#ohio posting

[clove-pinks]

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I really live in America's War of 1812 heartland and I can hardly believe it.

I was looking up how to get to a local furniture store, and right there on the Google map of the Greater Black Swamp Metropolitan Area it says HULL'S CROSSING. Like where General William Hull raised an army to invade Canada in the War of 1812!! omg!!

[hissmajestyenjoyer]

just saw someone wearing a HTDIO shirt & infinity hat at the train station while literally listening to the cast recording i'm gagged !!

[the-starlight-papers]

YALL I CANT EVEN MAKE THIS UP AT THIS POINT I WENT TO CHECK INTO THE HOTEL AND THE ATTENDANT JUST STARES AT ME FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN JUST GOES

“oh are you here to check in? Sorry, someone just came through that looked just like you.”

IM SORRY WHAT???

[yopinky]

Why they got to give the biggest thots the biggest gyatts 😳😳

[redstonedust]

[perfectly-honest]

[anagolem]

i think ohio is the scariest state to be left alone at in the dark because if you go to Arizona or Minnesota or Texas, and your alone in the dark, you’re going to be mauled by some coyote or a big cat or a big dog, or a murderer or a really fucked up guy but in Ohio you are the most likely to be found by the creature, and it’s possibly worse than being attacked by any feasible animal and when the creature comes, it doesn’t just come for you. It comes for your family all your loved ones you are beholden to a curse where anyone who utters your name is taken by the creature. and they blame the curse on you. it was you who incited the creature to commit these atrocities . and it’s all your fault.

but yeah, basically that’s what happens when you are left alone in the dark in Ohio

[midwestern-civilization]

first election in a while where my state didn't disappoint me

[sierrasheep]

I just think the mountains would fix me

[definitelynotdamon]

credit to @mayorlovecraft on tiktok

[clove-pinks]

Is there anything about your new location (the terrain, the local culture, the physical sites, etc) that has given you a new perspective on regional events of the War of 1812?

This a wonderful ask, thank you! I have been mulling over how to answer it all day! This ended up getting so long I put it behind a cut (I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS).

The Maumee River, as seen from Fort Meigs Historic Site.

One thing new in my life is a heightened awareness of important rivers facilitating the movement of trade, supplies, and settlement. Particularly in the Old Northwest/current Midwest of the USA: regions that I grew up perceiving as a land-locked "flyover country."

Like, to give one example, I had a vague idea that there was a city called Fort Wayne, Indiana, but I thought it was just in the middle of a cornfield for no reason(?). But actually it's at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee Rivers, leading to the Great Lakes! The strategically important location is why General Anthony Wayne—that guy again—built the original fortification in 1794. I am downriver of all of this, connected to many inland waterways.

I also have a keen sense of living in the Great Black Swamp, despite how dramatically the land has been transformed by deforestation and drainage. There are the terrifying drainage ditches everywhere (the locals seem less perturbed by them), and many other signs of the natural state of the terrain—the swamp is just barely at bay. My coworkers have said "Black Swamp" unprompted in our conversations; I've seen it mentioned in local Facebook groups talking about the need for back-up sump pumps. The idea that people of northwest Ohio have no sense of history and are unaware of the Great Black Swamp isn't true at all.

I look at the pools of water that form in every hollow and think of the words of Alfred Lorrain, marching to Fort Meigs:

We had frequently to pass through what was called, in the provincialism of the frontiers, "swales"—standing ponds—through which the troops and packhorses which had preceded us had made a trail of shattered ice. Those swales were often a quarter of a mile long. They were, moreover, very unequal in their soundings. In common they were not more than half-leg deep; but sometimes, at a moment when we were not expecting it, we suddenly sank down to our cartridge-boxes.

Swale is a new word in my vocabulary, and now I see them everywhere!

Culturally, I think there is a great appreciation of history here: a very positive difference from the Chicagoland area. Even if the average local is probably not deeply into it, they have a consciousness of major historical events that have shaped their region and take pride in it. It's a lot more like New England that way.

Because of my focus on the War of 1812, I notice the absence of Indigenous people and voices—absent from historical accounts and from the demographics of Perrysburg and its environs today. I can't single out Ohio as being a uniquely violent settler-colonial state when this is ALL of the United States; but it hits different when I have this much greater familiarity with who was forcibly removed from this land, and how. The same US military leaders who fought in the War of 1812 were behind the (very much related) campaign for the removal of Native Americans from newly acquired territories, including the infamous Trail of Tears.

Once again, it's probably hypocritical for me to notice this so much, when I literally grew up on Wampanoag land where King Philip's War was fought, but here I am. Suddenly aware of General Wayne's name on everything, etc.

General Wayne's spurs in the Fort Meigs Museum. Not pictured: the can of Maumee Bay Brewing Co. Fallen Timbers Ale that I am currently drinking.

I haven't had the chance to explore physical sites with historical significance beyond Fort Meigs and Fallen Timbers. I know I will get to the ruins of Fort Miamis soon, and I really want to explore a lot of wetlands in local parks and nature preserves (that will double as birdwatching excursions). I am always thinking about what this place looked like 200 years ago, and what I can see today that might still look familiar to a person from that time.

I had a great trip to the National Museum of the Great Lakes today, which is closer than I thought! Local maritime museums are also on my agenda, even if they're not specifically War of 1812-related.

[nintendont2502]

I'm gonna be a little bitch for a second GOD it's so so so fucking exhausting being a non USAmerican online. Like. Jesus fucking christ the levels of defaultism are just,,,, god. The 'default' audience for every post is Americans. American pop culture is universal obviously, and god forbid you bring up a show from your own country because no ones ever watched that! The millions of kids in your country don't count clearly. When American places are mentioned it's always Town, State, Country, but when anywhere else is mentioned you're lucky to get State, Country, or the closest major city if you're really lucky. Fahrenheit and MM/DD/YY and American spellings dominate even though they're the only country that uses them. People constantly talk about how x and y 'breaks the law'. They mean American laws, because those are obviously universal. American news and American politics are everywhere. You *have* to care about this. If you don't, you're a monster. The only time my country makes it is when we're literally burning to the ground, and even then they don't even touch the political side of things. Even international incidents somehow get brought back to America - call your representative (I dont have one). Go to these protests (they're on the other side of the world). Sign this petition (it's for US residents only). Im going to go insane.

[yopinky]

Most lobotomy ass t4t ship ever and I’m 260.72% here for it🤬🤬

[wintersmitth]

The problem is we can't even say we hate russians because we'll get lectured on fucking xenophobia and racism and when you are pointing out hey I actually live in conditions where I could die any single day, in excitingly violent ways you can't imagine, maybe I get the right to be angry and a lil bit irrational (altho I do believe you have to be a masochistic to like russians now) while my friend is sitting in the safety of the hall while her city is being shelled, you point this out, and they go Well still you can't hate them all, they don't support russia and anyway it is #NotAllRussians. And then you show the numerous screenshots what the not all russians write on social media, how gleeful they are etc etc. And you still get told same bullshit?? It genuinely makes me want to tear my hair out. We have to be perfect fucking little victims, quiet, polite, not too demanding, not hateful, nothing. We just gotta take it.

While russians don't get anything. Just unfair cancelling I guess.

[boombox-fuckboy]

Don't know anyone here? Pick one and go listen!

Am I missing your favourite? Are they from a horror? Let me know!

Where is Sister Carpenter? She is too powerful and would skew the results. But rest assured, she will be appearing in an upcoming poll.