fall apart & redefine | masterlist

┄ THE ORIGINAL.

when things are hard, namjoon falls back into old habits.

pairing idol!namjoon x f. reader. genre pwp, angst, smut, canon compliant. rating explicit. wordcount 3.5k. content warnings vague prior relationship, emotional hurt/comfort, a lot of talk about mental health, unhealthy coping mechanisms, identity crises, basically namjoon’s 220721 live happens and he booty calls his ex, when you’re selfish and a lil toxic and trying to be better but aren’t sure how, smut warnings: oral (m. receiving), some hand action, one very brief instance of dom!joon. posted october 8, 2022.

┄ TIMESTAMPS & DRABBLES

(please note: these are nonlinear and not written or listed in order. the original story takes place in late july, 2022. i will title them with timestamps as well as a date, but most will be vague, i.e. a month & year. these can serve as standalone stories, but obviously make the most sense in chronological order.)

before.

01. 2:27am - march 2017 (a) 02. 8:52pm - september 2016 (a) 03. 9:02pm - september 2019 (s) 04. 6:17pm - august 2018 (f) 05. coming soon.

after.

01. 11:44pm - october 2022 (a) 02. december 2022 (a) 03. coming soon. 04. coming soon. 05. coming soon.

[ ℹ ] key: a - angst, f - fluff, s - smut, c - crack/humor.

so here’s the thing. rebooting the original 1980s teen wolf film as a series worked because they weren’t trying to be the the 1980s film. the film was a silly comedy, the series was darker (both thematically and aesthetically and seriously the lighting needed serious work but i digress) and the only real connections was a teen called scott turning into a werewolf and his friend stiles, everything else about the show established it as an thing in its own right, unconnected to the film.

this teen wolf the movie as a follow up to the series didn’t work and that’s for a number of reasons.

1. it relies way to heavily on nostalgia, the amount of throw backs and hints to the series would have worked, been endearing even, if we weren’t in the age of streaming when people could go back and rewatch the series whenever the want, and if there had been a longer gap between the series and the film. season 6 ended in 2017, my first year of university, it is now 2023, i graduated in 2020. september 2017-january 2023 isn’t even 6 years, the show is still fresh for so many people, and so many people are still discovering the series that it makes the nostalgia grabs feel cheap

2. the nogitsune is an iconic teen wolf villain, season 3 is many peoples favourite season for a reason, and while a large part of that is because of dylan and his impeccable acting as void stiles, another huge part of that is the nogitsune itself, this film does not do the nogitsune justice in the slightest. it’s another nostalgia grab, the writers basically went ‘remember your favourite season and favourite villain? well we bought the villain back’ and it sucks. flip side of that, the heavy reliability on nostalgia requires fans to remember every single detail of the series to piece things together, i spent part of the film confused until i remembered something from the series and then everything made sense.

3. none of the characters seemed to mature, every single character was making mistakes they made as teenagers, and should have learnt from, while they are now in their 30s, it felt like character development wasn’t even something the writers considered and i was so annoyed

4. fan favourites were missing. sure we’ve known for a while that dylan, arden, daniel and cody weren’t returning, but stiles is the reason that so many people got into teen wolf, isaac was a fan favourite and his exit from the show, and everyone seemingly forgetting about him, was something that the fandom never excepted. kira had the fandom divided on opinions, but that was down to the writers, kira deserved a better ending, and arden deserved better than how she was treated (100% support her decision not to come back). theo again had people divided, but by the end a lot of people had warmed to him, i think having him back would have helped at least a little bit, his snark and overall attitude contrasted perfectly with the righteousness of so many of the characters

5. the writing sucked, i’m sorry but so many of the lines felt like they were written by middle ages writers for a gen z teen show and y’all know exactly what i mean by that. teen show dialogue is so uncomfortable for people in their teens and just out of their teens to hear because it’s so unrepresentative and this had the same feel. the plot also felt simultaneously rushed and also drawn out, which is a talent in its own right, but not a good one.

6. eli. listen, eli as a character is fine but his existence creates a multitude of plot holes. he’s been alive the same amount of time that allison has been dead, who is his mother? who was derek romantically involved with in season 2/3, they discuss eli as a young child, toddler age really, but it was never seen in the show, when exactly did derek find out about his son, when did this happen?

7. stydia. 6 seasons it took for them to develop stydia. 6b was weird enough with lydia being more excited over seeing jackson than her own boyfriend and then the film we find out they broke up over a potential premonition. i get that dylan not coming back probably changed things, but to have a 6 season long slow burn to end like that, it’s disappointing and honestly lazy writing.

8. bringing characters back from the dead, at this point it’s boring. teen wolf had already done that in the series, if you’re a fan of supernatural you saw it happen basically every season. bringing dead characters back to life no longer has the affect it once had on audiences

9. derek’s death. listen, the idea of derek dying isn’t a bad plot device, and at this point not enough main or key characters have died when you think about how high stakes the plot was, however the way it was done annoyed me. having him die the same way his family did, and having is son watch it happen, it was unnecessary trauma porn.

10. off the back of point 9, the allusion to sterek with the jeep analogy. i’m a sterek shipper, always been a fan of that pairing (also a stydia shipper so frankly either way the plot went i would have been happy but no one ends happily here so fuck your jeff) it’s become a thing with long running shows that have a popular queer ship among fans to allude to a one sided love in the finale/film special and then kill the character with the one sided love. this sucks on multiple levels. it’s the worst kind of fan service, if you’re going to give me queer characters then give them to me openly, i don’t want allusions or subtext, it also plays off as writers and producers realising they weren’t inclusive enough and trying to remedy it in the worst possible way.

11. allison. listen, we love allison, she’s great. she didn’t need to be resurrected but we move on. my biggest issue is, she died when she was 17, she was then resurrected 15 years later, surely that suggests that she is still 17 while everyone around her has aged by 15 years, to then bring back scallison made me slightly uncomfortable (might just be me though)

12. harris. not only do they bring someone back from the dead. but it’s a basically forgettable character, he was only around for a few episodes and it’s frustrating that there’s zero explanation as to how he’s alive, nor is there any reason for his knowledge of the nogitsune, let alone his desire to release him despite some flimsy revenge plot

13. hikari. i get that with bringing back the nogitsune they felt that they needed a kitsune and with arden (rightfully) not coming back they needed a new kitsune, but they ruined her character basically immediately. there wasn’t time in a film to introduce or get to know her, she was a plot device necessary only for the fact they were bringing the nogitsune back, and keeping scott alive.

14. continuity? season 6 ended with the pack basically running for their lives as the existence of supernatural creatures became widely known and helping other supernatural creatures find safety. the film didn’t address that, the film made out that the existence of supernatural creatures was once again not widely known. what happened in that time? the continuity issues led to so many plot holes it’ll take multiple rewatches for me to find them all and i am not putting myself through that again.

basically this film was unnecessary, it was a badly executed cash grab banking on nostalgia to bring people back. i’m a firm believer that when it’s time you should let things go, teen wolf should have ended with 6a, 6b was the worst instalment in the series and then less than 6 years later they followed with an even worse film. it honestly felt like fanfiction and not in a good way, but what’s worse is it worked, teen wolf fans (including myself) tuned in, sure mine was from morbid curiosity but i am now still a viewer, sure reviews are bad and fans are annoyed, but they’re getting views and in the entertainment industry that’s all that matters.

anyway, can streaming services and hollywood stop remaking/rebooting/making follow ups and sequels stop. so few are done well, and frankly it’s unnecessary.

Eleanor Marie Bolden: A Timeline

trigger(s): kidnapping mention towards end

January 13, 1995 (Albany, New York): Born with the name Emily Moore to Stephanie Moore, a 16-year-old high school cheerleader.

January 17, 1995 (Albany, New York): Sent to live with the Britton Family.

June 12, 2000 (Albany, New York): Attends her first ballet class.

October 4, 2002 (Rochester, New York): Sent to live with the Wortham Family.

December 25, 2002 (Rochester, New York): Completes her first original fairy tale written exclusively in green crayon.

May 12, 2004 (Buffalo, New York): Sent to live with the Dixon Family.

August 28, 2004 (Albany, New York): Sent to live with the Barker Family.

January 13, 2006 (Albany, New York): Receives a camera for her birthday and develops an interest in photography.

March 11, 2006 (Albany, New York): Enters a short story into her school's writing contest, wins first place (the prize money of $100 soon turns up missing from her piggy bank).

June 1, 2006 (Syracuse, New York): Sent to live with the Hughes Family.

November 25, 2007 (New Rochelle, New York): Sent to live with the Bolden Family.

January 13, 2009 (New Rochelle, New York): Adopted by Dennis and Mary Bolden, legally changes name to Eleanor Marie Bolden (her choice, after Elinor Dashwood from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Marie Antoinette).

August 19, 2013 (New York, New York): Begins classes at Columbia university.

February 6, 2015 (Worldwide): "A Season of Secrets", novella by Eleanor Bolden is published.

May 13, 2017 (New York, New York): Graduates with Bachelors in English Language and Literature

January 26, 2019 (New York, New York): Meets Lillian "Lily" Murphy.

April 19, 2019 (Worldwide): "The Lost Art of Being Yourself", novella by Eleanor Bolden is published.

July 4, 2019 (New York, New York): Becomes the girlfriend of Lily Murphy.

May 16, 2020 (New York, New York): Graduates with Masters in English Language and Literature.

September 4, 2021 (Portland, Maine): Moves in with Lily Murphy.

June 12, 2023 (Portland, Maine): Lily Murphy is kidnapped.

July 15, 2023 (Wicked's Rest, Maine): Moves to Wicked's Rest alone.

It's Not That Fashion Doesn't Know How To Uplift Black Workers – It Simply Doesn't Want To.

(DISCLAIMER: This article was originally published 6/18/20 on Medium.com, prior to the creation of venustadt.com. As such, my opinions may or may not have altered since the text below was originally written. This article has been re-published here to track my growth as a writer.)

Beyoncé’s September 2018 Vogue cover was an incredible moment in fashion. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour gave Beyoncé full creative control, which the singer leveraged to hire Tyler Mitchell, the first black photographer to shoot a Vogue cover. 

This moment was particularly important to former Vogue creative director and editor-at-large André  Leon Talley. To him, the Beyoncé shoot was full of symbolism, inspired by the “unnamed armies” of hardworking black women in the South. 

Talley’s piece about the cover was published in The Washington Post. Though it was sent to various editors at Condé  Nast, none of them, including Wintour, responded.  

“Editors I’ve worked with for decades didn’t understand the immense importance of this occasion simply because they are not capable of understanding,” Talley writes in “The Chiffon Trenches,” a memoir detailing his experiences as a black man in the fashion industry. 

“None of my contemporaries have seen the world through black eyes,” he continued. 

The fashion industry was called to action as consumers pushed brands to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Valentino, Nike, Savage x Fenty and other companies have made social media statements and donations to various organizations. Meanwhile, publications like Dazed and Harper’s Bazaar are linking petitions and sharing information on how to contribute to the movement. 

Still, many people are not impressed by corporations’ bare-bone displays of solidarity. 

Some companies have been criticized for hypocrisy regarding their toxic, racist workplace cultures. Retailer Anthropologie, who posted a Maya Angelou quote and participated in Instagram’s #BlackoutTuesday, has been accused of training employees to use code names for black customers. Sustainable brand Reformation’s founder Yael Aflalo stepped down after workers revealed they were segregated in stores, with black and other employees of color working in stockrooms with no AC as white employees worked the sales floor, among other things. And fast-fashion brand Dolls Kill, which has been criticized for racial insensitivity in the past, drew outrage when its founder Shaudi “Shoddy” Lynn posted a picture of police near the brand’s storefront during a protest: “Direct Action in its glory.” 

Fashion publications haven’t escaped criticism either. Stephen Gan, editor-in-chief of V Magazine and creative director of Elle, has been accused of racism and misogyny by employees and has recently stepped down from his position at Elle. 

Vogue has faced criticism in the past for its handling of race, such as in the case of the infamous April 2008 LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen cover or the allegedly “diverse” March 2017 shoot. 

Anna Wintour recently penned a company email in which she sorrowfully expressed that Vogue had not “found enough ways to elevate and give space to” Black creatives. 

“It can’t be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you,” Wintour wrote. “I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will — and please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward.”

Former employees Zara Rahim and Shelby Ivey Christie took to Twitter to discuss their experiences at the company. 

Rahim stated that as communications director, Vogue paid her $50,000 less than the woman who had filled her position previously — a white woman. 

“There are people who hold these keys and have held them for decades,” Rahim stated. “They know what they are doing, fire them.” 

Christie called working for Vogue the “most challenging and miserable time” of her career. She also noted how overqualified the black employees were, while white employees relied on connections. 

“My white counterparts had no prior relevant experiences, just nepotism,” she tweeted. “Black employees were overqualified and underpaid.” 

Talley also responded to Wintour’s apology during a discussion with Sandra Bernhard on SiriusXM’s Sandyland. 

“The statement came out of a place of white privilege,” he said. “Dame Anna Wintour is a colonial board. She’s a colonial dame.” 

In his memoir, Talley, who was at one point the most important black man in fashion journalism, revealed that he received only $500 per episode of Vogue’s podcast toward the end of his tenure with the publication. After unexpectedly being replaced by YouTuber Liza Koshy on the 2018 Met Gala red carpet, he left Vogue altogether.

“I am not sure Anna ever really wanted me to become something larger than the role she perceived for me,” he writes. “She compartmentalized me as someone who served her as trusted expert….”

A petition calling for Wintour’s resignation has been circulating high fashion twitter, despite Condé  Nast chief executive Roger Lynch’s insistence that she is “not going anywhere.”  Meanwhile, black creators have come together to start the #VogueChallenge to challenge Wintour’s inaction and showcase black talent. 

The problem with apologies like Wintour’s email and social media statements from companies like Reformation, as well as sudden compilations for black creators appearing on media websites, is that they come across as an insincere way to save face during a time of public crisis. 

Wintour’s email comes as Condé Nast deals with internal racism scandals. Bon Appétit editor Adam Rapaport resigned June 8 after a picture of him in brownface came to light. Also, the magazine’s editors of color allegedly did not receive payment for video appearances as their white counterparts did. 

Wintour frequently has been dubbed the most powerful woman in the media and fashion worlds. She’s been editor-in-chief of “fashion bible” Vogue since 1988 and became artistic director of Condé Nast in 2013. Three decades is more than enough time to feature black creators. After all, if Vogue and other companies can acknowledge their mistakes and showcase black talent now, why couldn’t they before? 

It’s far too late for apologies. The fact that it took the violent deaths of multiple black people for the fashion industry to realize that non-white workers should be treated fairly is atrocious. 

If fashion truly wants to take a stand against racism and support its black employees and consumers, companies and publications cannot simply post a black square and a ubiquitous message about solidarity. What black people need is real, noticeable change, as well as access to opportunities that are readily given to their white peers. 

Show Notes: Just Above Midtown

This episode focuses on the Just Above Midtown gallery run by Linda Goode Bryant from 1974-1986, as well as the accompanying Changing Spaces exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art from October 9, 2022 to February 18, 2023.

Written, produced, and edited by Eddie Yoffee. Special thanks to Grace Jackson.

Bibliography for this Episode:

Booker, Eric, et al. Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces. Edited by Linda Goode-Bryant et al., Museum of Modern Art, 2022.

Buhe, Elizabeth. “Just above Midtown: Changing Spaces.” Studio International: Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, 25 Oct. 2022, https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/just-above-midtown-changing-spaces-review-museum-modern-art-new-york. 

Cotter, Holland. “Jam, a Gate-Crashing Gallery, Expanded the Idea of Blackness.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Oct. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/arts/design/just-above-midtown-gallery-exhibit-moma-art.html. 

D’Souza, Aruna. “Senga Nengudi.” 4Columns, 14 Apr. 2023, https://4columns.org/d-souza-aruna/senga-nengudi. 

Harting, Florence. “Nearly 50 Years Later, a Pioneering Gallery for Artists of Color Finally Gets Its Due.” Cultured Magazine, 19 Sept. 2022, https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2022/09/19/gallery-black-artists-exhibition. 

“Just above Midtown: Changing Spaces: MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5078. 

Mooallem, Stephen. “Linda Goode Bryant's Art Revolution.” Harper's BAZAAR, 15 Sept. 2022, https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a40823603/0164-0288-seeds-of-imagination-september-2022/. 

Pinckney, Darryl. “Just above Midtown.” 4Columns, 13 Jan. 2023, https://www.4columns.org/pinckney-darryl/just-above-midtown. 

Project EATS, 2023, https://projecteats.org/. 

Tavangar, Anisa. “The Big Review: Just above Midtown at the Museum of Modern Art ★★★★★.” The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events, 4 Nov. 2022, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/04/the-big-review-just-above-midtown. 

Additional Sources:

Cahan, Susan, et al. Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. Edited by Mark Godfrey and Whitley Zoé, Tate Publishing, 2017.

Choi, Connie H, et al. We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85: A Sourcebook. Edited by Catherine Morris and Rujeko Hockley, Brooklyn Museum, 2017.

D'Souza, Aruna, et al. We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85, New Perspectives. Edited by Catherine Morris and Rujeko Hockley, Brooklyn Museum, 2018.

D'Souza, Aruna, et al. Whitewalling: Art, Race & Protest in 3 Acts. Badlands Unlimited, 2018.

English, Darby. 1971: A Year in the Life of Color. University of Chicago Press, 2016.

Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta, editor. How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective. Haymarket Books, 2017.

Whitley Zoé, and Marion Perkins. The Soul of a Nation Reader: Writings by and About Black American Artists, 1960-1980. Edited by Mark Godfrey and Allie Biswas, Gregory R. Miller, 2021.

Podcast transcript available below.

“I can just picture myself going up in the elevator and into this very small gallery. It had a lot of power, of course—this true New York energy… We all felt like we were a part of something, that we were seriously part of some significant leap forward with art, with theory.” — Senga Nengudi, artist.

Hello, and welcome to In, Not Of, a podcast dedicated to providing short histories of alternative art spaces for Black and Indigenous creatives. Today’s episode focuses on the Just Above Midtown gallery and the recent Changing Spaces exhibition produced by the Museum of Modern Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Linda Goode Bryant, the visionary behind Just Above Midtown, or JAM, is actually the source of the title of this project, In, Not Of. When JAM was founded, Goode Bryant described it as being intentionally “in, not of the art world.” The gallery was originally located, as the name suggests, just above midtown, only a little ways away from Manhattan’s commercial gallery district. In 1974, when Goode Bryant opened the gallery, the art scene was primarily white and offered few opportunities for artists who fell outside of the norm. Goode Bryant wanted to provide a space for artists of color to experiment and exhibit their work, and that space became the gallery and laboratory we are discussing today.

JAM faced a number of challenges and obstacles from the very beginning. Beyond the general sentiments of the art world at the time, within the Black community there was a strong divide between representational and non-representational artists. This division rose to prominence in the 1960s alongside the question, “what is Black art”? What followed was a debate about defining a Black aesthetic, and the responsibilities of Black artists to their communities. Some people believed that art needed to provide recognizable messages of a political and culturally-specific nature, which abstract art, in their minds, invariably failed to do. Others were more interested in abstraction and tended to define Black art simply as art made by Black people. The debate existed across coasts, with no sense of national unity. Goode Bryant was interested in providing opportunities to artists from all over the country, regardless of the inevitable butting of heads that would result from that decision.

An early instance of backlash occurred at a solo show for David Hammons in May of 1975. Hammons was already somewhat established in California, where he had begun making a series of “Body Prints,” in which he covered his skin, clothes, and other materials in various forms of grease, made outlines on large white sheets of paper by pressing himself into them, and then covered the grease in powdered pigments. This work is what initially caught Linda Goode Bryant’s eye for JAM, but Hammons had a different display in mind at the gallery. He created sculptures out of non-traditional materials such as greasy paper bags, barbecue bones, and clippings of hair he’d gotten from barber shops. On opening night, there was so much outrage that Bryant took the opportunity to stage an impromptu debate about what kind of materials were acceptable to use in one’s art, finally bringing the audience to the conclusion that, while different from his previous work, the Hammons show still had merit. And since many people, Goode Bryant herself included, were still interested in that previous work, another opportunity presented itself: JAM hosted a print-in workshop in which visitors to the gallery were able to make their own body prints alongside Hammons.

Outside of traditional art shows, JAM’s programming included many types of workshops and other forms of community engagement. One of Goode Bryant’s initial concerns was establishing an infrastructure for Black collectors to engage with artists in order to bolster the community and provide support for the art that was being made. It became clear to her that selling art was about relationships, and so JAM needed to bring people together—this led to the establishment of the Brunch with JAM program, which was a series of lunch-time talks by members of the art world from curators to historians to critics. JAM provided cheap, homemade meals to accompany the series.

In 1980, Just Above Midtown moved from its Fifty-Seventh Street location to a warehouse in Tribeca, providing the gallery with significantly more space than before, which Goode Bryant intended to make full use of. From its very beginning, JAM was a place where Black artists could display their work, not in isolation but alongside their white counterparts. Goode Bryant was looking to explore this concept more, in order to let audiences decide for themselves if there was a real difference in the quality of the works. Of course, the choice to move to Tribeca was not just about including more white artists, but also about bringing the gallery further downtown in order to interact with other experimental artists, and now that they had more space they could also explore various modes of performance art and media that were previously inaccessible.

However, complaints from neighbors about late night events led to JAM having to relocate once again, this time to SoHo in 1984. This was to be the final iteration of Just Above Midtown. At the beginning of this episode, I referred to JAM as not only a gallery, but a laboratory. Goode Bryant herself described the project that way, and one of her goals for the new location was to provide a space for artists to work without the pressures or responsibilities of exhibiting and selling works in a commercial setting. Alongside that conceit, Goode Bryant also wanted to offer opportunities for the incorporation of new technologies in film and sound. As Kellie Jones writes, by the time JAM made its final relocation, “the curatorial process was no longer memorialized in objects but contained in living possibilities that held out ‘an alternative or corrective to the failures of mainstream institutions and ideologies.’”

The original intentions of JAM had evolved and shifted over the years, moving away from involving the Black community in standard consumerist art practices and instead towards a reshaping of the art world’s entire infrastructure. On this level, and on a more practical financial level, Just Above Midtown was not designed to be a permanent space—in many ways, this was a known impossibility, particularly because much of the project was financed with credit card debt that Goode Bryant herself incurred. By 1986, JAM had gotten into hot water with multiple landlords and the IRS, and it was no longer tenable to maintain the space. JAM closed its doors in SoHo in August, but several interdisciplinary projects continued around New York with the support of the staff up until 1989.

Though JAM no longer exists, many of the artists involved in its programming continue to make work today, making use of the creative and professional connections that were forged. Goode Bryant has pursued a number of projects across a variety of media, including her 2003 documentary project, Flag Wars, which explores conflicts around gentrification in a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio.

More recently, Goode Bryant is the visionary force behind Project EATS, which she founded in 2009. The project has established several neighborhood-based farms in New York, which provide places for community programming, food pantries, farm stands, and even, in one location, prepared food. Alongside the farm sites, Project EATS runs the Art Inside/Out program, which is a series of artist commissions that aims to bring art outside of the museum and into local communities. The program works with several artists who exhibited at JAM, incorporating their art into installations at their farms and creating a spiritual successor to the boundary-pushing work of Just Above Midtown.

Senga Nengudi reflected back on her time at JAM, saying: “It’s sort of like when you throw a rock into a pond and it ripples outward in concentric circles, that’s how JAM was. It just kept expanding from the center, which was Linda. It kept expanding and getting larger and more beautiful.”

The most recent iteration of Just Above Midtown occurred earlier this year in the form of the Changing Spaces exhibition which ran from October 9, 2022, to February 18, 2023 at the Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition was a collaboration between MoMA and the Studio Museum in Harlem, whose current Director and Chief Curator, Thelma Golden, alongside many others, put together a beautiful tribute and re-imagining of the gallery.

Representing JAM at MoMA was certainly a challenge, but one that the organizers successfully met. Reviews of the exhibition were overwhelmingly positive, with visitors remarking on how well curators were able to lay out the different eras of JAM and represent the vast variety of visual art, performances, and collaborations that occurred thanks to the art workers involved with the gallery. Goode Bryant’s record-keeping proved to be essential to the exhibition, as a wall of receipts and messages demonstrated the financial difficulties that faced JAM throughout the gallery’s existence, making clear to audiences the individual work and mutual aid that went into keeping JAM afloat.

The presentation of Just Above Midtown at the Museum of Modern Art was successful not only because of the support the exhibition received, but because so many of the people who were involved with JAM and Goode Bryant are still invested in the cause: MoMA’s exhibition therefore is a celebration of the foundational work Goode Bryant and so many others did in order to make space for artists of color within the art world. While there are obviously still many obstacles facing Black artists today, the Changing Spaces exhibition provides hope by showing that though JAM’s doors may be long closed, the spirit of the gallery lives on.

The information from this episode comes in large part from the exhibition catalog for Changing Spaces, as well as the Museum of Modern Art’s digital record. These sources and accompanying images can be found linked on the podcast’s page.

This has been In, Not Of. Thank you for listening.

FlyersRights Encounters A Setback With Most Recent US Court Of Appeals Decision

By Stephan Yegorov, Chapman University Class of 2023

March 12, 2023

FlyersRights is a nonprofit company based in the United States that advocates for the rights of airline passengers. [2] As a part of their mission to protect airline passengers, on January 19, 2022, they sued the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) via mandamus petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. They claimed that the court should mandate the FAA to comply with the seat requirements deadline imposed by Congress in 2018 by setting a new deadline since the FAA is three years past the original. [3] In 2018 Congress passed a bipartisan bill that gave the FAA until 2019 to create commercial airline seat dimension regulations that ensured passenger safety. [4] This bill came as a result of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General report elucidating the problems with FAA evacuation policies due to a refusal of the FAA to address seat size.

 On September 12, 2022, they presented their case to a three-judge panel. FlyersRight alleges that the FAA is required to adhere to Section 577 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act, which is part of the bill mentioned above. They respond to the FAA’s claims that the deadline is optional by stating that Congress’ issuance of this bill exhibits Congress’ and the public’s concern about passenger safety due to a lack of seat size regulations.  They bolster their claim with data indicating that passengers have gotten bigger while airline seats have gotten smaller. Furthermore, they argue that the FAA’s claims that seat size has no impact on passenger safety during emergency evacuations are ungrounded. Instead, they contend that smaller seat sizes result in slower evacuations and medical issues like blood clots. To support this, they cite the D.C. Circuit court faulting the FAA for using undisclosed data for its conclusions in 2017. And the 2021 DOT Inspector General report that reveals the FAA falsely claimed the testing of shrunken seats by airplane manufacturers when only one test contained shrunken seats. [5] 

They believe that without the court's intervention, the FAA will continue to dismiss the deadline. From FlyersRights’ perspective, this endangers the public’s safety since passengers will continue to fly even with a lack of FAA regulations. [6] 

Despite what FlyersRights believed was a compelling case, on March 3, 2023, the court ruled in favor of the FAA by denying the petition for a writ of mandamus. The opinion of the court was written and filed by Judge Walker. Using the precedent in In re Cheney 2005, a writ of mandamus requires the petitioner to illustrate “a clear and indisputable right to relief.” FlyersRights relies upon Section 577 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act to do this, and this is where the court found an issue. This section relies upon two criteria to be satisfied to require the FAA to pass regulations: 1) establish regulations and 2) regulations that are necessary for passenger safety. The court explains that through this interpretation FlyersRights must prove that “any seat-size regulations are necessary for passenger safety.”. The court concedes that FlyersRights attempts to do that; however, they do not do so in a manner that is “clear and indisputable”. 

The court then establishes the lack of meeting this criteria in both FlyersRights’ claims. Starting with the claim that seat sizes have an impact on evacuation times. The court reasons that the FAA is not refusing to acknowledge evidence of this, but FlyersRight has not presented any. Moreover, they cite the FAA's evidence against the claim. The 300 real-world exits that the FAA has analyzed illustrate that the time it takes to get out of a seat is less than the time to open the emergency doors and the subsequent clearing of the line in the aisle. The varying sizes of seats amongst the 300 cases had a marginal impact on this difference in time. 

In addressing the second claim about the connection between seat sizes and blood clots, the court follows similar reasoning to that above. FlyersRights has not provided conclusive evidence of this correlation. The court then goes on to disprove this statement based on current evidence. They cite Flyers Rights Education Fund Inc. v. FAA (2017), where the FAA proved that blood clots on flights are rare and seat sizes do not impact their occurrence. The court defines the soreness and stiffness resulting from small seats as commonplace, temporary, and non-life-threatening discomforts.” By this definition, they establish that airline seats are uncomfortably small, but that does not make them dangerously small. Moreover, they evidence consumers’ right to purchase greater legroom and seat sizes to combat uncomfortably small seats. [7]

Even though the court did not find FlyersRights’ claim for a writ of mandamus sufficient, all hope is not lost for FlyersRights. The court concluded its reasoning with the qualification “evidence might one day show that seat-size regulations are necessary for the safety of passengers.” [7] This qualification is essential for FlyersRights. It means that they may pursue their case against the FAA in the future if they can provide evidence that meets the criteria set by the court. While the FAA currently does not have to provide seat size regulations, this is not definitive of the future. Only time will tell whether or not the FAA will eventually meet the Congress-imposed deadline of 2019. 

______________________________________________________________

Stephan Yegorov is a Chapman University student graduating in the fall of 2023. He is pursuing a Business Administration major and Law and Liberal Arts minor with plans to attend law school in 2024.

______________________________________________________________

[1]Stoller, Gary. “Consumer Group Demands FAA Act on Seat Comfort, Safety.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 17 Oct. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/garystoller/2022/10/15/consumer-group- demands-faa-act-on-seat-comfort-safety/?sh=6aec3da36336.

[2]FlyersRights.org. “Flyersrights.org.” FlyersRights.org, https://flyersrights.org/.

[3]FlyersRights.org. “FlyersRights Sues FAA for Failure to Establish Minimum...” FlyersRights.org, https://flyersrights.org/press-releases/f/flyersrights-sues-faa-for-failure-to-establish-minimum.

[4]Silk, Robert. “Congress Mandates Airline SEAT Regulation in FAA Bill.” Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly, 24 Sept. 2018, https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/-Congress-mandates-airline-seat-regulation-in-FAA-bill.

[5]FlyersRights.org. “FlyersRights Argues 'Minimum Seat Size' in Federal Appeals Court.” FlyersRights.org, https://flyersrights.org/f/flyersrights-argues-minimum-seat-size-in-federal-appeals-court.

[6]Habeshian, Sareen. “U.S. Appeals Court Hears Argument on Airline Seat Size Rules.” Axios, 13 Sept. 2022, https://www.axios.com/2022/09/13/airplane-seat-size-rules-challenge-appeals-court.

[7]United States Court of Appeals for The District of Columbia. IN RE: FLYERS RIGHTS EDUCATION FUND, INC., DOING BUSINESS AS FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG AND PAUL HUDSON, PETITIONERS. 3 Mar. 2023.

Chapter IV: Samuel, the Bridgewater yeoman

This is the 6th in a series of articles which serializes my family history, which I wrote in November 2017, titled "From Samuel to Cyrus: A fresh look at the History of the Packard Family." Below is the 4th chapter of that history. NOTE: Samuel's wealth was re-analyzed and re-assessed in a post on September 26, 2022.

In 1913, within the Mayflower Descendant, George Ernest Bowman highlighted deeds by Samuel’s wife, Elizabeth, and abstracted Samuel’s will with all of its specifics. [49] Even with this, none of those who have reprinted the last will and testament of Samuel, including the varied genealogists who have written about the Packard family in the past, have actually analyzed this document. Using the citations provided by some genealogists, I was able to locate the last will and testament of Samuel Packard, which consists of three pages, two of consist of his will, and the last page outlining his inventory which is very hard to decipher. As Dale Cook notes, in the comments below, I located "the copy of that will in the Plymouth Colony records. The original holographic will is long lost, and it is apparent to the experienced researcher that the copy in the Colony records may contain at least one error." While that is valid, I still contend that one can learn genealogical information about the Packard family from these three pages, confirming the long-held determinations by researchers of the Packard family. While no birth dates or ages are listed in the document, it tells who Samuel Packard was as a man in Bridgewater (where his ancestors would still be living in 1848), within England’s Plymouth Colony, which would later become Massachusetts, and his family.

By 1684, Samuel Packard, called “Samuell Packer” in his last will and testament, had been living in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, for 22 years, if the town clerk, John Cary, is right. Other genealogists claim that he lived in Hingham and Weymouth before arriving in Bridgewater, as noted in previous chapters. He had reportedly been a Constable, Surveyor of Highways, and Collector of Minister's Rates over the years. Within his will, he was described as a “yeoman.” [50] This term has many meanings. Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines it as person in a social class below the gentry, who owns and cultivates a “relatively small tract of land.” While some of those in this class, possibly including Samuel, wanted to become part of the gentry since they considered themselves in a sort of “middle class” position, in reality they were diametrically opposed (in terms of class position) to the gentry of early New England and in other parts of British America. [51] Hence, Samuel was like many other settlers who were yeomen (or claimed to be) who came with their wives and children to New England to start a “new life” free from the pressures they had faced in “old” England.

Before moving onto the genealogical information delineated in his will, specifics of his life can be determined just by looking at his inventory. [52] Currently one tortured transcription of his inventory, by Brian Lightfoot, is available online. Using this in conjunction with analysis of this record, one can visualize his life. On November 11, Samuel’s inventory was proven in a local court in Plymouth. [53] This consisted of his personal property, not his real (or immovable) property as manifested in his land holdings, of 133 pounds, 6 shillings, and 6 pence. This would be worth £19,210.00 or about $31,300 in US dollars in the present-day.

Samuel’s personal property tells about his agricultural lifestyle. His most highly valued, monetarily, possessions are his four cows, three steers, three young cattle, one horse (with harness and rope for a cart), and “Indian corne” a type of maize which is more freeze-resistant than other planted vegetables. It is also called flint corn or calico corn, with its original name coming from the fact that indigenous people began planting it in New England and elsewhere going back to as far as 1000 B.C.E., especially among those in the Mississippi river region. These possessions consisted almost 1/5 of his personal property value! [54] Additionally, Samuel held, on hand, apart from his one pound of debt, 58 pounds, 15 shillings, in bills and other money, about 44.4 percent of his personal property value. [55]

While his farm animals, crops, and money on hand constituted more than 63% of his property’s value, looking at these values alone does not completely tell about his life. Clearly, these and other possessions show he was a small-scale farmer, selling yarn and sheep’s wool. He also tilled the land, likely with help of his immediate (and extended) family, planting corn, rye, and barley (some of which was “malted”), using his two “plow shares” and old “plow shares” sending it to market in the cart(s) described in numerous places within the inventory. He also had, within his possession, cedar logs, cedar “clabords” (possibly referring to cedar clapboard siding), and a tinning and dripping pan and tunnel. This could possibly imply that Samuel (and anyone who worked on the farm) used the wood to either improve the “dwelling house” and the tinning materials to store food if “tinning” is used in the inventory to mean the preserving foodstuffs in tins or canning. Additionally, leather, from the cows he owned, ground corn (or other grains) using the grindstone/millstone and crank, honey from the bee hive, and cider in a barrel (likely for drinking since water was not purified at the time) was also sold to nearby towns or perhaps just in Bridgewater itself. Considering that there are two whip saws, hooks, a hide for a steer, lumber, a broad ax, and narrow ax, it is likely that sawed lumber was sold from his farm. Samuel is also noted as owning an unnamed number of pigs (“swine”) and nine sheep, the latter two which he likely fed straw and possibly excess corn, among other grains grown on the farm.

Samuel tried to be somewhat “respectable” as shown by the possession of “wearing clothes,” brass and iron vessels, blankets, pillows, and pairs of sheets. This is further shown by the ownership of varied “feather beds” (down comforter), wooden chests, a table with chairs, pillow cases (called “pillow coates”), table cloths, and half a dozen napkins. The possessions used to make the farm function and sell to broader markets, among others not named and those “unseen and forgotten” as the inventory puts it, are only 36.6% of his property value. Collectively, his possessions indicate he was, seemingly, a small-scale farmer who sold varied grains, products from his farm animals, lumber, honey, and varied drinks (cider and malted liquor), some of which were weighed, using a scale and pair of feathers, in his possession. This only tells part of his story and collective ancestry since Samuel was my 9th great grandfather, with a "posterity" of "beyond 50,000" descendants by 1876.  [56]

Samuel’s last will and testament fills in the gaps, but also tells about his physical state and his religious beliefs. While was, when he wrote his will on October 29, 1684, “weak of mind” and faltering in memory, this is still an accurate genealogical record which shows firm relationships between father and son, father and daughter, husband and wife, grandfather and grandchildren. [57] With many genealogists saying that he was baptized in England in 1612, it would interest them greatly that he was a dedicated Christian. In his will, he states that he “prayed to God” for his family, committed his soul to the “hand of the Almighty” and prayed for his “salvation” after death. These Christian references accompany his desire for a “decent burial” and funeral after his death.

If he was a small-scale farmer, he was a strange one indeed, because he owned 339 acres of land at his death. This comes from the adding up of all of the land granted to his immediate and extended family in his will. Using the amount of land as a basis and looking at land deeds in 1684 and 1685, the land he owned at his death could have been worth between about 65 shillings an acre and 2.72 pounds an acre. [58] If one uses the lower number, his land would be worth 220 pounds, 35 shillings or £32,300 in present-day relative values (about $26,256 US dollars). If one uses the higher number, his land would be worth 922 pounds, 8 shillings or £134,400 in present-day relative values (about $109,251 US dollars). Either way, his land would have be worth a lot of money. However, since his mind was faltering he may have misstated the acreage he owned in some cases.

Samuel’s many acres of land, sitting on the Satucket River (or Satuccut), Meadow Brook (likely along Poor Meadow Brook), possibly near present-day Robbins Pond (then called Satuckett Pond?) was concentrated mainly in Bridgewater. This included his 36-acre tract of land for his farm. This was granted to his wife, Elizabeth, and he delineated that this land be divided between his son Nathaniel/Nathaniell (who received 2/3) and his grandchild Israel/Israell Augur (who received 1/3) when Elizabeth died. [59] He also owned 169 acres in Bridgewater which he granted to his “eldest son” Samuel, son Zacheus (or Zaccheus) and son John, even granting Zacheus the house he lived in, which he was seemingly renting from Samuel. He owned 54 acres where his son Samuel was living, 20 other acres called Satuckett Pond, in Bridgewater, which he gave Elizabeth. He willed 50 acres in Bridgewater to be divided in half between his son Nathaniel and grandchild Israel Augur, and gave 10 un-surveyed acres in Bridgewater to his daughter, Deliverance, but not her husband Thomas Washburn. Samuel owned shares of “meddow” in Bulls Hole (divided between Nathaniel and Israel to commence after Elizabeth’s death), lot within “Great Meddow,” a lot called “West Meddow Brooke,” a lot called “Poor Meddow,” and a lot “att Tehicut.” There were other rights and title of “commons and comage” in Bridgewater, granting them to his family. He dispensed 41 pounds, ten shilling to Elizabeth, his five daughters (Mary, Hannah, Jaell, Deborah, and Deliverance) and his grandchildren (Samuel Packard, Daniel Packard, Israel/Israell Packard who was the son of Zacheus, and Caleb Philips). [60]

Within his will, Samuel gives a special gift to one member of his extended family. This is his grandchild Deliverance Augur, child of his daughter Deliverance and Thomas Washburn. He gives her a heifer, when she is “of age,” and a “feather bed” after the death of Elizabeth. He also required that his son, Nathaniel, pay 10 pounds to the executors of his estate. He appointed Elizabeth and his son Samuel as joint executors while making James Keith and William Pratt overseers of his estate. [61] On March 3, 1685, John Field and John Ames, Jr., said that Samuel Packard desired Thomas Washburn or  Washbourne to be another executor. Samuel Packard, Sr. would be dead by November 7, 1684.

Notes

[49] For years, the Packard family has been writing about an immigrant ancestor, Samuel Packard, who came over on the Diligent in June 1638. Article after article has appeared online, and almost all of the records are secondary. Such individuals have little to show for themselves in terms of hard, primary sources. Others are either impossible to access without ordering, are inaccessible fully online without a subscription to certain magazines (“Hobart’s Journal”) or sourced incorrectly to records (Plymouth County Records: Wills) which have been digitized and are online. Hence, the current basis for Samuel Packard’s life, as manifested in this Find A Grave entry (for example) is shaky at best. This does not take away from the work done by Mr. Cook and by Karle S. Packard, who died two years ago, among others who wrote for the short-lived Packard’s Progress publication from 1987 to 1998, both of whom used certain primary sources. A lack of primary sources, rather relying with citations of transcriptions, abstracts, and other derivative documents, or those documents which are not in the original form they were created (including the will analyzed in this post), creates a number of problems. Secondary sources can help tell a story, but too much reliance on them could open a person’s story to possible distortions and inaccuracies.

[50] Last Will and Testament of Samuell Packer, Oct. 29, 1684, Plymouth Colony Records, Wills Vol. 3, Part 2, Plymouth Registry of Deeds, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, Plymouth, p. 96, image 585 of 616. A surveyor helped lay out roads in the town. A constable acted as a sheriff, executing warrants.

[51] Diane E. Davis, Discipline and Development: Middle Classes and Prosperity in East Asia and Latin America (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 21, 254, 270; Allan Kulikoff, The Agrarian Origins of American Capitalism (London: University Press of Virginia, 1996, second printing), p. 1, 34-39, 47, 66; Martha L. Finch, Dissenting Bodies: Corporealities in Early New England (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), p. 65, 87, 97, 208; James L. Huston, The British Gentry, the Southern Planter, and the Northern Family Farmer: Agriculture and Sectional Antagonism in North America (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2015), p. 1, 4-5, 12-14, 30, 34-35, 45, 78, 255, 273, 284. Some chronicling the Packard genealogy cite an article titled "Samuel Packard and the English Origins of the Packard Family" by Karle S. Packard. However, no article of that name exists within the scanned issues by Packard's Progress by Dale Cook. As he notes in the comments below, this name "is likely the result of initial sloppiness in one citation, followed by much cut-and-paste copying, which the unaware believe constitutes “online research.” The correct citation is Karle S. Packard, “Samuel Packard of Bridgewater, Massachusetts and His Family” (Packard’s Progress, 17 (Feb., 1991):9-12)."

[52] Inventory of the estate of Samuell Packer of Bridgewater, November 7, 1684, Plymouth Colony Records, Wills Vol. 3, Part 2, Plymouth Registry of Deeds, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, Plymouth, p. 99, image 587 of 616. Inventories are helpful in telling about people’s lives.

[53] Abstracts of his will, which come from George Ernest Bowman’s 1913 article, seem to indicate that it is strange that the lands he owned are not included in his inventory. This analysis ignores the fact that inventories refer to personal property not to real property manifested in land holdings, generally, with land owned is noted in the will, but not in the inventory. This requires two conversations of money from 1684 to 1970 and again from 1970 to 1971 since the British monetary system changed. Another conversion was needed to turn the money from its 1970 form into 2014 relative values, and then converting it ($30,826.95 in 2014) to 2016 relative values in US dollars. Both of these figures use 2016 relative values, referring to the relative value or historic standard of living as noted by Measuring Worth.

[54] These possessions specifically were a total of 25 pounds and 4 shillings or £3,662.00 in present-day relative values.

[55] Using the conversations put forward in note 53, excepting those for conversions into dollars, his money on hand is£8,531.00 in present-day relative values.

[56] Hiram Barrus, History of the Town of Goshen, Hampshire County, Massachusetts: From Its First Settlement in 1761 to 1881 with Family Sketches (Boston: Hiram Barrus, 1881), 162. The same source quotes a genealogist at the time calling the  the Packards “a thrifty, well-stocked race.”

[57] Last Will and Testament of Samuell Packer, p. 96. This record, using the last name Packer, specifies the following people, without giving them birth dates: his “loving” wife Elizabeth; his “eldest son” Samuel Packer, Jr.; his son Zacheus Packer; his son John Packer; his son Nathaniel/Nathaniell Packer; his grandchild Israel/Israel Augur; his daughter Mary Packer; married to Richard Phillips; his daughter Hannah Packer, married to Thomas Randall; his daughter Jaell, married to John Smith; his daughter Deborah, married to Samuel Washburn; his daughter Deliverance, married to Thomas Washburn, with a child named Deliverance Augur; his grandchild Caleb Phillips, claimed to be son of Caleb Phillips but this is not the case; his grandchildren Samuel Packer, Daniel Packer, Israel/Israell Packer who was the son of Zacheus.

[58] Land Purchase of Samuel West from William Clarke, May 14, 1684, Plymouth County, Deeds, Vol. 1, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, p. 6-7, image 11 of 652; Land Purchase of Rowland White from Samuel White, May 25, 1685, Plymouth County, Deeds, Vol. 1, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, p. 37-38, images 28 and 29 of 652; Land Purchase of Joseph Waterman from John Barber, Jan. 29, 1685, Plymouth County, Deeds, Deeds Vol. 1, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, p. 50-51, images 36 and 37 of 652; Land deed involving Sarah, Ephraim, and Joseph Warren, March 28, 1685, Plymouth County, Deeds, Deeds Vol. 1, Massachusetts Land Records, Plymouth, p. 91-92, image 58 of 652. Sometimes people dealt in silver as well, but this wasn’t as likely. Land records differed. The price of three pounds, ten shillings for three acres was rounded down to 3 pounds for this calculation (meaning a pound and acre), while the others came out easily: 2.5 pounds an acre (25 pounds for 10 acres of land), 2.94 pounds an acre (Fifty pounds for 17 acres of land), 0.3 pounds an acre (15 pounds for 50 acres of land). Furthermore, the highest (2.94 and 2.5) and lowest numbers (.3 and 1) were added together and divided to create two numbers for the lowest (0.65) and highest (2.72).

[59]  Last Will and Testament of Samuell Packer, p. 96. This section also uses some information from page 97 as well.

[60]  He even specified for Jaell that the money and “chattles” (not meaning slaves but property in this instance) would go to her, after Elizabeth’s death, not to her husband, John Smith, so it could be used for “her comfort” with the money distributed by the will’s executors. Many genealogists repeat the claim that Caleb Phillips was the son of Richard Phillips. This is because Mary Packard, his daughter, is married to Richard Phillips. This would make Caleb his grandchild.

[61] Last Will and Testament of Samuell Packer, p. 98, image 586 of 616. Since Samuel died sometime between October 29, 1684 and November 7, 1684, these oaths must be in 1685.

Note: This was originally posted on July 27, 2018 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.

© 2018-2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

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The Immigration Act of 1924 restricted the number of newcomers allowed entry into the United States each year. The authorities set the utmost number, or quota, of immigration visas issued to people from each nation every year; the quantity was 2% of the total variety of individuals from that particular country who had lived in the United States in 1890. According to that regulation, the United States could permit not extra than 27,000 immigrants from Germany every year, despite the actual fact that 309,000 German, Austrian, and Czech Jews utilized for visas in the first six months of 1939. Citizens who recently visited mainland China from getting into the United States amid an outbreak of a new coronavirus that was first reported within the Chinese city of Wuhan. By March, the World Health Organization designates the outbreak a pandemic, after it spreads to more than one hundred countries. Applicants who use a visa issued by Japan as the required documentmust current the proof record of coming into Japan or a confirmed onward ticket to Japanwhen coming into Taiwan. The applicant's passport must have remaining validity of a minimum of six months starting from the date of arrival in Taiwan. Nationals of aforementioned nations intending to submit a web-based utility for such a certificates ought to rigorously learn the next. ‧The holder of emergency or momentary passport ought to apply for a visa at the ROC abroad missions, or alanding visaafter arriving within the ROC. May keep within the territory of China for a maximum interval of ninety days in any 180-day period. Processing times start on the subsequent enterprise day following submission and serve as indications of processing occasions under regular circumstances solely. Maximum validity refers to the interval over which you are allowed to enter a given nation. This web site is utilizing a safety service to guard itself from on-line assaults. The action you just carried out triggered the security solution. There are a number of actions that could set off this block together with submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Oman and China sign visa waiver agreement during international minister's visit to Muscat, The New Arab, 29 March 2021. Upcoming Holiday Season To Affect Visa Providers In some cases, Cayman residents applying for a visa may be allowed to ship of their passport and different visa documentation by courier, as a substitute of appearing for an interview. Applicants might be notified of this selection in the course of the visa utility course of if it is available. In such cases, applicants must make their very own preparations for the supply of the application package to the Consular Section through courier. Please embrace a pre-paid self-addressed envelope within the package for the return of the paperwork. All guests to the Consular part, including all visa applicants and U.S. residents, must enter the amenities by way of a dedicated consular entrance on Old Hope Road. Insurance is a mandatory entry requirement for IEC participants. Our associate, BestQuote, compares the main insurance suppliers to search out the most effective rates. Many newcomers are not eligible for Canadian healthcare protection once they first arrive. Read our full guide to IEC International Co-op work permits. Gather and upload all of the documents (e.g. police or medical certificates) requested by IRCC. Australian digital visas make applying for a journey allow for Australia easier and quicker than it used to be. The Australia visa application has been referred for additional assessment. In this case, it's attainable to maintain observe of the standing of the appliance by logging again into the online system and choosing the Check an ETA or Check an eVisitor possibility. China Issues U S Travel Warning Amid Trade Tensions So far, however, community unfold of 2019-nCoV has not been reported exterior of China. It is really helpful to delay worldwide journey until you may be up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines. Some destinations require proof of vaccination to enter, so please verify your destination previous to journey. You can addContent your vaccination card to your telephone by way of the secureDocket App. It is recommended to delay home travel till you are updated together with your COVID-19 vaccines. Be positive to make use of the home journey checker that can assist you follow all state and native recommendations and necessities. UC Davis vacationers are suggested against all non-essential university-sponsored international journey, particularly by air. We encourage discovering alternate means of conducting business such as video or internet conferencing. Most airlines and countries around the globe have now updated journey restrictions as a end result of COVID-19. It is highly instructed you scan the health code of your destination first and set up your health code. Here you'll find well being codes of main locations.Contact usfor expert help planning a visit in China. Travelers sometimes want to organize a green health code, passports, masks, and negative nucleic acid take a look at results in some instances. Domestic journeys are allowed in case you are traveling from low-risk areas. When choosing a vacation spot, please avoid the current medium- and high-risk areas. If you land in Shanghai and your ultimate vacation spot is Chengdu, you will first do a 14-day centralized quarantine in Shanghai. Students intending to check in China for lower than six months want an invitation or letter of acceptance from a school there and shall be given an F visa. With adjoining 辦理台胞證 -growing areas in Burma and Laos, and a significant Southeast Asian distribution level in Hong Kong, China has a large drug downside. Heroin use has turn out to be pretty widespread within the south, particularly in depressed rural areas, and ecstasy is utilized in clubs and discos. In the past, the police have turned a blind eye to foreigners with drugs, as long as no Chinese are concerned, however you don’t wish to check this out. In 2010, China executed a British national for drug trafficking, and yearly holds mass executions of convicted drug offenders on the UN anti-drugs day in June. The PSB also have the job of taking care of foreigners, and you’ll most probably have to hunt them out for visa extensions, reporting theft or losses, and obtaining permits for in any other case closed areas of the country . China Travel Service In Lucknow The Internet is a platform which presents around-the-clock buying and selling and all kinds of information. The two may have different outcomes based mostly on different targets however they're each essential for travel businesses. To be particular, the web advertising appeals more to younger individuals. Furthermore, the median family earnings for Chinese vacationers visiting the united states has fallen from $49,000 to $45,000. This might point out that overseas travel to the U.S. is turning into more accessible to the Chinese inhabitants. Finally, about 43% of Chinese vacationers are choosing the united states as their first worldwide trip.The U.S. is the one long-haul destination ranked in the prime ten destinations for Chinese travelers. While group tours to well-known American destinations are still pre-eminent, more Chinese vacationers are becoming thinking about venturing off the overwhelmed path to go to locations of pure magnificence and of cultural and historical significance. Bravolinks has been continuously specializing in integrated advertising enterprise in China, providing complete options to the shoppers by the use of the skilled team construction and unique service mode. Business range covers variety of conferences and occasion management, incentive service, PR communication, vacation spot advertising, promoting, venue administration service, sports advertising, HR service and and so on. As one of the main enterprises in the field of reform and opening up with the nation, CYTS has been promoting the combination and extension of the tourism worth chain with innovation as the elemental driving pressure of growth. Our business operations embody travel-affiliated sources development, conferences and exhibitions, inbound journey, domestic travel, outbound journey, in addition to lodge and on-line information companies. Each year, greater than 10 million guests are serving by CYTS, and the operating scale of CYTS is over 10 billion yuan. China To Solely Allow International Visitors Who Have Had Chinese Language China Discovery identifies each key step and leads you to know all China Visa application works clearly, appropriately and fully. Please understand that an overall application involve primary requirement and supporting supplies, fees and so on. 辦理台胞證 want to prepare all required paperwork and undergo Chinese Embassy or Consulate instantly or via a China Visa Application Service Center close by. Once be taught it, you'll be able to apply by yourself, no extra have to find a agent. The only way to obtain a TTP is to rearrange a tour operated by a Tibet-based travel agent which no much less than consists of resorts and transportation. Visitors are also not permitted to journey by public buses throughout Tibet and are only allowed to travel by non-public transportation as organised within the tour. Moreover, if getting into Tibet from Nepal, one must additionally join a gaggle tour and be only allowed on a gaggle visa. The TTP has to be handed in to the tour information upon arrival at the airport or prepare station, and the tour guide will keep the allow till the traveler leaves the TAR. In countries with out Visa Centers or CVASFs, visa application requires submitting the passport and required documents on to the embassy or consulate. Singaporeans, Bruneians and Japaneses strange passport holders could acquire a unilateral visa exemption for tour, enterprise, visiting family or associates in China with 15 days. Multiple-entry L visas legitimate for 6 months with 15-day stays are available to those that have obtained a minimum of one Chinese visa. All visa applicants who're domestic helpers require a written letter from the employer stating that the employer will travel together with the visa applicant to the Mainland. The utilization fee of the 72 or 144-hour TWOV scheme varies significantly relying on the port of entry. An immigration official in Kunming even said that it may take "a number of weeks" earlier than they can see the subsequent passenger to make the most of TWOV. The 5-year permit, which additionally serves as the de facto ID card in Mainland China, could be utilized from travel companies in Taiwan and CTS in Hong Kong or Macau. Holders of the allow are allowed to enter Mainland China for any purpose and remain in Mainland China until the expiration date of the permit . Properly wear awell-fitting maskwhen you might be round others for the whole length of journey during days 6 by way of 10. If you're unable to put on a mask, you shouldn't journey through the days 6 through 10. You had shut contact with a person with COVID-19 and are beneficial to quarantine. Do not travel until a full 5 days after your last shut contact with the individual with COVID-19. South Africa Visa Necessities For Chinese Residents Today we’re speaking about the basics of the means to get a visa for China. A Community of certified native travel specialists bring you genuine China expertise. Another passport requirement is to have a minimal of two blank pages in it — one for the visa and one other for customs stamps. You must handover your application directly by presenting yourself to the consular office. And if you cannot be in a position to give personally for some reason, then will most likely be important to ship anyone personally for delivering the applying on your behalf. Here is the step by step process that you need to comply with to get China Visa to start your journey journey. Nationals of the next countries should maintain a visa issued in their residence nation. If visa is issued in a third country, a residence visa or working allow from that nation can also be required. Non-Chinese visitors traveling as a half of a tour group belonging to a journey company in Zhejiang Province can obtain a visa on arrival at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport for a maximum stay of 1 month. The Chinese authorities has carried out visa waiver schemes or special visa rules for overseas nationals touring to particular areas of Mainland China or foreign nationals residing in sure areas bordering Mainland China. Vaccinations usually are not a must, but those which have been fully vaccinated with a Chinese vaccine could possibly enter China for a wider range for private matters corresponding to to go to shut family members or to take care of elderly relatives. GUILINCHINA.NET is one of the online service platforms of CHINA HIGHLIGHTS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SERVICE CO.,LTD. More... Our native consultants are always able to create you a hassle-free tour. Travelers can affirm their enrollment by clicking on the “Check Existing Enrollment” button on the house page. You are not required to present a printout of your EVUS enrollment so as to journey. You will be capable of evaluate your info to verify it's still accurate, and will comply with directions in the EVUS system to ensure you have a present EVUS enrollment.

The Conqueror - A Short Story

Awareness comes to me slowly. The last thing I remember, I was in a situation I knew I couldn’t possibly live through. As my surroundings become clearer, I realize I didn’t live through it. I look up at the imposing gold gate in front of me and it occurs to me that I must be standing at the entrance to the afterlife.

A figure materializes to my left, approaches me slowly, and comes to a stop a few feet away, hands clasped in front of him. I figure he must be here to guide me into eternity.

“Welcome to the afterlife,” says the friendly guide; his brilliant white teeth gleam as he smiles gently and leads me through the gate.

His white robe billows behind him as he leads me up a golden staircase. When we reach the top, he opens the door in front of us and waves me inside a brightly lit room.

The walls are stark white, and everything looks a little misty. Sort of like the way all those old cartoons like Tom & Jerry used to portray Heaven. I nod to myself. All right, then. I made it into Heaven. Good for me.

We don’t so much walk across the room as glide. We come to a stop in front of a large wooden desk. Sitting on the desk is a shiny new laptop computer with Microsoft Word open on it. Beside the computer is a nice leather-bound notebook and a silver cup filled with high quality pens and pencils. A printer sits on the floor beside the desk.

“Welcome to your new home,” says the guide. “You were a writer in your mortal life, so this space has been designed especially for you.”

I grin and sit down in the comfortable office chair, giving it a gleeful spin before I grasp the edge of the desk and pull myself forward. I get to spend eternity writing! Who knew Heaven would be so perfectly tailored to my passions?

“I’ll check in on you in a little while to see how you’re doing,” the guide says as he glides out of the room. “Have fun.”

He shuts the door behind him, and I am alone with my new writing station. In an instant, I’ve got my first brilliant idea. It pops into my head, very nearly fully formed, and it’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. Excited, I place my hands on the keyboard in front of me.

I pause, my fingers hovering above the keys. I stare at the screen. A blank Word document stares back at me.

Shit.

What was that idea again? I literally had the whole thing not ten seconds ago, and now I’m drawing a blank. It’s not even that I forgot it. I mean, it’s all still there in my head, I just…can’t figure out where to start. I don’t have the words.

My first day in Heaven isn’t starting off so well.

I sit there for a while longer, at a loss. Finally I turn away from the computer and open the leather-bound notebook. I reach for a pen. Maybe a more tactile form of writing will help me get the words out.

I uncap the pen and look down at the notebook. My pen hovers over the blank page as I try, once again, to think of the words to express the brilliant idea I just had.

Once again, nothing happens.

Time passes. I don’t know how much time. Maybe hours. Maybe days. It’s a little hard to keep track. After a while, I hear the door open behind me. I turn around and see the guide who brought me here gliding across the room.

“How’s it going in here?” He asks cordially.

“Not great, actually,” I admit. “I keep getting these great ideas, but I can’t seem to get my thoughts onto paper. I had ADHD when I was alive, so this kind of thing used to happen to me a lot, but I wouldn’t have expected a flaw like that to still exist in Heaven.”

The guide’s smile remains in place, but his eyes narrow, making the whole of his expression seem all at once much more sinister.

“Who told you this was Heaven?”

In an instant his white robes turn deep red, his nice straight teeth become pointed, horns materialize from his forehead, and a tail appears from the back of his robes. The room darkens and the white mist around us dissolves into crackling flames, revealing a hard, bare floor and rough rock walls.

Deep, malicious laughter erupts from the guide, who I now see for what he truly is—the devil. He bends down close, his mouth an inch away from my ear.

“You’re in Hell,” he whispers. “And this is your own personal torment—a perfect writing space, perfect ideas, but a total inability to get the words from your head into print. You’ll be stuck at this desk for eternity, always just a hair’s-breadth away from finding the right words, your greatest ideas always just out of your reach.”

I sit in stunned silence, and the devil cackles.

“Welcome to day one of your own personal Hell,” he says.

Then he leaves, and I am alone once again. For the next few days, I sit at my desk, trying in vain to fill the empty pages and blank Word documents in front of me. The devil visits me once a day; I learn that these visits are mandatory—he has to check on every inhabitant of Hell on a daily basis to ensure they’re all suffering in whatever personal prisons he’s created for them.

He loves to gloat. He strides in each day, eyes dancing with gleeful malice, grips the back of my chair, and leans over my shoulder.

“What are you working on today?” He taunts me, staring intently at the blank screen. “Ooh, even more nothing than yesterday! Why, I think this is your best lack of work yet!”

After a week, I’m sick of it. To Hell with the rules (pun very much intended). If I could work through writer’s block in my previous life, I can do it in this one, too.

I suddenly sit up straight, struck by this revelation that feels simultaneously revolutionary and incredibly obvious—if I could work through writer’s block in my previous life, I can do it in this one, too.

“You absolute moron,” I mutter to myself. “You have experience with this exact thing. You spent your whole life figuring out how to get around it. You’ve got a whole arsenal of ways to deal with this kind of mental blockage.”

I think hard, calling to mind the things I used to do to beat writer’s block when I was alive. My main method involved saying my ideas out loud before I ever sat down to write. I used to walk around describing the story idea out loud, as if explaining it to an imaginary audience. I used to verbalize the dialogue to figure out how the characters would talk, to make sure every line sounded true to their voices.

I leap up from my chair and begin walking around my cell, muttering names and places and bits of dialogue.

“That’s it!” I exclaim suddenly. I race back to the computer and quickly type up everything I just said—verbalizing it made it much easier to string together the right words.

Once it’s all typed up, it gets easier to revise it and make it better, and before long, I’ve got a whole short story typed up. I grin and lean back in my chair, stretching my arms behind my head and looking at the screen with a satisfied smile.

I spend the rest of the day walking around, talking to myself about all of my story ideas, just like I used to. Every so often I dash back over to the desk and write down a particularly good paragraph or bit of dialogue.

When the devil comes around for his daily visit, I grin and hand him a manuscript.

“What’s this?” he asks, leafing through the pages dubiously.

“Oh, y’know,” I say with a casual air, turning my back to him. “Just a story I wrote.”

I glance over my shoulder and see his eyebrows go up in surprise. He quickly reads through the first page, then looks up at me, eyes burning. “This is impossible.”

“Apparently not,” I shrug, feigning nonchalance. Inwardly, I’m absolutely giddy at having gotten the best of my tormentor for once.

“You’re not supposed to be able to do this,” he says, shaking the manuscript emphatically. “Your brain is supposed to be caught in an endless state of mental blocks and frustration. You’re supposed to be at a loss for words for all eternity!”

I round on him. “Listen fuckwit, I’ve got ADHD. I’ve been dealing with these exact writing conditions my whole life. You think I haven’t developed ways to manage this shit?”

The devil’s face contorts into a twisted expression of rage for a moment. Then his features soften and he becomes calm again.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says coolly, handing me back my manuscript. “You have no way of publishing any of your work. No one will ever read it.”

He laughs and turns to leave, but I grab him by his tail and jerk him back towards me.

“Have a seat, then,” I say. “You’re the only one here? Fine. Sit down and shut up—you just became my audience.”

I smooth out my manuscript and begin reading aloud. The devil sits and listens with a scowl as I read him a story about heroes prevailing and good ultimately triumphing over evil. Finally, when he can’t take it anymore, he stands up and stalks out of the room.

“See you tomorrow!” I wave to him cheerfully.

For the next week, every time the devil comes around to my cell, I read him bits and pieces of stories I’m writing. I always choose the parts I know he’ll hate the most—characters finding hope in the midst of darkness and despair, lovers finally having happy reunions after fighting against unbeatable odds, people conquering their own personal demons and coming out of it stronger on the other side.

Finally the devil cracks.

“All right!” He relents on the seventh day, snatching the manuscript from my hands just as I open my mouth to read it to him. “Give me that. I’ll send it to the mortal realm to be published. Just…stop making me listen to it.”

“And you’ll do the same with all my writing?” I ask him, clasping my hands behind my back and smiling sweetly.

“Yes,” he growls. “Anything to stop you from reading it to me.”

“We’ve got a deal,” I say, holding out my hand. With a sigh, he shakes the offered hand, and stalks out of the room to take my manuscript to the interdimensional mailroom.

“Yes!” I exclaim, pumping my fist triumphantly. “I’ve made the devil my publisher, but more importantly, I’ve made him my bitch!”

My writing really takes off back in the mortal world. The devil is pretty pissed about it. He even tries to get me transferred up to Heaven, but I tell him that if Heaven doesn’t have a writing desk for me, I’d rather just stay here.

And that’s the story of how I conquered my own personal Hell.

THE END

CCTV

A boy, resplendent in a gossamer dress

turns left away from the glare of streetlamps,

away from the nook of sleepy houses,

the sprawl of Mulberry bushes,

a dead, wingless Chaffinch. …

A boy, enthralled by ghost colours

walks towards the heaving bypass.

A boy already forgetting - obnoxious

loud-mouthed northern - reticence.

Enduring footsteps tread south

along the dual carriageway.

A boy, bright as cats-eyes, sharp as splintered glass

as vivid as a false retroreflective safety device,

caught in the traffic's headlights.

CCTV footage of something: Luminous

Paranormal, climbing aboard an articulated truck.

A boy who knew ghost colours

better than sexually attractive flesh.

A Overview of the History of Witchcraft and Wicca

by Tiffany Faye 7/2/2021

While trying to determine Wicca's origins may be difficult, it is much easier that figuring out when or even where Witchcraft stared. Some say that witchcraft has been around since the beginning of man, with the

earliest recorded record of a witch was in the Bible, 1 Samuel, who was believed to be written between 931 BC and 721 BC. The word "witchcraft" comes from Old English word "wiccecraeft" with wicce meaning someone who practice sorcery or magick and creaft meaning a type of craft or skill. Other European languages have words with similar meanings; like sorcellerie in French, hexerei in German, stregoneria in Italian, and brujeria in Spanish. Despite these words being lumped together because of a common meaning, none of them translate the same or have the same connotations.

Many people will question if witches are real or not. Well, are they? I guess it depends on the definition used for the word. If you are referring to the witches you see in movies, books, video games, and other entertainment media, then no, those kinds of witches, unfortunately, do not exist. Now, if you are referring to the wise women and men, or the medicine men/women from ancient civilizations that worked with certain energies, or magick, for healing, divination, and other purposes, then yes, those kinds of witches do exist. Practitioners of the old ways worked with the moon, deities, herbs, animals, and practiced many forms divination and healing.

Then, the European Witch Trials happened from the 14th to 18th centuries. Some small groups still retained their old religions and practices today, but most of it has been lost, wiped away by the introduction of Christianity, much like it has done with other practices and cultures they did not agree or understand with. I know that may have upset some people, but it is the truth, and I am only saying this for education purposes. Most of the facts of what we know from the European Witch Trials are common misconceptions. Millions of people were not executed like many believe, the most that were accused of witchcraft and then executed for it was around 80,000. Around 80% of those executed were women and most of them were not actually witches. Women, and sometimes men, that did not confirm to their society’s standards were often the ones accused. Most of the recorded confessions of "consorting with the devil" and "performing black magick" happened while being tortured. The presence of "witch doctors" during this time is also highly exaggerated since any type of magick, even the helpful kind that helped those "affected by witchcraft" was still looked at as bad or evil. One of the main starting points of the European Witch Trials was due to the publication of "Malleus Maleficarum," or "The Hammer of Witches." This book was written by two German Dominicans in 1486. It called witchcraft "heresy" and was essentially a guide to help people identify, hunt, and interrogate a witch. This book went "viral" throughout Europe, and it eventually became the basis for both Christians and Protestants that had "Witch problems" in their community.

The New World started to be colonized in 1565 and Witches were said to arrive with the other Protestants. There were witch hunts all throughout the colonies but the most well-known one is, of course, the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 and was point when witch hysteria in Europe started to die down, but also increase in the colonies. Young girls and women

started to suffer from fits, body contortions, and incontrollable screaming which is now believed to be caused by a fungus that causes spasms and delusions. This of course had to be the work of witches and by the end of the trials 150 people were accused of witchcraft and 18, 6 of which were men, were executed for their "heinous acts." In 1730, Benjamin Franklin wrote an article that was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette. In it, it said that the witchcraft accusations were basically ridiculous. Soon after, the witch mania died down and laws were eventually passed to help protect those of being wrongly accused.

In 1952, a book was published by Margert Murray called "The Witch Cult in Western Europe." While many do not believe her claims, they are what most of Modern Wiccan and Neo-Paganism is based off and as such she is called the grandmother of Modern Wicca. In this book, she claims that Witchcraft was a universal and organized religion is pre-Christian Europe that came from a race of small people, called Fairies, in early Britian. These ancient witches worshipped a Moon Goddess and a Horned Good. The Moon Goddess was named Diana, the Queen of Witches, and Murray called this religion the Dianic Cult. While it is named after the female aspect, this religion was a dominated by the male deity and this, combined with a horned God, Christians would claim it was their Satan, hence the accusations of "devil worship." The witches of this religion celebrated sabbats and esbats, worked with the earth, and would organize themselves into covens of 13.

Most of the claims are a part of most modern Pagan and Wiccan practice but most traditions of Wicca can also be traced back to Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerian Wicca was developed by Gerald Gardner and based off Allister Crowley's teachings and practices. In 1914, Allister had proposed a new religion in 1914 that would pull aspects from old pagan traditions, such as worshipping the earth and nature, and celebrating the solstices and equinoxes. Wicca is a modern-day, nature based pagan religion with rituals and practices vary from different people, covens, and traditions. While there is difference between most Pagan and Wiccan traditions, most observe the Witches Sabbats, are ditheistic meaning they have 2 deities, normally a god and goddess (Moon Goddess and Horned God), and they also work with nature. The God and goddess represent the balance of feminine and masculine, light and dark in the world. Most traditions also follow an ethical code that is some variation or like the Wiccan Rede's, "as it harms none, do as ye will." Some other common practices and beliefs in most traditions are reincarnation and karma, some type of spiritual or energy healing, and self-help practices. Witchcraft, whether practiced by a pagan or a more specific tradition like Wicca, is considered a modern interpretation of pre-Christian traditions and some traditions claim their practices are from the Old Craft, or Old Way.

Wicca and Paganism was introduced in Britian in the 60's and started to spread to other European Countries and America in the 70's. When it hit America, it eventually went from a magic-based pagan discipline to a nature-based spiritual movement with environmentalism and feminism, which in turn, ended up influencing Wicca in England. The feministic tones started to increase in the late 70's and 80's with the emergence of Dianic Wicca, a tradition of matriarchal lunar worship. Wicca eventually became an official religion in the U.S, in 1986 in the Dettmer v. Landon case.

Witchcraft is portrayed as an evil and mythical practice and people often think of witches as villains. While it is hard to pin-point the origins of old pagan religions, it is even harder figuring out Witchcraft’s origins. Wicca's emergence has changed some people’s perceptions of witches and witchcraft and men can also identify as witches now. It has always been seen as a blasphemous practice full of devil worship, but Wicca is also still a new concept for many people, and many other still do not know of its existence. I truly feel that it is important that everyone knows what being a witch means, regardless of if they practice the craft or not. People will look at Witchcraft in a more positive viewpoint if they understand it and that is what I want to achieve with writing these blogs. While I do want to create a community for Witches, Wiccan, and Pagans to connect, I also want to shed light on our practices and help end the stigma.

I really hope you enjoyed this post today. While it is a long read, writing this was especially important to me. Catch us tomorrow for our Feature Friday post where we tell you about an item from our shop and you give you a DIY guide to make it yourself!

Sources:

History.com Editors, March 23, 2018, "Wicca," History.com, https://www.history.com/topics/religion/wicca

Pinigis, Emil, March 2, 2020, Pittchcraft: The True History of Wicca and Witchcraft, PittNews.com, https://pittnews.com/article/155891/blogs/pittchcraft-the-true-history-of-wicca-and-witchcraft/

Smith, Diane, 2021, Looking Witches and Wiccan in History, Dummies.com, https://www.dummies.com/religion/paganism/looking-for-witches-and-wiccans-in-history/

Lewis, Ioan M., March 23, 2021, "Witchcraft," Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/witchcraft

History.com Editors, September 12, 2017, History of Witches, History.com, https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/history-of-witches

Hello Echo, question. Do you still have Four brainrot? Follow up question. Do you have any songs that you associate with Four? Thanks bestie <3

Answer 1: Steel, I ALWAYS have Four brainrot <3

Answer 2: I am literally SO FUCKING GLAD you asked, you have no idea how excited I got seeing this holy shit. HELL YEAH I do!! Take a few songs from my playlist

If I include more than 3 Sleeping At Last, Of Monsters And Men, or The Oh Hellos songs on any given playlist or list of songs you may be entitled to financial compensatio-- *looks at this list* oh whoops

1) Crystals - Of Monsters And Men - this might as well be Four’s theme song for all I associate it with him. It’s so good. So so so good.

2) Call Them Brothers - Regina Spektor - Obligatory Call Them Brothers mention. This is not original at all I've seen so many other people talk about this song with Four and-- yeah they're right this song is about Four JKHEHBFDEKF.

3) Bad Blood - Sleeping At Last - I'm biased. If you know me then expect way too many SAL songs from me in any list of songs ever because I will never shut up about SAL and they have a lot of songs I like. So there's 4 SAL songs on this list, deal with it jhkwewjkwjkfh. Anyway Bad Blood gives me so many Four feels. 11/10

3) Soap - The Oh Hellos - THIS SONNGG. Ouugghh. I could probably dissect this song if I wanted to go over every little thing in it that makes me think of Four & why but I already exhausted my song infodumping capacity on the last song on this list so perhaps some other time HDEGJDDEKF. Just. The vibes AND the lyrics. Mannn

4) Forgive Me Friend - Smith & Thell - I have both the original and the acoustic version saved to my Four playlist because I really like both versions hwdfjefke but. There's so many ways this song could be interpreted w/ Four and tbh I'm just gonna leave it up to everyone else because every time I listen to it I think of something else lol.

5) Meteor Shower - Cavetown - I don't have much to say about this one other than thinking about this song gives me a LOT of emotions jhqkdhwbefjk. Just,,, it has a lot of self-acceptance vibes to me when I listen to it in this context and I think I'm drawing those comfort vibes from the melody? Idk but they're there for me lol

6) Glitter & Gold - Barns Courtney - Someone did a mini AMV to this song w/ Four a while back for the LU zine and I've associated the song with him ever since hwdkjgefhkfev. I like the vibes. Reminds me of the forge.

7) Lakehouse - Of Monsters And Men - Idk what it is about this song. It has a mix of homesickness feels and storytelling feels and something about that makes me think of Four. Also there's a line about breaking trust in here somewhere heehee hoohoo Vio go brr.

8) I Dare You - Bea Miller - my brain can't decide if I actually like this song or not for some reason buuuut it has big Four vibes regardless lmao. Mostly in the lyrics. Definitely in the lyrics

9) No Light, No Light - Florence + The Machine - based more off the vibes of the song than the lyrics. i don't really have an explanation for this one, it's just always given me Four vibes for no reason hdwkjfgeh. Shadow too. I have it one both playlists

10) I Have Made Mistakes - The Oh Hellos - probably self-indulgent but this one has the self-acceptance and self-forgiveness vibes than go hand and hand with Four as a character so <3

11) From The Ground Up - Sleeping At Last - something about the line "in an effort to remember what being mended feels like" shakes me to my core. Am I allowed to slap the "self-acceptance" label on this song and call it a day? Cause,,, yeah the self love in this song. Ough. Also the themes of growth and being somewhere that's truly home.

12) Overture III / Awake - Sleeping At Last - Bestie this one's so self-indulgent. This song is pretty new and when I tell you that I latched onto it the DAY I first heard it FTHDGHWJKEFG. I connect so deeply with this song and I can and will project every emotion I experience ever onto Four which means he gets this song too. <3 Also it once again has themes of self-acceptance

13) September 15, 2017: Cassini - The Grand Finale - Sleeping At Last - OH MY GOD *VIBRATES INTO THE FIFTH DIMENSION*

Alright alright alright. Listen. This song is entirely instrumental. So why do I associate it with Four, you may ask?

WELLLLLLLL.

First of all, happy anniversary to the event this song was written about! Or-- well, it was the anniversary when this ask was sent djwhfkhjdewjhke. I took a while to answer it. BUT still. Happy anniversary!

Second of all, strap in cause I’m about to infodump the hell out of this song on my way to explaining my reasoning behind why I associate it with Four. It might seem irrelevant at first but trust me, I’ll get there.

(All the stuff I mention here is all explained in a much better fashion by the artist behind Sleeping At Last on his podcast episode about the song here. I'd absolutely recommend giving it a listen if you're interested!)

Cassini was written about a satellite with the same name that was built with the intention of exploring Saturn. On September 15, 2017, its journey was complete and its course was set to crash into Saturn in a brilliant grand finale. Hence the name of the song.

This song is a medley of four of Sleeping At Last’s songs, written as a mirror of the exact flight path of the Cassini satellite. (SAL has songs about each of the 9 planets + our moon.)

The song starts and ends with Saturn. The beginning is a chorus singing the tune of SAL's "Saturn" and the ending is that the song on the "Astronomy, Vol. 1" album leads straight into SAL’s "Saturn" to symbolize Cassini crashing into the planet. Cool, right?

After the opening the song crescendos with SAL’s "Earth" to represent Cassini’s launch. Cassini passed by Venus twice in its flight, so the part of the song immediately after that is from SAL's "Venus". The next part of the song (and ofc the next part of Cassini’s flight) is Jupiter! It’s very faint and distant since Cassini only passed by the planet. Aaand then finally it reaches Saturn.

Now what does any of this have to do with Four?

Welllllll, it's all a bit of a stretch but LET ME HAVE THIS hdgjhkjdwef.

I mentioned that Cassini is a medley of 4 different SAL songs.

Venus could easily be associated with Red! It’s a love song and love of course comes from the heart and all that. But it’s also a song that reflects wonder and awe and I feel like that’s a very Red feeling.

Jupiter is a song I associate a lot with Green, not only because of the song itself but also because of the planet and Green’s wind element. Jupiter is well-known for its storms! So it seems fitting for Green. Jupiter is one of the songs I have on my separate playlist for Green too. It has vibes of instinct and wanting to make things count and make a difference which I feel like fits him.

I feel like Saturn and Earth are interchangeable with Blue and Vio. I’d probably tentatively assign Blue to Earth and Vio to Saturn for now despite Earth being Vio’s element and me generally associating that song with him a lot more than Blue anyway. Saturn is a song about loss and trying to move on and I think Vio encompasses that feeling and experience. It’s very melancholy and slower-paced too, which fits Vio more. Whereas Earth is a very powerful, somewhat explosive song (which fits Blue’s vibe) about ignorance and possibly arrogance. ALSO if you go with Blue as Earth then it works even nicer because Earth and Venus are woven together very closely in Cassini. Which could represent how Blue & Red are both the "heart" of Four compared to Vio's mind and Green's instinct.

And ALL of these songs are packed into Cassini into a convenient little medley. Four songs blending seamlessly into one another creating a whole song that makes me want to throw my hands in the air and weep.

And how perfect that the day Steel sent this ask is coincidentally the anniversary of the day the song is about. jhkqdwfgehf. It was meant to be :>