#we can even do it ceaser style

[blessedchaosgod]

anybody wanna murder yoon eun sung with me?

#yoon eun sung #we can even do it ceaser style #queen of tears

[dd122004dd]

Silk Dragoness

So, we recently got a Caesar Flickerman Request. It’s...okay. I feel like the smut is a bit....yeah.

Request: The plot I came up with is that fem reader is a tribute from a career district so she likes the games and a crush on Ceaser. So she asks the stylist to make her a revealing and sexy outfit then she has her interview she flirts with him in a very sexual / suggestive way. Caesar accidentally gets a boner on stage which he has to hide somehow till he gets of stage. He then has sex with her backstage. There is an age gap cause reader will be 18 (oldest a tribute can be) and Caesar is in his late 50s at least in the movies

Warnings: Age gap, obsession, rough sex

 Swathes of fabric were effortlessly draped over her torso as multiple stylists worked on her dress, pulling her arms in various directions while simultaneously testing swatches on her skin. 

Her stylist Amarilla waltzed into the large room, her heels clacking on the floor as she walked towards her, clicking her tongue at the three junior stylists. 

 “No, No Never, No! Fuchsia? No. God, which one of you nitwits picked these colors? It’s like you’re blind to her complexion. Shoo, make yourselves scarce. It seems like I’ll have to do all the work myself.” 

“Hello Amarilla.” 

 “Hello darling. Sorry to leave you to be poked and prodded at in the hands of those imbeciles. But fear not, I’m here now.” The stylist greeted. 

 “Aah, my knight in shining armor.” She said, rolling her eyes. 

 “Well, what can I say, you’ve discovered my secret identity.” Amarilla teased. 

 “So, what were you thinking? For my outfit?” 

 “I’m thinking something BOLD, ELEGANT, SEXY something that screams District 1. Something luxurious. Not like the past years’ outfits. I want you to be seen as a warrior, like a goddess made mortal.” 

 “And how do you propose to do that? Douse me in glitter like all the other districts?” 

 “Oh, ye of little faith. Just watch and wait.” The stylist said, smirking. 

 ~

Bred to fight she’d watched the Games since she was a child. Her attention fixated on the heroic champions from her district who ruthlessly conquered the others, yet her gaze was drawn to the flamboyant man who made and broke tributes with a sly word or a well-placed comment. 

As the years passed, his figure changed, his style became more colorful yet she found herself more entranced by his presence, his personality, his charm. With time he became more suave, coy on stage with a twinkle behind his eye, as if he knew a secret yet this served to intrigue her further. 

Her desire to understand him, to learn everything about him from the very lilt of his voice to the curve of his spine consumed her waking moments. Even the night could never provide any respite. Yet, her desire fueled her. 

Determined to meet the man she craved; she worked harder than any candidate before her. And when the opportunity to volunteer finally came, she snatched it, with eager fingers and a wide smile. 

The day had finally arrived, after years of training here it was, the moment she’d waited for, the moment she’d trained for, dreamt about. She could almost taste it; it was so close yet so unbearably far. She was confident she’d snatch everyone’s attention in the dress she wore. 

 Taking a deep breath and steeling her nerves she moved towards her carriage, awaiting the gates opening. 

 ~ 

 His crimson eyes scanned through the tributes of that year. Young, boring adolescents sent to the slaughter like lambs in the stew he so deeply favored. After years of doing the same job, it started becoming more…routine, less thrilling than it was in his youth. The tributes were more or less the same, different faces but the same people reproduced over and over. The monotony made it impossible for anyone to stand out. Everyone was dressed in the same bright shades, the artists repeated styles in garish colors that were too flashy or ill-made. All in all, life had become boring. No one caught his attention anymore. He’d hoped that this year would be different but it was shaping up to be the same as the ones before. 

Snapped out of his thoughts, he watched as the first tribute rode in, stealing his breath away from him. As if a goddess riding into battle on a chariot she held herself with confidence, raising her arms akin to a god summoning their hordes. She basked in the chorus of cheers. A goddess to her fanatics. Her body wrapped in shimmering beige with silver swirling lines standing out from the dress, from a distance it was almost blending in with her skin, making her look almost nude in her visage. Embroidered on the dress was the body of a crimson dragon, slithering and fire-y as it curled around her body before crawling up her neck and merging into a scaly high-neck, flaring behind her, forming a glowing red halo behind her head. The edges of her dress were a gradient of vermillion to beige, depicting a goddess bathed in blood, one who trudged through a field of martyrs. 

 Her hair was placed into an intricate style atop her head, giving a delicious view of her nape. The style was held together with sophisticated looking gold pins that looked dainty to the naked eye, yet only on closer inspection could one truly tell how dangerous they were. 

 The Master of Ceremonies was awestruck at the beauty before him. A picture of deadly elegance that called to a part of him long suppressed within the fanfare of the capitol. He felt arousal stir within him as he gazed upon the beauty enveloped in his colors, a mere coincidence that they’d both chosen crimson that year. As he convinced himself of the pure coincidence, she looked directly at him and smirked before turning her attention back to the crowd. Yes, this year would be one to watch, of that he had no doubt now. 

 He was startled out of his musings by the man sitting beside him, announcing the next tribute, he focused on his job, slightly struggling to ignore the beauty who demanded his attention. 

 ~ 

 Time flew quickly and soon he was once again before the cameras. He felt more in control, in his element as he basked in the attention the audience laved over him. After getting the crowd excited, he called forth the first tribute. The male from District 1 was the same as all the others had been. Arrogant, prideful and a desire to win, paired with a charming smile that made the ladies and gents’ swoon. After him, the next tribute was the fiery goddess herself. 

 “Aah next is our favorite tribute from District 1!” 

 Adorned in a silky-transparent dress that left little to the imagination with an off-the-shoulder sleeves and a plunging neckline that showed a hint of cleavage. If that was not enough to rush the man into an early grave her dress also had a slit that ended at her thigh, giving him a tantalizing view of her smooth legs. Her hair flowed down her back, swaying with every step she took, tempting him to wrap his fingers within her locks.  He felt himself stiffen as she swayed towards him, smiling as she took in his gaze. His eyes traveled down her body, halting at a few places before moving on and before he knew it, she was standing before him, smiling teasingly. 

 “Hello Mr. Flickerman, you’re looking particularly charming. Is that a Carla Rye I see?” 

 “Aah, a flatterer with an eye for fashion, isn’t she just charming folks?” he said, preening at her compliment. 

The audience roared with approval. 

 “Well, I only speak the truth Mr. Flickerman,” 

 “Oh please, my father was Mr. Flickerman, call me Caesar.” 

 “Caesar. Caesar. Caesar. Well, it’s a true pleasure to finally meet you.” She purred, almost caressing his name. As if by just saying his name she could almost taste him. 

 Hearing her say his name was almost criminal to his senses as her crimson lips curled around the syllables. 

 “-everyone was enthralled by your last outfit. So, tell us a little more about today’s outfit, you caught everyone’s eye with your dramatic entry at the Tribute Parade.” 

 “Ah, well it’s all thanks to my dear stylist Amarilla, she’s been truly incredible and her hands are simply magic.” 

 “Speaking of magical hands, I’ve heard your weapon of choice is a spear. A rather unique choice of weapon, wouldn’t you say?” “Oh Caesar, I’ve been playing with sticks since I was young. I know how to handle a rod, how to maneuver it to do my bidding and lastly, I know how to strike with it. My aim is deadly and I know how to get exactly what I want,” She said to him, eyes trailing his body before looking into his eyes, a smirk playing on her lips. 

The innuendo was not lost on the older man as he re-adjusted his position, attempting to hide his growing erection from the younger woman. He knew she was toying with him and he planned on making her pay for it, soon. 

Breathing through his nose, he moved on to the next question. 

 “Aah, a confident woman. How does it feel to be here? To be a tribute in the Hunger Games? Are you excited? Nervous? Anxious? Confident?” 

 “Oh Caesar, I’ve been dreaming of this day since I was a child. Being here, in front of you and all your wonderful people is truly a gift. It’s what I’ve worked so hard for. But I do have to admit, I’m a bit nervous than I expected.” She said bashfully, feigning nervousness 

Seeing her nervousness, he held her hand within his, tingles running up his arm as he said, “There’s no need to be nervous.” 

She smiled, leaning closer to the man in a show of seductive gratitude, exposing more of her cleavage to the man in the process. He felt his heart quicken and his moth becoming drier as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. A perverse image crossed his mind of her, on her knees with smudged lipstick and make-up running down her cheeks. 

 “Thank you,” she whispered breathily. 

 “So, you said you’ve been a fan of the games since you were a child. Do you have any favorite victor over the past years?” 

 “Oh I think I’d be lying if I said all the victors were my favorite but I do appreciate the ferocity with which they’ve fought in the games though I have to admit my favorite victor was Cashmere, she’s truly brilliant but I’d be lying if I said my gaze wasn’t stolen away by- oh I don’t think I should say-” 

 “Oh, you definitely should! Which victor stole your gaze away?” He asked, leaning in. 

 “Well, my gaze was stolen away by you, Caesar.” She confessed. The audience gasped and awed at the girl. 

 Taken aback by the girl’s confession he felt flustered and flattered. Taking a moment to compose himself, feeling his erection straining against his tailored trousers. The little minx knew what she was doing. 

 “Ha ha,ha. You flatterer.” He said, trying to brush off her confession as a mere joke, yet he saw a glint of sincerity in her eyes before it was quickly replaced by amusement. 

 “Some people call me foxy.” 

 “I’d call you a vixen.” He said under her breath before smiling at the woman and continuing with the interview, readjusting his pants to hide his erection from view.

 ~ 

 The interviews after hers were pure torture. Having to suppress the urge to corner the sly minx and constantly re-adjust in his seat he finally finished the last interview, bringing the show to a close and wishing the tributes good luck. 

 As soon as the lights dimmed, he sauntered back-stage. A composed look on his face as he searched for the object of his new-found desires. He was about to ask someone about her where-abouts when he spotted her from the corner of his eyes. She looked directly at him, grinning slyly as she seductively turned, revealing her open back as she walked away, subtly beaconing him to follow. 

 Straightening his back, he calmly followed her. A predator to prey, though who was truly the predator one could only guess. He sped up his pace till he was so close to her that he could almost feel every curve of her body. Roughly curling his hand around her wrist, he whispered, “That’s enough running, little fox.”

“Who said I was running?” 

 “You’ve been a naughty little minx, teasing me in front of millions,” he whispered against her neck, taking in her scent. 

 Turning her around he pinned her against the grey walls of the little dressing room they found themselves in. Grinning at his display of dominance she taunted, “So? What are you gonna do about it?” 

 At her reply he merely smirked at the younger woman, a predatory look in his eye as he crashed his lips against hers in a battle of teeth and tongue. The pair fought, consuming each other in the kiss, one desperate the other dominant. A battle of the wills as he dominated her mouth, tasting her, teasing her, consuming her.

Pinning her hands against the wall he whispered, “What am I gonna do? I’m gonna punish you for teasing me then I’m gonna fuck you till you cant stand, till you can barely breathe, till all you can feel is me.” 

 She moaned aloud at his declaration, finally she’d be getting what she has always wanted. 

“Such a needy slut.” He whispered before backing away. She looked at him, curiosity coloring her gaze as the distance between them increased. 

 “Well, since you love to perform in front of millions its only fair if you give me a show, isn’t it?” He said, smirking at the beauty. 

 Biting her lip, she looked at him through her eyelashes before humming and slowly peeling off the dress from her body, revealing her skin to him bit by bit till not a single stitch of cloth could be found on her body. 

The older man languished in his need for her, gazing at the young woman who stared at him with equal desire, beaconing him to touch her. “What a pretty girl. So eager to do anything I command of you.” He said before crossing the distance between them and pressing her against the wall once again, devouring her mouth with his. 

 After the heated kiss he smirked at her before weaving his fingers within her hair and forcing her to her knees. “Now, pet. Would you like a little treat for being so obedient? For being a good little girl?” 

“Yes sir.” She said, nodding her head eagerly. Satisfied at her reply he quickly undid his tailored pants and palmed himself before pushing his cock towards her lips. 

 She opened her mouth to have a taste when he tutted, slapping her face lightly. Startled by his action she looked up at him, questioning. 

“Good girls ask for permission,” he stated simply. 

 Understanding his silent demand, she begged, “Please sir, please let me suck your cock. Please, let me be a good girl. Let me give you pleasure,”   

Grinning, he told her to go ahead. She wrapped her lips around his cock, moaning at his salty-musky taste, taking her time in appreciating his unique flavor. She used her tongue to caress the vein under his cock before bobbing her head up and down, hollowing her cheeks as she sucked.

Growing impatient at her slow pace Caesar held her head by her hair before thrusting wildly into her open mouth, the sounds of her gagging on his cock was music to his ears. 

Keeping her mouth lax she enjoyed the feeling of him dominating her, thrusting into her mouth till her throat felt hoarse. As he fucked her mouth, she felt drool slide down her chin and the heat between her legs throbbed, begging to be addressed. 

Mascara bled down her cheeks as pleasure enveloped her senses. Her crimson lips smudged from his affections. Her back arching in pleasure, flexible muscles taut in the face of his ministrations. 

Feeling close to his release he stopped thrusting into her mouth, pulling out quickly and leaving her whimpering for him. 

 He smiled at the girl before him, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Make-up smudged and a dazed look in her eyes as she tried to focus on him. 

 “You said you adored me pretty; well, why don’t you show me how much you want me. Kneel. Beg me to fuck you, beg me to have mercy.” He said to the sitting girl. 

 “Caesar. Sir. Please. I need you. I’ve craved you since I was a child. I’ve waited for this moment for years. Please sir. Please use me. Fuck me. Ruin me. Because I can’t take not having you in me anymore. I need to feel you inside me.” She babbled desperately. 

 Grinning at the woman he pulled her to her feet before wrapping his arm around her waist, hoisting her up till she wrapped her legs around his hips. He kissed again as she rubbed herself against his cock, impatiently whining. Breaking away from the kiss he tutted at her, rubbing his cock against her silt as she let out little moans, begging him to slide his cock into her. 

 Giving into the girl before him he slid into her slowly as she gasped, feeling his length fill her till he bottomed out.   

“Fuck,” he cursed, feeling her heat envelop him. 

Her eyes were closed as she savored the feeling of him inside her, his large cock filling her before he started thrusting, stretching her out. She moaned as she begged him to go faster. 

He obliged her request as he thrust into her roughly, rubbing her clit with his other hand as he felt the woman under him moan and whimper against his body, her back arching for him, begging for more.

Tingles spread throughout her body as she mouthed at the skin of his throat, sucking on his skin as she left her marks on the elder man. 

 “Such a pretty little pussy, taking me so well. Such a good little girl.” He mumbled against her as she arched her back once more. 

“Please. Please. Please.” She mumbled repeatedly, though her mind was too cloudy to understand what she was begging for. 

He felt her tightening around him, at the brink of her release as she looked at him with unfocused eyes. His pretty little slut. All his. 

“You wanna cum, pretty girl?” he asked as she nodded her head eagerly. “Then beg for it like a good girl.” He demanded. 

“Please sir. Please lemme cum. Please. I’ll be so good for you. Please let me cum.” She slurred as he thrust into her repeatedly. 

He simply hummed and thrust into her faster, feeling her tightening around him, her muscles straining to hold back her orgasm, awaiting his order. Pleased with her obedience he gave her permission to cum. 

 Stars burst behind her eyelids as she felt herself shudder against the older man, her walls spasming around him as he continued thrusting into her, chasing his orgasm soon after her. 

His thrusts slowed down as he slowly rocked them down form their highs, filling her with his warm seed. 

Feeling full, she looked tiredly up at him before softly pecking him. 

After a few minutes he unwrapped his arms from around her. 

 Pulling away from her warmth he watched his essence drip from her folds as she whimpered, looking at him with dazed eyes. He sighed, placing a kiss on her cheek before saying, “Until next time, little fox.” 

 As he left, she noticed something shining in the corner of her eye. A camera.

#the hunger games #caesar flickerman #caesar flickerman imagine #Caesar Flickerman x reader #Caesar flickerman/reader #caesar flickermanxreader #Hunger games #tribute!reader #Caesar Flickerman x tribute!Reader

[clatoera]

The Hunger Games characters have some unique names based on many cultures we’ve lived in today.

What’s your favourite character names from THG world? What’s their names meaning?

Bonus questions :

If you’re a fanfic writer writing about characters who lives in Panem, what’s their name gonna be?

If you’re a reader, what’s a name you read in a THG fanfic that stuck with you?

I love names. One of my favorite parts of my job Is hearing the names that get chosen.

What I love and have always loved about the names in the Hunger game is the influences from ancient cultures. When I was in Middle school and the hunger games was about to come into theaters, I was in a playwriting cohort through a local theater. I had to write a children's play and all of the names I chose came from the Hunger Games. A fairy named Glimmer, a doe named Rue. Etc. I come to learn later, that many of the names were from Ancient Roman and Greek Influences, especially those in the Capitol. Think Ceaser, Cressida, Octavia, Aurelius, Atala. Even in District two we have Cato, Brutus. Now when we get to the districts we have these names with earthy undertones, or calling back to the root of their district. District one, while it's not the same ancient influence, we have Glimmer, Gloss, Cashmere, all these luxe items. It still calls to wealth, in a different way than the ancient regal names of the Capitol. But as we go through the districts, the poorer districts, the names call back to the Earth, a Katniss and Primrose- plants. Thresh- harvesting grain. Rue means both herb and regret, and I think theres intention in that name choice. Gale- gust of wind. I do believe that there is intention behind a lot of these names in terms of the story.

That being said, my favorite name? Clove. Yes, I am a big clove Stan. But I think her name is just short and simple and still this edge of intensity and ferocity. Clove means Nail, as well as a spice. I believe win the context of masonry in district 2 her name is probably more of the 'nail' than the spice/earthy influence. This name has latin origin in a different way than Cato, but still calls back to her district as well as that ancient influence. I love the name Clove beyond topic of just THG too though, I dont want children, but if I had a daughter, I would name her Clove. I have a unique name myself, and I like Clove in that it is not popular/common but also way more pronounceable and readable than my name.

bonus:

If you’re a fanfic writer writing about characters who lives in Panem, what’s their name gonna be?

So I am a writer and I have a bigger au in the works right now in terms of mockingjay and catching fire, but with some rearrangement of characters so that we can have more young victors involved in the revolution. I think adding that youthful influence of recent victors (which means some of Katniss' competition will be in different games) could really add a new dimension to the rebellion. That being said, I don't have any original characters with names in the current timeline. I will be honest though, in that my signature fic style among ALL fandoms I've ever written for (and its a lot, I've been writing fanfic for 15 years), is baby fic. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea! That being said, thats usually the only sort of original characters I tend to involve.

alll that to say the only name I have definitively decided on is the name Crimson.

If you’re a reader, what’s a name you read in a THG fanfic that stuck with you?

I love fanfic. So much. The names that have stuck with me are usually names of Peeta and Katniss' children, since it's a Fanon decision. Years ago I read a fic where they name their son Orion, the archer constellation. I loved that, I loved the astrological tie in.

Another I read many years ago was about a girl named Troy, in relation to Cato and Clove. I loved it for the sheer reason of the callback to the Battle of Troy, great soldiers, that ancient greek influence. It's fitting regarding district 2, the soldiers that the victors ultimately become in the time of their games. I loved the tie in of all of the above :)

thanks for this ask <3

#the hunger games #answered ask #thg #cato #Peeta mellark #Katniss everdeen #name meanings #analysis #thank you thank you! #hunger games fandom

[jicklet]

Rewatching The Hunger Games movie for the first time since I saw it in theaters! Let’s go.

Literally the only thing I remembered about this movie was that the beginning was a different style than the rest, but I forgot it was because of enough shaky cam to make me motion sick. I am so glad that did not continue through the whole thing.

The world starting to gain color after they left the district did give it a sort of “Dorothy stepping into Oz” feeling, I can dig that

It’s really making it clear just how much of the book takes place in Katniss’s head, now that we aren’t hearing her thoughts.

like I think JLaw is actually doing a decent Katniss, it’s just that Katniss is such an internal person who gives off awkward hostile energy inversely proportional to how many people are around, which doesn’t make for the best film protagonist 

speaking of energy, intrigued by whatever strange vibe Haymitch and Effie got going on. like uhh are they fucking or what

I am sad at the lack of Madge, because her part of the story is a big chunk of the theme of generations, but I grudgingly recognize this is the sort of thing that gets lost in a film adaption

and I do like the pin being a tie back to Prim, and then an early piece of rebellion from Cinna with it being not officially approved but snuck onto her outfit.

Aha. Things really picked up on the no-katniss-narration-to-guide-things front when it got into the arena, and they’re able to explain what’s going on by cutting back and forth between the gamemakers room and Haymitch doing sponsor things. Both of which are honestly fun to see.

It’s done to varied success here, but I do love seeing filmmaking attempts to show messed up emotional/mind states, and they clearly had fun trying different ways of doing that during the bloodbath and the tracker jacker sequences

something about the relationship between Seneca Crane and Snow is darkly hilarious:

“Everyone likes an underdog! :D ” “I don’t.” “ :( ”

Already showing 11 rebelling in reaction to Rue’s death is...a choice.

But then if we’re going to be showing the world outside the arena, it does follow that there’s gotta be something to show just how transgressive what Katniss did was.  

Okay most of the changes that are actually bothering me are coming in at the ending

I’m guessing they fixed Peeta’s leg so completely bc they didn’t know how to make the chase exciting if he’s limping along, but. eghhh

(Peeta at the end of the book is like, he’s coming out of this with a boatload of trauma and he even lost a leg to this but at least he’s got Katniss! oh wait she maybe didn’t love him after all. this feels so less weighty)

Aw man I am cranky about the generic mutts. The horror of the tribute-mutts was SO evocative and really drives home the point that all of them are the Capital’s to play with (Did they really use their eyes? probably not but you don’t doubt it’s possible)

Instead they gave the moment to Cato with his little hope lost speech as a shortcut, which. hnn...fiiiiine.

nitpick but Katniss saying ‘trust me’ as she gave Peeta the berries bothered me bc it inferred Katniss knew how it would work out, when the irony is she started this rebellion on complete accident

😢 ok the little detail of Peeta reaching out to touch Katniss’s braid as his (as far as he knows) last act undid me. PEETA. ;-;

Hnn skipping over all the post-game recovery really undercuts the horrors of it all. 

Seneca Crane in the room with the nightlock is SO good though.

god ceaser’s teeth are so unsettling.

does. does peeta not get a crown lmao poor guy

goodness that was a really quick ending!

Hmmmm okay whereas the end of the book is like, “I went through all of this but now it’s over (with strong hints that it’s not going to be that simple)”, the end of the movie is like “we are not even out of the arena before we realize that actually you're still fucked.” Like it is really focused on setting up the sequel and they almost forgot to give this film an actual ending.

You can’t stomp on the horror of the hunger games and how nobody wins it, even the “victor(s)”, that’s the whole point! bah.

I’ll say, 3/5. Can understand why they made changes they did, even as it frustrates me that they’re undercutting the message. [throws up my hands and reminds myself “it’s a movie, it’s hollywood, what’re you gonna do”] Overall, I enjoyed it for what it was. i still have a headache from crying over Rue, goodnight.

#v watches #v watches the hunger games #hunger games #the hunger games #I remembered literally nothing about this movie it's bizarre #I may as well have not watched it but i know i did

[corruptapostasy]

Ok but like...Can we all agree that it is probably no doubt canon that Sir Pentious *probably* tried to conquer the Earth when he was alive?

Like yeah sure, we know nothing about him or his backstory at this point and anything is possible, but, like...The man is trying to conquer all of Hell. He is confident that one day the entirety of Hell will be his. He didn’t say “this ring of Hell will be mine” or “this city will be mine”, no, he said “HELL will be mine!” It is clear his goal in the afterlife is that he is undoubtably trying to wrest control from the afterlife itself and crown himself as King (or whatever title he may deem himself.) And he’s been gunning for this goal for 133 years at this point. This man is a bonafide megalomaniac, I think we can all agree on that. And what megalomaniacs crave, by definition, is power. Something Pentious definitely wants in Hell, and no doubt something he would’ve wanted when he was alive too. And if he had the genius sort of mechanical engineering that he clearly possesses in Hell (the man has advanced laser weaponry in the modern age, which is something even the real world haven’t crafted yet so clearly he’s way ahead of the curve) then this man has probably gone and burned entire cities to the ground. You don’t just go gleefully laughing about blowing up buildings and killing people within the confines of a massively powerful ship if you haven’t done it many times before.

And honestly, the sheer idea of his sins being arguably the worst out of everyone else’s in the show is just god damn hilarious to me. Like, yeah, if I’m being generous, Alastor as a serial killer probably killed 10, maybe even a dozen people. He didn’t have powers in real life (I hope) so he was fairly limited to what he could do and what he could pull off. Meanwhile Pentious is standing there making people like Julius Ceaser look like *chumps*, having killed thousands or even millions in a mad lust for power, with weapons of mass destruction and *probably* did it within the same style of blimp airships that we see in the show. Like, you can’t deny that would be so god damn funny, to have this single snake man that everyone thinks is so pathetic and weak to actually turn out to be one of the most dangerous people to ever live that has the blood of millions on his hands. And scary too.

(Also can we just stop with assuming that Pentious is a weak demon that can’t win a fight to save his life when he got his ass kicked by Alastor of all the demons? Like, yeah, of course he got his ass kicked when trying to fight him. Alastor is a stupidly OP powerful demon that slaughtered Overlords with a flick of the wrist on his first day of being dead. It wasn’t supposed to show that Pentious is stupidly weak, it was supposed to show that Alastor is OP as fuck. Just because Pentious lost the fight to a demon with fucking god-like tentacle portal powers doesn’t automatically mean he loses fights to everyone.)

#sir pentious #There’s no way Pentious didn’t kill people #Let the snake man be deadly and scary #alastor #hazbin hotel

[sweetshopshawtyjr]

On my block thoughts (spoilers)

- I’m glad Jamal got to experience a relationship kinda, even if it was just physical

- it begs the question, what happened to Kendra? Jamal did a lot of changing in the two year time skip. Was it because of her?

- I been saying for the past two seasons Jamal would join the football team. It makes too much sense coming from such a dysfunctional friend group that shut him down so much and so often. Football is a team sport where you know the other dudes on the field are going to block for you, play for you, and support you.

- it’s also a sport that allows him to actually shine, assuming he played running back. Yeah they won the game, but Jamal had so and so yards and a touchdown and did you see that long run and juke move it was insane. It’s phrases like that and all the glory that makes football makes sense for Jamal. He’s gotten used to the lights and nervousness because now he has true support around him

- Ruby’s PTSD, did jasmine help him through it? How does it feel to walk past your former best friend and feel your bullet wound and know that you can’t talk to him about all that anymore.

- everyone’s asking about Ruby’s style change and there’s a couple things I have to say about it. First no one has the same style from freshman year to junior/senior. Especially ruby he originally wanted to be noticed but ever since he got shot and everything else he might’ve wanted to lay low so he switched it up to black.

- another theory is jasmine we spent the last few episodes knows that she is very competitive and a little controlling of her friends stylistic choices, IE monse’s clothes. I could definitely see her putting clothes on ruby and changing his style for what she says is the better and ruby just goes along with it because it’s the last link to the old group that they have. Jasmine might not have been core 4 but she was there lot of the events that happened, he has someone he can reminisce with

- A lot of that probably has to do with the passing of Ruby’s Abuelita if she did indeed pass away. It probably hurt them both extremely hard, I can probably be see that actually causing them to fight ruby being so angry and telling Jamal to stop acting like it was his grandmother, and Jamal saying he was finally done with ruby and he was gonna take Abuelita’s advice and move forward in his life and stop being so nervous

- Monse and Caesar definitely had a fight, idk if she met someone else while away at school, or if it was just a rehash of the Brentwood situation and this time ceaser just decided to let her go but something definitely happened his heart was broken but Monse was completely fine

- Monse definitely tends to gravitate and fit in more at these preppy locations that she lets on, I think deep down she wants to believe she’s as freeridge as it gets because of her mother leaving her there, but in reality she’s just as preppy as her mom wanted her to be. She wasn’t afraid to go because she wouldn’t fit in, she was afraid she’d fit in too well and she was right.

- Caesar probably feels forgotten about spooky because of his new family, so he made the Santos his new family. Now he has no one looking out for him so he’s gotta look out for himself and he’s doing that by leading the santos

-

#on my block

[akakris10]

I got tagged for a one piece thing a while ago but kept forgetting to do it.... thank you @shadowstormdragon​ for tagging, sorry for taking so long to get to it lmao

1. What got you into One Piece?

If I recall correctly, my dad had book 1 on his bottom book shelf, and I picked it up when I was... around 10 maybe? because it was the only part of the shelf that I could sit down comfortably and reach lol. We ended up buying up till book 12, and I didn’t buy anymore for a while, and just reread those same books for years until I started catching up with the rest of the series.

2. What got you hooked into the series?

Honestly, I just loved the theme of adventure as a child. Nowadays I’m appreciating the deeper themes and lore, but that classic shounen feel to it was what kept my attention at first. Also I was incredibly gay for Robin but didn’t realize it yet

3. Which character would you punch and why?

There are way too many people, but I’ll stick with the classics. Blackbeard, Akainu, Judge Vinsmoke + any celestial dragons. I’ll add Doflamingo to the list, although objectively I still think he’s a really interesting character and one of the most interesting antagonists :/

4. Which moment will stick with you forever?

Ace’s death is number one. I can’t remember if I got spoiled on it or not, because I don’t know how I could’ve gotten spoiled(didn’t have any separate friends that read it with me), but I can’t remember how I reacted... Still, that moment  h u r t s. Right up there with it is probably Law’s backstory and Cora’s death - since Law was one of my long-time fav characters since he first showed up, and the sudden introduction and death of his father figure Cora realllllyyyy hurt. ouch.

5. Which moment pops up randomly in your head?

Off the top of my head... The stand off at Enies Lobby? That part - for all it’s just the lead up into the buster call and the chaos that is the battle against CP9, when Luffy asked Usopp - who was disguised as Sniper King at this point, Luffy didn’t know it was even Usopp - to shoot down the flag, and Usopp, despite apparently being a coward, shoots it down without hesitation... Them all standing against the world gov as Robin begs for them to save her... Intense stuff. Like damn, ok.

6. Who is your favorite character and why?

Robin + Law, and I didn’t realize this before, but they’re both the survivors of Buster calls.... huh.... That aside, I think I just liked them based off of their aesthetic and personalities at first, but they have a lot of depth to their character that I can’t even go into words about. Long story short, my type is apparently traumatized but tries to act cool - whether they succeed(Robin) or fail(Law).

7. How much has One Piece impacted your life?

Huh... I dunno. Probably a lot, considering how young I was when I first read it, and how it might’ve been the first manga I actually picked up? But I can’t say how much for sure.

8. What is your favorite One Piece quote?

“Frankly, I’d given up all hope. But, Mr. Luffy... I’m... Glad I lived!!! Really!! I’m so glad to be alive!!! Because a day like this has finally come!!!” - Brooke

“What good is ambition if I can’t even save the life of my own captain? Luffy... is the man who will become king of the pirates!” - Zoro

“Just walk, Law. Real quiet... So no one notices... Keep going... And going... There’s nothing to tie you down anymore... Not the steel fences around the white town... Or your shortened life span... No one can place their limits on you now. Now... You are free...” - Corazon

9. Which laugh style gets to you the most?

There’s too many laughs that seem so weird, but so distinct at the same time... I’d say Ceaser Clown - it’s so annoying that it stuck out to me - and Saul, because I like his laugh and the meaning behind it.

10. How will you feel when One Piece ends?

... One piece ends?

Tagging: @ameiiiko-art @/anyone that has this float across their screen and wants to

#one piece #did i do this right-- #I refuse to spellcheck this its too late

[softscottlang]

Dogfight (Tom Holland) p1

[Military!Tom x Reader] 

Warnings: Referring to women as ugly and cussing

Summary: When there is a contest to see who can get the ugliest date, Tom has trouble finding anyone he thinks is unattractive. 

A/N: This is based off of the Musical “Dogfight” 

Word Count: 3.5k

~~~~

“Alright boys, last day before we ship out in the mornin’.” Tom looked up to see his superior talking to the group of marines gathered in the room. “So, enjoy your last night. Report time is 0600, if you are late, you will not be fighting, and you will disgrace your country.”

Tom internally cringed at the aggressive nature of the man’s speech. Meanwhile, the other men were hopping around and screaming in excitement. He felt his spirits start to match that of the people around him, he also felt a hand grab his wrist and pull him out of the room and towards his group of friends.

“C’mon mate, we still need your share for the dogfight.” Tom looked to see the person pulling him was his childhood friend Harrison.

“How much was it again?” Tom asked grabbing his wallet out of his back pocket. It was relatively thin to begin with, consisting of barely enough money to get along with and his required identification.

“Hundred bucks.” Sebastian said from across the little circle that was created. Tom nodded and emptied his wallet of all cash expect a twenty for the rest of the night. He realized that he was going to have to win the dogfight if he wanted to have any money until payday.

“Alright ladies, we remember the rules, right?” Jacob said as he was putting all the money in an envelope before placing it in his travel bag. “Whoever brings the ugliest date to Ceaser’s tonight get all the money in this envelope, no prostitutes, no dudes and they can’t know about the bet.”

Tom had an uneasy feeling in his stomach, he didn’t want to do this. The thought of bringing a date that was, in his friend’s opinion, unattractive was making his chest feel heavy. He may have been getting five hundred dollars, but he didn’t think it was worth putting someone else in harm's way. Despite them not knowing that Tom was ‘using’ them, he felt that it was still offensive.

“What are we waiting around for pussies, get a move on it!” Paul said, smiling from ear to ear as he and Sebastian started walking towards the library.

“Well fuck faces, let’s get some dogs.” Haz said while Jacob hollered with excitement. Tom gave an unconvincing smile, trying to keep his face from frowning. Tom wanted to have friends when he was overseas, but he also didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feeling.

“Come on Tommy boy, you’re not chickening out on us are your asshole?” Haz had thrown his arm around his old friend’s shoulder, pulling him closer into his side.

“No, I-I’m just trying to figure out the best place to find an… um. Ugly girl.” the words felt dirty falling out of his mouth, like they didn’t belong there. Haz and Jacob gave Tom an encouraging shove before giving him advice.

“They’re everywhere bro, all you have to do is open your eyes,” Jacob replied before doing a weird little spin. “Look over there.”

Tom followed Jacob’s gesture to a lady with black hair and dressed in all dark colors. He was confused why she was being referred to, she had a beautiful confidence radiating off of her. Harrison started nodding his head in agreement, a wicked smirk adorning his face.

“You got her or should I?” Jacob said looking to Tom. Tom felt sick to his stomach as he shook his head to turn the offer down. “Alright then, wish me luck.”

Tom and Harrison watched as Jacob straightened his shirt and ran his hand over his bald head. None of the boys had much hair due to having to shave it from being a marine, but Jacob was able to pull off the lack of hair perfectly.

Once Jacob was happy with his appearance, he started walking towards the black clad girl. She had been watching him as he hyped himself up to his friends, she didn’t want him to approach her but she was definitely interested in what he had to say.

“Hey good lookin’, you’re so out of sight. I just had to stop and say hello.” Tom let out a chuckle at his friends attempt at a pick-up line. The girl gave a quick smirk to the tanned man. They exchanged a few more words before Jacob walked off with the girl under his arm.

“Looks like Jacob has his contender.” Harrison said before letting out a hearty laugh. “I’ll see you later, gotta get me an ugly.”

Before Tom could respond, Harrison had walked away leaving him to be all alone. Tom walked down the street looking for an ugly date, but he just couldn’t find one. Either they had pretty eyes, a bubbly personality, naturally gorgeous hair or were just beautiful. He spent hours walking around for just one ugly girl, but there were none.

Tom had decided to give up and just get some food, so he walked into a diner that he had found. It was small and very vintage, something that made his senses calm. He ordered a coffee from a waitress with a cute nose. He had practically wanted to just leave and sleep on the docks for the night before he had looked across the room.

He saw you standing next to the counter, wiping it down with a little cloth. He didn’t know why, but he was drawn to you, to your beauty. You were giving the customers a breath-taking smile as you kept up the friendly conversation.

“Can I get you something Sugar?” a middle-aged woman asked Tom, breaking him from his gaze on you. Her strong southern accent made him look at her.

“Who is she?” Tom motioned his head back towards you, where you were still smiling and nodding along to what was being said.

“Oh that’s Y/N, she’s the owner’s family friend, works here while she gets her classes done for college.” The other waitress, whose name was ‘Sally’ according to her name tag, explained to Tom. “Sweet thing, that Y/N. Her smile lights up the whole place making anyone in a ten-mile radius swoon. Such a shame she has to be into men, I could get her number for you though.” Tom felt his stomach do flips when the waitress implied that you were single

Tom nodded his head as his eyes met yours, your smile softened, and you nodded your head at him. You sure did think he was cute, in a boy-ish kind of way.

“I think I’d like that a lot.” Tom said quietly, still holding your gaze as you looked down in a flustered haze.

“Well, we close in about twenty minutes so if you stay, you can get it yourself sugar.” Sally quipped before topping off Tom’s glass of coffee.

He knew that he was supposed to be at the club for the dogfight in less than an hour. He still had yet to find an ugly girl to take with him. At this point he just wanted to go to bed and sleep until he was supposed to be at the dock for departure. But you were peeking his interest, making him want to have a nice night with a nice girl. Sure, if he brought you then you would lose him the contest hands down, but he would spend the night with a beautiful woman.

“Hey there.” He looked up, and was met with beautiful Y/E/C eyes. He felt a fuzzy feeling in his stomach when you gave him a soft smile. “Sally told me you were waiting on me.”

“Uh… yeah. I don’t want to sound creepy but you’re very pretty.” You looked down in embarrassment again, not knowing whether to thank him or ask what he wanted. “But there’s this party tonight and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”

“You ask me the night of the party sir, and I don’t even know your name? How am I supposed to trust that you won’t drag me to an alley and kill me?” You were taken aback by the sudden invitation, not that you thought the man in front of you would do that.

“Well I’m a marine, I have my tags and everything.” He nervously and quickly grabbed for the cool metal that was hanging around his neck, showing you the name engraved upon it.

“Well Holland comma Thomas, I’m Y/F/N, but why should I trust you enough to even leave this store with you?” You were testing him at this point, his eyes went from nervous to sad. Tom knew that he had no way to prove to you that he had good intentions. “I’m pulling your strings Holland, of course I’ll go with you. Just give me a few minutes to run home and freshen up. You can wait for me outside, promise I’ll be right back.”

You quickly walked down the street to your crappy studio apartment, living in the city was expensive and as a college student and a waitress, a studio was the best you could do. You quickly acknowledged your puppy that was in the room before filling his water bowl and running to the closet to pick a dress. You realized then that you hadn’t asked what kind of party you would be attending.

Flustered, you grabbed your go-to dress in the most complimentary cut and color to you. You styled your hair so that it didn’t look like it had when you were working and touched up what makeup you had on, not trying to look like you had overdone yourself.

Once you were happy with your appearance, you walked back past your puppy, petting him and giving him a swift kiss on the head before opening the door and locking it behind you. You walk as fast as your legs could carry you until you were back at the diner.

Tom’s face was being lit up by his fluorescent phone screen, his soft features were hardened in the lighting, making him appear to be more mature and older than you had seen him not to long ago.

“Tom?” You go to get his attention when he locks his phone and looks at you. He let out a little gasp, it was as if he was looking at an angel. You radiated beauty and you looked effortless. The dress was breathtaking and the color made you look phenomenal. He was shocked to say the least, he knew he was for sure going to lose the dogfight now. “Are we going to go or are you going to keep staring at me?”

“Um, yeah, let’s go.” He quickly turned and started to lead the way towards the party, you hurrying after him.

The both of you had been talking and walking slowly, enjoying each other’s company. You talked about your hopes and dreams, what your families were like. You learned that Tom had three younger brothers and a dog that he very much loved. His mother and father were actively supportive in his life and his choices.

“Don’t they worry about you?” you couldn’t help but ask him when he was talking about how his mom supported his decision to join the military. He kept his head forward, obviously too deep in thought to take his cloudy gaze from where ever he had been looking.

“I’m sure they do, they just want me to do whatever makes me happy.” Tom said in a steady voice, not trying to come off too anxious. He has thought about death plenty of times since enlisting, but he never really had anyone to talk to about it.

“Well I know I’d be worried about you.” your voice was quiet, almost too quiet to hear. Fortunately, Tom was close enough where he was able to hear each delicate syllable that passed your lips.

Tom’s eyes were immediately on the side of your face, looking for any sign of you joking or trying to poke fun at him. Your face remained sincere, showing that you were telling the truth.

“Why? You don’t even know me.” Tom was genuinely curious as to why someone he just met would even remotely care if he lived or died.

“Because no one deserves to die away from the people that they love.” You turned to look him in his brown eyes with an unwavering seriousness. Tom’s jaw line softened from him releasing the tension that he held there, you were bringing out a soft side that no one had been able to see since he had started basic training. He had spent so long building his walls up so that he wouldn’t be made fun of for being too weak but here you were, effortlessly knocking down each of those walls without so much as a second thought.

“I’m not going to die Y/N.” Tom looked at you with an intensity that you didn’t know had existed. It made your stomach drop and flip, you were looking at his brown eyes and slowly seeing why your favorite writers talked about eyes being filled with emotion. His were filled with too many to distinguish.

“But what if you do Tom? What happens then?” Your voice stayed soft, you didn’t know why you cared about this man you had just met, but you did. You cared too much to get attached to whom you didn’t really know besides what he had told you. Hell, you didn’t even know if what he said was true but for some reason, you believed him.

Or at least, you wanted to.

“Then I die, but I sure don’t plan on leaving this world yet so you’re going to have to deal with me longer than just tonight.” Tom said throwing his pale hands in the air.

Your mind was processing the words that fell from his mouth. Not knowing how to respond, you reach out and grasp his wrist, pulling him into an hug.

“You’re not allowed to die Tom.” You say, your voice still quiet and soft. He wrapped his hands around you carefully, not knowing if this was the right thing to do or not. You seemed so fragile and broken. He held you for a second, trying to keep all of your pieces together, because maybe if he held you tight enough, he could fix all of your broken bits by pressing them back together gently.

“I won’t.” He softly said. You relaxed and retracted your arms from around him, straightening your dress and running your hands under your eyes to clean the smudged mascara.  

Seeing that you cared so deeply for him made him feel bad for still taking you to the dogfight, despite you being beautiful and not knowing what was happening, he felt guilty. You deserved to go on a nice date and have a good time, not be judged for being ugly, which you were not.

“Y/N, um.. We don’t have to go.” Tom watched as you whipped your head around to look at him, eyes wide with concern. “We can do something else, I don’t want you to feel like you have to go for me.”

“You asked me to go to a party with you, so let’s go!” You say in a blubby tone, confused as to why he had suddenly not wanted to go. Tom decided not to fight with you anymore and to just hold the guilt within.

“Okay, well we’re here then.” Tom gestured towards the pub across the street. There was a neon sign displaying the name of the bar and a musty smell lingering in the air.

You nodded your head and walked towards the entrance, Tom close behind you. You walked in and felt a hand wrap itself around your waist, you looked and saw that Tom was pulling you towards him in what you thought was a protective motive. But to Tom, it was a way to shield you from being seen by the other guys. He didn’t want his friends to see him walking in with a pretty girl, so he pulled your face away from where they were standing,

“Tommy boy, I don’t think you’ve met my date yet.” A tall blonde man had his arm around a middle-aged woman with unbrushed hair and a dirty looking face. Tom wouldn’t say that she was ugly, she just didn’t look like she took care of herself. “This is Billie Jean.”

“Nice to meet ya.” She stuck her hand straight out, offering him a hand shake. Tom could distinctly see the black rim of dirt that had buried itself under her nail bed from not being bathed properly. He held in the cringe that he wanted to let out so bad but suppressed the urge.

“Nice to meet you.” Tom said reluctantly taking her hand. Harrison smirked at Tom, knowing that Tom more than likely had a better-looking date.

“And who is that.” Harrison said gesturing towards you, who had been tucked under Tom’s arm and watching as the dj announced the next singer for the karaoke party.

“This is Y/N” Tom said before nudging you to meet his friend. You turned and saw a tall blonde man standing there. His smile grew when he saw you. You said quick hellos and parted ways when Tom took you onto the dance floor.

You both had danced for what felt like hours until your body was clammy and begging you to go outside and get some of the cool night air.

“I’m going outside, I’ll be right back.” You said to Tom over the thumping music heard throughout the night club. He gave you a quick nod before watching you walk away, making sure that no one harassed you on your way out.

Once you had opened the door and felt the initial wave of cool air hit your body, your attention was on an arguing couple. It wasn’t until your eyes focused that you saw it was Billie Jean and Harrison. He was throwing his hands up in big gestures, obviously angry. It lasted a few more seconds before he flug money at her and stalked back inside, brushing shoulders with you on the way in.

“Are you okay?” You asked the older woman who was picking up the dirty bills that made fallen on the gravel.

“I should have never agreed to this.” The woman growled at you.

“Agreed to what? Didn’t you have a good time?” You thought that she was having a fun time on the dance floor less than a half hour ago.

“This stupid contest, I shouldn’t have come. It’s just for ugly girls and horny boys.” The was still grumbling, scrolling on her phone.

“Tom didn’t bring me here for the contest.” You were quiet, not knowing how to process the information being thrown at you.

“He brought you here because he thought you were ugly darling.”

“Tom wouldn’t do that, he’s not like that.” You were heart broken, in denial that he would be that much of a monster.

“Sorry to break it to ya but that’s what happened. How else do you think my ragged ass got a date with that blonde hunk in there.” She said, her yellowed teeth on display.

“No, I don’t believe you.” You said through tear filled eyes.

“Harrison told me, you saw him throw the money at me. You can’t deny that you were wondering why a good-looking guy like him would be with a girl like you.” Billie Jean was practically screaming at you, making you want to scream out in frustration. You knew it was true from the way that you had been invited to go with him.

You stomped back into the pub, heading straight towards the Holland man in a blind rage. Once he had seen you, his face went from calm contempt to concerned. You didn’t care, as soon as he was within arm reach, you swung your hand that met Tom’s face with a forceful slap. You normally would never do that, it was out of character. Tom looked at you confused, holding his cheek from shock and pain.  

“How dare you bring me here with the motive to exploit me for your own benefits. I’m disgusted that you even participated in something like this. I thought you were better than this Tom, I thought you were different from other guys.” You voice was cracking uncontrollably, filled with so much sorrow and despair.

Tom hadn’t said anything, not knowing how to respond. That made you even more frustrated and even more enraged.  

“I hope you die at war Tom Holland.” You said before stomping off, not caring if you ever saw him again in your life.  

~~~~

Tags : @yourwonderbelle @ironspiderman98 @leasly @jadedjules @blueeyedbesson @jophiehoe @embrace-themagic @stevieboyharrington @justapotatonow @confusionboner @annymcervantes @cherryhao @robfangirl  @katiekinzs @softspideyboy @starkravingparker @underoosstark @qvidditch @theheartlocker @determinedpines @starryrevelations @logan8546 @anitalasirenita

  ADD YOURSELF TO MY TAGLIST! :)

#Tom Holland #Tom Holland imagine #tom holland au #military!au #military!tom #military #peter parker x reader #spiderman x reader #fem!reader #Tom Holland x reader #Tom x reader #hero writes #Tom Holland smut #angst #Tom Holland angst #spider man: homecoming #harrison osterfield #Military!Harrison #jacob batalon #Jacob Batalon imagine #dogfight #musical #broadway

[calliecat93]

RvB16 Episode 12 Review: Docudrama

Earlier in the week, Joe confirmed that the season’s final episode count would be 15 total. This will make it the series’ shortest season, though Joe has said that the final runtime is the same as S12. My point is, we are in the final stretch my friends. So last week had some mixed responses regarding Tucker... and IDC cause Grif got n Energy Sword! WHOO!!! But now, after ten straight episodes of our heroes being separate, it’s time to bring them back together.

Overview

This episode has a rather interesting premise. You know how movies have those behind the scenes documentaries/features? Well this episode is shot as one, beginning with the actors for Wash and Carolina... having sex... while the two real ones look. Jax wanted sex appeal... though he apparently plans on making a Grimmons scene so you know what? Add all the sex appeal Jax! Also hope you all can tolerate shaky came cause haha... we get light eight straight minutes of it... be afraid people.

So Sister, Tucker, and Grif have just arrived, so at last the gang is back together! We even have Grif showing off the new sword to Simmons and them proceeding to come up with sword puns, all while Simmons is in awe. Ah I missed these two being together so much. Donut also appears to joint he party! Grif isn’t happy about this considered that... you know, Donut’s with the bad guys. But Donut apologizes for getting everyone into the mess to begin with and wants to help get them out of it. This seems to satisfy everyone for now, but... yeah don’t fall for it viewers.

Grif reveals the deal to meet with the Cosmic Powers and tries to get everyone on board with it. The Freelancers have concerns however and Sarge isn’t willing to give up the gun yet. But Grif, as well as Sister and Tucker, explain about the shield protecting them and Grif trusts Huggins enough that he thinks it’ll be safe. Carolina worries that this is a trap, while Wash is just happy to be back in the usual ‘get involved in shit with the others’ groove. Before a final decision can be made, Jax wants to know more about if time travel is a bad thing or not once Tucker explains about the time line being damaged. As such, Jax wants to interview everyone and create a timeline based off everyone’s travels in order to see if there are any true consequences to all of it.

So the interviews are conducted, where it’s implied that Sister shot JFK and Grif may have killed Ceaser. Oops. Caboose also discovered Chinese finger traps. The most interesting though is Donut talking about how Chrovous saved his life and has been nothing but respectful towards him. The Reds and Blues on the other hand, well... yeah... anyways, onto the results! Jax concludes that while the Reds and Blues have failed in fixing any past mistakes or losses, there so far haven;t been any actual consequences to their shenanigains. He would know since, as it turns out, he’s been using Sarge’s gun to do some time traveling of his own. More on that later. The unified time line... well... it’s a dock. No seriously, it is an actual drawing of a dick. Science is mean man.

With that out of the way, Grif again presses everyone to meet with the Cosmic Powers. Wash still has concerns though... namely in how this is supposed to help find Church. To say that everyone is confused would be an understatement. What Wash is refereeing to is Chuch’s message last season... which IDT he ever did get told that it was just a past recording. Carolina tries to pass it off as him fooling around and while t looks like Wash realized that he lapsed again, it very clearly troubled him. But anymore discussions bout that will have to wait as the Reds and Blues take the guns and head for the Cosmic Gods. Oh and what did Jax do during his time travel you asked? He got actors like Tommy Wiseau and The Dude form Big Lebowski and cast them as the leads. Wow... wow... oh and the studio doesn’t like it, so they cut the funding and with the Reds and Blues gone, Jax can’t fix it. So much for no consequences, haha...

The Reds and Blues arrive at what we can now refer to as Starseat, the base of the Cosmic Powers. Although Jax briefly pops in via the open portal to convince them to help get funding back. It ends when Atlus throws his weapon into Jax and knocks him back into his own time. Oh and we also learnt hat Kalirama is Atlus’ wife... and sister... did I ever mention how fucked up mythology can be?! We also find out who Golfing Guy is. So there’s been a popular theory around that he is Jenkins, who was the ‘camera man’ for Blood Gulch and was in one of the S5 alternate endings. And... it is indeed Jenkins... well Genkins to be exact. He also says that the pink one is going to steal the hammer, HMM... so once intros are done, Carolina asks to hear everything form the beginning. Atlus begins to talk... and because Joe is a jerk, the episode ends there. JERK!

Review

Lets get the annoying out of the way first. SO the documentary style? I liked it! I think Joe mentioned last year that he’d wanted to o an Office-style episode in S15, but simply didn’t have the time. This was a nice place to revisit the idea. but... Joe honey, why did there have to be shaky cam? Okay I know why. It’s documentary style, and those have plenty of shaky cam. It annoys the people watching so Joe got that down... the problem is it annoys the audience. I definitely think that he should have had maybe some int he beginning, and left it after that to make it more bearable to watch. Still credit where it’s due, he got the desired emotion out of me. I’m also kind of annoyed that Tucker is back to being his usual self after the last episode, though he is acting more like regular Tucker so I guess we’ll see what happens.

So the Reds and Blues are finally together again and let me tell you, THANK GOD. I did not realize how much I missed everyone being together until this episode. I lied that it wasn’t overplayed and everything just... went into place. Grif and Simmons joking around, Sister getting referred to by her actual name, Tucker and Wash’s little ‘hey’.s to each other, it was just nice. I also liked how they discuss the issue. There’s the irony of Grif trying to get everyone to follow the plot now, the Freelaners asking questions, the Grif SIbs and Tucker explaining what they found out. Like it’s not over the top... I mean there’s plenty of humor like Grif knowing that he was gonna have to lie to Sarge to make him cooperate. But as much as I’ve enjoyed the crazy time shenanigans, it was nice to have a more calm episode of everyone just discussing what the next step is for them. IDK why I liked just seeing everyone talking so much, but I do.

There was just a lot that I loved. Like the shipping joke in the beginning, Grif still trusting Huggins, both Donut’s return and his interview bit (that hurt...), Simmons trusting Grif’s word and siding with him over seeing the Cosmic Powers, Caboose and the finger trap, the Reds and Blues trying to give themselves epic titles, it was all just great. Even with the heavier moments like Wash having another memory lapse and Carolina still trying to hide it were nice to see... and also hurt, but still well done. Everyone was just, for the most part, happy. I missed the happy.

So time travel stuff. Honestly IDK if this is a Closed Loop anymore or not due to Jax taking actors... though tbf aside form John Wayne IDT any of them are dead in the current time. So what we can conclude with the info that we have is that with the current brand of time travel, you cannot change the past. If you got your men killed or betrayed someone? You can’t change it. You feel bad about your sex life? Can’t change it. You lose a penny? Can’t change it. Now the whole ‘pizza doesn’t exist’ thing is still a huge hole... but we COULD attest that as damage to the timeline. It’s a consequence of the time travel. As we just saw with Jax’s movie losing funding, there are consequences to making changes and we saw that with Sarge where recruiting the new Reds ultimately did nothing for him.

There’s still a lot unclear about time travel, and with three episodes left IDK how Joe is going to explain it all. Maybe he won’t and we’ll have to see if he does next season. Now it looks like we’re finally getting some exposition which I think is sorely needed at this point. My guess is we’re going to learn about how Chrovous got locked away and hopefully just why tie travel is as dangerous as it is. But there’s also Genkin’s comment about ‘the pink one steals the hammer’. It seems to hint that whatever Donut is going to do, next episode he’s going to do it. IDK where that’ll lead, but I imagine that it won’t be good for our heroes...

Final Thoughts

This is probably my shortest review so far, but even so I loved this episode. The shaky cam was annoying as Hell, but it had a lot of fun moments that makes it forgivable. Plus it was just so good to have everyone back together again after so long. We have three epsodes of S16 left to go, and honestly I have no idea what to expect at this point. All I know is that whatever happens, we’re not ready for it.

#rvb #rvb16 #rvb16 spoilers #rvb reviews

[0hwow]

@ the anon who sent me an ask, i accidentally deleted it i’m sorry :( and i only did the first 50

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? - my gf!!!!

2. Are you outgoing or shy? - like a good mixture of both, and it also just depends on who i’m with

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? - uuhhh my gf

4. Are you easy to get along with? - people say i am buuut i don’t think so, i can be pretty awkward lmao

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? - yikes i would hope so!!

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? - deadass anywho who’s nice and has similar views as me...,. that’s it

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? - i mean i hope i’ll keep dating my gf two months from now

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? - honestly no man is on my mind besides yoongi 😔🤧

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? - mmmm yee kinda

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? - with my gf i think

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? - “goodnight i love you sooo much” it was a text to my gf, can u tell that i love her????

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

- in no specific order: face and sweet by brockhampton, touch by nct, get you by daniel ceaser, and after the storm by kali uhis

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? - oh bitch it’s the nicest feeling in the world

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? - yeah but like just a little tho

15. What good thing happened this summer? - uuhh i got a job i guess

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? - lol yeah def, bc it was my gf

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

- duh

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? - lol no we stopped talking once i started high school bc we went to different schools

19. Do you like bubble baths? - the idea of one sounds nice

20. Do you like your neighbors? - i don’t talk to my neighbors at all :/

21. What are your bad habits? - i bite the skin around my nails a lot which is gross

22. Where would you like to travel? - spain i guess, or tokyo would be cool af

23. Do you have trust issues? - yes, i think

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? - uuhh lunch during school bc i get to hang out with my friends, whom i love :’)

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? - either my face or my thighs

26. What do you do when you wake up? - cry lmaoo, no but seriously i get on my phone

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? - im fine with the way it is now

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

- my gf i think but even then again i’m like rarely comfortable

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? - i have no ex’s (only bc i don’t consider my first relationship as an actual romantic relationship)

30. Do you ever want to get married? - it’d be kinda cool i suppose

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail?

- barely, hair falls out at the bottom

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? - oh buddy, harry styles and rihanna

33. Spell your name with your chin. - rwgi

34. Do you play sports? What sports? - not now but i played volleyball all through middle school and i did swimming my freshman year of high school

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? - without tv

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? - oh buddy yes ofc

37. What do you say during awkward silences? - i just ask questions about the other person

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? - nice, funny, similar views, good sense of fashion and music, positive, supportive, cute ;)

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

- i recently went to a store called zumies, they had such cool shirts

40. What do you want to do after high school? - pls don’t ever ask me this question

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? - uuhhh sometimes

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? - im in a bad mood and don’t want to talk

43. Do you smile at strangers? - yah, it’s called being nice

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? - the bottom of the ocean terrifies me but i love it at the same time

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? - seeing my friends :))) how corny

46. What are you paranoid about? - one of the main things is that i think i annoy people a lot

47. Have you ever been high? - twice with my brother

48. Have you ever been drunk? - once!! i was sobbing to my brothers and mom about something that happened 5 years ago

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? - i don’t think so

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? - i don’t rlly wear hoodies but it was green

#im so sorry :((( #but thank you for asking #i looooove you even though i dont know who you are #anon

[akira-seijuro]

Hmm you see I turned 24. I am not narcissistic but I am when it comes to my birthday, I am the Empress of every existential entity on this one fucking day. You don’t get it? Fine, but I do.

Lets see, a small girl holding a peach colored teddy bear in a world filled with dinosaurs, mammoths and well, plants and water bodies. Beautiful world. But just one girl standing there, right there absorbing all that she can and believing that the world is just this, till the sight of the horizon with no one to communicate, the only human growing a spine. I do not actually mean those historic beings, it’s metaphoric for all character-set society with standard roles to observe which is rhetoric and non-adaptive at the same time because every one looked like they belong to different species of humans. She was the weird one trying to be one of those historic beings, the best of those for 13.5 years bearing all the torture of the dirty minds, passive minds and well, stupid minds trying to make believe that she was one of them, one of all those there. Nevertheless, she was beneficial to every single person she encountered in that ice age and the Mesozoic era before, she helped them by remembering the paths as to where they could find food, how they can play defensive and the offensive. She was the damn good empress of that small world democratically praised. But then once they didn’t need her, she was cast aside and sent into exile. Oh if you are wondering about her parents, she was brought up by two humans that belonged to the Mesozoic era. So she was self sufficient in food and all other she needed to survive to perform her duties as the little girl before and after the peach teddy bear tore apart by her cousins. So, as I was telling you, she was exiled by her fellow Mesozoic human species after they became self-sufficient, a common characteristic of many homo sapiens I would say.

Then she realized she either needs to adapt and become one of them, one that could tear up a person after he/she is no use or leave them. Well, given her character, common, she is the main character what else do you expect?  So, she left them. Lived alone for years, seeing the the destruction of ice age and Mesozoic era and  how the world turned it’s back on the creatures it once homed and nurtured because it was unable to accommodate them. It just put itself as first priority just like how the air hostess always said, put your own oxygen mask first then get to your child. It just followed the rules very strictly for once. While this transformation into a pure Cenozoic happened, there came fossil fuels that were made out of her so called friends, she learnt to be able to use the fossil fuels, not her friends, now to go to places and electricity and for the good, blah blah blah. See, the transition, it wasn’t smooth, it had taken the lives of many, well it also was making the lives of many Mesozoic humans inhabitable, so she saw all the struggle. World turned it’s back on her father, so she saw him trying to adapt with all the means available and fellow Mesozoic humans pretending, sometimes truthfully trying to use their.. Wow. Finally. the word comes out. their ‘brains’ to go against the world that was turning it’s back. She used to think, weren’t we all supposed to be the same, we all have digestive system, nervous system, reproductive system in all our bodies. Why different DNA’s? Why these DNA’s were not able to adapt. Why weren’t we able to become X-Men, so much of collateral damage so that the world can find it’s perfect match as to who can live on it. How inhospitable was this environment because of the competition, why was there a lot of chaos all of a sudden and suffering, pain and difference in standard of living across the world based on a paper product that was different everywhere. How could a paper dictate how forward a world can be at one place and different at another. I know too many real questions. Obviously she tried going with the herd, fell in love that was never nourished, she was laughed at because the questions were too real, some called her retarded for not being able to fake an emotion, some called different names because she believed that humans can co-exist without taking gender and blood into consideration. Family doesn’t necessarily mean having the same last name. Scientifically we all have the same last name. Sapiens. But fuck science, right. Doesn’t let the bureaucrats flourish, doesn’t promote Julius Ceasers’ because you know not all the can be Julius’, but being the senators who stabbed him, it was always easier to be one of them in all the universal  time coordinated plus or minus based time  zones. North pole keeps shifting, still humans fasten the process by a year, 34 miles. Record. So proud. El Ninos’ don’t stop, plates keep rubbing against each other, volcanoes, my god, they have had enough. They bottled up for centuries and they were sick and tired of tiny bugs trying to show off everywhere. So, yes, where was I? co-existence. Fancy word. She realized she needed to get out of this comfortably disillusioned circle and go to some oblong place where she can see some things straight as in how she needn’t prove her character or have to put in so many efforts to see what is in front of her. Congratulations babe! she thought she finally made it.

Just about to enter the free zone of independence, she was hit hard with neoplastic activity in her family. Metastasis to her beloved man who made her feel like a princess for 14 years. It was an achievement. Trust me. I haven’t seen anyone who has more guts than her when it comes to standing up for what she believed in. Man taught her well, though he himself couldn’t do that. He was her army, her general, her armor that cut through anyone that tried to fight her. Though this might be an exaggeration, she was one of the closest to being an ideal human according to Epictetus and Buddha, a Julius Caeser species, say some 60% because she stuck to her ideals which sometimes did not shed the light, which sometimes threw her into infinite darkness, because her body and brain were not built to live in any other way. So metastasis was one of those things that threw her into infinite darkness, because of just one word. Love. What the fuck man, a chemical reaction in brain can cause a human with wbc, rbc and thrombocytes go bizarre? Shut up. But it is true. No wbc can counter the excessive production of cortisol or insufficient production of dopamine. She badly needed serotonin-nor-epinephrine re-uptake inhibitors. She, only she made all the calls to define the way she could take care of herself, because no one could and no one gave a damn because everything looked strong and alright on the outside. She met more cenozoic humans, mesozoic humans, got more cortisol and got her brain shrunk and body bulged up. She practically was failing in terms of self defense of the mind game. Note that she was commendable at playing video games. She tried to channel many people struggling with the same cortisol function, such as Vincent Van Gogh, Ellen DeGenres, Angelina Jolie. She read tirelessly, she painted and developed her signature styles in everything, she wrote countless pains, she wore her broken heart on her sleeve, trying to spread warmth even when she knew that there was no hope. She defined herself, she built a character and strength for herself and was real. She became the human who could be happy, sad, depressed, ecstatic, a person who could jump when someone she believed in succeeded and cried when someone she saw was in pain. She was emotional. But, she always had the right emotion with respect to the situation, just how a human could be. A real human being. She was good, she was bad, she was warm, she was cold. She was distant and she was close. There wasn’t a single human whom she met, who didn’t connect with her soul, the ones whom she believed in especially. Likewise they were able to be their own selves with her because she was accommodating and simply put, she gave everyone a chance, she gave a fuck. But that’s a dangerous zone. Being original. So people tend to deny that. But nevertheless, she was a lone wolf crying in silence, howling at the moon every night. When she lost, she accepted and held her head with grace. She took charge and tried to honor her dad’s death. She was the person who tried until the very end just like her dad. She still is too. Unfortunately, not all want to be given so much fuck. Because shit gets real when they live as an original. She fell in love again, this time consciously and responsibly, she did not want to give up without trying. But cenozoic human liked her too, at least she thought he did and she wanted to live with a renewed hope. That she could do it. That she could have almost everything.That she would laugh, she would cry, she could have a safe space that would not require her to put in efforts, she felt understood, but little did she know about that differently placed human. The reason why she could make friends with anyone on the planet, who necessarily was not from her place was because she was a human being first and she behaved like one instead of affiliating herself with certain alias of the herd. That was why people opened up, she encouraged being real, she made people dis comfortable first, but then comfortable with themselves later, that created a bond. She never forgot to show gratitude, she was loyal and worst, she was courageous to grow a spine everywhere, every time life threw a punch at her. But world was may be too real to believe in, her renewed strength turned into pain, unbearable and shattering once again. She was not a dark person, but life was dark to her. People she loves, always left her and disappeared one way or the other. She just wanted someone to make her laugh. Stop saying bullshit that you don’t need anyone to make you laugh, you alone are enough. Yes, she alone was enough to survive and sometimes happy, but having someone to share it with, who could have her back, being able to love someone takes shit load of strength and courage, to believe to share a future, which might sound melodramatic, but man she laughed without pain because of this guy many times. Now she is afraid if she could ever laugh again. I don’t think she does anymore. She gave up. She realized, she is probably cursed and would never be happy, would always see the loss and renewal of the world but she would always be alone. The only thing she could probably do is live authentically and help those who are not enabled like her. Because there might be many little girls, but not all would have the belief of beauty or the privilege of being self sufficient when they are in their own ice age and Mesozoic era. As she thought before, she is broken beyond repair, beyond any save. She is exhausted and she is done to an extent that a cry for attention by ending, on her birthday would eventually turn into a blame game, worse would not actually gain any attention for a second, even though many people would meaningfully shed a tear for her, because she is an inspiring, bold, emotional and brilliant badass woman. She is now a woman standing at the edge of a dessert still growing a spine to see the sun rise beyond the horizon on the other end, all alone, without hope and without love because she still has a leash that only lets her be in the dark fearing to explore beyond what eyes could make her see, trying to keep her mind in its right size, fighting every breathe, because she is universally disappointed and unloved.

[renaramblesaboutcomics]

Wednesday Roundup 6.9.2017

Here we are with a fairly straightforward week! I know, I’m surprised by my restraint, too! Who could have imagined I’d ever manage a week with less than five comics. My wallet definitely would appreciate if I did so more often. 

Regardless, let’s get right into the bones I have to pick. With one of these entries. Because it’s a bone and a half. And I use a lot of UPPERCASE so uhhh Guess which one gets that treatment!!!

Marvel’s Generations: Iron Man & Ironheart, Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo, DC’s Wonder Girl: Adventures of a Teen Titan

Marvel’s Generations: Iron Man & Ironheart (2017) #1 Brian Michael Bendis, Marco Rudy,Szymon Kudranski, Nico Leon

Whooooooooo boy. It’s been a long time since I picked up a new comic at release date and just.... did not have a pleasant experience reading it. Like at all. So this was kind of a disappointing conclusion to what has for the last year been a pretty solid record of maintaining great comic book readership. I don’t know why I’m even a little surprised it’s a Bendis comic.

Here’s the thing, I don’t... aggressively hate BMB as others do. I’m just critical of him on what I feel are pretty logical issues to be critical of someone on and in turn that leads to this dagger’s edge of when his comics are good, they’re really damn good. But when they’re bad? It’s like this collision of all the things in comics possible that work as my personal pet peeves. Which is why, though I genuinely adore Riri Williams as a character, and had been enjoying her book, I moved it to a trade wait status right along with Miles Morales: Spider-Man -- it’s easier to take the good with the bad when it’s not an issue by issue basis. 

And... well. Let’s just say that for being THE guy at Marvel who usually gets all the very best talent to lift up even most of his comics I didn’t personally enjoy? There was not that saving grace this time around. Believe you me. I wish there were. But let’s just jump into the details.

Story: TONY STARK AS THE SORCERER SUPREME. TONY. STARK. SORCERER. SUPREME. Who asked for this. Who wanted this. Who thinks this future makes absolutely any sense whatsoever other than calling what everyone has thought since Tony “died” in Civil War II which is that Marvel doesn’t have the actual guts it takes to permanently kill off a franchise character that isn’t the original Jean Grey? Who thought this was a good idea? Bendis. Basically because Bendis likes to pretend he’s doing Morrison-style shake ups of continuity and bringing things together but rarely delivers it in a way that is either consistent or satisfying. 

The one reason I’ve been giving a good number of these Generations books a chance isn’t because I’m particularly interested in the event itself. Truth be told I have absolutely no idea why it’s happening or why Laura was sent back through time to meet up with Logan in Japan or just... anything. I didn’t catch a single clue of what was going on. And I didn’t really care because I’ve read comics long enough that I just want the issues themselves that center around the characters I care about to make sense and be enjoyable on their own. That, for me, is the most valuable part of an experience comics can grant me. And when it doesn’t, I would hope that at the very least it would be because they were providing me some insight on the event as a whole because it was substituting characterization and plot for the Event. Which happens. 

This comic managed to not only provide neither of those things for me, I would argue that it made me unerstand less about the event and less about Bendis’ own characterizations for Riri and Tony than I had a handle on before. Which is... frankly impressive. Also... what a fucking bland future. Like I appreciate it not being a nightmare dystopia like every other comic book future, ESPECIALLY at Marvel, but..... damn, man. There was exactly no life in the city of mushrooms and LSD of tomorrow. Apparently the only inhabitants of a positive future are.... oh my god I can’t believe I have to type it again, Sorcerer Supreme Tony Stark, and the blandest version of the future Avengers I think I’ve ever seen. Like at that point why even bother. 

Oh and adult Franklin Richards is special. Shocking. YES. FRANKLIN IS AN OMEGA LEVEL MUTANT BUT WHY WOULD STARK GO TO HIM TO FIX TIME TRAVEL SHENANIGANS WHEN IT’S VALERIA WHO IS THE SUPER GENIUS AND WAS THE ONE IN THE PAST RUNS OF FF THAT INVOLVED FUTURE FRANKLIN TIME TRAVELING WHO CREATED THE TECHNOLOGY FOR HIM TO DO SO. BENDIS HAVE YOU NOT BEEN KEEPING UP WITH THE FF FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES OR SOMETHING WHAT THE HELL. Moving on... 

Art: One thing I can usually always count on with Marvel is that they love to match their best artists with the leading talents they have writing, and there’s no one shaping the entirety of the Marvel Universe right now more than Bendis, so usually the art for his comics is easily some of the best to come out in any given week.

....

That’s not.... really the case here??? Is it terrible, no not at all. And there’s definitely nice sequences. The problem arises from the page layouts which, ngl, utterly awful. There were multiple pages in a row where I had to reread the whole page again just so I could follow the dialogue. It was not easy to follow from one panel to the next, and the psychodellic affects just made me wish for 70s comics. Back when they had rulers. 

Characters & Dialogue: Sorcerer. Supreme. Tony. Freaking. Stark. No I’m not over it. Especially since this entire issue was more dedicated to beefing up how awesome and amazing Tony is. Riri’s fine, but her biggest part in this issue is to be Tony’s fan and to learn that she’ll be awesome!!!... in the future. She’s only 15 now! She’ll have to grow up into a more prominent hero in the next 45 real world years. But mostly it was... just really lazy. What’s interested me about Generations is that it’s given an excuse for Legacy characters to team up across timelines with versions of their predecessors that in all honesty would have not made sense in other context. What was great about the Wolverine issue I covered before wasn’t just that we got to see Logan and Laura the way we had back when Logan was alive. We got to see Laura with a version of her father that she had never met before. And to make it even more unique, it was viewing this older, more matured Laura almost entirely through the eyes of the father who didn’t yet know her. It was creative and it added depth for both characters even if it’s not going to be the source of some great shift in the main comics for them, it provides a refreshing look into who they are and even how far they’ve come. This issue? Honestly I can’t even tell you what Bendis’ goal was here. And that cover -- the name of the issue? -- the idea we’d get to see Iron Man and Ironheart team up together and kick ass is apparently just too predictable and lame for an event that is literally advertised as being that exact premise. 

I’m so annoyed with this comic. But I’m really more annoyed with myself for expecting something more interesting and paying Marvel’s outrageous and nearly unethical price gouging of their comics. $4.99 for this comic. I’m never getting that $4.99 back. That’s... That’s like five bags of chips from the vending machine at work. That’s a Hot & Ready pizza at Little Ceaser’s. I spent it on this comic. What’s wrong with me. What did I expect???

Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo (1984-present) #161 Stan Sakai, Tom Luth

Why are the best comics always the most difficult to explain in quality? This thing has been going on for thirty years, has never changed writer or artist, has impressed by the hundreds of thousands, and drastically impacted the atmosphere and tone of comics publishing since the 80s right alongside Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all without truly getting due credit. I would tell anyone who asked to just immediately drop what they’re reading and go catch up on Usagi, but it feels like that should go without saying. 

Instead I’ll say, this issue is the first of a new arc and since you can jump into Usagi Yojimbo comics at any point in continuity and be assured to have a good time and pick up what you need to know along the way, pick up today’s issue and get started.

Story: We see the collision of a few of Usagi’s favorite supporting casts and as always it leads to a lot of ruckus and a lot of fun. Though not specifically fun for Kitsune this time around as she’s been seemingly framed for murder. Fortunately Usagi comes in to vouch for her and due to Ishida’s immense respect for Usagi earned over the years Kitsune gets off relatively lighter than usual. But there’s still a murderer about. 

Now one of my compliments to Usagi Yojimbo and really the genius of Stan Sakai in general is that he’s maintained a high quality solo comic for over thirty years and somehow still makes new stories always keeping hot takes and ideas for characters refreshingly new and refreshingly fun. That remains true of this story, too, since this match up of supporting characters hasn’t exactly been seen yet, but at the same time I’m suspicious of the retread of the idea of Kitsune being framed for a crime other than the one she really did and Usagi having to figure out the mystery. I don’t expect that plot to be repeated beat for beat, especially since Inspector Ishida is here and that almost always develops into a more thickly plotted mystery story. So part of me talking up all that flowery wording on my adoration of these comics is to explain why, despite my usual instincts to be distrusting of a repetitive plot beat in comics, I know to expect more from the upcoming issue continuation and don’t have that fear of disappointment that has been instilled in me for the past two decades. 

Also new to the comic is the addition of a one page sub-story at the end of Chibi Usagi which might be the most adorable idea ever and Stan Sakai truly is the hero we don’t deserve. 

Art: I once read a comic reviewer’s explanation of Usagi Yojimbo’s art as being “deceptively simple” -- the bold lines, the character designs, the adherence to a completely black and white comic -- what is seemingly such a simple comic in theory dazzles with its true complexity and tight control of action sequences and blocking. Stan Sakai uses Japanese patterns and crosshatching as well as detailed background art to turn almost every sequence into an unmistakable landmark that makes every town and prefecture that Usagi travels to feel unique. 

It’s just one of those amazing things you have to see for yourself to truly believe. 

Characters & Dialogue: This section is pretty much purposeless on an Usagi Yojimbo comic because Sakai has been writing these characters so long and giving them all such identifiable traits and voices that they’re just always good. If you enjoy these characters then Sakai meets every heightened expectation along the way.

DC’s Wonder Girl: Adventures of a Teen Titan  John Byrne, Bob Kanigher, Bruno Premiani, Neal Adams, Ross Andru, Bob Haney

One thing I have liked recently that DC’s been doing is these recollections of their properties that for a long time they haven’t capitalized on the most, and there’s probably no better example of that exact thing than the severely underrated Wonder Girl Legacy, which has finally earned a short and cute collection going over all the (three) Wonder Girls over the years and even includes the introduction of SOLSTICE! One of my favorite underutilized characters. 

It’s a super neat collection, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the history of Wonder Girl (which is a bumpy ride to be sure) but it also spans so many generations and so many writers and story arcs that I can’t really summarize it the way I do my usual reviews. I can just say that if you’re curious about the Wonder Girls, it’s a great collection to check out. 

Also as a side note, as someone who was deeply disappointed by the lackluster to downright confused and insulting use of Cassie Sandsmark in the New52, DC is apparently doctoring the character to resemble more of what she was in the preboot because the New52 is utterly ignored in this collection, hilariously enough.

Oh, those tides. How they turn. 

The unsurprising pick of the week is, obviously, Usagi Yojimbo. It’s one of the best comics ever made, it continues to be one of the best comics ever made, and also the competition was thin if only I’m being lenient. But regardless, this comic was a fantastic start to the new storyline and I’m so excited to see what twists and turns shall be weaved. 

Now that’s all for this week, but I’m curious about your opinions! Did you agree with me? Disagree? Think I missed out on some great comic I didn’t pick up? Please let me know!

And finally, another necessary plug:

I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

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[writingstuff1789]

Harvey didn’t get it. They were all here. Everyone that Roman decided to invite to this little party anyways, or at least to his knowledge, but Roman has just left everyone in his living room with drinks, either he was being petty for this meeting taking so long and wanted to pay them all back or stalling for time so that he could kill them all. He quickly started to lose patience and began fidgeting with the coin, shifting it between his fingers and passing it from hand to hand silently. He took another sip from his drink and made another glance towards his fellow guests. 

Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni, once the biggest crime bosses in Gotham, sat just a few inches away from him, their silhouettes illuminated by the fire. Harvey remembered locking up a few of their lieutenants back when... when he was somebody. Not a nice thought. Harv quickly shook his head and downed the rest of his drink, pouring another glass just as the old guy dressed entirely in a purple suit spoke up. “What happened to your face son?” Louie asked calmly, staring over at Dent as he spoke. No malice or sarcasm in his tone. This was definitely not a taunt and yet that didn’t stop Harv from getting pissed at the old man’s rudeness, he flipped the coin. Heads. Harvey sighed and simply swallowed the rising anger, taking another sip from his drink. Carmine sighed slightly and mouthed a small apology towards Harvey that went unnoticed, filling up Louie’s mug with more coffee. Harvey was starting to hope that this whole meeting was just a ploy for Roman to kill them all now as he drank just as the doors opened and Roman entered the room. “Rupert Thorne happened, Louie.” he spoke with a chuckle before taking his seat at the head of the table. Everyone’s attention was focused on the Black Mask.

“You better have a good reason for making us wait so long” Sal said, giving Roman a suspicious glare and Roman simply shrugged “Some unexpected business popped up, apologies” he replied, pouring himself a drink. Harvey took notice of the small bits of red on Roman’s usually pure white suit. It was business then. “Now gentlemen” Roman paused to take a small sip from his drink “Before we get to the matter at hand, I have a small question for you all. What are your plans after this whole election thing is over?”. “Continuing to run my business as usual” Carmine said, relaxing back in his seat “And finding a caretaker for Louie here” he muttered quietly as he turned his attention to Louie who seemed to be having a quiet conversation with one of Roman’s bodyguards. “Same thing as always, Sionis, this election won’t effect me that much” Harv spoke up with a shrug “Why are you asking?”. “Continuing to compete against you and Falcone like always, Sionis, and like Harvey said, why do you want to know? Is this whole meeting just your poor attempt to learn about ” Maroni sneered though his expression quickly grew concerned at the mention of the elections “Oz’s is planning to come after the mobs now, ain’t he?”

“As always Sal, your intellect is always one step ahead of me. Or maybe paranoia is a better word?” Maroni scowled while Roman chuckled “But yes, truth be told I am growing very concerned as to where Cobblepot’s loyalties lie. I think the guy might be growing senile and soft in his old age. Almost starting numerous gang wars with myself over nobodies but that’s not important right now.” Roman paused to sigh for a moment, taking a sip from his drink. “His policies as mayor are just as concerning, planning to fund the GCPD, Arkham and Blackgate.” As Roman spoke Carmine calmly reached for a cigar and taken out his lighter, placing it in his mouth before he lit it up and pulled it out, breathing out smoke as he spoke “Cobblepot’s a problem then, he knows a lot of our most vital bases of operations.” he took in another puff and continued “Knowing the little Napoleon bastard he probably plans to hold this above us all.” “That or he plans to legally take us all out without any competition” Harv growled, shaking his head as he took another sip from his drink. “Great. Just what I fucking needed to hear today.” Maroni rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed “I’m not going back to Blackgate again, I can’t.”

Roman raised a hand to cut off Maroni “Relax, Sal. None of you will be going to Blackgate, we just need to brainstorm a solution to our little predicament in the event that Cobblepot wins the election.” he chuckled “I don’t think I need to tell you gentlemen the easy solution to our problem.” “You want to hire someone to kill him?” Maroni bit his lip slightly “I dunno about that, Cobblepot has some serious protection. It’d have to be one hell of a hitman.” “We could all pitch in to hire Slade, or maybe Lawton.” Carmine put out his cigar as he spoke. “Those are some very expensive hitmen though Carmine, I was thinking that we all throw everything we got at him at once. He could easily take one of us at a time but if we all come at once he won’t stand a chance” Roman took another sip from his glass. “I, uh, wait a second! I’d rather not kill Oswald!” Harvey exclaimed, looking panicked. “Couldn’t we just bribe him, or something?” “He’s set in his ways, Dent, you know that.” Roman shrugged “No point in trying to persuade that stubborn dog.” he added with another cold chuckle while Dent continued to fidget with the coin. “You want to keep your gang and your business? You won’t last the year with Cobblepot in office” Carmine pointed at Harvey as spoke.

“Why don’t you two consult that penny there, no doubt it’ll make a better choice than either of you two would.” Maroni said with a small chuckle. Dent flipped off Maroni as he flipped his coin into the air. Tails. “Alright then. The Penguin dies.” Harv nodded slightly. “Excellent, so then we’re all in agreement that in the event that Cobblepot wins the election we all team up and kill him?” Roman rubbed his hands together slightly as he ordered his bodyguard to refill everyone’s drinks. He raised his glass before speaking “A toast” he announced “To good business and to Cobblepot’s shortening life expectancy” he chuckled coldly again and joined the other bosses in downing their drinks. Harvey didn’t join them in the toast but he did drink. He’ll probably need more after this.

“So what’s the plan then?” Harv asked, setting his drink aside for a moment. “Like I said before, we can throw everything we have against him” Roman shrugged “Or, if we want to be dramatic, we can invite him over to a party to celebrate his new position as mayor and then, when he’s all happy and drunk, we all stab the little birdie.” “Ah, Caesar style” Carmine smirked “I like it.” “Thought you would, I’ll see if I can persuade Al and Scarface about joining us, but we can discuss this further at a later date. I think it’s about time we all get down to the real reason we’re here” Roman gestured towards the nearby double doors which swung open into another room that contained a large table with a poker set all neatly arranged for the mobsters, along with very expensive looking drinks and cigars. “Up for a game or two, gentlemen?”

[gobox]

Son of man

The story starts off 10,000 years in the past.  Somewhere in deep deep space a small rock the size of a mustard seed bumps into a slightly larger rock and that rock bumps a larger rock and so on.  This reaction goes on for 500 years until finally a rock that is size of a small mountain is nudged towards our sun.  After a number of passes around the sun the rock finally passes close to enough to be seen by the inhabitants of Earth.  The year is 7 BC.  The high priest sees this glowing object in the night sky as the Star of David and prophesizes the coming of the next Messiah.

In Nazareth there was a priest named Zechariah who was married to a woman named Elizabeth.  He wanted to make sure the he conceived a child under the Star of David in over to fulfill the prophecy.  After several months of trying Elizabeth was not able to get pregnant.   Elizabeth Not wanting to disappoint her husband she offers up her 14 year old sister Mary.  Young Mary quickly becomes pregnant however Mary is promised to a carpenter named Joseph. Zechariah allowed for the marriage as long as the child, if a boy, would learn the ways of the high priest.  Filling disgrace Joe stuff planned to quietly dismissed Mary. However in a representative of the high priest came to Joseph and told him of all the benefits that he would receive if Mary were to have a son of a high priest. Mary had her son and named him Immanuel.  Elizabeth had a son and named him John.

Immanuel quickly became the favorite of Zechariah.  He studied harder and was far more obedient than John.  This angered Elizabeth greatly.  She wanted her son, and not the son of her younger sister, to become the next high priest.  By this time Mary has several children with her husband while John was Elizabeth’s only child.

One day on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, Zechariah, Immanuel and John were greeted by Buy followers of new Moses. The Pawel said that a new Moses will come along and lead the Jewish people out of the current promised land and back to Ethiopia away from Roman grip. Manual argue that the Lannister on his land of promise to them by God. The arguments doing it's very heated and eventually physical. Immanuel, a young man in his 20’s, stood up to the followers of new Moses in order to protect his family.  In doing so he was beaten bloody and stripped naked.  John went to help him but was stopped by his father.  Being a priest Zechariah knew that if they were to touch Immanuel then they would be unclean according to the law.  John begged and cried but in the end was forced to leave Immanuel there to die.

A couple of days later Emmanuel woke up at a stranger in a strange land. Unfortunately no one in the room with him could speak his language finally a dark skin man walked into the room and told Emmanuel that he was in Ethiopia as a guest of new Moses. This in raised a manual because it was the new motors followers that put him in his place in the first place. However the man a Samaritan explain to manual that he was the one to turn the conversation physical. You also explain to Immanuel that was his family that left them there to die. Manual then remembered the last thing he saw before blacking out was a high priest holding back crying John. The Samaritan explained to Emmanuel that he is in a house of God and need not worry. You take all the time he needs to rest and he will tell him Emmanuel more once he's ready.

 The Samaritan asked Immanuel why his family did not help and was told about the laws of touching things that are unclean.  The Samaritan laughed and hard told him that is not how he was taught the law.  The Samaritan told Immanuel that the people in his region are fools.  Every time there is something wrong they run to a priest and give him offerings.  He tells Immanuel that most of the time all they need is the proper medicine.  Immanuel tells the Samaritan that the Priest is able to talk to God and bring about healing to all those that believe.  “To all that believe and come with the proper offerings” the Samaritan corrects.   He tells Immanuel that if he really wants to learn the laws of God then he would need to study them where the Samaritan did.  The Samaritan tells Immanuel that all he has been taught to this point was a lie.  There is always balance in the world and that there is a light for every dark.  There is a cure for every problem that anyone can face.  The Samaritan tell Immanuel that since his family believes him to be dead he might as well play the part and see what else is out there.  

Did the Samaritan ask Emmanuel what do you know about story of Moses? Emmanuel goes on to tell him the Hebrew story of Moses I would let his people from the promised land from a hardened heart Farrell. Samaritan laughed and told him the entire story is wrong. He goes on to tell him the real story of Moses.

Ceaser is the new feral now. So now is the time for a new Moses and a new Joshua to leader people. But not into the wilderness for 40 years but here to Ethiopia were there truly is a heaven on earth. We have lamb for them we have food for them and opportunity for them away from the corrupt priest in the Roman Texas. Against my pleading new Moses has chosen you to be the new Joshua to be the warrior priest the commands of the army.

Moses was going to high-ranking general I was custom the firstborn son is given to Farrell as a peace offering that wave hi wreaking general ask out of turn for barrel will kill the sun. Well in the court of the pharaoh motors learns a lot about royalty and lives a very posh life style. But outside of the royal court things are not looking good. The population is growing far too fast and this is causing widespread disaster throughout the lands. There are a large number of sacrifices of meat that is causing the rivers to turn red. All the carcasses that are being burnt are tracking flies and gnats. The people of killed up all the snakes causing a boom and a number of frogs. Feral seeing all the diseases and problems that are caused by the population demand that the people leave. He attacks Moses to lead them away to a new land. Moses was no nothing but royalty and lavishness refuses to go out to wilderness with these people. However his brother Joshua who was raised by the general will become a massive general himself commences Moses that is it is his duty by God deleted people to a new land. It also tells Moses that Darrell was giving him the worlds most powerful army but you can do whatever you want once they leave the land of the Farrow. But upon leaving Moses took something from Farrow no one knows what he took no nose it was a weapon total energy source or what however whatever he took in rates barrel. I was so much that you decided to send his full army to kill all of Moses people. However Joshua being the master technician was able to Luer of the pharaohs people into a trap. As the pharaohs soldiers approach with it that would be an easy victory there was suddenly surrounded by Moses of people I could see that collapsed upon them killing them all. Moses and his people wandered around for 40 years as a people with no true home. There was no one that can match their might, Josh was coming with Moses Advance knowledge.

Emanuel says that he is no general and cannot lead his people. The Samaritan reminds him that Moses said the same thing in the Hebrew Bible. That a first Moses was reluctant but eventually he saw the light. This American asked Emmanuel to do one thing for him one thing then to repay for killing him. He says stay with us for six months after that time you are free to go. But in that time you must learn must read our books learn our tax I just study and our Waze. Emmanuel still being very injured from the attack agrees he will give it half a season. Samaritan says good and leads him to the library. Is unlike any room the Emanuels ever seen the size is massive it is filled with books and scribes from all over the world. They met this American says any knowledge that has ever lived is in this room. Anything you want to know about anything is here. Emmanuel studies medicine he studies eating Hebrew text he studies military combat. Then have a season passes in one season then two seasons in three seasons. Even after all that time he still only made a dent in all the knowledge that is in the room. But Emmanuel sees with Samaritanwas talking about. Manual decides to follow the Samaritans advice and be to Joshua for the new Moses. Samaritan tells Amanda were to find new Moses that we knew Moses will be waiting for him. After some travels Emmanuel find the area at Samaritan let him too upon entering the grounds you come across a makeshift church out in the wilderness. That's working if I knew Moses and his pointed to the tabernacle upon walking in the mangle see the man standing at the end of the tabernacle dressed in plain clothing manual says the man says he is new Moses and glad that Emmanuel has come to join him to be his Joshua. The man slowly turns around and it is a deal that the man is actually John Emanuel's brother.

One of the promises of his church is that he can wash away your sins with water.  John tells everyone the priests are nothing but puppets to the Roman leader and that the High Priest’s true God is money.  He promises a war to drive out the Romans and false profits from the Promised Land.

Immanuel asks the man how can he pay him back for all that he has done and the Samaritan tells him to see the King of Ethiopia (The entire continent of Africa was once called Ethiopia).

After much searching Immanuel was finally told that to see the King he must first past a test.  Immanuel was led to a small cave and told to lay in the stone coffin from there the stranger would sneak him to the king.  After climbing in the box it was sealed by the stranger.  Everything was pitch dark and he started to panic.  He heard the stranger say in order to see the king, the old you much first die.

Immanuel was not sure how many days pasted with his eye still closed he heard a voice say you are not dead just sleep.  When he opened his eyes he was still in the cave but out of the box.  He saw a man with dark skin standing in the room.  The man said that he was the king that Immanuel sought.

Immanuel trained with the king for years.  Applying the same thirst for knowledge that he had with his father.  He learned how to cure blindness by cleaning out the eyes and applying a special cream.  He learned that most cases of “demons” were nothing more than drunkenness and that proper rest was the cure.  He learned how to listen for heartbeat before saying that someone is dead.  He learned of a scented root so strong that it could wake up someone that was knocked out.  He learned that leprosy could be cured if caught early and by using certain herbs.  He learned how to swim and tread water to give the appearance that he is standing in water that is too deep to stand in.  He learned how to use one fish to catch five.  He learned of a fermented syrup that one can add to water to make some of the best wine.  He learned how to be a warrior and deadly combat that has yet to reach his land.  Finally he learned the art of telling stories through proverbs.  After learning all that he could he decided to return home and teach this new way of thinking to his people.

Back in his homeland John has changed since the incident on the road to Jericho.  He has rejected his father and started his own religion.  He moved to the woods and built his own church.  One of the promises of his church is that he can wash away your sins with water.  John tells everyone the priests are nothing but puppets to the Roman leader and that the High Priest’s true God is money.  He promises a war to drive out the Romans and false profits from the Promised Land.

Immanuel returns home to his wife and his teenage son Lazarus.  His aunt, Elizabeth, is shocked to hear that Immanuel is back and comes up with a new plan.  She asked Immanuel to go talk to John to bring him back home while there is still time for him to become a high priest.  He agrees to talk to his brother John but only because that is the right thing to do not to bring him back to a set laws that left him to die on the road.

Immanuel meets up with John who thought that he was dead.  John sees this as a sign and asked him to join his movement against the Romans and false profits.  Immanuel would be his right hand (enforcer).  While John Baptized people with water Immanuel will bring fire with his sword.  To appease John Immanuel agreed to be baptized.  After coming out of the water Immanuel announces that the Immanuel of old is dead and that he is now Yehoshua (mistranslated to Jesus). Much like the Yehoshua (Joshua) that followed Moses he will be a warrior priest and the right hand of the new movement to remove the corrupt priests and Romans from the Promised Land. Starting with the sub king of Galilee, Harald.

Harald hears about this plot and has John placed in jail.  After some time Harald sees that that there is no changing of John so orders to have him beheaded.  When word of the death reached Yehoshua he lets the people know that there is nothing to fear as long as they remain as one.  When a group of Roman soldiers come to arrest Yehoshua he is surrounded by a couple dozen of his followers.  He tells the Romans that, unlike John, he will not go peacefully.  The Romans remind him that his holy book says that he cannot kill.  Yehoshua corrects them and lets them know that the book says not to murder.  The Romans ask if there is a difference and Yehoshua pulls out his sword and his followers do the same.  He then asked the Romans if they would like to find out the difference.  There is a bit of a staring contest and Romans deciding not to press their luck decide to leave.  Word of this victory spreads throughout the land and more people decide to follow this new way of thinking.  

For the next several months, while plotting his next move, Yehoshua traveled around Galilee using what he learned in Ethiopia to cure people without asking for any offerings.  He even cures people on the Sabbath.  Word spreads that he will give a sermon in Galilee on the next new moon.  When he arrives to preach he finds the largest crowd that he has ever seen even though there was still a full week until the sermon.  He sends word to Ethiopia asking for assistance.  On the day of the sermon the crowd has grown well beyond what he could have dreamt.  Yehoshua was told that there is no food and the people are hungry but he tells his close followers not to worry and to past around what they have.  Meanwhile a caravan arrives from Ethiopia filled with food.  After the sermon Yehoshua sees the hope that is needed by the people.  He sees that the entire region not just Galilee needs his help and he vows to find a way to finish what John started.

[instantdeerlover]

America’s First Celebrity Chefs Were Black added to Google Docs

America’s First Celebrity Chefs Were Black

 Hemings & Hercules explores American history through dishes like black-eyed pea pancakes inspired by Hercules Caesar, George Washington’s chef | Gari Askew/Hatchet Hall

A Black History Month dinner series celebrates Hercules Posey and James Hemings, who cooked for two of the country’s earliest presidents and made valuable contributions to American cuisine

As a young black girl growing up in the melting pot of Brooklyn, New York, my classmates often teased that I had “no real culture.” I couldn’t point directly to a country of origin the way they seemed to. I had no connection to extravagant carnivals and colorful flags. And the divide widened when it came to food; next to the bangin’ beef patties, jollof, and rotis of my Caribbean and African classmates, my grandmother’s mac and cheese and collards felt standard and unspecial. To my peers, I was “just American,” with nothing to distinctively mark as my own. Dinner last Thursday night at Los Angeles’s Hatchet Hall showed me the lie.

Seated at Hatchet Hall’s family-style table, my hands criss-crossed with other diners’ as we passed around deep dishes of smoked pork crown roast, mashed rutabaga in cultured butter, creamy mac and cheese, and beef-fat potatoes. “Can you put a little mac on my plate?” we asked. And “are you finished with the rutabaga?” The meal was reminiscent of dinners at my grandmother’s house, brimming with the kind of comfort foods that make you fantasize about going home and hitting your pillow. And over three hours and eight courses, every inspiration was entirely American, and specifically contributed to our country’s culinary history by black folks. The dinner was one of a series Hatchet Hall started in 2019, called Hemings & Hercules in honor of Hercules Posey (whom the supper club refers to as Hercules Ceaser) and James Hemings, America’s first celebrity chefs and the enslaved property of two of our earliest presidents.

Hemings & Hercules is the brainchild of Martin Draluck, Hatchet Hall’s young, black chef de cuisine. Draluck was introduced to Hemings and Hercules while doing research for the restaurant’s supper club, Fuss & Feathers, and was moved to create a series around the chefs. “I thought their stories were hidden gems, and a part of history more people needed to know,” he says.

Hatchet Hall, a 128-seat restaurant in the Culver City section of LA, has been telling stories through its wood-fired “Heritage American” food since it opened in 2015. In 2018, chef-owner Brian Dunsmoor created the supper club to explore the recipes and techniques of America’s earlier days. The name Fuss & Feathers is inspired by General Winfield Scott, a known food enthusiast nicknamed “Old Fuss and Feathers,” for his insistence on military formality. Scott’s legacy is complicated by his military tactics, including his role in President Andrew Jackson’s “Indian Removal” policy, and his leadership in the Mexican-American war.

“When we kicked off Fuss & Feathers we really wanted to pull the blinders back on American cuisine, even if some of our history included negative connotations,” Dunsmoor says. “We did a lot of research when looking into a name for Fuss & Feathers — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, even Abraham Lincoln all had controversial associations tied back to history. The goal of the series has always been to try to give credit to the people who influenced our foodways including Natives, Africans, Caribbean and Europeans who all contributed to American cuisine.”

Hercules worked for George Washington for 30 years, between the president’s home and Philadelphia and his plantation in Mount Vernon, before he escaped in 1797 during the chaos of Washington’s birthday celebration. Hemings, meanwhile, the brother of Sally Hemings, cooked for the third president of the United States for 24 years. Hemings & Hercules is shining a necessary light on these chefs’ creations, and those from countless, nameless black cooks putting it down in the White House kitchen and America at large. The contributions those chefs made to our culinary tradition are essential to American culture, but their stories are often obfuscated by history.

“The bottom line is these chefs and cooks are responsible for food we still eat today in American culture, not just black culture,” Draluck says. “Everyone wanted to know what the president was eating. What was on his table? Hemings was sent to Europe for culinary training, and he brought back knowledge of how to use the sous stove, which was the precursor to the stovetop. He brought back recipes for mac and cheese, ice cream, waffles, and so much more. If you pick these dishes apart, you see all these influences.”

When Jefferson was appointed minister to France in 1784, he took Hemings with him. Only 19 years old at the time, Hemings’s task was to master the French style of cooking. While in France, Hemings apprenticed with well-known French caterers and pastry chefs and became the chef de cuisine at Hôtel de Langeac, America’s first royal embassy. He was paid a wage of 24 pounds a week, comparable to free white servants at the time, and yet he was still considered property. Under French law, Hemings could have claimed his freedom at any point, but he didn’t. Hemings ultimately negotiated his freedom on the terms that he taught others at Monticello how to cook in his French-Virginian, or Lowcountry, style, often associated with seafood-rich dishes of Southern coasts. After Hemings left Jefferson, Edith Fossett, an enslaved cook on Jefferson’s plantation Monticello, traveled to the White House to teach Jefferson’s new white chef Hemings’s Virginian-French fusion, and from there it spread worldwide. “Our dinner series allows us to give credit where it’s due,” says Draluck.

 Gari Askew/Hatchet Hall The supper club theme was the brainchild of Hatchet Hall chef de cuisine Martin Draluck.

With few remaining menus or written recipes from Hercules or Hemings still around, the Hemings & Hercules dinners are mostly “inspired” by these chefs’ cooking. Draluck spent the better part of a year researching to develop the menu. “Just like so many inventions by black people in America, the history has either been washed away or wasn’t recorded,” he laments.

The dinner itself is a means of documentation and preservation, and it unfolds like a carefully told story. At $100 a seat, the meal is served in the restaurant’s “Family Room,” a private space tucked behind a barn door near the entrance. There’s a spirit of calm and warmth in the room. It feels familiar. The tablescape features dripping candles and dried flowers, and at each place setting sits a detailed timeline of Hemings’s and Hercules’s lives in relation to major historical events. In the background, Donny Hathaway croons. “Music-wise, we try to keep it as black as possible,” Draluck says.

Draluck greets the room at the start and end of the dinner, but much of the night is moderated by a Hatchet Hall team member named Andre, who guides us through the meal employing oral storytelling with historical anecdotes along the way. As Andre tells the stories behind each dish, I feel a sense of pride, especially when he emphasizes words like “us” and “we,” as in “We brought this food here.”

Dinner opens with silver-dollar-sized black-eyed pea pancakes, served alongside a pepper jam and a small side of vinegary fermented greens. This particular dish is a nod to the black-eyed pea fritters enslaved Africans would eat in the fields and an ode to Hercules, who Draluck says would’ve cooked more “rustically” than Hemings. After the black-eyed pea pancakes comes cured salmon on a small, charred plank of wood. Fishing was a lucrative practice on George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation, and it required massive amounts of slave labor to clean, preserve, and pack the fish into salt barrels. Fish was also a significant part of the enslaved workers’ diet.

Then there’s the pepper pot, most traditionally known as a thick stew of beef tripe, vegetables, and pepper. The one served at Hemings & Hercules is a juicy beef and vegetable broth made with fresh vegetables, and is a reference to the influence of French and Caribbean culture in Philadelphia following the Haitian slave rebellion and the French Revolution. As the story goes, Hercules was a flashy guy who could often be spotted in Philadelphia’s market — one of the largest in the world at the time — dressed in fly threads, walking with a gold-handled cane. Hercules purchased his looks with money earned from selling leftovers and kitchen waste, which was a privilege sometimes given to those in his position. As we sipped the soup directly from small wooden bowls, we were encouraged to imagine the aroma of the pepper pot sold in the market Hercules perused for produce.

The chicken roulade that makes up another course is based on a dish Hemings cooked for Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton as they came to the Compromise of 1790. As Charles A. Cerami writes in Dinner at Mr. Jefferson’s: Three Men, Five Great Wines, and the Evening That Changed America, Hemings served “Capon stuffed with Virginia ham and chestnut puree, artichoke bottoms and truffles with a bit of cream, white wine, and chicken stock,” along with “a calvados sauce made with the great apple brandy of Normandy.” Hatchet Hall’s recipe is rendered nearly identically to Hemings’ dish.

As we dine on roulade, Andre underscores that this food shouldn’t be discounted or overlooked as “slave food.” The dishes and preparations by these chefs were sophisticated and complex, and required real culinary prowess. Food historian Adrian Miller, author of the The President’s Kitchen Cabinet, confirms the influence of black cooks at the highest levels of American culinary tradition. Even after slavery, however, many of the cooks in the White House continued to be hidden, as European chefs were hired to cook for high-end affairs and the inaugural banquets reported on in the press.

Hemings and Hercules were the beginning of a long history of black chefs in the White House, and soul food dishes typically associated with black culture were a favorite. Says Miller: “There’s a very strong undercurrent [of Soul Food] throughout the White House history. If you had Southern-born presidents, the Southern soul food influence was strong to the extent that those foods overlap. Greens and things like possum and pig’s feet were served.” However, Miller notes that first lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s preference for European food shifted the direction of White House cooking. “1960 is where you start to see the break, and African-American White House chefs move into the rear view.”

We cap off the dinner with Hemings’s Snow Eggs. One of only two surviving recipes attributed to the chef, the dessert is an English custard with poached egg whites made to look like little eggs. It’s served with a small leaflet containing Hemings’s recipe and directions on one side and Draluck’s reinterpretation on the other.

Seeing Draluck’s version of Hemings’s dish made me regret never learning my grandma’s recipes. Because like those of Hemings, Hercules, and now Draluck, her recipes held stories — stories of my people, our history, American history. Those cooking techniques have deep roots that, although entwined with the thorns of slavery and injustice, are no less worthy of being claimed with pride by black Americans. The taunts the kids on the playground tried to throw at me were baseless. I think of the toast one of my fellow diners made at the start of our meal, just before we each packed a black-eyed pea pancake with jam and greens. “Happy Black History Month, ya’ll,” he said. “This is America, not the one they propagate.”

Glynn Pogue is a travel writer and essayist from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

via Eater - All https://www.eater.com/2020/2/27/21153157/america-first-celebrity-chefs-hercules-posey-james-hemings-la-dinner-hatchet-hall

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Devastation from The Press Box: Ken Daniels Loss

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Devastation from The Press Box: Ken Daniels Loss

Today the Detroit Red Wings Play-by-Play Announcer Ken Daniels, visits Washington to share a different story, one that took place within his family, not on the Little Ceasers Arena in Michigan. Daniel’s lost his 23-year-old son Jaime, in 2016 when he overdosed on a deadly concoction of heroin laced with Fentanyl.

Ken was interrupted while wrapping Christmas gifts on December 7, 2016 when a police officer showed up on his doorstep. He had become familiar with law enforcement throughout his son’s drug abuse and was surprised when he was greeted by an officer he didn’t recognize.

“He said, ‘Are you Ken Daniels?’ and I said, ‘Yes. What did he do?'”

He being his son Jaime Daniels, who was away in South Florida in the midst of seeking treatment for his addiction to opioids and benzodiazepines. In the last 8 months Jaime was in and out of multiple facilities and was staying at a halfway house for recovering addicts in Boynton Beach, Florida. The previous day, Jaime had spoken to his father on the phone and told him how he had painted the wheels on his car and promised to send pictures, and ended the conversation with his common departing message, “Love you.”

To Ken Daniels shock, the officer informed him his son was not arrested or broken the law, but had passed away.

“I guess there’s shock, which seems like a half an hour and its probably just seconds,” he explained. “And then he came in the house and he hugged me and he’s got that police vest on him, so you never forget that feeling. And then all I could think of was: ‘How am I going to tell his sister? And how am I going to tell his mother?'”

According to an autopsy report, Jaime died of an overdose of heroin that was laced with fentanyl. Ken was confused, wondering how his son could overdose in a sober living home. Ken was determined to find answers while investigating the dark and disturbing side of the billion-dollar rehab industry of South Florida.

South Florida rehabs suffer from the lack of oversight seen in other rehabs, but to an extreme. Federal laws are exploited by people who are supposed to be in a position to help pull people out of their addiction, but instead have no interest in keeping recovering addicts clean. Jaime was lost in the insurance scam known as “The Florida Shuffle.”

“It’s one thing to have an addiction and not being able to overcome it because the addiction overtakes you … but then when bad people get involved and they contribute to it, it makes you sick,” Ken says.

Jaime’s Decent

Jaime Daniel’s attended Michigan State University where he became the video manager of the Spartan’s Hockey Team and talking about going into law school and becoming a sports agent. Then he joined a fraternity and as told by his friends, began using heavy drugs.

“Jamie has a very addictive personality, where he can’t really say no, and he didn’t really know his limit either, so he’d just keep doing it and taking more because he liked the way it made him feel,” says Amanda Farber, Jamie’s friend from both high school and Michigan State.

Farber told how in Jaime’s freshman year, he began using Cocaine and then Vicodin and Xanax. Soon away from school, his family began noticing the obvious signs of addiction.

“You’d see him at night and trying to put a coat on and even struggling to get the arm in there. But you’d say to him, ‘You high?’ ‘No, I’m not high,'” Ken says.

His younger sister talked about a public incident where her brother was acting out of control and was barely functioning.

“He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t stand up straight, and I was embarrassed to have him there. I took him back to my apartment … I couldn’t handle it,” Arlyn said.

Both Jaime’s parents Ken and Lisa were exposed to the angry and dangerous side of drugs.

“The s— that will come out of somebody’s mouth who is on drugs is amazing. The crap that they’ll say … it’s another person, just takes over the body,” Ken says.

While home from college, he split his free time between his mother Lisa and Father, who had divorced when Jaime was 9. Lisa recalled one of the more violent rages her son expressed while under the influence.

“I can’t remember what prompted it, honestly, but [Jamie] threatened me. He threatened to kill me,” Lisa says.

She explained that Jamie was always remorseful and was always sincerely apologetic after lashing out. But regardless of the sincerest apologies, she says, she took the threat seriously enough to remove the knife set from the kitchen counter and lock her bedroom door at night.

While Jaime was a heavy drug user, he was able to function as an addict and a college student. Maintaining a 3.5 GPA and frequently staying on the Dean’s list, he was able to graduate in May 2015. Over the following summer he started working at mortgage company in Downtown Detroit, and also became a camp counselor in Ortonville, Michigan. It was at the camp one hour north of his father’s house where he reached the low point that resulted in his first real call for help.

“You could tell from the phone call he was desperate and just so high,” Ken says. “He was at the point saying, ‘I need to go to rehab.’ And we said, ‘OK, if you’re going to rehab, we’re picking you up from camp and you’re going right to rehab.’

Ken placed Jaime in a rehab in Michigan but his stay was brief and was followed by relapse two weeks later. Over the next month Jaime’s parents were subjected to his lies, hospital stays and a car accident. The car accident where he had flipped his car and called his mother from his cell phone while hanging upside down from his seatbelt. He walked away with minor injuries and not long after, agreed to out of state rehab in April of 2016.

His mother Lisa had heard of an intensive inpatient program in Palm Beach County, Florida. At age 22 Jaime boarded a plane to South Florida with the intention of obtaining sobriety.

South Florida: The Recovery Capital of America

Palm Beach County Florida is headquarters to hundreds of unregulated treatment programs, who advertise resort like conditions and weather, with the promise of lasting recovery and a second chance. But with three quarters of its patients in the private treatment centers, South Florida has earned its title as the recovery capital of America.

But Palm Beach County also held an equally important title, as the county with the most overdoses in a single year. 571 people died from overdoses that year, more than any other county in the state and jumping up 110% from the previous year.

But Jaime had a good start. He checked into Beachway Therapy Center in Boynton Beach, costing more than $15,000 a month for the intensive inpatient therapy. He stayed for over a month then transferred into a sober living in Delray that featured a supervised apartment complex.

“Jamie came in, and immediately he knew where he wanted to be in life, and it wasn’t as an addict,” says Chris Ege, a manager at Sober Living in Delray. “He was working. He was going to meetings. He had the sponsor that was top of the line. He was doing everything right.”

He stayed in Sober Living for more than five months and worked as a clerk in a local law firm during that time. But he began to grow annoyed at the over structured environment because of the constant spot checks and urine tests. On November 1, 2016 Jaime moved into the sober home “Miracle House” blocks away from the Sober living home he was at the beach bungalow style home was in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Delray Beach.

“The whole concept of having kids in a sober house, to mutually support each other and keep each other honest and struggle together for sobriety is pretty good — done right. Done wrong, the results are much worse,” says Marc Woods, a code enforcement officer for the city of Delray Beach.

Woods, has spent the last 30 years working as a police officer in Delray Beach before retiring in 2009.

Around 2014 Woods started noticing a shift in ethics at the sober homes in the neighborhood. When the Affordable Care Act kicked in policies were lifted for insurance companies that limited the policies for drug treatment, which then gave treatment centers a “blank check”. During the shift in the insurance policies, sober living homes began treating urine samples as liquid gold because insurance companies would reimburse them for the tests.

“The recovery industry took a turn for the worse when people found out that the urine testing billing was lucrative, and the wrong people got in the industry to enrich themselves,” Woods says.

And so began the insurance fiasco involving patient brokers and marketers that would lure addicts with good insurance and pair them with unregulated sober homes. With a less structured environment and cheap rent, insurance companies then would bill out tens of thousands of dollars for unnecessary drug treatments.

And the trend continued, the growing number of sober homes estimated to be in the hundreds started opening in neighborhoods across Palm Beach County and with the privacy protections in place under federal law, local governments had no say about it.

“Now you have sober home owners, who are using that law designed to protect individuals in recovery, so they can prey upon people in recovery,” said Dave Aronberg, State Attorney for Palm Beach County.

“In The Florida Shuffle, you go in and out of recovery, in and out of rehab centers, in and out of sober homes, milking the individual for their insurance until that person dies,” Aronberg says. “Our current system isn’t really a recovery model, it’s a relapse model, where the big money is in relapse. It’s in failure rather than success and sobriety.”

The Florida Shuffle has been investigated in the past by such media outlets as The New York Times, the Palm Beach Post and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Jamie’s story was first told by The Athletic.

Jamie became another one of the victims of the Florida Shuffle, supported by his father’s insurance, he was sent for tens of thousands of dollars in urine tests while living in various sober homes.

“About every two days, they were doing blood and urine testing, and the charges were anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 a test,” Lisa Daniels says.

Urine tests, even on the high end, should cost no more than a few hundred dollars per test, says Ege, the manager who supervised Jamie at Sober Living in Delray. Most reputable treatment facilities, Ege says, conduct drug screens for opioids that cost no more than a few dollars a test and can be purchased from the local drug store.

Jaime came to visit during Thanksgiving Break 2016 and that visit was significant in two ways. First it was the last time Ken and Lisa would see their son alive. The second being that during that time, Ken’s Insurance was billed for urine specimens three times during the dates of November 23, 25, and 27th, when Jaime was in Michigan visiting his family.

“I figured, when he went back … I was thinking in my head, you know, ‘How long is he going to stay down there for?’ And then the s— hits the fan,” Ken says.

When he returned to Florida, Jaime moved sober living again and started renting in a home where he stayed in converted garage turned bedroom at Sea of Recovery, Boynton Beach. He told his parents rent was only $50 a month and he shared the room with one other person in recovery.

“I started hearing something in his voice. His voice just sounded off … but I thought, ‘He’s in a home. They drug test. It’s the safest because, if he were using, then they would know,'” Lisa says.

Kade Potter, Jaime’s short-term roommate at Sea of Recovery, told media that during their time together in that room, they were regularly abusing drugs together. And that Jaime was using his drug of choice, Xanax, again.

Potter even claimed some of the drugs came from within the sober home and said one of the managers at Sea of Recovery Emmanuale Merilien, knew drugs were being dealt to the recovering addicts in the home.

Merilien denied these claims, saying “There was no drug use in the home. If we found somebody using drugs, we kicked them out,”

But this wasn’t the first time this tactic had been used within the world of sober living. Code Enforcement Officer Woods talked about the horrible practices that would take place in these unregulated homes.

“Some of the illicit operators … would rent these houses and put a bunch of kids in it and then warehouse them and then sell them to the highest bidder to the treatment center that would pay them the most in kickbacks. … The kids wound up being worth more money if they were using drugs than if they weren’t using drugs,” Woods says. “People that have their kids go out of state for recovery, they’re so at risk.”

Insurance forms from less than a week prior to Jaime’s death showed he was drug tested at a facility named Journey to Recovery. Jaime and other addicts would be bussed to the facility for testing and therapy and then sent back to their sober living homes.

Owner of Journey to Recovery Kenneth Chatman was sentenced to 27 and a half years in prison in May 2017 for his role in the insurance scam. During court, Chatman admitted to knowing that drug dealing, and prostitution took place within his sober living homes and he obtained millions in illegal kickbacks from treatment centers.

Four days before Jaime’s death, he was prescribed Alprazolam which is a generic version Of Xanax, the anti-anxiety medication that he had struggled with in the past.

Chris Ege, who managed Jaime’s first Sober Living home in Delray was shocked when he found out about the prescription.

“They gave him something that’s violating all the rules. It is an abusable drug. And not only is it an abusable drug, it’s a drug that will make you black out while you’re wide awake. So the unfortunate thing for Jamie in that week that he passed away, he might have blacked out and made a decision that killed him.”

Jaime’s father Ken agreed, “He should have never been on Xanax,” Ken says. “He should have never been in that place. Having good insurance put him in that place. … I think all contributed to his death.”

The official cause of death was listed as “acute heroin and fentanyl intoxication” The report also showed the presence of the generic Xanax brand Alprazolam.

On the morning of December 7th, 2016 , Jaime’s roommate Kade Potter awoke to the sober home’s manager Emmanual Merilien’s screams. Jaime was white and motionless lying on the floor a few feet away from Potter.

“Emmanuel was packing Jamie’s stuff before the cops got there. He was telling me: ‘Tell them you pay $125 a week in rent.’ … Just telling me to lie to the police because he knows everything he is doing is illegal.”

When police arrived, there were no signs of illegal drugs or paraphernalia to be found. Potter admitted he never reported the allegations against Merilien because he was afraid of him.

Merilien has since left the rehab industry and is now training to become a massage therapist. Merilien has no criminal record in Florida and is not facing charges or being investigated for the way he handled or reported Jaime’s overdose. He vehemently denies profiting from Jaime’s drug treatment.

Even four months after their sons’ death, Ken and ex wife Lisa continued to receive medical bills and insurance claims from the facilities Jaime lived in before he died.

“I’m amazed with the greed at someone’s expense, at their life expense,” Lisa Daniels says. “How do you look in the mirror? I will never get over the anger. That I know.”

Now his parents are sharing his story, party to remove the stigma that surrounds addicts and their loved ones. Jaime was not a nameless stranger, he was college educated, working in law firm and had a loving and supportive family who were trying to help him, and still he was struggling to beat his addictions. They want people to know, if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.

Ken has been visiting community groups and high schools in recent months, educating people about the dangers of drug addiction and the shady underbelly of addiction treatment in Florida.

“Jamie’s legacy should be to save hundreds of thousands of lives and make everybody aware of what happened to him,” Ken says. “The more people we can make aware than I think we do Jamie’s name proud.”

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