#kinda snowball into all these things on street level

[pastafossa]

Not an ask or a request - just wanted to send some love your way. I’m on my third reread of TRT and I’m so excited for new stuff but I’m also loving everything you’ve written so far. Thank you for giving us a window into characters and a world that lives off the page. Hope you are having a wonderful spring.

Love from NYC!!

Thank you so, so much anon! 😭 I'm so happy you're enjoying it. I love widening the world, delving into all the chaos and adventures going on in this universe just outside of the canon narrative POV. There's just so much to explore, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. I'm just as eager to get back into it, and I feel like I'm getting there, but the patience is still VERY much appreciated. Things were rough for a bit, but spring is definitely feeling like an improvement. <3

Much love back from my cold little city!

[morganski-19]

Chills Right to the Marrow Part 29

ao3 link| part 1 . . . part 26, part 27, part 28

Dustin’s not exactly sure what happened. He was patiently waiting for Steve to meet him in the lobby, but it’s been almost a half hour, and Dustin has no idea where he is. He already went back to check in Eddie’s room, but nothing. Then outside, nothing again. And Steve would never leave his stranded, so it can’t be that.

Which leaves Dustin completely alone, eating a Snickers bar that he got from the vending machine because they were out of Three Musketeers. The second one he got for Steve slowly melting in his pocket. Wondering if it was at the level where he had to go check under the bathroom stalls to see if any of the feet were wearing Steve’s shoes.

But he can at least be a little bit saner and go double check Eddie’s room again. Maybe Steve couldn’t find him and went back there to look. That would be the logical thing to do.

When Dustin opens the door, Steve has the chair pulled up close to Eddie’s bed hunched over and looking like he’s about to cry. Eddie’s looks like halfway there himself. Both of them jumping to hide that fact when Dustin entered.

“I didn’t know where you went,” Dustin says. Not sure whether to ignore or acknowledge what he just walked into. “I thought we were going to go home.”

Steve shakes his head gently, pressing his eyes shut like it will stop the tears from flowing. “Yeah, sorry. Could you just give me a second? I was just talking to Eddie about something.”

“It’s ok,” Eddie brushes off with his hand. “Take the kid home, we can talk about this later.”

“Are you sure? He can wait another minute-.”

“I’m sure. We’re good, ok. Go home.” Eddie looks at him like he really means what he’s saying. Not just pretending for both of their benefit. Not again.

Steve nods. Standing and pushing the chair back in place against the wall. “I’ll see you later then.”

Eddie waves Steve over and whispers something before letting him leave. Steve just snorts and smiles at whatever it is. Whispering something back before finally ushering Dustin out of the room. Some sort of weird energy radiating off of him in the car ride home. A mix between happy and sad that Dustin doesn’t understand.

“What was that about?” Dustin asks. Trying to do it without a confrontational tone.

Steve shrugs. “We just had something to talk about, that’s all.”

Dustin nods. “But you’re both ok, right? It looked like you were both about to cry.”

He’s trying to be gentle about the topic. Trying to calm the way he can ask about things. So it doesn’t sound like he’s pressuring his way into situations. That way people can feel like they can open up to him, and tell him what’s going on. Instead of just brushing it off and telling him it’s not his problem.

Because it was his problem. This was his friend. This was his family. He didn’t have siblings to fight through all of this with. He didn’t have parents who he could tell these things too. For the most part, it’s been Steve that he’s talked to about all this. It’s been Steve that he radioed in the middle of the night when he was so scared he couldn’t breathe. Or when he needed advice about school problems. Or anything.

Somewhere along the line, Steve became the sibling he fought through stuff with. That’s been a sure fact since he helped Dustin get ready for the Snowball. They were one of the mini units in the bigger organization.

It hurt when Steve hid things from him out of “protection”. Dustin didn’t need protecting, he needed transparency. He needed for Steve to know that Dustin’s here for him. Just as much as Steve’s there for Dustin. This was a two-way street.

“We were, kinda,” Steve says after a long break of silence.

“Are you ok?”

Steve puts the car in park, turning to Dustin with an almost relieved expression. “Yeah. I am.”

“Ok.” Dusting is choosing to trust that Steve would tell him if he wasn’t. “Just, if you start to feel not ok, you know you can talk to me about it. I’ll listen.”

“I know.”

There’s a knock at Dustin’s window. His mom waving hello with a gentle smile. Dustin knows why, he always knows why. It’s to invite Steve in to have dinner that he’ll refuse three times before giving in. He’s over there for dinner more nights that he would probably admit.

“Hi, Miss Henderson,” Steve says when he rolls down the window.

“Hello. I haven’t seen you in a while, Steve. Why don’t you come in for dinner?”

That’s a lie, she saw him two days ago when she returned a movie at Family Video.

Steve lets out a small huff, catching her on her lie. “I appreciate it, but I really should be heading home. I don’t want to bother you.”

“Oh, it’d be no bother at all. It’s the least I can do for all the time you drive Dustin around.”

Dustin rolls his eyes as Steve rolls out another excuse. His mother already coming up with a response that negates the excuse entirely. Steve takes a deep breath and turns the car off, accepting the dinner invitation.

He only refused twice this time. Steve is starting to be worn down.

They go inside and are almost immediately ushered to the table. Set with three places each with their favorite sodas. Because there wasn’t an option for Steve to not be here for dinner, and the three of them knew it. It was just in Steve’s nature to try and refuse.

Even though he knows that once Steve steps through the doors of the Henderson house, he never wants to leave it. It’s much smaller than his house, and a lot more cluttered. But that’s what makes it warm. Every time he walked into his house after an upside down event, with all of this clutter and décor surrounding him, he never felt more relief in his life. He was home.

Whenever he visits one of the other guys’ houses, that feeling is mirrored in its own way. That same feeling wasn’t there whenever he went to Steve’s house.

Dustin remembers the first time Steve ever let him come over. The house was pretty much what he was expecting. High ceilings and fancy flourishes. A room full of furniture no one was allowed to sit on and carpets that couldn’t be walked on with shoes. But there was something wrong with it. The house was only a home when Steve was in it.

Without Steve, it would feel like no one lived there. The walls only had a few pictures on them, and there were more shut doors than open ones. The kitchen sink only ever had a few dishes in it, and the couch only had one cushion with a permanent dent. The whole of it felt so empty.

The worst part was that Steve knew it to. It was a nice place to throw get togethers. It was nice to look at and imagine living there. But Dustin felt the pull from Steve to stay anywhere else for just a second longer. So he didn’t have to go to a place that didn’t feel like home to him.

It’s part of the reason that his mom invites him over to dinner so much. When Dustin told her about how empty his house was, they decided to build Steve a place in theirs. They didn’t have a lot of space, but it was easy for them to make it feel like there was more. For Steve to have his own coat hook when he came over, and a place to put his shoes. A chair at the table that was always his, and his own blanket when they had movie nights.

Dustin wanted Steve to know that this could be his home if he needed it to be. And he knows that it worked. He can see it in the way that Steve relaxes every time he walks through the door. How he is nothing but himself when he’s here.

But eventually he has to leave and go home. He hugs Claudia goodbye and tries to refuse the container of leftovers shoved into his hands. Even though Dustin knows he’s grateful for it. Steve says goodbye to Dustin with a brief hug and a ruffle to his curls. And then he leaves.

Dustin wishes he didn’t have to.

tag list (capping at 100, only 2 spots left): @the-they-who-nerded, @insteviewetrust, @croatoan-like-its-hot, @jettestar,

@tinyplanet95, @steddie-as-they-go, @slv-333, @littlecelestialmoth, @thatonebadideapanda,

@fandomsanddeath, @marismorar, @wonderland-girl143-blog, @glass-bottle03, @gutterflower77,

@here4thetrama, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @jaytriesstuff, @cryptid-system, @manda-panda-monium,

@resident-gay-bitch, @anaibis, @xxsutherlandxx, @forevermineliv, @mugloversonly,

@gregre369, @n0-1-important, @different-tale-student, @spectrum-spectre, @tartarusknight,

@devondespresso, @swimmingbirdrunningrock, @cheertain, @anti-ozzie, @autumncrocusandladybug,

@greeniebean911, @cr0w-culture, @stillfullofshit, @connected-dots, @daisynotquake,

@morgannotlefay, @a-little-unsteddie, @dolphincliffs, @maskofmirrors, @me-and-my-sloth,

@papergrenade, @waelkyring, @sweetheartprincess28, @katouasobj, @astercomoasflores

[undyingskies]

Snow Day Firsts

Hi everyone, I hope you enjoy this one! I had a lot of fun writing this one! I am such an Owen Joyner stan that all my ideas for imagines are for him! I would happily take requests or ideas from anyone and for any of the JATP characters or cast members! Also I would love some mutuals, anyways enjoy! xoxo

Warnings: None, just fluff!

________________________________________

“You know, it does scare me that you just have your phone right above my face and you haven’t stopped staring at if for the last 20 minutes. What if your hand falls asleep and you drop it on my face?” You laugh as you hear the words escape from the boy who’s head is in your lap. 

You quickly lock your phone and set it beside you on the couch, making eye contact with the cute blue eyed boy who’s already looking up at you. Your free hand still running through his blonde locks. 

“Well Joyner, do you have a better idea of what to do? It’s about 20 degrees outside!” 

“I like when you call me Joyner.” That’s all you get back from Owen before he turns back and stares at the tv. He’s always making random comments and then quickly moving on to whatever else he pleases.

You’ve gotten used to days like this recently.  You met Owen a few months back, your family is from Canada and you were visiting them in their small Canadian town. One day they decided they wanted to show you Toronto, you’d never been and you thought it would be fun. You quickly feel in love with the city and never wanted to leave. 

You were actually visiting family because a month before you decided to switch to college online, feeling really lost and without a purpose so you thought some time with family in a place you always loved would do you good. Little did you know that you’d fall in love with Toronto and decide to stay until the New Year. And that’s when you met Mr. Owen Patrick Joyner. 

You were out one day, just a few days after you had finally settled into your apartment and decided it was a good idea to go for a walk to find some coffee. Well, you were wrong. It got dark way quicker than you expected and you had no clue where you were. 

You were wondering the streets until you saw a group of some guys and girls. They looked like they knew what they were doing or so you thought. You approached them asking for some help. 

When you got to them, you quickly realized they were all actually arguing over where to go. Before you could turn around to leave, they had already noticed you and all eyes were on you. 

Before you knew it, you were introduced to the whole group, Charlie, Jeremy, Carolynn, Madi, Savannah, Tori, and Owen, and they had you wrapped up in their argument and along for the ride before you could even blink twice. While trying to find where they were going and you lived, you came to find out you lived across the street from Owen and Charlie, the opposite apartment building. You were able to end the night making some new friends and safely in your new home.

You had hit it off with all of them, but something about Owen was special. You started spending their days off with them when they weren’t filming, had movie nights with them, and went to nights out with them as well. The whole time sparks flying between you and Owen. No one was shy to point it out either. 

It took about a month of hanging out every week and texting almost every day before Owen finally asked you out on a date. Now here you are almost 3 weeks later. 

He still hasn’t made a move yet either, it’s something you and Savannah constantly talk about. You don’t want to be too pushy about it but you were feeling frustrated. Every time it felt like it was the moment, that he would finally kiss you, something interrupted the moment or he was quick to turn and change subjects. 

The closest you guys got was this, his head in your lap with your fingers combing through his hair or your head on his chest while you guys cuddled up watching movies or hanging out. You did enjoy this of course but you couldn’t stop yourself from questioning why he hasn’t kissed you yet or made you guys official. 

“You look pretty cute when you got your face all scrunched up like that in thought, Y/N.” Yet again Owen pulls you from your thoughts, this time sitting up and facing you.

“What’s on that pretty little mind of yours?” 

“Oh, nothing really. Just kinda thinking about random things, ya know.” You say trying to brush the topic away. 

“Oooo what kind of random things?” He asks inquisitively, leaning forward to rest his head on his arm. 

“I was just thinking about when I first met the group, it’s been pretty great getting to know everyone. I feel pretty lucky.”

“Getting to know everyone? Or getting to know me?” He says with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

“Ya know I was thinking more getting to know Savannah and Charlie. No one has ever met me on my level of pranks until them.” You say hoping to get a reaction out of him, especially because he was the last one you guys pranked. 

“Oh really? Just Charlie and Savannah?? Alright then.” He says going to turn away from you, but you grab his arm to keep him from doing it. 

“What can I say Joyner? They just get me!” You say laughing watching his face, you know he thought you would take it back or say something nice. 

Before you know it, he’s on top of you tickling every inch of you that he could get too. Shrieks start leaving your mouth, you couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard.

“O...O....OWENNN!! Stooooppp, I can’t breath.” You say laughing hard trying to shove his hands way. You get a quick swipe of his hands and he drops chest to chest losing his balance. 

You guys both breathing hard but not saying a word. Just straight up eye contact, a small smile graces both your lips. You feel him bring his hand up to brush your hair out of your face, he drops it slowly letting his fingers brush against your lips. You suck in a breath, looking back into his eyes. You can see him leaning in, his warm breath against your cheeks. 

Is this the moment? It’s finally going to happen? He’s finally going to make his move and kiss you. And then-

“Guys!!! It’s snowing look! It’s finally snowing!” Charlie comes yelling into the living room running full speed.  Startling both you and Owen, causing Owen to fall off the couch. 

You didn’t think twice, you ran right to the window next to Charlie jumping with giddy. You’d never seen snow before, you were born and raised in California. Instead of snow season, you got fire season.

You always wanted to see snow, you dreamed of it. It always looked so peaceful and magical, something about snow just always made you feel warm inside and you didn’t know why. 

“I appreciate the help and concern you guys.” Owen says sarcastically before joining the two of you at the window. He can’t help but smile when he sees the glimmer in your eyes looking at the snow. You had talked to him about snow before and how you always dreamed of seeing it. 

“You know Y/N, we could go outside and see it.” A giant smile graces your face and you look up at him. If his smile could get bigger in that moment it would because of the look on your face.

“Really? I know you’ve said you think it’s too cold…”

“I think your first time in the snow is a good enough reason to brave the cold! Let’s go get our sweaters on. Charlie you joining us?” Owen asks while grabbing your hand to take you to get your warm clothes on. 

“Nah dude, as much as I love the snow, I’ve seen it my whole life and I’m not really in the mood to get all bundled up.” Charlie says while waving to you guys going back to his room. 

You quickly get everything warm on you can, hoping the faster you moved, the faster Owen would so you could get outside. You’re almost running out there once you’re both ready.

As the doors open a giant gust of cold wind hits you, making you stop in your tracks. You look around at the snow. It’s falling from the sky, leaving little flakes in your hair and on your clothes. The ground is already covered in a layer of it. You can’t believe it’s real! Before you could take in the peacefulness of it any longer you’re hit upside the head with something cold. 

You turn to your side, seeing Owen facing you with a wide smile, laughing at the look on your face. He just threw a snowball at you and before you could get over it, he threw another one at you, laughing! He’s quick to start grabbing more snow.

“Oh it’s on Joyner.” You laugh while collecting up snow. You launch what one would call a pathetic snowball in his direction. He laughs at your attempt before hitting you head on with another one. 

You laugh some more while trying to get a better snowball together. This time with the launch of your arm, it hits Owen right in the face. The look he makes could make you pee from laughing so hard. 

“You’re gonna be sorry for that one Y/N!” He says laughing whole running in your direction. 

You let out a shriek and start running away from him. You can hear his laughing and his feet behind you. You may be fast but he just so happens to be faster. You can feel his hands grab onto the back of your jacket. 

You’re quick to turn, trying to loosen his grip on you. Instead of freeing yourself, you lose your balance knocking into Owen. You close your eyes waiting for the impact of the fall but instead you make impact with a puffy chest. 

You open your eyes to see that you not only lost your balance but made Owen lose his as well. You landed right on his chest, face to face for the second time today. Belly laughs leaving from the both of you.

He looks so beautiful. His cheeks and nose just slightly pinker then usual because of the cold, he has snowflakes that got tangled up in his eyelashes, and the blue of his eyes just look that much bluer due to the bright lighting of the snow. You can’t help but stare into them, as your laugh dies off. Not knowing that he’s thinking the exact same thing as you, he thought you never looked prettier than you did in this moment right now. 

“Hi.” He says looking up at you, breaking the silence.

“Oh hello Joyner.” You say with a small laugh, going to lift yourself up from his body.

Before you could lift yourself up, you feel his arms tighten around your waist, keeping you in place and his lips on yours. Yours eyes widen at the contact, but slowly drop as your lips start to move in sync together. He has your bottom lip between his two, and nothing has ever felt as perfect as his lips on yours. 

You slowly pull apart, but leave two small pecks on each other’s lips before you do. The kiss leaves you breathless and with butterflies in your stomach. 

“Be my girlfriend.” You hear him say.

“I’m sorry what?” 

“You heard me, be my girlfriend! I’ve been waiting so long to do that and now I want you to be my girlfriend not that I didn’t want you to be my girlfriend before but I was just nervous because I suck at making moves and I-“ 

You cut off his nervous rambling with your lips on his. This time you feel his lips melt into yours. You can’t help but let a big smile take over your face, you’ve been waiting what feels like forever for this and you can’t believe it’s here. Owen looks up at you mimicking your smile. 

“I’ll take that as a yes?” He asks you while laughing. 

You nod your head yes enthusiastically, almost too enthusiastic. At the motion Owen is quick to pull you in for another kiss. 

He pulls away and you almost feel bare from not having his lips on yours. You’re also suddenly colder than you remember being, a shiver taking over your whole body. Owen noticing, he’s quick to push you off and help you get up. 

He grabs your hand and starts to lead you back into the apartment to escape the cold. 

“Wait...” You say and he turns to look at you to give you a questioning look. 

You pull him a little closer and stand on your toes to reach up to him. You press your lips against his, taking in the feeling of his lips and the snow falling around you. Nothing has ever felt more perfect. 

“I just wanted to do that one last time.” You say with a smile. Owen smiles down at you, squeezing your hips before leading you inside. 

You make your way inside thinking today’s firsts could have not been more perfect. Maybe snow was just as magical as you always thought it was. 

[hetaliafucker]

Why PruCan owns my heart (Which kinda includes some of my own headcanons about interactions and the build up into how they got together)

I just like the idea that they balance each other out. Like leaning towards more canon interpretations, one of them feels invisible, completely. No one knows Matt's name, no one ever remembers him, and it hurts. Then imagine this one guy, for whatever reason, does. And this guy, he's arrogant and cocky and loud and he's everything Matthew would usually hate but. He's also sweet. He doesn't let most people see it, but there's times when he lets guard down, lets the mask fall, and he soft and caring and can be gentle. Gil prides himself on being awesome and untouchable but shows Matthew these little hints that he's more than that. Not only does he actually know Mattie's name (I know the bar sounds low here but hear me out), but he knows his interests. Random moments where he'll just hand him something so casually that Matthew almost believes there's nothing behind it. The words "This flower is your favourite, right?" He remembers small details about Matthew and it makes him feel so seen. Imagine this big huge powerful person/nation taking a moment, just a single second to acknowledge you, and you alone, he doesn't do this with anyone else- Make you feel known and needed and even taking into account your interests when no one else does. Imagine how special that'd make you feel.

On the flip side, Gil's lived along the other nations for a while. Some of them are as arrogant as he is, cocky, believes they're the best, etc. Then comes along this quiet nation, who doesn't take himself seriously at all, because no one even spares him the time of day. At first he feels bad for the guy, but then something shifts, changes. He sees Matthew's smile, listens to him laugh, like syrup. He looks so soft and gentle and kind and good. He's everything Gil isn't. And yet, get him on a battlefield or throw him into a hockey game and this gentle nation becomes a brute, a badass, even. It's the biggest wake up call Prussia ever got. And something changes. He'd never admit it but fuck, this guy's kinda on his level in terms of awesomeness. Look at him go-

So he takes an interest. And. And Matthew. He. He's just so giving. And so compassionate. He sees the best in people. Most nations think Prussia is a monster, a ruthless demon, whatever- The names are endless. But when Canada talks to him, he doesn't act like most people, even straight away he's kind. Considerate in the way he speaks, genuine care dripping into his tone and hanging from his lips. He believes in Gil, sees good in him that even Gil himself can't see. Enough so that, straight off the bat, he gives Gil a chance. Their interactions at first are short and scarce, Prussia makes a note about the little things, things he picks up on which he knows Matt likes. Like, if he likes a certain brand of maple syrup, he'll make a note of that. If he sees Matthew drinking a hot chocolate with marshmallows in, he'll make a mental note that he likes marshmallows in said beverage, etc. Small things. Nothing major, nothing that would be a nod to other nations that he has a soft spot for the Canadian, nothing that'd make him look weak. But something. Something that let's Matthew know I see you. Because he does. It's hard not to. He's the first person his eyes land on when he walks into a room, the first nation he searches for at events, even sees him in his dreams. If Canada speaks at a meeting, Prussia will make it obvious to him he's listening, even if no one else is. The little things.

I feel like their actual friendship doesn't start until after Prussia dissolves. Because now Prussia's invisible, too. Not at first, but as the years, the decades, grow on, and the nation slips from people's vocabularies and memories, he slowly stops being taken seriously from the other nations. They stop listening to his ideas during mettings, stop looking at him. On purpose. Because they don't want him to see the pity in their eyes. And he fucking hates it. Hates feeling pitied. Everyone does it, except, like Luddy and their small group, Francis and Toni and- And Matthew. Actually, no, in fact, even his brother and friends have hints of pity in their eyes, moments where they don't say anything- Don't need to- But it's there, unspoken. What it is, Gilbert doesn't know. Condolences? Words of wisdom? An apology of some kind for some reason? He doesn't know. They just talk to him still, unlike some of the others. All he knows is that Matthew doesn't pity him ever. For some reason. Until after one interaction. Just after a meeting, he's still slumped in his seat, pouting over being ignored again. And Mattie comes over, slides him a beer- The little things, Mattie must note his interests, too, which is nice- And smiles. "You get used to it." He says, soft as a songbird and fuck. That's why. Gil gets it now. Mattie doesn't pity him because Matthew's the same. Sure, he feels sympathy for Gil, but he doesn't avoid his gaze or awkwardly smile like he's just waiting for Gil to disappear one day like Rome or something. No pity, just understanding. An I know what this is like, I know it sucks. And if he wasn't smitten before than he was now.

Going out to bars to share stories about being invisible and laughing together over drinks slowly evolves. It's visiting Berlin and wandering through the streets, looking through the architecture, history frozen in time. It's visting Canada and snowball fighting until your fingers are red and numb and your breath is just mist, laughing as you get knocked on your ass in hockey, as your back hits the ground harshly, caused by someone who looks like they wouldn't hurt a fly. It's hot chocolate and beer in Winter, cooking pancakes and sausage for one another to try and slowly, so slowly things keep changing. Until visting each others countires moves from hotels to sleepovers in their living rooms and from sleepovers in the living room to sharing the same bed. Until just making food together as friends becomes waking up in each others arms and making breakfast whilst you kiss against each counter. Until getting knocked on your ass in hockey becomes an excuse to pull your lover closer so you can peck their red nose and dig your freezing hands into the warmth of their shirt. Until your lover's voice no longer reminds you of a songbird, but they become your 'Birdie', which in turn causes them to call you 'Gilbear' after their own pet, too. And it's cheesy and gushy and horrible and you should hate it but you can't because it's said with red cheeks and loving eyes and a grin so beautiful that you love it more and more every time it's said. Until it's no longer feeling invisible in the eyes of the world, it's feeling like you're the only two in it, fire and ice melting together so perfectly that it just feels right. It makes you feel seen. And that's enough. More than enough.

[bigskydreaming]

Hi! I'm new to your blog but found a few posts that were about a JayTom ship, and I was wondering who Tom was? And also you've mentioned in a couple of posts the idea of Jason having a lineup of Titans in his age range and you talked about the Ray and Damage in one. Do you have a whole lineup in mind for them and if so, is there a post on that somewhere?

LOL man, I really need to start pulling all my posts about JayTom and Jay’s lineup of Titans together for some kind of a masterlist, so thanks for the reminder haha. Like, I saw this ask and thought of various posts to point you towards but ugh, I don’t know where any of them are.

Anyway, so. The Tom of JayTom. Aka my ideal ship for Robin!Jason in the series of one-shots about an AU where Jason doesn’t go to Ethiopia in ADITF and thus never dies, that’s kinda grown out of that of a one-shot I started as a writing commission a couple months ago, if anyone else remembers that….the one that was like ‘what if Jason called Dick after the Garzonas incident and Dick sided with Jason’…that one. 

Which then snowballed into ‘well, then I could give Jason his own lineup of Titans who are in the same age range as like a younger gen learning from Dick’s generations of Titans but still older than Tim’s generation of YJ and then eventual Titans.’

Sigh. Oh, me. Right! So! Anyway! Tom in JayTom is Thomas Bronson, the son of JSA member Ted Grant, aka Wildcat. 

Tom and Jason have never ever interacted in canon as far as I know, as I don’t think Tom’s ever appeared outside of JSA and Jason never appeared in that book either before or after his death. BUT by the magic of winging it and Canon Has Not Definitively Contradicted Me, I think the two of them are feasibly in the same age range, so I’m going with them both being fifteen when they meet here.

Tom’s a scrappy, street smart, attitude throwing teenager with daddy issues of his own, lol, thanks to Ted’s general non-existence in his life, for most of it….and he’s also tiny, like, 5′6″ and 135 lbs even at the end of his teenage years. LMAO, I honestly don’t remember, but I think that might be the whole basis of this ship for me, or where it originated. Like, I happened across Tom’s stats as listed on one of the DC wiki sites, and was like, lol oh, he and Robin!Jason could be pint-sized punks together! And then from there, I had the inevitable thought “okay but now make them gay” and then from there I fell into my usual trap of “oh no, it was supposed to be a joke but now I’m taking it seriously and seriously pondering how it could seriously work.”

And then from there it consumed my brain and devoured my life. I swear, it was Dick/Kyle all over again. Ugh, my brain is so problematic.

So anyway, this is Tom:

He’s a werepanther, he can shapeshift into a panther form to fight, which brings up an interesting facet of his character and something I think could be really fun to play off Jason and his own issues…because Tom hates fighting. HATES it. Will run from a fight at any given opportunity rather than engage….but its not because he’s a coward, or doesn’t have heroic instincts of his own, and its not even because he’s not GOOD at fighting.

Its that he’s scared of himself, and scared of hurting whoever he’s fighting…at least more than he means to. Because he has trouble controlling his shift when in fights. His panther form just comes out in response to his own amped up levels of aggression. The fight or flight response for him is actually more like “flight or turn into a raging whirlwind of clawed and fanged fury that can’t stop won’t stop until he’s definitively won his fight….which by extension, usually means his opponent is currently bleeding out on the ground from a few dozen deep claw marks because Panther!Tom’s claws and fangs are SHARP.”

Now pair this fear of his own power with Tom’s natural belligerence and problems with authority at certain points in his life, AND his desire to follow in his hero father’s footsteps as well as his resentment and giving himself grief every time he realizes he even has that desire, because he doesn’t owe his deadbeat dad shit and can’t stand that he nevertheless admires him in a lot of ways and still feels a desire to prove himself to him…

Then pair him up with Jason during his Robin years, going through similar issues and emotions as well as a comparable dynamic with Bruce as him not dying in Ethiopia nevertheless changes nothing about the two of them likely clashing more and more over their views on how to deal with criminals and the appropriate levels of aggression when dealing with them….

And that right there, IMO, is super strong potential for a dynamic couple with a lot in common and yet occasional clashes of their own due to different opinions on which direction to go in so as to address those shared issues…but who likely would never hesitate for a second before backing each other up and presenting a united front against anyone else who tried to give one or the other shit for any reason whatsoever.

Also, I have vastly amused myself with the thought (and the occasional post here and there) of Ted and Bruce continually glowering at each other and blaming each other’s son for being a bad influence on their son, who has never done anything wrong in their life ever, CLEARLY (even if Bruce had actually just grounded Jason the day before. Whatever. Ted doesn’t need to know that).

Anyway, so that’s the JayTom I reference now and then. I’ve always maintained that Jason could really benefit from having a stronger support system of friends distinct to him and not sharing similar dynamics with any of his siblings, so then I was like, well if Jay doesn’t die, and I have him and Dick closer in this AU than they’re usually written as being, plausibly Jason would spend a lot of time at the Tower to get away from Bruce and his own fights with him. 

With Dick being more than able to relate to trouble dealing with Bruce and thus happy to lend a sympathetic ear….and eventually maybe express to Bruce that it might do them both some good for Jason to make more friends his own age and have some normal routines that took him out of the house and Gotham enough that he and Bruce don’t constantly feel like they’re breathing down each other’s necks and keeping tension a constant thing between them. A little space now and then could benefit them both, give them chances to cool off after their fights and actually MISS each other before readdressing the issues.

So then I could see the Titans kinda sending out invitations/recruiting various teen heroes around Jason’s age that they’d all maybe had their eyes on for awhile as kids who could benefit from the same kind of team unity/group support that helped them so much when they were that age just a few years ago themselves.

Which leads me to where I am now which is….I still haven’t settled on a solid lineup, because I came up with too many choices, lol. Basically, my parameters were I wanted characters who could feasibly be said to be in the same age range as Jason and Tom, and didn’t have super strong associations with any other characters that would create any kind of conflict with them being on a Titans team at this point in the timeline instead. And because I’m all about my thematics, I wanted them all to have certain root issues in common that they could all bond over and actually, y’know, support each other with and through. 

(The same way I think Dick’s generation of Titans actually has certain distinct themes and issues that almost all of them share and can relate to in varying ways, which I think has a lot to do with how quickly and fully they all bonded and why they created such lasting friendships and teams between them. But that’s a whole other post, lol.)

So the central shared issues I decided to focus on for Jason’s age group of Titans were: teen/young heroes from abusive homes or runaways, ones with issues and fears stemming from and regarding their own powers or tempers, etc, and misfits who were regarded warily by other or older heroes and considered potentially able to end up on either side of the hero/villain line in the sand.

Which Dick’s generation of Titans, which of course includes Raven, Kory, etc, would not be in agreement with that last part, and thus be all the more likely to recruit these specific teen heroes and be like nyah, nyah, watch how with our help and oh yeah, SUPPORT, they all become the best damn heroes that ever did heroically hero. Suck it, JLA-holes!

(And then Donna would be like, not you Diana, you know we’re cool, its just I gotta do the team solidarity thing and Dick, Garth and Roy are still being Displeased with their mentors/dads at the moment, and also we’re all kinda ticked you guys stole Wally. Btw, we’re stealing the new Green Lantern kid, because Revenge and stuff. He’s ours now, you snooze, you lose).

 So, Jason’s lineup of Titans will consist of some of the following, I’m just not 100% sure which yet, because I have to whittle down the list.

1) Jason (nominally mentored by Dick, but the latter just calls it an excuse for brother bonding time and neither of them make much reference ever to having any kind of actual mentor/protégé relationship like I see the rest of Jay’s lineup having. Plus, Jason unique from the rest already has a mentor in Bruce anyway, so his situation and reasons for being part of this team aren’t quite the same from the others, especially as one of my reasons for this AU was always addressing the issues I have with Bruce’s parenting before the canon event point of Jason’s death, and like…..so like, Bruce does get better once Dick calls out some of his shit with Jason based on his own experiences with Bruce and then later Jason returns the favor by calling out Bruce for taking Dick for granted and no longer putting in the same effort connecting with his eldest and being an actual PARENT to him like he used to).

2) Tom Bronson/Tomcat (who else would act as his personal mentor other than Gar aka Beast Boy aka Changeling, the shapeshifter extraordinaire?)

3) Grant Emerson/Damage (recruited by Roy and his personal protégéand likely BFFs with Jason IMO, as I think their temperaments are complete opposites but Grant’s the kind of kid who would roll his eyes and dolefully follow his troublemaking best friend Jay into likely danger, because his power to blow things up really comes in handy with the kind of scrapes Jason gets himself into and this in turn is a really handy thing to point out in the aftermath of pulling Jason’s butt out of a scrape and then gloating but in the totally mature and “I’m much too nice to actually be gloating, you must be mistaken about what’s happening here” manner in which I see that going down. And in terms of the parameters I mentioned, Grant grew up bounced around abusive foster homes, is watched like a hawk by various groups and heroes because of the huge catastrophic potential of his powers, which he has his own fears about, and also he has no idea who his parents are either, and I imagine him and Jason going on a ‘find out who our real parents are roadtrip’ after graduation or something).

4) Ray Terrill/The Ray (potentially recruited by Kory and her personal protégé. He was briefly a member of Tim’s Young Justice team, but part of the reason he was never that close with the other members was he was a little bit older, just a couple years or so, but enough to put him squarely in Jason’s age range. Also comes from an abusive home, and spent the majority of his childhood living in complete darkness because his asshole uncle told him he had the same powers as his father which meant sunlight would be harmful to him and make him dangerous to be around. When in reality, like his dad, Ray’s powers are fueled by sunlight and he’s like a living solar battery, keeping him afraid to leave the dark was just meant to keep him passive and powerless. Even knowing his uncle lied now, Ray still has long had fears about his own powers, unable to totally shake the fears his uncle instilled in him).

5) Todd Rice/Obsidian (potentially recruited by Raven and her personal protégé. He and his twin sister Jenny-Lynn Hayden are probably a bit older than the rest of this team, but their ages aren’t definitively linked to any points in the DC timeline, so there’s no real conflict between handwaving them as aged down to be right around the same ages as the others. Todd and Jenny-Lynn are the twin children of original Green Lantern Alan Scott aka Sentinel, and the DC villainness Thorn. They grew up in separate foster homes though with Alan unaware of their existence for most of their childhoods. Todd’s childhood was notoriously rough, with him having several abusive foster parents. He’s canonically gay and mentally ill/neurodivergent, which several of his foster homes targeted him for. In addition, his shadow powers are tied to a dark dimension that’s said to prey on his mental state and led to occasional times where he’s been a villain briefly, and at all times his powers are regarded fearfully by most people and with him shunned and avoided because of them. All of which I think makes Raven an ideal mentor for him).

6) Jenny-Lynn Hayden/Jade (Todd’s twin sister, even though they didn’t grow up together for the most part. Honestly, she doesn’t share in a lot of the issues the rest of the team prospects do, and had a relatively good childhood before her powers developed and she found her brother and they started operating as heroes together. But upon learning who her brother and dad are, she’s always been committed to growing closer with them, so I think anywhere Todd goes in this AU, she’d definitely follow, and its not like the team can’t benefit from a heavy hitter like her, let alone more girls. Not totally sure who I picture as most mentoring her in specific, probably because I don’t see her as being recruited per se, so much as just going with Todd when recruited….but I’m thinking maybe Garth, actually. Garth has a lot of range and versatility with his powers and magic, which makes him ideal for mentoring someone who not only has the same powers as a Green Lantern, limited only by her imagination…..but who also might benefit from being mentored by someone who ISN’T a Green Lantern because she doesn’t share their traditional weaknesses and thus she’d be best off training with someone whose own techniques and instincts aren’t geared around weaknesses that are literally irrelevant to her powerset).

7) Courtney Mason/Anima (A metahuman runaway who was almost sacrificed by a cult before her powers kicked in….she’s also right in the same age range as Ray, Grant and Jason, and has briefly been a member of a couple Titans lineups but never for long and usually only for big event stories. But she fits the runaway/rough home environment parameter as well as fear of her own powers….she absorbs life energy from people and animals and can potentially kill them by draining too much. She also has a separate power that’s basically a connection to an other-dimensional spirit called the Animus that she can summon forth and unleash on her enemies. I’m thinking she’d make a good recruit/protégé for Jericho actually, for a number of reasons).

8) Cynthia Reynolds/Fantasia (? Maybe? Not sure yet. Not her actual codename, but her actual codename is a slur, so I’m def gonna make up a new one, I just haven’t 100% settled on what it is yet. Suck it, DC. She’s most known for being a member of Justice League Detroit along with Steel, Vibe and the Ray, but she’s the right age range to end up recruited to be a Titan here instead, like Ray. Also is a runaway from an abusive home, and often deals with mistrust and suspicion due to her illusion powers. Perfect recruit/protégé for Lilith, IMO).

9) Cisco Ramone/Vibe (Also created as a teenage hero to be part of the Justice League Detroit lineup, which makes him the right age range and he’s another runaway. The nature of his powers makes him a good fit to be a recruit/protégéof Mal Duncan/Herald).

10) Amy Allen/Bombshell (Totally self-indulgent on my part given that I basically would ignore the vast majority of her storylines and writing, which I think suck. She was in the Titans stories revolving around Tim’s generation of the team, but she was always stated to be a few years older than the rest, like in her late teens when the majority were probably sixteen, so I think she’s a good fit for this age range. Also had a crappy home life and parents, and her powers are hugely destructive in certain applications…she basically has the same powerset as Captain Atom, though she’s never had any kind of official mentor or sidekick relationship with him. Also, I think Captain Atom is an asshat and a dillhole and he sucks, but I do like his powers, so reinterpreting Amy as a character who doesn’t suck and playing around with her powers instead is solid decision making on my part and renders Captain Atom irrelevant now. I think I shall kill him. Because I can do that. Anyway, I think she doesn’t need him as a mentor but could make a good recruit/protégé for Leonid/Red Star).

11) Carla Moretti/Cinder (Odd choice, given that she’s only ever really been used as a villainous member of Deathstroke’s anti-Titans team and was easily in her twenties at the time. Pyrokinetic who happily makes bonfires out of her enemies but written with zero attempts at nuance, like a total one note villain framed as having long since abandoned her own humanity….which bugged the crap out of me, as she was given a super angsty backstory of childhood sexual abuse and that’s just ‘why she’s like this’ and I have a deep seeded loathing for asshole writers writing survivors as villains and just blaming their casual homicidal ways on their abuse while serving up said villains to just be punching bags or dominoes for the heroes to knock down on their way to the Boss Fight. So I do have inclinations towards making an actual Titan out of her, like with Amy, because surprise surprise, both these characters being written shittily and one note was the work of the same writer, shocking. So I’d just handwave her down to the right age range and have her recruited/mentored by Donna, probably…more due to me thinking Donna would be the best person to help her deal with stuff because she’s mastered the art of avoiding avoidance via having Dick Grayson as a BFF. So with them its not really because Carla needs mentoring with her powers specifically. Idk, Carla anyway you slice it I think has a lot of rage, and Donna knows what to do with that. Written right, Donna’s not a character who judges or shames a victim or survivor for being angry…she gets angry with them, and helps them find options for what to do with that now.) 

12) Hero Cruz (Lesser known Titan, has a device called the Dial H device that lets him turn into a different hero with different powers depending on the setting he puts it on. Basically Ben 10, but Hero came first. Doesn’t really fit most of the parameters, other than being around the right age range, and not even sure who would make a good mentor for him though I wanna say Vic, but not totally decided yet. Mostly I just like him and think he’s underused, so whatever).

There’s also a few other candidates that I have mostly ruled out but not totally. I thought about using the aged up version of Chris Kent, and just introduce him earlier than he showed up in canon. And then Kara/Supergirl could be his mentor because I kinda handwave her into Dick’s generation of Titans anyway, even though it was the alien Matrix version of Linda Danvers that was the only Supergirl ever on the team. Whatever. She should have been a Titan all along anyway. But also Chris would fit the team well as he had an abusive childhood as well, at his dad General Zod’s hands, and again, I just like the character. 

Thought of including Virgil Hawkins/Static too, even though I think he’s closer to Tim’s age range. And again, just another character I’m a fan of and think is underused, but he would definitely be an odd man out in this group because like….he comes from a happy, healthy, loving home and family, and he loves his powers. So he would constantly be just like nodding his head along while his teammates talk and like ugh that sucks, but 10/10 absolutely can not relate, my parents are awesome.  Same with Natasha Irons/Steel, who really would have to be handwaved to even be in the right age range, and again has a happy loving home environment and a superhero uncle of her own so its not like she needs a Titan mentor…..but I kinda wanna see Karen Beecher/Bumblebee take her under her wing anyway, and have them be science nerds together.

Also pretty much the only reason I ruled out Connor Hawke too, as he doesn’t really match the rest of the team in any of the parameters except for feasibly being right at the upper edge of the same age range. But again, I just love the character. 

So I’m probably gonna end up throwing at least one of these other characters in there anyway, lol. I do know myself).

Anyway. So that’s Jason’s lineup of Titans, or at least the candidates as they exist bouncing around in my head now. Also, they’re pretty much Team “Everyone is Gay Except For When They’re Bi.” Which, granted, is basically how I view Dick’s generation of Titans, but with them I have to be like Make It So, in my brain, whereas with this group like….canon’s actually done the work for me for the most part lol. Ray is gay, Todd Rice is gay, Courtney is bi, Hero is gay. And I can’t actually find anything confirmed Tom was stated to be gay somewhere in canon, but I SWEAR he was, like, ugh this is bugging me.

But anyway. That’s that about all of that.

[coordinatesofher]

EVERYTHING FOR A WEEKEND IN NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

NOLA (New Orleans Louisiana) is such a quirky, fun, beautiful place filled with friendly people and AHHHHmazing food. Walking around the French Quarter and popping in and out of places you will find tons of food and drinks and loads of fun! If you are in need of some local references for food, drinks, or entertainment, then you have come to the right place! Here is everything you need to know to visit NOLA and have the time of your life!

FOODS YOU SHOULD TOTALY TRY IN NOLA:

Boiled Crawfish - Technically, you can find crawfish year round. But, many local will tell you, only eat boiled crawfish during crawfish season! The rest of the year it is either frozen local crawfish or it is sourced from elsewhere.

Beignets - Cafe Du Monde - This is a must! They have been serving Beignets since the Civil War! The line is often long so if you need a back up spot, Cafe Beignet is a great option as well.

Pecan Pralines -  Try pralines or fudge at any of the little shops. Super sweet, but yummy. Loretta’s in the French Market is really good.

King Cake - If you find it, eat it! King Cake is seasonal and typically found during Mardi Gras and it is SO yummy! It is basically a mix between a donut and cake stuffed with cream. You will love it!

Hot Sauce - Spice is a HUGE thing in Louisiana! Every place in the Quarter has dozens of them to try. Some are so hot you have to sign a waiver eating!

Chicory - OK. This is not my thing, but it is very much a NOLA thing. Chicory in Coffee is huge. Personally it isn’t for me, but by all means try it.

Po-Boys - It is a sandwich stuffed with various meats usually fried shrimp or seafood. In the Quarter you can go to Cafe Masperos or Johnny’s Po-Boys or Erin Rose, but the best one in the city and where you will find me every day is Parkview Bakery! It is worth the uber ride, and it is such a great, local, backyard vibe. 

Muffalettas - Central Grocery Co. is a super famous spot for this. I don’t eat meat so I have never had it, but everyone raves about it!

Oysters - Full disclosure, I have never eaten or even tried an oyster, but I have heard that Antoine’s Restaurant or Felix’s is the way to go for that.

Hurricane Alcoholic Drink - Pat Obrien’s is famous for this, but they have them everywhere. 

Hand Grenades - These are a huge thing on Bourbon. Be warned, the sugar masks the liquor and you will be beyond drunk afterward.

Absinthe - Pirate’s Alley is the place for it. 55% alcohol makes it a doozy. Their version is the legal limit.

SnowBalls - I lived for these as a kid, and Hansens is the place in the city to get it.

World Famous Fried Chicken - Willie Maes has been on every food network show and is SUPER famous. It is supposed to be life changing chicken. Now they have created a bit of a chain, but make sure to visit the original location.

Gumbo, Jambalaya, and Étouffée - These will be served lots of places and worth trying. Best spots: Jambayala - Coop’s Place / Gumbo - Stanley's

BEST COFFEE AND BREAKFAST NEW ORLEANS:

My favorite breakfast spot in the whole city is in the Lower Garden District at Hivolt Coffee. It is the best coffee in the city including pour overs and the pastries and breakfast are all great!

If you are in the Warehouse District there is a Stumptown Coffee in the Ace Hotel which is a great option as well!

Brennans is super famous for breakfast. I have never been. But, worth pointing out. Make sure to get a reservation.

When in town, I usually eat at Sasuma Cafe. Cheap, simple, and healthy, something hard to find in Louisiana some times ;)

Another favorite of mine is Surrey’s. To be fair, I have never tried anything other than their pancakes, but I don’t need to! Their pancakes are the best!

Elizabeth’s in Bywater is a super traditional southern breakfast with smothered everything and great biscuits. It is really good and a great way to try southern food!

Ruby Slipper is also a fun spot with cajun/creole breakfast influences. It is probably the best breakfast spot to please everyone and still get to try some unique things.

BEST BARS IN THE FRENCH QUARTER:

Pat O’Briens dueling pianos is a must! It usually has a line, but once you get in it is such a blast. They basically pack people into a room with two dueling pianos that play any song request and everyone in the room sings as loud as possible to classics and shares drinks. It can really be a blast!

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop is the oldest structure in the city to have a bar so it is a great spot to grab a drink.

Carousel Bar - This bar is inside of a hotel. There is a carousel inside it that moves and is it’s claim to fame. It doesn’t sprinkle my donuts, but people seem to love it!

Pirate’s Alley - if you dare try the absinthe. This is a famous spot and the only place in the city to sell legal absinthe. Fair warning the alcohol content level is HIGH.

Saints and Sinners - Nothing crazy about this other than Channing Tatum owns it so the girls tend to love it. And, for that reason, it is worth pointing out.

Ace Hotel’s rooftop is a really beautiful space! One of my favorite spots. My girlfriend from Los Angels and I always laugh going there cause its definitely like the other Ace Hotels in terms of lack of friendliness and run by New Yorkers. But, still the rooftop bar is super nice!

Frenchmen Street - SUPER famous for Jazz music. Places like the Spotted Cat are where all the greats played back in the day. It is the locals version of Bourbon Street, or at least it used to be. Typically, you can find lots of live music and fun spots.

Tchoup Yard is a super fun spot and great for a day hang out. There are loads of backyard games and outdoor vibes and usually lots of locals just playing corn hole and drinking beers. It is also located right where lots of brewers have popped up which is new to the city, so it is a great day drinking spot.

Musical Legends Park is such a cute romantic spot (maybe the only one) on Bourbon. I think it is only Friday nights, but a live jazz band plays outside and for a moment you feel like you are in a European city. Swoon.

Bourbon Street is filled with dozens and dozens of bars and intoxicated people. It is not where locals tend to hang out, but if you are looking to experience this side of NOLA and have a blast doing it, just pop in and out of all the bars along the street. No destination is needed here.

GOOD EATS NEW ORLEANS:

Cochon Butcher and Cochon Restaurant are both really good spots in the warehouse district with great vibes and food with a local twist. (Cochon means “pig” so that says a lot about what is on the menu).

Peche is a nice restaurant as well. Peche means “fish” so there is a lot of seafood dishes here. Nice vibes. Good food.

Pizza Domenica - Great pizzas and pastas and garlic bread knots, and a nice break from fried food.

Josephine Estelle in the Ace Hotel is a great little spot. More Los Angeles type foods like anything with a vegetable (lol) than the other places listed. Plus, you can pop up to the rooftop bar afterward.

NOLA in the French Quarter is really good. Typical cajun and creole dishes that are really well done. More pricey.

Emeril’s is super famous and fancy pants. I have never been. Heard great things! More pricey.

Commander’s Palace is SUPER famous and supposedly really amazing. Never been. Hard to get a resi. Heard amazing things! Most pricey.

St. Roch is a great stop and my personal favorite place to get biscuits. There are several vendors in this space like a small market and it is a great way to try different foods in the city!

BEST TOURIST STOPS NEW OREANS:

Napoleon’s House (yep, he had a house there that is now a restaurant) The food is not life changing, but it is cool to see. And, full disclosure, Napoleon died before getting to visit this house, so he never lived here, but it was built for him.

There are lots of huge plantation style homes in the Garden District one of which is where Mark Twain used to throw parties. These old southern homes are to die for.

Near there is St. Charles Ave. where 300-400 year old oak trees line the street. You gotta take a trolley ride down this street and see it. It is beautiful.

Jackson Square in front of the St. Louis Cathedral which is the most popular photo spot and dates back hundreds of years.

Cemeteries - Due to being below sea level, graves are all above ground in NOLA. And, many of them date back centuries and are well worth a visit. You can even visit Marie Laveaus (the famous Voodoo Queen’s) tomb. Across from Commander’s Palace is Lafayette Cemetery which is free to visit. My recommendation for a more historical tour would be to visit St. Louis Cemetery where notables have been buried. You have to do a tour, but it’s great. OH, and you can see the period tomb Nicholas Cage had built for when he dies. Kinda wild.

Swamp Tours - This isn’t necessarily “historic” perse other than people having been boating here for centuries and the cypress trees are hundreds of years old. The tours are a whole lot of fun and you get to see alligators out in the wild! I highly recommend doing one to see a completely different type of landscape and life on the bayou.

Museums - There are lots of great museums all within walking distance of each other. So, if you are looking for a break from Bourbon street this is your spot. The WW II museum is one of the best tin the country and a great way to spend the afternoon. There are also wonderful art museums like the Ogden and the Contemporary.

WHERE TO SHOP NEW ORLEANS:

The French Market in the French Quarter is the best place to shop for souvenirs and fun little things. Most of the goods are on the cheaper side so it is fun to walk about. As a kid, this was always my favorite spot!

If vintage clothing is your thing, then Royale Street is a great place for all things vintage. There are several vintage boutiques specializing in unique period clothing.

There are loads of Local shops selling New Orleans designers like Krewe Sunglasses which are great and well worth the stop in.

Magazine Street is my favorite street in the city and it is filled with loads of shops, antiques, and great eateries. It is a great way to spend an afternoon outside of bourbon. Just take the trolley car from the French Quarter.

WHAT TO PACK FOR A WEEKEND IN NEW ORLEANS:

Casual is a way of life there. While a few trendy spots have come to town and people dress more trendy/urban in those spots, for the most part, it is casual. The city is so laid-back and truly no one will care what you are wearing.

Comfy Shoes - The streets and sidewalks are uneven and often cobblestone. Tourism causes a lot of trash. And, rain doesn’t help. So, I recommend comfy shoes like tennis shoes that you are ok to get scuffed up and wet and maybe even just toss after the trip.

Sunscreen - The heat is no joke here!

Hat for sun - A hat or even an umbrella to protect against the sun is a must in the summer and maybe even year round!

Sunglasses - As mentioned above, sun protection is a must!

Backpack - I am a backpacker type of tourist because with all the heat and alcohol you will want water and a place to store your raincoat and sunscreen, etc. Plus, like in any tourist spot, keeping your things safe and protected is the way to go!

Toilet Paper/Kleenex packets - The French Quarter is old and packed with people. The bathrooms aren’t guaranteed to have TP in them so make sure to bring some! Oh and a few baby wipes wouldn’t hurt either!

Rain Coat/Jacket - If it rains, umbrellas are quite difficult on the narrow sidewalks, so a rain coat is the way to go. 

Bug Spray - When it is too cold there aren’t mosquitoes, but GURL mosquitoes are a very real thang there, especially if you are going on a swap tour in the summer!

Cash - A lot of the city will accept credit card, but there are still quite a few places that are cash only. Quite literally some spots have been cash only for centuries. So, I recommend keeping some handy. 

STAY SAFE AND LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!

While the city is without a doubt one of my favorite places, it does have a darker side not all that different than parts of Los Angeles. So, I recommend being vigilant. As a tourist, you can be a target, so while I have never had anything happen, it is a high possibility. Put simply, I would just do your best to keep your wits about you and not flash money. Stay safe!

IN IT TO PIN IT:

Make sure to save this pin graphic to your Pinterest board when planning your trip to New Orleans, Louisiana!

MORE FROM LOUISIANA:

[posteminent-blog]

The preparations are an all-day thing.

Most people would classify the areas around the docks as abandoned, and while they’re right in the sense that no one lives there legally, Jason knows full well that they’re not empty, that there are people squatting in the abandoned brick buildings like he once had as a kid. He’s been through the area a few times before, scoping out places where people were likely to congregate, looking for signs of life, and he and Caroline are back today to comb through those areas.

With a bit of saved cash and the money from the STAR job, Jason’s turned Caroline’s dojo into a shelter for whoever might be in Amazo’s warpath, the two finding residents and helping them pack, move their things to a place where a bot with the powers of the League can’t destroy what little they have for themselves. Some of Caroline’s older students are helping keep things in order; food and blankets passed out, directing people to the showers to clean up and the locker room if they want to put things away; as well as entertaining the children that get brought.

One trip between the danger zone and the dojo, Jason ends up with a little boy on his shoulders, fists clenched in his hair, and the kid’s sister in his arms, telling Jason about all the kitties she sees in the alley, sometimes bickering with her brother about what they’ve named the strays. Their mother walks alongside him, one bag of their possessions on her back, the other on Jason’s, watching him curiously as he talks and engages with both of them.

“Why are you doing this?” she asks quietly, when her children are distracted by discussing whether the fat white cat on their block is ‘Sugar’ or ‘Snowball’.

“Ma’am?” he replies without thinking, those old cotillion manners Alfred had instilled in him welling back up, and the woman huffs a little, raising a brow at him.

“I ain’t no ‘ma’am.’ And I asked why. Why’re you comin’ through and movin’ everyone out? What kinda hell you plannin’ that you think we ain’t seen before?” she replies sharply, and Jason struck for a moment by the suspicion in her eyes, and, beneath it, the fear.

He remembers that fear.

Shifting his grip on the little girl, he sighs. “It doesn’t matter whether you’ve seen hell before. You shouldn’t have to just hit the floor and pray when things start goin’ down ‘cause nobody thinks of you. I’ve been there, and it ain’t fun. It gets people killed. That’s why I’m doin’ this. ‘Cause I’ve lived it.”

She watches him for another long moment, looking him up and down as they walk in silence, her son tugging at Jason’s hair. “Lookin’ a bit big for a street boy,” she finally comments, and he can’t help his laughter, lifting a hand to steady the kid on his shoulders so Jason’s shaking can’t knock him loose.

“I hit a real nice growth spurt,” he answers, and her mouth quirks up just a little, shaking her head at him.

“Must have.”

At the doors of the dojo, he sets the little girl on her feet before lifting her brother off his shoulders, taking a knee to get on their level. “You two be brave and take care of your mom, okay? Sometimes grownups get scared about new places, so you should help her.” The kids look at their mom, wide-eyed, and back to Jason, nodding so hard that he has to chuckle. “Good. Thanks, guys.”

Their mother smiles at him, reaching to take their other bag as Jason shrugs it off his back, offering her other hand for him to shake. “Take care of yourself out there.”

He clasps her hand with a small smile of his own. “I’ll do my best.”

Caroline catches his arm as he turns to head out again, brown eyes serious.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Adam?” she asks, low and concerned, and, for a second, Jason thinks of telling her his real name.

It passes.

“I’ve got this, Caroline. I promise. I’ll come out of this just fine. You just worry about the people tonight, not me.” She huffs, slugging his arm. 

“You are my people, jackass.”

Jason laughs and elbows her a little, smiling when he sees her start to grin. “Quit your worryin’. I’m gonna be fine, alright?”

“Alright, alright, quit elbowing me, you great lug,” she laughs, shoving him ineffectually, smile a bit sad as she looks at him. “I mean it, Adam. You’re my friend. You better get through this, or I’ll go down to hell and kick your ass myself.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

[fuck-customers]

Few Months worth of BS

So a mix of be hardly getting on tumblr anymore and submissions being closed whenever I am on has caused a pileup of BS stories from both jobs, enjoy. 

Note- Job 1 is gas station cashier, job 2 is Tiny SeaTzars

1. Job 1- it’s like 9am, i’m barely awake and this dude who looks old enough to be my dad comes in. He’s nice enough, pleasant guy, buys his stuff and leaves. Comes back in like 5 seconds later to ask if i’m married. I was 17 at the time so I said “Sir, i’m 17.” and he immediately backpedaled thank the heavens. Creepy enough, yeah? Nope! His first thought was to say “I’m so sorry, it’s just my wife recently passed and I’ve been looking.” To which my manager (my mom) pops around the corner and says “Well you’re looking in the wrong places sugar.” In a lovely tone that screamed “You’re 3 seconds from joining your wife”. He left redder than a tomato and that incident has become a running joke with everyone. 

2. Job 1- Slow day so far, mostly just pissers. (peeps who use the bathroom and don’t buy anything) Dude comes in looking like hell. Fills his own cup up from our fountain and gets pissy when it rings up a whopping $2, says it’s a refill. I tell him we don’t have refill prices. So he goes and switches it out to one of our cups. Then he wants to pay with a card, gets even more pissy when I tell him there’s a $5 minimum on cards, says “that’s bullshit, since when?” Well ever since the card fees aren’t worth it on under $5 purchases, so always. Best part of that is we have LARGE signs on both sides of the door and ON THE FRONT of the fountain machine that say “Due to fees, there is a five dollar minimum purchase requirement on all cards, thank you for your cooperation!” He gets pissed beyond words, my manager tries getting him to calm down, he says “Not right now, you really don’t know the kind of day i’m having.” Things escalated quick and next thing I know he throws his full cup of soda on the floor and stormed out cussing up a storm. I ran after him and got his plate number as my manager called the cops but they couldn’t get anything from it so he’s never been found and ugh. Prick. Prick is all I can say.

3. Job 2- Someone actually called Tiny SeaTzars to ask for the hours of the CFK (backwards) next door. Just… really?

4. Job 2- We have a new dude, on like his second week. If a pizza is expired (been in the box for over an hour) we workers can eat it. Boy he was happy about that. Thing is, he’s almost always eating. Wasn’t working Friday but got told Saturday. It’s about 6pm, y'know, near peak rush hour when we can easily make a $2k hour, and he’s in the back leisurely eating pizza. Everyone else is busting their ass and he’s eating. Makeline dude had to leave his post to get sauce (because SOMEONE wasn’t at his post where he could be asked to get it for him so makeline doesn’t have to LEAVE THEIR POST IN THE MIDDLE OF A RUSH) and found him and chews him out, and thankfully he got a writeup for it. But just??? Bruh what level of stupidity/obliviousness do you gotta be on to see everyone rushing and running around you and think “Oh, time to eat some pizza.” ????

4. Job 1- Lady I don’t know comes up to the pump and sets of the bell that says someone’s trying to get gas. We have some regulars that we just release it and they’re trusted to come in and pay after, otherwise we’re prepay. However, I have never seen this chick before since I’ve worked here so not doing that. I tap her pump on my screen to shut it up and wait for her to come in. She does, all smiles, and says hi. I ask what I could help her with, she gets a confused look on her face and says “I need gas.” and I tell her we’re prepay. Bitch mode starts to wind up and she asks in a pissy voice “Really? Since when?” and I tell her “Since the station opened.” and then she says “Hmph, okay, I’ll talk to Sean (store owner) about that.” and leaves. Like, okay? We’re prepay, you’re not gonna change that by talking to the boss, who will tell you we are prepay. I don’t get people who think they can namedrop my boss to scare me??? Like “I know Sean.” Yeah, he runs a mechanic shop, half the county knows him, your point?? Best part is when they mispronounce his name or get it entirely wrong. “Yeah, me and Shane have been friends since we were kids.” Well good for you and Shane, but that ain’t helping you with SEAN.

5. Job 2- Lady calls in a 10 pizza order to be picked up the next day at 10am. We don’t open until 10:30. I try telling her and she get’s angry but tried meeting in the middle for 10:15. Talked to my managers and they said no way before 10:30. Tell her and she gets so pissed. “For such a big order you can’t get there 15 minutes early to open?” Okay first of all, do you really believe that we get here at 10:30 and open up? What the fuck are we going to sell?? We need to count down the registers, prep the toppings, make sheetouts and stock the hotboxes. We’re here at 6am or better just so we CAN open up at 10:30. We can’t just open the doors at 10:15 because if there’s more customers waiting around we’ll have to serve them when we’re NOT ready because we let you in, and then it snowballs into “well you were open this early yesterday/last week/blahblah” and then we get in trouble. In the end she cancelled her order and asked for corporates number. 

6. Job 2- Sunday after-church rush. Coworker calls in to ask for when he works next. Manager flat out tells him to get up and come check for himself because we can’t stop and look for him right now and hangs up. Seriously dude, literally EVERYONE knows to take a picture of the schedule when it’s posted. You hang around for half an hour before you leave every day anyway so wtf is stopping you from being an adult and taking a picture of your hours?? He called back like three times over the next few hours and we finally slowed down and told him but my god how stubborn and lazy do you have to be.

7. Job 1- Dude and his friend come in, one goes the the bathroom, the other gets some candy (which is RIGHT on the other side of my counter) and then goes looking around the shelves for other stuff. Buddy comes back to pay for gas and other guy leaves. I tell bathroom boy to hold on and I do a quick survey of the shelves find nothing, then go out to their car and see candy snatcher reclined in the seat eating the Reese’s he just took. I tapped on the window and the dude about jumped a foot in the air. I said “So, do you wanna pay for that or should I just go on and call the cops on you for shoplifting?” and luckily the dude doesn’t try fighting it and comes back in and tells his friend to pay for it. Friend is notably pissed and just glares at him. Tells me to just put whatever change is left after the candy in gas and heads out. Sincerely hope his friend at least thunked him in the back of the head for trying, and failing, at being a petty candy thief. 

8. Job 2- Ever since I’ve gotten glasses my eyes have been bloodshot almost a constant 24/7. Eyedrops clear it up for maybe an hour or two. The first few days the “are you high” question and jokes were kinda funny and amusing, but it’s been two months and it’s still going on. I would just stop wearing my glasses but I need them to legally drive (astigmatism in both eyes) so ugh.

9. Job 1- Once again, the station is prepay. It’s written on every pump in very large letters above every handle. Please tell me why these 5 asian guys (I think relevant? They didn’t seem to understand me well so maybe language block?) could not get it through their heads that they have to pay before they get their gas. They come in saying the pump isn’t working, I say we’re prepay, you have to pay before you get it. One of them goes to hand me his card and I ask how much in gas he’d like. Confusion. Ended up having to explain what prepay was (felt like a tool because of it) and they ended up leaving saying “Okay, we go to station down the street.” And I just.. Okay? Every station in the county is prepay but okay, you do you. Honestly this is more of a “I hope I didn’t offend them” than a fuck them thing. Felt bad I couldn’t help them.

10. Job 2- We ran out of green peppers, so one of our supremes is off the menu unless they’re fine with no peppers. Dude calls and wants the pepper supreme. I tell him we’re out of green pepper and he goes into upset toddler mode. 

Him: “Out of peppers, are you kidding me? How does that even happen?!”

Me: “Well, it’s kinda a supply and demand thing, Sir. If it’s a popular topping we’ll run out of it quick.”

H: “How can you run out of peppers it’s a pizza store you’d think you’d be able to tell when to order more of a topping!!”

And we don’t order it ourselves? We take count and tell our District Manager that we need things and he’s supposed to order them for us? (Dumb system I know but it’s what’s in place) 

In the end he asked for a manager and just hung up when he said the same thing. Found out he left a review on google about us. “Horribly unprepaired for the simplest of orders.” okay buddy, take the one star review and shove it up your ass.

11. Job 2- This one girl I go to school with got hired on. She seemed nice enough, we never talked before but apparently she knew me. She’s a decent worker (few nit-picky things, nothing bad) but… She makes me want to hit her sometimes. I get it, you’re trying to be funny/bubbly/joking/whatever, but I don’t know you well enough for you to be making jokes off of my appearance? I’m aware I that have a slightly larger than average head, I don’t like attention being drawn to it, especially randomly? We’re stretching dough and she just randomly says “You got a big ass head you know that? A big ass head.” and laughs. Like… Thanks, it’s not like that was a point of ridicule in the past or anything. And then while we’re washing dishes she gets mad and threatens to beat me for, wait for it, splashing her with water.

At the sink.

While doing dishes.

And she’s too extra with her reactions. Little extra is funny, I admit, but she is over the top. I was washing deep dish pans and a flake of bread flew off and hit her with some water. She spat and did that little “pthptpthpthtpht” thing  for almost an entire minute, then went on to say “We gonna throw hands if you do that again” I just… Kindly shut the fuck up and let me to dishes by myself if you’re gonna be such an extra [word that almost got this post deleted] like that okay? Just kindly fuck off.

I have plenty more but I feel like this post is too long as is. Enjoy my suffering and expect more to come.

[keeperofthesunandmoon]

What do the ROs think of the kiss scene with MC?😁 kinda curious about Seraphinas too coz I wasn't expecting that lol.

Altair“It’s so peaceful here.” Isn’t that what I’d wanted? Peace?

(Selfishly, yes.)

“Yeah.” MC smiles, and I find myself returning the expression instinctively. “I think the phrase art imitates life has never been so accurate.”

I laugh; they have no idea. “I guess I’ve always liked the statue garden for that reason.“

Or maybe I had hated it for that reason. But MC likes it, and they’re smiling so sweetly at me now that it doesn’t really matter. I lean in to kiss MC, and despite the cold their lips are warm.

They sigh. “We should probably head over to the duelist tournament now.”

Yes, we should. But do we have to? I must seem too conflicted, because they’re starting to look confused, so I kiss them again and nod, clutching their hand in mine as we walk towards the arena.

Astrid“You don’t have to be good at it. It’s just for fun,” MC assures me, as we gaze at our failed creation. It’s lump sided and blocky, with a head the size of its middle and a crooked smile that’s straight from my nightmares.

“It’s still disappointing.“ Nothing can ever be just for fun around here, but they don’t know that yet. Oh, sweet MC, I’m glad you haven’t had to learn this lesson.

They sigh. “Seriously, Astrid, no one is judging you by your ability to build a snowman.” Yeah, like even MC wouldn’t have laughed when I tried—and failed—to even make a snowball large enough for its head.

MC, in all seriousness none of this human stuff remotely makes sense.

…But it was sweet of you to try.

I laugh at the absurdity of it all, tugging them closer and kissing them softly. “Okay, MC.”

CressidaWe leave the museum and exit at street level, ten times as many people bustling about as there was this morning. The snow is just starting up again, fluttering around the two of us.

I turn to MC. Despite the cold, their features are bright in the pale morning light. The museum had been fun, I decide, and their company wasn’t undesirable.

They kiss me, then, and despite the crowds, for a moment it is just us two and no one else.

Leaning into the kiss, I tell myself I won’t get distracted by them, and that this is just to train myself and when they wear off it will all be over.

I get distracted anyway, and wonder when I started lying to myself so much.

Laughing and trying not to let my nerves show through, I pull away. “We should probably head to the duelist tournament now.”

CyrusTo be fair, they had started it—I just escalated it. Brushing snow off myself now, I almost regret it.

“We have to go to the tournament now,” I say. MC frowns slightly, and I reluctantly continue, as if to justify myself, “It starts soon.“

“All right,” they say. Of course it’s all right: there’s no alternative. Cressida would smite me if we didn’t attend, but I entertain the idea anyway. Oh, MC, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.

Neither of us moves for a second, but they’re close enough that I barely have to lean in to capture their lips with mine.

We pull apart, and MC laughs. “And you started that.”

“I—Shut up.”

KatiaIt’s snowing when we go outside again. I tug MC closer to me and entangle my fingers with theirs. They smile at me strangely because they don’t understand.

Please, MC, be safe. Please, please, please. I saw you again and you were cloaked in shadows, but that means nothing to you, does it? Please be careful.

If I’m with MC, I know they’re okay, so I kiss them lightly. They’re okay, they’re okay. My lips are on theirs for only a second before I pull away, giggling.

Be happy, Katia, I remind myself. Don’t worry them.

“Don’t you have a tournament to be getting to?”

KolMC looks contemplative. “Think we could take lessons, Kol?“

I laugh. “Not unless we’ve both miraculously become fire resistant.”

“It would still be fun, wouldn’t it?”

“We could prance about as we burn to our deaths, yes.” I don’t realize the irony until after the words are already out of my mouth, and by then it’s too late.

“Good a way to go out as any.” They’re laughing, and it’s a joking remark, but they’re wrong anyway.

MC, don’t say things like that. You know nothing about this world.

I kiss them.

MC, please be careful.

LeonIt’s my chance to play knight in shining armor, but instead my telekinesis fails and both of us end up soaked anyway.

I’m expecting glaring, but instead they think for a minute before saying, “Nice look.”

“You too.”

We stare at each other, and then laugh. “Not quite how I imagined the day turning out,” they say, leaning against my shoulder.

“Me neither.” And the ceremonies are later, and my father wants to talk to MC, and it’s all horrible, but for now it’s okay.

I kiss them, trying to savor the moment while it lasts. All too soon we break apart, and they sigh. “We should head to the tournament now. It’s starting soon.”

Seraphina“Celosia?” they continue, more cautious now. Even their thoughts have dulled, mere white noise against the buzz of the city.

“Her and everyone else.” I shake my head, and laugh shakily. “They loved something that could never exist.”

They loved thoughts that weren’t real and people that weren’t real, mistook their ideas of people with the people themselves.

MC hugs me, and it’s strange.

But they’re here, and they care, and they could never understand how much that means. I kiss them, tears still streaming down my face.

Thalia“Did you have to? We were really bonding there!“ MC frowns, and it’s cute, as if they expect things to change just by wanting for them to.

I snicker. "You and the specter shark? Sorry, babe, wasn’t meant to be.” ‘Cause things aren’t always meant to be, MC, but we can ignore that for now.

“Darn.” They sigh. “And we were totally gonna go snorkeling together tomorrow.”

“It’s December.” They tried, and I admire that, but still.

“It could be an indoor pool!”

I laugh and kiss them, wrapping my arm around their neck to bring them close. “We should head to the tournament.”

Yakov“Isn’t it more dangerous not to tell me?”

“Not if you don’t try and find out for yourself.” Would they try and find out themselves? I can’t tell.

“But don’t I deserve to know? If there’s a chance that I’d be in danger myself?”

Don’t say that, please.

“No,” I say definitively. “I won’t let that happen. Please, just trust me, MC.” They have no reason to, and they shouldn’t, but I ask them anyway because I think they just might.

“…All right.”

“Thank you.” I kiss them, grateful. I know it’s difficult MC, but please. You’ll understand eventually. “We should go to the arena now. The tournament is starting soon.”

[dontcallmecarrie]

Hi there! I've got a question, what is Tony's threat level according to other intelligence agencies after all the snafu of TWIFFON? Like does CBI and FBI' opinion differ from Interpol or MI6? And what about SI legal? Do they have specific lawyers on threat watch and Pepper too? At this point I'm even wondering what does Bill Gates and other competitors think of SI legal? Are they crying in opposition? What was president' reaction over SHIELD' fall and Tony? What about FoxTV and Twitter?

Disclaimer: TWiFFON was created with accidental world domination as an end goal long before I posted the first chapter, as a spitefic in response to the fandom’s reaction to Civil War, and Tony’s treatment in particular. I am a very broke student who’s doing this for fun, as stress relief between classes and whenever I have the time. I am not a political science major, or economics, or business. I have absolutely no clue as to how a corporation’s run, or international law, this is just me derping around in the MCU and keeping my fingers crossed that comic book science covers for whatever I’ve missed and hoping for the best. [So if I screwed something up on the legal side, you’ll know why.]

Okay, now that that’s taken care of: the gist of what you’re asking can be found in a post I did a while back, on power dynamics behind the scenes. 

[more under the cut, because you guys know how I roll and RIP whoever’s on mobile otherwise. Because this turned into surprise SI meta.]

To sum up from that post: 

Tony and Co. are pretty damn formidable, but PR’s mostly on top of things to make them seem like they’re harmless. Whether or not it works depends a lot on a myriad of factors, including economics, political leanings, and location, and as I’ve said before the US has a different view on Tony than the rest of the world does. I’m not going to delve into specifics [this was supposed to be crack, dammit!], because of the above, but given that in real life the heavy pull that corporations have, I’d like to think that in terms of suspension of disbelief I’m not doing too badly. 

I mean, sure, there’s always going to be opposition, but a) Stark Industries used to be in the weapons manufacturing business, so they’re used to cutthroat politics even if they changed tracks a while back [and we’ve seen it happen, and will continue to do so in the fic], and b) I haven’t even touched on how comic book science influences things, like how Wakanda’s existence throws a wrench into International politics or Howard Stark’s infamous legacy [which is a story for another post].

I mean, in real life, the US really did a number on Latin America in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Now imagine what could’ve happened if SHIELD was also out there fucking shit up.

Or how Vietnam must’ve been like, because guess who probably got some of the contracts for supplying the military with munitions? Or just what might’ve led to a different sociopolitical landscape, because how would have Captain America’s image have influenced the Red Scare? Would Howard’s influence [via SHIELD, or otherwise] led to a different way of dealing with Iran? He was known to have participated in the Manhattan Project, so that’s already one change felt: how else did he make it into the history books?

Just…I could go on. I haven’t watched any of the tv shows, but…well. You get the idea. How influential was Howard, even before Tony was born? Bits and pieces’ll show up in TWiFFON, and some other things I write, but…well. You get the idea. 

Also: I have no clue how economics work in real life [again, broke student here, statistics’re more my speed at the moment], but…if NAFTA and the TPP can exist, in real life, and royally fuck up international economies because profits, then a fictional company that’s been kicking since before World War II and is currently headed by some of the sharpest minds in their generation is, again, not too far out in terms of suspension of disbelief. 

After all, Stark Industries is a family company. [Well…kinda.]

Sure, at the time it was also for weapons manufacturing, but still: Tony grew up knowing he’d inherit it someday. I cover this a bit in the PR interlude, and I think you guys might be able to see hints of it in the Legal interlude as well, but Tony grew up with Obadiah being a larger presence in his life than Howard was, and I forget if it got cut or not but in one draft the PR representative was also a known face. 

So, Stark Industries’ presence has been a constant in Tony’s life. Stemming from childhood, even, and we can see its influence early on, too: remember how he was 17 when he worked with PR to keep stock prices from plunging and thus avoid layoffs? 

Tony’s very possessive of what he has, when it comes to people. Add in a dash of spite and his issues, and you get a company that hasn’t changed its stance on vacation time in decades, or health insurance coverage for its employees since before the Reagan administration, and offered roughly a month of paternity leave shortly after Tony took over the company. [Daddy issues for the win.]

Sure, it cut into profits a little, but iit wasn’t like he was hurting for money. And Tony always had a patent or two ready to shut up the board whenever anyone tried to complain and the ‘hey our productivity’s way higher than the competition’ wasn’t enough of a reason to keep things as they were. 

Plus, remember how I said it part of it was out of spite? Tony’s mentally flipping his father off the whole time, but he’s also very smug about it because ha, that that, Hammer and your stupid budget cuts! 

And all the while, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal are all but gushing about how SI’s employee satisfaction rates are off the charts. Tony tries to make it background noise, because really, it should not be unusual to offer that much maternity leave, seriously, what is wrong with you people…and in doing, so kinda misses out on some things.

Like, for instance, just how diehard loyal Stark Industries is. 

There’s a reason everyone in SI’s so rabid about corporate espionage, and maybe money can’t buy everything but overtime pay sure goes a long way sometimes and turns out that on-site daycare is a smash hit, who knew? It’s not just the pay, really; it’s the company picnics with a line-item for property damage, it’s the rivalry Legal and R&D have that has the rest of the company eating popcorn, it’s in the top-of-the-line coffeemakers in the break rooms and free entertainment whenever Hammer Industries tries to do a thing and fails epically. 

Add in the way SI’s got some very strict policies on stuff like sexual harassment [because Tony may act like a playboy for the cameras but he respects women and won’t stand for it], and JARVIS’ assistance, plus Pepper being Pepper, and you’ve got a company full of highly motivated, hypercompetent people all united under the same banner and an employee satisfaction rate that makes the competition go equal parts ‘that sounds fake but okay’ and ‘just what the hell do these people even eat?!’ and that’s why, in the legal sense at least, Tony’s all but untouchable. Business-wise, SI’s feared and envied because Legal’s Seen Some Shit and PR’s handled two generations of Starks and good fucking luck getting a spy in. when JARVIS is in charge of background checks and all fellow coworkers are willing to go the extra mile if it means showing up Hammer. [And I haven’t even mentioned SWORD yet.] Again, SI used to be a weapons company. Sure, they’re doing more civilian-friendly stuff now, but that kind of legacy is really hard to erase even if you tried. You don’t get to the top by being kind, in that industry […I think; again, broke student here], and we’ll see that aspect crop up more as we go along in the fic, too.

Just…where other companies took a colder turn, went more for profits and took advantage of the tax cuts, Stark Industries didn’t change a thing. Jobs didn’t move offshore, and the international branches were chugging along well before NAFTA was put into effect. After all, unlike other sectors, they can afford to do so, because Tony takes pride in churning out top-of-the-line stuff [be it bomb, pre-Afghanistan, or the latest tablet or nanoprocessor], and, again, his genius means he can increase revenue without having to do it at the expense of SI’s employees if push ever came to shove.

Plus, I reiterate: this is meant to be self-indulgent stress relief. Suspension of disbelief’s a thing, this is the same universe where we have cryogenically-preserved supersoldiers running around and magic exists. 

To sum up: okay, now what you’ve got is a company of hypercompetent employees who’re diehard loyal and who knows how many resources at their disposal. So when things snowball…well. Really, it was a tiny bit of miscommunication, could’ve happened to anyone!

It’s just. Umm. Just a tiny case of world domination. 

[not going too much into specifics because guess what the fallout-from-AoU/buildup-to-CW arc’s even about, and I kinda went overboard with the meta enough as is.]

[lukearmitage]

Alec Rodriguez

You can learn a lot about someone by where they are from and where they have chosen to be. Some people never leave their hometown, some people leave as soon as they can, but every once in a while someone will stay and develop their existing community into something beautifully distinguished.

Born and raised in Orange County, Alec Rodriguez grew up with a big family surrounded by nice weather, cars, and tattoos. Due to his love for art, his desire to leave a mark, and the culture he grew up in, it was only a matter of time before he fell into the career he is now fully immersed in. Alec specializes in a popular style of tattooing called ‘Black and Gray realism’ which has it’s roots in East LA’s Chicano culture.

In the 1960’s many people had to get their tattoos done behind closed doors because it was mainly seen as taboo and illegal in some parts of the world. This form of self expression was mainly reserved for outlaw bikers, sailors, and lifers in prison.

Around this time, various groups of Mexican Americans created their own street culture which developed into what was known as the ‘Pachuco lifestyle’. This eventually evolved into the ‘Cholo’ culture where they began drawing and tattooing various images that pulled from a rich Latino catalogue of symbols, designs, and script lettering.

Tattoo art flourished in prison because there was so much time to share ideas and innovate. Prison officials found that they could reduce conflict by allowing inmates to have cassette players. With the motor from a cassette player, pen shaft, and the E string of a guitar, rotary tattoo guns were more prevalent than ever. The inks were made from the ash of burned magazines mixed with water to create different shades of ink. This evolved black and gray realism due to the enhanced quality and dimension of the art.

In those days, a majority of individuals would get their stuff done at the Pike in Long Beach where ‘traditional’ tattoos were popularized by sailors and rebels. However, in 1975 Charlie Cartwright and Jack Rudy opened a shop in East LA called Good Time Charlies where they popularized the distinguishable black and gray style with the help of Freddy Negrete that had started in prison. The shop was eventually sold to Ed Hardy who helped them grow the business and evolve tattooing as whole.

What was once a sign of rebellion has morphed into something that is beyond just another way of self expression.

Alec is the product of that evolution in the flesh. Behind his glistening rolex, wide frame, and intimidating tattoos is a hardworking artist who is both humble and grateful for the opportunities he has. I spent some time with Alec at his studio, along with a couple homies (Joe and Gordo), his two dogs (Chubbs and Ruca a.ka. Sad Girl), and his 64’ Chevy Impala convertible (8-Ball).

His friend Joe casually mentions “we would always just be hanging at his house.” Alec chimes in “This was before cellphones too so you would have to cruise by and see who’s bike was out front. My spot had no rules too.” Joe jokes about Alec having 20 dogs and 20 cats. Alec interrupts him with “naw, 3 dogs and 2 cats” with laughs. “I had a big family. Four siblings. There was always someone else living with us. Always had to take care of somebody else’s kids too. I’ve always been around people, so now when I’m alone, it’s nice, but at the same time its somewhat strange to me.” Which is somewhat ironic because he grew up down the street. All his friends live down the street as well. And when they get off work, they stop by. It has a similar vibe to a club house at times. Even though everyone seems to have a rough exterior, everyone is kind and respectful, which makes for a nice environment to spend time.

So you were born and raised here correct?

Yea, born and raised here. I grew up like right down the street. My mom still lives there.

Has it changed a lot since then?

It’s changed a lot. Definitely not the same as when I was growing up.

Do you miss those times?

Well yea, everybody misses the good old days you know?

In one of your interviews, you mentioned how your pops brought you into a shop and at the time you weren’t really interested, but eventually you came around. Can you talk a little about that?

Yea, when my pops took me into the shop to try and get me into it, I remember watching the whole process. There was puddles of ink, couldn’t see anything, perfectly straight lines, and it just looked like too hard. At that time I was pretty convinced that I couldn’t tattoo. But then a short time after that, I had some friends that I had grown up doing graffiti with, They had bought some tattoo guns and started tattooing out of their garage. And I thought to myself, well, if they can do it, I can do it.

Did your pops always have a lot of tattoos?

Yeah, he has been getting tattoo’d since he was like 14.

Did most people around you and in your family have tattoos growing up?

On my dad’s side, yeah for sure. On my mom’s side, not so much.

When did you start getting into the car culture stuff?

Ever since I was a little kid. My dad had a Cadillac growing up and I just always liked cruising in it. I would always bug him because I wanted to hop in a take a ride somewhere. This is when I was like 10 or 11. I never really thought I’d own one, but I always liked classic cars.

Do you enjoy being involved with it? Can you talk a little about it?

Yea definitely, It’s huge you know? But like anything it’s so political you know? It can be kinda controversial. So I dunno, I just kinda wanna drive my car. I don’t give a fuck about this and that. Don’t really want to get too involved. Like politics and stuff.

Like street politics?

Yeah, street politics and all that. Everyone wants you to get their approval.

Growing up, was it hard to stay out of trouble at all?

I mean, it’s never hard to stay out of trouble, just like it’s never hard to not party, you know what I mean? And then shit gets real and you end up in a place where you’re saying to yourself “aww, I shouldn’t have done that”.

Did tattooing help you stay away from all the bullshit?

Yea definitely, when I was about 18, I was fresh out of high school, my mom was like, “you have to get a job”, and I was “but I have a job” and she was like “I don’t really care, you have to go to school”. But I was frustrated because I had just graduated, I didn’t want to go to school. So I ended up taking a bunch of art classes because I liked it and just needed to meet the minimum requirement for my financial aid. So I was doing that, taking a bunch of bullshit classes, didn’t really know what the fuck I wanted to do. And then came the story with my pops and he took me to the shop. That was all during that whole process.

And at this time you were 19?

18. I got my apprenticeship with Goodfellas when I was 19. I was just a little-ass kid right there at Goodfellas Tattoo Shop with the big dogs. 19 Year old kid spending time with grown-ass men.

How did that make you feel?

It was intimidating as fuck. I was super intimidated. Especially because I knew who Steve Soto was and I looked up to him. And then to like be working for him it was just some starstruck type shit.

You seem like someone who really cares about the art, based on your stuff and your skill level. How were you able to learn so fast?

I get asked that a lot and some people say to me “oh you’re just naturally talented”. I feel like it isn’t so much talent as much as it is trial and error, practice. I always just enjoyed it and wanted to get better at it on my own. I was never really in competition with anyone or anything, it was more for myself. I just wanted to be a great artist.

What do you think was the driving force behind that?

As a kid, I just always loved art. It was just for myself. I wasn’t getting paid for it. I just genuinely enjoyed it. Then I got into graffiti from like 14-17 and I thought I was gonna do that as a career. Got arrested a few times and kinda realized that it probably wasn’t gonna work out.

How did you develop your style and technique? I feel like graffiti is way different than your aesthetic?

Total opposite right? Total opposite. I tell a lot of people, to this day, that I love abstract art and people don’t believe me because of the style that I do. I’m a big fan of it because my roots are from graffiti. But when I was taking all my art classes I was taking life drawing, the teacher was teaching us how to draw the models face, and I started becoming obsessed with making shit look real as fuck. And it just kinda snowballed from there.

You mentioned Steve Soto, are there some other tattoo artists or just artists in general that inspire you?

There were some local big graffiti crews that I was into MSK …CBS. Those guys were the shit.

What inspires you to wake up, do your thing and keep coming to work everyday?

I mean besides all my bills telling me “you gotta get the fuck up and go to work homie,” um, I dunno, I just enjoy what I do. If I sleep in and I’m running late, I just text myself that I’m gonna be late.  

You feel like you’re doing what you’re supposed to do. Like being an artist is your purpose in life?

I think so yea. I sometimes have feelings of wanting to do something else inside the art realm. I just love what I do and I have been drawing since I was a little kid. I love leaving my mark on things. I used to do that. I used to carve “Alec was here” on stuff and my mom would beat my ass. She would be like “Alec, did you do this?” and I would be like “no” and she would just sit there like… “it’s your name dumbass…. what do you mean you didn’t write it?” But I just love leaving my mark on stuff. Which is funny because now I do it with tattooing everyday.

When did you open your private studio up?

Just hit a year.

What was the reasoning for wanting to do that?

I get asked that a lot actually, but I dunno, it was just like an inner feeling that I was just ready to do my own thing. I always have to be close to work. I hate commuting. I was there seven years, so I was just kinda ready to have my own space. Spread my wings.

What was the inspiration for the interior design?

If you were in here the day I opened the doors, it is not the same. I change shit up consistently over here. But I dunno, I just always liked a lot of artwork on the walls. Just a lot of stuff to keep the people entertained while they are here. I always liked the super clean look, just very minimal. Not too cluttered.

A lot of people get tattoos after significant events in their life? Do you feel like a therapist sometimes having to talk to people during the tattoo process?

You know what, I call that ink therapy. I go through those phases myself. It really is therapeutic getting tattooed. I tell these guys here all the time, I joke around like “yea I’m a tattoo artist and a part-time therapist”. Just cause you know, I’m sitting next to the client for like 10 hours. That’s just one session. You get to know someone pretty well, especially after a few sessions. You’re literally sitting there touching their skin. I am helping them tell their story through their skin. I interpret it through my artwork.

The view on tattoo culture is more mainstream now?

Yeah most definitely. And it’s good for me, but everything has its pros and cons. Since it’s more acceptable, I have people with 9-5 jobs coming in here and getting tattoos which is great. But you also have kids going and getting tattoo’s on their face looking like a kindergartners sketch book. I’m glad it’s more acceptable, but some people take things too far.

Do you feel like you’ve changed a lot since you started?

When I was 19... I mean, shit, every 18/19 year old thinks they know everything, but I started working at a shop with grown-ass men with kids and families… and they kinda let me know how things are. They shaped me in a good way you know what I mean? I grew up real quick, just being around them.

Did they humble you?

Yea, most definitely. That’s why I was so grateful you know? Like a lot of people at that age don’t have influences like that. A lot of people have parents who say things like, “don’t do that shit, you’re gonna get arrested”. But you kinda just disregard their opinion. But when it’s somebody you look up to or respect in a different way, you tend to listen a different way. We all have love and respect for our parents obviously. I was just more keen on what the fuck the guys at the shop had to say. Even though it was the same shit my mom used to say. With your parents, sometimes you think they are just trying to control you, but with a friend and a coworker, they are really just looking out for you.

In one of your prior interviews you mentioned the word respect quite a bit. Can you talk a little bit about that and how it applies to you?

Respect is a huge fuckin’ thing you know? If you can’t go into somebodies house and respect it, that just says a lot about your character you know what I mean? If I was to go up in your house and I was to put my feet up on your couch and shit, you’re gonna be like “what are you doing?” Like respect my house, you wouldn’t do that at your mom’s house you know? Your mom would slap the shit out of you. Respect, you know what I mean?

You know what it comes down to? I got it tatt’d right here. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat other motherfuckers how you would want to be treated.

Last time I got one of my tattoos from you, your brother was starting to apprentice with you? But now it looks like he’s tattooing full-time and doing his own thing?

Yea yea, he works here with me. He’s still here.

Have you been able to take him under your wing and kinda show him what’s up?

Yea yea, I let him do his own thing. I’m here for him, I try to help him develop his craft as well. But at the end of the day it is up to someone personally to take the initiative and develop their skill, technique, and overall craft. I can only say so much. You know what I mean? I tell him like, “you literally have to get up and do the work. But if you have any questions along the way, I gotchu”.

Were there some struggles and difficulties you had to overcome to get to where you were? Or did everything flow pretty smooth for you because you feel like you took the right path?

I mean everything flowed pretty nicely for me and I am grateful for that, but of course there was trial & error periods and hardships. Just like everything, it has its politics. You are looked down upon at first because you have to start somewhere, you’re not good, or you’re not qualified. So you have to pay your dues for a little while.

Would you change anything?

Naw, I wouldn’t change shit. I’ve been so blessed to be where I’m at and to have gone through what I’ve gone through and still be here.

If you weren’t tattooing what do you think you would be doing?

*Deep exhale…. Stares off in the distance…  Honestly, I don’t really know. I don’t even really want to know. I’d hate to see an alternate reality where I could see myself without tattooing. Before tattooing I was just working at Stater Brothers and shit… you know? Just going nowhere fast.

What’s your future looking like? What are your plans? What do you have lined up? Traveling?

You know what, I used to travel so much. Honestly it’s really nice to not have any travel plans coming up. Knowing that I am just going to be home. I love traveling, I love all the places I’ve been to, I’m blessed to have been able to go there, but traveling is just so stressful. It’s a bitch and a half. So I’m content right now with just being here and doing my thing.

As far as like the long run, the future, I don’t really know. Where do I see myself in five years type thing, I don’t really know, I’d like to eventually have a more walk in type of shop environment instead of a private studio, hopefully, but only time will tell.

I imagine a lot people come from out of town to get work done from you?

Yea, the guy I tattoo’d yesterday was from Australia. People come from everywhere you know, Canada, Germany, Wherever you know? I had a guy come from Japan.

If they want to book an appointment, what’s the best way?

Just email me or go through the website.

alecrodrigueztattoo.com alecrodrigueztat2@gmail.com @alecrodrigueztattoo

Sources: Schwartz, E. (Director). (2013). Tattoo Nation [Video file]. United States: Visions Verite. Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2207870/

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Philly Street Art Interviews: Meet Bob, Philadelphia’s Reigning Sticker King

Philly Street Art Interviews: Meet Bob, Philadelphia’s Reigning Sticker King

December 3, 2018

(Photos by Streets Dept Contributor Eric Dale)

Welcome to Streets Dept’s newest series of street artist interviews, created in partnership with Philadelphia’s own unofficial official street art museum, Tattooed Mom. Each month, Streets Dept Contributor Eric Dale will sit down with one local street artist to ask them about their work. Together, we’ll learn more about the incredible artists getting up around Philly.

Before Bob Will Reign, Philadelphia had no sticker art scene to speak of. It’s not like the streets were pristine—there was plenty of graffiti—but it rarely strayed from the realm of spray paint. No stickers adorned the backs of street signs. No characters sprang up from inside newspaper bins.

Back then, Bob was just a kid from New Jersey who liked graffiti and design. Now, he’s looked upon as Philadelphia’s sticker king, one of the first two artists who originated the culture of hand-drawn, cut-out sticker characters here in Philly.

I sat down with Bob Will Reign at Tattooed Mom to learn about how it all got started, and how things have changed, both for the artist and for the culture.

Streets Dept: Thanks for stopping by, Bob! So when did you slap your first slap? Bob Will Reign: The first Bob sticker was probably 2002 or 3, but I started with regular graffiti. I remember seeing it when I was little. In Jersey, there was this guy near me—I never met him or anything—but he wrote “BUZ.” And that happened to be my nickname that my dad gave me when I was little. So I would be driving to the mall or something with my mom and be like whoa, that’s my name, like, huge on the wall! I never really thought about it, but subconsciously, since I saw that, I kinda started paying attention to it. I was always into drawing and doodling, and one day I just started to do letters. And then I started to do different words, and I was just like man, this is pretty cool!

But Bob started, actually, when the internet became more available. I would just get on Google to look up graffiti; like why do people do this? because it was so interesting to me. In Europe at the time, people were doing more of the stickers like what we see here—characters and logos and things. That’s kind of what got me into Bob, because at the same time, I was going to school for design. So graffiti letters were really interesting to me and I liked doing it, but once I saw that people were doing it with logos and designs and stuff, I was like I think it would be cool to do THAT—to come up with my own logo that I could put everywhere.

SD: Tell us about Bob. Who is he? BWR: I wanted to come up with something that was simple enough that if somebody was just walking by and glanced at it, without even thinking about it, if they kept seeing it, they would recognize it after a certain amount of time. Kind of like how corporations use a logo. If I did this very simple character, as simple as it could be, it would be as easily recognizable to people that weren’t into graffiti. In Philly, at the time, there was nobody really doing anything with the stickers like that—with logos or characters or anything. So I was like if I do something that’s simple, like a face, ordinary people might start recognizing it.

SD: And did that happen? BWR: Yeah, after a few years of putting it everywhere! I would go to things years later, and realize how much of an impact it had. I would be talking to somebody at an art show—like, if I was drawing or doodling, they would be like what is that? I’ve seen that! I don’t know where, but I know I’ve seen that! Why do I know what that is? And that’s what I was trying to go for!

SD: How did the whole sticker scene get started in Philadelphia, and what was your role in it? BWR: Me and El Toro both started around the same time. When I started doing it, there was nothing. Philly graffiti is really traditional, and has its own roots. People didn’t really venture too far into different ways of getting up. They would use markers and stickers, but not like New York or London or other cities. You could go to London in 2003, and there were stickers everywhere! Graffiti, characters, logos, random designs, everything. Philly was in a bubble, while all these other cities had this going on. So I think I kind of got lucky with my timing. I didn’t set out like I’m going to be the first to do this, but it made it easier for me to get recognized.

So me and El Toro were doing it. There was no way to get in touch with somebody [doing stickers] back then. You couldn’t just Google their Instagram name. So the closest thing to social media was… FotoLog I think it was called? You basically posted a picture and people could comment on the bottom of it. It was very primitive. So I made up some anonymous email for that, and [El Toro] emailed me. We were like let’s meet up! It was weird—we were both so paranoid. He brought a friend and I brought a friend… I don’t know what we thought was going to happen! But it was kinda cool, because after that we teamed up. We pushed each other to put up stickers. We were putting them ALL OVER. It got to the point where every single corner and every news bin… It was like a plague or something! But I think that’s what kind of snowballed. We were everywhere, so anybody that was into art or graffiti would see it, and be like wow, this is something new. I want to do that. So I think little by little, people started jumping on and doing it. I think it excited people, as something different and new, that they could get into if they didn’t want to go spray paint on walls—to take it to that level. They could draw on stickers… and everybody likes stickers! A lot of them were art students who had their own characters already that they had been drawing for years.

SD: You’re a founding member (together with El Toro, UnderWaterPirates, josh?, and ticky) of one of the earliest sticker crews, Sticky Bandits. Why did you guys form a crew, and what did you get out of it? BWR: El Toro kind of came up with the idea and started it. I don’t know if we were the first sticker crew… but I think we were the most organized at the time. We were like let’s get shows, let’s stick together. El Toro would be like hey I talked to this guy who has a shop; he said he’d do a show for us. All of us would be included, immediately. We would have solo shows too, but it was kind of a strength-in-numbers thing to push into galleries. We’d get together and hang out and draw, and we’d all bring stickers and markers, and in the coming weeks, we’d see them up. Like, El Toro must have put that up! It was cool. It was a good time.

SD: Ok, I feel like we’ve missed a major chunk here—how do we get from this brand new sticker scene in Philly to having shows? BWR: I guess it was just putting our work on canvases. People who were into street art at the time, in Philly especially, were excited about it. So I guess when we started having shows, it was like oh, they’re artists. And then people were excited to buy the artwork. When you put a sticker out there, it’s not like somebody can take it. To be able to bring some of it home was cool for people.

SD: Can you tell us about the Sticky Art Machine that you curate here at Tattooed Mom? BWR: Somebody had a machine like that early on, somewhere down on South Street—this girl who did Nerds stickers. She brought artists from around the country at the time. Like I said, everybody loves stickers, so to be able to buy a street artist’s stickers was a cool thing! And it also gave exposure to these artists. So one day I started thinking that doing something here would be kinda perfect—to bring back that idea. I haven’t been as active the last few years, so I was like what could I do to be relevant, but in a different way? So there’s two sides of the machine: one Philly sticker artist, and one from another city that either I like or Robert [the owner of Tattooed Mom] likes—someone that is making an impact where they are.

In stickers, everybody’s kind of cooperating with each other. It’s not like a competition; everybody was excited about everybody that was doing it. It was never like oh your stuff sucks or that’s dumb, why do you do that. No matter what someone did, if they were putting them up, we would trade stickers. I would put theirs up, send them a picture, here’s your sticker in Philly, and they would send me one, here’s yours in Paris… it was cool! And it was kind of like teamwork, like a fun collaboration, with everybody doing the same thing. So now, the machine is like a way to keep up that [tradition]. To bring an artist from Los Angeles to Philly… To be able to give their stickers to people here.

SD: I’ve been curious about the incorporation of the copyright symbol into your work. Is that a sort of commentary on stuff like H&M? BWR: I guess it could take on that meaning, but I started doing that before that whole H&M thing. I think I did it sarcastically at the time. There were a few people in Philly that were ripping off me and El Toro, like making a character that wasn’t really their own thing—they kind of just took pieces of ours. I remember the first one I did with the copyright thing—I filled the entire sticker with like 100 copyright symbols. It said “this is mine” or something like that, so I put it out there sort of in that person’s face, like this is my design, this is my thing. But then I started using it as a design accent, I guess. It just became an extra element—like I’ll throw an arrow here, or the copyright symbol there.

SD: What advice would you give to someone starting out as a sticker artist? BWR: Something El Toro always said was hand-drawn stickers are important. For a while, we almost… discredited people who just printed their stickers. It’s like come up with a design, send it off, print out 5,000 stickers, and go put them up? To hand-draw every sticker—we both do vinyl; obviously it’s a big part of it—but the hand-drawn stickers are putting an actual piece of artwork that you made out. It would be like if a gallery artist would paint their canvass, throw it out on the street, and then never see it ever again. The vinyl is cool, but there’s vinyl stickers everywhere—politicians use vinyl stickers. There is an exception to vinyl—the writer CASPA from Baltimore uses almost exclusively vinyl. He cuts each one and they have layers. He’s been doing it for longer than me, and his crew HITS uses TONS of vinyl. They are an exception for sure. But yeah, it’s your art, your design, but we always thought that if you’re a sticker artist, drawing your stickers—at least some of them—is important.

SD: Well yeah, when people talk about Philadelphia’s sticker tradition, they talk about Bob and El Toro hand-drawing and hand-cutting-out all their stickers. BWR: It’s so much more work. Maybe we were just pissed, when people put up vinyl and got out of all the hard work! Haha! To print vinyl stickers, you mail it off and it gets printed. There’s a whole process when you’re hand-drawing. And when you’re putting up thousands of stickers, you need a LOT. You need to go to the post office and take all their stickers. Go to three post offices. Go to the UPS bins and take all their stickers. Then you go home and you draw on all these stickers. Then you cut them out—it looks so much better when you cut out the character. So then you sit there for an hour cutting stickers, and your fingers are all calloused up—I used to have a mark from the scissors rubbing. It’s a lot of time before you go put them up! So we took that seriously.

SD: Sticker art has changed in many ways over the course of your career. What, in your mind, has been the biggest shift? BWR: The Internet. Social media, especially Instagram, makes it easier for people to get their work out there without really physically having to do it. You can go out and put 20 stickers up and post them, and then people all over the world see your thing. Whereas before the Internet, you go out and put 20 stickers up… 20 stickers is nothing! You know? In a huge city, if you put 20 stickers, nobody’s gonna see them. Back then, I had to put a lot more work into making a presence. I would go at night and put 500 stickers up. Multiple nights! Go home. Make 500 more stickers. Then two days later, go out and put up 500 more stickers. You had to put in a lot of work to really make an impact. Whereas today… I’m guilty of it too—I’m not as active anymore, but I’ll do a couple paintings at home, and put some stickers up, and for people who aren’t from here, it’s like I’m active. But if you actually [walked the streets], you might see a couple of my stickers, but you’d be like where’s all the Bob stickers? You know? It’s easy to get a false representation of what’s really going on in the streets.

SD: It sounds like you view that as a negative? BWR: I guess mostly negative… There’s definitely benefits, cause it’s nice to be able to see what everybody’s doing; to show what you’re doing; it’s very simple. But yeah, there’s definitely a negative impact, I think. Especially with the mainstream—like, people see it now. It’s accepted a little more. Back then, it was underground and not as easily accessible to normal people.

SD: How do you feel about that mainstreaming? BRW: I don’t know, I guess it’s just like a natural evolution of it. Graffiti kind of had its own separate timeline of that. When people started doing the subways in New York, it was this new thing. But eventually it became let’s put these train writers in a gallery. It slowly broke into the mainstream. Now, graffiti is definitely still illegal, but it’s in advertising, and [the H&M thing]… It’s like almost accepted. Street art kind of had the same thing; same timeline.

SD: El Toro recently posted about this on Instagram, saying that putting up stickers could lead to jail time when you guys first started. So I want to ask you the very question he posed: is mainstream acceptance of street art a good thing or a bad thing for the culture? BWR: It’s obviously a good thing, cause that’s what anybody doing it would want—people to accept it. I don’t want to be one of those people that’s like oh, it’s lame now. I don’t want to do it anymore because it’s accepted. But back then, it was kind of lumped in with graffiti. There was no “street art” and “graffiti.” It was all just “illegal graffiti.” So if you put up stickers, especially the amount we were doing… We had people that wanted to find us. Whether it was the Metro city paper—we heard rumors that their higher-ups were pissed, cause they had to clean these boxes all the time… There was some rogue police officer that was trying to find us, doing a vigilante-type thing. He knew who we were, somehow, and was posting pictures of our faces… He looked into our family life…

SD: He was doxing you?! BWR: Yeah, he was trying to, I don’t know, scare us away from doing it? I don’t know what happened to that guy, but it was a pretty scary time. We were just doing stickers, but it was like people want us to STOP. It wasn’t accepted or anything, but we were so passionate that we kept going. So it kind of weeded out people that didn’t want to risk it, that weren’t into it for the right reasons. We were into it for the cause of what we were building—we knew it was a cool thing for Philly. Now, if I walked around and put up a hundred stickers and got caught by a police officer—people are always gonna hate it—but I don’t think it would be like how it was. I think it would be like knock it off. A slap on the wrist. So it’s easier for people who aren’t really into it—they might just jump in and out for, like, a month. Which is good because there’s more people doing it, but there was maybe more respect back then for doing it.

SD: You once made a sticker that said “I would have been different without graffiti.” What does that mean to you? BWR: That was an important one for me. It was one that I had to put up. I guess when I wrote that, I was thinking about my life, and how much time I put into [stickers]. Thinking if I didn’t spend the hundreds of hours walking until four in the morning, what would I be like? What would my life be like? What would I be into? I spent so much time on it that it changed the trajectory of my life. When I wrote that, I was kind of bummed out about it, like, man, did I fuck up? It was at a crossroads where I needed to try to be an adult and have a career, and I was like did I mess up by spending 10 years just putting up stickers and writing on walls? So it was kind of like a negative when I did it, and then the more I think about it, it’s like alright, I did it and I was proud of it, so without it, maybe I wouldn’t have all these interesting stories or I wouldn’t have met all these cool people. So it kind of turned into a positive.

SD: So how would you have been different? If you hadn’t been putting hundreds of hours into stickers, what would you have been spending your time on? BRW: I don’t know! I don’t know what I would have done with all that time! I guess everybody else just drank and partied? I don’t know, people play sports and do whatever hobbies they have; I did [stickers]. I feel like maybe at the time, I needed it, for anxiety and the stress of life. It kind of carried me through a lot of things. When you’re doing it, you’re not you. You’re doing this work, and you totally escape everything. You’re in that moment. You could totally leave everyday life and go out and be this other guy.

SD: How do you think Philly would be different without graffiti? BRW: For ordinary people in the city, obviously it would be better for the city to not have graffiti. But for people who are involved in graffiti, I think it would be a loss. The graffiti culture in Philly goes so DEEP. [Writers here] pay attention to people who came before them. And everybody does it for different reasons, but when they come together, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from. I always thought graffiti was cool in the sense that there are no barriers like race or anything like that.

SD: I know you’ve periodically toyed with the idea of quitting stickers. What keeps you going? Is there anything that would make you stop? BWR: I don’t think so. I knew it would never stop when I first started. I used to joke that I would be an old dude with a cane and still have a sticker in my pocket ready to go. It’s different now in that I’m not going out, organized-mission style, with a map of Philly. It’s not as serious now, but I don’t think I’ll ever quit. Even now, I always have stickers ready, even if it’s just one in my wallet. It’s never gonna stop—it’s crazy.

SD: So when will Bob finally reign? BWR: Haha. I don’t know, maybe he did already. I think it all happened in the heyday. I just think it’s cool that it made an impact. I think it’s crazy that kids that were like five when I started doing it now see Bob and they’re like that’s Bob! It lasted—I’m not really doing it as often as I used to, but it’s kind of in the history books. Graffiti writers in Philly today are still like Bob is the sticker king. So I think he definitely reigned.

…And the will reign started as a joke too, like the copyright thing. It happened during that whole crazy time when I was just putting up thousands of stickers. It was kind of an ego thing. Bob will reign. I put it on a couple, and then it kind of became his full name. And then it became like Robert William Reign… It was kind of a joke, but it stuck, I guess.

SD: What’s your lunch order at Tattooed Mom? BWR: Cheesy tots!

SD: Thanks for doing this interview! BWR: Thank you! I was thinking about it and this is my first sit-down interview ever about Bob. I’m glad to have been able to say all of that after all these years.

This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.

PHILLY: Join Tattooed Mom’s every Sunday in December for their FREE Sunday Arts & Crafts: Holiday Decorations!

Celebrate the season in style with a plethora of crafty decorations, garnishes, and trimmings! Customize your very own ornament or snowman, bedazzle a stocking, or decorate a holiday coloring book page! Take your creations with you, or add to the holiday cheer at TMOMs and donate your work to our Arts & Crafts holiday art gallery… Learn more HERE!

Read past articles from our Philly Street Art Interviews series by clicking the artists name: Hope Hummingbird, FaithsFunnn.

from → Uncategorized

Source: https://streetsdept.com/2018/12/03/philly-street-art-interviews-meet-bob-philadelphias-reigning-sticker-king/

[americanfrolic]

Photo by Mallory Culbert

   I was fortunate enough to meet Travis, Lauren and their road captain George back in the early spring of 2014. They had set up shop at my work and I was immediately drawn to their vintage camper and all the amazing artwork,vintage,makers and designers they had packed into that beautiful Airstream. I was able to have a quick conversation with both Travis and Lauren and I picked their brain a little bit just about life on the road and how they make things work while living on the road for the past few years. It was kinda crap weather in Chicago while they were here so they didn't get to stay open as much as they wanted and they left a day or two after we spoke, I figured that was probably the last time I would see them or we might cross paths somewhere down the line.  

      At this point and time, Stef and I had been talking about leaving Chicago and finding a home in another state. Southern California was an option, Long Beach to be exact, and we were actually both kind of excited about it. As the summer pushed on and we thought more and more about it we came up with the grand idea to take a road trip to figure out exactly where we wanted to live and that ended up snowballing into finding a camper trailer that we could live in, travel, and search for dream destination to live. A few months after I had met Small Room Collective we had found the Frolic and we couldn't be more excited to get in and get to work on it!

   A few short days after we got our camper I heard news that Travis, Lauren, and George were back in town and posted up at our sister restaurant a few miles away. I think I was supposed to meet up with Stef when I had gotten off work that day but I completely spaced it do to the fact I was filled with complete joy that Small Room Collective was back in town. I had to see them and tell them our master plan, I had to ask them a million stupid questions on how they make it work, I had to know exactly what Stef and I were getting ourselves into first hand from people that have been doing this for two years now!!!  I probably rode my bike way faster than I should have over there and might have made a complete fool of myself acting like a little school girl but they were both very sweet and were genuinely excited for Stef and I once I told them our plan. I remember texting Stef that she had to come over and meet them if it was the last thing she did, she now understood why I wasn't answering my phone and really wasn't that mad at me. After a few beers on the patio Stef arrived and the 4 of us sat there and talked for some time,it was amazing just hearing their stories and all the valuable information they have collected after being on the road for so long. It was getting late so we decided that we were going to take off and before we left Travis and I exchanged numbers, I don't think he intended for me to use that number as much as I have with my million questions I've asked over the past 9 months but Stef and I very grateful for all their help and support over these last few months. Travis and I now talk every few days now that we are about 1 month away from being in the camper and we have made some good plans to meet up this July and do a little bit of traveling together on the east coast. We are very fortunate to call Travis, Lauren and George our friends with only have actually hung out twice in our lives, haha. But that's what is so special about this whole community of full-time travelers,rvers,weekend warriors or whatever you want to call us. Every person we have met (or have never actually met in person) has been more than supportive  and some of the sweetest humans I have ever come in contact with.

   Here's a quick interview Stef came up with for Travis and Lauren, just a couple questions that racked our brains leading up to our departure and that we found might be helpful to our readers. So thank you guys very much for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to answer  our questions and we look forward to seeing you very soon!

What is your background or education?

Travis:

Grew up in Georgia, became an orphan at 16. He went on to study product design at Georgia Tech, enrolling his final year of high school. After working in various roles launching medical & consumer products, as well as exhibits, , he moved to Los Angeles and obtained an MA in Theology and the Arts. He then worked a short stint in the IT world in Los Angeles, meeting Lauren and then moving to Mobile, AL. Then we got hitched and after living 2 years in Austin doing Design, we left and to travel. He built out the trailer in a couple weeks and continues to be our logistical captain.

Lauren:

Grew up in Texas and was a tomboy who liked the color pink. Her favorite babysitters were old women who lived on her block named Rosemary and Sue Ellen, plus Madeline who did not live on her block. You could commonly find her on a rope swing over a creek, with her basset hound Henrietta, running out in some field, or dressed up in a costume. She left Texas to study creative writing in California and then decided that she would go to nursing school in Alabama. She now is a travel nurse part of the year, does some freelance and personal writing, and co-runs Small Room Collective. She is a hair-brained-scheme type of person that likes to break it down on the dance floor and loves a good adventure.

George:

Found on the streets of Pflugerville, TX (just north of Austin), George came in our lives like a lightning bolt upon finding him at Town Lake Animal Shelter (now Austin Pets Alive). He loves deeply and sleeps even more so, but he's a hard working shop dog that loves every bit of attention he receives.

What inspires your work?

We're always looking for the transcendent or grandiose in the miniscule. Knowing that the smallest of things have value, and we hope to connect and promote that. The opportunity to constantly discover. So many gems out there

George, Travis and Laurens 10 1/2 lab hound mix co-pilot.

What does your camper look like?

Its like a large shiny piece of aluminum with wheels. A chrome exhaust pipe with wheels! :)

What do you pull it with?

Sprinter Van 2500 - 144" wheelbase.

How do you guys get your mail?

Mail has been tricky for us. Lots of difficulty, especially with tolls and those kinds of things. Lauren's mom sends it to us in bulk a few times a year.

Do you belong to any camper or RV organizations?

We're only official members of Harvest Hosts. However we've found such a community of travelers out there. We're not organized, but if we had to pick a leader I think Dan of @malimishairstream is the mayor.

Whats your favorite place to camp?

Coastal, desert and any where free, including friends' driveways, farms, wineries, etc. Getting off the beaten path and boondocking in the middle of nowhere is awesome. But because we find ourselves in urban areas a lot for setting up the shop/gallery, we love being in the middle of metropoli with Bob (the trailer) and George anywhere we can fit (without people complaining).

How do you make a living?

Through our Small Room Collective Road Emporium which is a mobile Shop/Gallery+ our other pursuits. Lauren writes,Travis does design work of all kinds. Lauren also works as a RN on a contract, typically in the winter.

Lauren, or what i tell Travis he should call her, "The Boss"

What do you use for Wifi, phone, insurance?

We have a hotstpot with Verizon. We have 2 phones on that plan as well.  Insurance we have an agreed upon value with Nationwide for the Airstream.  The Healthcare exchanges, despite our hopes,was a bust. It has been a mess and we opt not to participate anymore.

How long have you been doing this?

With the trailer, we are just starting our 3rd year. We've been traveling for 4.5 years.

Describe the hardest day you have had on the road.

Hmmm. Boy, we've had some tough ones for sure.... trying to get into NYC became a 5 hour ordeal due to having propane tanks on the trailer and not being able to cross certain tunnels and bridges only on the top level--instead of a 30 minute ordeal which is what Google maps indicated;when George got bitten by several ticks and got really sick last summer, and we had to coordinate vet appointments with moving from city to city; being on the toad and learning that we've lost people we love. Lots of hard moments, but that happens in life. Luckily we are adaptable and somehow figure out how to keep the wheels spinning.

Describe the most rewarding day you have had on the road

Everyday we meet cool people, and we know its an especially good day when going to sleep we feelit and know, "this is why we do this".

Who travels with you?

Just us, our 10.5 year old lab hound mix George & around 70 makers + shakers (via their good and art work).

Travis,Lauren,George and there 1963 Airstream.

  You can visit thier website at www.smallroomcollective.com or give them a follow on Twitter and Instagram @smallroomcollective. Also Travis has an amazing company out of the camper he calls his "Mobile Motorcycle Exploratorium" called Hardy Bros Moto. Check them out atwww.hardybrosmotoworks.com and Instagram @hardybrosmotoworks and Twitter @hardybrosmoto

[alhorner]

Anderson .Paak is the man with no off switch

After their first night on tour together, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak had dinner. “We were chopping it up, and he was like ‘I’m gonna help you out, we gonna write together,’” says .Paak. “He asked me: ‘But are you really ready man? You ready to have that hit?’ And I was like ‘damn, bro… I’m ready to make hits, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that.’”

By that, he means the kinda spotlight that comes with true pop behemoth status: the type of celebrity that, as .Paak’s ultra famous ‘Uptown Funk’ hitmaker pal could attest, means infinite riches and glamorous Super Bowl half time show slots, yes, but also means being hounded by paparazzi at every turn. “I like where we’re at now,” he muses. “I’m making music that’s pushing the culture, but I can still go out and get a coffee and not get surrounded by TMZ.”

We don’t know how to break this to him but if things continue to snowball for .Paak this might not be the case for long. The hip-hop polymath, who not long ago was homeless and working on a weed farm in his native California, is responsible for not one but two of last year’s most critically adored albums. He’s the preferred writing partner of every rapper and musician you currently love or admire. Dr. Dre signed him to his label. He’s hit the studio with Chance The Rapper, sold out arenas worldwide with Bruno Mars, shared a stage with Kendrick, and gone viral in an internet video dancing with his infant son, Soul, on Ellen. On top of all this, he’s about to electrify festival stages across Britain and Europe with his backing band the Free Nationals. After a frantic 18 months putting his infectious brand of soul-dripped rap on the map, he’s a guy in dire need of a break. Not that he has any intention of taking one.

“I actually think I sleep too much, man. I got shit to get done,” the 31-year-old says as he takes control of the studio stereo, queueing up some 1980s funk and a few Kendrick hits (“I’m still getting into his new album but it’s amazing,” he says, over the heavy piano panic of lead single ‘HUMBLE’). It’s a sunny April afternoon in east London, where the multi-instrumentalist is gulping back espressos and bouncing about with an electricity that’ll come in handy over the next week, when he’s tasked with entertaining London’s massive O2 Arena across four sold-out nights (“20,000 people a night man, I love it,” he beams). But by the sounds of it, one of this summer’s must-see festival performers would rather be working on beats than partying in front of the Pyramid Stage if he wasn’t performing.

“I’m in a constant state of creation. You need to physically tear me outta that studio sometimes. Shit, that makes me sound boring,” he jokes, piling a plate with caesar salad as we sit down for lunch. In person, he’s a one-man charisma machine, his conversation regularly dropping into the same raspy flow that lights up his records. “I like to party, but I’d always rather be in a studio environment creating something super dope.” He’s not kidding – after our interview, he ends up taking a taxi to Abbey Road for an afternoon throwing ideas around with Chic’s Nile Rodgers, Bruno Mars and parent-sharing house practitioners Disclosure.

That hard-working streak might have something to do with his difficult backstory. Born Brandon Paak Anderson, the artist known nowadays as Anderson .Paak (the dot is to “make people pay attention to the little details” he says) was raised in the small west-coast beach city of Oxnard, 100km from Los Angeles, by a Korean-born mother who hustled her way up from being “literally found by a dumpster, abandoned” in the 1950s to owning her own strawberry business empire. His dad, an African American naval worker, was jailed when .Paak seven years old for assaulting his mother in the street in front of him (“he beat her within an inch of her life,” he has previously said on the matter). Assault and firearm charges followed, landing his father a 14-year sentence.

“There were hard moments,” says .Paak about his upbringing. “But the way music alleviated stress and tension for me when things were hard, I want my music to help people and give them the good vibes they need. That’s what it’s about.”

After his father’s incarceration, his mother remarried. An otherwise pretty uneventful childhood spent playing drums – his first instrument – at his local church, going to punk shows and devouring “any, every” type of music was interrupted aged 17 when freak storms wrecked his mother’s strawberry farm crops, plummeting her into bankruptcy and sparking a gambling addiction that ended in a prison spell for her and .Paak’s stepfather over undeclared earnings.

When his birth father was eventually released from prison, the songwriter’s attempts to rekindle their relationship were cut short by cancer, and he passed away before they could meet again. A failed marriage, a period when he was homeless and a spell working on a medical marijuana farm (“the hardest work of my life, there was football fields of that stuff”) also all beckoned, as his music career initially struggled to take off. “Homeless sounds so dramatic,” he’s able to laugh now. “I was crashing at different homies’ spots, we had homies helping us out, while I tried to get a little change together or till I was out on tour. But it was hard, of course, having to be patient waiting for a break.”

That break came when Dr Dre pulled him out of relative obscurity for a star turn on his long-delayed ‘Compton’ album in 2015. A year later, .Paak – now signed to Dre’s prestigious Aftermath label – dropped a phenomenally addictive solo album titled ‘Malibu’, closely followed by another phenomenally addictive album as part of rap duo Nxworries. ‘Yes Lawd!’, that Nxworries album made an impact, but it was ‘Malibu’ that really slayed – a vivid, Grammy-nominated soul trip in equal parts euphoric, fun, introspective and heart-crushing, it came packed with reflections on .Paak’s hard route to the top.

From there, he went on to wow the Grammys, performing live with his childhood heroes A Tribe Called Quest. “It’s that shit that gives you those ‘oh shit’ moments: like, wow, I’m in a room with Dre, this is really fucking happening! After a while, that kinda fades and you realise they’re they’re cool, you’re cool, you’re all just here to rock together,” he says. “But that first time… it really is like, ‘oh shit!’”

Dre he describes as a hip-hop machine who doesn’t mess around. “Dre’s so busy, so when he comes through, we just lock in. It don’t take no time for us to be making some cool shit. He fights for what he wants and that’s the common thing I’ve seen in real geniuses who make a real impact – that undying fight for what they want, from Dre to Kendrick to Bruno, these people don’t let anyone else dictate their vision. They fight. Dre’s a perfectionist. I like to think he saw that in me too.”

Skip forward to 2017, and .Paak considers himself in a pretty good place. He’s recently been working with another of his “super dope” heroes Pharrell Williams. His wife, Jae-Lin – who he met while working at a music school during his 20s – is pregnant with the couple’s second child. And .Paak is also excited to get a new album he describes as “groove-based, uptempo, high art, intelligent dance music” inspired by Chic out there soon. “It’s fun stuff but has a message and feeds the soul.”

But while he’s currently enjoying life, he’s acutely aware that large portions of the population of his home nation are struggling under its new management. “America is a place where you can come and get your hustle on and build yourself up from the dirt. That’s its history: opportunity. To see people having the nerve to go against that… they’re full of shit,” he rages, dropping his megawatt smile for a moment to explain why there’s a more political slant to his upcoming release. “I’m affected by what’s going on socially so I feel it’s my responsibility to try and say something. If I don’t take that opportunity, I may as well be working at the Tesco.”

This by the way is a tick of .Paak’s – true to his nice guy reputation in the world of hip-hop, he’s the type of guy who tries to get on your level by speaking your language when you meet him, peppering our conversation today with British colloquialisms and reference. It doesn’t end at mention of Tesco’s. “Knob jockey, knob sniffer… Dickhead, that’s a classic one,” laughs the Californian before we part, showing off a few UK swear words he’s added to his lexicon on recent trips. “These are good words to use at the Tesco, geezer,” he adds, in an abominable London accent somewhere between Michael Caine and a Lewisham grime MC. “Sorry,” he adds, “that’s really bad, I can’t really do the British accent,” he giggles sheepishly, plunging his head into his hands. “I’ll stop before you don’t let me back here.”

That would certainly be a disappointment to .Paak’s growing legion of fans: the next time he’s due on British shores, it’s for a run of high profile festival performances including Park Life and Glastonbury that should inch the 31-year-old closer to that all-conquering superstar status he’s not entirely sure he wants. He’s not stressing too much though. “We’re gonna get out there, look good, sound good, with our energy up,” he grins, “and give the people what they need. That’s what I’m here for.”

Shortlist, May 2017