#Hines Interests

[concertphotos]

San Francisco Financial District Aerial View by David Oppenheimer Via Flickr: San Francisco Financial District aerial view - © 2024 David Oppenheimer - Performance Impressions aerial photography archives - performanceimpressions.com

[thecryptkeeper]

Identification of forms in Jean Dubuffet’s Monument au Fantôme (1977) in an installation brochure, 1983.

[impossiblekittydelusion]

Tag game? Tag game. Tell me about your most interesting scar. Mine is a dog bite from when I was very young. It Hines in my smile line and under my chin so you can't see it unless I point it out. My aunts dalamtion bit me for running in the halls and I had to get stitches.

No pressure tags @you-know-that-i-caught-it @dog55teeth @dumb-zombie-girl and anyone else that wants to join!

[genshinconfessions]

please celestia hear my genshin impact crack theory (natlan archon quest act 2 spoilers)

ok Mavuika. so your dad had blonde hair and deep red eyes? so your sister became a renowned architect five hundred years ago? interesting. now many people in Natlan don't leave, but it's not impossible to. now wouldn't it be CRAZY if Hine left Natlan after becoming an architect to get away from the, well, everything, and settled down with a nice guy in Sumeru or something. something something, line of architects, something something shoehorning my favorite dendro guy into everything, Kaveh the great great great grandnephew of Mavuika real ??? I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IT, /hj

.

[coinandcandle]

Hello, I'm the anon who asked about reading recs! I did respond back right away, but since you just asked for asks, I get the feeling Tumblr ate my ass 😄. In case it did, here it is again:

I'm trying to get my footing into witchcraft in general. I'd really like to start practicing, especially anything nature related, but I truly know nothing more than what you'd get scrolling through the tumblr tag. So I'm supposed I'm looking for a good starting place to learn my history around the practice (I know "the practice" is an incredibly broad way to describe it. But I don't know enough to be specific. I suppose anything that could give me a foundation to build from?) and something(s) that could help me dip my toes in for the first time. I've been watching everyone else swim in the pool for years, but I've never even touched the waters.

To simply put it, I'm trying to figure out the very beginning steps of witchery. I know I described everything broad and vague, but I don't really know enough to be more specific 😅

(if Tumblr didn't eat my ask and you haven't responded to my ask for any other reasons, no worries! I'm certainly in no rush)

Omg hello! No tumblr didn't eat you but I was waiting on some responses from friends who I asked for reading recs and my draft box DID eat your ask lol. Thank you for following up with my ADHD-addled ass!! <3

The good news is to start you just kinda jump in. I'm not saying throw yourself into the deep in but you can get your feet wet pretty easily.

Unfortunately during my beginner years most of the published books available were heavily soaked in Wiccan ideology which is absolutely not my vibe and not something I think people should start out with since there's a twisted history to it that you have to unwind but I see why people are attracted to it--it's structured in a way that solitary practice isn't.

I found my start online, honestly, then followed my gut to see where it took me next. All that said;

Here are some recs from me and my buddies:

Magic in the Middle Ages by Richard Kieckhefer (History)

Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby (History)

Popular Magic by Owen Davies (History)

Grimoires: A history of magic books by Owen Davies (History)

Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World by John G. Gager (History)

The Crooked Path by Kelden (Traditional Witchcraft)

13 pathways by Daniel Schulke (Occult Herbalism)

A Deed Without a Name by Lee Morgan (Witchcraft)

Of Witchcraft and Whimsy by Rose Orriculum (Witchcraft)

Grovedaughter Witchery by Bree NicGarran (Witchcraft)

Queering Your Craft by Cassandra Snow* (Witchcraft + queer)

Condensed Chaos by Phil Hine* (Chaos magic)

Outside the Charmed Circle by Misha Magdalene* (Witchcraft)

Sacred Gender by Ariana Serpentine (Witchcraft + queer)

Kitchen Table Magic by Melissa Cynova* (Witchcraft)

*Queering Your Craft and Kitchen Table Magic are that they both feel more basic, Condensed Chaos is more of a "102" type book for chaos magic specifically, and Outside the Charmed Circle is strongly Wiccan in influence but brings up some very interesting topics and ideas. (Note from Jasper)

Make sure to keep an open mind and take no one's word as law when it comes to witchcraft and magic. Take in the information and come up with your own conclusions based on your experiences! :>

Thanks to @windvexer , @stagkingswife, @jasper-pagan-witch, and @rose-colored-tarot for help with the recommendations!

Feel free to comment or reblog with your own suggestions!

[pandorasinfinity]

Hello! Saw in the tags the words chaos magick? I'm getting into Witchcraft again... after years of taking a break. Wanted to ask what books you would recommend as a baby witch? Do you tie Witchcraft with manifestation and shifting? There's so much I want to ask, oh my God.

Yes I do tie my practice into shifting! It's been altered a lot since I learned about shifting, but as I was raised by a Wiccan mother I still feel very connected to witchcraft. Except now I view a lot of it through a shifting lense. I don't feel the need to do spells as much as just manifest/shift to the desired result, you know? But a good sigil or ritual is still a fun little manifesting thing. I guess it's just all a lot less serious now in a way.

I don't really identify as a witch much anymore, which is why I usually stick with the chaos magick label, since the inclusion of a multiverse kinda threw off a lot of my beliefs. But I do still have an altar for a few Hellenic deities and I do still love that part of my life greatly. Witchcraft is my foundation from my mom so I don't think I could leave it

My main thing is tarot and channeling. I was channeling LONG before I found out about shifting and it has only gotten more focused now. Channeling myself from a few thousand years from now is my secret weapon lol. Besides that I have sigils on everything I own

I'm not sure what you would be interested in, but I will recommend some of my favorite books. Just keep in mind it's coming from a chaos magick perspective and not really Wiccan but I can also ask my mom if you are looking for something more on that side of things. Also that old white men will be sexist even when talking about magick so sometimes you just need to scratch out a line in a book and power through sadly

Manifesting/Shifting:

Parallel Universes of Self by Frederick Dodson (the best I have read so far) Reality Transurfing Steps I-V by Vadim Zeland (this one is from the POV of someone that wouldn't be likely to be into shifting and because of that he is good for skeptics because he WANTS you to be skeptic)

Chaos Magick Intro:

Condensed Chaos by Phil Hine (good intro of everything)

Tarot:

Anything by Rachel Pollack especially Tarot Wisdom. If you get anything here this is the best. Rachel Pollack (RIP) was a queen of tarot

Anything Else:

The Psychonaut Field Manual by BlueFluke - available online and is an illustrated intro to a lot of different tings like servitors and astral projection. The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford - shadow work intro but kinda from a more Christian lens so avoid if that will be too much Magical Servitors by Damon Brand - creating servitors (basically personal entities that can manifest for you)

Feel free to ask any questions! Kinda just gave an intro to myself so its easier to figure out where I am coming from and what questions I might be able to answer! I am always willing to be a resource if I am able to!

[nathantheauthor]

So since I'll be talking about slender and a lot of his proxy than former proxies very soon, I think it's a good idea to get some of the major ground rules I have for that stuff in this universe.

In fact, probably the biggest rule, with the exception of three characters all proxies included must have been made as or intended to be proxies, because there is no Creepypasta family, this does mean it's quite stricter. The three exceptions to this rule are Masky, Hoodie and Nurse Ann.

I think the most interesting concept I'm playing around with is that the Mansion itself is another famous pasta, it's another entrance and part of the No End House, and Slender is able to completely bend it to his will, allowing his proxies to leave without the usual outcomes. This explains how there's always a room for a new proxy, how no matter how far you wander you never get lost.... The mansion is adjusting and restructuring itself to aid it's denizens.

I'm not going to talk about them here, but I do offer the official so far so Canon list of proxies within this universe:

Charlie Matheson Jr.

Ashlie (kinda)

Kate The Chaser

Swain

Persolus (died of old age)

Cursor

Wildcard (oc)

Deadhead

Mr. Scars (deceased)

Slendrina

Firebrand

Masky

Hoodie

Sarah

Rouge (formerly)

The Red Artist

Nightmare Ally

Nurse Ann (formerly)

(Ticci) Toby (formerly)

Dawn

Prier

Hine

Ragdoll

Psycho Sam

Chris Meyers

Cat Hunter

Stalker

Colour

Graffiti

Weeping Forest

Hunter

Loup Noir

Hoaxton

Zora R. Hertz

Suppressor

Nor

Timber

Edwin

Butcher

Copper / Melodi

Knight

Archive (oc)

X-Virus

Amelia

Kaleidoscope Circe

Adrenaline (oc)

Lure (oc)

Ace (oc)

This list is subject to constant change and updating, and a good chunk of these are still actively being rewritten for this universe. If you want to know more, you're going to have to stick around and see what I'm doing with each of them because it is gonna be a fun surprise.

[otmaaromanovas]

I've read every single book I can find on the Romanovs but would like some help finding more books. I just found your blog and I love it!

Hello, thanks for your question. Here are some of my favourite more obscure books for those of you who have read all you can find and raided the libraries!

The Romanovs Under House Arrest: From the 1917 Diary of a Palace Priest edited by Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey 

A short, but interesting and beautifully illustrated book that translated the diaries of Archpriest Afanasy Belyaev into English. It gives an insightful look into the last few months and weeks the Romanovs spent at the Alexander Palace and their faith.

LUNCH ON THE BALCONY: Recipes from the table of Russia’s last imperial family by Helen Azar

Can you tell I'm hungry right now? This book has some nice information about the Romanov's food, showing menus they used, letters and diary entries referencing food, and recipes used in the imperial kitchen that you can try at home.

Last Years of the Court at Tsarskoe Selo Volumes I and II by Count Alexander Spiridovich, edited and translated by Katherine Alexandra Hines

A lengthy look at the Count's role as a member of court and security duties. These volumes have some interesting passages about OTMA, though they focus more on the political activities of the Romanovs.

The Forgotten Tutor: John Epps and the Romanovs by John Epps and Dr. Gabriella Land

John Epps, an English tutor to the imperial children, remains a somewhat elusive figure in literature about the Romanovs, with very little information available about him in comparison to fellow tutors Gilliard and Gibbes. I have personally found it very difficult trying to track down this book as it was published a decade ago and seems to have only had one limited print run. The extracts that I have read have been very interesting. If you're interested in OTMA's childhood and education, this book is perfect for you - but good luck finding it! :(

A Few Years Before the Catastrophe: The memoirs of Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva edited and translated by George Hawkins

A very short but interesting read directly from the recollections of Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva who looked after the children. It gives a short but enlightening look at how things were run in the nursery.

When Miss Emmie Was in Russia: English Governesses Before, During and After the October Revolution by Harvey Pitcher

This book has a more sweeping view of Russian nannies in general, but has some nice tidbits of information about OTMA's nannies, such as Margaret Eagar (though she was Irish, not English!). If you enjoyed Charlotte Zeepvat's book on royal nannies that has some great info and sources on OTMA, this is a good follow up read.

Step-daughter of Imperial Russia by Natalia Mamontova Majolier

Recollections from Natalia "Tata", Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich's beloved stepdaughter. Lots of information about growing up with Mikhail and experiencing the Revolution.

Russia, My Native Land: A U.S. Engineer Reminisces and Looks at the Present by Gregory Tschebotarioff (Chebotaryov)

Written by the son of Grand Duchess Olga and Tatiana Nikolaevna's fellow nurse and friend, Valentina Ivanovna Chebotaryova, this memoir gives a greater picture of Valentina's life by including extracts of her diary. It also has details about Gregory's experience serving in WWI.

Anastasia's Sisters: Their Diaries, Letters and Memories edited by Raegan Baker and translated by Catherine Hamel

A short book with extracts from Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Maria's writings. I always find it interesting to read different translations of the same sources and find various changes made my each translator. As always, translations rely on the translator's discretion and interpretations.

The Many Deaths of Tsar Nicholas II by Wendy Slater

This book is an academic, somewhat cold and clinical, look at the deaths of the Romanov family. The compilation of scientific analysis (though this was published in 2007, so not accurate to recent discoveries) during the middle sections is the best part of this book, as the fictionalised narrative at the start doesn't appeal to me and the analysis during the latter stages veers off focus.

The Jewel Album of Tsar Nicholas II and a Collection of Private Photographs of the Russian Imperial Family by Alexander von Solodkoff

A lovely illustrated book - if you can afford it!! This regularly sells for over $100, but is very detailed and beautiful, including high-quality full-colour copies of Nicholas' "Jewel Album" with his annotations and marvellous drawings.

My Father by Maria Rasputina

For fans of the infamous Rasputin, this glimpse into how daughter Maria perceived her father is an interesting read. Rasputin is one of the most contentious and well-researched figures in this area of history, and reading his daughter's experiences and how she viewed his healing of Tsarevich Alexei is a unique viewpoint.

The Emperor Nicholas II: As I Knew Him by John Hanbury-Williams

Major-General Sir John Hanbury-Williams provides an intimate look at life during WWI in Russia, from the perspective of his role as an English representative at Stavka. Some interesting observations about Nicholas and Alexei.

Lost Tales: Stories for the Tsar's Children by Gleb Botkin

Gleb Botkin, only seventeen, composed and illustrated this series of tales (collected here as one book) for the imperial children during their imprisonment at Tobolsk. A lovely look into Gleb's artistic skills, and the interesting parallels between his animal characters and the revolution. Not necessarily a history book, but an interesting insight into life at Tobolsk.

In case I missed any, if you search #q and #answered on my blog it will come up with a list of previous questions, a lot of which relate to reading recommendations, so you might find some more suggestions there.

For information of a compilation of primary source writings written by the Romanovs that have been translated into English, see here

Happy reading!

[doctordiscosbignaturals]

@finndiseicla lmao yeah 😅 i said almost!! so don’t get your hopes up too high, it could have been a much more interesting story than it is..

so i went in for a photo in my fem!three cosplay (pictured below) and i meant to make sure i didn’t have any lipstick on my teeth before i went in for my photo with the man himself because the lipstick i was wearing transferred reeeeeallllyyy easily and the last thing i wanted was to walk up there with lipstick on my teeth!! ya know!

so-

get up there, hi how ya doin’, he says he likes the fit, i say thank you-

side note: earlier in the day, i sat in at a panel that was him and wendy i’m p sure, and when i went up to microphone to ask a question, he said that i had beautiful eyes (💀)

so when i went in for the photo later, he recognized me from the panel, again because of my “pretty eyes” (hiswordsnotmine)

and i said: “yeah, weird way to propose but i’ll say yes anyways-“ and now as i recall this encounter i can’t believe i actually said that 🫥

BUT GET THIS:

he pretends to hold out and ring and starts to get down on one knee, not joking.

we pose, take a picture, when i suddenly realized i never did a lipstick check before i handed my bag over!!

so in a moment of panic, i turn to him and ask:

“do i have lipstick on my teeth?” (I DONT KNOW WHY, I PANICKED)

AND HIS RESPONSE IS:

“not yet” 😏 AND I SHIT YOU NOT LEANS IN LIKE 😚

and when i tell you, for the briefest of moments, i really really thought about it, but i did not want to cause trouble but in my defense, he started it!

the camera guy ended up telling me i was good, i got my photo, and my lipstick looked perfect 😌

but yeah, that’s the story of how i almost kissed frazer hines

pics for proof:

my fem!three cosplay, in all her slutty, slutty glory

^(the wig in these pics ended up being a little too game of thrones for my liking so i’ve since changed in to a shorter white wig with bangs that i don’t have pics with yet 🫥)

me and the ✨boys✨

this was the same year we all dressed up as two on the same day and just walked around the con all day causing chaos

and finally…

ta-da!!

[weezeryuri]

i highly recommend reading more into cases of fatal neglect and remembering those who died for the crime of simply existing. there were parents who looked upon these faces and decided they were too much of a burden to be allowed to have the bare minimum to survive

Braelyn’ Hines, aged 3, succumbed to neglected cystic fibrosis. she loved pizza and cocomelon and her two kittens, yoda and lucy

King Dewey, aged 3, a boy with autism and suspected Down syndrome who was left to starve in a closet. there is unfortunately no further information about his interests or personal life.

Jaxson Morrow, aged 8, an autistic boy who spent his life locked away in a room. no further info.

Amora Lou Milbourne, aged 3, a young girl with born with chromosome depletion and developmental disorders, left alone in a car to die from heatstroke. no further info.

Morgan Moore, aged 17, a young transgender man suffering from multiple sclerosis, diabetes and long covid. he was unable to walk and forced to live in a disgusting home with no medical treatment and was found dead weighing 79 lbs. he was an artist, self-taught guitarist, cook and keyboard player. he had plans to travel to Japan with his siblings.

Kadaris Maddox, aged 13, a young boy with cerebral palsy left to starve by his mother. His grandmother describes him as having had eyes like rays of sunshine and that he loved everything.

[kemetic-dreams]

First Afro-American ran for US President

“George Edwin Taylor ran for president a long time before Barack Obama.”

“Born in the pre-Civil War South to a mother who was free and a father who was enslaved, George Edwin Taylor would become the first African American selected by a political party to be its candidate for the presidency of the United States.

Taylor was born on August 4, 1857 in Little Rock, Arkansas to Amanda Hines and Bryant (Nathan) Taylor. At the age of two, George Taylor moved with his mother from Arkansas to Illinois. When Amanda died a few years later, George fended for himself until arriving in Wisconsin by paddleboat in 1865. Raised in and near La Crosse by a politically active African family, he attended Wayland University in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin from 1877 to 1879, after which he returned to La Crosse where he went to work for the La Crosse Free Press and then the La Crosse Evening Star. During the years 1880 to 1885 he produced newspaper columns for local papers as well as articles for the Chicago Inter Ocean.

Taylor's newspaper work brought him into politics--especially labor politics. He sided with one of the competing labor factions in La Crosse and helped re-elect the pro-labor mayor, Frank "White Beaver" Powell, in 1886. In the months that followed, Taylor became a leader and office holder in Wisconsin's statewide Union Labor Party, and his own newspaper, the Wisconsin Labor Advocate, became one of the newspapers of the party.

In 1887 Taylor was a member of the Wisconsin delegation to the first national convention of the Union Labor Party, which met in Ohio in April, and refocused his newspaper on national political issues. As his prominence increased, his race became an issue, and Taylor responded to the criticism by increasingly writing about African American issues. Sometime in 1887 or 1888 his paper ceased publication.

In 1891 Taylor moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa where he continued his interest in politics, first in the Republican Party and then with the Democrats. While in Iowa Taylor owned and edited the Negro Solicitor, and became president of the National Colored Men's Protective Association (an early civil rights organization) and the National Negro Democratic League, an organization of Africans within the Democratic Party. From 1900 to 1904 he aligned himself with the Populist faction that attempted to reform the Democratic Party.

Taylor and other independent-minded African Americans in 1904 joined the first national political party created exclusively for and by Africans, the National Liberty Party (NLP). The Party met at its national convention in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904 with delegates from thirty-six states. When the Party's candidate for president ended up in an Illinois jail, the NLP Executive Committee approached Taylor, asking him to be the party's candidate.

While Taylor's campaign attracted little attention, the Party's platform had a national agenda: universal suffrage regardless of race; Federal protection of the rights of all citizens; Federal anti-lynching laws; additional African regiments in the U.S. Army; Federal pensions for all former slaves; government ownership and control of all public carriers to ensure equal accommodations for all citizens; and home rule for the District of Columbia.

Taylor's presidential race was quixotic. In an interview published in The Sun (New York, November 20, 1904), he observed that while he knew whites thought his candidacy was a "joke," he believed that an independent political party that could mobilize the African American vote was the only practical way that blacks could exercise political influence. On election day, Taylor received a scattering of votes.

The 1904 campaign was Taylor's last foray into politics. He remained in Iowa until 1910 when he moved to Jacksonville. There he edited a succession of newspapers and was director of the African American branch of the local YMCA. He was married three times but had no children. George Edwin Taylor died in Jacksonville on December 23, 1925.”

Above written source=

George Edwin Taylor - 2014 - Question of the Month - Jim Crow Museum

The Brother tried and I knew all the Afro-Americans couldn't vote for him because voter suppression .

[jasper-book-stash]

So based on what I've read so far for primers on chaos magic, I recommend starting with Condensed Chaos: An Introduction To Chaos Magic by Phil Hine, THEN getting the updated and revised and expanded editions of Liber Null and Psychonaut and also Liber Kaos by Peter J Carroll.

Caveats for Condensed Chaos:

misuse of "shaman" and similar terms (none of what is brought up relates to Tungusic peoples)

written by a neurotypical white English bisexual cisgender man, and boy howdy is the neurotypical part obvious in several areas

inconsistent capitalization for concepts, and also inconsistent comma usage

definitely a product of its time and not decolonized, which is a larger problem in chaos magic as a whole

Recommended Audience for Condensed Chaos:

pop culture mages/pagans

those interested in servitors, sigils, or chaos magic more broadly

technology mages

those who want to explore Jungian psychology in magic

As for Peter J Carroll's works... Basically the same as the above, yet also way more difficult to read if you're not used to old grimoire-esque language and writing styles.

I'd still genuinely recommend all three of these, just with the reminder to raise an eyebrow at some of the claims made.

The books I still have to read on chaos magic that I currently own are Hands-On Chaos Magic: Reality Manipulation Through The Ovayki Current by Andrieh Vitimus; Creating Magickal Entities: A Complete Guide to Entity Creation by David Michael Cunningham, Taylor Ellwood, and T Amanda R Wagener; and Magickal Servitors: Create Your Own Spirits To Attract Pleasure, Power and Prosperity by Damon Brand.

Plenty of reading left for me to do on this subject.

[01sentencereviews]

2023

Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Kelly Fremon Craig)

Beau Is Afraid (Ari Aster)

The Curse, "Land of Enchantment" [S01.E01] (Nathan Fielder)

Gush (Fox Maxy) @ New Directors/New Films 2023

How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Daniel Goldhaber)

I Thought the World of You (Kurt Walker) @ Persistent Visions Program 1: Always and Only Place, MoMI

Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese) [+ its teaser trailer]

Knock at the Cabin (M. Night Shyamalan)

May December (Todd Haynes) @ Opening Night, NYFF61

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (Christopher McQuarrie) in IMAX

My Own Private Final Destination (Alexandra McVicker & Zach Donovan) @ KGB Red Room (09/13/2023)

Oppenhemier (Christopher Nolan) in IMAX 70MM

Our Home Out West (Drew Tobia)

The Outwaters (Robbie Banfitch) [+ Card Zero & File VL-624 (Robbie Banfitch)]

Passages (Ira Sachs)

Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)

Renaissance World Tour (Beyoncé) @ SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA (09/01/2023)

Saint Omer (Alice Diop)

Stop Making Sense - IMAX (Jonathan Demme)

Succession, “With Open Eyes” (Mark Mylod & Jesse Armstrong)

Sunset Boulevard (Jamie Lloyd), West End Production (10/17/2023)

The Swan (Wes Anderson) [+ Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)]

Vanderpump Rules, “#Scandoval” [S10.E15]

The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)

+++

Birth/Rebirth (Laura Moss)

Creed III (Michael B. Jordan)

The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki)

the crash sequences in Ferrari (Michael Mann)

The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)

John Wick: Chapter 4 (Chad Stahelski)

The Killer (David Fincher)

Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)

Monster (Hirokazu Kore-eda)

PARADISE LOST (Richard Hines) @ Daniel Cooney Fine Art

Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Reality (Tina Satter)

Rotting in the Sun (Sebastián Silva)

Smoking Causes Coughing (Quentin Dupieux)

SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2023

Suzume (Makoto Shinkai)

Teen Art Salon - A Protospective @ MoMA PS1

Thanksgiving (Eli Roth)

To Catch a Killer (Damián Szifron)

“Very Delta #65 "Are You A Forever Eye-Con Like Me?” (w/ Raja)”

the 3D sequences in A Woman Escapes (Blake Williams, Sofia Bohdanowicz, & Burak Çevik)

-----------------------

Performances, 2023:

Dave Bautista - Knock at the Cabin

Robert De Niro - Killers of the Flower Moon

Cole Escola - Our Home Out West

Mia Goth - Infinity Pool

Elle Graham - Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Sandra Huller - Anatomy of a Fall & The Zone of Interest

Soya Kurokawa - Monster

Guslagie Malanda - Saint Omer

Rachel McAdams - Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Julianne Moore - May December 

Natalie Portman - May December

Addison Rae - Thanksgiving 

Judy Reyes - Birth/Rebirth

Margot Robbie - Barbie 

Franz Rogowski - Passages

Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things

Kamiki Ryunosuke - Godzilla Minus One

Dominic Sessa - The Holdovers

Nicole Scherzinger - Sunset Boulevard 

Cailee Spaeny - Priscilla 

Emma Stone - The Curse

Alyssa Sutherland - Evil Dead Rise

Sigourney Weaver - Master Gardner

Sophie Wilde – Talk to Me

Teo Yoo - Past Lives

[aheathen-conceivably]

Wait, so is the school Violette’s about to go to a segregated school, especially since Abraham doesn’t know she’s mixed? Because if so then identity crisis incoming I guess 😫😥. I’ve been literally thinking about this since I saw the story post hours ago and finally worked up the courage to express my worries about Little Lottie (on anon of course).

Awww Nonny! If something is weighing on your mind always feel free to ask! I’m glad you worked up the courage to do so (even if it’s on anon 💕)

This is actually discussed in a few posts, but to give you an answer now: no, Violette will not be attending a segregated school. Although there were segregated schools in New Mexico in this period, Strangerville is not one of those. This is a purposeful choice influenced by the bounds of this story as well as the historical situation in this region of the state. If you’re interested in more background info I’ll leave it for y’all below the cut.

Also on the topic of your worries, we will be seeing Violette’s journey with her identity throughout her life. Even at an integrated school, she is in a unique position and as she grows older it’s something she becomes more and more aware of. But I appreciate your worry for our little heiress and again always feel free to reach out.

As discussed in this post, Strangerville is a figment of my imagination, but it was in-part inspired by the towns and locations throughout New Mexico where Black Americans moved throughout the 19th century as well as the Jim Crowe Era (Blackdom, New Mexico and African American History in New Mexico are both great books on this). Many of these settlers formed their own towns and communities, where others found success amidst established towns. Strangerville is meant to be one of these towns, and the Hines (our new characters) are an homage to this history.

Like much of the nation in this period, Black Americans in New Mexico faced segregation both formal and informal. As discussed in this post concerning interracial marriage, this was less extreme than in other parts of the country (and by this I should clarify that I mean legally, as the day to day situation and experience of people could look much different than what was legally permitted). This includes school segregation, which was legal but infrequently employed in New Mexico.

In 1924 the New Mexico State Legislature made it legal to establish segregated schools. However, the decision was left to the individual school districts, and the vast majority of segregated schools in New Mexico were established along the Texas border, which was a segregated state. As the Darlington-Duplanchiers are in the Northwestern part of the state, this was much less likely to happen. Further, most segregated schools were in places with large populations such as cities, while smaller regional locations (like Strangerville) continued to operate with integrated schools as they would have been pre-1924.

However it is also very necessary to note the fact that some school districts in New Mexico voted to have segregated schools for Mexican and/or Native children. As this is not a topic I have researched like the one above, I will abstain on speaking on it further, but it was an everyday reality in this part of the nation that worked in tangent with the segregation of black children in this period.

For the purposes of this story, all of the children in Strangerville attend one school and will continue to do so throughout the story. While this may be realistic for the black population in this region, it is perhaps more unlikely for Native children. Strangerville is meant to be located amongst Navajo land, so it is likely that many of these children would attend school on the reservations. However, I’m unsure how this intersects with personally owned native tracts and have chosen to give this particular fictional town one school. If anyone has insight into this I would be more than glad to hear from you!

Now all of this is not to say that the town is free from informal segregation or racism. It will not be as heavy of a theme as it was in the 1920s, as I purposefully conceived of Strangerville as a place with long history of integration and multi-ethnic history. However, we will still see some of this on a personal level, and especially insofar as Strangerville residents hold a distrust particularly for newcomers to their town.

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1846) was a prolific Canadian-American author and wildlife artist, who was also one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America. Woodland Tales is a reflection of his interests in the natural world, consisting of short stories about animals and the seasons. He split the book up into parts that he labeled as “Things to see in Springtime” or “Things to see in Wintertime,” with matching short stories. Throughout the book you can find many of his illustrations.

I was shelving something else when I found this book on accident, and I’m glad I opened it. The illustrations and stories vary between feeling like it’s something out of a fairy tale to something more scientific, such as a field guide. As a nature-lover myself, this book was a great find!

This particular edition is the 1922 printing of the book, originally published in 1921 by Doubleday, Page & Company In Garden City, N.Y. Another interesting thing about the book is the curious details I learned about Doubleday when researching it. For instance, during the relocation of the firm to Garden City in 1910, some of their operations were done out of a train station! The founder Frank Nelson Doubleday either ghost wrote or edited John D. Rockefeller’s autobiography, and he was also friends with Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling. Another interesting thing to note is that one of the company’s partners, Walter Hines Page, was also the ambassador to Great Britain during World War I. The Doubleday company and later its then president and CEO Nelson Doubleday, Jr., the grandson of the founder, owned the New York Mets baseball team from 1980-2002. What quirky little things to learn!

Beginning in the late 1980s, Doubleday began a series of mergers, becoming a  a division of Random House in 1998 and merging with Knopf Publishing Group in 2009, which today is part of Penguin Random House. I ended up learning more about the publisher than about the author or title, but that’s the rabbit hole one goes down sometimes when selecting a staff pick!

View more posts with illustrations by Ernest Thompson Seton.

View more Staff Picks!

-- Sarah W,. Special Collections Undergraduate Intern

[thecruellestmonth]

Steph & Jason fic recs

Some of the best fics featuring friendship and interactions between Jason Todd and Stephanie Brown.

"Just Another Kid" by shobogan - Stephanie is Jason's best friend. She's about to discover that she's Robin's, too. POV Steph, childhood friends AU. Very sweet, punched me in the emotions. 2013.

"Jason and Me" by David Hines, originally posted on FFN - Newly appointed Robin, Stephanie Brown investigates some old history. (Written before Robin #125.) POV Steph; published during Stephanie's short Robin run before she was fridged, and before Jason returned as Red Hood. (Bonus: Try looking over the old reviews on FFN—pretty interesting to see some of the fan reception for Steph nearly 20 years ago.) 2004.

"4am philosophy" by grayghost (eurydiced) - Then again, every story about Jason seemed to paint a different picture: broken man, or misguided hero, or dangerous zealot who'd had one too many chances, depending on who was doing the telling. If there was one common thread, it was that Jason was a cautionary tale. POV Steph. 2016.

"Close Encounters and Cautionary Tales" by predilection - The first time Jason Todd and Stephanie Brown meet, they end up surprising each other. POV Jason, switches to POV Steph, set during Stephanie's Batgirl era before Bruce's return. 2013.

"Bloodstains Won't Make It Matter" by skylarkblue - Jason returns to Gotham to find another dead Robin. He steals away with the body and resurrects her, but there begs the question: what will they do? POV Jason primarily, with some POV Steph, written for the prompt "Robin!Stephanie and Red Hood!Jason". Under the Hood rewrite featuring resurrected Stephanie Brown. 2022.

"Ghostgirl and Zomboy " by shauds - "You don't make demands of the ghost, asshole, the ghost makes demands of you." Steph dies, becomes a ghost, and annoys Jason incessantly during his big comeback. POV Jason; mostly a Halloween-themed buddy comedy but watch out for feels. 2018.

"this is a long drive (for three robins who don't agree on much)" by drakefeathers - Steph’s trip home to Gotham takes a huge detour thanks to Jason and Damian’s conflicts with airport security. She’s stuck driving the two brothers cross-country to reach Tim’s wedding in time. POV Steph, civilian/no capes AU, mostly fluff and comedy plus some sweetness. 2014.

"Hanging On" by Deshal - If there was one thing Stephanie Brown had always excelled at, it was plotting a course and refusing to be moved. Bruce had just needed proof that she was a capable hero in her own right. It was funny just how much Steph’s obstinacy and Bruce’s distrust of her had combined in all the worst ways. POV Steph primarily; post-War Games anti-hero Steph AU; WIP/incomplete.

"Identity Document" by Runespoor - A dark alleyway, a gang of thugs, a victim who won't be victimized, Batman. A bad Robin meets a bad Batman. 2011. POV Steph.

"Lost" by orphan_account - Jason loses a parent, meets a girl, and goes swimming. Then some other stuff happens, too. 2011. POV Jason.

"What's So Amazing That Keeps Us Stargazing" by Cerusee - Stephanie wasn’t stupid; she knew Robin’s colors well as any Gotham kid did. It was Dick’s old costume. (Stephanie knew she wasn’t even supposed to know that name; Batman had had a concussion when he’d called Nightwing by it, and they’d both been cagey with her for months afterwards.) It was the costume he’d worn before he’d grown up and become Nightwing. So why this case, with this costume, but a different name? Batman doesn't get another Robin after Jason, but Spoiler makes her way into the fold anyway. POV Steph; Steph & Bruce. (This is more of a Steph & Bruce story. Jason proper doesn't show up here, but he's here in spirit.) 2018.

"Gotham War: Batgirl" by Teleportation_Magic - If the 2023 Gotham War crossover event actually cared about using Stephanie's potential. POV Steph. [Again, Jason really doesn't have much of a role in this one, but still.]

"So You Say It's Your Birthday" by Cerusee - “Babs and I are throwing you and Steph a joint birthday party,” Dick said. “It’s on Sunday the 13th, because that’s the only day everybody can make it. It's in the park. Bruce is grilling steaks, and I know you know how good he is at that. You’re coming.” Steph and Jason have a joint birthday party; feel-good fluff and humor, cute Batfam fluff. 2017. POV Jason.

"the patterned flight of starlings" by Cerusee - In a universe where Jason Todd survives the warehouse, the world is a very different place. 2018-2020.

"Atalanta" by Cerusee - The dog growled at him. Jason growled back. “Don’t do that, you dipshit,” Steph said, heatedly. “You’re antagonizing her. Don’t growl.” Batman enlists Steph and Jason to give a bath to a rescue dog. 2017.

"Family Game Night" by quipquipquip - “YOU AREN’T MY REAL DAD,” Jason bellowed, and flipped the table. “YOU OWN PARK PLACE, BUT YOU DON’T OWN ME!” The Batfamily plays Monopoly; crack comedy. 2011.