#we all have tshirts with you guessed it floyd on them

[sock-ness-monster]

Excuse is granted. Please. I beg of you. Infodump away

Thank you so much I love telling people about this guy

So, to preface this, I'll be telling this story exactly how it was told to me by our camp counselor at a Caveing camp I went to, so it's very much an oral history that maybe can't be fact checked but the broad strokes are genuinely 100% true

TRIGGER WARNINGS: DEATH, DARKNESS, CLAUSTROPHOBIA, GRAVE DESECRATION, CRICKETS

Now that that's out of the way (and please mention if there's any other TW's I should add) the story of

Floyd Collins, The Man Who Was Buried Six Times

This story begins in Kentucky in 19very early, a young Floyd was plowing his family's field when he suddenly dropped through the ground and discovered an unknown cave system. Super cool! Now, people back then did not have television, keep in mind, so caves were really big deals and they were a brand new and lucrative tourist escapade. Floyd's family seized the idea and quickly made a little tourist attraction out of it and started raking in the dough. But they weren't the only ones who had a cave you could tour, Kentucky's geology is super unique in that it has tons of limestone and sandstone which is perfect for underground rivers to carve cool caves out of. They are everywhere in Kentucky and the surrounding area, there was a lot of competition for who had the best, the biggest, the longest cave. And Floyd and his brothers were seized by cave fever and were exploring all around looking for new tunnels and chambers. A large part of this business, unfortunately, was not just walking people through the caves but was letting them take home souvenirs. People could carve their names in the wall, take a stalagmite or stalactite or whatever cool rock they found. Destroying the sensitive ecosystem of the caves. Floyd, the cool dude that he was, was one of the only people who was against this at the time. Good for him! Salamanders are important!

Anyway, Floyd and his brothers are always on the lookout for new opportunities, and there were tons in that area. But, not all of them would pan out. Floyd had heard rumblings about a new cave system called Sand Cave that wasn't far from his family's original cave, which by now had been dubbed Crystal Cave. It didn't seem that promising to most, but Floyd was hoping it actually connected to Crystal cave, and they could tack on so many feet to how big their cave was. So he set off to see if he could find a connection.

He had been surveying the cave for a few hours, and decided to call it quits. He was crawling through a tight tunnel upwards toward the opening of the cave when a rock slide pinned his ankle down tight. He was laying flat with his hands reaching upwards, and there was no way for him to reach back behind him to free his ankle.

He had gone on this expedition without telling anyone.

This was the first time he got buried.

Three days pass, and his brother Homer finally finds him. He tries everything he can think of to free floyd, to no effect. Realizing that this may be a bigger endeavor than he can pull off, he crawls back out to go and find help. It is January of 1925, what else is there to do but go to the newspaper? They publish the story of the man trapped in a crawl way, and it's a huge hit!? People are fascinated by Floyds predicament. They want to help, they want to see, they want to know more. It even makes it on the radio! The three biggest news stories of the time were

1) the war (oof)

2)Charles Lindbergh (will come up again later)

And 3) Floyd in the hole

Everyone in America is anxious to find out how they rescue Floyd. "They" being everyone from the local cave experts to the military corps of engineers to the freakin freemasons, they're all trying to figure out how to free Floyd. Who, ya know, is just chillin in the cave, because caves stay at a constant temperature of ~54° , not too bad for January. His brothers and a reporter take turns crawling down to deliver him the three essentials; food, whiskey, and news. The reporter, "Skeets" Miller, would later win a Pulitzer Prize for his correspondence with floyd in the shaft. Now, as mentioned before, it is a cold and snowy January, but people (nearly 10,000 according to some reports) are so fascinated by the goings on at Sand Cave that they travel from far and wide to be there at the triumphant moment when Floyd emerges. Weeks have gone by at this point. Radio stations are reporting every day, Charles Lindbergh is hired to take photographs of the terrain from above. It's like a big party up top.

They camp out around the cave mouth.

They build fires for food and warmth.

The snow melts.

The cold water trickles down into the cave.

Floyd....... starts to cough.

The cave's already sketchy structure is further compromised.

There's another rock slide.

Floyd is now cut off from contact with the up side world, and the engineers panic and go with a last ditch effort they had been debating beforehand. They can't go around they can't go behind, the only path left was straight down. They drill a hole that reaches the 150 feet from daylight to Floyd's prison. They are too late. He was estimated to have died three to four days before they reached him. His leg is still stuck, and half his face has been consumed by cave crickets. And they just.....leave him there. Whatreyagonnado they shrug, he's already gone we can stop now. They fill in the shaft again.

This is the second time Floyd is buried.

Homer, his closest brother, can't accept this as his final resting place. A few weeks later, they un block the hole and carry Floyd to their family's funeral plot and have a small service with just his closest friends and family present.

This is the third time Floyd Collins is buried.

A few years go by, and the Collins family sells their farm and cave. Unfortunately, they did not see the part of the deed that entitled the new owners to everything in and under the property. Floyd's body is now legally theirs. He is exhumed and placed on display in a glass coffin in Crystal Cave (which years and years later would eventually be proven to connect to Sand Cave).

This is the fourth time Floyd is buried.

If you haven't pieced it together yet, caves were a pretty big deal. We now enter a time in Kentucky history known as the Cave Wars, and they are brutal. How brutal, you ask? Well, to answer with one scenario that happens to be related to this story, the owners of nearby cave were jealous of the attention Crystal Cave was getting from their cool exhibit of Floyd's body, against his family's wishes. Why, the only logical thing to do is steal the man's body and throw it off a cliff. Crystal Cave's new owners would recover it, though minus the left leg. And the next logical thing of course is to put him back on display but this time with a bunch more chains.

This is the fifth time Floyd Collins is buried.

Then, the 60s roll around and Crystal Cave and Floyd are purchased by the National Parks Service on the grounds of being connected to the Mammoth Cave System (the longest cave system in the entire world now). Floyds family is still fighting for his body, and in the 80s they finally get their wish. Floyd is removed from the cave in a 15 day trip and buried at a real cemetery again.

This, is the sixth time he is buried.

A pillar is constructed in honor and perhaps in reparations to all he's gone through, but it is struck by a semi truck and demolished less than a week after its unveiling.

Floyd.......went through a lot. All he ever wanted to do was see some cool rocks and support his family. And to this day, cavers do their best to do right by him. When entering Mammoth Cave, they often ask the darkness to look after them. They aren't talking to the darkness, of course, that darkness that can never be described properly. They are talking to Floyd. Asking him to watch over them as they wish he had someone to watch over him. In the caves everyone is above you, but that's not what they mean. And when they hear a whistle through the tunnels, they like to imagine it's Floyd. Floyd, who was right. The cave was so much more than people thought, in so many different ways. To this day, there's a saying in the caveing community.

"Floyd Lives"

It's like the geology version of "Eddie Would Go". As long as we carry on his legacy of exploring bravely, daring to go where noone has gone before, and do our best to preserve the natural beauty and habitat of the caves, floyd will live on. Floyd lives in our memories and hearts and the drips of water that will one day be pillars.

I don't really know how to end this. Here's a picture of the man himself;

(the picture above is not the tunnel he was trapped in, to be clear)

#cave camp had just such a peofimf impact on me omg #the best week of my whole life #and to think i almost chickened out the night before leaving #i still keep in contact with those guys #we all have tshirts with you guessed it floyd on them #floyd collins #caves #geology #stories #humanity #infodump #*profound i meant #claustrophobia tw #buried alive tw #darkness tw #longish post

[jhoudiey]

Did something cute for Floyd's first father's day with Mido! 🥺🥺🥺 Chaos fam owns my whole frickin life. No warnings 1700 words

Floyds hands searched the cold sheets where he’d normally find his wife and daughter sleeping and let out a groan. It was father’s day and they’d left without even waking him up to say good morning. He rolled in bed pouting hoping they would come back, but after half an hour decided to go look for them himself. He didn’t want to spend the day alone, that wouldn’t be any fun at all. He picked a tshirt off the floor and smelled it, he’d only worn it a few times so it was perfectly fine to wear again, the stains on the front barely visible. 

The door creaked loudly as he opened it, startling one of the castle staff as he cleaned.

“Good morning Leech-san” he nodded, continuing to dust the ornate frames that adorned the walls. 

“Do you know where Yoru and Mido went?” 

The man shook his head with an apology, bowing slightly before moving along down the corridor. A grin crept across Floyd’s face, maybe they’d disappeared to set up a game of hide and seek. He had always liked to chase them. Floyd laughed and took off running down the hall towards the library. Yoru was fond of books, back at NRC he’d found her hidey hole on top of the shelves and crashed her study sessions often. She was probably teaching Mido the best way to hide amongst the stacks. When he arrived it was silent, as a library normally was. He spied the boring bunny girl from Yoru’s old school at one of the tables and ignored her. Mido wasn’t capable of staying quiet this long, they weren’t here. He tore off down the hallway again, the library door closing quietly on it’s hushed frame. 

“Aha!” He shouted, throwing open the door to the aviary, frightened birds flying from their perches indignantly. No Yoru or Mido here either, if they were surely Mido would have cheered at the flight of so many birds at once. He stopped for a moment in the doorway as the birds slowly returned to their places, grinning once more. He knew where they’d be. 

Floyd heard them before he saw them as he crept quietly down the hallway to the kitchen. 

“Hey Mido-chan, do you think your papa will want some of these?” a dry shake of some sort of ingredient rattled in it’s container.

“YAAAAAAA!!!!” a wet slapping sound and a giggle. 

Yoru was facing away from him as he tiptoed into the kitchen behind her, Midori sitting on the counter, the bowl of what he assumed was breakfast in front of her as she slapped her tiny hands into it, laughing when it oozed over her tiny webbed fingers. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and though he pressed his finger to his lips to ask her to keep his presence a secret she threw her hands in the air and shouted

“PAPA!!!!” before he could get into scaring range. Yoru turned to him with a smile, spatula in hand. She was wearing the tacky ‘kiss the cook’ apron Lilia had gotten her for Christmas and he was happy to oblige. He wrapped his arms around his wife and leaned on her, resting his chin on the top of her head. 

“Ne Yoru, I thought you went somewhere without me” he pouted, watching Midori slap the batter as hard as she could manage before plunging her arms in as deep as they would go. Yoru shook her head

“We wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but these are harder to make than I thought”

Floyd looked at the counter top in front of them. Yoru had a recipe book open, the words “Pyroxene’s Pancake Perfection!” blazing across the top of the page. He scanned the ingredients list… nothing weird here that would be difficult… then looked at the counter. The regular ingredients were present, however Yoru, for whatever reason had decided to add to the recipe, despite never having successfully cooked anything without instruction. She was nearly as bad as Lilia without supervision. 

“...Yoru...did you put the whole egg in?” he asked, noticing the white flakes floating around Midori’s fingers

“Hmmm? Yea. Mido liked the crunch and how the yolk came out so I put a few in there”

“...A few?” He dropped his head beside hers to stare into her face as he teased her. “How many is a few?”

Yoru stuck her tongue out at him and placed another in the bowl in front of Midori, now screeching at the top of her lungs in excitement.

“CRUMSH! CRUMSH! CRUMSH!” Midori shouted as she crushed the egg into runny batter.

“Ahahhaha these are going to be reaaaally~ gross” Floyd chuckled, dipping a finger into the bowl. “Here, try it!” He smeared his hand across Yoru’s face with a laugh as she laughed and struggled to get free of his embrace. 

“Ooops sorry, missed your mouth, lemme try again” Floyd reached his whole hand into the bowl as Midori cheered and tried to feed Yoru a handful of the eggy batter. To his delight, some of it actually made it into her mouth, but she bit his hand so most of it slopped down her apron. 

“Oh hey! We made this for you…” Yoru struggled against Floyd, he gripped her wrists as she struggled to get handfuls of the batter to pay back the favour “You should eat it too!”

“Nah I don’t wanna, I told you they look like they’ll be gross”

“PAPA! YUMMY!” Midori laughed, pancake batter dripping from her mouth as she patted his hands with hers. She tried to stand but was unsteady on her little bird feet, the edge of the bowl wobbling as she tried to use it for balance. 

“Mido-chan~ don’t eat that kay?!” He let go of Yoru’s struggling hands and reached for her as she toppled face first into the bowl. “Hey Mido-chan, you okay?!” He pulled Midori out of the mixture, the smile on her face nearly reaching her ears. 

“WET! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” She reached for Floyd and he hugged her against the side of his face, Midori finally dealing the pancake mixture deathblow Yoru hadn’t been able to manage. She was drenched in it. It dripped off of her all over his face and hair, dripping down passed them both and landing on Yoru. The kitchen staff found the three of them laughing hysterically locked in an embrace, scooping whatever they could from the nearly empty bowl onto each other's heads. 

“Leech-san. Crowley-san. Midori-chan. We need to prepare for lunch now… would you please relocate your…” They looked in horror at the mess they had made of the kitchen “...whatever this is somewhere else. We’ll handle the cleaning, please just leave us to it” 

“WADDEBER! WADDEBER!” Midori shouted, squeezing Floyds cheeks to have him make faces at the staff

“Aha! ...You know.. Waddeber kinda sounds like water…. LET'S GO SWIMMING! COME ON!” He pulled away from Yoru and grabbed her wrist, cradling Midori to his chest as he ran out of the kitchen, dragging Yoru behind them cackling like a madman. He ran them to the lake, only letting go of Yoru’s hand when he ran to the edge of the dock and jumped, Midori still safely wrapped in his arms. Their laughter was cut off when they sunk below the surface of the water. Yoru sighed and carefully climbed down the ladder at the dock, she didn’t want to get her wings too wet otherwise they’d be damp for hours. She was one rung away from the surface when Floyd rose from the depths below her and pulled her in completely. 

“WADDER WADDER!” Midori shouted as she swam in circles around them. She’d been swimming ever since she was born and loved it. Floyd reached his hand out and caught her to wipe the remnants of their breakfast out of her hair. Yoru did the same for Floyd as he looked after their daughter. When Midori was finally pancake-batter-that-was-mostly-egg free, Floyd turned to Yoru and helped her wash the sludge out of her hair. 

“Wow Yoru, you’re really bad at eating, you got it everywhere!” She glared at him but had to suppress her grin as he scrubbed at the stubborn egg. 

“MAMAAAAAAAAAAAA” Midori shouted as she zoomed towards the pair of them, hands full of seaweed. “LOOK BREADFIST!” She placed the tendrils gently into Yoru and Floyds hands as they offered them and dived back into the lake to get more. 

“Oh. I guess we didn’t actually eat did we?” 

“Nope, oh! There’s that restaurant on main street that said they had special waffles today! We should go! I’ll get Mido!” Floyd dived under the water, surfacing seconds later with his laughing daughter on his shoulders. She had somehow dug up a clam and was trying to pry it open on his head. 

“Come on Mido-chan! Let’s go get waffles! Hold on tight!” She cheered and threw the clam back into the water with a splash, tightly wrapping her arms around his forehead to secure herself. He waited for Yoru to climb up the ladder before following behind to begin the walk to the village. They arrived at the restaurant shortly after it opened before a line had managed to form. The staff stared wide-eyed at the three of them, laughing and sopping wet, dripping water all over the ornate carpet. 

“Table for three, please” 

***

Later that evening Floyd found himself laying in bed, Midori fast asleep sprawled out across his chest. 

“Hey Yoru?” He hummed quietly as she joined them in bed. 

“Hmmm?” She cuddled against him with her head on his shoulder, her hand draped across his chest to hold onto Midori’s tiny hand. 

“Today was really fun” Yoru looked up at him and smiled 

“It was. I love you, Floyd. Happy Fathers Day” She kissed him softly and settled back into the crook of his arm. He sighed happily and wrapped his hand around her waist, the other hooked around Midori’s other hand. He gazed down at his family affectionately, knowing he held the entire world in his arms. 

#twst oc #yoru Crowley #floyd Leech #Midori Leech #chaos fam #twisted Wonderland OC #twst #twisted wonderland #dumb and Dumber

[clumothy]

All of them :3

I deserved this.1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

Soda cans

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

Chocolate bars

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

Proooooobs cotton candy. Bubble gum loses its flavour way too fast

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

Angry, annoying, uncooperative, etc. I wasn’t a pleasing student in elementary school

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

Soda bottles

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

I’m a fan of formal wear

7. earbuds or headphones?

headphones

8. movies or tv shows?

movies

9. favorite smell in the summer?

campfires

10. game you were best at in p.e.?

badminton

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

I usually skip breakfast

12. name of your favorite playlist?

“heck” lol its fun when I yell ‘Hey Siri, shuffle heck!’

13. lanyard or key ring?

key ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

Sour Patch Kids

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

The Great Gatsby

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

leaned on one side with a leg up

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

I have a zipup pair I love

18. ideal weather?

15 ° Celsius and sunny

19. sleeping position?

face down!

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

Phone notes app

21. obsession from childhood?

I mean, Pokemon, Mario, Sonic, etc. The usuals

22. role model?

RDJ is pretty inspiring when you read his story

23. strange habits?

sleeping chest down? I’m not that strange of a person

24. favorite crystal?

Emerald

25. first song you remember hearing?

Another one Bites the Dust by Queen

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

Go for walks. I am dog.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

Stay inside. I am cat.

28. five songs to describe you?

A) Your Love - The Outfield

B) Heat of the Moment - Asia

C) Get a Ride - The Northern Hues

D) Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

E) Is it arrogant to say Iron Man - Black Sabbath?

29. best way to bond with you?

Quiet talks in low lit rooms. Sounds creepy, is fun in practice.

30. places that you find sacred?

The kitchen

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

Dress as formally as possible

32. top five favorite vines?

I’m a Giraffe, Adam!, Is that a weed?, only one thing worse than a rapist, and of course: SHAWDY I DON’T MIND!

33. most used phrase in your phone?

“That’s Fair.”

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

Avenge the Fallen

35. average time you fall asleep?

1:30 am

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

Does the Lazy Song by Bruno Mars

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

Duffel bag

38. lemonade or tea?

if its iced, tea.

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

Anything with meringue wins

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

Someone gave the special needs kids weed brownies and that was a weird day.

41. last person you texted?

You

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

I love my jacket pockets because they arent the average hand pockets but I keep my phone wallet and keys in my pants pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

leather jacket

44. favorite scent for soap?

uh. soap. Pumpkin I guess?

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

Tie between Fantasy and Superhero

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

tshirt and boxers

47. favorite type of cheese?

Dude. Cheesestrings are good. Idgaf

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

A spicy pepper

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

“When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you.”

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

God you or chaz have said something like every week that made me laugh harder than the previous thing

51. current stresses?

doggos and schoooooooool

52. favorite font?

the uh. The coca cola font is nice. Isn’t it also the ford trucks?

53. what is the current state of your hands?

a tad beat up but healing nicely

54. what did you learn from your first job?

Only give 100% of your effort if it makes you happy. If you’re giving 100% and you aren’t happy I guarantee no one cares. If you can get away with giving 60 or 70% and your boss is fine with that, awesome. Giving 100% all day every day is exhausting and if your job expects that of you it truly isn’t a good place to work. In my opinion at least

55. favorite fairy tale?

SHREK.

56. favorite tradition?

I dont really have any but I’m excited to start one or two

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

Depression, school, learning to let go of “toxic and entitled” people

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

singing, designing, thinking quick and mathematics

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

“Talley Ho!” I wanna be a pirate don’t @ me

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

A farmer. I like Stardew Valley but as an anime

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

All that is gold does not glitter - J. R. R. Tolkien

62. seven characters you relate to?

Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Link Link, Jim Halpert, Edward Elric I guess, Bilbo Baggins, and uh. uh. Shrek?

63. five songs that would play in your club?

The Malo Mart theme on repeat, we don’t need any other songs. Ever.

64. favorite website from your childhood?

Webkins and Miniclip

65. any permanent scars?

Three on my head/face, one on my stomach and probs one forming on my finger

66. favorite flower(s)?

lavender

67. good luck charms?

I love that triforce chip you got me

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

PEPPERMINT!

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

Nintendo almost owned the Sony Playstation but backed out last moment. WHOOPS.

70. left or right handed?

Right for most things but oddly left handed on other things

71. least favorite pattern?

I agree with you, pokadots suck. but especially uneven pokadots

72. worst subject?

Biology

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

spicy and sweet, like the spicy gummies i had

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

10

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

who knoooows. Proooobs at age 3?

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

Tater tots! also fries too and flavoured chips

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

A cactus. Lets get a cactus.

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

Sushiiiiii

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

School ID.

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

Jewel

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

WHATS THE DIFFERENCE

82. pc or console?

Both have perks but console mostly

83. writing or drawing?

drawing

84. podcasts or talk radio?

talk radio

84. barbie or polly pocket?

polly pocket. When i was a kid i went to this babysitter and the girls all played with Polly Pockets and I was the only guy and Polly Pockets were the same size as my Mario toys!

85. fairy tales or mythology?

Mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes?

Cookies

87. your greatest fear?

The death of those around me

88. your greatest wish?

A peaceful life with you and our friends with little to no stress

89. who would you put before everyone else?

You

90. luckiest mistake?

Breaking up with you a few years ago? Idk kinda helped our relationship in the longrun

91. boxes or bags?

Boxes

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

lamps

93. nicknames?

Clum/Clump/Clumothy and Smeef

94. favorite season?

Spring

95. favorite app on your phone?

Tumblr probably

96. desktop background?

The master sword in the korok forest

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

two.

98. favorite historical era?

Medieval!

hooooly shit that was long

#Ask