The Dark of Ages Past

"If this world should turn out to be a 'Te moriturum saluto,' perhaps it will brighten the dark moments a little to think how you have meant to someone more than anything ever has or ever will. What you have striven for will not end in nothing, all that you have done and been will not be wasted, for it will be a part of me as long as I live, and I shall remember, always." - Vera Brittain

[goodassdog]

[bankston]

CAPTAIN RON!

Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary must be the sweetest place on earth.

[violentwavesofemotion-deactivat]

She is nonexistent, this girl he considers beautiful, soft, loving, intelligent perfection. She is a dream-vision.

Sylvia Plath, from The Unabridged Journals Of Sylvia Plath (via violentwavesofemotion)

[bornadreamer]

NEWT SCAMANDER

NEWT SCAMANDER has severe social anxiety

NEWT SCAMANDER can’t look people in the eye when he talks to them

NEWT SCAMANDER thinks he annoys people

NEWT SCAMANDER is riddled with scars from his creatures

NEWT SCAMANDER became a surrogate mother to a cluster of Occamys 

NEWT SCAMANDER kept the obscurus that killed the 8 y/o girl he befriended in africa, because, despite it being the manifestation of her pain and sorrow, it was still a living thing

NEWT SCAMANDER named every single one of his creatures

NEWT SCAMANDER built habitats for all of them by himself 

NEWT SCAMANDER feeds them all, nurses them when they’re sick, and makes personal connections with each of them 

NEWT SCAMANDER took the time to learn the mating dance of the Erumpent

NEWT SCAMANDER lives in the shadow of his older brother

NEWT SCAMANDER worked with dragons during the war (Charlie Weasley, anyone?)

NEWT SCAMANDER cried when he had to pretend to give up Pickett

NEWT SCAMANDER was dragged out of the Congress of Magic screaming for mercy, not for himself or Tina, but for his creatures

NEWT SCAMANDER carries around ‘Swooping Evil’ and has earned it’s trust enough so that it let another human use it as a springboard, AND it listens to him when he says no

NEWT SCAMANDER was the only one who was able to get close to Credence after he was unleashed

NEWT SCAMANDER understands, not only the signs of extreme fear (and probably a panic attack) but the feeling of being an outcast, of not fitting right in your own skin

NEWT SCAMANDER never raised his wand against Credence, only apparated closer or away

NEWT SCAMANDER found it easier to befriend a muggle and open up to him than to talk with other wizards

NEWT SCAMANDER is completely unbiased because of his deep compassion for ALL living things

NEWT SCAMANDER apoligized to a monkey after it feked around with his wand

NEWT SCAMANDER doesn’t give two shits about money. He gives Jacob, who is presumably obviated, half a dozen silver lines eggshells 

NEWT SCAMANDER made such an impression on a muggle that even when presumably obviated he created pastries that looked like his friends beloved creatures

NEWT SCAMANDER understands that humans are the worst beast of all

NEWT SCAMANDER was able to pick up not only on word choice but on the feeling of evil he got from Grindelwald

NEWT SCAMANDER is able to think through panic 

NEWT SCAMANDER was friends with a LaStrange–because lineage doesn’t matter to him

NEWT SCAMANDER has a fighting spirit. We saw it when Queenie said ‘Hogwash’

I JUST LOVE HIM SO MUCH. FEEL FREE TO ADD ON

[justbadpuns]

Well Britain says see eu later

[merlinermys-blog]

2015 Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne

[foureyesorbooks]

The problem with being a bookworm is that I physically can’t walk past a bookstore without at least taking a 30 minute stroll through it.

[nadhirakh]

My math teacher once said that if someone stares at you openly, it means they think you are attractive. But if someone stares at you when you’re not looking, it means they are in love with you. I believe that’s the reason why we fall for the wrong person. We fall for the ones who shows their interest in us and compliment us, because the ones who truly loves us only loves us in secret.

Don’t Hide Your Feelings, it Doesn’t Do You Any Good. (via nadhirakh)

[positive-affirmation]

#WeAreHere: WWI ‘soldiers’ appear across UK in moving and powerful tribute to the Battle of Somme

Volunteers dressed as World War I soldiers appeared in towns and cities across UK on Friday 1st July as part of Battle of the Somme commemorations, marking 100-years since one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

The soldiers silently handed cards to passers by, each bearing the name of a soldier who died at the Somme on 1st July 1916.

Occasionally the volunteers broke into song, singing “We are here because we are here” to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

The Battle of Somme (1st July - 18th November 1916) was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front - more than one million men were wounded or killed.

[greatwar-1914]

November 18, 1916 - Last Day of the Battle of the Somme

Pictured - Highlanders walk down a muddy road on the Ancre.

The first snow fell on the Somme on November 17. The next day was the final day of the battle, which had raged since July 1. It had been four-and-half months of battle and well over a million dead. The November offensive on the Ancre had been stalled by mud and horrible weather, so it brought no concluding victory. A report in the Daily Mirror and the Paris Daily Mirror (read by the troops) brought home the scene to British readers. Probably more reliable was a diary entry by Lieutenant Guy Chapman on November 16:

“No. 1 Coy is badly knocked out. Lauder and young both badly wounded, Sergeant-Major Dell wounded. Farrington killed. Sgt. Brown not expected to live. Sgt. Baker wounded. Westle, poor fellow, killed. Foley - the last of his family - killed, a lot of good men, too many to speak of.”

Near Beaucourt station lay “the skeleton of five wagons and their team, the grisly evidence of the tragedy of a Bosche ration convoy. There is a sickly stench, the mixed smell of exploded picric acid, gas, blood, puetrefying corpses and broken bricks. Here and there lie the bodies of the fallen 800 Englishmen and forty Germans buried yesterday - evidence of what price the assaulting parties must pay for some few yards of ground. Damn Germany!”

The battle had stalemated, but the generals intended to resume in spring. This meant that although the battle of large armies had ended, jockeying for position must continue - it was not as though both armies could simply pack up and leave, so raiding and skirmished lasted over the winter. Winter cold was probably worse than the enemy, freeing tea and bread solid. The whirlwind of shells had smashed all shelter. Snow was actually welcome, however, for it blanketed the ugly, scarred ground and froze solid the mud.

Did the Battle of the Somme have a victor? Chapman, and many other Britons had the time, probably felt that Germany had got the better of them. The Allies had captured a few kilometers of ground and lost huge casualties. The French might have disagreed, there experience on the Somme had been one of skilled warfare. In fact, the Battle of the Somme may have been the French army’s proudest moment. The Germans could not have felt anywhere near as encouraged. They too had lost hundreds of thousands of men - but men they could not replace. The Battle of the Somme was horrible, but horrible in the same way that Stalingrad was - a bloody, terrible, but decisive and necessary turning point in favor of the Allies.

[deeplifequotes]

Embrace the struggle and let it make you stronger. It won’t last forever.

Tony Gaskins (via deeplifequotes)

[thequotejournals]

Admire as much as you can, most people don’t admire enough.

Vincent Van Gogh (via thequotejournals)

[thequotejournals]

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive.

Howard Thurman  (via thequotejournals)

[securelyinsecure]

“I’m inspired by the love people have for their children. And I’m inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.” - President Barack Obama

[twitterlols]

[zonecassette]

[buddhabrand]

only millennials take pictures of their children

[brianwilson-deactivated20161027]

my parents only painted impressionistic portraits of me, as all good parents should

[helthehatter]

Good Things that Happened in 2016

·         We’re closer to having successful vaccines for lung and brain cancer.

·         New chemotherapy breakthroughs have increased the 5-year survival for pancreatic cancer from 16% to 27% (and is getting better)

·         Scientists figured out how to link robotic limbs with the part of the brain that deals with intent to move so people don’t have to think about how they will move the limb, it can just happen.

·         Child mortality is down everywhere and it keeps going down.

·         Thanks to the ice bucket challenge the gene responsible for ALS has been found, meaning we are closer to an effective treatment. Let me rephrase that: we are close to getting a treatment for a very bad disease because a lot of people (including really hot celebrities) got wet.

·         A solar powered plan circumnavigated the world.

·         Michael Jordan donates 2mil to try and help bridge connection between police and the community.

·         Tiger numbers are growing.

·         And manatees.

·         And pandas.

·         Pakistan has made strides toward outlawing honor killings.

·         70,000 Muslim clerics declared a fatwa against ISIS.

·         Pokemon Go players went insane with placing lure modules near hospitals for sick kids.

·         California is now powering over 6 million homes with solar power, a record in the US (and that is the tightest shit)

·         Volunteers in India planted 50 million trees in 24 hours.

·         Apparently world crime as a whole has drastically declined as a whole in the last couple of decades.

·         Coffee consumption has been proved to help curtail cancer and suicide rates.

·         Speaking of coffee Starbucks figured out how to donate perishable food in a food safe way.

·         500 elephants were relocated to a better, safer and bigger home.

·         We made massive strides in Alzheimers’ prevention (my grandmother literally told me that scares her more than getting cancer this is very good news)

·         The ozone layer is repairing itself and all the work we did to get rid of those aerosol chemicals was actually worth it.

·         A new therapy developed in Israel could cure radiation sickness.

·         The Anglican church resolved to solemnize same-sex unions the same as opposite-sex unions which required a super majority of all three orders of the church (lay, clergy, bishop).

·         The Rabbinical Assembly issued a resolution affirming the rights of transgender and non-conforming individuals.

·         Precision treatments for cancer are hitting clinical trials and WORKING (as someone who’s had relatives with cancer this is the best news)

·         Dentists are once again providing free care to veterans who need it.

·         The Orlando Shakespeare Festival showed up with angel wings to block funeral-goers for the Orlando Pulse victims, view from anti-gay protesters

·         We may have cured MS

·         Rise Women’s Legal Centre opened

·         Death by heart disease has decreased by 70% in the United States

·         Two brothers saw color for the first time thanks to specially-designed glasses

·         Pope Francis spoke against society’s obsession with physical beauty while dedicating Mass to the disabled community (love that dude)

·         Portugal ran its entire nation solely on renewable energy for four days straight

·         A retiree is launching a project to transport 80 endangered rhinos to an Australian reservation to save the animals from poaching

·         An Afghan teacher has been delivering books via bicycle to villages that lack schools

·         Harriet Tubman is going to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

·         200 strangers attended the funeral of a homeless WW2 veteran with no family

·         A teen battling cancer married his sweetheart

·         Bank firm pays for college tuition for the children of employees who died in the 9/11 attacks

·         New medicine has been shown to increase melanoma survival rate to 40%

·         Over 800 Boko Harem Hostages were rescued by Nigerian Army

·         Toys R Us is Offering Quiet Shopping Hour for kids with autism this holiday season

·         Volunteers made special tiny Halloween costumes for NICU babies

·         A 4-year old befriends a lonely man and helped him heal after losing his wife

·         Families grew

·         People survived c ancer

·         People overcame depression

·         Any kind of victory, even if it affects only one person,  is a victory

·         Now for the pop culture good news

·         LEONARDO DICAPRIO WON AN OSCAR! EVERYONE READING THIS LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO SEE LEO FINALLY GET WHAT HE DESERVED

·         There’s a new Harry Potter book

·         And a movie

·         Harry Potter has no plans on vanishing with time

·         This sweet father gave candy to passengers on a flight so his little girl could trick or treat on Halloween

·         LET ME TALK ABOUT ALL THE KICK ASS MOVIES WE GOT THIS YEAR OH MY GOD

·         Kung Fu Panda 3, this franchise is still going strong despite that its about a panda played by Jack Black

·         Jungle Book. The amazing remake none of us saw coming

·         Finding Dory. I haven’t seen it yet but I’ve heard good things

·         Kubo and the Two Strings. Haven’t seen that yet as well but its Laika so I know it’s a masterpiece

·         Deadpool. The beautiful and super accurate R-rated marvel film

·         Captain America: Civil War. Seriously is the best marvel movie yet in my opinion I need more.

·         Zootopia. Oh don’t mind me I’m just a movie that tackled the issue of racism and not only game changed animated films but also made a billion dollars

·         The Hamilton Mixtape is coming out. Which is a bunch of artists singing songs from the musical (Sia, Usher, Regina Spketor, etc.) I’m excited.

·         A personal victory for myself, I joined Tumblr and met angels in blog form so…that’s uplifting.

·         And I met my favorite voice actor at a con which was a bucket list accomplishment.

Good Things that have yet to happen this year

·         Birthdays

·         Doctor Strange

·         Thanksgiving

·         Black Friday

·         Moana

·         Christmas

Good things that have nothing to do with the year but will hopefully make you feel better

·         Puppies

·         Chocolate

·         Rainbows

·         Rain (I like listening to rain it’s one of the most calming sounds)

·         Cartoons

·         Kissing

·         Music

·         Friends

·         FF: If you are a religious person you are an imperfect masterpiece

·         FF: If you are not then you are a splendid coincidence

·         Any year spent with loved ones be they family or friends is a good year. Trust me.

·         ”A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it’s the only weapon we have” –Roger Rabbit

#NeverForgetTheGood

*Plz feel free to add other good news (even if it’s something small like you ate cheesecake THAT is good news)

[datsemtx]

This is a gorgeous post, everyone should reblog it to see the balancing side to the whole bad things happening in the world!

[luthienne]

You will never win anyone through pity. You must create the right kind of dream, the sober, adult kind of magic: illusion born from disillusion.

Sylvia Plath, from The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (via luthienne)