#there is both a ''ross island'' and ''james ross island''

[weremustelidae]

one thing i have learned from antarctica special interest is that if a place has the name "ross" in it it is referring to the same guy. every time

[defjux]

Here's 100 of the albums from 2024 that i''ve enjoyed the most: 50 hip hop records, and 50 albums in other genres. There's still a ton of stuff I haven't gotten to yet or need to revisit, but i'm feeling pretty good about this and don't think too much would change aside from the order. Insane year for music overall, and surely there will still be some big releases in the next two months. Biggest surprise for me was definitely The Cure making a comeback after almost two decades and putting out their best album since Wish. I'm also convinced that Robert Smith is an actual vampire. he still sounds great after all this time. Charts with album titles included Again, i'm sure there's plenty of stuff that has gone under the radar for me so as always i'm open to recommendations. Let me know what your favorite records are, i'd genuinely like to know. I'll post the list of albums below, and maybe at the end of the year will do some kind of spotify playlist with one or two songs from each. Peace.

Hip hop:

ELUCID - REVELATOR

Ka - The Thief Next To Jesus

AKAI SOLO - DREAMDROPDRAGON

Mach-Hommy- #RICHAXXHAITIAN

Cavalier - Different Type Time

The Fortunate Ones - RESIN

Armand Hammer - BLK LBL

Dead Players - Faster Than the Speed of Death

ShrapKnel - Nobody Planning To Leave

Sunmundi & klwn cat - Lived and Born

Desert Camo - Desert Camo

Nakama - EMBERGO_

Lee Scott - To Tame A Dead Horse

Joshua Virtue - Black Box: JOSHUA IS DEAD

Freddie Gibbs - You Only Die ince

Navy Blue - Memoirs in Armour

Phiik & Lungs - Carrot Season

Nickelus F - MMCHT

Nuse Tyrant - Juxtaposed Echoes

Mary Sue - Voice Memos From A Winter In China

DJ Muggs & Raz Fresco - The Eternal Now

Revival Season - Golden Age of Self Snitching

Midnight Sons - Money Has No Owners

Tyler, the Creator - Chromakopia

Sasco - The Hottest Year on Record

Boldy James & Conductor Williams - Across The Tracks

Hester Valentine - Valenta

Mavi - Shadowbox

Serengeti - KDIV

JPEGMAFIA - I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU

Rap Man Gavin & postureless - Memories, Dreams, Reflections

yungmorpheus - WAKING UP AND CHOOSING VIOLENCE

Sadistik & Maulskull - Oblivion Theater

Roc Marciano - MARCIOLOGY

R.A.P. Ferreira - the First Fist to Make Contact When We Dap

Deca & Dealz - Bough

Nxworries - WHY LAWD?

Oddisee - And Yet Still

Rich Jones & SINAI. - Sour Dub

Lupe Fiasco - Samurai

Noveliss & Hir-O - Cyberpunk Rhapsody

Cavalier & Quelle Chris - Death Tape 2: We Gon' Need Each Other

Killah Priest - Abraxas Rebis Simha Pleroma

Vince Staples - Dark Times

Kooley High & Tuamie - All Infinite

MIKE & Tony Seltzer - Pinball

Daniel Son & Futurewave - BUSHMAN BODEGA

Vic Spencer & August Fanon - Psychological Cheat Sheet 5

Jack Jetson & Illinformed - Winter Forever

bromethugzine - THUG ZINE issue 002: WORLD-SPIRIT

Everything else:

Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She

Iglooghost - Tidal Memory Exo

chat pile - Cool World

Frail Body - Artificial Bouquet

The Cure - Songs Of A Lost World

Trauma Ray - Chameleon

Terry Green - PROVISIONAL LIVING

Gouge Away - Deep Sage

Thou - Umbilical

ØKSE - ØKSE

Tenue - Arcos, bóvedas, pórticos

Krallice - Inorganic Rites

Nala Sinephro - Endlessness

Punchlove - Channels

Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding - Milton + esperanza

Arooj Aftab - Night Reign

Hammok - Look How Long Lasting Everything Is Moving Forward For Once

Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere

Crumb - AMAMA

Kamasi Washington - Fearless Novement

Fievel Is Glauque - Rong Weicknes

Camila Bañados - Viento 1.

julie - my anti-aircraft friend

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja

Skee Mask - Resort

Mary Halvorson - Cloudward

Infant Island - Obsidian wreath

Blushing - Sugarcoat

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD

MAGDALENA BAY - Imaginal Disk

Leaving Time - Angel in the Sand

Joel Ross - nublues

Both Gibbons - Lives Outgrown

geordie greep - The New Sound

Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor

Nails - Every Bridge Burning

Hiatus Kaiyote Love Heart Cheat Code

Liana Flores Flower of the soul

Babii - Daredeviil2000

Blind Girls - An Exit Exists

HERIOT - Devoured by the Mouth of Hell

Julia Holter - Something in the Room She Moves

Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee

Melt-Banana - 3+5

Ulcerate - Cutting The Throat Of God

Spirit of the Beehive - YOU'LL HAVE TO LOSE SOMETHING

Hannah Frances - Keeper of the Shepherd

Ginger Root -Shinbanguni

Martha Skye Murphy - Um

Pluma - Não Leve a Mal

[scotianostra]

December 12th 1902 saw the birth of  Mackinnon or, to give her her Gaelic patronymic, Nan Eachainn Fhionnlaigh, at Kentangaval, Isle Of Barra.

If you remember yesterdays post about Margaret Fay Shaw, well some of the songs that she collected would have been from Nan and people like her,  a tradition-bearer, whose remarkable memory, enthusiasm, and love of the Gaelic oral tradition has ensured that her wealth of knowledge has been preserved and shared with future generations. She became known as  Nan of Vatersay, or Nan of the songs.

Nan was the youngest of seven children. Her father, Hector (Eachann Fhionnlaigh), was also born and raised in Kentangaval, and was descended from the MacKinnons of Strath, Skye – the historic grazing constables to the MacNeils of Barra until the 19th century. Nan's mother Mary was from Mingulay, and had strong connections with the MacPhee family, who – according to local tradition – came to settle in Barra in the 14th century. Nan grew up in what was a politically tumultuous time in the Highlands, and this influenced her early life greatly. Despite having won security of tenure twenty years before Nan was born, there remained a strong sense of injustice at the uneven distribution of land in the Highlands. Having spent her early years in Barra, in 1907 Nan's father was part of the 'Vatersay Raiders' – landless cottars from Barra and Mingulay who carried out a land raid on Vatersay, establishing crofts on the neglected land. Despite the eventual failure of the Land Raid, Nan's family were eventually given a croft in Baile, Vatersay following the purchase of land on the island by the Congested Districts Board.

Nan's repertoire was among some of the most extensive and varied of her generation, and this is reflected in the recordings of her featured on the Tobar an Dualchais website. She came from a rich musical tradition, and was said to know around 400 songs by heart, most of which she learned from her mother. After receiving her schooling on the island, Nan left home when she was seventeen and – as was common for women of her age at the time – spent a number of years in service for a variety of people in Argyll. She also worked at the herring for a time, in both Shetland and Yarmouth before going to Glasgow. One of her sisters died suddenly in 1940, leaving four young children and a husband who was away at sea for long periods. Nan returned home to Vatersay to raise the children and remained there for the rest of her life.

Nan McKinnon had a great fondness for the stories and songs she knew, and she was convinced of the importance of the oral tradition to Gaelic communities. Growing up she would spend hours practising them until she knew them in their entirety. As Nan herself commented: "[Each story] tells the ways of the people that lived in those days. The waulking songs kept news alive from generation to generation. There were no newspapers, whereas today we read it in the papers and forget about it tomorrow. But the songs kept it alive. Those happenings that happened centuries ago are still to be told in song and story. It's wonderful." Over and above her repertoire of songs, Nan was also well known for her tales and legends – often of a supernatural nature – and her captivating story style. She also had a deep knowledge of the traditions of Uist and Barra, and was recording speaking about a variety of subjects from cures to feast days, to interpretations of omens and dreams. Her knowledge of the material culture of her native island was also extensive, and her recordings include discussions about traditional diet, including about what would be eaten when food was scarce.

There are almost 1,000 recordings of Nan on the Tobar an Dualchais website, the earliest dating back to 1953 when she was recorded by Donald MacPherson for the Canna Collection, several other visited her and recorded her over the years, she must have been quite the wee celebrity on Vatersay 

James Ross summed up her significance as a tradition-bearer by saying: "Nan is the type of person that the folklore and folk-song collectors dream about. There is absolutely no trace of 'memory effect' as she responds to queries … Her answers are always a direct affirmative or negative, usually … the former. She never has to search her mind, and this, together with her unstinting co-operation, endless patience and subtle sense of humour, made the work of collecting a joy."

At the link below you can listen to  Nan singing  Griogal Cridhe, (literally "Gregor of the Heart", or "Beloved Gregor". It is a traditional Scottish lament and lullaby that was composed in Gaelic by Mór Chaimbeul ("Marion Campbell"), the widow of Griogair Ruadh Mac Griogair ("Gregor the Red MacGregor") (1541–1570), the chief of the Clan MacGregor of Glen Strae, who was executed at Taymouth Castle, Perthshire, on April 7th, 1570.   There are many versions of the lyrics

Griogal Cridhe

Chorus;

Òbhan, òbhan, òbhan i ri

Òbhan i ri ò

Òbhan, òbhan, òbhan i ri

'S mòr, mo mhulad, 's mòr.

'S iomadh oidhche fhliuch is thioram,

Sìde nan seachd sian,

Gheibheadh Griogal dhomhsa creagan

Ris an gabhainn dìon.

Eudail mhòir, a shluagh an Domhain,

Dhòirt iad t'fhuil o'n dè,

'S chuir iad do cheann air stob daraich

Tacan beag bho d'chrè.

B' annsa bhi le Griogal cridhe

 Teàrnadh chruidh le gleann,

 Na le Baran mòr na Dalach,

 Sìoda geal mu m' cheann.

Chan eil ùbhlan idir agam,

'S  ùbhlan uil' aig càch,

'S ann tha m'ùbhlan-s' cùbhr' ri caineal

'S cùl a chinn ri làr.

'Nuair a bhios mnàthan òg a'bhaile,

'Nochd nan cadal sèimh,

'S ann bhios mis' air bruaich do lice,

'Bualadh mo dhà làimh.

Many a night, wet or dry

weather of the seven elements

Gregor would get me a rocky shelter

Against the storm

Greatest treasure in all the world

They spilt your blood yesterday

And they put your head on a post of oak

A little way from your body

Would that I were with beloved Gregor

Herding cattle in the glen

Than with the great Baron of the Dale

White silk around my head

I have no apples at all

Others have all the apples

My apple with the fragrance of cinnamon

The back of his head to the ground

When the young women of the village will be

Tonight sleeping soundly

I will be at your graveside

Beating my two hands

https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/27170?l=en

With the above being a lament I thought I would post another song from Nan,  Haoi Ho Nach Dannsadh Sibh E is a much more upbeat song, according to the notes Nan’s  mother heard this song from Lewis women at the fishing. Another source tells me that this is the only  variant of that song, so without t the work of the likes of  Donald MacPherson, and indeed Margaret Fay Shaw, some of these songs would have been lost to the world, they are an integral, very important part of our Gaelic roots. This song is a  light vocal dance tune with a love theme. The song is of the type common among the women who worked as herring gutters.

https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/108438?l=en

Unfortunately I couldn’t find a transcript of the song in English, but if you google it you will find it in The Gaelic tucked away on a couple of PDF’s 

[thecunnydiaries]

28th Thursday

Very fine. Sighted Land ahead in the Morning of a very lofty appearance and on approaching it discovered in the highest Peak of it a Volcanic erruption. It would Shew first with a volume of Smoke, as dark as Pitch which would gradually become of a lighter hue and then the Flame would burst forth with great fury for some time, after which it would Subside for a few minutes and then reappear again. The Island is of a great height Peaky and entirely covered with Snow except the Sides of the burning Mountain which [are] black which I suppose is owing to the hot Lava issuing from the mouth of the Cratur and falling down its Sides. There is a valley between the two highest Peaks, in which there is a dense Labyrinth of Smoke [which] presents a very romantic feature in the general view of the Island. It lays in about 77 S L. 174 E Longitude, and several other Islands in it vicinity; both Ships Kept away to Leeward of it and found a body of Ice adhering to it and running away in a Southerly direction as far as you could See. To look along it you would think it was a high wall built in the Ocean: I should think it was fifty feet high and looked grand in perspective. Sailing along it all night with Studding Sails Low & aloft. Night particularly fine Sun Shining Strong

Beaufort Island and Mount Erebus, Discovered 28th. January, 1841, from Ross, Voyage, I. f.p.216.

Campbell's Notes:

Hooker, Notes, p. 271. ‘The water and the sky were both as blue, or rather more intensely blue than I have ever seen them in the tropics, and all the coast one mass of dazzlingly beautiful peaks of snow, which, when the sun approaches the horizon, reflected the most brilliant tints of golden, yellow and scarlet; and then to see the dark cloud of smoke, tinged with flame, rising from the volcano in a perfect unbroken column; one side jet-black, and the other giving back the colours of the sun, sometimes turning off at a right angle by some current of wind, and stretching many miles to leeward! This was a sight, so surpassing every thing that can be imagined, and so heightened by the consciousness that we have penetrated, under the guidance of our commander, into regions far beyond what was ever dreamed practicable, that it really caused a feeling of awe to steal over us, at the consideration of our own comparative insignificance and helplessness, and at the same time an indescribable feeling of the greatness of the Creator in the works of his hand.’Return to an Address of the Honourable The House of Commons dated 26 August 1841 - for, Copies of such Extracts from the Despatch of Captain James Ross from Van Diemen’s Land etc. ‘… Still steering to the southward, early next morning, the 28th, a mountain of 12,400 feet above the level of the sea was seen, emitting flame and smoke in splendid profusion. This magnificent volcano received the name of Mount Erebus… It is in latitude 77°32'S. and longitude 167°E.; an extinct crater to the eastward of Mount Erebus, of a somewhat less elevation, was called Mount Terror.

C. J. Sullivan, SPRI MS 367/22. ‘At the South East end of Mount Erebus and joining the Main Land of Victorias continent begins the Barrier or as I should call it natures handywork, in the evening we commenced running thinking from the Declination of the Barrier from the distant view from the Mast head that we may run it down by midnight. But as far and as fast as we run the Barrier appeard the Same Shape and form as it did when we left the mountain. We pursued a South Easterly Course for a distance of three hundred miles But the Barrier appeard the Same as when we Left the Land.’

[jaigny]

Jesse Ross

Age: 23

Sexual Orientation : She/Her

Ethnics: Al Simahara & Del Sol Valley

Traits: Foodie, Family Oriented & Animal Enthusiast

Likes: Black,Red & Blue/ Music wise she likes Electronica, Metal & Summer Strut

Story:

Growing up as a kid in Al Simahara certainly had its good times as well as its drawbacks. Her parents though approached Jesse when she was 6 saying that they were moving to a place called Del Sol Valley for their jobs as well as better schools for Jesse.

Jesse is the eldest child of her family and they refer to her as a "Wildcard" due to the fact she's always doing something to occupy herself whether it be with her father in his car workshop or with they mother baking goods or painting til dinner time.

She has 3 other siblings that are all boys. Josh (2nd oldest, 18), Jericho (Middle Child, 16) and the baby of the family James (12). And her mother is pregnant with twins.

*Files*

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Ursula Landgraab

She/They/Them

24 Retired celeb chef/Celeb mixologist

Cooperdale

Allosexual

Being the single daughter of famous celebrities San Myshuno's Art Critic Malcom Landgraab and Celebrity Platinum List Actress Venessa Jeong and the granddaughter of the greatly known Nancy and George Landgraab certainly is a job in itself. Full of expected family expectations as itself is exhausting but she decided like her uncle Johnny Landgraab Zest to forge her own path into bobbies she enjoyed into a very successful career.

Though the deal with her scholarship with both her parents and grandparents was that she study other things she may or may not enjoy as a backup plan incase her main career goal didn't work out. Hence she has a few distinguished degrees from both Foxbury and Brichester Collages. (her grandparents peered to her that anything less was unacceptable)

What's your ideal type if your looking for romance on Love Island?

She doesn't have an ideal type really but she does look for more personality wise then just looks. She wants a partner who is genuine, calm but always down for fun and one that appreciates her needs etc but always does the same for themselves and can stand up to her pressuring family.

Why is she applying to Love Island and what does she hope to get out of the experience?

To have fun, take a well deserved break and meet new people and connections/friendships whether there's love or not in the cards for her.

More Backstory:

Her parent's met during Simder's filming location as they required a large enough vault at San Myshuno's Art Museum owned by Art Critic Malcom Landgraab.

Venessa and Malcom at first didn't get along at first portraying their passionate personalities that didn't mesh at first until their first kiss which was at a night time film location at San Myshuno's Central Park and as they walked and argued with prodding fingers and hands flying both didn't notice where they were walking and fell into the large park fountain and emerged locked in a very spicy and passionate embrace much to the excitement of a few paparazzi that sneaked in past security.

And thus the sim world learned of the great romance between Landgraab and Jeong. Though through numerous paparazzi trash articles and other things that tried to pull them apart only made their love stronger and so when both were in their early 30's welcomed their own precious bundle into the world and named her Ursula Anastasia Jeong Landgraab into a quiet small town of Cooperdale from prying paparazzi and media eyes (and Malcom's parents).

Through the years as they resided in that quiet town, Ursa grew into a beautiful and well educated woman with her hobbies in cookery/baking etc as well as biology mainly the mind as well as art and physics when she turned into distinguished degrees much to her proud parents and grandparents (Because let's be honest George and mainly Nancy wouldn't accept anything less.)

A few of Ursa's own paintings actually are hung in the gallery by her father and the Landgraab mansion in Oasis Springs under her initials though no one actually knows who she is for obvious privacy reasons. She's had her own few dates and relationships but sadly they didn't work out due to the restless nature of paparazzi and the media or they were only after her Landgraab fortune.

*Files*

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Makoa Kealoha

Traits:

Gregarious

Child of the ocean

Athletic

Ambitious

Age: Adult (35years)

Pronouns: He/Him/They

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

After a surprise and devastating Monsoon swept his wife Liliana who was in severe labor on the beach as they waited for the coastal helicopter/boat to rescue them during a quiet beach walk on Mui Pua.

Now all that's left is 2 marked memorial stone graves left where he last saw his wife. Some say he's still lucky to be alive after rescuse patrol found him stranded in a abnormally shaped coconut tree trunk but unconscious.

For nearly 5 years all Makoa could do is search the waters and nearby islands for anything left of his wife. Hope diminishing with each search until he was finally persuaded by Duane and the Island Elders that enough was enough and he needed to look after himself as he had concernedly lost much weight and he looked ill.

So Duane and Makoa went on a boating trip around the equator, making pit stops to different places and trying new foods etc and healed over time with his grief. When they returned back to Sulani Makoa decided to leave his old home and with Duane by his side as his only family left (Liliana and Makoa adopted him when Duane was 10) and moved into an old beach shack on Mua Pua Retreat that student conservatists stayed during the long months if they didn't have any other place to stay and though it was in bad shape they both soon over time began to rebuild their lives with each new day as they lived off the land.

*Files*

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Liam Tuttle is back! Back for love!

Last time Liam was seen was on C1air3 Bachelorette Challenge by @mvlkavian.

Since then Liam returned to his cute cabin back at Mt Komorebi, and after staying as great friends with C1air3, she recently gave him a makeover after coming back from her honeymoon declaring that he needed to get back in the saddle! So Liam reached out to an old friend of his Khepri and asked her to create him a cure for being a vampire, and soon came to visit Liam from her home in Tartosa.

And thus Liam was now after a long time human again! With a few twists of the fact he for some reason still had amber glowing eyes and was still quite strong.... but you know not everything is fool proof! And If Liam wanted to ever become immortal later on in life all he had to do was ask!

So despite becoming human again, he also had a clothing makeover and though he only got a slight trim and he now is a man who is quite into self care and skincare nowdays and becoming every woman and gay mans wished dream come true (As Khepri and C1air3 would joke with their own spa facials on) and is thinking of becoming maybe his local towns vet and would love his wife to be a fellow vet nurse and run the show together so to speak.

And so that's all that we've caught up with the devilishly handsome but broody Liam Tuttle.

Age: 28

Occult: Ex Vampire

Sexual Orientation: Allosexual

Pronouns: Him/His/They

Traits: Bro - Neat - Perfectionist

*FILES*

So yeah l couldn't decide who to enter so pick whoever you'd like for Love is blind lol @slothseasims

[glorioustidalwavedefendor]

Funny story

Funny story to get “that look” about … good shock value …

It‘s less funny if you know these people, if you have spend time reading their letters … their diaries … getting to know them …

It‘s less funny if you know that some of them surfived the victory expedition by the scrab of their teeth, trading with Inuit on the Boothia peninsula

That the entire Franklin expedition spend an afternoon with a group of Inuit, before entering Lancaster sound

They traded for seal pouches and some even paddled around in the Inuits canoes (much to the entertainment of both groups)

Graham Gore was so massive that he needed two canoes (one for each leg XD)

James Fitzjames almost drowned wen he tried to do a roll with the canoe … he made a funny drawing about it … in one of his letters home …

The Inuit pulled him out though, so he could perish later … with the expedition … maybe the so called “beautifull grave” on the west side of King William Island is his … he was young and strong .. and he had a fresh scar on his shoulder that would have unravelled with the scurfy … killing him years after he had survived it in china … wenn he didn't even want to be in china in the first place ... wenn he would have prefered to go maping antarctica and the navy wouldn't let him ...

That they went on at least one hunting trip with the local inuit during the Expedition (propably after they left Devon and Beechy and their first three loses (John Torrington, John Hartnell and Whilliam Brain)

These people knew what they where doing

Some where arctic veterans, most had survived expeditions around the globe because they respected the knowledge of the Indigenous people

�� That was the reason they where chosen, because they had proofed their merit

Harry Goodsir complained in a letter to his brother how expensive the full fur get up (pants and coat) was that he had to buy for the expedition, he did not however complain that he had to wear it …

→ so much for "tHeY oNlY WoRe WoOl" in the coments ...

Crozier had, among other expeditions, spend two winters at Igloolic (an Inuit settlement) mapping

He had made good friends with the Inuit, espeshially a women named Iligliuk at Winter Island

She was an extremely intelligent Inuit geographer and cartographer. She made maps for Parry‘s second N-W-Passage expedition (1821-23) which turned out to be not just correct but extremely helpfull.

He also had in generel made friends with them, had even exchanged his name with one of them

The white commander of the visited ships was known as “Aglooka” (long strider) to the Inuit. This was a common, and widely-bestowed, native nickname for a European commander. We know that during the Parry sojourn at Igloolik in 1822 midshipman Crozier, who would later be Franklin’s second in command and Captain of the Terror, had exchanged names with a small boy named Aglooka. Over forty years later Hall interviewed the adult Aglooka who was now known as “Crozier.” Although suggestive the fact that Crozier was known as Aglooka (Ross, in comparison, was consistently called Toolooah – Raven), the nickname given to the commander of the visited ships is not conclusive. Inuit Tales of Terror: The location of Franklin’s missing ship by © David C. Woodman 2016 (page 7))

Alexander McDonald, had also made friends with Inuits on his first whaling journey

He made such good freinds with one of the young men (named Eenoolooapik ), who was also extremely good at cartographie, that he invited him to come to england, to see how he lived.

Through his whaling trips, M’Donald encountered Eenoolooapik, a young Inuk from Baffin Island, who was brought to Aberdeen by Penny on the whaling vessel Neptune in 1839. (...) Eenoolooapik, or ‘Eenoo,’ having contracted a respiratory infection, spent only a single winter in Aberdeen under the care of M’Donald, who was also both his tutor and biographer (Rowley, 1986; Jones, 2004). Eenoo departed for his homeland in April 1840, transported on the Bon Accord with Penny as captain and M’Donald as the scientist/ surgeon. In his 1841 book, A narrative of some passages in the history of Eenoolooapik..., M’Donald draws upon the experiences shared with Eenoo in exploring the natural and cultural history of the indigenous peoples living in eastern Baffin Island. This book, which includes extensive passages on Inuit customs and belief systems, is reported to be the only such fulllength, contemporary biography of the Inuk from the 19th century. (…) Alexander M’Donald L.R.C.S.E (1817 – c. 1848) Ian Barrie The Hollies Oldbury, Bridgnorth, Shropshire WV16 5DY, United Kingdom ian@ianbarrie.wanadoo.co.uk

Said book about Inuit costumes was ultimately what killed poor Alexander … since it drew the attention of John Franklin and got him the commission of assistant surgeon on the HMS Terror …

Where he perished with all the others … all people chosen specifically because they had profed in the past that they got along swimmingly with the natives of their respective countries.

Oh sorry … we where laughing about those silly xenophobic Kabloonas that where so stuck in their European ways that they would rather eat each other then seal meat …

That where so racist that cannibalism seemed preferable to the uncivilised ways of those strange natives ...

Funny XD

Equally funny is the fact that the area around King William Island and the Adelaide peninsula is home to a very aggressive strain of botulism.

To this day people die each year of botulism.

Because even healthy animals are contaminated, and while healthy people can hunt and fish without problem, old and fragile people will get botulism

→ That is the reason you must never give honey to a baby, it might contain botulism toxin, which is heat stable so even cooking will not destroy it.

If you are starving to death your gut becomes leaky and botulism contaminated meat will give you botulism

which is a slow death

takes a day or longer

and you stay conscious the entire time

first your eyesight goes … then your voice … then the use of your arms … then the use of your legs … and finally the use of your lungs

slowly …

They must have watched their friends die like that

For no discernible reason

again and again

no matter how carefuller they where

How thoroughly they made sure that the animal where healthy, that the meat was fresh …

It killed

cooked or raw … it killed …

The fresh meat that was supposed to safe them … to heal them … it killed … slowly … horribly …

They learned to fear meat.

And so with two seals right there, they did not dare to eat.

And wen the first of this group finally didn‘t wake up in the morning … they ate him … having learned the hard way that human meat was safe for some reason …

Can you imagine how scared they must have been?

Funny Kabloonas … silly story … good entertainment ... great story to shock people … give them “that look” …

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/theyre-not-human-how-19th-century-inuit-coped-with-a-real-life-invasion-of-the-walking-dead

Indigenous groups across the Americas had all encountered Europeans differently. But where other coastal groups such as the Haida or the Mi’kmaq had met white men who were well-fed and well-dressed, the Inuit frequently encountered their future colonizers as small parties on the edge of death.

“I’m sure it terrified people,” said Eber, 91, speaking to the National Post by phone from her Toronto home.

And it’s why, as many as six generations after the events of the Franklin Expedition, Eber was meeting Inuit still raised on stories of the two giant ships that came to the Arctic and discharged columns of death onto the ice.

Inuit nomads had come across streams of men that “didn’t seem to be right.” Maddened by scurvy, botulism or desperation, they were raving in a language the Inuit couldn’t understand. In one case, hunters came across two Franklin Expedition survivors who had been sleeping for days in the hollowed-out corpses of seals.

“They were unrecognizable they were so dirty,” Lena Kingmiatook, a resident of Taloyoak, told Eber.

Mark Tootiak, a stepson of Nicholas Qayutinuaq, related a story to Eber of a group of Inuit who had an early encounter with a small and “hairy” group of Franklin Expedition men evacuating south.

“Later … these Inuit heard that people had seen more white people, a lot more white people, dying,” he said. “They were seen carrying human meat.”

Even Eber’s translator, the late Tommy Anguttitauruq, recounted a goose hunting trip in which he had stumbled upon a Franklin Expedition skeleton still carrying a clay pipe.

By 1850, coves and beaches around King William Island were littered with the disturbing remnants of their advance: Scraps of clothing and camps still littered with their dead occupants. Decades later, researchers would confirm the Inuit accounts of cannibalism when they found bleached human bones with their flesh hacked clean.

“I’ve never in all my life seen any kind of spirit — I’ve heard the sounds they make, but I’ve never seen them with my own eyes,” said the old man who had gone out to investigate the Franklin survivors who had straggled into his camp that day on King William Island.

The figures’ skin was cold but it was not “cold as a fish,” concluded the man. Therefore, he reasoned, they were probably alive.

“They were beings but not Inuit,” he said, according to the account by shaman Nicholas Qayutinuaq.

The figures were too weak to be dangerous, so Inuit women tried to comfort the strangers by inviting them into their igloo.

But close contact only increased their alienness: The men were timid, untalkative and — despite their obvious starvation — they refused to eat.

The men spit out pieces of cooked seal offered to them. They rejected offers of soup. They grabbed jealous hold of their belongings when the Inuit offered to trade.

When the Inuit men returned to the camp from their hunt, they constructed an igloo for the strangers, built them a fire and even outfitted the shelter with three whole seals.

Then, after the white men had gone to sleep, the Inuit quickly packed up their belongings and fled by moonlight.

Whether the pale-skinned visitors were qallunaat or “Indians” — the group determined that staying too long around these “strange people” with iron knives could get them all killed.

“That night they got all their belongings together and took off towards the southwest,” Qayutinuaq told Dorothy Eber.

But the true horror of the encounter wouldn’t be revealed until several months later.

The Inuit had left in such a hurry that they had abandoned several belongings. When a small party went back to the camp to retrieve them, they found an igloo filled with corpses.

The seals were untouched. Instead, the men had eaten each other.

[ear-worthy]

New York Times Releases Two New Podcasts: Animal & The Radar

New York Times Audio has two big announcements this week, first about Animal, a new podcast in collaboration with the New York Times Magazine, and second about The Radar, a soccer podcast from the NYT's The Athletic. NYT Audio Introduces "Animal" Podcast About Animals Around The World  The New York Times has been arguably the most successful, with a large roster of podcasts that report millions of downloads. Its daily news podcast called The Daily regularly tops the podcast charts. Other popular podcasts include The Argument, The Book Review, First Person, Modern Love, and Still Processing.

It's not a "throw it up against the wall and see what sticks" media strategy. The Times has carefully developed podcasts that fit their brand (loved by some and hated by others) and simulate the vibe of their editorial marque.

For newspapers like The New York Times, podcasts make economic sense. Production costs can be pricey but not break the bank. Moreover, the journalists that work at the newspaper can double as podcast hosts with expensive hiring of on-air talent. For example, Times reporters like Michelle Goldberg, Ross Douthat, and Frank Bruni have excelled at audio. 

Moreover, the Times and other newspapers use ad time on their podcasts to hawk digital subscriptions for their newspaper, and the growth of those subscriptions indicates that the strategy is working.

"Newspapers that start podcasts can bring in and attract a whole new customer base," says podcast consultant George Witt. "Podcast listeners are younger than the average newspaper reader, so the company can leverage their podcasts to embrace a new demographic."

The New York Times released its own podcast app in March 2023, and the app is included with a Times' news subscription.

Now the New York Times has released Animal, a six-part standalone audio series hosted by award-winning staff writer Sam Anderson.

Sam Anderson's  love for animals takes him on a journey around the world. As he swims with manatees in Florida, releases baby puffins on a remote island in Iceland, searches for an extinct wolf in Japan and confronts his fear of bats in Mexico, his encounters — with both creatures and the people who care about them — lead him to reflect on our own mammal lives. 

 “Animal” is a show about love, time, wonder and humans’ place on the planet. It revels in tiny moments (petting a dog, grooming a ferret) while also wrestling with some of the biggest questions of our time (climate change, mass extinction).

Created in collaboration by the Audio team and The New York Times Magazine, all six episodes of Animal are available now. 

Listeners of all ages can tune in on the NYT Audio app or wherever they get their podcasts.

************************************************************

 The Radar Podcast Premieres About Copa America & European Football championships

This compelling series spans 12 episodes and offers in-depth profiles of 12 emerging football talents, all aged 21 or younger.

Hosted by The Athletic’s Lucy Oliva and Mike Zimmerman, “The Radar” highlights seven standout players from the Euros and five from Copa América, showcasing their journey to the top and why this summer could mark their breakthrough moment on the global stage.

“It’s an enormous summer for football on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Adam Jones, director of Audio growth at The Athletic. “We believe the 12 players we’ve selected have the best chances of becoming household names by the end of their respective tournaments. We’re aiming to shine a spotlight on their journey and incredible potential in a storytelling style like only The Athletic can offer.”

The NYT marketing pitch is: "Powered by expert insights from The Athletic’s team of global football journalists, including James Horncastle, Jack Lang, Tom Williams and many others, The Radar is a must-listen for football enthusiasts keen to discover the next generation of football stars."

The first episode of The Radar highlights prodigal 16-year-old Lamine Yamal who has already broken a number of records for Barcelona and Spain in his short career so far. Will the precocious attacker cement his status as one of the most talented young footballers in the world out in Germany?

New episodes of The Radar will be released daily starting the week of June 3. Listeners can subscribe wherever they get their podcasts.

[whatsonmedia]

Wednesday Wisdom: New Books to Enrich Your Soul

Explore new dimensions of literary enchantment with “Wednesday Wisdom: New Books to Enrich Your Soul.” Delve into Gabriel García Márquez’s posthumous novel, “Until August,” a tale of love and self-discovery. Discover memoirs from Billy Dee Williams and Lucy Sante, alongside captivating narratives from Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Marie-Helene Bertino. Open the door to wisdom today.

Until August by Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez’s posthumous novel, Until August, explores a complex woman’s desires. Ana Magdalena Bach, a seemingly contented wife, takes a yearly pilgrimage to a Caribbean island. There, amidst the sultry atmosphere, she embarks on a passionate affair every August. As years pass, these encounters challenge her understanding of love, freedom, and the choices that shape a life.

Published in 2024, this Márquez masterpiece delves into themes of regret, self-discovery, and the enigmatic nature of love, making it a must-read for fans of literary fiction and the renowned author’s magical realism style.

What Have We Here? by Billy Dee Williams 

In his memoir, “What Have We Here? Portraits of a Life,” actor Billy Dee Williams chronicles his eight-decade journey from a Harlem childhood to Hollywood stardom. Williams details navigating racial hurdles in a predominantly white industry, while achieving success on Broadway and landing iconic roles like Lando Calrissian in Star Wars. This New York Times bestseller offers a captivating look at perseverance, artistry, and a life filled with encounters with legends like James Baldwin and Diana Ross.

The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Discover the compelling narrative of “The American Daughters” by Maurice Carlos Ruffin. A captivating historical tale centered around Ady, a spirited young girl ensnared in the grips of slavery in New Orleans. Ruffin intricately weaves together the bonds of family, friendship, and resilience as Ady navigates the complexities of her world. Through her encounters with the enigmatic Lenore and the clandestine society of The Daughters, Ady finds the courage to forge her path towards freedom.

Ruffin’s masterful storytelling unveils a narrative of hope and triumph, highlighting the power of unity and determination in the face of oppression. “The American Daughters” is a poignant reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. And the enduring strength found in community solidarity.

I heard her call my name by lucy sante

In her poignant memoir, “I Heard Her Call My Name,” Lucy Sante, a celebrated author, recounts her late-in-life gender transition. Weaving together her artistic achievements with a yearning for authenticity, Sante details the internal struggle that shadowed her success.

This introspective journey explores the complexities of gender identity, societal expectations, and the courage it takes to live as your true self. Praised for its clarity and honesty. “I Heard Her Call My Name” is a must-read for those seeking to understand gender identity. And the power of living authentically.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Dive into “Beautyland,” a captivating blend of science fiction and coming-of-age. Where Adina, a young woman in Philadelphia, discovers she’s an alien on a mission to document humanity’s quirks and emotions.

Through fax transmissions (yes, faxes!), Adina grapples with earthly experiences, from the profound to the peculiar. All while questioning her identity and place in this strange, beautiful world. Bertino’s debut novel is a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human, perfect for fans of both literary fiction and imaginative sci-fi.

[worstjourney]

Shackleton Graphic Novels

When people – especially Americans, for some reason – find out I'm devoting my career to retelling the Terra Nova Expedition in graphic novel form, often their first response is "Are you going to do Shackleton next?" I am not, for a variety of reasons including the human lifespan being finite, but another reason is that there is already a selection of Shackleton graphic novels on the market. I presume these people don't know about them, so for their benefit, and perhaps yours, here are the ones I'm aware of:

Nick Bertozzi's Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey - A solid and accessible YA adaptation of the Endurance story, all in one slim quick read.

Sur les bords du monde: l'Odyssée de Sir Ernest Shackleton (Malaterre/Henry/Richez/Frasier) - Tout en français (ou espagnol), mais bien sûr il suit que les dessins sont très beaux. Deux livres: 1 - jusq'à l'entrappement de l'Endurance dans la glace, 2 - à sûreté.

Endurance (Bertho/Boidin) – aussi en français, mais seulement un livre, donc l'histoire passe plus vite que Sur les bords du monde. Aussi des dessins excellents.

Shackleton: The Journey of the James Caird (McCumiskey/ Butler) - 96pp, middle grades, from a pair of Irish comics makers. TBH I just discovered this one, can't tell you more about it!

William Grill's Shackleton's Journey - Falls somewhere between picture book and graphic novel, but it's both factually accurate and artistically beautiful, and can be appreciated by small children and serious adults alike, if perhaps in different ways.

And for a different perspective on the story:

La Isla Elefante is the story of the Uruguayans who tried to rescue Shackleton and his men off Elephant Island.  In Spanish (because Uruguay) but a great reminder that there were more people involved in the story!

You may have noticed that all of these are retellings of the Endurance story, specifically the Shackleton/James Caird thread. If you have a hankering to make a Shackleton graphic novel, and are dismayed by the competition, the good news is, there's a lot still open to you. The whole Nimrod expedition, for example! Tell the Discovery story from his point of view! What about the men who stayed on Elephant Island while the South Georgia party was away? Or – heaven forbid – tell us about the Ross Sea Party, the other half of the Endurance story, who suffered such wretchedness as to put the Worst Journey in the World in the shade, but actually achieved what they set out to do?

[manessha545]

Ernest Shackleton

Irish explorer

Discover the remarkable journey Shackleton undertook to save his crew from death

Sir Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer, who made three expeditions to the continent, most famously in 1914 on the Endurance.

Sir Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer, who made three expeditions to the continent, most famously in 1914 on the Endurance.

Who was Ernest Shackleton?

He was born in southern Ireland, but grew up in London. He joined the merchant navy when he was 16 and worked on many different ships. Shackleton was a romantic adventurer, who became interested in exploration and joined the Royal Geographical Society while still at sea. In 1901 he got a place on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's first Antarctic expedition. This ignited his passion for Antarctic exploration.

When did Shackleton lead his first expedition to Antarctica?

In 1907, he led his own Antarctic expedition in the Nimrod. Other members of the expedition climbed Mount Erebus and reached the south magnetic pole. Shackleton himself led a party, which reached 97 miles short of the South Pole. He received a hero's welcome when he returned to England and was knighted.

What was the purpose of Shackleton’s 1914 Antarctic expedition?

In 1914, in command of a party on the ship Endurance, Shackleton set off to cross the Antarctic from one side to the other, from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. As both Amundsen and Scott had reached the South Pole and the Americans had reached the North Pole, he saw this as the last great challenge.

What happened during this expedition?

Shackleton and his men set sail in August 1914, just as the war was starting in Europe. On 19 January 1915, Endurance became locked in the ice of the Weddell Sea. Over the course of the next nine months, the ship was gradually crushed, finally sinking on 27 October.

It proved impossible for the 28 men to drag their boats and stores across the frozen sea, so Shackleton camped on the ice and drifted with it. When the ice began to break up, the men launched the three boats and in dangerous conditions, managed to reach Elephant Island. This rocky and barren island was still more than 800 miles from the nearest inhabited land with people who could help them.

What did Shackleton decide to do?

He decided to leave most of the party behind, while he and five others set out on the James Caird to reach South Georgia, the nearest inhabited island, 800 miles away. He knew that he would find help there, at the Norwegian whaling stations on the north side. After 15 exhausting days at sea, the crew of the James Caird finally sighted South Georgia.

Did they find the help they needed?

No, because they were on the uninhabited side of the island. To get to the whaling stations, they had to cross the unmapped island to the other side. Shackleton led, taking Tom Crean and Frank Worsley, the expert navigator on the James Caird, who also had mountaineering experience. The journey involved a climb of nearly 3000 feet (914 metres). Apart from short breaks, they marched continuously for 36 hours, covering some 40 miles over mountainous and icy terrain until they finally reached the Stromness whaling station.

What happened to the other crewmen?

They were all rescued. Those on Elephant Island had to wait longer, until 30 August 1916, but were eventually picked up by Shackleton on a Chilean navy tug. All the men believed that their survival was due largely to his tremendous leadership.

What happened to Shackleton?

He died of a heart attack, on 5 January 1922. He was on his way to the Antarctic again, on board another ship the Quest, at Grytviken, South Georgia.

Sir Ernest Shackleton | Royal Museums Greenwich (rmg.co.uk)

Two gorgeous paintings of HMS Erebus from the National Maritime Museum (courtesy of @carrotcakecrumble):

And Earnest Shackleton:

Now there's a man to be reckoned with!

Look at the little picture of the penguin!

[dramioneasks]

HP FESTS: Dramione RomCom Fest (Part 2):

Dramione RomCom Fest - The Sequel 2021:

What If by DakotaDelacour - E, WIP - “Want to go for a swim?” asks Hermione. They don’t have bathing suits, so she must mean in their drawers or in the nude. Either way, it’s a provocative question, something she shouldn’t ask. Because she has a boyfriend. Sure, he’s halfway around the world, busy opening a new location of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. And sure, as of late, their long-distance relationship seems to be deteriorating. But they’re still a couple. They’ve built a life together. They share a mortgage and Gringotts account, for fuck’s sake. Which is why Draco knows he should resist temptation. But he also knows he’s not going to.

A Courtship of Trials and Errors by sun-celine (Sunshine_celine) - M, WIP - Self-assured matchmaker and Wizarding London’s most exclusive personal consultant, Draco Malfoy guarantees his clients can get the one person they most desire if they follow his advice to the letter. Every time. However when he reconnects with Hermione Granger, he will discover that his own advice isn’t as infallible as he assumed. These Gryffindors were supposed to be easy to read, weren’t they?

One Notable Exception by alexandra_emerson - M, WIP - Hermione breaks up with Ron and needs a place to live. Draco Malfoy, of all people (her former childhood bully and current womanizing coworker), offers up the spare room at his flat and she’s desperate enough to take it. A Dramione spin on the movie, "Someone Like You."

Just Like Quidditch by whimsymanaged - E, WIP - A Friends with Benefits (2011) Dramione AU It takes less than ten seconds for her expression to clear. “Wait. You’re saying we should have sex? You and me. Me and you.” Since he’s already said it, he might as well press on. “Well, think about it. We both want to shag someone regularly. We’re already friends, so you must like and trust me to some extent. We’d be having sex without the emotional complications.” She’s still staring. “But… It's you. And me. I mean, do you even find me attractive?” Does he even--? He blows out a breath that sounds more like a laugh. He gets the feeling that Granger doesn’t realise how fucking gorgeous she is.

Something Like a Second Chance by AdAsttra - E, WIP - Two stubborn idiots join forces to give a tragic love story a happy ending.

The Golden Rostrum by goldcrown - M, one-shot - Draco Malfoy hasn't been seen since the eve of his 21st birthday. Why has the Malfoy heir disappeared? And where exactly did he go?

The Arrangement by teh_kris_eh - T, WIP - “It’s perfect, really. We can help each other out of the awkwardness of the night. I can help you by offering you an excuse to not have to attend Zabini’s party, and you can help me by coming with me to my parent’s party so that I don’t have to be the only one there alone.” And there it was, laid out simply in front of them. It was the perfect solution. She just had to get him to see that. “So, you’d like me to be your...what, exactly? Fake boyfriend?” “Well, yes..."

Magpie in the sky by Vertraymer - M, one-shot - "She was free. Free to live, free to breathe, free to love again. "

Roman Holiday by WordsmithMusings - E, WIP - Princess Hermione of Hogwarts, the adopted child of Queen Lily Evans Potter, King James Potter, and consort Sirius Black-Potter, is touring Europe alone on her first goodwill tour for their small island nation. She is accompanied by the Countess of Ross, Minerva McGonagall, General Lupin, and a host of others while her brother, Harry Potter, is off doing his second military tour and their fathers tour Asia. Hermione is well aware that she is in a precarious situation, having been entrusted on this tour without her parents or brother. She is holding fast to the light at the end of the tunnel - a day to tour Rome, the one place she's always dreamed of visiting, but a Princess' life is not always what it seems or what one hopes for. This is her story. It's one of duty, adventure, and perhaps a hint of forbidden romance. Muggle AU

15 Robes, 10 Suits and 2 Kilts by SunsetRiot - M, WIP - A Dramione take on 27 dresses: Draco was a great best man and bridesman he helped picked the cakes, was always on hand when a bride needed her wedding dress holding in the toilet and was a shoulder to cry on if the planning got just a little bit too much. The trouble was Draco was so good at running after everyone else's love live's he never had any time for his own. The other issue was he was in-love with his best friend and she had no idea. Hermione was just fired but after spending 10 years travelling and working perhaps it was time to head home for good after all, there was a wedding this weekend and her perfect story might come in the shape of Draco Malfoy's enormous wedding closet.

Choose Wisely by AccioMjolnir - E, one-shot - Still smarting from their breakup, Hermione is stunned when Ron tells her he's engaged to be married. In an effort to seem like she's moved on, she lies and says she's seeing someone... and then finds herself getting asked out by not one, but two of the most unlikely people. The trouble is, she likes them both. A lot.

Beauxbatons Blue by DarkoftheMoon - M, WIP - When Beauxbatons student Draco Malfoy enters the Great Hall, his eyes are drawn to a curly-haired witch. It's too bad her friends don't approve. A Dramione twist on the 1980s classic, Pretty in Pink.

Endless Night by sodamnrad - M, one-shot - When Hermione spots a sulky blond at the bar and pretends he's her date, it leads to an endless night of adventure, chaos, and romance. Inspired by Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist. Dramione but replace books with music.

Serendipity by aureliandreams - E, WIP - “How do you not know that one? It’s an old folktale; a classic. Our hero Draco goes out in search of green gloves and in a perfect act of serendipiosity or serendipatiousness, he runs into a beautiful, attractive girl. Who won’t tell him her name. Probably because she has a boyfriend,” he paused, taking a sip of his tea. “You do have a boyfriend, right?” Hermione grinned. “Yeah, I do. His name is Ron and we’ve been together for almost a year now.” “That’s what I thought.” “And you have the glove lady?” “Yes, I do have the glove lady — Astoria. We’ve known each other since we were children.”

Love, from Hermione by January_June - T, WIP - Dramione romcom fest submission based on the movie Love, Rosie Mother said she still hasn’t received your RSVP for the wedding. Granger, it really would mean the world to me for you to be there. Truly. How am I supposed to get married without my best mate by my side? I know I know, you aren’t her biggest fan. But can we at least agree she is much better than the last one? (AU where Voldemort is defeated in the first war, and Draco and Hermione grow up as friends)

Imperio by ElizColl - T, WIP - A Dramione RomCom story inspired by Ella Enchanted.

Making Magic by kmd0107 - E, WIP - Just promoted Healer Hermione Granger hits a serious bump in the road after a one-night stand with Pureblood society’s most eligible bachelor Draco Malfoy results in pregnancy. Can the consequences of their actions bring them together and give them both what they’ve been missing? Dramione twist on Knocked Up

Leap Year by Snowflake_Dazzle - T, one-shot - Hermione has been waiting for Draco to propose. It happens to be a leap year and tradition states a woman can propose to a man on Leap Day and he must say yes.

Only you – Or the only time Hermione believed in divination by FedonCiadale - G, one-shot - Hermione is on the verge of her marriage when a name Trelawney dropped years ago diverts her from her path to the altar.

C'est Si Bon by MrsKissyT - M, WIP - Draco chuckled gleefully at the thought of any of them taking pains to make sure he was comfortable. Even if Granger did anything of the sort, it wasn’t as though it would cause him to do something rash like fall in love with her or anything. No. That, he was positive, would never happen. - or - A Something's Gotta Give AU

Groom Heist: Hermione Slythers In by Mondette - M, WIP - Upon receiving a voice message from her best friend, Hermione remembers a certain marriage pact they did years ago. Now he’s getting married... not to her though.

Womaneater by echoesofmyfootsteps - T, WIP - “Well, well,” Draco leans on the doorframe. “My favorite newshound, here for a personal audience. I’m looking immensely forward to having you trail after me for treats.” It takes all her reserves of calm to extend her hand. “Careful, little snake. I just might eat you alive.” Hermione Granger is the Daily Prophet’s top writer, and Draco Malfoy is the wizarding world’s sweetheart—until word gets out about his serial wedding runaways. Assigned to profile him in the days leading up to his next wedding, Hermione resolves to set personal history aside and get the job done. But as she lets her curiosity take hold, she begins to wonder if Draco Malfoy might not be the man he’s let her, and everyone else, believe he is. A Runaway Bride (1999)/Dramione AU.

Many Strings Attached by leydileyla - M, one-shot - A retelling of the Romcom, "No Strings Attached". ~ “You know this is clearly not going to work, you're going to fall in love with me.” Draco said with a smirk on his face, his arms tucked behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. Hermione scoffed, “You wish.” “No, it will happen. Eventually” “No, it won't.” “It definitely will.”

Disaster...? by orphan_account - G, one-shot - Hermione Granger is of the firm opinion that after so many years of one thing being a certain way, one ought to be used to such things carrying on that certain way. In other words: when life generally throws chaos, one ought not be surprised when chaos comes one's way. Today, however, is a complete and utter disaster. Or... is it?

Dramione RomCom Fest: Christmas Edition 2022:

Always Christmas Eve by WritingFicariously - M, WIP - After a year of dating, Draco Malfoy is ready to pop *the* question. When Hermione invites him to meet her parents over the holidays, he thinks it might just be the perfect proposal setting. But when they arrive to the Granger's snowy vacation home, there is more than meets the eye and secrets are revealed that could drastically change the life Draco envisioned for them.

Lies and Truths at Christmas by QuinTalon - T, one-shot - It couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t.But somehow, Hermione knew that it very well could be.And if it was, oh, there would be hell to pay.

Warmth of the Season in my Heart by magical_traveler - M, 2 chapters - Draco’s eyes landed on the most horrendous jumper he’d ever seen.There was red and gold tinsel wrapped around the arms, a green pointed tree in the centre with a large rock with a long white beard in sunglasses dancing with a guitar. But worst of all were the words above the thing: Rock-in Around the Christmas Tree. Draco couldn’t help but laugh at the bloke. He looked up to see who was in the thing, and of course, it was Hermione fucking Granger.

Draco Malfoy’s D(eleteriously) I(rksome) A(utobiographic) R(etchings for) Y(our eyes only) by Guardian_Kysra - T, WIP - Years after the war, after getting out of Azkaban, after realizing the error of his beliefs, Draco is in transition and not dealing well enough for his friends' tastes. Enter Theo, Blaise and a charmed journal that Draco markedly Does. Not. Want.

This fest is ongoing.

[clove-pinks]

Oh, no! What's the scoop with the second edition of Dressed to Kill? *eyes the library copy on my shelf, which might well be the second edition*

Ok so. It's not like I have an itemized list of every change between the first and second editions of Dressed to Kill, but clearly there is a lot of content missing. The second edition seems more streamlined, but not improved in any way, and I can't see what, if anything, was added to make up for the missing content. It feels like the opposite of what you would expect in a second edition, which should have more content building off the first edition!

Just going with my boy Captain Marryat (because of course I would note this): in the first edition he's in the index, and gets a more complete and accurate treatment in the text. In the second edition he's NOT in the index, is identified as a War of 1812 veteran and nothing else (lol), and Marryat's own autobiographical "Life of a Midshipman" print series is credited as the work of George Cruikshank, his collaborator who made the more professional-looking engravings from Marryat's original artwork.

I don't see Sir George Cockburn in the second edition index either? And I can't find any pictures of him, whereas in the first edition his 1817 portrait in front of burning Washington D.C. is the frontispiece—it's the perfect dramatic opening for a book about military visions of masculinity and power, especially in contrast to his 1820 portrait by Beechey, which shows how much his dress uniform has diverged from civilian fashion at the time (unlike his Burning of Washington portrait, which is the height of civilian fashion, he's even wearing spurs with his naval uniform).

They kept Sexy James Clark Ross on the cover of the second edition, but also seem to have removed a lot of content about polar explorers and masculinity (this is according to my friend, an academic who referenced both editions of the book for his thesis). Cockburn's Beechey portrait (missing from the second edition) is an exploration/imperialism commentary as well as a fashion one, since he's pointing to a map showing Parry's arctic discoveries including Cockburn Land (north Baffin Island).

I don't want to say that the second edition of Dressed to Kill is crap, since the first edition is very difficult to find and it still has a lot of interesting and valuable content. But I was disappointed to say the least!

[withastolenlantern]

It was hotter than he wanted it to be, especially for October, which was a thought the Earl Swansea found himself having with increasing frequency. He’d always hated this part of Southeast Asia; the humidity was intolerable, even here in his suite high up on the thirty-sixth floor. Hot afternoon sun streamed in through the large french doors separating the office proper from the terrace that looked out over the Singapore Strait. Or at least what remained of it: every time he visited this branch the city-state had reclaimed more land from beneath the waves, expanding its real estate to keep up with its ever-growing population. If he squinted hard he could just make out the corresponding buildings in Batam, a scant few kilometers now across the narrow waterway, but the Singaporean government would always maintain at least a minimal distance between the cities. A hundred years may have passed since the Malaysians had cut the island nation off from their mainland brethren, but the slight was never forgotten, and the current generation was just as keen to maintain their independence from their neighbors, especially since rejoining the Commonwealth.

He closed the curtains over the doors and sank back into the padded leather of his chair, loosening his tie with an exaggerated motion and pulled a cool bottle of water from the mini-fridge built into the desk. A holo displaying myriad charts and figures documenting the impending collapse of his empire. “How the hell did he keep it together?” he mumbled, rubbing at his temples.

Ross had idolized his father growing up. It was impossible not to: the man was a titan of industry, a peer in one of the world’s oldest kingdoms, a driving force toward a new economic and social contract. He’d dined with kings and scholars, athletes and actors, and yet his charisma was like a social black hole, pulling everyone’s attention toward him. This trip to Singapore only further enforced the notion that he still trailed in the old man’s shadow: at six-foot six the first earl was an imposing figure, looming over nearly everyone in stature as well as import, and James could still feel himself shrouded beneath the umbra, both physically then and metaphorically now.

The board had summoned him to make their demands on restructuring and his only real defense had been slouched shoulders and meager counters. He still controlled a thiry-six percent stake, which made him the majority shareholder, but without a plurality he is still beholden to the whims of others whose interests are frequently otherwise aligned.

“What do you want me to do?” he’d groused. “I can’t make more consumers. We’re part of the reason the global unemployment rate is up around eighteen percent. There’s only so many ditches that can be dug, and last time I checked I don’t see any of you voting in the Commonwealth Council to support redistributing your dividends toward some socialist bullshit like UBI. We’ve idled as many of the fabs as we can. We’ve cut our in-house staff thirteen percent in the last four years. There is only so much blood we can squeeze from these rocks.”

The pleas were met with silent disapproval from around the table. “For christ’s sake I walk through a throng of angry protestors outside the building in Cardiff daily, calling for my head on a pike. How many of you can say the same?”

His mobile chimed an alert and he sighed wearily as he waved a hand to open the incoming message. The holo displayed a split image of two gowns, both as elaborate as they were no doubt expensive, and a text banner scrawled across the bottom asking Which do you think? It had been somewhat of a blessing that coming here to be chewed out by the board meant he was absolved of attending his wife’s latest charitable endeavor. Her philanthropic efforts were excellent PR for the Consortium, and he was glad she found something to keep her occupied. And maybe they did do some good. He’d accompanied her on a trip to Zambia where the Foundation was helping fill in some of the infrastructure gaps the Chinese had ignored as they’d moved in to exploit the mineral wealth and cheap labor force. But the cynic in him knew deep down they were more about the social spectacle and her desire for recognition than any real devotion to improving the human condition, and he had no patience for those kinds of theatrics. And he absolutely could not be asked to give a shit about what she wore.

I’m sure either will be lovely, he responded in the most non-committal way possible.

His mobile chimed again, and he ground his teeth in irritation. “Woman, you will be the death of me,” he groaned under his breath.

He motioned to open the message before realizing it was a live connection. “What?” he growled, more in frustration than anger.

“Sorry boss, didn’t mean to interrupt.” The American’s face came into focus; he was sweating profusely and the sun was a bright orange semicircle just over his shoulder. “I’ve got bad news and worse news. Which do you want first?”

[scotianostra]

On April 10th  1512, King James V was born at Linlithgow Palace.

James was son of King James IV of Scotland and his queen Margaret Tudor, a daughter of Henry VII of England, and was the only legitimate child of James IV to survive infancy, he was baptised the day after his birth, receiving the titles Duke of Rothesay and Prince and Grand Steward of Scotland. He became king at just seventeen months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field on 9th September 1513.

James was crowned in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on 21st September 1513. During his childhood, the country was ruled by regents, first by his mother, until she remarried the following year, and then by John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, who was next in line to the throne after James and his younger brother, the posthumously-born Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross. Other regents included Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, a member of the Council of Regency who was also bestowed as Regent of Arran, the largest island in the Firth of Clyde.

Queen Margaret´s tempestuous private life complicated her son´s childhood, and after she divorced her second husband, Archibald Douglas 6th Earl of Angus, the Earl kidnapped young James.

For two years he held him captive, showering him with gifts and introducing him to a round of unsuitable pleasures. James loathed his former stepfather, and finally managed to escape in 1528, to rule by himself.   In the autumn of 1524 James dismissed his Regents and was proclaimed an adult ruler by his mother. James´ personal rule began by savagely pursuing his opponents and he hounded the Earl of Angus out of Scotland. James combined suspicion of nobles with a popular touch, travelling anonymously among Scottish people as the ´Gudeman o´Ballengeich´.   John Knox described him thus: ´he was called of some, a good poor man´s king; of others he was termed a murderer of the nobility, and one that had decreed their whole destruction´.

A highly strung, intelligent man who alternated between black depression and bouts of feverish energy, he had already fathered at least nine illegitimate children by a series of mistresses.   By 1536 he accepted it was time to marry and he chose as his wife Princess Madeleine of France, for he was eager to strengthen ´the Auld Alliance´ against England. The Princess was tubercular, and she died in his arms on 7th July 1537, seven weeks after her arrival in Edinburgh.   James increased his income by tightening control over royal estates and from the profits of justice, customs and feudal rights. He also gave his illegitimate sons lucrative benefices, diverting substantial church wealth into his coffers. James spent a large amount of his wealth on building work at Stirling Castle, Falkland Palace, Linlithgow Palace and Holyrood and built up a collection of tapestries from those inherited from his father. A favourite of mine that he had built is the gatehouse at Linlithgow Palace, as seen in poic two, showing The four European orders of chivalry to which James belonged.   In 1538 he married another French lady, the widowed Mary of Guise, tall, well-built and already the mother of two sons. She had two more sons by James but they both died in infancy within hours of each other in 1541.   The death of his mother in 1541 removed any incentive for peace with England, and war broke out. Initially the Scots won a victory at the Battle of Haddon Rig in August 1542. The Imperial ambassador in London, Eustace Chapuys, wrote on 2nd October that the Scottish ambassadors ruled out a conciliatory meeting between James and Henry VIII in England until the pregnant Mary of Guise delivered her child. Henry would not accept this condition and mobilised his army against Scotland.   James was with his army at Lauder on 31st October 1542. Although he hoped to invade England, his nobles were reluctant. He returned to Edinburgh on the way writing a letter in French to his wife from Falahill mentioning he had three days of illness.

Next month his army suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss. He took ill again shortly after this, on 6th December; by some accounts this was a nervous collapse caused by the defeat, although some historians consider that it may just have been an ordinary fever. Whatever the cause of his illness, he was on his deathbed at Falkland Palace when his only surviving legitimate child, a girl, was born.

Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich brought the news of the king´s death to Berwick. He said James died at midnight on Thursday 15th December; the king was talking but delirious and spoke no "wise words.", however according to legend, he said to to have uttered “it came wi a lass, it’ll gang wi a lass” (meaning “It began with a girl and it will end with a girl”). He died soon afterwards.   He was buried at Holyrood Abbey alongside his first wife Madeleine and his two sons. The tomb was probably destroyed during the Rough Wooing in 1544, but was later identified in 1683.

[adsosfraser]

The Stone’s Toll - Chapter Ten

Read on AO3

“We can’t stay here.” 

 “No, we can’t.” Jamie pulled his wife onto his bare chest. “And wee Hamish has sent a letter, requesting his cousin’s aide. Though he was vague on which, I’m sure he wasna comfortable writing Jamie Fraser on something the English could see.” 

 “So we go to Leoch with Fergus?” 

“I willna put ye in danger, the travel there will be treacherous now wi’ the English on our throats everywhere.” 

 “Well, I’m certainly not leaving you, James Fraser. Have you forgotten I’m wanted too? We go together. And, with us gone, Lallybroch will be safer, we’ll be safer for a while. But…” 

 “What is it Sassenach?” 

 “I know you and the sea aren’t close friends, but ports shouldn’t be as monitored as they were right after Culloden. The islands will be safer, Charles even fled to the Isle of Skye to go to France. In the future, some islands are even able to retain some of their culture, their tartan. We can always go there, it would be safer while we wait… for a pardon.” 

 “A pardon?” He was shocked. 

 “Yes. When I returned I placed three letters in the post at Inverness. Copies of historical letters I assume. They may give us the freedom we want.” 

 A sharp breath escaped his lips and he slumped back on the chair. “Christ, a pardon. You know how well that went the last time.” 

 “But this time there’s no more war, we’re done with that horror.” 

 “Aye, we’ll seek Hamish, then if we canna stay, we’ll bide on one of the wee islands.”

 “What’s this about ye up and leaving Jamie Fraser! And dinna think I’m not cross wi’ ye too Claire!”

 “Jenny,” Claire took her hand, “you know it isn’t safe for us to stay here. We got lucky the last time.” 

 “And I’ll no’ have my wife sleeping in a cave.”

 “Well, ye two eejits could at least wait ‘til yer goddaughter is christened! Ye dinna ha’ to leave wi’ yer tails tucked between yer legs so soon.” 

 “Goddaughter.” Her heart warmed and she squeezed Jenny’s arm.

 “I ken yer already her aunt, but ye’d make a fine goddaughter to the lass. I suppose that would make yer daft husband her godfather. Puir lass.” She feigned pity for the tiny girl in her arms. “Would the both o’ ye wait, jes’ one more day?” 

 Claire looked back at Jamie but already knew their answer. “Of course.” 

 The ceremony was brief, the priest wasn’t prepared to perform it so soon. Caitlin gurgled up at Claire in her arms. The holy water was sprinkled over her tiny forehead in the small kirk near Lallybroch. Other than the slight cry from the chill of water, Caitlin was a perfect baby. The Frasers and Murrays all joined back together to Lallybroch to celebrate. They enjoyed a small stew of rabbit and potato, the most filling one in weeks. Father Ross had the death certificate for Fergus ready to sign, but on seeing the boy alive and healthy, he walked towards the fire in the Great Room. 

 “Wait,” Claire shouted to his back. “Don’t burn it. Jenny, will you sign that?” 

 “He’s clearly no’ deid Claire, are ye off yer heid?” 

 “No, it’s just, it’s important that the document isn’t destroyed. I can’t explain how.” 

 “Verra weel.” She plucked it out of the Father’s hands and went off to the study. She mumbled, knowing long ago not to question her sister's strange nature. 

 Claire had ripped through the fabric of her dresses and the contents of her leather bag to pull out every piece of gold, silver, and jewellery that was left during the hours waiting for Father Ross. It was little less than three years’ salary in her time, but now it would support Lallybroch for years to come. She dumped it all out on the dining and the jewels, gold, and silver scattered and clattered against the wood surface. She had put away some for her and Jamie of course, enough to be comfortable on their journey, but even with the small dent into the funds on the table, it was still an astounding sum. Jamie spied her wedding ring on a chain within the pile and raised a brow to her, but she shrugged her shoulders in reply. 

 “A christening gift.” 

 Everyone at the table stared dumbfounded at the treasure disorganised on the table. A ‘Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ’ was supplied by her son. 

 “How Claire?” Ian piped up. 

 “I didn’t steal it if that’s what you're asking.”

 “Well, how on earth did ye find so much?” Jenny yelled, exasperated. 

 “It was my inheritance from my parents and uncle. And the man whose advances I turned down…gave some of it to me.” 

 “Jesus, Mary, and Bride, ye’ve been hiding this away all this time?” 

 “No, I’ve just recently acquired it myself. But now, it can be put to good use instead of rotting in some bank. Take it, Jenny, use it to save Lallybroch from the famine, clearances, and drought to come.”

 Jenny planted a sloppy kiss onto Claire’s cheek and handed Caitlin over to Ian. She grabbed her arms and began jumping excitedly. Claire even thought she heard a squeal from the small woman. Displays of affection from the woman were rare, and Claire felt so happy and touched that she included her in it. 

 “Claire ye have no idea how this will help us.” 

 “I have some idea.” 

 Their packing was done, and the horses were all lined up for the journey. Jenny embraced Claire, and she was reminded of the parting before Culloden all over again. 

 “Ye come back to us sister,” she raised her voice to a shout so Jamie could hear, “I dinna care much if this oaf does.” 

 “I love ye too Janet.” He pulled her from Claire into a giant hug. 

 “Och, ye ken I love ye too, a bràithair. Now, try to come back to us as quick as ye can. Lallybroch will be missing her Laird.”  

 A plant along the trail made Claire pause. It was a forget me not, and though it was only the beginning of March, it was blooming brilliantly against the grass of the glen. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that they were so close to the standing stones when she found it. She knew they needed to go back together, for closure. So she jumped off her horse and scooped her hands into the dirt. 

 “Jamie I want to go to Craigh na Dun before we stop into Inverness.” 

 Jamie pulled back on the reins of his horse and stalled in the middle of the path before Claire. He looked down at his wife and the flowers in her hands.

 “If you don’t want to that’s fine, I just wanted to plant these there, and we might never get another chance to do so.” 

 “Aye, we’ll go.”

 He dismounted his horse in one swift move. Carefully, Jamie helped Claire back up to her horse without crushing the delicate flowers in the process. Jamie passed the reins of his own horse to his son and climbed up behind his wife on her mare. 

 “Fergus, be a good lad and find a place to shelter in Inverness. Something not too in the open, or conspicuous either.” Jamie pulled out the bag of coins and tossed it to him. 

 “Oui, milord. I shall not fail you.” 

 Milord and papa, milady and maman, had become as interchangeable to Fergus as Jamie’s Sassenach, mo gràidh, mo nighean donn, and the countless other affectionate names he could come up with for his wife. 

 “Now off wi’ ye son, we’ll be shortly after.” 

 They held tight to each other, not able to bear even a second of lost connection. Fog clung to the air surrounding the tall monoliths and blocked the vision to the moor below. 

 “I wish I could punch it. But it won’t even let me do that.” 

 “How about this one to the side. Not too much danger of falling in fer yer wee hand.”

 She pulled slightly apart from him for the first time since they created the hi together. Her arm trembled as she reached out to lightly touch the stone closest to the centre one. Though it had become an unwitting victim of its brother’s actions, it would have to do. Lining up her arm, she delivered the first blow that jolted from the cold surface to the bones of her arm and shoulders 

 “Fuck you!” She screamed a gut-wrenching cry as she slammed her fist into the rock. “Fuck you! Fuck!”

 Her breath hitched and Jamie gathered her once again in his arms. He kissed her skinned knuckles. Giving her a few minutes to calm her racing heart and heaving lungs, Jamie cradled her tight to his chest, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back. How many more tears would she cry, for something that was only the size of a blueberry? She knew she’d never lose the feeling of grief, but it would become more manageable most days. With her husband there to bear it with her, she knew it would be a certainty. 

 “I’m ready.” She patted his chest. “Are you?” 

 “Aye.” 

 “Do you want to punch it too?” 

 “No, that bastard stone’s taken too much from us. I won’t give it the satisfaction of flesh and blood from my hands as weel.” 

 She wanted to reach out and cradle the voice she had once heard to her chest, protect her against the violence of the stones. But it seemed it was her daughter instead who protected her. Digging the small hole into the ground by the outer stones, she smiled tearfully. Jamie’s strong hands were right beside hers, guiding the dirt away. Together they scooped the small plant into their hands, a mismatch of Jamie’s on top of Claire’s and then Claire’s on top of Jamie’s. They patted the dirt mound and encased the stems in the nutrients. With the task finished, Claire fell into Jamie’s lap and began to weep. She stroked his shirt with dirtied hands and left stains on the white linen. He rubbed the fabric on her back and Claire felt the moisture fall onto her hair and slowly down to her scalp. She offered him her sgian dubh and he etched into the centre stone with sharp angles, leaving the blade there as a gift.  Baby Fraser.  Claire’s hand trembled in his grip and she was almost consoled by the fact that she could feel his shaking too; he didn’t hide how it affected him as well. “I trust yer grandsire and grandmam are keeping ye out o’ trouble  a leannan . I love you. Tell Faith I love her too, and I ken she protects ye up there, but jes’ because she’s older doesna mean ye canna protect her as weel. Jes’ like I do fer yer auntie. Ye mind what yer family says, and we’ll meet again soon enough.” 

 Claire knelt down and gently cradled the small flower in her hand. “I love you, my baby girl. We love you so much.” 

 Jamie ripped off a strip from his sark and wrapped it around her bloodied knuckles with a kiss. They stayed to talk to the stone for a while. Jamie laughed with Claire after sharing an incident from his boyhood about a goat, some string, a bucket of shite, and his sister. Claire pulled out the photos from within her pockets and shared her child-self to their daughters, and the interesting marvels of the future. Jamie was proud he recognised the ‘airyplane’ from when Claire brought out the black and white pictures in the cave. He was bewildered of course at first, cursing the strange magic, but once he saw the brilliant smile of his Sassenach he knew the depiction couldn’t hold any evil. He especially liked seeing her as a bairn, with pigtails and a pink frilly dress and how the photos showed the change from cute baby to mature woman. She set one into the plastic wrap, a photo of her, her parents, and her uncle and buried it beneath the earth. 

 “Your family is with you always, my darling girl.” 

 With one last glance, they rode back to Inverness holding each other on the saddle. 

 Their short stay in Inverness was that: short. After the first night of full bellies and a warm fire, the innkeeper alerted the travellers to the presence of redcoats fifteen miles away. It gave them time to prepare themselves, instead of another hasty retreat to Leoch. 

 It was not nearly as strong of a fortress as it had once been. 

 Claire was put to use straight away, mending flesh and bone. Jamie was spirited away as well to advise his cousin in the Laird’s Tower. The only bright spot was the wonderful Mrs. Fitz. Fergus spent much of his time messing around the surgery and playing with the medicines, much to Claire’s annoyance. No matter how many times he insisted it would not happen again, his nimble little fingers were constantly filching items off of shelves and tables. So she sent him off to the kitchens.

 The ledgers had become impossible, and Leoch was close to ruin from partially funding the Jacobite cause. They felt the sharp absence of those who had fought bravely alongside them. None were left. Most of the men residing in the lands were either too old, too young, or too crippled to fight. There was talk of taking up a deal with the British, to leave Leoch and settle somewhere comfortable in America. Hamish was inclined to that option more and more each day. The Lairdship was not an easy thing for a twelve-year-old, let alone under such stress of a post-war climate. So, it was decided that the MacKenzies would sell Leoch to the British for land somewhere deep in Virginia. As much as it pained them to leave their culture and homeland in the hands of those bastards, they had no other choice. The lands produced nothing, the woodlands sparse, and their supplies pilfered by roaming soldiers. Claire felt guilty for the small amount of gold tucked into her dresses, but she told herself the amount she was left with couldn’t save them all. They stayed in constant communication with Jenny through letters and informed her of their impending move. Jenny wrote back to her cousins,  Alexander and Elizabeth Malcolm , just as often, if not more eager to know they were safe. 

 In the blistering heat of the summer, Claire, Jamie, and Fergus travelled in the safety of the band of MacKenzies. Virtually no redcoats bothered them on their way, patriot to king and country as the Laird most certainly was in their eyes. 

 At Ullapool, they said their last goodbyes as they split to different destinations. Jamie couldn’t possibly survive a month-long journey across the water. They purchased passage on the  Serendipity  and waited. 

 Jamie wretched off the side of the gangway as the ship made port. Stornoway, and from there they would hopefully find somewhere to settle down. A croft, north of Stornoway soon came to their attention. Most of their money went to purchase the land outright, they weren't too keen to rent one out as other crofters did, knowing the clearances would hit Scotland hard. So, Alexander Malcolm, his wife, and his son, began to build a home out of the small abandoned cottage. They hoped it would be temporary but would be fine if it wasn’t, for they had all they needed already: each other.

[ilyasorokinn]

people i make wallpapers for !

this is a list of people (both hockey and not hockey) i will make lockscreens for. if they are not on this list, i will most likely not make lockscrens for them. you can request for them, and i might accept, but i might not. just try to stick to the people on this list.

this list of subject to change.

hockey !

ANAHEIM DUCKS

jamie drysale

sam steel

ARIZONA COYOTES

clayton keller

ty emberson

BOSTON BRUINS

jake debrusk

trent frederic

matt grzelcyk

charlie mcavoy

jack studnicka

BUFFALO SABRES

dylan cozens

rasmus dahlin

peyton krebs

jeff skinner

jack quinn

CALGARY FLAMES

jacob markstrom

elias lindholm

jakob pelletier

matthew tkachuk

CAROLINA HURRICANES

practically the whole roster, including rookies (except tony deangelo)

COLORADO AVALANCHE

practically the whole roster, including rookies

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

jake bean

adam boqvist

sean kurlay

cole sillinger

DALLAS STARS

practically the entire roster, including rookies (expect jamie benn)

DETROIT RED WINGS

moritz seider

joe veleno

jakob vrana

EDMONTON OILERS

tyson barrie

philip broberg

leon draisaitl

dylan holloway

zach hyman

oscar klefbom

jesse puljujarvi

FLORIDA PANTHERS

spencer knight

LOS ANGELES KINGS

quinton byfield

alex turcotte

MINNESOTA WILD

practically the entire roster, including rookies

MONTREAL CANADIENS

practically the entire roster, including rookies (except brendan gallagher)

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

cody glass

phil myers

juuse sarros

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

practically the entire roster, including rookies (except mackenzie blackwood)

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

practically the entire roster, including rookies (except semyon varlamov)

NEW YORK RANGERS

sammy blais

alex georgiev

kaapo kakko

vitali kravstov

alexis lafreniere

ryan lindergren

nils lundkvist

k'andre miller

OTTAWA SENATORS

drake batherson

tyler ennis

josh norris

dylan gambrell

shane pinto

tim stützle

brady tkachuk

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

practically the entire roster, including rookies

PITTSBURGH PENGINS

zach aston-reese

sidney crosby

kasperi kapenan

kris letang

pierre-oliver joseph

evgeni malkin

john marino

brock mcginn

SAN JOSE SHARKS

william eklund

mario ferrero

adin hill

nikolai knyzhov

SEATTLE KRAKEN

practically the entire roster (except vince dunn)

ST. LOUIS BLUES

pavel buchnevich

jordan kyrou

james neal

colton parayko

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

hugo alnefelt

anthony cirelli

ross colton

mathieu joseph

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

practically the entire roster, including rookies (except auston matthews)

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

practically the entire roster, including rookies

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

laurent brossoit

WINNIPEG JETS

pierre-luc dubois

nikolaj ehlers

evgeny svechnikov

OTHERS (unsigned, college, etc.)

NOTRE DAME

landon slaggart

PROVIDENCE

patrick moynihan

UMICH

practically the entire roster (except certain players i can't name)

WISCO

owen lindmark

NON-HOCKEY

BASEBALL

max fried (atlanta braves)

tyler glasnow (tampa bay rays)

mike soroka (atlanta braves)

OTHER SPORTS

penny oleksiak (olympic swimmer)

OTHER FANDOMS (including the actors and actresses that portray these characters)

criminal minds

marvel (including spider-man’s, marvel tv shows, etc.)

outer banks

shadow and bone

the vampire diaires universe (tvd, to, legacies)

MUSICAL ARTISTS

olivia rodrigo

harry styles

taylor swift