#african grey Memory

[tiktokparrot]

Do African Grey Parrots Have a Sense of Time?

Curious if your African Grey Parrot has a sense of time? Discover how routines shape their world & why they seem to know exactly when it’s mealtime or playtime!

[birdhism]

birdhism.com  Sale lasts from May 27th - 29th 2023

[queen-beefcake-sqx]

me, knocking back THC drinks and xanax: I’m going to commune with a parrot again.

[fandomsandfeminism]

Yall wanna hear a kinda funny, kinda sad story about my grandmother and hetero-normativity?

Ok, so... when my grandmother was in her 50s (I was an infant), she met a woman at the Unitarian Church. And, as can happen when you meet your soul mate, this event made it impossible for her to deny parts of herself that she had fiercely hidden her whole life.

All the drama- their affair being found out, the divorce with my grandfather, the court battle over who got the house, happened while I was a baby. Even in my earliest memories, it's just Mama Jo and Oma, and my grandfather lived elsewhere (first his own apartment, then a nursing home, then with us.)

But here's the thing- no one ever explained any of this to me. No one ever sat down and was like "hey, Rosie, so do you know what a lesbian is?" It was the 90s. It was Texas. I think my mom was still kinda processing all this, and just assumed that like... I was gonna figure it out. Don't mention it, let it just be normal. Like I think my mom thought that if she explained the situation, she would be making it weird? I dunno.

But like. In the 90s, in all the movies I had seen and books I had read, do you know how many same sex couples I had seen? Like. 0. Do you know how many "platonic best friend/roommates" I had seen? A lot. I had no context, is what I'm saying.

I literally thought this was a Golden Girls, roommates, besties situation until I was like...I dunno, 11? 12?

It was actually their parrot, an African Grey named Spike, imitating my grandmothers voice saying "Johanna, honey, it's getting late", that triggered the MIND BLOWN moment as I realized that *there's only one master bedroom and it only has 1 waterbed* when all the pieces finally clicked.

Anyway. I think it's a real important thing for kids to know queer people exist, for a lot of reasons, but also because kids can be clueless and it's embarrassing to have your grandmother be outted by a parrot because everyone just thought you'd figure it out on your own.

Anyway, here is my grandma and her wife, my Oma, after they moved to Albuquerque to be artsy gay cowboys and live their best life. They helped run a "Lesbian Dude Ranch" out there (basically just with funding and financial support. As Oma has explained "traditionally, most lesbians don't have a lot of money" so they wrote the checks and let the younger ladies actually run the ranch.)

[ccbernhart]

Workout friend.

[positivelybeastly]

Results of the Quiz!

As you may recall, just over three weeks ago, I posted this quiz, so that I could test all of your knowledge of the ever elusive, ever effusive Hank McCoy - and here are all the results!

Now, I know for a fact that you only got 9, and that you flubbed the girlfriend question, because you told me as much, but you did still get the best score out of everyone, so, congratulations!

Extremely good score. This is elite results. Uncanny. Astonishing, even . . .

Very good. Honestly, this is the point at which I think people were only getting questions wrong because those questions were insane to ask in the first place, heehee.

Eminently excellent scores! Not that I would expect any different, I know all three of these fine individuals, and they've been kind enough to let me blather to them often enough that I expect they've internalised a lot of it.

Firmly good scores! Of the ten questions, I'd say only four were common knowledge, so getting above four is a good score, honestly. Though, Abby, Raze, you may want to get to know your beau a touch better. ;)

Respectable scores! About the level of knowledge I'd expect, honestly, because as far as I know, some normal people do follow me. :P It has been known.

Remedial classes! But hey, you did good. Nothing to be ashamed of here.

I'm proud that none of my followers got a zero. I think the world of all of you, and you showed me exactly why that's the case here. <3

Look below for the answers and the context!

What was Hank's first girlfriend called?

Hank's first girlfriend, as revealed in X-Men Unlimited vol. 1 #10, was called Mindy! A short lived fling during high school, she was sadly killed by Dark Beast during his infiltration of Hank's life. Jennifer Nyles was Hank's second girlfriend, who he was with when he was first recruited to the X-Men, and who had her memory of Hank wiped by Charles Xavier. Vera was Hank's third girlfriend, whom he met at Coffee-A-Go-Go! during the original 60s run of Uncanny X-Men.

Hank's fur was originally what colour?

A slightly unfair question, because I believe the original intention was for Hank's fur to come out black, but due to printing and colour limitations of the time, it actually came out grey, which is what modern recolours of the initial issues of Hank's first mutation have run with. It later turned blue towards the end of Hank's run on Amazing Adventures.

Which of these organisations is Hank NOT an official member of?

Hank has, in fact, been a member of the Illuminati (New Avengers vol. 3), the Britney Spears Fan Club (Wolverine), and the Stark Industries Board of Shareholders (Astonishing X-Men). Despite having two longtime friends and teammates on the Champions, as well as making a cameo in that title, he is not an official member of the team.

What is the universe designation for the world that Dark Beast comes from?

The Age of Apocalypse where Dark Beast comes from has been designated as Earth-295 in retrospect. Earth-1610 is the original Ultimate Universe, Earth-616 is the mainline Marvel comics universe, Earth-199999 is the MCU designation, Earth-63 is a world where all mutants are of African descent, and Earth-42 is where Miles Morales ends up at the end of the second Spider-Verse movie.

Which of these characters is Hank's best friend?

Though Hank has been friends with Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and Bobby Drake for far longer, he and Simon Williams have always identified each other as mutual best, dearest friends. While Hank's friendship with Emma Frost is very dear to me, sadly, it never got much focus after Grant Morrison stopped writing both characters.

Where does the idea that Beast likes Twinkies so much come from?

Though Marvel has had a long standing advertising and promotional arrangement with Hostess, the idea that Beast likes Twinkies to an unhealthy amount comes from an issue of X-Men from the late 1990s, where he posts up his New Year's Resolutions, which include curing the Legacy Virus, reading more 12th century texts, and eating less Twinkies.

Which type of animal did Hank once claim that his mother was allergic to so he was never allowed to have one as a child?

When Hank first acquired his puppy Sassafras, he claimed that he saw her in the window of a pet shop while out jogging and couldn't say no to her, stating that his mother had never allowed him to have a dog as a child because she was allergic. Precisely where Sassafras went after the events of New Defenders is, unfortunately, unknown.

Which of the following musical artists has Hank NOT been shown listening to across his comics history?

Hank has, in fact, been shown to enjoy listening to the Rolling Stones (Generation X), Oingo-Boingo (Multiple Man), Frank Sinatra (Uncanny X-Men), and Devo (Astonishing X-Men). Though he has not yet been shown to have listened to Taylor Swift, it isn't out of the question, given his apparent appreciation for Britney Spears.

When did Beast first meet the new team of X-Men (Wolverine Colossus Nightcrawler Storm etc)?

Beast makes an appearance in Uncanny X-Men #111 (1978) investigating the seeming disappearance of the new generation of X-Men, and when he finds them trapped in Mesmero's circus, he makes numerous references to not knowing them well enough to say whether or not the people he's seeing are them or not, indicating that he hasn't yet met them. It's only when he sees Scott and Jean that he realises it's definitely the X-Men.

Who was Beast's first successful brain surgery performed on?

When Rogue neutralised the Red Skull, who had had Charles Xavier's brain grafted onto his so as to claim his telepathic talents, she took him to Hank so that he could remove the Professor's brain from the Skull's. He makes the remark that he's just completed his first successful brain surgery while washing up, to which Rogue claims that it's no great loss if he was unsuccessful. Whether or not Beast had attempted unsuccessful brain surgery prior to this point is never clarified.

[delusionsidora]

— oc . . .

tw,, just a severely mentally disturbed character. s#icide and bl#od I suppose lols

name; blythe silhouette

job; it’s unknown what blythe is even there for, nevertheless, it’s a miracle they got the job in the first place considering their instability.

gender; biological gender unknown. blythe is genderfluid but notable prefers they/them pronouns

sexuality; biromantic and omnisexual (has a preference for girls)

ethnicity; african american and french

age; unknown but is of legal age and is at least a few years younger than jimmy.

birthday; march tenth, is a pisces

nicknames; blythe doesn’t have any nicknames and also prefers to be referred to by their actual name.

pet names; none. but blythe’s given the other crew members pet names, even if in secret.

height; five foot eight feet tall.

weight; ninety pounds.

build; severely underweight.

eyes; has wide, creepy grey eyes.

distinguishing features; has freckles, a streak of white hair due to poliosis, and extremely pale skin that looks as though it’s experiencing pallor mortis.

hair; just black with a single white streak. their hair is down to their shoulders and is unkept.

health; 50/100. their physical health is mostly excellent save for their instability to obtain sleep and maintain healthy eating habits, but their mental health is completely deteriorated.

energy; is either tired to the point of swaying in circles while standing still or has enough energy to cause a stroke.

mental disorders; schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, insomnia and sociopathy.

memory; depends. their memory ranges depending on the day and their mood, and sometimes they have memories that they aren’t even sure are real.

verse; mouthwashing.

mother; had an abusive mother that they never mention. blythe obviously hates their mother.

father; father was absent until their teenage years and ended up abandoning them again. they sent him death threats, harassed and stalked him until he eventually disappeared.

relatives; they have relatives but don’t necessarily have a relationship with any of them.

the crew members,,

curly; pre-crash, curly treated blythe a lot like he treated jimmy. they had a somewhat good relationship though it was obvious that curly was becoming fearful of their deteriorating mental and emotional stability. after the crash, blythe rarely truly sees curly’s actual condition, and often hallucinates curly as he was prior to the crash. they eventually are able to see curly and what had happened to him.

blythe made drawings for curly and hung them up where he was at, and also becomes closed with curly after the crash, for some odd reason.

jimmy; blythe is the closest with jimmy out of all the other crew members and vise versa. it’s heavily implied that they’re childhood friends. blythe seems aware of how bad of a person jimmy is but doesn’t necessarily care due to being considered worse than jimmy in some ways.

jimmy often takes advantage of their mental state and convinces them that curly is fine which is why they’re so unsure of whether or not the crash happened until anya confirms it. eventually jmmy’s own codependency towards blythe causes him to isolate blythe from the other crew members completely. jimmy has negatively influenced blythe’s behavior which is why they’re a lot like him.

daisuke; blythe is seen the most sympathetic towards daiuske which is surprising considering that they’re a sociopath.

blythe views daisuke as somewhat of their younger, adoptive sibling. although emotions like empathy or sympathy for blythe are often fleeting and shallow they mostly express it towards daisuke and not really the other crew members.

swansea; swansea despises blythe. they’re like a smaller version of jimmy without getting everyone killed or assaulting anyone (at least not sexually since blythe isn’t like that). blythe never really noticed that swansea disliked them.

anya; blythe has a crush on anya. it isn’t as blatant as blythe’s crush on jimmy, but anya is at least aware of their crush and does not like blythe back. blythe often is very flirty towards anya and is very, unnervingly friendly. they get really upset when anya never reciprocates and often goes to jimmy to complain about it.

they often bug anya in a childlike manner. anya wasn’t afraid of them until after the crash, where she understood that blythe was, and always has been, unstable, destructive, and morally corrupt. afterwards anya tries to avoid blythe.

personality; blythe is immature and irresponsible. they’re prone to temper tantrums when they don’t get their way which range from childish to dangerously violent.

they’re pretty dismissive and nonchalant about anyone’s concerns. they’re impulsive and have a lack of regard for the safety of themselves and others. their view of death is unhealthy considering the fact that they don’t fear it at all and in fact lean towards it the second small things go wrong. their suicidal tendencies lessen after the crash but only because they don’t want to fail at it and not because they value life or fear death.

not only do they devalue their own life but they devalue the lives of most of the other crewmates, including curly, pre-crash and post-crash despite the fact that they do care for curly. they only really seem to care for jimmy and daisuke’s life. jimmy because they’re closest to him and daisuke for a more selfish reason, blythe feels as though caring for him gives them a chance to right their wrongs (specifically fix how little they cared for their actual family) back on earth.

most of the other crew members just view blythe as a smaller version of jimmy, just a lot less serious, more jokable and more prone to snapping than he is (surprisingly). only daisuke and jimmy view blythe as otherwise because in reality they really only share a few traits with jimmy.

blythe is very apathetic towards everyone, especially anya, after the crash. anya already avoided them before since they were a nuisance but when curly got injured their stability deteriorated completely and she understood just how dangerous blythe was. anya eventually avoided blythe out of fear. anya states to curly before the crash that there was something about blythe that was dark.

after the crash blythe is constantly hallucinating and even gives curly drawing made from their own blood. someone on the ship cleaned it up since it’s considered a biohazard though blythe was completely unaware of their actions. they act out more and isolate themselves from the other crew members. eventually almost everywhere was covered in their drawings (a lot like the drawings of serial killers or mentally disturbed children) so daisuke spoke to them about it only to be callously dismissed by blythe.

they have very morbid and dark humor and often draw things such as nooses and themselves as a corpse. curly wanted to take away their crayons before the crash…

history; work in progress

[intothetlkverse]

Decided to challenge myself by drawing every single TLK character out there, up until this point in time, and post it here. You can see the finished project on my main account, though I figured to post it on my tumblr just show I could proudly show off my work and a few of my head canons.

Here's all the rodents, plus lagomorphs, across TLG/K:

First are the jerboas; Tupp/Thupi(body-Nyanja) the lesser Egyptian jerboa from "Journey of Memories" and Jerboa/Impuku(rodent-Zulu) the long-eared jerboa from "The Call of the Drongo". Right between them is a springhare we see from the TLK book "A Wild Night Out". In the book where Simba and Nala sneak out at night to explore and find an aardvark, a porcupine, and a springhare before heading back home. This discovery has unfortunately made me have to do back and retroactively add some more characters, though at least it is nice to get some animals in proper TLK style for a change, though I kinda feel a bit sheepish for not realizing that TLK has done springhares before I did my revamped beavers into them. Anyways, meet Bazara(spring-Hausa).

Next are the mice, including the first one we see in TLK, the striped grass mouse Scar plays with I've named Eku(mouse-Yoruba), Nobi/Inabi(grapes-Hausa) the spiny mouse from "Good Mousekeeping" who is an albino African spiny mouse who gets bullies by a trio of elephants before he learns to stick up for himself, and lastly the female four-striped grass mouse we see also in "The Call of the Drongo" I've decided to name Lishe(nutrition). Not much to say about them, though my headcanon is that Eku is actually one of Zazu's partners, having gotten close to him during Zazu's rib cage imprisonment, and kept him informed about current events while also trying to help him escape by gnawing on the bones time to time.

Following with TLG rodents, which make up the majority of this list, we have Tafu/Tafiya(journey) the scaley-tailed flying squirrel from "The Accidental Avalanche". As far as gliding rodents go, I really like his simplistic design and kept it pretty much the same. Additionally for flying squirrels we have Piper/Pyp(pipe-Afrikkans) from "Saskatchewan Catch", a flying squirrel who gets help from Timon and Pumbaa to find herself a mate in exchange for some hard-to-reach tree beetles, though ditch them on their deal once she finds her mate. Not much to say about her story wise, though design-wise I did think the purply-grey colors were alright, though no lipstick, scarves, or updos that make Pricilla Presley weep in envy, though I can justify the beauty-mark.

Also for squirrels we have the the Teds, Ithendi(heel-Xhosa) and Kitendo(act), now a pair of ground squirrels, which just look like prairie dogs to me, from "You Ghana Join the Club". These brothers and their family decided to hog the resources of a certain area in the Oasis, though thankfully and rather painfully got their comeuppance by peeving off one of the local lions. Again, not much to say, though I think I did a good job of sneaking in some pink and blue elements into their designs, though I had to do quite a bit of redesigning, since the first draft came out looking like evil Care Bears.

Next are the porcupines, all pains in the neck with all their individually drawn quills, where we have the African-crested present with Mama Binturong-now-Civet's lackey Smun/Sumai(high). At some point in time the Forest was a pleasant place, where the inhabitants freely interacted with each other and freely shared the resources around, even inviting new folks to live in the community. However one of them, a malicious civet, took advantage of everyone's naivete and generosity, instead hogging all the resources including their precious medicinal tuliza, and threatening anyone who tried to get in her way, as well as making the price to get even just a blossom of tuliza unobtainable at worse and back-breaking at minimum. Sumai and his prickle were unfortunately casualties in this that only worsened the problem. They were so young when they lost their parents to an easily preventable disease that could've been stopped with the tuliza, but they were denied it and ended losing their lives, and leaving their children alone and vulnerable. Acting as the doting 'mama' figure, she took in the orphaned porcupines, acting as the poor doctor who was unable to save their parents due to everyone wanting the tuliza and taking it from her, leaving none for her to give to save them. Over time she successfully convinced them that the other inhabitants of the forest were to blame, wanting to hog all the tuliza for themselves and did not care about trampling over or taking out others to achieve that. Slowly she grew her army of porcupines, heavily dependent on her and unable to realize the harm she had caused, to neither them or their communities, by controlling the flow of tuliza, so caught up in their devotion and false belief of misplaced blame. By the time they return back to the forest after failing to get revenge on Bunga, they find that the forest has flourished in their time away, the tuliza and resourced are now being shared and cultivated as originally, and to boot the inhabitants have grown more of a spine. Mama Civet has grown frail and ill with age and a few porcupines were injured during the fight. The forest inhabitants are still resentful, but merciful enough to allow them to remain in their old area and use what they are given to recover, but they will now be required to work for the community and their tuliza, and the second they step out of line, they're out. Over time some of the other porcupines begin to see the community for how it truly was and begin to question how they were raised and acted before, whole Sumai remains almost fanatically devoted and serving to his ailing, crippled foster mother, now refusing to even get up and demanding quantities of food and tuliza served right to her, succumbing to sloth and addiction. Sumai can only painfully watch as she slowly keeps on digging a hole she can't climb out of, while his brethren try to help him move on.

So yeah, decided to give Smun's prickle a backstory with orphans, dependency, abuse, and addiction. I imagine tuliza, while it does seem to have calming/pain-relieving aspects, too much or condensed quantities can be addicting, though I believe by the time Bunga meets Mama for the first time and he finds her hogging all the tuliza, the effects have mostly worn out and she needs a higher, more concentrated dose to feel the effects, hence why she stole Makini's tuliza, hoping it was a more stronger version... I think I need to stop watching MLP's Breaking Bad/Poison Joke.

Back in the Pridelands we have Male Porcupine/Nungu(porcupine) and his sons; the Porcupine Brothers; Chembe(quill) and Sindano(needle). Nungu is a single dad of two that tries really hard to raise his sons up right, though between a certain honey badger bouncing him like a ball, being chased by curious giraffe calves, and having fruit dropped on him, the poor guy just needs a break.

From "Prickly Problems" we have Spike/Karu(spike), a porcupine that accidently spikes Simba, only to regret it after he realizes that the cub meant him no harm. Fortunately Simba does recover and they do make up in the end, though I personally don't like how he looks like a North American porcupine in the book.

Last of the porcupines is Zungura(poke), featured in, but never mentioned by name in the TLK book "A Wild Night Out", where she does meet Simba and Nala when Simba accidently steps on one of her shed quills. I find it a bit coincidental that I put her next to a porcupine that actively stuck Simba with quills, though thankfully African-crested porcupines are smooth quills instead of barbed like the North American variants, so while still extremely painful to get stuck, are much easier to pull out. I know this from experience, though I will say this, African-crested porcupines are like big guinea pigs. Give them something like a nut of piece of sweet potato and they will hunker down, grab the food, and start munching on it, they are so adorable.

Next is the pika we see at the Tree of Life that Mama Binturong/Civet bullies after they try to give her some tuliza. His name is Ponya(heal) and he often helps Nirmala by finding and gathering supplies for her, as does the rest of his group. So while doing research for this, I incidentally discovered that the pika, which I originally thought was a rodent, is actually a lagomorph, aka related to rabbits/hares, who are also not rodents. But come on, we kind of do associate them with these smaller critters, so this sheet is now rodents + lagomorphs. I did reuse the model from the last time I made him, though I also added the little mouthful of grass you see pikas with. Seriously, if you're having a bad day, look up 'pikas with flowers', it so sweet, you'll feel better. I have them here in Colorado, and while I don't see them all that often, I sure am glad I do have them here, though I did learn while drawing them that apparently there are some in Asia too, so that's neat.

So starting off with the hares we have the TLG ones, including the young female hare/Sungura(hare/rabbit) who is a scrub hare, and the red rock hares with Masikio(ears) and his sister Sikiliza(listen). And lastly... the ones from the Timon and Pumbaa Show... the three-fingered jackalope/Gaidi(bandit) who is now a scrub hare.... and horrifying Rabbit/Hofu(fear), and neutered as much as possible from their show counterparts and for good reason, please trust me on this. Best I can say is that I did y'all a favor by turning mister nightmare away from y'all.

[nioumin-draw]

Facts about Lorelei Sanders ( HPMA) #1 :

•Lorelei been sorted in Gryffindor house, if she were in ilvermony she would be sorted to Wampus or Thunderbird

•she live to Nothing hill with her family

•When she spent her summer vacation to Uganda her family for visit her mother's family side , the thing she loves most is doing Safari.

• she used to have some muggle "friends" before Hogwarts , after she go to Hogwarts she told them she been accepted to a boarding school. She tried to sent them some letters but they never write her back but she haven't been upset because she knew it will happen and she have new true friends now.

•her patronus is a lioness

•the most happiest memory she remember for creat her patronus is : when she met the Holyhead Harpies atvher first quidditch game.

• Robyn Thistlethwaite became her best friends during Hogwarts because of their love for quidditch and she also have a bond for Daniel Page and consider him as a precious friend, she is always worry about him and protect him if it's necessary.

•At first the first sight she found William Lee too immature and is annoyed by him and his shenanigans but appreciates his kindness towards animals and his optimistic and funny personality and you'll never find a better dance partner than him , people wondering how that could work between them XD 🤣.

•During the 3 first year she had long curly hairs and cut them for year 4

• her cat , Comoros ( Named from a African région) is a present from her parents for her first year to Hogwarts.

•She realize she fell in love with William Lee at the end of year 2 and in year 4 the became officially a couple.

• she can't stand Cassandra Vole but is always ready to help her.

•Fischer Frey have a crush for her but she rejected him all time.

• according to William Lee , she smell Vanilla and coconut, probably because of hair care cream.

• Because of a misunderstanding with William she was a bit jealous of Abigail Grey ( who had a crush on him ) but after a explanation they become great friends

• She play quidditch as chaser with Liam Whitlock-Kim @chirithy564 at year 2 and became seeker at year 4

•William and her first date was supposed to be in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade but it finally end to The three broomsticks because it was to Pink for them XD and a butterbeer sound better than tea 🍻.

•she a big fan of the Holyhead Harpies.

•she is inspired from the actress and Singer Zendaya.

• she is very proud of her father despite the fact he is a squib and would punch anybody who say trash about him.

• She is Aries 🐏♈

• her favorite flowers are begonias , tulip 🌷 and flowering plant.

[petervintonjr]

Meet the unsung contributor to revolutionary breakthroughs in treating polio, cancer, HPV, and even COVID-19: Henrietta Lacks. Born in 1920 Roanoke, Virginia, Henrietta's mother Eliza died when she was only four, and she was ultimately raised by her maternal grandfather in Clover, Virginia. Henrietta worked as a tobacco farmer and attended a segregated school until the age of 14, when she gave birth to a son, Lawrence. A daughter, Elsie, was born three years later --to compound the family's difficulties, Elsie had cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Henrietta and her now-husband David Lacks moved to Turner Station (now Dundalk), Maryland where David had landed a job with a nearby steel plant. At the time Turner Station was one of the oldest African-American communities in Baltimore County and there was sufficient community support for the family to buy a house and produce three more children.

In 1951 at the age of 31, Henrietta died at Johns Hopkins Hospital of cervical cancer, mere months after the birth of the family's youngest son. But before her death --and without her or her family's consent-- during a biopsy two tumour cell samples were taken from Henrietta's cervix and sent to Johns Hopkins researchers. Hernietta's cells carried a unique trait: an ability to rapidly multiply, producing a new generation every 24 hours; a breakthrough that no other human cell had achieved. Prior to this discovery, only cells that had been transformed by viruses or genetic mutations carried such a characteristic. With the prospect of now being able to work with what amounted to the first-ever naturally-occurring immortal human cells, researchers created a patent on the HeLa cell line but hid the donor's true identity under a fake name: Helen Lane.

It is no exaggeration to state that in the 70 years since her death, Henrietta's cells have been bought, sold, packaged, and shipped by thousands of laboratories; with her cells being used as a baseline in as many as 74,000 different studies (including some Nobel Prize winners). Her cells have even been sent into space to study the effects of microgravity, and were instrumental in the Human Genome Project. While no actual law (or even a code of ethics) necessarily required doctors to ask permission before taking tissue from a terminal patient, there was a very clear Maryland state law on the books that forbade tissue removal from the dead without permission, throwing the situation into something of a legal grey area. However because Henrietta was poor, minimally educated, and Black, this standard was quietly (and easily) circumvented and she was never recognized for her monumental contributions to science and medicine ...and her family was never compensated. The family remained unaware of Henrietta's contribution until 1975, when the HeLa line's provenance finally became public. Henrietta had been buried in an unmarked grave in the family cemetery in Clover, Virginia but in 2010 a new headstone was donated and dedicated, acknowledging her phenomenal contribution. That same year the John Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research established a new Henrietta Lacks Memorial lecture series. A statue of Lacks was commissioned in 2022, to be erected in Lacks's birthplace of Roanoke, Virginia --pointedly replacing a previous statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which had been removed following nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd.

Dive into The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, originally published in 2011 and subsequently adapted into an HBO movie in 2017, starring Oprah Winfrey as Henrietta's daughter Deborah and Renee Elise Goldberry as Henrietta. (And yes, this book has been challenged and banned in more than one school district.)

[tiktokparrot]

Do African Grey Parrots Dream?

Ever wondered if African Grey Parrots dream? Discover the science, behavior, and adorable quirks behind your parrot's sleep and possible dream adventures!

[folklore-girl]

WILDEST DREAMS (hana’s version)

word count: 1.1kish?

a/n: so “hana’s version” means that i’m writing this heavily based on taylor’s music video, but also with my own hcs. also this is purely for entertainment purposes, though mostly just a writing practice for me since i haven’t written since ages. also, thanku @trashmeowcan for helping me warna i would’ve still been overthinking abt this ILYSM. gif creds to @komhacoustic !!

warnings: too many taylor references and lots of cringe too teehee

hope you enjoy!

[ lights , camera and ... action !! ]

he was so perfect.

his eyes were such a startling shade of grey—that if you look closely, you’d see the emotion twisting in them, swirling behind those dark clouds. his lips tasted like the cigarettes he smoked and his voice had been frequenting  my dreams lately. all of him, his face, his jaw, his shoulder—he was the most beautiful sculpture i’d ever seen.

he whispered to me, “let’s get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from the crowds...”

i was screaming internally, thinking of the implication of his words in a wordless script when the director yelled cut.

of course we were pretending.

of course, none of it was true.

. . .

we were shooting in the african deserts, and it was a short film about the magic, madness, heaven and sin that was love.

on the day we arrived to the location, the director had explained the script and the portrayal of love that this film wanted to show, the same as she had done on the phone call. she explained how our chemistry would be the magic, the madness would be evident when both of us would be ready to leave the life we knew to start a new one with each other, heaven would be when he’d touch me and sin because our love was forbidden in the script—he was a pilot, and i was an actress. the entire film had no dialogues or as the director said, our expressions will “say all that is needed to know”.

it was two week’s work and then we’d be out of the scorching dry deserts of sahara. that was the plan. at least until i met him.

after i did, i knew i’d gladly burn in this heat for a few more weeks —or even an entire lifetime— than letting go of him. i’d risk it all smiling.

it was absolute madness.

. . .

our characters were crazy in love.

he, the pilot, had flown miles just to see the actress for a few hours everyday, while she worked on her new movie. the pilot is tall and handsome as hell, while the actress is beautiful, and has such an irresistible charm that the pilot cannot help but fall for her humor and wits.

we were the perfect casting, although the others kept saying it would be fairly difficult to show it all in expressions, no words at all.

but for me, it proved to be fairly easy. i was lovestruck, and there was no hiding it from him because he knew it. he had to, from the way he smiled and the way he touched me, or maybe i was simply delusional.

probably the latter, but oh well. it was all a pretend anyways. none of it was real.

it could be though.

. . .

it was pure magic.

the way he looked at me, the way he held me close and how my knees felt weak after our first kiss onscreen.

i felt every moment of it. goosebumps on the back of my neck whenever he whispered in my ear. his fingertips grazing my skin, and when he held me close, his hand on my waist.

i lived those moments a thousand times and i’m sure he did too, he must have.

so i took my chance and said, “no one has to know what we do,” and no one did. what we did in my tent at night was no one’s business, and nobody had the slightest clue.

all i know is that i woke up with his clothes in my room, and the vague memory of his hands in my hair, his body on mine. i knew heaven was a place on earth, with him, in his arms.

. . .

we were lying on the bed, our bodies a tangled mess and the clothes thrown on the ground in a hurry. his hand caressed my waist and i peered through the tiny window of the tent, at the nighttime stars and thought.

i thought of the dangerous game i was playing and how one week is no time at all. blink, and it would all be over.

but oh, he was kissing my neck and i couldn’t think straight. he was definitely going to be the death of me.

. . .

“ready for the last scene?” he took my hand and whispered to me.

“yes,” i smiled a little. “are you?”

he gave me a sad smile and said, “maybe..”

and the camera started rolling. the actress was in a stunning red dress, with her hair pinned up masterfully by her movie stylist—she’d sneaked out of the movie set to meet him—and the pilot was in his uniform, all ready to go. the sun was slipping down the horizon, and the clouds were streaked in a beautiful mess of warm colors in the sky whilst the moon rose, accompanied by the barely visible stars, scattered like peppers.

his face changed ever so slightly, as he conveyed that he needed to go but didn’t want to. he tucked a loose strand of my hair and i knew what it meant—he loved me too much to give what we had away willingly. i stared painfully at him, then at the ground. the actress didn’t want to let go of her lover either.

a few moments later, he smiled and lifted my chin, conveying that the distance would just create fondness between the two. their love is stronger than anything and the actress knows too, so she smiles back, sweet and soft.

they have their very last kiss and the actress worries if her lover would remember her, the memories they have together and this very moment. and so i spoke with my eyes, “say you’ll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe...”

she made him promise they’ll meet again, and that would be soon.

“red lips and rosy cheeks, say you’ll see me again, even if it’s just in your wildest dreams ah-ahh…”

. . .

it was the premiere night.

i was in my vintage off-shoulder, sparkling silver with a heavy white scarf and my hair up in an updo similar to my hairstyle in the short film.

i was dressed as my character, the enchantress.

the moment i arrived at the red carpet, cameras were flashing and i was smiling. i was seeing him again tonight, so the smile was genuine. at least until i saw him, with her.

we talked a little, and he introduced his new girlfriend and i smiled wide. and when she complimented my acting in my past movies, i smiled even wider and thanked her.

little did she know, what she was about to see wasn’t me acting. not even close.

we entered the cinema hall and the short film began. it was a 90’s romance, all black and white.

halfway through the movie, i realized i was done smiling. i leaned ahead in my seat and we made subtle eye-contact before i turned and left the hall, murmuring about a sick stomach.

the moment i stepped out, i felt something wet on my cheek and ran as fast as i could wearing a vintage dress, my heels clicking furiously. i knew he was following me, trying to stop me from leaving and i knew that but by the time he’d reach me, he’d be too late.

in the backseat of my car, i wondered about how we were built to fall apart.

hope u liked it!! also i’m writing after, like, 6 months or more so i promise i can do better than this shit lol

likes and reblogs are appreciated !! &lt;3

tagging ppl who might be interested:

@cordelia-street @born-to-be-suburban-legends @indiansapphic @girlatreus @tiredandcaffeinated @prembharidhun @maya-why @carelikeribbonsinyourhair @shefollowedthestars @folkloregurl @doyouknowwhoyouare13 @manjulika-fanblog

might make a taglist too later so we msg me if u want to be tagged/removed xx

[middlegradeeveryday]

Fowl Play by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

Summary:

Chloe Alvarez has never been to the reading of a last will and testament before, but she hopes it is just like the movies. Lies! Intrigue! The reading of her Uncle Will’s will is standard, until he announces his gift for Chloe: his African grey parrot, Charlie.

Uncle Will was Chloe’s best friend. Without him, she’s left with only her memories of them together—which come to her in snapshots—and her new friend, Charlie. The parrot has a vast vocabulary, and soon Chloe hears her say something odd: It was murder, followed by homicide and cyanide. Chloe becomes convinced her uncle Will’s death was foul play. Why else wouldn’t he have told anyone in the family—especially Chloe—that he was sick?

With the help of her family, Chloe begins the investigation to uncover Uncle Will’s murderer. The suspects: His nosy neighbor. An ex-girlfriend. A rude landlord. A loan shark. But it all leads to more questions than answers. Did someone really kill Uncle Will? Or could this journey help reunite Chloe’s grieving family?

Book Type: Novel

Genre: Mystery

[bobfloydsbabe]

if you could live anywhere else, where would you live?

what's your dream profession?

tell me about your favourite memory

is there anyone you'd ever want to collaborate with?

have you ever broken anything?

fmk: bob floyd, rhett abbott and miles miller

if you couldn't have a dog, what animal would you like to have?

compliment yourself

bye ily

These questions went from easy to hard as hell. Compliment myself? Need I remind you of Janteloven??? Let's go, I guess.

1. If you could live anywhere else, where would you live?

London. I visited for the first time when I was 18 and feel completely and utterly in love with the city. I've since lived there for about 2.5 years, but had to move back to Denmark, unfortunately. If not London, then Edinburgh.

2. What is your dream profession?

Published author. Being able to support myself through writing alone is the dream, but I would love to open my own bookshop. If not that, then probably a dog groomer.

3. Tell me about your favorite memory.

It's such an odd and mundane memory, but it has to be Christmas Day when I was about 15. My family and I spent the day in the sitting room enjoying the presents from the night before. I sat in a chair reading a new book, my dad and sister set up her new Hot Wheels race track, and my other sister tried to figure out the Nintendo Wii. I can't quite remember what my mom was doing, but it was just a nice and relaxing day. No arguments, no tension, and we were just together. I loved it.

4. Is there anyone you'd ever want to collaborate with?

I want to say yes, but I know myself enough to know that I'm a massive control freak, and collaborating with people often leads to resentment. That being said, I'm not writing the possibility off, and I have created fictional universes with friends in the past. I just don't know that I could do it in the long run.

5. Have you ever broken anything?

I broke my ankle when I was about 10 years old, and that started a string of injuries for the next year or so. My ankle never healed properly, so it still bothers me sometimes.

6. FMK. Bob Floyd, Rhett Abbott, and Miles Miller.

I wish this wasn't as easy as it is, but here we go: Fuck Rhett, marry Bob, and kill Miles. Sorry, not sorry.

7. If you couldn't have a dog, what animal would you like to have?

I think I'd make a good bird lady, and as you learned about me recently, I adore parrots. I especially like Congo African Greys!

8. Compliment yourself.

Now this is just downright cruel. I guess one of my better qualities is my kindness and my honesty. I'm also pretty open-minded.

HONESTY HOUR

[sungbeam]

behold! the 2nd gen, the first offsprings of mano (don't mind the clutter they're living in- they made it their home so they could hide and stay safe from the enemies lmao)

there were five of them- the ones mano hid in our veranda lol. sadly, two of them died when they were a few days old and these 3 lived and made home here :')

our next door neighbours had one daughter but she had severe asthma so she couldn't really go out. they had a big garden and we made a little house for these cats there and they always made sure the cats had food and shelter. so the cats would switch homes sometimes they'd hang out at mine, get bored and then jump over the wall to the neighbour and it was always fun bc atp, both of us had parrots too so we were training the cats not to mess with the parrots (mine was a feisty african grey, hers was those little birdies lol)

oreo (the one who's winking) and whiskers (the cat at the back) stuck around. the third (traitor) left lmao. whiskers was a girlie and would have kids later on which i'll introduce later, but she'll also have more siblings hehe

by the time both mano and whiskers had kids, there were at least 10 cats total that hung around in our area. the backyard was my true home now lol and whenever i came back from school, i would go chill there and let the cats play with me (they would jump on me, scratch me affectionately, rest on my lap or shoulder, or just judge me from a corner lmao).

sometimes at night i would hear them fighting and yowling and since i'm a very light sleeper i would rush outside to shoo away the enemy cat that never warmed up to us lol it was an ugly cat ngl i never took photos of him but his face is fresh in my memory💀 street cats got issues man idk why the fighting every other night lmao

i'm logging off for two weeks from tmrw so i'll come with more tales when i return! i'll tell you about my cat allergy lore and hopefully find better pics hehe. hope you're having fun at home and are well!

love, yumi <3

HI YUMI IK U'VE PROB ALREADY LOGGED OFF BUT HOPE U HAVE A LOVELY TWO WEEKS !!! thank u for the 2nd gen of cats 😭😭

the three of them are sooo so cute in that photo 😭😭 like their coloring is everything to me and OREO THE WINK A CHARMER, TRULY jefnkenfj and whiskers looks so silly (affectionate) in the back there, like so adorable 🤧😭

awh im so glad that they all felt so safe between u and ur neighbor's homes :'))) im sad that they lost two siblings (plus the third traitor 😔) but it seemed they had a great home w u !!! RAAAAH to have kittens be so affectionate and loving w me <//3 OMG 10 CATS IN THE AREA IS KINDA CRAZY ??? all of this sounds like such an adventure tho like wah what a lovely time 😭 except for maybe the ugly street cat 💀 PLS DOES HE HAUNT UR DREAMS SKFNKDNFJR truly they do have issues (i say as if i have ever encountered a street cat LMAO)

also im glad u were training them to not mess w ur bird like cat-birb homies kinda sound rad

CANT WAIT FOR UR RETURN !!! thank u again for this hehe 😚

love, beam!! 💖

[maria021015]

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 14 AHEAD!

“I’ll wash your clothes and get them back to you.” Zaida promised, exiting her bedroom to join Stiles in the hallway. She was grateful that she hadn’t needed to sleep in her garbage-covered clothes, but she was also relieved to be back in her own garments. After their brief conversation the previous night, Zaida had crashed on the surprisingly comfortable living room couch. She and Stiles had woken early the next morning and picked up breakfast pastries on the way to the apartment. They had been demolished and were already digesting by the time they parked on the street outside.

“Where do we start?” Stiles questioned. As Zaida had predicted, Xander had already left for work, giving the two of them free reign over the apartment.

“His room. He wouldn’t trust keeping anything important anywhere that I might stumble across it. It turns out, he’s more careful with keeping secrets from me than I ever thought.” She led the way further down the corridor to the room at the end and opened the door to reveal the wide and open room.

There was a queen sized bed with simple, grey linen sheets backed against the centre of the left wall, flanked by two chests of drawers either side. To the right was a sturdy desk with a bookshelf attached and the entrance to an ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet. Since moving in, Zaida had never really been in Xander’s room. She crossed the carpeted floor quickly, heading straight for the closet, knowing where all of his hiding places had been as a teenager before he’d moved out. Stiles began searching the desk for anything that could be a clue, rifling through loose papers and copies of case files from the string of murders that had been connected to Kate Argent, and the more recent ones. None of that was out of the ordinary for a deputy, so he kept looking whilst Zaida dove through the racks of clothes, looking for anything hiding behind long winter coats or pants. After rummaging through the desk drawers he only found stationary and legal documents like bank details, insurances, course and training certificates, and identification documents. Only one thing stood out to him.

“Do you and your brother have different last names?” He called out to Zaida. “This says Alexander Callista-Eliopoulos?”

“Yeah, Callista-Eliopoulos is our full last name. Callista was Mom’s and Eliopoulos was Dad’s, but we go by Callis. Jennifer Aniston did it and many Greeks followed suit. Including us, I guess.” she answered in a loud and muffled voice.

“You’re Greek, huh?” Stiles mumbled as his eyes scanned over the collection of books on Xander’s shelves. “That explains the taste in literature.”

“Yeah, Xander and I were both huge mythology buffs growing up. Our grandparents used to tell us Ancient Greek history and legends as bedtime stories when we slept over, and the interest spread to other mythologies. Xander was into all kinds…Roman, Norse, Chinese, Japanese, Native American, Meso-American, African...you name it and he probably knew it.” Zaida recalled the memories of that time fondly. Their family had been so close until it had all fallen apart. “It’s an interest that sort of runs in the family. Dad actually met Mom at University when she was taking a Folklore and Mythology course. I myself love Celtic folklore, but Greek has always been my favourite. We tend to be quite patriotic people.”

“The extent of my mythological knowledge is Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus.” Stiles laughed softly as he took in the book titles with wonder, spotting some familiar names like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. While he was still searching the spines Zaida hauled a box out of the closet and dumped it unceremoniously onto the bed. She pulled off the lid to see the inside brimming with papers.

“It’s the case records.” She identified in a low voice, recognising the documents that she had accessed on Xander’s computer at the Sheriff’s station. “He’s kept all of them.”

“What else is in there?” Stiles crossed the room in a few long paces and leaned over her shoulder, peering into the box as she pulled out the documents to reveal stacks of photos and a clutter of keepsakes.

She recognised some of Xander’s old soccer trophies and medals. Their father had always taken them to their games and training sessions, cheering them on eagerly from the sidelines. Zaida pulled out the stack of photos, expecting to see images of their family over the years, and there were some. A few images were snapped at dinner parties with college friends when Xander was in his very early teen years and she was only a toddler. However, the majority of the photos were of the time before her, when it had just been their parents and Xander. As she kept going through the stack, the quality of the photos became muddier and faded, obviously being from a much older camera than the technology they had now. There were some even from well before Xander. She was faced with her parent’s young and smiling faces at University graduation in their gowns and hats. There were pictures with people who she assumed had been their college friendship group - some of the same people as the dinner party guests who had one by one disappeared from the images closer to the top as her parents grew older and lost touch with their old lives. Seeing how Xander had kept all the images of the time before her sat strangely and uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach.

“I don’t think there’s anything here.” Zaida ground out in a weak voice. She didn’t know what she had expected to find when she had come looking, but it certainly wasn’t this box full of mourning. She shoved the lid back onto the box and dropped down on the mattress beside it, staring blankly at her hands as she twisted her golden rings around her fingers. Stiles had picked up that it was a habit of hers whenever she was upset, in thought, or anxious.

“Are you okay?” He sat down next to her with concern etched in his furrowed brows and Zaida sighed deeply in frustration.

“It’s just…every lead ends up being a complete dead end, and I don’t know what else to do.” She felt a weight on her chest and her eyes started to well with tears that trickled from her lashes as her emotions became overwhelming. It had been a long time since her parents had died, but right now her grief felt as fresh as ever. “I just need to know what happened to them.”

“We’re going to figure it out, Zaida. I promise we will.” Stiles assured her in a comforting tone and pulled her into his side, his hand rubbing soothing circles over her back. “We figured out that werewolves are real, and we figured out that Kate started the Hale fire, and that Peter was killing everyone involved out of revenge. We’ll figure this out too.”

“Xander just expects me to move on, but how can I forget about it? Apart from the fact that I can’t walk away from a mystery even to quite literally save my life, my parents were murdered and we have no idea why, or by who.” she opened up, finding talking about it somewhat therapeutic.

This wasn’t something she’d been able to tell anyone before. Certainly not Xander, and not even Allison. It wasn’t because she didn’t trust the girl, it was more that she wasn’t the best person to talk to when it came to deep and meaningful chats. Zaida had been surprised to discover that Lydia was more in tune with her own emotions than Allison was, which was really saying something as Lydia liked to bury all her emotions under a heavy designer rug. Yet, Allison barely knew what her emotions were most of the time, despite having a lot of them. Plus, with everything else going on at the moment with Derek and the hunters, there was far too much else to deal with. Both Lydia and Allison were going through a lot right now, and Zaida felt as though it wasn’t the time to lean on them when they were so busy trying to keep themselves afloat. But Stiles always had made time for her, even in the midst of being threatened by Peter when Lydia was bleeding out. He’d been there for her when he hadn’t even really known her after the attack at the school, and he was there for her now.

“I get it. If I didn’t know what happened to my Mom, I’d be doing the exact same thing as you right now. I wouldn’t have been able to stop thinking about it until I solved it.” He nodded, being the first person to really understand how she was feeling. Though she supposed they were both quite alike in that regard. Neither of them could leave the unknown alone, and they’d both lost their mothers.

“What happened to her?” she couldn’t help but ask in a quiet voice. His motions across her back stalled for a moment before he continued.

“She had frontotemporal dementia…died when I was like ten.” he answered with a dry voice. The memories were obviously still painful.

“I’m sorry.” Zaida offered her condolences. “Does it ever get easier?”

“It does. It takes a while, and things are never really the same. It’s something that changes you, and is kind of always there but over time...it doesn’t feel as bad. My dad won’t talk about her. That’s his way of coping, but I find it’s better when I do talk about her. Like, remembering all the good times.” he explained with a wistful tone.

“What was she like?” She asked, and Stiles smiled at the thought of his mother before the disease had claimed her.

“She was playful, and warm, and caring. When Scott’s parents were fighting she’d invite him over and bake us cookies and play board games with us.” Stiles reminisced fondly and the light in his eyes told her that he was glad to be able to speak about his mother. “She was strong. The strongest person I knew. Even when things got really bad, she’d never complain...never let it show. She’d talk to me about school and the newest comic I’d read and not once would she let me see how much she was really going through.”

“She sounds wonderful.” Zaida reached over his lap to squeeze his hand supportively and he nodded in agreement.

“She would have really liked you.” He stated, knowing that his mother would have appreciated the girl’s sharp wit and fierce, determined nature. “What about your Mom and Dad? What were they like?”

“Mom was passionate in everything that she did or said. She lived life to the absolute fullest. She was protective, relentless, and had a temper like a fire storm if you crossed her. But she was also incredibly empathetic and caring. Dad was a lot more calm and grounded, and a bit of a goofball. He was always supportive and easy to talk to. He gave amazing advice. They both seemed so…normal.” Zaida’s thoughts traveled further than what she was currently willing to tell Stiles about. If she was born supernatural, it had to have come from one of her parent’s bloodlines. Had they known? Was one of them supernatural too? Was that the reason they’d been killed? "It's hard to believe that they were involved in any of this."

“We don’t know that they were for sure. It could have been a random werewolf attack.” Stiles suggested. There just wasn’t enough information to be sure about anything. She didn’t know which would be the worse answer, if they indeed knew, or if they had been oblivious.