#edward j kay

[r00kus]

More doodles / Eddie and Nate but he’s wearing the holy horrors fit 🔥 (I hate whisper sm 😡 I don’t like how he was sketched out)

[denimbex1986]

'It can be said that Christopher Nolan has always known how to end a movie. From Leonard Shelby concluding his journey where it began and asking “now where was I?” in Memento to the topper that wouldn’t stop spinning in Inception, this is a filmmaker who looks for the most potent image that will burrow its way into audiences’ heads.

Yet the final scene of his most ambitious film to date is something more impressive, if altogether disquieting. Oppenheimer definitely implants a grim idea in the viewer’s mind, but it does so by giving the uncanny impression that we are seeing it through J. Robert Oppenheimer’s eyes first. Standing by the duck pond that Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) has been consigned to by posterity, and where Oppie will be joining him in exile sooner than he realizes, the man credited with fathering the atomic bomb asks if Albert recalls Edward Teller’s theory about a nuclear explosion triggering the end of the world.

“I remember it well, what of it?” Einstein asks. “I believe we did,” Oppenheimer says while an IMAX camera plummets so deeply into Cillian Murphy’s blue eyes that the viewer feels like we are being left to drown in his despair—despair at the prospect of nuclear war, despair at self-annihilation, and the lingering, eternal despair that comes with the realization that for the rest of time on this planet, these weapons will be at humanity’s disposal. It’s a chilling signoff for a film that plumbs the ambiguities of Oppenheimer’s life without offering easy answers. While Nolan made a picture accessible to almost any viewer, he refused to provide any degree of comfort, reassurance, or easily memeable sentiment and message.

Which is one of the many reasons I’ve long been skeptical of the common criticism about Oppenheimer being too long or that “the trial” in the last hour dragged on and on. More than once, I’ve been told the movie could have ended after Trinity, the first successful detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945 which is shot and edited with all the tension of a thriller in Nolan and Jennifer Lame’s hands. It should be noted that the Trinity test, and the exuberant satisfaction Oppenheimer briefly feels toward his accomplishment as fellow scientists hoist him on their shoulders before the American flag, occurs at exactly the two-hour mark in the film.

The implication, therefore, seems to be that Oppenheimer should have ended on a note of triumph—a disastrous choice, to put it mildly, for the story of engineering a doomsday weapon—or that the movie could have glossed over Oppenheimer’s later years. Why should we care if Oppenheimer’s security clearance with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was revoked, or that the architect of his downfall, Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), suffered his own public humiliation?

The answer, of course, is that it is these turns of events which elevate a riveting piece of biographic storytelling into a cinematic prophecy of doom that on its own will likely be with us for many years to come.

Living with the Bomb

The most crucial thing to understand about why Oppenheimer went on for a full third hour after World War II concluded in the shadow of a mushroom cloud is that there is no credible way to discuss this man without delving into the fact that the government which entrusted him to build the device also pillared and besmirched his name to the point of infamy.

During a panel with Meet the Press’ Chuck Todd on the 78th anniversary of the Trinity test, Nobel Prize Laureate and theoretical physicist Kip Thorne said he knew scientists early in his career who demurred from pursuing a public life in government service or policy-making because of how Oppenheimer was treated.

Said Thorne, “I was as much influenced by my father who dealt with McCarthyism as the chair of a faculty in Utah at the time. We had a governor who was dictating to the board of trustees to fire faculty with left wing tendencies. So I went through this in my own family.”

The implication that Oppenheimer was a traitor, or at least untrustworthy with American secrets due to his political leanings, sent a chill through academia and government institutions that lasted for generations. With a simple letter speciously raising doubts about Oppenheimer’s loyalty to his country, William L. Borden (who was working as a proxy for Strauss) was able to discredit and muzzle the most respected scientific mind of the 20th century in American life; the man who ended World War II and brought our boys home. If the far-right could do that to him because he expressed vocal opinions about the hydrogen bomb, no one was safe.

So any biopic about Oppenheimer legitimately needed to cover a life that eerily matched the arc of Greek tragedy to a tee. After all, historians Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin named their definitive biography on the man American Prometheus, and what is a Promethean tale if you skip the part where the gods condemn him to be chained to a rock so his guts will be pecked out each morning?

Oppenheimer dramatizes these elements, and does so with spectacular detail and specificity. Even biographer Bird remarked with astonishment at the same Trinity anniversary panel that Nolan did something he and Sherwin had not: he went through the transcript of Lewis Strauss’ failed confirmation hearing and discovered a surprise witness named Dr. David Hill (Rami Malek in the movie), who was called on to essentially smear an unprepared Strauss with the same kind of one-sided testimony Strauss used to decimate Oppenheimer in his security clearance hearing five years earlier. The dramatic irony that this was done as revenge by the scientific community against the political class’ most envious party was not lost on Nolan.

In fact, it creates one-half of the climactic crescendo wherein Strauss raves after his Cabinet post begins slipping away that “I gave [Oppenheimer] exactly what he wanted: to be remembered for Trinity! Not Hiroshima! Not Nagasaki! He should be thanking me!” Of course Strauss’ fury also articulates why the film is so much richer and, ultimately, ambiguous. It explores part and parcel the facts of Oppenheimer’s life, and in doing so invites you to descend down into the pits of Hades.

A Trial Without a Jury or a Verdict

The most powerful sequence in Oppenheimer arguably occurs at the top of the third hour. After an exhilarating taste of success and triumph, Oppenheimer is left out of the final, gruesome moments of World War II. Two nuclear bombs fell on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the span of three days in August 1945. Two hundred twenty thousand lives were snuffed out in biblical fire or the lingering, years-long horror of radiation poisoning. And J. Robert learns about it just like every other American—by listening to the radio.

Then comes Nolan’s cinematic flourish. He lets you live in Oppie’s nightmare just as it is beginning to coalesce. While giving a patriotic speech crowing about the success of the nuclear weapons’ use on Japanese cities, Oppenheimer’s unconvincing stabs at jingoism fade away as he can only hear the sound of a woman screaming; then comes a bright light as the face of a young girl melts away. It is a new world for Oppenheimer, America, and the whole the human species. But only after he has let the genie out of the bottle does the film’s interpretation of Oppenheimer begin to seriously grapple with the long term ramifications of that release.

There is an argument to be made that Oppenheimer should have shown the nuclear holocaust inflicted on the Japanese people. I respect this opinion, although Nolan’s choice to trap you in Oppenheimer’s large, yet still limited, vantage point is the dramatically right one. It took this scientist years to come to terms with the horror of what he wrought on Japan, and the movie lets it slowly seep in.

There is also the uncomfortable fact that this story is bigger than just World War II. In the film, Oppenheimer considers the irony that his former tutor opined in the press that the nuclear bomb not so much ended World War II as it began what we now call the Cold War with the Soviet Union (which really happened). But the point of the Oppenheimer film is that what those scientists at Los Alamos did was bigger than just World War II or the Cold War—or even the 20th century itself.

Oppenheimer built, sharpened, and fastened a global Sword of Damocles above our collective heads, and it hangs there still. It will, in fact, hang there forever, unless one nation finally pushes the button and invites the inevitable response.

The last hour is about Oppenheimer, as a character and a film, coming to terms with that legacy. This is not a typical biopic about a great man, but a portrait of a soul damned by unspoken regrets and second-guesses that he never articulated to anyone. The film even posits Oppenheimer went through the humiliation of an unwinnable security clearance hearing as some form of penance for fathering the bomb.

“Did you think if you let them tar and feather you that the world will forgive you?” his wife Kitty (Emily Blunt) asks. “It won’t.”

“We’ll see” is Oppenheimer’s cryptic response. While we suspect Oppenheimer’s fight for political survival was not quite so history book-minded, the reality is he truly did tell the President of the United States “I have blood on my hands,” and spent the rest of his brief public life attempting to steer the United States away from the infinitely more deadly hydrogen bomb and the arms race it inevitably courted. He was then banished to the duck pond next to Einstein for his troubles.

Dramatically seeing that destruction is as cathartic as it is disturbing, with Jason Clarke’s government attorney Roger Robb embodying Zeus’ hungry eagle which is always eager to feast on Prometheus’ liver. It should be noted, this context also is what allows Kitty Oppenheimer, a brilliant woman whose mind is left to curdle by the oppressive expectations of her era, to finally speak candidly in one of the best scenes in the movie.

In the end though, the finale asks the audience to interrogate Oppenheimer the man. Can you forgive him? Should you even bother entertaining the idea? The real man never publicly admitted remorse over what happened in Japan, and whether he felt profound guilt or not, he still ushered in a nuclear age without end. There is no escape from the future Oppenheimer has wrought—not even for J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is professionally and spiritually destroyed by the legacy he pursued with wide open arms.

The last hour of Oppenheimer is not about the father of the atomic bomb; it’s about the father of our tomorrow and each and every one that will come after. Until one day, maybe it won’t.'

[mimble-sparklepudding]

The Etheirycrumb OCs Revisited.

A is for Amon, with charisma in spades, B is for Banri, and his collection of blades, C is for Clara, who’s often confused, D is for Damien, with shadow infused, E is for Estelle, who’s hard to outplay, F is for Feldspar, with his legs on display, G is for Gigi, the safety inspector, H is for Hwyl, the glamour collector, I is for Iris, genteel and refined, J is for Jess, who knows her own mind, K is for Kai, in a tender romance, L is for Lejo, who really can dance, M is for Mizuki, with her tricky upbringing, N is for Nate, and his magical singing, O is for Osric, both wolfish and brooding, P is for Podolly, and the warmth she’s exuding, Q is for Q'ruhka, setting sail through the sky, R is for Rowan, who at first seems quite shy, S is for Saeed, who vowed to resist, T is for Tsukia, a brave altruist, U is for U’lohi, the spreader of joy, V is for Valentin, that flirtatious boy, W is for Wolfram, and his undisclosed bond, X is for Xynal, drawing power from beyond, Y is for Yume, with an un-charming prince, Z is for Zuzunzo, and the skill he'll evince.

By Blake Primping-Muddles.

(With further apologies to Edward Gorey)

A couple of years ago I wrote a very silly poem, in the style of Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies, in order to celebrate some of the wonderful FFXIV blogs and OCs on Tumblr. You can find the original here. Recently I thought it might be fun to revisit the idea and celebrate some more of my favourite OCs...

Hopefully nobody minds me borrowing their characters for further silly purposes! And apologies to the many wonderful OCs I had to leave out - there are an awful lot of characters starting with M and S etc.

How many characters did you recognise? Why not follow their respective blogs and find out more about their stories!

Amon @spotofmummery

Banri @aoife-asturmaux

Clara @confusedau-ra

Damien @damienward-ffxiv

Estelle @viiioca

Feldspar @loldragoon-ffxiv

Gigi @gigifujijifu

Hywl @hywl

Iris @irisopranta

Jess @sasslett

Kai @kaitontenchu

Lejo @naejlas-axe

Mizuki @pumpkinmagekupo

Nate @calico-heart

Osric @osric-giroux-ffxiv

Podolly @roxinova

Q'ruhka @placesyoucallhome

Rowan @tallbluelady

Saeed @stalwart-spirit

Tsukia @tsukiakurotori

U’lohi @humblemooncat

Valentin @cadrenebula

Wolfram @xiv-wolfram

Xynal @qxynalvaleroyantb

Yume @firelightmuse

Zuzunzo @zuzunzo

[notbecauseofvictories]

The full list is quite long, so I didn't want to clutter up the last post with it---still, it is impressive to see them all laid out together. So without further ado!

THE 50 MOVIES AND 50ISH BOOKS I WATCHED/READ IN 2024

MOVIES

The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) Emilia Pérez (2024) Wicked (2024) American Psycho (2000) Heavy Trip (2018) La Planète sauvage / Fantastic Planet (1973) The Slipper and the Rose (1973) Bottoms (2023) I Saw the TV Glow (2024) *We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) Oddity (2024) Maxxxine (2024) *The Substance (2024) *The Wicker Man (1973) Housebound (2014) Problemista (2023) Showing Up (2023) *Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) It Comes at Night (2017) The Boy and the Heron (2023) Abigail (2024) Seven Samurai (1954) The Iron Claw (2023) Talk to Me (2023) Bodies Bodies Bodies (2023) Rashomon (1950) *M (1931) Lord of Misrule (2023) The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) *Crimes of the Future (2022) Sanctuary (2022) After Yang (2022) **The Florida Project (2017) Pig (2021) The Favourite (2018) Poor Things (2023) Infinity Pool (2023) The Feast (2021) Office Space (1999) *Corsage (2022) Robots (2023) The Deer King (2021) Madame de… (1953) Orphée (1950) Master Gardener (2022) *Something in the Dirt (2022) Black Orpheus (1959) Priscilla (2023) How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022) *The Lure (2015) To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)

BOOKS

The Shambling Guide to New York City, Ghost Train to New Orleans, Mur Lafferty What Feasts At Night, T. Kingfisher *Bad Girls, Camila Sosa Villada Don't Fear the Reaper, Stephen Graham Jones *Vintner's Luck, Elizabeth Knox The Barrow Will Send What it May, Margaret Killjoy You Know How the Story Goes, Thomas Olde Heuvelt Bloodchild, Wild Seed, Octavia E. Butler The Angel of Indian Lake, Stephen Graham Jones The Default World, Naomi Kanakia Fantasyland, Mike Bockoven Something is Killing the Children, issues 1-15 The Night Eaters Book 1, Book 2, Marjorie Liu This Wretched Valley, Jenny Kiefer These Deathless Bones, Cassandra Khaw *Dead Inside, Chandler Morrison Mental Diplopia, Julianna Baggott A Human Stain, Kelly Robson The Shape of My Name, Nino Cipri Daughter of Necessity, Marie Brennan The Mist, Stephen King A Skinful of Shadows, Frances Hardinge The Chalk Man, C. J. Tudor *The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton Come Closer, Sara Gran The Underwater Welder, Jeff Lemire Blink, Christopher Sebela Pulling the Wings Off Angels, KJ Parker Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock, Maud Woolf An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good, Helene Tursten Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher HEX, Thomas Olde Heuvelt Midnight Rooms, Donyae Coles Aglaeca, Mohnfisch Dr. Limos Plays God, Stevie Barot Home by the Rotting Sea, Otava Heikkila Last Crane, Narsid Sacred Bodies, Ver No Trouble at All, Various Authors (short story collection) *Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand Glass House, Paul Jessup Agony's Lodestone, Laura Keating * Big Swiss, Jen Beagin House of Rot, Danger Slater Dreadful, Rebecca Rozakis *Diavola, Jennifer Thorne Lute, Jennifer Thorne Regrettably, I Am About To Cause Trouble, Amie McNee The Rules Upheld by No One, Amie McNee The Sacrifice, Rin Chupeco The Bog Wife, Kay Chronister The Unmothers, Leslie J. Anderson *The Eyes Are the Best Part, Monika Kim Paying for It, Chester Brown Snow, Ronald Malfi Midnight on Beacon Street, Emily Ruth Verona Haunt Sweet Home, Sarah Pinsker The Doll-Master, Joyce Carol Oates The Third Person, Emma Grove The Werewolf at Dusk, David Small It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth, Zoe Thorogood Mom's Cancer, Brian Fies Mary Astor's Purple Diary, Edward Sorel Impossible People, Julia Wertz Roaming, Jillian Tamaki

[peachy-panic]

What are your top ten whumpy book recommendations?

Top 10, you say? How about a comprehensive list of every half decent whumpy book I've read in the last 3 years? (I tried to balance the order between my overall love for the book and the whumpiness level)

BLANKET TW FOR THESE BOOKS: noncon, abuse, domestic violence, med whump, lab whump religious trauma, institutionalized abuse

WHUMPY BOOK RECS

TOP 10

The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards (series, ongoing)

Winter’s Orbit - Everina Maxwell

How To Bang A Billionaire - Alexis Hall (trilogy, complete)

The Darkness Outside Us - Eliot Schrefer (will rip your heart out)

All For The Game - Nora Sakavic (trilogy, complete)

Dark Room Etiquette - Robin Roe

HappyHead - Josh Silver (sequel in progress)

All That’s Left in the World - Erik J. Brown

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue - Mackenzi Lee

Stars in Your Eyes - Kacen Callender (releases in October 2023)

OTHER RECS:

- We Are The Ants - Shaun David Hutchinson

- Tonight We Rule the World - Zack Smedley

- The Lookback Window - Kyle Dillon Hertz (just finished!)

- Dark Space - Lisa Henry (trilogy, currently reading)

- First, Become Ashes - K.M. Sparza

- Parker - Jack Harbon

- A Strange and Stubborn Endurance - Foz Meadows

- Docile - K.M. Sparza (BBU vibes)

- Into the Light - Mark Oshiro

- Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart

- A List of Cages - Robin Roe (minor main character)

- Deposing Nathan - Zack Smedley (minor main character)

- How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager - D.N. Bryn

- Mysterious Skin - Scott Heim

- Surrender Your Sons - Adam Sass

- Yes, Daddy - Jonathan Parks-Ramage

- Not Quite Out - Louise Willingham

- Runner - Parker Williams

- Fraternity - Andy Mientus

- A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara (honestly… maybe don't read this)

LADY WHUMP:

- They Never Learn - Layne Fargo

- The Girls I’ve Been - Tess Sharpe

- I’m The Girl - Courtney Summers

- Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan

- We Set the Dark on Fire - Tehlor Kay Mejia (there’s a sequel)

[ultraericthered]

Favorite Takes - Marvel/Spider-Man

Where I cite my personal favorite non-source material (so film, TV, and video games only) adaptations of some comic book characters.

Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Insomniac Games (Yuri Lowenthal)

Marvel VS Capcom (Josh Keaton)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Christopher Daniel Barnes)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Josh Keaton)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Robbie Daymond)

Sony/MCU (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland)

NOTE: And the Spider-Men voiced by Paul Soles, Dan Gilvezan, Ted Schwartz, Rino Romano, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Edgerly, James Arnold Taylor, Mike Vaughn, Mike Kelley, Sam Reigel, Sean Chiplock, Griffin Burns, Jake Johnson, and Hudson Thames are all contenders.

Mary Jane Watson

Insomniac Games (Laura Bailey)

Sam Raimi Trilogy (Kirsten Dunst)

MCU (Zendaya Coleman)

MTV Spider-Man New Animated Series (Lisa Loeb)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Vanessa Marshall)

Marvel Rising (Tara Strong) and Marvel's Spider-Man (Felicia Day)

NOTE: Other fine MJs are Andrea Taylor in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, Dana Seltzer in Web of Shadows, Laura Vandervoort in Edge Of Time, Quinn Ljoka in Marvel Avengers Academy, and Zoe Kravitz in Into The Spiderverse. Kari Wahlgren also did a decent Kirsten Dunst in the Spider-Man 3 video game, and Erika Harlacher Stone was spot on casting for her in Spider-Geddon, albeit wasted.

Gwen Stacy

Marvel's Spider-Man (Laura Bailey)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Lacey Chabert)

Spiderverse Trilogy (Hailee Steinfeld)

Marvel Rising (Dove Cameron)

Mark Webb Duology (Emma Stone)

Sam Raimi Trilogy (Bryce Dallas Howard)

NOTE: Yeah, Laura Bailey is Best MJ AND Best Gwen! And the only other Gwens I think come close to contending with these ones would be the ones voiced by Mary Kay Bergman and Ashley Johnson.

Harry Osborn

Sam Raimi Trilogy (James Franco)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (James Arnold Taylor)

MTV Spider-Man New Animated Series (Ian Ziering)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Max Mittelman)

Insomniac Games (Scott Porter, Graham Philips)

Mark Webb Duology (Dane Dehaan)

NOTE: Shout out to Josh Keaton and Kevin Dorman here too!

J. Jonah Jameson

Sam Raimi Trilogy (JK Simmons)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Daran Norris)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Ed Asner)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Bob Joles)

Insomniac Games (Darin De Paul)

Edge Of Time (Fred Tatasciore)

NOTE: Paul Kligman, William Woodson, Richard Newman, Dee Bradley Baker, and Chris Edgerly also did some respectable Jonahs.

Flash Thompson

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Josh LeBarr)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Patrick Labyorteaux)

MTV Spider-Man New Animated Series (Devon Edward Sawa)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Ben Diskin)

Mark Webb Duology (Chris Zylka)

MCU (Tony Revolori)

Betty Brant

Sam Raimi Trilogy (Elizabeth Banks)

MCU (Angourie Rice)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Grey Griffin)

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Grey Griffin)

Spider-Man Cartoon (Peg Dixon)

Liz Allan

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Alanna Ulbach)

MCU (Laura Harrier)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Natalie Lander)

Spider-Man 90s Animated Series (Marla Rubinoff)

George Stacy

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Clancy Brown)

Spiderverse Trilogy (Shea Whigham)

Mark Webb Duology (Dennis Leary)

Sam Raimi Trilogy (James Cromwell)

Marvel Rising (Steven Weber)

May Parker

Sam Raimi Trilogy (Rosemary Harris)

Spiderverse Trilogy (Lily Tomlin)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Deborah Strang)

Insomniac Games (Nancy Linari)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Nancy Linari)

Mark Webb Duology (Sally Fields) and MCU (Marisa Tomei)

Miles Morales

Spiderverse Trilogy (Shamiek Moore)

Insomniac Games (Nadji Jeter)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Nadji Jeter)

Ultimate Spider-Man (Donald Glover, Ogie Banks)

Marvel Avengers Academy (Brandon James Winckler)

NOTE: I'm not OK with the casting of that last one, though. Why???

Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Alan Rachins, Steve Blum)

Sam Raimi Trilogy + MCU (Willem Dafoe)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Josh Keaton)

Spider-Man 90s Animated Series (Neil Ross)

Insomniac Games (Mark Rolston) and The Black Order (Steve Blum)

LEGO Marvel (Nolan North, Josh Keaton)

NOTE: Steven Weber in Ultimate Spider-Man was a decent Norman but an awful Goblin, while Len Carlson, Dennis Marks, and Sam Vincent all did good Green Goblins but weren't really Normans.

Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus

Sam Raimi Trilogy + MCU (Alfred Molina)

Insomniac Games and The Black Order (William Salyers)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Peter Macnicol)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Scott Menville)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.)

Universal Studios Ride (Rodger Bumpass)

NOTE: Olivia Octavius isn't included here since this is just for Otto. Vernon Chapman, Cam Clarke, Joe Alaskey, Charlie Adler, Tom Kenny, Kyle Hebert, and Dee Bradley Baker were also good Ottos.

Venom

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Hank Azaria)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Ben Diskin, Ben Pronsky)

Insomniac Games (Tony Todd)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Ben Diskin)

Spider-Man PS1 (Daran Norris) and Sony/MCU (Tom Hardy)

Web of Shadows (Keith Szarabajka) and Sam Raimi Trilogy

NOTE: Brian Drummond was also a top tier Venom voice. Shame the Venom/Eddie Brock he was voicing had to be such trash.

Eddie Brock

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Ben Diskin)

Ultimate Spider-Man Game (Daniel Capallero)

Sony/MCU (Tom Hardy)

Sam Raimi Trilogy (Topher Grace)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Hank Azaria)

Spider-Man PS1 (Daran Norris)

NOTE: Ben Pronsky's Eddie was alright too, but he was disposable.

The Lizard

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Dee Bradley Baker)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Joseph Campanella)

MTV Spider-Man New Animated Series (Rob Zombie)

Insomniac Games (Mark Whitten)

Mark Webb Duology + MCU (Rhys Ifans)

The Sandman

The Spectacular Spider-Man (John DiMaggio)

Shattered Dimensions (Dimitri Diatchenko)

Sam Raimi Trilogy + MCU (Thomas Hayden Church)

The Black Order (Richard Epcar)

Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends (Chris Latta)

The Rhino

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Clancy Brown)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Don Stark)

Sam Raimi Trilogy Video Games (John DiMaggio, Steve Blum)

Insomniac Games (Fred Tatasciore)

Web Of Shadows (Fred Tatasciore)

Electro

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Crispin Freeman)

Insomniac Games (Josh Keaton)

Ultimate Spider-Man (Christopher Daniel Barnes)

Mark Webb Duology + MCU (Jamie Foxx)

MTV Spider-Man New Animated Series (Ethan Embry)

The Vulture

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Robert Englund)

Sam Raimi Trilogy Video Games (Dwight Schultz)

MCU (Michael Keaton)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Alastair Duncan)

Insomniac Games (Dwight Schultz)

NOTE: Gillie Fenwick, Paul Soles, Don Messick, Christopher Tabori, Brian George and Steve Blum also deserve acknowledgement here.

Mysterio

Spider-Man Cartoon and Spider-Man 80's Animated Series (Chris Wiggins, Michael Rye and Peter Cullen).

MCU (Jake Gyllenthal)

Shattered Dimensions (David Kaye)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Xander Berkley)

Spider-Man 90's Animated (Gregg Berger)

NOTE: Also mesmerizing as Mysterio were Daran Norris, Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, Robin Atkins Downes, Greg Baldwin, and Crispin Freeman.

Hobgoblin

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Mark Hamill)

Marvel Superhero Adventures (Andrew Francis)

Universal Studios Ride (Patrick Fraley)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Courtney B. Vance)

Shattered Dimensions (Steve Blum)

NOTE: Marvel's Spider-Man barely counts for this, as it was just Harry and Norman respectively wearing a phony superhero identity.

Scorpion

Sam Raimi Trilogy Video Games (Michael McColl, Dee Bradley Baker)

Insomniac Games (Jason Spisak)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Martin Landau, Richard Moll)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Jason Spisak)

Ultimate Spider-Man (Dante Basco, Eric Bauza)

The Chameleon

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (N/A)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Steve Blum)

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (Hans Conried)

Mark Webb Duology Video Games (Glenn Steinbaum)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Patton Oswald)

Kraven the Hunter

Shattered Dimensions (Jim Cummings) and Insomniac Games (Jim Pirri)

Marvel's Spider-Man (Troy Baker)

MTV Spider-Man New Animated (Michael Dorn)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series and Ultimate Spider-Man (Gregg Berger and Diedrich Bader)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Eric Vesbit)

Black Cat

Insomniac Games (Erica Lindbeck)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Jennifer Hale)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (Tricia Helfer)

Sam Raimi Trilogy Video Games (Holly Fields)

Mark Webb Duology Video Games (Ali Hillis)

NOTE: Audrey Wasilewski, Katee Sachkhoff, Grey Griffin, Mel Gorsha, and Erika Harlacher Stone were also contenders here.

Michael Morbius

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Nick Jameson)

Sony/MCU (Jared Leto)

Ultimate Spider-Man (Ben Diskin)

Sam Raimi Trilogy Games (Sean Donnellan)

Marvel Superhero Squad (Tom Kenny)

Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin

MCU (Vincent D'onofrio)

Sony Daredevil 2003/MTV Spider-Man New Animated Series (Michael Clarke Duncan)

Spider-Man 90's Animated Series (Roscoe Lee Brown)

The Punisher Video Game (David Sobolov)

Raimi Trilogy Video Game (Bob Joles)

Insomniac Games (Travis Willingham) and The Black Order (Tim Blaney)

NOTE: Tom Harvey, Stan Jones, Stephen Stanton, Gregg Berger, Jim Cummings and JB Blanc also gave commendable takes on Fisk that worked for the iterations they were playing. Sorry to say, Spiderverse fans, but Liev Schreiber's Kingpin does nothing for me.

Doctor Doom

Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Clive Revill)

90's Animated Marvel (Neil Ross, Simon Templeman, Tom Kane, Ross Marquand)

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Lex Lang)

Marvel VS Capcom (Paul Dobson)

Disney Marvel Animation and The Black Order (Maurice LeMarche)

The Fantastic Four '94 film (Joseph Culp)

Spider-Man 80's Animated Series (Ralph James)

NOTE: Henry Ramer, Freddy Stebbin, Charlie Adler, Fred Tatasciore, Travis Willingham, and Grahama McTavish are also good Dooms.

[the-bitch-files]

Top Rated of 2024

Welcome to 2025! Here I'll be counting down my best TV shows, books, and films of the year. In the film and book categories, they were first watches/reads for me, so not necessarily released in 2024. However, for the TV shows, they were either first released or returning in 2024.

Best TV Shows of 2024

Rivals

Only Murders in the Building S4

Sweetpea S1

The Outlaws S3

English Teacher S1

9-1-1 S8 (ongoing)

Cobra Kai S6 (ongoing, parts 1 & 2 released)

The Bear S3

honourable mention: House (2004-2012)

Best Books of 2024

The White Album - Joan Didion

Zodiac - Robert Graysmith

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

Best. Movie. Year. Ever: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen - Brian Rafferty

A Killer By Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind - Ann Wolbert Burgess

Best Films of 2024

Priscilla (2023, dir. Sofia Coppola)

The Iron Claw (2024, dir. Sean Durkin)

Longlegs (2024, dir. Osgood Perkins)

Oppenheimer (2023, dir. Christopher Nolan)

Kinds of Kindness (2024, dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024, dir. Tim Burton)

Lisa Frankenstein (2024, dir. Zelda Williams)

Everybody Wants Some!!! (2016, dir. Richard Linklater)

Conclave (2024, dir. Edward Berger)

Trap (2024, dir. M. Night Shyamalan)

The Holdovers (2023, dir. Alexander Payne)

Klute (1972, dir. Alan J. Pakula)

Hit Man (2024, dir. Richard Linklater)

May December (2023, dir. Todd Haynes)

[rockislandadultreads]

Trending Now: Oppenheimer

Robert Oppenheimer by Ray Monk

Robert Oppenheimer was among the most brilliant and divisive of men. As head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, he oversaw the successful effort to beat the Nazis in the race to develop the first atomic bomb—a breakthrough that was to have eternal ramifications for mankind and that made Oppenheimer the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.” But with his actions leading up to that great achievement, he also set himself on a dangerous collision course with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his witch-hunters.

In this volume, Ray Monk goes deeper than any previous biographer in the quest to solve the enigma of Oppenheimer’s motivations and his complex personality. Through compassionate investigation and with towering scholarship, Monk tells an unforgettable story of discovery, secrecy, impossible choices, and unimaginable destruction.

American Prometheus by Kai Bird

American Prometheus is the first full-scale biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, "father of the atomic bomb," the brilliant, charismatic physicist who led the effort to capture the awesome fire of the sun for his country in time of war. Immediately after Hiroshima, he became the most famous scientist of his generation-one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, the embodiment of modern man confronting the consequences of scientific progress.

He was the author of a radical proposal to place international controls over atomic materials - an idea that is still relevant today. He opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb and criticized the Air Force's plans to fight an infinitely dangerous nuclear war. In the now almost-forgotten hysteria of the early 1950s, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup, and, in response, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss, Superbomb advocate Edward Teller and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover worked behind the scenes to have a hearing board find that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with America's nuclear secrets.

American Prometheus sets forth Oppenheimer's life and times in revealing and unprecedented detail. Exhaustively researched, it is based on thousands of records and letters gathered from archives in America and abroad, on massive FBI files and on close to a hundred interviews with Oppenheimer's friends, relatives and colleagues.

J. Robert Oppenheimer by Abraham Pais

Award-winning biographer Abraham Pais introduces us to a precocious youth who sped through Harvard in three years, made signal contributions to quantum mechanics while in his twenties, and was instrumental in the growth of American physics in the decade before the Second World War, almost single-handedly bringing it to a state of prominence. He paints a revealing portrait of Oppenheimer's life in Los Alamos, where in twenty remarkable, feverish months, and under his inspired guidance, the first atomic bomb was designed and built, a success that made Oppenheimer America's most famous scientist. Pais describes Oppenheimer's long tenure as Director of the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, where the two men worked together closely. He shows not only Oppenheimer's brilliance and leadership, but also how his displays of intensity and arrogance won him powerful enemies, ones who would ultimately make him one of the principal victims of the Red Scare of the 1950s.

J. Robert Oppenheimer is Abraham Pais's final work, completed after his death by Robert P. Crease, an acclaimed historian of science in his own right. Told with compassion and deep insight, it is the most comprehensive biography of the great physicist available. Anyone seeking an insider's portrait of this enigmatic man will find it indispensable.

The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Priscilla J. McMillan

On April 12, 1954, the nation was astonished to learn that scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer faced charges of violating national security. Why had the charismatic leader of the Manhattan Project— the man who led the team that developed the atomic bomb that ended World War II—been cast into overnight disgrace? In this riveting narrative, bestselling author Priscilla J. McMillan draws on newly declassified U.S. government documents and materials from Russia, as well as in-depth interviews, to present the truth about the downfall of America’s most famous scientist.

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 16, 2023

Sleep deprivation and hippocampal ripple disruption after one-session learning eliminate memory expression the next day. Aleman-Zapata, A., Morris, R. G. M., & Genzel, L. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2123424119.

Aversive memory formation in humans involves an amygdala-hippocampus phase code. Costa, M., Lozano-Soldevilla, D., Gil-Nagel, A., Toledano, R., Oehrn, C. R., Kunz, L., … Strange, B. A. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 6403.

Sleep preferentially consolidates negative aspects of human memory: Well-powered evidence from two large online experiments. Denis, D., Sanders, K. E. G., Kensinger, E. A., & Payne, J. D. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2202657119.

How do (perceptual) distracters distract? Dumbalska, T., Rudzka, K., Smithson, H. E., & Summerfield, C. (2022). PLOS Computational Biology, 18(10), e1010609.

The induced motion effect is a high-level visual phenomenon: Psychophysical evidence. Falconbridge, M., Hewitt, K., Haille, J., Badcock, D. R., & Edwards, M. (2022). I-Perception, 13(5), 204166952211181.

Salience memories formed by value, novelty and aversiveness jointly shape object responses in the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. Ghazizadeh, A., & Hikosaka, O. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 6338.

Recurrent Hippocampo-neocortical sleep-state divergence in humans. Jang, R. S., Ciliberti, D., Mankin, E. A., & Poe, G. R. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2123427119.

Cone opponent functional domains in primary visual cortex combine signals for color appearance mechanisms. Li, P., Garg, A. K., Zhang, L. A., Rashid, M. S., & Callaway, E. M. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 6344.

Hippocampal gamma and sharp wave/ripples mediate bidirectional interactions with cortical networks during sleep. Pedrosa, R., Nazari, M., Mohajerani, M. H., Knöpfel, T., Stella, F., & Battaglia, F. P. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2204959119.

Generalizing the control architecture of the lateral prefrontal cortex. Pitts, M., & Nee, D. E. (2022). Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 195, 107688.

Natural scene sampling reveals reliable coarse-scale orientation tuning in human V1. Roth, Z. N., Kay, K., & Merriam, E. P. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 6469.

Stable Working Memory and Perceptual Representations in Macaque Lateral Prefrontal Cortex during Naturalistic Vision. Roussy, M., Corrigan, B., Luna, R., Gulli, R. A., Sachs, A. J., Palaniyappan, L., & Martinez-Trujillo, J. C. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(44), 8328–8342.

A Midbrain Inspired Recurrent Neural Network Model for Robust Change Detection. Sawant, Y., Kundu, J. N., Radhakrishnan, V. B., & Sridharan, D. (2022). Journal of Neuroscience, 42(44), 8262–8283.

Distinct organization of two cortico-cortical feedback pathways. Shen, S., Jiang, X., Scala, F., Fu, J., Fahey, P., Kobak, D., … Tolias, A. S. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 6389.

Predictive coding, multisensory integration, and attentional control: A multicomponent framework for lucid dreaming. Simor, P., Bogdány, T., & Peigneux, P. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2123418119.

A model of autonomous interactions between hippocampus and neocortex driving sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Singh, D., Norman, K. A., & Schapiro, A. C. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2123432119.

A robust core architecture of functional brain networks supports topological resilience and cognitive performance in middle- and old-aged adults. Stanford, W. C., Mucha, P. J., & Dayan, E. (2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(44), e2203682119.

Optimal noise level for coding with tightly balanced networks of spiking neurons in the presence of transmission delays. Timcheck, J., Kadmon, J., Boahen, K., & Ganguli, S. (2022). PLOS Computational Biology, 18(10), e1010593.

Dissociating the involvement of muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic receptors in object memory destabilization and reconsolidation. Wideman, C. E., Minard, E. P., Zakaria, J. M., Capistrano, J. D. R., Scott, G. A., & Winters, B. D. (2022). Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 195, 107686.

Inducing forgetting of unwanted memories through subliminal reactivation. Zhu, Z., Anderson, M. C., & Wang, Y. (2022). Nature Communications, 13, 6496.

[denimbex1986]

'Clocking in at just over three hours, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is his longest and arguably most ambitious film yet.

The biopic sees Cillian Murphy giving a sure to be Oscar-nominated performance as the titular physicist, who is known as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’.

Its not just the lead star who is being tipped for award season glory either, with his cast mates, director Nolan and the film’s sound, special effects and wardrobe teams also likely to make it onto shortlists.

We’re still many months away from the Golden Globes and Oscars nominee announcements but to tide you over, here are 15 behind-the-scenes facts that remind you just how impressive Oppenheimer is...

The Trinity Test recreation was filmed without special effects

Nolan is no stranger to recreating dramatic events on the big screen but in perhaps his most ambitious move yet, the director decided to film the atomic bomb test without using any CGI or visual effects. That means what you see on screen really did take place – although on a smaller scale.

Visual effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher has explained how his team created real ‘miniature’ explosions and filmed those.

He told Total Film: “We don’t call them miniatures; we call them ‘big-atures’. We do them as big as we possibly can, but we do reduce the scale so it’s manageable.

“It’s getting it closer to the camera, and doing it as big as you can in the environment.”

In order to create the intense burning created by the successful test run, Scott’s team used gasoline and propane, while aluminium powder and magnesium were added to replicate the blinding white light of a nuclear explosion.

Scott added: “We really wanted everyone to talk about that flash, that brightness. So we tried to replicate that as much as we could.”

The opening Prometheus quote is a nod to Nolan’s source material

Oppenheimer opens with an ominous opening caption, which reads: “Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.”

The film is based on Kai Bird’s 2005 Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus and explaining the comparison, Kai writes in his book: “Like that rebellious Greek god Prometheus—who stole fire from Zeus and bestowed it upon humankind, Oppenheimer gave us atomic fire.

“But then, when he tried to control it, when he sought to make us aware of its terrible dangers, the powers-that-be, like Zeus, rose up in anger to punish him.”

Cillian Murphy got his role without auditioning

Oppenheimer marks Christopher and Cillian’s sixth film together – following the Batman trilogy, Inception and Dunkirk – and given their close relationship, the Irish actor no longer needs to audition for roles.

During an interview with Radio 2, Cillian recalled the moment when he received a casual call from Nolan, who explained he had the perfect lead role for him.

“If you’re lucky you get one or two of those [calls] in your career, you know?” he said. “It was the best, best feeling. It was kind of euphoric, and then you go ‘oh that’s a lot of work’. So I immediately just started working.

“I had like six months before, between when he called me and we started the shoot. The script was solid and was there. It was one of the greatest scripts I’ve ever read. It was magnificent.”

The cast lived together during filming

Oppenheimer sees America’s greatest scientific minds living together at the Los Alamos facility in New Mexico and for the movie, Nolan also moved his cast and crew into digs together.

Emily Blunt likened the situation to ‘summer camp’ and told People: “We were all in the same hotel in the middle of the New Mexican desert. We only had each other.”

But Cillian skipped their group hangouts

Longterm pals Emily and Matt Damon organised group dinners for the cast during filming – but the former’s on-screen husband RSVP’d with a firm no.

Mary Poppins actor Emily added to People: “The sheer volume of what he had to take on and shoulder is so monumental.

“Of course he didn’t want to come and have dinner with us.”

Cillian added: “You know that when you have those big roles, that responsibility, you feel it’s kind of overwhelming.”

Another contributing factor was the Irish star’s strict diet, as he lost weight to play the scientist, who in real-life subsisted on cigarettes, martinis and not so much food.

“He was losing so much weight for the part that he just didn’t eat dinner, ever,” Matt told Entertainment Tonight.

The hard to hear dialogue is (sort of) intentional

While Oppenheimer is very much deserving of its five-star reviews, cinema-goers have complained about one thing: the sound levels.

Posting on social media after seeing the movie, numerous fans noted that some of the speech sounds muffled and exchanges on-screen can sometimes be difficult to fully hear.

This is down to the fact the IMAX cameras used by Nolan aren’t soundproofed.

Most directors would work around this by getting actors to re-record dialogue in post-production to make it clearer, but this is something he isn’t a fan of.

“I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor re-voice it later,” Nolan told Insider. “Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that’s their right.”

The script was written in first person

In another unusual move, Nolan wrote the script in first person in order to reflect how most of the film is being told from Oppenheimer’s perspective and using his memories.

Matt Damon told Vulture: “I’ve never seen that done before. Instead of ‘Oppenheimer walks across the room,’ it’s ‘I walk across the room.’ This was a way for him to signal that, Okay, this is what the movie’s going to feel like. It’s going to feel immediate.”

Kodak had to manufacture a new type of film especially for Oppenheimer

Film purist Nolan filmed the biopic on large format cameras with IMAX 70mm film, but there was one small problem.

Oppenheimer features two timelines with one in colour and another in black-and-white. Unfortunately, black and white IMAX 70mm film didn’t exist so cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema put in a call to Kodak.

He told Variety: “They came out with test rolls for us to run through our camera. We had to re-engineer our cameras a little bit, and we had to remake our pressure plates and our backend lab work needed to be readjusted.”

“I do remember when Chris and I were sitting in the cinema and watching the results of our first black and white test and it was just freaking amazing. We had never seen anything like it.”

Cillian had no physics knowledge – but one co-star was well-prepared

The Inception star has admitted that he doesn’t “have the intellectual capacity to understand quantum mechanics” but the same can’t be said for Benny Safdie, who plays Edward Teller.

Prior to becoming an actor, Benny was a budding scientist and studied nuclear physics in high school.

“I was working with a physicist at Columbia University,” he told Vulture. “I was doing cosmic rays. It is a deep passion of mine.”

And another actor previously starred in another Oppenheimer-inspired project

Christopher Denham, who plays Klaus Fuchs, appeared in the 2014 series Manhattan, which took its name from the project developing the atomic weapons.

We won’t spoil the TV drama but Christopher’s Manhattan character, the entirely fictional Jim Meeks, has parallels to his Oppenheimer alter-ego.

There are no deleted scenes and there’ll never be a director’s cut

Nolan’s love of IMAX cameras and 70mm film makes movie-making incredibly expensive, so he makes sure every single second of his movies is mapped out before yelling ‘action’.

Cillian told Collider: “There’s no deleted scenes in Chris Nolan movies. That’s why there are no DVD extras on his movies because the script is the movie. He knows exactly what’s going to end up – he’s not fiddling around with it trying to change the story. That is the movie.”

Oppenheimer features Nolan’s first ever sex scenes

Despite having directed 11 feature films before starting work on his latest, Nolan had never directed intimate scenes before.

Oppenheimer features sex scenes with the titular scientist and Jean Tatlock, a member of the communist party who was his lover before and during his marriage (played by Florence Pugh).

Justifying the intimate moments, Nolan told Insider they are “essential” to understanding Oppenheimer’s life as a whole.

“His very intense relationship with Jean Tatlock [...] is one of the most important things in his life,” he said. “But not least for the fact that Jean Tatlock was very explicitly a Communist and his obsession with her therefore had enormous ramifications for his later life and his ultimate fate.

“It felt very important to understand their relationship and to really see inside it and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it, but to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him.”

Florence Pugh’s topless scene is very different in some cinemas around the globe

The intimate scenes between Oppenheimer and his lover earned the film its R rating, but some cinema-goers noticed an odd addition to one scene.

In countries including India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, digital censoring has been used to cover Florence’s body with a CGI black dress.

Nolan had been thinking about Oppenheimer since he was a teenager

The director grew up in England in the 1980s when the scientist was “a part of pop culture then, without us knowing a lot about him.”

He told Bulletin: “I think I first encountered Oppenheimer in that relation; I think he was referred to in Sting’s song about the Russians that came out then and talks about Oppenheimer’s ‘deadly toys.’

“It was the peak of CND, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Greenham Common [protest]; the threat of nuclear war was when I was 12, 13, 14 – it was the biggest fear we all had,” he added.

And there’s even an Oppenheimer reference in Tenet

In the same interview, Nolan recalls learning of how the Los Alamos scientists were told there was a chance the atomic bomb could destroy the world.

He explained: “That struck me as the most dramatic situation in the history of the world, with any sort of possibility being an end to life on Earth. That’s a responsibility that nobody else in the history of the world had ever faced.

“I put a reference to that in my last film, Tenet; there’s dialogue, a reference to that exact situation by Oppenheimer. That film deals with a science-fiction extrapolation of that notion: Can you put the toothpaste back in the tube? The danger of knowledge, once knowledge is unveiled—once it’s known, once it’s fact—you can’t wind the clock back and put that away.”'

[gracec252]

Please read: Baby name lists just from google put into one post don't judge need a way to compact this into a document before changing computer I put so much work into this I need it saved                                                            

A

Aries 

Aylee 

Annie 

Addelyn 

Alexa 

Aspen 

Ainsley

Adelaide

Amberlyn 

Ariella 

Ava 

Ameilia 

Adley 

Alabama

Alma 

April 

Abby/Abigail 

Ally/Allison 

Ambree 

Aurelia 

Aurora 

Alana 

Addison 

Arizona 

Audrey 

Alyssa

Atlanta 

Alexandria 

Ambrose

Athena 

Anastassia 

Alice  

A 

Andrew

Alec 

Axel 

Asher 

Arlo

Atlas 

Arrow 

Alfie 

Atticus 

Archer 

Ace 

Alexander

Austin 

Abel 

Augustine 

Avi

Atlas

Ason 

A

Avery 

Andie 

Ash

August 

Atlas 

Aero

Aj

Area 

Adventure

Ackley 

Aster

Apollo 

B

Brigette 

Bonnie 

Bea 

Bexley 

Bailee 

Bristol 

Betty 

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Billie 

Blair 

Brixton 

Brynn 

Berlin 

Beverly 

Bloom 

Brighton

Britain 

Beatice 

Brooklyn 

Brinley

Brexley

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Brandon 

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Beckett 

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Brooke 

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Bryce 

Benj

Bennet 

Braxton 

Bradley 

Bracken 

Bryson 

Bowen 

Braydon 

Bruno 

Bryson 

Bennett

B

Blake 

Bishop 

Bailey 

Bentley 

Bellamy 

Blaize 

Boston 

Brogan 

Brantley 

Brixton 

C 

Carolyn 

Cynthina 

Cora

Cece

Candace 

Constance 

Clara 

Cameriegh 

Camrie 

Chole 

Callie 

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Cassie 

Clover 

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Cheyenne 

Clementine 

Cecelia 

Celeste

Chastity 

Cleo 

Calla 

Cassia 

Calliope 

Caroline 

Carolina

Cheyenne

Charlotte 

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Collin 

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Callan 

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Corbin 

Cullen 

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Chase 

Cooper  

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Castor 

Clay/Clayton 

C 

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Chandler

Channing 

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Callahan

Cadence 

Corbin 

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Daniel 

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Faye 

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Frankie 

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Ginger 

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Gunner

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Gabriel 

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Harmony 

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Honnor 

Haelynn 

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Heidi 

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Jamson 

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Kaylee 

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Kamie 

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Karmen 

Kimber 

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Kapri

Kaizlee

Kenley 

Kayte

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Kaelyn 

Kenna 

Kacie 

Kelsey 

Kinsley 

Kiwesten 

Kaleah 

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Kane 

Koa 

Kingston 

Kole

Kaleeb 

Kale 

Kash 

Kalvin 

Karlton 

King 

Keon 

Kruz

Kyler

K 

Kai

Kohen 

Kameron 

Karter 

Kasey 

Kassidy

Kendall 

Kody 

Korbyn 

Karson 

Knox 

Krew

L 

Lauren 

Lily 

Laken 

Lana 

Layla 

Lane 

Lia 

Lila 

London 

Leighton 

Lacy 

Lettie

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Lilac

Layne 

Libra

Lexie 

Lena 

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Laim 

Lucah 

Levi 

Lux 

Ledger 

Lincoln 

Lathan 

Landon 

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Leighton 

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Marlow 

Maeve 

Maddison 

Molly 

Mila 

Maisie 

Madeline 

Margaret 

Miley 

Meredith 

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Marigold 

Mariana 

Marlow 

Mayven 

Macy 

Maelie 

Magnolia 

Madalyn 

Marley 

Meadow 

Mel 

Meilani 

Maggie 

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Milo 

Maverick 

Miles 

Mathis  

Mateo 

Matthew

Madden 

Malakai

Maddox 

M 

Memphis 

Micah

Morgan 

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Maxton 

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Natalia 

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Niles 

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Olive 

Oliva 

Oaklee 

Opal 

Ophelia 

O 

Oscar 

Oliver 

Otis 

Owen 

O 

Ocean

Oak 

P

Penelope 

Phoebe 

Poppy

Persephone 

Peggy 

Paige 

Paisley 

Piper 

Pearl 

Penny 

Paris 

Presley 

P

Palmer 

 Porter 

P 

Phoenix 

Parker 

Paxton 

Pierce 

Q

Quinn 

Q

Q

R

Remy 

Ruth 

Ranye

Raelle

Rosie 

Raylee 

Roselind

Ruby 

Rilynn

Reese

Riya 

Rainney 

Rae-lynn 

Rain 

Reagan 

Renee

Raven

Rose

Ruth 

R

Rhett

Reid 

Rayson

Romen 

Rylan 

R

River 

Rory 

Rowen 

Ryder

Ryker 

Romeo 

Rio

Rome 

Reef

Ryland 

Royal

Raiden

S

Stella

Space

Sadie 

Sutton 

Soren

Seattle 

Scotlynn 

Story 

Sage 

Sapphire 

Savannah 

Shiloh 

Skye

September 

Sual 

Sophia 

Scarlett 

Stephine 

Sabrina 

S 

Stephen 

Sillas

Sebastian 

Sawyer 

Spencer 

Shawn 

S

Skyler 

Samson

Shai 

Saylor 

Salem 

Scout 

Storm 

Saint 

Stellan 

Sparrow 

Sloan 

Shane 

T

Tia 

Tayliee

Thalia 

Teagan 

Tallulah 

Tinsley 

Tara

T

Thomas 

Theo 

Toby 

Tanner 

T

Tate 

Taylor 

Tatum 

Timber 

Throne 

Tristan 

U

U

U

V

Victoria 

Vanessa

Violet 

V

Victor 

V

Vale 

W

Willow 

Willa 

Whitney 

W

Wyatt

Wilder 

Winston 

Waylon 

Weston 

Wesley

W

Wren 

Westlynn

X

Xena 

X

X

Z 

Zoey 

Zelda

Z

Zain 

Zayden 

[gtccollectionstories]

A holiday present

This is the first in a series of Collection Stories about items donated by Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth to the Collection.

Item 18893, GTC

This is the back of a hand mirror which personally belonged to Rachel. The wooden frame has been covered in brown leather which is held in place by narrow leather thongs around the mirror itself and down the handle. The mirror glass is bevelled around its circumference. The back has an embossed peacock design and the handle has been tooled with a scrolling pattern. When it was new, the peacock would have been brightly painted in blue, green and gold; but now only some of the paint remains. Peacocks were a favourite motif for Rachel throughout her life.

Detail showing the leather thongs.

The mirror is dated 1900 and is described on her index card as:

From Nuremburg. Leatherwork on back with raised peacock cut and coloured. The glass is bevelled and beautifully lashed into place with thin leather thongs. The property of the Hon. R. B. Kay-Shuttleworth. Bought for her by her parents.

But how do we know exactly when the mirror was purchased?

In the Library at Gawthorpe Hall is a book titled ‘Nuremberg’ by Cecil Headlam (one of a series called ‘Medieval Towns’) published by J M Dent in 1899. On the flyleaf, in Rachel’s mother’s handwriting, is an inscription in black ink:

Blanche M Kay-Shuttleworth 25 April 1900 a present from Rachel, Laurie, Edward & Kitty in anticipation of a visit paid in June to Nuremberg, by U. B. & Nina

[‘U’ is Rachel’s father, Ughtred, and ‘B’ is her mother, Blanche]

Beneath this, in her familiar green ink, Rachel has added:“later U. R. & L. were there.” [ie. Ughtred, Rachel and Lawrence.]

Using that date, we found a paragraph in the Burnley Express, 2 June 1900 which provides some extra information about the upcoming visit to Nuremberg:

HOLIDAYS FOR SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH, M.P. Sir Ughtred and Lady Kay-Shuttleworth have left London for Germany, where they are making a short tour during the Whitsuntide recess with Miss Kay-Shuttleworth. As their four younger children had measles, no holiday was possible at Easter.

Three weeks later, on 23 June 1900, the Express also announced that “Sir Ughtred, Lady, and Miss Kay-Shuttleworth have returned to London, after their visit to Germany”. The mirror for 14 year old Rachel would have been in their luggage, with other gifts as well for the three younger children, who had also been left at home.

It is not at all surprising to hear that the trip had been delayed from Easter, as measles could be a very serious illness. Ughtred and Blanche would have been particularly anxious, as just five years earlier, in 1895, their 16 year old nephew, Charles (the only son of Ughtred’s brother, Lionel) had died in a measles outbreak at Marlborough College. Luckily, Rachel and her siblings all recovered from their measles.

Thanks to one of Rachel's albums, we can also pinpoint exactly when Rachel and her brother, Lawrence, made that "later" trip to Nuremberg with their father. There is a photograph of Sir Ughtred and his sister, Janet, with the caption: “Homburg. Father & Aunt Janet show L & R the haunts of their childhood", and on the same page is this photograph of Nuremberg. Both can be dated to 1911. Rachel has also written: "Father, Lawrence & I tour in Germany & Bohemia: Cologne. Frankfurt. Dresden. Prague & Nurnberg":

Taken from P20, Album T100, GTC

Both Ughtred and Janet had accompanied their mother, Janet Kay-Shuttleworth (1817-1872), during the many years she spent abroad, travelling to the spa towns of Germany in search of a health cure. Although, this was usually undertaken by Janet, as she was the only daughter in the family.

Page of photographs of Nuremberg taken in 1911. (P24, Album T100, GTC)

In 1864, to benefit from the much warmer Mediterranean climate, Sir Ughtred's mother had a villa built for her in San Remo, Italy. She lived there with her daughter, Janet, but actually died in Bad Soden, Germany in 1872, where she is buried.

Jane H.

[forgottenfriendshiprpg]

M.W. from live-action T.V. shows/films, and animated T.V. shows/films?

We would absolutely love to see Olivia, Autumn, Nova, Paisley, Savannah, Fiona, Naomi, Zac, Leo, Aliya, Olly, and Liann from LEGO®: Friends™ ; Susanna 'Susie' Carmichael, Dylan 'Dil' Pickles, Phillip 'Phil' DeVille, Charles, Jr., 'Chuckie' Finster, and Sarah 'Taffy' Maynston from All Grown Up!™ / Rugrats™ ; Luke Patterson, Alex Mercer, Reginald 'Reggie' Peters, William 'Willie', Flynn Taylor, Mrs. Rose Molina, Mr. Ray Molina, and Nick from Julie And The Phantoms ; Nerissa, Sasha, Tracy Redd, Fred Redd, Tyler Silver, King Seaford, Queen Corelia, and Alex Dorselfin from Mermaid Magic™ ; Nicole 'Nick' Franzelli, Becky, Tamika, Riley, Lisa Haddad, ‘Jeremy’ Thompson, Xuan, Jim, Eric, and William 'Will' Harbaugh from No Good Nick ; Aunt Praline, Kiki KeyLime, Pumpkin Spice, and Huckleberry Pie from Strawberry Shortcake™ / Strawberry Shortcake™: Berry In The Big City / Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures™ ; Margot Song-Covey, Peter Kavinsky, John Ambrose McClaren, Trevor Pike, Christine 'Chris' Donati, Lucas Krapf, Josh Sanderson, Kenny Donati, Genevieve 'Gen' Mitchell, Esther 'Stella' Shim/'Cho', Min Ho Moon, Dae Kim, Eunice Kang, Mihee Yoon, Madison Miller, Juliana Porter, Praveena Bhakti, Quincy 'Q.' Shabazian, and Jintaek 'Jin' Lee from To All The Boys I've Loved Before / XO, Kitty ; Hazel Wells, Anthony Wells, Chester McBadBat, Anthony James Jr., 'A.J.', Elmer, Sanjay, Veronica, Tad, Chad, Kevin Crocker, Jasmine Tran, Winn Harper, Devin 'Dev' Dimmadome, and Whispers Fred from The Fairly OddParents™ / The Fairly OddParents™: A New Wish ; Avatar Aang, Sokka, Prince Zuko, Suki, Avatar Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami Sato, Jinora, Haru, Teo, Jin, Kuvira, Prince Wu, Prince Lu Ten, Princess Yue, Princess Eska, Prince Desna, Ikki, Meelo, Kai, and Jet from Avatar: The Last Airbender™ / The Legend Of Korra™ ; Mal Bertha, King Ben, Harry Hook, Jay, Carlos De Vil, Uma, Prince Chad Charming, Doug, Princess Chloe Charming, Princess Red, Evie Grimhilde, Lonnie, Jane, Princess Audrey Rose, Freddie Facilier, Jordan, Dizzy Tremaine, Celia Facilier, Harriet Hook, and 'C.J.' Hook from Descendants / Descendants: Wicked World ; Holly J. Sinclair, Fiona Coyne, Zoë Rivas, Clare Edwards, Darcy Edwards, Imogen Moreno, Liberty Van Zandt, Terri MacGregor, Anya MacPherson, Mia Jones, Sean Cameron, Craig Manning, Alli Bhandari, Frankie Hollingsworth, Emma Nelson, Alex Nuñez, Kirk Cameron 'K.C.’ Guthrie, Maya Matlin, Paige Michalchuk, Manuella 'Manny’ Santos, Lola Pacini, and Jake Martin from Degrassi: The Next Generation / Degrassi: Next Class !!

However, this is a reminder that we will only accept applications from the current members of this RPG, and also from any former members of this RPG who never broke our no O.O.C. drama Rule requirement, and their O.O.C. age upon re-joining this multi-fandom RPG must be twenty-one-years-old, or older than twenty-one-years-old.

[wutbju]

Margaret Eaton Wilson, BJU Class of 1958.

Margaret Eaton Johnston Wilson, age 87, of Pearisburg, VA, (Bane), was welcomed to her eternal home on Sunday, November 03, 2024, after suffering a stroke. Margaret was born on February 18, 1937, to the late Shuler Kirk Johnston and Gladys Eaton Johnston at their home in Wabash, in Giles County.

After Margaret graduated from Pearisburg High School in 1954, where she played basketball and softball, she went on to major in secondary education at Bob Jones University, in Greenville SC. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958, then started her career as a physical education teacher at Narrows High School. There she taught P.E. and coached for 12 years.

Margaret met the love of her life, J. Edward Wilson, their sophomore year of high school. They got married in August of 1958. She stopped teaching in 1970 when their first daughter, Kimberly Kay was born. Two and a half years later, they welcomed their second daughter, April Renee.

Margaret went on to teach on the Giles County Bible Bus for many years. She loved the outdoors and enjoyed gardening and canning, making chocolate cakes and fresh fruit pies, and cracking walnuts. She attended many local church events and was on the Robert Sheffey Memorial Camp Meeting Board of Directors. She cherished Eaton’s Chapel, her church family, and time spent in Bible study and Godly fellowship. She loved her family dearly and enjoyed many meals and sporting events together. She met many new friends in the stands while enjoying softball, football, basketball, and volleyball games. Her grandchildren kept her busy with sporting events all over the state of Virginia, which greatly pleased the former athlete, gym teacher, and coach.

Margaret was preceded in joining the Lord by her parents and her sisters, Betty Jo Helton and Mary Ellen Warner. She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Jesse Edward Wilson; their daughters Kimberly Wilson Gardner (Glenn) of Pearisburg, April Wilson Reasor of Christiansburg, and Salvadorian daughter Zairha Gonzalez Snider (Gerald) of Blacksburg; her beloved grandchildren, Keree Renee, Baylee Kay Reasor, Addison Shay Reasor, Gracyn Lynea Reasor, Justin Lee and Zion Jordan Britts (Newport), and Erik Andrew Snider. She is survived by her beloved brother Howard Kirk Johnston (Jean) of Pearisburg, special niece Barbara Warner Whitehead (David) of Wabash, and a multitude of sweet nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Funeral services will be held at Eaton’s Chapel Church, Pearisburg, on Friday, November 8, 2024, at 2pm. Visitation with family and friends will be from 1:00 – 2:00pm with a service immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Eaton’s Chapel or the Sheffey Camp Meeting that Margaret enjoyed so much.

The family is being served by Givens Funeral Home in Pearisburg, (540) 921-1650; online at givensfuneralhome.com.

[sassenashsworld]

Thank you to Halla Rempt, Aaron J. Seigo, Adam Celarek, Adam Pigg, Adriaan de Groot, Adrian Page, Adrian Schroeter, Albert Astals Cid, Alberto Villa, Alexander Neundorf, Alexander Potashev, Alexis Ménard, Alfredo Beaumont Sainz, Allen Winter, Alvin Wong, Ana Beatriz Guerrero López, Andras Mantia, Andreas Hartmetz, Andreas Lundin, André Marcelo Alvarenga, Andrew Coles, Andre Woebbeking, Andrius da Costa Ribas, Andy Fawcett, Anne-Marie Mahfouf, Ariya Hidayat, Arjen Hiemstra, Bart Coppens, Ben Cooksley, Benjamin K. Stuhl, Benjamin Meyer, Benjamin Reed, Benoît Jacob, Ben Schleimer, Bernhard Rosenkraenzer, Bo Thorsen, Brad Hards, Bram Schoenmakers, Burkhard Lück, Carlo Segato, Carsten Hartenfels, C. Boemann, Christer Stenbrenden, Christian Ehrlicher, Christian Mueller, Christoph Feck, Chusslove Illich, Clarence Dang, Cyrille Berger, Daniel M. Duley, Daniel Molkentin, Dan Leinir Turthra Jensen, Dan Meltzer, Danny Allen, David Faure, David Gowers, Demetry Romanowski, Dirk Mueller, Dirk Schönberger, Dmitry Kazakov, Edward Apap, Elvis Stansvik, Emanuele Tamponi, Emmet O'Neill, Enrique Matías Sánchez, Eoin O'Neill, Fabian Kosmale, Frank Osterfeld, Frederik Schwarzer, Fredrik Edemar, Fredy Yanardi, Friedrich W. H. Kossebau, Gábor Lehel, Gary Cramblitt, Geoffry Song, Gioele Barabucci, Giovanni Venturi, Gopalakrishna Bhat A, Hanna Scott, Harald Sitter, Hasso Tepper, Helge Deller, Helio Castro, Hideki Saito, Hoàng Đức Hiếu, Hugo Pereira Da Costa, Inge Wallin, Ingo Klöcker, İsmail Dönmez, Ivan Yossi, Jaime, Jaime Torres, Jaison Lee, Jakob Petsovits, Jakub Stachowski, Jan Hambrecht, Jarosław Staniek, Jens Herden, Jessica Hall, Johannes Simon, John Layt, Jonathan Riddell, Jonathan Singer, José Luis Vergara, Juan Luis Boya García, Juan Palacios, Jure Repinc, Kai-Uwe Behrmann, Karl Ove Hufthammer, Kevin Krammer, Kevin Ottens, Kurt Pfeifle, Laurent Montel, Lauri Watts, L. E. Segovia, Leo Savernik, Lukáš Tinkl, Lukáš Tvrdý, Maciej Mrozowski, Malcolm Hunter, Manuel Riecke, manu tortosa, Marc Pegon, Marijn Kruisselbrink, Martin Ellis, Martin Gräßlin, Matthew Woehlke, Matthias Klumpp, Matthias Kretz, Matus Talcik, Maximiliano Curia, Melchior Franz, Michael David Howell, Michael Drueing, Michael Thaler, Michel Hermier, Mohit Goyal, Mojtaba Shahi Senobari, Montel Laurent, Moritz Molch, Nabil Maghfur Usman, Nick Shaforostoff, Nicolas Goutte, Olivier Goffart, Patrick Julien, Patrick Spendrin, Pavel Belskiy, Pavel Heimlich, Peter Simonsson, Pierre Ducroquet, Pierre Stirnweiss, Pino Toscano, Rafael Fernández López, Raphael Langerhorst, Rex Dieter, Rob Buis, Roopesh Chander, Sahil Nagpal, Salil Kapur, Samuel Buttigieg, Sander Koning, Sascha Suelzer, Scott Petrovic, Scott Wheeler, Sebastian Sauer, Shivaraman Aiyer, Siddharth Sharma, Silvio Heinrich, Somsubhra Bairi, Spencer Brown, Srikanth Tiyyagura, Stefan Nikolaus, Stephan Binner, Stephan Kulow, Stuart Dickson, Sune Vuorela, Sven Langkamp, Thiago Macieira, Thomas Capricelli, Thomas Friedrichsmeier, Thomas Klausner, Thomas Nagy, Thomas Zander, Thorsten Staerk, Thorsten Zachmann, Tim Beaulen, Timothée Giet, Tobias Koenig, Tom Burdick, Torio Mlshi, Torsten Rahn, Unai Garro, Urs Wolfer, Vadim Zhukov, Vera Lukman, Victor Lafon, Victor Wåhlström, Volker Krause, Waldo Bastian, Werner Trobin, Wilco Greven, Will Entriken, William Steidtmann, Wolthera van Hovell, Yann Bodson, Yue Liu and Yuri Chornoivan.

Really