#tom franklin

[foterminals]

Dr Tom Franklin's Note

Everyone else left tried to get into Bergman's lab to get the password for the Isotope Containment, but he rigged up some kind of gun. Ericka was killed. Most of my hair is gone from the radiation and I can barely see. There's no way I can finish the research on my own now, so I've chosen to make it a quicker end.

Jon Elwood, I'll see you in hell.

[e-b-reads]

I read a book called Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, and I liked it a lot! I actually found it in the library right before the holidays, and decided that it looked like the exact kind of book I'd been looking for, so I was going to save it until I was home from staying with family and back at work. It was nice to have that to look forward to.

Weekly Bookish Question #318 ( January 1st - January 7th) 

typical first question of the year: What’s the first book you’re picking/have picked up in 2023? 

[giddyaunt425]

[hacash]

‘Being at the club would fix me’: the Terror version

Fitzjames: Knows going to the club would fix him, goes to the club and immediately comes to the conclusion that yes, this has fixed him. (It’s usually some sort of gay club but let’s not read too much into that.)

Franklin: Knows going to the club won’t fix him, doesn’t want to go to the club, goes to the club anyway when his men invite him (and they always do).

Crozier: No amount of money could persuade him to go to the club.

Goodsir: Knows going to the club won’t fix him; everyone else knows going to the club won’t fix him so they don’t bother to ask. Attempts to be fixed by a long refreshing nature are so far going well.

Little: Thinks going to the club would fix him, is in the club for all of ten seconds before realising nope, this isn’t working either.

Dundy: Thinks there’s nothing about him that needs fixing by the club, is at the club most nights anyway.

Hodgson: Well, he’d rather be at a cool little cocktail bar, but if his lads want to be at the club he’ll happily join them. His is a Mai Thai please, heavy on the Mai.

Irving: Does he have to go to the club? Please don’t make him go to the club. He doesn’t see why he - oh, is this the club? It’s not quite as good as that drag brunch last week, everyone there was awfully friendly, but he can manage the club, thanks.

Jopson: What would fix him is being Crozier’s designated driver home from the club.

Blanky: Somehow knows every bartender at the club and always gets served first. No one knows how.

McDonald: First at the club, always.

Stanley: When he discovers who got him to the club someone is going to suffer for it.

Gibson: As long as the club has a drink strong enough to make him forget his ex, he’s there.

Tozer: No, he’s not going to the club, he’s damn well going to stay here watching sports at the pub like a normal person, thank you. Somehow winds up at the club with the rest of the Marines having the most fun out of any one of the crew.

Hartnell: Has absolutely nothing about him that the club needs to fix, but will still be there if his mates are. Usually the person fetching water for everyone to avoid hangovers in the morning.

Hickey: Has been banned from the club.

[supercap2319]

Y/N: "So if you guys are the Spidermen." *He looks at all three versions of Peter Parker. He turns to the three women in Spider-like attire* "Are you the Spiderwomen? The Spider Girls? Spider Ladies? Spiderettes? Spiderbabes?"

Anya: "Can I please punch him?"

Julia: "Not in public."

[petoskeystones]

"fourth of july" by sufjan stevens + "frozen in time" by owen beattie and john geiger + "sir john franklin's last arctic expedition: a medical disaster" by richard bayliss + the death of john hartnell

you know. when your brother dies of the same illness as your father did a decade ago. and you have to bury him in your shirt in the freezing cold a million miles from home. and then abandon his grave to walk to your own death.

[nigesakis]

Dave K on what the characters' modern jobs would be (Q&A 4)

Franklin: failed politician who own a basketball team

Crozier: provost at a public university who does one "fantastic" ethics course per year

James: specialist surgeon ("surgeon energy" "like being that good at something")

Hickey: a lot of things ("people in daily life remind me of Hickey") (nodded at every idea from the comments including life coach, tv producer, youtube channel, tattoo artist, real estate broker, therapist

Silna: public defender who becomes a prosecutor, "still with the spirit of a public defender but prosecuting, um… bad actors."

Goodsir: modern take of an ethnographer ("like a Studs Terkel or someone on TikTok who stops [...] houseless people in the street to ask them what they carry with them and why")

Little: commercial architect, would rather design houses but isn't successful

Hodgson: children's television host

Irving: family man, deacon at local church, running successfull business

Blanky: incident commander for the coast guard

Collins: carpenter who sculpts

Jopson: advocate, example named is for the rights of houseless veterans ("doing service for people who really needed it")

Hartnell: high school science teacher who the students have crushes on

Bridgens: teacher

Lady Jane: starting a company for themed river cruise ships where you learn about things like local literature etc ("massive success")

Tozer: cop or gym teacher / also agreed with comment: firefighter

Gore: professional mountaineer (agreed with comment)

Sophia: journalism (agreed with comment)

[representative-democracy]

In honour of new Hozier, some Hozier-The Terror shitposts!!!!

[prev][next]

[earthshine-moon]

Why I love AMC’s Lt Graham Gore: an essay

Full essay under the cut but here’s the intro to (hopefully) get you interested

In my humble (and completely non-obsessed 😉) opinion, AMC’s Lieutenant Graham Gore is one of the best cold boys. He is not only kind and considerate, but well-respected and liked among the other men (especially Goodsir and while that is reason enough, I wrote this anyway bc why not?). In this essay, I will exhibit why Lt Gore deserves all the love and appreciation that is possible to receive from a single fandom.

A list of special mentions are at the end of this post as well if you’re interested 💙

This is long so buckle up and hold on to your Welsh wigs, we’re going for a ride.

The first scene where we witness Gore’s personality is the boat hauling scene in episode 2. When the scene begins, it’s clear that Mr Goodsir has been talking for a little while and at first, it seems as though none of the party are really listening to him until he speaks directly to Gore. As soon as Goodsir says his name, the Lieutenant looks up at him and responds immediately despite how much effort and concentration he is clearly putting in to hauling the boat. Gore’s instant and genuine reply of “I do not, Mr Goodsir” implies that he has been listening (maybe not intently, he’s not superhuman) and knows exactly who Goodsir is talking about. On top of that, the tone of his answer gives the impression that he wasn’t giving it for the purpose of not having to converse further with Goodsir, but rather that he honestly couldn’t remember the Inuk man’s name, which shows his kindness.

Just a few seconds later in that scene, Gore stops the men as soon as Goodsir offers to take over from one of them in hauling the boat. This second immediate action indicates that he doesn’t mind taking the time to swap Hartnell with Goodsir and instruct him on how to pull the weight. (He could just be thankful for the excuse to take a little break and I love that too, so I’m cool with it being a bit of both). The fact that he has no problem with taking this time just adds to the kindness that we have already seen from him.

This leads me onto his instructions to Goodsir. He explains the technique clearly and calmly, which shows exactly how considerate and attentive he is because he gives Goodsir all the advice he needs to keep in step with the others (“watch Morfin here in front, and me with the corner of your eye”). Gore’s tone is warm and friendly throughout with a touch of reassurance seeping in as he says “you’ll take to it, I know you will”, which conveys his trust and belief in Goodsir’s ability to haul. While he’s talking, Gore’s whole body is turned towards Goodsir and he gives him a couple of little shoulder pats. (Tartnell and Peglar also give him a shoulder pat each but that’s different. I mention that again later).

(Just a little side note that has nothing to do with this but there’s a little detail in one of his lines in this scene that I love. He tells Hartnell to let Goodsir “spell [him]”. We don’t use this phrase in the UK and as far as I can tell, it’s North American. I just think it’s a lovely nod to the fact that he comes from a line of Naval officers (one of which might have picked up the phrase). Anyway, back to me rambling about how wonderful this guy is).

And now, my current favourite thing to talk about and watch: the cairn scene. Gore’s second line in this scene (“does this place make you uneasy, doctor?”) is said almost like a joke but he doesn’t walk away like you’d expect him to if it was meant in that way. Instead, he stays where he is and turns towards Goodsir as if he is waiting for an answer. At first I thought he might have stayed to hand Goodsir his ice pick (or whatever it’s called. I can’t find them anywhere) but it looks like he doesn’t go to pass it to him until he actually does. And, in case you need any more evidence, if you look closely when it cuts to the wider shot, the end of the handle is visible by the side of his leg and there’s a 2 second long pause before Goodsir speaks where he could have tried to hand the ice pick over or at least lifted it up, but he didn’t.

Gore’s response to Goodsir explaining why he shouldn’t call him Doctor is to say “that’s a doctor in my book” which signifies that he respects the work Goodsir has put in to his career so much more than most other characters (minus Dr. McDonald, of course). This response clearly shows he doesn’t believe that Goodsir is any less worthy of the title just because he hasn’t got the same training as the other ships’ doctors. Just to add to that, by giving him the title of doctor, it raises Goodsir to a higher level; one, in the eyes of other people, more deserving of respect than his actual station.

Sticking with the cairn scene (last one, I promise), Gore says “thank you” twice; one to Goodsir and the other to Des Voeux. Both are said in response to very small gestures but actually sound so genuine like they had done something more significant for him than taking his ice pick or handing him the folder-type thing (if anyone knows what this is, please let me know). As far as I can remember, there aren’t many thank yous thrown around in the show, especially not any as genuine as these.

I’ve been watching his 7 minutes of screen time so much recently and on about the 10th time, I noticed that he’s quite gentle when he touches other people. He gives friendly little pats on the shoulder or arm to Goodsir three times and to Des Voeux and Morfin once each but none of them are the sharp, quick ones you see from other characters (like Tartnell and Peglar earlier in ep2). I saw someone say on here that a lot of the cold boys subvert the stereotypes of traditional masculinity and I think this is a subtle but really sweet example of that.

And finally, on to how respected and liked he is. We only ever hear Sir John call him Graham, which is interesting because in Victorian England, Christian names weren’t something to be used lightly as they symbolised close friendship or intimacy. Crozier saying “amongst everything else, I know you mourn a friend” to Sir John after Gore’s death reinforces that. All of this is then furthered by how much Sir John clearly grieves Gore’s death along with the implied grieving of the other Erebus officers. It’s such a credit to his character to see (however brief) the pain and loss his death created among the men.

Sorry to end this on a sad note but here have a cookie 🍪 for making it to the end

And now for some special mentions (including some things about the real Lt Gore)

• the little pompom on his hat

• him helping Morfin up onto the ice ridge

• him shouting with the other men when they find the shore

• “I pray it’s English tea merchants coming from Kenton that look upon that message next”

• asking Goodsir if he’s seen something when he sees he’s looking away from the cairn (idk I just think it’s kinda sweet)

• his smile (that’s it)

And for the real Lt Gore:

• he was an accomplished artist

• Fitzjames described him as having “the sweetest of tempers”

• a gun exploded in his hand when he was shooting cockatoos in Australia for food. Ended up laid flat and all he could do was quietly say “killed the bird” (his hand was fine btw. Only a small injury)

• He was promoted to Captain in absentia by the Admiralty (before the official proclamation of the deaths of Franklin’s men)

[navvka]

All the terror characters are pretty but...

[marenabathory]

Tom Hartnell doesn't get enough love. He's so kind. It makes me wonder if his brother was the same way.

[charlesdesvoeux]

irl!tom hartnell had a tattoo and i'm kind of mad we didn't get to see it in the show

(from the paper The men who sailed with Franklin by Ralph Lloyd-Jones which i found in the Cold Boys Research Central)

[giddyaunt425]

ANOTHER

[hacash]

Terror AUs where some or all of the crew survive are a lot of fun, but I think we need to lean more into the comedy of the fact that – no matter where in the story the men get rescued, no matter from which particular brink of danger they’re snatched, no matter the context - that would have to have been an incredibly awkward journey home. As in, awkward enough that the crew of the random whaler that picked the boys up petitions their captain never to rescue any survivors from a maritime wreck ever again because honestly, captain, the vibes are just too toxic right now.

-

Little: You embarrassed me in front of all the men! And then, yeah, the whole mutiny thing, but that thing at the armoury was so fucking mean.

-

Jopson: I was right there, dying, and you bastards just left me!

-

Gibson: Were you about to fucking eat me?!

-

Fitzjames: Whoa, hold up George, you were happy to eat our dog?!

-

The entire crew: YOU TRIED TO SET US ON FIRE.

-

Crozier: Hey, anyone from Erebus remember how I said this was an act of hubris none of us would survive, and then none of you bastards backed me up? And then we almost didn’t survive it? Remember that, huh? Huh?

-

Hartnell: Look, Captain, I appreciate you saving our lives and all but the next time you fire off a rocket would you mind not doing so straight at my face, please? Thanks for understanding. Also Hickey and Tozer you fucked us all over and nearly killed us all, you absolute colossal pricks.

-

Goodsir: First girlfriend in my entire life and you wankers ruined EVERYTHING. And also that whole cannibalism thing.

-

Blanky: Remember when I lost my leg because you were having a hissy fit, Francis?

-

The Marines: Listen to Hickey, you said…he’s got a plan, you said…get out of here all in one piece, you said…

-

Tozer: You KNOCKED ME OUT and tried to use me as TUUNBAQ BAIT.

-

Irving: HEY HICKEY, THE BOOK OF PROVERBS SAYS ‘THE WRINGING OF THE NOSE BRINGETH FORTH BLOOD’ AND ONCE LITTLE AND HODGSON STOP SITTING ON ME I’M GONNA PROVE IT TO YOU, ARSEHOLE.

-

Sir John: …Ok, ok, my bad.

[camyfilms]

BABY REINDEER 2024

When you spend so long swallowing your shame, it is so hard to stop it becoming part of you.

[radiojamming]

Did both Hartnell brothers serve in the Opium war?

Only one of them! Thomas (and John Strickland!) served in the First Opium War during his time on the Volage and was present at the Battle of Chuenpi in 1839. In fact, the Volage was one of the ships that started the battle (the other being HMS Hyacinth) when it fired a shot after thinking that the Chinese ships intended to start a fight.

John also served on the Volage, but on a different journey. The orders for this round were much more scattered, but involved a lot of patrol along the eastern North American coast and the Caribbean, and patrol of the Irish Sea where they picked up John Irving. They never saw battle, and in fact spent much of the time delivering things (gold bullion, royal princes, ship parts) or weighing anchor and hanging out.

So yeah, one brother was a war veteran, and the other was doing god knows what.