#Grasshopper got leg games

[handfulofmuses]

i still did not expect james and the giant peach to become such a comfort movie for me it was like came for centipede stayed for everything in this movie and ended up with two new characters to roleplay who i love very much

[godspeedviper]

Christian Woman - Jonathan Crane x Preacher's Daughter Reader (+18)

𖤐 Synopsis: Jonathan Crane and the preacher’s daughter drive up to a lover’s lane in an old truck with the intention of indulging the Devil on this hot summer evening.

𖤐 Type: Established Relationship || Fluff and Smut

𖤐 Word Count: 826

𖤐 Rating: Mature || PiV || Underage drinking and smoking

𖤐 A/N: This is the second work in the preacher's daughter series! (Yes, I'm making it a series!) First work can be found here

Forgive her,

For she knows not what she does.

  One summer night – the moon was full yet the sun hadn’t fully set – the cicadas and grasshoppers and frogs all sang the song of the south, of lust, of heat. Tithonus’ hymn to Aphrodite. We drove out into the fields on her daddy’s old pickup truck, stopping at the edge of town where the terror of the Appalachians met the terrors of small town farmland, a symbolic sort of crossroads upon which to meet with the Devil and sin. 

  Sin! Sin! Sin! Oh! The Devil was ever-present in the south, you could feel his oppressive presence in the humidity, see his glowing red eyes nestled in the tall grass watching as you walked to and fro. God should forgive us for succumbing to his temptations, for the Devil was our neighbor, how could we not give in? 

A cross upon her bedroom wall

From grace, she will fall.

An image burning in her mind

And between her thighs.

  A crucified scarecrow bore witness to our consummation, watching solemnly from its post – I feel that way now, condemned to reminisce but not partake – but in the heat of the moment we paid it no mind. Through the veneer of love, everything is beautiful. Through the hunger of lust, everything can be devoured, and I was all mouth. A thick sheen of sweat coated her from head to toe, giving her skin a pearlescent glow that made me believe in divinity, even if only for a moment. Perhaps God was not to be found in the pages of the Bible or even in the pews of a church. Perhaps God was inside of her all along. 

Before him, beg to serve or please

On your back or knees

She looked at me as I undressed with a reverence I’ve not seen even amongst the most pious; I was her God and she was my salvation. 

“Fuck me,” she said. 

  Oh how sweet those foul lips taste! There is bliss in the profane. Perhaps this was the moment in which I became what I am today, where I first tasted the fruits of misbehavior. My inexperienced hands roamed her body like spiders, propelled by natural instinct alone, frantically running through every curve and crevasse. At long last my hands found purchase in her hair, holding the strands like reigns as I chased my orgasm at full gallop, thrusting into her with reckless abandon. I watched her eyes roll into the back of her head like a woman possessed and felt her body press into mine as her spine arched up off the bed of the truck. Her legs then wrapped around my hips, ensnaring me like game; she always was a good hunter. 

She’d like to know God

Love God

Feel, feel, feel her God

Inside of her

Deep inside of her.

“You’re going to Hell, Jonathan Crane.” She said with a giggle as I lit her cigarette, a tried and true cliche. “Fuckin’ the preacher’s daughter and providin’ her with smokes n’ drink. What a bad boy you are!” 

“If I’m goin’ to Hell it will be on your heels, my dear Eurydice.” I leaned in close to her and lit my own cigarette with the burning end of hers, gently cupping her face in one hand. 

“You ain’t no Orpheus,” she scoffed. “You’re too smart, and shit at the guitar let alone a lyre.” 

“And you ain’t no paragon of justice either.” I teased.

I got up off the bed of the truck and went around to the passenger side, folding the seat forward to pull out the small red cooler sitting on the back seat. I cranked the volume up on the dashboard, the music blaring out of the old speakers, and I jumped back onto the bed of the truck, one hand outstretched to offer her a drink. 

“O dreaded Persephone! Will you have me as your Hades?” 

“Hell yeah.” She replied, bumping her drink to mine. “Cheers!” 

In a town so steeped in religion, blasphemy felt like freedom. We had carved out this little pocket of existence for ourselves, outside of town, outside of our daily troubles. I stood up, outstretched my arms like a cross, and began to sing along to the music blaring from inside the vehicle. 

Jesus Christ looks like me

Jesus Christ, yeah

Jesus Christ looks like me

Jesus Christ, ah

Her laugh echoes through my mind, haunting my memories though her name has long since turned to ash in my mouth. That was the one and only time I felt any semblance of true confidence in myself, and the only time I was ever truly loved. This was the point of inception for The Scarecrow. The God of Fear born out of the only moment of confidence in my life. And so, I look into the rusty old mirror, and slip on the burlap mask.

"Jesus Christ looks like me." 

Ao3 || Ko-Fi || Submit

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Curly Shepard headcanons

-Once fought a seagull that tried to steal his fries and lost

-Undiagnosed autistic and ADHD (it’s the 60s, duh)

-Can and will do anything to get out of having to do English homework 

-His dad gave him so many concussions as a kid that Tim legitimately worries he has brain damage (but Curly just thinks he’s dumb)

-Is as fascinated by Ponyboy Curtis as Ponyboy Curtis is (seemingly) indifferent to him

-Physically incapable of shutting up even when he really REALLY should

-Is super close with Angela

-Is well aware Angela is scarier than he ever will be. Refuses to ever admit it

-Once got suspended from school because he cut the legs off a bunch of grasshoppers and put them on his teachers desk. He called them ‘grass walkers’ and thought he was hilarious

-Can’t stand Johnny Cade and Johnny Cade can’t stand him. Neither of them know why 

-The first and only time he went to a hospital is when he broke his arm falling off that telephone pole and that was only because the bone was coming out of the skin

-Will do literally anything to get Ponyboy Curtis’ attention. It doesn’t have to be good attention— he just needs Ponyboy to be looking at him with those huge green eyes as much as humanly possible

-Favourite foods are chorizo and red twizzlers

-Has beat up every single one of Angela’s ex boyfriends

-Hates the colour yellow

-Angela’s nickname is Angel, but when Curly’s mad at her he calls her ‘devil’ instead

-Will fight ANYONE who mentions his height (except Tim ‘cause he’s kinda scared of Tim)

-Once stabbed himself in the hand playing the knife game (yet another injury Angela helped him hide from Tim)

-Will paint Angela’s nails for her but only if she bribes him

-Is EXTREMELY good at first aid. Like, can make a tourniquet or a sling out of anything. Everyone thinks it’s because he’s had to patch himself up after he hurts himself in dumb ways, but really it’s because he took a couple free courses at the YMCA he never told anyone about. The instructor actually really liked him, because he actually tried and didn't cause problems even once

-Is the only person in living memory to win against Tim in poker, and it won him a stupid amount of respect from the rest of the Shepard gang. Tim maintains he cheated (he did not)

-Will never admit it but still loves when Tim ruffles his hair (one of the very few ways Tim ever shows his affection)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lmk what character you want me to do next!

[uss-edsall]

On 9 November, 1942, flying off the coast of Casablanca, French Morrocco in support of the Operation TORCH landings, the Piper Cub (under the name L-4 Grasshopper) made her official combat debut in the Second World War. This once-civilian plane had been bought by the U.S. Army to function as "air observation posts," flown by pilots in the U.S. Army Field Artillery, attached directly to battalions. Her concept, proven in training maneuvers, was as aerial reconnaissance; aerial photography; single-person transport; air ambulance; and in particular, reconnaissance and artillery observation. She would prove to be perfect for all of these roles. She would go on to have an incredible record during the Second World War, one of the best planes built for her particular role, with over six thousand of them bought by the U.S. Army. She was small, she could handle landing tiny fields, she was stealthy, she was dead simple to repair and reliable in the air.

But on that day? For that mission? There were only three Grasshoppers, and it was an absolute disaster.

The three planes were attached to the 3rd Infantry Division. Their pilots were hurriedly brought to USS Ranger (CV-4), aboard which were three L-4 Grasshoppers in bad condition. All their efforts were getting the planes ready for flight. What the pilots did not know was that their commanders, from colonels to generals alike, did not prepare properly for their debut.

On 8 November American troops stormed ashore at Safi, Casablanca and Point Lyautey. The next day, Ranger turned into the wind, the pilots got aboard the planes. In the 35-knot wind the instant the ship's crew let go of their tails, the planes hopped off the deck and were in the air, sixty miles from shore.

Three miles from the beach, the allied invasion force appeared. Transports, destroyers, the light cruiser USS Brooklyn. Aboard the Brooklyn alert officers and anti-air gun crews spotted the L-4 Grasshoppers.

There was nothing in the allied aviation recognition books that resembled the L-4 Grasshopper. None of the artillery pilots' superiors had properly distributed warnings that the Army had procured the civilian planes, and were using them for the first time.

The Brooklyn's anti-air weaponry opened up. 5" shells, 40mm bofors, 20mm Oerlikons reached out to lick at the Grasshoppers. In the first flak burst the quartet of little planes scattered, diving for the deck. Captain Ford Allcorn leveled off at twenty feet and started juking like mad, gamely going for the beach leading his flight. Every other ship, seeing the Brooklyn open up on the unfamiliar planes, joined in.

The artillery pilots had not the fuel to return to the ship, even if they'd been trained in carrier landings, which they weren't. Land was their only option for salvation. Shellfire blew out Allcorn's windshield, shot off one of the doors. As the Grasshoppers juked and weaved, bullets splashed into the water all around them. A hundred feet from shore, they levelled off and gunned their throttles to the maximum - 80 mph - for the safety of the shoreline.

At which point the pintle mount machineguns on tanks ashore opened fire on them. For nobody had told the Army troops of the 2nd Armored Division either about the Piper Cubs, and seeing the Navy so enthusiastically shooting at them, they joined in. .50-calibre bullets ripped into the Grasshoppers, betrayed by their own.

Captain Allcorn's engine cut out after several tanks' machineguns stitched bullets across the frame, and five bullets tore into his leg.

The wounded planes got to the shoreline. They flew over the armor, guns straining to shoot at them, desperately trying to get to the safety of the Fedala Racetrack, where they were supposed to go. Allcorn spotted a relatively flat area and pancaked in, crawling out of the mortally wounded flaming bird before the fuel exploded.

And then the Vichy French opened up.

Lieutenants Butler, Shell, and Captain Devol (one L-4 having carried two of them) were taken prisoner after crash landing behind Vichy French lines, but were released when the French in Casablanca surrendered two days later on 11 November.

Amazingly, despite all this, nobody had been killed.

Captain Allcorn was the first Army aviator in the ETO to fly off a carrier, the first in combat, and the dubious distinction of the first to be shot down and the first to be wounded. Captain Allcorn, from his hospital bed back in the States, wrote a report about it all that even reached the Chief of Staff General Marshall's desk. He argued that this disastrous beginning was not the death knell of the Grasshopper. He concluded, perhaps rather dryly, that there was seemingly a failure to communicate between the Army and the Navy. His report helped the Piper Cub / L-4 Grasshopper survive the event, to go on to become one of the most produced aircraft of the war, and most widely used.

Even today, almost four thousand of the nearly twenty thousand Piper Cubs built are still in the FAA registry.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Insectiride

Debut: Mario Party 6

Mario and friends get up to all sorts of shenanigans! Many of these are dangerous shenanigans, and I would prefer not to get involved with them. If I were to fall in lava or be hit by a barrage of hammers thrown by a turtle, I would Die! I lament this fact, but I am no scrimblo. However, some of the antics are good safe fun, and that includes the act of racing in funny bug-shaped vehicles! I wish I could do that in real life!

Though there is a snail among these insects, for the sake of simplicity, I will call all these creatures Bugs. I usually reserve that term for arthropods, but I don't feel like saying "creepy-crawlies" a bunch of times in this post like some kind of Talking Flower. So Bugs. There are some people who'd call a snail a bug without even a disclaimer! Can you imagine that?

Players begin Insectiride by choosing their vehicle out of the four unique options! I think I played this minigame once and I THINK I used the grasshopper. I think it still might be my favorite! I'm sorry to this snail, but I don't like it much. It looks like pizza, and I like pizza a lot- I regularly observe #pizzafriday- but it's just not the sort of thing I'd like a snail's skin to remind me of.

Each of these bugs has its own control scheme! The player on the ladybug must press the indicated button ten times quickly to make it crawl forward a bit. The player on the grasshopper must press a sequence of various buttons to make it hop forward a few times. The player on the stag beetle must press each indicated button that appears one at a time, each press making it push along a bit. And finally, the player on the snail must press A when its body extends fully to make it pull the shell along behind.

When playing this with humans, there is probably no one Best Bug to reliably choose, since human reaction time must be taken into account. If playing against ambitious robots, however, there is absolutely an imbalance! In tool-assisted speedruns, Grasshopper is the winner, followed by Ladybug, Stag Beetle, and poor Snail in last...

Mario Party 6 is a Koopa Kid Game! And there is official art of him riding the funny ladybug mechanism! I'm glad he got to have fun here. We all know he isn't having fun where he is now... in the Purgatory Zone... poor kid. Oh well! That's life!

Those were the only four bug vehicles present in Insectiride, but in Mario Party 3's Ridiculous Relay, there was another! Way before all the rest! Here we have a Skeeter-inspired contraption, allowing the operator to maneuver across the surface of the water! I think this would be the main mode of transportation in Wet-Dry World, for those who are not already Skeeters. Between being a mecharthropod and having a strange control scheme that must be displayed to the player, I would not at all be surprised if this was an inspiration for Insectiride!

Now don't think you're getting out of this post without some real Bug Facts! Humans, of course, are much too large to ride on a bug. To be small enough to ride a bug, you would have to be a bug yourself. And some bugs do indeed do this! This is phoresy, the interaction in which one animal will latch onto another animal for the purpose of travel. Usually, the hitchhiker will be a tiny arachnid such as a mite (including ticks), or my favorite arachnid, a pseudoscorpion!

Phoresy is EXTREMELY funny to me. A teensy little critter will just grab onto the leg of a fly or something, and away they will go! Hang on tight! This is a type of symbiosis known as commensalism, where one organism (in this case, the one hanging on) benefits, while the other (the host) is largely unaffected. Humans riding horses is another example of phoresy! A human can be like a mite sometimes. Ok, see you later! *grabs onto a hoverfly's leg and flies away*

[gorillastraylight]

The Ballad of Crackgrin

I painted this Banshee quite a while ago, my skills have improved quite a bit since, but it’s still my absolute favourite ‘mech. Every time I’ve put this thing on a table, she has absolutely *ripped*.

My first game with her, I fielded her as a BNC-5S. She proceeded to immediately blow the leg off a Javelin with gauss, then survived 4 rounds of PPC fire from a Nova Cat, headshotting a hunchback and a grasshopper along the way before finally falling over and being destroyed by her own gauss rifle exploding.

That’s when I knew this model deserved some special attention - I painted some appropriately irreverent, merc-ish graffiti on her chest (“Live By The Sword”, as reference to the gauss incident), and tried to add a big scratch down her face. I’m still not quite satisfied with that second bit, but that is how she got her name: Crackgrin.

I next fielded Crackgrin as a Banshee 8S, one of the nastiest melee ‘mechs ever conceived, IMO. That game was too large to wrap up in a timely fashion, but Crackgrin still made a hell of a showing - with TSM active, she ran up to the enemy’s command ‘mech (an Orion), and immediately knocked its head off with a 38-damage hatchet stroke. That’s when I started keeping a tally on her arm. It’s supposed to say “Dunmaglass” on the other arm, but that didn’t come out great.

Maybe one day I’ll fully convert her mini into an 8S, but for now Crackgrin remains the closest thing I have as a player to a “flagship ‘mech”. She hasn’t let me down yet.

[windyboi101]

Designing Serial Designation T.S.

Hello! If for some reason you have any sort of interest in my Murder Drones OC, Serial Designation T.S., then you can view this post for some insight into the philosophy and ideas behind my designing of T.S. You can see the first 'reference' image of him here.

Most of these inspirations were on purpose, but some happened subconsciously, and I only realized later. :shrug: This post is EXTREMELY LONG! Open at your own risk!

MUSICAL INSPIRATION

One particular song by the retired Dr.Steel inspired me for the idea of this OC, as the lyrics gave me major 'Absolute Solver' vibes:

Left ajar to his hard drive He felt all alive The old robot he used to be dead

There was rage in his brain There was pain in his frame There was love, there was hunger and strife He felt lonely, rejected at times disconnected No answer to the meaning of life So he sang So he sang

The lines about being 'dead' and 'hungry' really just fit Solver as a whole, so the seed of an idea was planted and began to grow into the OC concept I now have.

DESIGN INSPIRATION

I have always been a fan of 'skeletal' and 'lanky' robots. Started far back as Disney's Toontown back around 2010 with Skelecogs.

Here to do business. Source: Toontown Rewritten

I was very young at the time, but these guys terrified me. Their weird toothy smiles and deeper voice than their suited-counterparts cemented them in my brain. More inspirations would come later in my life, around 2017.

Enter: Deadline

Simon Says: Do you want to learn the truth? Source: Popgoes: The Dead Forest

I was (and still kind of am) a huge Five Nights at Freddy's fan. Back in 2017, a particularly interesting fangame was canceled pretty late in development. They released a bunch of trivia on the game and characters, and the 'final boss' was this hooved-monstrosity.

While his design was clearly inspired by a particularly popular cryptid design, I just loved how imposing this robot was. He was giant, he was unbeatable, and you only won the game by terminating the AI that controlled both you and Deadline.

He was so giant he had to crouch in a large hallway to get to you! Source: Popgoes: The Dead Forest

I unknowingly really made some similar design choices with T.S. and I implore you to understand that I was NOT trying to copy the design. A major difference is Deadline's legs bending outward whereas T.S.'s legs bend inward. This was inspired by the next entry. The bones and organic material in T.S.'s design were because of The Solver's abilities, not Deadline's design. What I did intentionally take direct inspiration of was his feet, as I like N's circular 'feet' as opposed to the female Disassembly Drone's pegleg design. Unfortunately, not many Five Nights at Freddy's fangames had these spooky skeletal robots. However, a game I discovered in late 2018, Warframe, introduced a new main antagonist in July of 2019.

"Don't be afraid." Source: Warframe - The New War Teaser 2019 Erra, Sentient-Warlord, Son of Hunhow and Brother of Natah.

Holy shit I love this guy. Sentients are a race of - you guessed it - sentient machines in Warframe that are highly adaptive to all forms of opposition and damage. They started as giant planet-sized creations made to teraform planets and gave birth to 'children' by dividing themselves like starfish. Hunhow even earnt his name as 'Sentient Destroyer of Worlds', and his size explains it all.

Yes, those are entire 4-man-crew spaceships being dwarfed by him.

To sum up the long history, they waged war against their creators and lost, fleeing beyond the solar system. In the New War, they have returned to finish what they started. With this, Erra himself got a small makeover.

Red is my favorite color, and the unnatural, alien-like design of Erra gives him an unsettling figure. His odd grasshopper-like legs have him standing at around 14 ft / 4.26 meters tall. I instantly fell in love with his new design more than his old one. He even has slight mad scientist vibes to him, as he created hybrids from the corpses of Sentient and Warframe alike. Unable to die, these creatures regenerate using the entropic radiation from the shards embedded in the corpses of their 'host'.

Once Creatures made to recreate beauty, now grafted to the corpse of their undying enemy. Source: Warframe Wiki: Archons Lots of spoilers for Warframe ahead: After initially winning the war, enough plot happens where Erra surrenders himself to you in an attempt to save his people and dies helping you make your way to the actual antagonist. Or one would hope. Unfortunately, the Archons were vengeful against their creator, full of spite for the weapons they had been made into. (Sound familiar, Murder Drones fans?)

"Narmer offers freedom. Is that so terrible? Freedom from desire and responsibility, alike. Find freedom, and surrender... as I did."

Source: Warframe - Veilbreaker Ignoring the design similarities between him and Deadline, Erra's new form is more tragic than you'd think. Rather than being some sort of feral beast, Erra's mind is suppressed by the Sentient that has been grafted onto him named Pazuul. Worse, Erra is still in there, unable to act of his own will. Pazuul leads the remnants of the Sentient's army and preaches of their home system, promising their followers eternity in bliss...if they die for their cause. In one of these missions, Erra is able to break through and speak to the player.

"Tenno… I'm truly sorry… for everything. I saw the truth far too late. She will never forgive me. But you will… won't you?" - Erra

As of this post, Erra has yet to be freed from Pazuul's influence, and I can only hope the day comes we can either remove the parasite on his body or put him out of his misery. Erra was the biggest inspiration for T.S. : The concept of a single body having two minds is not a new idea, but the idea of it being two entirely different entities in a robot? Now that's cool as hell! It also helps that both Solver - Affected Drones and Sentients are highly resistant to damage, regenerate, and are otherwise 'alien' to the world.

It was also super similar to how The Solver works in Murder Drones, which is why I made T.S. a host for The Solver...but not any typical one: a host with no more free will. Similar to Cyn, The Solver is all that remains in the form visible. T.S. has been dead for a long, long time.

AUDIO / VOICE-CLAIM INSPIRATIONS

The audio I use as a voice claim for T.S. is from Dead by Daylight's Singularity character, who uses a heavily modified text-to-speech voice as it insults its victims. I always interpreted T.S. being very, very broken and thus having a voice that does not synthesize correctly like other drones, disrupting the illusion of 'humanity' that even normal Worker Drones show, let alone the personalities of main characters like N and Uzi. I also just really like menacing sounding characters. Singularity's voice is split into two parts: a deep, menacing voice, and the normal text-to-speech with modifications made. I chose the deeper voice, as T.S. is a character that would only exist Post-Episode 8 of Murder Drones. You can listen to the voice claim here. Lots of people like to attribute music to their OC's. I tend to do the same, especially for 'boss battle' themes for my OC, because why not? I wanted something that speaks "danger" and "otherworldly" while still being a track for a showdown. Coincidentally, Warframe has a track with the perfect title- Warframe: Hybrid Abominations

STORY INSPIRATION

I struggled making T.S. a character that was scary and tragic without it becoming overtly edgy and reminiscent of a Sonic the Hedgehog OC from DeviantArt in 2012. I'd like to hope I managed this, and if I am wrong, I would appreciate anyone telling me lmao

I am a sucker for 'Doomed Fate' characters. Characters who never even got to experience their life to the fullest, if at all. T.S. lost the memories of how he was damaged, so he only knows what came after his initial repair. Unfortunately, this would not be long before the Absolute Solver arrived in the form of Cyn at the Elliot Manor, and T.S. would be one of the first victims of its experimentation. One of the biggest inspirations of this fate and 'innocent but doomed' character trope was from Mono from Little Nightmares 2, my favorite game of all time. I recommend you play it yourself / watch a no-commentary playthrough before you read the spoilers I am about to drop:

End of the Hall. Source: Little Nightmares 2

Mono is betrayed by his only friend and is doomed to a never-ending cycle of loneliness and betrayal as he earns his place as The Thin Man, doomed to failing to save himself from his own fate and dying at his past self's hands.

While not an exact match to T.S.'s story, he is one doomed by the narrative itself. He never lives a normal life (or what would be normal for a Worker Drone in the Murder Drones universe), he never learns about The Solver. He never learns why anything that happens to him actually happens, or that it is unnatural for it to occur to him. T.S. simply comes to accept his reality, even if it is one he wishes would end. But The Solver does not win. Even though a small fragment of The Solver survives Post-Episode 8 (which I will elaborate on in a separate post, not this one) and takes the irreparable form of T.S. as it's host,

even though The Solver loses any sort of silly personality or innocence in its coding and becomes focused on consuming everything,

even though it knows what it did wrong last time it faced against Uzi, N, V, and the rest of Copper-9: The Solver will not win. Again, I won't spoil it in this post, but The Solver will not prevail in its last-ditch-effort. T.S. will be destroyed and be forgotten by time and only remembered as another victim of The Absolute Solver. Well, you made it to the end of the post! I appreciate your interest in my character and hope you'll stick around my account for content I reblog or write myself. Likes and Reblogs are always appreciated, as they expand my feedback sample-size so I can continue to improve my work :)

[spencer-is-dead]

spencer’s childhood dream diary

note: you will see a lot of mentions of a childhood friend I had a crush on. I hadn’t seen him in a while lol

with that out of the way

here is my dream journal from three years ago, transcribed:

8/13/21

last Night I dreamed that our house was taken away or something. Later on the dream changed and my friend had given me an orange anime shirt

8/14/21

last night I dreams about how a young boy’s mom was an animator for Disney and she was dead. I also dreamed about a grasshopper who was human

8/15/21

nothing to report

8/24/21

last night I had a dream I was on a sky tram in a forest. It was a school project I had to do. Dad went with me. It was super misty. I also dreamed I say [childhood friend] again. I told him about a flower that cost $15.05 and how I planted it and it grew. It was really sweet.

8/26/21

last night I dreamed that someone said “a big bird always cries at midnight.” Well the bird didn’t cry at midnight it cried in the afternoon because an ox had lost its feet. They were accepting appendage donations, but I refused to lose my arms and legs. The ox later died. Then I was in a school play on [local school that I don’t go to]’s stage, and after we finished the play, mom, dad, and me went to [local ice cream shop] and I ordered a chocolate soft serve with caramel and hot fudge

11/12/21

last night all I remember was watching an animation youtuber

(Words next to it say “this is what they looked like”)

11/13/21

no lucid dream last night. Last night, I dreamed I saw [childhood friend] in gym class. I hugged him. At first I didn’t recognize him, but once he spoke, I knew it was him. There was also a bit of Christmas decorating thrown in. Someone said just before I woke up “but washing plates are too feminine.”

11/14/21

I dreamed me and my eingineering class walked into the class like bosses. We were originally trying to protest plastic but mr. L had a long feud with mr. C. I got into the building first somehow. I also dreamed that [my sister] went missing in San Francisco. I had to drive the car as we were searching. Luckily I didn’t didn’t have to go on the bridge, but boy did I think we were. We found [my sister] that night, and I hugged her

11/16/21

all I remember is a story of some sorts, and a girl talking about another story why oh a girl who dies 31 million years after atomic bombs blow up [my state].

11/24/21

I had a dream I was playing a mobile game at school I also dreamed that my Nintendo got broken. And somehow, I got kidnapped on a helicopter. I sat next to someone one a bench, her name was Sylvia and she ended up hacking out Disney plus account. She said she did this by the information she got from an ad.

11/28/21

I don’t remember much, just my grandmother cooking

11/29/21

I had this dream we went to this island place for a vacation and [my sister] got her period. There was this really creepy doll. A few days later we had a huge adventure on a unicorn island. It actually kinda felt like gravity falls. There was this big showdown, where if this girl consumed all of the rainbow, she would die. In the end, we ended up letting her go. So, she’s dead. I also learned that my purple striped dress was meant to represent Mickecy mouse missing me.

11/30/21

I dreamt that mom got me two gravity falls games on my switch. She kept going somewhere and I wanted to go with her to eat McDonald’s along the way. There was this time travel machine with six plastic cubes. I traveled back to 1850. In the dream, I incorrectly thought I had gone back 210 years. To went to a place full of orphans, and the leader orphan ended up breaking the time machine. Side note the machine had to be attached to a phone or something luckily some man had an extra thing for my mom’s iPad. So I went home.

12/03/21

last night I dreamed that if you wanted to milk a cow they had to do a specific dance. I also saw the hotel from that other dream a few nights back, the hotel with the creepy doll and the cars puzzle. There was also a film about a dragon who combined the universes of gravity falls and phineas and ferb AND the dragon’s universe. I don’t remember the plot exactly I remember calling in “2 and a half D”.

12/07/21

I remember popcorn bathed in butter, a child getting kidnapped and getting her large intestine removed, the cousins came over, and the toilets was in an awkward position. And there was gamaning (I genuinely have no idea what this means).

12/08/21

I remember dreaming we went to our old house, and all of my old stuffed animals were there. There was a book on a side table about monkeys for level two readers , and in the bookshelf was all the books I have now. Everything was just as we left it.

12/10/21

I dreamed that I was booed out of math for some reason and I was playing royale high.

12/11/21

last night I had a dream I was inside a Pokémon game with [classmate] I won the game btw.

2/23/22

last night I dreamed that we went to this store. There was this place our parents didn’t want us to see, and this toy shop there were 2 island princess Barbie funko pops. We then went to this coffee place where waffles were $100

and that’s it.

[enemyoflactose]

Here are Most of my Yami Bakura head canons (some of them are kinda angsty)

Yami Bakura is really really good at applying eyeliner and mascara, but is dog shit at applying any other makeup.

When he's really stressed he scratches at his face and arms as hard as he can, which led to Ryou having to cut his nails so he wouldn't come back into consciousness with scratches everywhere because Yami Bakura was overwhelmed.

He has a fear of fire, but because he likes smoking he just closes his eyes when he needs a light.

He gets cold easily.

He loves dogs! If they didn't absolutely despise him they'd be his favorite animal. He settled for cobras because they seem to have unconditional love and adoration for him.

The reason Yugi, Anzu, Jonouchi, and Honda’s dolls all looked so different from Ryou's doll is because Yami Bakura made them.

He loves Godzilla movies and tried to convince Ryou to give Dark Master Zorc an atomic blast, but was shot down due to Ryou not knowing he existed. (Ryou would absolutely give DM Zorc an atomic blast)

Yami Bakura loves sweet things like cake and candy. His favorite pastry is chocolate filled croissants. He prefers it when they have the traditional croissant shape because it's easier for him to eat.

Isn't a fan of horror movies unless it's body horror or really really fucking stupid.

He likes biting his partners. Not just chomping on their skin either, he likes to nibble and really get his teeth all up in their skin. They can't bite back though because he's ticklish and will slap them really hard.

He likes to sleep in weird places. Underneath tables, in front of balcony windows, bathtubs, inside the couch.

He is a certified boob enjoyer. Doesn't matter what size. He likes all of them.

He likes neutral colors. Blacks, grays, whites, browns, and tans. Sometimes yellow.

He ate someone once. Full on cannibalized them. Only regret is that he kinda tasted bad.

He loves cats! They're not his favorite, but he loves them because they are soft and they love him back. (Dogs are the only animals that don't like him)

He doesn't like hummus. No particular reason. He just does not like it.

Completely tuned out everything Marik said after he was told his name. Everything else was in one ear and out the other.

Pretty chill with bugs unless they're flies, roaches, locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. He doesn't like those at all.

In the situation where he got a redemption, I don't think he'd feel bad for the Yugi gang or almost ending the world. I think he just wouldn't see the point in taking revenge anymore because it obviously just wasn't working out. He isn't killing people anymore though! (He feels a little bad about Ghost and Ryou tho. He went a little overboard on them.)

He can't walk in heels over 2 inches.

He's actually really insecure about his dueling skills since he doesn't like the game that much, but he literally needs to play it.

He really likes flowers and gardening.

He keeps a copy of Tragoedia in his wallet, for memories sake.

He is incredibly touch starved, but he also feels like he doesn't really deserve to be touched in a soft and tender way. He doesn't like being kissed or hugged because that's just too gentle and loving, being bit tickles and that makes him feel too vulnerable. He can't help that he feels this way, but he just can't accept that someone actually loves him.

He stole his black trench coat from Kaiba.

Out of all of Ryou's friends, I imagine that Honda is the one he hates the least. He doesn't really do anything, and he protects Ryou from danger, so there isn't much to hate about him other than the fact he's friends with Yami.

The Yami he knows is the same Yami that burned people alive, blew people up, blew out people's eardrums, fed people to monsters, made people die a few times, and threatened to rip off people's legs. That's the Yami he knows, and he's terrified of him.

His favorite video game series is Dark Souls.

If Yami Bakura accepts the love of someone, he starts to purposely hurt them so they can stay home with him. He's subtle about it, so it's hard to tell if it's on purpose or not.

[1800duckhotline]

what is vampire the masquerade and whats killer is dead. i assume videod games but i could be wrong... you seem to be having soo much fun im nosaayy 😁

omg hi mani im so flattered u would ask!! yeah ive been in the throes of videogames lately AHAH... oc brained but videogame about it sort of...

vampire the masquerade is actually a ttrpg originally published in the 80s i think, but it keeps getting updated so its not like. anything super old... whenever i mention "vampire the masquerade: bloodlines" im talking about the 2004 videogame created based off of the ttrpg! im biased in loving vtm and vtmb since well. it's about vampires. but i think it's an unique take on them that like makes the supernatural aspect not too boring compared to the classic supernatural vampire take. since it involves clans, a lot of vampire politics and societal aspects to it all, etc... Bloodlines itself is not a perfect game (ill avoid geeking out too much about the brief dev hell history it had) but i value it so dearly bc its so 2004 and is so gothic/alternative in its genuine influence. also the story is goofy but really good too (with um, simultaneously, the con that It Is a 2004 Game, meaning it has a lot of weird bigotries that were normalized for the time lol). Unforchy it's almost unplayable without downloading an additional patch mod that restores also a lot of cut content ^_^ but you make do... its so easy to make ocs for the game and the general ttrpg, sooo many ways you can go with your characters!! Bloodlines itself as a game is an action/adventure RPG mostly focused on combat (with stuff like stealth sessions) as well as various ways to resolve different quests. the variety of said outcomes is mostly limited by the fact the studio wasn't able to polish the game at all for release due to activision, the publisher, pushing troika games (dev team) to release the game early to compete with half life 2 at the time (yeah crazy i know). that said, the dialogues can be really charming and fun and offer a nice variety of things to do.. its not perfect but seriously is the best vampire RPG game around so far..

killer is dead is completely different (mostly because i can never focus on one thing for too long lmfao), it's an hack and slash 2014 game created by suda51 and grasshopper manufacture (same game devs behind no more heroes, lollipop chainsaw, shadows of the damned etc) and it's. an okay game. i dont even know if i can explain the story bc its like, a clusterfuck. and usually clusterfuck stories are goichi suda's specialty but this one goes over the moon (funny joke if You Know). it's a pretty mid game. I love it on one hand bc its easy to play and very stylish, tho the shaders sometimes can give you an headache. I also love the protagonist (mondo zappa) because to me thats a butch not just some guy. Unfortunately the game has the very strong cons of being too short for the kind of game it is, and also has an infamously bizarre minigame that's called "gigolo missions"... you basically go on "dates" with beauties (sexy girls basically), you give them gifts until they 'love' you and then you go have sex and they give you weapon upgrades as a result. the date though consists of you building up your "guts meter" by looking at their boobs or legs so it's like. REALLY STRANGE. CANT HASHTAG IM SORRY FEMINISM OUT OF THIS ONE I'M AFRAID.... it's so conflicting bc apparently suda didn't want to add this function but publishers forced him to. oh well. a solid 6.5/10 tbh. idk if i'd reccomend it tho maybe gameplays are better than getting it at full price imo (i got my game as a gift)

UM SO SORRY FOR GEEKING OUT...I HOPE THE EXPLANATION WAS CLEAR. My brain keeps jumping from media to media with no pause... i wanna focus on ocs again but this keeps happening hahaha

[typescrambledex]

What is your favorite of the new pokemon?

I waited until I beat the game to answer this since I hadn't completed it yet, but now that I have (Obviously, spoilers under the readmore)

I can't 100% pick a favorite so you're just getting a list of ones I feel stand out.

>Skeledirge, Fuecoco's final evo, is pretty solid.

>Dudunsparce is perfect. It's exactly what I wanted a Dunsparce evolution to be.

>Nymble and Lokix, Lokix especially, might be my top favorite of the gen. I've waited so long for a grasshopper Pokemon and it delivers.

>Greavard and Houndstone. I was so afraid Greavard's evolution was gonna pull of Boltund and lose all of its interesting features but little did I know it would get GNARLIER it's so cool.

>Farigiraf, mostly appreciating that it's not the predictable "Tail-head gets bigger" kind of evo.

>Revavroom is funny and neat, I mostly just wish they gave it a more interesting body than just "car-shaped stone".

>Cetitan really harkens back to Pokemon's early days of "Make up a creature vaguely based on a real-life animal" in a way I really like.

>Glimmet and Glimmora are other contenders for my #1 fave this gen. Their designs are interesting in how inorganic they are, in the sense that they really look like sentient minerals. But also looking a bit like sea-floor life is such a neat idea for a cave-dwelling creature.

>Brambleghast is another Pokemon that's based on something I've wanted in Pokemon for so long, as a tumbleweed. And it doing its best jack-o-lantern impression is wonderful.

>Slither Wing, Volcarona's prehistoric ancestor, is a cool take on Volcarona and it's super neato that we get a flightless moth Pokemon. (Those are actually a thing!)

>Wo-Chien has got to be one of the coolest Legendaries to date.

>Tinkaton is simple, but it's hard to go wrong with "Girl with giant weapon."

>Ceruledge is entirely too extra. It's like a Mega Man Zero boss or Net Navi or Black Ace from Star Force 3 escaped Capcom HQ and snuck into a Pokemon game. And I love every second of it.

>Another contender for #1 is the convergent critter for Tentacool/Tentacruel, Toedscool and Toedscruel. Like, a woodear fungus with long, noodly legs built like Tentacool/Tentacruel has got to be one of the more absurd concepts in the series. Helped all the more when its design also calls Japanese Octopi-Aliens to mind.

Damn good gen.

[balladetto]

§— found family vibes with grasshopper and shion @gloryseized and link is cruising for a bruising with naydra unfortunately so like one sided rivals? And maybe some cool friendship vibes with Zelda?? And I feel like link and Aiden might be buddies? And as a bonus whatever the heck is going on with link and revali (and link and tulin are broooootheeeeers!!)

give me your blorbos! / accepting / @gloryseized

[eats all this up] you know i'd give any excuse to continue writing dynamics with you, hilary, so 1000% yes to all of this!! grasshopper and shion make me so 🥺🥺 and i honestly feel like i might have to make two separate totk verses for him because the current one is so affiliated with shion ♡ they are absolutely found family...!

oh slfjdklf the vibes with naydra and link. they are just chilling! this antagonism, too, is something they will chill with. if he wants a better reaction, i...am presenting dinraal. mayhaps even...farosh ( i say, like we haven't already discussed this in the past flskdjf )

👀👀 at the zeldas and link...i have to get a grasp on alta again, but i would love to do something with you with basil! mostly vibing with spirit shenanigans for any games after tp for the moment, though i'll slide into dms when i get the energy to hash this out!

please any attention @ my ocs makes me weak!! aidan and link as buddies would be so great! there's the potential for being temporary travelling buddies as aidan goes from settlement to settlement, and he'd be very stoked about any and all gear link's got on him at all times ♡

( revali and link are a mess i can't look away from ahahsdfljd they are so compelling, and i really can't wait to be able to get every sentiment we've plotted and discussed on the actual writing canvas!! YES, TULIN AND LINK ARE THE BROTHERS OF MY HEARRRRTT they have such a special spot in there! first official tag after years of a writing hiatus. they will never leave that spot ♡ )

(Bonus s thing because I forgot about link and toothless who have like fellowship of the ring very close traveling companion vibes? Idk how to describe it)

toothless appreciates this two-legs. toothless would like this two-legs to take care of himself. toothless is going to stick around to make sure Friend does that, and also to make sure he gets out alive when he's doing stupid things as Risk ( i love them so much your honour )

[lec743]

FNAF (Rodeo AU)

My friend @theohnocorral has been having a bit of a brain block with their new AU concept that they’re wanting to write for the Glam-rock VR game of FNAF. It’s about Sun and Moon.

I had a little hand in getting them interested in writing it so I thought I’d write a little something for them to help get the juices flowing. It’s only like... 680 word read. Enjoy the scene.

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

           You were riding your trusty horse, Sugar, down a dirt road. You two were under the shade of the trees that lined the one side of the dirt road as cicadas and grasshoppers blared their music through the hot, dry air.

You were feeling like fishing, but the best river with all the good fishing spots was by their property, and you were hoping that they were too busy with animal care and kiddy camp, that they won’t want to tease you or poke fun at you.

           You know Sun and Moon have no real bite in them when they do tease you, but that doesn’t mean that it does not get tiring, and you just want to fish in peace.

           You coaxed Sugar to trot faster as you two neared the animatronics’ farm. You rounded the bend of the dirt road and you saw the little star painted mailbox when you heard shouting and a child screaming.

           The sound made you tense up and you saw a horse run off with a ten-year-old girl on its back towards the river. She was holding on for dear life.

           You don’t even register that Sun and Moon were running after the little girl and horse as you kicked Sugar’s sides and got her running after the runaway duo.

           Dirt and rocks kicked up as you and Sugar speed along after the crying girl and horse. You got closer and closer, and you saw that the horse the little girl was riding did have a lead on it. You leaned out of your seat and grab a hold of it.

           “Hang on kid,” you told the little girl as you wrapped the lead around your saddle’s horn.

           As you expected, the horse reared back when it was forced to slow down. Almost bucking the little girl off. You reach forward and press your hand on her back, to help her stay on the horse.

           Sun, a sun themed robot in a pair of jeans, boots, and a plaid button up shirt, caught up first and lifted the little girl off the horse.

           “What did we tell you about getting on horses we explicitly tell you aren’t ready for riding,” Sun scolded.

           The little girl only answered with bawling.

           Sun sighed and held her close to his metal body, “Sh-sh-sh. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

           You felt someone patting your leg on your other side and you see Moon, a moon themed robot in a pair of jeans, boots, a solid blue button up shirt, and a white cowboy hat, was gesturing for the lead.

           You untie it and hand it over to him.

           “Thanks for your help.”

           “Yah, of course.”

           You get off Sugar and you walk with them back to their property. You wanted to make sure the girl was okay after that.

           “What happened?”

           “It was my fault. I didn’t close the barn door good enough,” Moon stated.

           “It’s not just your fault. I didn’t keep a good enough eye on her,” Sun added.

           “I think it’s no one’s fault. Mistakes were just made. That happens. The next question is, is the kid going to be punished for getting on a horse she wasn’t supposed to be on or do you two think she learned her lesson?”

           “She better have learned her lesson,” Moon stated.

           “I’m sure she did.”

           “Cool. Then I’ll get out of your metaphorical hair,” you said as you hopped back onto Sugar’s back.

           “Going fishing,” Moon asked.

           “Yep.”

           “Don’t let a bluegill pull you in then, short stack,” Moon stated with a cheeky grin.

           You roll your eyes and huff at him. You’re perfectly normal sized for a human. They’re just built freakishly tall.

           Sun said in a softer voice, “And thanks again. On behave of Angel here. She’d say thank you, too, if she could.”

           “Yah. Of course. I’ll leave you gentlemen to it,” you say as you get Sugar walking towards the river.

           The animatronics waved goodbye to you, and you waved back before returning your focus back on the road ahead of you.

[ceph-the-ghost-writer]

A random fact.

Ollie: Renato's the one who came up with her name. Both of her sisters were named after flowers (Lily and Violet), but she couldn't think of any that fit her. She wasn't a Rose or Lavender, definitely not a Petunia, not even an Ivy. Then Renato suggested Oleander. A beautiful and toxic plant that can thrive in harsh conditions. It was perfect. Too bad he and she didn't fit each other half as well.

Micaela: It's silly, but...her one regret about becoming a bloodborn is not getting to experience all the abundance and variety of modern food. Sushi, gelato, hamburgers, fancy coffees. She doubts it would feel the same as blood, and yet all the flavors and textures might make up for it. But alas, she'll never really know.

Elfy: One of her bucket list goals is finding a gateway into Faerie.

Ben: He didn't learn to swim until pretty recently. Just never got around to it. Good thing he did though because if merpeople are real, well then...*rubs hands together excitedly*

Tilda: She always wanted to try one of those tabletop fantasy games. Now that she has friends, maybe she'll get up the nerve to see if they'd play with her.

Yi: She's afraid of bugs. Not, like, normal bugs--moths and grasshoppers and ants or whatever. The real twitchy or hairy ones. Centipedes. Black widows. Those weird, shiny silver things with all the legs that eat paper. Ugh. Makes her skin creep just thinking about them.

Mergus: He was created by the last nightborn to live on Earth, and feels rather special because of it, no matter what he says.

[theburrowsgarden]

Introduction! 🦉

Welcome to The Burrow’s Garden! My name is Amy, and I am a Master’s student with Miami University, Ohio, working towards a degree in biology with a focus on conservation sciences. I am here to tell you everything there is to know about western burrowing owls, and what you could do in your own home garden to help out these lovely little puffballs–maybe even have one move into your own backyard! Backyard-less? Stay tuned, I’ve got something for you, too!

First thing’s first: what is a burrowing owl? Western burrowing owls (scientific name Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are one of two subspecies of burrowing owl found in the United States, the other being their close cousins, the Florida burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia floridana). The western burrowing owl can be found in a range of habitats, from grasslands to urban parks and gardens throughout the western half of North America, from Mexico all the way up to southern Canada!¹ 

Approximate range of western burrowing owls. Credit to The Cornell Lab of Orinthology.

Why would you want one in your yard? First of all: they’re incredibly cute. These little owls weigh about as much as a stick of butter, with brown and tan speckled feathers, lanky legs, and the most stern looking eyebrows a bird can muster. More importantly: they eat all sorts of things we don’t like in our yards. Field mice digging up your grass? They’ve got you covered. Grasshoppers eating your flowers? Not a problem. Caterpillars, beetles, lizards, you name it: insects and small vertebrates are fair game.

Oh my god they’re baby. Credit to Kevin Cole.

What’s the catch? We-e-ell… Despite what their name suggests, burrowing owls don't generally do the digging themselves. Instead, they rely on the burrows of other small critters to call home. Burrowing owl populations have been declining throughout the United States, and the primary drive is thought to be the lack of burrowing rodents.¹ No burrowing rodents, no burrows. No burrows, no owls!

So, what can you do? Learning to co-exist with burrowing rodents plays a major part in making sure that burrowing owls have someplace to call home. And while they may seem annoying at first, burrowing rodents play a major part in nutrient cycling in soil and increasing biodiversity.² Whether your garden is full of ornamentals, native plants, or any combination of the two, having burrowing rodents around can help the ecosystem–and your garden–stay healthy and resilient. While I can’t guarantee that a burrowing owl will come around as your new neighbor, I hope that I can at least make a case for why keeping the peace with some of the critters we may call “pests” can benefit you and your plants in the long run!

Not a gardener? Not a problem! There are tons of other ways you can help burrowing owls from the comfort of your couch. The Burrowing Owl Recovery Program runs Wildwatch Burrowing Owl on Zooniverse, where you can help researchers sort through trail cam photos of western burrowing owls to get a better idea of how many fledglings are born each year and how they behave. And, this is going to sound crazy, you don’t even need to register an account. One less password to worry about.

The types of burrowing owl antics you’ll see on Wildwatch Burrowing Owl. Don’t worry–they’re not dead. It just isn’t their turn with the braincell.

Want to see a burrowing owl in person? I get it, you want a sneak peek of the real deal. Good news: you’ve got plenty of options. You can visit reputable AZA accredited institutions such as the San Diego Zoo, Phoenix Zoo, or Big Bear Zoo and visit their burrowing owl exhibits! If you’re the outdoorsy type, you can connect with your local Audubon chapter and join them for bird watching hikes, habitat restoration, or visit an Audubon-run sanctuary. 

¹Klute, D., Ayers, L., Green, M., Howe, W., Jones, S., Shaffer, J., Sheffield, S., & Zimmerman, T. (2003). Status assessment and conservation plan for the western burrowing owl in the United States. United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usfwspubs/483

²Davidson, A. D., Detling, J. K., & Brown, J. H. (2012). Ecological roles and conservation challenges of social, burrowing, herbivorous mammals in the world’s grasslands. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(9), 477–486. https://doi.org/10.1890/110054

[kalaniclowers]

A Land of History

Ka’Lani Clowers

Dr. Harris Cox

English Composition II Section W15

November 10, 2023

A Land of History

By: Ka’Lani Clowers

I finally made it! After driving over an hour, anxiously waiting to reach my destination, I’m here! A land of history; 54 acres of land to the home of several thousand Native Americans from 1000 A.D – 1550 A.D. The scenery of tree leaves dancing in the wind makes a peaceful wind tone; shamrock green grass covers the borrow pits. Further out, following the main sheen green grass path, which is covered with different types of “Native Grasses” such as “Little / Big / Bushy Bluestem”, “Eastern Gamagrass”, “Switchgrass”, and “Indian grass” that lead to one of the main attractions “Mound A - Symbol of a Chiefdom” to my left and the “Plaza for Ceremonies and Games” to my right. Every step I take grasshoppers fly away while blue dragonflies swirl; every step up the steep staircase the wind roars across my ears and hair. Once I reached the top of “Mound A” and did a 360 view, the butterflies in my stomach faded away. Standing on historic land; possibly the land of my previous ancestors, the Etowah Indian Mounds have an extraordinary view of the whole site, and I can’t wait to explore.

Earlier sitting in the shade under a huge tree, I and other volunteers were helping create bee houses and entertaining the children. A staff member of the Etowah Indian Mounds, Ed, offered to give me a mini tour, which is the beginning tour for all tourists, of the first exhibit of “Etowah’s Wattle and Daub House” that once covered the site between 1250 and 1325AD. The name came from the methods and materials where the “wattle��� is composed of cane and the “daubed” is a mixture of red clay, water, and grass which allowed the walls to harden (Georgia Public Broadcasting). From the outside of the red-orange square clay wattle and daub House, the small doorway entry made the house look small; however, when entering, the house was very spacious and tall. What amazed me was how the fire smoke rose and left out through the top of the roof and at the same time around the square perimeter clay wall has an opening where it filters fresh air. While exploring the “Wattle and Daub House”, Ed said, “Did you know the women stayed home while the men hunted in the field; the house and land were the women’s property; if the women kicked the man out, he had to leave…” I laughed after hearing the men must leave if the men get kicked out. I told Ed I learned a lot in 25 minutes and, I didn’t know and haven’t realized how much rights and property Etowah Native American women, Creek and Cherokee Indians, processed (Native American). This made me want to look more into the site and do more background research on Native Americans.

Before I knew it, it was lunchtime for all the volunteers. I walked to the picnic area in front of the Etowah Indian Mounds Museum. While waiting in line, I talked with another volunteer named John. We talked about where we’re from and how long we volunteered at this location. I grabbed a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions, and mayo; a hotdog and bun with ketchup; a bag of cheese sun chips; two oatmeal cookies; one red Gatorade, and one fruit punch Capri Sun. While eating my free lunch, I enjoyed the peaceful wind and leaves blowing in the wind. Once I finished my lunch, I got back to Ed to check, and see if there was any other volunteer work for me to do before exploring deep into the Etowah Indian Mounds, and then I set my journey further into the site.  

Again, when I arrived at “Mound A”, walking up a quarter-mile-long steep staircase, the muscles in my legs started to weaken; the wind blew hard against my face, and my hair flowed in the wind. The first thought that came to mind when reaching the top was “Woo, that’s a lot of stares... I need a quick break to catch my breath.” My second thought was wow this is a beautiful view. I could see most of the historic site from atop; from cut green grass to about 6 ft tall grass; further out I could see numerous dark green trees; and off into the distance the Allatoona Mountains covered with vegetation. “Mound A”, a “Symbol of a Chiefdom” is where a chief resides with their family on top of the mound that stands about 65 feet tall and was once topped by four buildings with a surrounding courtyard. A chief received the right to rule by birth, ruled until his death, and was represented as both a political and religious leader. While residing on top of “Mound A”, the chief could rule his people, perform religious ceremonies, distribute stored food to his people from public granaries in times of need or famine, and have the power to make war or peace. “Mound A” is across from the Plaza which served as a community gathering place for games and ceremonies (Mark).

Next, I made my way down Mound A and visited other attractions such as the 25-foot-tall “Mound B” which is the site of religious rituals with temples, and the 19-foot-tall “Mound C” which is the burial mound that also had a chapel or temple on top. I continued my journey behind “Mound B” and the left side of “Mound C”, is where the “Etowah River” and the “Etowah River Walk Nature Trail” are located. I’ve completed the “Etowah River Walk Nature Trail” and discovered a lot of plants like Yaupon, and Virginia Creeper, and animals such as Turtles, Bluebird, Great Blue Herons, and Groundhog, that were inhabitants and used in their everyday lives.

Once I’ve completed the “Etowah River Walk Nature Trail” I decided to return to the “Etowah River” because I wanted to explore and find more information. I’m glad I looped back around because I gained knowledge and discovered multiple trees that the “Native Americans” used in their everyday lives like the Black Walnut – for food and bark for toothaches, Bitternut Hickory – Nuts for bread, blowgun darts, and arrow shafts, Cottonwood – a tea for fever and dugout canoes, and more trees.

Later walking along the riverside, I kept stepping on numerous small green circular, what I believe, fruit. The fruit officially grabbed my attention when I heard a loud thump next to me. I thought “Wow, this fruit almost hit me on top of my head!” On the riverside, I ran into Donald Watson who worked at the historic site. Mr. Waston explained to me the hard green circular fruit is a walnut. I said “Wow! Are you serious? Why is the walnut big, green, and hard?” Mr. Waston informed me that walnuts will grow in different stages, and then proceeded to pick up different walnuts off the ground to show me examples of the stages,  the walnut is ready to eat once the outer shell is rotten, and how the walnut was one of the main sources of food for the Native Americans.

Afterward, I headed back to the front of the historic site where the “Etowah Museum” is located. I decided to tour the museum, but the exhibit was almost empty due to the artifacts were given back to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, and Kialegee Tribal Town (Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site.).

 In the end, I was happy to have an authentic souvenir by keeping a fresh walnut that fell off the tree. I made sure I picked up a fresh green walnut so I could watch the different stages of the walnut transformation. My visit was bittersweet because I was very happy to visit, tour, and volunteer; however, I wanted to have a fully guided tour and be able to see all the artifacts from the many Native American tribes. If I’m able to have time in the future, I would love to come back and visit again.

Citations

Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site. Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic 4eA#WsAW33wa3w`3WA44Site | Department of Natural Resources Division. (n.d.). https://gastateparks.org/EtowahIndianMounds

“American Indian Culture at Etowah - Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, artsandculture.google.com/story/american-indian-culture-at-etowah-georgia-public-broadcasting/qwVx2UuydyoTIw?hl=en. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

“Native American.” The Etowah Valley Historical Society of Bartow County, Georgia, Etowah Valley Historical Society, evhsonline.org/native-american. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.

Rebecca. “Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site: Know Before You Go.” Day Trip Queen, 5 Sept. 2022, daytripqueen.com/etowah-indian-mounds/.

Mark, Joshua J.. "Etowah Mounds." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 10 May 2021. Web. 08 Nov 2023.