#liberty place massacre

[lightdancer1]

Louisiana was the first flashpoint of creating a post-slavery political order and it was one of the last of the end of Reconstruction:

One of the last clashes of the so-called 'Redemption' was also the one that explains the Judas role that General James Longstreet played in the Lost Cause narrative. Longstreet was the only former Confederate besides William Mahone to embrace Reconstruction at any real level. He did so to the point of leading Black troops against the Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia.

For this apostasy and his willingness to embrace a better world, he was treated as the slimy backstabbing traitor in the heart of the Army of Northern Virginia and made the scapegoat for Confederate defeats. And in the end Louisiana, one of the first flashpoints in the creation of a post-slavery order, was also the last.

[brother-emperors]

BROTHERS

The river Weser ran between the Roman and Cheruscan forces. Arminius came to the bank and halted with his fellow chieftains:— "Had the Caesar come?" he inquired.​ On receiving the reply that he was in presence, he asked to be allowed to speak with his brother. That brother, Flavus by name, was serving in the army, a conspicuous figure both from his loyalty and from the loss of an eye through a wound received some few years before during Tiberius' term of command. Leave was granted, and Stertinius took him down to the river. Walking forward, he was greeted by Arminius; who, dismissing his own escort, demanded that the archers posted along our side of the stream should be also withdrawn. When these had retired, he asked his brother, whence the disfigurement of his face? On being told the place and battle, he inquired what reward he had received. Flavus mentioned his increased pay, the chain, the crown, and other military decorations; Arminius scoffed at the cheap rewards of servitude.

They now began to argue from their opposite points of view. Flavus insisted on "Roman greatness, the power of the Caesar; the heavy penalties for the vanquished; the mercy always waiting for him who submitted himself. Even Arminius' wife and child were not treated as enemies." His brother urged "the sacred call of their country; their ancestral liberty; the gods of their German hearths; and their mother, who prayed, with himself, that he would not choose the title of renegade and traitor to his kindred, to the kindred of his wife, to the whole of his race in fact, before that of their liberator." From this point they drifted, little by little, into recriminations; and not even the intervening river would have prevented a duel, had not Stertinius run up and laid a restraining hand on Flavus, who in the fullness of his anger was calling for his weapons and his horse. On the other side Arminius was visible, shouting threats and challenging to battle: for he kept interjecting much in Latin, as he had seen service in the Roman camp as a captain of native auxiliaries.

Tacitus Annals 2.10-11

there's a lot going on in there! Arminius switching to Latin is a detail that always makes me feel a deep kind of sadness, especially with how it's preceded by mention of their mother. I wonder what she thought of what became of her sons, on opposite sides of everything but still, inescapably, brothers. even when they want to kill each other. there sure are a lot of fucked up and unhappy brothers around. and Arminius asking about Flavus' injury............I also had a whole thing typed out about the horror of imperialism and colonization and the trauma of assimilation but I think this sets the tone better

Rome's Greatest Defeat: Massacre in the Teutoburg Forest, Adrian Murdoch

and also this, just for fun

(ibid)

this post is already a mile long, so lets add another mile to it: a little scene at the start of their conversation! tfw you go in for a hug and your younger brother who also ended up being taller starts roasting your hair style

bsky ⭐ pixiv ⭐ pillowfort ⭐ cohost ⭐ cara.app⭐ko-fi

[citruslullabies]

For some reason I just want to see Dogday x child reader, Basically they're somehow surviving in the place, and the child has grown quite a bit, and basically he's comforting reader after a nightmare

Here you are love! Took some creative liberties

Trigger warnings: blood, depictions of gore, death, just the standard stuff

Romantic/platonic?: platonic

Requested by: anonymous

Category: comfort angst

Ship (romantic or platonic): Dogday x child!reader

Word count: 746

They Haunt Me

You remembered when everything went wrong, the day… no. The hour everything just collapsed onto your tiny shoulders at once.

You were about to get adopted, about to leave the place you had been raised in but you couldn't wait to be someone's little kid. And it was such a nice couple adopting you too, a woman named Krystal and her wife Emma. They looked at you with such warm loving eyes, only to be filled with terror moments later and to fall cold.

The screams and the desperate sounds of footsteps were all you could hear as you let out choked and quiet sobs, huddled up as far back as you could be. You hoped and prayed that everything would calm down and would be alright again as you shut your glossy eyes and prayed to an extent that no child unless truly desperate could comprehend.

You slowly opened them, eyes burning with salty tears as you heard the screams outside of that door. You didn't even know how you were still alive, everything hurt both mentally and physically. Your body felt like crumpled paper.

Everything suddenly quieted down, the scampers of critters and small weeps could be heard but going into the distance. You felt brave enough to finally get out of your hiding place and stumble around the massacre inside of the building.

With each footstep you grew more paranoid and afraid but you kept moving, yelping when suddenly a hand grabbed your ankle. You looked down in fear and saw a man desperately holding onto you, somehow alive but too far gone to be saved with his body sliced and torn as if fabric with carefully knitted guts spilling out and painting the ground he crawled on, nails broken and bloodied from being in the way of the only hand he had to move with. He tried to speak but blood gurgled in his throat, only making your fear worse as you shook him off and ran.

You found Krystal and Emma, both dead and brutally torn apart but hand in hand. Despite all of this… the blood, the gore, everything. This is what hurt the most. The women who were going to take you and love you so dearly, strung apart like confetti. Krystal’s face was wide open like her arms were, and Emma’s jaw was hanging on by a thread just like you were at this very moment.

With a pained gasp, you shot up and held your chest. Clutching your heart only covered by your flesh and bones that seemed to threaten to tear through them, sweating violently. You gulped and dry heaved a bit while shaking just like you did when you hid. You were still just a kid, even if you were much older by now. Dogday heard you and came rushing, kneeling beside you and pressing a paw against your forehead with the other on your back. “Angel?”

He was worried since you were the only thing he had left in this place. He could defend you from the monsters that lurked in the shadows but he could never protect you from your own mind. “Cherub, look at me… it's okay. It'll be okay.” The canine said softly while sitting on his knees, bringing your shaky form to him as he cradled you in his arms. You tried to say something but could only feel choked up as he continued to rock you like you were the most precious thing in the world. And you were to him.

“M-mom, mama…” You choked out, saying the names that your new adoptive mothers encouraged you to call them before it was too late. Dogday had found you months after the hour of joy, shocked that someone was still alive. Especially someone so young, so he had taken you in as his own. In the end you were still adopted just under more unfortunate circumstances. Dogday carefully shushed you and pressed his dry nose against your forehead, sighing shakingly.

He rubbed your back and squeezed you tight in his arms, being careful since you were just skin and bone. He carefully rubbed your scalp with one hand so you could have the comfort you needed. “They're not here, cherub. I'm so sorry.” He whispered before adding with a shaky voice. “But I'm here, I'll always be here. I promise.” He reassured softly while feeling you slowly but surely relax in his arms.

Sadly, promises were made to be broken.

Thanks for requesting!

[the-rainbow-lesbian]

if you're a new follower of mine or just don't know who I am and where I am coming from: hi! I am a middle eastern arab woman who is seeking asylum in a western country. I am an atheist ex-muslim lesbian and I left my family, my home, and country because it was not safe for me to stay and I wanted to live authentically according to my own values and who I am. a lot of people said I am brave for what I did but tbh I really didn't have any other choice, I didn't choose any of this like how I didn't choose to be born in the middle east to a muslim family.

I avoided talking about islam and ex-muslim issues even though I passively engage with content made by ex-muslims, because I wanted to move on with my life and not risk it by attaching my face and name to any activism related to being an ex-muslim, but after october 7th I realized that it isn't really as simple as putting physical distance between myself and islamic terrorism/islamofascism because it is making itself comfortable on my doorstep, and our jewish neighbors and friends don't feel safe anymore. antisemites cheered on the biggest massacre against jews since the holocaust, and jews didn't have time to mourn or comprehend the tragedy before they needed to put on defenses against the mob who want to destroy the only country in the world that will protect them. speaking out against antisemitism in this small blog is consistent with everything I believe in as a human being and I don't know why that surprised a lot of people who think of themselves as anti-racists tbh, and this became even more personal to me cause I have a loved one who is jewish and I would very much like them to stay safe and not be bombarded with daily reports of antisemitic hate crimes and worry that they or their family and community are next.

I know that I can't ever go home in my lifetime and that it isn't a safe place for me. I also perfectly understand where hamas is coming from in terms of religious endgoals for their group and why they do the things they do, I support the right of all innocent people to live safely and freely, but you can't guarantee your individual human rights under an islamic fascist state, this is something that people in the west don't understand because they take their rights and liberties for granted and are blinded by their privilege, they don't seem to grasp that others fight so hard just to live as they do. they also don't seem to understand that things can and will get worse if they don't wake up soon. they can absolutely extend their support to people in the middle east, but they are being very disrespectful and racist when they parrot slogans instead of actually understanding the region and its complexities.

[moongazeonastarfillednight]

The Terror: When, How, Where... (PART 3)

See Part 1 (Intro, Episode 1 through 5)

See Part 2 (Episode 6 through 9)

1927 Admiralty Map (My beloved?)

To see the full map to interact with, click this link

List of Locations and approx dates:

Location 1 - David Young's grave (71.22, -96.60) - Sept 5 1846

Location 2 - Ships Position September 1846 (70.25, -98.00) - Sept 12 1846

Location 3 - Ships Position June 1847 (70.15, -98.30) - May 24 to Jun 11 1847

Location 4 & 5 - The Cairn and the Ice Camp (69.66, -98.27) - May 28 1847

Location 6- The Ships in January 1848 (70.055, -98.59) - January 10th- 17th 1848 

Location 7- The Ships in April 1848 (69.88, -98.57) - April 22nd 1848

Location 8 - Fairholmes' Last Resting Place (69.72, -98.35) - April 23rd 1848 

Location 9 - Terror Camp (69.644, -98.24) - April 24th-26th  1848 

Location 10 - Netsilik Massacre (69.62, -98.05) - April 25th 1848 

Location 11- Hodgson is found - Mutineers: (69.56, -98.06) - April 27th 1848 

Location 12 - Hodgson is found – Crozier (69.54, -98.14) - April 27th 1848 

Location 13 - Fitzjames Collapses (68.94, -98.79) - June 10th 1848 

Location 14 - Gibson's death (68.860, -98.73)  - June 27th 1848 

Location 15 - Fitzjames' Death (68.78, -98.21) - July 28th 1848 

Location 16 - The NorWest Passage (68.7, -98.06) - July 28th 1848

Location 17 - Hospital Camp (68.68, -97.74) - August 3rd 

Location 18 – Bridgens' death (68.70, -97.95) - August 10th 

Location 19/21 - Mutineer Camp (68.73, -97.99) - August 3rd 

Location 20 - Crozier Ambushed (68.67, -97.84) - August 10th 

Location 22 - Tulloch Point (68.56, -97.09) - October 5th - (Crozier) - August 30th (Little)

Location 23 - The Library (68.48, -96.58)  - October 9th (Crozier) - September 9th (Little)

Location 24 - Todd island (68.44, -96.29) - October 9th (Crozier) - September 14th (Little)

Location 25 - Starvation Cove (68.24, -96.59) - October 10th (Crozier) - September 28th (Little)

Location 26 - Netsilik Summer Camp (68.66, -95.932) - Silna

Historical and documented locations are in blue

Proposed locations by Franklin Researchers in orange

Proposed locations by yours truly in pink

Historical locations but for which the show took liberties... in red

P.S I couldn’t take my own screenshot from the show so… I had to try and find the best matching image out there this time :(

On With the Show

Episode 10 - We Are Gone

Episode 10 is full of action and, thankfully, will not make me ramble too much until after Silna rescues Crozier. If we generously accept that the previous locations and date I gave are good (or good enough), then we’ll situate the first three quarters of the episode pretty easily.

So, for the end of our tragedy, we start in a place we’ve been before;

 Location 19 - Mutineer’s Camp (68.73, -97.99)

Date: August 16th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 26 min

Twilight -6h 34 min

Sunrise: 3:51 am, Sunset: 9:17 pm

The Episode starts with Hickey “welcoming” Crozier into his camp and we learn a clue about the date. “It’s a Wednesday”, followed, back at Hospital Camp, by Lt. Little who let us know that it has been a day since Crozier was taken by Des Voeux and Co.

So, the first question I have is: Did Des Voeux camp out the night? With what tent and what supply? They did not appear to have dragged anything with them. Perhaps they walked all night but that would have made for a very slow walk, probably, since we established that the Mutineers had camped only 6 miles away from the Hospital Camp and we’ve established previously that a slow pace for walking would be around 2mph.

Let’s address the first point. “It’s a Wednesday”. Well, my friends, I had previously placed Crozier’s being ambushed on August 10th and… that’s a thursday.

Therefore, I need to make a revision to Part 2, I’m afraid… I am not overly worried about this, however. I had based my timeline with very large stroke and I could either adjust that everything happens 2 days earlier that I previously said it would or 5 days later. Considering that the Tuunbaq battle happens during twilight and ends just as the sun is about the rise, and that was a couple of days later, I would be inclined to move everything forward 5 days. This would also give more “nighttime” for Hodgson to annoy Goodsir with his Catholic story… But also, this would explain why LeVesconte was feeling desperate enough to propose abandoning the ill, again. Time is flying by and they’re just… sitting… in that camp…

Therefore! Crozier comes into the Mutineer Camp on August 16th :) and we’re moving the day of Bridgens’ death on August 15th.

August 16th would also become the end for Mr. Goodsir.

And we are BACK at Hospital Camp for Le Vesconte little mutiny and, I have to say, I was so, so proud of Edward Little for trying to do the right thing… in a situation when there are no right decisions...

Location 17 - Hospital Camp (68.68, -97.74)

Date: August 16th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 26min

Twilight - 6h 34 min

Sunrise: 3:50 am, Sunset: 9:16 pm

From Le Vesconte’s summary of their decision, this is also the day they leave Hospital Camp and, therefore, the day of Jopson’s death :(

Location 21 - Tuunbaq Battle (68.67, -97.84)

Date: August 18th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 07 min

Twilight -6h 53 min

Sunrise: 4:00 am, Sunset: 9:06 pm

This is the next day, August 17th to August 18th (Tuunbaq dies shortly before the sun rises). 

Twilight would start at 9:19 pm but we started the day with a Goodsir breakfast and the question I would like to ask is this:

Did Hickey just wait until like… midnight to get them to start pulling that sledge? It looks like they did not come directly from the camp but from a little bit further away and maybe they chose to come at it from that angle because of the slope… Anyway, I’ll propose that, yes Hickey chose to wait until midnight to make them start pulling, making the battle happen on August 18th!

This would also mean that it would have taken almost 18 hours for Goodsir’s poison to take effect?

We’ll mark the location as the same as the Mutineer’s camp since they are so close to one another.

And now:

Crozier Recovers

 Location 19 - Mutineer’s Camp (68.73, -97.99)

Date: October 2nd 1848

Nighttime - 6h 20 min

Daylight - 10h 56 min

Twilight - 6 h44 min

Sunrise: 6:52 am, Sunset: 5:48 pm

The timeline for an amputation’s recovery are what I’ll need to use to check on when it is that Crozier can walk again.

Let’s start with the stump: I note that when Crozier announces to Silna his intention to try and find his men, the stump doesn’t have any kind of coverings. Meaning it would have been closed or scared well enough to not need it anymore.

(PS Looking for a screenshot of when he wakes up)

As you can imagine I haven’t found a lot of information on the web concerning how long an amputation would take to heal if it was made in the middle of the arctic wilderness with a hunting knife and no modern medical care… But there are some beautiful papers out there about how amputation being so ancient (31 000 years ago) proved that caring for our ill was very much a way of life even back then. Anyway, according to Myhealth.Alberta.ca, a below the knee amputation would take up to 4  to 8 weeks to be able to return to work with modern care… it took Mr. Blanky a measly 2 weeks of recovery before he could walk the half mile between Terror and Erebus after his own amputation and damn, if this is not the proof that Mr. Blanky was the GOAT. 

Mr. Blanky also had the advantage of being cared for by a doctor (although, 19th century Doctor…), which Crozier does not. Based on this, I will accept that it would be reasonable for Crozier, who lives in the same world of superhumans as Thomas Blanky, might have needed the full 4 weeks to recover. At least.

We also know from our analysis of some hair growth for episode 9 that it takes 1 month to grow half an inch of beard. Honestly, I’d say this looks like at least 1 month and a half growth…

Also, to find out the approximate date, Crozier tell us that it’s “too late” to be this far North. No doubt he means that they are most certainly veering into the colder months and that he knows that if they would need to reach the Netsilik winter camp soon. It’s definitely not August anymore.

Finally, we know that the endgame is, I assume, Starvation Cove (See location 25). Starvation Cove, we know, 

I am going a little bit ahead of myself, I know, but I feel this is important to establish the timeline because Starvation Cove is a known location, I do not need to guess where it is. I can already calculate that it is, when taking the probably path the survivors took (based on the 1927 admiralty map), 50 miles away from the Hospital Camp.

We established, at the end of part 2, that the speed they would have gone at would have been about 1 mile per day. Maybe after dropping the desks and so many tents (there was only one boat in Little’s last camp), they could have gained a little bit of speed. Let’s say 1.5 miles per day. This would mean that if they were going at their best pace, they could have reached Starvation Cove in a month.

And, then, they would have had to stop, too exhausted to move on,and they would have known hunger enough to resort to the last ressource…

I also want to point out that there is a fine layer of snow on the tents and the crates when Crozier reaches it. And there is frost on Poor Lt. Little’s face. So, here is the thing about snow: it melts when exposed to the sun at near freezing temperature, if it had fallen on surfaces that will absorb heat. In order for the frost to have remained on Edward’s face and for the barrels to be frost and snow covered (lightly), my canadian nose tells the temperature may have been closer to 23F (-5C)  than at freezing (32F or 0C). Which would be average for the beginning of October (according to timeanddate.com) rather than September.

I think I will accept that even though Blanky, bless his face, recovered from an amputation in 2 weeks, it could have taken Crozier 6 or 7 weeks and based on the time one would need to travel to Starvation Cove (probably 1 week for Crozier and Silna if we account for Crozier’s recovering speed I would like to established at 10 miles per day and also accounting for the fact that he looked MUCH improved by the time they reached Starvation Cove, which requires time) and between 30 to 40 days for Little, this would be the right timeframe for the travel and starvation to occur...

This would date Crozier and Silna’s departure from the Mutineer’s Camp around October 2nd 

And now, Crozier and Silna gets on their way to the next stop:

Location 17 - Hospital Camp (68.68, -97.74)

Date: October 2nd 1848

Nighttime - 6h 20 min

Daylight - 10h 58 min

Twilight - 6 h42 min

Sunrise: 6:50 am, Sunset: 5:47 pm

The hospital camp being, as established, 6 miles from the Mutineer camps, they would have made it there on the first day. And probably around noon if they had started to walk at first light. Crozier would have been slower than Silna and may have been able to walk only 10 to 15 miles per day. For the first couple of days, I expect that he could have walked closer to 10 miles than 15. I also would like to think that he would have taken the time to bury Jopson, making him the Gladman Point Skeleton (NdLe-16)

Location 22 - Tulloch Point (68.56, -97.09) (Not shown in show)

(Crozier)

Date: October 5th 1848

Nighttime - 6h 44 min

Daylight - 10h 41 min

Twilight - 6 h35 min

Sunrise: 6:54am, Sunset: 5:27 pm

(Lt Little)

Date: August 30th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 15h 22 min

Twilight - 8 h38 min

Sunrise: 4:46 am, Sunset: 8:08 pm

On their way to Starvation Cove, they would have had to cross Douglas Bay, a 3 miles wide little bay near the southern part of KWI.  It’s 26 miles from the Mutineers Camp (Which Crozier departed on October 2nd) and 20 miles from the Hospital Camp (Which Lt. Little departed on August 16th)

At a recovering pace of 10 miles per day for Crozier/Silna, they would have reached Douglas Bay at the end of their 3rd day of walking and I suspect that even though they sitll had some miles in them, they would have started fresh the next morning to cross the bay (Oct 6th).

At an average pace of 1.5 miles a day, Little and Le Vesconte would have reached Douglas Bay in 14 days and probably would have waited until the beginning of the 15th day to cross.

Location 23 - The Library (68.48, -96.58)

(Crozier)

Date: October 9th 1848

Nighttime - 7h 32 min

Daylight - 10h 01 min

Twilight - 6 h 27 min

Sunrise: 7:11 am, Sunset: 5:13 pm

(Lt Little)

Date: september 9th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 14h 00 min

Twilight - 10  h 00 min

Sunrise: 5:19 am, Sunset: 7:19 pm

This is the place where Little and Le Vesconte dropped all the books, what looks to be a desk and 2 side tables? (one would think that they’d have left that behind before Jopson :( )

I think that at this point they are getting much closer to the southernmost point of KWI, Booth Point. For 2 reasons: 1- Crozier seems to have recovered enough to be walking straight and without much difficulty and with enough strength to help pull Silna’s sled and 2- You can see they are close to the strait, like, right next to it. Which means that they would have been making ready to cross, which could be the reason why this is where they abandoned all the non essentials. If Little and Co crossed in mid-september, as the timeline I supposed when discussing Crozier’s recovery would lead me to believe, they would have crossed on thin ice, making it more necessary than ever to lighten the load. And because I started this journey to figure out how to reconcile the show with the locations of where relics were found, I think I would like this to be quite near River Piffer… you know… not too far from where they would have buried Le Vesconte… And we have for location 23 (68.48, -96.58)

I think Le Vesconte and Little would have rushed to cross Douglas Bay as to not be on ice when it is not cold enough yet to assure them it wouldn’t crack under their weight. They would probably have pushed to cross on the same day, making it a whooping 3 miles in one day. This would certainly have exhausted the men, bringing them closer to their demise. They would cross on August 31st, and start again on September 1st for the remaining 10 miles until location 23, probably at a slightly slower pace of 1.25 miles a day and reached the Library on September 9th.

TO BE NOTED: since 2009, the skeleton found and believed to be Le Vesconte by C.F. Halls in 1869 has been reidentified as Harry Goodsir. But! Well! You know!

Location 24 - Todd island (68.44, -96.29) (Not shown in show)

(Crozier)

Date: October 9th 1848

Nighttime - 7h 33 min

Daylight - 10h 01 min

Twilight - 6 h26 min

Sunrise: 7;10 am, Sunset: 5:12 pm

(Lt Little)

Date: September 14th 1848

Nighttime - 1h 22 min

Daylight - 13h 20 min

Twilight - 9 h18 min

Sunrise: 5:37 am, Sunset: 6:57 pm

The Route to Starvation Cove: I am still going to take from the 1927’s admiralty map there and accept that they crossed the Simpson Strait near Todd Island. One of the reason why I would agree with it is because their goal was to get to Back Fish River. Upon reaching Booth Pt, they might have realised that, well, that’s it. That’s the end of KWI. There is no land bridge connecting it to the Adelaide Peninsula. At that point, they had to cross but, before that? Well, they maybe had a chance that they could have kept pulling their sledge on firm ground and not attempt what might have been a frozen strait or a dangerous trek on unstable ice, especially in september. They would have attempted to cross at the nearest point possible from the river they were trying to get to. So, instead of simply crossing at the narrowest part of the Simpson Strait, they kept on going until they were facing Todd Island

Todd Island is 7.5 miles from the Library.

If we say that unloading their boat made the pace easier and back at 1.5 miles per day, then, Little would have reached this point in 5 days on September 14th and Crozier and Silna on the same day as they reached the Library, October 9th.

Location 25 - Starvation Cove (68.24, -96.59)

(Lt Little)

Date: September 28th 1848

Nighttime - 5h 46 min

Daylight - 11h 29 min

Twilight - 6 h45 min

Sunrise: 6:31 am, Sunset: 6:00 pm

(Crozier)

Date: October 10th 1848

Nighttime - 7h 44 min

Daylight - 9h 55 min

Twilight - 6 h21 min

Sunrise: 7;14am, Sunset: 5:09 pm

We know where this is :(

The thing about Starvation cove is that if we accept that Franklin’s men crossed at Todd Island, they would have been going SW when they should have been going SE to reach Back Fish River.

I would like to suggest that upon knowing that they would have to cross a large expense of ice in mid september ( which could have been potentially perilous as the ice was probably made fragile by the summer and it was not cold enough yet to secure the way), they… simply chose to go toward the point of land they could see. Which was this cute little point. From there, they followed its coast until their last stand.

Now, more daunting than anything, this is a monstrous 9 miles to cross. For Lt. Little and his unfortunate companions who I’ve recently reduced to a pace of 1.5 miles a day, this would have meant they needed 6 days to cross at that pace! I think they would have deemed it too dangerous and would have pushed, same as they did for Douglas Bay and made it 2.5 miles a day (crossing in 4 days - Sept 18). Once again, this would have taken from their reserves all their reserves and they would have slowed down to 1.2 miles a day until they reached Starvation cove, 7 miles away from their initial landing on the Adelaide Peninsula. From Todd Island to their last resting place, they would have walked another 10 days. It is September 28th 1848 and they have been hauling the boats for 5 months. They total mileage would have been between 150 and 170 miles with my proposed route from Terror Camp to Starvation cove.

Crozier and Silna would have been able to cross and reach Starvation Cove in a day, reaching it on October 10th, 12 days after Lt. Little and what was left of the crew.

OTHER LOCATIONS

Location 26 - Netsilik Summer Camp (68.66, -95.932)

For this one, I want to believe it is Gjoa Haven.

From Terror Camp, this would have been a 100 miles journey for Silna. If she took her time and made a comfortable 10 miles a day, she would have walked from TC to GH in 10 days or so. 2 weeks. But she probably footed it because it seems like she wanted her people to help, in some capacity, the Frankliners (which prompted the unnamed Netsilik hunter to lecture her on how the white men were disturbing the balance on the island)

Then, from Gjoa Haven to the Mutineer’s camp, it would have been 50 miles. If she had left with the other shaman the day Crozier got ambushed, august 15th (as it seems to be implied by the fact that the scene announcing her travel companion was ready to go being just after Tom Hartnell’s death), she would have made it just in time to save Crozier 3 days later on August 18th by walking 15 to 20 miles a day, which is a moderate pace for a hiker.

So, this coincidence comforts me into thinking that, yes, their summer camp WAS in Gjoa Haven : )

Which is to say, had her journey been continuous, she would have made it to the same destination as the men of Franklin in only 30 days or so...

It took Little 150 days to reach Starvation Cove…

Women are stronger?

Location 27 - Netsilik Winter Camp (???)

I don't even want to attempt this. There are no clues whatsoever as to where they might be. They also deserve a little bit of privacy!

That’s it! That’s the end! We’ve made it, friends! All 10 episodes!

For Part 4, I will attempt to correct the dates I retroactively changed from part 1 to part 2 and then from part 2 to part 3 and package all of this in a neat presentation that would be more digestible than this wall of rambling.

I will take my time to complete part 4 and review everything so I might upload it in a week's time or so, maybe more.

I rushed Part 1 through 3 so that it could get out of my head and you all paid the price for how much rambling there is ;) sorry!

Thank you for reading so far! This was a blast even though I felt like I was losing my mind quite a bit!

[antianakin]

I was thinking about that moment in AOTC today where Padme falls out of the gunship and the one thing Obi-Wan says that convinces Anakin not to jump after her is "What would Padme do in your position" and Anakin responds that she would do her duty.

Except. This is entirely untrue. And we've been shown THREE TIMES in this film alone that this is untrue. We'll see more in ROTS and more yet in TCW.

But this moment is ALREADY UNTRUE in the moment that it's spoken. The first time we see Padme do otherwise is when Anakin tells her he's planning to just... abandon his job as her bodyguard in order to go find his mother and her reaction is to say "cool, I'll come with you then." Both of them are SUPPOSED to stay on Naboo in the safety of her people and this out of the way villa, and even if that weren't true, there's no real condemnation from Padme when Anakin specifically states that he's planning on NOT doing his duty by her anymore. The second time is when Anakin is explicitly ordered to stay on Tatooine and NOT go to save Obi-Wan on Geonosis and Padme refuses to abide by that and convinces Anakin to go against his duty for a second time. The third time is when she chooses to tell Anakin she loves him in the Geonosis arena, setting aside all of the reasons she knows she shouldn't be in a relationship with him due to their positions as a Jedi and a Senator. You could even include the moments where Padme decides to pretend Anakin didn't mean it when he said he believed in a democracy despite how very troubling that is to hear from the mouth of a Jedi even if it WAS a joke, and when Padme choosing to condone Anakin massacring a village of Tuskens and keeping it secret from the Jedi.

So there are three moments where Padme either condones Anakin abandoning his duty or abandons her OWN duty and two moments where Padme choosing to look the other way when Anakin demonstrates a questionable behavior because she cares about him and doesn't want to face the reality of what she SHOULD do in that situation, so she just... chooses not to. There's even a quick line when Anakin and Obi-Wan are being seen of by Obi-Wan and Typho and Obi-Wan says something like how he hopes Anakin won't be too reckless and Typho says he'd be more worried about HER. So we're told from almost the beginning of this story that, between the two of them, PADME might be the one more likely to do reckless things whenever she wants.

And of course if we move forward into ROTS, we've got Padme just blatantly ignoring the entire issue of what will happen once the baby is born and imagining this beautiful fantasy where she and Anakin raise the baby on Naboo together, despite the fact that Anakin's duty as a Jedi will make that impossible, despite the inevitable fallout she knows is coming if the Queen figures out she's pregnant while also still being a Senator (which is, ya know, inevitably going to happen eventually), and despite the fact that she and Anakin are STILL LIVING A LIE and so raising children together isn't going to happen the way she thinks it will. Her fantasy is just that, a fantasy. Padme is refusing to do the right thing and be honest about her situation and letting someone else be a Senator in her place so she can pursue starting a family.

We've also got her entire reaction to Obi-Wan showing up to tell her Anakin killed children and the way she just refuses to believe Anakin COULD kill children even though she is one of two people who knows for certain that he's already done so. She refuses to help Obi-Wan find Anakin and, once she gets to Mustafar, her first attempt at reaching him is to convince him to RUN AWAY WITH HER rather than to face any kind of justice for what he's done or ask him what happened. Padme was all righteous about "so this is how liberty dies" earlier, but she's doing the exact same thing on Mustafar with Anakin by refusing to believe Obi-Wan and trying to help Anakin escape instead of acting like the Senator she's supposed to be.

And then you get to TCW where you've got Padme letting Anakin manipulate her into abandoning her responsibilities early in season 1, Padme straight-up LYING TO HER QUEEN in order to get Anakin assigned to the Blue Shadow Virus mission on Naboo, and Padme making the extremely ill-advised choice to give up Grievous as a hostage in order to get Anakin back from Dooku. There's also the first Clovis episode in I believe season 2 when Padme is upset with Anakin the one time he DOES leave her in order to do his duty and punishes him by taking the mission to spy on Clovis that he's trying to convince her not to take.

So it's almost LAUGHABLE that the thing that keeps Anakin on the gunship is thinking that if their positions were reversed, Padme would do her duty when we've had more than one piece of evidence IN THIS FILM ALONE to show that Padme would've fucking jumped if she'd been in Anakin's position.

[maccreadysbaby]

You know how all of the gunners inside of hallucigen are hallucinating and stuff? How would male companions react if they breathed it in and what would they hallucinate?

I am taking FULL creative liberty with this one. Most have to due with the companions pasts, so here’s a spoiler warning thing. This is also assuming the drugs work on synths like Nick and x6 🤷‍♀️

Male Companions in Hallucigen Inc.

Danse: For the most part, Danse would probably hallucinate that any combatants inside were synths, super mutants, ferals, or something of that nature that the Brotherhood is used to massacring. It doesn’t change his demeanor or actions very much. The only thing that might change is Sole’s mood when he turns around and calls them Cutler. The first time they think they heard wrong, but when he does it a second, and a third time, it starts to hurt their heart a little. He genuinely thinks they’re Cutler throughout the entirety of the building, and he’s acting a little different, a little more relaxed, like his old friend really is there. If it’s post-bb, the whole thing is entirely worse. He sees everyone as Brotherhood trying to kill him and he’s a panicked mess. He will try to pull Sole out of the building if he can. Will have a very hard time killing anything and Sole will have to do it themselves, and if they do it in front of him, he’ll immediately launch into a huge angry betrayal monologue, probably with watery eyes. In both situations, when they get outside and he breathes the drugs out of his system, he will apologize profusely but won’t remember much, other than he doesn’t really know what kind of enemy they fought inside.

Deacon: Let’s just start by saying, vulnerability isn’t a Deacon thing. And when he’s on these drugs, it is probably the most vulnerable Sole has ever seen him, and the most vulnerable they will ever see him. His cool, calm demeanor flies out the window, and his hands start to shake, no, his whole body starts to shake, because these aren’t Gunners anymore, they’re the UP Deathclaws. They’re all ghosts of his past, faces he saw only when he massacred them after they killed Barbara, coming back to haunt him like phantoms. He still knows Sole is Sole, but he will go into this protective mode he’s never gone into on their behalf before, because he can’t lose them to the Deathclaws, too. It is arguably the most dangerous he’s ever been in battle, the most serious and lethal he’s ever been in front of Sole. They hardly had to take out any gunners themselves. When it’s all said and done, and he’s got the drugs out of his system, he will remember everything but pretend he doesn’t. Might disappear for a while afterwards. He needs time to be sad, to get himself together before he bee-bops back to Sole like nothing ever happened.

Gage: He is actually pretty resilient to the drug at first, probably takes the longest for him to actually start hallucinating, but his is by far one of the worst. Not only does he see everybody as Connors old raiders, but he sees Sole as Connor, and will absolutely fight them. They will have to take his gun and probably wrestle him out the door. He doesn’t even know where he is — the entire atmosphere changes, takes him back to a place he hasn’t seen since he was a teenager, to people he hasn’t seen in decades. No matter what Sole says, he won’t relent. All the while he’s screaming profanities and stuff at them that they can’t even understand because his accent is so much thicker than normal. He will fight tooth and nail with Sole. If they take his weapons, he will come at them with his bare hands. Once they finally get him into some fresh air, he takes the longest to get back to normal. They might need to tie him down or something because dude ain’t giving up. Once he finally comes around, he’s very confused about why Soles bleeding all over the place and why he is, too, because he doesn’t remember anything. Might apologize if they admit it was him.

Hancock: His is less of a fight or flight kind of thing with enemies flying everywhere. Instead, he just sees his brother’s crooked face, his mile long smile. Flinches around every turn because he’s there, clutches onto the back of Sole’s bag like he’ll simply pass away if he lets go. May or may not say something to his brother, beg him to leave them alone and go away, or maybe something about the Institute. He might shoot at him even if he isn’t there. Every person that runs out of nowhere, every noise of shifting rubble, every voice in his head, it’s all him, the synthetic version of the man he grew up with, following him and taunting him, reminding him that his real brother is dead over and over and over again like a broken record. He will ask Sole several times if they see him, too, if he took any botched chems. He just stays super close to Sole, touching them, if he can, staring at the floor as they walk through the compound because every time he looks down a hallway he sees him, every time he glanced through a doorway he sees him, every time he rounds a corner he sees him, smiling, staring at him like the day he let the ghouls in Diamond City get kicked into the wasteland. Once Sole gets him outside, he remembers it all vividly and will probably take more drugs trying to forget it. It’s was so traumatic for him that he may have nightmares about it.

MacCready: He doesn’t seem all that affected at first. The only hint that the drug is getting to him is when he turns around to look at Sole and immediately freezes, probably drops his rifle, and whispers, “Lucy?” It doesn’t matter if Sole is male or female he’ll see Lucy. He immediately starts questioning them, where did you come from, I thought you were dead, where’s Duncan, is he finally better, all the while crying so hard he can barely breathe. He won’t touch Sole because he’s afraid Lucy will disappear if he does. Completely loses all fight instincts, and sole will have to basically drag him, tears and questions and all, through the entire building. He does not need his gun because he gets insanely jumpy and will shoot straight at walls and down hallways even if no one is there. He doesn’t dare leave their side, though — because last time he left her side she died. He seems to comprehend on some level that this can’t possibly be Lucy, that it has to be a dream or something, but still acts on the tiny flutter of hope in his chest that says it’s really her, she’s right there. He probably sees other things, too, like Winlock and Barnes rushing at him, a mountain of ferals climbing over each other just to feast on his flesh. But the only thing he sees consistently for the entire course of the building is Lucy. Doesn’t remember a thing when it’s over and has a massive headache from crying so much.

Nick: Nick’s is mostly a hodge-podge of old, scary memories he didn’t remember he knew. Old psycho killer cases the old Nick went on, where he got pursued by a man with a knife covered in blood, a homicide investigation where a group of people tried to kill him in the pitch black, the frantic screaming of a kidnapped child echoing through corridors without a solid direction to take. A bloody teenager tortured for answers, barely breathing when he made it to them, a woman chained up in a basement, a red-handed thief beating him over the head with anything he could get his hands on. This will probably render Nick more unable to fight than anything. Constantly asks Sole if they see that, if they heard that, might call them the name of an old partner but won’t fight when they tug him gently through the building. He’s very careful not to shoot because he doesn’t know who’s good or who’s bad, where they are. He will probably just rely on Sole to navigate him through the building, to talk to him, help the hallucinations fade. Once they get outside, he forgets what happened, but can suddenly recall all those memories he didn’t necessarily want floating around in his brain again.

Preston: Oh my God, so many tears. He sees the faces of all of the Minutemen, all of the settlers he wasn’t able to save at Quincy. Probably the most… self aware while under the influence? Like, he knows Sole is Sole and can still have a conversation with them about who and what he’s seeing. He knows it isn’t real and Sole can talk him out of seeing it by telling him no one’s there, the hall is empty, etc. But that won’t stop him from immediately starting to cry as soon as he sees the first person he let down in his life. He will apologize to the nonexistent people, plead with them for forgiveness until Sole pulls him away. May or may not see the settlers he did manage to save, like Sturges or Marcy Long, dying and will rush to help them even if they aren’t there or it’s an injured Gunner. Sole will have to pull him away. The entire thing is extremely hard on him, and by the time the drugs are out of his system, he apologizes for crying even though he hasn’t really stopped yet, and will accept a hug for once in his life because he is torn up. He stays distant from Sole for like, a week, even if they keep traveling together, and it’s probably best if they keep an eye on him. Just to make sure. He will politely ask them never to take him into that building again.

X6-88: X6 doesn’t really get afraid. Well, he thought he didn’t, until Sole took him into the building he so quickly decided was hell on earth. He has the weirdest freaking hallucinations, the entire thing is like an acid trip. He doesn’t know where he is, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and he doesn’t know what that humanoid looking thing is doing climbing across the cieling? No, wait, what the crap is that massive dog-like figure with six foot legs doing with roller skates? And why is that tree trying to talk to him? Why does he feel eyes on him from behind? Why is he hearing voices he’s never heard once in his life? Will shoot at literally everything. He turns into more of a turret than a courser, literally spraying every single room full of so many lasers sole doesn’t even need to do any killing. He’s so, for lack of better word, completely and utterly horrified at what he’s seeing. Gets jumpy, might accidentally pistol whip Sole if they scare him, it’s probably best if they hold onto his shoulder or something so he knows it’s them. Once he leaves the building, he tells Sole he will never go back into that hellhole even if they’re dying inside and he’s the only one around for ten miles.

[pen-and-umbra]

do u think sephiroths redemption arc is possible?

(Spoilers & wall of text alert)

Sure, why not, anything is possible. Currently, only two things are certain. One, despite fan backlash, Square Enix continues to take creative liberties. Second, regardless of what SE does, some fans will be upset.

For better or worse, SE's handling of the Remake in this regard leaves plenty of room for a 180-degree turn on Sephiroth's case. The character's portrayal has steadily shifted since the original, which appears to have served the purpose of painting him in a sympathetic light. It begs a question: to what end? Crisis Core, Ever Crisis, and FFVII Rebirth all depict Sephiroth as a decent person, with Rebirth showing him influenced by Jenova during the Nibelheim massacre (as discussed here). Here hardcore fans like to bring up old Ultimania publications, citing that Sephiroth's will overpowers that of Jenova after falling into the Lifestream and learning everything there is to know about the Meteor/Cetra/Jenova. While how SE handles that episode in the Remake remains to be seen, it's worth noting that official lore is neither immutable nor free of contradictions on a variety of details, including seemingly important plot beats like romantic lines. Additionally, certain details diverge over the course of compilation. As a result, we've already seen SE absolve AVALANCHE as an eco-terrorist organization by shifting the blame to ShinRA in the remake. They've made changes to Rufus and President ShinRA's plotlines. We've seen them make extremely bold decisions regarding Gold Saucer that were unthinkable in the OG. Furthermore, the inclusion of the Whispers and the theme of "Changing the Fate" demonstrate SE's willingness to take drastic and controversial steps, sometimes diverging significantly from the original material. The point is, developers' previous statements aren't set in stone and are subject to change as FFVII project grows.

As previously stated, SE left some space for a turn, most likely on purpose, if they decide to take a risk. The Rebirth already explores the idea of Sephiroth as little more than a passenger after leaving the mansion. In addition, the entries on Jenova monsters we fight in parts one and two sufficiently expand on the scope of Jenova's mind-interfering abilities, which may allude to Jenova's larger role in the Remake. When combined with the Temple of Ancients hologram and snippets from Gast's journal Sephiroth quotes, it could indicate that Jenova has been "awake" and out of slumber since its discovery at the dig site, potentially manipulating Gast and the team behind the Jenova Project.

Therefore, the groundwork for introducing a villain more significant than Sephiroth may already be in place. Shifting the focus away from him and toward an eldritch cosmic terror should suffice, as the ambiguity about who is in control has already existed since the original script. The Nibelheim sequence from Rebirth played a role in this, as did the infamous ore/watashi pronoun switch. And despite appearing to be totally distinct, the outcomes of Sephiroth's goals (consume Lifestream and travel to a new Planet to be god) eerily mirror those of Jenova (consume Lifestream and travel to a new Planet, presumably to once again consume it's Lifestream, rinse/repeat). Incidentally, in the Temple of Ancients, there is a hologram suggesting a connection between Jenova and The Goddess from LOVELESS, so one has to wonder just who Sephiroth is taking after with that "to become god" complex of his.

Another thing to consider is that throughout the compilation, traditional methods of defeating Jenovaroth simply did not work. Sephiroth/Jenova returned after their defeat in OG, and if you consider the Remake to be a sort of sequel (that is, if you subscribe to the Remake!Sephiroth=AC! Sephiroth theory), Jenovaroth returns after Advent Children as well. Battling him does not appear to yield results or break the "rebirth" cycle, so perhaps a different approach is required. (This ties in thematically with the tagline "defying destiny").

Redemption arcs are often perceived as leading to a "happily ever after," but they can take various forms beyond this common expectation. A character's redemption can involve self-sacrifice to overcome evil, collaborating with the protagonist to bring about change, and more. Combined with the previous remark about the futility of conventional fighting methods, perhaps the way to defeat Sephiroth/Jenova for good is somehow linked to his redemption of sorts. To break the parasitic bond between the two, or to quench and release the spirit's anger. In some ways, this is what Aerith does to Kadaj in Advent Children, and the latter's "essence", cleansed by Aerith's Great Gospel trick, rejoins the Lifestream. Equally, the Gi subplot somewhat parallels the Jenova/Sephiroth situation, so SE is likely to implement a comparable strategy for a secondary plotline.

Speaking about the latest material in the compilation, Ever Crisis quite poignantly brings up the topic of breaking the cycle of hatred.

The latter pertains both Cloud & party (hatred toward Sephiroth, ShinRA), and Sephiroth himself in as much as OG painted him (hatred towards humanity for eradicating the Cetra and more). So perhaps the key to saving the world of FFVII is about showing compassion and acting out of mercy, not out of revenge.

Anyway, it is entirely speculative at this point.

Overall, a different role for Sephiroth should not be dismissed as a possibility as certain elements in the game suggest a potential twist related to Jenova. SE have proven that they care about their creative vision far more than about criticisms, so…no promises at the journey's end. Naturally, some groups of fans may strongly oppose SE if Sephiroth is sidelined or if significant alterations are made. On the other hand, there has been growing dissatisfaction since the first part of the Remake with Sephiroth being shoehorned as a boss fight so frequently that he becomes redundant as a "final big bad". While both perspectives are reasonable and offer valid insights into the situation, someone will still be outraged no matter what SE does.

From a personal standpoint, I maintain an open-minded approach. If Sephiroth remains a villain, that's fine. If he is revealed to have been Jenova's puppet all along, my world will not collapse. On the plus side, I'm excited to see Jenova play a bigger role. The entity is as fascinating as The Thing from the film, and the original failed to capitalize on all of its creepy potential. At the end of the day, it may be the case of familiarity breeding ambivalence: the game has gotten so old that I won't mind a new twist, even if all characters end up dancing to a hip-hop tune in the end. On that note, in a recent interview, one of the developers stated that they are planning the ending with characters being happy in mind, which is what I'd like to see after 20+ years. For the characters to discover happiness and peace. This includes Sephiroth. Finding a peaceful way to break free from Jenova and his anger once and for all.

👋 @pen-and-umbra

[jxstacey]

Fuck it, new AU time

Fargo Au

THIS IS A TRUE STORY

The events depicted in this AU took place in New York throughout many years

At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed.

Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.

In this anthology fanfic based on TV series Fargo, each Part follows a different iteration of the TMNT cast who get involved with the murders investigations of important characters throughout New York City that drastically change the events of the shows or comics, with characters even having different roles. Along with seemingly unrelated crimes sometimes being connected in some way.

Basically each iteration has something different about them whether being a character from an iteration that wasn’t in said iteration appearing, a new criminal group(03) or a character’s role changing

Season 1(03)- In 2003, John Bishop passes through Manhattan and influences the community, including Scientist Baxter Stockman into a path of malice and violence to protect themselves at whatever the cost. Meanwhile, Deputy April O’Neil and vigilante Casey Jones team up to solve a series of murders they believe may be linked to Stockman and Bishop.

Season 2(IDW; City At War) - Season 2(IDW; City At War) - In 2019, Mutanimal members Sally Pride and Man Ray cover up Ray’s hit and run of the son of a crime family boss based out of Hell’s Kitchen. While brothers Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo become entangled with the Hell’s Kitchen Mob, The Mutanimals and Foot Clan when the brothers are forced to investigate a triple homicide connected to the Hell’s Kitchen Mob and Foot Clan at a diner in Lower Manhattan when a Newscaster threatens to expose them to the public. Along with that, New York state trooper Lou Solverson and Richmond County officer Chris Bradford also investigates the diner murders and also find themselves getting dragged into and investigating plot involving the Foot Clan, The Turtles, Mutanimals, EPF and Baxter Stockman as it all grow into a City Wide massacre.

Season 3(2012) - After recent shortcomings and realization, Tiger Claw finds himself hunted down by the Foot Clan after quitting. Causing two members of the Foot, Fishface and Rahzar to come up with a plan to try and kill Tiger Claw with the help of couple Ray Stussy, a parole officer/foot member who was forced to join after witnessing a fight with the turtles and the Foot, and his new girlfriend Nikki Swango(Both returning characters from Fargo), an ex convict. However the plan backfires causing the deaths of a police chief and gang member, triggering a chain recent of events between the Foot, NYPD and the SoHo Yakuza. Along with that, a low ranking police officer in the NYPD, Lindsay Barker, and crime scene photographer Warren Stone try to figure everything out to prevent further bloodshed.

Season 4(Mutant Mayhem)- Mutant crook Hypno-Potamus(Formerly known as Mezmer Ron) accidentally stumbles upon a talent show set and finds himself skyrocketing into the entertainment industry. However he soons finds himself entangled in a gang war when he witnesses gang leader Superfly kill a distributor of his. Now a member of the Mutanimals against his will and also for the Liberty Mafia after being blackmailing by their boss, Ethan DeLuca, Hypno goes back and forth between the groups as he tries to find a way out, then deciding to con both sides of the war. Surely deceiving a psychopath(Superfly) and a narcissist(Ethan) can’t be too hard right?

Season 5(Rise) - In 2018, Baron Draxum kidnaps Leonardo Hamato to hopefully get him to join him. However the turtle makes it impossible, to where brainwashing him won’t work either. Draxum then tries to drag out Leo’s father Splinter, formerly known as Lou Jitsu, which fails as well. While Leo’s brothers deal with idiotic villains going after them, April hires John Bishop, a mysterious Special Agent with ties to the TBI(Texas Bureau of Investigation) and CIA and a person who escaped from Draxum’s lab years prior without trouble and temporarily dated the Battle Nexus Host, Big Mama, before she could get the chance to use him as a Battle Nexus Fighter. However, Bishop isn’t exactly who he appears to be, maybe not human at all, and he plans to rescue Leo while at the same time plotting to take Draxum out of the picture, permanently.

More on each of the seasons and changes soon

Season 1 Current Overview

The Characters of Season 1

——

Season 1 Chapter List

Ch 1: The Scientist’s Dillema https://archiveofourown.org/works/53552530/chapters/135553690

Ch 2: The Mantis King https://archiveofourown.org/works/53552530/chapters/138648616

Ch 3: A Spikey Road https://archiveofourown.org/works/53552530/chapters/140873098#workskin

[vesseloftherevolution]

Napoleon 2023, Review

I saw this with @idefilarate, and it was such a train-wreck. There was so much wrong with it, in the funniest way imaginable. We spent the entire film whispering what was wrong to each other.

This will be a long post, and I’m aware a lot of other people have already made some excellent points on here.

I can see what Ridley Scott was attempting with this film, and there are several reasons it didn’t work. I also have some historical specific points to make.

Directing Choices, Acting Problems, and the English Propaganda

It can be argued that Scott was trying to show Napoleon in a “more human” light, and I am always perfectly happy with that interpretation. It could also be argued he was deliberately showing Napoleon in a negative light, which I am also fine with. However, this film didn’t really do either. Napoleon did not seem more human for his brutish behaviour to Josephine, the childish tantrums or the forced jokes. If Scott had wanted a proper negative light, he would have focused on Napoleon’s ruthlessness, such as with the Massacre in Egypt, and his willingness to bypass the laws.

The overall sense I got when watching the film was that it was too compressed. The action went from point to point without showing how on Earth it got there. We had about ten minutes of Napoleon as consul, and then he was unexpectedly emperor, with a token line from Talleyrand about becoming emperor. Too much stuff in not enough time. However, I was also bored. By the time it got to Napoleon on Elba, I half felt like taking out my phone and doing something else. There was no narrative arc to keep the load of action in place, and the characters went through no real development.

There was some good acting. The lady playing Letizia Bonaparte was excellent, for the ten minutes we saw of her, as was Talleyrand. There were even a few scenes with the main characters (like Josephine cooing over the baby) that I actively enjoyed. But for the main part, every character had one mode and that was it. Napoleon was sulky and incompetently panicked. Josephine was moody or upset in a coquettish way. Tzar Alexis I was obnoxiously cheerful about everything.

I can see, as others have pointed out, that Scott was following English propaganda of the “Corsican Ogre”. However, he payed no attention to the fact that Wellington had a good deal of respect for Napoleon as a general, and that part of Napoleon’s charm for the English press was just how astonishingly unexpected he was. This wasn’t a caricature of Napoleon. This was a caricature of a caricature.

Historical Inaccuracies

Oh. Where to start with the many many many things that were wrong with this. I am fairly lenient when it comes to historical accuracy in fiction. Authors and filmmakers are allowed some artistic liberties, otherwise they wouldn’t be writing fiction. However, the sheer amount of nonsense Scott made up is incredible. I am going to list it in bullet-points, so as not to rant too much:

The age gap between Josephine and Napoleon, and how that messed up their relationship.

The utter butchery of FRev, including Marie Antoinette executed in 1789, and Robespierre looking like Danton and spouting random nonsense.

Hot-shot destroying the ships in Toulon harbour, whilst N hadn’t finished capturing little Gibraltar.

Josephine’s dress hanging off her shoulder as if she were a whore.

The lake battle with “the high ground”. It doesn’t deserve the name of Austerlitz.

The lack of tactics in any of the battles. Just men running at each other.

Josephine and Napoleon’s relationship being at best toxic and strained.

Napoleon returned from Elba because Josephine had a fling with Alexander, despite the fact Josephine had historically died earlier that year.

Letizia making Napoleon cheat randomly.

The scopes at Waterloo, the lack of farmhouses, the tents just behind the lines.

Wellington being clumsy and talking too much nonsense.

The use of Ça Ira and the Camagnole (which was in itself somewhat good), but the utter lack of any of the other excellent Napoleonic folk songs and military marches.

That is all that immediately comes to mind. Having said all that, I did enjoy the cinematography, and it was worth seeing, just to confirm my suspicions that it was a mess, and that there are many better films. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this rant! Let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed off the list of failings.

[schraubd]

If SCOTUS Had Its Way, Countless Michigan Jews Would Be Dead By Now

A Dearborn, Michigan man was indicted on gun charges stemming from an alleged plot to attack a Michigan synagogue. The suspect, Hassan Chokr, was blocked from purchasing a shotgun, rifle, and semiautomatic pistol following the conclusion of a background check, and federal prosecutors said that in his attempt to purchase a gun Chokr made "three false statements, any one of which would prohibit him from possessing a firearm." Those statements were denials that Chokr

Had ever been convicted of a felony;

Had currently pending charges of a felony; and

Had ever been committed to a mental institution.

Presumably, the background check revealed the existence of one or more of these flags in Chokr's record, thus preventing the purchase and likely averting a tragedy.

Given that, it's worth noting that all three of these bases for denying someone a gun purchase are currently on thin ice following the Supreme Court's Bruen decision, which radically circumscribed the government's ability to place limits on American's right to gun ownership.

On the first, the Third Circuit is in the process of reconsidering its earlier ruling that non-violent felons can be excluded from gun ownership (Chokr's conviction related to theft relating to a financial device such as a credit card, and so likely would be viewed as a non-violent felony).

On the second, a federal judge has already concluded that it is unconstitutional to bar those under felony indictment from possessing guns.

And on the third, prominent gun advocates like Eugene Volokh have aggressively challenged whether a per se bar on gun possession by persons who have been committed to a mental institution are constitutional.

In short, it is entirely plausible that the federal judiciary, following the Supreme Court's lead in Bruen, will conclude that all the failsafes that successfully prevented Hassan Chokr from purchasing guns he would have likely used to massacre Michigan Jews are unconstitutional and must be stripped from the books. It's not guaranteed -- while Bruen's language is expansive to the extreme, nobody knows how far the Supreme Court's nerve will go when push comes to shove -- but none of these objections can dismissed out of hand given Bruen's radical reinvention of Second Amendment doctrine.

Certainly, the Court has been crystal clear that the essential liberties of the Second Amendment are far more important than the countless lives its jurisprudence puts at risk. You know what they say: the tree of liberty must periodically be watered with the blood of tyrants innocent Jews.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/6IHmk04

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 3 February 1953, the Batepá massacre took place in São Tomé and Príncipe as Portuguese colonial authorities tried to quell protests of native Creole people, known as forros. The colony faced labour shortages. Plantation owners relied mostly on contract workers from Cape Verde and Portuguese colonies on the African mainland like Angola and Mozambique, and public works were often undertaken by forced labourers, kidnapped by police. Forros considered plantation work as slave labour, and refused to do it. So colonial authorities implemented various measures to try to force them into wage labour, like outlawing sales of alcohol that they made, and increasing the poll tax. They also planned to bring 15,000 more people from Cape Verde, and rumours spread that the government planned to seize forros' land to give to the settlers, and forced them into wage work on the field. Large protests, mostly by forros, broke out across the colony on February 3. Authorities claimed that they were part of a communist rebellion, and formed militias to crush them. Over the next few days, security forces and militias killed hundreds of forros. Some were suffocated, others burned to death, and many more beaten, tortured and sentenced to forced labour. Bodies of the victims, the governor reportedly told his subordinates to "Throw this shit into the sea to avoid troubles". A subsequent investigation by Portuguese authorities concluded that there was no communist plot, however the governor was still praised and promoted. None of the murderers were prosecuted, but seven forros were convicted of murder for killing two police officers. The massacre spurred a growth of support for independence, and February 3 is today remembered as the Day of the Martyrs of Liberty, and national holiday. The Portuguese dictatorship was eventually overthrown by a revolution in 1974. Learn more in our podcast episodes 41-42: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e41-42-the-portuguese-revolution/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2201302406721564/?type=3

[adleryoung]

This was not the best-case scenario I had hoped for (Zandar did not beg forgiveness and/or ask me to help her) but at least I managed to mitigate the damage. The rabbits would not be able to actually kill her, and at least I had convinced them not to torture her or set her on fire. Somehow I doubted that she would ever thank me for the favor.

As I strolled back through the forest, I mused on the idea of the rabbits thinking that Zandar was a ghost. I could almost imagine the looks on their faces when they checked Zandar's execution spot in the morning and she was gone! They would be certain she was a witch then! Even better, they might start believing that the White Elf had the power to resurrect the dead! HA! They would be so scared they'd probably drop everything and flee their town, leaving a trail of little brown pellets behind them! And if they didn't evacuate right away, I could return as "Squire Young" again and fan their fear til it reached panic levels! Just thinking about it made me giggle. I decided to keep the disguise on, in case I needed to go back soon.

I made my way back to the scrying tower, not hurrying because the situation needed a little bit of time to develop. When I got there, I entered the scryspace and began to look for Zandar. The sun was starting to set when I finally found her, still dangling from the tree where they had hanged her. She certainly was committed to the bit, staying up there in that uncomfortable position for hours! I had to admire her theatrical sense though. It was definitely better to wait til dark to "come back from the dead." I grinned and settled back to watch what she would do.

She did nothing.

Another hour passed, and Zandar slowly swung at the end of her rope. That's when I remembered she had been walled up in a cellar for more than a century, and maybe being unkillable didn't mean that she could escape from such situations on her own.

I was just about to head out there and help her, when a wagon came trundling down the road.

A couple of rats got out, cut Zandar down, and stripped her naked. THIEVES!! I paid real gold for those clothes! Plus, it angered me to see these grubby lowfolk taking such liberties with the mother of my child! But I decided it would be best to avoid confrontation and just wait until they left.

The rats had barely gotten out of earshot when Zandar revived. She struggled for a moment to pop her neck bones back in place, and then stalked grimly toward Bunkirk. This was going to be good!

She picked up a sledgehammer and broke a window. She climbed inside and asked the terrified rabbits where she could find Squire Young. Of course they didn't know, because the Squire didn't really exist … and then …

Zandar murdered them.

She proceeded to go on a killing spree that would have sickened even Burnside. The most Unseelie still know that for such intimidation tactics to work, you must leave a few witnesses alive to tell the tale. Zandar massacred them all. She spared no-one. They shot her a few times but that only made her angrier.

I pooked down there, thinking that I could intervene, but the situation was already out of control. All I could do was sit in a tree and watch as the church exploded and the whole village became engulfed in flames.

[moongazeonastarfillednight]

The Terror: When, How, Where... (PART 2)

See Part 1 here (ep 1 thru 5) See Part 3 here (Ep 10)

For Context I am trying to make a timeline with locations from The Terror. You will find here:

1. Probable location and coordinates

2. Probable date

3. Travel distance and speed

4. Death count

List of Locations identified so far:

Location 1 - David Young's grave (71.22, -96.60) - Sept 5 1846

Location 2 - Ships Position September 1846 (70.25, -98.00) - Sept 12 1846

Location 3 - Ships Position June 1847 (70.15, -98.30) - May 24 to Jun 11 1847

Location 4 & 5 - The Cairn and the Ice Camp (69.66, -98.27) - May 28 1847

Location 6- The Ships in January 1848 (70.055, -98.59) - January 10th- 17th 1848 

Location 7- The Ships in April 1848 (69.88, -98.57) - April 22nd 1848 

Location 8 - Fairholmes' Last Resting Place (69.72, -98.35) - April 23rd 1848 

Location 9 - Terror Camp (69.644, -98.24) - April 24th-26th  1848 

Location 10 - Netsilik Massacre (69.62, -98.05) - April 25th 1848 

Location 11- Hodgson is found - Mutineers: (69.56, -98.06) - April 27th 1848 

Location 12 - Hodgson is found – Crozier (69.54, -98.14) - April 27th 1848 

Location 13 - Fitzjames Collapses (68.94, -98.79) - June 10th 1848 

Location 14 - Gibson's death (68.860, -98.73)  - June 27th 1848 

Location 15 - Fitzjames' Death (68.78, -98.21) - July 28th 1848 

Location 16 - The NorWest Passage (68.7, -98.06) - July 28th 1848

Location 17 - Hospital Camp (68.68, -97.74) - August 3rd 

Location 18 – Bridgens' death (68.70, -97.95) - August 10th 

Loocation 19 - It's Rat Meal Time (68.73, -97.99) - August 3rd 

Location 20 - Crozier Ambushed (68.67, -97.84) - Augsut 10th 

Known and historical locations are in blue

Proposed locations by Franklin Researchers in orange

Proposed locations by yours truly in pink

Historical locations but for which the show took liberties... in red

Analysis below the line

1927 Admiralty Map

Use this link ^ to see the Famous 1927 Admiralty Map

Matching the Show

Episode 6- A Mercy

This is it, folks! The LAST of the bottle episodes. Next one is going to make me go absolutely insane...

Location 6- The Ships in January 1848 (70.055, -98.4)

Date: January 10th 1848

Nighttime - 13h 01 min

Daylight - None

Twilight - 9h 59 min

Sunset: N/A- Sunrise: N/A

So! This episode is the beginning of trying to understand when and what the fuck is going on. :')

Timestamp declares it is January 1848

Following timestamp announces this is 2 weeks after Episode 5, which we put between December 14 and December 20 in Part 1 (will need to edit.. :') ). First proposed date: Between December 28 and January 3

Fitzjames tells us it's 1 week from Sunrise (17th Jan for that latitude) which brings our Second proposed date: January 10

Lady Jane's Christmas Pudding (Hear, Hear) was offered to the men the week before. So, either it was not served on December 25th or the Third proposed date is: January 1st.

Considering that 1. and 3. are undeniable, I must conclude that my assessment of the timeline for episode 5 in Part 1 was Incorrect It would, therefore, put the death of Blanky's leg closer to December 27th

I must also conclude that January 10th is our date for the beginning of the episode and that the pudding was served on Jan 6th for Epiphany rather than Christmas. (This seemed so important to me for some reason...)

Now! For Location!

In part 1, I used the proposed location from the 1927 admiralty map for the position of the ships in Sept 1846 and their position in May/Jun 1847 to calculate the travel speed of the ships drifting with the Pack. Which was about... 0.04 miles per day.

Considering that there is 232 days between May 24 1847 and Jan 10 1848, the ships would have drifted approx 9.3 miles SW from their summer position (Location 3 - 70.15, -98.30). and, now, I wanted to make an additional extrapolation from the known position in April 22nd but... well, you'll see that was more difficult than expected when we move on to episode 7 so... instead, we'll use that 9.3 Miles SW from May 24 1847, so, about near (70.055, -98.4).

To be noted that I tried to pinpoint Location 6 for my own litle fun because it is not that relevant. They're in the pack, that's it. Their position in April is much more interesting. Also to note, you'll see when I get to Location 7 that my proposition puts Location 6 closer to Location 3, which is counterintuitive considering that it would mean that the pack drifted much faster between Jan and April (3 months) than between June and Jan (6 months). I propose to revise Location 6 for a future edit of this fun rabbit hole. The 0.04miles a day for the pack drift may have been accelerated during the summer months (June to September), even without a full thaw. For future consideration...

Thankfully, we remain in the vicinity of Location 6 for the next event so we don't have to go through all of THAT again... :')

Date: January 16th to January 17th 1848

Nighttime - 12h 34 min

Daylight - 34 min

Twilight - 9h 52 min

Sunset: 12:01 pm- Sunrise: 11:27 am

Jacko dies of lead poisoning

Carnivale goes up in flame and we're all sad.

For the Death Count, now...

Lt. Irving gives us a count of 116 men onboard the ships

This sounds inexact... At the end of December, by my count, we had 121 men still "alive" on the expedition (22 Officers and 99 men). 8 of those are on a vacation in the Fairholme party (Not counted as dead yet). This would mean we have 113 men on Terror and Erebus.

DEATH COUNT: 7 (Total: 13)

19 Officers and 95 Men remaining

To be Noted: The 3 dead officers I counted are the doctors and since no other officers names are mentioned, I assumed that was it... We will adjust when we get to VPN.

Episode 6- Horrible from Supper

There we go, folks! This is where I began to go absolutely INSANE trying to figure out all of this... Thank God this one is easy for the dates... and wow, I'm sure there is actually a paper for all that stuff somewhere out there but... I was either too lazy to find it and this is what I will die doing instead OR it's VERY obscure and I might as well do it myself...

ONWARD TO

Location 7- The Ships in April 1848 (69.88, -98.57)

Date: April 22nd 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 25 min

Twilight - 6h 35 min

Sunrise: 3:52 am Sunset: 9:16 pm

Departure from Ships

And now I'm going to go absolutely rabid about the location...

I have a problem and it might have to do with my lack of understanding of how coordinates work, which renders this whole post frustrating... The thing is... the thing is. The position given by Fitzjames on his amendment of the VPN is... I don't understand it... he says they landed at 69°37'42.0"N 98°41'00.0"W (69.63, -98.68) but then proceed in saying that they left the ships 5 Leagues NNW of the Cairn (Location 4 - 69.66, -98.27).

(See the summary map for episode 6)

Oh, Jimmy FitzJimmy... That... that's not a NNW-SSE line... :') It's also not 15 miles... Did they have different Latitudes in 1845? I would need to research...

So, anyway, I will, instead try to figure out what would be the location based on the 5 league (I expect this was an approximated distance) and here is my proposition for a rough Location 7 (69.88, -98.57 or 69°52'N, 98°34'W)

For comparison purposes, the position from the VPN will be identified in yellow in the summary map.

Next Location: That would Location 8! Poor Lt Fairholmes party.

Location 8 - Fairholmes' Last Resting Place (69.72, -98.35)

Date: April 23th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 30 min

Twilight - 6h 30 min

Sunrise: 3:48 am Sunset: 9:18 pm

For the date: They have not yet reached Terror Camp and it looked to be either very early in the morning or late at night. I will suppose late at night, which would make the landing at Terror Camp to be made the next day. If Fitzjames and Crozier went to deposit the VPN the same day they arrived at TC, then this would make it April 24th.

For the Location: They mention that Fairholmes made 18 miles from the position the ships were at in June 1847 (Location 3 - 70.15, -98.30) and they had to find themselves in the path of Crozier and Co, close to the coast. Now, 18 miles... they certainly did not make the calculation on top of their head. From Part 1, we know that Gore had to travel 33.5 miles to get from the Ships in Location 3 to the Cairn in Location 4. 18 miles would have been a little bit over half-way there. In next image, I traced the path from Location 3 to Location 4 and Location 7 to Location 4 and you'll see why this is confusing:

Half-way from Location 3 to Location 4 would have been nowhere near to where Crozier and Co could have found Fairholmes. Maybe it wasn't as much as a straight line as I made it to be here or maybe Mr. Fitzjames is still confused about distances and Lat. Long position... Maybe I've been wrong this WHOLE TIME and they're counting in Nautical Miles and I'm about to throw my whole being out of the window.

Anyway, in order to preserve my Sanity, I will mark Location 8 at a very subjective position based on the flow of the episode rather than the information they gave... Now you understand why I became feral about this. Location 8 (69.72, -98.35) and that would be 30 miles from where the Ships were in June 1847...

Location 9 - Terror Camp (69.644, -98.24)

Date: April 24th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 40 min

Twilight - 6h 20 min

Sunrise: 3:42 am Sunset: 9:23 pm

Date is given by the VPN - They arrive the day before going to Victory Point. Morfin dies.

For the Location, I would like to go back to our dear friend the 1927 Admiralty Map which identify where McClintock found the grave of Lt. J. Irving, a Camp and Many Relics. It is just slightly South East of Victory Point. Now, in the show, when Crozier and Fitzjames held hand, the first thing they saw was the Camp, vs when Gore climbed the ridge, he saw the Cairn.

Either the show moved the camp a little bit closer to the shore or they "landed" at a southerner position than Gore did. Either way, I feel that for a couple miles between the two points, we can go with the historical marker. Also, for my sanity. I will therefore arbitrarily put Location 9 at 69.644, -98.24, about 2 miles from the Cairn and I feel that this is a good location for it.

Last Location for Horrible from Supper (dear Lord)

Location 10 - Netsilik Massacre (69.62, -98.05)

Date: April 25th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 50 min

Twilight - 6h 10 min

Sunrise: 3:37 am Sunset: 9:28 pm

Date: Same as the VPN (from Episode 8)

Location: Irving was assigned to go East by Lt. Little. Therefore, we'll sorta assume that it was a due East.

Now, when they split from Hodgson, Irving mentions that they are an hour before they are due before they are to return to Terror. Assuming that they would be on a hunting trip of 6 hours (this seems long but probably necessary considering they are starting to grow desperate for fresh supplies), this would make their split at the 2h mark and Irving went South. Assuming they may have walked another 15 minutes (they were due to turn back to where they split in 30 min), then we're up to 2h 15min away from camp.

They did not seem to be walking in any kind of fast pace, that they might have stopped on the way and that they are on an uneven ground and tired from hauling their sledge to TC, I will assume a steady pace of 2.5 miles per hour. This would put them a generous 5.6 miles away from TC. (To be checked with Hickey story next episode) and therefore, Location 9 is (69.62, -98.05)

And with this, we are DONE for episode 7!

DISTANCES AND TRAVEL:

Loc 7 to Loc 8

Travel time - 2 complete days (arrival eod)

Travel Distance: 10.6 NM / 12 miles / 20 km

Average Travel Speed - 6 miles a day

Travel Condition - Hauling Sledges and following a track - Pack is now littered with Seracs. This must have been gruesome - Comparable speed to Gore's Party.

Loc 8 to Loc 9

Travel time - 1 day

Travel Distance: 5.1 NM / 6 miles / 9.5 km

Average Travel Speed - 6 miles a day

Travel Condition - Hauling Sledges and following a track - High Ridge - Half distance on shale

Loc 9 to Loc 10

Travel Time - 2hours 15min

Travel Distance: 5.6 miles

Average Travel Speed - 2.5mph

Travel Condition: On foot, no heavy load, hunting - Not a straight line.

DEATH COUNT: 1 (Morfin) + 8 (Fairholmes) + 2 (Irving/Farr) (Total: 26)

14 Officers and 89 Men remaining

7 Men remaining on Ships

14 Officers and 82 men in Terror Camp

Episode 8 - Terror Camp Clear

Buckle up Buttercups, the horrors are coming...

So, first, let's do with the date. The next few movements are all the same date:

Date: April 25th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 17h 50 min

Twilight - 6h 10 min

Sunrise: 3:37 am Sunset: 9:28 pm

What I want to figure out is the hour by hour of that day ahah

Location 4 -The Cairn (69.66, -98.27)

Crozier and Fitzjames deposit the famous VPN.

Now, I could go on an on about how confusing the VPN was for me but I'll leave it at that... I would like to make the exercise of counting the dead men tho :)

Officers - 9

Franklin, Gore, Dr. Stanley, Dr. McDonald, Dr. Peddie, Fairholme, Hornby, 1 unnamed (Fairholme party or Carnivale)

Men - 15

Braine, Hartnell, Darlington, Morfin, Orren, Young, Torrington, Strong, Evans, Heather, Bryant, + 4 (Fairholme party or Carnivale)

So, as a note, that would not work because we have 7 deaths from the Carnival (4 named) and 8 from Fairholme (1 named) and I have only 5 unnamed left to make the VPN 24. *sigh*

MOVING ON

Location 9 - Terror Camp (69.644, -98.24)

And then back to

Location 10 - Netsilik Massacre (69.62, -98.05)

And THEN Back to

Location 9 - Terror Camp (69.644, -98.24)

So let's see how much walking Crozier has made today from the beginning of the episodes: 11 miles!

1.3 miles from Cairn to TC

4.9 miles from TC to Location 10 (Bird's reach)

Now we know that the average man walks 3mph

Crozier would have spent maybe 45 minutes to walk back from the cairn with Fitzjames (making brotherhood and stuff)

And then he would have to pace himself for Blanky to follow to Location 10, so, perhaps 2mph. - 2h 30 min to make it to Location 10.

In total, Crozier would have walked at least 6h that day and 12.5 miles

If the hunting parties were sent out from 6 am, that would mean that Irving and Farr would have been murdered around 8h30. He needed time to do his business, maybe 10 minutes (what are the Netsilik doing in the meantime?) By the time that Hickey runs back and forth to get Hodgson, who had gone in another direction, we can assume another 30 min, it is now 9:10 am when the Netsilik are massacred. To go back to camp, I assume they would have walked at fast pace, dragging Irving and Farr on their sledge, they could have made it back in 1h 30min. It is now 10h40.

It looks like Fitzjames and Crozier went back as Hodgson was entering the camp again, or just about. so they would have left the Cairn at 10 am and they would have left the Camp for the Cairn maybe around 8 am.

SO!

Let's say there's a bit of shouting, going around, getting Irving on Goodsir's table... they leave to go BACK to Location 10 around 11 am and they reach it around 2:30 pm, make their 10 min investigation and then make their way back starting at 2:40 pm.

They are back just in time for supper around 5:20 pm.

Yep, they could have done all of that in one day. Which is EXACTLY what I wanted to check. What a trek...

Anyway, I think Hickey was scheduled to be hanged around 8pm. Good time to die.

DEATH COUNT: 32 + Pocock + 9 (unknown) (Total: 68)

61 Total remaining

7 Men remaining on Ships

40 with Crozier

11 Mutineers and 3 Reluctant (Hodgson, Goodsir, Diggle) (counted on the screen... and Golding who is going back and forth)

And now, before we go on to Episode 9, let's do an Interlude for how we're going to proceed moving forward:

How We Move Forward

Ok, here is what this section about:

So far, I've been using clues from the show and known historical facts to know where the Cold Boys were, how they got there and who was still around.

Now we enter absolute speculation.

on the subject of LOCATION

Yes, we have a fine map (thank you 1927 Admiralty Map) that let us know where all of the Franklin Artefacts had been found over the course of 75 years but y'all will soon understand when I say that this is where the show accuracy ends.

For one, the most recognizable spot for me is McClintock's Boat Place. And Welp! Maybe one could argue that it is where Hickey attempted his little fake ritual in Episode 10. To which I will answer: ah... probably not? But that is the ONLY scene that could make sense for McC's BP...

Then we have the two famous graves: Le VesconteOrHarry Goodsir and the Peglar Skeleton/Bridgens and we have to ask ourselves, how accurate did the showrunner /author wanted to be about the specific placement of these deaths... After all, a wasteland of shale is a wasteland of shale.

In anyway, I will go over each of the Locations from the 1927 map to try and match a potential scene.

On the subject of TIME:

Now, we no longer have the luxury of dates so we will need to rely on everything else to let us know of the passage of time.

Sunrise/Sunsets - Which will help us identify the overall months

Grooming - These men get beardy.

Health - Declination and recoveries

Travel speed - If locations are known, we can match the date if we suppose a travel speed.

On the subject of SURVIVORS:

I will not keep up with the count. We know they all died and the show did not actually keep track of them. There seem to be as many that left Terror Camp as there are when Peglar collapses. I was mostly interested in doing for episode 8 because I wanted to keep tab on how many left with Hickey, etc but it was just hell to manage for this part.

On the subject of GROUPS:

Now we have 2 groups, the Mutineers and the Frankliners (Crozier and Co). I assumed that Hickey was mostly following the Frankliners at a distance of 4-6 miles behind.

Now, we enter Hell.

Episode 9- The C, The C, The Open C

The episode opens on a known Location and date (thank God), Location

Location 9 - Terror Camp (69.644, -98.24)

Date: April 26th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 18h 01 min

Twilight - 5h 59 min

Sunrise: 3:32 am Sunset: 9:33 pm

They burn their dead.

I assumed this would be the next day because they're still gathering their deads. - Kinda brutal to ask them to walk the day after the attack.

40 Frankliners

14 Mutineers

Location 11/12 - Hodgson is Found

Mutineers Location (11): (69.56, -98.06)

Frankliners Location (12): (69.54, -98.14)

Date: April 27th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 18h 01 min

Twilight - 5h 59 min

Sunrise: 3:32 am Sunset: 9:33 pm

This one is the first difficulty because we need to match a time, an intention and a speed.

First, I would like to propose that this is either the 26th again or the 27th and I will argue for the 27th.

We find Hodgson as he is so famished that he eats his own boot. We can suspect that he would, indeed, be very hungry after having ran through the night from the Tuunbaq. But he would have had supper the night before AND having been on three quarter rations since January. I, of course, have never been hungry enough to resort to eating my shoes but I imagine that if I was in Hodgson situation, I would keep the edible boots for as long as I can. Would he be hungry enough to start eating leather on the morrow of the attack, or more likely 2 days later?

Also, the frost bite on his cheeks suggest he's been outside for at least night.

Hickey and Co have been pulling their sledge, probably for the first couple of hours after Tuunbaq's attack. The difficulty here is to determine how long they would have gone without stopping and how far they would have walked. We've established previously that a sledge party would make, at good pace, 5 miles per day, assuming 4-6 hours of pulling with relays of the men, therefore, we could convene that 1.3 mph could be an acceptable speed for them who are fleeing from Tuunbaq with at least 1 reluctant puller (Goodsir) and 1 confused (Diggle)

We've also established that men on foot without sledges can go from twice to three times that speed. And I suspect that when Fitzjames declared 23 unknown, they actually scouted around the camp to find those men. If scouts were sent in the morning while they were gathering the dead, then they could have made a 2-3 miles search radius. If I was Hickey, I would have pushed for at least 3 hours that night to avoid detection (if we say that Hickey was scheduled to be hanged around 8pm, then they stopped at 11pm). So! in the night of the 25th, they are, at least 3 miles out of the camp.

Now that they are out of camp, they need to do 2 things: 1) Rest. They would not have been able to pick up the pace right back first thing in the morning. 2) Put more distance between themselves and the Frankliners. I suspect that they would have made only 4hours of pulling on the 26th, bringing us just about a whooping 7.8 miles out of Terror Camp.

Finally, it is impossible to detect what time of the day it is when they find Hodgson but looking at the tired look of the crew, maybe an hour in? That would be another 1 miles. So let's average that they found Hodgson after running 9 miles out of Terror Camp

Now that we have a radius, let's talk about direction...

I think it is fair to say that Hickey would have followed the same route as Crozier, seeing that he specifically asked Gibson to take a map. But Crozier was going to follow the coast in case they saw leads. Would Hickey do the same?

3 more things to consider:

1. They left in the fog, without much visual clues to orient themselves. 2. They took the map but Hickey was hoping to get Hodgson on board for his navigational skills (or maybe that was BS, who knows).

3. Mid Episode 9, Tozer reports that the Frankliners are 6 miles AHEAD of them, even though Hickey left first. We'll revisit that later...

Now, on the subject of the third point, it is very possible that Hickey would have rested more often... I just think it's funnier to suggest that he spent the night going in the wrong direction and then just circled back to follow the Frankliners... They realised it when they sent Golding back to Crozier for spying.

So here's the 25th to 27th route I propose for Mr. Hickey:

Mr. Hodgson would have had wandered approx 5 miles SE of Terror Camp. (69.56, -98.06)

As for Crozier, well, I suggest they took this route starting on the 26th, making 5 miles per day and this is where they would be when Hodgson was found (69.54, -98.14), putting them 3 miles away from each group:

Now!

The next scene is where it starts getting hazy and we need to get imaginative in how we account for time past.

In the next scene, we se ethe frankliners are struggling to pull their sledges. Blanky is limping badly and, then, Mr. Fitzjames collapses, complaining about the Heat.

Location 13 - Fitzjames Collapses (68.94, -98.79)

Date: June 10th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 24h

Twilight - None

Sunrise: N/A Sunset: N/A

About the DATE:

Time indicator to consider:

The health of the crewman JFJ is sharing his boat with:

When we left Terror Camp, the sick tent was empty, except for Pocock. While the men where most likely not at the top of the health when they departed, no one was on the verge of dying. Looking at the crewman, he is not only sick, he is emaciated. A quick google search tells us that sickness can make one lose up to 5 pounds a week. Perhaps in, their condition, one could thinkthat the rate could be a bit higher, say... 6 lb? From the crew for which we have the information, we deduce that they were, on average, 5' 6'' so we can use that as a reference to suppose the weight of that sailor. If we assume a BMI borderline to underweight when leaving Terror Camp, we would have weight, maybe... 120 pounds?

Now, severely underweight would put him at 95 pounds, which would be a drop of 20 pounds. Assuming 6 lb, that would be a guesstimate of 3 weeks and a half for him to deteriorate... let's give them a chance and say a month and a half since Terror Camp.

I think that's reasonable... JFJ didn't look great after the Tuunbaq attack but that shirtless scene proved that he was still quite fit.

About the Travel Speed:

See after Location 19

About the Location:

See after Location 19

Location 14 - Gibson's death (68.860, -98.73)

Date: June 27th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 24h

Twilight - None

Sunrise: N/A Sunset: N/A

About the DATE:

Time indicator: Facial hair. Courtesy of not having much shaving available, the Mutineers are looking quite rugged. Let's discuss the hairiest: Mr. Goodsir and Lt. Hodgson.

Hodgson starts his time with the Mutineers with a 2 day shadows between his muttonchops. Same for Mr. Goodsir.

See Below the Before/After

And now, huh... wow... that changes a man... I'd say this is looks to be about.. errr... medium beard? According to menhairstylestoday.com, this would take 1 to 2 months to grow at a rate of half an inch a month. Yeah, I can believe these are 2 month old beards. So, there!

Location? Speed travel? Well, I'll stop you right there.. I don't know yet.

Location 15 - Fitzjames' Death (68.78, -98.21)

Date: July 28th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 20h 50 min

Twilight - 3h 10 min

Sunrise: 2:11 am Sunset: 11:01 am

Time Indicator: More Hair. For this one, I will trust the hair because I somehow think the Frankliners would have kept themselves more groomed than the Mutineers.

Taking the angle into account, this is, what... 1.5inch? 2 inch?

Hair can grow at about 0.5 in a month. So, 3 months since Terror Camp.

Time Indicator: Crews' health: It is very evident that they're all getting thinner, sicker but Fitzjames and (most surprisingly) his boat mate are still alive! Considering the risk of infection and the progression of scurvy... it can't have been more than a couple of weeks since Fitzjame's collapse but, not, like, the next day? Can a doctor please stand up for this?

Time Indicator: The amount of food left.

No. I will NOT go there. There's enough math being done wtf...

Location 16 - The NorWest Passage (68.7, -98.06)

Date: July 28th 1848

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 20h 46 min

Twilight - 3h 14 min

Sunrise: 2:13 am Sunset: 10:58 am

Finally, finally! We have it! A Date, AND a location! :D Thank you Mr. Blanky!

So, this is the day after JFJ's death, June 28th.

On Blanky's map, we can read known locations: McGillivray Bay, Pt. W. Smith... Congratulations Mr. Blanky :') You are a true hero.

Supposing he can see McGillivray Bay from where he sits, he would find the Passage at Location 16 (68.7, -98.06)

And wow... does that make me feel like finding my own NW Passage, being able to reconnect all those lost locations from before :')

Back to location 15! Blanky would probably not have walked all that much, given he was in pain and only wanted to draw Tuunbaq to him and toward the Ice. I'd be generous and give him a good 5 miles before he had to sat down. From what Lt. Little reported before they had to stop for Fitzjames, the ice was to the west so we'll assume Mr Blanky walked south west while the party proceeded south east. This would put Location 15 at (68.78, -98.21)

Location 17 - Hospital Camp (68.68, -97.74)

Date: August 3rd

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 19h 33 min

Twilight - 4h 27 min

Sunrise: 2:48 am Sunset: 10:21 pm

Peglar collapses

See Location 17 reasoning for date of the camp

As for Position, well, we're just going to be a little off out of

Location 17 - Bridgens (68.70, -97.95)

Date: August 10th

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 18h21

Twilight - 5h 39 min

Sunrise: 3:23 am Sunset: 9:45 pm

Basically, we all agree that Bridgens is the Peglar Skeleton. Thank god I know where that is! Now, it is interesting that there was a paper published in 2022 about the real location of the Peglar Skeleton (assuming McClintock took his lat and long wrong) but since we are dealing with a 2018 show, we'll go with McClintock's account.(68.70, -97.95)

Sweet, now, about the TIMING

Considering where Location 15 put us, we were quite near the point of collapse for Peglar. I think we could give them a two more days of pulling before it's poor Henry Peglar's turn. No other reason than having previously established that there is a MUCH slower pace now (News is courtesy of Lt. Little) and they left Fitzjames' grave roughly 10 miles from Bridgens' last sighting . I propose the timeline to be thus: Peglar collapse on August 3rd and dies on August 10th. He didn't look like he had wasted away very long. Bridgens immediately leave the party, travel a couple of miles and lay down to die. Has he is seen going in the direction Golding came from (the Mutineer's camp, North), I assume that the Hospital camp is now further south than where the Peglar Skeleton was found.

Loocation 18 - It's Rat Meal Time (68.73, -97.99)

Date: August 3rd

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 19h 33 min

Twilight - 4h 27 min

Sunrise: 2:48 am Sunset: 10:21 pm

About the TIMING:

I suspect Hickey made Goodsir cut Billy the same day they pitched their tent, just to assure his dominance while so close to the Frankliners (6 miles out).

Cripse.... that would have been a 1 month old dead body to eat...

This gives us a location: (68.73, -97.99)

Now, the problem I am having is this... Night falls when Hodgson come to tell his little church story... There will be no dark sky until Mid to late August... so I am mostly going to believe that was only twilight.

Location 19 - Crozier Ambushed (68.67, -97.84)

Date: August 10th

Nighttime - None

Daylight - 18h21

Twilight - 5h 39 min

Sunrise: 3:23 am Sunset: 9:45 pm

About the TIMING:

Bridgens lays down to die the day Crozier is taken. I don't think he moved from there.

About the Location: Close to Hospital camp, by the shore.

NOW HERE'S A THING TO MAKE YOU CONFUSED:

Sophia Cracroft found snow in London in August 1848?

Blanky was still waiting for the Tuunbaq after they pitched tents for Hospital camp?

I think these two scenes are just out of order and for dramatic effect: Basically pitching the fate of Crozier failing to save anyone.

SO! Now that we know where 99 days of walking (April 27th (Location 12) to August 3rd (Location 16 - Hospital camp)), we can average the pace of the walk.

First, let's establish some distances:

About 100 miles, then! I would like to propose the following pace, to take account for the time passed and how tired the men would become. So this would be a decreasing pace and accounting for camping time due to weather (there should still be monstrous hail and blizzard until June), etc.

15 miles first miles at 3mph = 5 days

2 day of rest - 3 days of bad weather

20 miles at 2mph = 10 days

2 day of rest + 2 days of bad weather

25 miles at 1.5 mph = 20 days

3 days of rest + 3 days of bad weather

40 miles at 1mph = 40 days

3 days of bad weather + 6 days of rest

This would put Location 13 - Fitzjames Collapses 60 miles out of Location 12 (45 days travel time) around (68.94, -98.79), right next to Terror Bay :')

I'm also very happy that this would actually match the position of a camp and 2 graves from Halls and Schwatka's expedition! Sometimes I feel like I'm a genius but right now, I swear I'm just holding on for dear life...

and, if we assume that Hickey kept the pace with the Frankliners, this would put

Location 14 - Gibson's death 70 miles out of Location 11 (60 days travel time) around (68.860, -98.73)

Here's the summary Map for Ep 9:

Conclusion: Episode 9 was a mess and this is 12 hours of work...

Part 3 will be for Episode 10.

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

What happened to Camille in the immediate aftermath of the Champ du Mars ? I know Danton went to England , but I’ve heard Camille stayed in Paris…if so why was he not arrested, or were the threats less serious than they seemed ?

On the evening the same day as the massacre we find Camille at the Jacobin Club:

M. DESMOULINS — I would not like it to be said in any circular writing that we are in split with the National Assembly. Certainly, where MM. Robespierre and Pétion are, there is no split with the National Assembly. As for sending your address by post without using the Assembly's countersignature, I must warn you that, for six weeks, none of my numbers have been received in Marseille; and yet I sent more than twelve hundred, for which I have receipts from the post office.

Five days later, the the Moniteur could report that the journalists Suleau and Verrières had been arrested, and that the authorities had also fruitlessly gone looking for Fréron, Legendre, Desmoulins and Danton, the latter three, the journal assures, having already left Paris. In Camille’s case, we know the place he, together with Fréron, fled to was Lucile’s parents country house at Bourg-la-Reine:

You (Fréron) know my father-in-law, Citizen Duplessis, a good commoner and son of a peasant, blacksmith of the village. […] An old clerk’s wallet, which had been discarded, forgotten above a cupboard in a heap of dust, and which he had not touched or even thought about for perhaps ten years, and on which they managed discovered the imprint of a few fleur-de-lis, under two fingers of filth, completed the proof that citizen Duplessis was suspect, and thus he was locked up until the peace, and seals put on all the gates of this countryhouse where you remember, my dear Fréron, that we both found an asylum which the tyrant dared not violate after we were both ordered to be seized after the massacre of the Champ-de-Mars.  Camille in number 4 of the Vieux Cordelier (December 24 1793)

At that time, if you (Camille) remember, you were incognito in Paris. You said then that you were in Marseille, in the land of liberty, the only place where one can speak the language of truth. This was not very true, as you know, because while you were believed to be in Marseille, you evaded the pursuits that were being made for the affair of the Champ de Mars, in the gardens of your father-in-law, two leagues from Paris. I, however, remained at my post, and I defied the accuser Bernard, and I entrusted you with my protection, brave Camille, in your little secret journeys from what was formely known as Bourg-la-Reine. Révolutions de Paris by Prudhomme, number 188 (February 9 1793)

In number 34 of Gazette des nouveaux tribunaux (August 26 1791) Camille was accused ”of having made incendiary remarks at Café Procope café, of having provoked murder, saying that it was necessary to shoot the national guards, and that the assignats were the heritage of the workers of the charity workshops.” This was however only based on a petition that may or may not even have been written by Camille that didn’t contain any calls to arms or violence whatsoever. Because of this, the charges against him were dropped, and on September 3 we find Camille presenting himself at the National Assembly to stand for election to the Legislative Assembly. On October 7, he gets mentioned as taking part in the debates at the Jacobin club once again, after more than two months of silence. The same month he could also release the eighty-sixth and final number of Révolutions de France et de Brabant, which had been unable to appear for almost three months (number 85 having been released on July 18, the day right after the massacres). In it, Camille blamed Lafayette for having forced an end to his career as a journalist.

[twola]

Devil's Backbone : Diablo Ridge I

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x FemOC/Reader POV Tags: Longfic, Slow Burn, Smut (18+), Violence, Canon-Typical Injuries

Limpany’s burning was a lot more than meets the eye. Deception, greed, and murder follow everyone touched by Leviticus Cornwall. A story where the Van der Linde gang gets even more inescapably involved in Cornwall’s dealings, with the survivor of the massacre at the heart of it all. Slow burn. Pre-Blackwater and beyond.

Diablo Ridge I: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit

Unorthodox was the descriptor Hosea used. Outlaw gang was not the ending she expected.

➵ AO3 Link ➵ Fic Masterlist ➵ Previous | ➵ Next

I've got the lonesome blues everywhere I go And everything that I need to know The only place I can bide my time Is a place I left behind Way out west they don't give a damn,  There's half a woman for every man. -The Deep Dark Woods, “The Place I Left Behind”

—

“ Christ , do you need to tell that story to goddamn everyone?”

Arthur runs his hand down his face, exasperated.

“Now Arthur, I’m just trying to show Missus Shaw over here that you’re not the dour grump you seem to be.”

You laugh, softly, from your place behind Hosea. His horse, which he told you was named Silver Dollar, trots lightly along the trail, which has grown rocky and craggy the further you get from Blackwater. 

Hosea glances over his shoulder with a smile. “So, dear, that’s how we learned ol’ Arthur over here was not a fisherman.”

You glance toward the other man, who certainly did seem to be a dour individual. While Hosea was magnanimous, Arthur appeared to be perennially annoyed. By everything. The conversation, the speed at which the horses were trotting, he was probably annoyed by the weather too.

“I can’t say fishing is one of my strong suits, so I can hardly blame you, Mister Morgan.”

Arthur just grunts, a scowl coming across his face. He throws a glare at Hosea, “If you’re done tellin’ stories, Hosea, I’d like to get back to camp before goddamn nightfall.”

“Hush, Arthur, quit bein’ such an ass,” Hosea snaps back at him, glancing back at you, “My apologies, Missus Shaw, again, manners ain’t one of his strong suits.”

You frown, starting to regret coming with them. Maybe you should ask Hosea to take you back to Blackwater and head for Saint Denis anyway…

“So, if fishin’ ain’t one of your strong suits, what is, Ruth?”  Hosea asks, clicking his spurs into his horse’s sides to speed up the gait a little. You hold on to the edge of the saddle, as Arthur spurs his horse as well, moving from a trot into a slow canter.

“Oh, uh, well… I can do most domestic things I guess, cooking, sewing, and the like… money counting… some medical things…” You rattle off, unsure of what he was looking for in your answer.

“A well-rounded woman then, that’s wonderful, dear.” Hosea chirps, guiding Silver Dollar down the trail as it slopes downward to the bank of a riverbed. “How’s about we stop here for a bit of lunch and to stretch our legs, isn’t too much farther past Riggs Station.”

“ Chrissake ." Arthur urges his horse forward, cantering down the trail and splashing through the creek bed, putting distance between himself and Hosea.

You frown, “Mister Matthews-”

“Hosea, dear.”

“- Hosea . I don’t… I don’t want to cause any issues. It seems like my coming with you isn’t sitting well with Mister Morgan.” You say, looking ahead at the man who has already crossed the water, circling his chestnut red mare on the other bank of the creek. His scowl is evident yards away.

“Pay him no heed. Mister Morgan, he doesn’t get the final say here. He’s a bit rough around the edges. Caught him on a bad day." Hosea clicks his tongue, and Silver Dollar speeds into a canter, splashing through the river bed toward the opposite bank. The motion causes you to jerk forward a bit, and you throw an arm around Hosea’s side to stay upright on the horse.

“Sorry there, dear. Shoulda given you a bit of warning.” The older man apologizes, bringing the Turkoman to a stop on the opposite bank of the water. 

Arthur swings his leg over the rump of his horse and out of the saddle, his stirrups clinking together in the chime of metal-on-metal. He moseys toward Silver Dollar, nodding up to you as he raises his arms. You drop your bag on the ground behind you and lean over to place your hands on his shoulders as he grabs your waist, effortlessly bringing you down to the ground. Hosea follows as soon as you’re situated on the ground. He pats his hand briskly on his horse’s flank. 

“Few minutes here, walk around a bit. Can’t take days in the saddle like I used to,” Hosea laughs, bracing his hands on his lower back and arching his shoulders slightly in a stretch.  

Arthur has left the two of you, moving to the river’s edge and digging a cigarette from the satchel slung over his shoulder. He cups his hands around a match he strikes against the carton and puffs to light the tobacco. A whisper of smoke releases into the air as he tosses the match into the water and crosses his hands over his chest.

“So, Ruth, you ever been out this way?” Hosea asks, turning back to his horse and running his fingers through its black mane. He turns to you, as you gaze around, turning your head this way and that, trying to orient yourself with your surroundings.

“Don’t think so… I’ve been to Blackwater, but not much else in West Elizabeth.”

“Mmm,” Hosea hums, giving Silver Dollar one more pat on his nose before turning to you, “Nice country. This here is the Upper Montana.”

You nod in agreement. Mountain streams pour down cliff sides to collect in a slow-flowing river, easing and winding toward Flat Iron Lake in the distance. All water around here seemed to flow down to the lake, busy with ferries and cargo boats and fishermen alike.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Hosea steps past you, approaching Arthur at the water’s edge. You nervously tuck strands of your blonde hair behind your ears and glance away from the two men, who are speaking in a low register, obvious that they did not want to include you in whatever conversation they were having. You sigh, looking back at the horses. Behind Silver Dollar is Arthur’s mount, a chestnut red mare, huge and fearsome looking. Larger than Hosea’s horse, for sure. Not as big as Aethon though.

A clutch in your chest pains you as you think of Aethon. God , you even miss that stupid horse, what you wouldn’t give for him to snap at you again, Frederick laughing in the background at your skittishness with him. You step toward the mare, and in return she tosses her head toward you, and out of muscle memory, you nearly jump back, your hands far away from the horse’s head.

“She ain’t gonna bite.” Arthur appears next to you, noticing your trepidation as you are standing next to his horse, “She leaves bein’ mean to me.”

“My… husband’s horse, he was a nasty old brute. Nipped at me all the time. I have scars to prove it.”

The man snorts, amused, “Boadicea over here might look big, but she’s a real sweetheart. She’s a Hungarian Half-bred.”

You slowly move your hand, still nervous, to the horse’s head, softly touching her silky coat as she remains unfazed. She even jerks her head upward to chase your hand, and once you see she’s not going to bite, you pet her gratefully.

“She’s beautiful. I can see with that red coat why you named her after a red-haired warrior queen.”

“Well read, are we?” You jolt slightly when Hosea strolls back over, interrupting the conversation. 

Reclaiming your nerves, you respond, “More like I had a mother who liked to tell stories from the old country.”

“Ah, Irish?” Hosea chirps.

“Yes, she was. She’d tell tales of Celtic warriors and witches and whatnot. And growing up in the hills, the flowers outside her family’s farm…”

“S’that why she named you Calluna ?” Arthur asks, bemused.

Your heart stops. The drawled-out syllables of your seldom-used first name, in your head, you hear echoes of it, in voices long past. Your father, your mother, your late husband. Only those closest to you used that name, and that was seldom at best. Why on earth did you tell these strangers your name?

“Please don’t call me that.” You whisper harshly, eyes darting away from the two men as you step away from the horse. You can’t explain yourself right now.

Arthur raises his eyebrows before rolling his eyes, his hands in the air in mock surrender. “Alright, Lady, Jesus .” He turns away, back to Boadicea, refastening his saddlebag with more force than necessary. Whatever peace there had been, it was gone now, and Arthur was back to being vexed.

“C’mon, we’ve dawdled enough.”  Arthur spits back at the two of you, and you meekly follow Hosea back toward Silver Dollar. The older man helps you up onto the horse before mounting himself.

Hosea sighs, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy sometimes.”

-

If there’s one thing that he hates, it’s droll small talk.

Arthur can feel himself getting more impatient by the minute. Even Boadicea was picking up on his agitation, throwing her head back and forth restlessly as she walked along the trail. Hosea was engrossed in conversation with you, and he can tell the older man is laying it on thick. He didn’t have time for Hosea to be flirting with a woman half his age. Not with Dutch breathing down his neck about this damned ferry job they want to do.

They being the operative word. It’s that ass of a newcomer, Micah, that got ideas of grandeur stuck in Dutch’s head. And if there is something that Dutch is powerless to resist, it’s big dreams.

That or a pretty woman.

You laugh from behind Hosea as he delivers a punchline to a joke, probably at Arthur’s expense again. He wasn’t listening. You forged northward, up into the hills where the golden prairies of the Great Plains gave way to the rugged forests of Big Valley.  The sun is beginning to set as you pass over a set of tracks, a small train station along the road the closest linkage to Blackwater. 

Hosea says something in passing about the weather. Almost imperceptible, Arthur hears a click between the horses’ breathing, between Hosea’s quiet chuckle, between the clinking of the spurs on his boots.

“Quiet.” He snaps.

Hosea straightens up, immediately on edge. Arthur brings Boadicea to a slow walk, looking into the forest that has overtaken both sides of the trail. You’re sitting behind Hosea, eyes wide, also looking around.

A man jumps out from behind a tree a few lengths ahead on the trail, effectively blocking the way forward.

“Alright, ye bastards, give us what money you’ve got. And the lady. We’ll show her a good time.” The man laughed, swinging a shotgun over his shoulder with a smirk on his face.

The man’s lilting accent, obviously Irish, was muffled slightly by the green bandana shielding his face. You sink behind Hosea, your eyes just peeking over his shoulder. He sits rigidly straight in his saddle.

“Don’t think so, partner.” Arthur is utterly unfazed, one hand on the pommel of his saddle and the other wrapped around his reins.

The man ahead of you pulls down his bandana to reveal his face and gives a toothy grin.

“Why, look who we got here, fellers. It’s Arthur fuckin’ Morgan!”

Two other men stalk out of the trees, both armed with rifles and sporting similar green bandanas, which they also pull down. They come to a stop on either side of the first one, hands on their weapons, trigger fingers obviously itching.

“Colm‘ll want to see you, Morgan. That’s fer sure.”

“Why don’t you tell ol’ Colm to come see us himself if he’s so inclined?” Arthur drawls, completely unperturbed by the three men surrounding them. The horses, even, are calm. 

Hosea turns his head to the side, glancing at you. He calmly places one hand on his holster, the other one gently lands on your knee. Arthur’s gaze moves from man to man on the road, landing on your concerned features for only a moment. Your eyes raise, and you lean in closer to Hosea.

“Morgan, you still suckin’ old Dutch’s cock? Has ye trained well, he does. Now come on, give us what you got, the lady comes with us, and you can be on your merry way.”

“Don’t think so, O’Driscoll .”

Hosea whispers something in your ear, and Arthur sees you make yourself small behind him, winding an arm around his waist. He nods, almost imperceptibly.

Arthur Morgan snorts, a grin creeping onto his face under the rim of his hat.

It’s like slow motion. Practiced, the thing that he as a man excels at. Second nature . In a matter of seconds, Arthur has unholstered his revolver, a practiced hand pulling the trigger and his other palm slamming back on the hammer. Once, twice, thrice. Three shots ring out in the afternoon sun. The bodies of the highwaymen fall to the ground, and Hosea’s horse neighs loudly, stamping its hooves on the trail.

You bite your tongue to stop from screaming as you duck your head behind Hosea’s shoulder. His hand remains on your knee as he circles Silver Dollar in the road, the sounds of gunshots finally agitating the horses.

“God damn O’Driscolls.” Hosea clucks, looking at the men bleeding out on the ground. He peers up at Arthur, who is reholstering his revolver in his belt nonchalantly. “Y’alright there, Ruth?”

Arthur looks at you, pathetic little thing , shaking on Hosea’s horse with wide, fearful eyes. Like a woman who hasn’t been well acquainted with death and violence. He frowns, again affirming in his mind that Hosea was stupid to bring you with them.

At least the last girl they picked up on the side of the road was a good thief and a spitfire. This woman looks like Hosea pulled her out of a damn church pew.

“ What- , what was that?” Your voice is small, incredulous, as you clutch at Hosea’s waistcoat, surveying bodies on the ground. Each of the men had bullet holes expertly placed in vital areas - the chest, the neck, the head. 

“O’Driscolls, slimy bastards. Frankly ain't worth the lead.” Arthur snaps, matter of factly.

“I do apologize, Ruth. Didn’t expect to get set upon by the likes of them. Fortunately, Arthur had it handled.”

You look up at Arthur. You’re flummoxed. Bewildered. Terrified. Hosea taps your knee again. “We best be gettin’ back to camp ‘for the sun goes down.” Hosea looks back up at Arthur.

Arthur grunts, scowling. He urges Boadicea forward on the road, uninterested in the soft conversation that Hosea is having with you. Probably trying to ease your nerves or some other nonsense.

Let the woman be his problem. Arthur Morgan has got enough going on.

-

You didn’t know what to expect when you arrived wherever Hosea and Arthur were taking you, but you definitely did not expect what you found.

The horses had veered off the trail as your group passed a logging camp, in the last gasps of the dying day, the golden rays of the setting sun leaving foreboding shadows in the woods. 

Somewhere in West Elizabeth, north of Blackwater, that’s all you knew. Along the way, you had seen railroad tracks, and knew of a railroad line heading north to Ambarino, the same one that crossed over the Dakota at Bard’s Crossing near Limpany, but you still couldn’t place where in God’s name you were. The road had turned craggy and mountainous.

You didn’t particularly think it would be received well if you asked, considering the gruff man then greeted your group, armed with a rifle and a scowl.

“Who’s there?” He yells as the horses draw closer.

“It’s us, dumbass.” Arthur spits, not bothering to slow down as he passes the man.

“Fuck you too, Morgan.”  He yells back, throwing his rifle back on his shoulder from where he had it cocked in his hands.

Hosea nods to him as the two of you ride by. “Davey.”

“Hosea.” He replies. Looking at you, he smirks, a sly grin under his dirty blonde mustache. “Ma’am.”

You nod in return, unsure of how to respond. You clutch your bag tighter to your lap as Silver Dollar slows down a small, relatively unworn trail. The pines and low scrub give way to a clearing, where the bright light of campfires and lanterns combat the incoming dusk.

Completely opposite to the way they were dressed; these two smart-looking men in waistcoats and gleaming revolvers; the camp is somewhat ramshackle. Wagons and tents litter the landscape, this clearing where they stop. At least a dozen people mill about the area, the low neighing of horses and soft crackling of campfires providing ambient sounds. Hosea brings Silver Dollar to a stop, and Arthur, who has already climbed down from his mount and tied her to an improvised post, approaches you and extends his arms to help you off the horse. You lean over to take his shoulders again, and he lifts you from the horse. You smooth your skirts as you situate yourself, grabbing your bag from Hosea before the older man swings himself down from his horse.

Your arrival seems to have garnered attention, as you look around to find people gathering around, sizing you up. Men and women alike, gruff and stern looking. Rough, armed to the teeth. Suspicious. With a grunt, Arthur pushes past the group of people who have gathered around without a word, heading toward a wagon along the edge of the clearing. People seem to know to give him a wide berth.

“Well now, who is this lovely lady?”

“Dutch, this is Missus Ruth Shaw. Found her down in Blackwater.” Hosea places both of his hands on your shoulders as he points you to the man who is obviously the center of this group.

He’s well dressed, with a dark waistcoat punctuated by golden chains and polished buttons that glinted in the waning light. Tall, with dark, slicked-back hair and a full mustache. Two revolvers sit on the belt at his hip.

This dark-haired man steps closer to you, takes your hand, and kisses it, a sly smile peeks his mustache at the upturn of his lips. Several rings adorn his fingers.

“Dutch Van der Linde, Missus Shaw.”

Van der Linde. Van der Linde.

You’ve heard that name before.

“Madam, what brings you to our band of knaves, thieves, and brigands?”

The Blackwater Ledger. That’s where you’ve heard that name. A gang of outlaws, robbing banks and homesteads across the west. Van der Linde. You try to hide your astonishment and surprise and glance backward at Hosea, who remains behind you with one hand on your shoulder.

“I…”

“She’s fallen into hard times there, Dutch. Lost her husband recently. No family. Someone who needs savin’.” Hosea eyes Dutch from behind you.

Dutch shakes his head in assent. “Of course. We save people needin’ of savin’. You’ll be safe here, Missus Shaw.”

“Th- thank you, sir. I appreciate yours and Mister Matthew’s kindness.” You stutter out, trying to regain your composure after realizing you were brought to an outlaw camp.

“Miss Grimshaw over here will get you situated with the girls.” Dutch nods over to a stern-looking middle-aged woman, who looked quite frightful, with a large scar down her cheek and a shock of grey through her dark hair, pulled up into a bun. She steps closer, and takes your arm.

“C’mon now, Missus Shaw. You’re over here.” She leads you away from the center of camp, and you look at Hosea with terror in your eyes, but he just smiles and waves you away.

“I don’t know what Hosea promised you when you got here, but you’re gonna work. We don’t have freeloadin’ girls around here. Laundry, cooking, cleaning. You got it?” She says, without a hint of welcome or warmth in her voice as she points you to a wagon with an awning and a rug spread out on the ground.

She thinks you’re some simpering fool. A frightened girl. You know, reeling, that you haven’t shown anything to refute that. This was a group of criminals. If you were going to survive here, you had to show some sort of spine.

“I’m not afraid of work if that’s what you’re insinuating, ma’am.”

“I certainly hope not, Missus Shaw. You sleep here. The girls are around.”  Miss Grimshaw leaves you, huffing as she turns on her heel back toward the campfire.

You sigh, putting your bag down on the ground, surveying the area. You rub your temples as you sit down on a hay bale near the wagon.

“Hi!”

You blink, turning toward the wagon where you were sure you heard the high-pitched voice. Puzzled, you looked around, not seeing anyone in the vicinity.

“Over here.”

A small mop of brown hair peeks out from underneath the wagon, small hands wrapped around the spike of a wheel.

“Oh… hello.” You say, bending over to put your hands on your knees. You are amazed in this ramshackle group, there was a child?

“Who are you?” The boy asks, drawing behind the wheel as you lean closer to him.

“I’m Ruth, what’s your name?”

“Jack.” He mumbles, looking bashful.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jack. What are you doing under there?” You ask, lowering yourself to squat to be at his height.

“Mama went to go talk to Pa.”

“Oh… who’s your Mama and Pa?” You ask, and he points, you turn on the ball of your foot and look across the way, toward a clearing of trees where a man and woman stood talking.

Maybe ‘talking’ was generous. The dark-haired woman, her hair pulled up into a bun at the top of her head, sticks her finger into the chest of an equally dark-haired man, his hair long, disheveled, and brushing his shoulders. He scowls back at her, their body language making it obvious that whatever they were arguing about was going nowhere.

“Pa and Mama fight a lot…” The boy trails off.

You frown. Poor kid. “I’m sorry, dear.”

“That’s okay. What are you doing here?” He asks, inquisitive as he steps through the spokes of the wagon wheel and approaches your seat on a hay bale.

“Oh, uh, Mister Matthews said I could come here. I… was all alone and he was kind to me.”

“Uncle Hosea is the nicest. He reads to me a lot.” He says back to you, sitting down on the ground at your feet.

“Does he now? What do you read?” You ask, realizing that this kid was providing the most conversation you’ve had with anyone since arriving.

“I like stories about kings and castles!” He says excitedly.

“Jack!” 

The boy’s head darts up and he jumps from his seat on the ground, his eyes bright, “Mama!”

“C’mere, silly boy. It’s past your bedtime.”

The woman walked closer to the wagon, holding her hand out for the boy to take.  She was young, quite young. Dark-haired, looking exasperated after her row with the man, who seems to have stalked away out of view of the camp.

“I was talking with Miss Ruth. She’s a nice lady. Uncle Hosea brought her.”

“Well, you can talk to Miss Ruth more in the morning, alright? Now say good night.”

“Good night, Miss Ruth!” The boy excitedly waves before running off to another tent.

“Good night.” You reply, waving back. 

The woman watches her son make it back to the tent and turns back to you, eyeing you from head to toe, trying to size you up.

“Abigail. Abigail Roberts. Heard you was from Blackwater.” She says, placing her hands on her hips. She eyes you with suspicion. 

“Ruth Shaw. More or less.”

“Well, Missus Shaw, hope yer ready for dealin’ with this mess o’ folks.”

—

“Arthur.”

Arthur looks up from the hunting knife he is sharpening at his seat near one of the campfires. He follows where the sound of his name came from, the large tent at the center of the camp. Dutch stands under the light of a lantern, snapping a book shut as the younger man sheaths his knife on his belt. Arthur drags himself up from his seat, slowly walking over to Dutch as they both enter his tent.

“This new girl. What’s she about?” Dutch nods over to the table in the center of camp, where you sit opposite Mary Beth and Tilly, engrossed in conversation. He lights a cigar with a match as he glances back to Arthur, waiting for a response.

“I don’t know, Dutch, wasn’t my choice,” Arthur complains, “Hosea offered to bring her back to camp.”

Dutch hums, placing his lit cigar back between his lips.

“He’s been a goddamn pain about it all day, talkin’ the woman’s ear off.” 

The dark-haired man takes a puff, blowing smoke as he turns his head. “Y’know, she looks a bit like Bessie did when she was young.”

“ ‘Course she does.” Arthur groans.

Dutch smirks, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against one of the posts his large tent is pitched on. He nods up, motioning to Arthur to turn around. Arthur takes the cue, and notes the topic of conversation walking closer to the tent.

“Hosea.”

“Dutch. Arthur. What plan are you concocting now? You’ve got that look in your eye.” Hosea glares directly at Dutch as he enters the tent, raising his eyebrows.

“No plan, Hosea. No plan.” Arthur says, shaking his head and staring at his boot. He knew where this was going.

“Heard you’ve been enjoying the company of our newest guest.” Dutch drawls, a mischievous grin painted across his face.

“C’mon now Dutch, she’s a nice girl. And she doesn’t have anyone. You always say we save people who need savin’.”

Arthur interrupts, “Guess we’re savin’ women half your age that you spend all day flirtin’ with.”

Hosea narrows his eyes, taking offense.

“First off, I ain’t flirtin’ with her,” Hosea wags his finger accusingly at Arthur, who rolls his eyes up at the pitch of the tent and puts his hands in the air in defense, “Secondly, she isn’t half my age . Gods, Arthur, I know you think I’m ancient but the woman’s not that much younger than you.”

Dutch raises his eyebrow, peering out of his tent to where you sit at the table. “Really? Pretty little thing, I would have figured she was younger.”

Arthur and Hosea glance at one another. The younger man snorts.

“Best keep her away from Miss O’Shea there, Dutch. She don’t seem to appreciate wandering eyes.”   Arthur swings his large hand onto Dutch’s shoulder, shaking him in jest. He moves behind Dutch, pointing to the red-haired woman reading a book against a tree across the clearing.

“You leave dealin’ with Miss O’Shea to me, son.” Dutch swats Arthur’s hand off his shoulder. Arthur chuckles to himself, following Dutch’s line of sight, glancing at you amongst the other women. 

Dutch unabashedly stares, taking his cigar from his mouth and dropping it to the ground, crushing it under his boot.  There is no hiding his intent. There never is, not with Dutch.  Arthur knows what Dutch is zeroing in on, what he is thinking.  How your blonde hair cascades down your back, how your dark almond eyes track across the camp, how the dark blouse you’re wearing dips and shows the barest hint of the swell of your breasts and your pale décolletage…

Shaking his head, Arthur realizes it is not only Dutch that is thinking these things, but that his glare, too, has lingered too long.

Mary Beth jumps up, excitedly rounding the table and moving behind you as you laugh, her hands dive into the mess of your hair, fingers pulling out strands and dividing them into sections to braid. 

Hosea breathes heavily, a cough rattling his lungs as he clears his throat. 

“Y’ dying’ there, Hosea?” Arthur chuckles.

Hosea wipes his mouth, giving Arthur a withering glance. “It’s called gettin’ old. You’ll find yourself there soon, Arthur.”

-

Lilting notes from a phonograph rouse you from your sleep, as you blink your mind into existence. The hour is late, but evidently in this camp, late is normal. Pushing on the ground, you sit up from your spot underneath the canvas roof hung from a wagon. The threadbare blankets you recline on do little to assuage the hardness of the ground. Looking around you to find none of the other women under the awning where you lay, as you pull your knees to tuck them beside you. You rub your face, extinguishing the last vestiges of sleep as you sigh.

A pair of boots appear ahead of you. You look up to find Hosea extending his hand down to you.

“Ruth, my dear, come and dance with an old man.” Hosea appeared seemingly out of nowhere, above you. You take his hand, allowing him to help you stand from your place on the ground near the women’s wagon, dusting your skirt off before giving him a nod of acceptance. 

With a smile, he leads you to the open area in front of Dutch’s large tent. You can’t help but smile back as you turn to face him, placing your other hand on his shoulder as he places his on your waist. You begin to sway to the music.

“Mister Matthews, you failed to mention that your group here was a bunch of outlaws.” You state with raised eyebrows and a sarcastic tone.

“Must have slipped my mind, sweet girl,” Hosea says with a wink, stepping back and raising his arm to spin you around. When he retakes your hand, he raises an eyebrow, “That a problem?”

“Not… necessarily.” You trail off, glancing around the camp. Dutch van der Linde leans against a barrel at the opening of his tent, smoking a cigar, casually reading a book. Across the way, a group of men clutch bottles of whiskey, circling the campfire.

“We rob, cheat, and scam. Some other delinquencies. We try not to kill unless we have to.” 

“Ah, the noble thief. A man must have a code.” You reply back to him as you continue to sway back and forth together.

“Hit the nail on the head, dear.” Hosea dips you, and you laugh in response as he pulls you back.

“So, Missus Shaw, where are your people from? Y’ got a bit of a drawl there, I would say somewhere in the south, but not Lemoyne. Not originally.” He asks, adjusting his hand back to your waist.

“Virginia. Though it's been years since I’ve been back. Close to fifteen.” You reply, placing your hand back on his shoulder.

Hosea chuckles, “Ha, still got it then. You said you lived in Saint Denis?”

You nod, “After my father died, well... First, my mother died when I was young, and it was just me and him for a while. He died when I was about nineteen, and I didn’t want to stay, so I packed up what I had and went to Saint Denis.”

Hosea hums in assent, twirling you again slowly.

“For about seven years. Met my late husband there. We left and moved around a bit before ending up…” You trail off, looking away.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to tell me. I… I know how hard it is. Lost my own wife several years ago.” Hosea stops, moving his hand from your waist. You drop your hand from his shoulder, catching his gaze again. He gives a gentle squeeze to your hand that he is still holding.

You give him back a sad smile, squeezing his hand back. 

He gives you back a lopsided smile. “My Bessie, she was my better half. Far better. Still don’t know why fate would give a man like me more time than an angel like her.”

“My husband… he was… he…-”

The crashing of glass interrupts your conversation. You turn your head toward the noise, as does Hosea. Large figures around the fire jump up, empty bottles of alcohol crashing to the ground.

“Fuck off! Weren’t my fault that coach had extra guards.”

“Goddamn fool you are, big, bad, Bill Williamson.”

“Oh, yeah, 'cause you’re so tough, Morgan, y’old ugly sod. Go fuck yourself.”

“You best reconsider them words, or I’ll have to shove them back down yer fat gullet. Ugly as a pig and half as smart.”

“Asshole!”

Another bottle smashes, drowning out the soft tune coming from the phonograph. Hosea sighs. You let go of his hand, as he looks over toward the campfire, where the sounds have escalated to cursing and yelling.

“Sometimes they have to get somethin’ out of their systems.” He says, before stepping in the direction of the ruckus.

Two large men crash to the ground, knocking over a chair that was previously occupied. They roll around like boys, a punch to the face here, a kick to the gut there. A hat goes flying. You recognize that Arthur is one of the men involved. Perhaps the day's annoyances finally got to him after a bottle of whiskey.

A young man sidles up next to you and bumps his shoulder to yours briefly, smiling as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t worry about them. Bill’s… well, he’s Bill. Not the nicest, or smartest of the bunch. And Arthur, well, sometimes he’s full of piss and vinegar,” he nods his head toward the fight that Dutch and another large man, the one who looks part Indian, pull the scrapping men apart,  “Sometimes he’s perfectly pleasant. Depends on when you catch him.”

“Ah.” You note, as finally, the two are pulled off of each other, sporting bloody noses and black eyes, snarling at each other like wolves.

“Don’t mind ‘em. I don’t think we’ve met, Miss. Name’s Lenny Summers.” He unwinds his arms and gives you his hand to shake, which you do heartily. 

“Nice to meet you, Lenny, Ruth Shaw. How long have you been here?”  You ask, gesturing around to the campsite.

“Here on the ridge? Well, we’ve been here about a month. But if you’re talkin’ about the gang, I’ve been with em for about a year. Met them up in the mountains when I was on the run.” Lenny replies to your question, scratching at his neck.

“On the run?”

“Yeah, got into some trouble in Lemoyne several years ago… bad business ,” He says, motioning over toward the table a few feet away with his head. He moves toward it, and you follow. He reaches into the box in the middle of the table, pulling out two beer bottles. Sitting down, he offers one to you. You take it, sitting on another chair.

The other man, the one Arthur was scrapping with, stomps past the table, both your and Lenny’s eyes follow him as he walks past. His receding hairline is spattered with blood, as his nose drips red liquid. He notices, snarling at Lenny, spitting on the ground a bloody mess of phlegm. “The hell you looking at, boy?”

He doesn’t wait for a reply, storming off toward another tent. You are glad to be ignored. Back toward the campfire, you see Arthur scowl, working his jaw as Hosea and Dutch chide him in some fashion.

“Don’t pay them no mind. You’ll be fine here, Miss Ruth.” Lenny says, rolling his eyes as the excitement dies down.

You stare at the motley crew of people mulling about the camp; rough and tumble men sporting revolvers, mean-looking women with snide tongues and little patience. You sure hoped he was right. 

That, or you needed to figure out an escape plan.