#stories to quote Hopkins

[k-she-rambles]

Today in "I cannot believe I actually had to say this:"

The Lord of the Rings is not divinely inspired, at least not in THAT way. It's not an elaborate and intentional metaphor for higher truth except in the way all art and creativity is either. Jrrt would fight you

[emeryhall]

An ask game for writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s)

Thank you for the tags @shrekgogurt @bookish-bogwitch @cutestkilla and @monbons!

1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/one of your WIP(s):

My one and only WIP is Only Creatures. I’m not a multitasker. When I have a story in my head, I need to write it until it’s out.

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___”

sad poet Baz Pitch + dragon camboy Simon Snow = obvious inspiration for Taylor Swift’s forthcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it?

heartbreak (So. Much. Heartbreak.) 

4. 🧭An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)?

Sprung Rhythm, which is a metrical system devised by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. He intended it to reflect the dynamic quality of common speech. It’s beautiful. For an example, read The Windhover. But I decided if I needed to footnote my title, perhaps I should choose a different title.

5. ⚠️Which WIP are you most likely to finish or update next?

Only Creatures. Like I said, THE STORY MUST OUT. 

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

onlycreatures (boring, but true)

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP.

“He really is the worst camboy ever to cam.”

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP.

I only ever have a single draft and I write linearly, so ideas that get scrapped are ruthlessly command X-ed and never heard from again, but I did find this bullet point: “B has full beard and it takes S a minute to recognize him.” Nope, S instantly recognizes B. Full beard be damned. 

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

One day I will write "Simon and Baz adopt the Humdrum." It will be dedicated to @cutestkilla and she will regret encouraging me. Also, I want to write a sequel to ALBD, except it will be in the style of a pulp detective novel. 

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on?

To quote, Ghostface Killah: "How many cakes we bake, y’all? One"

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

Baz and Simon are about to have a fight (verbal). I’m no good at that. I usually write my ships as two perfect-for-each-other nutters against the fucked up world. Writing conflict BETWEEN my two perfect-for-each-other nutters is tough. 

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send.

ALL OF THE KUDOS ALL OF THE COMMENTS ALL OF THE BOOKMARKS ALL OF THE SUBSCRIPTIONS TO ALL OF THE WRITERS OUT THERE AND THE LOVELY READERS WHO LEAVE KUDOS AND COMMENTS TOO. Y’ALL ARE THE BEST. As Ghostface said, "We all connect as one."

I suspect everyone has already done this and/or is cursing being repeatedly tagged, but... @artsyunderstudy @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @mooncello @larkral @best--dress @noblecorgi

[celestialcrowley]

Good morning! Good whatever-time-this-post-finds-you!

My phone updated. Thanks, I hate it. Anyway, I had a bio pinned, but I took it down because I wanted my 6,000 years meta to be pinned. I’m currently on the side of procrastination — I should be working on my GO fiction, someone shout at me to write — so here is a little bit more in depth bio about the ghost behind this tumblr.

🥂🪽🐝

Real Name: Sarah.

Nickname(s): There’s a list. Caps, Ghost, Khas, Khasper, Khasper the Spicy Ghost, Pippin, Haands, Crowley, Ginger and Tapeworm.

Nickname Origin(s): Buckle up. Caps is an age old nickname that was given to me because I wear hats all the time. Ghost began with a chat group I used to be in eons ago. The different variants of Khasper were given to me at my very first job, but we collectively agreed to change things up a bit, and Khasper the Spicy Ghost was born. Pippin was given to me when the Lord of the Rings trilogy was first released. Haands was given to me by former coworkers. Their reasoning behind that is I’ve got big hands. Crowley was given to me by my work bestie, and Ginger was given to me by the rest of my coworkers for my only slightly red hair. Or maybe it’s for my fiery personality. Tapeworm is something my uncle calls me presumably because I’m always hungry, but isn’t that the nature of an actual hobbit?

Preferred Name(s): Ghost, Khasper, Crowley, Ginger or Pippin.

Ao3: Beyond_Ineffable.

Social Media(s): I have Facebook and TikTok. My TikTok is actuallyahobbit89 if anyone is curious. I’m hardly on it though. I’ll pop in to post a video and then disappear like a ghost.

State: Born in raised in Floriduha. It’s a state of chaos.

Birthdate: July 25.

Pet(s): I’ve got two dogs. Mycroft is a probably Dutch shepherd Australian cattle dog mix. I’ve never had him DNA tested, but his mother is an Australian cattle dog. Patch is a portly pitbull mix.

Hobbies: Writing, reading, listening to music and true crime podcasts and stand up paddle boarding.

Personality: Here’s the best way I can describe this. I’m a permanently exhausted pigeon who functions on caffeine, anxiety and not enough sleep. I’m shy and socially awkward, but once I’m comfortable with someone and know that I can completely be myself around them, the anxiety disappears.

Favorite Holiday(s): Big spooky fan, me.

Favorite Drink(s): Coffee, Ice sparkling water + caffeine, London fog tea and cranberry juice.

Favorite Food(s): Sushi, tacos, salmon, crepes, lasagna, sweet potatoes and chicken teriyaki.

Favorite Dessert(s): Pumpkin pie.

Favorite Color(s): Turquoise, but any shade of blue, really. It’s pretty.

Favorite Quote(s): “She walks in starlight in another world.” “The world is not in your books and maps. It’s out there.” “Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.” “A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest because she should be sure that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her.” “I know of witches who whistle at different pitches, calling things that don’t have names.”

Favorite Book(s): The Inheritance Collection and Neverwhere, which I still need to finish reading.

Favorite TV Show(s): Good Omens, Sherlock, Lucifer, The Exorcist and Hannibal.

Favorite Movie(s): Bad Samaritan, The Hobbit trilogy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Favorite Character(s): Crowley, Aziraphale, Furfur, Hastur, Pippin, Bilbo Baggins, Sherlock, John Watson, Father Marcus and Will Graham.

Favorite Actor(s): David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Martin Freeman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Jason Statham, Keanu Reeves and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s an accent thing and a hair thing.

Favorite Song(s): There’s too many. I’ll just drop this here. Whiplash Radio.

Favorite Music Genre(s): Mostly everything under the sun.

Favorite Podcast(s): Small Town Murder.

Have You Ever Met A Celebrity: Yes. Jimmie Johnson, a NASCAR driver, visited the very first job I had. He brought his daughter. Story time! My former coworkers were being a bit too extra around him — personal space, what personal space? — and he didn’t like it. I had not yet had a chance to speak to him, and I was told not to because he’s rude. I didn’t believe that, so later, I saw Jimmie was standing at the fence with his daughter. I walked over, said hello and asked him if his daughter would like to pet the dog. He said yes, so I moved the dog closer so she could pet him through the fence. She did, he thanked me, and that was our interaction. He was very pleasant.

Have You Ever Been To A Concert: I have not, unfortunately.

Do You Collect Anything: Yes. Coffee cups, gnomes and pocket knives. That’s a weird combination.

Do You Have Any Idols: Yes! Neil Gaiman. He’s a legend and someone I admire, especially when the writer’s block is slaying me.

Is There A Real Life Friend You Can Completely Be Yourself With: Yes! I made a tumblr post about him! We’ve known each other a long time.

What Are Your Interests: All things spooky. Ghosts. Graveyards. Stars. Galaxies. Planets. Everything about the solar system. True crime. History. Metaphysical things.

Where Would You Love To Travel To: Ireland. New Zealand. Scotland.

Is There A Random Fact About Yourself That You’d Like To Share: I like flamingos.

No pressure tags: @phoen1xr0se @ineffabildaddy @peregrintook @sad-chaos-goblin @spot-o-bodysnatchin @apocalypticginger-blog @crowleyscleaninglady @missdeliadilisblog @ritz-writes @ineffablemoist @turquoisedata @azirapalalalala @peachworthy @pretendygood @belladonna413 @jackinistafflower @aziraphalalala @scarecrowcloud @tragic-cosmic-magic @musingsofmaisie

It’s open to everyone, but here is an apology dance in case I missed anyone! 💚

[anncanta]

Dracula vs. Hannibal: love, light and shadow

I'd like to talk a little about Dracula versus Hannibal controversy. In Dracula, Moffat and Gatiss address Hannibal in many scenes, answering and arguing with this series to show their own story.

The first thing that catches your eye is the actual theme of cannibalism. Moffat and Gatiss relegate it to the background so that it is not so much "hidden" in the plot as it takes on a different meaning. Dracula certainly eats people, like Hannibal, in an effort to "own" them, but there is a difference.

Firstly, unlike Hannibal, for Dracula, this is a need, a basic need for food, without which he will simply die. Another question is that over hundreds of years, Dracula was unable or unwilling to find a way to feed on people without killing them. But this is a topic for another conversation. And secondly, Dracula’s cannibalism includes not only and not so much taste, but quality, meaning, and relationships. Dracula collects stories and the people who embody them. No matter how strange it may sound, for him, it is a dialogue. Which becomes his salvation, after all. But more on that later.

The second is how the theme of love is resolved in one and the other series. For Hannibal, love is something strange, unfamiliar, another way to devour someone and enjoy their likeness to himself. For a long time, I could not understand what makes the story of Hannibal and the character so disgusting. And finally, I realized that it’s not just that Hannibal kills and does it in as vile a way as possible. The fact is that, by killing, Hannibal, as it were, turns the victims into himself, infecting them with internal decline and decay.

Mads Mikkelsen is a wonderful actor, and for two seasons, I couldn't understand why he looked like a walking mannequin. Until it dawned on me: yes, because that’s exactly what he plays. In contrast to Anthony Hopkins, who plays a burning, sharp rage, a wild, almost primal passion, Mads Mikkelsen portrays an empty, cold, eternally bored psychopath. Classic, like a textbook. It’s scary with him not because he can kill you, but because he can and wants to corrupt – since he is not able to taste the joys of life and humanity.

In this sense, Dracula is an incredibly beautiful answer in its vitality. I remember that the first thing that struck me about Dracula was his inner strength and passion, his thirst for life. In his old body, leaning on a cane, he looked like a young man who was imprisoned in this uncomfortable shell. He moved in it, too, as if jumping up and down with impatience. He is the same in his relationships with others. Unlike Hannibal, who wants to turn everyone and everything around into himself, Dracula wants to continue himself, to extend himself forward. He wants a future and therefore leaves the castle because he realizes that the future presupposes the presence of others in his life.

Dracula's relationship with Jonathan Harker could be (and is sometimes visually reminiscent of) Hannibal's relationship with Will Graham. Quotes are scattered here and there: chandeliers made of deer antlers on the ceiling, the fireplace in the castle (which is absolutely the same color as the one in Hannibal's place), even the figurative solution for the fantasies of Jonathan in a dream and Will working at the crime scene is the same.

But the result is different. Will in the story with Hannibal is the victim, the follower, even if for a while he became the hunter and lured Hannibal into a trap. In the end, he follows the path outlined by Hannibal, because from the very beginning, he is captured, poisoned, and all he can do is destroy evil along with him. Jonathan – and this is shown both visually and at the text level – is the master of the situation from beginning to end. He is the one whose favor Dracula seeks, whom he begs for this favor, and who ultimately becomes for him the path to the light.

The disgusting scene in Agatha's laboratory is not only about the fact that Dracula deceived Agatha and Mina by pretending to be Jonathan. This is a materialized metaphor that literally shows that Dracula, as we know him in the second and third episodes, actually came out of Jonathan, and was able to become so because he was in Johnathan's skin.

Dracula doesn't turn people into himself. He doesn't have that kind of power. In the first episode, we see that he consistently and for quite a long time tried to convert someone, creating an equal to himself, but he only succeeded with Jonathan. By the way, why?

I think because Jonathan was the first person Dracula approached as an equal in many years. Whom he saw, understood, and recognized. Remember the scene on the roof? Remember the moment when Dracula says to Jonathan, who is rising from the floor, clinging to him: ‘Tell me you won't follow me, and I'll let you go’? Remember the brief moment when Dracula looks at him with his head thrown back? There is neither triumph nor malice in this look. There is pain and melancholy in it. It's the look of someone who knows what's going to happen because it's happened many times before, – and yet desperately wants to be wrong. And when Jonathan rejects his offer, when he vows to pursue him as long as he lives, catharsis ensues. From there, even if he doesn't realize it, Dracula walks with the understanding that it takes two to share who you are, to create a relationship.

Moffat and Gatiss liberally scatter references to Hannibal throughout all three episodes of Dracula. Dracula pursuing Jonathan, slowly falling drops of blood, the presentation of Dracula as a gourmet, even the appearance of the main character from a wolf – all this either resembles or directly points to that. But starting seemingly the same way, this story leads in a completely different direction. The dark compass turns and it turns out that where Hannibal tries to lead Will into the darkness, Agatha is leading Dracula to the light. The climax is the final scene, in which in both series the characters die, and before that one of them says, “It`s beautiful”. But if Will experiences a transformation and speaks this way about his ‘dark side’ – which is symbolized by blood in the light of the moon – Dracula pronounces these words in relation to the sun – finding his light side.

And there's also a deleted scene at the end of Hannibal. I think it could have been a quote from Bram Stoker's Dracula – two people in a chapel, illuminated by the sun. In Dracula, this is the same quote, but unlike Hannibal, where the heroes sit in a church, that is, to contact the divine they resort to an intermediary, in Dracula they are inside the sun, in direct experience, without allegory, images, and symbols. Love does not need words and expressions. It is what it is.

By the way, the same idea is heard in the ending of Sherlock.

I think it's no coincidence.

[asgoodeasgold]

Matthew Goode's reviews, Freud's Last Session

I have been following these all weekend and putting them on IG / retweeting so I thought I would add them here too.

Matthew has stunned everyone with his stellar performance and has been put on a par with the acting legend that is Anthony Hopkins. Absolutely amazing (but not surprising to us fans who know what an incredible talent he is) ! He should be very proud of what he has achieved. I AM proud! And I hope he now gets the wide recognition he deserves.

Some of the words used to describe his performance:

💥sterling

💥 incredible

💥 ace

💥 shining

💥 quality

💥 remarkable

💥 matches Anthony Hopkins pound for pound / beat for beat

Some reviewers loved the film, some were more critical, thinking the subplot detracted from the amazing chemistry happening on set between Tony and Matthew. I think critics can sometimes be, well, critical for the sake of it.

A lot of love has gone into making this movie. The quality is there (set design, cinematography, acting) and it will be a rivetting watch, giving people much food for thought, which is frankly what I want from my movies. I can't wait to see it (several times 😁).

Below are screenshots of my IG stories with the best quotes and a link to the article. 

[solarissantaella]

When we think turn-of-the-century classics, works by women of color tend to be overlooked. It's the same story with sci-fi.

Pauline Hopkins, a Black author and editor, and her proto-science fiction novel Of One Blood, challenged the racist paradigms of her time. Her legacy continues to inspire authors of color to this day.

I'm one of them.

For the past year, I've been a student in Western Colorado University's Publishing MA program. For my individual project, I chose to do a reprint of Of One Blood, soon to be published by WordFire Press.

The book is currently available for preorder here and officially releases May 14th. Until then, I'll be counting down my 14 favorite quotes from the book!

It's an honor to share Hopkins' words with you all.

#14: "The world scarcely estimates the service rendered by those who have unlocked the gates of sensation by the revelations of science."

[thefisherqueen]

I'm back from holiday and I'm watching Sherlock Holmes Granada's The red circle tonight. There aren't many episodes I haven't watched left. I've been putting off The three gables and The dying detective since I really didn't like those stories, and I first would like to read the novels before I watch those movies, so this marathon is nearing the end :( I have no doubt however that I will be rewatching this series from time to time.

I don't remember much of The red circle anymore. Something with a kidnapped timekeeper, hidden female lodger and a couple fleeing from some Italian crime circle?

We're starting with murder, a couple fleeing and a man breaking into their house and creepily sniffing her night gown. Really sets the mood

I love it when Watson narrates the start of the case. Feels reminescent of the stories. And Holmes working on his scrap book and acting like a petulant child when he is interrupted at his task - straight out of the canon, so good

Holmes: "If I were your lodger you would not see me for weeks on end. That does not trouble you, does it mrs. Hudson?" "Nothing troubles me when you're concerned," Haha, I love mrs. Hudson

Holmes looks so touched when the client tells him about how an earlier client praised him. *watches this part 10 times just to stare into Jeremy Brett's eyes*

Holmes' black dressing gown is gorgeous. I want one

"Watson, deduce." "Me? *chuckles*" Aww, Watson is adorable and Edward Hardwicke played him so well. I love how engaged Watson is in the Granada series. He's actually an active part of each case.

"Please vanish" Rude, Holmes! Leaving mrs. Hudson and Watson once again to do damage control

Holmes: "I helped him (his former client) find a close relative once." So much emotion and hestancy there. I'm not entirely sure why Jeremy Brett chose to act so affected? I bet he had a whole headcanon about that former case. I wish I could still ask him! It is like he's acting like Holmes didn't tell Watson everything there. Did Jeremy interpret Holmes as feeling like he failed that former client maybe?

Watson reading the newspaper to Holmes is always a joy :)

Watson against Holmes' former client: "Some are more at risk than others because of their beliefs and courage." "I do what I do, doctor. Don't make me out to be a saint" Oh this is all so intruging. Something more than just case-related is being implied but I can't lay my finger on what exactly

All the imagery with the red circles is a little overdone. Yes, yes, we get the point

The former client is murdered right while he is at work in the theater? Gods. Holmes' and Watson's reactions tear at my heart

Jeremy Brett singing and narrating when he and Watson are looking at the agony coloms is oscar worthy. I adore him

mrs. Hudson: "What is it mr. Holmes, I'm washing curtains!" Bless that woman. Can't even wash her curtains in peace :D

I have to laugh at the kidnapping scene. They literally yeeted him out of the moving couch, poor old man

Landlord: "And I don't care for foreigners!" Holmes, with disdain: "Oh really?"

They kept the insane "journeys end with lovers meeting!" quote from Holmes to Hopkins. I love it

*Holmes climbs out of the roof, scares the hell out of everyone in the house* He totally would do that, wouldn't he? Excellent addition to the canon story

Holmes is so gentle and understanding when he goes to meet the lodger, he's so soft at heart and the whole Granada team understands that so well

They really made the finale very exciting, with the villain right at the lodger's door and the chase on the roof and the rolling down the stairs! Ouch, both Holmes and the american detective got a little bloody. Luckily Watson is close at hand. Always appreciate a bit of hurt/comfort

American detective: "When you're on a trail of a lifetime, mr Holmes, you put all thoughts of personal safety out of your mind". Oh he knows. I'm not sure Holmes even knows what personal safely means

This vaillain is like a fish - he escapes everyone's grasp. Until he finally got murdered himself. I love that his wife runs out over the street to look for her husband when she sees through the window that something went wrong

"No doubt mister Holmes, if you'd be here on your own you'd have found a different solution." "The law is what we live with, inspector. Justice is sometimes harder to archieve" What a great quote.

And then the couple gets a happy ending, and they go to the opera. Jeremy Brett's expression as he listens is perfection

Granada has done it again. I didn't find the canon story that memorable, but they made it into another great episode. I really loved this one.

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

TODAY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GOOD BOOK!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEE

Continuation of the other post because that one got really messy lol

Oh my gosh. Okay. *claps hands together*

I just finished What About Will by Ellen Hopkins a few days ago, and WOW do I have a lot to say about it!! But first, I must share the cover because it is hekkin gorgeous:

LOOK!!!! DO YOU SEE THIS!!! DO YOU SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS IS!!! OH MY GOSH!!!

I know I shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but wow. Absolutely amazing. If a book has this as its cover, then it has to be good, I mean come on.

And all the details!! Family photos and a window with no curtain and a baseball and a glove on Trace’s side, and posters and windows with blinds and a video game controller and a phone and pills and THAT NOTE and… oh no the SHOES I JUST REALIZED THE THING ABOUT THE SHOES OH I AM IN PAIN (you’ll understand once you read, I assure you) on Will’s side…

And their faces, too! Trace’s eyes are open and he’s looking a little bit up, while Will’s eyes are closed and he’s looking down… ough.

THIS IS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE COVER OF A BOOK THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN OH MY GOODNESS!!! IT’S BEAUTIFUL!!! AAAAAAAAH!!!

AND JUST BECAUSE I WILL SHARE ANOTHER PICTURE OF IT BUT ZOOMED IN

HELLOOOOO BOYS!!! OH YOU BOYS I LOVE YOU!!! TRACE YOU ARE SMALL AND CHILD AND PURE!!! WILL YOU ARE STUPID AND NEED TO HUG YOUR BROTHER!!! OHHHH I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! ACK!!!

Okayokay so the book is first-person POV written in a free-verse style (I’ll share some of my favorite quotes in a bit). It’s all from Trace’s perspective (he’s the younger brother).

OH SPEAKING OF.

THIS BOOK

IS ABOUT

BROTHERS!!! HECK YES!!! ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO READ ABOUT!!! BROTHERS!!! YES!!!

And Trace and Will really are brothers, let me tell you. Their relationship is messy but it used to be so good and Will was always the older one who looked out for Trace and Trace was always the younger one who looked up to Will and and and alsgakgsksgskwgavsja

But now their relationship isn’t great because of Thingsssss 😭 And it’s so sad and so real and so OUGH

Speaking of, this book is so real. It’s not extravagant or mind-blowing, and there’s not crazy battles or big villains. It’s just… a kid. It’s a kid doing life in a messed up world with a messed up family. That’s it.

Actually, if I had to describe this book in one word, I think it’d be “simple.” Not in a bad or weak way, but in a refreshing way; it was nice to read a story that’s just about a kid doing life, y’know? It was really nice.

Mannnn I got so darn invested so darn fast my goodness- it was like. Pretty much immediately. Just a few pages in and I was already completely sucked into this story and this world and these characters and YES!!! It’s not too often that I get invested this fast, at least as far as books go, but What About Will was just different. It was really fun :D

This book was super easy to read—partially because of the story itself, and partially because of the format. The story was simple enough to understand easily, and the format made reading really… quick, I guess? Because it’s set up like a poem, the short lines/paragraphs made it incredibly easy to read through!

(It was just like this with Ellen Hopkin’s other middle-grade novel, Closer To Nowhere, which was also written in a free-verse style)

Oh yeah! Middle grade! Almost forgot to mention that!!

Despite being out of middle school, I still prefer middle-grade novels to pretty much any other book; there’s a ton of incredible ones out there, and I’ve often found that they’re more creative and sometimes, better written, than YA!!

That being said, What About Will can absolutely be read by anybody, regardless of age. Don’t let the age suggestion stop you from reading this, please!! I promise you it truly is an incredible book with an incredible story 😭

I won’t spoil, but towards the end of the book I EXPERIENCED MANY FEELINGS AND LET OUT MANY NOISES OF SUSPENSE, FEAR, HAPPINESS, AND MORE. MY SISTER WAS IN THE SAME ROOM AS I WAS WHEN I FINISHED THE BOOK AND SHE GAVE ME MANY STRANGE LOOKS. OH MY GOSH.

I want there to be a sequellll so bad 😭😭 Like… a YA novel from Will’s perspective… oh my goodness… I would go dizzy with joy if that ends up happening… please… oh my gosh…

NEEDLESS TO SAY this is one of my favorite books probably and I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time :)

Pretty much the only complaint I have is that sometimes the dialogue/inner thoughts of the main character felt unrealistic and unoriginal. This was not the case for the entirety of the book, but there were several sections that I didn’t feel were the best, as far as writing goes (unrealistic dialogue is one of my biggest pet peeves ever lol).

But other than that? Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I hekkin loved this.

Here’s a few of my favorite bits :D

[bracketsoffear]

Thebe and the Angry Red Eye (David Hopkins) "A furry sci-fi novella originally published in chapters on Hopkins' page at Fur Affinity in 2014; in 2015, it also appeared in The Furry Future, a compilation of Science Fiction stories curated by the late Fred Patten that feature anthro animals.

In a future where furries have replaced humans, the Hildebrand Corporation initiates an ambitious plan to send a starship called the Hildebrand One on a ten-year expedition to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, in search of extraterrestrial life. A crew of seven is chosen, and their voyage goes well until the ship actually reaches the Gas Giant, where it is damaged by an unpredictable radiation surge. This causes a series of disasters that culminates with the ship crashing on another Jovian moon, Thebe. By the time it's all over, most of the characters are dead; the only survivors are a feline crew member named Thomas and a tomato plant called Oscar. Most of the story is about Thomas trying to cope with his terrible loneliness and learning that living is about more than survival."

Solaris (Stanisław Lem) "This book is soaked in loneliness. It follows three men who avoid each others company on a dilapidated research station on a distant titular planet - Solaris. It is covered by an ocean of gelatinous substance with no solid land in sight, and is later revealed to be an alien. A single alien, a vast extraterrestrial intelligence the size of a planet. Lem wrote 'the peculiarity of those phenomena seems to suggest that we observe a kind of rational activity, but the meaning of this seemingly rational activity of the Solarian Ocean is beyond the reach of human beings' and I just cannot help myself but think what a lonely existence that must be. A planet sized being, unable to communicate with probably the first other living beings it has ever encountered. It creates landscapes and people out of white seafoam from the memories of the research crew, if their flying cars get too close to the dark viscous surface. It reaches into the minds and pulls up the most emotional of memories to awkwardly reconstruct them into a haunt that will follow a person until destroyed. This quote also got me thinking about the communication between different life forms, and that even if humanity ever makes contact with aliens they might be too incomprehensible for us to grasp. Are we alone in the universe? And does it even matter if we are alone or not, if communication and understanding is impossible?"

[tinyreviews]

No story here. No arcs, tension, or catharsis. Just an exploration of themes and quotes. Remember, this is not based on true events. It is completely fictional.

Freud's Last Session is a 2023 drama film starring Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, Liv Lisa Fries, Jodi Balfour, Jeremy Northam, and Orla Brady. It is based on the stage play of the same name by Mark St. Germain, which itself is based upon the book The Question of God, by Armand Nicholi. The film was directed by Matthew Brown and written by St. Germain.

[kevinselhi]

The first experimental psychology lab in the United States was established at Johns Hopkins University in 1883, by G. Stanley Hall, five years after he was awarded the first American doctorate in psychology. He is pictured below, in the front row, seated between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. 

While Freud and Jung are well-known today, Hall is more often forgotten. He was influential before psychology emerged as a distinct scientific discipline, a significant figure from its pre-history, when modern American graduate education began to take shape in the late 1800s. It’s worth researching the story of Hall and his laboratory, not only because it reveals a lot about American higher education and the history of science, but also because the history of psychology was re-written many years later. 

If you’ve read Freud's Interpretation of Dreams or Jung's Man and His Symbols, you probably noticed how philosophical their work can be. This was characteristic of the age. Of the first three PhDs that were awarded in the U.S., at Yale’s convocation in 1861, one of those was in “philosophy and psychology.” Seventeen years later, Hall got the first free-standing psychology PhD in America, at Harvard.

Until the 1930s psychology faculty at Harvard taught as members of the philosophy department. The wall between the two fields was low. Hall was a product of this milieu. He contributed to philosophy and psychology like his predecessors Wilhelm Wundt and William James, founders of "the new psychology," both of whom Hall studied with. Wundt founded the more "experimental" arm of psychology, based on physiology and psychophysics, and from Wundt’s lab at the University of Leipzig Hall eventually imported methods replicated in Baltimore. But all three figures remained engaged in philosophy as well as psychology throughout their lives. How did the two disciplines come to be so separate?

It turns out that a professor who popularized this Gestalt psychology image, and the Cold War, played big roles in that breakup story, when the history of psychology was rewritten.

The quote below was extracted from Wilhelm Wundt and the Making of Scientific Psychology edited by RW Rieber. Titchener was tenured in the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell, where he set up their psychology lab, and E.G. Boring was his student. Boring became the first chair of the liberated psychology department at Harvard in 1936.

[emilysworldoffandoms]

The Winchesters (Spoilers)

My Thoughts During the Final Episode:

When I saw Detroit, all I could think was the devil is in Detroit.

OMG! Dean! He looks like he could be Hunter Corp. Bobby? Did they break out of Heaven? One last hunt. Sure.

Portal Dean has John’s journal and now Hopkins has it. She’s the Queen, but she’s random. A portal is not going to destroy Dean.

She lost her parents, her brother, and the love of her life to hunting. Interesting.

Not Lata!

Characters said: Swan song and Rewind the tape in the same scene

“I’m running towards hope” -John

She was going to say I love you, but he stopped her

“Hello boys” -Akrida queen

I love the split to show the women being fierce

Impala original license plate—Mary gets to drive

Well the impala is the most important object, according to Chcuk

Dean was looking for his family in the multiverse and hoped there was an earth where his family had a happy ending

“You can all choose your own destiny, write your own story”

Jack!

Jack quoting “carry on”

Dean giving John his Hunter journal

Warns Mary about yellow eyed demon and gives her the colt

Lata is going to restore Ada’s soul

Mary and John are working on themselves

No goodbyes

Driver picks the music quote and one of Dean’s favorite Zeppelin songs comes on and montage

My favorites are: Millie, Carlos, Mary, and Lata.

I hope there are more seasons because Cas needs to be mentioned or appear. Maybe this is the universe where Cas and Dean can finally be together?

[thoughts-of-a-social-worker]

Why Henrietta Lacks’ “Immortal Life” Matters

I don’t recall hearing the name “Henrietta Lacks” before college. I suspect that this is a common story among folks my age and those who graduated before Rebecca Skloot’s book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was published in 2010. In fact, the reason Skloot wrote her book in the first place was because no one seemed to be able to answer her question – who was Henrietta Lacks? Skloot, who has dual degrees in biological science and creative nonfiction, set out to find the answers on her own. After more than a thousand hours of interviews, scientific and historical research, and deep dives into archival content (as well as the personal journals of Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah Lacks) she was able to show the world a holistic story not just of HeLa cells and Henrietta Lacks but of her family and their struggle to come to terms with her “immortality” – as well as how that immortality came about. 

Skloot’s book stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for more than six years and, ultimately, I believe it raised awareness of an individual’s rights (or lack thereof) to control how their tissues are used, as well as illustrating the racial inequities embedded in the U.S. medical system. In Skloot’s afterword, she noted that it was not illegal for doctors to take Henrietta’s cells without her knowledge in 1951, nor would it have been illegal when the book was published in 2009. She discussed how, while hundreds of millions of tissue samples are being stored in the U.S., there is no case law that fully clarifies whether an individual has a right to control their own tissue once it is removed from their body. While it’s true that this absence of individual rights resulted in major medical breakthroughs, the Lacks family didn’t find out how Henrietta’s cells were used until decades later and never received any compensation from the entities who profited from the use of her cells. Skloot included a quote from Deborah Lacks which summed up the family’s frustration well, stating, “... I have always thought it was strange, if our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors? Don’t make no sense. People got rich off my mother without us even knowin about them takin her cells, now we don’t get a dime.”

The Lacks family is certainly not the only family to have ever been taken advantage of by the U.S. medical system for research purposes. There is an extensive history of exploitation – particularly of people of color – which is justified by the need for continual advancements in medicine. From the 1840s experiments performed by Dr. Marion Sims (also known as the “Father of Gynecology”) on enslaved Black women to the 1932 Tuskegee experiments which purposefully denied syphilis treatment to Black men, subjecting BIPOC individuals to medical violence for the purposes of study is not a new phenomenon. It’s no surprise that marginalized communities, especially Black communities, have a deep mistrust of the U.S. medical system. I think about the vaccine skepticism among communities of color during the COVID-19 pandemic and, with these repeated acts of medical violence in mind, I find myself having much more empathy for those who may have been afraid to get the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Johns Hopkins, the medical establishment which first took and cultured Henrietta’s cells, initially tried to better understand how her cells worked by studying her children – and it’s important to note that this was done without the family’s awareness of the researchers’ intent. Today, Johns Hopkins hosts a symposium every year in honor of Henrietta Lacks and celebrates the advancements made possible with her cells. While members of the Lacks family have been present, and she has posthumously been thanked, no additional recompense has been provided to the Lacks. In fact, it ended up being the Henrietta Lacks Foundation created by Skloot which provided money to Henrietta’s immediate family members, in the form of grant funds. As of this spring – more than 70 years after Henrietta’s death – the attorneys representing Lacks’ estate shared that the family has received no financial compensation from either the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries that have profited from the use of Henrietta’s cells. In August, there was still no update as to whether or not the lawsuit filed by the Lacks family will go to trial or be dismissed by the judge. For now, her family continues to wait, and hope, for justice.

[astonishinglegends]

Ep 282: The Elusive Force – A Powerful Polish Poltergeist Part 2

"Physics is the science of probabilities, whereas biology is the science of improbable phenomena. The living organism operates on the basis of reactions that are statistically improbable."  -- Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Gyorgyi as quoted in "The Elusive Force"

Description:

For part two of our examination of the elusive force that flowed through Joasia Gajeweski, we're fortunate and honored to present a conversation with three knowledgeable professionals familiar with the case. We first learned of this fantastic story and the book that documented it from a clinical therapist, author, parapsychologist, past show guest, and friend, Brandon Massullo. Brandon then offered to put us in touch with psychologist, researcher, and author James Houran, Ph.D., who studied the case extensively. And for the trifecta, another past guest and friend, Michael Kishbucher, connected us with Joel Stern. Joel was a staff translator and reviewer in the Office of Language Services at the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC, for 28 years. He translated The Elusive Force: A Remarkable Case of Poltergeist Activity and Psychokinetic Power into English and spent decades attempting to get the book published, which finally occurred in 2023. Joel also spent time with Joasia and her family during the process and has specific insights into the people and their circumstances. Join us tonight for a lively discussion from the viewpoint of parapsychology and human behavior when it collides with the paranormal, and the impossible becomes impossible to dismiss. 

Reference Links:

James Houran, Ph.D. on LinkedIn

Brandon Massullo’s website, Haunted Theories, www.hauntedtheories.com

Institute for the Study of Religious and Anomalous Experience – israenet.org

Polish paranormal-themed magazine, Nieznany Swiat – “The Unknown World” nieznanyswiat.pl (translate with Google Chrome or other translating web browser)

“Anna Ostrzycka-Rymuszko - Warto odkrywać nieznane (wywiad radiowy)” in Polish, from the Nieznany Świat YouTube channel

ART, LIFE AND UFOS – A Memoir by Budd Hopkins from Anomalist Books

Guy Lyon Playfair

The Society for Scientific Exploration www.scientificexploration.org

Galton board

Gravitational wave

“THE ELUSIVE FORCE: A Remarkable Case of Poltergeist Activity and Psychokinetic Power” at Anomalist Books

“The Elusive Force: Case of Psychokinesis” from the 3 Beards Podcast on YouTube

“Terrifying true case of 13-year-old Polish poltergeist girl” on reddit r/abovethenormnews

Ghosted!: Exploring the Haunting Reality of Paranormal Encounters by Brian Laythe, James Houran, Neil Dagnall

Sosnowiec, Poland

William G. Roll

Chris French

“Unforgettable Uri Geller Appearance | Carson Tonight Show” on the Johnny Carson YouTube channel

“James Randi Demonstrates How 'psychic' Uri Geller Bends Spoons And Other Magic Tricks On The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” from the Fun Facts and Music YouTube channel

Spoon bending on Wikipedia

anomalistbooks.com

Related Books:

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CREDITS:

Episode 282: The Elusive Force – A Powerful Polish Poltergeist Part 2. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess. Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound. Music and Sound Design by Allen Carrescia. Tess Pfeifle, Producer and Lead Researcher. Ed Voccola, Technical Producer. Research Support from The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2024 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

[celeb-stalkerr]

Exploring the Magnificence of Mozart Operas

Exploring the Magnificence of Mozart Operas: Unveiling Mozart’s Musical Odyssey: From Child Prodigy to Opera Maestro! 🎶 Dive into the Secrets of Timeless Masterpieces! 🚀 #MozartMagic Visit More Stories: Best Places to Visit in November in the USA Travis Kelce’s dad on Taylor Swift HOPKINS COUNTY CIVIC CENTER Inspirational Quotes by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Totally Killer Movie Review Beyond the…

[midgeo]

Short Winter Quotes

"In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move." - Henry Rollins

"Winter is not a season, it's a celebration." - Anamika Mishra

"Winter forms our character and brings out our best." - Tom Allen

"Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour." - John Boswell

"Winter is the time when the world says, 'Slow down.' And you say, 'What? I'm just getting started!'" - Garrison Keillor

"Winter is the time when stars shine brighter, and the air is crisp with possibilities." - Unknown

"Winter is nature's way of saying, 'Up yours.'" - Robert Byrne

"Winter is the time for stories, staying in by the fire, and creating memories." - Ellen Hopkins

"Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius." - Pietro Aretino