#Fort Salem Theater

[rivertalesien]

Why movies though? how is that better than doing another series?

I think the key in the announcement today was in building a "universe" out of Warrior Nun.

Every studio wants their own MCU. It's like the mythical El Dorado. And we know studio execs are not explorers.

Sounds like English and Co sold someone on the potential for a "universe."

Cool. Maybe they can include Motherland and Xena in that universe, too. I mean, why not?

[arbitrarygreay]

That most non-violent of Tarim Earth Work, Seed Sound 288, the Seed of Bagger

[nomi--sunrider]

Then, Now, and Always

Chapter 46: Then, Now, and Always

Summary: The end of the war and everything that comes after.

Image Credit: Screencapping-BadWolfKaily, Editing-Sel Queen's Courtesan

Author's Note below the cut. Contains spoilers for the chapter so read the chapter first.

Thanks everyone for reading Then, Now, and Always. My biggest creative project of the past year and as of now, my best work. This fandom has given me so much, from badly needed dopamine during my first year of grad school to a lovely excuse to go to London for my first ever con! I've discovered so much new music and so many new artists, developed crushes on a ton of great actors, and expanded my creative world so much. I can't believe the fic is finished. I'll sure miss it, but I'm excited to do other awesome things.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to an app/website called Lingvano. It comes highly recommended by deaf folks as a way for (hearing) people to learn ASL from deaf people. If I could write this fic again, I'd put actual deaf characters in it and maybe give Tally a deaf teacher. From research, I've learned it's better to study ASL from deaf folks, as they speak it as it's meant to be spoken and it's also their language in general. Unfortunately, Lingvano costs $9.99 per month after the free trial. Worth it in my opinion, as it's a very well-done site.

At the end of this post, there's a link to a playlist of music I listened to while writing the fic. I put liner notes of sorts below because I always get excited when other authors do that. However, you're welcome to listen however you like.

The Playlist

Chasing Twisters - Delta Rae : If Then, Now, and Always had a theme song, it would be this.

Salvation - LP : Honorable Mention

The Night We Met - Lord Huron : A guest commenter called Song Fairy recced this song to me in the Chapter 28 comments. You could listen to it anywhere in the fic, but Chapter 2 is reasonable enough to get a taste of what's coming.

X-Training - Henry Jackman : To be listened to during Chapter 11 during Tally's retraining montage.

Come to Your Senses - Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens : It amuses me that this song is two women singing to Andrew Garfield because in my opinion, it's the best lesbian love ballad ever written for musical theater. Accompanies Chapter 12: The Twilight of Witchkind.

Say Something - A Great Big World, Christina Aguilera : I'm guessing it's obvious, but if it's not, this goes with Chapter 13: Say Something.

This is Me - Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman Ensemble : To be listened to with Chapter 15: Silent Witch, when Tally grabs the world by the nostrils and forces it to acknowledge her.

Ugly Heart - G.R.L : Could be listened to anywhere in the Chapter 16-19 realm where Sarah and Tally are both raging, both mad, sort of at each other, but mostly in general.

Evermore - Josh Groban : SpookyWitchling mentioned this song in the comments of Chapter 16: By Hand, specifically. I like it more as an Alder song, maybe at the end of Chapter 17: The Downside of Miracles, but you may do as you wish.

Laid Low - The Naked and Famous : This song has made Top 5 in my Spotify end of year playlist since 2016. It's a banger, it has anime AMV energy, I love it, and I think it's goes well with the Arc II finale, Chapter 25: Battle of the Goddesses.

If I'd Known I Loved Her - Delta Rae : I love this song so much. I first heard it in September 2022, back when TNAA was a mere twinkle in my eye, and I was like "Holy shit, this is Alder's half of the love story." Goes with Chapter 26: If I'd Known.

History Has Its Eyes on You: Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton : The main difficulty of writing the third act was Tally's character arc. At first, it was her overcoming her squeamishness and fear of getting hands dirty by killing Hearst in the finale. This felt supremely unsatisfying to me, and I realized this was because it was Tally's Arc II character journey, which was tied off in Chapter 25: Battle of the Goddesses. Readers might have missed it because it was an Alder POV chapter, but Chapter 25 is Tally's Arc II character climax. She takes control of Alder's mind during their duel, showing she's willing to fight dirty, punch below the belt, and do whatever it takes to survive, and she betrays Nicte to save the Spree, showing she can put her personal feelings aside to protect her people. Everything I'd planned for Arc III Tally, I actually gave to Arc II Tally. So I had to think of something else.

This song got me to where I needed to be to write Arc III Tally. At this point, it's not really about her personal internals, but about her journey as a leader and what she's going to do to change the world and lead witches into a future of peace. Yeah I know. It got really plotty and philosophical. But everything worked out! And I think it's way better than my original plan.

Stand by You - Rachel Platten

Human - Cher Lloyd

I like either or both of these for Chapters 28 and 29, Alder's Folly and The Seed of Revelation, Tally's POV which then slides into Alder's POV. They're ballads, bangers, and they work on numerous levels, which is cool.

All I Ask of You - Josh Groban, Kelly Clarkson : The song that led to me becoming a Kelly Clarkson stan. Her new album, Chemistry, is amazing. Listen to this song with Chapter 32: Past, Present, Future, when Tally is soothing Alder's fears and musing about their future.

Tally Two / What's the Plan / F-14 - Harold Faltermeyer : The main reason this fic is so aircraft-heavy is because I started writing it in October 2022, when Top Gun: Maverick came out on streaming. Listen to this song during Chapter 33: Into Darkness.

Zen Ball Master - John Powell, Hans Zimmer : It's not perfect, but I think the first half of the song suits the firefight scene in Chapter 35: Tally's Gift, when Tally, Sarah, and the Biddies are fighting their way out of the death factory.

I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors) : I listened to this on repeat when I wrote Chapter 39: Nafssia. I knew what the chapter would be, I knew what Tally would do, and I knew I had to bring the fucking house down, which is why it took going to England, experiencing Witchbomb, and getting smiled at by Lyne Renee to pull it off.

One Less Witch in the World - Brandon Roberts : I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this, but the Motherland soundtrack is disproportionately amazing. Like...why didn't they spend that money on better writers? Or idk, a few more episodes in each season? Doesn't matter. This song is awesome, but I think it works well with Chapter 44: One Less Witch in the World, during the third section where they're diverting the Accords.

Dance with Everybody - Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

Who Do You Love - Marianas Trench

Better Place - Rachel Platten

Three end credits songs. I like imagining Sarah and Tally enjoying a wonderful Beltane together with Dance with Everybody and/or Who Do You Love as the backing track. In my mind, if it's Who Do You Love, Tally runs over to the drums for heavy drums section during the bridge and uses her touch-empathy to play alongside the rest of the drummers. She doesn't have a voice, so I like imagining her learning to play instruments so she and Sarah can still make music together. Better Place works well as a fade-to-black song during the domestic bliss at the end of the fic.

[indiphyr]

Here are some underrated sapphic shows that should get more recognition

Vida:

2 sisters reunite after their mother's death to take over a bar in their home town. When they get there they discovered that their mother had been married to a woman for the last five years, and now they have to share share the bar with her. There's added tension because the mother threw her oldest daughter out of the house when she was a teenager because found out about her bisexuality

Teenage Bounty Hunters

Two twin sisters accidentally become involved in the Bounty Hunters business when they crash their fathers car. We see them navigate their lives between being average teenagers going to catholic school and their jobs as Bounty Hunters

Everything's Gonna Be Okay

An older brother with daddy issues has to adopt his 2 half-sisters when their father dies of cancer. This show is hilarious and has so much representation (autistim, gay, sapphic, asexual, biromantic, polyamorous, poc, ect.)

Motherland Fort Salem

Instead of witches being killed during the witch trials in the United States, they got recruited into the military where they, and their future daughters must fight for the country from when they turn 18 years

Little Fires Everywhere

This show is perfection! Little Fires Everywhere follows two families in the 90s. One of the families is a privileged white family while the other is a low-working class black family. The show follows the families as they get more and more involved in each other's lives and as the tension rise between them due to microagressions and an adoption storyline

We Are Lady Parts

We Are Lady Parts follows an all muslim riot grrrl/punk band as their band first get started. We see how their friendships evolve,and there aren't any Muslim stereotypes in the show, as far as I could tell

One Day At A Time

ODAAT follows a Cuban-American family as they go through life. The show includes important topics such as racism, gender inequality, homophobia and so much more. There is a sapphic relationship with a lesbian and a nonbinary person, and they're really cute together

Wonder Egg Priority (tw suicide and self harm)

A group of girls have all had someone close to them commit suicide, and the main characters tries to get the deceased back to life. In the meantime they develop a close friendship

Everything Sucks!

Everything Sucks! takes place in the 90s and revolves around two high school clubs, the tech club and the theater club, as they film an alien movie together. One of the main characters is a chaotic lesbian

The Wilds (tw SA, blood, death)

A group of teenage girls thinks they're going on a relaxing trip to Hawaii when they're involved in a plane crash, and are stranded on a deserted island. What they don't know is that the plane crash wasn't an accident and the girls are now involved in an experiment

The Sex Lives Of College Girls (SA, teacher-student "relationship")

This show follows four roommates as they navigate their first year of college. It deals with many relatable topics, and it's both funny and serious

[fswitchinghour]

Bonus: All Hail General Bellweather (interview w/Catherine Lough Haggquist)

Apple Podcast | Spotify | Other Platforms

In this special episode we welcome Catherine Lough Haggquist, a.k.a. Petra Bellweather, to the podcast to chat with us about all things Motherland Fort Salem and her extensive acting career. Among the highlights of this interview are: hearing about the first time she met her on-screen daughter, her work in the Vancouver theater community, what life advice she'd give to Petra, and why the show's story resonates with her. She also answer our fans' questions (and yes, she does share who she'd ship Petra with). Finally, this woman has done her homework, as she comes prepared with materials for our Turn The Tables segment. Honestly, she's such a brilliant and thoughtful actress, we know you're going to love hearing from her as much as we did. Check it out, and hit us up on the social media to let us know what you think! Also, be sure to give Catherine tons of love from the fanbase as well. Hit us up on Twitter (or Instagram and Tumblr) and let us know what you thought about this episode! You can find us at @FSWitchingHour or @mad_typist and @DJaedyxe.  If you want to support our show you can also donate to our brand new Patreon. Catherine can be found  on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter here: @TheCatLH

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/FSWitchingHour)

[funigami-games]

A dream come true! The Prince's Heart is getting a Voice Over

When we started The Prince's Heart, we never thought we'd find so many wonderful persons willing to collaborate on our project.  Here we are now, a month later, with an entire crew of professional and aspiring Voice Actors willing to help us realize our Visual Novel!

Special thanks to our amazing Casting Director, Jacob Wilson, who directed the whole Voice Over process.

Let's meet the entire cast (in order of appearance in the game)!

Nick Chang as Edward (Protagonist)

I was born in Manhattan, but raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where I currently reside. I also proudly identify as a 2nd generation Asian American (half Hong Kong via my mother, half Taiwanese via my father) and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community (gay and demisexual). Since childhood, I have had a distinct love of music and performance. Having played violin from 4th to 12th grade and sung for even longer, I used music as a primary means to express myself growing up. As I progressed from high school to college, I discovered online voice acting, but it was not until my time in graduate school that I formally decided to become an actor. My interest initially stemmed from a desire to help out in localization projects, but over the time I have spent voice acting, I have come to not only develop a great appreciation of the craft of acting, but also further deepen my love of music and rekindle my love of performance. With my singing experience as a basis to my unique perspectives, I hope to bring sensitivity, curiosity, and innovation to every project I work on!

Jacob Wilson as Adam

I’m a voice actor, Casting and voice director based in Dallas Texas. I’ve been working in this field for almost four years Now. It’s a journey that has taken me literally around the world and I’m so thankful for all I’m able to do and have accomplished. Being a part of amazing projects like this one are what fuel me to pursue my passions. I realized I was bisexual when I was 18. It’s a group in the LGBT+ community that continues to get flak from seemingly all over. But my faith in it and myself has always been unshaken. Outside of VO I am a drag artist in the making under the name “Twilight Stunning”, who I’m going to show more properly in the coming months! I’m so thankful I’m in the position I am, and I can’t wait to see what we have in store for y’all!

Bradley Gareth as Michael (Main Character)

Bradley was raised in Western Pennsylvania, learning piano from age 5 and taking up local community theater at age 10. He pursued the performing arts throughout high school, consistently participating in high school musicals and chorus festivals during his tenure there. At the end of high school, he also took multiple classes in musical composition and began doing online voiceover work.

During his time in college, Bradley participated in numerous professional and amateur voiceover productions both online and at the University of Pittsburgh's student radio station, WPTS Radio. While at WPTS, Bradley also began writing advertisements and online content for websites.

Now out of school, Bradley continues to lend his voice to multiple productions, dabble in musical composition, and provide content writing for WrightlySo.com.

Jared Prize as David (Main Character)

Singing provides me with some of the greatest joy in life. Outside of that, I love voice acting, hiking, and hanging with friends. My day job involves working with computers, so I like to find a bit of an escape into the creative-realm during my free time. My sexuality has always been a struggle, but I find comfort in not putting a label on it (at least for now). Mostly, I am very excited to be a part of an ambition team of lovely people. Working within a project like this brings excitement during the process, and even more-so while waiting for the final piece! I hope you enjoy what's to come xo

Marisa Duran as Lady Marie

Hey there, I’m Marisa Duran. I’m an actress working and living in Dallas, Texas.

I caught the "theatre bug" at a young age. My parents will tell you that it started when I was two years-old, dancing around to the Barney theme song. I agree wholeheartedly.

I grew up in a suburb on the east side of Dallas and was fortunate to have the opportunity to explore a city known for its rich culture and artistic influence. My passion for theatre was fueled by the many musicals that toured through town and I quickly decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life as a professional actor.

In 2016 I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas with my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, emphasis in Acting. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with multiple professional theatre companies in the DFW area. I’ve also expanded my career into the worlds of film and voiceover, landing roles in short films, webseries, and commercials, and lending my voice to over a dozen anime titles at FUNimation.

Art has the power to heal, to change, and to empower. As an artist, I believe that my purpose on this earth is to tell stories, and through these stories I hope to make a positive impact and leave people better than I found them. I consider it an honor to be able to use my talents in such a profound way.

Whenever I’m not rehearsing or recording, you can usually find me at my day-time marketing job, playing video-games, or drinking coffee at a local coffeeshop.

Kiba Walker as Zachariah

Born Arthur Lee Walker III in Tacoma, Washington, Kiba Walker is an American actor, musician, director, writer, and performer based out of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.

Kiba trained under the likes of various industry professionals such as Shane Sparks, Donyelle Jones, Tony Oliver, Betty "Waters" Kennedy, Chuck Huber, Sonny Strait, Chris Rager, Justine Reyes, Lorette Spicer, Bill Quinby, Angie Irons, Dan Lorge, Holly Clark Lorge, Spencer Christian, and many others. With 16 years of collective industry knowledge, Kiba has performed with the likes of Alice Underground, The Stereo Killers, Frankly Fictitious, CRVSH, Grant Davis, Ashley Ann Farley, Steve "Warky" Nunez, BASH!, Ryland Lynch, Ross Lynch, Will Jay, and more.

Voice over came to Kiba in his later years, around the age of 18, when he found his love doing an ask blog for Tumblr. From there, he took the craft seriously and networked profusely with various actors and companies in the voice over realm. His first roles were as Boku Temagawa in "Love Games" and Mike Connelly in "Zoolaplex".

Since 2014, he's been cast in various other projects including MY HERO ACADEMIA, HORIMIYA, GENSHIN IMPACT, FRUITS BASKET, ONE PIECE, SAINT SEIYA (2019 Sentai Dub), BLACK CLOVER, BOFURI! I DON'T WANNA GET HURT SO I'LL MAX OUT MY DEFENSE, CAUTIOUS HERO: THE HERO IS OVERPOWERED BUT OVERLY CAUTIOUS, CASE FILE NO.221 KABUKICHO, CAMP BUDDY, FULL SERVICE, TO TRUST AN INCUBUS, TO LOVE RU, O MAIDENS IN YOUR SAVAGE SEASON, EARTHLOCK, POPUP DUNGEON, SOMETHING IN THE DARK, RADIANT, and many more!

He's also directed such titles as FULL SERVICE, IDUEL: BATTLE  FOR STARDOM, ISHIDA & ASAKURA, THE TITAN'S BRIDE, and CAMP BUDDY.

As a musician now, Kiba currently has one album out, titled "XO", that released in May 2016. He runs a music channel called "KibaKovers", adapting anime and video game openings into English for a broader audience, as well as regular Top 40 covers. He is also one of the champions of the hit Fort Worth Drag Competition, The 3, as Salem Moon!

Mike Young as Sir Tiphis

Hello, I’m Mike Young. A dynamic, versatile and different British VP voice actor with gravitas, who can turn on various shades of Bristol, and run the spectrum of silky smooth, to warm and friendly.

Under the brilliant tutelage of Tanya Rich, my road to a professional voice acting career begin in 2018, having produced a wide variety of stories and audiobooks.

I lend my talent to a range of different projects:

Hard sell and soft sell commercial and corporate scripts

IVR for telephone systems and mobile apps

Instructional e-learning courses

Promotional adverts and trailers

Public service announcements

Character narration for video games, film, audio dramas and books

…and more!

I love it all, I do it all! And if you like what you hear, contact me! I’ll be sure to make your project gurt lush.

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress. She achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action and blaxploitation films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures, most notably Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). Her other major films during this period included The Big Doll House (1971), Women in Cages (1971), The Big Bird Cage (1972), Black Mama, White Mama (1973), Scream Blacula Scream (1973), The Arena (1974), Sheba, Baby (1975), Bucktown (1975), and Friday Foster (1975).

Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she starred as the titular character in Tarantino's crime film Jackie Brown (1997), for which she received Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Satellite Award, and Saturn Award nominations for Best Actress. Grier's subsequent films included Jawbreaker (1999), Bones (2001), Just Wright (2010), Larry Crowne (2011), and Poms (2019).

On television, Grier portrayed Eleanor Winthrop in the Showtime comedy-drama series Linc's (1998–2000), Kate "Kit" Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word (2004–2009), and Constance Terry in the ABC sitcom Bless This Mess (2019–2020). She also received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her work in the animated series Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1999).

Grier was born on May 26, 1949, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the daughter of Gwendolyn Sylvia (née Samuels), a homemaker and nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier, Jr., who worked as a mechanic and technical sergeant in the United States Air Force. She has one sister and one brother. Grier has stated that she is of mixed ancestry, namely of African-American, Hispanic, Chinese, Filipino, and Cheyenne heritage.

At age 6, Grier was raped by two boys when she was left unattended at her aunt's house. "It took so long to deal with the pain of that," she says, "You try to deal with it, but you never really get over it," she adds. "And not just me; my family endured so much guilt and anger that something like that happened to me." Because of her father's military career, the family moved frequently during her childhood to various places such as England before eventually settling in Denver, Colorado, where she attended East High School. While in Denver, she appeared in a number of stage productions, and participated in beauty contests to raise money for college tuition at Metropolitan State College. While in college, she was date raped.

Grier moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1967, where she was initially hired to work the switchboard at American International Pictures (AIP). She is believed to have been discovered by director Jack Hill, who cast her in his women-in-prison films The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972). While under contract at AIP, she became a staple of early 1970s blaxploitation movies, playing big, bold, assertive women, beginning with Jack Hill's Coffy (1973), in which she plays a nurse who seeks revenge on drug dealers. Her character was advertised in the trailer as the "baddest one-chick hit-squad that ever hit town!" The film, which was filled with sexual and violent elements typical of the genre, was a box-office hit. Grier is considered to be the first African-American female to headline an action film, as protagonists of previous blaxploitation films were males. In his review of Coffy, critic Roger Ebert praised the film for its believable female lead. He noted that Grier was an actress of "beautiful face and astonishing form" and that she possessed a kind of "physical life" missing from many other attractive actresses.

Grier subsequently played similar characters in the AIP films Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby, and Friday Foster (both 1975). With the demise of blaxploitation later in the 1970s, Grier appeared in smaller roles for many years. She acquired progressively larger character roles in the 1980s, including a druggie prostitute in Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981), a witch in Something Wicked this Way Comes (1983).

In 1985, Grier made her theater debut in Sam Sheppard's Fool for Love at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Grier returned to film as Steven Seagal's detective partner in Above the Law (1988). She had a recurring role on Miami Vice from 1985 to 1989 and made guest appearances on Martin, Night Court, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She had a recurring role in the TV series Crime Story between 1986 and 1988. Her role in Rocket Gibraltar (1988) was cut due to fears by the film's director, Daniel Petrie, of "repercussions from interracial love scenes." She appeared on Sinbad, Preston Chronicles, The Cosby Show, The Wayans Brothers Show, and Mad TV. In 1994, Grier appeared in Snoop Dogg's video for "Doggy Dogg World".

In the late 1990s Grier was a cast member of the Showtime series Linc's. She appeared in 1996 in John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. and 1997 with the title role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, films that partly paid homage to her 1970s blaxploitation movies. She was nominated for numerous awards for her work in the Tarantino film. Grier appeared on Showtime's The L Word, in which she played Kit Porter. The series ran for six seasons and ended in March 2009. Grier occasionally guest-stars in such television series as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (where she is a recurring character).

In 2010 Grier began appearing in a recurring role on the hit science-fiction series Smallville as the villain Amanda Waller, also known as White Queen, head agent of Checkmate, a covert operations agency. She appeared as a friend and colleague to Julia Roberts' college professor in 2011's Larry Crowne.

In 2010, Grier wrote her memoir, Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, with Andrea Cagan.

Grier received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2011. That same year, she received an honorary Doctorate of Science from Langston University.

She founded the Pam Grier Community Garden and Education Center with the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. The purpose is to teach people about organic gardening, health and nutrition among other things. The museum named its first garden in honor of Grier in 2011.

In January 2018, Grier revealed a biopic based on her memoir is in the works, entitled Pam.

Grier lives on a ranch in Colorado.

Grier has never married but has had several high-profile relationships.

She met basketball player Lew Alcindor before he became a Muslim. Soon after they began dating, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar proposed to Grier, but gave her an ultimatum to convert to Islam. He said, "If you don't commit to me today, I'm getting married at 2 this afternoon. She's a converted Muslim, and she's been prepared for me," adding, "once you become Muslim, you might appreciate another wife." Grier declined, so he got married that day.

Grier met comedian Freddie Prinze while promoting her film Coffy in 1973. They began a relationship and considered marriage. Prinze wanted her to have his baby, but she was reluctant due to his history of depression and drug addiction. They remained in touch after she left him. She was one of the last people Prinze spoke to before he fatally shot himself in 1977.

Grier met comedian Richard Pryor through her relationship with Prinze, but they did not begin dating until they were both cast in Greased Lightning. She helped Pryor learn to read and tried to help him with his drug addiction. After six months of sobriety, he relapsed. In her memoir, Grier described how her sexual relationship with Pryor caused cocaine to enter her system. During an appointment, she was informed that she had a "buildup of cocaine residue" around her cervix and vagina that her doctor called an "epidemic" in Beverly Hills. He asked her if Pryor might have put cocaine on his penis to sustain his erection; she was unsure. He then asked if her mouth went numb while performing oral sex on Pryor, and she said it did. The doctor linked it to the Novocaine-like effects of cocaine. Grier confronted Pryor about protecting her health, but he refused to use a condom. Pryor married another woman while dating Grier in 1977.

Grier was formerly romantically linked to Soul Train host Don Cornelius and basketball player Wilt Chamberlain.

In 1998, Grier was engaged to RCA Records executive Kevin Evans, but the engagement ended in 1999.

Grier was diagnosed with stage-four cervical cancer in 1988, and was told she had 18 months to live. Through vigorous treatment she made a recovery and has been in remission.

[bridgingdimensions]

An Assembled History of the United States 

The following contains a timeline of the history of the United States within my dimension. Information sourced from Gravity Falls Library, very roughly summarized.

1400s and prior - Various tribes and cultures lived on this land, but unfortunately written histories of these times are difficult to find. The earliest information found within the library was spare mentions of local history of the Klamath Tribes. 

1492 - Christopher Columbus sailed with three ships, one of which crashed in the shores of America and sank with the only 1 documented injury to himself and no fatalities.

1493 - Columbus sailed again to the American colonies with several ships and a large crew, again the ship Columbus was on sank with him on it and this time reportedly took several hours for him to reach the shore.

1494 - The Treaty of Tordesillas attempted to ratify and establish ownership of the lands for Spain and Portugal. It was not successful. 

1496 - John Cabot sails to explore the western hemisphere under authority of King Henry VII of England. signs an agreement for the western hemisphere to be explored under England and makes a second voyage the following year.

1498 - Columbus goes on his third voyage, a select crew willing to stay on the specific ship Columbus was on at the time. During lunch, the crew accidentally stranded him on one of the islands, remembering to turn back after five days. 

Cabot embarked on another voyage and mysteriously never returned.

1502 - Columbus on his fourth voyage sails to Central America where his boat gradually disintegrated and he kicked his crew off, he was last sighted on a wooden raft that was overtaken by a wave.

1507 - A world map is made by Martin Waldseemuller, but is never seen, reportedly lost due to ‘his dog eating it.’

1508 - First European colony settlement on United States territory was founded at Caparra, Puerto Rico by Ponce de Leon.

1511 - Catholic Church, Pope Julius II, establishes three dioceses with one in Puerto Rico and two in Hispaniola.

1512 - Ferdinand II of Aragon announces Burgos’ Laws to end exploitation of indigenous people in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico some time after the decimation of smallpox epidemics brought to the people of Hispaniola by Europeans.

1513 - Ponce De Leon looks for the Fountain of Youth. He then lies about finding it, quickly diverting attention by claiming land for Spain.

1524 - Giovanni da Verrazzano enters New York harbor during a French expedition, considered the first European exploration of the Atlantic seaboard in centuries.

1526 - Disagreement over Treaty of Tordesillas defused by marriage, more to follow.

1527 - The Narvaez expedition colonizes Spanish Florida under Panfilo De Narvaez.

1529 - The Treaty of Zaragosa makes a try at clarifying the Treaty of Tordesillas.

1539 - Hernando de Soto travels to Florida where they explore further inland.

Melchior Diaz searches for Lost Cities of Gold. He is unsuccessful and the job is shortly after given to Fernando Vasquez de Coronado, who is also unsuccessful and gets into the Tiguex War as well as burns down a city while continuing further on.

1542 - De Soto reaches his final destination, death.

1550 - The beginning of the forty year Chichimeca War between the Chichimecas Confederation and New Spain.

1551 - The Valladolid debate, discussing treatment and status of Indians in the New World.

1559 - Don Tristan de Lunda y Arellano established Spanish colony, Santa Maria de Ochuse.

Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England.

1562 - Charlesfort is established by Jean Ribault, but is later abandoned.

1564 - Rene de Laudonniere establishes French colony for the Hugeanots at Fort Caroline and befriends the Timucua.

1565 - Pedro Menendez de Aviles founds St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement of the US. Twelve days later his spanish soldiers attack the French colony at Fort Caroline and destroy the fort.

1570 - Abraham Ortelius publishes the first modern world atlas. Descendent of Waldseemuller claims the work was copied off of his ancestor’s lost map and attempts a rebranding scheme of the atlas under his name with minor changes which fails.

1579 - Francis Drake claims lands in California for Great Britain, names it New Albion. Completes circumnavigation of the globe.

1585 - Sir Walter Raleigh organizes expedition to settle Roanoke Island colony. The colony fails.

1587 - Raleigh attempts to colonize Roanoke Island again with governor John White. John White leaves and returns to an empty colony with the words ‘CROATOAN’ and ‘CRO’ left behind, carved. Raleigh doesn’t attempt the colony a third time.

1607 - Jamestown, the first English settlement in the United States is established by over 100 settlers.

1608 - Samuel de Champlain establishes first permanent colony of New France in Quebec City.

1614 - New France colony of Port Royal is destroyed by Samuel Argall and then abandoned.

1618 - Smallpox epidemic wipes out vast majority of Native Americans in Massachusetts Bay.

1619 - The House of Burgesses is elected in Jamestown.

Virginia Company of London establishes new colony at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia.

1620 - The Puritans establish settlement in Plymouth and form the Aprilflower Compact to establish government and laws.

1629 - King Charles I grants royal charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1630-1670 - Many colonies are founded and settled along with wars between colonists and native tribes. (The number of colonies and wars around this time period are their own lengthy history.)

1670 - Hudson’s Bay Company founded to combat New France in the Canadian fur trade.

1676 - Bacon’s Rebellion that resulted in the burning of Jamestown.

1677 - Treaty of Middle Plantation signed.

North Carolina colonists engage in Culpeper’s Rebellion.

1682 - France claims the lower Mississippi River valley.

1688 - King William’s War begins, lasts for 9 years.

1690 - First paper money issued in North America by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The first newspaper issue in the United States was published in Boston, and was then suppressed.

1692-1693 - The Salem witch hunts resulting in the death of nineteen and over a hundred arrests.

1695 - Captain William Kidd is sent on a mission to combat piracy, and goes on to become pirate of the high seas. (If you can’t beat them, join them, I suppose.)

1699 - Jamestown is abandoned.

1701 - New France signs the Great Peace of Montreal with 39 First Nations.

1702 - Royal Colony of New Jersey established by Queen Anne.

1704 - First newspaper that wasn’t immediately taken down publishes its first edition in Boston, started by John Campbell.

1711 - The Tuscarora War begins.

1716 - First theater in the colonies opens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

1763 - French and Indian War ends with peace treaty, the English getting Canada and the American midwest.

1764 - The Sugar Act, a duty is placed on various commodities in the British colonies. Less than a year later the Stamp Act is passed as well.

1765 - The Stamp Act is passed and later nine of the colonies had a Stamp Act Congress and adopted a Declaration of Rights against taxation without representation. 

1766 - The Stamp Act is repealed.

1767 - However, then the Townshend Acts are put in place.

1770 - The Boston Massacre, British troops fired into a Boston mob. 

The Townshend Acts were repealed on everything except tea. This would notably not turn out well.

1773 - The Boston Tea Party, caused by England allowing a single company to control the tea trade and the actual event being 342 chests of tea being pushed overboard into the harbor. 

1774 - British Parliament closes the port of Boston. 

The Intolerable Acts are established, the First Continental Congress is held to protest this.

1775 - British government declares Massachusetts in rebellion.

American Revolution is started after 8 minutemen are killed while resisting British were coming to destroy their arms (the guns).

George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

1776 - Thomse Paine publishes ‘Common Sense & Sensibility.’

The Declaration of Independence is penned and approved.

Washington wins in the first Battle of Trenton.

1777 - The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.

France signs treaties of alliance and commerce, getting involved in the revolutionary war.

Washington loses at Brandywine and others, marches with Continental Army into Valley Forge.

1778 - South Carolina is the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

France signs the treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States.

1779 - Benedict Arnold, American general, turns traitor and aids the British in acquiring control of the Hudson River. This was soon after Washington first accompanied Arnold on a drive where Washington made the comment to him while Arnold was driving the horse carriage ‘Okay, you’re safe to go,’ as the pedestrians Arnold had been waiting on had finished crossing the street. 

1780 - The British siege Charlseton, South Carolina.

Loyalist troops of Britain lose the Battle of Kings Mountain.

1782 - The Bank of North America, the Bank of New York, and the First Bank of the United States are the first to obtain shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

British troops start to leave the United States.

British Parliament recognizes U.S. independence and signs the Treaty of Paris.

1783 - Congress ratifies the early peace treaty, ending the Revolutionary War.

Massachusetts Supreme Court outlaws slavery.

The Continental Army is disbanded.

1785 - The Continental Navy is disbanded.

1787 - Shay’s Rebellion happens in Massachusetts, but fails. Daniel Shays upon being captured claims evil twin, Schmaniel Shays, was the true mastermind.

The Constitutional Convention adopts the Constitution.

1789 - Washington is elected as the first President of the United States. Frederick A. Muhlenberg becomes the first Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Supreme Court is created.

1790 - First patent of the United States is given to Samuel Hopkins for potash.

1791 - The Bill of Rights takes effect, all twelve amendments pass.

1792 - The United States Post Office Department is established.

Washington is reelected president of the United States with John Adams as his Vice President.

1793 - Washington signs the Proclamation of Neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars.

1794 - Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin.

The Whiskey Rebellion is suppressed by militia.

Jay’s Treaty is signed.

1795 - The Treaty of Madrid is signed.

1796 - Tennessee joins the Union.

The United States State Department issues the first passport.

Washington gives his final address.

1797 - John Adams becomes President.

The Treaty of Tripoli is signed.

1798 - Congress voids all treaties with France.

The Alien and Sedition Acts go into law. 

1800 - The United States Library of Congress is founded.

Slavery ended in the Northwest Territory from the Ordinance of 1787.

1801 - Thomas Jefferson becomes President.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is made. 

1804 - The Sacagawea Expedition.

Thomas Jefferson is reelected.

1807 - Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in an attempt to annex parts of the United States into an independent republic. He represents himself as his own lawyer and is acquitted after the confusion in court of speaking about himself in the third person.

1808 - The Illinois Territory is created.

1809 - James Madison becomes president.

1811 - The battle of Tippecanoe is won by William Henry Harrison.

1812 - President Madison asks Congress to declare war on the UK.

Madison is reelected. 

1813 - The Battle of York. 

1814 - The White House is burned by the British during the War of 1812.

The Battle of Lake Champlain is won by the United States.

Peace treaty is signed, ending the War of 1812.

1817 - James Monroe becomes President.

The Rush-Bagot treaty is signed.

1819 - The Panic of 1819 leads to foreclosures, bank failures, and unemployment.

The Shortmadge Amendment is passed.

1820 - the Missouri Compromise bill passes Congress.

Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson eats a tomato in public to prove it is not poisonous, and then nearly dies due to his undiagnosed tomato allergy.

Tomatoes outlawed in New Jersey for twenty seven years.

Monroe is reelected.

1823 - President Monroe declares the Monroe Doctrine.

1825 - John Quincy Adams becomes President.

Erie Canal is opened to usage.

1826 - Samuel Morey patents the “Gas or Vapor Engine.”

1827 - Slavery is legally abolished in New York.

1829 - Andrew Jackson becomes President.

William Austin Burt patents the typographer.

1830 - Congress approves the Indian Removal Act.

1831 - The first bank robbery in the United States.

1832 - The Black Hawk War.

The Trail of Tears begins.

1833 - The Force Bill is signed into law.

Jackson is reelected.

1836 - The Battle of the Alamo.

The Specie Act is issued.

1837 - Martin Van Buren becomes President.

The Panic of 1837 begins.

1840 - Antarctica is claimed for the United States.

1841 - William Henry Harrison becomes President, shortly after dies and is succeeded by John Tyler.

1843 - The Kingdom of Hawaii is recognized by European nations as an independent nation.

1844 - Samuel B. Morse sends the first telegraph message. His first words were, “Does this work?”

The United States signs the Treaty of Wanghia.

1845 - James K. Polk becomes President.

1846 - The Mexican-American War begins with a conflict north of the Rio Grande River.

California declares independence from Mexico. 

1848 - Gold is discovered in California by James W. Marshall who immediately claims he had misspoken and he had instead found coal.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican-American War.

1850 - The Compromise of 1850 is introduced to Congress.

Millard Filmore becomes President after Zachary Taylor’s death.

1854 - The Kansas-Nebraska act becomes law.

1857 - James Buchanan becomes President.

The Dred Scott decision.

The first elevator is installed in New York City and gets stuck two days later.

1861 - The Confederated States of America is established.

Abraham Lincoln becomes President.

Fort Sumter is attacked by Confederate forces and starts the U.S. Civil War.

The first Battle of Bull Run.

1862 - The Battle of Shiloh.

The Homestead Act is approved.

Preliminary Emancipation Proclaim is issued.

The Battle of Fredericksburg begins.

1863 - The Battle of Gettysburg is won by the Union.

1865 - General Robert E. Lee signs the Confederate forces’ surrender at Appomattox Court House.

President Lincoln is assassinated at Ford’s theatre.

Thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery takes effect.

1866 - The Civil Rights Act of 1866 passes Congress.

The Metric Act of 1866 passes Congress.

1867 - the Treaty of Cession of Russian America to the United States is signed, Alaska becomes part of the United States.

1868 - The Battle of Washita River ends.

1869 - Ulysses S. Grant becomes President.

The First Transcontinental Railroad is finished.

1870 - The Fifteenth Amendment is ratified.

The Confederacy is officially dissolved.

1871 - The Great Fire of Chicago.

1872 - Roche Jaune National Park is the world’s first national park established.

Susan B. Anthony illegally casts ballot to publicize women’s right to vote.

1875 - The Civil Rights Act is passed by Congress.

Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.

1877 - The Nez Perce War begins.

1880 - Construction of the Panama Canal begins.

1881 - James Garfield becomes President. He later dies and is succeeded by Chester Arthur.

1883 - The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is passed by Congress.

The Brooklyn Bridge opens.

1885 - Grover Cleveland becomes President.

The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York.

1886 - The Haymarket riot in Chicago.

The Interstate Commerce Act is passed by Congress.

1890 - The Battle of Wounded Knee.

1891 - Lucien and Paul Nunn transmit alternating current for the first time.

1892 - Cleveland returns to presidency.

1893 - New York Stock Exchange collapses resulting in the panic of 1893.

1895 - Plessy v. Ferguson decision by Supreme Court establishes approval of racial segregation.

1897 - The first United States underground public transportation opens in Boston.

1899 - The Open Door Policy with China is declared.

1900 - The Gold Standard Act is ratified.

Carrie Nation continues Temperance Movement to abolish liquor and riding horses, prompted by a dream of a horse rebellion.

1901 - The Platt amendment is passed by Congress.

William H. McKinley becomes President.

President McKinley is shot at the Pan-American Exposition and Theodore Roosevelt succeeds upon his death.

1903 - Wilvur and Orville Wright succeed in their first flight via airplane. 

1905 - President Roosevelt is elected for second term of Presidency.

1906 - The Pure food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act passes.

1911 - The first transcontinental airline flight begins in New York.

Henry Ford patents the Automotive Transmission.

1913 - The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments are ratified.

Woodrow Wilson becomes President.

1915 - The United States Coast Guard is established.

1916 - Wilson is reelected.

The United States Congress declares War on Germany, joining World War I.

1918 - President Wilson attends the Paris Peace Conference.

1919 - World War I ends with the Treaty of Versailles signed.

1920 - The Nineteenth Amendment is added to the constitution.

1923 - President Harding dies and is succeeded by Calvin Coolidge.

1925 - Charles Francis Jenkins presents radiovision.

The Scopes Trial.

1928 - Herbert Hoover elected President.

The Great Depression begins.

1930 - The London naval Reduction Treaty is signed.

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act is signed.

1933 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes President.

The New Deal program is passed by Congress.

The Twenty-First Amendment is passed.

1935 - The Social Security Act and the Historic Sites Act are signed into law.

1937 - The Hindenburg erupts in flames.

The Golden Gate Bridge opens.

1938 - The Naval Expansion Act passes.

The National Minimum Wage is signed.

The War of the Worlds, the radio drama, causes immense worry to say the least.

1939 - United States declares neutrality in World War II.

1941 - The Lend-Lease Act is approved.

United States occupies Iceland.

The Atlantic Charter is issued.

Pearl Harbor is attacked resulting in the United States entering World War II.

1942 - The Battle of the Midway.

Arthur Compton and Enrico Fermi oversee the first nuclear chain reaction in the Manhattan Project.

1944 - The Normandy Invasion.

1945 - President Roosevelt dies, Harry S. Truman succeeds upon his death.

Germany surrenders.

President Truman authorizes the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

World War II ends.

1948 - President Truman signs Executive Order 9981.

1949 - NATO is formed.

United States withdraws troops from Korea.

1950 - The Korean War begins, shortly after President Truman orders Air Force and Navy to the country.

1951 - The AZUS Treaty is signed by the United States, Australia, and Zealand.

1953 - Dwight Eisenhower becomes President.

1954 - Brown v the Board of Education.

The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization is formed.

1955 - Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat and prompts boycott that would lead to declaring bus segregation laws unconstitutional.

1957 - United States attempts to launch satellite, Vanguard, into space. Vanguard exploded on the launchpad.

1958 - The first U.S. space satellite, Explorer I, is launched. Due to an instrument on board that detected cosmic rays, they theorize what would come to be known as the Van Allen Belts which was confirmed by Explorer II.

1959 - Alaska and Hawaii become part of the United States.

1960 - The First weather satellite, Tiros I, is launched by the United States. It was one of NASA’s first attempts to use satellites to study Earth and aid international communications. 

Transit 1A was launched and failed to reach orbit. Transit 1B succeeded though and carried an infrared scanner and was the first navigation satellite.

1961 - John F. Kennedy becomes President.

The Bay of Pigs invasion of cuba.

Commander Alan Shepard Jr completes the first United States manned sub-orbital space flight inside a Mercury capsule.

Project Gemini begins.

1962 - Lt. Colonel John Glenn, the first United States astronaut in orbit aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury Capsule. He circled the earth three times and didn’t puke once.

The Cuban Missile Crisis begins.

1963 - The Civil Rights march on the United States’ capitol led by Dr. Martin Luther King.

Kennedy is assassinated, Lyndon B. Johnson succeeds upon his death.

1964 - Roachmania hits the United States from the band the Roaches, the name alluding to drug usage.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed.

Flight of Gemini I.

1965 - Voting Rights Act of 1965 is signed.

The Watts race riots. 

1967 - The Outer Space Treaty is signed.

Apollo I ends in tragedy.

1968 - Martin Luther King is assassinated by James Earl Ray.

1969 - Project Apollo completes mission with Neil Armstrong on the moon. 

1972 - Watergate crisis begins.

1973 - Roe v. Wade.

1974 - President Nixon resigns, avoiding impeachment, replaced by Gerald R. Ford.

1976 - Viking I lands on Mars, shortly after followed by Viking II. We get color photos of Mars for the first time.

1980 - Mt. St. Helens volcano erupts.

1981 - The first interdimensional communications completed by Stanford Pines via technology using Fiddleford H. McGucket’s invention of the personal computer.

[larryland]

Albany Vocalist Kelly Bird Headlines Farm-to-Table Dinner Theater Cabaret

Albany Vocalist Kelly Bird Headlines Farm-to-Table Dinner Theater Cabaret

SALEM, NY — Capitalizing on the success of one of last year’s entertainment collaborations with Fort Salem Theater, Gardenworks Farm announces the return of Albany vocalist Kelly Bird on Saturday, July 13, featured at the first Farm-to-Table Dinner Theater Cabaret of the season. Kelly Bird: Songs I Hate to Love is produced and musically arranged by Jay Kerr, former artistic director of the now…

[creepykingdom]

VILLAINS Hits Theaters This Friday, September 20th

Synopsis:

Mickey and Jules are lovers on the run, headed southbound for a fresh start in the Sunshine State. When their car dies after a gas station robbery, they break into a nearby house looking for a new set of wheels. What they find instead is a dark secret and a sweet-as-pie pair of homeowners who will do anything to keep it from getting out.

Written & Directed by | Dan Berk & Robert Olsen

Starring | Bill Skarsgård, Maika Monroe, Jeffrey Donovan & Kyra Sedgwick

Co-Produced by | BRON Studios, Star Thrower Entertainment, Creative Wealth Media Finance & The Realm Films

Runtime:

89 Minutes

The film is Rated R by the MPAA

# # #

OPENING WEEKEND THEATERS

NEW YORK AREA

Essex Crossing (129 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002)

E-Walk Stadium 13 (247 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10001)

Sheepshead Bay 14 (3907 Shore Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11235)

Court Street (106 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11201)

Kaufman Astoria Stadium 14 (35-30 38th St, Astoria, NY 11101)

Hadley Theatre Stadium (1000 Corporate Ct, South Plainfield, NJ 07080)

Commerce Center Stadium (2399 US-1, North Brunswick Township, NJ 08902)

Galleria Mall 16 (2001 South Rd, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601)

New Roc City Stadium 18 (33 Lecount Pl, New Rochelle, NY 10801)

Deer Park Stadium 16 (455 Commack Rd, Deer Park, NY 11729)

Westbury Stadium (7000 Brush Hollow Rd, Westbury, NY 11590)

Staten Island Stadium (2474 Forest Ave, Staten Island, NY 10303)

Lynbrook 13 (321 Merrick Rd, Lynbrook, NY 11563)

LOS ANGELES AREA

Foothill Towne Center Stadium 22 (26602 Towne Centre Dr, Foothill Ranch, CA 92610)

LA Live (1000 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015)

Irvine Spectrum 21 (500 Spectrum Center Dr, Irvine, CA 92618)

University Town Center Irvine 6 (4245 Campus Dr, Irvine, CA 92612)

Aliso Viejo Stadium 20 (26701 Aliso Creek Rd, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656)

Garden Grove 16 (9741 Chapman Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92841)

Ontario Palace Palace (4900 E 4th St, Ontario, CA 91764)

Long Beach Stadium 26 (7501 Carson Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90808)

Edwards South Gate Stadium (8630 Garfield Ave, South Gate, CA 90280)

Brea Stadium 22 (255 W Birch St, Brea, CA 92821)

ATLANTA, GA AREA

Mall of Georgia Stadium (3333 Buford Dr #3000, Buford, GA 30519)

Hollywood Stadium 24 @ North I-85 (3265 Northeast Expy, Chamblee, GA 30341)

Perimeter Pointe (1155 Mount Vernon Hwy NE, Atlanta, GA 30338)

AUSTIN, TX AREA

Westgate Stadium 11 (4477 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78745)

BALTIMORE, MD AREA

Waugh Chapel Stadium (1419 S Main Chapel Way, Gambrills, MD 21054)

UA Snowden Square Stadium 14 (9161 Commerce Center Dr, Columbia, MD 21046)

BOSTON, MA AREA

Independence Mall 14 (101 Kingston Collection Way, Kingston, MA 02364)

Solomon Pond 15 (591 Donald Lynch Blvd, Marlborough, MA 01752)

Fox Run Stadium 15 (45 Gosling Rd, Newington, NH 03801)

Fenway Stadium (201 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215)

BUFFALO, NY AREA

Transit Center 19 (6707 Transit Rd, Williamsville, NY 14221)

CHARLOTTE, NC AREA

Stonecrest At Piper Glen Stadium 22 (7824 Rea Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277)

Starlight Stadium (11240 N Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28262)

CHICAGO, IL AREA

Lincolnshire Stadium 15 (300 Parkway Dr, Lincolnshire, IL 60069)

Cantera Stadium 17 (3835, 28250 Diehl Rd, Warrenville, IL 60555)

City North Stadium 14 (2600 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60647)

Webster Place 11 (1471 W Webster Ave, Chicago, IL 60614)

DALLAS, TX AREA

Galaxy Theatre Stadium (11801 McCree Rd, Dallas, TX 75238)

Fossil Creek Stadium (6100 N Fwy, Fort Worth, TX 76137)

DENVER, CO AREA

Continental 10 (3635 S Monaco Pkwy, Denver, CO 80222)

Meadows 12 (5313, 9355 Park Meadows Dr, Littleton, CO 80124)

Colorado Mills 16 (14500 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80401)

West Village Stm 12 (14225 W Colfax Ave, Golden, CO 80401)

FRESNO, CA AREA

Fresno Stadium 22 (250 Paseo Del Centro, Fresno, CA 93720)

HOUSTON, TX AREA

Greenway Grand Palace Stadium 24 (3839 Weslayan St, Houston, TX 77027)

Houston Marq*e Stadium 22 (7620 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77024)

Lone Star 19 (24720 Tomball Pkwy, Tomball, TX 77375)

INDIANAPOLIS, IN AREA

Circle Center 9 (49 W Maryland St, Indianapolis, IN 46204)

Regal Cinemas Greenwood (461 Greenwood Park Dr S, Greenwood, IN 46142)

KNOXVILLE, TN AREA

Regal Pinnacle (11240 Parkside Dr, Knoxville, TN 37934)

LAS VEGAS, NV AREA

Red Rock Stm 16 (11011 W Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89135)

MIAMI, FL AREA

Oakwood 18 (2800 Oakwood Blvd, Hollywood, FL 33020)

South Beach Stadium 18 (1120 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, FL 33139)

Cypress Creek Station 16 (6415 N Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309)

NASHVILLE, TN AREA

Green Hills Stadium 16 (3815 Green Hills Village Dr, Nashville, TN 37215)

Opry Mills Stadium 20 (570 Opry Mills Dr, Nashville, TN 37214)

NEW ORLEANS, LA AREA

Grand Esplanade 14 (1401 W Esplanade Ave, Kenner, LA 70065)

NORFOLK, VA AREA

Macarthur Center Stm 18 (300 Monticello Ave, Norfolk, VA 23510)

ORLANDO, FL AREA

The Loop Stadium (3232 N John Young Pkwy, Kissimmee, FL 34741)

Winter Park Village Stadium 20 (510 Orlando Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789)

Waterford Lakes Stadium 20 (541 N Alafaya Trail, Orlando, FL 32828)

Pointe Orlando Stadium (9101 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819)

PHILADELPHIA, PA AREA

Warrington Crossing Stadium 22 (140 Easton Rd, Warrington, PA 18976)

Riverview Plaza Stadium 17 (1400 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19147)

Oxford Valley Theater Stadium 14 (403 Middletown Blvd, Langhorne, PA 19047)

King of Prussia Stadium (300 Goddard Blvd, King of Prussia, PA 19406)

PORTLAND, OR AREA

Bridgeport 17 (7329 SW Bridgeport Rd, Tigard, OR 97224)

Movies on TV 16 (2929 SW 234th Ave, Hillsboro, OR 97123)

Cascade Stadium (1101 SE 160th Ave, Vancouver, WA 98683)

Santium Stadium (365 Lancaster Dr SE, Salem, OR 97301)

Fox Tower Stadium 10 (846 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205)

RALEIGH / DURHAM, NC AREA

White Oak Stadium (1205 Timber Drive East, Garner, NC 27529)

North Hills Stadium (4150 Main at North Hills St, Raleigh, NC 27609)

Crossroads Stadium 20 (501 Caitboo Ave, Cary, NC 27518)

RICHMOND / PETERSBURG, VA AREA

Commonwealth 20 (5001 Commonwealth Centre Pkwy, Midlothian, VA 23112)

SACRAMENTO, CA AREA

Natomas Marketplace Stadium 16 (3561 Truxel Rd, Sacramento, CA 95834)

Laguna Village 12 (8755 Center Pkwy, Sacramento, CA 95823)

SAN ANTONIO, TX AREA

Huebner Oaks Stm 14 (11075 I-10, San Antonio, TX 78230)

SAN DIEGO, CA AREA

San Marcos Stadium 18 (1180 W San Marcos Blvd, San Marcos, CA 92069)

Mira Mesa Stadium 17 (10733 Westview Pkwy, San Diego, CA 92126)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA AREA

Hacienda Crossings Stadium 20 (5000 Dublin Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568)

Berkeley 7 (2274 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704)

SEATTLE, WA AREA

Everett Mall Stadium 16 (1402 SE Everett Mall Way, Everett, WA 98208)

Auburn Stadium 17 Theatres (1101 Outlet Collection Way, Auburn, WA 98001)

Barkley Village Stadium 16 (3005 Cinema Pl, Bellingham, WA 98226)

Meridian 16 (1501 7th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101)

Thornton Place Stadium (316 NE Thornton Pl, Seattle, WA 98125)

SYRACUSE, NY AREA

Destiny USA Stadium 19 (9586 Destiny USA Dr, Syracuse, NY 13204)

TAMPA, FL AREA

Hollywood Stadium (1993 Main St, Sarasota, FL 34236)

Citrus Park Stadium 20 (7999 Citrus Park Town Center Mall, Tampa, FL 33625)

Park Place Stadium 16 (7200 US Hwy 19 N, Pinellas Park, FL 33781)

WASHINGTON DC AREA

Ballston Quarter Stadium (Ballston Quarter, 671 N Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA 22203)

Springfield Town Center (6859 Springfield Mall, Springfield, VA 22150)

Gallery Place Stadium 14 (701 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001)

Virginia Gateway Stadium (8001 Gateway Promenade Pl, Gainesville, VA 20155)

Majestic Stadium 20 (900 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910)

Westview Stadium 16 (5243 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick, MD 21704)

[arbitrarygreay]

Imagine the sheer amounts of insufferable music discourse in the witch communities. Because, like, by definition, most all of the witches have ears more sensitive to sound frequencies than humans, so probably even the less talented vocalists still have perfect pitch in the human context. What do they think of Electro? Dubstep? Hyperpop? Heavy metal? Psychadelic? Thrashcore? Do they relate to Hip Hop at all, and do they think some strains of it are easier to listen to than others? Who do they think are the best instrumentalists? The best guitarist (and how do they feel about distortion-heavy electric guitar playing)? The best trumpet player? The best violinist? Is the piccolo anathema to them? Who makes the best pianos? Do they loathe equal temperament with the fire of a burning sun? Are they perturbed by the Vocoder, Autotune, or Vocaloid? (We only see landlines in the show, not mobile phones.) Are the Loudness Wars an abomination? Is John Chowning a witch? Are there deep unbridgeable feuds over opera style singing vs. R&B style belting vs. more nasal type practices in other cultures? Do they have conflicted feelings about the Gospel genre? Is America's patriotic music still even remotely the same? What happened to John Philip Sousa in this world? 2x5, of course, featured Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique as diegetic music, which premiered in 1830, so he was unaffected by historical divergence. Sousa's heyday was from the late 1880s through the 1920s. Meanwhile the melody of the Star Spangled Banner was a British song published in 1780, but was there a War of 1812, much less a Battle of Baltimore, for Francis Scott Key to write a poem about, and why would witches give a shit about it? Besides which, it wasn't even adopted until 1931, whereas Hail Columbia and My Country Tis Of Thee are late 1700s, and so more likely to be uninfluenced by historical divergence, given Alder's presence at the crossing of the Delaware River.

Imagine the sheer obnoxiousness of witch audiophiles debating speakers, microphones, sound systems (in theaters and in homes), headphones, amps, digital formats. (Conflicting information in show about the tech levels. On Fort Salem we mainly see vinyl players, but the Camarilla are doing advanced sound synthesis in S3, so.)

[thereturnofthedirtyblog]

STATES VISITED BY GHOST ADVENTURES

Alabama : 

1.05 – Sloss Furnaces: Birmingham, Alabama, US 4.07 – Vulture Mine: Wickenburg, Arizona, US

Alaska : 

Arizona :

2.05 –Birdcage Theater: Tombstone, Arizona, US 4.20 – Jerome Grand Hotel: Jerome, Arizona, US 6.03 – The Copper Queen Hotel & The Oliver House: Bisbee, Arizona, US 10.08 – Apache Junction: Apache Junction, Arizona, US 10.09 – Return to Tombstone: Tombstone, Arizona, US 11.7 – Grand Canyon Caverns: Peach Springs, Arizona, US 12.8 – Hell Hole Prison: Yuma, Arizona, US 12.9 – The Domes: Casa Grande, Arizona, US 12.12 – Stardust Ranch: Buckeye, Arizona, US 13.3 – Palace Saloon: Prescott, Arizona, US 15.10 – Phelps Dodge Hospital: Ajo, Arizona, US

15.11 – The Slaughter House: Tucson, Arizona, US 16.4 – Old Gila County Jail and Courthouse: Globe, Arizona, US

Arkansas :

4.10 – Fort Chaffee: Fort Smith, Arkansas, US

California :

2.01 – Preston Castle: Ione, California, US 2.03 – La Purisima Mission: Lompoc, California, US 3.07 – Linda Vista Hospital: Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California, US 3.10 – Clovis Wolfe Manor: Clovis, California, US 4.08 – USS Hornet: Alameda, California, USNovember 5, 2010 4.11 – Amargosa Opera House: Death Valley Junction, California, US 4.15 – Pico House Hotel: Los Angeles, California, US 4.23 – Sacramento Tunnels: Sacramento, California, US 5.03 – Old Town San Diego: San Diego, California, US 5.04 – Winchester Mystery House: San Jose, California, US 6.04 – The National Hotel: Nevada City, California, US 6.05 – Return to Linda Vista Hospital: Los Angeles, California, US 7.03 – Point Sur Lighthouse: Big Sur, California, US 7.08 – Brookdale Lodge: Brookdale, California, US

7.09 – Tor House: Carmel, California, US 7.15 – Market Street Cinema: San Francisco, California, US 7.17 – Glen Tavern Inn: Santa Paula, California, US 8.03 – Tuolumne General Hospital: Sonora, California, US 8.05 – Yost Theater & Ritz Hotel: Santa Ana, California, US 8.08 – Alcatraz: San Francisco, California, US 9.1 – Sharon Tate Ghost/The Oman House: Los Angeles, California, US 9.6 – Heritage Junction: Santa Clarita, California, US 9.7 – Fort MacArthur Museum/Battle of Los Angeles: Los                                      Angeles, California, US

9.11 – Whaley House: San Diego, California, US 10.1 – Queen Mary: Long Beach, California, US 11.6 – Los Coches Adobe: Soledad, California, US, Salinas, California, US 11.8 – Haunted Hollywood: Los Angeles, California, US 12.1 – Black Dahlia House: Los Angeles, California, US 12.2 – Secret Scientology Lab: Los Angeles, California, US 12.3 – Bracken Fern Manor/Tudor House: Lake Arrowhead, California, US 12.5 – Chinese Town of Locke: Walnut Grove, California, US 12.6 – Star of India: San Diego, California, US 12.11 – Return to Winchester Mystery House: San Jose, California, US 13.4 – Reseda House of Evil: Los Angeles, California, US 13.5 – Dorothea Puente Murder House: Sacramento, California, US 13.10 – Zalud House: Porterville, California, US 14.2 – Freak Show Murder House: Los Angeles, California, US 14.5 – Silent Movie Theater: Los Angeles, California, US 14.10 – The Viper Room: West Hollywood, California, US 16.1 – Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Hollywood, California, US 16.2 – The Alley of Darkness: North Hollywood, California, US 16.3 – Kennedy Mine: Jackson, California, US 16.5 – Hotel Léger: Mokelumne Hill, California, US 17.2 – Westerfeld House: San Francisco, California, US 17.3 – Crisis in Oakdale: Oakdale, California, US 17.5 – Terror in Fontana: Fontana, California, US 17.6 – Riverside Plane Graveyard: Riverside, California, US

Colorado :

4.05 – Stanley Hotel: Estes Park, Colorado, US 6.02 – Peabody-Whitehead Mansion: Denver, Colorado, US 7.07 – Cripple Creek"Cripple Creek, Colorado, US

            Florissant, Colorado, US 13.1 – Colorado Gold Mine: Idaho Springs, Colorado, US 14.6 – Exorcism in Erie: Erie, Colorado, US 15.4 – Museum of the Mountain West: Montrose, Colorado, US

Connecticut :

3.05 – Remington Arms Factory: Bridgeport, Connecticut, US 6.06 – The Galka Family: Granby, Connecticut, US

Delaware :

Florida :

1.04  – The Riddle House: Royal Palm Beach, Florida, US 2.02 – Castillo De San Marcos: St. Augustine, Florida, US

Georgia :

2.07 – Moon River Brewing Company: Savannah, Georgia, US 9.10 – Haunted Savannah: Savannah, Georgia, US

Hawaii :

Idaho :

1.08 – Idaho State Penitentiary: Boise, Idaho, US 11.11 – Lava Hot Springs Inn: Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, US 15.3 – Albion Normal School: Albion, Idaho, US 17.1 – Idaho State Reform School: St. Anthony, Idaho, US

Illinois :

5.01 – Ashmore Estates: Ashmore, Illinois, US 7.02 – Excalibur Nightclub: Chicago, Illinois, US

Indiana :

7.05 – Black Moon Manor: Greenfield, Indiana, US 8.10 – Thornhaven Manor: New Castle, Indiana, US 9.9 – Fox Hollow Farm: Carmel, Indiana, US

Iowa :

4.13 – Villisca Axe Murder House: Villisca, Iowa, US 11.1 – Edinburgh Manor: Scotch Grove, Iowa, US 

Kansas :

10.6 – Sallie House: Atchison, Kansas, US

Kentucky :

1.01 – Bobby Mackey’s Music World : Wilder, Kentucky, US 4.03 – Return to Bobby Mackey’s: Wilder, Kentucky, US 4.04 – Waverly Hills Sanatorium: Louisville, Kentucky, US 4.25 – Kentucky Slave House: Maysville, Kentucky, US 5.08 – Rocky Point Manor: Harrodsburg, Kentucky, US

            Perryville, Kentucky, US 8.11 – Battle of Perryville: Field Hospitals"Perryville, Kentucky, US

Louisiana :

2.04 – Magnolia Plantation: Natchitoches, Louisiana, US

7.14 – New Orleans: New Orleans, Louisiana, US 9.2 – The Myrtles Plantation: St. Francisville, Louisiana, US

Maine :

Maryland :

Massachusetts :

1.02 – Houghton Mansion : North Adams, Massachusetts, US 4.18 – Valentine’s Day Special(Longfellow’s Wayside Inn): Sudbury,                        Massachusetts, US 4.19 – Salem Witch House/Lyceum Restaurant: Salem,                                            Massachusetts, US 5.05 – Lizzie Borden House: Fall River, Massachusetts, US 8.06 – Haunted Victorian Mansion: Gardner, Massachusetts, US 13.9 – Dumas Brothel: Butte, Montana, US

Michigan :

Minnesota :

7.04 – The Palmer House: Sauk Centre, Minnesota, US 10.7 – Nopeming Sanatorium: Duluth, Minnesota, US

Mississippi :

7.18 – Kings Tavern: Natchez, Mississippi, US

Missouri :

7.10 – Union Station: Kansas City, Missouri, US 8.04 – Missouri State Penitentiary: Jefferson City, Missouri, US 8.07 – The Exorcist House: Bel-Nor, Missouri, US 10.2 – Lemp Mansion: St. Louis, Missouri, US 11.9 – Odd Fellows Asylum: Liberty, Missouri, US 15.5 – Pythian Castle: Springfield, Missouri, US 15.6 – The Titanic Museum: Branson, Missouri, US

Montana :

9.4 – Bannack Ghost Town: Dillon, Montana, US 11.2 – Old Montana State Prison: Deer Lodge, Montana, US 13.6 – Hotel Metlen: Dillon, Montana, US 13.8 – Twin Bridges Orphanage: Twin Bridges, Montana, US 13.9 – Dumas Brothel: Butte, Montana, US

Nebraska :

Nevada :

3.06 – Old Washoe Club and Chollar Mine: Virginia City, Nevada, US 4.09 – La Palazza Mansion: Las Vegas, Nevada, US  4.16 – Goldfield: Goldfield, Nevada, US 4.17 – Bonnie Spring Ranch: Blue Diamond, Nevada, US 4.22 – Madame Tussauds Wax Museum: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 5.02 – Mizpah Hotel: Tonopah, Nevada, US 5.07 – Return to Virginia City: Virginia City, Nevada, US

6.07 – The Riviera Hotel: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 7.16 – Goldfield Hotel: Redemption: Goldfield, Nevada, US 8.01 – Pioneer Saloon: Goodsprings, Nevada, US

           Sandy Valley, Nevada, US 8.09 – Mustang Ranch: Clark, Nevada, US 9.12 – Overland Hotel and Saloon: Pioche, Nevada, US 11.10 – Clown Motel and Goldfield High School: Tonopah, Nevada, US

             Goldfield, Nevada, US 12.4 – Return to the Riviera: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 12.10 – Nevada State Prison: Carson City, Nevada, US 12.13 – The Haunted Museum: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 13.2 – Mackay Mansion: Virginia City, Nevada, US 15.8 – Eureka Mining Town: Eureka, Nevada, US 15.9 – Sin City Exorcism: Las Vegas, Nevada, US 16.7 – The Washoe Club: Final Chapter: Virginia City, Nevada, US 17.7 – Gates of Hell House: Las Vegas, Nevada, US

New Hampshire :

New Jersey :

1.06 – Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital: Cedar Grove, New Jersey, US

New Mexico :

9.8 – St. James Hotel: Cimarron, New Mexico, US 11.5 – Haunted Harvey House: Las Vegas, New Mexico, US 14.4 – Double Eagle Restaurant: Mesilla, New Mexico, US

           Las Cruces, New Mexico, US 14.7 – Skinwalker Canyon: Ojo Amarillo, New Mexico, US 14.8 – Upper Fruitland Curse: Upper Fruitland, New Mexico, US 16.8 – Lewis Flats School: Deming, New Mexico, US

New York :

3.08 – Execution Rocks Lighthouse: Port Washington, New York, US 4.02 – Rolling Hills Asylum: Bethany, New York, US 5.06 – Letchworth Village: Haverstraw, New York, US 7.13 – Sailor’s Snug Harbor: Staten Island, New York, US 9.3 – George Washington Ghost/Morris Jumel Mansion: Manhattan, New            York, US,Smithtown, New York, US

North Carolina :

North Dakota :

13.11 – Dakota’s Sanatorium of Death: San Haven, North Dakota, US

Ohio :

3.04 – Ohio State Reformatory: Mansfield, Ohio, US 3.09 – Prospect Place: Trinway, Ohio, US 9.13 – Old Licking County Jail: Newark, Ohio, US

Oklahoma :

10.3 – Zozo Demon: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US 14.1 – Stone Lion Inn: Guthrie, Oklahoma, US 14.3 – Samaritan Cult House: Guthrie, Oklahoma, US

Oregon :

6.01 – Shanghai Tunnels: Portland, Oregon, US 15.1 – Golden Ghost Town: Golden, Oregon, US 15.7 – Wolf Creek Inn: Wolf Creek, Oregon, US 16.6 – Enchanted Forest: Turner, Oregon, US

Pennsylvania :

2.06 – Eastern State Penitentiary: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US 3.02 – Pennhurst State School: Spring City, Pennsylvania, US 4.01 – Gettysburg: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, US 4.06 – Hill View Manor: New Castle, Pennsylvania, US

Rhode Island :

South Carolina :

5.10 – Old Charleston Jail: Charleston, South Carolina, US 

South Dakota :

Tennessee :

4.24 – Hales Bar Marina and Dam: Haletown, Tennessee, US 4.27 – Loretta Lynn’s Plantation House: Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, US 10.5 – Bell Witch Cave: Adams, Tennessee, US 11.4 – Old Lincoln County Hospital: Fayetteville, Tennessee, US

Texas :

4.21 – Yorktown Hospital: Yorktown, Texas, US  7.01 – Central Unit Prison: Sugar Land, Texas, US

           Huntsville, Texas, US 7.11 – Crazy Town: Mineral Wells, Texas, US 8.02 – Black Swan Inn: San Antonio, Texas, US 10.11 – Texas Horror Hotel: Seguin, Texas, US,San Antonio, Texas, US 13.12 – De Soto Hotel and Concordia Cemetery: El Paso, Texas, US 13.13 – Goatman’s Bridge: Denton, Texas, US

Utah :

4.26 – Tooele Hospital: Tooele, Utah, US 9.5 – Fear Factory: Salt Lake City, Utah, US 12.7 – Leslie’s Family Tree: Santaquin, Utah, US 13.7 – St. Ann’s Retreat: Logan Canyon, Utah, US 14.9 – Witches in Magna: Magna, Utah, US 14.11 – Asylum 49: Tooele, Utah, US 15.2 – Ogden Possession: Ogden, Utah, US 16.9 – Kay’s Hollow: Kaysville, Utah, US 17.4 – Tintic Mining District: Eureka, Utah, US

Vermont :

Virginia :

Washington :

4.14 – Kell’s Irish Pub Restaurant: Seattle, Washington, US 10.10 – Demons in Seattle: Bothell, Washington 11.3 – Manresa Castle: Port Townsend, Washington, US

West Virginia :

1.03 – Moundsville Penitentiary : Moundsville, West Virginia, US 3.01 – Ghost Adventures Live – The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum:                    Weston, West Virginia, US

Wisconsin :

Wyoming :

7.12 – Wyoming Frontier Prison: Rawlins, Wyoming, US

OTHER PLACES VISITED :

1.07 – Edinburgh Vaults: City of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK] 2.08 – Ancient Ram Inn: Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire,                               England, UK 3.03 – Poveglia Island: Venice, Veneto, Italy 4.12 – Olde Fort Erie: Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada 5.09 – Rose Hall: Montego Bay, St. James Parish, Jamaica

10.4 – Island of Dolls: Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico

[i-am-the-entertainer]

A Mid-Volume RevieWBY

Let’s be honest. Most of us were holding our breath for the entire hiatus: we’ve been burned before by this show.

RWBY has always been a show with potential, but has been unable to get as big as it wants to be just due to the nature of how it’s made. Rooster Teeth is still an independent production studio, they can only put out so many episodes a year, and for the past two volumes it was just two guys writing basically everything.

It’s also worth pointing out that RWBY wasn’t originally a masterpiece on its own. What made it stand out was a) the fact that the mostly comedy-driven Rooster Teeth was making an original IP and b) the fights. People jumped onto this show because even if the animation quality was subpar, the vocal performances were all over the place, and the writing was slow as hell, there was charm to it, and part of that charm was watching the show gradually improve.

Which is why everything started to feel stagnant when the show stopped improving. Sure, they upgraded to a more professional-looking animation engine, they started hiring more professional voice actors and the original cast’s performances improved with experience, but with the loss of the series’ creator, visionary, and key animator, the ability to have epic fights was lost, as was a major guiding force for where the show could go. Couple that with key missteps in major storytelling in Volume 4 and 5 (including storylines that were just completely dropped or failed to receive any focus) and wildly inconsistent fight quality from chapter to chapter, the show was getting so many things wrong. Yeah, some of the criticism was just unnecessarily toxic, and I recognize the CRWBY’s discomfort at the level of hate they were getting (no one’s forcing you to watch the show, people), but seriously, it got to the point that even some of the show’s more positive fans were calling RWBY out for its problems. These issues were finally acknowledged by the team in a Reddit AMA following the Volume 5 finale, and they promised they would try to fix them. Miles himself posted this:

A couple of us went into this Volume with cautious optimism. While Volume 5 had been a disappointment, some of the new guiding philosophies they were claiming to use to fix RWBY for the next Volume had been used surprisingly successfully for Nomad of Nowhere. Everyone thought that show was going to be another cancelled-after-one-season failure for RT Animations, but surprisingly it turned out to be one of their best shows. If they could create another entirely new world and actually do some really good storytelling, maybe there was hope for RWBY.

If you saw the Volume 6 premiere in theaters like me, you may have watched with baited breath. They felt the need to screen the last hour of Volume 5 first, which just served as a reminder of how disappointing the overall product had been. Then they showed a behind the scenes video where the CRWBY discussed changes to the pipeline: a new co-director for the series, an actual writing team to assist Miles and Kerry, the animators being given more control on certain scenes, etc. etc. Overall, suggesting “We heard you and we’re going to try to improve.”

And then the first episode was shown. And honestly? It was pretty good. Good balance of humor and action while starting up some of the major storylines of the season. The fight scenes were well-choreographed, they’d clearly spent a lot of time working on the episode, they even had time to add little details and quirks to the character. It’s probably one of the best premieres of the entire show: it felt like it was doing a better job of marking a new era for the show than the Volume 4 premiere had been trying to do.

So, let’s assess how things have gone, at least so far.

Focus

This has been the biggest improvement for the show. The big problem in Volume 4 and 5 was having the team split up and attempting to give each their individual focus, while also giving secondary characters basically the same amount of focus, which was waaaay beyond what this kind of show could do. There were simply too many story threads and events going on that made following the show fun to watch––whole storylines would be dropped for several episodes at a time. I mean, the whole reason the Apathy didn’t appear in Volume 4 despite what they’d planned was because there just wasn’t any time to include them. As of now, there are only two major story threads we’ve been concerned with: Team QRWBYOM and Team Melted Ice Cream. A third could be Salem’s faction, but they’ve only had one scene so far: I suspect they’re going to play a more major role in the second half of this volume, though, considering they were waiting for the heroes to reach Argus. A fourth is Adam, but he also has only had one actual scene so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pushed him aside for the first half so they could focus on the main characters and he’ll have a bigger role later on.

This renewed focus has allowed us to finally get some proper interaction within the main team, plus actual character development. So, good on that.

Pacing

So much better. Volumes 4 and 5 relied way too much on cliffhangers to get people to come back each episode, instead of relying on a story playing out in single chapters. When I say cliffhangers, I mean cutting off a key story moment in the name of shock or not allowing the episodes to stand on their own. We’ve gotten a lot of episodes with an individual focus where they could potentially stand as an independent episode of the show, even the more arc-like episodes like what happened with Brunswick Farms: "The Coming Storm,” the second episode of that arc, had the Cinder vs. Neo fight that everyone adored and some amazing interactions with Blake and Yang and Weiss and Ruby.

I had a concern that having major revelations/moments in only the first few chapters was going to kill the pacing for the entire volume, and I still kind of have that concern. That said, I am surprised that they’ve kept up the momentum this far into the volume, so I’m cautiously optimistic. With maybe the exception of Chapter 4, each episode had a major story beat that packed a punch the volume needed to keep going.

Tone

This has been another problem for the past two volumes: the show kind of established itself with the anime vibe of visual comedy mixed with legitimate drama, but hasn’t really kept up that momentum volume-to-volume. In the cases of Volumes 4 and 5, they both began with some anime-like humor but failed to use it consistently. These seven chapters, meanwhile, have been pretty consistent in delivering those humorous moments: even Brunswick Farms, the most horror-based arc in the series thus far, has some laugh out loud scenes.

And on that note: the horror elements of the Brunswick Farm arc were really well done. Sure, there was no way anyone was going to die, but that doesn’t really matter (repeat: THAT DOES NOT MATTER, CERTAIN PEOPLE) because a combination of writing, animation, and even sound design made for a couple of episodes that were legitimately terrifying.

Animation

I don’t want to make too many calls on this because I’m not that great at assessing this kind of thing (writing’s more my forte), and @hypeathon writes some really great analyses on the topic, much better than I ever could. But overall I think it’s safe to say the animation quality has really improved. You can really tell with certain episodes that more time was spent to make them look their best, especially Chapter 1, which had these little touches that I wouldn’t have expected at all from the show five years ago. Minus a couple of animation errors here and there, things are looking good. No random teleportation, all the fight scenes we’ve gotten have been sufficiently epic, they’ve been placed at points in the show that satisfy our epic fight cravings, overall, good work. Kind of the payoff to the mention from the premiere documentary that they’re leaving a lot of creative decisions in the hands of the animators, which has overall made a much prettier-looking show.

Character Development

One of the problems of juggling multiple storylines in Volumes 4 and 5 was that we weren’t given a whole lot to work with in terms of character development: a lot of it seemed to just happen offscreen, we weren’t really shown what changed a character from the start of a volume to the end of one. The biggest victims of this problem were the core four, who were often pushed aside in favor of development for side characters. Ruby has been the biggest victim of this problem, with a planned arc about her survivor’s guilt in Volume 4 getting pushed aside to focus on Ren’s story, and only really getting one legit moment of development in Volume 5 in her brief talk with Oscar. Yang’s arc about recovering from the Battle of Beacon was almost non-existent in Volume 4, with only a few drops of it popping up at moments in Volume 5 that didn’t form a cohesive development arc. Blake and Weiss actually had a decent arc, but Weiss wasn’t given a whole lot to do in Volume 5 and then kinda sorta got fridged for an episode or two.

With the characters reunited and a renewed focus on the core team, we’re finally seeing some actual on-screen development. Chapter 5 “The Coming Storm” is the clearest example of that, with the team dealing with the fallout from Jinn’s story in (what appeared to be) a lower-stakes setting. Key moments included Blake and Yang’s interaction, which brought the much-desired angst everyone was waiting for, knowing how betrayed Yang felt when Blake abandoned her at the end of Volume 3. Ruby and Weiss, who were set up from the beginning of the whole show as partners, weren’t really interacting a lot, even when they reunited midway through Volume 5. We get a nice moment of their dynamic while they’re looking for food.

Jaune

Well. That might explain why he’s gone for most of the first half.

(listen rwde, they’re never gonna get rid of him completely. He’s an established character, they can only push him aside for most of the volume, stop chasing your tail and get over it already. If they abruptly killed him I’m sure you’d be celebrating but all of us would be thinking “What...what purpose does that serve to the overall plot?”)

Storytelling

This is probably the best Volume in terms of storytelling. After years of World of Remnants and exposition dumps delivered by characters standing around talking, the philosophy of “Show, don’t tell” finally actually happened on this show. Flashbacks, which didn’t happen much (if at all) before, were finally used, and we ended up with some great material: again, the Grimm Reaper flashback in Chapter 7 continues the volume riding high on good quality fight animation, but also gives us a sense of the world the characters inhabit. More than before, a lot of minor things in this world are implied rather than fed to us, like the danger Silver-Eyed Warriors have to live with, the efforts people will go to to live out normal lives in Grimm-infested territory, etc.

I brought this up earlier, but Chapter 3 “The Lost Fable” was basically to RWBY what “El Rey” was to Nomad of Nowhere: a massive lore-dump that provided some much-needed context to what the heroes were doing, completely changing the stakes of the show up to that point and potentially changing the course of everything for the rest of the season. And we desperately needed that kind of episode, where we were shown instead of told the background of Ozpin and Salem, instead of just blindly thinking “Here’s the good guy and here’s the bad guy.”

And yet if I’m being honest, I can’t say I really liked it. I’m not sure why, maybe I’ve gotten cynical like the rest of the angry commenters on YouTube, it feels a bit like this is happening way too late, like it should not have taken this many years for something like this to be revealed, or there should have been a much better buildup to that reveal. At the same time, I understand that some major events in RWBY’s production (the least of which was the way too large scope of Volume 4 and the biggest of which was the shocking loss of its creator right when the show was about to enter a shift in tone) meant any proper buildup had to be killed in favor of telling cohesive stories volume-to-volume. So yeah, I can’t say I liked that episode individually, but I know the greater purpose it serves to the show so it doesn’t really bother me that much.

Conclusions

I try to be positive with my reviews of RWBY, especially considering how vitriolic reviews of this show can get. That said, this volume’s not perfect. The big criticism I have right now is that this is a show that wants to tell an epic story on a grand scale but can only tell it in fourteen 10-20 minute episodes per season. It doesn’t help that the last two volumes were the attempted execution of that plan, while this one seems to be scaling that back so the show doesn’t lose focus. But that’s just my issue with how the show has tried to established itself in the post-V3 era and how we’re no longer getting that. I think the biggest improvement this show could have would be longer episodes, and I could sacrifice having a volume per year if it meant they could spend more time on the episodes and tell the big story they want to tell. But I know Rooster Teeth can’t function as a production studio while only putting out one volume of RWBY, its flagship show (sorry RvB), every few years. Actually, I suspect that might be the model gen:LOCK is gonna follow, considering the first season alone has taken a year and a half to produce.

At the conclusion of Volume 5 I remarked that even though it was a disappointment, it was an obvious step in the creative direction the show needed to go in. Even if the fight animation was very often subpar and it felt like they were trying to clean things up after Volume 4 got too big to handle, there was a better blend of storytelling and action.

This volume so far has been the payoff. I haven’t felt the urge to seethe through my teeth with disappointment after a single episode this volume: each one was satisfying in its own way, I no longer feel like I have to keep track of 200 different characters and what they’re up to, and I walk away from the fight scenes feeling like something epic actually occurred rather than “Okay, so they punched things defied gravity and that somehow defeated their enemies.”

Yes, there are problems, but the show is showing clear signs of improvement. I think it’s safe to say after seven fairly good episodes that Volume 6 could very well become the best volume of RWBY. Any clear issues with the story and scope for this volume should’ve come up by now, and nothing really comes to mind. As far as I’m concerned, as a serialized TV show RWBY is succeeding. Whether that will all payoff for the final overall volume? Well, we’ll have to wait til the finale airs in February.

[saii79]

Rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better

Tagged by: @acrazylesbianscientist

three ships: Vi & Caitlyn (Arcane), Gigi & Dani (The L Word: Gen Q)  Scylla  & Raelle (Motherland: Fort Salem), …+ bonus b/c 3 is not enough Lucy & Kate (NCIS: Hawai’i), Ryan & Sophie (Batwoman), Ava & Beatrice (Warrior Nun)…and a lot more 

first ever ship: I’m not sure, either Buffy and Faith or Xena and Gabrielle

last song: Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u

last film: in theater Encanto (I’m in love with that movie) on tv Fistful of Vengeance (not recommending this one, same characters as from the show Wu Assassins, really liked that one, but this movie is nothing close to that)

currently reading: Just finished The Raven and the Banshee by Carolyn Elizabeth (if you like sapphic pirates, this book is definitely for you) and Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (LGBTQ+ romance book), the next book I planning to read is Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

currently watching: NCIS Hawai'i, Batwoman, In From the Cold, The Legend of Vox Machina, Reacher, Astrid and Lilly Save the World, Star Wars - The Book of Boba Fett, Station 19,

currently consuming: hot cup of tea

currently craving: rest, too much work these days, I just want to rest and relax

Tagging: @mccullersisalonelyhunter @whererandommeetspointless @wikiblair @nayacutyonails @mellysaddiction

[rebeccakrijtofficial]

The face of someone who just made an hour and a half trip to Salem, NY just to make her first in person audition in over two years. Thank you to The Fort Salem Theater for bringing such a great opportunity for growth and gratitude. #blessedbebackinthetheatre https://www.instagram.com/p/CY5FwhnucMM/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sciencespies]

What We Can Learn From 1918 Influenza Diaries

https://sciencespies.com/nature/what-we-can-learn-from-1918-influenza-diaries/

What We Can Learn From 1918 Influenza Diaries

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | April 13, 2020, 8 a.m.

When Dorman B.E. Kent, a historian and businessman from Montpelier, Vermont, contracted influenza in fall 1918, he chronicled his symptoms in vivid detail. Writing in his journal, the 42-year-old described waking up with a “high fever,” “an awful headache” and a stomach bug.

“Tried to get Dr. Watson in the morning but he couldn’t come,” Kent added. Instead, the physician advised his patient to place greased cloths and a hot water bottle around his throat and chest.

“Took a seidlitz powder”—similar to Alka-Seltzer—“about 10:00 and threw it up soon so then took two tablespoons of castor oil,” Kent wrote. “Then the movements began and I spent a good part of the time at the seat.”

The Vermont historian’s account, housed at the state’s historical society, is one of countless diaries and letters penned during the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed an estimated 50 to 100 million people in just 15 months. With historians and organizations urging members of the public to keep journals of their own amid the COVID-19 pandemic, these century-old musings represent not only invaluable historical resources, but sources of inspiration or even diversion.

“History may often appear to our students as something that happens to other people,” writes Civil War historian and high school educator Kevin M. Levin on his blog, “but the present moment offers a unique opportunity for them to create their own historical record.”

Members of the Red Cross Motor Corps, all wearing masks to prevent the further spread of the influenza epidemic, carry a patient on a stretcher into their ambulance, Saint Louis, Missouri, October 1918.

(Photo by PhotoQuest / Getty Images)

The work of a historian often involves poring through pages upon pages of primary source documents like diaries—a fact that puts these researchers in a position to offer helpful advice on how prospective pandemic journalers might want to get started.

First and foremost, suggests Lora Vogt of the National WWI Museum and Memorial, “Just write,” giving yourself the freedom to describe “what you’re actually interested in, whether that’s your emotions, [the] media or whatever it is that you’re watching on Netflix.”

Nancy Bristow, author of American Pandemic: The Lost Worlds Of The 1918 Influenza Epidemic, advises writers to include specific details that demonstrate how “they fit into the world and … the pandemic itself,” from demographic information to assessment of the virus’ impact in both the public and personal spheres. Examples of relevant topics include the economy; political messaging; level of trust in the government and media; and discussion of “what’s happening in terms of relationships with family and friends, neighbors and colleagues.”

Other considerations include choosing a medium that will ensure the journal’s longevity (try printing out entries written via an electronic journaling app like Day One, Penzu or Journey rather than counting on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms’ staying power, says Vogt) and defying the sense of pressure associated with the need to document life during a “historic moment” by simply writing what comes naturally.

Journaling “shouldn’t be forced,” says Levin. “There are no rules. It’s really a matter of what you take to be important.”

Seattle police officers wearing masks in 1918

(Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

If all else fails, look to the past: specifically, the nine century-old missives featured below. Though much has changed since 1918, the sentiments shared in writings from this earlier pandemic are likely to resonate with modern readers—and, in doing so, perhaps offer a jumping-off point for those navigating similar situations today.

Many of these journalers opted to dedicate space to seemingly mundane musings: descriptions of the weather, for instance, or gossip shared by friends. That these quotidian topics still manage to hold our attention 100 years later is a testament to the value of writing organically.

State historical societies are among the most prominent record-keepers of everyday people’s journals and correspondence, often undertaking the painstaking tasks of transcribing and digitizing handwritten documents. The quotes featured here—drawn in large part from local organizations’ collections—are reproduced faithfully, with no adjustments for misspelling or modern usage.

Edith Coffin (Colby) Mahoney

From the Massachusetts Historical Society

Between 1906 and 1920, Edith Coffin (Colby) Mahoney of Salem, Massachusetts, kept “three line-a-day diaries” featuring snippets from her busy schedule of socializing, shopping and managing the household. Most entries are fairly repetitive, offering a simple record of what Mahoney did and when, but, on September 22, 1918, she shifted focus to reflect the pandemic sweeping across the United States.

Fair & cold. Pa and Frank here to dinner just back from Jefferson Highlands. Rob played golf with Dr. Ferguson and Mr. Warren. Eugene F. went to the hospital Fri. with Spanish influenza. 1500 cases in Salem. Bradstreet Parker died of it yesterday. 21 yrs old.

September 24, 1918, diary entry

(Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society)

Four days later, Mahoney reported that Eugene had succumbed to influenza. “Several thousand cases in the city with a great shortage of nurses and doctors,” she added. “Theatres, churches, gatherings of everykind stopped.”

Mahoney’s husband, Rob, was scheduled to serve as a pallbearer at Eugene’s September 28 funeral, but came down with the flu himself and landed “in bed all day with high fever, bound up head and aching eye balls.”

By September 29—a “beautiful, mild day,” according to Mahoney—Rob was “very much better,” complaining only of a “husky throat.” The broader picture, however, remained bleak. Another acquaintance, 37-year-old James Tierney, had also died of the flu, and as the journal’s author noted, “Dr says there is no sign of epidemic abating.”

Franklin Martin

From the National Library of Medicine, via research by Nancy Bristow

Patients at a U.S. Army ward in France

(© Corbis via Getty Images)

In January 1919, physician Franklin Martin fell ill while traveling home from a postwar tour of Europe. His record of this experience, written in a journal he kept for his wife, Isabelle, offers a colorful portrait of influenza’s physical toll.

Soon after feeling “chilly all day,” Martin developed a 105-degree fever.

About 12 o’clock I began to feel hot. I was so feverish I was afraid I would ignite the clothing. I had a cough that tore my very innards out when I could not suppress it. It was dark; I surely had pneumonia and I never was so forlorn and uncomfortable in my life. … Then I found that I was breaking into a deluge of perspiration and while I should have been more comfortable I was more miserable than ever.

Added the doctor, “When the light did finally come I was some specimen of misery—couldn’t breathe without an excruciating cough and there was no hope in me.”

Martin’s writing differs from that of many men, says Bristow, in its expression of vulnerability. Typically, the historian explains, men exchanging correspondence with each other are “really making this effort to be very brave, … always apologizing for being sick and finding out how quickly they’ll be back at work, or [saying] that they’re never going to get sick, that they’re not going to be a victim of this.”

The physician’s journal, with its “blow-by-blow [treatment] of what it was like to actually get sick,” represents a “really unusually profound” and “visceral” point of view, according to Bristow.

Violet Harris

Violet Harris was 15 years old when the influenza epidemic struck her hometown of Seattle. Her high school diaries, recounted by grandniece Elizabeth Weise in a recent USA Today article, initially reflect a childlike naivete. On October 15, 1918, for example, Harris gleefully reported:

It was announced in the papers tonight that all churches, shows and schools would be closed until further notice, to prevent Spanish influenza from spreading. Good idea? I’ll say it is! So will every other school kid, I calculate. … The only cloud in my sky is that the [School] Board will add the missed days on to the end of the term.

A Seattle streetcar conductor refuses entry to a commuter who is not wearing a mask in December 1918.

(Photo by PhotoQuest / Getty Images)

Before long, however, the enormity of the situation sank in. The teenager’s best friend, Rena, became so sick she “could hardly walk.” When Rena recovered, Harris asked her “what it felt like to have the influenza, and she said, ‘Don’t get it.’”

Six weeks after Seattle banned all public gatherings, authorities lifted restrictions, and life returned to a semblance of normal. So, too, did Harris’ tone of witty irreverence. Writing on November 12, she said:

The ban was lifted to-day. No more …. masks. Everything open too. ‘The Romance of Tarzan’ is on at the Coliseum [movie theater] as it was about 6 weeks ago. I’d like to see it awfully. …. School opens this week—Thursday! Did you ever? As if they couldn’t have waited till Monday!

N. Roy Grist

Panoramic view of Fort Devens in 1918

(Courtesy of the Fort Devens Museum)

Fort Devens, a military camp about 40 miles from Boston, was among the sites hardest hit by the 1918 influenza epidemic. On September 1, some 45,000 soldiers waiting to be deployed to France were stationed at the fort; by September 23, according to the New England Historical Society, 10,500 cases of the flu had broken out among this group of military men.

Physician N. Roy Grist described the devastation to his friend Burt in a graphic September 29 letter sent from Devens’ “Surgical Ward No. 16.”

These men start with what appears to be an attack of la grippe or influenza, and when brought to the hospital they very rapidly develop the most viscous type of pneumonia that has ever been seen. Two hours after admission they have the mahogany spots over the cheek bones, and a few hours later you can begin to see the cyanosis extending from their ears and spreading all over the face, until it is hard to distinguish the coloured men from the white. It is only a matter of a few hours then until death comes, and it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate. It is horrible. One can stand it to see one, two or twenty men die, but to see these poor devils dropping like flies sort of gets on your nerves.

On average, wrote the doctor, around 100 patients died each day.

Nurses at Fort Devens in 1918

(Courtesy of the Fort Devens Museum)

Grist’s letter is “a remarkably distinct and accurate description of what it was like to be in the midst of this,” says Bristow. “And then it goes on to talk about how difficult it is to be a doctor, … this sense of not being able to do as much as one might like and how exhausting it all is.”

Toward the end of the letter, Grist notes how much he wishes Burt, a fellow physician, was stationed at Fort Devens with him.

It’s more comfortable when one has a friend about. … I want to find some fellow who will not ‘talk shop’ but there ain’t none, no how. We eat it, sleep it, and dream it, to say nothing of breathing it 16 hours a day. I would be very grateful indeed if you would drop me a line or two once in a while, and I promise you that if you ever get into a fix like this, I will do the same for you.

Clara Wrasse

From the National WWI Museum and Memorial

In September 1918, 18-year-old Clara Wrasse wrote a letter to her future husband, Reid Fields, an American soldier stationed in France. Though her home city of Chicago was in the midst of battling an epidemic, influenza was, at best, a secondary concern for the teenager, who reported:

About four hundred [people] died of it at the Great Lakes … quite a number of people in Chi are suffering with it too. Mother thought that I had it when I wasn’t feeling good, but I am feeling fine now.

Quickly moving on from this mention of disease, Wrasse went on to regale her beau with stories of life in Chicago, which she deemed “to be the same old city, altho there are lots of queer things happening.”

September 25, 1918, letter from Clara Wrasse to Reid Fields

(National World War I Museum and Memorial)

Wrasse is believed to be one of the two women pictured here.

(Courtesy of the National World War I Museum)

Signing off with the lines “hoping you feel as happy as you did when we played Bunco together,” Wrasse added one last postscript: “Any time you haven’t got anything to do, drop me a few lines, as I watch for a letter from you like a cat watches a mouse.”

Vogt of the National World War I Museum cites Wrasse’s letters as some of her favorites in the Kansas City museum’s collections.

“It’s so clear how similar across the ages teenagers are and what interests them,” she says, “and that … they’re kind of wooing each other in these letters in a way that a teenager would.”

Leo Baekeland

From the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Leo Baekeland, inventor of the first commercialized plastic

(Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Inventor Leo Baekeland, creator of the world’s first commercialized plastic, “documented his life prolifically” in diaries, laboratory notebooks, photographs and correspondence, according to the museum’s archives center, which houses 49 boxes of the inventor’s papers.

Baekeland’s fall 1918 journal offers succinct summaries of how the epidemic affected his loved ones. On October 24, he reported that a friend named Albert was sick with influenza; by November 3, Albert and his children were “better and out of bed, but now [his] wife is sick with pneumonia.” On November 10, the inventor simply stated, “Albert’s wife is dead”—a to-the-point message he echoed one week later, when he wrote that his maid, Katie, was “buried this morning.”

Perhaps the most expressive sentiment found among Baekeland’s entries: “From five who had influenza, two deaths!”

Dorman B.E. Kent

From the Vermont Historical Society

Dorman B.E. Kent’s diary

(Courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society)

From the age of 11 to his death at 75 in 1951, Dorman B.E. Kent recorded his life in diaries and letters. These papers—now held by the Vermont Historical Society, where Kent served as a librarian for 11 years—document everything from his childhood chores to his views on Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal and his sons’ career progress.

Of particular interest is Kent’s fall 1918 diary, which contains vivid descriptions of his own bout with influenza. On September 24, he wrote (as mentioned above):

Awoke at 7:00 [a.m.] sick, sick, sick. Didn’t get up or try to. Had a high fever an awful headache every minute all day and was sick to my stomach also. Tried to get Dr. Watson in the morning but he couldn’t come. Told us instead what to do. Greased cloths with inflamacene all day and put around throat and chest and held a bottle of hot water at throat most of the time. Took a seidlitz powder about 10.00 and threw it up soon so then took two tablespoons of castor oil. Then the movements began and I spent a good part of the time at the seat … There is a tremendous lot of influenza in town.

Kent recovered within a few days, but by the time he was able to resume normal activities, his two sons had come down with the flu. Luckily, all three survived the illness.

In early October, Kent participated in a door-to-door census count of the disease’s toll. Surveying two wards in Montpelier on October 2, he and his fellow volunteers recorded 1,237 sick in bed, 1,876 “either ill or recovered,” and 8 dead in one night. The following day, Kent reported that “25 have died in Barre today & the conditions are getting worse all the while. … Terrible times.”

Donald McKinney Wallace

From the Wright State University Special Collections and Archives

Partially transcribed by Lisa Powell of Dayton Daily News

Donald McKinney Wallace, a farmer from New Carlisle, Ohio, was serving in the U.S. Army when the 1918 pandemic broke out. The soldier’s wartime diary detailed conditions in his unit’s sick bay—and the Army’s response to the crisis. On September 30, Wallace wrote:

Layed in our sick ward all day but am no better, had a fever all day. This evening the Doctor had some beef broth brought down to us which was the first I had eaten since last Fri. Our ward was fenced off from rest of the barrack by hanging blankets over a wire which they stretched clear across the ceiling.

On October 4, the still-ailing farmer added, “Not a bit well yet but anything is better than going over to the hospital. 2 men over there have Spanish Influenza bad and are not expected to live. We washed all windows and floors with creoline solution tonight.”

Donald McKinney Wallace’s September 30, 1918, diary entry

(Wright State University Special Collections and Archives)

Wallace survived his illness (and the war), dying in 1975 at age 78.

Though Wallace’s writings don’t reference the situation in his hometown, Bristow notes that many soldiers expressed concern for their families in correspondence sent from the front.

“You get these letters from soldiers who are so worried about their families at home,” she says, “and it’s not what anyone had expected. Their job was to go off soldiering, and the family would worry about them. And now, suddenly, the tables are turned, and it’s really unsettling.”

Helen Viola Jackson Kent

From Utah State University’s Digital History Collections

When Helen Viola Jackson Kent’s children donated her journals to Utah State University, they offered an apt description of the purpose these papers served. Like many diary writers, Kent used her journal to “reflect her daily life, her comings and goings, her thoughts, her wishes, her joys, and her disappointments.”

On November 1, 1918, the lifelong Utah resident wrote that she “[h]ad a bad head ache all day and did not accomplish much. Felt very uneasy as I found out I was exposed to the ‘flu’ Wed. at the store.”

Armistice Day celebrations inadvertently spread influenza.

(Photo by Topical Press Agency / Getty Images)

Kent escaped the flu, but her husband, Melvin—called “Mell” in her diary—was not so lucky. Still, Melvin managed to make a full recovery, and on November 18, his wife reported:

Mell much better and dressed today. Almost worn out with worry and loss of sleep. So much sickness and death this week, but one great ray of light and hope on the outcome of the war as peace came this past [11th].

Interestingly, Kent also noted that the celebrations held to mark the end of World War I had sparked an inadvertent uptick in illness.

“On account of the rejoicing and celebrating,” she wrote, “this disease of influenza increased everywhere.”

#Nature