly in my mind before shifting”

“Oh,“ she utters quietly.

“Cora?”

“It’s nothing, just a stupid thought.“

“If you’re sure…”

—

“Cora has been really quiet lately,“ Stiles tells him one day in December, sprawled on Peter’s bed with a thick tome in front of him. “I had to take her out of the laboratory because she nearly caused an explosion. The bad kind.”

He doesn’t look at him, but he can tell he’s worried. Peter sighs and lets himself fall into the bed, which makes Stiles bounce. He swats at him half-heartedly and Peter crushes him under himself playfully. He then rests his face between his shoulder blades and inhales deeply.

“I didn’t know there was a good kind?“

“No one but the special tier knows… you guys must live such a sad lives,“ he deadpans and Peter snorts.

“It’s the Wolf Moon,” he confesses after a beat of silence. Stiles makes an inquiring sound. “Basically, in January, the whole family has a reunion to run under the full moon, to strengthen the bonds and a lot of mystical whassit. Since she’s the only human in the family right now… Their attitude has gotten better ever after she presented, but this is something…”

“Fuckers,“ Stiles mutters darkly.

“Exactly. Ever since she got accepted, I’ve defied Talia by staying here, with her, but I still need to run. I can control myself and not leave her behind or hurt her, but she still feels bad about it, about making me hold back.”

“So it’s a matter of shifting?“

“I’d say more like a matter of willingness,” he huffs. “If they wanted, they could control themselves enough for her to run with us and for everyone to enjoy themselves. It’s what other packs with human members do (even the Hales when there used to be more human members). But they don’t want to, they want to be free or some stupid shit like that. Nonsense, because out of the whole family, only Talia and I manage a full shift, and if I can do it…”

After a moment of silence, Stiles speaks again. “So that’s why…“

And that’s that. Peter doesn’t hear anything else about the matter until Cora starts insisting about going home for the holidays this time, baffling Peter. Stiles is strangely accommodating about the whole issue, telling him has a lot of work to do, because a coven has hired him to draw some wards around their home and the rituals necessary for that have to be done the last day of the year and the first. And that’s not counting the two weeks of beforehand preparation he’s going to have to do in a week and a half.

Peter finally shrugs and decides to roll with it. Whatever it is that they have planned he’ll know soon enough. Hopefully.

The whole vacation, they spend more time outside their home than inside. Peter is losing hope of ever finding out what they have planned, but he’s not very heartbroken, because just the way Cora is getting back at the family (because it’s most certainly her, not Peter like everyone suspects… not that he’s going to confirm or deny anything) is the most entertaining thing he’s ever witnessed .

Then, Wolf Moon comes.

And Cora comes to the garden, protective charm necklace around her neck and with a defiant expression on her face.

And, in front of everyone, she performs a full shift and tackles the already wolf Peter.

If he could, he would cackle.

When Wolf Moon ends and they shift back, she proceeds to pull a cloak over him and look around at the stark naked people disdainfully.

“And, look at that, I don’t flash at anyone,“ she humphs as she leaves the clearing, a cackling Peter in tow.

He’s going to marry Stiles.

—

The letters keep coming. They’re not warm but they’re not cold, either.

The first time Stiles addresses him as dad again, John doesn’t even feel like an idiot for crying his eyes out.

—

“I want to try shifting into a cat next.”

“While I appreciate the irony, do you want to end as dog chew?“

“Don’t be an idiot, I never said what kind of cat.”

Stiles cackles.

—

Two years later, Peter decides it’s enough and that, since he’s never going to make special tier, he’s exhausted what he can (and wants to) learn from Salem. He knows Stiles is the same, but he’s just waiting for Cora to decide on a mentee.

He’s going to ask him to marry him. And since his initial courting got thwarted, he’s going to make it amazing and unique and memorable and all around awesome.

He spends an entire month mulling over it, about the how and the when. He gets a ring he knows Stiles will love. He researches wedding rituals. He cajoles and manipulates and blackmails some students and professors into helping. Basically, he does everything he can before feeling confident enough to finally go for it.

The day comes, everything is perfect, Stiles says yes.

Later, at Stiles’ common room cuddling each other, a sudden though assaults him… and a couple or three memories. And he recalls Ikari and Cora’s exasperated looks as of late, again.

“Stiles?”

“Mmhm?“

“Have you been courting me again?”

“Ah.“

“Dude,” comes from the end of the room, “he spent three months carving and assembling a protean charm. And he blew the laboratories three times before that.”

“And he went to the dragons to get those scales. He came back without eyebrows and had to grow them back with Capilagro.“

“Lets not forget about…”

“Okay, okay, I get it,“ Peter finally recovers enough to cut in. Stiles is shaking with the effort to contain his laughter.

“You were so cute planning all that and trying to hide it from me that I couldn’t destroy your efforts like that,” he admits with red all over his cheeks. Peter groans.

“I’m an idiot,“ he sighs chagrined.

“Yes, you are, but just sometimes and you have an amazing physique to compensate,“ Stiles snickers at him, “so I’ll let it slide this time.”

What Peter is, is so stupidly in love, he realizes.

He raises from the couch, pulling his wayward fiance with him and hoisting him up over his shoulder, and starts climbing the stairs to Stiles’s room enveloped by the sound of his laughter.

#teen wolf bingo #teen wolf fics #my writing #steter #teen wolf

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