#i used to work in my 1st university's law library

[persnickety-doodles]

So for my College AU, I wanted to draw a short comic where Korra offers Asami a tour of her dorm, since they have a few hours to spend before Asami leaves for her student org meeting.

As expected with these two, things get a little heated before Kuvira (Korra’s lovely roommate and local tired law student) apologetically interrupts.

I may doodle the whole thing, but idk here’s this doodle for now. 😅

[evolvingsidekick]

Finnish education part 3: universities

This one I actually know very well because I'm here rn lol

Applications for unis happen every march (and january for arts and degrees in English). You have to fill out an application form where you can choose 6 degrees you want to apply for and rank them from most to least favourite. So we don't send separate appications to each uni, they're all in the same system.

We have 13 universities in Finland, all of which are very consistent in quality. 10 of them appear in the CWUR top 2000 (which is a problematic ranking imo but anyway), university of Helsinki being number 126. 7 of our unis rank in the top 3% worlwide.

Most uni programs in here are Bachelor (180 ECTS) + Master (120 ECTS) and are designed to be 3+2 years. At the end of each you have to make a thesis and attend a seminar for it. Years are divided to 4 periods (there's a 5th one over summer), one course is either 1 or 2 periods.

The programs are built in a way that there's your major's courses+ mandatory communication (= second domestic language + scholarly communication)+ a mandatory minor in some degrees (in many you can choose the minor yourself). Some degrees, like mine, have a lot of room for optionals courses, some (e.g. law) are quite limited.

Courses can either be lectures, book exams, independent written work, online work, or a combination of these.

University education is free for Finns and EU citizens, you do have to pay for your lunch but it's literally 2,95€/meal, and the food is great. You don't usually have to pay for materials because they're either on the class Moodle or available in the library. You also have to pay student union fee (~70€/year) and healthcare fee (~35€/semester but you don't have to pay anything for individual appointments). Students are supported by the government.

Culture and events:

Most of us belong in subject organizations, which arrange fun events and activities for their major's students, and also take care of their students' rights and play a part in improving curriculums. Each organization has their own overalls, which we buy patches for and wear in events.

Vappu (May 1st, or for students like mid-April to May 1st) is the biggest celebration of the year. There are events nearly every day. In my city we have a huge picnic.

We also wear our grad caps from hs on Vappu, however that is a tradition for the entire population, not just students.

We don't have clubs or sports teams, but at least in my uni they have pretty good deals for gym memberships and other sport options.

There are also universities of applied sciences or polytechnics, which are like university but less theoretical and more practical. I don't know much about them, but some jobs like nurses or policemen can only be achieved there.

[scotianostra]

March 15th 1828 saw the birth of the philanthropist and supporter of women’s education Isabella Elder in the Gorbals area of Glasgow.

A follow on from last weeks post about her husband John Elder the engineer and shipbuilder. The exploits of Isabella Elder, in my opinion have not been eclipsed by any woman since, at least in her native Glasgow.

Born Isabella Ure, the daughter of a solicitor, she married the increasingly successful shipbuilder, John Elder, in 1857. When her husband died suddenly in 1869, she briefly took over the running of the firm of John Elder & Co at Fairfield, but soon left it to others to run the firm.

Isabella Elder had been bequeathed a considerable fortune and from the 1880s, between extended stays on the Continent, she became a major philanthropist. Her first interest was in higher education. She initially provided support for a chair in civil engineering and, in 1883, she endowed the Elder Chair of Naval Architecture at the University of Glasgow. She also bought North Park House, in what is now Queen Margaret Drive, as the base for the new Queen Margaret College to provide higher education for women. Isabella played an active part in the running of the College in its early years. When a medical school was attached to the college in 1890, she took on most of the running costs. She eventually, and with difficulty, helped persuade the University to admit women students.

Isabella retained an interest in Govan where the Elder shipyard had been based. In 1883 she bought and had laid out a recreational park in the town, the Elder Park. In 1885 she provided the money for a school of domestic economy for the training of young girls. She helped resource a library in the Elder Park in 1901 and two years later was the main contributor to the establishment of a cottage hospital in Govan, together with a nurses training home.

Isabella Elder was described in The Bailie, a Glasgow periodical, as being “a true woman, a wise benefactress of the public and of learning”. And who are we to disagree with that. She was awarded an honorary degree of LLD in 1901, and her generosity is commemorated both in a memorial window in the Bute Hall  and on The Memorial Gates of the University of Glasgow, which includes twenty-nine outstanding figures of the University’s first 500 years, her name is amongst names like James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, James Watt, Adam Smith and King James II. As recently as 2015 the Estates & Buildings was renamed the Isabella Elder Building in her honour, which shows all these years later how high regard she is still held in.

Glasgow University also has The  Isabella Elder Feminist Society, which amongst other objectives, promotes gender equality on Glasgow University campus and beyond.

I think Isabella is probably best known for her gift to Govan in the the shape of  37 acres of land that became Elder Park in 1885. A memorial to her husband, she wished it to be used for “healthful recreation by music and amusement”, and ball games were not permitted. The park was designed as a green space for the working-class community, in an area full of industry, located just along from the Fairfield company headquarters on Govan Road. Created on the site of Fairfield Farm, it was a place where the workers could relax and exercise with their families. Despite bye-laws, now in the City Archives, stating that “no person shall wade, bathe or fish in the lake”, many children have enjoyed paddling in the boating pond.

A statue of Isabella was erected at Elder Park, one of the first statues of a woman in Glasgow.

[usnatarchives]

Supreme Court Justice Nominee Sonia Sotomayor with White House staff, 6/24/2009. Photo by Johnny Simon, Obama Library, NARA ID 193688406).

President Obama with Judge Sotomayor and (then) VP Joe Biden, 5/26/2009, Obama Library, NARA ID 157649742.

President Obama Greets Justice Sotomayor 9/8/2009, image by Pete Souza, Obama Library, NARA ID 118817965.

Celina Sotomayor Cries During President Obama's Nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, 5/26/2009, NARA ID 157649740.

President Obama and VP Biden with an ecstatic Judge Sotomayor, 5/26/2009, Obama Library, NARA ID 157649732.

We celebrate #HispanicHeritageMonth with a shout out to Sonia Sotomayor!

1st Hispanic Supreme Court justice

3rd female Supreme Court justice (after RBG & Sandra Day O'Connor).

1st Hispanic federal judge in New York State

1st Puerto Rican woman to serve as a judge in a U.S. federal court

"Through reading, I escaped the bad parts of my life in the South Bronx. And, through books, I got to travel the world and the universe. It, to me, was a passport out of my childhood and it remains a way — through the power of words — to change the world."---Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor's parents were born in Puerto Rico, but she was born and raised in the Bronx. After Princeton undergrad and Yale Law School, she worked as an assistant DA for New York County. In 1991, President Bush (41) nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of NY.

Sotomayor: "the judge who saved baseball." As a district court judge, Sotomayor ruled in Silverman v. Major League Baseball (MLB) Player Relations Committee, Inc. that the MLB could not enact a new collective bargaining agreement and use replacement players, thereby ending the 1994 baseball strike and ensuring the 1995 season began on time.

As a nod to her background, Sotomayor warned lawyers during the preparatory phase of the case, “I hope none of you assumed…that my lack of knowledge of any intimate details of your dispute meant I was not a baseball fan. You can’t grow up in the South Bronx without knowing about baseball."

President Obama meets with Judge Sotomayor in the Oval Office, 5/21/2009. Clinton Library photo by Pete Souza, NARA ID 176548508.

On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. She was sworn in on August 8, 2009.

See our many Hispanic Heritage Month resources.

From the Bronx to the Bench: Sonia Sotomayor’s Trailblazing Journey to the Supreme Court, by Lynn Nashorn, archivist, Text Message blog.

Materials Relating to Sonia Sotomayor Released, Press release, 7/8/2009.

List of records re: Judge Sonia Sotomayor (includes records from the Clinton and Bush (41) Libraries.

White House Background on Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 5/26/2009.

[iamaweretoad]

Our law librarian sent the following April Fools email:

Dear colleagues,

I wanted to let you know about a worrisome new FERPA case, which has far-reaching implications for academic libraries. At a university library in New Hampshire (1st Circuit), a librarian emailed a large volume of private information to other members of the campus. The student sued, and in a landmark FERPA ruling, the District Court held (and the 1st Circuit has now affirmed), the holding that academic libraries may not use email for work-related purposes due to the "extreme risk of release of confidential student information", in violation of the plain terms of FERPA.

Luckily, faxing and telephone calls are still permitted.

This decision applies to the First Circuit, which includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island. I certainly hope this will be appealed to the Supreme Court; otherwise, this may be my last email to you.

Please don't email me with questions (obviously).

[crimson-snowfall]

Jealous hc for Comte, Leo and Theo please! Really appreciate your writing!

Sorry for the wait, and thanks for your kind message! Here ya go~

Ikevamp HC request: Jealous Theo, Comte, and Leo

Theo

Theo is particularly vocal when it comes to Arthur playing around with you. Even though he knows Arthur does it on purpose just to piss him off, he just can’t let the flirt do as he pleases with you, so he makes sure to give Arthur a piece of his mind every now and then.

Theo doesn’t really get jealous nor wary about you interacting with the rest of the mansion’s residents, because he’s plenty confident about his ability to keep his hondje satisfied.

The only time he ever feels jealous is during those occasional instances when you would end up spending a lot of time with Vincent for days at a time, and Theo hates himself for it.

He has always admired his brother, and Theo has spent all of his life believing that Vincent is better than him, and in a good way. He thinks of his dear brother as the best person in the world, so it made him sick inside as soon as he realized that emotions of jealousy have ‘tainted’ his love for his brother.

He is deeply confused as well, because sometimes he’s not sure whom is he truly jealous about. Perhaps he’s jealous both ways?

As soon as Vincent realized how Theo feels, he promptly apologized to him. Theo visibly paled upon hearing Vincent apologize to him, panic quickly taking over him.

“What are you taking about, b-broer? You did nothing wrong, you know you can never do wro–”

“Calm down, Theo. Look… I’m just really happy that you finally found yourself a woman to love in this life. That’s why I wanted to get to know her better, and love her the same way as I do love you, Theo. Because soon enough, she’s going to be my sister-in-law, right?”

Vincent had that kind smile on his face as he said all those things to Theo, and it’s enough to make the strength in Theo’s knees leave. He pulled his brother in a tight embrace, insisting that he should be the one apologizing for even feeling that way.

It’s not often that Theo shows his weak side towards him, so Vincent had been more than willing to comfort him and dispel his worries.

After that, Theo’s subtle jealous episodes became far less often. However, when you finally realized it and confronted him about it, you could’ve sworn he got incredibly flustered for a moment.

“Huh? What are you talking about hondje? Why would I be jealous? This is my brother we’re talking about here, do you really want to get punished?”

Unfortunately, he didn’t sound nearly as convincing as he had hoped to be, and while you would’ve taken this golden opportunity to tease him, you decided against it. Theo can play really dirty if you tease him so much, and you’re not yet really ready for another night of him just teasing you until you’re nearly in tears. Instead, you spent the next few days spoiling him with sweets and fluffier servings of pancakes.

Comte

At first, you thought that Comte just really loved to spoil you. But after a while and as you get to know him better, you eventually noticed a pattern to these shopping sprees and fancy restaurant dates he often takes you to.

While the fact that he indulges spoiling you remains true, you realized that he does this mainly so he can have a valid reason to keep you all to himself, at least for the day.

Lately, he’s been starting to spoil you way too often, almost every other day. While you do enjoy the time you spend with him, your closet is starting to get crammed with all the clothes and accessories he gets for you. You’re also conscious that you may be starting to put on some weight as well.

Unsure of what to do, you approach Leonardo. Comte is good friends with him, so you thought that Leo of all people would know how to deal with your lover’s behavior.

You came to him in the library and much to your surprise, the pureblood is actually awake and not passed out on the floor like always. You told him about your troubles.

“Have you talked to him about it, cara mia?” A soft smile graced his features as he regarded you with concern.

“No. The thing is… I don’t even know where to start.”

“Well, this is actually the first time I’ve–” Leo stopped mid-sentence, his expression as though he had sensed something coming. His soft smile turned into a mischievous one as he stood from where he was seated and approached you.

“No, I think I have an idea.” With those words, he closed the distance between the two of you, pinning you against the nearest bookshelf. He tilted your head up, your eyes meeting his that were dancing with mild mischief. Leo leaned dangerously close, and it really looked like he was going to kiss you when—

“Leonardo Da Vinci.” A heavy voice came from the entrance, and there stood Comte, golden eyes on fire. Leo was shaking– surely not out of fear, instead he looked like he’s trying to hold back his laughter.

In mere seconds, Comte has you in a protective embrace whilst his vicious glare remained on his friend. The other pureblood shrugged it off.

“There you have it, cara mia. Now’s your chance. Go and tell him. There’s no way he could deny it anymore.” Leo walked out of the library as if he had done nothing wrong, and the sigh that escaped Comte’s lips nearly echoed in the room.

“What was that all about, ma chérie?” He turned you around so that you’re facing him, the rage in his eyes replaced with mild sadness.

You ended up telling him everything, how you loved spending time with him, but how deep down you wished he didn’t have to resort to spoiling you that much all the time.

“I appreciate everything, Comte. But, you don’t really have to go that far every time, I… I already have so much of everything. If you’re jealous, we could just always spend more time together– just simply the two of us, together. It doesn’t have to be always extravagant.”

“I’m sorry ma chérie. I just couldn’t help myself whenever I’m with you. I want to give you everything.” Comte placed a tender kiss on your forehead.

He continues about taking up on your offer about spending time together without being too extravagant. He suggests taking you off from your household duties for the next few days, and the tender look in his eyes made it impossible for you to refuse.

“I can’t guarantee that I won’t end up spoiling you… in my own other ways though, ma chérie. I hope you’re prepared for that.”

Leonardo

Leo’s room has always been messy, but lately it’s just a disaster. For the past two days, Sebastian has been taking care of most of the other household duties while he left you in charge of your lover’s room.

On that particular day, the butler told you that your sole task is to attend to Leo’s room, and after that you can take the rest of the day off as some sort of compensation.

You came to his room, already dreading the mess that’s about to unfold before your eyes as soon as you open the door.

“Leo, how do you even manage to get your room this dirty? I just cleaned up yesterday!” You made no effort to hide your frustration as you began cleaning his room. Surprisingly enough though, this time, he helped you out.

Soon enough with his help, the room looked far more decent and actually habitable. “See? It’s much better now. You’re actually good at this, Leo. If only you would do it more often, then–”

You were cut off when strong arms pulled you into a tight embrace. “It’s been three days and you still don’t get it, do you, cara mia?” Leo planted a soft kiss on your neck before falling back into his bed and turning you around so that you’re on top of him.

He wore a somewhat lonely expression as he played with your hair. He took a deep sigh, the signature scent of cigarillos wafting on the air. “Lately… I found myself feeling rather jealous.”

“Jealous of what? And what does that have to do with any of this?”

“You’ve been doing nothing but housework lately, cara mia. You attend to everyone, and sometimes I just want to keep you to myself. That’s when I thought, what if I made it so that all the housework you’ll ever do is in my room? Then maybe I’ll get to spend more time with you.”

You looked at him in absolute disbelief. “Leo, I can’t believe you…”

“You don’t have to, cara mia. But today I helped you because… I want you to do something other than housework.”

Hope you liked it and sorry for any ooc-ness and grammatical error, my mind’s really a mess right now with all the university work piled up on me ;w; I haven’t read Leo’s route yet either so sorry if his is a little bit shorter compared to the others. I need to read more canon facts and be able to read more interactions between these characters so I can write them better in the future, but on the meantime thanks for your understanding! As for the other request (and future reqests that may be made), I’ll get to you on the 1st week of February~

[whiskynottea]

An Interruption in the 1st Law of Thermodynamics.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27,  Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32, Chapter 33, Chapter 34, Chapter 35,  Chapter 36, Chapter 37, Chapter 38, Chapter 39, Chapter 40, Chapter 41, Chapter 42, Chapter 43, Chapter 44,  Chapter 45, Chapter 46, Chapter 47, Chapter 48, Chapter 49, Chapter 50, Chapter 51 Chapter 52, Chapter 53, Chapter 54, Chapter 55, Chapter 56, Chapter 57, Chapter 58

AO3

Thank you @theministerskat​ for your beta! ❤️

                                 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Chapter 59. The Aftermath

You broke my heart. 

What a lie. People keep saying that, but the repetition doesn’t make it any more true.

My heart was fine. Not one broken blood vessel. No rupture of the muscle. It kept beating, like the earth kept spinning around itself without asking my permission. 

I wished Jamie had really broken my heart. I wished the pain could be diagnosed and treated. 

Ms. Beauchamp, you have a broken heart. With this medication and two weeks in bed, you should be fine.

But then again, I didn't want to be fine. I wanted to mourn. Being fine meant I hadn’t lost anything of importance.

My memories became my refuge. The happy ones, the sweet ones, the silly ones. I was greedy for more moments with him. I longed for happiness. 

Jamie sitting next to me and calling me Sassenach in Mrs. FitzGibbon’s class.

Jamie holding me in his arms for the very first time, murmuring in Gaelic to calm me down when I was spooked at the escape room.

Jamie giving me bluebells -- the real ones, my bracelet, the necklace that still hung between my clavicles. The necklace I knew I couldn’t part with.

Jamie teasing about me giving him blue balls.

Our first kiss, sweet and fiery and wonderful.

The surprise party he planned for my birthday, the cake with the tiny surgeons and operating room made out of sugarpaste. A special order for me, because he knew how important medical school had been to me.

Jamie stubbornly joining me on almost all the rides at the amusement park because he was unwilling to leave my side.

The first time he touched me on that bench, ignoring the world around us. Hogmanay at Lallybroch, when we trusted the pillows to keep our ventures private. The first time we made love, after his silly dancing…

All the glances, the hugs, the smiles. The teasing, the laughter. The way his gaze burned a moment before his lips found mine.

How complete my world had been back then. And how I had trusted him to keep it that way. Trusted both of us. 

But we had failed. 

We had failed the girl and boy sitting on that Scottish hill, having breakfast, making love, promising that they belonged together -- forever.

It required all my strength to keep up appearances. Outside, I continued with my everyday life. Inside, I crumbled. When I wasn’t alone, I found myself collecting my pieces, lifting my chin. I put one foot in front of the other and walked to lectures. I talked to people, I even smiled from time to time. Fake, superficial smiles, with light nods of my head and a silent wish that I would disappear. 

Everything reminded me of him. The couple walking down the street in front of me; my favourite coffee place that he would never visit; the Oak Walk and the Thorn Walk in the university parks; a song that we had never listened to together but seemed to be written just for us. All the places I had wanted to show to him and never had a chance to. All the little nooks where I had imagined us together. 

I closed my hands in tight fists and kept the tears inside, willing myself not to break before I was back in my dorm. 

During the first week, Mary insisted on accompanying me everywhere. When I ceased going to the library with her though, I made it quite clear that I needed time by myself. The precious time when I would lie in bed and drown in my despair, entertaining myself with my broken dreams. 

One would think that two weeks of crying would be enough. More than enough. As it turned out, it wasn’t. The moments I was left alone, the dam would break before I could take another breath.

At first, I kept asking myself ‘Why?’ 

I replayed everything in my mind. Our time apart, the ache born with the distance, his disappointment when I told him about Zambia and how he pushed himself to his limits to support me while I was there, the hurried night calls when I was out for drinks at Oxford, the texts that remained unanswered for hours when we had classes, Jamie becoming more and more stressed with keeping his scholarship.

It had all been there, and I, the fool, thought it would be okay. That we could work through it. 

I had been so happy, so excited that we followed our individual dreams and were working on accomplishing our goals, that I thought all our effort should be focused on that. The long-distance part of our relationship would be just another chapter in our story, a chapter named ‘Hard Times’ or ‘Too Many Video Calls’, followed by many, many more chapters. I had never believed everything would be perfect and I quickly realized that Michigan wasn’t going to be easy on Jamie. I knew that he needed me, that he wanted to talk more often, that he hated the distance. 

I didn’t know, however, that he believed we were drifting apart. I was sure we would stand together, blaming fate and luck and timing, but never each other. I thought we were strong, because we would never give up. He was a part of me, and I was a part of him. 

I had kept that forever in my heart, taking it for granted. And I saw it disappear in a single video call like a balloon meeting a needle.

I knew why, I did. But I still couldn’t understand how. 

How, how, how could he break us? How were we supposed to go on without each other? How could he believe that being apart was better than just being away from each other?

We had both made mistakes, but nothing so egregious that it would tear us apart. How could we learn from our wrong-doings if he didn’t give us a chance? If he quit me -- us -- that easily?

Thinking of why brought guilt and remorse into my heart. Thinking of how brought anger.

He had given up. How. Dare. He.

Bouts of sorrow, anger, anguish, and despair threatened to smother me. And then, the tears ran free, a silent statement of everything I was feeling and couldn’t put into words. Salty, as if to prove that life was still tasteful and that I was meant to go on. 

I didn’t want to go on. I wanted what I had with him. I wanted Jamie to be someone else -- himself, but stronger. I wanted him to shout out for help, to talk to me, to demand more time, to sacrifice more for us. To be content with less. I wanted him to understand. I wanted him to want me, no matter how little I had to offer. I wanted him to cherish the beautiful moments we had together and feel they were enough. 

I knew they weren’t -- I knew it deep in my soul. I had known it every morning I woke up and he wasn’t lying next to me. I had known it when I longed to touch him and couldn’t. But I had set my jaw and soldiered on. Because I wanted no one else but him.

Maybe he’s right, a tiny voice sang at the back of my head, insisting that we were torturing ourselves with a transatlantic relationship. We were young, too young. We had so much to do. 

But he can't, he can’t be right. 

He had promised that I would always be in his heart and his mind. As he would be in mine. Living without him didn’t feel right.

Sometimes I wished Lamb and I had never gone to Scotland in the first place. And then I hated myself for it, because Scotland had given me some of my favourite memories. 

Every night I resolved to move forward. Every morning I realized I couldn’t leave Jamie behind. 

At the beginning of the third week, I went back to my dorm to find Jenny there. I hadn’t talked to her at all after the breakup. I couldn’t. I had texted that I was okay, and ignored her calls after that, just like I ignored Joe’s messages. 

I had expected when I saw Jenny again that she would keep her distance and stand rigid, with her hands perched on her waist and her eyes narrowed on me. I had expected to listen to her cursing me and her brother for messing up. I couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Jenny sprang out of my bed where she’d sat waiting, and a moment later she was on me, holding me in a tight hug and almost crushing me. 

“Mo chridhe, mo chridhe,” she repeated, and I felt my world breaking into a million pieces at the sound of the familiar words. 

Who would call me mo chridhe, now? Mo ghraidh? Mo nighean donn? My breath hitched in my throat as I remembered Jamie’s rough voice during our last call, desperately saying all the endearments together as if he would never say the words aloud again. As if they were mine, and mine only. 

I burst into tears and held onto Jenny, feeling her small hands patting my hair and my back as she tried to soothe me. 

It took a long time before either of us could talk. Jenny had cried too, and we brushed away the tears looking at each other for a long moment before laughter, loud and ringing, broke the silence and grief. 

It was the first time I had heard myself laugh in the last two weeks. 

“Look at us…” Jenny murmured, a smile lingering on her lips. “What a mess!” She gestured at her face, her dark blue eyes still shining with unshed tears. 

I took a few deep breaths and found my hands held in Jenny’s smaller ones. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked, and my trembling voice betrayed the nonchalant tone I attempted.

“I gave ye two weeks,” she explained and shrugged. “And ye have to thank or blame Ian for that, because he’s the one who kept me in Edinburgh for so long.”

“Jamie told you?” I asked, tearing my eyes from hers. I was suddenly terrified of what Jenny knew, of what Jamie had said. I fixed my eyes on the duvet and braced myself for the worst.  

“Aye, the dolt. He did. Not at first, mind you, but he finally confessed when I insisted he looked like shit.” She paused, shook her head and continued. “He must be adopted, I’m telling ye Claire, because I’ve never heard of a Fraser or a MacKenzie being that stupid.”

I smiled, but I was sure Jenny had noticed it didn’t reach my eyes. “He said he couldn’t go on. With the distance. That we weren’t as we used to be.”

“Of course ye weren’t as ye used to be! Back in Scotland, we thought it a miracle if anyone found one of you without the other. Ye were always together! It was expected, that yer relationship would change wi’ the distance. I even remember Jamie saying that!”

“He did. We knew that things would change, but we couldn’t really know. Maybe Jamie said that in an attempt to convince himself that it would be alright.” I sighed. “I don’t know, Jenny.” I removed my hands from her grip and rubbed my eyes that overflowed with tears once more. “We didn’t talk a lot lately, he was right about that. I hadn’t realized… I thought…” I sniffed back tears and took a shaky breath. “But he didn’t give us another chance, Jenny. He just gave up. We were still at the beginning. Later on, we may…” I trailed off, not sure of what to say. Would the distance become easier after a while? I had hoped it would, but I couldn’t be sure. After all, our obligations would increase during the following terms. 

“He’s broken, too, if that helps. Crying and all.” Jenny waited until I looked up at her again. “I’m not trying to excuse my brother, Claire. I want ye to know that I’m here for ye, as yer friend. He’s a fool for letting ye go, and he will regret it, sooner or later. He is overwhelmed right now --”

“I know. He’s really stressed.”

“Aye, he is. He told me it was painful to think of ye all the time and know it will be months until he sees ye again. He said he felt ye drifting away, and he couldna visit.” Jenny let the silence fall heavy around us, carefully choosing her words. “He feels that he’s split between two continents.”

“I know.” My voice was so small I hardly recognized it. Jenny hadn’t said anything I didn’t already know. Jamie had been honest with me. I knew his reasoning. I just didn’t understand it.

For the first time, I didn’t understand him.

“I dinna ken why he did it,” Jenny’s voice echoed my thoughts. “I dinna ken why he thinks breaking up will help, but he does. He thinks that it will be painful now, but in the long run, this will be for the best. Ye have a lot of years ahead of you, Claire.”

A long, heavy sigh left me deflated. 

“Do you believe that? Will the pain get easier?”

“Time is the best healer, don’t they say so?” Jenny asked with a small smile. Seeing me shrug, she took my hands in hers again. “I wish I knew the answer, Claire. I wish I knew the best advice to give ye. But I don’t. If Ian did the same, I would personally fly over to the US to assassinate him. But everything has always come easy for Ian and me. We’ve never been apart for long.”

“You’re lucky,” I murmured. “I wished that for us, too. I still do, sometimes. But then I think…” I bit my lip, smiling wistfully. “Jamie and I went through a challenge and instead of coming out of it stronger, we let it break us. Maybe we weren’t meant to be, we weren’t good enough together.” I couldn’t look at Jenny anymore. I fixed my eyes on the window, on the darkness outside that mirrored the one inside my heart.

“No,” Jenny shook her head emphatically. “Claire, ye ken I’m no’ a romantic. Being in a long-distance relationship is hard, and having a whole ocean between ye isna easy to overcome. Couples are meant to be together, close to each other. No matter how much ye love him or he loves ye, living in different continents isna normal. It isn’t just a challenge or something ye should go through. But ye had faith enough to try it, because ye both had dreams and it was worth taking the risk. Yer love was worth it.” Jenny squeezed my hands, and I saw regret in her eyes. “Timing is important, Claire. It’s half the deal. Ian would have never kissed me if I was seeing another lad at that time. Ye and Jamie…” Jenny’s shoulders dropped in resignation. “I thought ye were forever, I was sure of it. And then my idiot brother goes and does this…”

“Maybe he’s right. Maybe everything gets better with time. Maybe we should appreciate the beautiful thing we had and go on.” I spoke the words in a passive voice, believing none of them. Said them out loud, mostly to hear them myself.

“Maybe,” Jenny agreed. “And maybe not. Maybe ye’ll find each other again.” My heart skipped a bit, but I knew Jenny wouldn’t say more. I would never know whether that was her thoughts or her brother’s. “But in any case,” she continued, “Ye have to stop crying your heart out, Claire. Find yourself again. Give the amazing person ye are a chance. And maybe, with time, the pain will become just a dull reminder. Dinna lock yerself in this room thinking of my brother.”

“Everything reminds me of him.” I didn’t plan to say it, but there it was, out in the open. The reason I couldn’t function properly. The reason I avoided everybody. The reason I wasn’t myself. I didn’t know how to be myself without him.

“I swear…” Jenny grunted. “I swear I will kill him.” 

“Well that wouldn’t be good sisterly behavior, would it?” I asked, the corners of my mouth curling up in a smile. The tears that rolled down my cheeks reached my smiling lips in a bittersweet symphony.

This life, I thought, not sure how The Verve got into my head.

“I told ye, some time ago, that ye’ll be my sister whether ye’re my brother’s girlfriend or no. Right now, I want to be a good sister to ye.” Jenny hugged me again, her arms solid and sure around my frame. “I love ye, Claire. I wanted to be sure ye ken it.”

“I do,” I said, sniffling back more tears. “I love you too, Jenny Fraser. The best of the Frasers.”

“What about my da?” she asked, echoing our conversation from months ago, and for the second time that evening, we burst into laughter. 

Jenny took the last train to Edinburgh that night. Two days later, I ventured out to the library again, thinking that medical textbooks couldn’t possibly have anything to remind me of Jamie. When I returned to my dorm, I found Mary, Malva and Davie waiting for me in front of my door.

“Dissection Drinks,” Malva announced, taking the books from my arms. “I’ll just leave them inside and we leave.”

“What?” I looked at her as she disappeared, and then raised both eyebrows at Mary and Davie. “I don’t remember agreeing to this.”

“Because you didn’t,” Davie said, smiling. 

I turned to Mary, who was looking at me through wide, guilty eyes. “Jenny told me not to let you soak in your misery,” she tried to explain. “She made me promise.”

Jenny. Of course. Just a short visit wasn’t enough, she had to put my life in order even in her absence.

“Right. I need to make a call.”

Davie laughed. “No matter how many calls you make, Claire, you’re coming with us tonight. We’ve missed you, red-rimmed eyes and all.”

I rolled my eyes at the sight of him batting his eyelashes at me. 

“Ready to go!” Malva reported from the hallway, and we left.

Three hours and a few glasses of wine later, I felt lightheaded and realized that smiling had gotten easier. A few older students were discussing types of surgical sutures and techniques, and I focused on memorizing the information for further research, when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I moved to the side, thinking that I was in someone’s way, but the tapping continued. 

“Why, Miss Bennet, you won’t deign to talk to us now?” The words hid a smirk I knew all too well, and danced in a light French accent. I turned around and smiled, even before I saw him. Robert, just as I remembered him, minus the dust and heat.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked, frowning.

He glanced at my hair, unruly curls flying around my head, wild with humidity. I resisted the urge to pat them down, as I always did in his presence. It was as if we were back in Zambia.

“I think that’s pretty obvious,” he replied with a cocky grin. “Exquisite hair.”

I laughed and pushed him lightly on the shoulder. “Still a prat, I see.”

“Always. I wouldn’t want to disappoint.”

Sure that by now I had missed the important arguments in the conversation about sutures, I decided to catch up with Robert instead. 

I hadn’t expected it, but it was nice to see him. A familiar face from my life before Oxford. A part of my past that hadn’t changed. 

And for a night, while talking to Robert, I could pretend that I was still happy.

Chapter 60

[ipaintwithwords]

Inktober 2020 #2

LIVING QUARTERS APPLICATION FORM

Welcome to campus, Novice! We are thrilled to have you join our academic ranks, and we hope you are enjoying your orientation day thoroughly. 

This application form will help us know more about you and your accommodation needs for your Autumn Term.  Please read the questions carefully before writing your answers, as you will not be able to make changes to your application before the beginning of the Summer Term. Your Head Girl or Boy will go through some of the answers with you before collecting your application form, to ensure you get the best possible dormitory room for your stay. Thank you for your time!

※ Disclaimer: Student Administration takes full responsibility in handling your personal records with the utmost confidentiality. The information disclosed in this document serves administration purposes only, and will not be distributed elsewhere. 

Student Number: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

DORMITORY PREFERENCES

Preferred room type: ☐ Single ☐ 2-bed dorm ☐ 4-bed dorm ☐ 6-bed dorm

☐ Extra Storage

Preferred room placement: ☐ 1st floor ☐ 2nd floor ☐ 3rd floor ☐ 5th floor ☐ Basement

☐ Windows ☐ No Windows 

Preferred sleeping furniture: ☐ Bed, single ☐ Bed, double ☐ Coffin ☐ Hammock ☐ I don’t sleep 

Additional preferences: ☐ Private Bathroom ☐ Public Bathroom ☐ I prefer bathing in natural water ☐ Altar space ☐ Ritual space ☐ Seance space ☐ Cage ☐ Extra coffin

※ Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that sacrifices (both human and non-human) are strictly forbidden in the dormitory. Anyone who engages in sacrifices of any kind within the dormitory walls will be evacuated immediately. Please inquire about our designated sacrificial grounds at the Student Administration Office.

Do you astral project in your sleep? ☐ Yes ☐ No

Please list the languages you speak:

Please list the languages you dream in:

Do you have any pets that will accompany you? ☐ Yes ☐ No

※Disclaimer: Please note that goblins, gremlins and lesser spirits are only allowed in the dormitory if they are currently in a valid familiar contract with you.

Are you currently being haunted? ☐ Yes ☐ No  If you picked “Yes”, please specify: ______________________________________

Have you been cursed in the past 13 days? ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ I don’t know If you picked “Yes”, please specify: ______________________________________

Have you cursed anyone in the past 13 days? ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ I don’t remember If you picked “Yes”, please specify: ______________________________________

List the last three spells you’ve cast: 1. 2. 3.

List the last three cards you’ve pulled: 1. 2. 3.

STUDENT INFORMATION

Name: ______________________________

Date of Birth: _____. __. __.

Place of Birth: ______________________________

Time of Birth: __ : __ ☐ AM ☐ PM ☐ I don’t know my time of birth

If applicable: Date of Death: _____. __. __. 

Place of Grave: ______________________________

Blood Type: ☐ A ☐ B ☐ O ☐ AB ☐ Royal ☐ Wicked ☐ Tainted ☐ I don’t know

Address outside of campus: ___________________________________________________ ☐ I don’t have one

Academic Major (check all applicable):

☐ Anthropology ☐ Archaeology ☐ Architecture ☐ Astrology & Celestial Bodies

☐ Business

☐ Chaos Magic ☐ Changeling Relations ☐ Chemistry ☐ Computer Sciences ☐ Crystal Healing 

☐ Demonology ☐ Divination & Palmistry

☐ Economics ☐ Elemental Magic ☐ Engineering

☐ Fae Magic & Communication ☐ Forestry ☐ Fauna Studies

☐ Gender Studies

☐ Herbology & Potion-making ☐ History (Mortal) ☐ History (Witch) ☐ Hypnosis & Astral Travel

☐ Journalism & Media Communication

☐ Law (Mortal) ☐ Law (Witch) ☐ Linguistics ☐ Literature ☐ Library & Museum Studies

☐ Mathematics

☐ Necromancy ☐ Neopagan Religions

☐ Occult Arts & Crafts ☐ Omens & Tasseography

☐ Psychic Communication ☐ Psychology

☐ Quantum Magic

☐ Runology 

☐ Sacred Geometry ☐ Santeria ☐ Shadow Arts ☐ Sociology ☐ Spirit Communication

What motivated you to begin your academic career at our institution?

What do you wish to achieve during your student years?

What are you willing to give in exchange?

How did you hear about our dormitory? ☐ A friend ☐ Another student ☐ University website ☐ Social media ☐ The gargoyle told me about it

Did you meet anyone on your way to campus this morning? ☐ Yes ☐ No If you picked “Yes”, please describe what they looked like: 

Do you remember your real name? ☐ Yes ☐ No

Thank you for filling out this application form! Please hand over the document to your Head Girl or Boy for the final revision before submitting it to Student Administration. Someone from our team will be in touch with you to discuss the details of your move-in day. We wish you a happy, fruitful and exciting Autumn Term!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Hey! Thank you for reading! ❤ 

A quick disclaimer: I’ve been meaning to write in this style for a very long time now, after reading amazing questionnaires/surveys like this from lots of amazing writers. This is by no means an original concept of my own.

Inktober 2020 Writing Challenge #2. Character count: 4545 | Written on October 5th. You can find more of my 2020 Inktober works here.

[imrainai]

[OOC Message log, imrainai & trashrightsactivist]

These are really old. Like, last in-universe year old. But some people wanted to see them, so here they are.

Summer, 3422

imrainai: Could I read the sideblog? You have a lot of really interesting things to say, and I'd like to read them. If you're ok with it. ^_^'

Trashrightsactivist: I would trust a promise from you, you seem trustworthy. So I will add you if you promise me that you understand how serious it could be if someone like tidalwave got hold of information that could tell her who I am in real life - I could quite easily die - and also promise you won't mention any of that info anywhere public. Is that okay?

Imrainai: Yeah, I promise. I definitely don't want anything bad to happen to you.

Trashrightsactivist: cool, adding you in a sec

Weeks Later

imrainai: ruby? are you ok? just laying low for a bit? You're safe, right?

Trashrightsactivist: yes. i am very sad and angry about things. but safe.

Imrainai: <3 please stay safe ok

Trashrightsactivist: i'll do my best. you too

Later

Imrainai: I think the internet's gonna cut out in a bit, so just wanted to tell you again to stay safe and take care of yourself. you're a good internet friend, OK, so make sure you're still here when I get back

Imrainai: taz liked your story about the aliens btw. I had to modify it some because I don't want him telling his teachers he's getting red-positive propaganda at home, it was about criminals and poor people. but the basic moral was intact, and he seemed to agree with it.

I just... be careful, OK, the world needs all the good people it can get

Trashrightsactivist: thank you. and I'm glad he liked the story, it's about the downtrodden whatever colour their hair is so yeah

Weeks Later

imrainai sent a post caste flexibility meme!

Imrainai: tag, you're privately it

Imrainai: also the internet's back and your blog is not back, are you still there

Trashrightsactivist: I will post caste meme soon. I have a secret new blog.

Trashrightsactivist: as in - the blog is not a secret but the fact that it's me is a secret

Trashrightsactivist: what i learned from tryna fill out the meme is mostly that i would be a sucky purple :P

Imrainai: ohhh, ok

Imrainai: also same

Imrainai: but I also feel like I'd feel like that no matter what I was. probably everything looks easier than it is from the outside

Trashrightsactivist: well you're like coping and looking after a baby so you must be doing something right! But probably true

Imrainai: at least if i were YELLOW i could ADVANCE in the LIBRARY SYSTEM

Imrainai: but yeah I guess Ves is more important anyway, so I can't be, like, totally failing at life in general

Trashrightsactivist: yeah that's one of the dumb things about the caste system tbh - as a purple its super hard to get anywhere really successful unless you got this one specific skillset of 'run a business'

Imrainai: well you can only run certain kinds of businesses, is the thing. like, I can't start an editing service or watch other people's kids or something

Trashrightsactivist: which is sooo dumb

Imrainai: I do not think I could, like, successfully run a restaurant or a furniture company or make clothes

Imrainai: there are lots of options, so you'd think ONE of them would work, but so far nah

Imrainai: ............I should probably not actually be complaining about my life circumstances to you, that seems rather inconsiderate

Trashrightsactivist: hmm - idk if homeschooling is a thing in Voa. If I was the kinda oddball economics green i mighta been in another life I would suggest you might be able to set up a purple-for-purple homeschooling group and argue the income as being purple either on the basis of it being like house spousing or like consultation (in that being your caste *is* the qualifying factor for a purple-for-purple homeschool)

Trashrightsactivist: and nah, it's fine - it's actually helpful to give me different things to think about tbh

Trashrightsactivist: you could apply the same argument to a daycare specifically meant to socialise purple kids in a purple environment. But idk your employment law well enough you'd need to get a solicitor to advise on it.

Imrainai: Homeschooling is a thing, but I think if you make money at it it stops being homeschooling

Imrainai: I dunno, maybe one of the librarians can help me figure it out tho

Imrainai: they're good about stuff like that

Trashrightsactivist: yeah, I mean at minimum they can probably help you find and understand the books with the law stuff in

Imrainai: Liet's orange and I could maybe finagle something around that, but she's old enough that asking her to actually work is not really.... fair to her, so

Imrainai: and yeah

Trashrightsactivist: what is it you actually do rn if you don't mind me asking? or are you at home with the kid?

Imrainai: oh! no, I work two jobs

Imrainai: I do cleaning at a nursing home and I shelve books at the library

Imrainai: And my second cousin is living here too, she works in a warehouse and sometimes watches the baby

Trashrightsactivist: ahh, right. I was confused for a bit cause i remember a post about the 1st one and i thought you were a care worker and was like 'that's purple?'

Trashrightsactivist: is that liet? the orange person?

Imrainai: Liet's my great-great-grandmother, I am am sort of EFFECTIVELY her caretaker but she's family so I don't get paid for that

Imrainai: and I do look after the old people at the nursing home, but that is not actually my job, it is just... a thing that happens when I am in close proximity to people who need things

Trashrightsactivist: really should be crossover work

Trashrightsactivist: you know one of those jobs thats two castes

Trashrightsactivist: if orange-grandma lives with you it miight be doable to do the daycare and have it that like, she owns it officially and employs you, but again you'd need to check out the legalities

Imrainai: I mean in THEORY there is a simple dividing line between "care worker" and "cleaning lady" but with elderly people the line is not always actually clear

Trashrightsactivist: yeah thats why it should be crossover

Trashrightsactivist: are you any good with numbers and people management?

Imrainai: And yeah, maaaaybe, but if anyone ever investigated it I think it would rapidly become obvious that Liet wasn't really... doing anything

Imrainai: I've never really tried those things?

Imrainai: I don't think I'm awful with numbers

Imrainai: Though I never got past algebra in school

Trashrightsactivist: I imagine you gotta have people skills to a degree cause like - you're really nice, and dealing with the old ppl probably requires like, being nice but firm

Trashrightsactivist: wouldn't require algebra just finance - you could build up to a small cleaning business?

Imrainai: Oh, I hadn't thought about that, but I guess there's no reason that should be illegal

Imrainai: I do all the budgeting here, I can handle money OK

Trashrightsactivist: yeah well afaik that is entirely a purple thing to be doing, it's cleaning and it's business

Imrainai: That makes sense

Trashrightsactivist: and your library connections and self-starter attitude will mean you can pick up the extra knowledge you'd need

Imrainai: I don't know if I'd actually make more money than just working at the nursing home, but I can look into it

Trashrightsactivist: probly need some seed money i guess

Imrainai: ...yeah, you need some to get started I think

Trashrightsactivist: yeah it would at least have more potential to grow, is what i was thinking

Imrainai: but not THAT much for a cleaning business, you don't need an office or anything for that really

Imrainai: I bet you could do it with just a web page actually

Imrainai: not that I know how to make a decent website

Trashrightsactivist: yeah you probably wouldn't make more to start with but could eventually - if you read the books and stuff and came up with a good business model you could probably pitch it to people to get a small investment for like, a website and some supplies, maybe a vehicle

Trashrightsactivist: tell the nursing home they can hire you as a contractor through your business, but if you've got other work you have more leverage to get better pay there

Imrainai: That's an interesting idea... I dunno if they'd go for it, but at least this is something to look into. It's good to have options.

Imrainai: Thanks :)

Trashrightsactivist: I mean. In a sane world you could learn more about the library while you stack shelves and work your way up to librarian but we don't live in a sane world

Trashrightsactivist: np :) I better get back to work but good luck if you decide to try it

Trashrightsactivist: oh secret new me is truth-from-ashes btw. Trusting you to keep that sceret.

Trashrightsactivist: ttyl

Weeks Later

Imrainai: Wanted to thank you for the idea to start a business. Liet's going to be starting up after-school tutoring really soon, and apparently it's absolutely legal for me to volunteer at her business and for her to then put that money towards food and rent. I'll get to make money while spending time with my family and helping Taz and his classmates with their homework. :D

Days Later

Imrainai: ruby did you hear about the thing

Imrainai: the orvara thing

Imrainai: you're not in orvara are you

Days later

Imrainai: please don't be in orvara

Later

Trashrightsactivist: I'm not there. I'm sorry if my absence from the online was worrying- reds everywhere are panicky right now and that's been my focus.

Imrainai: no no it's ok! just wanted to make sure you weren't. uh. actually dead

Imrainai: be safe

Imrainai: or as safe as possible I guess

Trashrightsactivist: You too. I don't know what's going to happen now but it's not going to be good and it's not going to just be us that suffers for it in the end.

Fall, 3422

Imrainai: ruby are you still alive and kicking and there and stuff

Several weeks later

Imrainai: rubyyyyyyy

[solesurvivorkat]

Sole Survivor Christmas Headcanons

I was inspired (as usual, LOL) by the awesome @scorpio-skies! Thanks guys, & sorry it took a while for me to get this done! (It's been crazy for me - between the holidays, things being tight at work, and being a new mom. I pretty much have no time to work on 'Shadow of Steel' right now, or any one-shots that I want to do from that universe.  :-(  )

1. What was your sole's attitude towards Christmas before and after the apocalypse? Are they religious? Nora. LOVES. Christmas. ...At least she did, before the bombs dropped. She was always like an excited little kid at Christmastime, decorating her home with Nate (when he could be there), wrapping presents, spending time with her family, and all kinds of Christmas-y activities. 

Her 1st Christmas in the Commonwealth was spent with Recon Squad Gladius in the Cambridge Police Station, and - needless to say - they didn't quite celebrate the holiday as much as she used to. It was... quite sad for her (I totally want to write a past/present Christmas fanfic set in the 'Shadow of Steel' universe... that'd be awesome, lol).

Once the Prydwen arrived in the Commonwealth, Nora's Christmases did get a bit cheerier - having grown closer to Danse, made some new friends (some a bit goofier than others), and... ahem... grown closer to someone else in her life, as well.  *XD

Nora is more 'spiritual' than religious. She has good morals and values, and believes that there are things in the universe that can't/might not be able to be explained with science alone. While she's not sure what greater powers are out there in the world, she wants to believe that her husband and other loved ones are in a better place.

2. What were their childhood memories about the Christmas holidays? What did they get for presents from their family/friends? Nora was very close with her family. Some of her favorite memories growing up include going sledding, ice skating, making Christmas cookies, and wrapping presents. Her siblings (an older brother & sister, Nora was the youngest) always used to tease her about being a perfectionist with the wrapping paper, but Nora simply pointed out that they didn't seem to mind whenever she gave them their presents.  (  XD )

Her brother's favorite childhood present was a baseball signed by one of the Boston Red Sox, given to him by Nora (who'd saved up her allowance quite a bit!). Her sister's favorite present was a Jangles the Moon Monkey plush, also given to her by Nora (Nora always hated it though, saying the monkey's face kind of freaked her out. ...This, of course, let to much teasing of Nora by her sister, by leaving Jangles in miscellaneous places around their home to surprise her. To this day, Nora is not a huge fan of coming across Jangles plushes in the Commonwealth). Nora's favorite present was a Giddyup Buttercup given to her from 'Santa'.

3. What was Christmas like with their spouse/ partner and other members of their family? Presents they would give each other? Nora's favorite Christmastime memories involve spending time with her loved ones. Nate wasn't there for every Christmas (being in the army and all), but her family members made sure that she was never alone (another reason why her 1st Christmas in the Commonwealth hit her so hard). When Nate couldn't be there, she'd spend Christmas Eve & Day with her sister, brother-in-law, and niece (her brother would visit on Christmas Day). Her parents had died a few years prior (right after she got her law degree), so spending time with her small but loving family meant everything to her. 

Her favorite Christmas (so far) was the one before the bombs dropped. She was at her sister's house because Nate was on duty and had told her he wouldn't be home in time for Christmas.

They were all about to sit down for some Christmas Eve dinner when there was a knock at the door. Nora's niece answered it and was delighted to be greeted by 'Santa', who actually turned out to be Nate! (Nora's niece later forgave the 'deception', since she was really excited to see her uncle). Naturally Nora was delighted to see him - so much so, in fact, that she decided to give him his Christmas present early - a framed sonogram of the baby she'd somewhat recently discovered they were having (guess who?).

.....It was a pretty good Christmas for everyone all around that year.

4. What would sole give the companions/friends for Christmas? (I'm also including some characters not featured/mentioned in my fic as of this post, lol)

Dogmeat: a new bandana, some dog toys she found in an abandoned house, and plenty of dried radstag (she loves to spoil one of her best buddies!). Also, she spruced up the doghouse for him at Home Plate (her home in Diamond City).

Danse: Fancy Lad snack cakes, & mods for his laser rifle & power armor

Alexis: a holotape game for her Pip-Boy (along with a challenge to beat Nora's high score!)

Brooks: a few cold bottles of beer, some homemade treats, and a Vault Boy bobblehead

Maxson: a copy of 'The Once and Future King' that she found at the Boston Public Library (and a kiss under the mistletoe when no one's watching!) 😘

Preston: a modified laser musket and some grilled radstag (homemade, since he loves Nora's cooking!)

Piper: a package of bubblegum, gumdrops, Nuka-Cola, Sugar Bombs, & sweet rolls

Cait: a Rockville Slugger baseball bat

Nick: a carton of cigarettes and a book of classic literature stories & poems (including 'The Raven', 'Ozymandias', & 'Hamlet')

Curie: some medical books (in pretty good condition, considering) that she found at the Boston Public Library (and Fancy Lad snack cakes!)

Codsworth: a robot repair kit - with the promise that she would help polish him up when she could - and a bowler hat

MacCready: some comic books and a new scope for his sniper rifle

Deacon: a nice new(ish) pair of sunglasses and a Stealth Boy

Hancock: Addictol (a tongue-in-cheek present, which he found hysterical) and a serrated switchblade she modified for him. 

Strong: a super sledge (after which Nora made him promise to only use it on enemies - never settlers, Minutemen, or BoS)

5. What other sole do you know they would like to kiss under the mistletoe? Hmm... not sure about other Soles, but besides the obvious (a certain Elder she has her eye on, lol), she might be willing to give Danse or Brooks at least a kiss on the cheek, since they're two of her best friends. Maybe Paladin Brandis as well, since they like to tease each other.

 I think most people have already done this, but if you haven’t, take this as your invite and tag me in it! I love hearing about other people’s OCs and this is a fun one!

[jamesgraybooksellerworld]

Bold Poets and rash Painters may aspire With pen and pencill to describe my Faire, Alas; their arts in the performance fayle, And reach not that divine Original, Some Shadd’wy glimpse they may present to view, And this is all poore humane art Can doe▪

346J J.B. Gent.

The young lovers guide,

 or, The unsuccessful amours of Philabius, a country lover; set forth in several kind epistles, writ by him to his beautious-unkind mistress. Teaching lover s how to comport themselves with resignation in their love-disasters. With The answer of Helena to Paris, by a country shepherdess. As also, The sixth Æneid and fourth eclogue of Virgil, both newly translated by J.B. Gent.

London : Printed and are to be Sold by the Booksellers of London, 1699.             $3,500

Octavo,  A4, B-G8,H6 I2( lacking 3&’4) (A1, frontispiece Present;            I3&’4, advertisements  lacking )    inches  [8], 116, [4] p. : The frontispiece is signed: M· Vander Gucht. scul:. 1660-1725,

This copy is bound in original paneled sheep with spine cracking but cords holding Strong.

A very rare slyly misogynistic “guide’ for what turns out be emotional turmoil and Love-Disasters !

Writ by Philabius to Venus, his Planetary Ascendant.

Dear Mother Venus!

I must style you so.

From you descended, tho’ unhappy Beau.

You are my Astral Mother; at my birth

Your pow’rful Influence bore the sway on Earth

From my Ascendent: being sprung from you,

I hop’d Success where-ever I should woo.

Your Pow’r in Heav’n and Earth prevails, shall I,

A Son of yours, by you forsaken die?

Twenty long Months now I have lov’d a Fair,

And all my Courtship’s ending in Despair.

All Earthly Beauties, scatter’d here and there,

From you, their Source, derive the Charms they bear.

Wing (2nd ed.), B131; Arber’s Term cat.; III 142

Copies – Brit.Isles  :  British Library

                  Cambridge University St. John’s College

                  Oxford University, Bodleian Library

Copies – N.America :  Folger Shakespeare

                  Harvard Houghton Library

                  Henry E. Huntington

                  Newberry

                  UCLA, Clark Memorial Library

                  University of Illinois

Engraved frontispiece of the Mistress holding a fan, title within double rule border, 4-pages of publisher`s  advertisements at the end Contemporary calf (worn). . FIRST EDITION. . The author remains unknown. 

                   )0(

347J Thomas Frewen (1704-1791)

Hand written collection of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions, principally in Sussex.

Manuscript  on paper  p. 21 dated ‘Thomas F. Frewen 1741.’   $3,800

Duodecimo. 7 in. x 4.5 inches  A10, B14, C10.   plus two folded epitaphs such in the binding!  This is bound in a beautiful  green vellum wallet binding.

  With the numbers in pencil from the Phillipps Library 7073 & 6982

Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet [3]

(2 July 1792 – 6 February 1872), was an English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. He was an illegitimate son of a textile manufacturer and inherited a substantial estate, which he spent almost entirely on vellum manuscripts and, when out of funds, borrowed heavily to buy manuscripts, thereby putting his family deep into debt. Phillipps recorded in an early catalogue that his collection was instigated by reading various accounts of the destruction of valuable manuscripts. Such was his devotion that he acquired some 40,000 printed books and 60,000 manuscripts, arguably the largest collection a single individual has created, and coined the term “vello-maniac”to describe his obsession, which is more commonly termed bibliomania.   Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 45 Phillipps, Thomas

Frewen, Thomas (1704-1791) Physician

THOMAS Frewen  M.D. (1704–1791), physician, was born in 1704. He practised as a surgeon and apothecary at Rye in Sussex, and afterwards as a physician at Lewes, having obtained the M.D. degree previous to 1755. He became known as one of the first in this country to adopt the practice of inoculation with small-pox. In his essay on ‘The Practice and Theory of Inoculation’ (Lond. 1749) he narrates his experience in three hundred and fifty cases, only one having died by the small-pox so induced. The common sort of people, he says, were averse to inoculation, and ‘disputed about the lawfulness of propagating diseases’—the very ground on which small-pox inoculation was made penal a century later (1842). The more refined studies of our speculative adepts in philosophy, he says, have let them into the secret that the small-pox and many other diseases are propagated by means of animalcula hatched from eggs lodged in the hairs, pores, &c. of human bodies. In 1759 he published another short essay on small-pox, ‘Reasons against an opinion that a person infected with the Small-pox may be cured by Antidote without incurring the Distemper.’ The opinion was that of Boerhaave, Cheyne, and others, that the development of small-pox after exposure to infection could be checked by a timely use of the æthiops mineral. Frewen’s argument was that many persons ordinarily escape small-pox ‘who had been supposed to be in the greatest danger of taking it,’ and that the æthiops mineral was irrelevant. His other work, ‘Physiologia’ (Lond. 1780), is a considerable treatise applying the doctrines of Boerhaave to some diseases. One of his principles is:

‘Wherever nature has fixed a pleasure, we may take it for granted she there enjoins a duty; and something is to be done either for the individual or for the species.’

He died at Northiam in Sussex, on 14 June 1791, aged 86.

This Manuscript  plus the two folded leaves  copies 27 different inscriptions made by Frewen.   The penultimate one is dated 1741.

Here are a few .

  The summary includes a brief description of the collection(s) (usually including the covering dates of the collection), the name of the archive where they are held, and reference information to help you find the collection.

[Gent. Mag.; Giles Watts’s Letter to Dr. Frewen on his behaviour in the case of Mr. Rootes, surgeon, Lond. 1755.]Collections

1)c1770: Encheiridion technicum in re medica    Cambridge University Library: Department of Manuscripts and University Archives Add 6857

2) In Papers Royal Society See HMC MS papers of British scientists 1600-1940, 1982

3) 1749-55: prescription book Cambridge University Library: Department of Manuscripts and University Archives Palmer NRA 38777 Palmer

ESTC TITLES

1) Frewen. A just and plain vindication of the late Dr. Frewen, London : printed for M. Cooper,              1743.

2) Frewen. A letter in answer to Dr. Watts.    London : printed for W. Owen, and E. Baker,   1756.

3) Frewen. Physiologia: London : printed for J. Bew, in Pater-Noster-Row; and W. Lee, jun. at Lewes,              MDCCLXXX. [1780]

4) Frewen., The practice and theory of inoculation. With an account of its success. In a letter to a friend. London : for S. Austen,     1749.

5) Frewen. Some reasons given against an opinion that a person infected with the small-pox may be cured by a                 London : printed for J. Wilkie, at the Bible, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard,                  MDCCLIX. [1759]

          Today’s books just catalogued. 346J J.B. Gent. The young lovers guide,  or, The unsuccessful amours of Philabius, a country lover; set forth in several kind epistles, writ by him to his beautious-unkind mistress.

[joie-university-rp]

Dear, MIKE CHANG,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

–

Congratulations, MEG! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklistand send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

Name/Alias; preferred pronouns: Meg, she/her

Age, Timezone: 27, EST

Activity, short explanation: I work a full-time job (36 hours) Mon-Fri but I can usually be on at least one hour a day after work and sometimes even before work - and on the weekends, as I have no life, I can be on quite a bit more.

Ships: Tike, Cherry, Bike, Fabang, Mikitty, Changrose, Mikecedes, Bike Chanderson, Rutherchang, Mikurt, Puckerchang, Mike/Chemistry, Mike/Confidence

Anti-Ships: Mike/No Chemistry

Triggers: RFP

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link):https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/elle-harry-shum-jr-by-tyler-joe-001-1541717903.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=480:*

Anything else: Just that I thank you for reading this application, too :)

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Michael Robert Chang Jr.

FC: The absolutely underrated but extremely handsome Harry Shum Jr.

Age/Year at University (Freshman [1st Year], Sophomore, Junior, Senior, or Graduate Student): 23, Junior

Birth date: July 26th, 1996

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Chicago, Illinois

Gender/Pronouns: Cismale, He/Him

Sexuality: (Closeted) Pansexual

Major(s): Law

Minor(s) [optional]: N/A

Housing request (remember, only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Double suite in the Zeebee frat house

Extracurriculars (Click here for the list. Be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, secretary, etc.] If something isn’t listed, please put it here and we will add it to the masterlist!): Lacrosse (attacker), Football (wide receiver & co-captain), Chess Club, Mock UN, Student Government Association (Chief Justice),

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush): Zeta Sigma Beta, Vice President

CHARACTER PROFILE:

As the eldest born son to Michael Robert Chang Senior and Julia Qián, there had been a lot of pressure placed upon Mike’s shoulders - pressures to live up to his father’s legacy, but also pressure to exceed it. It was his duty to become a respectable member of society, someone that would take on a great job and someone that would bring honor to the family name. It was why, even as an elementary school student, he had had tutors - tutors to ensure that Mike would stay on track and stay ahead of the other kids in his school.

But there was a side to Mike… a side that wasn’t exactly something his father was proud of. He loved to dance, something he wound up getting from his mother - though that’s not something he knew about - and whenever he was alone in his bedroom, listening to music, he would let the music move him. It didn’t matter what it was, Mike always found himself moving and it became his own little escape - his way to let the stress out.

Dancing, however, was not an extracurricular his father allowed him to have. Sports were acceptable, of course, as schools loved to have a scholar athlete, and clubs that focused on building character and resumes were allowed but dancing? Well, his father thought that dancing would be detrimental on a college application, especially to schools looking for law or medical students. And Mike… well, Mike just wanted to please his parents, so he did what he could to please them.

Applying to Joie was just one of many things Mike did to please his father, as his father was an alumni of the school - and a famous one that had donated a wing to the library - and when he was accepted, the joy that overcame his father’s face was just perfect. It was enough to have Mike know that he was doing this for the right reason… to make his father proud, and so he told Joie that he was going to attend their school as a law student.

The first year at the school seemed to go over really well - between his positions on the lacrosse and football team (and him being a quick and nimble force to be reckoned with thanks to his secret recitals in his bedroom) Mike was becoming known for being quite the scholar athlete - especially since he was in a handful of other clubs and activities, as well, and he was rushing to his father’s fraternity, Zeta Sigma Beta, too.

Unfortunately, though, just a week before classes were supposed to pick up for his sophomore year, his maternal grandmother Xiu Mei Qián, fell ill and the family packed up their bags to head to Guangzhou to spend what little time with her they could. This gave Mike a chance to take a break from his rigorous school work - though his father did manage to quiz him every week just to keep his skills sharp - and he was able to realize there was more to life than just school. And the more time he spent with his dying grandmother, the more he realized that life is short.

His grandmother lived for two years, and he returned back to Ohio shortly after turning twenty-one - just in time for what should’ve been his senior year. Thankfully, his extracurriculars were happy to have him, and even the fraternity he had been accepted into welcomed him back as a brother and not another pledge, but he worked hard to prove himself. It seemed that his time in China had been long since forgotten as he worked to claim prominent positions in his various activities - from co-captain to the football team to vice president of the Zeebees to Chief Justice in the SGA - and Mike was back to proving that he was the scholar athlete that everyone knew he was.

But now that he’s going into his third year of school, his father is already beginning to pressure him into deciding what law school to go to upon graduation, and Mike’s not sure how to tell him that he doesn’t want to be a lawyer, or a doctor. No, Mike wants to be a dancer, and he wants, by the end of the year, to find enough courage to tell his father the truth. That is his overall goal, to be able to get underneath his father’s suffocating thumb and chase after his passion…

He’s just not hopeful it’ll happen.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY: (Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University? Well, my father went here… The Chang wing in the library was donated by him, and if a man as successful as my father went to school here, I knew that it would be the best thing for me.

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? My…. best traits? Well, I don’t really know if I have any. I’d like to think I’m intelligent, though I guess you have to be to graduate as valedictorian of your high school class and maintain a 4.1 GPA… I’d like to think that I’m good, too, and I’m pretty hard-working. My worst traits… well, I can be pretty stubborn, I guess… and I’ve been told I’m quiet - sometimes people won’t even realize I’m in the same room as them because I’m not really one for talking and… maybe selfless? Though some could say that’s a good trait, too, so… just ignore me. (He’s also insecure)

Which of your traits do you value most? Out of all my traits, I’d value my goodness, I guess? This world needs more good people so… it’s good that I’m good, right?

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole? Well, it might not affect the school now but when I’m a lawyer or a judge or sitting on the supreme court, I hope to use my goodness to pass laws that will benefit the entirety of the country and not just the school - to end a lot of the things that are dividing this country and make tougher restrictions on other things.

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU? I hope to meet all kinds of people in the hopes to build connections with potential clients for the future… and maybe graduate as a dance major and not a law major.

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you? “Quiet people have the loudest minds” - Stephen King

[isslibrary]

New Library Material  December 2018 - January 2019

Sorted by Call Number / Author.

220.5 H

Holy Bible : King James Version. Giant Print Standard Bible. U.S. : Christian Art Publishers, 2018.

220.5 H

The Holy Bible : Douay-Rheims version. [Catholic ed.]. Charlotte, N.C. : Saint Benedict Press, 2009.

221.5 O

The Old Testament : the King James version. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

270.092 W

Westover, Tara, author. Educated: a memoir. First edition. Choose the good -- The midwife -- Cream shoes -- Apache women -- Honest dirt -- Shield and buckler -- The Lord will provide -- Tiny harlots -- Perfect in his generations -- Shield of feathers -- Instinct -- Fish eyes -- Silence in the churches -- My feet no longer touch Earth -- No more a child -- Disloyal man, disobedient heaven -- To keep it holy -- Blood and feathers -- In the beginning -- Recitals of the fathers -- Skullcap -- What we whispered and what we screamed -- I'm from Idaho -- A knight, errant -- The work of sulphur -- Waiting for moving water -- If I were a woman -- Pygmalion -- Graduation -- The hand of the almighty -- Tragedy then farce -- A brawling woman in a wide house -- Sorcery of physics -- The substance of things -- West of the sun -- Four long arms, whirling -- Gambling for redemption -- Family -- Watching the buffalo -- Educated. Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when an older brother became violent. When another brother got himself into college and came back with news of the world beyond the mountain, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. She taught herself enough mathematics, grammar, and science to take the ACT and was admitted to Brigham Young University. There, she studied psychology, politics, philosophy, and history, learning for the first time about pivotal world events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

305 I

In Search of Stonewall: The Riots at 50 : The Gay & Lesbian Review at 25: Best Essays, 1994-2018. Boston: MA : G&LR Books, 2019.

305.896 B

Badkhen, Anna, 1976-. Walking with Abel : journeys with the nomads of the African savannah. "An intrepid journalist joins the planet's largest group of nomads on an annual migration that, like them, has endured for centuries. Anna Badkhen has forged a career chronicling life in extremis around the world, from war-torn Afghanistan to the border regions of the American Southwest. In Walking with Abel, she embeds herself with a family of Fulani cowboys--nomadic herders in Mali's Sahel grasslands--as they embark on their annual migration across the savanna. It's a cycle that connects the Fulani to their past even as their present is increasingly under threat--from Islamic militants, climate change, and the ever-encroaching urbanization that lures away their young. The Fulani, though, are no strangers to uncertainty--brilliantly resourceful and resilient, they've contended with famines, droughts, and wars for centuries. Dubbed "Anna Ba" by the nomads, who embrace her as one of theirs, Badkhen narrates the Fulani's journeys and her own with compassion and keen observation, transporting us from the Neolithic Sahara crisscrossed by rivers and abundant with wildlife to obelisk forests where the Fulani's Stone Age ancestors painted tributes to cattle. As they cross the Sahel, the savanna belt that stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, they accompany themselves with Fulani music they download to their cell phones and tales of herders and hustlers, griots and holy men, infused with the myths the Fulani tell themselves to ground their past, make sense of their identity, and safeguard their--our--future"--. "An intrepid journalist joins the planet's largest group of nomads on an annual migration that, like them, has endured for centuries"--.

398.2 A

Abrahams, Roger D. African folktales. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1983. Tales of wonder from the great ocean of story -- Stories to discuss and even argue about -- Tales of trickster and other ridiculous creatures: tales to entertain -- Tales in praise of great doings -- Making a way through life. A collection of 95 tales from the region south of of the Sahara Desert--stories from over 40 tribe-related myths of creation, tales of epic deeds, ghost stories and tales set in both the animal and human realms.

398.2 A

American Indian myths and legends. 1st paperback ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1984. Rabbit boy kicked that blood clot around: tales of human creation -- The place of emergence: tales of world creation -- The eye of the great spirit: tales of the sun, moon, and stars -- Ordeals of the hero: monsters and monster slayers -- Counting coup: war and the warrior code -- The sound of flutes: tales of love and lust -- Coyote laughs and cries: trickster tales -- Four legs, two legs, and no legs: stories of animals and other people -- Something whistling in the night: ghosts and the spirit world -- Only the rocks and mountains last forever: visions of the end.

398.2 A

African American folktales : stories from Black traditions in the New World. New York : Pantheon Books, c1999.

398.2 C

Chinese fairy tales and fantasies. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, 1979.

398.2 F

Favorite folktales from around the world. 1st paperback ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1988.

398.2 F

Folktales from India : a selection of oral tales from twenty-two languages. First edition. Tell it to the walls / Tamil -- Untold stories / Gondi -- Gopal Bhar the star-counter / Bengali -- Bopoluchi / Punjabi -- The Jasmine Prince / Tamil -- Sona and Rupa / Hindi/Malwi -- Brother's day / Rajasthani -- The Brahman who swallowed a God / Bengali -- One man's virtue / Oriya -- A crow's revenge / Kannada -- A story in search of an audience / Telugu -- The clay mother-in-law / Kannada -- The barber and the Brahman demon / Benjali -- Why the fish laughed / Kashmiri -- A parrot called Hiraman / Bengali -- The monkey and the crocodile / Kannada; Tamil -- What happens when you really listen / Telugu -- Tenali Rama / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- How Tenali Rama became a Jester -- Tenali Rama's Ramayana -- Two sisters / Santali -- Sukhu and Dukhu / Bengali -- One, two, three / Santali -- The wife who refused to be beaten / Kashmiri -- The Ogress Queen / Kashmiri -- Killed by a tiger / Santali -- Outwitting fate / Tamil -- Four girls and a king / Punjabi. If it isn't you, it must be your father / Kannada -- Why audiences laugh or cry / Punjabi -- Akbar and Birbal ; The best of flowers ; Make it shorter ; Bring be four ; Sons-in-law / Urdu -- The night-blind son-in-law / Kannada -- Shall I show you my real face? / Tamil -- A malcontent cured / Kashmiri -- The kite's daughter / Assamese -- A flowering tree / Kannada -- A musical demon / Tamil -- Other lives / Kashmiri -- Living like a pig / Telugu -- A heron in the mouth / Bengali -- Tenali Rama's art / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- One more use for artists / Gujerati -- Heron boy / Tulu -- The tiger's adopted son / Didayi -- How to live on half a pice / Konkani -- The magic bowls / Tamil -- The four jogis / Santali -- A friend in need / Malayalam -- Winning a princess / Tulu -- Crossing a river, losing a self / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- Prince sabar / Gujerati. The lord of death / Punjabi -- The shepherd's ghost / Telugu -- This world and the other / Bengali -- If God is everywhere / Bengali -- A tiger that didn't know who he was / Bengali -- Gandharva Sen is dead! / Bengali -- Tenali Rama's dream / Telugu -- A feast in a dream / Rajasthani -- In search of a dream / Santali -- The princess whose father wanted to marry her / Tulu -- Mother marries son / Marathi -- A cure / Bengali -- A tall tale in Urdu / Urdu -- The greatest / Angami Naga -- A story for Sundays / Marathi -- Tenali Rama and the Brahmans / Kannada; Tamil; Telugu -- A hair's-breadth escape / Tamil -- Between two wives / Tamil -- The dead prince and the talking doll / Kannada -- The serpent mother / Gujerati -- Teja and Teji / Assamese -- The dove's egg: a chain tale / Malayalam -- A drum / Hindi -- In the kingdom of fools / Kannada -- Nonviolence / Bengali -- The barber's secret / Tamil. Gopal Bhar cures a dreamer / Benjali -- A scavenger's dream / Oriya -- The boy who sold wisdom / Gujerati -- Two jars of persian / Punjabi -- In another country / Punjabi -- One man's pleasure / Urdu -- Raja Vikram and the princess of China / Hindi -- Walking on water / Bengali -- The guru and the idiot / Telugu -- Grateful animals, ungrateful man / Hindi/Kumaoni -- When a black dog dies / Urdu -- The village rogue, the city rogue, and the king of rogues / Oriya -- A qazi with a long beard / Marathi -- The priest who could see as far as Mecca / Assamese -- Adventures of a disobedient son / Kannada -- Hanchi / Kannada -- Buffalo into rooster / Marathi -- The prince who married his own left half / Kannada -- A buffalo made of lac / Tamil -- A contest of lies / Hindi -- It's done with mirrors / Telugu -- The kurumba in the parrot's body / Kota -- The eighth key / Sindhi -- How the weaver went to heaven / Urdu. The tiger-makers / Kannada -- When a tale is finished / Oriya -- And then, Bhurrah! / Marathi. Collection of the oral tales compiled from a vast array of sources and translated from twenty-two languages of the country.

398.2 J

Japanese tales. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1987.

398.2 L

Latin American folktales : stories from Hispanic and Indian traditions. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c2002. A collection of one hundred Latin American folk tales taken from the Hispanic and Indian traditions.

398.2 L

Legends and tales of the American West. 1st pbk. ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1998.

398.2 R

Afanasʹev, A. N. (Aleksandr Nikolaevich), 1826-1871. Russian fairy tales. Pantheon Paperback: First Pantheon hardback ed. 1945; Second hardback Pantheon ed. 1975. New York : Pantheon Books, [1975?] c1945. A collection of the classic Russian folk and fairy tales.

812.54 R

Readings on A raisin in the sun. San Diego, CA : Greenhaven Press, c2001.

813.01 B

The best American short stories 2017. Presents a selection of the best works of short fiction of the past year from a variety of acclaimed sources.

813.01 B

Best American short stories 2018. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt pUBLISHERS, c. 2018.

813.01 O

100 years of The best American short stories. Collects forty short stories published between 1915 and 2015, from writers that include Ernest Hemingway, John Updike, and Alice Munro that exemplify their era and stand the test of time --.

821.008 G

Great short poems. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 2000.

92 McD

McDonald, William C. The shadow tiger : Billy McDonald, Wingman to Chennault. Hardback Special Edition.

CD Mid

A Midsummer Night's Dream. Audiobook recording using the New Cambridge Shakespeare text, 1984; Unabridged. www.naxoaudiobooks.com : Naxos audioBooks with permission from Cambridge University Press, 1984.

DVD Bla

Blackboard jungle. Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Margaret Hayes, Vic Morrow, Sidney Poitier. Urban drama about an idealistic teacher in a slum area who fights doggedly to connect with his unruly students. Based on Evan Hunter's novel.

DVD Cat

Cat on a hot tin roof. 2016. Blu-ray. Burbank, Calif. : Warner Home Video ;, [1999]. Side A. Standard presentation -- side B. Widescreen presentation. Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood, Larry Gates, Vaughn Taylor. Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife, Maggie. His reunion with his father, Big Daddy, who is dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

DVD Def

The defiant ones. Letterboxed. Santa Monica, CA : MGM Home Entertainment, [2004]. Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Charles McGraw, Lon Chaney, King Donovan, Claude Akins, Lawrence Dobkin, Whit Bissell, Carl Switzer, Kevin Coughlin, Cara Williams. Two convicts escaping from a Southern work gang discover that they are bound together by an unbreakable iron chain and separated by a hatred for each other. But in order to elude capture they must overcome their hostility.

DVD Inv

Invasion of the body snatchers. Olive Signature; Blu-Ray 2018. Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Carolyn Jones. Filmy spores fall from space over San Francisco, and the city blossoms with beautiful new flora. People take the flowers home and as they sleep, the plants creep over them, devouring their bodies and stealing their identities--everything except their emotions, their uniqueness, their souls.

DVD Kis

Kiss me deadly. Blu-Ray Special Edition. [United States] : Criterion Collection, 2011. Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy; introducing Maxine Cooper, Cloris Leachman, Gaby Rodgers. "In an atomic adaptation of Mickey Spillane's novel, directed by Robert Aldrich, the good manners of the 1950s are blown to smithereens. Snarling private detective Mike Hammer's decision one dark, lonely night to pick up a hitchhiking woman sends him down some terrifying byways. Brazen and bleak, it's a film noir masterpiece and an essential piece of cold war paranoia. Featuring as nervy an ending as has ever been seen in American cinema."--Container.

DVD On

On the waterfront. Special ed. Culver City, CA : Columbia Pictures Corp. :, c2001. Start -- Returning Danny boy -- "Someone fell off the roof." -- Johnny Friendly -- Waterfront commission mugs -- How trigger locals work -- Designated stoolie -- Meeting adjourned -- Getting acquainted -- Lowdown on Terry -- Up on the roof -- Neighborhood saloon -- Wedding party -- Friendly warning -- Dropping a sling on Dugan -- Promise kept -- Terry & Father Barry -- Telling Edie the truth -- Talk of past favors -- "I coulda been a contender." -- At Edie's -- "Charlie's in trouble." -- Waiting for Big John -- Crime Commission hearing -- Pigeon for a pigeon -- "You're a cheap mug!" -- Labor vs. Union -- Finishing what he started. Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Leif Erickson, James Westerfield, Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello, John Hamilton, John Heldabrand, Rudy Bond, Don Blackman, Arthur Keegan, Abe Simon, Eva Marie Saint. Terry Malloy is a washed-up ex-prize fighter corrupted along with brother Charley at an early age by a ruthless Mob-connected union boss named Johnny Friendly, who runs the waterfront. Malloy is now an errand-boy for the union, while Charley (in return for a college education) is now a lawyer for them. Malloy assists in the killing of a longshoreman who was talking to the crime commission investigating the union. He soon meets the dead man's agonized sister, Edie Doyle, and has a change of mind. Activist priest Father Barry argues with Malloy about morality, responsibility, and doing the right thing. Malloy's guilt, his romantic feelings for Edie, and an assault on Father Barry overwhelm him and he turns informer. Malloy's defiant testimony before the commission leads to a climactic bloody battle that wrests the union from the boss' tenacious grasp.

DVD Pia

The piano lesson. Full screen Gold Crown collector's ed. Special features: Full screen presentation -- The making of "The piano lesson" -- An interview with August Wilson -- Language: English -- Subtitles: English. Charles S. Dutton, Alfre Woodard, Carl Gordon, Tommy Hollis, Lou Myers, Courtney B. Vance ... [and others]. August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of a family caught between their heritage and a dream for the future. The Charles family clashes over the fate of a magnificent, carved piano that carries their family's story from their days as slaves. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy a farm--the same fields their family worked as slaves. But his sister, Berniece, refuses to part with it. For her, the piano is their very soul, a legacy of pride and struggle that symbolizes their survival as a family. To resolve the conflict they must first deal with the past.

DVD Por

Pork Chop Hill. Olive Films; Blu-Ray; 2015. California; U.S. : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment/MGM Studios, [1999]. Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard, James Edwards, Bob Steele, Woody Strode, George Shibata. Korean War film of a true tale of the desperate soldiers who finally take the top of Pork Chop Hill, only to find themselves surrounded by enemy forces.

DVD Reb

Rebel without a cause. Two-disc special ed., widescreen version. Burbank, CA : Warner Home Video, 2013. James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson, Dennis Hopper, Edward Platt, Steffi Sidney, Marietta Canty, Virginia Brissac, Beverly Long, Ian Wolfe, Frank Mazzola, Robert Foulk, Jack Simmons, Tom Bernard, Nick Adams, Jack Grinnage, Clifford Morris. Jim Stark, the teenage son of a well-to-do family, is overcome by loneliness, frustration and anger, which leads to violence when he seeks approval of a gang of high-school hoodlums.

DVD Viv

Viva Cuba. Fullscreen ed. [United States] : Film Movement, 2007. Mal©ð y Jorgito son dos ni©łos que se han prometido amistad para toda la vida, a pesar de que sus familias se detestan. Cuando la abuela de Mal©ð se muere y su mam©Ł decide irse a vivir fuera de Cuba, Mal©ð y Jorgito tendr©Łn que escaparse hasta el fin del mundo en busca de una esperanza para su amor. "Mal©ð is from an upper-class family and her single mother does not want her to play with Jorgito, as she thinks his background is coarse and commonplace. Jorgito's mother, a poor socialst proud of her family's social standing, places similar restrictions on her son. What neither woman recognizes is the immense strength of the bond between Mal©ð and Jorgito. When the children learn that Mal©ð's mother is planning to leave Cuba, they decide to run away and travel to the other side of the island to find Mal©ð's father and persuade him against signing the forms that would allow it"--Container.

F Cro

Near to the heart.

F Gre

Green, John, 1977- author. John Green : mini collection. v.1 - Fault in our stars -- v.2 - Looking for Alaska -- v.3 - Abundance of Katherines -- v.4 - Paper towns. Four beloved classics by John Green complete and unabridged. Penguin Minis' revolutionary landscape design and ultra-thin paper make them perfectly pocket-sized and easy to hold in one hand without sacrificing readility. -- slipcase. Fault in Our Stars. Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazels story is about to be completely rewritten. -- Amazon.com. Looking for Alaska. Before. Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last wordsand tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for Culver Creek boarding school to seek what the dying poet Frࣅois Rabelais called {28}The Great Perhaps. Abundance of Katherines. When it comes to relationships, Colin Singletons type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judyloving best friend riding shotgunbut no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself. -- Amazon.com. Paper Towns. When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the nightdressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revengehe follows her. Margos always planned extravagantly, and, until now, shes always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And theyre for Q. -- Amazon.com.

F Wes

Michelle West. The Uncrowned King. New York, NY : DAW BOOKS, INC, 1998.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The broken crown. New York : DAW Books, 1997. Treachery threatens the Dominion of Annagar as two power-hungry men--a skilled general and a sorcerer--seek to overthrow the clan of Leonne, whose control over the magic of the sun sword has kept the peace.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The riven shield. New York : DAW Books, 2003.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. Sea of sorrows. New York, NY : DAW Books, c2001.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The shining court. New York : DAW Books, 1999. The approaching Festival of the Moon could signal the ultimate triumph of the Shining Court, or humankind's final chance to defeat the powerful demon lord--Allasakar, Lord of the Hells.

F Wes

West, Michelle, 1963-. The sun sword. New York, N.Y. : DAW Books, 2004.

SC Ben

Bender, Karen E. The new order : stories. First hardcover edition.

SC D

Davis, Lydia, 1947-. The collected stories of Lydia Davis. 1st ed. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c2009.

SC Von

Vonnegut, Kurt. Welcome to the monkey house : a collection of short works. The special edition. A collection of twenty-five short works by the American author written between 1950 and 1968 and originally printed in a wide range of publications including "The Atlantic Monthly," "Esquire," and "Ladies' Home Journal.".

[optomstudies]

#optomstudies here to stop your 💸💸💸 from flying away, again! This is to answer an ask I received from @psychblr and also the anon entering uni who wanted to know about textbooks! (thank you for asking!!). 

For some pointers on how to make money, please also check out my 7 Part Time Work post. The first part will cover food, transport and entertainment (linked here). This second part will cover textbooks, tax, and scholarships.

TEXTBOOKS

Generally the only free textbooks... aren’t usually prescribed for your course by your professor. Meaning they’re essentially useless. I mean, sure they’re good resources, but if you need to do any specific reading or questions, you’re out of options :L

After 1st year, you’ll find it really difficult to find free textbooks (legally). It’s the publisher who decides whether a textbook is available or not. If they’re being draconian, they’ll actively take down all the .pdf links on Google.

You can try some of the websites here, they seemed pretty good, but it will take a little digging. Anything that links you to a site where you need to purchase the textbook means that the publisher hasn’t made it free, and hence it’s illegal to get it for free. Note: Don’t download anything that tells you to download a specific download manager though.

Save money by renting or purchasing second hand. 

Okay so what to do? I study optometry, meaning like all university degrees, there aren’t any free textbooks once you get past 1st year sciences LOL. It’s just too niche. My principles are:

I only buy ‘prescribed’ textbooks.

Wait until the second week to see whether you actually need the textbook a great deal. Your professor will usually tell you.

NB. if your professor wrote the book, and is telling you that you need the book, I’d suggest you try for an older version, used version, or share with someone, since they have conflicting interests. This actually happens so much with the Management and Accounting Schools lol.

Go to the library to peruse the textbook. There are copies in the High Use Collection where you can only borrow the textbook for 2 hours. Just stalk the place. Your uni library website will tell you whether a textbook has been checked out or not. 

If I feel like the textbook is useful for more than 1 year then I’ll purchase it. Otherwise I just make copies of the chapter I need to use (as far as copyright law goes, you can copy up to 1 chapter or 10% of a book, whichever is larger).

Try the Book Depository if you are buying new - reputable, plus occasionally cheaper than university bookstore prices (which are already 10% off RRP). 

For every other textbook, just camp out at the library for it. When the teacher suggests you read something, zip off to the library as soon as class ends.

Sell the textbook to next year’s students once you’re done using it to recoup your losses. 

TAX

So if you’ve managed to get a job directly in the area that you’re working towards in the future, you’ll actually be able to claim back some of the course expenses as tax deductions since money you spend on your university degree is a work-related self-education expense since it “result in, or is likely to result in, an increase in your income from your current employment” (source). 

You can claim the following expenses in relation to your self-education. I’ve marked the ones that uni students should find the most useful. 

accommodation and meals (if away from home overnight) !!!

computer consumables !!!

course fees (but not HECS-HELP repayments)

decline in value for depreciating assets (cost exceeds $300)

purchase of equipment or technical instruments costing $300 or less !!!

equipment repairs

fares

home office running costs !!!

interest

internet usage (excluding connection fees) !!!

parking fees (only for work-related claims)

phone calls

postage

stationery !!!

student union fees !!!

student services and amenities fees !!!

textbooks !!!

trade, professional, or academic journals

travel to-and-from place of education (only for work-related claims) !!!

To claim, make sure you keep all your receipts, and logbook anything needed!

SCHOLARSHIPS

I’ll focus on Australian scholarships. There’s plenty of information about American scholarships, and how to write a scholarship essay in this masterpost answer here. 

Unlike American scholarships, Australian scholarships are usually tethered to the university that you apply to. 

Each grant has specific criteria for who can apply, e.g. females, sports achievements, indigenous students, etc. Some are just open to any high achievers. 

Most scholarships are for high-school leavers and first year students, but there are a few that are offered for higher years too (I wish I had known this!)

Each grant is a couple of thousand dollars, which can really help you out. Grants for next year usually open during second semester, so just go for it! You can’t win any if you don’t even put an application in!

MY STUDY TIPS

Please see my #optomstudies tag or my study tips directory (web only) for the full list of study tips + see my langblr posts + stationery + bujo spreads! ^_^

UNIVERSITY STUDY TIPS SERIES

Part 0 Choosing a Degree - what’s right for you? popular!!

> Things to Consider Before Switching Degrees!

> Changing Degrees

Part 1 Administration - choosing majors, available services, choosing class times etc.

Part 2 Getting to Class - pros and cons of attending class, when you should choose not to attend, advice about choosing a backpack and other essential equipment.

> Laptop Considerations and Recommendations

Part 3 Studying - differences between high school and uni, basic tips on how to keep on track, class types like lectures, tutorials, etc.

Part 4 Extra-Curriculars - what clubs to join, what to do outside class, and other great things to discover around campus.

Part 5 Exams - everything to know about examiners, how to prepare, what happens during the whole examination process.

Part 6 Social Life - differences between high school and university, some hard learnt lessons, etc.

Part 7 Part Time Work

Part 8 Four Secrets The Uni Tells You

Part 9 Best Study Spots On Campus

Part 10 Saving Money 1 - Food, Transport, Entertainment

Part 10 Saving Money 2 - Textbooks, Tax, Scholarships

Part 11 Adapting to Uni Study - 3 big differences from studying in high school popular!!

Part 12 How to Study From Textbooks in Uni

Part 13 Dealing with Lazy Group Members popular!!

Transitioning from High School to University popular!!

OTHER POPULAR POSTS

Weekly Planner Printable with Extra Space for Sat/Sun  popular!!

Overcoming the Planning Fallacy

Study Spaces Masterpost

Studying and your Visual System

Catching Up with Your Studies  popular!!

Sleeping and Waking Up Early  popular!!

My 2017 Planner and Bullet Journal  popular!!

[savetopnow]

2018-03-09 23 EDUCATION now

EDUCATION

Cathy Jo Nelson

Choose USC-SLIS for your MLIS!

New Standards – Discount Price through SCASL

Happy Thanksgiving – Happy Weeding

Put a positive spin on it

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Just Talk or Tackling Tasks that Make Real Progress? Stop the Broken Record!

Rethinking Professional Development So It Actually Improves Teaching

Don’t Save Time, Savor Time

Game Based Learning in Action

Why Pursuing the Truth is Hard But We Should Anyway

Mndshift

Using Expressive Writing To Keep Students Grounded and Engaged in Science Courses

Can Online Learning Level the AP Playing Field for Rural Students?

How Empowering Girls to Confront Conflict and Buck Perfection Helps Their Well-Being

How To Ease Students Into Independent Inquiry Projects

Pediatricians Call For Universal Depression Screening For Teens

Parents Countdown to College

Defanging Social Media

Spring College Visits Aren’t Just for Juniors

How One Student Hacked the College System

The College Selection Dilemma: Big or Small?

Should You “Follow the Money” When Choosing a College?

Reddit Education

TOP IDEAS FOR Assignments TOPICS 2018

Reinventing Community College To Reach Millions Of Workers — Online

A teacher tells his class not to date African-Americans ‘because they are not worth it’

CNN PH feature the 1st Democratic School in the Philippines. Which also happens to be in one of the poorest areas of the country...

Mom makes kids walk 7 km, carrying sign saying they were rude to School bus driver

Study Hacks Blog

Tim Wu on the Tyranny of Convenience

Sebastian Junger Never Owned a Smartphone (and Why This Matters)

Facebook’s Desperate Smoke Screen

On Simple Productivity Systems and Complex Plans

Alexander Hamilton’s Deep Advice

Teach Thought

The TeachThought Podcast Ep. 109 What The Research Says About Quality PBL

Learning Outcomes: The Cost Of Insisting What A Student Will Understand

12 Tech Tools For Student-To-Student Digital Collaboration

27 Ways To Promote Intrinsic Motivation In The Classroom

Establishing A Culture Of ‘Can’ In Your Classroom

Teacher Network

World Book Day 2018: teachers dress up – in pictures

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Classroom pay: ‘My male colleague was paid £7,000 more than me’

Secret Teacher: sensationalist headlines can do real damage to schools

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The Answer Sheet

Betsy DeVos used Shutterstock picture to attack U.S. schools. Teachers aren’t having it.

A teacher was accused of lacking testosterone for opposing giving guns to educators. Here’s what his 7th-graders said about that.

Survey: Parents want to help kids learn science — but many have no idea how

Oklahoma teacher: My contract said I worked 6.5 hours a day and had summers off. In my dreams.

Oklahoma teachers may strike — and Tulsa schools officials say they are okay with it

The Best Education Blog

Education Law Prof Blog: Voucher Programs: Are the Promises Realized?

Janresseger: New Brief Examines Injustice in U.S. Public Education Fifty Years After the Kerner Commission Report

Horace Mann League Blog: Bill Mathis – Outstanding Public Educator – Presentation

Jersey Jazzman: Things Economists Should Start Saying About Education Research

Radical Eyes for Equity: School Safety and Security: Research and Evidence

The Principal's Page

You Need More Than the Ability to Take Standardized Tests.

I Don’t Live at School and I’m Sorry You Had to See Me Like This.

Not Every Bad Behavior is Bullying.

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Cell Phone Contracts. Do This for Your Child.

eLearning Industry

The Implications Of 3 Adult Learning Theories On Instructional Design

Should I Use YouTube For Employee Training?

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[16thstreet]

Sephardim and the West Coast: An internship project

By Leora Singer, Former Research Intern

Biography and Author’s Purpose

I am a New York City High School Student that completed a 5-week research internship at The Center for Jewish History this past summer. After taking Advanced Placement Spanish in school, I became interested in the history of Jews of Spanish descent. In addition, my knowledge of Hebrew and Spanish (although it is limited) was an incentive for me to look into the history and linguistic construction of Ladino [Judaeo-Spanish] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaeo-Spanish).  

When I researched Ladino in the online catalog for the partners of the Center for Jewish History Library and Archives Collections, I found a master’s thesis from a professor at the University of Washington on the few remaining Ladino speakers in Seattle. The study discussed a bit about the origins of Sephardim in Seattle, and how Seattle Sephardim became increasingly detached from Ladino and sometimes even their Sephardic culture. I decided to further look into the topic of Seattle Sephardim. Through more research, I was able to broaden my topic to Sephardim in the 19th-20th centuries from three cities on the West Coast: Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

I decided to organize my findings into three blog posts  each of which analyzes one research question for at least two of the three cities: Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Here are the questions:

1. How did the wealth and status of the Sephardim in West Coast cities affect their development in the late 19th- early 20th centuries? (Assessed for Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco)

2. What was the relationship between Sephardim on the West Coast and Ashkenazim on the West Coast in the late 19th-early 20th Centuries? (Assessed for Seattle and San Francisco)

3. What was the relationship between Turkish and Rhodesli Sephardim on the West Coast in the late 19th-early 20th Centuries? (Assessed for Seattle and Los Angeles)

The goal of this project is to compare and contrast the status and development of Sephardic Jews in Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In addition,  I explore the relationships between different groups of Sephardim in those places, as well as  how Sephardim there related to Ashkenazim and even non-Jews. My research was largely based on books held by the American Sephardi Federation (ASF) and the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). I learned that Sephardim started moving to Seattle and Los Angeles around the same time, at the beginning of the 20th century, and the vast majority of the first generation of Sephardim in these cities immigrated directly from other countries. However, the first Sephardim came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush period, and many of them were born in the US. In my posts, I explore this contrast and how it affected the growth of each Sephardic community.

What was the Financial and Social Status of the Sephardim in West Coast Cities and How Did This Affect Their Development in the Late 19th- Early 20th Centuries?

This is my first blog post in a series of three posts in which I discuss the theme of Sephardim in the West Coast in the 19th-20th century. In this post, I compare and contrast the wealth and prominence of Sephardim in each of the three cities: Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Seattle:

The first Sephardic immigrants to Seattle, Solomo Calvo and Jacob Policar, came directly from the island of Marmara in 1902 (Adatto, 55-56). They came searching for jobs in the fishing industry that would make them enough money to sustain themselves and ensure a happy life for themselves. Calvo and Policar soon brought over family members that were also searching for a more financially comfortable lifestyle. These family members spread the word about the opportunities available in Seattle, so soon enough dozens of Turkish Sephardim living in poverty  arrived in Seattle, searching for a better future (Adatto, 60). The first few generations of Sephardim living in Seattle were uneducated (Adatto, 30) and took up jobs as unskilled laborers. Many of them worked in the fish industry, or as tailors, shoe shiners, or cigar rollers (Sidell, 578). However, they worked hard and encouraged their children, so the next generation was more prosperous (Angel,  564). As their prosperity grew, the Sephardim of Seattle had more time to engage with secular and Jewish intellectual ideas, and they focused more on educating the next generation. The Sephardic Talmud Torah improved (Angel, 571). At Bikur Holim, one of the two Sephardic synagogues that still exists in Seattle today, there is a thriving adult education program filled with interesting lectures by guest speakers (Read more about these synagogues in my third blog post). In addition, there is a large library at Bikur Holim.

Los Angeles:

Many of the early Sephardim living in Los Angeles were from Rhodes. Like in Seattle, most of the Sephardim living in Los Angeles in the early 20th century did menial labor because they couldn’t speak English. Most of the profits made from their menial labor were given to their struggling families in Rhodes. When their family members back in Rhodes saw this money, many decided to come to Los Angeles themselves. This led to more Sephardic immigration to Los Angeles. Many Rhodesli Sephardic immigrants to Los Angeles came in order to become prosperous, and would have stayed in Rhodes if they weren’t living in poverty there (Hasson, 384).

Similar to the Sephardim of Seattle, first-generation Los Angeles Sephardim wanted their children to get an education, find a job that did not involve menial labor, and assimilate into American society. One of the ways they tried to ensure that their children would be successful in America was by encouraging their children to speak English instead of Ladino (Hasson, 387). Although this did help second-generation Sephardim in Los Angeles to gain respect from others and to get high-paying jobs, it led to the decline of Ladino. Since many second-generation Sephardim in Los Angeles weren’t  used to speaking Ladino and thought it was not a tool for success in the United States, most of them weren’t inclined to speak it regularly with their children. With each passing generation, fewer and fewer Sephardim in Los Angeles spoke Ladino.

San Francisco:

Sephardim started coming to San Francisco during the Gold Rush in 1849. Unlike in Seattle and Los Angeles, most of the Sephardim that came to San Francisco were natives of other parts of the United States. Most of them were prosperous and highly educated (Stern and Kramer, 46). Many prominent politicians and educators in California in the late 19th- early 20th centuries were San Franciscan Sephardim. This allowed San Franciscan Sephardim to have a say in establishing laws and social customs.

The Sephardim were never able to have a congregation of their own (You can read about this phenomenon in my second blog post). Therefore, they chose which of the Ashkenazi-run synagogues to go to: Temple Emanu-El or Temple Shearith Israel. The Sephardim were split between the two synagogues (Stern and Kramer, 48).  Due to the fact that they were prosperous and their families had been in the US for a long time, the Sephardim in San Francisco didn’t see themselves as a minority group that needed to stick together. Stern and Kramer infer "...that both of the synagogues must have been wealthy." (Stern and Kramer, 48)

One of the prominent members from this community was Joseph R. Brandon. An activist lawyer, Brandon was also a member of the Sephardic congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco. He was a strictly Orthodox Jew, and he argued against the passage of laws that failed to protect the religious freedom of the Jews. For example, he opposed the recitation of the Christian Lord’s prayer in public schools, so he wrote a 20-page pamphlet stating that the rationale for saying the prayer had misquoted the scriptures (Kramer, 78). Along with the retired state supreme court judge Solomon Heydenfelt, also a Sephardic Jew from San Francisco, Brandon argued against the law that stores must close on Sundays. Brandon and Heyden felt won their case, and the law was not passed (Zerin, 19).  

Bibliography:Adatto, Albert. Sephardim and the Seattle Sephardic Community. Seattle: U of Washington, 1939. Print.Fitz Morris, Mary K., and University of Washington. Spanish Portuguese Studies. Degree Granting Institution. The Last Generation of Native Ladino Speakers? Judeo-Spanish and the Sephardic Community in Seattle (2014): Masters Abstracts International 53-04(E). Print.Angel, Marc D., Hasson, Aron, Kramer, William M., Maimon, Isaac, Samuels, Beth, Sidell, Loraine, Stern, Norton B. Sephardic Jews in the West Coast States : An Anthology. 1st ed. Los Angeles: Published for the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles by the Western States Jewish History Association, 1996. Print. Western States Jewish History ; v. 28, No. 1-3.Stern, Stephen. The Sephardic Jewish Community of Los Angeles. New York: Arno, 1980. Print. Folklore of the World (New York).Zerin, Edward. Jewish San Francisco. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2006. Print. Images of America.