#altes Sanatorium

[coffeestainedcamera]

Continuing to play through the new Penacony patch, maybe I'll finish up tomorrow after CPA exam cramming. The minibosses en route to the final boss are so annoying. Anyways, spoilers follow and I'll put translations into alt text. The Sunday vs Robin debate is just so interesting to me.

Also, I'm on team "would rather buy merch than in-app purchases" but got Robin! Idk how to actually play her yet but that's an issue for later! Anyways.

Yeah, so her elder brother is my favorite antagonist in this game so far. He's proposing something utterly disgusting, out of his savior's complex that imo kicked into overdrive after she almost died. But it was probably showing blatantly enough to her for a while before that, hence mail that was described as "pleasantries".

On its face, I understand the impulse of obsessively wanting to protect your sibling. They're your whole world, but at some point, they start to make their own choices. You might not understand them (like my little bro's interest in compsci) but if they're not hurting anyone, I think you should respect them.

So I get the horror of finding out little sis went out to a warzone to provide humanitarian aid and caught a stray. But this was ultimately her decision.

My personal take is that repressing free will is dictatorial behavior. I don't care about the "strong protecting the weak" excuse. And it was particularly dirty to start the dilemma game with the "hatchling" story, as that one really panders to this line of thinking imo.

In this case, I really do think that taking the wildlife to a rehabber is fine. And I suppose the Family would have enough resources to get the bird consistent veterinary care and everything else it needs. But this is still an animal, and we are talking about dilemmas involving free will of those who can talk and explain their thoughts to others. It's like one of those "appeal to emotion" arguments my history teacher warned about.

The man in the second dilemma deserved to get turned in right away. He's a monster.

I never considered anything but the "support" option for Robin's choice, but still had the lead speak with the party members, as to decide without consulting is some Sunday behavior.

And with that, we get the monologue.

Yeah, he went full Social Darwinist. There is no other description for a rhetoric that assumes that the strong should decide the happy life for the weak, particularly when he fails to provide a definition for his two categories. It comes off particularly heinously because this is a planet inspired by 1920's US, I suppose.

The party would need to track down Welt to answer his questions because I mean, some of the anti-equal suffrage comics we saw in history class sure were following that "women and ethnic and racial minorities don't know what's good for them" thinking. Also, man really bandied about this ideology in front of someone who would be stuck in a sanatorium back then.

For your consideration:

And so, it makes sense for Firefly in particular to tear this unholy lovechild of Social Darwinism and Messiah Complex a new one. Because ultimately, escaping from the flaws of free will is not going to address any of the issues. Yeah, sure, stay awake to power the Matrix where no one is terrible, but what happens when you croak due to sleep deprivation? Everyone goes back to failing in the same, or new and horrible ways! Or dies if the unplugging goes badly!

So yeah, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[bluecoolr]

For Life or Until Fault

Alt Timeline 2.0 - Darrell x Odile (Part 5)

Warnings: MINORS DNI! Main characters are slasher ocs. Implied murder.

Darrell belongs to me ♥︎

Odile belongs to @solmints-messyocdiary

The sky was a stormy blue-gray, and already the sanatorium courtyards glistened with puddles. Sister Agatha went directly from her office to the lobby upon receiving a call from the front desk. "Sister, a Mr. Todd is here to see you," the receptionist had said.

And there he was, sitting in a lonely corner, facing away from the crucified Christ on the wall. He stood up when she called him.

With a polite smile he crossed the room to greet her, covering the side of his face so as to avoid looking at the crucifix.

Sister Agatha's heart momentarily sank. He had not been rehabilitated after all.

She inquired after his affairs and led him on a walk down the cloisters. Rain and shadow muffled their conversation.

She commended his improvement in speaking the language, although she noticed he had a bit of trouble with tenses and pronunciation. The effect was an unfair impression of simple-mindedness.

"I'm glad to hear that all has worked out so far," said Sister Agatha.

"It wouldn't have had you not put in a good word," Darrell admitted. "Thank you, Sister. It's one of the reasons why I came."

Sister Agatha inclined her head and held her hands behind her back in attention. "Well, that means there's more to this visit, then. Come, Darrell. Tell me. You seem… rather weary."

Darrell sat on the colonnade. "Well," he began. "Have you heard of any strange happenings about the town I'm staying in?"

"How do you mean?" The question had jogged Sister Agatha's memory.

The large man gave a noncommittal shrug. "There's an oddness to the people - a superstition - about a girl."

"If I may confide..." She plucked up her habit and sat across from him. "Some years back, there was much talk about a girl a Catholic priest had found."

"She was a feral thing. They say she had been raised by dogs. Imagine! Oh, but she was a darling to look at. Skin and bones but a pretty little thing. The newspapers had a field day."

Darrell was listening intently. "What happened to her?" he asked.

"She grew up, a proper lady now, under the priest's care of course. Then, one day, there was a fire at the church and both were lost."

"They burned, you mean?"

"Nobody knows. Their bodies were never found. They just disappeared." Sister Agatha cast a sidelong glance at him. "Tell me, why do you ask?"

He did not say. Instead, he stared out into the courtyard, where the rain battered the flags. His knuckles bleached white as he squeezed his fingers together, evidently trying to stave off some violent stream of emotion.

Finally, he let go of a shaky sigh. "Do you think it's a punishment, Sister, that I can't remember anything?"

"A second chance," said Sister Agatha firmly.

"At night, I lie awake, and feel as if… the whole of heaven has schemed against me," bemoaned Darrell. "If I were being punished, it's certainly fair to know for what crime. I feel… I feel utterly alone."

He turned his face away and Sister Agatha perceived that he wiped his tears on the back of his hand. "Perhaps," she began, "it would be a greater burden to know. Perhaps, it is a mercy."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you over this."

They remained in quiet misery for a while. The nun twiddled with the large rosary strung to her belt. "Would you like to say a prayer with me?" she inquired of the man, hoping it would give him comfort.

"I can't remember any prayers."

"Let me pray over you, then."

When he left, Sister Agatha stood meditatively by her office window. Thinking back, the night Darrell Todd had come to Our Lady of the Abandoned had not been different to the one that now passed overhead.

She remembered how the old groundskeeper's dog had shrunk back from him in apprehension. She remembered having been afraid, the first time she'd been alone in a room with him. But her fear gave way to sympathy, seeing his reduced state.

Then, she had taken his clothes to the washroom and discovered a makeshift pocket sewn into the inner band of his pants. Within, she had found strips of tiny photographs that shed light on who - or what - he was.

Sister Agatha burned them, deciding that he could not act on what he could not remember.

God forbid he remembered at all.

[filmabend]

Villmark Asylum – Schreie aus dem Jenseits – Film HD (2015)

Originaltitel: Villmark 2

Villmark Asylum – Schreie aus dem Jenseits ist ein Horrorfilm

In Villmark Asylum – Schreie aus dem Jenseits stoßen fünf Arbeiter im Keller eines alten Sanatoriums auf finstere Geheimnisse.

Inhalt von Villmark Asylum – Schreie aus dem Jenseits 

In einem abgelegenen Wald hoch oben in den Wäldern Norwegens befindet sich ein altes Sanatorium, das langsam zerfällt.

Majestätisch thront das riesige Gebäude in den Wäldern.

Damals wurde hier Tuberkulose behandelt, bevor es in eine Nervenheilanstalt umgewandelt wurde.

Mittlerweile ist keine Menschenseele mehr da, bis auf den in die Jahre gekommenen Hausmeister...

[mirbeck-country]

Mirbeck Daily History: 1920er. Flüchtige aus dem Sanatorium gesucht

Betty Cornelia Clarks, genannt "Betty C.", ist eine 28-jährige Frau aus Baltimore. Sie wurde als jüngste Tochter des erfolgreichen Geschäftsmanns Bennet Clarks und dessen Ehefrau Matilda geboren. Sie hat einen älteren Bruder, Brandon, und eine ältere Schwester, Lisa-Ann.

Betty C. hat in ihrer Jugend viel Zeit in der Party- und Club-Szene von Baltimore verbracht und hat schnell eine Vorliebe für das Leben im Rampenlicht entwickelt. Sie hat als Model gearbeitet und hat gute Verbindungen in die gehobene Gesellschaft der Stadt.

Leider hat ihre Begeisterung für das Partyleben sie in die Fänge der Opiumsucht geführt. Nach einem Vorfall mit ihrer Schwester und einem Dealer hat ihr Vater sie in eine Entzugsklinik geschickt. Seitdem arbeitet Betty C. daran, von ihrer Sucht loszukommen und versucht gleichzeitig, ihre Beziehung zu ihrer Schwester zu reparieren und in das Leben ihrer Familie zurückzukehren.

Sie besucht regelmäßig Sitzungen bei ihrem Therapeuten, Dr. Espen Abercrombie, und hat sich auch einen Job als Kellnerin gesucht, um ihre Fähigkeiten und ihr Selbstwertgefühl aufzubauen. Betty C. hat auch die Absicht, in ihre Karriere als Model zurückzukehren und ihre Erfahrungen in der Party- und Club-Szene von Baltimore zu nutzen, um ihr Ziel zu erreichen, wieder Teil des Lebens ihrer Familie und ihrer Gesellschaft zu sein. Das sagte sie vor ihrer Flucht aus dem Sanatorium.

RP: Playbook

Name: Betty Cornelia Clarks

Typ: Partygirl

Alter: 28 Jahre alt

Beschreibung: Partygirl ist eine attraktive junge Frau mit langen, blonden Haaren und grünen Augen. Sie hat eine sportliche Figur und ist immer gut gekleidet, wenn sie auf Partys geht. Sie trägt gerne auffällige Outfits und hat eine Vorliebe für High Heels und Designer-Handtaschen. Sie hat eine selbstbewusste und lebhafte Persönlichkeit und fällt in jeder Umgebung auf.

Ziele:

Rückkehr ins Partyleben von Baltimore

Aufarbeitung ihrer Opiumsucht

Wiederaufbau der Beziehung zu ihrer Schwester Lisa-Ann

Beziehungen:

Vater Bennet Clarks: angespannt, er hat sie aus dem Familienunternehmen entfernt und sie in eine Klinik geschickt

Mutter Matilda Clarks: gestorben, sie hatte eine schwere Krankheit und ist vor einigen Jahren verstorben

Bruder Brandon Clarks: distanziert, er hat sich von der Familie entfernt und lebt in einer anderen Stadt.

Schwester Lisa-Ann Clarks: angespannt, sie hatte einen Konflikt mit ihr und wurde von einem Dealer bedroht

Dr. Espen Abercrombie: vertrauensvoll, sie besucht regelmäßig Sitzungen bei ihm

Konflikte:

Beziehung zu ihrem Vater: angespannt, er hat sie aus dem Familienunternehmen entfernt und sie in eine Klinik geschickt

Opiumsucht: interner Konflikt, sie arbeitet daran, von ihrer Sucht loszukommen

Beziehung zu ihrer Schwester: angespannt, es gab einen Vorfall mit einem Dealer

Fähigkeiten:

Partyerfahrung: sie hat viel Erfahrung im Partymachen und in der Clubszene von Baltimore

Modeling: sie hat Erfahrung als Model und kennt sich gut mit der Welt der Fotografie aus

Kellnerin: sie hat Erfahrung als Kellnerin und weiß, wie man Gäste bedient

Klatsch: sie hat gute Verbindungen in die gehobene Gesellschaft von Baltimore und kann wichtige Informationen sammeln

[easthouse-photography]

time after time - by F.R. Easthouse

[tvimagines221b]

🚨SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME UNDER CUT🚨

Being Ottos Daughter from another universe who ends up in the MCU because of Doctor Stranges corrupt spell would include:

Being Otto and Rosie’s daughter who was born in a universe where Ottos accident never happened and he lived a normal life

Following in your fathers footsteps and studying to be a nuclear physicist much like him

When the spell brought you to the other universe, it didn’t take you long to figure out where you had been, and why things were so different

The first time that you meet the alternative version of your father is when he’s engaged in a battle on the highway bridge with the universes version of Spider-Man. Both of you are completely caught off guard by one another. “Dad… What…” “You… Why do you look like Rosie?”

When you’re introduced to this universes Peter Parker he brings you back to Sanctum Sanatorium where Alt! Otto is kept in a holding cell

Meeting Peters friends, Ned and MJ

Peter being shocked to learn you’re Ottos daughter from another timeline in the other universe “In my timeline, I’m…his daughter.” “Wait seriously?!”

Getting the chance to talk with the other version of your father, and you both try to learn more about one another

Otto being very taken by the fact you’re his and Rosie’s daughter “You…you’re our daughter? Me and Rosie’s child?” “Yes. Yes I am.”

Telling Otto that you’re studying to be a nuclear physicist and him being very intrigued that someone as young at you would taken an interest in the subject. But you tell him that your father inspired you to follow in his footsteps. “Your father inspired to you to become a nuclear physicist?” “Of course. He never stops talking about his work. And I guess… Watching him so much growing up just sparked a light in me.”

When Otto is finally cured, Otto finally is able to truly see you and gets emotional looking at you, because he remembers his Rosie “You look so much like her, Y/N. And I don’t doubt that you’re just as amazing as she was.”

When it’s finally time to go back to your universe, Otto decides to give you a proper goodbye “Y/N… It was so good to see you. To see…the life Rosie and I could’ve had. You are a brilliant young woman, and there’s doubt that you’re parents love you very much. They’re proud, I just know it. I am. Goodbye, my dear girl.” Just as you’re both about to fade away, he gives your forehead gentle kiss as farewell…

[dillydedalus]

what i read in march

several antigones & some other stuff

call me zebra, azareen van der vliet oloomi

oh boy. i really wanted to like this one, but uh. nah. so this book is about zebra, a young iranian-american from a lineage of ‘autodidacts, anarchists and atheists’, still traumatised by her childhood experience as a refugee (incl. her mother’s death on route). when her father dies years later, zebra decides to retrace the route of her exile thru barcelona, turkey, and back to iran. this sounds great! the beginning is good! but zebra is a quixotic figure (don quixote is unsubtly flagged as THE intertext several times), delusional about her own importance, obsessed with some kind of great literary mission and obnoxious & condescending & egotistic as all fuck (she looks down on students but treats her realisation that like, intertextuality is a thing, as this grand revelation when like..... we been knew since Lit. Theory 101) - and this is intentional & part of the quixotic thing & in general i approve of abrasive & bristly & difficult female characters BUT i expected there to be a gradual process of realisation where she sees that a) maybe her entirely male lineage of geniuses ain’t all that, c) her mission is uh.... incomprehensible. instead, once she reaches spain, she gets bogged down in endless pretentious bullshit and a #toxic relationship that takes up way too much space. knowing that all of that is likely intentional doesn’t.... make it good. also the writing is pretty overwrought for the most part & not even your narrator’s voice being Like That excuses plain bad writing, like the  absurd overuse of ‘intone’ and ‘pose’ as dialogue tags. i see the potential and i see the point & i liked some of it but uh. not good. 2/5, regretfully, generously

in the distance, hernan diaz

i don’t really go for westerns or man vs wilderness stories but damn i’m impressed. despite the violence & deprivation and sheer amount of gross shit, this story of a swedish immigrant getting lost in the american west for decades remains at its core so human, so tender, so sad (honestly this book is SO SAD, yet sometimes oddly hopeful), so evocative of isolation, loneliness, and the desire for human connection. 4/5

notes on a thesis, tiphaine rivière (tr. from french)

god, if i ever considered doing a phd i sure don’t anymore. this is a short graphic novel about a young woman’s descent into academic hell while writing her dissertation about labyrinths in kafka. it’s funny, the art is expressive and fanciful, and it is incredibly relateable if you’ve ever tried to actually write your brilliant, glorious, intricately constructed argument down, battled uni administration or had a panic attack over how to phrase a harmless email to a prof. Academia: Not Even Once. 3.5/5

red mars, kim stanley robinson

this is a very long hard sci-fi novel about mars colonisation & terraforming, discussing the ethics of terraforming, the potentials of a truly ‘martian’ culture, and how capitalism will inevitably fuck everything up, including outer space. all of this is up my alley and i did really like the first half (early colonisation efforts), but the 2nd half (beginning of terraforming, lots of politicking) was a slog - i liked reading about how terraforming was going, but the rest was just bloated, scattered and confusing. also there’s a tedious love triangle the whole time. 2/5

dragon keeper (rain wild chronicles #1), robin hobb

i love robin hobb she really can write a whole 500+ page book of set-up, characterisation and politicking and make it WORK. anyway, this has disabled dragons, a quest for mystical city, lots of rain wilds weirdness, a dragon scholar in an unhappy marriage, liveships, a sweet dummy romance, and uh... a lil penpalship between two messenger bird keepers? not much happens but it’s so NICE & so much is going to happen. also althea & brashen & malta turned up & i screamed. 3.5/5

season of migration to the north, tayeb salih (tr. from arabic)

this is a seminal work of post-colonial arabic literature, a haunting tale of the impact of colonialisation, especially of cultural hegemony in the education system, the disturbing dynamics of orientalism and sex, and village life in a modernising post-colonial sudan. it’s important, it’s well-written, it’ll make you think, but fair warning, there is a lot of violence against women - it has a point but still uh... wow. 3.5/5

dune, frank herbert

SOMETIMES.... BOOKS THAT ARE CONSIDERED MASTERWORKS OF THEIR GENRE.... ARE WORSE. so much worse. the writing in this is atrocious (”his voice was charged with unspeakable adjectives”), herbert somehow manages to make court intrigue and plotting UNBELIEVABLY DULL and sure, it was the 60s, but i’m p sure people knew imperialism was bad in the 60s! the main character, the eugenically-engineered chosen one or whatever, literally spends years among the oppressed & resisting natives of a planet ruled by a space!empire and at the end he’s like ‘i own this planet bc imperialism is Good Actually’. emotionally neglecting/abusing your wife, who you (!!!) decided (!!!) to marry for political reasons bc you’d rather marry your gf is also Good Actually (cosigned by the protag’s mother....) the worldbuilding is influential for the genre, sure w/e, but mainly notable for there just.... being a lot of it, the whole mythology-science makes No Goddamn Sense, all around this is just Bad. Bad. 0.5/5 i hope the Really Big Worms eat everyone 

dragon haven (rain wild chronicles #2), robin hobb

this healed my soul after toxic exposure to dune. anyway w/o spoilers: everyone is very much In Their Feelings (including me) and there’s a lot of Romance and Internal Conflict and Feelings Drama and Complicated Relationships and Group Dynamics and also dragons, which are really like very big, very haughty cats who can speak, and a flood and a living river barge with a mind of his own (love u tarman!). it’s still slow and languid but so so good. also: several people in this have to be told that People Are Gay, Steven, including Sedric, who is himself Gay People. 4/5

an unkindness of ghosts, solomon rivers

super interesting scifi story set on a generation ship with a radically stratified society in which the predominantly black lowerdeckers are oppressed and exploited by the predominantly white upperdeckers, mixed in with a lot of Gender Stuff (the lowerdeckers seem to have a much less stable and binary gender system than the upperdeckers) and neuroatypicality. it’s conceptually rich and full of potential, but just doesn’t quite stick the landing when it comes to the plot. 3/5

sanatorium under the sign of the hourglass, bruno schulz (tr. from polish)

more dreamy surreal short stories (ish?). i didn’t like this collection quite as much as the amazing street of crocodiles, but they are still really good, even tho you never quite know what is going on. featuring flights of birds, people turning into insects, thoughts about seasons and time, fireman pupae stuck in the chimney, and the continuing weird fixation on adela the maid. 3.5/5

angela merkel ist hitlers tocher, christian alt & christian schiffer

a fun & accessible guide to conspiracy theories, focusing on the current situation in germany and the current boom in conspiracy theories, but also including some historical notes. i wish it had been a bit less fun & flippant and more in-depth and detailed bc it really is quite shallow at points, but oh well. also yes the title does indeed translate to ‘angela merkel is hitler’s daughter’ so. yes. 2.5/5

the midwich cuckoos, john wyndham

fun lil scifi story in which almost all women in sleepy village midwich are suddenly pregnant, all at the same time. the resulting children, predictably, are strange, creepy, and possibly a threat to humanity. i get that it was written in the 50s but it is strange to read a book where almost all women, and only women, are affected by A Thing, but all the main characters are men & no one tells the women ‘hey we think it’s xenogenesis’ -  like realistically 80% of women affected went to the Neighbourhood Lady Who Takes Care of These Things like ‘hello, one (1) abortion please’ and the plot just ended there. i still liked it tho! 3/5

antigone project

antigone, the original bitch, by sophocles (tr. by fagles)

god antigone really is That Bitch. that’s all i have to say. 4.5/5

antigone, That Bitch but in french, jean anouilh

the Nazi-occupied france antigone. loved the meta commentary on what tragedy is and how antigone has to step into the Role of Antigone, which will kill her “but there’s nothing she can do. her name is antigone and she will have to play her part through to the end”. i didn’t really like (esp. given the ~historical context) the choice to make creon much more sympathetic, trying to save antigone’s life from the beginning. hmm. 3.5/5

antigonick, anne carson

look, antigone really is That Bitch and you know what? so is anne carson. best thing i’ve read so far this year, don’t ask me about it or i’ll yell the task of the translator of antigone at you. 5/5

home fire, kamila shamsie

honestly i really wanted to like this bc politically it’s on point and an anti-islamophobia antigone sounds amazing, but it just doesn’t succeed as a book/adaption. it spends way too much time in build-up/backstory (the play’s plot only starts in the second half of the book!), waaayyy to much time on the weirdly fetishistic antigone/haimon romance, and even the most interesting characters (ismene & creon) don’t fully work out. sad. 2/5

currently reading: the magic mountain by thomas mann, but i should be done in a week or so! also: the paper menagerie by ken liu, a collection of sff short stories

[zonetrente-trois]

Jackie Kroczynski releases folk single Nurse Jane

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#2yrago Normal: Warren Ellis's story of futurists driven mad by staring into the abyss of tomorrow

Last summer, Warren Ellis serialized a novel, "Normal," as a series of four novellas; today, they're collected in a single, short book that mainlines a month's worth of terrifying futuristic fiction in one go.

The Normal Head center in rural Oregon is an off-grid sanatorium for futurists who are suffering from "abyss gaze" -- the madness that comes of thinking too hard about how absolutely fucked the future is. Adam Dearden is a "foresight strategist" who has been committed after a catastrophic breakdown that began in Namibia during a political uprising and came to a head in the Netherlands. He's been kidnapped/rescued from his own madness and brought to Normal, where he learns that the fabled secret hospital is divided into two camps: foresight strategists like him (working with civil society to make livable cities and solve geoengineering problems) and  strategic forecasters, who work for spooks and armies to surveil and neutralize the world's teeming masses.

Before Dearden's meds have washed out his body, Normal suffers its first-ever murder, or possibly an escape -- whatever it is, someone is definitely missing and possibly dead, and that person -- a strategic forecaster -- was the newest patient at Normal, until Dearden arrives. As Normal goes into lockdown, Dearden becomes the person most equipped to solve the mystery, leading a motley crew of lunatic futurists whose madness has driven them cannibalism and worse (one is an alt-right neoreactionary who believes in the singularity!) to find out what's really wrong, before it's too late.

This is Warren Ellis at his most darkly hilarious and most acerbic. If you loved Transmetropolitan, laughed at Crooked Little Vein and were terrified by Gun Machine, this one will please and scare you.

Normal [Warren Ellis/FSG]

https://boingboing.net/2016/11/29/normal-warren-elliss-story.html

[bluecoolr]

For Life Or Until Fault

Alt Timeline 2.0 Darrell Todd (Odile's Darrell) Introduction

@solmints-messyocdiary

Warnings: MINORS DNI! Main character/s are slasher ocs! Themes revolving around mental turmoil, religious trauma, paranoia, demonic possession.

The letter was typewritten on cheap lightweight paper, but it sat heavy on the desk blotter. Blowing a cloud of smoke, Sister Agatha stared at it from the window. It stared back with a presence as arresting as its sender. Her gaze traveled to the ancient typewriter sitting beside it. Putting out her cigarette, Sister Agatha sat down and began to write.

My Dear Sir,

I write this letter on behalf of Mr. Darrell Todd, who served Our Lady of the Abandoned Sanatorium as groundskeeper under my supervision.

He first came to us as a patient.

She decided against it and ripped the paper out of the carriage. She began again.

We came by his services in a fortuitous manner.

He had been hauled to the sanatorium’s doorstep by authorities, with no memory of how he came to Moldova or where he had been for the past five years. Haggard, starving, and understandably distressed, he was taken to the psychiatric wing - where he was put under her care. For the first few weeks he was inconsolable, and moved between periods of reflective silence and hysteria.

During his time with us, his Romanian was sparse but became sufficient with lessons. He has greatly improved as I see from our current correspondence. His English, as you may soon tell, is distinctly American.

He was a big man. Quite young. The hospital gown they gave him barely reached his knees. The nuns averted their eyes whenever they passed him, a desperate attempt to keep their vows . His patient tag bit into his wrist. He had remembered his name, at least.

Gradually, Sister Agatha was able to nurse him back to health. They struck up a friendship of sorts, with Darrell stubbornly keeping himself at a safe distance, protecting what little he knew about himself. With time, his stability returned and he began to volunteer around the hospital. “The Devil finds work for idle hands to do, Sister,” he reasoned.

He helped with the garden work, usually saving whole plots that others had given up on, and hunted pests that frequented the property. It had taken a great deal of convincing for her superiors to let a psychiatric patient have access to a hunting rifle. When he gunned down the fox that had routinely broken into their chicken coop, however, they stopped voicing their disdain.

Mr. Todd is intelligent and very eager to learn. He is the finest hunter that has ever graced our grounds, and possesses military accuracy. He is hardworking with a gentle, quiet nature and of strong Catholic faith.

Sister Agatha was at once bombarded by memories of Darrell in vomiting fits in the churchyard, trembling in every limb whenever he was told to come to mass. For all his stay at the sanatorium, he would never set foot in the church. He would pace outside, hum along to the hymns, and kick up soil once he had calmed down.

He would also avert his eyes from any image of Christ, going so far as to remove the crucifix that hung on his bedroom wall. Sister Agatha often found it stuffed under his bed and would return it to its place. Always, she would find it missing the next day, its outline glowing like a brand on the faded wallpaper.

“Sister, I beg you. Get me an exorcist.” The request had alarmed - if not terrified - her, but she had pulled strings to grant it.

“He needs a psychiatrist, Sister,” Father Grigore insisted, “not an exorcist. Has his amnesia improved at all?”

It had not.

“I don’t think it’s good, Sister. There’s guilt there. Subconscious. Why do you suppose he fears God so?”

And yet, the board deemed him rehabilitated enough to be released. He had benefited from their care for too long. And so, one day he was sent packing. He marched, forlorn but determined, down the deserted road, and that was the last she ever saw of him.

I wish for you a successful partnership. I could not recommend a more suitable man for the job.

Yours in God,

Sister Agatha

[dermontag]

Nach Russland gebracht? Stadtrat: Tausende aus Mariupol verschleppt 20.03.2022, 08:13 Uhr Insbesondere Frauen und Kinder, die sich vor den Raketen der Angreifer verstecken, werden gewaltsam aus der belagerten Stadt Mariupol deportiert. Das berichtet die Stadtverwaltung. Die Schutzsuchenden sollen sich nun in Russland befinden, wie es von russischer Seite heißt. Nach Angaben der Verwaltung der ukrainischen Stadt Mariupol haben russischen Streitkräfte in der vergangenen Woche mehrere Tausend Menschen gewaltsam aus der belagerten Stadt deportiert. "Die Besatzer haben illegal Menschen aus dem Stadtteil Livoberezhniy und aus dem Schutzraum des Sportklubs verschleppt, wo sich mehr als Tausend Menschen, hauptsächlich Frauen und Kinder, vor den ständigen Bombardierungen versteckt hatten", teilte der Stadtrat in einer Erklärung auf seinem Telegram-Kanal mit. Die russische Agentur RIA Novosti berichtete letzte Woche unter Berufung auf Hilfsdienste, dass fast 300.000 Menschen, darunter etwa 60.000 Kinder, aus den Regionen Luhansk und Donbass sowie Mariupol nach Russland gekommen seien. Die russische Nachrichtenagentur TASS meldete, dass 13 Busse mit mehr als 350 Menschen an Bord nach Russland unterwegs seien. Das russische Verteidigungsministerium verkündete diesen Monat, dass Russland 200 Busse für die "Evakuierung" der Bürger von Mariupol bereitgestellt habe. Die Angaben lassen sich nicht unabhängig überprüfen. Die knapp 400.000 eingeschlossenen Menschen in Mariupol leben nach Angaben der Behörden seit nunmehr fast zwei Wochen unter ständiger Bombardierung, ohne Heizung, Strom und fließendes Wasser. Die Stadt am Asowschen Meer, rund 60 Kilometer von der russischen Grenze entfernt, gilt als entscheidend für einen Versuch Russlands, einen Landkorridor bis zur annektierten Halbinsel Krim herzustellen. Russische Truppen sollen Buskonvoi blockiert haben Die ukrainische Zeitung "The Kyiv Independent" berichtet aktuell, dass russische Truppen einen Buskonvoi blockieren, so dass die Evakuierung von Einwohnern aus der eingekesselten Stadt wieder erschwert wird. Demnach wird den Bussen nicht gestattet, in die Stadt zu fahren. Außerdem bekämen die Fahrer keine Erlaubnis, dort zu übernachten. Laut einem Augenzeugen sorgt derweil das Schicksal von 19 Kindern, die seit Kriegsausspruch in einem Sanatorium festsitzen, für große Besorgnis. Die Kinder im Alter von 4 bis 17 Jahren, die meisten von ihnen Waisen, seien in "großer Gefahr", sagte der Augenzeuge Alexej Woloschtschuk nach seiner Flucht aus der Hafenstadt der Nachrichtenagentur AFP. Die Kinder waren vor dem russischen Einmarsch in die Ukraine in die auf Lungenkrankheiten spezialisierte Klinik gebracht worden. Wegen der Gefechte in der Stadt konnten sie von ihren Vormündern nicht mehr aus der Einrichtung geholt werden. Mehr zum Thema "Es gibt keine Heizung, es ist kalt. Eines der Mädchen, etwa acht Jahre alt, zeigte mir eine Wunde im Gesicht. Sie sagte, sie stamme von der Kälte", sagte er. Die Kinder würden von einem "heldenhaften" Lungenfacharzt, einem Koch und zwei Krankenschwestern betreut, sagte Woloschtschuk. Polizisten bringen den Kindern demnach Essen. Er befürchte jedoch, dass die Vorräte bald zur Neige gehen könnten. Russland weist weiterhin Vorwürfe zurück, Zivilisten ins Visier zu nehmen.

[estimote]

SonicPlanet used Estimote beacons to deliver 3D sound experience

Imagine - you’re in a closed, compact space. You navigate around it, slowly moving your feet as if you were exploring an unfamiliar area. As you approach the walls, you start hearing sounds. Every corner is different and a completely new experience is always a few steps away. You hear people chatting, kids laughing, trucks speeding. Kids again, a lot of kids. And then you land at a distinguished ceremony, right in time for the applause and ovation. You gently close your eyes as you approach the sound and feel as though you are a part of each story.

As familiar as it might sound, this story has nothing to do with the latest VR headset from Oculus or Samsung. It’s a story of The Wall - the iconic installation that was displayed in Istanbul, Turkey earlier this year. It was built by Mr. Sinan Bokesoy / sonicPlanet at the Sanatorium art gallery. SonicPlanet specializes in creating interactive sound installations which run on mobile platforms, both indoors and outdoors.

The unusual exhibition consisted of two parts. As you entered the building, the “Gardens” installation would activate. There were no grass or trees in there, only 2 isolated spaces, limited merely by walls and your own imagination. As you wandered around the space, different kinds of experiences would await you every few steps. On one side, it would be an aristocratic garden party behind a one side wall. On another, a refugee camp with trucks and kids playing around. Such drastically different experiences, just a short distance away.

You would proceed down the stairs to the second part of the exhibition - The Proximity. There, you suddenly land in a war zone from 2,000 years ago, surrounded from every angle by the fight and tears as the soldiers try to bring down an imaginary wall. As you approached to the wall, the experience would get more and more intense. If you closed your eyes, you could feel completely immersed in the middle of it, with no way out. However, on the other side of the wall inside the exhibition space, you would land in a post-nuclear zone, filled with emptiness. What once was a lively, vibrant area would now be gone for good.

The Wall installation used Estimote iOS SDK with hidden Proximity Beacons placed around the spaces, each providing a completely different 3D sound experience. The exact sound to be played would be determined by the distance from the beacon as well as the device’s position. Visitors would grab an iPhone or iPad, download the SonicPlanet iOS app and put on the earphones to get started. As they proceeded around the exhibition, new soundscapes would await.

Although the installation is complete and finished, Mr Bokesoy plans to display it in several more venues later this year. We’ll update this article once we have some more precise dates. For more information on SonicPlanet and their projects, be sure to follow them at https://www.sonicplanet.com/ & http://www.sanatorium.com.tr/en

Piotr Małek, Community Manager at Estimote

[easthouse-photography]

Raufaser - by F.R. Easthouse

[michaelschmidtdigitalart-blog]

Treppenhaus www.michaelschmidtdigitalart.de #abandoned, #alt, #broken, #building, #clinic, #gebäude, #germany, #heilstätte, #hospital, #kaputt, #klinik, #krankenhaus, #lost, #lostplaces, #marodes, #michaelschmidtdigitalart, #old, #rotten, #sanatorium, #stairs, #treppen, #treppenhaus, #urbanexploring, #urbex, #verlassen, #verlasseneorte

[internationbookhouse]

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Mansarovar lake

With this dizzyingly rich novel of ideas, Thomas Mann rose to the front ranks of the great modern novelists, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929. The Magic Mountain takes place in an exclusive tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps-a community devoted to sickness that serves as a fictional microcosm for Europe in the days before the First World War. To this hermetic and otherworldly realm comes Hans Castorp, an “ordinary young man” who arrives for a short visit and ends up staying for seven years, during which he succumbs both to the lure of eros and to the intoxication of ideas. [amz_corss_sell asin=”1857152891″] The Magic Mountain With this dizzyingly rich novel of ideas, Thomas Mann rose to the front ranks of the great modern novelists, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.