#he is me but in the rawhide universe......

[d3adite]

😁😁😁😁

#my art #he is me but in the rawhide universe...... #yayayayyayaya #i need to name him... i could keep his name as mine but. eehhhh #droversona

[shamandrummer]

Meeting My Shamanic Teacher

An excerpt from my memoir, Riding Spirit Horse: A Journey into Shamanism.

In November of 1988, my wife and I sold our home in Bend, Oregon and moved to Sedona, Arizona. I was on a spiritual quest, and my wife was a reluctant companion. At that time, Sedona was becoming known as a spiritual mecca, attracting pilgrims from around the world. I was one of those pilgrims. My artistic wife found work in one of Sedona's well known art galleries, and I found work as a bartender at a Sedona racquet club. Art and tennis funded our spiritual quests.

After several relatively uneventful months in Sedona, I finally had a profound shamanic experience. I attended my first shamanic drumming circle a few blocks from our apartment. I had picked up an event flyer in a neighborhood metaphysical bookstore which read:

"Shamanic Drumming Circle. Jade Grigori is a traditional shaman of Mongolian ancestry. In keeping with his intent to make accessible to all peoples, regardless of blood line, the knowledge and practice of 'The Ways' of Shamanism, he is calling forth a drum circle. Those of the community seeking to join together with others of like heart-beat in learning and experiencing the empowerment and filling of the light-body through shamanic drum ways, are invited to participate. Tuesday Nights, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m."

When I arrived at the host's house, I joined about 15 people sitting casually in a circle around the perimeter of the living room floor. Some people had drums and others did not. Most of the furniture had been removed to accommodate a large gathering. Two of the participants were percussionists who were giving a performance at a local venue after the drum circle. They brought a wide assortment of frame and ethnic drums. They passed instruments around the circle so that each person had a drum if they chose to play. I received a rawhide frame drum and beater as it came round the circle to me. I had never played a frame drum before. It was a very eclectic mix of people and rhythm instruments. I came to know a few of these participants very well in the months to come.

After our host introduced Jade, the elder shaman entered the room and sat down in our circle. His long hair was braided in a ponytail and he wore a deerskin jacket and a red headband. He carried a double-sided frame drum and a large medicine bundle. Jade laid down his drum and opened the leather bundle, removing feathers and ritual objects. He then lit a charcoal disc in an incense burner. In the darkened room, I could see blue sparks dance off of the charcoal as the sacred fire came to life. Jade sprinkled herbs on the burning charcoal and began smudging his sacred objects with three eagle feathers, fanning the smoke outward into the entire space. Smudging is the burning of herbs or incense for cleansing, purification and protection of sacred space.

Double-headed drums

Jade explained that a double-headed drum is preferred by some shamans for it constitutes a microcosm of the Universe, unites the masculine and feminine principles, and produces sounds with a tremendous dynamic range. The higher-pitched (red) head of the drum tends to affect higher levels of consciousness. Typically, shamans associate this drumhead with the sky, Upper World and masculine energy. It is linked to the mythic Spirit Eagle who perches atop the World Tree. Eagle Brother will carry the shaman's prayers to the Upper World, or the shaman may transform into Spirit Eagle and soar into the celestial realm. The shaman and the eagle are both intercessors between the celestial and human realms.

The opposite or lower-pitched (black) head of the drum affects deeper levels of consciousness. It is commonly associated with the Lower World, feminine energy and the archetypal Horse of mythology. The repetitive, droning rhythm of shamanic drumming is suggestive of a horse on a journey. Throughout Mongolia, shamans describe it as the exalted, buoyant state that one mounts and rides from plane to plane. Mongolian shamans ride omisi murin, their name for Spirit Horse, into the Lower World on healing journeys or direct Spirit Horse to carry the power and healing to the intended destination.

The rim of the drum is associated with the Middle World and the World Tree. The frame of the shaman's drum is invariably made of wood derived from a sacred tree associated with the Tree of Life or World Tree. Like the World Tree, which links the upper and lower realms of existence, the rim links the two sides of the drum--the yin and the yang. A double-headed drum integrates the feminine and masculine aspects of the Universe within itself. It restores the balance of these two opposite yet complementary energies.

Three-round shamanic drum journey

After smudging, Jade instructed us in the ritual use of the sacrament tobacco, the unifying thread of communication between humans and the spiritual powers. He showed us how to empower our drums by offering tobacco smoke or a pinch of tobacco. Offering grandfather tobacco carries our prayers to the "Loom of Creation," causing the "Tapestry of Creation" to reweave itself in accordance with those prayers.

Next, Jade taught us the drum beats for invoking Eagle Brother and Spirit Horse.(1) He instructed us to play the rhythms in unison so that the drumming creates a mesmerizing effect to induce trance. He cautioned us to avoid jam or free form drumming, which produces a cacophony of competing beats. The goal is to produce a sound that is unifying and consciousness-shifting. Sound waves carry the specific intention or desired outcome of the ceremony. Together the drummers create the necessary rhythmic container that channels the energy generated by the ritual performance toward the intended objective.

After learning the two rhythms, Jade set a group intention and then led us in a three-round shamanic drum journey. During the first round, we drummed the eagle-beat on the celestial (higher-pitched) head of our drums and soared on the wings of Eagle Brother into the Upper World. In the second round, we drummed the horse-beat on the Lower World (lower-pitched) head of our drums and rode Spirit Horse on a journey into the Lower World. In the third round, we switched back to the celestial side of our drums and again drummed the eagle-beat, offering prayers of thanks and gratitude to Eagle Brother and Spirit Horse for their help and assistance. Finally, Jade signaled the end of our journey and the drum circle with four strong beats.

I was transformed by the power of that drum circle--it was a defining moment in my life. There was something magical about our group journey experience. Ecstatic trance seemed to be more powerful and transcendent in a group setting. The vibrant energy was unifying, expansive and palpable. I could feel the spirits in the room. Shamanic drumming shook the Earth beneath me, split me wide open and lifted my spirit skyward. The ecstatic rhythms resonated to my very core. From that point on, I was hooked on drumming!

The next day, I went back to the store where I had picked up the drum circle flyer and purchased an octagonal double-sided frame drum. I returned week after week to Jade's shamanic drumming circles to learn the myths, healing rhythms and drum ways of an ancient shamanic lineage. Jade encouraged us to drum as often as possible in between our weekly gatherings. I would hike almost daily into one of the many red sandstone canyons around Sedona to drum. I gradually built up stamina while learning how to play the drum and ride its rhythm at the same time. Drumming inspired and empowered me in a way I had never felt before. Through drumming, I found a meaningful way to express my inner self without words. More importantly, I discovered my true calling--shamanic drumming.

1. You can listen to the Eagle Chant (eagle-beat) and Horse Chant (horse-beat) at: <http://www.archive.org/details/SacredSongsAndChants/>. You can find the lyrics at: <https://archive.org/details/SacredSongsChantsLyrics>.

#shamanism #shamans #shamanic drumming #drumming circles #memoir #drums #drumming #ecstatic trance

[noro-noro-noro]

long dream

1. makeover time! 2. time loops with my friends, but i consider abandoning all of them to save my sister 3. god wants me to kill everyone in the city again but it didn't work right this time

1. my cousin's friends owned a makeover place (my cousin the one recently married in colorado also worked there) and offered to do me my sister and my dad for free. my cousin did my hair, and I asked her for cool stylish braids, like the kinds that go around your head since idk how to do those. also the makeover room was like really dark lit & kind of small, about 66% the size of my bedroom. she gave me some kind of headscarf? it was yellow. not braidds, but I did look cute. my sister had like 40 braids but just the ends of her hair. and they black washed my dad. it was really weird. he was not happy he was like why did y'all put shit on my skin to make me darker. i Iook like robert downry Jr ‘s character in tropic thunder.

2. something about time loops.. there was kind of a fracture schism. my sister got taken somewhere else. I was travelling with 5 people total but the girl who was driving the time machine (it was a huge bus) sucked at driving & couldn't hit anything. we were driving through hyperspace or something? it was kind of like that part of rainbow road in mariokart wii. i wanted to go back but the world we came from was destroyed, so we had to keep going. two of our people were outside. one was a guy named Adam who had curly hair light brown & always wore sunglasses and rainbow tye dye and he was riding a bike towards us, but the girl drover sucked!! & like while trying to swerve towards him made him miss, and he was gone. the other guy was Austin powers in a white suit black bowtie. they were both scattered off. and we ended up in some other universe. 

I was no longer the main time traveler. my sister was here, but unconscious, with a bunch of other people from my world & probably other worlds who were also unconscious. me & the other time travellers my friends were here, and we had to sit on the bleachers next to the other people. the lady who had overseen the makeover session was one of the old twins and she had some kind of ability. she was scary and our enemy and it was probably her fault that everything happened. my sister still had on the makeup from the makeover - dark blue shiny eyeshadow. i was scared, but when I talked to her she woke up and she remembered me and she was fine. i was supposed to leave this place with my friends, but we were scattered through the room. it would be hard to get to all of them as long as the lady was here now. she had some vibe that if any of us tried anything, There Would Be Severe Consequences, and i was worried that if i made myself too much of a target walking on the bleachers with my sister, she’d call me out. 

she was teaching alongside this world's traveler who was an Asian dude named Daisuke Shiraodori or something like that his initials were definitely DS. (reminded me of Steven Yeun’s character from nope combined with the Japanese cowboy post..rawhide kobayashi). he was the original traveler from THIS world but the seas became rough and all things that were his were scattered through time, so he had older twin (like she was legit old) fuck everything up to return his property to him. i didn't know how to time travel but i was ready to ditch my friends and take my sister home. i’d figure it out. i’d leave them behind. i tried it. 

3. I think my time travel event failed. god took my sister from me again, and I was in a city in the desert. it had a dome over for weather maintenance and to keep our sandstorms. inside the dome was like if someone ran my college campus through an ai generator. sunny, spring weather, brick roads and small trees & buildings everywhere. the god of this world looked similar to scaramouche genshin impact. he wanted the world to change, so I had to find this one obscure art and design book and bring it to him and set it on fire. this would reset the world. I'd done it before. I'd brought him the book, burnt it, and the result had occurred and I'd leave the city with no survivors to watch it all collapse inwards on itself. the book had a green and dark blue cover with big tex.t the font was in Covington. I had never read it.

this time as I had the book, people were so kind to me. I got a free drink from this one shop. I made friends with this girl who wore bright coral lipstick. a really gorgeous lady let me ride the back of her bike bc I was in a rush to get back to my hotel to burn the book. I re entered the hotel and there was a beautiful mother with her son Jimmy & I paused & told her she needed to take her son and get out of here. something bad was going to happen. and then a cop heard me but none of the people were suspicious of me bc I was such a goodie two shoes - i was a pawn in a grander scheme. you have to believe me - i need to do this. please don’t tstop me. i’d pat my back for that performance. anyway I was given things to monitor me and press this button to call us if you need help etc etc. and an evacuate the building order was placed, but a lot of people ended up just coming to sit on the ground floor anyway. people from studio were there. I had the book in my bookbag and this weird square lighter. while we all sat around waiting for something to happen, I got the book out and pretended to read it while trying to grab the lighter out without being suspicious.

when it became the correct time and I wasn't at the meeting spot, the sky went dark. the lights went out. there was a dull roaring from outside and you could see the shadow of the sand on the black sky. this always happened so I was used to it, but everyone else was uneasily preparing for a tornado. it was pitch black, but I saw light from around the corner - the glowing star of god's eye, looking for me. I wasn't afraid - I knew he was much more patient. as long as I did it i would be fine. god’s eye slowly floated closer to me & everyone watched, not realizing he was coming towards me - just thought he was going down the hall past me. I would betray everyone for a chance to get my sister back, but I didn't feel guilty. I'd done this before so many times after all.

then thr girl sitting across from me saw me clenching the lighter in my fist and grabbed it and set my hands on fire, & I fought her & put the fingers of my left hand in her eyes and then just took my right hand taking my burning melting hand and plunging it into the book. this worked. the book burnt quickly, god saw me, and there was the implosion.

I leaped out the window and turned into a bird. I'd seen this before and had no desire to be near it. first it was a black hole, but darkly shimmering blue. and then a dome, a ball, and then it would rapidly expand, erasing everything inside. I caught an updraft and made it to the cliffs bordering the valley, and turned into a snake to traverse the sands easier. my goal was this little shelter made of dark green shiny material underneath the normal concrete and paint. god always waited the 3 days i had to find & burn the book for me there, and approaching him while he was here would put in in a bad mood. I reached it and turned around, fully expecting the explosion radius to be on my heels as always and to suck me through into the next world. but it wasn't. it destroyed the city and then hit the cliff walls and disappeared . why..? and I got to the shelter and the walls were still in place. there were glowing burn marks - remnants of fire going out radially. and scaramouche dropped his boss weapon, which was a long climbing axe named after the traveler from dream 2. it had different info written on it: the faster it was the less dmg it did, but at different speeds 1-20 ( I could enchant it like a terraria weapon) it performed different tasks better. lower speed/higher damage was good for catching fish. at 1 (highest speed) you could sacrifice centipedes to him for a "sex boost".

as I was reading this there were people - some people I'd seen. the girl with coral lipstick, & some girls i saw in the h mart parking lot yesterday. and I realized god was no longer in this world so I wouldn't have to repeat the cycle of killing everyone - his weapon was here, in my hands, with me. a gift from him - or he'd died in fire and dropped it. which meant my sister was in this world, since we'd made an unbreakable vow to continue until she was close enough I could reach her. anyway I explained to the survivors, i pointed at the lines of an explosive fire that had melted the sand to glass outside the shelter - the cracks and windows had the dust outside like environmental storytelling. his body was here while his eye was elsewhere, maybe, and he died. one of them were particularly mad at me they just went oohhh I get it. i looked to the right. there was another city on the horizon & then i woke up

#dreams

[lboogie1906]

Raymond St. Jacques (March 1, 1930 – August 27, 1990) was an actor, director, and producer whose career spanned over thirty years on stage, film, and television. He is noted as the first African American actor to appear in a regular role on a western series, portraying Simon Blake on the eighth season of Rawhide (1965–66).

He was born James Arthur Johnson in Hartford, Connecticut. He moved with his mother and sister to New Haven, Connecticut. His mother Vivienne worked as a medical technician at Yale University. He attended Yale, where he studied Drama and Psychology. Upon graduation, he worked as an assistant director, actor, and fencing instructor for the American Shakespearean Festival in New Haven. He staged all of the fencing scenes and duels while at the company and would continue to practice fencing for the rest of his life.

He continued to pursue acting and studied at the Actors Studio. His first professional acting role was in the off-Broadway play High Name Today. He was cast in the role of “Judge” in the off-Broadway performance of The Blacks at St. Mark’s Playhouse in 1960.

He made his film debut in a small part in Black Like Me. He followed with a role in The Pawnbroker. He appeared in supporting roles in The Comedians (1967) and The Green Berets (1968). His known film roles were Coffin Ed in Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972). He began teaching fencing and acting at the Mafundi Institute in Watts. He produced, directed, and starred in Book of Numbers.

He guest starred on numerous television shows including East Side/West Side, Daktari, The Virginian, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. He became known as “The Man of a Thousand Faces” due to the varied parts he played throughout his career. In 1976, he starred as Othello. He remained active in stage work throughout his career, touring in productions of Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, A Raisin in the Sun, and the stage adaptation of The Man with the Golden Arm. He had a two-year stint as Judge Clayton C. Thomas on the Superior Court. He played abolitionist Frederick Douglass in Glory. His final film role was in Timebomb. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[alwaysfirst]

Screen and stage veteran Jered Barclay passes away at 91

Jul 28, 2022 20:15 IST Washington , July 28 (Always First): Seasoned stage and film actor Jered Barclay, who appeared in vaudeville and provided voiceovers for the animated television series Smurfs and Transformers, has passed away at the age of 91. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Barclay died Saturday in North Hollywood from MDS Leukemia, actress Myra Turley, his longtime friend with whom he performed in the two-person play A Tantalizing, directed by Harvey Perr, announced. Barclay began his nine-decade career in 1934 at the age of three, appearing in vaudeville with Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, and Sammy Davis Jr. He was also a director, photojournalist, and acting coach. At age 6, he started acting on the radio. At age 12, he travelled with the Clyde Beatty Circus, and at age 14, he made his theatrical debut. The Seattle native moved to Los Angeles after receiving a B.A. in drama from the University of Washington. He appeared in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour (1961), as well as Roger Corman's 1958 sci-fi fantasy film War of the Satellites, in which he played John Compo. In movies like Rawhide, Bonanza, Cheyenne, Bronco, The Dakotas, Lawman, Colt.45, and Gunslinger, he played Jerry Barclay. Then, in 1962, he relocated to New York to take the stage in two plays by Edward Albee, Jerry in Eddie Parone's Zoo Story and a young man in Alan Schneider's The American Dream. Alongside James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons, Barclay played Meff in James Saunders' Next Time I'll Sing to You in 1963. On Broadway, he also played Deuperret in Peter Weiss' Marat Sade and Ludwig Max von Kupfer in John Osborne's A Patriot for Me. Barclay provided voiceovers for several animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, including Foofur, The Little Rascals, Challenge of the GoBots, The Dukes, The Kwicky Koala Show, and The Smurfs. In The Transformers, he furthermore portrayed Cerebros. Rue McClanahan, Dixie Carter, Johnny Depp, Liza Minnelli, Lily Tomlin, Patrick Swayze, and Josh Brolin were among the actors who studied acting under Barclay beginning in the 1980s. He started working as a travel photojournalist in 1993, covering all seven continents and 108 nations for 27 publications. (Always First) Read the full article

[leftnipsdoodles]

anyway in 2010 rawhide kid had a cameo on the marvel zombies title and they did NOT show us his tombstone and im still DEVASTATED abt it bc i crave to hurt myself by thinking abt the fact that he wouldve died and been buried at some point and i just need to know whether it was as the rawhide kid or as johnny clay/bart

#i need. to feel pain. pls marvel #delete later #steroid comics #the fact he had such a big legacy in-universe already hurts me and i love it #he's such an arrogant guy when it comes to his skills but he's so humble when it comes to his person #i remember one time iron man met him and gushed to him abt how he read all the dime novels abt him #and rawhide kid got flustered like 'what? me? aw come on im just some dude' and im like ohhhhhhh my goddddddddddddddddddd #im living. #cowboy guy: is literally the personification of good morals and a gentleman #same cowboy guy: im not a good person. im just doing what anyone wouldve done. #me: well i cant not fuck him and cry abt him on a friday night

[anintelligentoctopus]

In chat we’ve been talking about a Rawhide AU where they’re all lanky awkward grumpy teens in a dead-end small town somewhere in Texas (in a 50s-esque setting because that kind of aesthetic just seems to work for Rawhide)

Top to bottom, L-R: Wishbone, Rowdy, Pete, Favor, Mushy, Jesús, Scarlet, Quince

#open in a new tab for more detail #rawhide #ray's art #quince and scarlet are inseparable in any universe #we decided wish is trying to grow a beard because he thinks it'll make him look distinguished but it's still a bit too wispy for that #it's so damn hard getting them to look the right ages but still recognisable. not sure how well some of them worked. but mushy def did #with bonus little sketches and doodles that just tend to happen even on pages i'm using for 'proper' drawings #that little cowboy singer on the bottom left is definitely not me. definitely not.

[wordacrosstime]

An Introduction to Classical Nahautl

[An Introduction to Classical Nahuatl. by Michel Launey, Université de Paris VII (Denis Diderot). Edited and translated by Christopher Mackay, University of Alberta. Print publication year: 2011. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521732291. Data thanks to publisher]

First, a bit of a back-story:  A short time ago, my wife and I were watching an old episode of the American Western TV show Rawhide.  This is the show that basically launched the career of actor Clint Eastwood.  In this particular episode, a fellow appears on the scene claiming to have walked over 1000 miles north from Cholula, Mexico into the heart of cattle country in Texas.  It happened that this fellow didn't speak a whole lot of Spanish because he came from a community that spoke primarily Nahuatl, which is the language of the Aztec Empire.  I was intrigued, and I remembered picking up a couple of Nahuatl references some years ago at a used-book store.  I subsequently retrieved the volume under review here and began reading it, not to learn Nahuatl but rather to gain an appreciation for its richness and nuances.

This volume was originally written in French; the version I have has been translated into English, and the language examples have been adapted to be idiomatic for English, by Christopher Mackay.  So while I will refer to Michel Launey as the author, it should be borne in mind that Mackay also had considerable input into the finished product.

One other important note:  This volume covers Classical Nahuatl - that is, Nahuatl as it was spoken and precipitated into written form following the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs in the 16th Century.  Modern Nahuatl, although it has been somewhat conservatized due to the literary form, has still evolved and absorbed innovations across the language's Sprachbund (speaking area).  Consequently, this book is slightly less useful for conversational Nahuatl - it would be like trying to speak the English of Geoffrey Chaucer with a modern English speaker.  The modern Anglophile would certainly understand, but much of the language constructs would seem very odd and quaint (at best).

I have dabbled with approximately two dozen languages over the course of many years.  I haven't become fluent in many of them - in fact, there are those who question my fluency in English, but that's another story - but I have truly enjoyed the journey into these languages, especially those that are very different from my native tongue.  Nahuatl certainly qualifies in the latter category; it is an Uto-Aztecan language, and though quite ancient, is still spoken by over a million people, at least 10% of whom are mono-lingual - that is, they speak only Nahuatl.

In each of the aforementioned forays into new tongues, I have always had one or more reference books to guide me.  Many of them have been quite well-written.  However, I can say with certainty that to date, this volume is the best that I have encountered.  I simply cannot emphasize this enough:  this book is brilliantly written.  Its structure, tempo and content are all absolutely first-rate.

Launey divides the book into two sections.  The first sixteen lessons cover the rudiments of Nahuatl, from phonetics to basic verb and noun forms, conjugations, declensions where applicable, etc.  The remaining twenty lessons cover much more advanced topics and serve to illustrate the complexity and subtlety of Nahuatl.  Since Nahuatl is an indigenous language of North America, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to English.  This is certainly true in terms of vocabulary, but what's more, the syntax and semantics of the language are quite different from English as well.  For example, the canonical feature triad of languages - tense, aspect, and mood, or T-A-M - have very different emphases in Nahuatl compared to English.

Having said all that, it is instructive to note that several common English words derive from Nahuatl - words like coyote, chocolate, avocado, tomato, and chipotle.  Remarkably, Nahuatl has been borrowed to a larger extent across many indigenous American languages, at least those of the American Southwest and Plains, in a very important way:  The canonical term for the portable dwelling used by many Native American tribes is tepee.  This is taken directly from the Nahuatl word tepe (where the second "e" is elongated), which means "mountain" - an apt description of the shape of a tepee.

There are two characteristics of this book that appeal to me especially, and these should be noted by anyone using this book to learn Nahuatl:

1 - The book treats the language almost formally; that is, it presents the language in much the same fashion as a reference text might describe a computer programming language.  As a mathematician and computer scientist, this appeals to me greatly; it makes sense, even while acknowledging that human language is very different from a programming language.  Since Nahuatl, like many American languages, is an agglutinating language (large words, especially verbs, are built from numerous prefixes and suffixes placed in fixed positions), this approach makes it easier to see how linguistic components such as location and direction, possession, etc. work within compound words.  This is invaluable in both encoding and decoding Nahuatl sentences.

2 - Launey includes a great many examples of Nahuatl in action, including idioms and turns of phrase.  What I found refreshing about this is that Launey doesn't simply toss out an idiom or slang term without providing the details of how this expression arose; the reader doesn't need to simply take his word for it, in other words.  I recall studying Hungarian some years ago.  A text I was using took the conversational approach to teaching the language, which is quite common.  In one sample conversation, a man drops his glasses and is looking for them, hoping that they aren't broken or damaged.  When he finds them undamaged, he says "De jo!", which is translated as "What luck!" or "Thank heavens!".  This isn't very helpful in learning Hungarian, since the expression translates literally to "But good!"  One is left to infer the meaning of both of the Hungarian words much later on.

With all of this, I can highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to appreciate and at least read Nahuatl literature, from the Classical period up to the present.  However, please keep the caveats mentioned above in mind, especially if one is accustomed to learning language aurally and/or via direct conversation instead of via building blocks.  Personally, I wish I had a Launey reference text for every language I've attempted to learn - I'd be a considerably more accomplished polyglot as a result.

Image credits / thanks: (top) Cover - (c) Cambridge University Press 2011 / (centre) Portrait of Michel Launey - thanks to La Manche Libre 6 December 2016 / (bottom) Portrait of Christopher Mackay - (c) “Epic Photography 2009. Creator - Jimmy Jeong, Credit - The Boston Globe”

Kevin Gillette

Words Across Time

1 April 2021

wordsacrosstime

#Kevin Gillette #Words Across Time #wordsacrosstime #April 2021 #Michel Launey #Christopher Mackay #Chipotle #Tomato #Avocado #Chocolate #Coyote #T-A-M #Declensions #Phonetics #Conjugations #Aztec #Nahuatl #Cholula #Clint Eastwood #Rawhide #Geoffrey Chaucer #Sprachbund #Indigenous #Tepee #Agglutinating #An Introduction to Classical Nahuatl #Université de Paris #Denis Diderot #Area Studies #American Studies

[melmac78]

Of leather tooling and love

(Tag mini bang 2021)

Here’s my story for @tagminibang. I want to thank @tracybirds for their amazing art and working with me. Also, I thank them being extremely patient with learning about leather tooling and for adapting to the time zone difference to get this put together.

(I added my own art piece - “John’s” astronomy cuff… mark I, and will link directly to tracybirds’s art when I can fully figure this out).

•••••••

John Tracy was mad... so mad he was making an indelible mark that would take forever for someone to wipe away or cover up.

Fortunately it was leather, and he was tooling a design so no one would really want to cover it up, but he still was at points surprised he wasn't punching holes in the design… or the table.

A chirp however made him question the latter.

“John, please do not hit the table so hard. You are making my processors overload,” gently scolded EOS as the man was swinging the rawhide mallet.

While fortunately her interruption didn’t make him miss, allowing him to add to the octopus design, John set the leather tools down and sighed. “I’m sorry EOS,” he said gently.

“I accept your apology, but I do not understand why stamping cowhide will help your anger,” said the AI.

“As I said, it’s leather tooling, and it’s better to use my anger for something creative,” John said quietly.

“Even this … item?”

He looked at the cuff he was working on again and gave a half smile. “Even this wallet,” the astronaut chuckled.

After giving EOS a task to do, reminding her not to adjust the gravity back to zero to avoid any spills from his work, John looked at the project again.

He sighed, understanding his curious “data child’s” curiosity. Leather tooling, while a bit outdated in some people's eyes, was one of the few learned talents and gifts he still had from his Grandfather as well as his Dad.

And - it reminded him of Gordon, in good and bad times.

Gordon… his brother with the wacky sense of dress.

The aquanaut preferred to wear on average two leather bands and then a woven smaller band with the first two oyster pearls he found.

That's why he stopped - at the moment, it felt as though if he took out more anger on the mallet and metal stamping tool, he was hurting Gordon. Triple if he managed to hit it so hard it tore through the damp leather.

Who knew Gordon’s penchant for being the only one to wear leather wrist bands would save his life?

A week and a half prior... he chose to wear two broader bands on one arm and his usual one on his other.

They were nearly the width of a cuff, with designs that took forever to explain to EOS. It was an unusual decision, but one that the brothers were thankful Gordon made.

They had been called out to a rescue - a skyscraper fire in Houston, and all land based brothers had been called as it required high rise rescue.

Gordon had been on level 70 of the building, rescuing an unconscious woman. He had secured the victim in with his harness and started to use the pulley to get them to the top of the building for Thunderbird to lift them to safety.

An explosion had knocked them for a loop, smashing Gordon into the building.

Gordon took the brunt of the hit, slamming into the frame.

In spite of the helmet, he too was knocked out. Worse, the grapple slipped, and glass shards, still stuck in their mounts, sliced down his forearms.

It cut the neoprene... and through part of his thick leather cuffs.

When they recovered both victims, Virgil and John immediately triaged the two. She had a minor concussion and smoke inhalation.

Gordon however not only too had the bump on the head - thanks to the helmet taking the brunt, he also a dislocated shoulder, and a few cracked and broken ribs.

But what was the immediate concern at the time of the rescue was his arms, particularly the wrists. They took the brunt of the damage.

The leather bands however, saved his life. They made what would've been life threatening - if not fatal, slashes on his wrist to mostly superficial cuts.

The bands though were completely destroyed as far as wearability. Virgil would have to apologize for cutting them completely off - but not why - later.

Gordon was taken to a hospital in Houston's esteemed Medical Center, where he went through multiple surgeries, a few pints of blood, and lots of rest.

That was a week ago, as Gordon had a healing rib rebreak, nicking his lung. It was repaired, the bleeder stopped, but Gordon had to be put under sedation for a couple of days to ensure the site healed.

Though they had lifted the sedation the day prior and were waiting for Gordon to come out of it, the family would have to wait couple of days before he could return to Tracy Island.

That lead to where he was today.

John sighed, and looked around Thunderbird Five.

He had been practicing some leather tooling at University of Houston's art department.

That was before a space rescue needed both him and Alan, and afterword, he stayed on Five to keep apprised of a possible hurricane.

Well that and have an excuse to decline another lecture invite from NASA.

John was thankful that U of H understood his need for privacy, and that having a PhD in Aeronautics and Space allowed him some special favors.

The positive it included the use of one of the art studios to leather tool...

The negative? The trade off was as long as he also donated one of his famous astronomy tooled leather cuffs for a fundraiser.

He had already finished the band for the auction two days prior, complete with the antique leather dye, golden paint accents in the star constellations, and steampunk like swing hinge cuff. Not the easiest to make, especially setting the rivets for the cuff.

Worth it to John - small price to pay, but would reap rewards for U of H’s generosity. He’d bring it to them when he visited Gordon again.

The astronaut then looked at the octopus carved and stamped on the wallet. "It was too damn close," he said out loud, but at the same time, he was thankful. This was for Gordon later on.

John then smiled at the thought. It was indeed for his aquanaut brother, one they could’ve lost in that fire.

He was about to stamp the leather again... when a beep startled him.

The astronaut asked EOS to answer it, and the image of Virgil came out of the monitor.

"Gordon's come to," said Virgil.

"Fully?"

The older brother shrugged. "Mostly, but he should be fully alert by the time you get to the hospital," he said, then frowned. "He's asking about the leather bands... especially the one that was 'Mom's belt'."

John furrowed his brow.

Yes, that belt bracelet.

Fortunately the one bracelet Gordon hadn't worn that day.

Unfortunately, the one Gordon duplicated - with varying degrees of success, he did wear nearly daily.

John could imagine Gordon’s initial reaction… he’d feel the same way.

"Virgil, Gordon didn't wear that cuff that day," he said. "He intentionally put a small Thunderbird stamp on his so he didn't confuse the two."

Virgil nodded. "I know, but you know him and anesthetics... gives him the wrong memory if he's not goofy from it," he said, then chuckled. “Last time he was trying to feed Parker poster pancakes on the USS Lexington.”

John scoffed at the memory. "That one still has Parker perplexed," he said, then stood, stretching. "Try to talk him down from his confusion. I'll be there in a few minutes. I need to get something."

Virgil noticed John’s labors on the table and quirked an eyebrow. "What about the wallet you're working on?"

"It'll be fine. The leather can be dampened again to finish it up. I expected it to be a longer project over the bracelets I made at U of H,” he said, putting the stamping tool and mallet down.

The artist noticed John’s attempt to deflect, and his eyes twinkled in mischief. "So… how many projects did the University ‘con’ you out of for the auction this time?" said the artist with a teasing smirk.

He wasn't going to give his younger brother too much grief - he still owed the University at least one hand blown glass vase.

"Just the one - the astronomy cuff."

Virgil gave a soft whistle. "That one? You won't even make that one for me."

"Then bid on the one they're selling," snarked John as he cleaned up the rest of the leather tooling supplies.

Virgil merely laughed - yeah, he was going to bid if anything to help a department who helped his brother cope through this.

John then picked up a box wrapped in sea turtle wrapping paper. "I'll be there shortly,” he said walking to the space elevator.

“FAB.”

********

Gordon Tracy looked out the windows of his hospital room from his hovering hospital bed and signed.

He was thankful he wasn't stuck with a view of the generators. The hospital still hadn't gotten over teasing him - gently - about calling them "Donald Duck" in a post-anesthesia comment the other time he was there for an injury.

Here, it was a view of one of the garden parks the area had.

What he wasn't thankful for was the fact he lost the leather band that was made from his mother's belt.

He looked at the long bandages wrapped on his wrists and lower arms and sighed.

Sure, Virgil kept insisting it was not the band, but he knew his bracelets.

Yes, he had to admit they had to be fully cut off too keep him from bleeding out through his wrists - he knew one cut was still too close.

Still though... he had to concede if it was gone, it was his mother protecting him.

Even Scott had told him point blank it was the only time he was thankful Gordon had forgotten to take the bands off.

Rumor had it Scott was even considering consulting with Brains to create leather arm bracers.

His theory was if it worked for the cowboys in the 1800s and 1900s, why not the technological cowboys of today?

Gordon looked at the sky and smiled. "Thanks Mom for watching over both that woman and me," he said, then looked at the bands.

There were blood stains on them, which were not going to come out.

Sure, they could be dyed dark before being stored, most likely black, and he could have John help him there. That said, it was not going to matter when they had been made unwearable when Virgil cut them off.

There were the button and hole fixtures sure... but the aquanaut understood Virgil was going to slice first, apologize for saving Gordon's life later.

Blood loss didn’t wait for bracelets.

A knock at the door shook him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he said, adjusting the bed to where it floated back to connect with the main vitals scanner.

John entered and smiled at seeing his alert brother, the first time he'd been fully awake since before the accident.

"Hi Gordon, how are you feeling," he said, wincing slightly at the cliche.

His fish loving brother just smiled, but the astronaut didn't miss the sadness in the cinnamon colored eyes. "I'm having a whale of a time... too bad the lake below probably only has ducks," he said, chuckling slightly.

“Must be going ‘quackers’ then,” joked John, only to watch as Gordon fiddled with the remains of the bracelets. John coughed. "Gordon..."

"I know. They had to be cut off in order to save my life," the aquanaut said, sighing. "It's just... this was mom's - look at the paisley here..."

John put his hand over both his younger brother's and smiled. "It isn't the one made with Mom's belt, trust me,” he said, smiling, then pointing to a detail. "See? Here's the thunderbird stamp you used for yours."

Gordon took a closer look, and his eyes widened slightly.

John was right... it was indeed there, just had been cut in half by the cutting tools. Well he hoped so and not the glass, but that was a story left unsaid at the time.

"It's not mom's," the aquanaut whispered instead, tears of happiness flooding his eyes.

The astronaut smiled and gave his brother a gentle hug. "No it isn't. I made sure the one with Mom's was in the fire safe - just in case, on the Island before Alan brought me to the hospital," he said gently.

The two hugged gently for a while, the mix of hospital bluster and soothing sounds from the Muzak in the hallways mingling between the brother's hushed tones.

After a few minutes, Gordon sat up, and noticed the sea turtle box his brother was holding. "Funny looking NASA paper," the aquanaut teased, chuckling softly when John rolled his eyes.

He knew John tried to avoid the facility if possible.

Not because he didn't enjoy it, but because the last time he visited the center, Mission Control crowded him the point he fainted from the social claustrophobia.

Alan found it amusing.

EOS found it amusing to force Alan to eat freeze dried brussel sprouts and liver with onions meals every day his last rotation on Thunderbird Five for his "rude behavior."

Both men chuckled in the memory, and John handed his brother the box. "Nope, this is for you, a get well soon present," said he said.

Gordon carefully opened up the box, which John had purposely wrapped the two parts separately due to the shoulder being strapped, and gasped.

Inside were two bracelets.

One was similar to his mother's belt, but the paisley and flower design that was in his mom's band was adjusted slightly to include southwestern printed sea turtles and a squid stamp John had custom made. Like his mother's, it was dyed a medium brown.

The other... took Gordon's breath away.

The edges were done in a simple border - scalloped with the occasional octopus and sea turtle stamp in between the scallops. It was dyed mahogany.

It was mostly just border stamped... because the concho fastened in the center was the showstopper.

It was a golden sea turtle, swimming in the middle of a pewter center. “How?…”

Seeing Gordon's eyes water, John chuckled. "Yes, I remembered that concho. Had trouble finding it, but fortunately the store on the Sam Houston Tollway found one and put it aside for me," he said as he put a hand on his brother's uninjured shoulder.

Gordon put the box down and wiped away the tears with his good hand. "Got a bit of hand sanitizer in my eyes. Strong stuff," he said, and John scoffed.

"Yeah, sure... you want me to help put it on your … good wrist?" John said, and coughed when Gordon shot the arm out. "Whew... you weren't kidding on the hand sanitizer,” he laughed, waving the fumes away.

"Yeah... apparently it's 'essense of moonshine' I think. It probably kills germs 10 years before they’re born," Gordon smirked.

The bands fit perfectly, and had a simple button and hole fastener so the doctors or even Gordon could take it off with a push if needed.

John watched his brother admire the bracelet, even taking a few photos of the laughs and chuckles his brother made as he showed it off.

Gordon then paused and looked at John. "You made these right?" he inquired, looking at the antiqued looking band.

The astronaut nodded, and Gordon continued, grinning slightly in memory. "How many bands did the University get you to make in exchange for the use of the studio this time?"

"One - and before you ask, the astronomy one,” John said, touching a button on his baldric to ensure EOS didn’t talk about the wallet. She still had a proclivity to ruin surprises - especially if it was one of John’s younger siblings.

Gordon, knowing how much money usually got raised to but one of these bands, looked at the bands and then John. "Worth every cent," he said, smiling warmly as the nurse came in to check Gordon's vitals and bring dinner.

John took this as a note to head out, but before he left, he looked at his brother, who was bragging about the bracelet his older brother made.

And making it very clear how to take it on and off so this one was not cut off.

The astronaut gave a gentle wave to his brother. "I'll be back later," he said, and headed out.

Hearing the chuckles Gordon made again, John's smile broadened. "Yes, it was worth every single minute and cent to hear that laughter," John murmured, but it was priceless to have his brother saved by those other bands.

Now... how he was going to steal the remnants of the old bands to repurpose into a hippie cuff for Gordon was another story

#tag mini bang 2021 #tracybirds #john tracy #gordon tracy #virgil tracy #tag fanfic #tag fanfiction

[fangirlxwritesx67]

This Is Halloween

This Is Halloween 3600 words, rated G for Genfic

Jack Kline, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester x Rowena, Castiel, Jody Mills x Donna Hanscum  Canon adjacent, mentions of loss, nothing spookier than a skeleton shark coochie tray

None of this would’ve happened without @dawnie1988 giving me ideas, feedback, and cheering me on. Read and repeated discussion by @there-must-be-a-lock as well as read by @mskathywriteswords. The title is a nod to my Squad who provide more love and support than I can ever say thank you for!

***

“Sam, Dean!” Jack’s voice called out over the balcony as the door to the bunker slammed behind him. 

Startled, Dean jumped up, reaching for the gun he kept tucked in his waistband. 

“No, wait.” Sam stilled him with one hand on his arm. He heard excitement, not alarm, in Jack's words. He spoke in a low voice. “I think this is good.” 

Jack clattered down the stairs and ran across the stone floor, sliding to a halt in front of the Winchester brothers. 

“Do you know about Halloween?!” he exclaimed breathlessly. Dean rolled his eyes, while Sam shook his head, each waiting for the other to answer. Finally Dean spoke up.

“Uh, yeah, Jack, we do. What about it?” 

“See, I went to the grocery store, for snacks, and there was a whole aisle of spooky stuff, skeletons, although they weren’t scientifically correct.” Jack’s brow furrowed as he thought about that. “And candy, so much candy! So I asked the cashier and she said it was Halloween, and people have parties, and everything!” 

“I looked it up in my phone. People dress up! There’s food and games!” Jack’s words tumbled over one another in his eagerness. “Do you think we could do Halloween? Do you think we could have a party?!” 

“Do you really think, a party, here in the bunker --” Dean began.

“What you have to understand about Halloween is --” Sam started to say.

Both of them trailed off into silence. Jack’s face, beaming up at them, was so eager, so hopeful. Sure, they had their own issues with Halloween. But why put that burden on him?

Finally Sam drew a deep breath. “Okay, Jack. What if we had a Halloween party, here in the bunker?” 

“We could invite everyone we know! Cas, of course, all of our friends! We could all dress in costume, have snacks, it would be loads of fun, please oh please?” 

Dean turned to Sam, concern written across his face. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” 

Sam nodded. “Jack is right. It sounds like fun.” 

“Yes, okay? Thank you, thank you so much. You guys are the best!” Jack hugged first Sam, then Dean, before turning to leave. “I can’t wait to text Cas! Of course he’ll want to come.”

Dean turned to his younger brother. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I know how you feel about this holiday.”

Sam set his chin, his lips thin. “We can’t live in the past forever. Too much has happened over the years.” 

“But Halloween-”

Sam drew in a deep breath. “Halloween was the last time I saw the love of my life alive and happy, okay? It still hurts, when I think about it. “But Jack is our family, you know? He’s really just a kid, and we both want the best for him. If this is what makes him happy, I’m good with it.” 

After a long moment, Dean clapped him on the shoulder. “Okay. As long as you mean that.” Sam nodded, so Dean continued. “I guess I’ve got to figure out what this kid thinks you eat at a Halloween party.” 

The brothers didn’t see Jack again until dinnertime. They soon realized that he must have spent most of the afternoon on the internet, researching Halloween. Ideas spilled from his lips, one right after the other: carving pumpkins, themed cupcakes, lights on the walls, presents under the Haunting Tree-

“Hold up.” Dean stopped him with an upraised hand. “I think maybe you researched a little too hard and are getting your holidays mixed up. We can do some of those things, not all of them. We have a week, let’s make a plan.” 

“Dean, you’ll cook for the party, won’t you? Sam can help me with decorations. Cas is already coming, and I will invite Donna and Jody. Oh, and Rowena!”

“No Rowena.” Dean shook his head sternly. 

Next to him, Sam smirked, knowing that it was a battle Dean would never win, outnumbered two to one. 

***

Jack decided the library was the perfect room for a party, and he had grand plans to cover every wall and shelf with decorations. His internet searches kept turning up more and more ideas and party themes, each more elaborate than the last. 

At first, Sam tried to keep things simple and inexpensive, but after a while, he gave in. He took Jack shopping, let him buy the silly spooky stuff that caught his eye. What the hell, he thought to himself, the credit cards were fake anyway. He only put his foot down when it came to anything gory or macabre. They had enough of that the rest of the year. 

Jack’s favorite purchase of all was a fake electronic raven. It was motion sensitive, and when someone triggered it, it would caw or cackle or call out “Nevermore.” He thought it was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen, and insisted that it was exactly what he needed to celebrate Halloween in style. 

Jack had as many ideas for food as he did for decorations, constantly making new suggestions to Dean. Finally Dean sat him down and pared down his requests to a few key treats, before assuring Jack that he could handle the rest of the menu. 

The next day, Sam headed to the kitchen for breakfast after a run and was surprised to see glossy magazines on the table. He turned the pages idly, realizing that they were all full of nothing but recipes and ideas for Halloween.

When Dean joined him, Sam shot him a teasing glance. “Got grand ideas for this party, huh, big brother?” 

“Hey, it’s important to Jack.” Dean might’ve blushed, but his face was earnest.

“You sure it’s important to Jack, and not to you, to make Spooky Seven Layer Salad and Stuffed Olive Eyeballs, and oooh, what are Mummy Fingers?” Sam raised his eyebrows. 

“I wanna make him proud.” Dean answered. Sam understood the things left unsaid - that food was important to Dean, after too many years growing up hungry or stealing just to eat. Having a kitchen where he could cook was one of the ways he made the bunker a home for his family. 

“I know he will be.” Sam said. “I always liked your cooking.”

Dean understood the affirmation behind Sam’s praise, and nodded gratefully. 

Seeing the others happy helped Sam accept the festivities. He hated Halloween, but he loved Jack. There were days when he remembered that the young man was the most powerful being in the universe. But most of the time, he just seemed like a kid, and the closest thing to a son he or Dean would ever have. 

If this was what it took to make Jack happy, bad memories be damned, Sam would do it. Plus, if he was honest with himself, he didn’t hate the idea of having a few of their friends together. For once, it would be something fun instead of another monster hunt. 

The one thing he couldn’t bring himself to get excited about was a costume. Jack was insistent on costumes all around. Dean and Sam both asked him what his costume would be, but he kept it a closely guarded secret. 

While they discussed costumes, they also argued about the guest list. Dean kept teasing that Rowena wasn’t welcome. Sam knew his brother’s opposition to his girlfriend was all bluster, but Jack still sometimes fell for the disputes. 

Finally one day, Dean approached Sam, a wide smile on his face. “I've solved your costume problem! We’ve made a deal, me and that little witch of yours. She can come to the party, as long as you wear the costume she picks out.” 

“Whoa, hey, how is that a deal?” Sam protested, although he knew it was futile. “You do nothing, and I have to wear whatever costume she decides?” 

“Have fun, Braveheart!” Dean smirked, clapping him on the shoulder. 

How Rowena got Amazon delivery to the Bunker was a mystery to Sam and an irritation to Dean. Still, the box showed up the morning of the party. When Sam opened it, the box held just one thing: a sort of crown, a gold colored circlet with branches - or were they antlers? 

Rowena’s only instructions were to dress like a hunter. Since he was a hunter, that was not especially helpful. In his room, Sam tried on the crown. With his usual flannel and plaid, it seemed out of place. 

Then he remembered Dean jokingly calling him Braveheart, recalling the case the two of them had worked where Charlie talked them into LARPing. Charlie. Sam shook his head with a sad smile. She would’ve loved to attend a bunker Halloween party! She would’ve had the perfect brilliant nerdy costume, too. 

He dug into his work disguises and found the loose tan tunic he had worn on that case. Even over jeans, it made the crown seem more fitting. He straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath. That was better. 

“Cas is here!” Sam turned to see Jack scamper down the hall. He and Dean arrived in the entry of the bunker just as Cas and Jack embraced at the base of the stairs. It registered to Sam that Dean was in a cowboy costume, but before he could say anything, Dean spoke up.

“Cas, I believe the invitation said, no costume, no party.” Cas was wearing the same thing as always, a tan trench coat over a white shirt and dress pants with a tie. He nodded, and reached into the inner pocket of his coat. 

“Agent Swift,” he declared, holding up a badge that said BSI. “Bureau of Supernatural Investigation.” Then he grinned, a wide smile that lit his face and crinkled the corners of his blue eyes. Dean laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder while Sam smiled and shook his head. 

“Okay, come help me with my costume!” Jack grabbed Cas by the hand and all but dragged him out of the room.

Sam turned to Dean and looked more closely at what he was wearing. He wore a buff vest over his usual plaid flannel and jeans, a hat hanging over his shoulders by a rawhide cord. “Dude, Tombstone?” 

“At least I’m not a - horny man?” Dean chuckled. 

Sam scoffed. “Shouldn’t you be cooking? Putting cat brains in jello or something?” 

“Actually, yeah, and I could use your help. Wanna wrap some mummies?” Dean took in the baffled expression on his brothers’ face. “It’s cocktail wieners and crescent dough.” Sam nodded hesitantly, following his brother to the bunker kitchen. 

The Winchesters made more than one trip from the kitchen to the library, carrying trays of food, bowls of snacks, drinks, and candy. Sam stayed back to make sure the lights were on and everything was ready while Dean made one more trip for his proudest creation - a tray of sliced meat and cheese arranged just so around a plastic skeleton.

“Gross, Dean,” Sam said, unable to hide either the admiration in his tone or his little smile.

“I know, right?!” Dean crowed, swiping a bite. 

Just then, Cas and Jack returned. At first, Jack seemed to be dressed like Cas in a long tan robe. But he had on a scarf and a headband with green ears and - 

“You’re Baby Yoda?!” Sam exclaimed. 

“I am dressed as the diminutive character portrayed on television’s The Mandelorian, although I am technically neither Baby nor Yoda-” whatever else Jack had to say was cut short by Sam’s engulfing hug. 

Dean rolled his eyes before he pushed Sam aside for a hug of his own. 

“How did this kid get to be such a nerd?” Dean asked Sam as Jack looked at his phone and then ran for the stairs.

“Like you don’t know!” Sam retorted.

“You are the one who showed him Star Wars.”

“You bought him comic books. Watchmen, and The Boys?” 

Jack’s excited voice cut into the brothers’ bickering. “Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel!” He gestured with a flourish as Jody and Donna entered the library hand in hand.

Jody was wearing jeans and a kimono jacket that was red across the shoulders, blue starred below, with a wide gold band. Next to her, Donna was wearing a blue dress with red and stars around the neckline. She wore a brown belt around her waist and tall boots that matched the belt. 

Sam and Dean welcomed their friends with broad smiles and warm hugs. Jack bounded around them like an excited puppy, showing off his costume and asking about theirs. 

“Come on into the spooky library,” Sam intoned with a deep voice and a wave.

“Let’s eat!” Dean exclaimed, clapping his hands. 

The six of them were comfortable together, talking and laughing easily. Dean’s themed food offerings were great, the presentation hilarious but the taste even better. The drinks flowed freely: beer and hard seltzer and sodas. 

Jack took great delight in making sure everyone passed by his electronic raven repeatedly so that it croaked out greetings as often as possible. Everyone loved Jack, so they indulged him and never once suggested that they might be tired of hearing it. 

Jody asked just once what Sam was meant to be, in his crown of branches or antlers.

“A horny man!” Dean joked.

“Rowena sent it,” was all Sam had to offer, shrugging. 

Jody nodded. She knew all about what a person would do for the woman they loved. She raised one eyebrow in query. 

“Where is Rowena?” she asked. “I can’t believe she would miss a chance to dress up. 

“Oh yeah, isn’t she gonna be here?” Donna spoke up.

“Actually,” Jack chimed in, looking up from his phone. “Sam, head out to meet her.” 

He walked out to the echoing entryway as Rowena appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed head to toe in shimmering black. 

“A witch is never late,” she spoke as she descended. “Everyone else is simply early.” 

Sam met her at the base of the stairs and she slipped one hand into his. He took in her costume slowly: a black dress that clung to all her curves, sparkling bits of jewelry at her throat and wrists. Most strikingly, she wore a cape of black feathers, iridescent with dark purple, green and gold. 

Her head was adorned with a thin circlet of gold, much like Sam’s, but where his had branches reaching upward, hers had feathers carved away from her temples. Her hair was dressed with braids and feathers and bits of jet black crystal woven into the riot of curls spilling down over her shoulders. 

The apparition of a raven trailed behind her, wings fluttering to keep up. Sam held out his hand and she took it so he could lead her to the library.

“A Queen of Ravens?” he asked. 

“The Morrigan,” she replied, sweeping her cloak around her in a swirl. “And you are my Cernunnos. Well done with the costume.” 

He bent down to brush a kiss on her upturned lips before they joined the others.

***

Jack was wildly jealous of Rowena’s raven, since his electronic toy was fixed to a shelf. But she praised his good taste and spoke a few words that allowed her familiar to follow his direction. That resulted in two ravens saying “Nevermore” in chorus, but it tickled Jack so much that no one had the heart to stop it. 

Donna and Cas commandeered the aux cord, playing a mix of pop and classic rock. Jody and Dean delved into a discussion of firearms. Jack bounded from person to person, handing out candy and eating at least as much as he was giving.

Sam and Rowena snuck off to a quiet corner of the library, which was where Dean found them with a big book on the table in front of them. Rowena was standing, pointing to the pages as she explained Cernunnos. Sam was fixated, not on the book, but on her face, on the way her eyes sparkled and her lips curved as she read. 

“Hey nerds,” Dean interrupted them. “It’s Halloween, time to party, not to read books and get heart eyes and make out in dark corners.”

“We weren’t making out!” Sam protested.

“Not yet,” Rowena cooed, taking his hand. 

As the night wore on, everyone took turns choosing songs, the playlist ranging from classic rock to blues to Scottish folk tunes to cheesy pop monster music. They cut loose and danced, together or alone. 

Rowena attempted to teach Jack a few heel-toe folk dance steps, but Dean picked it up faster. Sam danced by himself for a while, long-limbed and rhythmic. Cas surprised them all by knowing moves to viral music videos; apparently he had been doing research on TikTok. 

Jody and Donna were wrapped in one another's arms, slow dancing and sneaking kisses, whether the music suited it or not. Donna put on Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” and sang along softly, lips next to Jody’s ear, for her alone. Jody let her eyes flutter close, resting her chin on Donna’s shoulder, melting into her embrace. 

Rowena watched the two of them with a fond smile on her face, while the boys turned to the snacks, giving the two of them their moment together alone. 

It was almost midnight when Jack turned off the music, clapped for attention, and announced that it was time for Trick or Treat. He would be going around the room with a plastic jack o’ lantern bucket, and each guest was to perform a trick. If he liked it, they got a treat. 

“So get this,” Sam started. “Trick or treat isn’t exactly-” 

Dean put a hand on his arm. “Hold up. This is gonna be good.” 

Jack approached the ladies first. Jody asked for a ribbon, which Rowena provided, and wove a Cat’s Cradle in her hands. Jack was fascinated, and made her repeat it several times before he gave her a treat. Donna pulled chairs aside to clear space, and did a cartwheel. Everyone clapped, and Jack decided that was worthy of two treats. 

Cas made his BSI badge disappear and reappear, using only sleight of hand, no real magic. Jack tried over and over to copy him, with no success. 

Dean walked over to one of the bookshelves and retrieved a handgun from behind the bound volumes. He had Jack blindfold him and then field stripped and reassembled it in under one minute. Sam recited a spell in Latin. When he was done, Dean stage whispered, “Isn’t that a recipe for laundry soap?” Sam laughed. It was, but he had recited it flawlessly. Jack gave them both treats. 

Rowena’s trick, though, was the best one of all. She had previously enchanted her raven to sit next to Jack’s toy. Now she commanded his to fly about and sit on his shoulder. He was overcome with glee at this, and offered her every last treat he had. 

When Jack skipped away, followed by a flutter of wings, Rowena turned to Sam, her hands full of candy. 

“He’s a dear,” she cooed. “But these are all ghastly American sweeties.” 

“Don’t worry.” Dean stepped up, holding a small box. “I’ll be happy to trade you.” 

“Oh, you have Lindt!” She dumped the chocolate she held into his outstretched hand and reached for the treat he was offering her.

“Really, Dean?” Sam was surprised, and impressed. 

“Well, I wanted everyone to have something, and I know how god awful picky she is.” Dean shrugged and then started as Rowena booped his nose with a smirk. 

“Do I have to learn corvid care?” Sam asked Rowena as Dean walked away.

“Oh no!” Her laugh was quick and bright. “It will be back to a simple electronic toy before the morrow.” 

The trick or treat was Jack’s last activity for the night, as he was soon on the verge of nodding off, his raven flapping lazily on his shoulder. Cas pointed him down the hall towards bed, where he fell asleep so full of candy and treats that he was still wearing his Baby Yoda headpiece.

The rest of the party drifted towards the kitchen, to the comfortable familiar space at the heart of the bunker. Dean gradually put away what was left of the more perishable food, sipping from a tumbler of whiskey as he walked in and out of the room. 

Donna and Jody snuggled together on one side of the table, trading kisses and feeding one another chocolate candies. 

Sam leaned back against the counter comfortably, Rowena wrapped in his arms. He had made her a proper cup of tea, and she sipped as she enjoyed her treats, the two of them whispering in low voices. 

Dean raised his glass and caught his eye. 

“I think this is good,” Sam said softly. “New memories.”  

Nothing could change the past, but he didn’t live there anymore. This was their home, surrounded by their family and friends.  This was their Halloween. 

***

Gay Screaming: @boondoctorwho , @cherry3point14, @cracksinthewalls, @dawnie1988 @fookinghelljensensthighs , @icemankazansky, @itmighthavebeenintentional , @justcallmeasmodeus , @lastactiontricia , @littlegreenplasticsoldier, @mskathywriteswords , @rockhoochie ,  @there-must-be-a-lock , @thoughtslikeaminefield​ SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho​ @dawnie1988​ @deanwanddamons​ @defenderrosetyler​ @divadinag​ @emoryhemsworth​ @fookinghelljensensthighs​ @idreamofplaid​ @kalesrebellion​ @kickingitwithkirk​ @maddiepants​ @magssteenkamp​ @onethirstyunicorn​   @there-must-be-a-lock​ @tloveswriting​ Sam Girl For Life: @awesomesusiebstuff​ @lilsylvia​ @winchesterxfamilybusiness​ Dean Curious:@adoptdontshoppets​ @awesomesusiebstuff​ @deangirl7695​ @deans-baby-momma​  @mrsjenniferwinchester​ @stoneyggirl​ @wayward-gypsy​ @winchesterxfamilybusiness​ Rowena My Queen: @delightfullykrispypeach​ @lilsylvia​ @marril96​ @pansexualdarling @songofthecagedmoose​

#spn halloween #winchester brothers fanfiction #dean winchester #sam winchester #jack kline #halloween #castiel #samwena #dodio

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

Hey there! Could you maybe do toasted marshmallows, bonfire, and see your breath in the air as as prompt for whoever? If not that's totally fine. Your stuff is all really good and brightens my day all the time! I'm so excited that you have that masterlist now! Have a great night!

Drinking is mentioned.

The sun peeked through the trees as a light breeze swept through the yard. Race gazed up at the old house he and Spot had purchased a couple of years ago. They had spent the morning raking leaves, only for their dog, Spud, to jump in them and make a mess. And now it was time to sit, relax, and enjoy the gorgeous day.

October was here and it was the perfect day for a bonfire in the yard. With mugs of hot apple cider, Race sat in a lounge chair while Spot got to work building the fire. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”

“I mean it’s not hard to catch some leaves on fire before putting some wood on top.” Spot grinned. “Besides, unlike you, I did a few years of Scouts and the number one rule of Scouts is Be Prepared!”

Race chuckled. “Just get the fire started, Spottie. I need my heater over here to keep me warm. And your apple cider is getting cold.”

They both waited several seconds with baited breath before the leaves caught fire along with several sticks that were thrown in the fire pit. “Ha, in your face Racetrack. Doubting my skills.”

“Alright, my Mr mighty fire builder, come over here and keep me warm.” Race opened his arms for Spot to crawl into his lap as he nestled his head into Spot’s warm chest. “We should roast marshmallows.”

Spot chuckled. “That sounds like a plan. Let the fire die down some and we can do that. Is there anything else we need to do today?”

“Nope. Chili is simmering on the stove, fire built, Spud’s down for the count. Kat and Jack said they might stop by later along with Blink, Mush, Albert and Finch.” Race sighed in contentment.

Taking a sip of his apple cider, Spot nodded. “Sounds like a solid Saturday afternoon.”

They both watch Spud wiggle next to them in the grass with a laugh before hearing a car door slam. Spud was on his feet barking heading to the front of the house before either of them could move.

They waited for whoever had arrived to make their appearance. In the meantime, Spot leaned down and kissed Race. “Happy autumn, snookums.”

“It’s been a pretty spectacular day, huh?” Race grinned, seeing his brother and Kat walk around the corner of the house with Spud at their heels.

“Hey you two.” Jack yelled, as Spud took something from Kat’s hand and went to lay down. “Yard looks good.”

Spot gave him a look. “Thanks but you’re rewarding the dog that messed it up this morning.”

“In what way?” Kat gave him a look, sitting in one of the chairs around the fire pit.

Race watched Spud chew on the rawhide that the two had brought him before looking at the happy couple. “We were raking leaves and mister decided to run through them and make a mess. It’s a good thing we love him.”

“Awww he probably didn’t mean to.” Kat reached over and gave him belly rubs.

Spot and Race both chuckled, shaking their heads at how spoiled their dog is by friends and family. “What have you guys been up to?”

“She made me clean bathrooms today.” Jack cried dramatically, giving his wife a look. “Other than that we went to the farmer’s market before coming here.”

Race patted Jack’s shoulder sympathetically. “I feel your pain, Jackie. Spottie makes me clean the bathrooms too.”

“Would you rather wash floors or dust?” Kat gave him a look, raising an eyebrow. “You complain when I make you wash dishes or vacuum. You’re pitching in around the house, somehow - laundry, vacuum, dusting, or bathrooms. Pick your poison.”

Spot gave Race a look. “Don’t give me that look - you’re in the same boat as your brother. Pick your poison.”

Kat held her arm up for a high five as Spot obliged. Jack and Race looked at their spouses. “I believe we’ve been set up.”

“Way to go Captain Obvious.” Spot grinned at his beloved before looking at Jack and Kat. “Pleasure doing business with you Kat!”

They heard more car doors close as Jack looked at the two. “Expecting more people?”

“As our house usually is, it was an open invite. We texted you two but I may have let it slip to Albert and Blink as well.” Race grinned, watching the two walk around the corner of the house with their better halves. “Hey guys! We have chili simmering on the stove and s’more stuff for later.”

Greetings and hugs were exchanged before everyone got cozy around the fire, which Spot had put another two logs on. Race tilted his head back and blew air from his mouth grinning. “Hey I can see my breath.”

“How old are you again?” Albert asked, giving his best friend a look.

Race stuck out his tongue and laughed. “Today, I’m 6 but on a normal day, 25.”

The group laughed, while Spot nestled deeper into Race’s lap. A discussion about football started up. The local university was playing away that day so Albert and Blink had their phones out with the updates coming through.

Race stood up from the chair, gently depositing Spot in the chair before backing Kat to come with him into the house. He went to the stove and stirred the chili and gave her a look. “Will you gather the stuff for s‘mores?”

They were silent as they attended both of their tasks - him gathering stuff for chili while she found all the s‘ more stuff. “Race, how’s it going?”

“Good. We have a home visit next week and that’s the last step before we’re officially adoptive parents. Once that’s done, we can start adopting or foster.” Race grinned, as she stopped and hugged him.

“That’s so exciting. You two have been waiting for this for the last two years.” She grinned. “Are you going to foster or go right into adoption?”

Race grabbed a few bowls from the cupboard before shrugging. “I think we’re leaning toward adoption but there’s quite a waitlist for adoption so we may foster first. We have an option where we could foster and adopt if it’s a right fit.”

“I’m excited for you two. Jack and I are here if you need anything.” Kat put everything on a tray before putting it on the kitchen table.

“Thanks. We really appreciate it. Your character reference letter you did for us was more than we could’ve asked for.” Race hugged her again

She grinned, swallowing the wave of emotion that surged through her. “You’re welcome. Jack and I’ll do anything for you and Spot.”

Race nodded, grabbing the sour cream and shredded cheese from the fridge before looking at the counter. “Can you let those yahoo’s know chili is ready?”

She walked out to the wrap around porch, yelling at the ones in the yard. He heard everyone before he could see them. They gathered around, grabbing bowls and ladling them up with chili and all the fixings. Spot pulled Race close, kissing him before grinning. “This looks good. Thanks for making it.”

Shouts of gratitude and thanks were yelled as everyone headed outside. Silence fell over the group as everyone dug. “That’s the best chili I’ve had.”

“Only because you didn’t have to make it.” Race quipped, giving Mush a look. “Besides, from what I’ve heard, you’re banned from the kitchen.”

Albert and Jack both chuckled. “Not sure why you’re laughing, boys. Heard you’re not allowed in either without supervision.”

“It was a teeny tiny fire.” Jack said before putting another spoonful in his mouth.

Spot raised an eyebrow. “Then why was the fire department called?”

“They were called for precaution. Just to make sure everything was alright.” Jack argued, giving the group a look. “I’m usually on grilling duty.”

“That way the house won’t explode.” Kat broke in as the entire group busted into laughter. “But I still love you, sweetie.”

Wiping tears from his eyes, Race grinned at Spot. “I guess I’m the lucky one that both of us can hold our own in the kitchen. And he bakes too.”

Blowing on his nails before buffing them on his shirt, Spot grinned. “Did you grab the cookies for tonight?”

“No, Kat grabbed all of the s’more stuff but I’ll grab them when I bring that stuff out.” Race promised, sighing in contentment.

Spot added a couple of pieces of wood to the fire. A conversation about work and future plans was started as Race and Spot started picking bowls and heading back into the house. “Will you grab a couple of blankets while I grab the s’more stuff?”

With a nod, Spot grabbed the clear bucket of bonfire blankets, meeting Race in the kitchen with a kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you too Spottie.”

Heading back out, Race set the tray of s’more stuff on the little table before collapsing in a chair with a sigh. “There’s marshmallows, graham crackers, cookies, and various chocolate to make your own s’mores. The marshmallow sticks are in the bucket.”

“Thanks Race, Spot for hosting us.” Albert raised his beer bottle in thanks.

“Anytime.” Spot said grinning. “Actually, we might need your help soon.”

Albert raised an eyebrow with a grin. “Name it.”

“Race and I are thinking of putting in a garden in the back part of the property next spring. Something small to start but we might need your Rototiller to break up some of the grass and dirt.” Spot explained.

Albert nodded. “Yeah absolutely. Do you know what you want to plant?”

Albert and Finch had put in a garden over the summer and filled it with carrots, radishes, peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, and were currently growing pumpkins now. There had been many times that Albert and Finch had made dinner from the contents of their garden.

“We figured we’d start small, maybe carrots, lettuce, or radishes and go from there.” Race shrugged. “We want to be able to manage it and not have it take up every free second we have.”

Finch nodded. “Let us know when you want the rototiller and it’s yours.”

Race moved from the chair to grab a stick and a marshmallow before sitting closer to the fire. His tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration, as he slowly toasted his marshmallow for the perfect hue. “Just stick it in and burn it, Racer.”

“Just because you like tasting carbon when you eat your marshmallows, doesn’t mean the rest of us do.” Race gave Jack a look. “Besides, this is how I like my s'mores .”

Spot had two graham crackers and a piece of chocolate waiting for him as he pulled his marshmallow from the fire. “Look at that beauty! Stunning work of art.”

He crafted his s’more before taking a bite and moaning in delight. “Pure Heaven, right here.”

The rest of the group made their s’mores, Jack critiquing their marshmallow toasting strategies. “If you think you can do it any better, how about you roast one youself, Jackie.”

“Maybe I will.” Jack stood up, grabbing a stick and a marshmallow before sticking it in the fire for a few seconds, waiting for it to catch fire before pulling it out and extinguishing the side by blowing on it. “Ta da!”

Spot and Race both cracked up laughing at the black, burnt marshmallow. “Any monkey could do that. It takes skill and determination to make a marshmallow as perfect as mine.”

Jack gave him a look. “Well we can’t all be as tedious as you are.”

“Thank goodness for that. There’s room for only one Racer in the world.” Albert grinned, nudging his best friend.

Race laughed, nodding. “Thanks Al.”

“We were all thinking it, I just said it.” Albert smirked.

The rest of the night was spent trading stories around the fire while toasting marshmallows, enjoying each other’s company. Laughter lit up the night like the flames. It was a great night and one that Race would look back on with nothing but fondness.

Thanks @deliciouspeachpirate for the prompt. Hope you enjoy it!!!

#newsies #newsies fan fiction #writing #ask #drabble requests #newsies drabble #drabble prompt #spot conlon x racetrack higgins #jack kelly x katherine plumber #newsies blush #redfinch newsies

[himbowelsh]

I have a sudden need for modern AU Shifty and Tab (+Smokey) friendship HC, in case you are inspired? Thank you ❤❤❤

Oh gosh, alright! So in a modern AU, these guys would definitely know each other for a few years  ---  they probably all went to the same university, and had a few classes together, so became fast friends that way. Shifty and Tab are both the sort of loyal friends who have each others’ backs no matter what, and when Smokey was caught in a jam, they helped cover for him. As a result, he didn’t get in trouble with Professor Sobel, and met two really cool guys. After that, they were basically inseparable.

You gotta understand, Shifty and Tab are both massive animal lovers, but dog people especially. Tab is the one who suggests volunteering at the animal shelter. Shifty has to be talked into it  (he’s already working at the nature center, teaching kids about the outdoors, and helping coach his cousin’s little league team) but Tab is persistent.    “I won’t do it if you don’t,” he declares   ----  and, when Shifty levels him with an unimpressed look,   “Okay, I definitely will, but it will be way better if we do it together! It’ll matter more, Shift, y’know?”

(They ask Smokey too, but he laughs in their faces. Smokey is not a dog person. He’s got a lovely iguana named Iago, and needs no other life companion.)

So, Shifty and Tab end up volunteering together, and it’s definitely the best decision they could have made. Shifty enjoys it immensely; animals naturally take to him, and he becomes fond enough of a few of the pets that leaving at the end of the day is really tough.

Tab, though. God, he just thrives there. It’s something he’s so happy doing, and he lights up when he’s around the animals (sometimes Shifty takes a break from work just to watch Tab do his thing, grinning at the unabashed happiness on his friend’s face). Tab loves to teach them tricks and train them, he loves to give the animals exercise, his energy seems limitless...

After a few months, working at the shelter becomes his prevailing interest. Even when Shifty can no longer volunteer after a while, Tab keeps going, joining the team as an actual employee. He’s formed such a close bond with some of the animals that it’s physically painful to leave them behind at the end of each day. When pets get adopted out, he’s overjoyed, of course, but he takes it hard.

There’s one pup he’s bonded with in particular  ---  a scrawny, resilient mutt with boundless energy named Trigger. He’s constantly showing his friends pics of him on his phone, and even Smokey has to admit, Trigger is adorable.

The day before the shelter’s massive Adopt-A-Pet drive  ---  which usually sees half of the shelter cleaned out, it’s pets sent to good homes  ---  Tab’s acting off. Shifty texts him a few times, but can’t get much reply. Knowing the big day is tomorrow, he’s pretty sure he knows why. Tab’s probably busy, and a little down too. Shifty texts him one more time  ---  ‘if you need anything, just give me a call!  :)’   ---  and turns in for the night.

He’s woken at 1am to his phone buzzing, which...  to be fair, he kind of invited on himself.

Except it’s not Tab calling. It’s Smokey, and as soon as Shifty answers the phone, his friend’s voice, tight with glee, blares through the speakers. “Shift, you gotta come down here,” he exclaims. “You gotta  --- oooh-ho-ho man, you’re not gonna believe this!” In the background, he can hear a voice that sounds suspiciously like Tab shouting “You called Shifty? Traitor!”

(You’ve got to understand  ---  in a crisis, Tab has a choice between calling Shifty, who will absolutely be ride-or-die but will probably be disappointed in him; or Smokey, who is slightly less ride-or-die, and will mock him mercilessly.)

So anyways, Shifty rocks up and Tab’s got a dog in his bathtub.

Like, not bathing it. The dog’s just sort of...  chilling there. He’s got a blanket put down, is munching on a rawhide, and seems perfectly happy. Tab, however, looks like he might faint.

He did not, as he very fervently explains, steal a dog. He just...  borrowed Trigger for a very short time, and as soon as Adoption Day is over, he’s going to give him back. Just...  not now. At the moment, it’s not a good idea.

This is fine, except Tab lives with three other guys, and two of them are actively not dog people.  (Skinny likes cats and Smokey has already been explained. Blithe, who is a dog person, is basically a ghost around the apartment anyway, so he barely gets a vote.)

“I need to hide him for a little while  ---”  (”Yeah,” adds Smokey in the background, “because he can’t stay here! I’m not letting dog hair all over our couch!”)   “--- so could I please, please, just...  give him to you.”

Shifty blinks. He stares. Finally, he sighs.

Given the amount of trouble Popeye and McClung have dragged him into in the past, this is objectively nothing  ---  but still, maybe he needs more law-abiding friends.

At least ones who won’t drag him into situations like this  ---   driving home at half-past-two in the morning, with Floyd Talbert and his new dog hunched in the back of his pickup truck, heads down like they’re wanted by the FBI.

Once Tab leaves the dog with Shifty  ---  after a very emotional goodbye, and a longer hug than Shifty feels he really deserves  ---   the only evidence of the night’s events are the many, many pictures Smokey’s saved on his phone. Trigger makes himself comfortable in the corner of Shifty’s living room, on a very nice pillow...  but some time in the night, he makes his way into Popeye’s room. And Popeye’s bed.

They almost have to take Popeye to the goddamn hospital.

(Popeye posts about it in the groupchat later, and Smokey just sends the   ‘😂’ emoji ten times with no explanation.)

But Tab knows he can trust Shifty with anything  ---  so when he returns to Shifty’s apartment that night, eager to put Trigger back where he belongs, he’s surprised to find Shifty and Trigger lounging on the couch together, looking very comfortable.

“Tab,” Shifty says, upside down, because Trigger has laid down on his stomach and it’s an awkward position but he’s unwilling to move, “What d’you suppose it might take to adopt this dog?”

Tab freezes.  B e t r a y a l . 

“You see, I’ve grown a bit fond of him, and  ---”

He has to stop, because Tab’s turned an awkward shade of white-purple and looks like he’s about to cry. Shifty breaks into a grin, and some clenched fist in Tab’s stomach relaxes.

“I was only thinking...  you worry so much about Trigger getting adopted, that is might solve the problem to just adopt him yourself.”

“You know I can’t do that while I’m working there, Shift. And the guys at home...”

“Right, I know... but if a friend were to do it...  it wouldn’t be like losing him at all, would it?”

When Tab turns to face Shifty, his eyes are wide, mouth agape. He genuinely looks like Shifty’s just promised him the moon.

Anyways, that’s how Tab and Shifty become dog parents.

He spends weekdays living with Shifty  (Popeye’s grown quite fond of him, and seems to think of Trigger as a wiry-haired pillow)  and the weekends staying with Tab. The situation is non-offensive enough that his roommates can’t complain. Tab comes over to visit him practically every day anyways, taking him for long walks and playing with him in the middle of Shifty’s living room, while Shifty watches. It’s...  literally the most wholesome co-parenting arrangement that’s ever existed.

(Sometimes, Smokey accompanies Tab, for the sheer purpose of filming the two of them playing with Trigger. For some reason, ‘hot guys and dog’ drives social media wild, and Smokey’s gained hundreds of followers ever since he made them a regular feature of his account. He’s thinking of starting an Instagram just for their little ‘family’, and has named himself honorary Weird Uncle.)

#band of brothers #shifty powers #smokey gordon #floyd talbert #lyselkatz #u asked for headcanons and basically got a fic whoops

[aion-rsa]

Upcoming Movies in October 2020: Theaters, Streaming and VOD

https://ift.tt/3lducG3

October looks a lot different than it did only a few weeks ago. As the month many movie theater owners were hanging their hats on with the hope of a weekly deluge of new movies , October has recently been vacated by high profile features that include Wonder Woman 1984, Death on the Nile, and Candyman.

Yet if you’re  a cinephile or movie lover who is desperate for new stories and visions, it is not all doom and gloom. Between the streaming market of Netflix, VOD, and other platforms, as well as some smaller films willing to roll the dice on a limited theatrical release, there are still more than a few things to see in October 2020…

2067

October 2 (U.S. Only)

A high-concept science fiction setup if we’ve ever heard one, 2067 is the story of Ethan Whyte (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a young man born in a dystopian future where he learns that he might be the savior of humanity… at least that’s what people from an even more distant future are saying. In a plot twist that sounds, at least on paper, akin to a reversal of The Terminator, messengers from the future say Ethan is the key to saving the world and wish to transport him via time machine to an unknowable destiny. Chaos ensues. It’s a big idea, but we’re always game for someone swinging big in this genre.

Death of Me

October 2 (November 23 in the UK)

Darren Lynn Boseman, director of Saw II through Saw IV, returns to the horror genre again alongside Nikita’s Maggie Q and Westworld’s Luke Hemsworth. In this VOD release, the pair play a vacationing couple who wake up on an island with a horrible hangover. Yet a video on their phones seems to suggest the night before was even worse: Neil (Hemsworth) spent the evening brutally murdering his wife, as per the screen in their pockets. Nevertheless, here they are now, left with a lot of questions of what happened yesterday… and what can happen today.

Black Box

October 6

The first of Amazon Prime and Blumhouse Productions’ “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour’s Black Box has a tantalizing premise. Nolan (Mamoudou Athie) survived a car accident that took his wife, but it also took large swaths of his memory of her. So in order to regain his memory, and regain a sense of stability for his young daughter, Nolan undergoes an experimental treatment where his psychologist uses hypnosis to thrust him into his subconscious where he’ll be able remember his past and face his personal demons. Literally. 

Like something out of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, this horror movie shows how scary being trapped in dreams really is if all that’s in them is the stuff of nightmares…

The Lie

October 6

The second Amazon/Blumhouse feature is more of a psychological thriller than a straightforward horror movie. Originally premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018, The Lie follows a father (Peter Sarsgaard) who discovers his daughter Kayla (Joey King) accidentally killed her friend… until she admits she may have actually murdered her.

How far will he go to cover-up his daughter’s sins? Well, that’s the logline, and it seems to be a gripping one, albeit reviews from TIFF were less than kind two years ago.

Hubie Halloween

October 7

Last year Adam Sandler warned the Academy that if he doesn’t win an Oscar for Uncut Gems he’d make a film so bad that it’d make “you all pay.” Well, he wasn’t even nominated and eight months after the ceremony, here we are with Netflix’s Hubie Halloween. It remains to be seen whether this is actually the bad one—for starters it filmed before Oscar nominations went out—but it is still very much a Happy Madison production, complete with major supporting roles for Kevin James and Rob Schneider.

Read more

Movies

Uncut Gems: The Real Noir in Adam Sandler’s Classic

By David Crow

Movies

Horror Movies on HBO Max: Hammer Films, It Chapter 2, Us, to Arrive in October

By Don Kaye

In the movie, Sandler plays Hubie Dubois, the town loser of Salem, Massachusetts. A lonely fry cook obsessed with Halloween, Hubie spends all year looking forward to decking out his home and town the same way Clark Griswold anticipates Christmas. But on this particular Halloween, the town appears besieged by actual supernatural forces, and finally Hubie will have his time to shine. Eh, it looks more amusing than The Do-Over and The Ridiculous 6?

Books of Blood

October 7 (U.S. Only)

Who doesn’t love anthological horror? Hulu certainly does, as they’re releasing Books of Blood, the latest adaptation of Clive Barker’s multi-volume series of short stories by the same name. Previous tales from Books of Blood have been adapted into movies as beloved as Candyman and as decidedly not as Rawhide Rex. In this film version, three stories are created for the screen by co-writer and director Brannon Braga. Here’s hoping it lands closer to the former?

Saint Maud

October 9 (UK Only)

The UK will be the first to get A24’s only horror movie this year. Lucky. The feature directorial debut of Rose Glass, Saint Maud follows an unhealthily repressed and zealous young woman: Maud (Morfydd Clark). Maud is technically a caretaker by trade, looking after people in hospice. But she also imagines herself to be something of an apostle, sent to save godless folks from their sins, particularly Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), the woman she’s living with as the in-home nurse.

Read more

Movies

Best Modern Horror Movies

By Don Kaye

Movies

Best Horror Movies on Netflix: Scariest Films to Stream

By David Crow and 2 others

It’s already a tense situation, even before Maud starts hearing voices and having images of ecstasy and Heaven, and demons and Hell. Rich with atmosphere and grueling anticipation of something horrible happening, Saint Maud is a great debut for Glass and a potential star-maker for Clark, who is skin-crawlingly pious as Maud, the young woman who’s wound up tighter than a jack-in-the-box.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

October 9 (U.S. Only)

Debuting in theaters and on VOD, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is Jim Cummings’ follow-up to Thunder Road. That earlier, underrated movie was a delightful mix of comedy and drama that won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize. So the sophomore effort being a werewolf comedy-horror movie is intriguing. Indeed, Wolf of Snow Hollow is the rare lycanthrope yarn that’s told from the point-of-view of the would-be wolf hunter, Sheriff John Marshall (Cummings).

Following a series of grisly murders every full moon, the residents of Snow Hollow become convinced they have a wolfman on their hands, even if the frustrated sheriff refuses to accept the obvious. The film also marks the final performance of Robert Forster as John’s crusty mentor.

The War with Grandpa

October 9 in the U.S. (October 16 in the UK)

For most people, having Robert De Niro as a grandfather can be an imposing experience. But kids these days! That’s at least one amusing takeaway from The War with Grandpa, the delayed family movie that sees De Niro’s grandfatherly Ed enter into a prank war with his grandson Peter (Oakes Fegley) after upsetting the youth by moving into his old bedroom—Peter’s mom and Ed’s daughter Sally (Uma Thurman) forced them into the arrangement.

Read more

Movies

The King of Comedy: What’s the Real Punchline of the Martin Scorsese Classic?

By Tony Sokol

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Al Capone: 9 Actors Who Played the Original Scarface

By Tony Sokol

Soon shaving cream reveals itself to be foam sealant stuck to De Niro’s face, and Peter’s oral report announces he is a louse. Oh, and there’s a dodgeball battle in which De Niro is aided by a squad of screen legends like Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymour, to squash the pups. Now things are getting serious…

Nocturne

October 13

The first of Amazon and Blumhouse’s next batch of original movies, Nocturne is the tale of a hellish rivalry between sisters. Genuinely. The feature debut from director Zu Quirke stars Sydney Sweeney as Juliet, the younger sister of fellow musician Vivian (Madison Iseman). While both young women are gifted pianists, Vivian is a prodigy and the center of Juliet’s envy. That is until Juliet finds the diary of another child prodigy at their prestigious conservatory who killed herself. The book includes all the late pianist’s hidden compositions… and symbols and incantations.

Ever heard the story of Faust? It seems like Juliet is about to get an up-close modern example.

Evil Eye

October 13

As the final Blumhouse effort to be released on Amazon Prime in 2020, Evil Eye hails from directors Elan and Rajeev Dassani and presents itself as both a psychological thriller and supernatural chiller. The truth of which it really is depends on how much you believe the eye of Usha (Sarita Choudhury).

Read more

Movies

How Jason Blum Changed Horror Movies

By Rosie Fletcher

Movies

Jason Blum: No Plans To Restart Universal Monsters Universe

By Don Kaye

For this mother of Pallavi (GLOW’s Sunita Mani) is convinced her daughter is necking with a new boyfriend (Omar Maskati) who’s the spirit of an evil abusive ex Usha escaped in her youth. Is he the vestiges of a half-remembered curse or the potential victim of a mommy dearest prone to snap judgements? Tune in to find out for yourself…

The Trial of the Chicago 7

October 16

“The whole world is watching.” That’s the chanted refrain of protestors in Aaron Sorkin’s second movie as director, but it might also apply to the level of anticipation regarding this major Netflix release and potential awards season darling. The movie itself is an old-fashioned legal thriller like Sorkin cut his teeth on with scripts like A Few Good Men, but Chicago 7 feels urgently (and depressingly) vital.

Following on the heels of the Chicago riots during the Democratic National Convention of 1968—riots later deemed to have been started by the police—eight men categorized as “the far left” are rounded up for a show trial by Nixon’s Justice Department where they’re charged with conspiracy.

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Movies

Aaron Sorkin: Donald Trump Made The Trial of the Chicago 7 Movie Possible

By David Crow

Movies

Quentin Tarantino Calls The Social Network the Best Movie of the 2010s

By David Crow

The film features the same blistering abundance of dialogue Sorkin has become famous for, as well as his penchant for breezy fast-paced editing. But the political heft of the subject matter and the movie’s deep bench of an acting ensemble that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Rylance, and Frank Langella is what makes this one of the most thrilling movies of the year.

Honest Thief

October 16 (U.S. Only)

Liam Neeson plays a thief who wants a second chance. A bank robber willing to turn himself and $9 million in to be with the new love of his life. But then crooked FBI agents (Jai Courtney and Anthony Ramos) steal his money and frame him for murder instead. So he’s left with one thing to do: menacingly hiss over the phone, “I’m coming for you.” We imagine that trailer-ready threat was what Honest Thief was sold on during its elevator pitch.

Rebecca

October 21

Remaking Alfred Hitchcock remains a tricky proposition that has thwarted many filmmakers in the past. Readapting the only one of his movies to win the Oscar for Best Picture, Rebecca, appears all the harder. Yet everything we’ve seen from Ben Wheatley and Netflix’s luscious adaptation of the Daphne Du Maurier novel is highly encouraging.

With a winning cast that includes Lily James as the new Mrs. de Winter, Armie Hammer as her husband Maxim, and Kristin Scott Thomas as his menacing housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, the film opens with the young bride trying to step into the shoes of Maxim’s dead first wife, Rebecca. An apparent light of his mansion that has been long snuffed, Rebecca’s flame burns still if only because of Mrs. Danvers’ admiration for her late mistress… and maybe the ghost who prowls the house. This is archetypal Gothic horror, and with screenwriter Jane Goldman apparently keeping the novel’s original ending, we already feel seduced by the imagery.

On the Rocks

October 2 in the UK (October 23 in the U.S.)

Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray work together again. For the first time since their luminous Lost in Translation (if you ignore the ill-considered A Very Murray Christmas), the director and star are collaborating on this visibly intimate tale. It’s about an adult daughter (Rashida Jones) and her famous father (Murray) spending a weekend in New York City on an adventure after years of estrangement.

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Movies

10 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies

By Michael Leader

Movies

8 Essential Gothic Horror Movies

By David Crow and 1 other

The film, which also stars Marlon Wayans, premiered to a largely warm reception at the New York Film Festival and is already being written about as a spiritual successor to their original collaboration. Once more a woman in the midst of an existential crisis is aided by Murray between glasses of scotch. Who doesn’t want to pull up a seat and order another round?

Over the Moon

October 23

You probably don’t know Glen Keane’s name but you should. The longtime Walt Disney Animation Studios animator oversaw the design and animation of Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin in Aladdin, and Rapunzel in Tangled. With Over the Moon, he steps away from the Mouse and toward Netflix as a first-time co-director, alongside John Kahrs (an animator on Tangled and Frozen).

The trailer for the film is like a Georges Méliès fever dream from  as a little girl named Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) builds a rocket ship to take her to the moon. But once there, Fei Fei and friends meet a mythical moon goddess (Hamilton’s Phillipa Soo) who takes them on a candy-colored odyssey through the cosmos.

Synchronic

October 23 (U.S. only)

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Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are two of the most intriguing new voices in science fiction. If you don’t recognize their names, go watch The Endless right now. One of the strangest and cleverest sci-fi yarns of the last decade, that film is now being followed up by Synchronic, another original tale that stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan. The specifics of the film remain vague other than it is about two New Orleans paramedics who investigate a series of murders caused by a new, bizarre designer drug. But we already know we can’t wait to watch what horrible side effects come from these poor bastards taking it.

The Craft: Legacy

It cannot be Halloween without at least one more horror movie coming out the week of. Thus enters The Craft: Legacy, Sony Pictures and Blumhouse Productions’ legacy sequel to the original 1996 The Craft. Like its predecessor, this follows an outsider who is the new girl in school (Cailee Spaeny). She may be ostracized by the popular kids, but she befriends fellow students who have alternative tastes… like witchcraft.

The original is a touchstone for millennials and Gen-Xers of a certain age, and this reboot looks to push the story into a more complex understanding of friendship. And if it doesn’t, it’s still a Blumhouse effort so it should have plenty of spooky jumps!

Relic

October 30 (US Only)

Dementia is at the heart of this very eerie chiller where three generations of women convene in an old family home which seems to be rotting from the inside. Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer and Bella Heathcote star in a slow build drama which delves into the horror of losing your sense of self, as Nevin’s matriarch goes missing for days and can’t remember what happened while her house is filled with odd notes, black mould and snippets of a life slipping away from her grasp. This is the feature debut of Australian-Japanese director Natalie Erika James and it’s a stylish, chilling and confident first feature with a final act that veers into full blown horror. Out already in the States on VOD it has a UK theatrical release in the UK.

The post Upcoming Movies in October 2020: Theaters, Streaming and VOD appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3lcbpuO

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[lboogie1906]

Raymond St. Jacques (March 1, 1930 – August 27, 1990) was an actor, director, and producer whose career spanned over thirty years on stage, film, and television. He is noted as the first African American actor to appear in a regular role on a western series, portraying Simon Blake on the eighth season of Rawhide (1965–1966). He was born James Arthur Johnson in Hartford, Connecticut. He moved with his mother and sister to New Haven, Connecticut. His mother Vivienne worked as a medical technician at Yale University. He attended Yale, where he studied drama and psychology. Upon graduation, he worked as an assistant director, actor, and fencing instructor for the American Shakespearean Festival in New Haven. He staged all of the fencing scenes and duels while at the company and would continue to practice fencing for the rest of his life. He continued to pursue acting and studied at the Actors Studio. His first professional acting role was in the off-Broadway play High Name Today. He was cast in the role of "Judge" in the off-Broadway performance of The Blacks at St. Mark's Playhouse in 1960. He made his film debut in a small part in Black Like Me. He followed with a role in The Pawnbroker. He appeared in supporting roles in The Comedians (1967) and The Green Berets (1968). His known film roles were Coffin Ed in Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) and Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972). He began teaching fencing and acting at the Mafundi Institute in Watts. He produced, directed, and starred in Book of Numbers. He guest starred on numerous television shows including East Side/West Side, Daktari, The Virginian, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. He became known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces" due to the varied parts he played throughout his career. In 1976, he starred as Othello. He remained active in stage work throughout his career, touring in productions of Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, A Raisin in the Sun, and the stage adaptation of The Man with the Golden Arm. He had a two-year stint as Judge Clayton C. Thomas on Superior Court. He played abolitionist Frederick Douglass in Glory. His final film role was in Timebomb. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/CpPzekVroFO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[sisterofiris]

A Hittitology student liveblogs Red River

I’ve just started reading Red River: Anatolia story, a manga set in the Hittite empire. As someone studying the Hittite language and civilisation at university, I thought it might be fun to liveblog it. We’ll see if we learn something along the way - and if not, we’ll hopefully have some laughs!

My thoughts on the first two chapters are here.

My summary of chapters 3-7

I have a lot of trouble believing this Muršili is actually Muršili II, but he’s a decent character so I don’t mind too much

Tito is a darling and also my favourite character

my other favourite character is Mr "Gyahahaha this skin will be mine!” (Zuwa?)

I love the backgrounds, but I’m pretty skeptical about the costumes

more water magic, I love it

TITO NO

Skin Guy is really quick at sewing hats

the author has a very wobbly grasp of Hittite history and geography, though she does get some things right

YUURI NO

this story is my new guilty pleasure

Liveblog under the cut (spoiler warning!).

“gyahahaha” I love this guy so much omg

This stag deserves some recognition. Stags were highly sacred to the Hittites, and particularly associated with the God Kurunta, so it’s great to see one depicted. This one here bears a lot of resemblance to an actual Hittite stag rhyton - I wouldn’t be surprised if the author drew inspiration from it.

I’m still not over the fact Tawananna Malnigal is called Nokia Nakia

I LOVE these depictions of Ḫattuša by night. It reminds me just how much more visible the stars would’ve been. Not to mention the architecture is spot on too. Gods, this is beautiful.

Il Vani??? What kind of Hittite name is that? According to Google Translate it’s Italian for “The Doors”, which is now what I will call him.

TIṬ’Ḏ TITO??????????

I’m not sure what that food is supposed to be, but it looks historically accurate. What the hell is Yuuri wearing, though? Where does she think she is? Ancient Greece?

Fyi I lose it every time The Doors appears

... then what are the people of Ḫattuša going to drink? Wells aren’t just for magic, you know.

Nokia??? Why are you wearing a bra???

Okay, this is definitely a morbid remark, but I’m not sure Skin Guy would’ve had time to tan Tito’s skin and make it into a hat. It’s been what, a day? Wikihow tells me tanning skin properly takes several months, and even rawhide takes several days according to eHow. Even if Skin Guy didn’t treat it at all (which, yuck), he would’ve still had to sew it, and he doesn’t look like the type of person to sit by candlelight all evening and craft himself a neat little Tito-hat because he simply had to look dashing for Yuuri’s ritual in the morning.

Is it me or is Nokia’s clothing getting more and more revealing with each chapter? Will she be naked by chapter 20? Flayed by chapter 50? By the last chapter, nothing but a pile of bones?

1) Bold of you to assume the Gašga aren’t the embodiment of recklessness and wouldn’t fight you bare-handed if it meant spiting the Hittites, 2) Arinna is a DAY away from Ḫattuša, this is both a massive threat to the empire, and highly unlikely

Headcanon: The Doors is gay and in love with Muršili.

????? Or, you know, he can’t take the throne because he’s already king in Aleppo. I mean, that’s fine if in this story Telepinu is of lower birth, but he was still very much king in Aleppo.

This is the single most inaccurate panel I’ve come across so far. Several things need pointing out: first, if everyone agreed Muršili was the best candidate to the throne, how come everyone dismissed him and called him an incapable child when he became king? Second, Muršili wasn’t of sound body, he had speech problems (though admittedly those may have developed in later years). And third, the new king’s wife didn’t become Tawananna. The Tawananna stayed Tawananna until her death. That was literally the entire basis of the conflict between Muršili and his stepmother (Nokia).

These giggles are very unsettling. Is this common in manga?

This. This killed me. Along with the awkward closeup with a very small “Geez.”, this is my favourite panel of Muršili.

Oh no, my headcanon that Tiṭ’ḏ was from Ugarit has been proven wrong :(

This made me laugh and deserves recognition. Study hard in history class, kids

Actually the Hittites called the Halys the Maraššantiya. Halys is a Greek word meaning “salty”, and it wouldn’t become the river’s name until, surprisingly, the Greeks got there.

Yay, some historical accuracy!

Breaking news: Japanese has a word for “sound of a person jumping on a horse”. Also breaking news: I’m crying

This is a neat carving but the art style is way too realistic for a civilisation whose art J.G. Macqueen once called a “disappointment”

#red river #anatolia story #red river liveblog #<= this is the tag to block if you don't want to scroll past my liveblogs (since i've heard 'read more' doesn't work on mobile)

[studentsofshield]

A Rambling Chronicle of Marvel’s Western Comics

By Vincent Faust - November 27, 2018

Marvel Comics is the most prolific comic book publisher of the Western genre. Despite their near ubiquity in today’s culture with billion dollar box office receipts, even their diehard fans may not know this part of their past.

I may be missing a few scattered things, but by my count Marvel has published 1,192 issues of Western comics through their history. Marvel had published Western stories from their very beginnings with the Masked Raider in 1939′s Marvel (Mystery) Comics 1-12. Though the genre didn't explode until the late 1940s following the war, while superheroes were declining. Timely (Marvel’s name at the time) launched 7 western titles in 1948. 

The "Big Three" of Marvel westerns are Kid Colt Outlaw, Rawhide Kid, and Two-Gun Kid. Each lasting an impressive 229, 151, and 136 issues respectively. 

The star artist of Kid Colt was Jack Keller. Who drew most of the character's stories from 1953-1967. An impressive run. Some have argued he has the honor of drawing the most individual stories for one specific Marvel character. Many of these books had 3-5 short stories per issue, so I wouldn't argue against that. If we only count full issue stories, I'm not sure who would take that title. Probably Mark Bagley for Spider-Man, combining his lengthy 1990s run on Amazing and his history making 2000s run with Bendis on Ultimate.

In 1960, right before the Fantastic Four, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reinvented Rawhide Kid. After a publishing hiatus the title was brought back with issue 17. The character was now Jonathan Clay and his costume changed. Over two and a half years, their run was revered as the cream of the crop in a waning genre as their own superheroes began to explode. 

As Kirby was needed more and more on the superhero titles selling like hotcakes, a tiny run by Jack Davis followed. Davis was an EC Comics legend who took a pit stop at Marvel before becoming even more of a legend at Mad Magazine. Unfortunately, practically the only classic Marvel Westerns to be reprinted in collections is this span of Rawhide Kid. With issues 17-35 reprinted across two hardcover Marvel Masterworks.

Here is Stan Lee talking to Jack Davis and fellow EC/Mad/minor Marvel contributor Harvey Kurtzman. For Marvel, the legendary Kurtzman did 150 episodes of a one-page filler strip titled Hey Look! from 1946 to 1949. 

Especially as Marvel was finally able to publish more titles, Stan Lee's efforts were being stretched too thin as well. So, Rawhide Kid was handed over to his younger brother Larry Lieber to write and draw. Which he did for almost a decade, to minor acclaim from genre fans. Sounds very reminiscent of the hidden gem Gary Friedrich/Dick Ayers/John Severin run on Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.

"I don't remember why I wanted to do it, particularly. I think I wanted a little more freedom. I didn't do enough of the superheroes to know whether I'd like them. What I didn't prefer was the style that was developing. It didn't appeal to me. Maybe there was just too much humor in it, or too much something. I remember, at the time, I wanted to make everything serious. I didn't want to give a light tone to it. When I did Rawhide Kid, I wanted people to cry as if they were watching High Noon or something." - Larry Lieber

Lee and Kirby also reinvented Two-Gun Kid for the early 60s, but didn't stick around as long on that one.

Other artists who made a mark on Marvel's western titles include Fred Kida, a notable Golden Age Japanese-American artist known primarily for Airboy. Also Russ Heath, who passed away only recently, and the frequent collaborators John Severin and Dick Ayers. Most of these artists were also prolific in the war genre. The genre is also to thank for the introduction of Herb Trimpe, who would go on to become the definitive Hulk artist.

The true star of the show though was one Joe Maneely. Who Stan considered his best artist before Jack Kirby returned in 1958. The Philadelphia native was skilled and fast, pumping out tons of westerns as well as the Black Knight and Yellow Claw titles, which retroactively tie his work to Marvel continuity. Unlike Kirby, Keller, and Lieber he was not particularly linked to one western title, but his most consistent would be Ringo Kid.

Meanwhile, outside of the genre one of Stan Lee's other top artists was Matt Baker. Considered to be the first African American professional in the field. Also there are reliable reports from friends and family that Baker may have been a gay man. He was one of the primary innovators of the "good girl" art style on Fox Feature Syndicate’s Phantom Lady and countless romance titles. Another milestone was drawing arguably the first graphic novel - It Rhymes with Lust.

Due to some business factors in and out of publisher Martin Goodman’s control, Marvel (at this point known as Atlas Comics) nearly imploded in 1957. The bullpen was completely disbanded, leaving Stan Lee in an empty office. They went from regularly publishing almost 70 titles to only 16. Many of which were filled with inventory stories and reprints as long as Stan could manage not paying freelancers. This situation was further complicated by their new distributor having way too close of a relationship with market share leader National (now DC Comics).

Joe Maneely stepped in front of a train in 1958 at only the age of 32. It may have been a suicide. Matt Baker died of a heart attack in 1959 at 37. As stated above, Jack Kirby comes back to Marvel right around that time and Steve Ditko was quickly growing as an artist. It's tragic how close these two masters were to being on the ground floor of the Marvel Universe as we know it today. What heroes could Maneely and Baker have drawn or created?

The 1970s sees lots of reprints of classic genre comics. An exception is the original title Gunhawks (though an unrelated The Gunhawk title predated it). Though only lasting seven issues, Gunhawks has an interesting distinction. Originally starring Kid Cassidy and Reno Jones, a good ol’ plantation boy and his buddy slave. Who fought willingly for the Confederacy because some Yankees kidnapped his girlfriend. That makes sense... In the sixth issue, Cassidy is shot and killed. The finale was technically retitled to Reno Jones, Gunhawk. Making that 1973 comic book only the second at Marvel to be named after a Black protagonist, following Luke Cage. Black Panther had ongoing adventures, but had taken over the anthology title Jungle Action and wouldn’t get his own series until later. DC lagged behind Marvel in this regard.

In 1979 the western genre at Marvel was basically declared dead, with Rawhide Kid and Kid Colt finally canceled. The latter after over 30 years of continuous publication. Two Gun Kid had been canceled two years earlier. Though for a few years already, almost all of Marvel's westerns (and war books) had been turned into reprint titles.

Of those aforementioned 1,192 issues, 1,146 of them are from 1979 or earlier. Leaving less than 50 across the last 40 years.

A 1980 tryout issue with a new character (and a Frank Miller cover) goes nowhere.

A 1985 miniseries by genre veterans Trimpe and Severin depicts the Rawhide Kid now as a middle aged man, as the West is in its final days. It is kind of depressing.

Backpedaling a bit. As the Marvel superheroes dominate, the western heroes occasionally make crazy guest appearances through the means of time travel. Most notably the Two-Gun Kid becomes an all-but-official member of the Avengers and a close friend of Hawkeye. He gets tied up with time travel generally for years to follow. Later becoming a She-Hulk supporting character and Avengers Initiative leader circa Civil War

With that cover, let's now take another aside to untangle Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider is not originally a Marvel property. The vigilante was created by Gardner Fox (Justice League of America) and Dick Ayers for Magazine Enterprises in 1949 as a horror themed western character. The feature spent time as a backup in Tim Holt and eventually broke out into its own short lived title.

Magazine Enterprises went kapoof alongside the slump in the industry around the implementation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954. The regulation agency set up by industry leaders to avoid government intrusion following moral panic. The over-cautious guidelines severely neutered the crime and horror genres, while superheroes were already dormant, gutting many publishers. The Ghost Rider trademark expired. Marvel picked it up in 1967 for a series drawn by original creator Dick Ayers. Motivated in equal toxic parts by Martin Goodman's obsession with securing trademarks (practically every character Stan Lee created can be traced to an earlier one) and then rising writer Roy Thomas's history nerd leanings.

Obviously the name would be repurposed for the more recognizable Johnny Blaze in 1972. Marvel retroactively renamed Carter Slade as the Phantom Rider. The modern demonic versions of Ghost Rider do rarely touch on western themes. Johnny spent some time as a nomad and Garth Ennis brought in some western connections to expand the GR lore.

The western genre is basically passed over through the whole 1990s.

In 2000, John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco come around for a miniseries integrating all the Marvel western heroes together. Followed by a 2002 sequel. With revelations and deaths. The kind of lore retconning series that tickles the fancy of comic history nerds like yours truly. Ostrander also did Justice League: Incarnations around this time, tracing through the history of the JLA.

2003 comes around and it all that heavy lifting revitalization goes in the toilet. Ron Zimmerman writes a Marvel Max Rawhide Kid series. Zimmerman is some kind of comedy writer and Howard Stern regular. Well, within comics he wrote this and the god awful Ultimate Adventures - the only wholly original Ultimate Universe book, a Batman and Robin parody that was part of the U-Decide bet with Marville and PAD's Captain Marvel.

Marvel Max was a new imprint established in the early 2000s to break away from the aforementioned Comics Code and tell more daring, mature stories. Occasionally this resulted in gold like Jessica Jones. However, most of the time it was cringe inducing dreck.

So what's so bad about Rawhide Kid Max? He's now gay. Umm...OK, as long as it's handled well, maybe? Nope, constant cringey sexual innuendos which border on the protagonist coming off as a sexual predator. Some idiot gave it a sequel years later too.

Since then, we've gotten a bunch of one-shots in 2006, a weird Andy Diggle miniseries in 2012, and then the surprisingly great Marvel 1872 from Gerry Duggan during the patchwork reality crossover event Secret Wars. Which set up the Red Wolf series which was doomed by bad optics surrounding the writer and Marvel's spaghetti on the wall strategy of the time.

One of those 2006 one-shots ended up being legend Marshall Rogers's final published work. He and longtime collaborator Steve Englehart did it while waiting for DC to greenlight Dark Detective III, the second spiritual sequel to their influential 1970s run on Batman.

Here’s hoping we get to see some of these legendary heroes on the trail once more. At the very least we will get another tiny snippet in 2019 with a Gunhawks one-shot being brought back in celebration of Marvel’s 80th anniversary. Written by crime comics duo David and Maria Lapham.

This concludes a rambling chronicle of Marvel's history with the western genre and considerable tangents touching more generally on the history of Marvel and the comic book industry.