#Octavia northwest

[samueldelany]

“Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machine.” There’s a slot to insert cash and credit cards, but instead of candy bars and bags of chips, the machine distributes science fiction and fantasy books and comics written by Black Northwest authors including Octavia E. Butler, Nisi Shawl, Somaiya Daud and David F. Walker.

The vending machine is a collaboration between NAAM, the Northwest African American Museum, and Isis Asare, who founded an online bookstore called Sistah Scifi in 2019 that builds community around science fiction and fantasy written by Black and Indigenous authors. 

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/discover-northwest-sci-fi-authors-with-a-book-from-this-vending-machine/

[thelastspeecher]

In Pollution Powers AU, Angie first shows her power to the rest of the school by accident. They're on like, a nature hike or something. Some class out in the woods. And they happen upon a salamander that has been mutated by the Northwest Mud Flaps Factory runoff (like Octavia and Boyish Dan).

Angie gets very excited and wants to get closer to inspect it, only for a bird to swoop down to grab it. Angie panics and reaches for the salamander, stretching her arms out a la Mr. Fantastic, grabbing the critter just in time.

Everyone else who hasn't seen her power yet (Ford, Fidds, and Angie's roommate are the only ones to witness her power in action before) is like "Huh. I guess you do have a power." Some students were convinced Angie didn't actually have a power, with how long it took for her to use it in front of everyone.

After that, Angie's not as much of an outcast as before and people start treating her better, as well as apologizing for their behavior towards her.

And Angie keeps the salamander and names it Tubbs.

[sistahscifi]

[TODAY] Come celebrate Juneteenth at Seattle's Northwest African American Museum.

Kicking off this three day event, June 17th 10a - 8p PDT, enjoy a day of family fun with NAAM at Sam Smith Park with a youth night, soccer clinic, and game show. We will be hosting a KIP Book Giveaway and introducing the Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machine. The Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machine will feature books by Pacific Northwest writers such as Nisi Shawl, David F Walker, and Octavia E Butler!!

June 18th 10a - 5p PDT

Enjoy a day at NAAM with all day film screenings at the museum.

June 19th 10a - 5p PDT

Celebrate Juneteenth with a skate party, yoga in the park, Black vendors market, and more at Judkins Park.

SWIPE RIGHT FOR MORE DETAILS

Registration is not mandatory to attend. We look forward to seeing the community celebrate together. @naamnw

Check out the link below for more information about the event.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/juneteenth-2023-celebration-at-naam-tickets-639766036437

#juneteenth #juneteenth2023 #happyjuneteenth #happyjuneteenth2023 #northwestafricanamericanmuseum #sistahscifi #sistahscifibookstore #sistahscifibookvendingmachine

@nisi_shawl

@mofoman68

@davidf.walker

@octaviaebutler

[florallychaotic]

Episode 1x02 Earth Skills

I really think it's funny how the episode recap describes the 100 teenagers sent to earth as "the last hope for mankind" when Clarke explicitly stated that not only were they sent to Earth so the Ark could save on resources but that they're probably not going to be the last group sent. Like they're very much not the last hope for mankind

I know they say it later in the show but I can't remember where on earth they're supposed to be only that it's not the Pacific Northwest which makes me sad because our forests are way prettier than where ever they are

Ah yes every group of teens has those three band kids who start drumming on shit to soundtrack the shenanigans of the others (honestly this isn't that weird it's just really funny to me)

Bellamy I'm happy your hair doesn't look stupid anymore but put your shirt back on

See now I remember why I really liked this show ots because Clarke was really similar to me, bossy know it all and everything

Also while Clarke and Bellamy's ideological debates aren't written amazingly they definitely are the most interesting part of the show. Order vs Chaos, tradition vs the new. It's fun to watch okay

Did.....did they give Finn hair extensions to make his hair look like.....more puffy????

Also like I'll try not to be too shippy unless it's related to the episode but it's so funny that the writer's tried to make Finn and Clarke a thing because they have no chemistry meanwhile Eliza Taylor (Clarke) and Bob Morely (Bellamy) are currently married and have a baby. Like I didn't watch the seasons where they (the actors) were married but that could not have helped with the chemistry because to my knowledge those two never became canon despite being so in the books and being the fan favorite after Clarke's second relationship ended (we will get there in season two oh boy)

Yes I did ship Clarke and Bellamy and still do but I will keep that to a minimum until relevant I promise

Yes I do enjoy how most flirty scenes between Clarke and Finn are interrupted by some sort of offscreen violence it's encapsulates my feelings wonderfully

Finn, after sticking his hand in a trail of blood that they know is Jasper's because his goggles were left behind: "We're close". Solid detective work jackass

The editors are obsessed with making Marie Avgeropoulos' blue eyes pop (Octavia) which like yes I get they're very pretty, especially contrasted with her tanned skin, but a bioluminescent butterfly reflecting against her eyes sure is a strange way to have it be diegetic.

Octavia is a puppy but not in a cute way, but in a easily distracted way it's kinda funny. Like I get a girl who spent her whole life living under the floorboards would be curious but this is funny

Hey look it's the brother from diary of a wimpy kid tied up to a tree in a suspiciously christ like pose, you think the #notmyroderick people know about this

At least Jasper was given the dignity of keeping his pants on

Look I'm not a hunter but even I know a handgun shouldn't be able to take down a panther. Like I hate being that person but it's fun to make fun of CW shows

Raven is the sci-fi staple of girl mechanic that looks amazing in a tank top but she's also sweet and snarky and I love her

Cue too on the nose song, I don't know this one but make it sucks it's a sad guy at a piano song and it's blooooooows

I do enjoy that unlike some other characters the writers are at least aware Bellamy is unlikable at first. He's also way too concerned about his sister's love life but every older brother in media is for some reason

Final rating: 7.25/10 now that the initial exposition dump is over the show can get moving. Characters are forming interesting dynamics and Raven is a cool character to have as our young person on the Ark. Now that what's at stake for the Ark is coming to light there's some real stakes coming in. Solid second episode

The 100 Live Blogging

Alright yall, I'm gonna take a dive back into the only show aimed at teens that I watched as a teen. Everyone had their one CW show and this was mine. Separate posts will be made for separate watching sessions but episodes done in the same watching session will be added as reblogs. Block the tag "alli watches the 100" if you don't want this on your dash (no shame to ya)

Episode 1x01 Pilot

We are off to a bad start Netflix started playing suits when I opened it for some fucking reason

Right off the bat, Eliza Taylor's American accent isn't bad at all, but it's got the American vocal fry that I hate

Also it's really funny to me that the lead actors of this show have names that are near identical to people who are way more famous than them (Eliza Taylor and Bob Morely)

Not a good sign that the UK part of the Ark, the spaceship these people are staying post apocalypse, looks like it has cardboard on the exterior

Juvenile offenders call lockup "the sky box" which is was teenagers are never in charge of naming things

CW dialogue exposition my beloathed

Wells got himself arrested not for Clarke, but in my headcannon, that The 99 isn't as good of a title

My only solace for having to deal with Finn is that unlike the first time I watched this show, I know he dies instead of just wishing for it

Ah season one Bellamy hair, it makes him look like a middle school teacher

You see I hate CW dialogue but I also absolutely would have screamed "We're back bitches" if I was the first person back on earth in a century

Cue too on the nose pop song, radioactive by imagine dragons

I swear to god a solid 20% of Finn's dialogue is calling Clarke princess and im supposed to like him?

I will say off the bat Bellamy is the best character because so far he's the least clichéd and most interesting lol. Meanwhile I can't wait for his sister Octavia to be a good character because she does, she does get better but for now....yikes

Monty!!! Monty best boy!!!

FUCKED UP DEER MY BELOVED!!! TWO HEADED DEER WOOHOO!!!

I dont know how to explain it, everything on the Ark...like it doesn't look greenscreened but it does look weirdly hazy like it's not there??

The actor for Kane has a very bad American accent, it's so far up his nose it's like he's sick lol

Love the random girl who yelled "It's water!!!" When it started raining

Begging this society to stop using the term "floated" for executed it sounds so fucking stupid

Kane absolutely said the word "majority" instead of "maturity" and that's the take they used for some reason

Clarke is a beautiful artist and normally I don't wanna be the person to question this but how does she know what the Arc du Triumph is

Kane please don't say you're willing to "take us down to a cosmic Adam and Eve" to your female co-worker clearly both you and the writers don't realize how extra creepy that it

This show really likes shot to shot scenes where the camera is just panned up a little so you can see up the actor's nose and it's so awkward

I dont want to be that person, but I think it's very telling that Abby (Clarke's mother)'s best friend is an Asian woman who is still unnamed despite having more lines than multiple white characters who are already named. Like this show is quite diverse and it's not going to be fun rewatching and seeing how poorly they handled that diversity.

Director: "okay can you boys just improv for a moment to delay the scene so we can have the big moment at the chorus of the song?" Actors: "Sure boss!"

What!?!?! You're not alone on Earth?!?! I never would have seen that coming! /s

Final rating: 7/10 despite its flaws I'm far too interested to not continue. What shot Jasper?? Idk! It's a fun lord of the flies story that is really interesting if only its dialogue was better

[alicec-666]

The gang of annoying yet underestimated girls

Drawing with pencils does the trick, gotta admit :')

[silvers-smuttery]

Rules

I decide what I wanna write. I reserve the right to cancel RPs and dismiss asks if I don't find them appealing.

I write my muses the way I like, according to my headcanons. Be aware of how I write them, before you send an ask. You are welcome to ask me.

No god-modding in the asks. Put my muse in lewd situations, but don't tell me how they act or react!

I do enjoy a bit of setup to get a sense of the scene and inspire me. The less details you give on what your muse does, the harder things get for me, and the more likely your ask gets dismissed.

For the sake of smut, most couples are in open relationships and screw around with other people. BUT if you are shipping muses into a relationship or make them date, I have to agree with the ship myself. Feel free to ask me on my opinions on ships.

If you want to RP, send the starter to my ask box and I'll respond when I am ready.

I won't write Scat, Gore, Blackmail (unless specifically asked) or NTR, though more consensual cucking is still on the table.

Writing many and multiple muses honestly is exhausting. I'd rather write just two muses and focus on them, than speeding through more than that. Two muses is the limit. Three characters tops, but the ask needs to be really good.

If you've read my rules and want to interact, send me [Pineapple Pizza]

I like my canon muses to stay with Canon Muses, and usually prefer OCs with OCs. If an OC is paired with a canon muse, I usually prefer they don't or barely know each other beforehand.

DO NOT spam-like my picture reblogs. It's annoying and makes you look like a bot.

I don't answer to simple, one-word messages in the DMs. If you want something, just say it. Don't be meek and hide your intentions behind civil conversation.

Open RP Starters

OC Master List

Main Muse List

My Hero Academia

Ochako Uraraka, Momo Yaoyorozu, Mina Ashido, Tsuyu Asui, La Brava, Midnight, Mt Lady

Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, All Might, Minoru Mineta

RWBY

Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Nora Valkyrie, Penny Polendina, Emerald, Salem, Glynda,

Sun Wukong, Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow, Mercury,

Open to play more if I like the setup

One Piece

Nami, Nico Robin, Boa Hancock, Carrot, Perona, Marguerite, Jewelry Bonney, O-Kiku, Ulti, Yamato, Uta

Comic Books/Superheroes

Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Raven, Starfire, Blackfire, Jinx, Helen Parr, Violet Parr

Dick Greyson (Robin/Nightwing), Red Hood, Tim Drake, Superman, Beast Boy, Spiderman, Batman

My Little Pony/EQG

Mane 6 (mainly Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy), Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, Celestia, Luna, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Lyra, Bonbon, probably various others

Shining Armor, Spike

Avatar

Katara, Toph, Azula, Ty Lee,

Aang, Sokka, maybe Zuko

Persona 5

Ann Takamaki, Makoto Nijima, Futaba Sakura, Sae Nijima, Tae Takemi, Yoshizawa, Sadayo Kawakami,

Pokémon

Generally accepting of pretty much all girls and Pokémon. Yes, Poképhilia too.

Adventure Time

Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, Huntress Wizard, Fionna the Human

Finn the Human

Disney

Pacifica Northwest, Wendy Corduroy, Mabel Pines, Tambry, Jackie Lynn Thomas, Hekapoo, Snow White, Rapunzel, Tinkerbelle

Dipper Pines

Nintendo

Smash: Samus, Dark Samus, Palutena, Wii Fit Trainer, Byleth,

Fe3H: Byleth, Bernadetta, Dorothea, Mercedes, Annette, Hilda, Flayn, Rhea, Dimitri, Ashe, Silvain, Felix, Ferdinand, Linhardt, Raphael, Yuri, Constance

Dragon Quest: Jade, Serena, Veronica, Mia, Luminary, Erik,

Misc

Android 18, Bulma, Chichi, Noelle Silva, Trixie Tang, Frankie Foster, Stocking, Darkness, Aqua, Rouge the Bat, Peridot, Lapis Lazuli, Spinel, Priyanka Maheswaran, Tsunade, Hinata Hyuga, Lucoa, Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake, Gogo Tomago, Honey Lemon, Millie (Helluva Boss), Verosika, Loona, Astolfo, Seras Victoria, Revy (Black Lagoon), Judy Hopps, Rebecca, Tatsumaki

Kazuma (Konosuba), Hiro (BH6),

Kink list:

stuff in public, exhibitionism, voyeurism, misogyny, patriarchy, pregnancy, analplay, edging, rimjobs, Futanari, breast and ass envy, twerking, musk & loving relationships full of trust, commitment & sexy times

Open RP Starters

Alternate Universes:

RWBY Highschool AU, Free Use AU, Misogyny AU, Bimbofication AU, Faunus AU

[omnipointmuses]

Mobile Canon Must List

Undertale/Deltarune Muses-

Frisk

Alphys the (Ex)Royal Researcher 

Undyne the Head Guard 

Toriel Dreemurr 

Asgore Dreemurr

Snowdin Shopkeeper

Muffet 

Catty 

Bratty 

Noelle Holiday 

Berdly 

Gravity Falls Muses-

Pacifica Northwest 

Wendy Corduroy 

SVtFoE Muses-

Hekapoo 

Shifter!MLP Muses-

Twilight Sparkle 

Applejack 

Rainbow Dash 

Pinkie Pie 

Fluttershy 

Rarity 

Princess Celestia 

Princess Luna 

Queen Chrysalis 

Mrs.Cup Cake 

Maud Pie 

Vinyl Scratch 

Octavia Melody 

Ms. Harshwhinny

Mayor Mare 

Sonic Muses-

Rouge The Bat 

Sonic the Hedgehog 

Tails The Fox 

Amy Rose 

Tikal the Echidna 

My Hero Academia Muses-

Habuko Mongoose 

Toru Hagakure 

DC Muses-

Raven/Rachel Roth

Jinx 

Starfire/Koriand'r 

Blackfire/Komand'r 

TAWoG Muses-

Nicole Watterson 

Misc Muses-

Helen Parr/Elastigirl 

Violet Parr/Miss Disappear 

Jenny Wakeman/XJ-9 

Lord Dominator 

Astolfo/Rider of Black 

Enid 

Tom Nook

Miss Kobayashi 

Samus Aran

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss Muses-

Angel Dust 

Stolas 

Octavia 

Moxxie 

Millie 

Adventure Time Muses-

Finn the Human 

Fionna the Human 

Ice Queen 

Susan Strong 

Princess Bubblegum 

Marceline the Vampire Queen 

Steven Universe Muses-

Amethyst 

Pearl 

Naruto Muses-

Sakura Haruno 

Hinata Hyuga 

Rwby Muses-

Yang Xiao Long 

Nora Valkyrie 

Neopolitan 

Legend of Zelda Muses-

Midna the Demi-Imp 

Link, The Hero of The Wild 

Kass, The Wandering Minstrel 

Super Mario Muses-

Princess Shroob 

King/Queen Bowser 

Wendy O’ Koopa 

Princess Rosalina 

Princess Peach 

Princess Daisy 

Mayor Pauline

Petey Piranha 

Aggretsuko Muses-

Fenneko 

Haida 

Helltaker Muses-

Malina, The Sour Demon

Zdrada, The Bitch Demon 

Judgement, The High Prosecutor 

Lucifer, The CEO of Hell 

[rockefcller]

TASK 036 : GOVERNORS OF THE UNITED STATES

in the united states, a governor serves as the chief executive officer and commander-in-chief in each of the fifty states, functioning as both head of state and head of government therein. as such, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. as state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes. governors carry out their management and leadership responsibilities and objectives with the support and assistance of department and agency heads, many of whom they are empowered to appoint. a majority of governors have the authority to appoint state court judges as well, in most cases from a list of names submitted by a nominations committee.

the NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES is a geographical region of the united states. its divisions are new england ( connecticut, maine, massachusetts, new hampshire, rhode island, and vermont ) and the mid-atlantic ( new jersey, new york, and pennsylvania ). although it lacks a unified cultural identity, the northeastern region is the nation's most economically developed, densely populated, and culturally diverse region. of the nation's four census regions, the northeast has the second-largest percentage of residents living in an urban setting ( with 85 percent ) and is home to the nation's largest metropolitan area ( new york city ).

NEW ENGLAND. CONNECTICUT : laura wilmer ( cate blanchett ), republican, since 2011 MAINE : caitlin westcott ( ellen pompeo ), republican, since 2019 MASSACHUSETTS : felicity benson ( rashida jones ), democrat, since 2015 NEW HAMPSHIRE : christi goode ( reese witherspoon ), democrat, since 2017 RHODE ISLAND : adela sebti ( emmanuelle chriqui ), democrat, since 2015 VERMONT : derick han ( john cho ), democrat, since 2017 MID-ATLANTIC STATES. NEW JERSEY : shaun russell ( laurence fishburne ), democrat, since 2018 NEW YORK : isabelle andrews ( zoe saldana ), democrat, since 2021 PENNSYLVANIA : violet beck ( rooney mara ), republican, since 2015

the MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES is one of four census regions of the united states census bureau, occupying the north central part of the united states. its divisions are east north central ( illinois, indiana, michigan, ohio, and wisconsin ) and west north central ( iowa, kansas, minnesota, missouri, nebraska, north dakota, and south dakota) ). chicago is the most populous city in the american midwest and the third most populous in the entire country. chicago and its suburbs, called chicagoland, form the region’s largest metropolitan area with 10 million people.

EAST NORTH CENTRAL STATES. ILLINOIS : tracey marsh ( sally hawkins ), republican, since 2019 INDIANA : garth butler ( justin chambers ), republican, since 2017 MICHIGAN : donna randall ( viola davis ), democrat, since 2019 OHIO : philip tirrell ( donald glover ), democrat, since 2019 WISCONSIN : percy hewitt ( john mulaney ), democrat, since 2019

WEST NORTH CENTRAL STATES. IOWA : kelly grant ( rachel weisz ), democrat, since 2017 KANSAS : dale garner ( clancy brown ), republican, since 2019 MINNESOTA : sadie lawrence ( winona ryder ), democrat, since 2019 MISSOURI : andrea miller ( michele dockery ), republican, since 2018 NEBRASKA : silas nelson ( sam elliott ), republican, since 2015 NORTH DAKOTA : samuel fulton ( daveed diggs ), democrat, since 2016 SOUTH DAKOTA : alicia atkins ( aja naomi king ), democrat, since 2019

the SOUTHERN UNITED STATES is is a geographic and cultural region of the united states. its divisions are the south atlantic ( delaware, florida, georgia, maryland, north carolina, south carolina, virginia, and west virginia ), east south central ( alabama, kentucky, mississippi, and tennessee ), and west south central ( arkansas, louisiana, oklahoma, and texas ). the south does not precisely coincide with the geographic south of the united states but is commonly defined as including the states that fought for the confederate states of america in the american civil war. the deep south lies entirely within the southeastern corner. the region is known for its culture and history, having developed its own customs, musical styles, and cuisines, which have distinguished it in some ways from the rest of the united states. the southern ethnic heritage is diverse and includes strong european ( mostly english, scotch-irish, scottish, irish, and french ), african, and some native american components.

SOUTH ATLANTIC STATES. DELAWARE : cornelius bancroft ( michael shannon ), republican, since 2017 FLORIDA : angela valdes ( gina torres ), democrat, since 2019 GEORGIA : gabrielle shaw ( octavia spencer ), democrat, since 2019 MARYLAND : damien park ( daniel dae kim ), democrat, since 2015 NORTH CAROLINA : artie barnes ( sam richardson ), democrat, since 2017 SOUTH CAROLINA : shannon todd ( leslie mann ), republican, since 2017 VIRGINIA : rebekah milton ( julianne moore ), republican, since 2018 WEST VIRGINIA : lori taylor ( helen mccrory ), republican, since 2017

EAST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES. ALABAMA : maynard gardner ( richard jenkins ), republican, since 2011 KENTUCKY : wilson beaumont ( kevin costner ), republican, since 2019 MISSISSIPPI : julianne hargrave ( amy adams ), republican, since 2012 TENNESSEE : shane montgomery ( andrew lincoln ), republican, since 2019

WEST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES. ARKANSAS : jason wickham ( eddie redmayne ), republican, since 2015 LOUISIANA : christine robson ( antonia thomas ), republican, since 2016 OKLAHOMA : michele abrams ( lea thompson ), republican, since 2019 TEXAS : lorraine crawford ( kelly reilly ), republican, since 2015

the WESTERN UNITED STATES is the region comprising the westernmost states of the united states. its divisions are the mountain states ( arizona, colorado, idaho, montana, nevada, new mexico, utah, and wyoming ) and the pacific states ( alaska, california, hawaii, oregon, and washington ). as american settlement in the united states expanded westward, the meaning of the term “the west” changed. before about 1800, the crest of the appalachian mountains was seen as the western frontier. the frontier moved westward and eventually the lands west of the mississippi river were considered “the west.” the west contains several major biomes, including arid and semi-arid plateaus and plains, particularly in the american southwest; forested mountains, including two major ranges, the american sierra nevada and rocky mountains; the long coastal shoreline of the american pacific coast; and the rainforests of the pacific northwest.

MOUNTAIN STATES. ARIZONA : daniel rivera ( alfonso herrera ), democrat, since 2019 COLORADO : wyatt harvey ( forest whitaker ), democrat, since 2015 IDAHO : malcolm jackson ( michael fassbender ), republican, since 2019 MONTANA : omar faraj ( marwan kenzari ), democrat, since 2021 NEVADA : noelle bloomfield ( maya rudolph ), democrat, since 2019 NEW MEXICO : oscar méndez ( diego luna ), democrat, since 2019 UTAH : william daniels ( seth meyers ), republican, since 2021 WYOMING : colleen leighton ( felicity jones ), republican, since 2019

PACIFIC STATES. ALASKA : veronica filippova ( mila kunis ), republican, since 2018 CALIFORNIA : maria reyes ( salma hayek ), democrat, since 2019 HAWAII : makaio kekoa ( keanu reeves ), democrat, since 2014 OREGON : isadora tyler ( susan sarandon ), democrat, since 2015 WASHINGTON : felix kessler ( jeff goldblum ), democrat, since 2013

[bellarkewrites]

Breathing Easy

by PryingAa

Clarke has always done the practical thing, hell, she's the lead pediatric physician at Sibley Memorial Hospital. She is everything her mother dreamed of, but then why is she still so unhappy? It takes Clarke leaving everything behind to move to Elma, a small town in the pacific northwest, to realize that sometimes life is about more than just surviving.

Words: 4, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: The 100 (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Characters: Bellamy Blake, Clarke Griffin, Octavia Blake, Lincoln (The 100), John Murphy (The 100), Emori (The 100), Raven Reyes, Jasper Jordan, Monty Green, Nathan Miller, Harper McIntyre, Maya Vie, Nyla Rose, Anya (The 100), Luna (The 100), Indra (The 100)

Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Octavia Blake/Lincoln, Emori/John Murphy (The 100)

Read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2RSW9Gc

[centrumlumina]

As part of the July 2019 AO3 Ship Stats, here are the Top 100 F/F pairings with the most total works on Archive Of Our Own.

Of the 200 names on this list, there are 53 women of colour and 27 women of ambiguous race, compared with 42 and 35 in the 2017 list. For comparison, the overall top 100 list includes 46 people of colour and 8 who are racially ambiguous.

Because of the way I produced this data, it is possible some F/F ships are missing, particularly those in fandoms dominated by other categories of ship. For more information, see the project FAQs. This project also includes an All-Time Top 100 list and 2017-2019 Top 100, and can be found cross-posted on AO3.

Edit: Fixed race classification for Éponine Thénardier.

A text-only version of this data is given below the cut.

Rank Change Pairing Fandom Works Race 1 0 Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan Once Upon a Time (TV) 11388 Whi/POC 2 0 Clarke Griffin/Lexa The 100 (TV) 10838 White 3 1 Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor Supergirl (TV 2015) 9460 White 4 3 Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer Supergirl (TV 2015) 5231 Whi/POC 5 -2 Laura Hollis/Carmilla Karnstein Carmilla (Web Series) 5094 White 6 -1 Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam Homestuck 4174 Ambig 7 -1 Korra/Asami Sato Avatar: Legend of Korra 4106 POC 8 15 Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught Wynonna Earp (TV) 3685 White 9 -1 Alphys/Undyne (Undertale) Undertale (Video Game) 3334 Ambig 10 11 Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long RWBY 2987 POC 11 5 Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell Pitch Perfect (Movies) 2985 White 12 -3 Root | Samantha Groves/Sameen Shaw Person of Interest (TV) 2817 Whi/POC 13 -1 Kara Danvers/Cat Grant Supergirl (TV 2015) 2734 White 14 -4 Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan 2645 White 15 10 Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee RWBY 2422 Whi/POC 16 2 Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler Overwatch (Video Game) 2376 Whi/POC 17 -6 Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce Glee 2369 Whi/POC 18 -5 Peggy Carter/Angie Martinelli Agent Carter (TV) 2106 White 19 8 Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe Holby City 2032 White 20 2 Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price Life Is Strange (Video Game) 2030 White 21 -7 Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray Glee 1948 White 22 N Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1932 POC 23 -8 Allison Argent/Lydia Martin Teen Wolf (TV) 1818 White 24 5 Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 1791 Ambig 25 12 Miranda Priestly/Andrea Sachs The Devil Wears Prada (2006) 1644 White 26 N Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz Riverdale (TV 2017) 1640 Whi/POC 27 -7 Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) 1570 Whi/POC 28 -11 Delphine Cormier/Cosima Niehaus Orphan Black (TV) 1568 White 29 N Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV) 1499 White 30 -11 Myka Bering/Helena "H. G." Wells Warehouse 13 1490 White 31 N Asui Tsuyu/Uraraka Ochako Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1440 POC 32 16 Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 1412 White 33 N Adora/Catra (She-Ra) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) 1382 Whi/POC 34 -10 Erin Gilbert/Jillian Holtzmann Ghostbusters (2016) 1343 White 35 -9 Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan 1322 Whi/POC 36 -6 Anna/Elsa (Disney) Frozen (2013) 1318 White 37 3 Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood Shadowhunters (TV) 1315 Whi/POC 38 -10 Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli Rizzoli & Isles 1259 White 39 N Lena "Tracer" Oxton/Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix Overwatch (Video Game) 1257 White 40 43 Kimberly Hart/Trini Power Rangers (2017) 1237 POC 41 -9 Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell Game of Thrones (TV) 1224 White 42 -4 Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni Mass Effect Trilogy 1164 Ambig 43 N Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan Doctor Who (2005) 1072 Whi/POC 44 -2 Maria Reynolds/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler Hamilton – Miranda 1061 POC 45 6 Anya/Raven Reyes The 100 (TV) 1050 POC 46 -15 Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) 1048 White 47 -3 Pearl/Rose Quartz | Pink Diamond Steven Universe (Cartoon) 1046 Ambig 48 -12 Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov The Avengers (Marvel Movies) 1044 White 49 -6 Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov Marvel Cinematic Universe 1038 White 50 -16 Gwen/Morgana (Merlin) Merlin (TV) 1016 Whi/POC 51 1 Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel Batman - All Media Types 1013 White 52 1 Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers Supergirl (TV 2015) 993 White 53 -7 Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance Arrow (TV 2012) 977 Whi/POC 54 -13 Pacifica Northwest/Mabel Pines Gravity Falls 972 White 55 -10 Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) 970 White 56 -17 Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket Homestuck 962 Ambig 57 -10 Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka Haikyuu!! 945 POC 58 -2 Astra/Alex Danvers Supergirl (TV 2015) 934 White 59 3 Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge Riverdale (TV 2017) 925 Whi/POC 60 -27 Ashlyn Harris/Ali Krieger Women's Soccer RPF 924 White 61 -26 Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 854 Ambig 62 6 Mila Babicheva/Sara Crispino Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) 839 White 63 2 Princess Bubblegum/Marceline Adventure Time 795 Ambig 64 25 Carol Aird/Therese Belivet Carol (2015) 788 White 65 -1 Gabrielle/Xena Xena: Warrior Princess 781 White 66= -16 Amethyst/Pearl (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 773 Ambig 66= -17 Malia Tate/Kira Yukimura Teen Wolf (TV) 773 Whi/POC 68 N Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 761 Whi/Amb 69 -14 Female Hawke/Isabela Dragon Age II 750 Amb/POC 70 N Misty Day/Cordelia Foxx | Cordelia Goode American Horror Story 725 White 71 -10 Maya Hart/Riley Matthews Girl Meets World 723 White 72 -13 Charlie Bradbury/Jo Harvelle Supernatural 720 White 73 N Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari Little Witch Academia 711 Whi/POC 74 N Rachel Amber/Chloe Price Life Is Strange (Video Game) 702 White 75 -21 Leliana/Female Warden Dragon Age: Origins 697 Whi/Amb 76 4 Ayase Eli/Toujou Nozomi Love Live! School Idol Project 692 POC 77 -10 Kaiou Michiru/Tenoh Haruka Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 688 POC 78 -3 Camila Cabello/Lauren Jauregui Fifth Harmony (Band) 673 POC 79 -10 Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss Criminal Minds (US TV) 658 White 80 -17 Cosette Fauchelevent/Éponine Thénardier Les Misérables - All Media Types 657 Whi/Amb 81 N Emily/Lena "Tracer" Oxton Overwatch (Video Game) 656 White 82= -25 Jane Crocker/Roxy Lalonde Homestuck 654 Ambig 82= -7 Tobin Heath/Christen Press Women's Soccer RPF 654 Whi/POC 84 -2 Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe) Steven Universe (Cartoon) 652 Ambig 85 -27 Octavia Blake/Raven Reyes The 100 (TV) 649 Whi/POC 86 N Trixie Mattel/Katya Zamolodchikova RuPaul's Drag Race RPF 648 Whi/POC 87 N Evie/Mal (Disney) Descendants (Disney Movies) 647 Whi/POC 88 N Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova Killing Eve (TV 2018) 645 Whi/POC 89 N Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine Star Trek: Voyager 642 White 90 N Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino Naruto 639 POC 91 4 Nishikino Maki/Yazawa Nico Love Live! School Idol Project 628 POC 92 N Moira O'Deorain/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler Overwatch (Video Game) 612 White 93 -21 Female Inquisitor/Sera Dragon Age: Inquisition 591 Whi/Amb 94 -34 Tobin Heath/Alex Morgan Women's Soccer RPF 589 White 95 N Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield Emmerdale 584 White 96 N Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau Captain Marvel (2019) 582 Whi/POC 97 -19 Dorothy Baum/Charlie Bradbury Supernatural 570 White 98 N Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers Supergirl (TV 2015) 568 Whi/POC 99 N Beauregard/Yasha (Critical Role) Critical Role (Web Series) 565 Whi/POC 100 N Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long RWBY 564 Whi/POC

[kmalexander]

My Reading List for 2019

The next decade looms. But for now, it’s time for reflection. It’s been an exciting year full of amazing experiences. Plus, I did a ton of reading! So, as I do every year, I���ve compiled a list of the books I’ve read over the last three hundred and sixty-five days, and I’m here to share them with you all.

Overall, I’m thrilled with my reading for the year. It contained several firsts for me. I read a plethora of great books—my most in a single year. (Forty-seven!) I Did-Not-Finish’d my first book ever. (It’ll remain nameless.) I quit listening to the news/sports during my commute and have now switched over to audiobooks one hundred percent of the time. (Those are labeled with the emoji.) I beta-read three upcoming novels—my most in a single year. And, on top of all of that, I managed to read a bunch of great short stories and got to spend more time reading graphic novels as well. So yeah—it’s been a great year of reading.

This list correlates with my Goodreads 2019 Reading Challenge but always includes a few extra since Goodreads doesn’t let me count beta reading and I don’t list comics or short stories over there. Remember, this is all strictly reading for pleasure—I typically forgo listing any research/history books. Since this list is always enormous, l skip reviews except for my top three in each category. However, I’d invite you to follow me on Goodreads, where I do occasionally leave other reviews.

As before, all links will go to Amazon through my affiliate account by default. If one of these books sounds interesting to you, I’d encourage you to skip Amazon and instead visit your local independent bookstore and purchase through them. It’s essential for your local economy to buy local whenever you’re able, and always good to build a relationship with your local indie bookshop.

Okay, to the list!

Novels

Tomorrow’s Shepherd (The Verdant Revival #2) by Michael Ripplinger

Beta Reading (Fantasy) by REDACTED

Promise of Blood (Powder Mage #1) …again  by Brian McClellan

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

Authority: A Novel (The Southern Reach #2)   by Jeff VanderMeer

The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #1) by Seth Dickinson

‘Salem’s Lot   by Stephen King

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber #1)  by Roger Zelazny

The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) by Bernard Cornwell

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

Beta Reading (Sci-Fi) by REDACTED

The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote

Butcher Bird …again. by Richard Kadrey

House of Furies by Madeleine Roux

A. Grimsbro, Warlord of Mars (Futhermucking Classics #2) by Matt Youngmark

I Am Providence by Nick Mamatas

The Compleat Crow by Brian Lumley

Orconomics: A Satire (The Dark Profit Saga #1) by J. Zachary Pike

Beta Reading (Fantasy) by REDACTED

Four Roads Cross (The Craft Sequence #5) by Max Gladstone

The Reality Dysfunction (Night’s Dawn #1) …again  by Peter F. Hamilton

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Vermilion by Molly Tanzer

The Terror  by Dan Simmons

The City of Brass: A Novel (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S. A. Chakraborty

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

It: A Novel  by Stephen King

City of Blades (Divine Cities #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) …again by George R. R. Martin

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire

Carry On (Simon Snow #1) by Rainbow Rowell

Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles #1)  by Anne Rice

Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse #3) by James S.A. Corey

Imago (Xenogenesis #3) by Octavia E. Butler

Punktown (Punktown) by Jeffrey Thomas

A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon #1) …again  by China Miéville

Uncanny Collateral (Valkyrie Collections #1) by Brian McClellan

United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) …again by George R. R. Martin

Grass (Arbai #1) by Sheri S. Tepper

 Favorite Novel of 2019

A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky was one of my favorite books last year, and when paired with its counterpart, My Heart Struck Sorrow, the two quickly merged to become my favorite book of the year. Connected via theme (and set in the same world), both novellas tell intense stories within stories unsettling accounts of humanity and history, obsession and turmoil. This is the new weird at its most exquisite. As unsettling throughout as it is enthralling. Phenomenal.

Favorite Novel Runners-up of 2019

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

Jones is a modern master of horror and always approaches the genre in unique ways; Mapping the Interior is no exception. Told from 12-year old Junior’s perspective, the story is one part family-struggle and one part ghost-story all woven with a heartfelt earnestness that’s easy to believe and hard to shake. It’s a book about childhood, family, heritage, legacy, and the cost and ramifications of all four. The ending devastated me.

The Terror by Dan Simmons

At first glance, this would appear to be a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage. But there is more to this than historical account—much of this book delves into the psyche of survival while interspersing elements of the thriller and horror genres to weave an extraordinary and sometimes supernatural tale—Darkly disturbing, severely bleak, and utterly unforgettable.

 Honorable Mentions of 2019

As I did last year, I wanted to highlight a few other books. These honorable mentions are books that resonated with me long after I had finished them, and they deserve a callout. In no particular order…

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey A diesel-punk reflection on the ramifications of war. Kadrey’s best work.

Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey The 3rd entry in the incredible Expanse series.

Tomorrow’s Shepherd by Michael Ripplinger Giant machines and power armor continue the battle for Verge.

Punktown by Jeffrey Thomas New weird sci-fi anthology about the citizens living in a city on the frontier.

It: A Novel by Stephen King Um, it’s It. And It is so very, very good. Except for that one weird scene.

The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote Detailed history of military campaigns during the first third of the American Civil War.

Short Stories

Ours by Randy Ribay

The Farm by Charlie Jane Anders

A Catalog of Storms by Fran Wilde

Bull Riding by Richard Kadrey

13 Ways of Destroying a Painting by Amber Sparks

Hell is a Parade by Nathan Crowder

Artificials Should Be Allowed to Worship by Steven James

The Three Stigmata of Peter Thiel by Brendan C. Byrne

Space Angel (Denim Superheroes) by Lee French

Beta Reading (Horror) by REDACTED

A Study in Emerald …again by Neil Gaiman

Beneath Their Hooves by Katharine Duckett

Favorite Short Stories of 2019

The Farm by Charlie Jane Anders

A short yet striking tale of a terrifying future that cuts too close to home. A reporter named Roy struggles to maintain his journalistic integrity while trying to keep advertisers happy. Anders is a great writer, and her tight prose works wonders here. The best short stories can alter how one views the world and as I watched the news cycle play out throughout the year, The Farm was never far from my mind.

 Favorite Short Story Runners-up

Hell is a Parade by Nathan Crowder

A violent little story of a parade that quickly shifts into a scene of horror as one young woman allows obsession to send her down a dark path. The descriptions are wonderful, the emotions hot and raw, and the parade personified as a living beast whose glamor corrupts as much as it enthralls. A wickedly subversive warning on the dangers and ramifications inherent within vengeance.

Artificial Should Be Allowed to Worship by Steven James

My favorite short stories dress modern struggles in fictional costume—Star Trek excelled at this—and this piece continues that tradition. Written as an op-ed, the piece pleads with the reader to understand and empathize with artificial individuals seeking a place to worship. The set dressing might be different, the plight fictional, but one can’t miss the echoes from the modern efforts towards equality.

 Graphic Novels

Monstress Vol. 1 by Marjorie Liu (Author), Sana Takeda (Artist)

Saga Vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Fiona Staples (Artist)

Paper Girls: Book One by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Cliff Chiang (Cover Art, Artist), Matthew Wilson (Artist)

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 1 by Kaiu Shirai (Author), Posuka Demizu (Illustrator)

Die, Vol 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker by Kieron Gillen (Author), Stephanie Hans (Artist)

Blackbird Vol. 1 by Sam Humphries (Author), Jen Bartel (Artist)

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (Author & Artist)

Gideon Falls Vol. 1: The Black Barn by Jeff Lemire  (Author), Andrea Sorrentino (Artist), Dave Stewart (Artist)

Gideon Falls Vol. 2: Original Sin by Jeff Lemire  (Author), Andrea Sorrentino (Artist), Dave Stewart (Artist)

Uzumaki by Junji Ito (Author & Artist)

Trees Vol 2. by Warren Ellis (Author), Jason Howard (Artist)

Gideon Falls Vol. 3: Stations of the Cross by Jeff Lemire (Author), Andrea Sorrentino (Artist), Dave Stewart (Artist)

Death or Glory Vol. 1: She’s Got You by Rick Remender (Author), Bengal (Artist)

 Favorite Graphic Novel of 2017:

Uzumaki by Junji Ito

Kurôzu-cho is a coastal town haunted by uzumaki—spiral patterns that infest everything, distorting the village and its inhabitants. Everything starts simple enough, but as the chapters breeze past the effects of the uzumaki becomes more and more profound. With engaging characters and an incredible premise, this is quite easily one of the great horror comics ever written.

 Favorite Graphic Novel Runners-up of 2017:

Gideon Falls by Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart

This nearly took the top spot from me, and for a good reason; it’s an amazingly told tale. A young man becomes obsessed with a conspiracy theory found in a city’s trash, and elsewhere a priest becomes entwined in the rural legend of The Black Barn—a strange building that appears at random throughout history, leaving death in its wake. And then things get really weird…

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

This creepy anthology horror collection was one of my favorites. It’s not “scary” in the traditional sense we Westerners expect; instead, there’s a folklorish creepiness to the tales therein. More Poe than Barker. Plus, the visuals that accompanied those spooky accounts only enhanced each tale. I read it cover to cover on a foggy October morning, and it remains a memorable and unforgettable read.

So, there is my list! A lot of reading in a variety of places I didn’t make time for last year. It was good to get back into comics and to start reading short stories. I’m considering adding a poetry section next year as well, but we’ll see. If anything suffered from this, it was my television and game systems, they’ve been lonely, but I’ve felt a lot more fulfilled with the fiction I’ve devoured. Fiction is the perfect way to step into the shoes of someone else and discover new points of view. So thanks, 2019—it’s been a fantastic year in reading. Here’s to more in 2020!

Are you looking for a good book? Want to see my reading lists from previous years? Check any of the links below and see what I was reading in the bygone halcyon days of old.

• 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 •

Next year, why not join me? Goodreads does a reading challenge every year, and I am an active participant. First, follow me on Goodreads (leave me a review while you’re there), and once the New Year arrives, participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2020.

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to make sure it’s not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information.  SIGN UP TODAY →

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[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 4, Number 9

The Long Hots

We enter the pumpkin latte season with a full slate of short reviews, covering both anticipated and overlooked releases from rock, pop, jazz, punk and unclassifiable genres. Contributors this time included Bill Meyer, Ethan Covey, Jennifer Kelly, Isaac Olson, Jonathan Shaw and Justin Cober-Lake.  

Baked – II (Exploding in Sound)

II by Baked

Baked, out of Brooklyn, belches a lava flow of viscous guitar sound over sweetly unassuming pop melodies. If J. Mascis ever wrote a song to impress the women of Look Blue Go Purple, if Beat Happening experimented with a whacked out set of fuzz pedals, it might sound a bit like this – in short, it’s fetching DIY pop with serious muscles under the anorak. When soft, vulnerable tune meets the bristling heft of feedback, there’s a palpable fizz, never more so than on “Hope You’re Happy,” sung by Isabella Mingione. “The Hartlett Anthem” does the same trick with Jeremy Aquilino singing tender hooks over the droning surf of dissonance like a sleepier Teenage Fanclub. This particular recording is Baked’s third, after 2014’s Debt and 2017’s Farnham but earns the “II” by being the second in Exploding in Sound’s Tape Club series. That’s undoubtedly why it’s so short, but brevity is tantalizing. These five songs leave you wanting more.

Jennifer Kelly

 Big Blood — Operate Spaceship Earth Properly (Feeding Tube Records)

Massachusetts-based Feeding Tube Records favors such a frantic release schedule that it’s easy to miss the consistently strange, often delightful albums they spit out. Earlier this summer, the label dropped Operate Spaceship Earth Properly, a fresh & freaky 45-minutes of scuzzy psychedelia from Big Blood. The Portland, ME duo of Colleen Kinsella and Caleb Mulkerin — joined here in some capacity by their daughter, Quinnisa — have been delivering properly furry trips since the 1990s, originally as founders of Cerberus Shoal. The spin this time involves a tip of the hat to authors such as Octavia Butler and Ursula K. Le Guin via a science fiction-inspired song cycle. Yet, concept aside, the songs have serious teeth, stomping forward in a heady slop of bullying riffs, martial drumming and Kinsella’s third-eye rants. It’s headphone music for the deep forest, a turned-on reality-strip far more properly psychedelic than the jammed-out noodling frequently paraded by those dressed in thrifted tie dyes. Listen at your own risk; be changed.  

Ethan Covey

  Manu Delago—Parasol Peak (One Little Indian)

Manu Delago, a classically trained percussion who specializes in the steel-drum-like instrument known as a hang, isn’t doing things the easy way. For this album and the accompanying film, he convened a chamber group of seven people and led them, instruments and all, on a mountaineering expedition in the albums (pity the cellist). These eight tracks were recorded outside, in all kinds of weather, using natural elements like sticks, rocks and trees for additional textures. The result is a rather lovely blend of percussion-dappled Reichian minimalism, augmented by the sounds of water, thunder and wind. The music works its way to the summit, beginning in the leafy, sun-warmed environs of “Parasol Woods,” where reedy, breathy clarinet and pensive trombone catch the light sparkling off intricate webs of tonal percussion. By “Ridge View,” sounds have turned chillier and more remote; flute and chimes are buffeted by gales of wind. A mournful, solitary whistle frames “Listening Glacier,” a trebly coating of ice on a grounding drone of cello, but there is exuberance and accordion wheezing triumph in “Parasol Peak.” Fingers and lips must be pretty frozen all round by this point, but a warm, pulsing joy emanates from this brass-y, syncopated reel. The question arises: why would anyone do such a difficult thing?  But the answer is right there in the accompanying video. Because it was beautiful, because it was hard and because it made a sound no other new chamber group could make, with woods, mountains, stones and  physical effort built right in.

Jennifer Kelly

 Ethers—Ethers (Trouble in Mind)

s/t by Ethers

Ethers spun out of the late Chicago drone-punk-garage outfit Heavy Times, pulling front man Bo Hansen and bassist Russell Calderwood into this new enterprise and adding Calderwood’s wife Mary McKane and drummer Matt Rolin. Along the way, Hansen et al seem to picked up a heightened appreciation for melody and hook (and percolating keyboards thanks to McKane). “It’s a Rip-Off” lurches and jitters on slashed guitar riffs and hard, straight up and down drumming, but there’s an undeniable lilt in its fuzzy tune, and “Emily” balances bluster and tenderness in equal parts. If Heavy Times drove a post-punk freight train through a long, shadowy tunnel, Ethers breaks out into sunshine on the other side of the mountain, the darkness in the music but not all of it. “Something” ends the disc on a high note, chiming guitar notes streaking like meteors down to a burnt-bare beat, an intoxicating smell of sleeping gas all around.

Jennifer Kelly

 Iron & Wine — Weed Garden (Sub Pop)

Sam Beam has somehow become a master of the EP. Last year's full-length Beast Epic from Iron & Wine received critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination, but it never really settled the way much of his earlier work had. Given that Weed Garden draws from that album's leftovers, the new EP could have been a quick toss-off to turn a few dollars on otherwise dead songs. Happily, though, Beam delivers a strong, quick set. Where he had traded in resignation, this one starts with an immediate rally, the call in “What Hurts Worse” to “become the lovers we need.” His awareness of brokenness becomes the grounds for a fragile restoration, his voice and the smooth production serving the message.

A few years old but until now unreleased, “Waves of Galveston” brings the necessary precision to a complicated situation, and the continuing Croce-like sound fits the mood perfectly. “Last of Your Rock 'n' Roll Heroes” brings a steady bounce to a series of impressions that eventually give way to the darkness. Closer “Talking to Fog” uses language to resist pending dissipation, offering gentleness among hardness and “reaching out” despite knowing safer options. Beam's writing relies on visuals until he makes blurry images come into focus, even if he maintains that “it's hard to find.” It's a strong statement from Beam, an album's worth of care in a little EP, again.

Justin Cober-Lake

  The Lavender Flu — Mow the Glass (In The Red)

Heavy Air, The Lavender Flu’s 2016 debut was a double album of feel-bad rock sent forth from the Pacific Northwest damp to soundtrack an endless bummer. Chris Gunn, formerly of The Hunches and Hospitals, assembled the album at home, on analog tape, building and reworking the tracks into one of the year’s most impressive collages of sound. The second time around, with Mow the Glass, the approach is different. Here, Gunn is backed by a proper band — brother Lucas Gunn, former Hunches drummer Ben Spencer and Eat Skull’s Scott Simmons. Those folks all lent a hand to Heavy Air, yet here they are in the same room, playing together to the buzz of warmed amps and a view of the sea. The album is trim and clear, focusing Gunn’s aesthetic without losing sight of the mindset that got him here in the first place. A couple of cuts from the first LP — “Demons in the Dark,” a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Like a Summer Thursday” — reappear with fresh coats of paint. “You Are Prey” begins tipsy and unraveling, with the band chasing a whip of stereo-panning guitar, before setting into a reverb-rich ballad. The mood is subtlety sunnier throughout, like a crack of light on the horizon viewed from the soak of a storm.  

Ethan Covey

  Long Hots — Monday Night Raw (Self-Released)

Monday Night Raw by Long Hots

You should listen to Trouble Anyway, the new LP by Rosali Middleman. Middleman is a talented songwriter, but part of what makes Trouble Anyway so listenable is its lush instrumentation, all-star band, and pristine production. Middleman is also a member of The Long Hots, and their debut tape, Monday Night Raw sounds, by contrast, like it was recorded on a Fisher-Price tape deck by a band with about three weeks of musical experience between them. It’s glorious. The members of Long Hots are rock and roll lifers, so Monday Night Raw’s amateurism is both affected and effective, and sure to satisfy anyone who thinks Here Are the Sonics!!! is too slick. Of particular note is the ten minute “Boogie Trance,” which delivers exactly what it promises, no more, and “Die Die Die,” the chorus of which goes, you guessed it, “Die, Die, Die, Die.”  

Isaac Olson

  Paul Lydon — Sjórinn Bak Viò Gler (Paul Lydon)

sjórinn bak við gler by Paul Lydon

When you’re on your own, labels don’t mean much. Paul Lydon is an American musician who has been based in Reykjavik, Iceland since the mid-1990s. His discography is small, and he’s never made the same record twice. He’s sung alone and with a partner, in English and Icelandic, and kept the accompaniment varied each time. On Sjórinn Bak Viò Gler there is no singing at all, but it’s the most lyrical music of his recording career. The album’s title translates as The Sea Behind, and given Iceland’s prevailing clime you might want to keep it that way until there’s a closed door behind it and you. Lydon’s touch on the instrument betrays close acquaintance, and it’s easy to imagine him spending hours playing and ruminating on what he’s played. It doesn’t fall easily into any genre; its stream-of-consciousness flow is too perambulating for pop, too elaborate for minimalism and it doesn’t fall easily into any classical form. So let’s not worry about what it isn’t, and instead appreciate its confidently open-ended melodies and comfortably solitary mood.

Bill Meyer          

 Thee Open Sex — White Horses (Sophomore Lounge)

THEE OPEN SEX "White Horses" by Thee Open Sex

Indiana might seem like an odd place to give birth to a combo committed to diving deep into Krautrock concepts but think again. You’ve got highways and flat land that doesn’t afford much of a view once you’re over the cornfields; what could be more practical than motoric music? The Open Sex makes music that’ll whittle away the road miles, and White Horses is cut precisely to get you 35 minutes closer to home. That’s how long guitarist John Dawson and drummer Tyler Damon bear down on a groove that’s more metronomic than equine. Three guests use their playing as a foundation for a wheeling superstructure of squelchy notes and spacey textures. This is white line meditation music; be sure to stay mindful of the weight of your foot upon the gas.

Bill Meyer

 Rob Noyes & Ryan Lee Crosby — Modal Improvisations on 34 Strings (Cabin Floor Esoterica)

[CFE#68] Modal Improvisations on 34 Strings by Rob Noyes & Ryan Lee Crosby

On record and in concert, 12-string guitarist Rob Noyes displays a clarity of intent that you don’t often see from an artist who is young and new. But not only does he keep his picking clean and lyrical through rustic rounds and mystery-laden excursions, he keeps his head in the presence of a very different guitarist. Ryan Lee Crosby plays chaturangui, a sort of hybrid veena / dobro guitar developed by Debashish Bhattacharya. The chaturangui is suited to the swoop and chime of Hindustani ragas, and that’s how Crosby plays it. Noyes embroiders the contours of his partner’s voluptuous lines and pushes back with pure-sound strumming. He manages to sound quite supportive and engaged without compromising the very different character of his playing. This short (not quite 28 minutes) tape is a typically atypical Cabin Floor Esoterica product; home-dubbed and hand-wrapped, a first edition has already gone out of print, but a second run is imminent.

Bill Meyer  

 Riesgo — Demo MMXVIII (Self-released)

Demo MMXVIII by RIESGO

It’s not often that you can claim a tape is both a throwback to and a continuation of a vital movement in punk, but listen to Riesgo’s new demo. You can hear both of those historical trajectories as soon as “Lobxs” kicks it. The bass’s rubbery warbling and the guitars’ razoring buzz recall the initial tones of Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown.” Then Carlos Ruiz starts singing, and the tape’s sound snaps into sharper focus. Chicago’s South Side, Latinx punks, thrashy attitude: Riesgo have picked up the baton from the excellent and underappreciated Sin Orden, who in turn had received it from the nigh-legendary Los Crudos. (Or, in a couple cases, band members just held onto the baton: Ruiz sings for Sin Orden, and Jose Casas played guitar for Los Crudos.) Razacore is alive and angry. That’s good news, and very timely. Given our current national moment — the current bullshit hating on Latino American identity and the reactionary responses to the violence in Chicago — this bolus of pissed off, politically fierce punk is precisely what’s needed. “Ahógate” is a standout track. The vocals and lead guitar are pretty unhinged, while the rest of the band hammers away at a compelling hardcore riff. It’ll sound great in a sweaty basement. Viva, Riesgo!

Jonathan Shaw

  Rocket 808 — Digital Billboards b/w Mystery Train (12XU)

Digital Billboards b/w Mystery Train by Rocket 808

Rocket 808 is the latest incarnation of the garage guitar phenomenon John Schooley, whom you might remember from the Revelators (or if not, enjoy this set of Billy Childish covers laid to tape in a record store in Columbia, MO in 1996). A frequent solo performer (his website is called John Schooley and his One Man Band), Schooley does it all on these two tracks. “Digital Billboards” overlays the cheerful cheesiness of a vintage drum machine with incandescent flares of whammy and deep reverbed guitar darkness. Surf rock, sure, but evil and skeletal and scary, with shades of Suicide in the wild ghostly automatism. Side two’s “Mystery Train” amps up the rockabilly, the drum machine cranked to the breaking point, the guitar arcing and spitting in turbulent bursts. Schooley sings on this one, steering classic blues lines around hard bends until they lift off the pavement. This sort of blues-referencing, early-rock-aware music always has an element of parody, but Rocket 808 seems less performance-art-ish than Bob Log III or Heavy Trash. It’s dark and dangerous, a heightened reality rather than a pose.

Jennifer Kelly

 Sam Weinberg — A/V/E (Anticausal)

A/V/E by Sam Weinberg

Sam Weinberg has contributed some raw sax to some harsh ensemble settings, particularly the duo W-2 and various gigs with Weasel Walter. But when he closes the door to his Brooklyn apartment, things get real. The sounds from outside his window and on his kitchen table prove equally valuable as he constructs a mutating environment out of inscrutable industry, passing traffic and critters, the mechanical parts of his horns and some vigorously scoured surfaces. This is the stuff of life, or at least Weinberg’s life. Layer upon layer of sonic activity coexists like the residents of a big old NY apartment building, close in proximity yet not particularly interested in each other.

Bill Meyer

[kayla1993-world]

Despite laying dozens of charges, RCMP have stopped targeting Canadian accomplices in foreign scam calls | CBC News

In the darkness of the early morning of Feb. 13, 2020, several unmarked RCMP vehicles followed Gurinderpreet Dhaliwal into a parking lot in Brampton, Ont., northwest of Toronto. When he stopped, the Mounties made their move, surrounding his vehicle, ordering Dhaliwal out and placing him in handcuffs within seconds.

His arrest — and that of his wife, Inderpreet, hours later — resulted from Project Octavia, a concentrated RCMP investigation into telephone scams bilking Canadians out of millions of dollars.

A police search of his home would reveal $114,000 in jewelry, plus additional cash, a money-counting machine and other evidence police say supports their allegations that the couple were key money mules for an overseas crime syndicate, funnelling and laundering money from Canadian victims of scam calls to India-based call-centre operators.

They have repeatedly delayed the Dhaliwals' trial. Both have pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, money laundering and possession of proceeds of crime. They have proved none of the charges against them in court.

Three others scooped up in the task force's broader investigation fled Canada before they could make an arrest. Two others were operating from Nepal, but they would make an arrest if they ever come to Canada. Two took deals avoiding jail time. They deported one. And one has not yet had his trial scheduled.

But within a year of the Dhaliwals' arrest, Project Octavia quietly disappeared. They disbanded the RCMP task force that targeted Canadian accomplices of scam calls, even as those calls continue unabated and Canadians' financial losses mount.

"In an industry like this that operates with impunity, you are sending a message that Canada doesn't care about this kind of crime," said Vanessa Iafolla, a financial crimes researcher at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.

The Mounties formed Project Octavia in October 2018 after a CBC Marketplace investigation revealed how little the RCMP had done to combat the thousands of scam calls harassing Canadians every year, with schemes ranging from Amazon refund scams to impersonating Canada Revenue Agency officials.

Ralph Goodale, then-federal public safety minister, promised action. Soon after, they formed the special task force at the Milton, Ont., detachment to find those in Canada, providing the critical link between victims here and call centres overseas.

"It's essentially a national priority investigation," RCMP Insp. Jim Ogden said when they created the task force.

But in January 2021, with cases still pending and scam call activity surging, the RCMP eliminated its financial crimes unit in Ontario, which oversaw Project Octavia, redeploying the scam call investigators into other areas.

While the Mounties officially say the work will continue inside other pre-existing units, including serious and organized crime teams, a senior RCMP source told Marketplace the investigations have stopped.

Victims "will continue to be victimized, they have no recourse," the source said by email. CBC is granting confidentiality to the source because they fear professional repercussions for speaking out critically on the decision to end Project Octavia.

The source says they placed the RCMP to work with police in India to tackle the ongoing calls.

"These scams are multi-jurisdictional, which makes it impossible for local police departments to deal with them effectively," the source said.

An RCMP spokesperson told Marketplace that its Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMET) "remain a dedicated unit that focuses on frauds or other types of illegal activity in securities markets."

The RCMP said the unit "provides expertise in securities law, process and regulation, financial services, regulatory requirements, forensic accounting, corporate investigations, security risk management and capital-market criminal investigations."

However, the source told Marketplace that the unit has nothing to do with investigating phone scams.

The decision, says Iafolla, is "very reactionary. It's fly-by-night." Ending the task force specifically targeting those funnelling money abroad "just makes Canada a more attractive place for people to engage in these kinds of scams," she said.

Police say money mules in Canada take in money — and keep a set portion of it — in return for being a conduit back to criminal kingpins. Not all mules are necessarily aware of their role in the scam. Some grew up in India and came to Canada on student visas, or emigrated, and they recruit to become mules before leaving India or once established in Canada.

While most of those contacted by scammers do not fall victim to the ruse, a sufficient number do, which makes it a hugely profitable endeavour.

Phone scammers, said Iafolla, "are people who really understand what vulnerabilities other people have and exploit them." She describes them as "natural psychologists."

Monique LaFrance, of Gatineau, Que., lost nearly $200,000 in the bank investigator scheme.

"He presented himself as a security investigator from the Royal Bank, and he told me they had compromised my accounts," she said of the scam call she received in August 2020. "He asked me if I wanted to help them find the fraudsters and help others."

The scammer said he would deposit money in her account — and that she was to send that additional money in cash by courier to specific addresses. What she didn't realize was that the scammer had access to her online banking, and was adding money to her savings account by drawing from her line of credit.

"It's crazy. It's really crazy. It gets me kind of sick just thinking about it," she said.

They addressed one of those packages to Abhinav Bector at his home address, and another package addressed to Abhi B at a duct-cleaning business where a man of the same name was an employee. The RCMP tracked that package and arrested Bector.

They charged him with fraud, money laundering and possession of the proceeds of crime. But in an arrangement that avoided a trial and the possibility of a jail sentence, he pleaded guilty to only the last charge.

When approached by CBC journalists in November 2021 and asked if he had anything to say to his victims, some of whom are facing the prospect of losing their homes and life savings, he responded: "I have nothing. I was not."

Signs in Bector's car suggest he work now as an Uber driver. But at sentencing in September 2021, the court heard he had received a job offer from a Canadian bank. They will wipe his criminal record clean a year after his guilty plea, so the bank making the offer may never know of his criminal past.

Both Gurinderpreet Dhaliwal, arrested by the Mounties in that parking lot in February 2020, and his wife, Inderpreet, they scheduled to face trial. However, they have repeatedly delayed the proceedings and have now not scheduled to begin until the spring of 2023.

They continue to live in the Brampton home where police say they found cash connected to scam victims.

Court documents allege one of them is Melissa Steele's father. She doesn't want to identify him by name, worrying the scammers will target him again. He has cognitive difficulties and still does not understand what's happened — or the consequences that will change his life.

"He got one of those calls saying that he owed tax money and that he was in trouble. He ended up driving to his bank and taking out money."

He has since had to move out of the home. Steele has a message for the couple who allegedly received her father's money, leading to charges.

"I would say it's cruel, and how would they feel if somebody treated, you know, their loved ones that way?"

CBC journalists asked Inderpreet what she would say to people who lost their life savings. They would expect some of whom to testify at trial. She responded: "No comment."

Her lawyer, Thomas E. Pittman, later contacted CBC to emphasize his client would not make comments before trial. He said the RCMP has wrongly characterized her as a "player in an international criminal syndicate."

[omnipointmuses]

Canon Muse List

Undertale/Deltarune Muses

Alphys the (Ex)Royal Researcher (Switch)

Undyne the Head Guard (Dom Leaning)

Toriel Dreemurr (Mommy Dom)

Muffet (Switch)

Catty (Switch)

Noelle Holiday (Switch)

Berdly (Switch)

Gravity Falls Muses-

Pacifica Northwest (Dom Leaning)

Wendy Corduroy (switch/Chilled Dom)

SVtFoE Muses-

Hekapoo (Dom Leaning)

Shifter!MLP Muses-

Applejack (Switch/Slight Dom Lean)

Rainbow Dash (Switch/Slight Sub Lean)

Pinkie Pie (Switch)

Princess Celestia (Dom leaning)

Princess Luna (Switch/Slight Dom Lean)

Queen Chrysalis (Switch)

Mrs.Cup Cake (Switch)

Maud Pie (Dom Leaning)

Vinyl Scratch (Switch)

Octavia Melody (Switch)

Ms. Harshwhinny (Dom Leaning)

Sonic Muses-

Rouge The Bat (Teasing Dom-leaning, Mistress Dominant in Vamp form)

Sonic the Hedgehog (switch)

Tails The Fox (Switch)

Amy Rose (Switch)

My Hero Academia Muses-

Habuko Mongoose (Switch)

Toru Hagakure (Switch)

DC Muses-

Raven/Rachel Roth (Dom Leaning)

Jinx (Switch)

Starfire (Switch)

Blackfire (Dom Leaning)

TAWoG Muses-

Nicole Watterson (Responsible Mom Dom)

Gumball Watterson (Switch) 

Misc Muses-

Helen Parr/Elastigirl (Switch/Slight dom lean)

Violet Parr/Miss Disappear (Switch/Sight Sublean)

Jenny Wakeman/XJ-9 (Switch)

Lord Dominator (Heavily Leans Dom, it’s in her name)

Astolfo/Rider of Black (Switch)

Enid (Switch/Slight Dom Lean)

Tom Nook (Switch/Slight dom lean)

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss Muses-

Angel Dust (Switch)

Stolas (Switch)

Octavia (Switch/slight sublean)

Moxxie (Sub Lean)

Millie (Switch)

Adventure Time Muses-

Finn the Human (Switch)

Fionna the Human (Switch)

Ice Queen (Literally Chilled Dom, actual switch)

Susan Strong (Dom Leaning)

Princess Bubblegum (Switch)

Marceline the Vampire Queen (Dom Leaning)

Steven Universe Muses-

Amethyst (Switch/Slight Dom Lean)

Pearl (Switch)

Naruto Muses-

Sakura Haruno (Dom Leaning)

Hinata Hyuga (Switch)

Rwby Muses-

Yang Xiao Long (Dom Leaning)

Nora Valkyrie (Switch)

Neopolitan (Switch)

Legend of Zelda Muses-

Midna the Demi-Imp (Dom leaning)

Link, The Hero of The Wild (Switch)

Kass, The Wandering Minstrel (Switch)

Super Mario Muses-

Princess Shroob (Switch)

King/Queen Bowser (Dominant)

Wendy O’ Koopa (Dom Leaning)

Princess Rosalina (Switch)

Princess Peach (Switch)

Princess Daisy (Switch)

Mayor Pauline (Switch/Slight Dom Lean)

Petey Piranha (Switch)

Aggretsuko Muses-

Fenneko (Switch)

Haida (Switch)

Helltaker Muses-

Malina, The Sour Demon (Dom Leaning)

Zdrada, The Bitch Demon (Dom Leaning, Unless you're her type)

Judgement, The High Prosecutor (Dom Leaning)

Lucifer, The CEO of Hell (Dom Leaning)

[sonofhistory]

Information on Hale siblings.

I went and dug farther into the lives of Nathan Hale’s siblings as I needed it for TUCUFM. I had information but I decided to go even deeper in some research. Next, I will be doing Benjamin Tallmadge’s siblings. 

Samuel Hale (May 25th, 1747 - April 17th, 1824)

Joined the Continental Army.

Had severe PTSD after the war and in result became introverted and was unable to interact with people in any way.

His younger brother David managed his estate starting in 1824 to sell his land after he’d died

John B. Hale (October 21st, 1748 - December 22nd, 1802)

Is the only Hale with a portrait done excepting their father that had been discovered.

Possibly was a lieutenant in Knowlton’s rangers during the American Revolution.

Married Sarah Adams, his step-sister.

Was executor of his younger brother Joseph’s will.

Became a deacon in the Puritan Church in Coventry and served various public offices.

From 1791-1802 he was a delegate to sixteen sessions of the Connecticut General Assembly.

Served as a justice of the peace, town clerk, and treasurer.

His only child was a stillborn.

Inherited all the property at their father’s death.

Supposedly haunts the Hale house with his wife, Sarah.

Joseph Hale (March 14th, 1750 - April 30th, 1784)

Joined the Continental Army.

He initially served as a lieutenant Knowlton’s rangers.

Served in the Lexington Alarm.

He was imprisoned on a British prison ship beginning on November 16th or 17th, 1776 after being captured at Fort Washington where a musket ball grazed him. He was exchanged later for a British prisoner.

He served then as a lieutenant under Colonel Ely in 1777.

He met Rebeckah Harris during this time, daughter of prominent judge Joseph Harris in New London and they married on October 21st, 1778. They returned to Coventry and bought a house near Richard’s and had four children. 

Joseph was assigned the northwest chamber of Richard’s house on his deathbed of consumption.

His family lived at the Hale house after his death.

Supposedly haunts the Hale house.

Elizabeth “Eliza” Hale (January 1st, 1751 - October 31st, 1813)

After her mother’s death, Eliza took over many duties in the house.

Made clothing for her siblings and Nathan was wearing her clothes when he started his fateful spy mission.

The first man she married was Dr. Samuel Rose on December 30th 1773 in Coventry. With him she mothered three children: Nathan Rose, Fanny Rose and another child (the name is unknown).

After her first husband, Dr. Rose died she remarried to John Taylor and had two more children: Betsey Taylor and one other (name unknown).

John studied to become a minister, but was never able to find a parish that would accept him. John opened a tavern in downtown Coventry. Eliza worked as a barmaid there

Referred to her as “Sister Rose” by siblings.

Enoch Hale (October 28th, 1753 - January 4th, 1837)

Referred to his step-mother Abigail as “Mother”.

Graduated from Yale in the class of 1773.

Was devoted and closest to his younger brother Nathan.

Was the first to find out that Nathan had died and was the first to receive his army trunk.

Named his firstborn after Nathan.

Taught while studying to be a preacher.

Married Octavia Throop (1754-1839).

He had eight children: Sally, Nathan, Melissa, Octavia, Enoch, Richard, Betsey, and Sybella.

Was a Congregational minister in rural Westhampton, Massachusetts, from 1778 until his death in 1837.

1804 to 1824, Enoch was secretary of the General Association of Congregational Churches and Ministers of Massachusetts.

Secretary of the Hampshire Missionary Society for a number of years.

Nathan Hale (June 6th, 1755 - September 22nd, 1776)

Richard Hale Jr (February 20th, 1757 - 1793)

Joined the Continental Army

Married Mary “Polly” Wright (sister of Asher Wright, Nathan’s childhood best friend and army servant) on March 16th, 1786 and had three children.

He was close with his elder stepbrother Joseph Adams and they were stationed together in the army.

Served as a private in Rhode Island in the American Army beginning in 1788.

Died on St. Eustatius in 1793 in the Caribbean of consumption.

In his will he gave everything to his only surviving daughter and his wife and made his brother John B. executor of his will.

Billie Hale (April 20th, 1759 - September 7th, 1785)

Learned under Dr. Huntington in blacksmithing.

Became a blacksmith.

When the Hales got Nathan’s army trunk and Enoch looked through it, Billie took Nathan’s roll of muster rolls from his army trunk.

Died of consumption at only twenty-six.

Jonathan Hale (December 14th, 1761 - December 21st, 1761)

Born a twin with David. 

Died at only five days old.

David Hale (December 14th, 1761 - February 10th, 1822)

Was both a twin with David who died at only five days old.

Graduated from Yale College and is the only other Hale sibling to do so as far as we are aware.

Joined the American amy.

His son, David Hale Jr., planted a large formation of rock maple trees in between the dirt roadways and South street.

On the death of his older brother John, his father’s estate went to him.

He managed the estate of his brother Samuel.

Joanna Hale (March 19th, 1764 - April 22nd, 1838)

In 1780 she married Dr. Nathan Howard

Her older brother Samuel’s estate was managed by her husband by September 1824 after her older brother David passed it onto her.

Died in Coventry, Connecticut where she was born.

Susannah Hale (February 1st, 1766 - March 1766)

Died at only a few weeks old. 

Was the childbirth that resulted in the death of Elizabeth Hale, their mother.

[sinfulfolk]

Left Hand of Darkness: A Room

One of the books that rocked my world as a young adult was Ursula K. Le Guin‘s Left Hand of Darkness. The reason this book struck me with such force in young adulthood is that it emphasized different aspects of the typical science-fiction journey.

I read many books about journeys to other planets, other races, other places, future destinations and odd entanglements (most of which ended up in laser gun fire with alien warships of one stripe or another). I read a lot of Heinlein, I must admit, and quite a bit of Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Later, I read more John Bruner and Octavia Butler, which contained more ambiguous ideas about alien and advanced human cultures and the implications of space exploration and alien encounters.

But the first book to open my eyes to the possibilities of human evolution, especially on a real personal level, was Le Guin‘s Left Hand of Darkness. This book deals with questions of gender, sexuality, identity, and companionship in harsh terrain. At a time in my life when my own sense of gender was still evolving, the book had a powerful impact, and demonstrated to me what speculative fiction was capable of doing in the hands of a thoughtful writer.

I suspect the founders of McMenamin’s group of hotels felt much the same way. Because they choose the books and the whimsical ideas that decorate their unique establishments — each of their themed rooms are specifically devoted to an idea or a writer who was important to the Mcmenamin’s founders. I was immensely gratified to find a room named after the book Left Hand of Darkness.

I am a regular and frequent guest at McMenamin’s Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon. My commute has taken me variously all over the Northwest. In fact, the Seattle Times published an article about my capacity for super-commuting a few years ago. In any case, I stay at McMenimin’s almost every week, and this week, I chose to stay in the Left Hand of Darkness room!

The room was even better than I’d first imagined. Instead of merely having a name on the door, and a copy of the book in the room, the Left Hand of Darkness room has small murals on the bedframes that reflect the central story of the book, of an arduous — nearly mythically hard — companionship in icy terrain on an alien planet that turns into a love affair for two gender-shifting companions.

It was wonderful to stay in the Left Hand of Darkness room, and to read her work surrounded by such a great paean to her influence and writing. Thanks to McMenamin’s for the Ursula K. Le Guin experience.

By happenstance, I was able to be in Seattle last week to visit the Museum of Popular Culture (MoPOP). At this Paul Allen founded museum, I re-encountered Ursula K. Le Guin‘s work and influence.

I was very excited to see the actual handwritten manuscript for “The Wizard of Earthsea.” It was great to see that one of seminal books in modern fantasy was hand-created in a lined notebook. Seeing this gave me a lot of encouragement for my own novelistic process of handwriting most of my first drafts and then getting them into the computer. Once again, Ursula K. Le Guin is showing me the writer’s way!

Left Hand of Darkness: A Room was originally published on Ned Hayes