#like her habitat is so freaking cool with her paintings

[andradrawsstuff]

Ik it’s getting closer to summer but here’s some very quick cold weather doodles of the beans

[violinvoidspecialty]

8 and Rising: Part 2 Awareness Ache

It was warm. Salty. It reminded me of the sea when father and I collected shells on the coast, only for a Yoju to come crashing down on us instead of the waves themselves. Where was the voice? Where was the pain? I never had even slightly to wonder. I knew and it was knowing that changed my view...even just at 1%. The weakening voice dyed out as I was yanked back before I could become aware of the faintest sounds draining into my ear canal. 

"What's up with you, Y/n? Why do I feel the need to be more sympathetic to the beast laying in defeat before us? Y-you're tears...are just so sad." 

I wiped them and they formed little lakes on my palms. I didn't want to just let them go. After all, what if this was their world first and we were the ones to trample and destroy the habitat? We do it to the Amazon rainforest. It wasn't a far stretch to consider and ponder the idea. But humans thought they ran the world and had the power to humanize it so they could go anywhere and gain anything. Weren't monsters doing the same on a large serving scale? 

"N-no...I just heard." 

"We got a newbie Kafka? Ooooh...I clearly don't know what's going on. Sorry for stepping in." The man said as he suddenly turned away from the 32-year-old sniffling man. 

I shook out of my stupor. The dying words of a dying giant long silenced. "It's nothing...I'm sorry for worrying you Mr.Kafka-and please stop crying!" 

I sat down with Kafka as he explained the usage of the different saws used to slice through Kaiju bone like ham. I found it interesting how even elements like ice and fire had usage among the Sweeper co...I knew for a fact those came from Kaiju...it was almost like they were killing each other.

'It hurts...'

Almost., but not enough. It was strange how they had no national geographic documentaries about them, yet who has time to watch when they're out tearing down walls? 

"Are you listening? A senior is talking." 

"Yeah, I think they're all very cool. Much cooler than normal saws. I always appreciated the effort of the cleanup crew. I'm a clean freak myself and my dad...well he-"

"In the force? Was he an officer...did he?"  His brows declined into an expression of sorrow.

"Ah...he's alive. Just...he was injured and suffered wounds that even Kaijuu-reinforced medicine could not heal. He needs special care...I visit him often.  But yes, he was one of the greats...at least...to me." 

"And you're mom? Siblings?"

"I didn't know her. I'm an only child." 

Kafka took a minute to reflect. "I already like the old man!"

'You're an old man too...'

"Ya know, I tried to join the force once...It didn't pan out though. Some bread rises and some weren't made too...it's the variety that counts." Despite his hopeful words, there was an air of unfulfilled dreams and ambitions. 

"Well, that's lame of em. Tell ya what, when I join the ranks I'll chew them out for ya." 

His face grew into a broad smile and I backed away slightly having a feeling he'd bear hug me to death before my goal came true, however.

"Wait...you're joining?"

"No duh!"

"GAH-I thought you were just a fan-girl!" 

The next morning I woke up and brewed a piping hot pot of coffee, rubbing my aching head. Last night I dreamed of the voice over and over again and couldn't believe it. I had some strange telepathy with Kaiju! From the looks of the others I was aware that this indeed was not a normal occurrence. They were around them all the time and the first time I step close...I end up piting  a  Kaiju. It's not as if their forms were so large that their thoughts boomed like an earthquake as well. Without even checking to see if the coffee was done-it was not-I poured myself a cup, walked away from the spill, and plopped on the couch of my apartment living room. 

A few paintings hung on the wall, and most were slanted from the shuddering of the ground below. I wondered what my father would think of this...what would anyone think? That I was crazy? Most might scoff and confirm how horrid Kaiju were and shape up-quit bowing in apology and regret to the monsters above. It was hard not to think about it. I could feel the pain of that thing as if it were my own...it wanted to live too...and a part of me wanted to let it. 

I groan as I spit out the grounds that floated like seagulls at the bottom of my cup, but smiled when I was reminded of how friendly Kafka was. He had teared up for me, cried over my tears...so there was a chance he'd believe me. Even if it was 1%, I'd take it. 

Stepping over ample cracks I wave to the broccoli-haired man as I  walk into the Company office. There was a TV located on the corner of the wall, a table sat in front and a few workers slouched, not able to stomach their lunches at the moment. I peek down the hall, making long slow steps forward. Calling out would be rude, right? Scruffy black hair suddenly peeks back. 

"Y/n! Don't be a stranger, what brings ya here?" He comes closer, wiping his hands with a rag, his signature white suit on. 

"Um...I was wanting to-"

"Ahhhh-so this  is the newbie! I thought it was that girl from yesterday....not that I wish it was ahahahaha." 

'That laugh sounded forced...'

Steps came from the other side, the broccoli-haired man was now accompanied by-

"Wait, Reno!"

"Y/n." 

Leno. I've heard Leno...but I'll stick with Reno. 

Phew, I really like how this Chapter turned out and I hope you did too! Every read is appreciated. This series needs to blow up like Kafka's transformation! I luv it!

[ramblinganthropologist]

Writober 2019 1 - Missing Moment

Summary: Ok, there is no way you can be dead for 2 years and wake up looking perfect. Alistair needs a hand after coming back from the dead. Luckily, Bo’s pretty good with a pair of scissors.

---

It was so good, having Bo back in his-

“Get over here, you look like shit.”

Never mind, he took it back. He took it all back.

It had been a few hours since Alistair Shepard had settled back onto the recreated Normandy. Something about all the yellow and racist logos was off putting to say the least, but that was what spray paint and a boring night were for later. He had just entered his quarters, expecting to get some probably not needed rest, but was stopped by an intruder sitting at his desk.

When had Bo gotten up here?

“Guess I'm not the only one who can get up here then.” Alistair paused to check how his new hamster was settling into his habitat. The fish tank had taken some modifications, but now there was more than enough room for Saren to burrow, eat, and glare daggers at him. Clearly, the little guy had inherited his mood from his first caretaker. “What's up?”

Bo stood up from his chair and rolled it to a clean patch of floor. “You need a haircut. Who the hell was handling that while you were out?”

Not him – he was dead.

Alistair felt his face heat as he played with one of the long strands hanging by his shoulder. Sure, the ends were a little split, but it wasn't that bad. “I don't know, ask Miranda. She was the one who put me back together.”

Poorly – she had left in some less than essential features such as GAD and a functional uterus. Why she had kept those in he had no fucking idea. They were going to have a little talk about that later, once he survived whatever Bo was planning for him.

“Bet it was her. Asshole has it all uneven in the back.” Bo tapped the chair again. “Well, you coming or do I have to put your ass in the chair?”

She was worse than a drill sergeant some days. Still, Alistair didn't feel like arguing. He maneuvered his newly built body into the chair and accepted the towel she tossed to cover his clothes. She already had her tools out, but he didn't see clippers there – just scissors.

“Not going for the Commander Shepard look this time?”

Behind him, the large woman snorted and picked up a comb instead.”You're dead, why the fuck do you have to listen to the Alliance's regulations? Might as well keep it long and piss somebody off.”

She paused, and he felt her hand on her head. “Unless you want it short. Could probably still figure something out to piss them off if you want.”

Alistair frowned as he looked down at his feet. With everything going on, his head was swimming. After all, he had been dead until a few hours ago. Two years had passed in that time, and just thinking of it made him sick to his stomach.

Was he still himself? Miranda had mentioned she wished they had put a chip into his brain, but what had she done while he was out? For all he knew, just under the surface was... well, he didn't want to think about it.

“No. You can keep it long.”

“Excellent.” She started combing with a steady hand. “I'm going to kill Miranda when I'm finished. You think a perfect bitch like her would know how to cut a damn straight line.”

He snorted despite himself. “I thought straight lines when cutting was a bad idea?”

“Like you fucking know.” He got a light tap to the back of his head as a reprieve. “Now don't move or I might cut your ear.”

Right – still as the dead. He was an expert in that now.

Bo began trimming, checking the length as she worked. The hand on his head held a few new scars and some interesting new calluses to say the least. He traced the new paths of lighter skin in his memory, checking to see what he didn't remember. There were a lot to say the least.

“You get those from the arena?”

After all, he'd found her wrestling krogan under an alias. If anyone could leave a permanent mark on Bo Peep Shepard, it would be a freaking krogan. Lesser species wished they had the capabilities. Of course she had left 24-0, so maybe even the krogan couldn't stand up to her might. From what he had seen when she'd bounced a young krogan across the fighting pit, she had well earned her nickname as the angry pink monster.

That name was so her... had she thought it up?

Bo made a thoughtful noise as she continued cutting. “Yeah. You should have seen the other guy, though.”

She sent a few uneven strands of red to the floor around his feet. “Guess they'll have to have someone else be the stand in champ until I get back.”

“I don't think that'll be a problem, there's plenty of people who would want to beat a Spectre's record.” The words still felt weird on his new tongue, as if he had to relearn how to use them. “They might call you back for a title bout at this rate.”

He couldn't see her expression, but the flex of her muscles when she tensed told him she was more than ready for that day. Somewhere on Omega, there was a krogan who had no idea what was coming to them. He almost felt bad for them.

Almost... but when you have four freaking testicles it's pretty hard to pity someone. Not that he was jealous or anything.

Bo shifted, letting down a new layer of hair as she worked. A few quiet minutes passed, with only the snip of the scissors to pass the time. It was a quiet rhythm that Alistair leaned into, eyes closing. Maybe he needed that nap after all.

“Huh...”

The tickling of hair against his face caused the reborn Spectre to open his eyes – not that it was useful. All he could see was red. Bo had shifted to his fringe and was doing... something with a comb. Was she looking for something?

Movement was out of the question, but his mouth still worked fine. “Problem?”

“Yeah, I was going to do a side part but I forgot you have that eye now.” His fringe momentarily lifted. “It's fucking weird to see you without those scars.”

Alistair's reply was almost instant. “It's fucking weird to see you, let's be honest.”

This time, it was Bo who snorted as she left him back to his ginger blindness. Her fingers brushed up against the raw skin stretched thin over implants along his jaw. They were still too open and glowed a sinister red even when he wasn't doing anything. They were all over his body still – a product of being brought back too early.

Honestly... they creeped him out.

“Well, least you traded your scars for something cool.” Bo muttered this absentmindedly as she parted his fringe a little more off to the side. “Though creepy ass evil cyborg red isn't really your color.”

He rolled his eyes in response – the new one still felt weird. “Well, I'd hack them to change them to blue if I could, but I think that would probably kill me.”

“Could also trip the secret testosterone reserve Miranda built in as a fail safe.” The scissors were back, trimming his fringe neat. “Then again, if she puts you together as badly as she cuts hair, you might fall apart in a stiff breeze.”

Alistair could almost imagine his head rolling down the docks, someone chasing after it to put it back on his body. It was morbid, but he found himself laughing. The laugh scraped his insides and loosened some things up Miranda had left behind in her rebuild. Now it felt a little more... like himself, he supposed.

“Well, I can trust you to collect my body parts, can't I?”

Bo smirked as she finished her work. “Yeah, but don't ask me to put you back together. That's your area of expertise.”

Hopefully his left hand would still be attached – perish the thought otherwise.

She patted him on the shoulder, her sign she was finished. Alistair sighed in relief and brushed some stray hair from his shoulders as he stood. He caught his reflection in polished metal and evaluated it with a critical eye.

Well, critical eyes. He had two again. That still weirded him out, almost as much as the glowing red implants that cast a ruddy light on his already pink-toned skin. For Bo, it would've worked maybe. On him, he just looked silly. At least his hair looked decent, a little longer than shoulder length and parted neatly off to the side so he could see. It was completely against Alliance regulations, but at that point he couldn't really care.

“You are a wizard with scissors, Bo.” He brushed it back with his hand to check the implants along his jaw. “Eh... might try hacking those first.”

The large woman snickered as she walked over to check her work. “Whatever you say, pretty boy. Just let me know when we're getting ready to dock on Omega. I left some shit behind and I need to get it.”

Sure, they could do that right before they plunged into enemy territory to find the mysterious Archangel that left Bo in stitches whenever he mentioned them. Alistair shook his head and watched as she left – leaning him to clean up the mess.

That's how it always worked. He shouldn't have been surprised but... well, death numbs some senses.

“Thanks, Bo.” Another head shake, and off Alistair went to go find a broom to clean up. Maybe it was the hair, but he felt lighter as he walked. He didn't quite feel like himself yet, but it was a decent start to getting there.

Now if he could only find that secret testosterone reservoir without making his head pop off in the process.

[hypnoidvoid]

Key to the Jungle (Reddie AU): Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first Reddie fic that I’ve ever written, so I hope you guys enjoy! I hope to post once a week and I have predicted that it will be around 12 chapters. Dedicated to @j0ys for all the encouragement and being my first tumblr friend, I love ya. 

Summary: Ecologist!Richie and Nature Photographer!Eddie. Eccentric Dr. Richard Tozier has graduated with his Ph.D in Ecology and was given grant money to conduct his own research in the Amazon basin. He gets a research team, one of them being the very talented nature photographer Eddie Kaspbrak of National Geographic. They could not have predicted the beauty and chaos of the adventures that will ensue. 

Pairings: Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak, eventually Stan Uris x Bill Denbrough

Word Count: 2,647 words

Warnings: Vulgar language; future chapters will contain angst and NSFW scenes

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4

// Link to Read on Ao3 //

[Chapter 1: Preparation]

[Friday, February 21, 2018] 

The sun was searing bright in the dead center of the sky, as 1:00 PM was signalled by the aggressive pings going off on Richie’s watch. He hurriedly wrestled with papers, and their accompanied color coordinated post-it notes threatening to fly off, as he jostled them into his shoulder bag that he threw over his head and trotted down the hall from his office to meet with Stan about this upcoming Tuesday. And he knew that if he was even a few minutes late, Stan was going to grumble and roll his eyes into the next dimension. The good ol’ Stanley Uris eye roll, ladies and gentlemen. There was something special about Stan’s signature eye rolls: they were comically dramatic and looked borderline painful, but left you feeling disappointed in yourself even if you did abso-fucking-lutely nothing wrong. Well Richie had quite the reputation of being late, even as a part time professor, and he was making a solid effort to improve his habits.

He rounded the corners of the university’s biology department halls with little to no grace and excitedly threw open Stan’s office door with a loud *THUD* knocking off a poster that had been pinned to the back of the door. He was a mess of frizzy black curls, sporting a toothy grin extending from ear to ear in the archway of Stan’s office. Spatters of freckles painted his pale complexion on just about every patch of his body along with numerous tattoos (some large, some minimalistic), he wore thick horn rimmed glasses of severe prescription, and was overall a whimsical fashion anomaly.

Richie had been waiting for this Tuesday to come for approximately a year now and couldn’t contain his unbearable excitement from any person.

Not no way. Not no how.

He was beaming. After finishing his Ph.D in ecology in record time at the early age of 23, he was given the opportunity at the university to not only teach part time for extra cash, but was also given a significant amount of grant funding to conduct his own research in the Amazon basin for a few months where he’d be able to bring along a team for his trip. His own team?!

My own Justice League of nerds….yowza.

The university was confident that Richie would be producing highly acclaimed work in the future and wanted to provide him the services to do so (and to get their title slapped on his published reports in big, bold, obnoxious lettering). The University of California, Los Angeles was one of the top universities in the entire United States. Man was he a prestigious son of a gun, but he never really took it to heart about how much he naturally excelled. He just always did. It was a normality.

The lanky man was loud, lacked a filter, but carried a magnetism with him that was crafted through wit and overwhelming charm. And over everything….. he was fucking brilliant. Nearing genius. Dr. Richard Tozier could do differential equations in his sleep, but couldn’t coordinate an outfit that matched if his life depended on it. He was a wildlife ecologist who focused primarily on conservation, taking a keen interest in tropical habitats. There was so much dangerous shit in the jungle. Spiders the size of your fingernail that could make you bleed from every pore?

Cool.

Twelve foot snakes that were known to eat small children if they were hungry enough?

Fucking awesome.

Hell, even pissing in the water could send a fish swimming up your dick. Richie was enthralled with the uniqueness of everything in the jungle, because frankly, it seemed like the jungle just didn’t play by any of the rules that the rest of the world abides by. And he admired that.

Stan finished his Ph.D in ornithology about a year after Richie had, despite being the same age. He loved everything about birds, and like Richie, wants to focus on their conservation. Stan thought that birds were God’s gift to the world, and needed to be protected by all means. He began bird watching at a very early age, making careful note of the ones that he observed, and keeping color coded lists of ones he wanted to one day see.

“Stan my Right Hand Man! What a lovely day to see my favorite bird man. The sun is SHININ’, cancer is CURED, racism is ERADICATED, the planets have ALIGNED. Today, my good chap, is a fantastic afternoon”. Richie promptly plopped himself onto the edge of Stan’s desk buzzing with contagious enthusiasm, meanwhile completely ignoring Stan’s pristine organization of his desk.

“Get off my desk Richard, for the last time this place is not the ‘jungle gym of dumbass’” Stan retorted, but with little malice in his voice. A slight smirk even tugged on the corner of his lips. “You’re on time though, so I’ll let you keep your limbs. Now let’s get to business. Did you bring the grant pap-”

“Duh” Richie cut him off with.

“Okay how about the permission sli-”

“Mhmmmmmmmm”

“You’ve gotten all your vaccinations, corre-”

“YES. Yes, and yes to the next two questions I know are about to tumble out of yo’ damn mouth. So instead, let’s go fi-”

Richie tried to diverge, but was in turn cut off by an equally diligent Stanley. “How did you know what I was going to say, dipshit? So please let me finish, my goodness-”

Richie sharply interrupted once more. “Yes, I’ve prepared the laptops with all the data analysis software, and yes I am in touch with Mike about our dock time. He’s even contacted the others and all is set, what did I tell you Staniel?”. With narrowed eyes, Stan slouched in defeat, “Really? Staniel? You are exhausting. I really don’t know how I’ve put up with your incredulous idiocrities for this freaking long. I must be sick in the head”.

Stan was stubborn and hated to be proven wrong, but had a massive soft spot for Richie in his heart (Stan himself may have called it a sore spot), and knew he could never hate the fucktard. Or even slightly dislike him, despite his annoyances. Richie and Stan had been best friends since childhood where they grew up in the quaint town of Derry, Maine. The air in Derry was stifling, the people cold, and the aura of in its entirety was unwelcoming and intolerable. They were each others only comfort and true friends for years, bonding inseparably over their love for science, the environment, and the creatures that inhabit it. And needless to say, they spent a large chunk of their young lives finding creative ways to escape bullies. Richie could be crass, and disgusting, and blatantly rude but Stan ultimately loved him deeply and considered him family. It was a friendship that most would not encounter in a lifetime, and he was grateful for this friend that he could share his life with.

Both were accepted to UCLA the same year, moved to Los Angeles as a team, and were roommates for their entire bout in college only just recently being able to afford to get their own places (a few blocks being the gaping distance from each other).

Looks like acquiring a doctorate would after all pay off in more ways than one, Stan thought mindlessly.

“Ahhhhhhh you love me, I know ya do Stanny boy! Now, let’s go snatch Bev and grab some grub, my stomach is beginning to digest itself”. And with that, Richie slung a long, gangling arm around Stan’s shoulders, and they departed to retrieve Beverly from the lab, both with jovial smiles on their faces.  

________________________________________

KNOCK… KNOCKNOCK……KNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCK

From behind the thick, iron door of the lab Beverly could be quaintly heard shouting “One minute please, I’m getting the samples out of the centrifuges!”

“Bev dearest open the door love, I can’t be waiting all day for this lame centrifuge excuse of booty calling my fine ass, Stanley knows about our insatiable coworker lust!”, Richie sang. Stan groaned and soothingly pinched the bridge of his nose with slight embarrassment, so that his ash blonde curls were forced to shade part of his face.

The door opened in a slow motion, revealing a lively Beverly with raised eyebrows, and a mischievous smirk; her hands boldly rested on both of her hips. Richie loved the way her smile was endearingly crooked, and left front tooth faintly chipped. The perfect people after all, had the most unique imperfections.

“Richie I swear to God I would have gotten you kicked out of this place years ago for sexual harassment if I didn’t find you so entertaining”.

“M’lady you wound me! Now come give papa a hug ya beautiful, wench”. Richie held out both of his arms expectantly and Beverly flung herself into his, as a small child would do to their father after he came home from a long day’s work. They both let out familiar chuckles, and swam in the endearment that they had for one another in that brief moment. Her fiery ginger hair cascaded softly down her back in waves down to her hips as she let herself be immersed in Richie’s bearhug. Richie then placed both his palms on Bev’s shoulders and held her at an arm’s length, staring her straight in the eyes with a mock sternness. The extreme height difference between the two of them would have made this tableau as seen from a stranger very intimidating with Richie standing 6’3”, and Beverly Marsh an average five foot and six inches.

“Now, Miss Marsh. I trust that as my most talented, and may I say favored, field assistant you have prepared my lab materials to endure a long flight as well as waterproofing for the rainforest. The Amazon is unforgiving, and so am I. Do we have an understanding, little dove?”

Beverly lightly shoved Richie’s arms off of her shoulders and snapped into a marine’s saluting position, lowering her voice to crack a “Sir, yes sir!”. As much as Stan found Richie and Beverly’s relationship dysfunctional, he could feel the loving platonic electricity between them and couldn’t help but smile at their banter. They were a refreshing drink of rambunctious tonic water.

Beverly Marsh was in the midst of completing her Master’s degree at UCLA for environmental sciences, and while Richie never had the pleasure of being her professor, he was gifted her assistance for field work and immediately favored her. The other field assistants could go to hell, they all had barbed spikes up their asses and couldn’t handle Richie’s demeanor. Not to mention she was smarter than the others. Maybe not academically (Einstein failed math, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard yada yada yada), but she had a wit that strongly matched his own and that in itself exemplified enough intelligence. Bev was also wildly freckled, with beautiful red hair that resembled her illustrious personality for adventure. She was an uncontrollable flame; one that could birth innovative creation, and in the blink of an eye cause deadly destruction. Richie hoped he would never have to see that side of Beverly.

_________________________________________

Stan, Beverly, and Richie trolloped towards a small trendy café about a half a block down from the biology department corridors, off of campus to satisfy their growing hunger. Richie ignited the end of a menthol cigarette and puffed on it ferociously to try and curve his appetite, before ashing it on the bottom of his sneaker and tossing it in a proximal trash bin. Just because he littered his lungs didn’t entail him being a litter bug, he was a conservationist remember?

All on the edge of their nerves, at a similar state of “hangry”, they waltz into their favorite local eatery named “Cafe Synapse”***. An appropriate place for a group of biologists to eat at. Stan ordered a black, medium roast coffee complemented with a club sandwich (minus the turkey, due to obvious reasons); Beverly kindly requested french onion soup and side salad along with hibiscus lemonade; Richie ordered a chocolate chip frappuccino and a croissant. The last thing Richie ever needed was more sugar to indulge his ADHD habits, but not even God Almighty himself could stop the Trashmouth from consuming an unhealthy quantity daily.

Stan delicately placed a folded napkin onto his lap, to protect his neatly ironed slacks. He bled order; the tucked in, baby blue button up shirt, the combed curls that could easily become unruly, the freshly polished dress shoes. His cheekbones were even as sharp as his tongue. Everything Stan wore, and did, was thoroughly considered and executed with an impeccable grace.

Except when Stan drank. He could toss back whiskey like nobody’s business and was even roudier than Richie at times. He was the perfect alcohol parallel of a pure Christian girl getting freaky in the sheets behind closed doors as their opposite public persona. And it was priceless to witness, if you were so lucky.

Richie placed both of his hands behind his neck and reclined in his wooden chair to a dangerous incline, “Jesús Crísto Stan, you look like you’re covering up a hard on with that origami napkin on your lap.”

“Fuck you, beep beep Richie” Stan countered with a light-hearted giggle.

Beverly sat forward in her chair and flirtatiously twiddled her finger around a curl framing her face, “Dr. Richie please stop staring at Dr. Stan’s lap like the pervert you are, now that’s just rude”. Richie furrowed his eyebrows, and steadied his chair back on to solid ground. “Just because I float my boat both ways sweetheart doesn’t mean Stan is my type m’kay? Plus Stan denied me access to those pretty li-”

“Oh my god Richie fucking sto-” he intervened.

Richie threw up his hands in a submissive gesture, “Okay okay princess, no more smut I promise.”

“So please do inform Bev and I about your talk with Hanlon. What’s our living situation like? And who are the others joining us on our research trip?” he continued with sincere curiosity.

“Well, Mike said that we’d be living in our own netted huts on the nature preserve. Running water will be provided in certain locations Stan, so don’t worry. I know how much powdering your face at night means to you. And from what I know, Mike will be our host and also act as a guide since he owns and lives on the research station. A fellow named Ben Hanscom will be our medic. A Bill Den-whatever will be our botanist, also there to gain inspiration for his ulterior fictional narratives that he writes for his online blog. I heard he wrote a horror ficlet about a possessed venus fly trap….”. Richie trailed off into a fit of sniggering fidgety squirms imagining a large carnivorous plant taken over by supernatural powers wreaking havoc in Tokyo. That would be an honorable death, Richie thought.

Death by occult man-eating angiosperm. At least it’s not a boring trip to the grave.

“….and I’m not finished yet folks”. Richie motions for a drum roll, and Bev and Stan joyfully play along, using their hands to pat the table.

“We even get our very own nature photographer to document our tomfoolery. Edward Kaspbrak, born and raised in New York City. Oh man, he sounds like a mama’s boy, even more than you Staniel”. Stan followed this remark with presenting Richie with the bird from both hands. Stan never called this action “flipping someone off”. It was giving someone “the bird” or the “double bird”, because god damnit he was an ornithologist with a Ph.D and he deserved this unalienable right to give someone the bird whenever he wanted to. Even rude children.

Little did they know that their future research teammate, Eddie Kaspbrak, had been packed for weeks now and heavily anticipated his Amazonian adventure that would ensue for the next few months.

_________________________________________

CHAPTER NOTES:

**** Cafe Synapse is a real place around UCLA in Los Angeles, and I thought this was a perfect addition to this fic.

I hope you guys loved the introduction, I have SO much more planned, and I am quaking to share the rest with everyone <3 You will also meet one of my favorite versions of Eddie very soon…. Leave me comments, I’m a sap! And let me know if you want to be on the tag list :)

[themurphyzone]

Mayor Murphy Ch 8

It would be really amusing to me if Animal Crossing had their own version of those shows on HGTV with the home improvement and vacation home stuff. 

Ch 8- Home Sweet Home 

Milo rubbed his eyes, feeling the hardwood against his bare feet. The small bed was surprisingly comfortable, though he definitely preferred the height his loft bed at home gave him. 

Wait, hardwood?

“Hello, mayor!” a voice chimed. 

Milo yelped and fell back on his bed in surprise, banging his head against the wall with a hard thud. “Morning Isabelle. Ow,” he groaned, feeling a dull throb. 

“Oh my gosh! Mayor, are you all right?” Isabelle yelped, grabbing his head and checking for bruises. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Digby is always telling me I need to stop waiting by animal’s beds for them to wake up because it’s creepy and I wasn’t being creepy, was I? Don’t call Copper on me! Please don’t!” 

“I don’t know who that is, but I promise I won’t tell him,” Milo said. “What are you doing here anyway?” 

Isabelle tentatively held out several wrapped presents. “I wanted to be the first to see your new home. And I brought you housewarming gifts!” 

Milo opened the first present, unwrapping a yellow wallpaper with pawprints covering every inch. “This is a really pretty wallpaper,” Milo said. 

“You really like it?” Isabelle blushed, her tail wagging. “I made it just for you!” 

Milo glanced at the small room, eyes flicking between the bright yellow wallpaper he held and the unsightly dull gray that currently covered the walls of the house. “Would you mind if I put this up now?” he asked. “The walls right now look kind of, um....” 

Isabelle squealed, then clapped a paw over her mouth in horror. “Sorry. I’m just really happy you like it so much. And yes, I agree. Your current wallpaper is much too depressing. Anyway, to change the wallpaper, just tap the wall with the one you’re holding.” 

Milo obeyed, and Isabelle’s wallpaper unfurled and spread through the house while the gray curled and folded in, finally dropping in a heap into Milo’s lap. “I wish redecorating was this easy at home,” he laughed. “One time we were painting the guest room and I wasn’t watching where I was going and I stepped in an entire can of orange paint. Then my dad got his entire arm stuck in a roll of blue tape.”

The second present was a special set of coffee from Brewster. “We don’t have the Roost yet in this town, but Digby knows Blathers who’s buddies with Brewster,” Isabelle explained. “Speaking of the Roost, I should put that on the list of public works projects. And onto the topic of public works project, we can now get somewhat started on your duties as mayor. However, before you can start improving the town, first of all you’ll need a 100% approval rating.” 

Milo nodded. “Okay, I can do that. I think....” 

“I know it seems like a lot, but the residents already like you. If you go around helping them today, you can get your rating up to 100% in no time! The good news is, you’re already at 35%, which is pretty good considering this is only your third day,” Isabelle cheerfully said. “Now, why don’t you unwrap that last present?” 

Milo held up a lantern, which he set up in a far corner. “Thanks for everything, Isabelle,” he said as they exited the house. He took the coffee set with him so he could share it with the others. 

“No problem, mayor,” Isabelle said. “I’m going to get back to Town Hall. You know. Paperwork as usual. Toodles!” 

There was a creaking noise underfoot, and Milo stepped off a slab of wood. Now he noticed the giant pile of scrap materials that a group of raccoons were clearing away. 

“Excuse me,” Milo said to a heavyset raccoon. “What’s going on?” 

The raccoon chewed the twig in his mouth before responding. “That darn house kept collapsing on us when we tried to remodel it! Told my cousin not to put newbies in charge of the roof, but would he listen to me? No, course not! Took until five this morning before the house actually looked like a house!” 

Milo examined the exterior of his new house, made of solid white brick. Tom Nook had delivered on the red roof, a chimney standing proudly in the back. There was a beep coming from the mailbox, and Milo pulled out two letters. The first was from Marshal, written on blue and white stationary.

Yo, Milo!

Thanks for a great time yesterday! Reminds me of firefly hunting with my siblings when I was little. My mom freaked when I swallowed one, but it made my mouth all tingly and glowy so I just kept stuffing my cheeks with them. Let’s continue being friends!

Cool as a cucumber, Marshal

There was a shirt attached to the letter. “A gelato tee?” Milo wondered. “Well, he’s got good taste!” He decided to put it on for the day, stuffing his normal sweatervest and shirt into his backpack. He reminded himself to thank Marshal later. 

He read the second letter on the way to the Plaza. There wasn’t a name attached, but whoever wrote it thought he’d do a good job as mayor and congratulated him. 

Sara was already at the Plaza, several pastries lying on a plate next to her. Milo set the coffee down, sitting on the cobblestone and biting into a large peach. “Where’d the coffee come from?” Sara asked. 

“Isabelle. She was in my house when I woke up,” Milo explained. “I’m not really sure how they built a house around me. I didn’t even wake up once.”

“I wonder how many times it collapsed,” she said casually, taking a bite of her toast. 

“There was a large pile of debris outside my house that the construction crew was hauling away,” Milo said. “So probably a few. Where are Zack and Melissa?” 

Sara pointed to Main Street. “Melissa’s visiting Lottie in Central. I think Zack is donating a few things things to the Museum right now. I don’t have anything planned for today though, so I can help you do whatever you need to do.” 

Milo grinned. “That’s perfect! Isabelle says I need to raise my approval rating so I can actually do stuff as mayor. I’m thinking I should go around and help the villagers today.” 

“Well, I definitely approve of my little brother,” Sara gave a thumbs up. “Melissa and Zack too. You seem like great pals with Marshal already, but I don’t think you know the other animals too well.” 

“Then it’s time to fix that!” Milo exclaimed. 

“Gronk! Get off me! You two are scraping away my scales!” Del snarled. Zack and the museum curator, Blathers, were currently using Del as a gator jungle gym so they could get away from the horrible monstrosities that laid before them.

That is, if one considered ladybugs and sweetfish horrible monstrosities. 

“I think it’s staring at me!” Zack shrieked. 

“Hoo-hoo! Ladybugs can emit powerful chemicals if threatened,” Blathers fearfully clung to Del’s jaw, trembling. “Are we threatening right now? I’ll have that smell on my wings for weeks!”

Del stumbled around for a few seconds before tripping over his tail, landing on his back painfully. Zack extracted himself from Del’s stomach, carefully prying Blathers’ wings from Del’s jaw. 

“Both of you put those creatures into the proper exhibit. If you’ll excuse me, I have a flower garden to attend to.” With that, Del stood up, shaking his head and muttering curses. The door slammed behind him, causing a little plaster to rain down from the ceiling.

“Hoo!” Blathers hooted. “He’s something all right. And you room with that guy?”

Zack shrugged. “He was willing to show me his electric guitar collection. Moving on, we should really get these to the exhibits. I don’t mind taking the ladybug if you’ll handle the sweetfish. I can’t wait to get that dead-eyed stare off me.” 

Zack approached the ladybug’s container carefully, picking it up at arm’s length so he didn’t get too close to the sweetfish. The ladybug inside rested on a leaf placidly, not moving when the container was slightly jostled. Blathers grabbed the small tank that held the sweetfish and left for the fish and sea creature exhibit.

The only sound from the bug exhibit was the tapping of Zack’s shoes. There were all sorts of plants, from cedars, fruit trees, and flowers, but he didn’t hear anything that sounded remotely like an insect. Zack normally disliked too much noise, but now there was too little of it. It creeped him out. 

In the next room over, Zack found a post that marked the ladybug’s habitat, but there was no other text that gave more information about the insect. “Bye, bye, little ladybug,” Zack said as it flew out and landed on a white rose. 

“Doesn’t the museum seem a little empty?” Zack asked Blathers once he returned, his feathers slightly wet. 

“Yes, well, seeing as Fortuna is a new town, it can’t be helped,” Blathers sighed. “It’s my dream to see every exhibit filled up, though that could take a long time, with the scarcity of some of these creatures. Anyhoo, you did a great job handling that ladybug. If it wouldn’t be so much trouble, perhaps you could stop by every now and then to help with the bugs? I’m afraid of creepy-crawlies, you see....” 

Zack nodded. “I’ll be sure to tell everyone that they should try to donate their catches. Also, I don’t mind the bugs if you’ll take care of the fish. At least bugs don’t have gaping mouths and gills.” 

“So what’s on the to-do list?” Milo asked. 

Sara glanced at the checklist. “Deliver a package to Diana that was given to Cesar by in a post office mix-up, find furniture for Coco, and catch a zebra turkeyfish for Del.” 

“A zebra turkeyfish? Those exist? What kind of animal is that anyway?” Milo said. 

“The lovechild of a striped equine, Thanksgiving dinner, and a scaly marine creature,” Sara suggested, wiggling her fingers. “Legends say it comes after those who dare to laugh at its name.” 

Milo laughed, his voice an octave lower. “You’re mocking the ancestral name of the zebra turkeyfish, Sara Murphy. You will be eliminated by the the kraken.” 

Sara ruffled his hair. “I don’t think being a demonic zebra turkeyfish will do wonders for your approval rating.” 

After messing around, they found Diana relaxing on a hammock by her house. A pair of sunglasses was over her eyes, her polished hooves holding up a screen. She hummed contentedly, her legs crossed in relaxation. 

“Hey, Diana!” Milo greeted, tripping over a stool next to the hammock. He threw out an arm to catch himself, his hand accidentally catching on the hook that attached the hammock to the tree trunk. 

Diana let out a not so ladylike scream as the hammock flipped over and sent her crashing to the grass below. The screen landed on her head, covering her eyes. Milo quickly helped her up. “Sorry, didn’t mean for that to happen. Are you alright?” 

“Yes, I am quite fine,” Diana said coolly, her gaze flicking over to Sara. “Both of you shall mention this incident to nobody. I have an image to maintain. And in return I shall gladly accept your apology.” 

“We have a package for you,” Sara said. Milo handed Diana a letter, attached to a small box. “It was delivered to Cesar by mistake. I had to put it in my pouch for safekeeping because he kept going on about how ‘anything Diana orders will ruin my mustache’. Then he attempted to Cesar Crash it and managed to break the couch.”

“That fool,” Diana sighed. “I must have a word with him later. I insist that I repay with you with this alpine dresser. Please accept it.” 

She handed him a leaf, then started rolling up the hammock. 

“Now we help Coco find some furniture,” Sara said. “Um, any ideas of what that rabbit is into?” 

“We heard about your roomie program, and we’re like, so totally interested!” a white cat exclaimed as Melissa walked through the door of Nook’s Homes. “But the other towns are destroying our vibe, like, I don’t go anywhere without Kiki, mweee!” She clung to her companion, a black cat who shuffled nervously.

Kiki opened her mouth to say something, but Lottie cut her off. “Then I think I know the town just for you! The mayor is fresh off the train, he needs all the help he can get to develop Fortuna! And oh, you’re timing is perfect, Melissa!” Before Melissa could say anything, Lottie wrapped an arm around her shoulders with a wide grin. “This is Melissa! She’s a friend of the current mayor of Fortuna! Melissa, I’d like you to meet Merry and Kiki!”

Melissa awkwardly waved. “Hi.” Everyone covered their ears at Merry’s loud squeal. 

“O.M.G. You know the mayor of your town?” Merry suddenly started to inspect her closely. “I can totally believe that. Like, look at the stitching of her jacket. This is Gracie style quality. What do you think, Kiki?”

Kiki shifted from paw to paw, nervously wringing her paws. “Does your town have tuna in it?” she asked. 

“I don’t know about tuna, but there’s plenty of other fish in the sea,” Melissa replied. “Though my friend Zack is afraid of them.”

“Why? Fish are adorable!” Kiki’s eyes widened. 

Melissa could think of a few species of fish that she would never consider adorable, but didn’t say that aloud. “He has a lot of phobias.”

“Like, if you’re okay with Fortuna then I’m okay with it too!” Merry exclaimed. “And the best part is, we know Melissa who knows the mayor and that makes us celebrities by association!”

“Well then, in that case, let’s get to work on your house!” Lottie struck a pose as Merry cheered and hugged Kiki. “You wanna help us out here, Melissa?”

“All those interior design shows my dad likes to watch have prepared me for this moment,” Melissa said.

The bonfires cast an eerie glow on the already creepy moving statues. Milo poked one out of curiosity, then jumped back as it emitted a long, mournful howl. 

“The Howloids are my favorites,” Coco said. “I want to be surrounded by Gyroids. They make the most beautiful sounds. Besides, I can’t sleep without them.”

Sara stayed by the door so she couldn’t see those gaping black eyes watching her every move. “Yeah, I bet these things have some pretty good lullabies.” 

“Anyway, do you think you two could go find another for me?” Coco asked. “I’d go with you, but my room needs a little rearranging.” 

“Sure!” Milo exclaimed, taking care to not get too close to the flames that were a little too large for his liking. “As my dad always says, when a rabbit asks you to do a favor for them, don’t refuse or they’ll move into your basement!” 

“You can usually find them buried in the ground,” Coco supplied as they exited the house. “Happy digging, doyoing!” 

Sara pulled a shovel out of her pouch. “Good thing I bought this. Timmy said to look for star-shaped patterns on the ground to dig up.” 

“Like this one?” Milo pointed to one in the shade of a tree, then stepped on it out of curiosity. The ground immediately collapsed, leaving Milo stuck up to his waist in a hole. 

Sara promptly dropped her shovel and pulled Milo out. “Let’s avoid stepping on them in the future,” she suggested. 

“Mweee, Fortuna is so amazing!” Merry exclaimed. “And I love that we’re near a bridge! This is going to be inspirational for my sketching, I can tell!” 

The two cats had decided they wanted to be near a river, so Melissa and Lottie led them back to Fortuna. Once they’d scouted out a location, Lottie handed Melissa a small electronic device. “That’s a portable catalog,” Lottie explained. “It makes things a lot easier so we don’t have to deal with the hassle of moving in by hand. Maybe you could give it a go?” 

“Um, sure?” Melissa slid a stylus out of a side hole and tapped it, and a screen with several notes that Lottie had taken earlier popped up. “So an artsy room to sketch for Merry, and an aquarium for Kiki?” 

“I couldn’t leave Finn behind,” Kiki mumbled. “He’d be lonely without me.” 

Melissa raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Finn?” 

“Her goldfish!” Merry exclaimed. “He’s not a good subject. At all. Keeps trying to hide every time I try to draw him. Humph!” 

“Residents have a few keepsakes when they move,” Lottie explained. “You’ll have to include them while designing a room. Now, we’ll begin with the exterior. Let the magic happen!” 

“I know you’ll pick something so us, Melissa!” Merry cheered. Kiki simply gave a thumbs up. 

“It’s your house. You sure you don’t want to choose?” Melissa asked. 

They shook their heads, so Melissa decided to go with the simple medium house. She tapped the option with the stylus, and a house immediately sprung into existence. She blinked in surprise. “Okay, that’s cool. So if you guys can build a house like this, which wouldn’t even take an hour, what was with the construction crew at Milo’s this morning?”

“Oh, we always manually build the mayor’s home,” Lottie waved a paw dismissively. “Other than the Plaza, the mayor’s home should always be representative of the town! The process we’re going through right now makes it easier on the animals. This way, they’ll be ship-shape for town life straight away!”

Melissa picked out the gray brick roof and white chalet exterior. Some of the options were...interesting, for lack of a better word. Some were too bright on the eyes, others looked as though they wouldn’t hold up the house at all. 

And just who in their right mind wanted their house to be made out of cardboard? 

Two mailboxes, both decorated with cat paw prints, were placed on both sides of the door. “You’re so good at this design thing!” Merry exclaimed. 

“I guess you wouldn’t believe me if I said this was my first time,” Melissa said. 

“Thanks for the Poltergoid!” Coco exclaimed, lovingly placing her new Gyroid, which wailed like a ghost at regular intervals, next to the rest of her collection. “Here’s a gift! I hope you’ll associate this with me from now on!” 

Milo stored the leaf in his backpack. “No problem, Coco! Just let me know if you need any more favors!” Sara only waved. 

Coco bowed politely as they exited her house. “Before we get started on the last favor, I’d like to get these fossils to the museum,” Sara said. “I am literally carrying the rib cage of a dinosaur right now. All I need is an explorer’s hat so I can act like Fern in the Mesozoic Panic arc. By the way, what did Coco give you?” 

“A skeleton,” Milo said. “I’m not sure where she managed to find one of those.”

“Dug it up like we did with the fossils?” Sara suggested. “We need to stop speculating. Crossing Valley is more confusing than attempting to pace out the entire Dr. Zone timeline across all continuities.”

“It’s the best thing you can do!” a voice sung. Milo opened the door to the museum a little, peeking in through the crack. Sara leaned over his backpack, giggling quietly. Inside, Zack and Blathers had apparently taken a break from cleaning the lobby and were now jamming out to The Bettys. Zack in particular was really into the song, using a broom handle as a microphone and dipping it as his hips swished from side to side. 

Milo pushed the door open all the way. “Hi, Zack! I like your song cover!”

“Get ready for the Bettys, cause the Bettys are ready for-MILO!” 

Zack looked like a deer in the headlights, going wide-eyed when he spotted Milo clapping, then slammed a fist on the stop button of the radio. He dropped the broom and kicked it out of sight, chuckling nervously. 

Blathers tried to regain his professional demeanor, straightening his bow tie with a wing. “Welcome to the Fortuna Museum!” he said awkwardly. 

“You didn’t see anything!” Zack exclaimed. “I wasn’t singing to an all female pop rock band!” An album for the Bettys fell out of his pocket. “I have no idea who the Bettys are!” 

“Actually we came by because we found two fossils,” Sara said. “But the show was pretty great too.” 

Blathers’ eyes lit up. “Hoo! Give them to me so that I can identify them please!” Sara obliged and pulled a large ribcage and what appeared to be an ancient sea creature out of her pouch.  “Hoo, and double hoo, we certainly don’t have an ammonite in our collection yet! These ancient creatures lived in the Devonian period, and are thought to be one of the oldest ancestors of mollusks today! Quite interesting! And they survived up until the extinction of the dinosaurs. Hardy, yes. Very hardy. Oh, there I go running my beak.” 

“Don’t ask about the rib cage,” Milo said. Zack closed his mouth. 

“And this T-rex torso is marvelous to behold! King of beasts, indeed! Though it pales in comparison to quite a few sea creatures, a fact sadly forgotten nowadays. But, 40 feet is still an impressive length!” Blathers stored both fossils in his wings. “I’ll be sure to get these up faster than Gracie can spot an imperfection! Thank you for your generous contribution!”

“So, we’re forgetting about a few minutes ago, right?” Zack asked. 

Melissa felt her phone vibrate with a message, so she paused in trying to figure out the best placement for a pufferfish TV set to check it. “Sara sent me a video message,” she explained as the other girls crowded around her to see the video. 

She hit play and the screen enlarged to show Zack and an owl dancing to the Bettys. The camera quivered slightly as she and Milo tried to stifle their giggles. 

Merry and Kiki burst into high-pitched laughter. “He’s so cute when he gets caught,” Merry said breathlessly. 

Melissa smirked. “He’s not living this one down. Ever.”

[followthatfreckle]

It's the circle of lifeeeeeee

Tanzania day 2 This country rocks!! I really do love it. I wouldn't have thought that there would be a big difference between the two counties, but there is. It's just so beautiful here! We got up early this morning, had breakfast, and then left for a morning game drive back through Tarangire national park. I didn't mention yesterday that this park is 1,100 square miles and is the 6th largest park in Tanzania. There are so many parks it would be impossible to see them all. It was a little chilly to start off, and the animals were shy at first, but they finally made an appearance. We saw some Cape buffalo herds, and then we saw a few lonely ones. We learned that the ones by themselves have become too old and the young males chase them away. It's not wonder they are grouchy. I would be too if some young whippersnapper came and kicked me out of the family. Out in the distance we saw a male lion. Oh wait, two male lions. Oh, that's a lie, make it THREE brothers. They were walking and then just plopped down in a perfect row, not far from some of the aforementioned buffalo. It was amazing. Yeah, I wish they would have been closer, but still. There they were, making the same face, sitting in the same pose. Sitting in their natural habitat. Freaking cool! We drove a little further and saw a herd of elephants. I probably have 800 pictures of elephants. They are just so interesting to watch. We learned that the female leads the herd, I mean, duh. We also got to watch the leading lady dig a hole in a dried up waterbed so her baby could suck the water out from below. Apparently elephants can sense water from super far away AND they essentially walk on their tippy toes even though they are massive!! We could have sat there and watched them all day. You can learn so much from just sitting across the road from them. A Dik Dik! A what? Yeah, I typed that correctly. It's the smallest little deer you ever did see. Let me hit you with a couple of super romantic facts that Wolfy gave us. He said it with such charm too that you can't help but love these little guys. Anyways, Dik Diks mate for life. So, they travel just the two of them together. When the female uses the restroom, the male does his business right on top of hers so other males can't detect her and try to steal her away. They also have a gland under their eye that helps them trick predators. I think it has a laser beam in it or something... just kidding. It does secrete some nasty stuff they can rub on tree branches though. What cute, strange little creatures! We also saw more elephants! Shocker. However, these ones were right by the road and some of the young males were having a fun little battle. They fought for a little bit and then one must have gotten tired because he just flopped right down on the ground. Apparently they don't tend to do that because they weigh so much, so we can add it to the list of cool animal behaviors we have seen here! Wow, it's not even noon yet! We drove for a bit and then our guide pulled over so we could try the red banana that grows in this region. Does it taste different than a normal, yellow banana? No. It's just cool because it's small and red. Like me! To break up the drive we stopped at a place just outside the conservation area so people could pee and spend money. Those seem to be the two most popular reasons to stop. The big thing to buy here is tanzanite. Obviously, we are in Tanzania, so a few of the girls bought some rings and such. I struggled here today because I couldn't get myself to buy one and I just can't wrap my head around it sometimes. Did I not buy one because I'm a cheapskate, or did I not buy one because I didn't want one? I'm really proud of myself. I paid for my own trip. I pay for all my own things, but some people get it so easy. They don't have to pay and they get gifts on top of that! I don't want to say I'm jealous, because there is a strong sense of pride for being able to do what I do, but sometimes it just sucks. So I went to sit with all the non-shoppy people and eat french fries and hang out. If I want something next time around I just have to buy it! Lesson learned :) We had a little bit more of a drive to the entrance of Ngorongoro conservation area. We don't get to go down into the crater for a few more days, today we just tickle the rim as we head to the Serengeti. We stopped for a quick break to grab a coffee or some souvenirs while the guides bought our tickets. They have a big model of the crater (actually a caldera) in there with a bunch of the animals you can see. We have seen all of them but one. I couldn't even believe it. We have to see a serval cat in the next couple of days! In Swahili it's a mondo which is pretty fun to say, so I hope we see one. Maybe I miss my kitties at home! Upon entering the park we saw a bunch of baboons. There were even a few baby ones. They look too much like hairy human babies for my liking, but they also have this strange cuteness to them. They just sit and lick fleas off of each other and they definitely don't care if you watch. We definitely watched! The drive around the caldera is amazing. Looking down into it doesn't seem real, but obviously it is. It will be even more exciting to do a game drive through it in a couple of days. Anyways, we stopped to learn about why this area is the cradle of mankind. We saw fossils and bones and stuff that date back way before my time! Students still come to this area every year searching for stuff and they continue to find it! We were way shorter back then, but them and I have the same size of feet. My little feet have come up too much on this trip. Lucy is the name of the first person they put together, so I essentially got to meet her. There are 7 visible layers of sediment in the gorge where they believe a lake used to be millions of years ago. It was pretty interesting if you're into evolution and history and that sort of thing. If you want more info the place is called Olduvai Gorge. It was misnamed, however, as they meant to say Oldupai. You can google it! After this it was finally off to the Serengeti! There are two gates into the Serengeti from the conservation area. The first gate was where we saw our first freshly circumcised Masai warrior. You can tell they just went through it because they have painted their faces white and they have to leave for 6 weeks while it heals. Shows strength or something. It's also a great chance for them to charge you to take their picture. The park isn't enclosed, but the whole perimeter is marked with white pillars so the Masai know they can't pass. No one can live in the park, but the animals are free to come and go as they please! Serengeti is the Masai word for endless plains, and it definitely lives up to its name. It's hard to believe anything can survive here because it is so dry. There were little gazelles grazing on something though. They apparently eat the new shoots of grass to get food and water. Smart, but we just can't see it. We also saw some zebra out there, but really not too much life. We hit the second gate a little bit further in, and this is where you pay and all that jazz. We had a cheers with a beer while our guides bought our tickets! What a nice way to start another great journey! We entered the park and what did we see first? A warthog. Also a Corey Bustard bird. Then, 3 lions napping under a tree. All within 10 minutes of entering the park. This place is going to be epic! I mention the bird because it sounds like they are saying bastard, which it technically should be named because they abandon their babies. I don't much care for birds usually, but these countries have had some really cool ones. The lion king rock is real, guys! I saw it! Ever since then I have had all the songs stuck in my head. The sun was peeking through the clouds in a very magical way also. So I would consider today a win. Driving to our new hotel in the park we also saw quite a few hyenas. We saw some elephants and the usual subjects and then an excellent sunset. We arrived at the hotel just after dark and it's another pretty cool one. I could get used to the 5 star life, but I don't think my checkbook could. We are getting up tomorrow for another game drive and I'm super excited to see what the Serengeti is all about!! Until then!