#not a repeat from 1885

[victusinveritas]

My great uncle died of tuberculosis in 1938 (he was 22). It's my hope that I'll be able to avoid the same fate (I have bad lungs to begin with) but it looks like the fascists have gagged the CDC and other such groups, so I might just be fucked. Incidentally, John Green has a book coming out soon: Everything is Tuberculosis. Buy it, read it, buy it for a friend.

[galleryofart]

Etretat, the Needle Rock and Porte d'Aval, the Cap d'Antifer (Cliffs at Etretat)

Artist: Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)

Date: About 1885

Medium: Pastel on paper

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

Description

Monet produced this work on the Normandy coast at Etretat, famous for its unusual rock formations such the Porte d’Aval (shown here), the Porte d’Amont and the Manneporte. Brought up in nearby Le Havre, he was familiar from childhood with these dramatic limestone cliffs and returned to the area at various times over his long career. Etretat was fast developing as a tourist site, but this picture was produced at a time when Monet had abandoned modern, urban subjects in order to focus on natural phenomena and repeated motifs executed on the spot. He produced several versions of the Porte d’Aval, mostly in oil, seen from different viewpoints. Drawn from a high view point, the scene has a stark simplicity, the use of muted tones of blue, cream and brown signal the onset of evening.

[sunny-mercya]

The Cruel King

03. Attempted Death

Nordic 5 x Male Reader

Fandom -> Hetalia

Masterlist || Previous / Next

-> Warning; Mention of abuse, neglect, attempted suicide and sexual assault

10th of May. 1885 - Berlin, Prussia

A whimper escaped your lips, staring with fearful eyes at Matthias blue ones—whose face was stoic and cold gazed, void of emotion to read.

»Pleasure to see you too min skat.«

Matthias had loosen his grip on your arm, only to let his hands wander to your wrist—grabbing them tightly together—and his other clutching the sides of your face—strong hold, adding pressure to your jaw.

»Why are you here?« it was hard to speak, but you managed.

»To take you back home of course.« the corner of his lips moved up a bit, creating a tiny smile. His hold on your face lessened.

»No.«

»Excuse me dear, but what do you mean with no?«

»Nein. I werd ned mi dir mitgeh Matthias. I werd hier mi Gilbert bleiben. I will me scheden vo dir, will mei freiheit.«

There you have said it, in your native language even. Even with the fear you felt, you felt so proud of yourself to muster up such a defiance against Matthias.

Matthias face morphed into a furious expression. Eyes losing all sense of life, dulling in colour and narrowing down, with his lips, into a snarl. Clenched his jaw, the grip he had around you started to get stronger. Crushing painful even.

The boiling anger in him, which had been on a slow rise since had been informed of your disobedience and informal visits to the Prussian, turned into a spark of fireworks

»How dare you to speak to your husband, your sole King, in such a shameful language. How dare you to demand something without manners of begging and how dare you to go against me in such defiance.«

Matthias spoke with such venom in his voice, feeling the spewing hatred in his husked whisper. Matthias wasn't someone who would shout, he will say it in such calm demeanour so they knew how serious he was.

Because how, in the name of god, dare you to speak up against him like this? In a language he had forbid you to ever speak again.

How dare you, going so shamefully behind his back, betraying his trust and kindness. Tarnishing his reputation and discarding the vows you had given one another.

Disobeying him like a mere foolish child of mortality and lowlife.

You whimpering got louder, his grip on your jaw hadn't lessened only tightens and you felt a small pinch of pain already. A minimal crack, cutting through the air of a silence, was heard.

He scoffed, slammed you with a force against the mirror—letting it crack in shatters, shards piercing into your skin—and with his calloused strengths—only the Vikings had—he hauled you onto the floor. The shards now digging into your skin, leaving a leak of blood underneath you.

Matthias pinned your wrist above your head. He moved your legs into a birth giving pose. Unbuckling buttons, pulling his pants and underwear down.

With predatory eyes he glanced down at you, licking over his lips. Leaning forward to your neck, his tongue danced alongside your neck all the way down to your collarbone. Kissing and sucking wet your skin—tainted and scarred but also pure as porcelain.

You are too deep into a stupor, to have the will of mind—going into a state of blank stasis—to fight against him.

A forceful kiss on your lips and when you gasped—after he gripped you hard down there—his tongue slipped into your mouth.

»You belong to me and only me min skat.«

Matthias had whispered this single sole sentence, that one specific word, on repeat into your ear. Branding your mind with it, setting a trigger.

And when Matthias had entered you—with brutal force rammed into—your stupor broke, ripping a scream so shrill from your throat.

Fear filled your face as you begun to become a sobbing mess underneath him. In your tear filled vision, all you could see was Matthias wicked grin.

Haunting you forevermore.

Christmas Eve. 1917 - Border of Sweden and Finland

You stumbled through the heavy snow, barely moving inches forward as the snow is thick and knee high.

Disoriented dizzy you felt, having lost all sense of direction—though somehow you seemed to know where to go or so you believed.

The map with the directions of where to find your friends and letter, which Tino had send you last—after a long secret exchange of written letters—had been long gone, swept away from the howling wind.

The falling snow from the sky—reminding you much of the Fairy Tale; Frau Holle—with the up picking hollering wind, starting a new episode of blizzards storm and the sinking sun—dipping the sky and world into a following pitch darkness—hindering your already impaired eyesight.

When Tino had open the door after a series of rapid knocking, he did have expected you but didn't expected you to be like this.

You had fallen to your knees, with praying hands you gazed upon at your friend. Body trembling from the frosty hollowed cold and the slow rising pain—which started to creep back in a winding whiplash.

»I beg–I bete um–premission–um er-erlaubnis zur zuflucht–sanctuary–sanctuary I pray for mei freund–bitte hilf mi–sanct–zuflucht–sanctuary is all I möch«

You spoke in a fumbling mess of words, switching between Schurlisch and Danish, mixing them together even. Lips trembling, blue like ice and bloody red at the same time.

Tino paled at your sight, chest heaving with a rising panic of anxiety. He could barely catch your frozen, lifeless form as your eyes begun to drop—a whispering help echoing over your lips one last time—before your body gave up.

»Berwald! Berwald come quickly I need help, [Name] needs help! BERWALD!«

Weeks passed and your condition of unconsciousness had neither gotten bad nor better. A countries body—might heal differently, faster even, from that of an Human—though it could only endure so much, mental and physical wise

Tino had taken it upon himself to take care of you, after the Doctor looked you over and noted everything down Tino needed to know about your wounds. Wounds so severe, it had made him vomit the first night when he inspected the injuries on you.

Patient : [Name] [Surname] - Schurland

The Patient has ;

Swollen eyes — a possible blindness or loss of vision, glasses might be needed in future.

Server broken bones

— [Dominant hand]completely shattered in bones, bones will heal over time, although not able to move anymore.

— All rips damage, caging the lungs and causing a defect in breathing, possibility of Asthma

- Right leg deformed, noticeable limp when healed — might need crutches

- Spine bend

- Jaw improper healed once and newly dislocated again — might cause difficulty of speech and a delay in it.

Heavy bleeding in one ear, perhaps even both, will cause a deafness.

A possibility of nerves damage.

Compressed Stomach.

Private parts out of use — peeing will cause pain.

Prone to get sick more often, fever waves are to happen.

Concussion — brain damage might be caused.

Further information will be added.

And this was only a list of the physical state, how you would be mentally doing afterwards was another report of its own.

»Tino, it's not your fault. We couldn't have known that it would end like this. That Matthias would act so abusing.« had Berwald once told Tino when he sat down in the kitchen to take a short break of breather.

Berwald had said it in solemn monotony, that Tino couldn't help stop himself to get angry at his husband as well.

»We couldn't know but we should have! We all knew all along how Matthias has treated [Name] over the years and all we did was watch! We're not better than him then.«

»Tino–«

»No! You listen to me! Matthias has broken [Name] and we never had attempted to help, so of course I blame myself, because if we did help and decided back then to just take him away when we vowed to leave, then it wouldn't have ended like this!«

Tino crumbled into himself, sobbing at the immense weight of regret he felt in his heart—the pressure of uncertainty of what is now happening to you in the future.

Anxiety plagued his mind, scratching at his conscience and injecting him with a burden of guilt.

It wouldn't have ended like this, in a gruesome way of pending death and uncertainty, if they just had decided to simply whisk you away—away from the person you are chained to.

1919 - Border of Sweden and Finland

When World War One had ended, Berwald could managed with pesky stubbornness of diplomacy determination and with Lukas help too—to bring Matthias to sign over the rights he had over you to Berwald.

Matthias, at this time back then, didn't seemed too concerned—upset—over his loss of you. Laughing even, his overconfidently boastful loud crackling, grinning with spark of daring excitement in his eyes.

»If you want to have him so badly, this dissertation deserter of disappointment worthlessness and of lower intelligence, you can take him for free.« Matthias had said, talking about you as if you had been nothing more than a priced possession of him—a toy he had grown tired of.

So now, hopefully for the rest of the upcoming decades and centuries which are about to come, you officially belonged to Sweden.

1950 - Border of Sweden and Finland

What Matthias had done to you, back in 1885—the breaking point of all the added up things of what has been done to you—and the years after, plus the two world wars—in which you were barely conscious to take notice of it, but your body—jerking and spasming in every way—had taken more damage from it—causing a drop in you.

Apathetic you were during the days and hysterical in the nights. Lethargic even, laying most of the time on your bedroom floor—not trusting your bed in the slightest, fearing of something unknown to happen when you sleep on it.

All you would do is staring into the nothingness of the ceiling above. Blinking and starring, nothing more.

Tino, despite being rather busy at the moment with his own country and duties towards it, took time off to keep you company—sitting down next to you, taking your hand in his—to show you that he is there for you—reading books to you.

Your favourite story you come to love to hear, had been Alice in Wonderland and the Tale of Sleeping beauty.

Berwald just as busy as Tino, did everything possible to bring you back on your feet, even when it would be just a hour of you standing and taking two steps.

It happen during the early hours, when the sun was about to rose from her slumber and enlightened the world with a new start of warm rays of light.

The feeling, slowly it crawled through your body, itched you—bringing a twitching of tingling sensation into your hollowed out form of anatomy.

You couldn't say what sort of feeling it was, only that it started a carving of something longing and unsatisfying to not wish for.

Getting from the floor, you walked downstairs and out of the house—into the open variety of landscape with its suffocating of freedom.

Freedom. You scoffed at the word itself.

What exactly is even freedom? Nothing but a mere lie, illusion of false hope and reality towards the endless cycle of cruelty living. Freedom didn't exist, never had. A fraud it was from the start—leaving more bloodshed behind than any war alone.

If they, the humans, wanted their precious freedom so desperately—they simply should have chosen death willingly.

Freedom doesn't exist—not in the form and sense they believed it to be—but in death it does.

Stopping at the lake, you gazed at its calm surface of tranquility and life giving gift. Suns rays reflecting from it, creating a glimmer of twinkling.

Water granted life but it also takes it from you.

Never had you been a good swimmer. You only knew the basic form. It wasn't a requirement for you to learn, why should you though? When all you did was to live in a bubble of solitude

Embrace life first before you step into death.

Berwald felt a immense pressure of flooding panic breaking through his stoic demeanour. Paled at the wide open front door. His hands shook tremendously, needing to clench them to get ahold of his emotion again or they might spill over.

Getting into his boots and putting his coat on, He sprinted outside without any further thought except the one; to find you quickly as possible.

There was only one option of where you had could go to, if you wanted to do what he fears.

Berwald had always been a man of few words—spoken bluntly, no need to sugarcoat the obvious and with a monotonously as if he presented a lecture—and stoic like a statue he was. He wasn't big on affection too—simple showcase; like holding hands or a short peck to the cheek, yes—otherwise he kept to himself, emotions in a locked state of constant nothing but calmness.

But once he had meet you, all those years ago—during the rough times of barbaric fear spiking conquering against other nations—his once stored feelings—jokey gotten told he was like a frozen pot, Ice prince, when it comes to such things as mere emotional feelings—which in such times could've been crucial to his life, begun to taw ever so slightly with the passing time.

So it crushed him when seeing you in this constant state of pain. Feeling just as guilty as Tino feels, because he too knows—they should have freed you sooner.

Once at the lake, Berwald didn't hesitate to take off boots and coat and dive right into the water. Swimming to the middle, the deepest part, taking a deep long breath and dived under.

Berwald grabbed your arm—floating or more like a sinking, a mix of both, so lifeless through the depths of water—pulling you closer to him and taken ahold around your waist. Swimming upwards till he breached the surface with you.

Back at the lakeshore, Berwald hived you out. Laying you down he begun with the revival measurements.

Don't crack, don't crack—a fleeting thought, reminder to keep himself together—in check—and break under the upcoming weight of emotions.

The pressure inside him rises, bubbling up and clogging his throat with a burning of choking sobs. Panic, like a flood, crashed over him—drowning him with urges of roaring screams. Don't give up, don't up—a mantra to continue with bringing you back to life.

With a gaps you jerked back into life, coughing out the water in your exhausted lungs.

Tired, eyes glazed over with rimming tears and a dizziness, you looked into blue eyes—and for a split second you thought it were Matthias, that you are back in his grasp.

Those blue eyes were a lot softer, still a glaze of ice in them, in colour compared to Matthias—which are more vibrant—and you know who it was, Berwald.

Shaky breaths are the only sounds with surrounds you in the solitude of nature. Berwald had warped you into his coat, holding you into his arms. Leaning his head down, forehead touching yours—he couldn't stop his own ragged breathings.

One, two, three and more tears started to drop, flowing like a river from his eyes as he begun to sob. The anxiety, the fear he felt when he knew you tried to end your life for final, exploded in him—bringing his emotions into a whirlwind of messiness.

Dear god. He was glad, so fucking thankfully glad—relieved—to have you back—alive. Berwald didn't wanted to thought about the possibility of what if's—if he couldn't have saved you, bringing you back to life and another new wave of anxiety pooled into his stomach.m

But you are alive and that's what matters.

/ - Stockholm, Sweden

You had attempted three more tries of suicide. All of them successfully prevented from either Berwald, Tino or Lukas. They counted the days till you tried to attempted a fourth one—a ticking bomb.

Aren't you just as cruel? Paining your loved ones, the people who care about you, with suicide—simply because you couldn't........couldn't what?

When Berwald had brought a freshly born baby home and Lukas came with Emily for another visit stay—you had a change of mood and personality.

You instantly felt attached to the baby, which you had named Erland. Taking care of him mostly all by yourself—a parental instinct taking over you.

To Lukas amusement, Emil too had gotten your attention and care treatment—which he had received from you when he once was a child—again. Emil was after all still very precious to you and he would always be your younger brother—by blood vow.

You didn't ventured back into your old, meek and submissive self from the past. You changed, growing up, into a independent strong man

A spark of joy—dimmed to the core, barely burning—life itself had returned in you, burning brightly like the sun or fire.

~~~

You might be Berwalds and Tinos husband, but Lukas had known you longer—a older brother figure to you he had become—so when you had another hysterical fit of revisiting nightmares of memories and the past, it was him who would wake you up and comfort you.

Lukas knows what he has to say to you, how to hold you, to bring you back into the here and now and calming you.

He hushed you, holding you in his arms—rocking you back and forth—while you sobbed, heartbreaking ugly loud, into his shoulder.

»It's all in the past, [Name]. He isn't gonna hurt you, not anymore. It's all okay, all okay,«

Besides how strong you had become now, you're still fragile—easily to shatter, in terms of mind.

»I want—want him gone. He should go. I hate him! Hate hate hate him!«

»I know.«

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Analysis: East of Eden (Characters)

Cyrus Trask

Cyrus is the stern father of Adam and Charles. His military career is cut short when he was shot in the right leg during the Civil War. His amputated leg is replaced first by a wooden and then by a steel prosthesis. Cyrus, who “was something of a devil,” contracted gonorrhea while in the service and passed it onto his first wife, who kills herself as a result (14). After the death of his wife, he quickly remarries and fathers his second son, Charles. His perceived favoring of Adam causes a violent and lifelong rift between his sons. Cyrus is very proud of his involvement in the military. He peremptorily decides Adam will join the military as he believes his weaker son needs discipline to make him a man. In his spare time, he writes perceptive articles criticizing military strategy. As a result he is offered a paid position with the General Army of the Republic (G.A.R) and travels around the country lobbying and speaking about military issues. After the death of his second wife, he re-locates to Washington D.C. to continue his work with the military. He dies of pneumonia in 1894 and many high-level government officials attend his funeral. He leaves Adam and Charles an inheritance of $100,000. The boys are never sure how Cyrus amassed his fortune though Charles suspects his father had stolen the money.

Adam Trask

Adam was born in 1862 on a Connecticut farm to father, Cyrus and Cyrus’s first wife whose name is never mentioned. His mother commits suicide when Adam is still a baby. He is raised by Cyrus’ second wife Alice. Cyrus views him as weak and less intelligent than his brother Charles, which confirms his decision to force Adam to enlist in the military, a prospect that terrifies Adam. He was a quiet, obedient child who shied away from conflict and violence. He catches on early that his father tends to exaggerate about himself and knows that his father was not a great man (20). During his first five years in the army, Adam develops a deeper aversion to violence and volunteers to work in field hospitals.

After being discharged in 1885, he wanders around Chicago for a few weeks to avoid moving back home with Charles. Not knowing what to do next, he re-enlists in the military. He is discharged again in 1890 in San Francisco. He spends the next three years wandering around the country and eventually serves time in jail for vagrancy. Upon arriving back at the farm, Charles tells him about their inheritance. Adam stays on at the farm with Charles for a few years. After growing restless, he takes off for months at a time traveling around the world, especially when he and Charles would quarrel. Adam is not content to continue living on the farm and talks of moving to California which further irks Charles. When Cathy, after being beaten by Mr. Edwards, arrives on their doorstep, Adam takes her in and cares for her. He proposes before she is completely well and they are soon married. Adam and his new bride relocate to Salinas, California. His intention is to build a new “Eden,” where he can create a lasting legacy for his family.

Unfortunately for Adam, he is completely deceived about the identity if his wife. Once she shoots him and deserts him with her newborn twin sons, Adam falls into a hopeless stupor, leaving his Chinese-American man-servant Lee to raise his children. He does not even name them until Samuel Hamilton forces him to do so when the twins are fifteen months old. It is another 10 years, after a confrontation with his estranged wife, before Adam actually takes an interest in raising his sons. The boys, however, have already been permanently affected by that time. Both long for the acceptance of father and mother and embark on an inner struggle that is exacerbated on the one hand by Cal’s perception of his father’s favoring of Aron and Aron’s embarrassment over his father’s failed business venture. In the end, Adam has repeated the mistake of his own father causing a rift between his two sons. He seems to redeem himself on his deathbed by forgiving and accepting Cal who has suffered his entire life from being estranged from his emotionally aloof father.

Charles Trask

Charles is the son of Cyrus and Alice Trask and half-brother of Adam. Charles is considered stronger, quicker, and smarter than Adam. Adam possesses a secret fear of Charles, who is prone to outbreaks of murderous rage. When Adam is old enough to enlist, Cyrus has a private talk with him about his future in the military. Charles overhears the conversation and becomes envious of his father’s interaction with Adam. His envy, combined with his bitterness over Cyrus’s preference of the birthday gift Adam had given him, enrages Charles. Charles blames Adam for his feelings of rejection and severely beats and then chases after Adam, intending to kill him.

After Adam leaves for the Army and his mother dies, Charles is left alone to run the family farm. He misses his brother and often writes letters to Aron. He becomes lonesome and isolated. In his letters to Adam he writes about looking for a wife but instead only ends up frequenting the local inn, which houses prostitutes. Occasionally, he would move in “one slovenly woman after another” but his interest in the women would quickly wane and he would then move them out (53).

When Adam finally comes home to the farm after their father’s death, Charles is glad to have his brother around but the tension between the brothers never lessened. While the industrious Charles seeks to increase their land holdings and develop the family farm, Adam is restless and dissatisfied with farming. His desire to travel rather than stay in Connecticut agitates Charles and is a subject of their quarrels with each other. When Adam decides to take in Cathy, Charles instantly distrusts her and sees in her a darkness that he recognizes in himself. On Adam and Cathy’s wedding night, Cathy drugs Adam and shows up in Charles’s bedroom and the two have sex. Although never proven, it is hinted that Charles could be the biological father of one or both of Adam’s twin boys. Throughout his adulthood, Charles stayed focused on running the farm and amassed great wealth; however, he never finds love or happiness. Of the Trask property Steinbeck writes, “It was a grim farm and a grim house, unloved and unloving” (63). Upon his death, Charles left behind a $100,000 inheritance, which he willed to be split between Adam and Cathy. A note scribbled to Adam by one of Charles’ lawyers indicated he died having lived a lonely and miserly existence.

Cathy Ames (Kate)

Cathy, one of Steinbeck’s most interesting and controversial characters, is born with what the author describes as “a malformed soul” in a small Massachusetts town (71). From early on, people are both taken and betrayed by her innocent face. She often makes people feel uneasy, though they would not be able to say why. She learns at a young age how to use her sexuality to manipulate people and is a very clever liar. She is the cause of the whipping of two fourteen-year-old boys and the apparent suicide of one of her school teachers. As a teenager, she murders her parents by setting the family’s home on fire while they slept. Though her body was never found, she too is presumed dead.

Eventually Cathy finds her way to Mr. Edwards in Boston for a job as a prostitute. Instead, stricken by her apparent innocence and beauty, he installs her as his mistress. Cathy tortures Edwards, who is obsessed with her, by stroking his jealousy and fears that she might abandon him. He later learns of the house fire and forces her to accompany him on a trip to Connecticut, where he nearly beats her to death. She crawls her way onto the Trask property where Adam finds her and nurses her back to health.

She marries Adam for protection, though she has sex with his brother Charles on her wedding night. Reluctantly she moves to California with Adam where she learns she is pregnant. She later intimates to Adam that Charles impregnated her. After a failed self-induced abortion, Cathy gives birth to twin boys. She endures her pregnancy as a trial and the birth is described as “bitter, deadly combat” (187). Two weeks after the delivery, she packs her bags to leave the ranch. When Adam attempts to stop her, she shoots him in the shoulder.

Cathy then finds her way to Faye’s brothel where she adopts the pseudonym Kate. Like others before her, Faye is fooled by Kate’s innocent face and beauty. She discourages Kate from prostitution and eventually begins to rely on her to run the brothel’s affairs. When Kate learns that Faye has left everything to her in her will, she concocts a subtle and devious plan to murder Faye. Once Faye is dead and Kate has inherited the house, she creates a brothel with a reputation for sexually depraved spectacles. She keeps the prostitutes in her employ cowed and hooked on drugs.

Eventually Kate is visited by Adam and both of her twin sons. The meetings, along with growing paranoia about the evil deeds of her past resurfacing, cause Kate to question herself. Having always been self-assured in her isolation from what she saw as great depravity in other people, she begins to wonder if perhaps it is she who is different. Particularly, her meeting with Aron, who is brought to her out of revenge by his angry and rejected brother, brings this fact into relief. “They had something she lacked,” Cathy thinks to herself, “and she didn’t know what it was. Once she knew this, she was ready; and once ready, she knew she had been ready a long time—perhaps all her life” (550). She was ready to kill herself, which she does, after willing her entire fortune to Aron.

Caleb (Cal) Trask

Cal is one of Cathy and Adam Trask’s twin sons. Cal is described as “watchful” and is darker of complexion and bigger and stronger than his fair skinned twin (333). Cal notices from an early age that people gravitate towards his innocent and angelic looking brother. As a result, he craves attention and often feels rejected, especially by his father. Cal possesses a cruel streak that contrasts sharply with his brother’s gentle nature. While on one hand he loves his brother, on the other, he gets satisfaction from knowing he can manipulate Aron to cause him pain and confusion. Sometimes he feels a great desire to protect his more innocent brother. He is frightened by what he perceives as darkness inside of him, especially once he learns the truth about his mother. He worries it might be an inherited, permanent evil. He prays to God to remove the stain: “I don’t want to be mean. I don’t want to be lonely” (377). After learning about Cathy, Cal stalks her for a few weeks until she confronts him. When he finally comes face to face with his mother, Cal realizes where the darkness comes from and decides that he has the power to become a different person.

Like his Uncle Charles, Cal craves love and attention from his father, whom he believes favors his brother. When Adam loses his fortune, Charles invests in a business deal with Will Hamilton during WW I and makes a $15,000 profit upon the great demand for beans. Cal presents the money to his father as a gift on Thanksgiving in front of Adam, Abra and Lee. Adam rejects the gift, refusing to take any money that was made in profit off of the war. Cal is completely devastated. In revenge, Cal takes Aron to see Kate. Consequently, Aron runs off and joins the military and is killed in battle only a few months later. Adams suffers a major stroke upon learning of his son’s death. Cal, riddled with guilt, seeks out Abra who brings him back to his father. Ultimately, Adam blesses Cal with the word, timshel, indicating that there is a chance of redemption for Cal should he choose to triumph over the sins of his past.

Aron Trask

Aron is one of Cathy and Adam Trask’s twin sons. In comparison to his darker, brooding brother, Aron seems simple and innocent. People are taken by his pleasant countenance: “The width between his blue eyes gave him an expression of angelic innocence” (333). Unlike the clever and suspicious Cal, Aron is trusting and kind. Though he hears suspicious remarks about his mother, he cannot reconcile the fact that his father might be a liar.

While Cal craves the attention of his father, Aron desires the love of a mother figure. He allows his girlfriend, Abra, to mother him and admits to himself he experiences a “wordless longing” for his mother (426). Perhaps, deep down, Aron blames his father for his angst, which could explain the intensity of the embarrassment he suffers after Adam loses the family’s fortune in his failed attempt to transport refrigerated lettuce across the nation. Aron seems to become increasingly uncomfortable in his own skin after that incident and desires to finish school early and leave Salinas.

In the meantime, Aron turns to the church and becomes devoutly religious. He decides to become an Episcopalian minister and even contemplates a life of celibacy, much to Abra’s disappointment. His devout nature causes friction in his relationship with Abra, who feels she cannot live up to his expectations. Overtime, Abra comes to realize that Aron does not love her; rather, he loves an idealized version of her that exists only in his mind—just as was the case with Adam’s love of Cathy. Aron also comes to harshly judge his brother Cal whom he sees as living a sinful life.

Aron is destroyed when confronted by the reality of Cathy. That the blood of a depraved prostitute runs in his veins is too much for him to bear. Though he is killed shortly after he runs away and joins the military, it is likely he experienced a more significant emotional or spiritual death after the confrontation. Readers are left to wonder if Aron would have ever been able to recover from the crushing blow had he survived the war.

Samuel Hamilton

Samuel Hamilton, a transplant from Northern Ireland, arrived in the Salinas Valley around 1870. Samuel is the bearded patriarch of a large family from which John Steinbeck is descended (139). Samuel unfortunately settles on dry, rocky ground and is never able to establish a successful farm. Through his ingenuity and industrious nature, he manages to eke out a meager living to support his wife and nine children. More importantly than financial prosperity, however, Samuel Hamilton is respected and admired by nearly all those who know him. He has a sharp and inquisitive mind and possesses a great love for reading. His reading interests vary widely. He even buys a copy of William James’ Principles of Psychology behind his wife’s back—odd for an Irish immigrant farmer at the turn of the twentieth century. Steinbeck implies Samuels’ tremendous intellectual curiosity and creativity make him special. He also passes his love of learning onto his children, who “[. . .] were better read and better bread than most of their contemporaries. To them Samuel communicated his love of learning, and he set them apart from the prideful ignorance of their time” (147). He has a knack for invention but not business and so loses many potentially great ideas to more savvy individuals. While Samuel never could get water to his own farm, he has a special gift for locating water in the valley. Samuel meets Lee and Adam Trask when Lee comes to fetch him to see if he can locate water on the old Sanchez ranch that Adam has purchased. He locates water using a special forked stick, which he refers to as his “magic wand” (165). When Adam inquires about how the stick works, Samuel explains it this way: “I don’t really believe in it save that it works. [. . .] Maybe it’s this way. Maybe I know where the water is, feel it in my skin. Some people have a gift in this direction or that. Suppose—well, call it humility, or a deep disbelief in myself, forced me to do a magic to bring to the surface the thing I know anyway” (167). Samuel’s sensitive and intuitive nature makes him keenly perceptive about both natural phenomenon and the subtle psychology of the human mind. He sees similar tendencies in Lee, Adam’s servant, and so comes to greatly respect him. He recognizes the inhumanity of Cathy and is greatly grieved by her. He also immediately sees the faults in Adam’s worship of his wife and unattainable dream of creating a garden. Likewise, he knows the great damage Adam is doing to his sons after he falls into a hopeless stupor once Cathy deserts him. Samuel saves Adam’s sons twice—once by bringing them into the world and second by revealing the truth about Cathy to Adam to goad him into living again. Though Samuel dies half way through the novel, he remains an important influence throughout as his figure is frequently recalled by both Lee and Adam later in the story. Even Kate remembers the effect Samuel had on her. His presence resounds again at the very end of the novel when Adam blesses Cal with the word “timshel” since it was Lee’s explanation of the term and the resulting glory of humanity’s apparent freedom to exercise choice which drove Samuel to tell Adam about Cathy in the first place.

Lee

Lee is Adam Trask’s complex and interesting Chinese-American servant. Readers meet Lee when he goes to pick up Samuel to bring him back to the ranch to discuss boring wells with Adam. On the surface, Lee appears a stereotypical Chinese manservant, wearing a queue and speaking in pidgin Chinese. Within a few moments of meeting him and learning Lee was born in America, Samuel tells Lee, “I mean no disrespect, but I’ve never been able to figure out why you people still talk pidgin when an illiterate baboon from the back bogs of Ireland, with a head full of Gaelic and a tongue like a potato, learns to talk a poor grade of English in ten years” (161). Lee and Samuel are great friends from that moment on. Lee explains he essentially hides behind a stereotypical Chinese mask since that is what the surrounding American culture expects from him. Behind the façade, Lee is highly intelligent, thoughtful, well-read and kind. Rather than being humiliated by his position as a servant, he sees servitude as a unique position to exercise power over a master who comes to rely too heavily upon his servant. Lee, however, does not take advantage of this position. He ends up running Adam’s household and raising his twin sons while Adam languishes in his depression. Once Adam emerges from his stupor, Lee presents to him 10 years of carefully maintained accounts—every household penny accounted for. Besides his role as surrogate father to the twins, Lee plays an important role in the novel by introducing the concept of “timshel.” When the twins are fifteen months old, Samuel descends upon the Trask property to force Adam to name his unclaimed and unloved sons. In the process, Samuel and Lee end up discussing the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Together they ponder the significance of the story, particularly that because Abel dies, all of humanity is descended from the banished murderer, Cain. Intrigued by contradictory translations of the wording in the story, Lee consults Chinese elders with whom he undertakes a study of Hebrew in order to translate the passage more accurately. Later in the novel, Lee explains his findings to both Adam and Samuel, who has come to bid the men farewell. In contrast to the two conflicting translations of the word timshel—one which orders Cain to triumph over sin (do thou triumph) and the other, which prophesies Cain will triumph over sin (thou shalt triumph), Lee and his elders conclude the word is most accurately translated as “thou mayest.” Lee interprets the significance of the word in this manner: “But ‘Thou mayest’! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win” (301-02). Lee’s words have a tremendous impact on both Samuel and Adam. They immediately inspire Samuel to choose to reveal the truth about Cathy to Adam, which he hopes will force Adam to make a choice: get up and live or lay down and die. At the very end of the novel, we see the lasting impact the words have had on Adam. In the face of one of his son’s death, at least implicitly at the hand of the other, Adam is able to bless Cal, who has struggled throughout his entire life to choose right over wrong, with the word “Timshel.” Essentially Lee saves Cal’s life by not only presenting Adam with the material circumstance to bless Cal by bringing him in front of his father and forcing Adam to speak, but he has also presented Adam with the spiritual understanding he needs to help free Cal from the weight of his sins.

Abra Bacon

The Trasks are first introduced to Abra Bacon and her family when Abra is 10 years old. Her family stops at the Trask ranch for shelter during a storm. Abra is intelligent and precocious. She seems much more mature than other girls her age. Later when Adam asks Cal Abra’s age, he replies, “Nearly fifteen. But she’s—well, more than that some ways” (453). Lee comments that she was born a woman. As a child, she is immediately drawn to the sweet and innocent Aron, which sparks Cal’s jealousy and anger towards her and his brother. Though they are together for just a few moments, Aron and Abra decide they will be married some day. A few years later, the twins end up attending the same school as Abra once the Trasks move to Salinas. Abra and Aron’s relationship burgeons and Abra grows close to the Trask family, especially Lee, who eventually comes to see her as a daughter figure. He presents to her a jade button, his dead mother’s only ornament. Initially, Aron relies on Abra for much needed motherly affection. Later he begins to reject her affections as he becomes increasingly introverted and more devoted to the Episcopalian church. Abra struggles to be what Aron needs her to be, but as she matures, she realizes that Aron does not love her for who she actually is as a person, but rather he loves some idealized vision of Abra that exists only in his mind. As the novel progresses, readers learn more about Abra’s family, which seems cold and unloving. As she does with Aron, Abra hides her true self from her mother and father. Her mother dresses her like a doll and orders all of her affairs. She tells Cal her father never loved her because he wanted a son, probably to name Abraham, which is why he named her “Abra.” At the end of the novel, Abra tells Cal she no longer loves Aron. She accepts that she cannot live up to his expectations and that she is just as imperfect as Cal, who considers himself stained because of his family heritage. Abra says she is equally bad as she has discovered her father is a liar and thief who has embezzled money from his company. Abra finally achieves acceptance from the understanding Lee and Cal. She is instrumental in Cal’s redemption at the end of the novel as it is she he goes to in his despair and she who forces him back to his father’s bedside. Together Abra and Lee save Cal from self-destruction.

Source

[dalekofchaos]

RDR3 Pitch:Landon Ricketts and Jack Marston as the main playable characters

There is an appeal to play as Dutch, Hosea and young Arthur in the rise of the Van der Linde Gang. But we already have the perfect protagonist to show us the golden age of the Wild West and that protagonist is Landon Ricketts.

For a more in depth look on what a RDR3 game about Landon Ricketts could look like, watch this video

We don't need to explore the Van der Linde gang any further imo. The best course of action is to explore the exploits of Landon Ricketts.

Story would be we play as a young Landon Ricketts in 1885 This would be when the west was much wilder. He is trying to make a name for himself with bounty hunting and in the process his wife gets killed so it sets him off on a path of revenge and self discovery while becoming the most badass gunslinger in the west.

Not much is known about the early life of Landon Ricketts. He was a renowned gunslinger during the height of the Wild West, so much so that stories of his legendary exploits were well-known by the time gunslingers like John and Arthur were coming of age. Players have already heard of his more well-known stories, such as his famed duel against The Butcher Brothers in 1896.

A cigarette card featuring an image of Landon Ricketts and The Butcher Brothers can be found in Red Dead Redemption 2, further fueling the mystery and intrigue behind Ricketts' adversaries during his days in the Wild West. While Red Dead Redemption 2 captured the spirit of the Wild West in many ways, Arthur's story ultimately takes place in the closing chapters of that era. Players have been clamoring for a game set in the Wild West proper for some time now.

According to a newspaper article found in Red Dead Redemption, Landon was in some way involved in The Blackwater Massacre that kicks off the events of Red Dead Redemption 2. The article never clarifies exactly how Ricketts was involved, but he's cited as a "survivor" of the massacre. Apparently, it affected Ricketts so deeply that he decided to hang up his hat and move to Chuparosa in 1902 to live a quieter life. The Blackwater Massacre could serve as a promising pretext for Red Dead Redemption's next prequel.

The Blackwater Massacre is among the most compelling expositional frames in recent history, and the mystery surrounding that day is part of the reason why Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to be so popular. The fact that The Blackwater Massacre bookended Ricketts's career as a gunslinger dovetails nicely with the starting point of Red Dead Redemption 2, making it the perfect ending point for Red Dead Redemption 3. Finally, players could get a first-hand look at exactly what went down in Blackwater.

But despite these tangential connections to the Van der Linde gang's activities, the most compelling reason to feature Ricketts in the next Red Dead Redemption game is that he's not directly involved in the origin stories of John, Arthur, Dutch, and the rest of the gang. Ricketts is a legendary figure in his own right, and his narrative can stand on its own legs without needing to rehash origin stories or repeat content from Red Dead Redemption 2.

This is what disqualifies Dutch as a possible protagonist for another Red Dead prequel. While many would like to see a younger Dutch in action, players know his descent into madness well. Again, John and Arthur were compelling protagonists because players didn't know how their stories would unfold: John's demise wasn't foretold, and Arthur was an entirely unknown character when Red Dead Redemption 2 was released.

The vast majority of Ricketts' story is shrouded in legend, leaving plenty of room for creative license.

First half of the game is about Landon's life as a gunslinger who killed for fame and glory, his wife is killed by The Butcher Brothers and this sets him on the path of revenge, eventually he turns to a path of a marshall and ends in Blackwater, the events of Blackwater scars Landon and sends him to Mexico. Then the final parts are about Landon's redemption arc and becoming a hero of the Mexican people.

And later in the Epilogue 1 (now playing as Jack Marston), we'll have Landon meet a 16 year old Jack after John's death, training him, which would now explain why Jack became so skilled in just a span of 3 years. And in the epilogue 2, Landon would pass peacefully in his sleep as said in the newspapers during RDR1, and now Jack (a 19 year old) will get his revenge on Ross. Exploring more on the continuation of Jack's story.

Side note. I am well aware Ross Hagen passed away in 2011. But I think they can find someone young to voice Ricketts young days and maybe get Sam Elliot to voice Ricketts to make up for Hagen's passing.

[lboogie1906]

Judy Woodford Reed (1826 – 1905) was an African-American woman alive during the 1880s, whose only record is known from a US patent. She was from DC, she is considered the first African American woman to receive a US patent. Patent #305,474 for a “Dough Kneader and Roller” was granted on September 23, 1884. The patent was for an improved design of existing rollers with dough mixing more evenly while being kept covered and protected.

She first appears in the 1870 Federal Census as a 44-year-old seamstress in Fredericksviile Parish near Charlottesville, Virginia along with her husband Allen, a gardener, and their five children Ten years later, they were still in Virginia, this time with a grandson. Sometime between 1880 and 1885, Allen Reed died, she moved to DC, where she resided, with her children.

Besides the limited records above, there are no known records of her. It is unknown whether any earlier African American women received patent rights; there was no requirement to indicate race in the documents, and women often used only their initials to hide their gender. Until 1863 it was illegal for slaves to be literate, and those found reading, writing, or teaching others could be punished severely or killed.

Her first patent, Patent 3305,474, made her the first African American woman who officially received a US patent, inventing the Dough Kneader and Roller and was classified as “B29B7/562 Mixing; Kneading continuous, with mechanical mixing or kneading devices with movable mixing or kneading devices with rollers or the like, e.g. calendars with co-operating rollers, e.g. with repeated action, i.e. the material leaving a set of rollers being reconducted to the same set or being conducted to a next set with means for axially moving the material on the rollers”. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[yourdailyanticistamines]

La Mode en mouvement - Part 1

In March, I went on a trip to France with my parents, mainly with the purpose of going to art galleries and exhibitions. One of the most memorable exhibitions was at the Palais Galliera, titled La Mode en mouvement (Fashion On the Move). It showed how women’s sportswear, initially having taken elements from men’s fashion for functionality, heavily influenced women’s fashion in the 19th and 20th centuries. What was immediately striking was how a lot of the items would still be considered very fashionable today. I could be wearing the black skiing outfit (pictured above) made in 1935 right now, and it would look very cool!

Oscar Wilde wrote in “The Philosophy of Dress” (1885) that “fashion is merely a form of ugliness so absolutely unbearable that we have to alter it every six months.” He believed that since fashion is only momentary, it cannot be art, which should be eternally beautiful. I wish he could have seen La Mode en mouvement - the exhibition made it obvious that the same colors, patterns, cuts, and silhouettes kept returning to fashion after some decades. Paradigms repeat in fashion, with the exception of those that are newly introduced due to social change or the development of new materials. Maybe Wilde could not see the reintroduction of past paradigms during his lifetime because in his era, the change of trend was both slow - due to limited methods of communication - and irreversible - due to women gaining more social freedom.

RIP Wilde. Dior could have changed your mind.

[bongaboi]

Manchester United: 2023-24 FA Cup Winners

Manchester United pulled off a thrilling Emirates FA Cup triumph as teenage sensations Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo inspired a 2-1 win against rivals Manchester City.

Garnacho took advantage of a City mistake to put United ahead on the half-hour before Mainoo calmly doubled their lead, as the Red Devils stunned Pep Guardiola’s domestic double hopefuls in the first half.

City laid siege to United’s goal after half-time and hit the cross-bar through Erling Haaland, before substitute Jeremy Doku set-up a grandstand finish with a low shot into the bottom corner in the 87th minute.

However, United held firm to win the 13th Emirates FA Cup in their history, moving to within one of Arsenal’s record, and book their place in next season’s Europa League.

This marks their second trophy under manager Erik ten Hag and comes at the end of a wild Emirates FA Cup journey. United required extra-time to beat rivals Liverpool 4-3 in a pulsating quarter-final and then penalties to see off Coventry City in the semi-finals following a sensational 3-3 draw.

While this did not quite match those matches for drama, it was a nail-biting final and a fine way to end a difficult season for United that saw them finish eighth in the Premier League, 31 points behind champions City in the table.

City have the Premier League trophy to show for another excellent campaign but missed out on the chance to become the first side in English history to win back-to-back league and cup doubles.

Last year’s Emirates FA Cup triumph came against the very same opponents and this marked the first repeat final since 1885. That day, City scored after just 12 seconds – Ilkay Gundogan’s spectacular volley sending them on the way to a 2-1 win – and this match threatened an equally explosive start.

First, a long United pass forward sent Marcus Rashford through on goal but City captain Kyle Walker raced back to deny him a shot inside the box. Seconds later at the other end, Lisandro Martinez barged Haaland over in the penalty area, prompting claims for a City spot-kick.

United were content to sit back and pin their hopes to the counter-attack, and that almost bore fruit in the eighth minute when Bruno Fernandes found Garnacho inside the penalty area, but the winger shot straight at Stefan Ortega.

While that was a difficult opportunity, his next was gift-wrapped by some slack City defending.

Diogo Dalot sent a long and high ball upfield for Garnacho to chase, though City seemed to have it covered with Josko Gvardiol in front of the winger and Ortega rushing out of his goal. However, a lack of communication resulted in a costly error, as Gvardiol headed the ball over Ortega’s head and left opportunist Garnacho a simple tap-in.

With that, the mood changed. United were suddenly alive to every ball and confident enough to press City higher up the pitch, and, with the defending champions a touch off their best, it paid dividends.

Garnacho escaped City’s defence again and crossed for Rashford to tap into an empty net, sparking wild celebrations in the east stand that quickly were cut short by an offside flag. Nonetheless, City were warned, but – much to Guardiola’s frustration - they failed to listen.

Two minutes later, United cut City open with a scything move from left to right. It started with Rashford’s pin-point cross-field pass to Garnacho, who had time and space to pick a pass to Fernandes, unaccompanied on the edge of the box.

City defenders rushed to close down a potential shot, but the United captain brilliantly flicked the ball on to an unmarked Mainoo, who shot low and hard across Ortega and into the bottom corner. Suddenly, United were in firm control and City desperately playing catch up.

In response, Guardiola wasted no time in re-setting his team at half-time, sending the pacey winger Doku on in place of midfielder Mateo Kovacic in an attacking substitute.

The Belgian’s direct dribbling added an instant threat he twice went close to an assist with a pair of slippery cut-backs, first for Phil Foden, who scuffed his shot, before another later found Erling Haaland, whose vicious shot smacked the cross-bar.

Those 30 all-action seconds transformed the mood, with City - and their vocal fans behind the goal - growing in belief.

Walker reacted with a howitzer of a shot from 30 yards that forced Andre Onana into a sensational save, before another City substitute – Julian Alvarez – shot narrowly over the bar when well-placed inside the box. United were on the ropes.

Alvarez then wasted another fine opportunity, as he raced on to a sublime Foden pass inside the box but slid his shot wide of Onana’s right-hand post from just 10 yards out.

Walker forced Onana into another save with a snarling long-range shot, but City’s charged started to flatline as full-time approached.

However, Doku sparked a nail-biting finale when he drifted onto his right foot on the left wing and beat Onana at his near-post with a low shot from the edge of the box.

But they failed to create another major opportunity and United survived to the final whistle, sparking jubilant celebrations in the red halves of Wembley and Manchester.

[a-clockwork-justice]

Dr. Jekyll and Little Harry - Jekyll and Hyde age regression fic concept (TL;DR at the end)

My first original J&H post, shooting into the dark here (also a crosspost from Reddit. Also also, I'm not in the age regression community nor do I know anyone adjacent to it, but this concept lives in my head rent-free and if anyone happens to be in the community and/or have some thoughts about this then all is welcome).

I have an idea for a reimagining of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde where instead of Jekyll turning into Hyde, he’s hiding the fact that he age regresses in secret to cope with the pressure of maintaining his respectable public image. Basically, age regression takes the place of Hyde and the draught from the original story. Of course, since it’s not becoming of a respectable Victorian gentleman to act so childishly, even in private, Jekyll has to keep his little side under absolute wraps at all times, only it’s getting increasingly more difficult as life throws more hurdles his way.

With the main story during the canon time period i.e. 1885-1886, this further complicates things as age regression was virtually unheard of back then - at the very least, Jekyll has reason to fear getting thrown in Bedlam if people were to find out - and resources and information are pretty much non-existent. So, how does Jekyll find out about age regression at all, much less engage in it? I have a couple of ideas for his backstory, one that’s rooted in trauma, one isn’t.

Backstory 1 (trauma edition): Decades before the main story, both of his parents die within days of each other at his childhood home in Edinburgh, so the younger Jekyll has to travel back home to plan their funeral and manage their will and maintain the stoic image a man should when all he wants to do is break down and cry Then he enters his childhood bedroom, and sees everything exactly the way it was when he left it, and time seems to fold in on itself, and he feels like a kid again, and everything is easier, and his immense burden is momentarily lifted. Just before he leaves Edinburgh, he secretly squirrels away some of his childhood toys and trinkets and hides them in his home in London, just in case he ever needs to return to that little space again, and he does, more often than he anticipated.

Backstory 2 (non-trauma edition): He just does. No explanation requires, just that he regresses to cope with the stress of living. In this version of the story though, the death of his mother, his one remaining parent, is a plot point and one that also forces him to return to his childhood home to take care of affairs, though in this version he takes Utterson with him to help out with the legal side and for emotional support.

With the backstory out of the way, here's a rough list of plot points I'm considering adding to it:

Jekyll regresses into his little self, which he calls little Harry, voluntarily when he gets a few spare hours to himself. He shuts himself in his bedroom, gets out a few toys he has under lock and key, plays for a few hours, goes to sleep, wakes up in his adult headspace, goes about life, rinse and repeat. It's not perfect, like how he gets lonely sometimes in little space but knows it has to be that way, and the risk of exposure and public shaming is always looming over his head, but he deals.

A series of hurdles in life, including long, hard shifts at the hospital and travelling to Edinburgh to see his dying mother (again, this depends on which version of his backstory I go with), make it increasingly hard to control and hide his little space, and he suddenly starts slipping involuntarily as a stress response. The longer he tries to suppress it, the more fiercely it wants to emerge.

At one point, hit butler, Mr Poole, finds out the truth about his master's little space, and though he's new to it, he eventually becomes little Harry's caregiver while he regresses. Still, Jekyll remains paranoid about this information leaking out further and gives Poole and all his household staff hefty pay raises to keep their mouths shut, threatening them with severe consequences if they tell so much as breathe a word to a mouse about their master acting like a child in his spare time.

Meanwhile, similar to canon, his increasingly erratic and furtive behaviour, as well as a few Freudian slips, tip his friends off to something being odd, and they want to find out what's troubling him, so Mr Utterson and Dr Lanyon, like in canon, do some sleuthing and put together that it's definitely something to do with Jekyll's childhood.

In the final act, the truth comes out when Jekyll breaks down and confesses. Contrary to his fears, his friends take it with compassion and understanding, albeit being surprised at first, and they all communicate healthily to help him feel more comfortable as both versions of himself as well as swearing up and down that they're not going to throw him into Bedlam, nor does he belong there. Still, they all agree to keep it to themselves, since Victorian society is Victorian society and not everyone is as decent and understanding as they are.

So there's the basic rundown of the story, now for other point about how Jekyll's age regression works, as well as how he would handle it in the canon era:

Jekyll typically regresses between the ages of 4 and 7, just old enough to be by himself for a few hours. He could probably regress even younger if he wanted to, but he doesn't want to risk it with no one to watch him.

Jekyll keeps his toys and other little items locked away, and they're either bought by him in secret or squirrelled away from his childhood bedroom. In both versions of the story, however, his favourite toy is a rag doll that he painstakingly stitched himself, which he made because he was lonely in his little space and wanted a friend to hug and keep him company. If this were set in the modern era, I'd give him a stuffed toy rabbit; however, teddy bears weren't invented until 1903, so a rag doll is the closest period-appropriate equivalent thereof.

Other toys include building blocks, toy soldiers, a model train set, and a music box, as well as some children's books and a couple of jigsaw puzzles.

Since children's clothes in that era weren't terribly different from adult clothes and don't look that much more comfortable (and even if they were significantly different, they wouldn't have made children's clothes in adult sizes back then anyway), little Harry spends a lot of his time in nightclothes since they'd at least be more comfortable for playing in.

Little Harry doesn't eat a lot, since he initially only regresses for a few hours at a time in the evenings and can't ask for or get food from the kitchen without risking revealing himself, but when he starts being taken care of by Mr Poole, he's fed a lot of sweet treats and warm milk with honey. Also, his favourite is marmalade, specifically Keiller's marmalade, which was a really famous Scottish marmalade from back in the day.

Certain things that can make Jekyll feel the pull of his little space, aside from stress, are smells, especially foods, that remind him of his childhood in Edinburgh - things like marmalade, treacle, porridge, shortbread, and kippers.

TL;DR

Concept: A retelling of "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" where Dr Jekyll hides his age regression as a coping mechanism. Age regression replaces Hyde, posing challenges during the canon era of 1885-1886.

Backstory Options:

Trauma-induced regression: Jekyll's parents' deaths lead him to discover regression during a visit to his childhood home.

Non-trauma regression: Jekyll discovers regression as a coping mechanism without a specific trigger.

Plot Points:

Jekyll regresses into "little Harry" voluntarily but struggles to hide it amidst life's challenges.

His butler, Mr Poole, discovers his regression and becomes his caregiver, while friends Mr Utterson and Dr Lanyon notice his odd behavior.

In the final act, Jekyll confesses, and his friends react with compassion, promising to keep his secret due to societal intolerance.

Details:

Jekyll typically regresses to ages 4-7 and keeps toys locked away.

His favourite toy is a rag doll, and other toys include building blocks and a music box.

He often wears nightclothes for comfort during regression.

Favourite foods like marmalade evoke vivid memories of his childhood in Edinburgh, triggering regression episodes.

[jayisroleplaying]

Roleplay Starter!

Plot: Roleswap idea for part III. Doc, believing retrieving the almanac would be too dangerous for Marty, has him drive the Delorean to avoid the risk. Yet, without Doc realizing it, the Delorean gets struck by lightning, sending Marty back to 1885. Doc eventually figures out where Marty got trapped by finding a gravestone, but, when he returns to that time, realizes that a decade had already passed.

Starter:

The loud bang caused Marty to flinch, and he recoiled further into his seat. His eyes squeezed shut, and he hugged himself from brief terror.

Then, it was silent. Reluctantly, Marty opened an eye, looking around him.

It was completely dark. The streetlights were gone, and instead the barren hills were lit up only slightly by the moon and stars. In the distance, there were a few, faint lights - but nothing like that of modern day Hill Valley. In fact, Marty suspected they weren't even streetlights.

Slowly opening his other eye as well, Marty went to the dashboard, and his eyes nearly boggled out of his head.

'Present time - Jan 01 1885 12:00 A.M.'

No, that couldn't be right. He had been in 1955 with Doc. They were about to go home. The timeline had been secured, and he was just about to go home!

He tapped the dashboard, and the lit up numbers and letters flickered. It glitched, the destination time stating another random date. Doc had mentioned that it was broken, and with the lightning...

-

Marty hadn't realized that, no matter his attempts, the Delorean wasn't going to be able to work properly. The date wouldn't set. He would begin to have hope of getting back, filling up Mr. Fusion and getting ready for departure, but one glitch on the destination time would be enough for him to question whether the risk was worth the reward. If it glitched, he could be stuck in an even worse time period. His panic was enough for him to quit for the day, only for circumstances to repeat themselves the next.

After around a year or two of trying whatever he could, even trying to repair the Delorean himself, Marty gave up. He figured he would just never get home. He was stuck there, permanently, and that was enough to sink him into a deep depression.

After that year of sulking, Marty instead tried to fit in - and only got wrangled into the wrong crowd. A band of outlaws, which he assumed would at least give him some sort of belonging, along with food to maybe survive there. But that also left him to his fate, and the only evidence Doc would have in 1955 of his existence. An old tombstone with a name only Marty would think of - Clint Eastwood, who passed in 1891 of a gunshot wound.

[triposzt]

The Dreadnoughts - Roll and Go (2022) / Green Willow (2023) double album review

For the first English post of this blog, why not make a review of my new favourite band's last two albums? It's a bit late, I know, I originally wanted to make one about "Roll and Go", but never got around to do it, so when I heard that a new album is coming out this year, I thought "hey, now is the time to combine the two reviews into one post!" And I'm still freakin' late with this again!

But anyway, let's start the story from the beginning.

At least a decade ago, the first two songs I've heard from The Dreadnoughts were "Sleep Is For The Weak" and "Randy-Dandy-Oh" - no idea whether I found them randomly or someone showed them to me, but I liked both… and then kinda forgot to listen to any of their other songs for a while 😄 Then, fast-forward to approximately early 2020, when at work I was browsing for music, listened to one of the previously mentioned two and through the "related songs" links, found "Gintlemen's Club" (unsurprisingly from the same 2011 album "Polka's Not Dead")…and BAM! Immediately I was like "This is awesome, why haven't I listened to them for ages? Let's discover more!" And I did… and that's why I was anticipating the 2022 spring release of the new album Roll and Go even more. Let's see how it turned out:

ROLL AND GO (release date: June 24, 2022)

1 - Cider Jar [7/10] Hold up, a booze-infused version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? That's ridiculously brilliant! 😃 Cider Jar serves as a short intro to the album and the closing "arr-oh-arr" just flows right on to the next track, which…

2 - Cider Holiday [7.5/10] …was the first track released from the album and in all honesty, did not hit me in the sweet spot back then, but has grown on me since. The prose-like bridge part gives it a unique flavour, and speaking of flavour, the song itself just makes me wanna drink cider or visit the West Country. Or both, preferably.

3 - The Rodney Rocket [8/10] You never know where artists can find an inspiration for a song. Sometimes, it might be a video about an old alcoholic Canadian fella having fun with some snowy extreme sports in Rodney, Ontario 😁 The Rodney Rocket is easy to sing (mostly due to its percussion-heavy background and the L-C-B-O chant in the chorus), plus the tempo changes well along with the story - the silly-sounding words in the lyrics (dickered, hullabaloo) and a callback to "Fire Marshal Willy" are just the icing on the cake. What's not to like?

4 - Problem [10/10] Second track to come out as a single and I instantly loved it. Somehow it's just perfect: the repeating "Problem" at the end of lines, occasionally replaced by various - and hilarious! - sound effects, both the beat and the inserted Polish lyrics obviously referencing Sleep Is For the Weak, the backstory of the song, it all just culminates in this masterpiece. The music video is weird enough, although it does not reach such heights, but anyway, who the fuck cares, we are here to listen to songs, not watch them. Problem?

5 - Brisbane Harbour [8.5/10] A worthy continuation of true sea shanties like "Whup! Jamboree" and "Eliza Lee", and one which surely makes any listener's fingers and feet tap to the rhythm.

6 - Battleford 1885 [8/10] The shortest "normal" track on the album, and its title was intriguing to me when I first saw it - turns out, music can be educational (duh), because Battleford 1885 sheds some light on a tragic event of indigenous people in Canada (here's the post about the background of the song). Oh, and the ascending drum in the background of the bridge is just… *chef's kiss*

7 - The Storm [9/10] Beautiful, just beautiful, equally eerie and empowering, with an instrumental break inspired by Greek bouzouki tunes. If the previous song was about the story of oppressed people rising up against their masters, then this one puts you right in those people's mindset. Well done. And I'll be forever grateful for the Substack post about The Storm for introducing Smokey Bastard's "Baba Yaga" to me, I fell in love at first listening.

8 - Vicki's Polka [7.5/10] Judging by the title only, I thought this was going to be the obligatory instrumental track, but then again, I might have been misled by "Clavdia's Waltz". Instead, Vicki's Polka is rather a love story spanning decades, featuring references to the band's 2010 hit "Polka Never Dies" and the popular folk song "Who Stole the Keeshka?". Assisted by some top folk musicians, the bounciness of this true polka track slows down only near the end, when it's time to say goodbye to the titular Vicki, sadly taken away by the Covid-19 pandemic. Goddamnit, 2020.

9 - Scrumpy-O [8/10] You've been listening to the songs of the album in order and you're missing the amount of alcohol in the lyrics for a while? Worry not, Scrumpy-O definitely has your back. Just grab some locally made and/or rough cider (that's what "scrumpy" means), learn the words to the chorus, and raise your bottle to the sky!

10 - Tuika [7/10] Now this is the instrumental track I thought Vicki's Polka was gonna be. The frequently changing speed of the song makes you imagine dancing arm-in-arm with someone at one moment, then jumping into a mosh pit at another. (P.s.: if anyone has an idea what the title means, let me know, I could only find a politician from American Samoa by this name.)

11 - Dusty Ground [9/10] One of my favourites from the album, a very well executed song. Listen to how the tempo decelerates almost into melancholy in the third verse and then turns back up for the last chorus, just fantastic. The lyrics… likewise. If I'm not mistaken, they are meant to convey the transience of life via a clever metaphor: the ever-thirsty ground, which swallows us up like water. Well, all right, I might have taken a peek at the origin story of the track ;)

12 - Bold Reilly [5.5/10] Honestly, out of the thirteen tracks, this is the song that resonated the least with me. I wouldn't say it's bad or anything, just… Too repetitive? Too slow? I don't know. Also, being "the worst song of a Dreadnoughts album" is still a pretty high level 😁 And it has a reference to Randy Dandy-Oh, nice!

13 - Roll and Go [8.5/10] For some reason, I classified the trio of The Storm, Dusty Ground, and this closing track as giving the same vibes - no idea why I feel the similarity, at the very least Dusty Ground is notably quicker. Anyway, all three songs are unique enough for me to love each of them. Roll and Go provides a fine closure to this wonderful album: the musical background resembles a marching band (here I am giving praise to the percussion section yet again 👏), the lyrics emanate the feeling of brotherhood, and the ending slowly fades with the promise of a "fine and lucky day". Amen to that!

Overall: this was easily the release of the year for me. Usually when I listen to an entire album for the first time, the tracks don't really have their own "identity" in the beginning, and the whole thing is just a raw, big mess. Not this time! A few tracks stood out instantly and I grew to love the rest even more. Roll and Go turning out to be that awesome, given the difficulties the band had to face while recording, just proves how talented these guys are. I'll be sure to mention this album when people ask me about my favourites. Verdict: 8.5/10

GREEN WILLOW (release date: March 14, 2023)

1 - We Shepherds are the Best of Men [8/10] A proper start to the album, with a great rhythm and an even better chorus. Apparently, it's an older folk piece, which has a few versions with different lyrics, but The Dreadnoughts are the first "modern" band to cover it. And oh boy, they did it well! (One small caveat though: the grammar nazi inside me is so bothered by the "We drinks our liquor freely and pays before we go" part every time 😅)

2 - Hej Sokoły (Zal za Ukraina) [9.5/10] I see two great reasons why this track was chosen as the initial single of the album. Firstly, this song is an absolute earworm. I mean, so dangerously addictive, it can be stuck in your head for a day! Secondly, it's dedicated to the people fighting for Ukraine, and whoever has listened to The Dreadnoughts' songs knows that Eastern Europe has a special place in their pool of inpsirations. Accordingly, Hey Sokoły covers a popular old Polish-Ukrainian folk song, and frankly, I just can't ever get enough of Polish lyrics in the band's songs - no wonder the band fell in love with the suggestion of this cover. Highlight: as the last verse slows down and then builds up into the energetic last chorus… goosebumps, goosebumps every time.

3 - Rigs of the Time [7/10] It's like a good worker who does not yearn for promotion but is never in danger of getting laid off - not necessarily oustanding in his field, but someone who is trustworthy and does his job well. It has a message and a great chorus. You need tracks like this on your album. (Ironically, the song is about dishonest tradesmen, but still, that's the metaphor I chose. Also, the whole "blaming the rising prices on the war" thing is too real nowadays.)

4 - Roll the Old Chariot Along [8.5/10] This song is apparently covered by a few artists, but I don't recall hearing it before I listened to the album - only since then, but for that, the almighty Algorithm might be the one to "blame". Anyway, I remember instantly liking it upon the first listening and my opinion remains unchanged: what a fantastic and catchy tune! "And we'll all hang on behind!" (P.s.: Lads, there's a missing verse - and some other confusion - of the lyrics on the Bandcamp page.)

5 - The Foggy Dew [7/10] A classic Irish ballad, full of historical references (one of which could even be meant as a hint to "The Bay of Suvla"), so far it was only familiar to me because Dropkick Murphys used it as the opening instrumental for their shows (The Chieftains version to be exact). The lack of repeated parts and intricate rhythm of the verses makes it very difficult to sing along, but nevertheless it's a beautiful rendition.

6 - Twankidillo [7.5/10] "Half of you are going to hate it, it’s fucking weird." That's the premise I've read before I even listened to the song… and I didn't even mention the strange title. 😄 *1st listening*: They were right, what the hell is this? *2nd listening*: Okay, it IS weird, but certainly catchy… *3rd listening*: "Here's to old coal, and to young coal and to no coal at aaaaaaaaallll!" Yep, it grows on you. It's another cover of a traditional folk song (like all tracks except one), and if you haven't noticed, the lyrics also contain a reference to the album name. Yay!

7 - Spanish Ladies [7/10] Sorry guys, I have absolutely been in love with Sarah Blasko's version of this song for years, and I don't think anything can change that. To be fair though, this cover is more sea shanty-esque, if you close your eyes, you can almost visualize the crew hauling ropes or heaving the capstan around.

8 - The Unquiet Grave [8/10] Upon seeing the tracklist, this was the title that stood out the most for me - and damn, it did not disappoint, especially storywise. This tale of love beyond the grave has been sung for centuries, I haven't heard it before, but I must say that The Dreadnoughts have really managed to capture the appropriate eerie vibe which surely gives you the chills. (Bonus funfact for anyone who's familiar with the band's discography: this track was first intended for the 2017 album "Foreign Skies".)

9 - Apple Tree Wassail [8.5/10] Don't believe Google Translate saying "wassail" is an Arabic word, this catchy track is actually a blessing ritual for apple trees in hope of a good crop to make cider from… although the mental image in my head is stuck halfway between an orchard and a mosh pit due to the song's fast pace. Hell, I hope at some point I'll have the chance to hear it live and jump around like a maniac. (Please come to Hungary!) (P.s.: The "Let every man drink up his glass" line is possibly a callback to "Spanish Ladies", am I right?)

10 - Roll Northumbria (Loud Version, sometimes called "Heavy Version") [7.5/10] Green Willow features nine covers of traditional folk pieces and a reboot of one of the band's earlier songs… yep, this closing track is the reboot one. What I said previously about Spanish Ladies, can be applied here as well - I like the original so much that no newer cover can surpass that, even if it's from the same band. Also, I think the original's slow and dark vibe is more fitting to the topic of the song, but if there's one place where the heavy/loud version could be used, it's concerts. The final drum beats provide a great ending to the album.

Overall: When I first listened to the entire album, I thought "maybe Roll and Go set the bar too high", although my reception of Green Willow has improved well since then, as it can be seen in the ratings. A shorter collection of tracks than its predecessor, but it has a bit of everything from patriotic through silly to haunting, while covering well-known and lesser-known folk songs. I know an album a year would probably be too much to ask, so I'll just patiently wait for some fresh stuff from The Dreadnoughts! Verdict: 8/10

Thanks for reading! 😊

[fardell24b]

1885 Map Game - 1891

1891

North America

Francopobia increases in the United States. In some parts of the country, anyone speaking French find themselves harassed.

There are protests against this in Louisiana (which is not one of those places).

Support for a State of Lincoln increases. Legislation for the establishment of a territory is introduced to Congress by the end of the year.

Dakota and Montana gain statehood.

Prosperity in parts of Mexico continue to increase.

South America

Brazil is recovering from the war.

Africa

American control over the former French colonies increases.

The British defeat the Mahdists.

Europe

Protests continue to escalate in Spain, especially in Madrid and Barcelona. Republican sentiment increases in various places, particularly Andalusia.

Crime increases in London, but nothing like ‘Jack the Ripper’ reoccurs.

Tensions continue to rise between the Neo Bonapartist France and Germany.

Boulanger doesn’t seek to become monarch as Napoleon did, but he still centralizes power in himself as much as the rule of law would allow.

Anarchists and suspected Anarchists are rounded up throughout Germany through the year.

In Vienna, the Habsburgs had taken a pragmatic view. They didn’t want a repeat of the last time a very popular figure had come to power in Paris.

In Rumelia, protests against Ottoman rule continue.

The Russian Civil War continues. Ukrainian, Polish, and Baltic rebels continue to be successful.

Asia

Japan having already occupied Sakhalin, invades the mainland.

Oceania

The six British colonies in Australia remain separate. (There isn’t as much discussion about Federation as in OTL.)

[alongstoriedpastdc]

Meditations on Fleeting Moments: The Deep and Layered History of the Cherry Trees

As the last vestiges of winter wane and time springs toward warmer days, the massive Cherry Blossom tree across my alley neighbor's yard bursts into a beautiful array of pink and cherry bright. It's that time again, as this past Thursday, the 20th, marks the official beginning of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in the District. Lasting from March 20 to April 12, the National Cherry Blossom Festival in the District is an annual event that "commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, DC, and celebrates the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan." The National Cherry Blossom Festival surmises these events to have started in 1912. While that is true, a sizeable number of individuals are responsible for forming what we celebrate annually on the Tidal Basin today. One of the best places to better understand the history of this relationship is through the National Park Service website, which highlights these events throughout the years- Starting in 1885 with one Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore—a travel writer and photographer whose articles appeared in numerous publications (magazines like Outlook, Century, Harper's Weekly, and World Today) throughout her journalistic career. One of her most prominent works was a series of articles on her expedition to Alaska, which were later collected into a novel called Alaska, Its Southern Coast and Stikan Archipelago. Her later trips to Asia, specifically Japan, greatly influenced her admiration of the country, its culture, and its Skaura trees. So much so that following her journey to the country, she petitioned the U.S. government- and "approached the U.S. Army Superintendent of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds with a proposal that Japanese cherry trees be planted one day along the reclaimed Potomac waterfront. Her request fell on deaf ears." Scidmore repeated this with every preceding Superintendent until her suggestion reached First Lady Helen Taft. The First Lady was familiar with the beauty of the trees, as she had also spent time in Japan. 

The story continues in my next blog post, as I'm making this a multi-part series in light of the ongoing Cherry Blossoms Festivities dotted all around DC (and most abundantly) downtown. 

Sources:

National Park Service (n.d.). History of Cherry Trees. NPS.gov. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/history-of-the-cherry-trees.htm

NCBF, Inc. (n.d.). About Us. National Cherry Blossom Festival. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/about-us/

Pink Cherry Blossom Jefferson Memorial Watercolor Painting Poster Print. http://www.kblossoms.com/store/p332/Pink_Cherry_Blossom_Jefferson_Memorial_Watercolor_Painting_Poster_Print.html

Pocock , J. (n.d.). Beyond the Cherry Trees: The Life and Times of Eliza Scidmore. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/beyond-the-cherry-trees-the-life-and-times-of-eliza-scidmore

(2023, November 27). Eliza Scidmore's Lasting Legacy. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/eliza-scidmore-in-glacier-bay.htm

[oliviapicariell0]

Book illustration

Illustration used is from marigold garden, a collection of children's poetry by Kate Greenaway, first published in 1885 and printed in colours by Edmund Evans.

Wood blocks, like those for Marigold Garden, serve as valuable historical artifacts, revealing insights into the production process.

The blocks provide a first-hand look at Edmund Evans’s methods, including how he layered and designed the blocks to create multi-coloured images.

Wood blocks endured significant pressure during printing, leading to cracks, as seen on the "green" block.

Cracks could be repaired by inserting new wood joints to extend the block’s life, allowing for repeated use.

Wood blocks were typically small due to the size of the wood available (young boxwood).

Making even small illustrations involved considerable labor and preparation, especially for a larger book.

The process:

Engraving involved using a sharp tool to cut relief images against the grain of a hard wood block.

Multiple blocks were used to print multi-coloured images.

Wood engraving blocks were often reused, worn down, or discarded after printing, making surviving blocks rare.

The block printing order for the illustration was from lightest to darkest: pink, yellow, orange, green, blue, and black (the key block for the line work).

Larger images required multiple blocks and coordinated efforts by multiple engravers.

[joannmathews]

Women and Adversity: Margaret E. Knight   ‘Woman Edison’ Inventor of Machines My second December repeat post is of Margaret “Mattie” Eloise Knight. She is quoted as saying, “I’m only sorry I couldn’t have had as good a chance as a boy.” Knight wasn’t like the average girl who played with dolls and wanted to be a wife and mother. Her world revolved around tools and machines. She was born in 1838 and at age 12, invented a safety device that prevented the shuttle from falling off a loom. She couldn’t patent her invention because she was too young to get a patent. Flat-bottom bags are part of our shopping experience and most of us, I’m sure, have never questioned how they were invented. Look back to Knight, who wanted to find a way to make bags easier to fold. In 1867, while working at The Columbia Paper Bag Company in Springfield, Massachusetts, she saw the machine had problems, so she invented a machine that cut, glued and folded a bag so its bottom was flat. There’s more to the story. She made a wooden model and asked machine shop worker Charles Annan to make an iron model of her design. He stole her design and had it patented. She filed a lawsuit against him and got the patent in 1871.  She and a partner then established the Eastern Paper Bag Company, acquired two more patents that made the production more efficient and then mass-produced paper bags. The machine is displayed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Among her other inventions: 1883 -  dress and skirt shield 1884 - clasp for robes 1885 - barbeque spit for cooking meats 1890 - shoe cutting machines 1894 – window frame and sash  Bio: Born February 14, 1838, in York, Maine When her father died, the family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire 1850 - Left school and began working 1867 – Moved to Springfield, Massachusetts and worked at Columbia Paper Bag Company 1880s-1890s – focused on inventing household items 2006 – Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame Knight never married. She died on October 12, 1914 at the age of 76. More information: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-lgR2EHUc biographies.framinghamhistory.org/margaret-e-knight www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/margaret-e-knight My ebooks are available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com: Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists    

Margaret E. Knight, Inventor (Boston Sunday Post, March 31, 1912, p. 4) Women and Adversity: Margaret E. Knight   ‘Woman Edison’ Inventor of Machines My second December repeat post is of Margaret “Mattie” Eloise Knight. She is quoted as saying, “I’m only sorry I couldn’t have had as good a chance as a boy.” Knight wasn’t like the average girl who played with dolls and wanted to be a wife and…

[chinatownstreetscape]

“Chinese Doctor - Pacific St., S.F.” c. 1870 (Photograph by Thomas Houseworth & Co. from the Marilyn Blaisdell Collection). At left, a man stands in front of a door over which a sign reads "Wa Kee. Cure All Diseases."

At the Junction of Medicinal and Devotional Practice

The image of a Chinese medicine practitioner’s office next to a temple represents one of the earliest images of a healthcare provider in the pre-1906 period of San Francisco’s Chinatown and an unusual juxtaposition of a temple with a healing artist. As such, it deserves a longer comment separate from my general discussion about old Chinatown's herbalists here.

By the time the city’s Official Map of Chinatown San Francisco was released in July 1885, neither a Chinese doctor nor a temple is shown as occupying any lot on Pacific Street between Stockton Street and Montgomery Avenue. Moreover, the Langley directory for San Francisco in 1868 appears to contain no listing for either a doctor “Wa Kee” who claimed to “cure all diseases” or the temple shown next door to the doctor’s small office.

As one reads the Chinese signage from left to right, the first sign (in Chinese characters read right to left in the old style) the name of a legendary Chinese physician of the late Eastern Han dynasty, 華佗先師 (canto: “Wah Tauh seen see”) or literally “Master Hua Tuo” can be discerned.*

Although a full discussion of Hua Tuo’s medical career and his subsequent deification are beyond the scope of this article, suffice to say that ancient Chinese, including pioneer Chinese Californians, came to venerate him as a shenyi (神醫, "divine physician"; canto: "sun yee") and worship him as a medicinal god or immortal in Taoist temples, including the one shown in the above photo. Hua Tuo also appeared in fiction, notably the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, wherein Hua Tuo heals the general Guan Yu from a poisoned arrow wound. The story, therefore, placed him in proximity to the also-deified general venerated by pioneer-geneation and today’s Chinese Americans as Guan Di.

The next sign reads 西山侯王 (canto: “Sai Sahn Hau Wong”; lit. "western mountain Hou Wang") or a Xishan Houwang- type of temple. Thus, the signage proclaims the dual purpose of the building as providing Chinese traditional medicine services as well as a place of worship.

Next, the long vertical signage to the left of the doorway of the small temple reads: 天寶物華 (canto: “tin1 bou2 muht wah”) or, referring to "heavenly or natural treasures is the essence of all things/items” (although temple scholars may provide a better translation). To the right of the open doorway the vertical sign reads 神靈地傑 (canto: “sun ling deih git,” referring to gods/deities/divinities and earthly heroes).*

"812 Chinese Joss House" c. 1874. Photograph by Thomas Houseworth & Co. from the collection of the California State Library).

The next two signs simply repeat the first two advertisements seen to the left of the temple entryway. Above the open door, however, one can discern the characters on the large horizontal sign as 西山侯王廟 (canto: “Sai Sahn Hau Wong Miu”) or a Xishan Houwang Temple. (According to quick web search by Wong Yuen-ming, the place name of “Xishan,” also known as Xipo Mountain, is located to the west of Guangzhou, in Guangdong province. The hill itself rises 10 to 20-meters and is surmounted by a platform. Now located in a residential area, the hill faces Liuhua Lake to the north, Renmin North Road to the east, City Children’s Palace to the west, and De Ni Road to the south.)

Studies of pre-1906 Chinatown have yet to disclose the existence of a Xishan Houwang-type temple on Pacific Street or anywhere else in the Chinese quarter of the city (aside from a Houwang temple contained within the headquarters of the Yeong Wo district association at 728 Sacramento Street).

"Scene in the Joss House," from the San Francisco Call newspaper of September 22, 1903. The image of Houwang (侯王) appears at left. This altar setup was installed in the Yeong Wo association building at 728 Sacramento Street.

One can infer from the Houseworth photograph that its occupant-custodian and herbalist believed that the co-location of his medical offices with such a temple conferred a competitive advantage. Patrons could both invoke the blessings of the patron saint of physicians Hua Tao and seek treatment from a presumed medical disciple, claiming boldly in his English language signage that “Wa Kee Cure All Diseases.”

[* Thanks to colleagues Wong Yuen-Ming for this research and Victor Wai Ho Lim for proofreading the Chinese characters.]

[updated: 2024-4-27]