#letters to jacko

[leahgecko]

it's been almost a year since i've sat down to write one of these holy shit. i don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing? there's so much to say but i don't even know where to start? i went to the blue ridge rock fest this year and it got canceled because of weather after like 3 days. which, i'm not exactly complaining? it was a blast while it lasted but also a little bittersweet since it was something that i knew you would've LOVED and it was starting to hit me in the feels. now i'm just vibing out in nashville which is also something you would've loved lmao.

i've been sober for like a year and a half now. from narcotics, not alcohol lmao. ya girl still needs her tequila. sometimes, on the shitty days when i'm ready to cave, i can hear you go all "don't you fuckin DARE." it's insane how you're still my voice of reason sometimes. idk... this is the first time in my life that i've felt like i'm actually doing decent? i've been doing a lot of work on my inner self, trying to unlearn shitty habits... and i still have a lot of work to go. but like, progress is progress, right?

there's so much shit happening right now but i'm just kinda taking it a day at a time. my momma got a breast cancer diagnosis a few weeks ago and i'm also dealing with some health shit myself that i'm still coming to terms with. then there's just shit with my 'father' and i'm like what the actual fuck is happening rn. it is what it is i guess and i'll just keep dealing with it but sometimes i'd like a break.

once i get back home, i gotta go see your parents. they told me i could decorate their house again for halloween and i'm so excited. i feel like i haven't been able to see them as much as i'd like because i've been so busy but they've always been understanding about it. tbh, sometimes i'd wish they've just get mad about it but i know that'll never happen.

our girl is in highschool now and z is a full grown adult. it's kinda hard to believe. i'm glad that they're healthy and thriving but holy shit i wish they'd stay smol. kenzi still finds ways to bring you up in our conversations and it makes my heart happy knowing that you were so so loved. not only by me, but by literally everyone who knew you. i just wish you could've seen it before it was too late.

until next time, fly high nerd. i love you.

[vomittedsoap]

Jacko discussion

In the scene where Lady Jane Franklin gives Jacko as a gift to Sir John Franklin, John points out “that monkey is female” even tho she’s already named the monkey Jacko (which I’m assuming is a male name).

…. Wtf is the meaning of this scene?? It sticks out to me just cuz idk what was the point of that. Is it a reference to some letters/ships logs or something?

Is it a reference to the fact that scientists identified some of the bodies of the Franklin expedition as female (which could be a false reading but also it’s not impossible that there was some females onboard, maybe disguised as males)…??????

Is it a reference to when [either Crozier or Blanky I forgor] says the Tuunbaq has to be male just because of the way that it is..?

Or am I stupid??

[jackobbit]

REAL!! NOT FAKE!! A JACKO DOODLE HAS ENTERED THE SCENE!!

Sorry it’s been so long since I uploaded art! I had to move again lately so it took me ages to get my stuff set back up, I feel way out of practice so I apologize if this isn’t the best.

Regardless, woe, E.V.I.L. be upon ye

[ID: A digitally drawn, colorless image of Solar Flare and Bloodmoon from the Working for E.V.I.L. Au. They both sit on the ground and look off to the left where offscreen Eclipse says “You two only get a five minute break.” Solar Flare responds with “Setting timer” in block letters to represent a robotic voice as Bloodmoon flips off the off-screen Eclipse in frustration. Solar Flare is a blocky robot with a circular head, a vent for a mouth and several angled sun-like rays that surround their head. They sit with one leg on the floor and the other bent upwards, both arms are placed on either side of Solar Flare as their hands rest on the ground. Bloodmoon sits to the right. He is a robot who wears several belts and chains, a twin tailed jester hat, devil horns and baggy pants. They look displeased as one arm holds his body upwards, his legs crossed over one another with one flat on the floor and other going above it. He has two tails, both of which sprawl out to the left and right. The entire picture is colored white. /End ID]

[myemuisemo]

Parts 6-8 of Letters from Watson's handling of The Sign of the Four hit at a time when I was swamped with work, so circumstances have made a fool of my assumption about that tiny footprint before I had a chance to thoroughly embarrass myself in public.

My first thought for the footprint was "monkey" -- I apparently really, really want a monkey, and there are certain macaques whose faces would be absolutely terrifying if seen pressed against a dark window. The problem is, the footprints of monkeys, apes, gorillas, and other such don't look like human footprints. They're all much more like hands. Gorillas come closest to having a human-like foot, but there's still a big thumb-like finger. And, of course, gorillas are too big anyway.

My venture into simian podiatry at least explains why Dr. Watson doesn't think "monkey." Victorians would have been better informed on this topic than I am, as monkeys were a common household pet in England. Little Jacko was, unsurprisingly, usually clever but mischievous. The blog from which I got monkey-lore also gets into monkey-fighting, which is even more appalling than how monkeys were treated as pets.

In part 8, we discover that the footprint does not, after all, belong to a monkey, ape, or other animal. Oh no, Doyle has in mind a situation much worse, and he's even foreshadowed it with two Indian servants. The colonial occupiers of India absolutely brought home people for their convenience.

The mysterious Jonathan Small brought home an indigenous Andaman Islander, who would be totally justified in wanting to kill anyone associated with the British Army. About 30-40 years before the time of the story, British settlement on the island had brought diseases that nearly wiped out the indigenous peoples. Efforts to help them existed -- one such would have been in the news in 1888 -- but it's still entirely a shameful episode.

(If you recall the 2018 story of the missionary who was determined to land on an island of indigenous peoples who were known for not allowing visitors... these were Andamanese, specifically Sentinelese. He was killed by the locals.)

Now, then, listen to this. ‘They are naturally hideous, having large, misshapen heads, small, fierce eyes, and distorted features. Their feet and hands, however, are remarkably small. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree. They have always been a terror to shipwrecked crews, braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs, or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. These massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast.’

There's still a lot of "exotification of the savage" here -- the images of today's Andaman Islanders just look like people, very dark-skinned, with textured hair. Cannibalism felt like one of those charges levied against any group one doesn't like, and sure enough! Every source I can find today says the people of the Andaman Islands never practiced cannibalism. History Today also says "no poisoned darts," but the article's partly paywalled.

The Andaman Islander has kind of harshed my buzz vis-a-vis fun elements like the many ways Holmes demonstrates he's a man of class flexibility, the "never tired when working" line (he has got to be neurospicy), the omnipresence of creosote (used as a wood preservative, toxic af to the workers and anyone who recklessly burned all creosote-treated wood), and the humor of the newspaper report fronting for more localized police stations, along with the running joke of Athelney Jones arresting everyone indiscriminately.

At least there was a badger (at the house where Toby was obtained).

[thelustybraavosimaid]

Jon's hardhome arc being replaced by the pink letter, which once again emphasizes the bond between Jon and Arya, is a very interesting choice. Especially since it led to Jon's death. Frankly, Grrm doesn't seem to have forgotten JonArya the way so many fans believe, and eventually these powerful connections will be highlighted at some point in the story

You may enjoy this ask! I highly suggest checking out Jacko's post linked within it.

But yes. There is a reason why ADwD is the Jonrya Bible™️ :)

[guiltygearconfessions]

letter to all gg fans. listen to helloween. listen to i want out and you stupid mankind be helloween. please. Especially jacko fans PLEASE. Ky Kiske was named after helloween members did u know that . LISTEN

-

[someone-elsa]

URL Song tag game

(Links go to spotify)

s : Stranger / The Cohens (from Cities: Skylines) o : Other Ways / Trevor Hall m : Memories / The Midnight e : Egg Shells / Jacko Hooper o : On Melancholy Hill / Gorillaz n : Natalie / Milk & Bone e : Everything I Ever Wanted (Solo Piano) / Bright Light Bright Light - e : Elsa / GAMMAL l : Los Angeles / The Midnight s : Summertime / Orville Peck a : Ambitions / Donkeyboy

Lmao I have difficult letters 🙃

I was tagged by @budgie2budgie and @tipsy-clouds Thank you! ♥

I'll tag @tacosauraus @bubblyccfinds @tashsim @waterlessbody @hellodahliah @theosconfessions @leavath @graceyard-gumbo @trivphiasims @scamberose @gloomydahlia @guys-imtrippin @nyrachelle-plays Don't feel obliged to do this, it's supposed to be fun! And you can do it later, a year later even haha! :)

[carewyncromwell]

☮️ for Jacko and Carey bear please?<3

☮ - friendship headcanon

Jackson may come across as a very extroverted person who's both effortlessly confident and immune to shame to most people, but that doesn't mean it's easy to become close friends with him. Jackson is very prone to put on a charming mask with people, so showing vulnerability or self-doubt is not something that's very easy for him. It's possible that strangers or acquaintances might see Jackson lose his temper...but only his friends -- namely, those people who Jackson refers to by nicknames based on their first names rather than titles -- will ever see Jackson sad. Seeing Jackson cry is even rarer -- one of the very few who's ever seen that is Jackson's bestie Adelia Selwyn @thatravenpuffwitch, after Adelia expressed her support for Jacko coming out of the closet and going steady with Montelimar Bloom @cursebreakerfarrier.

The period during the Second Wizarding War where Bill and Carewyn couldn't contact each other without endangering Carewyn's undercover work for the Order of the Phoenix was very hard on both of them, and after going into hiding, Bill wrote journal entries in form of letters to Carewyn to both distract himself and transcribe everything he wished he could share with her. He gave this collection of letters to Carewyn after the War (something that brought usually-stoic Carewyn to tears), and she now keeps them inside a fake book on her bookcase so she can peruse them on rainy days. One of the "letters" she often comes back to is one Bill wrote not long after Ron, Harry, and Hermione left Shell Cottage preparing to break into Gringotts:

Hey, Carey, It's a gloomy morning today at the coast. I'm trying to remember your old story about Jacob taking you to the beach on gray days to avoid the crowds, if just to stave off how foreboding it feels. Ron, Harry, and Hermione left today, with Griphook in tow. I warned Harry against making any kind of deal with him rashly, but I don't know how well he took it to heart. I don't know how he took it to heart. Frankly I don't know how well any of them took my words, telling them our house was always open...asking them to be careful... Carey...I felt so adrift, watching them go. Part of me wanted to just grab onto all three of them and tell them not to go back out there…but all I could think of was us, back in the Sunken Vault, when you tried to tell us all to go and save ourselves. Yet we all chose to stay behind, no matter what the risk to ourselves. I was the exact same age as they are right now. We were so young then, Carey…Merlin, we were so young… I want to feel that brave again, Carey. For just a minute, I want to forget all the tried-and-true experience, all the betrayals, all of the years of disappointment and fear that's exhausted us beyond belief, and just be brave again. I hope you're thinking of me right now just as I'm thinking about you and I hope that's making it easier for you to be brave. Because I know that's the only way we'll make it through the storm. If we're brave. And we're not alone. Stay strong, Bill

Headcanon Ask!

[gothicastles]

this section in fairholme's letter about jacko (july 1st 1845) made me laugh out loud lmao

The monkey continues to be the annoyance & Pest of the whole ship, & yet not a person in her would hurt him for the whole world. He is a dreadful thief but such a very amusing one that his robberies bring very little sympathy for the unfortunate losers!

my girl said‼️ it's being a menace hours‼️

[blubushie]

hi leafanon here, other anon is dumb but im curious, ive always heard that "aborigine" is offensive and the term youre supposed to use is "aboriginal." which is correct?

G'day leafanon!

Reckon this is a question better suited for a blackfella (which I'm not) but in my own experience of the folks I've met "Aboriginal" is preferred in the cities and "Aborigine" is preferred in the Outback. Really it depends on who you ask. Some blackfellas are alright with the term Aborigine, others aren't.

About ten years or so ago people really started to get into the PC culture of "everything is offensive" and now you'll cop a lot of shit for saying "Aborigine" in cities. That said, also in my experience the people that hang shit on you for saying it are rarely Indigenous and are usually white people. Folks outside of cities generally don't care and ascribe more to the traditional meaning of the word and are reclaiming it from whatever negative connotation it might've had in the past.

In the Outback (among the people I've met at least, mostly Anangu and Gaagudju, which is what my mob and Jacko are) the preferred term is "Aborigine." Aborigine is the noun for a First People individual. Aboriginal is an adjective. Jack is an Aborigine. A spear made by his mob would be Aboriginal.

Whatever you do, DO NOT ABBREVIATE THE WORD by reducing it to the first three letters of the word or you will be punched. I know Aussies abbreviate everything but that abbreviation has massive negative connotation and isn't acceptable to use as it's the Aborigine's equivalent of the n-word. If you're a tourist you generally get a pass because it's not likely that you know it's a slur, but if you're an Aussie you can fully expect to have a fight on your hands if you say it.

[leahgecko]

i miss you. i hate this. that’s it. 

[leahgeckoarchive]

dear jacko,

i know it's been a while and i'm sorry. i just got swarmed with health and family and all sorts of other shit, but trust me, i never forgot about you. today would have been our 9 year anniversary and honestly, it's got me all up in my feels.

i miss you so fucking much. they say that time heals all wounds but i really think that's bullshit. sure, some days are easier than others - but it's never completely easy. i find myself looking back and i can't help but wonder where we would have been today. i know i said i never wanted to get married, but i would have married the shit out of you 😂. i like to think that we would have been living our best lives and being a pain in each other's asses.

i talked to your momma last night and i'm supposed to go see her later today. the year anniversary for mitch is coming up soon and honestly, i think we're all struggling. we miss you boys so fucking much. even so, your parents seem to be doing okay! she still tries to mom me like no other and i'm so grateful. they practically adopted me and have been there for me when my own family wasn't and they didn't have to do that. but they did. so i'm going to be there for them.

nana mamie is in hospice right now, but she's a fighter. my aunt and uncles just fucked her over and left her there... but i really think she has more time left if she could just get the proper care. i'm filing for guardianship later today so hopefully... we can get bust her ass out and give her a fighting chance... because look, i'm not ready to say goodbye to her. that woman basically helped raised me and i owe her so much. i know there will be a time that i will have to say goodbye, but not now.

as for me? i'm exhausted in every sense of the word - but i'm hanging in there. it's taking everything in me to not collapse into myself but i know that's not something you would've wanted for me. i already know you'd kick my ass and tell me to stop wallowing around, to fall back in love with life again, so i'm trying.

please give mitch and that baby a huge hug for me and give koda some ear scratches. until next time, fly high star boy.

[yourheartbeatonthehighline]

i haven’t unfollowed you because one, i love your posts. two, seeing “yourheartbeatonthehighline” gives me instant joy since cardigan is my fav

why thank you so much!! I love this url and cardigan with my whole heart

new ask game: instead of telling me why you followed me, why haven’t you unfollowed me?

[chaotic-goodsir]

Update on things I have learned about the irl Franklin expedition members from Erebus: The Story of a Ship (spoilered in case anyone wants to read this book themselves without me ruining it)

- Fitzjames regularly stayed up until 2am (when he had watch at 5!) writing letters and keeping his journal. When Reid asked if him if he ever slept, Fitzjames said he got twice the amount of sleep as other men in half the number of hours.

- Crozier feigned illness multiple times to avoid going to Franklin’s ‘team meetings’.

- Franklin was worried that Crozier was miserable about Sophie Cracroft. Meanwhile, Crozier was writing a long letter to James Clark Ross, saying how he missed him terribly and could never be happy on the expedition without him.

- There was an in-joke on Erebus that Jacko the Monkey had consumption. The ship’s doctor (Palin doesn’t say which, but presumably Stanley?) was asked to look at him and concluded that the only 'consumption’ symptom Jacko had was the consumption of everything edible within his reach.

- At one point they sailed through a massive shoal (pod? herd?) of narwhals, which isn’t particularly relevant to anything but is just a really cool image.

[thelustybraavosimaid]

I checked Jacko's post, thank you. The part that always catches my attention is not only how much he reinforces this connection. He also tries to maximize the tension of their reunion to make it an even more cathartic and profound event for both characters. He uses two characters (Alys and Jeyne) to represent Arya and make Jon more desperate at the possibility of not finding her 👀

Jon is physically sick during ADWD, like Ned's head had just rolled out of the letter. He genuinely gets depressed. Mel recognizes this despair and sadness in him and warns Jon that it is a powerful weapon for the enemy. He becomes blind to the knives in the dark. Even on Alys' wedding day, Jon looks at her and sees Arya's smile just when he notices a crown made of snow on her head. And still George has this connection continue to build and build and for what?

The relationship between these two just blows my mind. Because there is no need for metas, foreshadowing. It's a relationship that exists on its own and has been battling major plots since ever. It is explicitly powerful. From a narrative point of view, no relationship in asoiaf is treated like this and why.

Why should we pay so much attention to them?

You are very welcome!

YES. The tension is part of why their reunion is so desperately wanted by the fandom. Who are they now? How much have their experiences changed them as characters?

There has to be a paradigm shift, a newfound deep evaluation of their relationship because the narrative demands it. George himself says that because of what she's endured that Arya is older than some of the forty-year-olds in the books. He has Jon question if he'd know what she'd look like and if he'd know her. He has Arya think that Jon has to call her something else because she's not little anymore.

Even despite these questions they have for one another, they still are first and foremost in each other's minds. Like you said, at the prospect of being unable to help her, he feels guilty, he feels as old as a sixty-year-old man. He becomes reckless — in his mind — when he equates sending Mance and the six spearwives south as "setting them loose on the North." But when he hears she's at the Wall, he feels young again.

This question of why George built up their relationship in the narrative the way he had is exactly why I ship Jonrya in the first place. There really is no need to make them this unique in the series. We as readers are constantly being bashed over the head with how much they love each other, but it's on such a different level, especially when you compare the love they have with what they have for their siblings, that I found it so strange on my first read.

Nothing else can come close.

[fitzjmes]

The stray bullet hits him like a freight train and for a moment, Jack damn near doubles over; hand automatically pressed to his belly as blood stains the ice beneath his feet. Great. Dying out here and then immediately freezing to death again sounded like an awful plan. After a beat, he collapses to his knees unwillingly. "Not a bear." The comment is lighter than deserved, and followed by a red stained cough; hand coming away even more drenched. "You could work on your social skills."

unprompted asks that i don’t love // accepting, i guess -.-

“Weapons down!” The Captain’s voice rang out amidst the chaos of men running and shouting— everyone fearing and expecting the worst. That bear, which had killed many of them already. Including Sir John, who had met an untimely and violent death at the hands of that beast. 

The panic was inevitable, it seemed. And James could always feel it sitting at the back of his head, too, though it was easily subdued into nothing more than a subconscious murmur. However, this would not do. No, it would not. Shooting without first confirming the target would—

“Jack?” Good Christ. 

Fitzjames took a few running steps to the man, whose blood was spilling out upon the snow at an alarming rate. He did not catch him quick enough but grabbed a hold of him nonetheless, fingers curling into his greatcoat with violent force. “Fetch Doctor Stanley,” Fitzjames demanded, all the while attempting to stem the bleeding, “Now!” The hot, dark red blood bubbled through his fingers, through the edge of the coat which he was attempting to press against the wound. There was no stopping it. Not without proper medical equipment.

“You will be alright,” he promised, as he held on to the other, “You will be alright. Breathe. Slowly, carefully. Do not move, we will have a physician on the ice in a matter of minutes.”