#the cushings diaries

[hanorganaas]

me as my back hurts again due to cushing's recovery: you're going to hadestown on friday, you are going to hadestown on friday, youre going to hadestown on friday, you're going-

[hanorganaas]

when my cushing's recovery gets really bad, I remember Jimmy Carter is in friggin Hospice but refuses to die unless he votes Kamala and I tell myself you know what I can live another day.

[videodrme]

2023 FILM DIARY [7/?]

HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) — dir. Terence Fisher

[vierdandi]

crimson peak (2015)

dir. guillermo del toro

[clove-pinks]

The other night I logged into my school drive and re-read a paper that I wrote about Fort Meigs, over a year ago. It was an interesting experience to revisit the beginning of my obsession about the War of 1812 in the old northwest, and contrast it with my current understandings.

Overall, I think that what I wrote held up well. I chose the memoir of Shadrach Byfield to represent the perspective of the 41st Regiment of Foot, on the British side, and the account of Private Nathaniel Vernon of the Pittsburgh Blues for the Americans. Between Byfield and Vernon, you can clearly track the events of the first and second siege of Fort Meigs in 1813. I am now aware of many additional primary sources—but still no first-person accounts from any of the numerous Indigenous warriors involved (not including quotes from Tecumseh).

[mybitchingandmoaningsafespace]

28 years ago two humans decided to fuck in an old Ford Ranger. Around 9 months later, yours truely escaped the womb. Those two humans decided they hated eachother and I became a pawn in their game. Through all of my life my paternal grandparents have been a constant. I could almost give them credit for raising me. My grandmother passed when I was 12 or 13, and took my world with her. Now, my bond with my grandfather is the strongest bond I have with anyone in my life.

My parents seperated when I was two, a few years later their divorce was finalized. My mother got remarried to a man she met when he was about to go into a diabetic coma. He had 3 daughters from two different women and my mother took over their parenting. These girls sexually abused me, but I was too young to understand at the time, all I knew was I wanted to be accepted by them. Eventually,my nother divorced this man, as he was cheating on her. She had several boyfriends and was known in the town for her promiscuity. Several years ago she married ny current step father, who has been an absolute blessing. I got a new step sister, who I get along greatly with. My father went on to remarry a wicked witch, who made life a living hell. My father took her side, no matter how emotinally and mentally abusive she became. When I was 10, they had a child together who I raised more than they did. I continue to love that child with all my heart. The relationship between myself and my father and stepmother was always tense and my mother was my rock. At 13, I said I'd rather be dead than go back to my fathers house and was put in a psych ward for attempted suicide. During my stay there, was the first time I found myself attracted to a female. At 15, I found my first love. A boy who was just as damaged as I was. We damaged eachother even more with our on again off again dating and toxic behaviors. At 16, I had my first lesbian experience with my best friend. At 17, I was sexually assaulted by a guy my best friend was pining for. I lost my best friend and a part of myself all in one night At 18, I quit splitting my time between my mother and fathers households and ran away to stay with my mother full time. I was finally able to get enough distance to stop running back to the toxic relationship that had carried me through my teenage years. Life was finally looking up. I did a lot of soul searching and working on deciding the person I wanted to become. This meant coming to grips with parts of my past that werent pretty. Eventually, I started to rebuild my relationship with my father. My mother, who was once my best friend, became my enemy. We didnt have a common enemy anymore, so I became the person she hated. When I moved out to move in with my husband, she turned her anger on my stepfather-who does not deserve the treatment he gets, but refuses to leave her.

At 20, I feel in love with a new man. I was ready to give my heart to him. But he was still stuck on his old relationship. In a series of painful events, we split ways, and I met my now husband. We came up with great plans for our life, until life got in the way. At 24, I started to gain a lot of weight and get very sick. At 25, I was diagnosed with Crohns Disease and Cushings Disease. At 26, they removed a tumor from my pituitary gland in the hopes it would fix the Cushings. During all of this, I was struggling to hold down a job. My husband was trying to be helpful and supportive, but due to his own trauma, really didnt (and doesnt) know how. Although, we signed up for eternity, through sickness and health, neither of us planned on this.

Currently, life is a struggle as I am having issues with my health and my job again. Finances are shit, our home is falling apart around us, and everyday is another balancing.

This page is just going to be my bitchfest page, a diary of sorts. Maybe one day, Ill show it to my therapist and save us both some time.

If you have nothing kind or supportive to say, scroll on.

[all-souls-matinee]

The rare addition: I've learned something that explains literally everything about why tBoSC is so weird. It was originally pitched by Tigon (said exploitation studio) as an anthology movie with screenwriter Robert Wynne-Simmons brought on in a 'work for hire' capacity. Studio execs made frequent adjustments, including moving it from the Victorian period to Georgian because Victorian England had been overplayed in the 60s (extremely funny), and adding a lot more witch stuff based on marketing research. Wynne-Simmons rolled with all of their requests and Haggard was then brought on not only to direct but to mold the script into a workable, budget-friendly movie. He chose to combine all the stories in the anthology rather than expand upon a single one, thus, fever dream.

Quick-bite reviews: The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) dir. Piers Haggard

An 18th century English farmer digs up the bones of a 'fiend,' and what first seems a hoax quickly turns into witchcraft-laden nightmare for a sleepy village and its children.

The first half of this movie is extremely bizarre and very watchable. I knew it was going to be folk horror which isn't my usual bag, but it's mostly just a lot of meandering ren faire conversations augmented by a Spirit Halloween clearance sale, which is fun. I like that they keep introducing more and more characters and locations instead of telling a cohesive story; 'a! there's a scary monster in the attic and it made a guy cut off his own hand!' (my favorite scene), now let's meet the squire that will be standing in for the judge, now let's go into town to visit the infamous woodshed/abandoned church/barn that's not seen or mentioned until 45 minutes into the movie. When the actual plot picks up The Blood on Satan's Claw doesn't stop being this kind of fever dream of a viewing experience, but it also shows its hand as a product of a studio synonymous with exploitation flicks competing for Hammer horror audiences. Barely-legal nudity, an explicit rape scene that leers and lingers, and some iffy writing decisions take it from being bad in a fascinating way to bad in a pat way. You're really getting every side of the 70s here.

Buy a ticket? Stick to an episode of A Ghost Story for Christmas, they're much better

[hotvintagepoll]

this is a poll for a movie that doesn't exist.

It is vintage times. The powers that be have decided to again remake the classic vampire novel Dracula for the screen. in an amazing show of inter-studio solidarity, Hollywood’s most elite hotties are up for the starring roles. the producers know whoever they cast will greatly impact the genre, quality, and tone of the finished film, so they are turning to their wisest voices for guidance.

you are the new casting director for this star-studded epic. choose your players wisely.

Previously cast:

Jonathan Harker—Jimmy Stewart

The Old Woman—Martita Hunt

Count Dracula��Gloria Holden

Mina Murray—Setsuko Hara

Lucy Westenra—Judy Garland (rip)

The Three Voluptuous Women—Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Lauren Bacall

The Agonized Mother—Mary Philbin (rip)

Dr. Jack Seward—Vincent Price

Quincey P. Morris—Toshiro Mifune

Arthur Holmwood—Sidney Poitier

R.M. Renfield—Conrad Veidt

The Captain of the Demeter—Omar Sharif (rip)

The First Mate of the Demeter—Leonard Nimoy (rip)

Mr. Swales—Ed Wynn (rip)

The Correspondent for The Daily Graph—Ethel Waters

Dracula in dog form—Frank Oz with a puppet

Sister Agatha—Angela Lansbury

Mrs. Westenra—Gladys Cooper (rip)

Dracula's solicitors—Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee

Dr. Van Helsing—Orson Welles

Mr. Hawkins—Donald Meek

Thomas Bilder, the zookeeper—Lon Chaney Jr.

Mrs. Bilder, the zookeeper's wife—Elsa Lanchester

The Reporter from the Pall Mall Gazette—Hattie McDaniel

The undertaker doesn't technically speak, but the woman who works for him to tend to the last rites does, so I'm condensing the two characters into one. Per Dr. Seward's diary: "I attended to all the ghastly formalities, and the urbane undertaker proved that his staff were afflicted—or blessed—with something of his own obsequious suavity. Even the woman who performed the last offices for the dead remarked to me, in a confidential, brother-professional way, when she had come out from the death-chamber:—'She makes a very beautiful corpse, sir. It's quite a privilege to attend on her. It's not too much to say that she will do credit to our establishment!'"

[pennyngram]

Every single Darcy ever.

1938, Andrew Osborn

1940, Lord Olivier

1952, Peter Cushing

1958, Alan Badel

1967, Lewis Fiander

1980, David Rintoul

1995, Colin Firth

2003, Orlando Seale (the one with the Mormons)

2004, Martin Henderson (Bride and Prejudice)

2005, Matthew MacFadyen

2008, Elliot Cowan (Lost in Austen)

2012, Daniel Vincent Gordh (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries)

2013, Matthew Rhys (Death comes to Pemberley)

2016, Sam Riley (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies)

2016, Chase Connor (Before the Fall, not featured as I wasn't able to find a decent picture)

2016 & 2018, Ryan Paevey (Unleashing Mr Darcy & Marrying Mr Darcy, not featured as I remembered these movies only after creating the infographic ops)

2022, Conrad Ricamora (Fire Island)

I'm not counting Bridget Jones since it doesn't market itself as having ties to P&P

[consanguinitatum]

David Tennant's Plays: You can pre-order Macbeth now!

So you can pre-order the tie-in book for Macbeth at Nick Hern Books - right here! It "features colour photos, a rehearsal diary, and interviews with cast and creatives including leads David Tennant and Cush Jumbo." This book will contain the version of Shakespeare's text used during the performances. I've already done it, because......DUH.

[hanorganaas]

Hadestown tonight....my first show since july since being struck by the cushings!

[intuitive-revelations]

There it is!

I noticed the other day playing around with my TV that they had relabeled Doctor Who as "Doctor Who (2005-2022)". I guess that seemingly answers the question of how they'll be grouping episodes on streaming - presumably the new episodes really will be "Doctor Who (2023-) / 'new-new-Who'. Wonder if they'll reset the series numbering to accommodate. I hope not.

Nice to see they included K9 and Company among the spin-offs, as well as the animated stories. Also happy to see the rights for the TV movie worked out for once.

I also love that they're adding some related documentaries etc. to the collection too. I'd never heard of the Delia Derbyshire docudrama until now but am keen to take a look now at some point.

Speaking of docudramas, I'm a little surprised An Adventure in Space and Time isn't here yet... You don't think it's related to the whole Stef Coburn thing? Hopefully it's just being delayed for a re-airing or something.

That being said, the collection seems to stilll be a work in progress. For example, most of the Doctor Who Confidentials don't have proper thumbnails yet.

I hope RTD realises just how much he's opened up the BBC to "what about" requests by doing this! Personal wishlist:

Obviously An Unearthly Child, if the rights can get sorted.

As mentioned, An Adventure in Space and Time.

The minisodes! They're a bit of a glaring absense at the moment, IMHO, especially ones like Time Crash and Night of the Doctor. They're generally available elsewhere but would be nice to be included in this interface. Would be nice if they could dig up some of the rarer ones too, like high quality versions of the Series 2 TARDISodes.

Webcasts. Shalka would be particularly great.

Cushing movies?

The dream would be for some of the non-BBC spin-offs to get licensed too (eg. K-9), though I can't see that happening. From a business sense, I doubt higher-ups would want to acknowledge stuff outside the BBC's copyrights, and for most things the licensing probably wouldn't be financially worth it. Not to mention they probably want to stay as far from the likes of Zygon as possible.

That being said, K-9 did air on DisneyXD didn't it? I wonder if it will show up as part of the collection on Disney+ at some point.

I'm biased, but I hope Class gets a bit more attention from this. Not expecting a revival at this point obviously, but some new fans would probably go a long way for the likes of a Big Finish continuation, as teased with Secret Diary.

[a--ttano]

Thank u v much to @illmetkismet for tagging me ♥

Last song:

Daydream In Blue by I Monster

I really do like I Monster ahahha

Currently Watching:

Peter Cushing hammer horror films (this is because I'm listening to a lot of I Monster and they're so deeply inspired by all of that that it makes me want to watch). Also two different overwatch unranked to gm vids.

Currently reading:

Ooh!!! List time

1. Sha po lang by priest. Excellent book.

2. Murderbot diaries by Martha wells. I just started this, but I'm enjoying it so far.

3. Tai sui by priest. I also just started this, but it's priest and translated by e danglars, so I expect an excellent time.

4. Uzumaki by junji ito. Timelessly amazing.

5. The dreams in the witch house by h.p. Lovecraft. This is so exceedingly written by lovecraft. I don't think I'm enjoying it very much, except for the way the main antagonist makes me want to kiss her

6. The haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson. I've only really gotten a few chapters in, but I really really love it. The characters are so vivid. The sense of place even more so

7. Various short horror stories, mostly in podcast form

8. Various fic, most of it naruto. A bit of bloodborne too, there's an author that does exceptional non binary good hunter pwp

Current obsession:

Crusty old horror. Naruto, specifically Hashirama, Ino, Sasori, and Kakashi. Nathan the cat. Playing bass. Audio engineering. Being pretentious on purpose.

Tagging @glitteratti @tozettastone @mid-nighttiger @elfiver if you'd like to do it!!

[twistedtummies2]

Top 10 Van Helsings

Since I'm a Dracula mood this evening, I figured I'd do a quick list related to arguably the most notable character in the novel besides the Count himself: Professor Van Helsing. In the book, Van Helsing is not Dracula's arch-nemesis proper, nor is he a professional monster hunter. Instead, he's simply a friend of some of the other heroes, whose great advantage is simply that he knows the lore of vampirism, and has an open enough mind to accept something other than scientific logic. In a way, the Van Helsing in the novel is similar to characters like the Doctor from "Doctor Who," or Sans from "Undertale": he often seems comical and clownish, but underneath this apparent buffoonery, he is stone-cold and very mysterious. We don't exactly know why or how Van Helsing has all the knowledge he has, and that, plus the duality of his personality, makes him compelling.

In other media and various adaptations, a lot of this is jettisoned, but that doesn't necessarily make these other versions bad. In fact, some takes on the character, I would argue, surpass the book, as they make the battle between the main antagonist, and the leader of the protagonists, much more personal and interesting. With all the sympathetic takes on Dracula out there, as well, the line between good and evil becomes more blurred, also, which only adds to the intrigue.

I'm going to make this a description-less list; just names, pictures, and credits. I'm making it very spur-of-the-moment. XD With that said, here are my Top 10 Favorite Portrayals of Van Helsing!

10. Christopher Plummer, from Dracula 2000. (This version blurs the line between good and evil a fair bit. I think it's mostly Plummer who makes me like this one so much.)

9. Goofy, from Disney's Dracula. (Because the fact this EXISTS is more than enough reason.)

8. Laurence Olivier, from the 1979 Universal Film.

7. Hugh Jackman, from Van Helsing. (This version has almost nothing to do with the original, but when I think of the name "Van Helsing," I think of him and this movie, so he gets some credit.)

6. Anthony Hopkins, from the 1992 Film.

5. The Version from the 2006 BBC Radio Version. (The actor is strangely uncredited, and I've yet to identify them.)

4. Herbert Lom, from Count Dracula (1970).

3. Frank Finlay, from the 1977 BBC TV Version.

2. Edward Van Sloan, from the 1931 Universal Film/Dracula's Daughter.

Peter Cushing, from the Hammer Horror Series.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE...

David Moroni, from Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary.

Walter Ladengast, from Nosferatu the Vampyre.

David Suchet, from the 2006 BBC TV Movie.

Nigel Davenport, from the 1973 TV Movie.

[immortalconclusions]

rules: tag 9 some people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then aswer the questions below!

Tagged by @licncourt, @sofipitch, and @translouisdpdl

Last Song: Bracero by Phil Ochs

Three Ships: Loustat (VC), Nicki/Lestat (VC), and Xuexiao (CQL/MDZS)

Currently Reading: Harvey Cushing's War Diary, 1918

Last Movie: Babylon (2022)

Craving: pizza and an ice cold coke

I know a lot of people have already been tagged but here goes @transjackfairy @chagreiner @puentera @i-just-like-whatever-i-like @fishpillowses @vrisbian @basquettcase @byronicism

[clove-pinks]

A recent acquisition is this vintage 1974 second edition of Fort Meigs and the War of 1812, reprinting priceless primary source documents at the same time that the reconstructed Fort Meigs was opened to the public. "Cover plate shows the uniform of the 2nd U.S. Artillery as they may have appeared at Fort Meigs": especially if the First Siege took place in the 1970s.

The Orderly Book of Cushing's Company is an interesting read—with some valuable information about the food and treats at Fort Meigs that soldiers could purchase, since I never stop thinking about a Fort Meigs cookbook—but I skipped ahead to Captain Daniel Cushing's diary, which was rewarding. I've read excerpts from Cushing before, and I love his voice.

A few gems:

"All things went on well until the 25th, Christmas day, when the devil got into the soldiers."

"At this place is a small creek, the name is not known; I call it 'Duck Creek' in consequence of my getting ducked in it the morning we marched from that camp."

"Lieut. Meek obtained leave to go home today, as pleased as a child with a rattle."

At one point Captain Cushing mentions, "This is the first time I have discharged a piece at an enemy in 30 years," and I went scrambling back to the introductions to find out how old he was, exactly. He was about 48(!) in 1812—he was born in Massachusetts in 1764, and married in Bridgewater, Massachusetts to his first wife in 1787. Another New England boy who ended up in Ohio on the northwest frontier.