#Spirit of Great Britain | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alterlest · 6 months

Text

𓃶 What Is The Wild Hunt?

The Wild Hunt is a common belief among many Northern European cultures. In short, the hunt is a cavalcade of ghosts, spirits, fairies, elves, and other spiritual beings that is said to sweep across our world every year. Depending on where your beliefs come from, when it happens will differ.

It is commonly believed that the leader of The Wild Hunt is a deity or figure of importance of some kind, such as Odin/Woden in Norse and Saxon traditions, or King Arthur in British lore. Other leaders of the hunt include but are not limited to:

𖤓 Arawn or Gwyn ap Nudd, commonly seen as the Welsh lords of Annwn

𖤓 Danish king Valdemar Atterdag

𖤓 The Norse dragon slayer Sigurd

𖤓 Biblical figures like Cain, Gabriel, Herod and the devil

𖤓 Gothic king Theodoric the Great

☾༺♰༻☽

𓃶 What Did People Do For The Wild Hunt?

The Wild Hunt was generally seen as a bad omen; one for destruction, famine, war, plague, or the death of the one who saw it. In many traditions, witnessing the hunt would result in the viewer being abducted to Otherworld or Underworld. Other times, those who were not protected would have their souls pulled from their bodies while they sleep, and they would join the menagerie of the dead.

To avoid this fate, people in Wales, for example, began the tradition of carving pumpkins as a way to avoid being taken by the fae. In Scandinavia, offerings like bread were put outside the home as an offering to the spirits joining Odin for the hunt.

☾༺♰༻☽

𓃶 When is The Wild Hunt?

Depending on where your beliefs stem from, there are various answers to this question.

In Britain, The Wild Hunt is associated with the autumn season, specifically around and on Samhain/The Autumn Equinox.

Scandinavian tradition tells us that they prepared for the hunt around December, specifically Yule/The Winter Equinox.

☾༺♰༻☽

𓃶 What Entities Are A Part of the Wild Hunt?

Many entities are associated with the Wild Hunt in different areas. These entities include but are not limited to:

𖤓 The Fae (The Sidhe, The Tlywyth Teg, etc)

𖤓 Spirits of the Dead

𖤓 Demons

𖤓 Valkyries

𖤓 The Spirits of Huntsmen or Nobles

𖤓 Horses (sometimes with an abnormal amount of legs)

𖤓 Wolves and dogs (sometimes spiritual in nature, i.e. the Cwn Annwn)

☾༺♰༻☽

#pagan witch #paganism #witchblr #witchcraft #the wild hunt #king arthur #avalon #gwyn ap nudd #arawn #welsh mythology #norse mythology #norse paganism #fairies #fae folk #fae #faerie #ghost #spirituality #celtic paganism

479 notes · View notes

thewitcheslibrary · 23 days

Text

Beltane

The date of the holiday: 1st may

History: Beltane is derived from the Celtic term Baal or Bel, which meaning "Bright One." As farmers prepared to shift their livestock from winter pastures to summer grazing in the hills, they sought protection and abundance from the gods by starting fires and herding cattle through the flames to the summer grazing fields. This was thought to protect the herd from attack while also increasing fertility.

In more practical terms, these bonfires were most likely used to burn brush heaps and clear space for planting and pastureland. In the home, hearth fires were extinguished and replaced with flames from Beltane bonfires. People often walked the perimeters of their properties or towns to evoke additional protection for the next year. Yellow flowers were used to decorate doorways, windows, and even cattle during Beltane.

Like all of the Wheel of Year sabbat celebrations, Beltane was a time for merry making and feasting. People would write a wish upon a ribbon and tie it a to a tree, in the hopes that the gods would grant them. Hawthorn, ash, thorn and sycamore trees were believed to be the best trees for making wishes.

Dew gathered on Beltane was thought to have special properties for increased beauty and youthfulness.

Beltane and sexuality- SLIGHT NSFW WARNING!

Part of Celtic Beltane beliefs revolved around the holy union of the God and Goddess, which people celebrated by having sex on Beltane. Usually outside, to further connect with nature. Children conceived at Beltane (and hence born at Imbolc) were regarded to belong to the Goddess, and were commonly referred to as'merry-be-gots', with a particular tie to the faerie world. Beltane, like Samhain, was a period when the curtain between the worlds became thinner, allowing ghosts to pass through. Unlike Samhain, the visiting ghosts were not looking for a feast or a quick chat with relatives. The spirits of Beltane were considered to be seeking reincarnation or sexual intercourse.

The topic of sexuality runs throughout Beltane. The Maypole, which maidens usually adorn and celebrate, is a phallic emblem signifying masculine strength, whereas the cauldron represents female power. Women who desired to produce a child would start a small fire, place the cauldron on it, and then leap over it.

To go Maying, or picking flowers and other flora in adjacent woodlands, was associated with casual sex in the woods. There was no stigma connected with out-of-wedlock marriage, and hand-fasting was prevalent, in which two individuals bonded together for a year and a day. Beltane activities such as the Maypole were forbidden by the Puritans in parts of Great Britain in the 17th century, owing in part to their overt sexuality.

END OF THE NSFW -

Symbols of beltane-

Colors: White, dark green, red

Foods: Dairy foods, honey, oats, mead, lamb

Stones: Sapphire, blood stone, emerald, orange carnelian, rose quartz

Symbols: Goat, honeybee, cown, fairies, pegasus, rabbits, flower crown, maypole, basket

Flowers & Plants: Primrose, lilac, hawthorn, birch, Rosemary, Ivy, woodruff, rowan, violet, alfalfa, cedar, peppermint lavendar

Deities: Aphrodite, Artemis, Freya, Rhiannon, Apollo, Bel/Belnos, The Great Horned God, BÓand/Boann

Setting intentions during this time-

Beltane has traditionally been a fertility celebration. However, if you don't have infants in mind, that's OK! Beltane is an excellent opportunity to reflect on creativity and success. Beltane is the moment to follow through on your objectives from Imbolc and Ostara. Perhaps you've been thinking about launching a company; Beltane is the time to set an appointment with the bank and inquire about finance. Perhaps you've been writing a book and now it's time to contact publishers or locate an agent. Beltane, with its promise of harvest and fruitfulness, is a time to take inspired action and be confident.

Ways to celebrate-

Chose one of the deities listed above and honour them in some way, yes even if you dont work with them. You can still celebrate them and wear or do things associated with them, just do so respectfully! Eat some of the foods associated with beltane! Even if you just eat a bowl of oats with honey for breakfast, its a good and simple way to celebrate. And its perfect if you can't openly celebrate, it just looks like your enjoying some food. You could also drink peppermint tea!

Wear some of the colours and carry the stones and gems around with you during this day. You can incorporate both colour magic and crystal magic by doing this and is also just easy to hide and do subtly! - everyone wears clothes (hopefully) and you can just say you are collecting rocks and crystals because you find them cool! - Flower crowns can be incorporated into outfits too.

Buy flowers or make a bouquet with the flowers associated with the holiday! They will make your space or altar look colourful, and flowers are pretty. This isnt as easy to hide, but if people do ask you can tell them you just liked them and treated yourself!

Set aside time for some self care - treat yourself to a special meal, music, aromas - whatever make you feel special!- with this you could use the plants, herbs, crystals, candles in the colours associated with them and some drawn symbols and put together a ritual bath! - bit of a clean up after but again its somewhat easy to hide

some less subtle way to celebrate.

Hold a bonfire for family and friends

Take action on a project you’ve been working on

Decorate a tree with colorful ribbons that represent your wishes for the coming year

Make flower crowns

Walk your property and give thanks and ask for protection in the coming year

Decorate your home yellow flower wreaths, bouquets or garlands

#pagan witch #witch #witchblr #witchcore #witchcraft #beltane #wheel of the year #witchy stuff

59 notes · View notes

sabosbabygirl · 1 year

Text

Here’s my take on How I think Simon Ghost Riley would treat you plus a lil bit abt SAS.

I’m military, so I’m using my knowledge, have seen and what I have actually researched

Simon is my favorite Britain

Also idk why ppl keep saying “i wish british ppl existed?!” Like they do…fictional ppl don’t 😔

First off SAS is one of theeeee best special forces teams in the World. The US equivalent would be the Army Delta Force (the unit).

The SAS go through physical and mentally exhausting trainings. Only the fittest, hardest and most resourceful soldiers become part of the SAS.

SAS is real and is British lol. Its not made up. In fact most of the CoD stuff is real minus the operators and respawning after dying lol.

Lets dive into how he would treat you:

-Ghost and Simon same guy but different. Ghost is the job version. While Simon is your sweet honeybun.

-I will forever say this but NO HE DOES NOT WEAR THE MASK OUTSIDE WORK..any special forces personnel that does is stupid tbh. Bc that is risking his entire life, family, friends, etc.

-The man drinks bourbon. It is said, and I’ve researched this, that people that drink bourbon are: unique, passionate, complex and free spirits. I mean the man dumped a dude in a garbage can after killing him..thats free spirited enough for me.

-He is an old soul. He may be in his mid 30s but he has a wealthy amount of knowledge. Another perk to being an old soul is once his eyes are on you, they are only on you.

-Observant. That one dress you like but in a different color, he’d notice. The new hairstyle, he’d be first to compliment you. He is observant to every detail. All your scars, freckles, curves, all of it. As a special forces personnel they have to be observant and aware of their surroundings.

-Loyal. The man is SAS, loyal to his country..so why would he not be loyal to you?!

-Having a bad day and he’s not there, the florist down the shop got his message and will be bringing you flowers. Having a bad day and he is home: he got off early and raced home. Made your favorite tea, started your bath, ordered pizza and has that scented candle on.

-Passionate! The man loves his job. You can tell by way he performs execution moves and the way he shoots perfectly. But that also translates outside the field. He is passionate towards you. Expressing his love whether it be through sex, taking care of the house, cooking or as simple as “did you eat, my love?”.

-Expert at many things. You need your car fixed, he’ll do it (just don’t ask him to drive it), need a new coat of paint on the walls, he’s there with a roller brush. That dishwasher is leaking, he’s got his tools out ready to be your bob the fixer or whatever.

-Sex is great! When the man goes on missions, tbh, the chances of him having time, whether it be actual time or alone time to masturbate to you is probably slim. But once he is home. Its game over. That pussy is his and he’ll be swimming in it all night long.

-Honestly he’s a good man. Claims to have a cold heart but considering his past trauma and his SAS experience, I don’t blame him for having a wall up. But once he meets you, he will tear that shit down and settle with you.

#cod mw2 #cod mw2 headcanons #simon ghost riley #ghost cod #simon riley #ghost x you #ghost x reader #light read on ghost #ghost is baby

578 notes · View notes

alexa-santi-author · 2 years

Text

Why the "Regency Era" is a fantasy realm

I've seen some interesting discussions back and forth about making historical fiction and particularly historical romance more inclusive, and I do think that there's some merit to the argument that merely inserting BIPOC as part of the ruling class erases many of the historic struggles people went through in terms of both class and race.

However, there's something that people don't seem to realize when it comes to the Regency Era: it's a fantasy realm that was primarily created by a single author.

Just as J.R.R. Tolkien published his Lord of the Rings books and created a world that would loom over the fantasy genre for decades to come, Georgette Heyer created the Regency Era in a way that I think people looking at the romance genre from the outside don't really understand.

Heyer wrote several historical romances and mystery novels prior to 1935, but it was with Regency Buck that she introduced her version of the Regency Era, a version that has actually been far more influential in popular culture than that of Jane Austen. (Most of the Austen adaptations pull more from Heyer than people realize, especially in terms of manners.) Heyer's world is all polite society heroes with a stiff upper lip and perhaps a tinge of rakishness, spirited yet virginal heroines, and a cast of supporting characters that range from younger brothers to elderly aunts.

There are very few hints that anyone outside the aristocracy is of any consequence, or even knows how to behave themselves, even when the middle-class daughter of a rich "Cit" marries an impoverished aristocrat in A Civil Contract. Sex exists, but only behind firmly closed doors and, for the heroines, only after marriage.

And what about the minorities that we know lived in Great Britain during the Regency Era? Not just the racial minorities that included Black citizens and former slaves as well as Indian immigrants, but also religious minorities? They pretty much don't exist in Heyer's world, apart from a few anti-Semitic stereotypes of rapacious Jewish moneylenders that make modern readers cringe when they stumble across an unbowdlerized edition. There are a few jokes and whispers about "unmanly" men, but that's about it for LGBTQIA+ representation as well.

Given what we now know about the Regency Era -- and we know a lot more than Heyer did when she was writing almost a hundred years ago -- we know that her view of Regency society was as artificial as Tolkien's world. Despite her use of historical sources, her romance novels are set in a fantasy world that melds the fashions and historical events of the Regency with the Victorian morals and mores that Heyer herself was raised with. The Regency Era was the late Georgian Era and was far more vulgar and free-wheeling than Heyer was willing to admit. She left out the people who didn't fit into her vision of the Regency, which showed an Anglo-Saxon ruling class that deserved to rule because of their natural superiority.

So my opinion about TV shows and films like Bridgerton and Mr. Malcolm's List that show an inclusive aristocracy in the Regency Era is ... well, it's all fantasy anyway, isn't it? Why not make the fantasy inclusive since the whole era is Heyer's illusion dressed up with a few historical details?

And if you want to try and argue that Heyer was historically accurate about everything, be prepared: I have sources that Heyer either ignored or did not have available to her. Look up Benjamin Silliman's 1803 journal of his trip to Great Britain sometime.

#mr malcolm’s list #historical romance #regency romance #historical romantic fiction #romance genre #diverse romance #bridgerton #georgette heyer

1K notes · View notes

sspookyspoonss · 6 months

Text

I watched the fnaf film today (Britain moment) and omg I loved it.

Spoiler free review:

The plot is not revolutionary, it’s what you’d expect. Fun rather than scary. Definitely a film for fans (and one they will love, I have never heard a cinema react more than with this film nor have I had such a blast watching one).

Now for spoilers. I just need to collect my thoughts somewhere so this may be a complete mess but I don’t care, I’m just so happy.

Characters:

Mike and Abbey: They had a good dynamic. I was a bit concerned with how annoying Abbey was at the start but she ended up really adorable. The initial bratty behaviour really helps build our relationship with Mike. I also like how she just acts like a kid, she gets excited when she sees cool animatronic animals and reacts as you would expect when she thinks her aunt is gonna take her away. I really liked her which surprised me honestly.

Congratulations to Mike Schmidt for having common sense and communication skills. This man actually accepts what’s going on and rolls with it and this is definitely to the films benefit seeing as we know what’s up with the animatronics. Also, instead of going ‘oh no my sister is drawing stuff I see in my dreams guess I’ll look concerned about it’ he actually sits her down and talks it out which I really appreciated. I genuinely felt awful for Mike, the guy clearly has it rough and still is struggling due to his brothers murder. The scene where he sees what he could have had was genuinely touching and made me really feel for the guy. I think he was a solid protagonist.

Vanessa was cool, a fun character but not explored too extensively. She’s Williams daughter and knows exactly what’s going on at Freddy’s (possessions, bodies in suits and all) and has kept quiet due to William’s abuse. This is stated right at the end of the film and her having some history with Freddy’s is hinted at throughout. My non-fnaf friends missed that William’s abuse is why she never did anything because it was only stated in like at a push two lines and never shown in a flashback. This was a bit of a shame as it would’ve characterised her and William more and added to the sympathy we felt for her because she is still hiding that 5 kids bodies are in the animatronics while on the police force. Other than that I loved her childlike excitement when with Abbey and building the fort but also that she clearly had some deeper trauma related to Freddy’s.

William Afton: That Spring Bonnie entrance HOLY SHIT. The Silver Eyes! Genuinely the best shot in the film, it was creepy and so cool from a fan perspective, the cinema was hyped. From the get go when he’s in Steve Raglan mode and is describing Freddy’s, Matthew Lillard is nailing it. You immediately get that this is a sick man who is getting so much glee out of describing this place and knowing he’s getting another victim out of this whole thing. When he appears again at the end and taunts Vanessa it is again amazing characterisation, really sells that this guy is just an awful abusive plank. The way he shouts and kicks Mike, while a tad goofy because animal costume, was another great character moment, the sick joy he’s clearly getting from torturing Mike is evident from the line delivery. We also get a glimpse of why he does it, degrading the animatronics as they surround him and taunting them that he made them like that to hold on to the feeling of power he gets from his murders. Like I said before, I would’ve liked some content of him and Vanessa when she was younger to flesh that dynamic out more, but overall I loved the portrayal. It is all that I thought William Afton would be, a cruel egomaniac with no remorse and a God complex. The moments we got of him were highlights.

Golden Freddy/vengeful spirit kid: Another great character lifted from the games. From what we know of Cassidy, boy does he live up to vengeful. Very cold and downright manipulative towards Mike in the nightmare scenes where they interact directly. The bit at the end where he stands staring a William dying in the suit was just fantastic and a great nod to UCN.

The aunt: She does her job, you hate her and makes you root for Mike but beyond that nothing noteworthy.

Moments in the film:

Cold Open: It was very exciting. Great to see the animatronics in action. The acknowledgement of the 2nd and 3rd games vent mechanics where also cool. Probably the most downright scary it gets.

Opening credits: An amazingly animated scene which explained the backstory and paid homage to the 8-bit mini games of the series. We also got our purple guy actually purpling. It was very cool to finally see the actual luring in some form in official media. A lovely mini tribute to a core aspect of the games.

The Foxy runs: Yes they did it 3 times. Lazy? Maybe. But did it have me giggling like a schoolgirl each time? Absolutely. The humming ripped from the game made me smile like a child on Christmas the first time I heard it. The second run was fantastically shot. Seeing him at the end of the hall and cutting to a close up shot/jumpscare was great, up there with one of the best moments for me personally.

The break in: WAS THAT THE BITE OF ‘87?!? Freddy bit that woman fully in half and it was incredible, probably the scariest the film gets. There is only so scary you can really make the animatronics outside of the game setting so it wasn’t especially scary outside the previously mentioned bite. I was just smiling the whole time while these people were getting murdered because I have waited for 7 years to see this stuff happen on the big screen. Is the cupcake (which is used multiple times) goofy? Yes. But boy does it do some damage (that poor man’s face) and is a fun Nightmare Chica bedroom jumpscare nod.

Seeing the endo’s: Just wow, it looked so good.

They build a fort: The animatronics just join forces with the main character about half way though and build a fucking den in the middle of the Pizzeria. It was very funny and plain good fun. Bonnie fell over which was very dumb but in the charming way. It’s nice to see the film acknowledge that these are children haunting the suits, of course they’re gonna want to do dumb kiddish stuff like this given the chance. Not what I was expecting at all but Freddy Fazbear held a chair so my life is now somehow complete.

The weird ghost attack: Jeez Mike goes through it from those ghost kids. I’m glad they did it that rather than having him get beaten up by robot suits. But boy does he get it rough, properly gets beaten up.

Golden Freddy in Mike’s house: Pretty cool. Again vengeful spirit does a lot of the lifting on the scary part but God is Golden Freddy’s design cool. Genuinely one of my favourite renditions of the character design wise. It’s unfortunate we never got to see him slumped over.

The explanation to why the ghost are attacking: This wasn’t explained great. Basically, William is somehow manipulating the kids since they don’t remember anything however we only I get an ‘I don’t know how he does it but he does’ from Vanessa which isn’t very satisfying. That said I’m not sure how else the film could’ve explained it. The whole ‘show them what really happened’ hardly made any sense apart from the ‘kids learn through pictures’ stuff given at the beginning.

Saving Abbey: Not scary, but the animatronics are cool and the Freddy snapping over in Mike’s direction was awesome. However, overall the final act wasn’t the strongest aside from the few minutes William showed up.

The Springlocks: It. Happened. Was it overly gory? No. No screaming in agony either. But it was so cool to see it happen. I know others will probably be disappointed with it but I honestly felt it was completed by the later scene where William is still dying in the suit and reaching out for Cassidy to help him. Basically it wasn’t as extreme as what everyone hoped for (basically that amazing fan audio that I don’t know where comes from) but it was still great to see. I also liked how the animatronics dragged him off while he writhed, though the writhing was subtle due to how bulky the suit was.

‘I always come back’: This got cheers and was good to hear. My initial reaction was that it felt forced because he says it as he puts the suit head back on as he dies but my non-FNaF friend had a different perspective which made me kind of like it. He thought it was him saying ‘I’ve always been come back and have been using you to hurt others and you didn’t realise,’ as a final taunt in line with his previous ones. It made me think about it more and I think I get the intention now. I think he was declaring that the ‘yellow rabbit’ that killed them will reappear to hurt them again because even if they kill him, he knows he will come back because he will possess the suit like the children have. In putting the suit on he’s just making sure he can haunt and hurt them longer. So yeah, with some deeper thought, I quite like this moment, it makes the agony of he’s in in the following scene with Cassidy more karmic, he might still be able to come back now but GOD is he suffering for it.

The credits: WE WON. They played The Living Tombstone! First two notes and the cinema erupted, I’ve never heard anything like it when watching a film, not even with Avengers: Endgame way back when, you could tell everyone was elated. The waves of nostalgia! I was smiling and dancing in my chair and my non-FNaF friends will probably never let me live it down. I cannot describe how good it felt to hear that song, felt like my childhood was completed.

References:

These are the ones I noticed on a first viewing-

Right off the bat the book with ‘Dream Theory’ plastered on the front made me chuckle and immediately made me know that I was gonna have a blast watching this.

Chica’s Magic Rainbow as a ice cream shop(?) logo was a fun little nod to fnaf world that I’m glad was put in.

The ‘It’s Me’ in the mirror.

The Foxy kid screamed and had black inky tears out of his eyes which is a double whammy reference for the ghost children designs in games and also remnant (a concept which goes unmentioned).

Rouge blurry Bonnie plush in a shot was fun.

Fnaf 1 poster in the office.

The infamous box in parts and service.

Bad Chica Halloween costume mask.

Abbey hiding in the Ballpit being an ‘Into the Pit’ book reference.

Balloon boy of all characters unironically having the most startling jumpscares in the entire film.

The Springlock suit that they tried putting Abbey in was Baby, her design from the books, more precisely the design off of the 3rd ‘Fazbear Frights’ book which made me slightly giddy. It looked REALLY cool as a suit regardless of if it was a reference.

The ‘Save Them’ at the end of the credits: Holy hell my jaw hit the floor, such a fun treat for staying right the way through them.

Cameos:

CoryxKenshin: We already knew about the first one but he appears mid credits and gets Balloon Boy-ed which was very funny.

MatPat: The cinema went mad, properly shouting with excitement. Apparently he had a ‘that’s just a theory’ reference in the line he said but everyone was cheering too loud so I couldn’t hear it. It made me very happy he was there considering he’d played it like he wasn’t asked.

The fnaf YouTubers on the wall: Don’t think you got a good look at it so you wouldn’t know if you hadn’t already heard it was a thing.

To conclude:

Overall it was a film I really enjoyed, just a blast to watch that, while flawed in places, made me smile, laugh and excited point like an idiot at the screen. Films are allowed to be dumb fun and this is one of them, especially for a fnaf fan. I love this film and I don’t care what anyone says because it is 2 hours of my childhood.

#genuinely loved this #fnaf film #fnaf movie #fnaf film spoilers #spoilers #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #fnaf movie spoilers #fnaf spoilers

62 notes · View notes

l-carlyle · 1 year

Text

Lockwood & Co. feature on the January 2023 Issue of the SFX Magazine

I'll put the text under the break if anyone can't access the photos :-)

"JOE CORNISH IS HAUNTED. NOT BY ANY BONE chilling apparition or plate-flinging poltergeist but by a time. A vanished age, of strange torments and diabolical dread.

“This is a world of draughty houses and windows that don’t quite close properly and creaky floorboards and clicking pipes,” he tells SFX, smiling over a Zoom connection. “The world I remember from my childhood, before double-glazing and insulation!”

Welcome to the phantom-infested Britain of Lockwood & Co. It’s a little like the 1970s, only even weirder. Adapted from the popular series of books by Jonathan Stroud, this new Netflix offering pits swashbuckling teens against the unquiet dead in a London spilling over with paranormal activity. Even the local A-Z, you strongly suspect, drips with ectoplasm.

ANATOMY OF A GHOST “I love supernatural stories,” says Cornish, who serves as lead writer and director on the eight-part series, “and it’s unusual to find a story where the science of ghosts has been so thoughtfully defined. There’s a broad set of rules for ghosts that most stories adhere to, but there’s not really an almost Darwinesque analysis of different types of ghosts, different species, different behaviours, a taxonomy.

“The idea that they can kill you by touching you completely changes the dynamic of a ghost story, brings it into the action-adventure realm. So you get everything great about a ghost story but these other genre elements really take it into a new place. “On top of that you’ve got terrific worldbuilding. This takes place 50 years into a ghost epidemic, and the world has really changed because of it. Different economics and different social structures have emerged. Because young people are more sensitive to the supernatural, which is a classic trope in ghost stories, it’s extrapolated into this world where young people are employed by massive adult-run agencies to detect and fight ghosts. “So it’s a pretty amazing bit of thinking, based on a very attractive set of genre ideas that have been around for ages but have never really been reinvented in such a clever way.”

It’s a more analogue world, where technological progress stuttered. And that’s a premise that appeals to Cornish, who made his name with the hand-tooled, micro-budget joys of The Adam And Joe Show – a pioneering ’90s celebration of geek culture, knocked together from toys, love and cardboard – before promotion to the big screen as director of Attack The Block in 2011.

“The world changed tack when the problem started, because everything that would be regarded as pseudo-science became real science,” he explains. “So the world stopped at the time of Amstrad word processors! “It became a more industrial world, because iron and salt and water can repel ghosts, so suddenly these almost Victorian industries are revived. Also, in a weird parallel way, old things are suddenly scary. Anything with an ancient history is potentially lethal, because it might be the source of a ghost.

“For me it felt like the early ’80s, when I was a teenager, because that was kind of pre-digital. It was a world that still had analogue media and you could buy records and fanzines. There was a world of printed youth culture that existed in a social way, that wasn’t on telephones and computers. You communicated in a much more person-to-person way back then. So that was pleasing for me as well – the series has this kind of retro-contemporary feel to it that’s half modern and half 50 years ago.” The spectral aesthetic in Lockwood & Co also takes inspiration from the past. “We started by looking at Victorian spirit photography. Because photography is pre-digital, it’s chemical, the ghosts feel very different, like a real physical presence. They feel as if they exist in the world of natural physics – we can’t really get away with hiding them.

“In other movies or TV shows you might glimpse a ghost as a jump scare and then it’s gone. Our ghosts are really present, and our characters fight with them, so we had to come up with a design that you could really train the camera on, and involve in an action sequence, and would be able to leap around and dive and swoop and bolt into a corner.

“They’re all made out of smoke, they’re all made out of something ethereal. There are lots of different types in the series, lots of colours and densities and shapes. We tried to get away from super-digital ghosts and make them feel like they could really exist in a science experiment.”

Lockwood & Co looses its phantoms in some genuinely creepy abodes. What’s the secret of bringing a legitimately goosefleshing haunted house to the screen?

“We worked really hard on lighting, and light levels, making sure stuff was legible enough but that you’re also slightly peering into the shadows. I think sound is hugely important, and also silence. A lot of modern media is frightened of silence and when nothing happens that’s often the most interesting moment. We tried not to do too many jump scares. We do one or two, but we try and create an atmosphere of creeping fear rather than give people heart attacks.”

Stroud’s five-novel Lockwood series launched with The Screaming Staircase in 2013 (the TV version adapts this tale but also goes beyond it, Cornish reveals). Its young ghostbusters are Lucy Carlyle, gifted with psychic powers, and Anthony Lockwood, the dashing and enigmatic founder of the only agency to operate without adult supervision. The show captures the dashing spirit of the books, quippy heroes slicing at wraiths with rapiers, but plays things commendably straight.

“It’s a very sincere endeavour,” acknowledges Cornish. “We believe in the characters and we believe in the world. Stuff like this only works if you really commit to it and decide that it’s real. I don’t love shows where the characters are winking at the camera, or there are meta jokes. I want the world to be completely absorbing and credible.

“One of the most important and compelling things for people who love these books is the relationship between Lockwood and Lucy. It’s a relationship that has an enormous fandom – there’s an amazing amount of fan art out there. It’s a sort of unrequited will-they-won’t they relationship. This is a world where young people shoulder an incredibly grave burden, at a time in their life when they shouldn’t be thinking about death, or mortality, all the things that older people have to think about, and yet here they are, armed with weapons, having to fight things that could kill them.

“But then another brilliant thing about the novels is that if you get too depressed you get more vulnerable, so the ghosts can get you if you feel too bleak. So they have to cheer each other up and make quips and jokes, for safety purposes. We just approached the whole thing as if it was completely real.”

Given the rabid fandom, getting the casting of the leads right was crucial. Bridgerton’s Ruby Stokes ultimately won the role of Lucy. “She’s the centre of the story,” Cornish tells SFX. “She’s vulnerable, damaged, kind of abused and exploited as a child, comes from a broken home, has lost her father, yet has incredible gumption and ambition and a very strong sense of self-preservation. “She has this gift that she really doesn’t want, and she packs her bags, runs away from home and sets out to London with no qualifications, nowhere to stay the night. Her powers are an expression of her emotional sensitivity. In the book it’s like teenage emotions are being made into a supernatural power.

“So we just had to find an incredible young actor who felt like she could do it, and who you believed had that inner emotional life. Before I did this I always wondered how castings worked, whether there was some super complicated methodology. But a person just walks into the room and you go, ‘Do I believe that she’s Lucy?’ Ruby was actually one of the first people we saw, and we all just went, ‘Oh, there she is! There’s Lucy Carlyle!’”

Newcomer Cameron Chapman bagged the title role. “Lockwood was much harder, actually,” shares Cornish. “We saw hundreds and hundreds of actors, and Cameron came in pretty late in the day, at the eleventh hour. And that’s equally hard, because he’s got to be sort of handsome and cool and yet really vulnerable and haunted. He’s got to have swagger and braggadocio but also be a bit of a bullshit artist. He’s like a sort of teen entrepreneur. In the ’80s everybody wanted to be a teen entrepreneur, and he’s that made flesh. But he’s also wounded and secretive and has sort of a death wish.

“Cameron had all that. Weirdly, he looks very like the illustrations on the book covers, and he wears that long coat really well. He does the charisma, he does the vulnerability, he’s a bit of a dick – not in real life, in terms of acting! – and then he can be very romantic and swoony. It’s a heck of a part for a young actor.

Out of the three main actors [Ali Hadji-Heshmati plays George, Lockwood’s second-in-command] he’s the guy who really hadn’t been on camera before, but he does an exceptional job.” But while fan approval is vital, even more key is winning the heart and mind of the man who dreamed up Lucy, Lockwood and their spook-riddled world in the first place.

“Jonathan has been very involved from the start,” says Cornish. “I formed a relationship with him in order to get him to give us the rights to the book, and then we’ve let him read every draft of the scripts. He’s come to visit the set, he’s sat down with the actors. He’s really into it and he’s been extraordinarily supportive, but sensibly he said to us, ‘Look, you go and do your thing. I understand this is a different beast, between the page and the screen.’

“But I hope, and I trust, that he has been surprised by how much we’ve just stuck to what he’s done. Because it’s really, really good. He’s provided pretty incredible material.”

Lockwood & Co is on Netflix from 27 January.

#lockwood and co #l&co. netflix #ruby stokes #cameron chapman #ali hadji-heshmati #lucy carlyle #anthony lockwood #george karim

396 notes · View notes

theemeraldforestgazette · 10 months

Text

Witches in Britain fall on either side of the divide and the divide runs along the border of Wales and the Highland line of Scotland. So on one side the Scottish Highlands and islands and Wales, and the other side is lowland Scotland and England. And they are actually two different cultures when it comes to witch hunting - they are two different cultures in other ways as well. What they have in common, although with great variations between them, is that they are Celtic societies. In Celtic speaking societies there doesn't seem to be a disposition to hunt witches, instead, misfortune tends to be blamed on land spirits - faeries.

Professor Ronald Hutton puts forward his theory for why, historically, there was a lack of witch hunts in the Celtic speaking societies of Britain, in comparison to the non-Celtic parts i.e England. Transcription from the podcast series 'Witch' - Episode 2 - Natural Magic. Full series can be found here

#witches #pagan #celtic #wales #cymru #scotland #highlands #witch trials #witchy #land spirits #faeries #celt #professor ronald hutton #ronald hutton #witch hunt #celtic nations #history #culture #emeraldgazette

76 notes · View notes

clown-owo · 3 months

Text

Ace attorney characters ranked based on how well I think they dance

Phoenix Wright: 6/10 he’s nothing to write home about but he took a musical theater class or two in college so he can keep a beat at least.

Mia Fey: 6/10 no real interest in dancing but she's not bad or anything. could keep up with Diego well enough

Apollo Justice: 4/10 he wouldn’t suck so bad if he could just loosen up.

Athena Cykes: 9/10 very fit. does cardio. has taken some dance classes for fun.

Maya Fey: 8/10 what she lacks in skill she makes up for in spirit

Pearl Fey: 6/10 has the physical abilities to dance but not the confidence. also has very little reference for how she could be dancing

Trucy Wright: 8/10 performer with good dexterity for sleight of hand. Music isn’t really her area of expertise but she does well enough. enjoys playing just dance with Athena

Miles Edgeworth: 3/10 he can do one dance and it’s the Steel Samurai season 4 ending credits dance and he does it flawlessly but nothing else. took ballroom dancing classes with the von Karmas but he wasn’t particularly adept.

Franziska von Karma: 4/10 she found the aforementioned ballroom dancing classes tedious but damn if she wasn’t going to perform in them perfectly. she can’t do anything else and refuses to try

Godot: 7/10 he can do a killer tango

Klavier Gavin: 2/10 despite being an internationally famous rockstar, when performing he usually has a guitar in his hands so he’s never needed to dance. he cannot dance. he doesn’t particularly want this info getting out

Simon Blackquill: 6/10 danced with Athena a fair bit growing up. knows several anime dances

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi: 7/10 i haven't met this guy yet but my friend tells me they think he'd know a fair bit of traditional dances.

Winston Payne: 0/10 or 10/10 no in between. he's either literal garbage or so bad it loops back around to incredible. he had insane disco game in the 70s but now all the rookies laugh at him.

Larry Butz: 8/10 best dancer between him, Phoenix and Miles. he’s gotta be getting his girlfriends somehow

Dick Gumshoe: 5/10 a little too clumsy and can't keep a beat well but bonus points for his enthusiasm

Ema Skye: 1/10 doesn't even try

Kay Faraday: 10/10 incredible dexterity and physical ability. lots of whimsy and spirit.

Sebastian Debeste: 3/10 despite the baton, no real sense of rhythm

Manfred von Karma: 4/10 the one to sign Franziska and Miles up for ballroom dance lessons

Matt Engarde: 2/10 he got the jammin samurai killed so I don’t think he can jam

Dahlia Hawthorne: 8/10 she can boogie. gets down at clubs and parties. arguably the most normal about dancing

Sister Iris: 7/10 had to learn to boogie to properly emulate her sister but she isn’t quite as suited for it and has much less experience

Kristoph Gavin: 1/10 he likes watching but he doesn’t dance at all

Ryunosuke Naruhodo: 10/10 the most beautiful dance of deductions you've ever seen in your life

Susato Mikotoba: 10/10 while she's not particularly skilled with a koto, she learned to dance from the best

Herlock Sholmes: 10/10 THE dancer. THE ONE AND ONLY great detective known for his dance of deductions

Iris Wilson: 10/10 raised by the aforementioned one and only herlock sholmes

Yujin Mikotoba: 10/10 took to tap dancing incredibly well during his time in britain

Kazuma Asogi: 6/10 he's not particularly good but he somehow makes it look cool anyway

Barok Van Zieks: 7/10 used to be much better, before the professor kililngs he actually enjoyed dancing a fair bit. took classes growing up. retained a lot of the muscle memory

Gina Lestrade: 6/10 she doesn't have any training but if she did she'd do fairly well

Tobias Gregson: 2/10 he's the best investigator at scotland yard according to Sholmes, so you can imagine how bad the rest of the yard is at dancing

Maria Gorey: 8/10 she can dance just fine she just has no interest. the one time they got her to dance Herlock had very courteously offered his body up for dissection. "AFTER I'M DEAD, WOMAN!"

Albert Harebrayne: 1/10 he can't. he tries. Barok tried to teach him. he understands the theory! he knows the steps! he can't do it. he can't.

#thanks 2 @burstfoot for her invaluable contributions #og post #Ace Attorney #AA #The Great Ace Attorney #TGAA #i am NOT tagging all those freaks there are nearly more characters than i can tag on a single post #i put their full names they show up in the search its fine its whatever #look away spout

32 notes · View notes

nocternalrandomness · 14 days

Text

"Can you hear the howl?"

#Avro #Vulcan #XH558 #Bomber #Cold War Bomber #Nuclear Bomber #Spirit of Great Britain #V Bomber #Iconic aircraft #Airshow #RIAT #B.2 #If you know you know

40 notes · View notes

wanderingsorcerer · 10 months

Text

CELTIC FOLKLORE&MYTHOLOGY 101

The Celts have a rich and beautiful history but one that is filled with many sorrows as well. From the invasion of the Roman Armies , to the forced conversion to christianity. Many of what we know now about the pre-colonization of the celtic people are through the "surviving" stories written by the Romans which occupied the lands and later the christian scribes of the middle ages. Some myths have only survived as stories passed down through Oral Traditions. Or through adopting Christian Attributes.

But even then, what has survived is but a mere fraction of what used to be, most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples (the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland; the Celtic Britons of western Britain and Brittany). When it comes to written folklore and mythologies of the celtic people, the Irish have the largest written myths in the region only seconded by the written Welsh mythologies.

Today we will be focusing mainly on the Irish and Welsh Folklore and Mythology

Below I will list some of the names of the deities and spirits found throughout the Irish Folklore and Mythos

Morrigan- Shape shifting Goddess Who Hovered over the battlefields as a crow or raven

Danu- Irish Mother Goddess

Dagda-Irish God Of Life and Death as well as Magick, Married to Morrigan

Brigid - Celtic Goddess of Fire, Poetry, Cattle and patroness of smiths

Arwan- God of the Celtic underworld

Taranis- God Of Thunder

Excerpt from wikipedia

IRISH MYTHOLOGY The myths are conventionally grouped into 'cycles'. The Mythological Cycle, or Cycle of the Gods, consists of tales and poems about the god-like Túatha Dé Danann and other mythical races.[6] Many of the Tuath Dé are thought to represent Irish deities. They are often depicted as kings, queens, druids, bards, warriors, heroes, healers and craftsmen who have supernatural powers. Prominent members of the Tuath Dé include The Dagda ("the great god"), who seems to have been the chief god; The Morrígan ("the great queen" or "phantom queen"), a triple goddess associated with war, fate and sovereignty; Lugh; Nuada; Aengus; Brigid; Manannán; Dian Cecht the healer; and Goibniu the smith, one of the Trí Dé Dána ("three gods of craft"). Their traditional rivals are the monstrous Fomorians (Fomoire), whom the Tuath Dé defeat in the Cath Maige Tuired ("Battle of Moytura"). Other important works in the cycle are the Lebor Gabála Érenn ("Book of Invasions"), a legendary history of Ireland, and the Aided Chlainne Lir ("Children of Lir"). WELSH FOLKLORE & MYTHOLOGY Important reflexes of British mythology appear in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, especially in the names of several characters, such as Rhiannon, Teyrnon, and Brân the Blessed (Bendigeidfran, "Bran [Crow] the Blessed"). Other characters, in all likelihood, derive from mythological sources, and various episodes, such as the appearance of Arawn, a king of the Otherworld seeking the aid of a mortal in his own feuds, and the tale of the hero who cannot be killed except under seemingly contradictory circumstances, can be traced throughout Proto-Indo-European mythology. The children of Llŷr ("Sea" = Irish Ler) in the Second and Third Branches, and the children of Dôn (Danu in Irish and earlier Indo-European tradition) in the Fourth Branch are major figures, but the tales themselves are not primary mythology. While further mythological names and references appear elsewhere in Welsh narrative and tradition, especially in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen, where we find, for example, Mabon ap Modron ("Divine Son of the Divine Mother"), and in the collected Welsh Triads, not enough is known of the British mythological background to reconstruct either a narrative of creation or a coherent pantheon of British deities. Indeed, though there is much in common with Irish myth, there may have been no unified British mythological tradition per se. Whatever its ultimate origins, the surviving material has been put to good use in the service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early and later Middle Ages.

The celtic traditions and their pagan Practitioners in the modern age.

One example of the modern practitioners which have celtic roots as a basis for their religion would be the New Druidic Movement of the 21st Century.

Born from the need of many who wish to delve deeper into their roots they've taken the historical context of the original druids of the Iron Age and have matched it closer with new age spirituality.

Druid~

The Old Irish form was "drui", and in Modern Irish and Gaelic the word is "draoi" or "druadh" (magician, sorcerer).

These New Druids take inspiration from the mythologies from all around the celtic regions, Ireland , Scotland, wales , Britannia. And brings them together to create what is now the new Druidic Order.

They are primarily animistic , ( All things in nature hold a spirit) and the majority of druids in this new order are also polytheistic. They hold Great Reverence towards the spirits of the land and the magick of the land of their ancestral Homeland.

Antiquity Does not mean authenticity, things don't need to be ancient in order for them to feel powerful and tangible to the practitioner. Druids as a living practice is an extension of the culture of the celtic people.

And as such it is not claiming to be the druids of the past, (as we have very little information on their practices and how they lived.) But as a cultural movement they strive to be the stewards of Folklore and Folk practices for the coming generations.

If you would like to learn more on the Druidic Faith and the nuances of specifically WELSH Druidic Faith take this course into consideration from the Anglesey Druidic order

Welsh Celtic Witchcraft

This is honestly something which holds great value in learning more about as it pertains to the extension of knowledge outside Of the perceived Celtic Belief Systems,

In Welsh folk practices , Witches and Magickal practitioners were apart of daily life , Healer and wise woman whose power was said to come from Magickal Tomes which held spirits of demons and fairies inside.

Folk practices in Wales include the CURSING WELLS Ffynon Elian, Fairy Mounds .

A Great many different curses passed down from family to family, a famous Curse going around the internet is the One In Which a woman who is angered pulls out their TIT and Curses a man To Meet an Untimely Demise. Don't worry they usually deserved it.

There are so many beautiful and wonderful Folk Practices in Wales and Celtic practices in which I can't cover here but if you want to learn more and have a vested interest in the occult practices of other cultures give me a follow.

For more information on Wales Folklore in Video Format Visit The Below Youtube Channel :)

And if you would like to support the above Practitioner Mhara Starling I will link their book Here for Purchase. They go in depth on the folklore and occult practices of the Welsh people

126 notes · View notes

therealvinelle · 2 months

Note

How does Norway view it’s royal family I’m from Canada and lets just say that we are not big monarchy fans. But I wonder about other countries because commonwealth countries are kind of in a unique situation where their royalty is actually royalty of another country (Britain) and we just pay for it. (no seriously, we pay more for the monarchy in canada than the uk does)

I can't speak for everyone, but I personally am in favor of having a royal family and would find it disappointing and a change for the worse if we became a republic.

The monarchy in Norway came about the right way, when the country became independent in 1905 the people voted with an overwhelming majority in favor of getting the Danish prince Carl to become our king. It was in order words not something imposed upon us by a thousand years of feudalism, but a newly independent people's choice to have a king of our own.

King Haakon proceeded to, when Norway was occupied by the Germans, refuse to accept our government's formal request to disband (as they had been driven into exile and could no longer govern), as well as refuse to surrender. Did this lead to war, yes, but it also meant that through the war we remained an occupied country with a legitimate government overseas broadcasting to every citizen by radio that we could look towards in place of the occupying government imposed upon us.

After King Haakon there was King Olav, who took the bus during the 1973 energy crisis so as to lead by example, and went skiing in the woods like everybody else, he was an immensely popular king. Now there is King Harald, who married a commoner in Queen Sonja and whose children have made even more scandalous marriages (Princess Märtha married an artist and author, Ari Behn, while the crown prince Haakon married a single mother of a child out of wedlock who was and in certain circles remains viewed as very low class), but both Harald and Sonja are very loved. Harald famously is very witty, and more importantly he is a very inclusive and kind-hearted person who made it explicitly clear he is as much the king of immigrants and LGBT people as he is everybody else. He has also competed in the Olympics seveal times, we love an athlete.

The big eyesore is Princess Märtha, whose sins and scandals are money but in a nutshell, she made the choice to be financially independent (good!) only to then do so in the worst ways she could manage. There was the angel school, where you would go learn how to speak with angels (I once went to a party where we read her book and followed her instructions on finding your aura, great fun and I recommend this for a party game), which had everyone laughing at her, to the much less funny adventure she is now on, where she has... gone full Gwyneth Paltrow. As in, she is engaged to a shaman who says children with cancer must have wished the cancer upon themselves and he will also cleanse women's vaginas of evil if they've had too much sex, and she has toured the country with this man using her princess title (The tour was called "The princess and the shaman") which... yes. When they are criticized, they say it's racism because he is black, this has not endeared them to many either.

She can live her life how she wishes, the fact that what she wishes is to give a platform to a man who talks about being a lizard who contains ancient spirits and also the 5G net is bad is what makes people upset and lose respect for the monarchy as a whole.

Personally, I remain in favor of the monarchy because she'll never be on the throne, she is already irrelevant in every way that matters. The relevant royals we do have do their jobs well and responsibly, which is where my wanting to have a monarchy in the first place comes in: I believe in the constitutional monarchy as we practice it in Norway.

The people who make the decisions will be elected by the people, but the person representing the country, whose job is only to represent and better the country through charities and strengthened diplomatic ties, has an advantage if he isn't political and gains a continuity from not being replaced every time he loses the election cycle. In these times of rising populism I think the advantage to having an apolitical head of state and military is even greater. We could in theory vote a populist party into power but we wouldn't have a populist president, the way certain countries experienced not too long ago and stand to do now. As for how one should go about finding such a non-political, continuous leader of the country, I think inheriting the position is as good a way as any to keep the transferrance of power from one sovereign to the next from getting political. In other words, monarchy but keep it constitutional.

(I'm also colored by how King Haakon handled the occupation, as well as how the King of Spain as recently as in 1981 prevented a military coup in Spain by denouncing the military's actions. How relevant these events are to the present day can be debated, but I think the past couple of years have proven that we should not take the status quo for granted and our democracies can come under threat. When they do, I prefer to have every safeguard imaginable in place for them. If that safeguard spend their time promoting art and charity that's just a big bonus.)

#monarchy #politics #americans incoming in 3... 2...

22 notes · View notes

gatheringbones · 1 year

Text

[“In the British colonies, men needed to act like men. Gender and sexual ambiguity were therefore frowned upon, as the famous case of Thomasine Hall and a growing list of anti-sodomy laws revealed. Those who bent, broke, or otherwise flouted European gender conventions were viewed with suspicion, at least in British eyes. Native Americans who changed their physical appearance were thus deemed unreliable military allies and trading partners; those who “lurked” along the trading paths or in the backcountry shadows of settler society became a constant source of colonial anxiety.

According to British church and civil authorities, effeminacy in the American colonies—especially in the hotter, more humid regions—could lead boys and men to “indolence,” “cowardice,” “luxury,” and “effeminacy.” Women, too, had to be reminded of the lessons of history’s great civilizations—the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans—to maintain prescribed feminine standards, lest they slide into robust masculine behaviors unbefitting their gender.

Eighteenth-century moral philosophers had a prescription for these anxieties: mastery of one’s passions. Men could master their passions by exercising rationality and cultivating their intellects. Retaining a rational mindset empowered one to express love “without effeminacy,” and to guard against “a weakness of nature.”

British men needed to know that “if the passions are acted on without restraint” the mind is injured and the body descends into “effeminacy, Sloth, Supineness, the Disorder and Looseness of a thousand Passions.” Stated simply, wise men avoid “excessive venery” if they want to prevent “softness and effeminacy.”

In England, individual mastery over emotions was linked to the class system. For elite men of “good breeding,” emotional control and rationality were markers of status. In North America, Thomas Jefferson strove to define a theory of good breeding that ordered people according to ranks. Other public figures felt that mastery of emotions should apply equally to all American colonists. So argued Sophia Hume in a sermon published in 1752. Following a trip to England, Hume rejoiced at her return to South Carolina. In Britain, she declared, “Vice, Softeness, Effeminacy and Luxury of most Kinds” prevailed. Carolinians—by which she meant Anglo-American settlers—had controlled these “noxious seeds” of sin and were on a path to greatness.

During the latter half of the eighteenth century, a number of political leaders and church ministers in British North America echoed Hume’s optimism. They urged continued vigilance to ensure that Anglo-Americans retained mastery over their passions. British colonists needed to ensure that their “friendships” remained sober, rational, measured. British settlers, like French and Spanish colonizers, monitored friendships. This proved particularly true of British surveillance of friendships among Indigenous men.”]

gregory d. smithers, from reclaiming two spirit: sexuality, spiritual renewal, and sovereignty in native america, 2022

#gregory d. smithers #history stuff #gender stuff #currently reading #white gender norms as part and parcel with white supremacy

275 notes · View notes

transmutationisms · 11 months

Note

hi!! big fan of your blog. you really changed my succession viewing experience and i can't wait to rewatch after reading the recs you've put up!

that being said, i read megan garber's piece in the atlantic about the animal imagery/darwinian implications in the show and really loved it (as a biologist with an interest in sociology lol). do you have any specific reading material relating to the topics in that piece? i'd just love to read more but not super sure what i'm even asking/looking for, so feel free to ignore!

hi! so, there's quite a large body of literature in history of biology that deals with the politics of evolutionary theory, including darwinism. you can read these in any order, though i would recommend starting with bob young's 'malthus and the evolutionists: the common context of biological and social theory' if you haven't already encountered it. this was a signal essay in historically grounding the argument that darwinian evolutionary theory read victorian industrial capitalism and malthusian population anxiety into the natural world, which was why it appealed to victorian men of science in a way that previous theories of evolution (sometimes referred to as species transformation or transmutationism, or transformisme / transformismo in france / italy) hadn't. bob was a marxist historian at a time when history of biology had been largely written by working scientists and naive positivists, and his methodological influence continues to be felt in the field today. anyway, these are only starting points and are centred on france and britain, and also i excluded p*ter b*wler because i hate his ass:

the politics of evolution: morphology, medicine, and reform in radical london, by adrian desmond

utopia's garden: french natural history from old regime to revolution, by emma spary

the age of lamarck: evolutionary theories in france, 1790–1830, by pietro corsi

l'introduction du darwinisme en france au xixe siècle, by yvette conry (<- i can't remember whether this was translated into english, sorry)

faces of degeneration: a european disorder, 1848–1918, by daniel pick

darwin: the life of a tormented evolutionist, by adrian desmond and james moore

the cuvier-geoffroy debate: french biology in the decades before darwin, by toby appel

evolution before darwin: theories of the transmutation of species in edinburgh, 1804–1834, by bill jenkins

the spirit of system: lamarck and evolutionary biology, by richard burkhardt

the meaning of evolution: the morphological construction and ideological reconstruction of darwin's theory, by robert j richards

the great nation in decline: sex, modernity, and health crises in revolutionary france, c. 1750–1850, by sean quinlan

lamarck, the mythical precursor: a study of the relations between science and ideology, by madeleine barthélemy-madaule

victorian sensation: the extraordinary publication, reception, and secret authorship of vestiges of the natural history of creation, by james secord

#book recs

93 notes · View notes