#also Michael Parkinson

[paulic]

Denny’s death hit me more than I expected it to :( I remember when I discovered the Wings and thought the guitar was just superb. December can’t be easy for Paul whew

[5and3nevermind]

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[downthetubes]

Crowdfunding Spotlight: LOLZ no. 2, from The77 Publishing

There's still time to support The77 Publishing's second issue of their humour comic, LOLZ, "for all readers aged 7 - 77" – but the clock is ticking!

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Oooh! A great Gavin Finney (Good Omens Director of Photography) interview with Helen Parkinson for the British Cinematographer! :)

HEAVEN SENT

Gifted a vast creative landscape from two of fantasy’s foremost authors to play with, Gavin Finney BSC reveals how he crafted the otherworldly visuals for Good Omens 2.  

It started with a letter from beyond the grave. Following fantasy maestro Sir Terry Pratchett’s untimely death in 2015, Neil Gaiman decided he wouldn’t adapt their co-authored 1990 novel, Good Omens, without his collaborator. That was, until he was presented with a posthumous missive from Pratchett asking him to do just that.  

For Gaiman, it was a request that proved impossible to decline: he brought Good Omens season one to the screen in 2019, a careful homage to its source material. His writing, complemented by some inspired casting – David Tennant plays the irrepressible demon Crowley, alongside Michael Sheen as angel-slash-bookseller Aziraphale – and award-nominated visuals from Gavin Finney BSC, proved a potent combination for Prime Video viewers.  

Aziraphale’s bookshop was a set design triumph.

Season two departs from the faithful literary adaptation of its predecessor, instead imagining what comes next for Crowley and Aziraphale. Its storyline is built off a conversation that Pratchett and Gaiman shared during a jetlagged stay in Seattle for the 1989 World Fantasy Convention. Gaiman remembers: “The idea was always that we would tell the story that Terry and I came up with in 1989 in Seattle, but that we would do that in our own time and in our own way. So, once Good Omens (S1) was done, all I knew was that I really, really wanted to tell the rest of the story.” 

Telling that story visually may sound daunting, but cinematographer Finney is no stranger to the wonderfully idiosyncratic world of Pratchett and co. As well as lensing Good Omens’ first outing, he’s also shot three other Pratchett stories – TV mini series  Hogfather  (2006), and TV mini-series The Colour of Magic (2008) and Going Postal (2010). 

He relishes how the authors provide a vast creative landscape for him to riff off. “The great thing about Pratchett and Gaiman is that there’s no limit to what you can do creatively – everything is up for grabs,” he muses. “When we did the first Pratchett films and the first Good Omens, you couldn’t start by saying, ‘Okay, what should this look like?’, because nothing looks like Pratchett’s world. So, you’re starting from scratch, with no references, and that starting point can be anything you want it to be.”  

Season two saw the introduction of inside-outside sets for key locations including Aziraphale’s bookshop. 

From start to finish 

The sole DP on the six-episode season, Finney was pleased to team up again with returning director Douglas Mackinnon for the “immensely complicated” shoot, and the pair began eight weeks of prep in summer 2021. A big change was the production shifting the main soho set from Bovington airfield, near London, up to Edinburgh’s Pyramids Studio. Much of the action in Good Omens takes place on the Soho street that’s home to Aziraphale’s bookshop, which was built as an exterior set on the former airfield for season one. Season two, however, saw the introduction of inside-outside sets for key locations including the bookshop, record store and pub, to minimise reliance on green screen.  

Finney brought over many elements of his season one lensing, especially Mackinnon’s emphasis on keeping the camera moving, which involved lots of prep and testing. “We had a full-time Scorpio 45’ for the whole shoot (run by key grip Tim Critchell and his team), two Steadicam operators (A camera – Ed Clark and B camera Martin Newstead) all the way through, and in any one day we’d often go from Steadicam, to crane, to dolly and back again,” he says. “The camera is moving all the time, but it’s always driven by the story.” 

One key difference for season two, however, was the move to large-format visuals. Finney tested three large-format cameras and the winner was the Alexa LF (assisted by the Mini LF where conditions required), thanks to its look and flexibility.  

The minisodes were shot on Cooke anamorphics, giving Finney the ideal balance of anamorphic-style glares and characteristics without too much veiling flare.

A more complex decision was finding the right lenses for the job. “You hear about all these whizzy new lenses that are re-barrelled ancient Russian glass, but I needed at least two full sets for the main unit, then another set for the second unit, then maybe another set again for the VFX unit,” Finney explains. “If you only have one set of this exotic glass, it’s no good for the show.” 

He tested a vast array of lenses before settling on Zeiss Supremes, supplied by rental house Media Dog. These ticked all the boxes for the project: “They had a really nice look – they’re a modern design but not over sharp, which can look a bit electronic and a bit much, especially with faces. When you’re dealing with a lot of wigs and prosthetics, we didn’t want to go that sharp. The Supremes had a very nice colour palette and nice roll-off. They’re also much smaller than a lot of large-format glass, so that made it easy for Steadicam and remote cranes. They also provided additional metadata, which was very useful for the VFX department (VFX services were provided by Milk VFX).” 

The Supremes were paired with a selection of filters to characterise the show’s varied locations and characters. For example, Tiffen Bronze Glimmerglass were paired with bookshop scenes; Black Pro-Mist was used for Hell; and Black Diffusion FX for Crowley’s present-day storyline.  

Finney worked closely with the show’s DIT, Donald MacSween, and colourist, Gareth Spensley, to develop the look for the minisode.

Maximising minisodes 

Episodes two, three and four of season two each contain a ‘minisode’ – an extended flashback set in Biblical times, 1820s Edinburgh and wartime London respectively. “Douglas wanted the minisodes to have very strong identities and look as different from the present day as possible, so we’d instantly know we were in a minisode and not the present day,” Finney explains.  

One way to shape their distinctive look was through using Cooke anamorphic lenses. As Finney notes: “The Cookes had the right balance of controllable, anamorphic-style flares and characteristics without having so much veiling flare that they would be hard to use on green screens. They just struck the right balance of aesthetics, VFX requirements and availability.” The show adopted the anamorphic aspect ratio (2:39.1), an unusual move for a comedy, but one which offered them more interesting framing opportunities. 

Good Omens 2 was shot on the Alexa LF, paired with Zeiss Supremes for the present-day scenes.

The minisodes were also given various levels of film grain to set them apart from the present-day scenes. Finney first experimented with this with the show’s DIT Donald MacSween using the DaVinci Resolve plugin FilmConvert. Taking that as a starting point, the show’s colourist, Company 3’s Gareth Spensley, then crafted his own film emulation inspired by two-strip Technicolor. “There was a lot of testing in the grade to find the look for these minisodes, with different amounts of grain and different types of either Technicolor three-strip or two-strip,” Finney recalls. “Then we’d add grain and film weave on that, then on top we added film flares. In the Biblical scenes we added more dust and motes in the air.”  

Establishing the show’s lighting was a key part of Finney’s testing process, working closely with gaffer Scott Napier and drawing upon PKE Lighting’s inventory. Good Omens’ new Scottish location posed an initial challenge: as the studio was in an old warehouse rather than being purpose-built for filming, its ceilings weren’t as high as one would normally expect. This meant Finney and Napier had to work out a low-profile way of putting in a lot of fixtures. 

Inside Crowley’s treasured Bentley.

Their first task was to test various textiles, LED wash lights and different weight loadings, to establish what they were working with for the street exteriors. “We worked out that what was needed were 12 SkyPanels per 20’x20’ silk, so each one was a block of 20’x20’, then we scaled that up,” Finney recalls. “I wanted a very seamless sky, so I used full grid cloth which made it very, very smooth. That was important because we’ve got lots of cars constantly driving around the set and the sloped windscreens reflect the ceiling. So we had to have seamless textiles – PKE had to source around 12,000 feet of textiles so that we could put them together, so the reflections in the windscreens of the cars just showed white gridcloth rather than lots of stage lights. We then drove the car around the set to test it from different angles.”  

On the floor, they mostly worked with LEDs, providing huge energy and cost savings for the production. Astera’s Titan Tubes came in handy for a fun flashback scene with John Hamm’s character Gabriel. The DP remembers: “[Gabriel] was travelling down a 30-foot feather tunnel. We built a feather tunnel on the stage and wrapped it in a ring of Astera tubes, which were then programmed by dimmer op Jon Towler to animate, pulse and change different colours. Each part of Gabriel’s journey through his consciousness has a different colour to it.” 

Among the rigs built was a 20-strong Creamsource Vortex setup for the graveyard scene in the “Body Snatchers” minisode, shot in Stirling. “We took all the yokes off each light then put them on a custom-made aluminium rig so we could have them very close. We put them up on a big telehandler on a hill that gave me a soft mood light, which was very adjustable, windproof and rainproof.” 

Shooting on the VP stage for the birth of the universe scenes in episode one.

Sky’s the limit 

A lot of weather effects were done in camera – including lightning effects pulsed in that allowed both direct fork lightning and sheet lightning to spread down the streets. In the grade, colourist Spensley was also able to work his creative magic on the show’s skies. “Gareth is a very artistic colourist – he’s a genius at changing skies,” Finney says. “Often in the UK you get these very boring, flat skies, but he’s got a library of dramatic skies that you can drop in. That would usually be done by VFX, but he’s got the ability to do it in Baselight, so a flat sky suddenly becomes a glorious sunset.” 

Finney emphasises that the grade is a very involved process for a series like Good Omens, especially with its VFX-heavy nature. “This means VFX sequences often need extra work when it comes back into the timeline,” says the DP. “So, we often add camera movement or camera shake to crank the image up a bit. Having a colourist like Gareth is central to a big show like Good Omens, to bring all the different visual elements together and to make it seamless. It’s quite a long grade process but it’s worth its weight in gold.” 

Shooting in the VR cube for the blitz scenes .

Finney took advantage of virtual production (VP) technology for the driving scenes in Crowley’s classic Bentley. The volume was built on their Scottish set: a 4x7m cube with a roof that could go up and down on motorised winches as needed. “We pulled the cars in and out on skates – they went up on little jacks, which you could then rotate and move the car around within the volume,” he explains. “We had two floating screens that we could move around to fill in and use as additional source lighting. Then we had generated plates – either CGI or real location plates –projected 360º around the car. Sometimes we used the volume in-camera but if we needed to do more work downstream; we’d use a green screen frustum.” Universal Pixels collaborated with Finney to supply in-camera VFX expertise, crew and technical equipment for the in-vehicle driving sequences and rear projection for the crucial car shots. 

John Hamm was suspended in the middle of this lighting rig and superimposed into the feather tunnel.

Interestingly, while shooting at a VP stage in Leith, the team also used the volume as a huge, animated light source in its own right – a new technique for Finney. “We had the camera pointing away from [the volume] so the screen provided this massive, IMAX-sized light effect for the actors. We had a simple animation of the expanding universe projected onto the screen so the actors could actually see it, and it gave me the animated light back on the actors.”  

Bringing such esteemed authors’ imaginations to the screen is no small task, but Finney was proud to helped bring Crowley and Aziraphale’s adventures to life once again. He adds: “What’s nice about Good Omens, especially when there’s so much bad news in the world, is that it’s a good news show. It’s a very funny show. It’s also about good and evil, love and doing the right thing, people getting together irrespective of backgrounds. It’s a hopeful message, and I think that that’s what we all need.” 

Finney is no stranger to the idiosyncratic world of Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

Not covid specific, but good to remember: Masking and other airborne disease prevention keeps you from getting other diseases like the flu too. Covid's not the only threat to your long-term health out there.

By Felicity Nelson

A study of around 500,000 medical records suggested that severe viral infections like encephalitis and pneumonia increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Researchers found 22 connections between viral infections and neurodegenerative conditions in the study of around 450,000 people.

People treated for a type of inflammation of the brain called viral encephalitis were 31 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. (For every 406 viral encephalitis cases, 24 went on to develop Alzheimer's disease – around 6 percent.)

Those who were hospitalized with pneumonia after catching the flu seemed to be more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Intestinal infections and meningitis (both often caused by a virus), as well as the varicella-zoster virus, which causes shingles, were also implicated in the development of several neurodegenerative diseases.

The impact of viral infections on the brain persisted for up to 15 years in some cases. And there were no instances where exposure to viruses was protective.

Around 80 percent of the viruses implicated in brain diseases were considered 'neurotrophic', which means they could cross the blood-brain barrier.

"Strikingly, vaccines are currently available for some of these viruses, including influenza, shingles (varicella-zoster), and pneumonia," the researchers wrote in their paper published last year.

"Although vaccines do not prevent all cases of illness, they are known to dramatically reduce hospitalization rates. This evidence suggests that vaccination may mitigate some risk of developing neurodegenerative disease."

In 2022, a study of more than 10 million people linked the Epstein-Barr virus with a 32-fold increased risk of multiple sclerosis.

"After reading [this] study, we realized that for years scientists had been searching – one-by-one – for links between an individual neurodegenerative disorder and a specific virus," said senior author Michael Nalls, a neurogeneticist at the National Institute on Aging in the US.

"That's when we decided to try a different, more data science-based approach," he said. "By using medical records, we were able to systematically search for all possible links in one shot."

First, the researchers analyzed the medical records of around 35,000 Finns with six different types of neurodegenerative diseases and compared this against a group of 310,000 controls who did not have a brain disease.

This analysis yielded 45 links between viral exposure and neurodegenerative diseases, and this was narrowed down to 22 links in a subsequent analysis of 100,000 medical records from the UK Biobank.

While this retrospective observational study cannot demonstrate a causal link, it adds to the pile of research hinting at the role of viruses in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

"Neurodegenerative disorders are a collection of diseases for which there are very few effective treatments and many risk factors," said co-author Andrew Singleton, a neurogeneticist and Alzheimer's researcher and the director of the Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias.

"Our results support the idea that viral infections and related inflammation in the nervous system may be common – and possibly avoidable – risk factors for these types of disorders."

This study was published in Neuron.

Study link: www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(22)01147-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627322011473%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

[vintagetvstars]

Diana Rigg Vs. Nichelle Nichols

Propaganda

Diana Rigg - (The Avengers, Diana) - Honestly? Just check her out as Emma Peel in any episode of The Avengers. The character herself was a legend - an exceptional spy, wonderful fighter, certified genius, a true feminist role model - not to mention a renowned sex symbol (that leather catsuit... heavens help me...) and fashion icon. As for Diana personally, she was once described by Michael Parkinson as "the most desirable woman he ever met, who radiated a lustrous beauty". She could pivot from funny quips and endearing jokes to stone-cold badassery like it was nothing, and she looked stunning either way. Whenever I look at a pic of her, I have this feeling she's planning some fun mischief and I get the strongest urge to ask her to take me along. Need anything more? Here, have some pics: (pics below the cut)

Nichelle Nichols - (Star Trek) - She speaks for herself. Legendary, iconic, at the forefront of feminism and civil rights in the 60s, she is a triple threat who did so much more. She volunteered from 1977 to promote recruitment diversity within NASA, including some of the first female and ethnic minority astronauts. Martin Luther King Jr. compared her work on Star Trek as a 'vital role model' to the civil rights marches. She refused to be dismissed, fought for visibility and shone whilst doing so. As a woman in stem, and simply a woman she means the world and stars above to me.

Master Poll List of the Hot Vintage TV Ladies Bracket

Additional propaganda below the cut

Diana Rigg:

When people think of The Avengers, they think Steed and Peel (or they think the marvel property but that’s neither here nor there). I know people who thought Mrs. Peel was the ONLY woman Steed worked with, Diana Rigg was Just That Good (she was only on two seasons!). She was one of those actors that could so perfectly play comedy in any form, her dry, sardonic wit was marvelous, but so was her physical and slapstick comedy, and she could do drama too! If you’ve seen her in interviews you’d also know how fabulously humble and kind she was. I don’t know if I’ve ever been more attracted to a TV woman than I’ve been to Diana Rigg. Some photos of her:

the SMILE!!!!

I like a woman that could kill me in one shot

tell me she's not endearing I DARE you

Gorgeous, sexy, competent, superior, so much leather. Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in the Avengers was foundational to my sexuality and personality. She's classy, she's cute, she's cocky, in one episode she whips a bunch of guys while wearing a corset and a spiked collar...

excuse me I'm overcome with sinful thoughts

 hello 911 I think I'm having a heart attack

Here's an interview I fell for her in:

Diana Rigg | Interview | The Avengers | Good Afternoon | 1974 | Part one

Her first appearance in The Avengers (In series 4, if you can believe it):

The Avengers: Emma Peel First Appearance HD

Nichelle Nichols:

She is the original badass babe. She was a black woman in a leading role on TV in the 60s, a trailblazer for black actresses for years to come. She is so beautiful and so awesome.

she's fantastic. have you seen her? paved the way for black actresses on TV even while her lines and scenes were being cut and improvised the most iconic uhura line in the series. (sulu: "I'll save you, fair maiden!" uhura, pushing him away: "sorry, neither!") she's incredibly talented and it's a crime the show didn't give her more screen time (or make her sing more often because she also has a beautiful voice!)

“Sorry, neither” in response to “fair maiden” was ad libbed by her. There’s a lot more I could say but what else do you need??

A sci-fi icon!

She was such a trailblazer, and Uhura was such an important character for so many people to be able to see on TV. Apparently Mae Jemison (the first African American woman to go into space) cited her as a reason she wanted to become an astronaut. She was just an absolute legend!

The story of Martin Luther King telling her not to quit Star Trek gives me chills. Representation matters. “Thank you so much, Dr. King. I’m really going to miss my co-stars.” Dr. King's smile, Nichols recalled, vanished from his face. "He said, 'What are you talking about?'" the actress explained. "I told him. He said, 'You cannot,' and so help me, this man practically repeated verbatim what Gene said. He said, 'Don’t you see what this man is doing, who has written this? This is the future. He has established us as we should be seen. 300 years from now, we are here. We are marching. And this is the first step. When we see you, we see ourselves, and we see ourselves as intelligent and beautiful and proud.' He goes on and I’m looking at him and my knees are buckling. I said, 'I…, I…' And he said, 'You turn on your television and the news comes on and you see us marching and peaceful, you see the peaceful civil disobedience, and you see the dogs and see the fire hoses, and we all know they cannot destroy us because we are there in the 23rd Century.'"

She shared the first interracial kiss on Star Trek, helped propel real life African American women into space-related careers, and looks divine in a mini skirt.

HOW DID UHURA WALK BACKWARDS SO FAR??? WOW!

[marauderstars]

Ways J.K Rowling did poc dirty in canon:

Making the last name of one of her most powerful black characters “Shacklebolt” - a crude af reference to slavery and just in very poor taste.

Naming her only east Asian character “Cho Chang” - a Korean surname as a first name for a Chinese character - proving she did no research whatsoever into Chinese naming traditions.

Cho’s characterization also leans in to the trope of tragic Asian female characters being defined by their romantic connections to white men, as in “Miss Saigon” or “A Quiet American.” Cho’s storyline centers on her romantic involvement with Cedric, Harry and Roger Davies. She gets no meaningful arc of her own.

The sidekick-ification of Lee Jordan.

Michael Corner being referred to as “the dark one” which is bad enough, and then him being whitewashed in the films.

Pansy Parkinson’s comment about Angelina Johnson’s braided hair looking like “worms” goes completely unpunished. Rowling treats this as standard bullying instead of a racially-charged comment. Rowling clearly didn’t understand the serious implications of this comment and its rooting in deeply-ingrained discrimination against black hairstyles, or she would have written a similar reaction to this as she did to that of Hermione being called a “Mudblood.”

House Elves as a metaphor for slaves is highly problematic because they are depicted as “liking” their enslavement and being complicit in it, much like the black slaves in “Gone With The Wind.” Despite Dobby being a beloved character, he is also seen as an anomaly for desiring freedom, and many other House Elves are depicted as grotesque, fawning, ridiculous or sinister. Pretty garbage metaphor for black slaves.

In Goblet of Fire Rowling describes a group of “African” wizards wearing “long white robes” and “roasting what looked like a rabbit on a bright purple fire.” This is just… *sigh* The way this is worded is very clearly just token exoticism and includes no genuine detail about their clothing, cultural food or nationality. It’s just “wow those zany rabbit-eating Africans and their purple fire.” Once again black characters are being used as examples of otherness rather than shown as human beings.

Rowling has openly admitted that she created a detailed backstory for Dean Thomas, one of the series’ few black characters, but did not include it in the books and included the backstory of Neville Longbottom, a white character, instead.

Approving the casting of a white actress in the role of Lavender Brown in the films, a character the majority of readers assumed was black.

The portrayal of Blaise Zabini’s “famously beautiful” black mother who was known for offing her husbands and taking their money. Like. Come on. Tbh she sounds like a queen but violent woc gold digger is still a shit trope.

Just the entire treatment of the Patil twins at the Yule Ball, the way Harry and Ron treated them and Rowling’s garbage attempt at describing their traditional clothing.

Padma Patil’s portrayal in Cursed Child as the stereotypical controlling Indian wife. The idea of ending up with her instead of Hermione being positioned as some kind of horrible alternate reality for Ron had very xenophobic undertones, and while Hermione is portrayed as black in the play, I don’t believe that Rowling originally intended her to be a black character nor that casting directors deliberately set out to cast a black actress as Hermione in Cursed Child initially.

[tens-girl]

Finished Rivals… have things to say…

Spoilers obvs ——>

Eeeeeeeeekkkkkk!

If you go into this show knowing it’s gonna be big, bold, brash, and unapologetic about being those things, you’ll have a great time!

The hair, the costumes, the music (oh god, the music - who stole my playlist?!), the cast - just everything is dialled up to 200% and if you dare to question ‘is it good though?’ it just shrugs and cuts to another sex montage.

Let’s be honest, I came (ahem) for David Tennant, but honestly, I stayed for so much more. He is brilliant of course, he always is, and his ability to capture the exact centre of a Venn diagram of pathetic and evil is unmatched - nobody does it like he does. He draws sympathy for a truly awful character, and certainly made me headbutt a wall a few times wondering how Tony kept making such terrible decisions. (Also if someone could supply a montage of him shouting fuck with full passion I’d be very grateful) - as he got more pathetic I honestly couldn’t resist him. His destruction of the Declan set is one of the most laughably pathetic things I’ve ever seen and I was almost crying watching it.

Meanwhile, they’re bending over backwards to make us like Rupert and I just can’t do it. He also makes lots of terrible decisions (mostly with his dick of course) and for me it undermines the apparent ‘he loves Taggie’ thing. I just wish he’d go home and play with his dogs.

(Also Gertrude is my favourite character, just the best dog!)

Shout out to Victoria Smurfit who knocks it out of the park as Maud - she has some of the best line deliveries in the whole show, particularly as she prepares to leave for London and resume her career.

But honestly, my heart belongs to Freddy and Lizzie. If you’d told me I’d be grinning with happiness, with tears in my eyes, for a sex scene between Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson before I started watching this, I’d have called a doctor for you, but that’s the truth. They are spectacular and I adored them. I’ve never been a fan of Danny before, but he completely seduced me here, and I already loved Katherine (IT Crowd fans in our house) - but between them, they supplied the real ‘rooting for them’ heart of the series. I want to see them together in everything now!

Back to DT - the top tier irony of having his character win his first BAFTA and then have him clubbed over the head with it… priceless, and I personally suggest the academy honour him with a long overdue nod for this role simply in order to see him receive it with trepidation in case he gets bludgeoned with it. It even beat the joyous irony of Tony being all true blue and Tory after�� well everything that went down this summer!

(Also, the way Tony passed the award to Cameron as they collected it made me think that if David had won this year for Crowley, he’d have absolutely asked Michael up on stage to give it to him because Aziraphale should share it)

And lastly… Love is a Battlefield is an excellent song, but I will never be able to listen to it again now. Oh pathetic-evil DT characters, please stop wobbling my moral compass (sorry, I’m writing Kilgrave fanfic right now so I’m all over the place in terms of right and wrong)

Anyway, it was great fun and I’ve told everyone to watch it, 80s references bingo cards at the ready!

[zenithabovemarshland]

Just thinking aloud about fame, celebrity, and Pluto in Aquarius...

When Britney Spears was released from the conservatorship there were posts about how it's likely Britney might not be as internet-literate or socially appropriate as we'd like her to be, considering everything she went through. The posts encouraged others to be patient and understanding, and not to cancel her if she happens to make any mistakes.

Just now I saw a similar point about Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Now that she's released she intends to make herself very public online, but her entire life (32 years) has been spent in either one prison or the other. There are concerns for how she might adjust to the internet we know today, seeing as how she likely didn't get the opportunity to grow alongside social media the way the rest of us did.

In the 2024 Year Ahead Forecast from The Astrology Podcast they brought up the Pluto in Leo generation, and how that period of time and that generation relate to the making of our concept of "celebrity". They're also the generation that are holding on to power (like the presidents of the USA). Pluto in Leo gen is also unique because it's one of the only Pluto generations that is likely to live to their Pluto opposition, which is happening now. With this Pluto opposition, the pod talked about how the idea of who gets to be in power is likely to change. As well as our concept and relationship with "celebrities".

In 1991, Pluto in Scorpio (square to Pluto in Leo, if it matters. Whether it matters is still something I'm exploring here), Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's. I'm not actually sure how public illness was allowed to be previous to that. I just remember growing up how Michael J. Fox was something of a special case, and his celebrity status helped make massive leaps in awareness and research for Parkinson's.

Hollywood became big in the 1920's, when Pluto was in Cancer. While Pluto has been in the opposite sign, Capricorn, I feel like I've heard about a million celebrities coming out with illness. Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Bruce Willis. Recently, Celine Dion. If you Google it, there are lists of dozens of celebrities with chronic illnesses. Not to mention mental illness, which has become that much more public.

My feeling at this point is that there are themes of privacy, hidden and internal illness, and representation here that we've seen getting dug up from the Pluto in Cancer era. True crime stories from old Hollywood, being open about mental illness, exposing how child talents have been exploited by the industry, and of course, hidden afflictions to celebrities are changes we've seen around fame through the trine, Pluto in Scorpio, and opposition, Pluto in Capricorn.

Most obviously, though, who gets to be famous has changed the most in the last 20 years. It used to be only special, hand-picked people who got to be famous. Now it could be anybody with a cell phone.

I think of this blog post on the Aries Point by Ace (AliceSparklyKat), where they talk about how the angular points seem to manifest. They've noticed that celebrities whose Sun is at 0 degrees Cancer seem to be regarded as chameleon-like in their nationality, form, or culture, and those with 0 degrees Capricorn seem to be known for a peak example for one nationality, form, or culture. I wonder if this can be seen in this shift to influencer culture, particularly in the rhetoric that celebrities until now have been made to represent everybody. But now, after Pluto in Capricorn, we are much more aware of the consequences of not having fair representation of more nuanced, individual experiences. At first it was all about art and talent. Now, it's about the hard tacks of who gets what job and why, and the consequences of story. Very Cancer to Capricorn opposition coded.

Anyway, I feel like I've noticed a lot of celebrities becoming ill in the past, and now I feel like I'm seeing some "taboo" issues come up in influencer culture. I'm wondering about how this could be gearing us up for Pluto in Aquarius.

What do you think??? I really want to hear your thoughts!

[dndhistory]

508. Michael Dobson and Douglas Niles - H2: The Mines of Bloodstone (1986)

A high level module for AD&D this one gets the players to go deep into the titular mines to get in the middle of a deep gnomes vs. deep dwarves war (or if you prefer... let me google the spelling... svirfneblin vs. duergar war, there). Going even further down they eventually get to face Orcus that you can see in the cool Keith Parkinson cover art.

Following up on what was apparently a stand-alone module (H1: Bloodstone Pass) this module, like that one, aims to also use the Battlesystem rules for fights between big armies with gnomes vs. dwarves giving the excuse for the big battles.��

The module was not very well received at the time because it felt like a bit of a jumble, with a kind of hack and slash ethos that was no longer popular in the game. It also felt unbalanced in terms of treasure and magical items which seem to be overly available throughout. These are problems that are frequent as the game gets to the later levels and one of the great difficulties in making good high level modules... which is why I suppose there aren't that many of them (that and the majority of campaigns calling it quits around level 10).

[warningsine]

A small new trial published in the journal Nature Medicine describes what would be two firsts for Parkinson's disease, if they pan out: a diagnostic test and a potential immune-based treatment that works similarly to a vaccine. The research is still early, but researchers are excited by the prospect of advances for a disease that lacks good diagnostics and treatments.

The target of both innovations is alpha synuclein, a protein that takes an abnormal form in Parkinson's patients—aggregating in their brains and destroying nerve cells involved in motor and some cognitive functions. While researchers have long known that these proteins are involved in the disease, finding ways to measure and target them has not been easy.

The (potential) Parkinson's vaccine

The Florida-based biotech company Vaxxinity developed a vaccine, or what it calls an active immune medicine, to train the immune system to attack only abnormal versions of the protein—which are improperly folded—and not the regular forms. This would essentially help people's bodies treat themselves.

“The idea is that patients should recognize their own misfolded proteins, and it is personalized because their own immune systems are doing the work,” says Dr. Mark Frasier, chief scientific officer at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which funded the testing part of the study.

The Parkinson's test

The new diagnostic test for Parkinson’s, which was developed by researchers at University of Texas and Vaxxinity, uses samples of cerebrospinal fluid to measure a person's levels of abnormal alpha synuclein. If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants it full approval, it will become the first test for diagnosing Parkinson's. (The FDA classified it as a breakthrough device in 2019, a status that expedites access to innovative technologies where there is unmet need.) “Without [such a test], you’re kind of shooting in the dark,” says Mei Mei Hu, CEO and co-founder of Vaxxinity.

Alpha synuclein has been tricky to measure in the body for several reasons, says Frasier. While everyone has the protein, abnormal forms of it occur in relatively small amounts, so they're harder to detect via imaging. This type of alpha synuclein also tends to clump inside cells rather than outside of them, making it even harder to see. If clumps are large enough to become detectable, they can look structurally similar to amyloid or tau—the proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease—so imaging tests might misdiagnose people with Alzheimer’s rather than Parkinson’s.

Read More: Michael J. Fox: Chasing Parkinson's Treatments

The test overcomes those hurdles by cleverly exploiting normal forms of the protein. Parkinson’s experts believe that tiny amounts of abnormal alpha synuclein circulate in the spinal fluid of patients, but are too small to be detected through imaging. To run the new test in the study, researchers take normal forms of the protein in the lab and add them to samples of spinal fluid from patients; that prompts any misfolded protein that might be present in the samples to pull the normal proteins into misfolded aggregates, amplifying the signal for the abnormal form. Scientists then use a fluorescent probe to detect how much antibody to the misfolded protein patients generated, resulting in a biomarker, or stand-in for the treatment effect.

This test would be a critical advance because it makes it possible to identify patients with abnormal alpha synuclein at the earliest stages of the disease, when treatments might be more effective.

With more data from patients, researchers hope to further refine what different levels mean, so that the test will be able to tell not just if a person has Parkinson's but whether someone might be at a greater risk of developing it. Currently the test is only used in research studies, but more results like these—as well as data on whether the same process can be applied to blood samples—could speed the test to getting approved for wider use.

What the study found

The trial—conducted by researchers at the University of Texas, the Mayo Clinic, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and Vaxxinity—included 20 people with Parkinson’s. It was just designed to test the safety of the approach, so the study only provided hints about the treatment's effectiveness. Everyone received three shots over nearly a year; some contained the treatment at different doses, and some contained a placebo.

Overall, people receiving the vaccine generated more antibodies against the abnormal alpha synuclein protein than those vaccinated with placebo, as measured by the Parkinson's test. Antibodies started to ramp up about four months after the vaccinations began.

“What is unique about our technology is that it can stimulate the immune system to produce very, very specific antibodies against toxic forms of alpha synuclein, and do it in a safe way, which is reassuring,” says Jean-Cosme Dodart, senior vice president of research at Vaxxinity and senior author of the paper.

According to the test results, about half of the patients in the trial showed high levels of antibodies against the misfolded alpha synuclein, and most of these patients received the highest dose of the vaccine. They also scored the highest on motor and cognitive tests. There were too few patients to adequately assess any changes of Parkinson’s symptoms, but the researchers believe that longer follow-up with those tests, and potentially more frequent or higher doses of the vaccine, could lead to improvements in those scores. “The results are very, very encouraging,” says Dodart.

“This paper demonstrates that in a small number of people, the vaccine is having an impact on misfolded alpha synuclein, which is really exciting,” says Frasier. “We are now in the biological era for Parkinson’s disease."

[newsatsix1986]

Mr Gerry Carroll, you knew that we were waiting for you! 😉

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Sadly the cast list that Michael Lucas included in his upload of the trailer on Instagram didn’t include Rory Fleck Byrne, so I reckon it’s safe to say that the chapter of the Carrolls has now closed. We’ll miss you Gerry! However, the story of Gerry Carroll will continue to live on in the content that fans create, like today’s post!

As News At Six touches on Australia’s news history, Gerry’s variety show; the Gerry Carroll Show, also highlights the history of Australian talk and variety shows from the era too. His story of being a talent from overseas finding fame, love and fortune here in Australia is one that a few performers relate to here in Australia. He has been compared to Don Lane, as well as local born and bred performers like Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton too, by various viewers of the programme.

Looking into Season Three’s news desk inspired me to try to figure out which show sets the Gerry Carroll Show might have been modelled off. Its beige colour scheme, curved stage and glass block back wall are a striking combination, and as my findings found, like Gerry himself is an amalgamation of past performers, so is the set itself. One that stood out to me obviously was The Don Lane Show (1975-1983), as you can see in these screenshots from an episode from 1981, it features grid glass windows and the colour scheme is almost perfect too.

What stood out to me even stronger was the set of Midday With Ray Martin, which he hosted from 1985-1993. In these screenshots from an interview with John Farnham from 1987, the glass wall is so spot on, as are the seats too, just in a more blue colour tone. I even noted some similarities in this set from Parkinson In Australia (1979-1983), in this episode from 1979 featuring prime-minister-to-be Bob Hawke! Look at the curve and colour of the set, it’s also very reminiscent of Gerry’s show!

Which set do you like best? 🌟

Videos Sourced:

‘Parkinson In Australia - Guests: Bob Hawke, Kate Fitzpatrick & Jack Fingleton (Aired: 12.5.1979)’ - Stay Tuned! on YouTube

‘The Don Lane Show (Aired 1.10.1981) Guests: Danny La Rue & Tom Waits’ - Stay Tuned! on YouTube

‘John Farnham Interview on Midday with Ray Martin - 1987’ - spikeyroberto on YouTube

[shamandrummer]

Healing with Acoustic Resonance

Drumming is a profound way to promote healing. Through acoustic resonance, drumming helps restore the vibrational integrity of body, mind, and spirit. Acoustic resonance is the ability of a sound wave to impart its energy to a substance such as air, wood, metal, or the human body, making it vibrate in sympathy. For example, when you tap a tuning fork in proximity to another one of the same tone, both will vibrate. Acoustic resonance is an important consideration for instrument builders, as most acoustic instruments use resonators, such as the strings and body of a violin, the length of tube in a flute, and the shape of a drum membrane. A single-headed frame or hoop drum works best for acoustic resonance healing--the larger the drum, the greater the resonance.

The drum is a powerful tool for healing. As we play the drum, the drum then plays our bodies. The various frequencies of the drum interact with our own resonant frequencies, forming new harmonic alignments. Through the natural law of resonance, the sound waves produced by the drum impart their energy to the resonating systems of the body, mind and spirit, making them vibrate in sympathy. When we drum, our living flesh, brainwaves and spiritual energy centers entrain or synchronize to the sound waves and rhythms. This sympathetic resonance has the following key effects:

It produces deeper self-awareness by inducing synchronous brain activity. Research has demonstrated that the physical transmission of rhythmic energy to the brain synchronizes the two cerebral hemispheres. When the logical left hemisphere and the intuitive right hemisphere begin to pulsate in harmony, the inner guidance of intuitive knowing can then flow unimpeded into conscious awareness. The ability to access unconscious information through symbols and imagery facilitates psychological integration and a reintegration of self. Drumming also synchronizes the frontal and lower areas of the brain, integrating nonverbal information from lower brain structures into the frontal cortex, producing feelings of insight, understanding, integration, certainty, conviction, and truth, which surpass ordinary understandings and tend to persist long after the experience, often providing foundational insights for religious and cultural traditions.

It releases negative feelings, blockages, and emotional trauma. Drumming can help people express and address emotional issues. Unexpressed feelings and emotions can form energy blockages. The physical stimulation of drumming removes blockages and produces emotional release. Sound vibrations resonate through every cell in the body, stimulating the release of negative cellular memories.

It accesses the entire brain. The reason rhythm is such a powerful tool is that it permeates the entire brain. Vision for example is in one part of the brain, speech another, but acoustic resonance penetrates the whole brain. The sound of drumming generates dynamic neuronal connections in all parts of the brain even where there is significant damage or impairment such as in Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). According to Michael Thaut, director of Colorado State University's Center for Biomedical Research in Music, "Rhythmic cues can help retrain the brain after a stroke or other neurological impairment, as with Parkinson’s patients…." The more connections that can be made within the brain, the more integrated our experiences become.

It induces natural altered states of consciousness. Rhythmic drumming induces altered states, which have a wide range of therapeutic applications. A landmark study by Barry Quinn, Ph.D. demonstrates that even a brief drumming session can double alpha brain wave activity, dramatically reducing stress. The brain changes from Beta waves (focused concentration and activity) to Alpha waves (calm and relaxed), producing feelings of euphoria and well-being. Alpha activity is associated with meditation, shamanic trance, and integrative modes of consciousness.

It helps us to experience being in resonance with the natural rhythms of life. Rhythm and resonance order the natural world. Dissonance and disharmony arise only when we limit our capacity to resonate totally and completely with the rhythms of life. The origin of the word rhythm is Greek meaning "to flow." We can learn to flow with the rhythms of life by simply learning to feel the beat, pulse, or groove while drumming. When drummers feel this rhythmic flow, especially at a slower, steady beat, they can shift into a state of deep relaxation and expanded awareness. It is a way of bringing the essential self into accord with the flow of a dynamic, interrelated universe, helping us feel connected rather than isolated and estranged.

[gothicgender]

Navigation🕸

Salutations, welcome to my blog. I'm Blake but you can call me blaky or Liu aswell, however you prefer ! To say something about me I use they/them or neutral pronouns and want to become a writer. I may have bad grammar because I'm not english.

Requests - open

Request rules :

I will write for my fandoms because I'm more used to them.

The fandoms I'll write for are Hazbin Hotel, creepypasta, monster high, harry potter and maybe teen titans.

I am comfortable writing fluff, smut, angst, romantic, platonic and other stuff requested...tho I won't write smut that is too freaky or with weird kinks that I'm no comfortable with.

I can write fem, male and gender-neutral reader.

I can write headcanons or small fics about ships I also like because find it more easy then to write a ship I don't see happening or that I personally don't like.

I wouldn't like to be rushed with requests because it can be really stressful !

Do not be afraid to request and be specific with it !

Characters I will write for !

Hazbin hotel :

Chalie

Vaggie

Alastor

Angel Dust

Husk

Sir Pentious

Cherry Bomb

Rosie

The overlords (expect Valentino)

Lucifer

Lute

Adam (probably)

Mimzy (probably)

Katie Killjoy

Tom Trench

Ships I accept :

Charlie x Vaggie

Husk x Angel Dust

Valentino x Velvette x Vox (I believe they are poly)

Sir Pentious x Cherri Bomb

Carmila and Zestrial

Creepypasta :

Jeff the killer

Ben Drowned

Homicidal Liu

Bloody Painter

Ticci-Toby (probably)

Jason the toymaker

Candy Pop

Eyeless Jack

Hobo Heart

The puppeteer (maybe)

Kagekao

Laughing Jack

Nathan the nobody

Jane the Killer

Nina the killer (both versions)

Rogue

Kate the chaser

Nurse Ann

Suicide Sadie

Judge Angels

Clockwork

Zero

Lulu

Laughing Jill

Nemesis

Ships I accept :

Jane the killer x Mary (her canon wife)

Kagekao x Suicide Sadie

Bloody Painter x Judge Angels

Nurse Ann x Dr. Smiley

(other you can suggest)

Monster high (gen 1 or 2) :

Clawdeen Wolf

Draculaura Vike

Frankie Stein

Cleo de Nile

Lagoona Blue

Ghoulia Yelps

Abby Bominable

Jinafire Long

Iris Clops

Operetta

Robecca Steam

Rochelle Goyle

Scarah Screams

Skelita Calaveras

Spectra Vondergeist

Toralei Stripe

Purrsephone and Meowlody

Twyla Boogeyman

Venus McFlytrap

Marisol Coxi

C.A. Cupid

Casta Fierce

Elissabat

Clawdia Wolf

Viperine Gorgon

Deuce Gorgon

Clawd Wolf

Heath Burns

Holt Hyde

Invisi Billie

Jackson Jekyll

Neighthan Rot

Garrot du Roque

Kieran Valentine

Manny Taur

Ships I accept :

Clawdeen x Draculaura

Clawd x Draculaura

Cleo x Deuce

Abby x Heath

Ghoulia x Sloman

Frankie x Jackson

Spectra x Porter

Rochelle x Garrot

Scarah x Billie

Iris x Manny

Harry Potter :

Harry Potter

Ron Weasley

Hermione Granger

Fred and George Weasley

Percy Weasley

Alicia Spinnet

Lavender Brown

Parvati Patil

Dean Thomas

Neville Longbottom

Ginny Weasley

Lee Jordan

Angelina Johnson

Blaise Zabini

Pansy Parkinson

Tom Riddle

Theodore Nott

Daphne Greenglass

Millicent Bulstrode

Cho Chang

Padma Patil

Luna Lovegood

Marietta Edgecombe

Penelope Clearwater

Michael Corner

Hannah Abbott

Susan Bones

Cedric Diggory

Ships I accept :

Harry x Ginny

Ron x Hermione

Neville x Luna

Molly x Arthur Weasley

Bill x Fleur

Draco x Astoria

Angelina x Alicia

Teen Titans :

Robin (Dick Grayson)

Starfire

Raven

Beast Boy

Cyborg

Bumblebee

Blackfire

Terra

Madame Rogue

Chesire

Punk Rocket

Ships I accept :

Robin x Starfire

Raven x Beast Boy

Jinx x Kid Flash

This is all so far ! Thank you for visiting my page.

[dear-indies]

hello! maybe i am misremembering, but i do remember you reblogged some guides on how to write characters, such as stereotypes to avoid when writing characters of color. do you have a tag or a list of guides for how to write disabled characters and stereotypes to avoid? i am only hard of hearing and even that is a weird experience that often isnt similar to other peoples expereinces, but i would love to write more disabled characters and want to make sure i am listening to disabled people and are respectful about the character im creating! thank you so much for all the amazing guides and info you are putting out! your masterlists have helped me find some amazing faces and are super useful ♥

Hey anon! When I research characters, for this instance characters with disabilities, I google the disability and then "stereotypes" or "what not to do" or look on Youtube because there's so many people on Youtube educating others about their disabilities.

The following speak about their disabilities in videos!

Special Books by Special Kids interviews a variety of people (not just children!) with various disabilities. Alyssa, a part of the team, also has mental health disorders which you find a video about here!

Jessica Kellgren-Fozard who has hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsy, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome with Marfanoid phenotype causing blindness in one eye and deafness.

Chella Man who is deaf and uses cochlear implants, have done several interviews and videos on the past about his experiences!

Molly Burke who is blind, has a guide dog!

Lucy Edwards who is blind.

The Blind Life , Sam who is blind.

Matthew and Paul, Paul is blind, uses a cane and has a guide dog.

Alex1Leg who is a leg amputee.

Footless Jo who is a a foot amputee and a stroke survivor.

Spencer2TheWest who is a double leg amputee.

Squirmy and Grubs, Shane has muscular dystrophy.

The Frey Life, Mary has Cystic Fibrosis.

Chelsea Bear who has Cerebral Palsy.

Annie Elainey who has is autistic and has EDS.

Gem Hubbard who is a wheelchair user.

PARALIFE, Craig and Claire, Craig is paraplegic.

Mason Branstrator who is paraplegic.

Roll with Cole & Charisma, Cole is quadriplegic.

Jordan Bone who is quadriplegic.

Angela Rockwood who is paraplegic - links to her Instagram!

Jade O'Connell who has Tourette’s syndrome.

Lewis Capaldi who has Tourette’s syndrome.

Zach Kornfeld who has ankylosing spondylitis.

Georgia Rankin who has skeletal dysplasia.

Taylor Nicole Dean who is a recovering addict.

Documentaries / life stories:

Michael J. Fox who has Parkinson’s Disease.

Celine Dion who has stiff-person syndrome.

Shows:

Ryan O'Connell who has cerebral palsy, created and stared in "Special" which is an semi-autobiographical show.

Kayla Harris who is a wheelchair user with a spinal cord injury, created and started in "We Might Regret This".

Some other things!

A Guide to Writing Disabled Characters - Tumblr page!

Mobility Aids playlist (wheelchair users)

Mini Masterpost: Sources for Writing Wheelchair Users

Writing Wheelchair Users

+ will add more when I remember them!

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Ghostwatch (1992) is about rape culture/domestic abuse and the media's complicity in it. Btw. Discussion of domestic violence, SA and CSA below.

It's literally about a family of women who will not be believed about what they're going through no matter what their evidence. Case closed thanks for reading. Okay but seriously:

Haunting is SA/Domestic Violence

The signs of the haunting are: items of monetary value being destroyed (making it harder to afford to leave even if they weren't already in council housing - they can't afford a new home); children having unexplained marks; disturbed sleep; children talking about being asked to do things they don't want do (such as drown the "bad bunny"); children having someone in their room at night that they dont want in there; inappropriate writing found in school books; literally feeling the sense of being touched all over. These can be signs of abuse.

The site of the most horror, the glory hole, is where Suzanne and Kimmy's father (and Pam's husband) spent a lot of time. When Kimmy peaked in there, that's when she saw Mr Pipes.

Multiple phone-in accounts of the supernatural take place in the viewer's homes.

Dr Pascoe says that Suzanne would be easily victimised by a poltergeist because she's from a "broken home". If there's already family upheaval, it can be very easy for the warning signs of abuse to slip through the cracks.

All but two of the people most willing to take the paranormal seriously were women. Of the men, one was a victim of it himself and opted to obscure his face before talking about it due to fear of ridicule (whose trauma revolves around an unpleasant gloopy liquid being put on him without his consent) and the other was an occultist who didn't take the story of this particular family seriously enough to do the whole shebang, instead merely prayed with them. I'm not saying that only/almost exclusively women get sexually assaulted, or that women do believe each other more frequently - because we don't- but I am saying that the 90s would.

Media complicity

Initially, the reporting on the paranormal in Ghostwatch is lighthearted but aims to entertain the idea that the Early family are being honest. They have Dr Pascoe in the studio, they send a team to investigate, they do believe that something is going on, if not a haunting.

However. Over time, the cracks in the media's willingness to believe women starts to show.

They bring on an "expert" (who says merely that 'this could all be fake', not getting into any specifics of how or why, who openly insults Dr Pascoe and then she is tone-policed when she responds to his criticism - "did he upset you?" "[clearly upset but knows she's being goaded on live tv] no!").

Pam shows how print media responded to her, using her as a spectacle to keep eyes on their product - which is also what the BBC is doing in-universe. (Ironically, having so many eyes is what ultimately dooms the broadcast!)

And then, of course, Suzanne is caught hitting the pipes. Immediately, with one piece of evidence against them and regardless of the other evidence, Michael Parkinson gleefully (from, I suspect in part relief that he doesn't have to believe this could happen) starts disregarding everything else Dr Pascoe has to say. Why should we believe her? We have one piece of evidence to the contrary.

He hangs up the phone when she gives advice. He (more openly) devalues her contributions as false. He interrupts her saying that they don't want to give people nightmares. He's indulging, while maintaining his professional façade, in the high of catching someone out.

Suzanne is caught and discredited on the basis of her recreating the events of the haunting - aka the abuse. Dr Pascoe says this is part of the pattern, and she's not wrong. Children can do this as victims of abuse. Suzanne not wanting to talk about these actions - the writing in her schoolbooks, hitting the pipes - is taken as a sign of her guilt. In-fiction, had Suzanne believed that she would be taken seriously regardless of whether something happened specifically that night, she likely wouldn't have taken that action. But the BBC themselves staged a joke on Sarah earlier that night with Suzanne as a co-conspirator, having Craig jump out at her, implicitly mocking them. She knew she wouldn't be taken seriously if nothing happened. She needed there to be spectacle because otherwise they would be condemned just like her mum was by print media.

The BBC turns on this family, just as media outlets and public opinion can and will turn on victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault if they are 'revealed' to not be perfect victims. If they hold something back that they're embarrassed about, they're a liar, if they ever tried to protect themselves, they're just as bad, if they tried to communicate their distress in a way that isn't palatable or immediately understandable they're denied safe housing and ridiculed.

Even after seeing more ghostly events after the Suzanne reveal, and even with the phones ringing off the hook with more people who relate to these events, Parkinson is perfectly happy to accept that the girls and the reporter team are now happily playing board games again. He stops investigating. He's decided who the guilty party is, and his condescending correspondent is in agreement.

We cut back to Craig Charles, and he's having a laugh with the other (male) paranormal invesigator about how nothing is happening. How silly it would be if ghosts were real! "Where would I hold the microphone!" While being followed by two kids, out alone past the watershed - after Parkinson calls out a distressed mother for her kids watching tv after the watershed. Who's looking out for them? Certainly not Craig.

And then. After the problem is willfully ignored. It gets worse. After being ridiculed on the trusted news channel BBC 1, paranormal activity goes on the rise.

"It's in the machine", Dr Pascoe says, and again, she's not wrong. At the end of the film, Parkinson is literally, physically used by the ghost to spread its message. The callous disregard for women's safety, the downplaying of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, the lack of respect for the reality that some people have to live in - part of it is down to the media's portrayals of the people that bring these cases forward. The stigma perpetuated by the machine empowers abusers to continue and to escalate their behaviours.

In real life, one should definitely be skeptical of someone telling you that ghosts are real, especially someone with dubious, unsubstantiated evidence and who's trying to sell a book about it. However, in the film Ghostwatch, the paranormal IS objectively real and it is an effective metaphor for how victims can be mistreated by the media. If the BBC had believed the Early family outright - or at least treated them with a greater deal of respect than camping inside their house and making jokes at their expense - the problem would not have spread.