*finds Angsty Fic*

ok but the team of scientists making Carlos their adoptive dad and going to him when they get hurt or are arguing or when they get really excited and want to show him some new discovery like a kid showing their parent their artwork

The Princess Bride (1987) dir. Rob Reiner

Can I just speak for a second about how much of an absolute crazy BAMF Stonewall Jackson was?

I mean, this was a guy who was raised in the mountains of Virginia (later West Virginia) who pulled through West Point because of his skills in math and sheer tenaciousness. But he LIKED the army, and even after the Mexican American War he was teaching students what it meant to be a soldier.

When the South seceded from the Union, Jackson followed his State and was recruited into the Confederacy.

“Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible; and when you strike and overcome him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow; for an army routed, if hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken and can then be destroyed by half their number.” 

He earned his nickname of “Stonewall” in the Battle of First Manassas (First Bull Run as it was known in the North) when he stood in the midst of battle without retreating and thus inspired his men and the surrounding Rebels to stand their ground and chase the Union off. He became one of General Robert E. Lee’s most trusted soldiers and friends, so much so that when Jackson died Lee reportedly said, “He has lost his left arm. I have lost my right.” Jackson and Lee together won so many battles due to their combined tactical genius and tenaciousness that if Jackson hadn’t died then it’s possible that the Confederacy may have won the war.

Aside from his (near) brilliance on the field, Stonewall was well known for being eccentric. A list of habits and beliefs he had baffled contemporaries and still fascinates people today:

1) He believed that one of his arms was longer than the other and so would frequently held up the “longer” one to aide in better circulation.

2) Although debatable today, it was also said that Jackson loved chewing on whole lemons and was rarely seen without one even in the midst of battle.

3) He believed that if he had pepper in his food that it would make his left leg ache.

4) He was known by contemporaries as a “champion sleeper”, able to sleep anywhere-- even falling asleep with food in his mouth.

And that was only a few things.

And of course Jackson was a religious zealot, believing that he belonged to the “army of the Living God.” His religious views made it so that he was unafraid even in battle, believing that the Lord was utterly in control and would call him home only when it was time. He wouldn’t even mail a letter on Saturday in fear that it would be in transit on a Sunday.

But of course his respect of the Sabbath didn’t stop him from participating in battle. 

He was also oddly bloodthirsty. He was known for his need for pursuit of the enemy, and there was even once when asked how the Confederacy could stop the Union from pursuing them, Jackson replied, “Kill them! Kill them all!” 

Jackson has got to be one of the most fascinating figures of the American Civil War. I can’t say that this man was as great a hero as history will sometimes paint him but he was still someone who even today is hotly debated among historians. Some say he was a religious nut. Still others say that he was a hero of the South. 

I think he was just a man, but he was someone who history will never quite figure out. Stonewall Jackson observed the Sabbath but was unafraid to kill the enemy. He was a borderline hypochondriac but he was unafraid of death. He’s simply a contradiction to himself in a lot of ways, and I think that is what makes Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson still such a figurehead of the Civil War and, I daresay, one its most fascinating.

Being an adult means first reading Sam's "Well, I'm back." quote at the end of LOTR as a ten year old and thinking it's a weird stupid ending, and then reading it again as a 24 year old and crying because it's the most beautiful perfect ending ever written in the history of literature.

This post fascinates me because I love psychology and a few months ago I labelled the Broadchurch characters as to what personality type they were, and when I looked back at the list I’d made, Alec was INTJ.

Broadchurch: Alec Hardy [INTJ]

OFFICIAL TYPING by Charity / the mod.

Introverted Intuition (Ni): Alec is reluctant to draw conclusions on evidence until he has fully explored all the possibilities, but he does so internally without brainstorming with Ellie. He often says that he has “a feeling” about how things will turn out, but no evidence to support his hypothesis. Alec is so out of touch with “how things work” (lacking Si) that he fails at social niceties and customs, and sometimes over-compensates as a result (“I got you flowers… and chocolate… and wine; I didn’t know which to choose, so I got them all”). He is able to read people very well, in a short time, and gauge their abilities.

Extroverted Thinking (Te): He wants to finish the job and doesn’t mind who gets the credit. He demands facts, evidence, and “proof.” When confronted with a dead child, he immediately runs through all the usual procedures as well as makes due with the resources around him (including CCTV cameras). Alec demands a high work ethic from his employees and puts in the same hours himself. He has a frankness when dealing with people, and always points out the logic (or lack thereof) in their decisions. “I don’t care about anything but this case,” he says, inferring they can tell him anything that doesn’t have to do with the murder and it won’t wind up in his police report.

Introverted Feeling (Fi): No one knows he has a daughter; he does not open up about his marriage, his former cases, or his illness, instead preferring to deal with his guilt and pain on his own. Alec’s compassion is not often evident, but does run deep; his method in “protecting people” is to warn them not to talk to journalists and to threaten said journalists in order to get them to back off. He is rarely emotional in public and does not like to discuss his feelings.

Extroverted Sensing (Se): Even though he is very ill, Alec continues to work—pushing his body beyond its limits, into a total collapse. He is so eager for a physical human connection that he propositions a woman, who says no only because she’s “afraid [he will] collapse on top of me.” He has almost no connection to his own inner sensations, and as a result, overdoes it; he is also semi-reluctant to engage in his environment on a regular basis, down to his eating habits.

In s2 of Broadchurch when Sharonville Bishop was trying to paint the picture that Alec and Ellie deliberately framed Joe to get him out of the way, couldn't the prosecution have fired back with the footage of Alec telling Ellie it was Joe? Of course Alec had turned off the voice recorder but there ARE surveillance cameras in that room, right?!?! Body language is more telling than words anyway so wouldn't Ellie's distress clue them into the fact that she genuinely didn't know?

I guess I don’t mind David Tennant playing Crowley but I’m just confused as to why they have him be ginger when in the book it CLEARLY STATES that he’s supposed to have dark hair.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved Ian Holm’s portrayal of Bilbo in the LotR trilogy, but it was really Martin Freeman’s rendition of the character that really made me fall in love with him, and let me finally finish The Hobbit book. I’d read LotR at ten years old and loved it, and despite trying to read The Hobbit, I simply couldn’t do get through it. Martin brought Bilbo to life for me that breathed life into him when I read the book and allowed me to understand the full beauty and fun of the character of Bilbo Baggins as written by the Professor.

How To Train Your Dragon is my favorite children’s series ever. Seriously. Even more so than Harry Potter or The Outsiders. I love the HTTYD films equally as much but in my opinion the books are so much more adult and so much WISER than anything else I’ve ever read in any other kids’ story. Cressida Cowell understands how the world works and how children cannot remain so forever, and how with friends and family there will be loss and hurt; for god’s sake, she writes things that are more adult in that story than most kids’ books even touch on. There’s one point where Hiccup is being eaten alive slowly by a snake-like dragon whose stomach juices are eating away at Hiccup’s feet, and another where he’s being literally tortured by Alvin the Terrible by being dunked in the freezing sea over and over again for longer and longer periods. But the story approaches life in an amazing way and is even more beautiful and amazing for when Hiccup and his friends triumph.

If you’ve never read these books, go do so. Now. You won’t be disappointed.

Headcanon: Alec Hardy has a secret love of folk music and he’ll never turn off anything by Peter Paul and Mary, Mady Prior, or Jim Croce. One of his favorite songs was ‘Time In a Bottle’ until he and Tess divorced. Ellie Miller owns several cds by the band Journey and she listens to Queen when she can, although Joe never cared for them so she had to limit when she listened to their music. 

They realize each other’s likes in music when they never move to turn those bands off when they play on the radio.