#the white cat Lexie is also known as:

[acommonanomaly]

Lexie and Jojo are keeping me company, what more could I ask for

[arakawa-division]

"I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all." - Simone Biles

Introduction

Alexis "Lexi" Ward is the leader of the Arakawa Division rap battle team, Sounds of Silence. She is known far and wide by her moniker, Agent 355. An operative from America, and one of the best members to don their uniform, Alexis takes her position as an agent for the Agency very seriously. And with the influence and threat of Chuohku steadily growing larger and larger by the day, she was personally chosen by the director of her team to stem their threat before it grows too large to control.

Alexis is a beautiful American woman with short red hair that goes past her neck and bangs that sometimes fall into her light-brown eyes. She stands at six feet and weighs 147 lb. She has a C-sized chest, long hips, and a somewhat slim waist.

When she isn't working, Alexis dresses casually wearing a sleeveless black crop top, blue jeans with star prints, an oversized brown leather belt, and low-heeled brown sandals. She has a pair of blue sunglasses, either on top of her head or on her face. Lastly, she has a black collar around her neck.

When she is on the job, Alexis wears a uniform typical of the Agency. It consists of a white buttoned dress shirt, a pair of black slacks, some black dress socks and shoes, a matching-colored tie, and a suit jacket. She's discarded her sunglasses for a pair of reading glasses, giving her a more professional look. She's also tied up her hair in the back, giving her a bun. She also has a pair of dog tags around her neck. Lastly, an emblem is implanted on her dress shirt, which shows her affiliation to the U.S. and her organization.

Name Meaning

Alexis - A name of Greek origin. It means, "defender" or "helper".

Lexi - A name of Greek origin, derived from the name "Alexis". It means, "man's defender".

Ward - A name of English origin. It means, "guardian" or "watchman".

Aliases:

"Alex"/"Lexi"- (Her close friends and family)

"Red", Lady, Sexy, Beautiful, etc.

Agent Ward

"The Crimson Agent"

Auntie - Her nephew

Biographical Info

Gender - Female

Age - 34

Birthday - February 8th

Ethnicity - American

Hair Color - Velvet Red

Eye Color - Light Brown

Height - 182 cm (6'0")

Weight - 67 kg (147 lb.)

Star Sign - Aquarius

Piercings - N/A

Markings - Faded scars on her arms and legs.

Tattoo of the date '9/21' on her lower left hip.

Family -

Father (Deceased)

Mother

Brother (Deceased)

Sister

Niece

Voiced By - Dessa (Rapping)

Fun Facts

MC Name - Agent 355

Occupation - Photographer/CIA Operative

Division - Arakawa

Team - Sounds of Silence

Position - 1st Member/Leader

Favorite Food - Beef Broth Rice

Least Favorite Food - Pork and Beans

Likes - Photography, sunny days, music ballads, baseball, dogs, riding her motorcycle, her job, her dog tags, shopping, and reading

Dislikes - Cloudy days, ashy skin, cats, her father and brother's killer terrorists, threats to her country, waking up late, perverts, sad memories and cigarette smoke

Hypnosis Microphone

Alexis's Microphone takes the form of a black earpiece headset, which goes into her ears. It is similar to what security guards wear while on the job.

Her Speaker takes the form of three American flags on poles, blowing in the wind. Instead of the aluminum balls usually displayed atop each pole, they are replaced with speakers. Atop the pole in the middle sits a bald eagle.

Her rap ability, Build Me Up, allows Alexis to increase her attack, defense, and stamina the more that her team or her opponents use their abilities. Unlike her teammates, her ability is always active.

Alexis's rap themes center on her love for her job, her family and her country. She speaks about how America has prevailed and persevered throughout its 200+ year-old history and how it will continue to do so. On serious topics, she raps about her hatred for enemies of America, and her wish to find the man behind her father and brother's murders. She will also sometimes rap about her love for the outdoors, knowledge and taking pictures.

Personality

Despite how she appears, Alexis is a nice, friendly woman outside of her uniform who is kind to everyone. When she is not working, she enjoys spending her time outside in nature, taking photos with her Sony a7 IV. She dislikes being cooped up in one place, which is why she loves her cover job as a photographer, as it allows her to go to new places and see new sights. She loves the pictures she takes, considering them priceless treasures.

Alexis is also a lover of fine clothes, enjoying going shopping with her friends. She also enjoys reading in her spare time and is an avid fan of women's magazines and fashion blogs. She also enjoys engaging in idle talk with her friends at times. However, she has stated that she doesn't like gossip, and will not participate in it no matter who it is about, as she finds the thought and idea of talking about someone behind their back to be disgusting. Besides that, Alexis is just a normal woman you'd find everywhere. She affirms to the belief that 'my job does not make me.'

However, once it is time for her to get to work, Alexis becomes an entirely different person, dedicated solely to the perfection of her job, and the absolute completion of her mission, whatever it may be. She is well-trained in firearms and intelligence and has been noted by her superiors for her quick thinking and ability to come up with plans on short notice. And though she has been reprimanded for disobeying orders on occasion, her work and accomplishments are always enough to keep her from being punished.

She is firmly loyal to her country, even if she doesn't always agree with the policies put in place by those in charge. She has stated that if she has to give her life to defend it, then she gladly will. She believes that this is the ultimate show of loyalty she can give to the U.S. The real reason for this is due to the fact that both her father and older brother gave their lives to protect the former president. She now strives to live as well and as best as she can to honor their memories.

Background

*Coming soon*

Trivia

She knows FBI Agent, Kyler Aaron, due to the fact that the CIA and FBI often cooperated on missions. She often teases him because he once made a mistake on a mission, requiring her to save him. She's held it above his head since then.

Her answer when asked where she's from is always, 'Langley, Virginia.'

Though she loves her country, she doesn't really care much for the people in charge; particularly, Byron Douglas, the current president of the U.S.

The dog tags she wears belonged to her father and brother. She wears them in honor of their memory and service.

Though she came to Japan in order to keep an eye on Chuohku, her real reason is to find the person responsible for her father and brother's murders. The only clue she has on the killer is that 'the killer is currently incarcerated in Japan and has a reputation as a former hitman...'

[gemwing2010]

Cuphead Show Dreamstones Edition: Devil Headcanons

Aside from Old Scratch, Mr. S and the Big D, the Devil is also known as Satan, The Father of the Lies and, of course, Lucifer.

He considers Lexie and Natty to be his greatest rivals/enemies since they are both Christians.

He has a major case of daddy issues.

According to Natty, he throws a tantrum like a 5-year-old.

His favourite foods are certain dishes named after him such as devilled crab for instance.

His favourite choices of beverages range from tea, coffee, wine and champagne. He also enjoys a bit of fruit punch and sparkling water every now and then.

He enjoys devilled eggs and claims he actually invented them.

His favourite dessert is devil’s food cake.

The Devil’s favourite types of music are jazz, swing and opera.

He can play the piano, pipe organ and the violin.

He enjoys sweets, so you can be sure he can have quite a sweet tooth.

He also likes spicy foods.

The Devil actually hates anything sour.

He likes Katie’s coconut scented shampoo and uses similar haircare products to keep his fur as soft and fresh smelling as possible to impress her. Of course, this just creeps her out.

His favourite colours are red, black and gold.

The Devil’s known weakness is the Bible. Whenever he unknowingly or unwillingly makes physical contact with it, he gets zapped much like how he gets electrocuted when in contact with the impenetrable invisible sweater.

Whenever he takes a bubble bath, he has a rubber duck, which he affectionately names “Mr. Squeaks” due to the cute squeaky noises it makes whenever he squeezes it. No one in the Underworld but Henchman knows about Mr. Squeaks.

The Dreamstones often give him certain terms of insults. Such as “Old Scratch Butt”, “Mr. Stupid, and “The Big Doofus”. On separate occasions, Katie isn’t above calling him… “Luci”.

Due to his jealousy of Katie and Validor are dating, the Devil had dug up a book titled “Controlling Your Rage Volume 2: How to Cope with Your Envy”. Of course, much like with the previous book, he tends to tear out the pages and scatter them about in a fit of vent out fury.

Remember those pink bath towels he had been wearing after his shower in Release the Demons? Turns out someone had unknowingly thrown a red bow tie among the white laundry, thus making all of his bath towels pink.

Despite his flamboyant personality, his sexuality is straight.

Since the incident with losing his pitchfork that had fallen into Cuphead’s hands, the Devil has been working on trying to use his powers without his pitchfork should he end up misplacing it again or if there’s ever a time he’s disarmed. He’s even trying to learn how to summon it back into his hand akin to using the Force from Star Wars. Of course, he will still need his pitchfork to teleport.

He seems to be very fond of trains.

He’s also taking note to make sure that the Bubbles of Failure don’t apply to his pitchfork and the elevator when he needs to go up to the surface world to collect a soul.

Even though he’s purely evil, the Devil is still a gentleman as he values some proper edicts such as decent table manners and keeps his advances towards Katie as family friendly as possible as he is limited to cuddling and will often kiss her hand.

There’s often a running gag where characters outside of the Inkwell Isles often mistake the Devil for a very large cat man with horns.

He secretly sleeps with a dolphin plushie he made “Mr. Pebbles” on certain occasions, such as when he feels down.

He enjoys books written by Shakespeare. Among his favourites are Macbeth and Hamlet.

The Devil is ambidextrous, which means he tends to hold his pitchfork in his left hand and switched to holding it in his right hand.

He enjoys the theatre and has a soft spot for The Phantom of the Opera.

His #1 Boss coffee mug was a gift from Henchman.

His white suit and top hat combo is his trademark outfit for dancing purposes as shown in Carn-Evil and The Devil & Ms. Chalice.

[cookiesandcosplay]

Character: Alexandra Hunter

Name: Alexandra Hunter.

Age: 28

A.KA: Huntress, Lex, Lexie.

Origin: Human, with mutations.

Sexuality: Bisexual

Face Claim: Emma Watson

Power/Skill Set: Able to take on catlike mannerisms and appearance, however the fullest extent of her change makes her look like an ‘anthro’ lioness/puma. She is a skilled boxer, with mild working in taekwondo after. Excellent hearing and sight. Rather good on reconnaissance due to her heightened stealth.. Has been known to roar once.

Skin: Pale, pinkish cheeks. Or has tanned fur when in animal form with a white muzzle and rear paws.

Eyes: Deep blue, almost silver sparkle. Thick black eyelashes.

Hair: Chocolate brown, short with a long fringe, worn on the right - which is still present even in her animal form.

Height: 5’ 5 (in human form) or 5’ 6 (in animal form - including ears)

Personality: Intelligent - can come across as a know it all, abrupt, not afraid to speak her mind, loyal, big reader, sarcastic. However, if you are rude/mean/hurtful about her animal form, she can get rather sensitive - style of response can vary from tears to physically tearing you a new one.

Smoker: No, but likes the smell of tobacco

Drinks alcohol: Yes, she enjoys spirits when at parties - and enjoys a good white wine now and again. Tequila is her favourite! Though it does loosen her tongue.

Tolerance for alcohol consumption: Can hold her drink moderately well.

Medical Problems: Suffers from altered DNA, resulting in her hybrid cat form. She has dealt with self harm in the past - usually by starvation. Food is her one vice, so she felt it was the best way to punish herself.

Likes: Chocolate, reading - mostly fantasy and classic literature but is a sucker for Stephen King. Adores music and is a skilled pianist. Singing, most genres. Has an odd love of heavy metal music. Eating… Lots! For her size, she has an amazing appetite! Cooking, but doesn’t like doing the washing up afterwards.

Notes: Under distress or emotional excess she will turn “animal”, it can be controlled usually, but under extremes she can remain in animal form for days at a time. Certain poisons, chemicals or general illness can also effect her state of appearance.

[goldensfm]

              *    ╰     𝐡𝐢   𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲   𝐥𝐮𝐯𝐬   𝐚𝐧𝐝   𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐠   𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐬    ,   i’m   your   resident   crackhead   steven   forced   out   of   early   writing   retirement   by   miss   rona   but   i   ain’t   complainin   !    🤡    i’m   here   to   bring   you   a   decidedly   non   -   crackheaded   muse   utilizing   the   absolute   goddess   that   is   zendaya   .   like   got   DAMN   𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤   at   her   !   i’m   swimming   with   muse   for   lex   so   i   am   hoping   my   control   freak   ice   queen   offers   some   sort   of   justice   —   i   cant   wait   to   meet   you   all   and   love   you   down   endlessly   !   if   you   could   spare   a   𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭   for   my   validation   ,   i’ll   offer   you   all   my   best   plots   in   return   !   💖

𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕

     ❛   ✶   (   ZENDAYA  ,   CIS   -   FEMALE   ,   SHE   /   HER   )   spotted   !     ALEXANDRIA   ‘   LEX    ’   GOLDMAN   was   spotted   singing   along   to   BOSS   BITCH   by   DOJA   CAT   in   hilton   grove.   you’ve   heard   of   them   right   ?     they   are   a   TWENTY   -   TWO   year   old   ACTRESS   &   ENTREPRENEUR   who   has   already   amassed   a   net   worth   of   $31M.   you   should   really   follow   them   on   insta   @GOLDEN ,   they’re   about   to   hit   39.1M   followers.        the   tabloids   have   been   calling   them   the   EXECUTIVE   because   they   are   known   for   being   +   PURPOSEFUL   but   also   a   bit   -   AUSTERE.  —   ooc   info   (   steven   .   21   .   pst   .   she   /   her   /   they   /  them   .  )

𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒔

full   name   :      alexandria   (   defender   of   man   )   rochelle   (   little   rock   )   goldman   (   little   golden   one   ) nicknames   :       primarily   goes   by   lex   .   lexie   ,   xan   on   occasion   ,   and   gold   /   goldie   . birthday   &      age   :      september   3rd   /   22   years   old zodiac   :      virgo gender   &   pronouns   :      cis  -  female  ,  she   /   her   /   hers orientation   :       openly   bisexual nationality   :      american ethnicity   :       mixed   race   —   african  -  american   ,   german   ,   irish   ,   english   ,   scottish occupation   :       former   beauty   pageant   competitor   and   2016’s   miss   teen   usa   ,   current   film   and   television   actress   ,   model   ,   business   entrepreneur   ,   and   activist   .   recognized   for   :      starring   in   hbo’s   television   series   euphoria   ,   being   the   first   openly   queer   representative   for   the   usa   in   the   pageant   circuit   ,   her   advocacy   for   feminism   and   criminal   justice   reform   ,   a   bustling   social   media   page   ,   being   one   of   forbes   2019′s   top   30   under   30   . char . inspos  :    meredith  grey  from  grey’s  anatomy   ,   spencer   hastings   from   pretty   little   liars   ,   hermione   granger   from   harry   potter   ,   meghan   markle     ,   angela   martin   from   the   office   ,   alex   cabot   from   law   and   order   svu   ,   and   more   than   anything   ,   claire   from   fleabag   .     𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧   𝐢𝐟   𝐮   𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐦   𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠   𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞   ,   𝐢   𝐛𝐞𝐠   𝐨𝐟   𝐮   𝐭𝐨   𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡   𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬   𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨   𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭   𝐭𝐨   𝐠𝐞𝐭   𝐥𝐞𝐱’𝐬   𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞   𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝   𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨   𝟑   𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬   . tropes   :   control   freak   ,   defrosting   the   ice   queen   ,   perpetual   frowner   ,   did   you   think   i   can’t   feel   ?   ,   hidden   depths   ,   stepford   smiler   . aesthetics :    an  intellect  that  remembers  everything    ;    wild  caramel  curls  with  just  enough  composure  to  seem  effortless    ;    a  fear  of  failure   more  crippling  than  life  itself    ;    the  smell  of  fresh  linen  and  lavender     ;     a  color - coded  itinerary     ;     a  perfectly  choreographed  interaction  ,  each  time    ;    lilac  power - suits  and  an  immaculate  composure    ;     unspoken  mommy  issues    ;    tenebrous  ,  intent gazes  swimming  with  the  resonance  of  unspoken  thoughts   ;    ‘ don’t  touch  me  please ‘  syndrome    ;    kicking  out  hookups  before  you  both  fall  asleep    ;    ordering  the  same  thing  at  a  restaurant  ,  every  time    ;    flinching  at  ‘ i love you’s ’    ;    drafting  business  emails  at  the  club     ;    an  admiration  of  atlas  ,  with  the  world’s  weight  upon  your   shoulders .

𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚

               born   the   sole   continuance   of   the   goldman   name   to   a   mother   whose   pregnancy   was   all   but   a   career   death  -  sentence   ,   lex   bore   the   weight   of   the   world’s   expectations   on   graceful   shoulders   from   the   moment   she   came   into   the   light   .   lieutenant   olivia   goldman   ,   head   of   the   manhattan   police   department   ,   can   deny   the   salacious   accused   affair   with   the   district   attorney   until   she’s   blue   in   the   face   but   can’t   deny   the   consequence   of   their   tryst   ,   alexandria   being   a   painful   reminder   of   losing   nearly   all   her   mother’s   years   of   hard   work   while   her   father   simply   denied   her   existence   and   lived   none   the   more   guilted   .      from   the   start   ,   the   odds   were   stacked   against   the   goldman   progeny   ,      pushing   perfection   as   her   only   claim   to   some   semblance   of   attention   from   liutenant   goldman   .

             as   a   mixed   race   child   to   a   white   unwed   mother   in   law   enforcement   ,   working   80   hours   weeks   and   having   spent   years   building   her   career   ,   there   was   little   lex   saw   of   her   mother   that   wasn’t   something   resembling   exhaustion   or   utter   disinterest   .   this   forces   her   to   grow   independent   at   an   astounding   pace   ,   keeping   to   herself   as   to   not   bother   her   mother   with   her   own   whims   or   desires   .   at   12   ,   her   mother   is   courted   by   an   award   -   winning   director   who   requests   her   guidance   on   a   police   film   he’s   submitting   —   she   refuses   to   advise   on   the   film   ,   but   goes   to   dinner   with   him   as   a   courtesy   ,   and   they’re   married   a   year   later   in   a   lavish   hamptons   wedding   in   the   summer   .   rudy   delano   is   a   world -renowned   director   along   the   likes   of   steven   spielberg   ,   and   takes   to   lex   like   she   were   his   own   daughter   .   as   if   to   balance   out   olivia’s   coldness   and   detachment ,   he   showers   lex   in   adoration   and   support   ,   encouraging   her   to   pursue   her   interests   of   pageantry   when   she   voices   them   following   her   7th   grade   year   .  

              considering   a   lifetime   spent   nitpicking   and   pushing   her   own   facade   of   complete   calculation   ,   she   takes   the   pageantry   world   by   storm   and   it   seems   the   rest   of   her   life   falls   into   place   .   a   perfectionist   in   every   sense   ,   she   maintains   nothing   short   of   flawlessness   throughout   high   school   (   taking   on   student   council   co-president   ,   heading   several   clubs   ,   and   one   of   four   school   valedictorians   )   and   goes   on   to   compete   in   the   most   elite   of   pageantry   circuits   .   her   advocacy   for   marginalized   populations   was   a   major   platform   and   propelled   her   to   miss   teen   new   york   and   soon   after   ,   miss   teen   usa   .   in   the   live   aired   interview   segment   ,   perhaps   among   the   most   important   moments   of   her   life   ,   lex   makes   a   rare   slip   and   accidentally   comes   out   as   bisexual   when   asked   about   the   LGBTQ+   mental   health   crisis   in   her   home   state   of   new   york   .   this   leads   to   lex   becoming   the   first   openly   queer   miss   teen   usa   ,   and   would   have   likely   fared   well   if   she   were   to   have   continued   ;   despite   its   progressions   ,   the   pageant   world   of   sponsorships   seems   to   lag   behind  ,   and   the   ‘   controversy   ’    of   her   coming   out   led   to   her   leaving   the   pageant   world   for   good   .   

              on   her   own   two   wobbly   feet   ,   she   continues   with   her   advocacy   and   finds   herself   excelling   in   the   business   element   of   it   all   ,   going   on   to   obtain   her   business   degree   from   columbia   while   taking   on   the   big   screen   in   a   blossoming   film   career   at   the   encouragement   of   her   step   father   .   she   shoots   to   stardom   upon   the   release   of   euphoria   ,   paired   with   a   strong   social   media   presence   ,   a   thriving   modeling   career   ,   and   a   brand   that   becomes   recognized   as   a   household   name   synonymous   with   advocacy   and   entrepreneurship   .

𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

              perhaps   lex’s   most   notable   quality   is   being   driven   by   an   unyielding   fear   of   failure   and   mediocrity   .   there   is   no   task   small   enough   that   lex   will   not   accomplish   to   the   best   of   her   execution   ,   and   if   she   can’t   ensure   perfection   ,   she   will   refuse   to   give   it   an   attempt   at   all   .   this   all   or   nothing   attitude   stems   from   an   obscene   obsession   with   control   and   remaining   in   control   ,   something   those   around   her   are   all   too   aware   of   .  

              despite   a   rather   charming   and   gregarious   disposition   on   the   red   carpet   ,   many   will   note   that   lex   is   incredibly   reserved   when   meeting   her   in   real   life   .   the   pageantry   training   has   kicked   in   to   give   her   a   facade   to   push   when   she’s   in   the   spotlight   ,   though   her   true   disposition   is   much   less   play   and   much   more   work   .   she’s   stoic   and   serious   ,   knowing   just   what   to   say   at   what   time   to   continue   the   narrative   that   she   is   completely   in   control   .   cool   and   calculated   ,   her   affect   is   usually   stern   and   unwilling   to   reflect   any   sentiment   of   softness   or   goofiness   —   many   business   associates   note   her   absolute   maturity   and   rationality   even   at   the   tender   age   of   22   .   her   energy   ,   as   subdued   as   it   may   be   ,   commands   the   room   with   a   power   of   self-assuredness   that   only   stems   from   a   confidence   rooted   in   something   to   back   it   up   .   she’s   an   elderly   woman   in   a   millennial’s   body   ,   and   this   tends   to   show   in   her   dry   wit   humor   ,   relative   moodiness   ,   and   general   propensity   for   wanting   things   done   exclusively   her   way   .

              lex’s   intellect   has   always   been   a   strong   suit   of   hers   ,   a   photographic   memory   that   allowed   her   to   glide   through   school   with   the   least   of   struggles   .   astute   and   well   -   spoken   ,   monotone   and   unlikely   to   crack   in   her   stony   temperament   ,   she’s   a   force   of   nature   to   be   well   reckoned   with   .   luckily   ,   lex   shows   little   to   no   interest   in   engaging   with   petty   drama   and   tends   to   keep   in   her   own   lane   ,   losing   interest   nearly   immediately   in   the   mindless   pettiness   some   of   her   friends   wrap   themselves   up   in   .   rational   ,   arguably   to   a   fault   ,   lex   has   a   bad   habit   of   censoring   herself   and   limiting   her   own   commentary   when   in   the   company   of   anyone   she   needs   to   maintain   her   reputation   with  ;  close   friends   ,   on   the   other   hand   ,   will   easily   characterize   her   as   blunt   and   straightforward   ,   almost   too   aggressive   with   her   honesty   for   her   own   good   .   though   she’d   rarely   voice   it   ,   she   has   an   undeniable   superiority   complex   stemming   from   a   recognition   that   whatever   she   does   ,   she’s   incredibly   good   at   (   ignoring   her   unwillingness   to   step   out   and   try   anything   outside   her   comfort   zone   .   )

              this   is   the   curious   dichotomy   of   alexandria   goldman   ,   considering   one   of   her   most   notable   flaws   is   her   unwillingness   to   invest   .   despite   being   perhaps   overly   honest   ,   the   moment   a   conversation   (   or   relationship   )   runs   the   risk   of   becoming   too   emotionally   risky   ,   she   shuts   down   .   flames   have   been   ghosted   ,   relationships   have   been   ended   ,   and   friendships   have   been   cut   off   simply   because   lex   deemed   them   to   be   a   danger   to   her   mission   of   remaining   in   complete   control   of   herself   and   her   life   .   the   select   few   that   have   plowed   through   lex’s   rather   prickly   initial   interactions   have   earned   themselves   a   friend   forged   from   gold   ,   loyal   to   a   fault   and   ready   to   drop   anything   at   a   wind’s   blow   to   aide   those   she   loves   most   .   defensive   and   ornery   ,   the   pageant   girl   facade   soon   blows   over   to   reveal   an   anal   retentive   ,   emotionally   stunted   grandmother   who   loses   her   lid   over   the   most   minute   of   inconveniences   if   they   step   out   of   her   pre-established   plans   and   routines   .

              hiding   beneath   her   layers   of   fake   smiling   at   redundant   questions   ,   unapproachable   hostility   and   being   an   otherwise   unmeltable   ice   queen   ,   lex   harbors   a   deep   intensity   that   overcomes   her   when   allowed   to   reign   (   and   very   rarely   is   allowed   to   reign   )   .   she   does   not   invest   in   small   doses   and   despite   the   relative   unlikelihood   of   her   allowing   a   distraction   such   as   a   relationship   ,   the   few   she’s   had   have   been   intense   whirlwinds   led   by   lex’s   own   inability   to   limit   herself   —   she’s   all   ,   or   she’s   nothing   ,   but   nowhere   in   the   middle   .

[figurctives]

      “there’s something else,” henri says, a week after she’s left seoul. the rest of her trip had been quick and miserable. she’d gotten back to her suite that night, eyes still wet and heart still aching behind her ribs, and had found her way to bottom of the gin theo had been drinking earlier that evening. she turned the television on loud and drank until she didn’t care anymore. until she couldn’t think. because she couldn’t call theo, the thought made her skin crawl. she couldn’t tell charlotte, because she was embarrassed. she replayed the night over in head again and again and again until she’d passed out on top of the bed, room spinning and thoughts blurred. 

      she spent the next morning curled around the toilet, head pounding, and face hot. for a second, she thought she was going to die. right there on the bathroom floor, hungover with her face pressed into the cold toilet seat because it was the only thing offering her any kind of relief. what a way to go, she’d thought. maybe, when they found her body and ran the autopsy, they’d find that it hadn’t been the gin or the excessive puking, but that her heart had just stopped working, ripped in half right there in her chest. and when the story ran on page six, they’d find a way to make the tragedy sound romantic. shakespearean. except she didn’t die. she stayed like that, a pathetic mess on the floor, until the knocking at her suite door forced her to move. 

      when she pulled the door open to see theo on the other side, she wanted to kick herself for not checking the peephole first. 

      “what are you doing here?” she’d asked, voice weak and hoarse. she didn’t want to know what she looked liked, hair unbrushed and face bloated, wrapped only in the hotel’s fluffy white bathrobe. however bad though, she couldn’t have possibly looked worse than she felt. 

      “you weren’t answering your phone,” theo said, knee bouncing. the last thing she wanted was for him to be there. but there he was in his grey slacks and his white t-shirt and his wool coat, eyeing her with pinched brows. angry. “i thought something might have happened.”

      not angry. worried. she sighed against the door. 

      “well, nothing happened. i just forgot to turn my regular phone back on.” she couldn’t meet his eyes. she was still annoyed that he’d showed up the day before. would things have gone differently, if sinclair hadn’t known? maybe. but he had also said he’d already been relayed the message. whatever that meant. she didn’t have the energy to try and figure it out. 

      “i called both.” of course he did. 

      “you should leave.” 

      “are you okay?”

      “i don’t want to talk about–” but he was already pushing the door open and letting himself in. he shut it quietly behind himself, and they stood in the entryway silently, theo staring at henri and henri staring at the wall to her left. when he reached forward to brush the hair from her face she retracted from his touch, head turning. theo’s hand hovered awkwardly in the air, and henri’s body threatened to get sick again. 

      “what did he say to you?” he asked, hand dropping. there was caution in his voice. henri swallowed, and shook her head. if she said it out loud, if she had to hear it again, she would break for real. she wouldn’t be able to get the words out anyways. she knew from the tightness of her throat that her voice wouldn’t work. “look, henri, whatever he said–... oh, henri.” he said, because she’d started crying again, chin quivering and hands pulling at the sleeves of her robe. 

      stop it, she told herself, but the tears were back. and when theo stepped forward, she didn’t stop him. when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to him, she let him. i guess now it’s theodore? whatever. if she could have crawled out of her own skin in that moment, she would have. but she didn’t know what else to do. she didn’t want to be alone, anymore. so she let him stay, and she let him order dinner, and she let him keep her company. take care of her. and if she stared at herself too long in the mirror, the steam from the shower fogging her reflection, and called herself every synonym of pathetic she knew, then it was no one’s business but her own. 

      that night, theo slept on the couch. and the next morning, he drove her to the airport.

      now, a week later, she sits up in his bed, sheets wrapped around body. 

      “there’s something else,” she says. beside her, theo sighs, eyes still closed. 

      “what are you talking about?” he says, voice buried in his pillow. 

      henri pulls her knees to her chest. the room is still dark except for the sliver of sunlight that breaks through the small gap where the curtains meet. theo’s apartment in new york is no longer unfamiliar to her. it had been only a week before she’d found her way back into his bed, done being sad and angry that sinclair had had the nerve to speak to her like that. he is not her keeper, she’d reminded herself. theo had been hesitant, pulling her away so that he could watch her face with careful eyes, hand on the crook of her neck and thumb pressed into her pulse. we don’t have to, he’d said. i want to, she’d offered in return. i don’t care what he thinks. 

      that was a lie. she cares. too much.

      “i’m worried about sinclair,” she says, a hypocrite. a liar and a hypocrite and a pathetic one at that. she is angry, but she is other things as well. “there’s something i’m missing. in seoul i just... there’s something he’s not telling me.”

      “i thought we’d already established that,” theo says, uninterested. he rolls onto his back, rubs the sleep from his eyes. 

      the first month, i wondered how the only person i trusted in this world could misread me as badly as you did.

      “what if i was wrong? about his ex-girlfriend?” she whispers. “he just seemed so angry, you know?"

      theo’s fingers move to rub ticklish circles against her lower back. she almost curls away from the touch, but she forces herself to stay still. there is nothing wrong with her being here. sinclair had only been half right. theo wasn’t just her friend, but she wasn’t forgetting him. that was an impossible feat. 

      “he was probably stressed. his father has a lot of high expectations,” theo says. “i mean, it’s certainly no excuse, but running a multi faceted company is not an easy job. he has a lot to learn, still.”

      “do they really make him pick up dry cleaning?” she asks, head turning to look down at theo. 

      “if you were wrong,” he starts, and she takes his lack of an answer as a yes. she tries to imagine it, sinclair running around seoul like he’s starring in his very own version of the devil wears prada. “would it make a difference?”

      would it? she pulls her legs closer to her body, chin falling to her knee as she thinks. it wouldn’t. whether she’d been right or not, he’d still been distant and secretive and distracted. he’s still refused to confide in her. no. if it wasn’t mina, then it would have been something else that led them here, separated but still promised. heartbroken. 

      “no,” she says, eventually. theo reaches up then, to pull her back down beside him. 

      “then you shouldn’t worry yourself with it,” he says. “what’s done is done. i’ll check in on him, make sure everything in seoul is going okay. he’ll be fine, though, he’s smart.”

      she sighs, falling back against the pillows. it’s the last morning they have to stay in late. theo is leaving abroad again in the evening, and henri will be back in new haven by the time he gets back. “let’s order breakfast. i want pancakes from that place.”

      “okay, but i’m kinda craving something else first,” he says, voice low and lips splitting into a grin, before he disappears beneath the sheets, promptly cutting off henri’s endless train of jumbled thoughts. 

–

      this time, henri doesn’t dread her return to yale. in fact, she looks forward to it. it keeps her busy, occupies her mind with more things. she’d kept in touch with sam over break, text messages every now and then to check in on each other’s holiday. closer to the start of them semester, he’d added her into a group chat with cat and xavier and the four of them made plans to link up as soon as they were all back. it was nice, having people she enjoyed spending time with again. in the city, she had theo, but they were confined to his apartment. in new haven, though, there was never a still moment. 

      she meets lexi in the first week of classes. the blonde had sat next henri in their first art history lecture of the semester and introduced herself. she’d been friendly and talkative, having just transferred to yale from harvard. 

      “everyone at harvard has a stick up their ass,” she’d said. her great-grandfather had been the founder of american airlines, so she’d been born and raised in texas. she fit right in with the new group of people henri had cultivated into her life, and they were fast friends. if she wasn’t hanging out with sam then she was with lexi, and if she wasn’t with lexi then she was pretending that being alone didn’t bother her. or, she was spending the weekend in the city, because a girl has needs. 

      february bleeds into march like that, easy and distracting. and maybe henri is relying too much on her new friends, partying too hard and missing too many classes, but who cares. they don’t ask about sinclair, not really, because they think the distance makes her sad. and when they do, she lies. because it isn’t worth the risk, letting the world know that she and sinclair aren’t the couple they think they are. at least, not anymore. 

      but she doesn’t let herself think about it, not when she doesn’t have to. not when she’s waist deep in one of the biggest parties she’s been to in months, hand clasped with lexi’s as sam leads them all through the rowdy crowd. her free hand clings to a red solo cup, the cheap liquor inside pungent and strong. 

      “god, i am so glad i left harvard,” lexi hollers. they make room for themselves in a corner of the living room, cat and xavier catching up last. the house is at capacity, stuffed to the brim with every kind of student to walk the halls of campus. henri doesn’t look too hard, scared to see a familiar face. but she should have known it would be unavoidable. still, he is the last person she expects. 

      “henri,” cat says suddenly, a knowing smile on her face. except she doesn’t know. she hasn’t got a clue. “don’t look now, but a friend of yours just walked in.”

      the color disappears from her face, eyes wide as she blinks at cat. the fear in her eyes is only returned with confusion, and henri knows that before the night is over she’s going to have to explain. but first she swallows, and turns to make sure cat isn’t lying. 

[higgins5]

Tag game

Oof, this is so so late, but I am doing it! And thank you to the lovely @foxsoulcourt for tagging me!

LAST

drink: Water, we are being healthy children here 

phone call: My District Manager at work to discuss my transfer

text message: One of my best friends about his terrible life choices (jk but really binge watching a show for 14 hours straight? Boy get to sleep!)

song you listened to: I’m Over You by Bryan James (it may or may not have been on loop for a while)

time you cried: Last Thursday 

EVER

dated someone twice: Haha, yep. Didn’t work out, but we’re still friends

kissed someone and regretted it: Not yet!

been cheated on: Unfortunately

lost someone special: I think we all have, but such is life

gotten drunk and thrown up: Oh god no

fave colors? Sea green, storm gray, oh I can’t believe i almost forgot! Really any deep blue or purple, like how the night sky gets just before it’s almost black

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE I?

made new friends: Multiple, and i am so greatly for all of the lovely people who have graced my life

fallen out of love: Not so much people. But things I believed I loved turned a little false, yes

laughed until you cried: Gosh, all the time. It’s awful, I call it my seal laugh because I’m laughing so hard I can’t breathe and i’m just doubled over hitting a table or my leg to express my joy because that’s all I can do

found out someone was talking about you: Just two weeks ago! And honestly I hate that. Like if you’re gonna talk bad about me just do it to my face. I’ll find out one way or another, might as well be from you

met someone who changed you: Some good people, some not so good people. But I believe it was all for a reason

found out who your friends are: Yes

kissed someone on your Facebook friends list: Hmm... Well, I do not actually have a Facebook so I guess that would be a no

GENERAL

how many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: I guess I can clarify about FB here. My parents were always freaked out about the internet so never let me get one, and being a good child I never did- plus I was just not interested, so I just... never got around to it in adulthood. AND like whenever I needed to talk to a friend through FB I just used my parents page cause that was their solution, so there was no real need. But like, from the friends I had on my mom’s page yes, I know all of them irl

do you have any pets: SEVERAL AND I LOVE ALL OF MY FURRY CHILDREN! I have an 11yo poodle/terrier mix (mom was a poodle, dad was the terrier next door. Truly a scandal) named Bear and i love my grumpy old man to death; a 2yo boxer/husky mix we rescued that was originally supposed to be a lab which was a total lie named Nutmeg, but it’s okay I love my babe even if i can take her on a 3mi run and she’s still ready to run 3 more; an 8yo wonderfully affectionate and beautiful tabby cat named Willow; a 6 year old (oh my god, she’s 6, it feels like yesterday she was a satellite dish in a collar that meowed) purring machine tabby cat named Sage; and two beautiful girls. Lagertha and Gwenievere are two very playful and loving one year old dumbo eared rats

do you want to change your name: Eh, not really. I’ve had it for this long, might as well keep it

what did you do for your last birthday: Oh that was so fun. I went to the Melting pot (this fancy fondue place, so good) With a couple of friends and had a really great time, even though someone got me crayons as a gag gift (I.... hate, crayons with a PASSION, but she’s known me for like 10 years so of course I accepted.... hesitantly)

what time did you wake up today: Like 7:30? but i didn’t actually leave my bed until 9ish because don’t be fooled, I am not a morning person. I just run because I’m an idiot

what were you doing last night at midnight: Sleeping

what is something you can’t wait for: Figure out where life is taking me and then be a bomb ass bitch at it

what are you listening to right now: X&Y by Coldplay

have you ever talked to a person named Tom: I have, and he is a lovely person. Go talk to a Tom everybody, nice people

something that gets on your nerves: Horrible people. Like just those people that are horrible for no absolute reason. Like grow up, get a life, why do you have to make other people just because you’re unhappy. there are many people you could see for help and I have a number you can call if you need a recommendation 

most visited website: Probably a tie between Tumblr, Youtube, and Spotify

hair color: Well, naturally I am blonde but rn it’s a reddish auburn color (but hey, people ask me all the time if it’s my natural color so who knows maybe i was destined for this shade)

long or short hair: ish? It’s growing from a pixie (that I might go back to soon) so its like... not quite shoulder length yet but give it another month and we might be there

what do you like about yourself: You know what, i’m gonna give myself some love and say everything. Lol, but as a serious answer probably my personality/nature. I have a very big heart but am also incredibly sarcastic so it is a delicate balance 

want any piercings: SO many. I’m saving up to get my nose done soon (nostril) and later I’ll get my daith, helix, third piercing in my lobe, tragus, and maybe rook

blood type: Some kinda O? Honestly for someone who donates blood as much as I do, I should really know (but important blood donation note, if you wish to make sure not to do it too frequently! Healthy people = healthy blood = healthy donation receivers!)

nicknames: Gosh, too many to type. Apparently I’m just nick namey. But uhhh, the most common: Ash, Ashbash, Higgins, Higgy, Higgs, Figgins, Chief 

relationship status: Single

zodiac sign: I’m one of the twin fish babes, Pisces all the way

pronouns: She/Her

fave tv show: Don’t watch as much tv as I used to but Supernatural is always a good go to (recently I’ve been watching a lot of HGTv and doctor Phil and Hallmark with my mom though, if that’s anything)

tattoos: None (yet)

right or left handed: right handed, I’m basically useless with my left (unless an instrument is involved)

ever had surgery: Nope, and hopefully we keep that trend goin!

piercings: two ear piercings 

sports: Uh... in High School I was pretty active and track and I was a competitive shooter (air rifles- but I’m from Texas so). Nothing in college at the moment, I might try out for the track team just cause i miss bein a part of stuff

vacation: I am broke, I can only dream (but I do really wanna travel, so gotta save up!)

trainers: my totally stylish suede brown vans are my go to, but Adidas for running

eating: Currently? Nothing, but I did have some steamed broccoli and carrots&rice, and grilled chicken for dinner

drinking: Orange Juice

I’m about to watch: Absolutely nothing

waiting for: Didn’t I already answer this? it’s so much pressure. Uh... change?

want: To be successful in whatever I 

get married: Eventually

career: Haven’t gotten there yet, but everyday is one step closer

hugs or kisses: Depends on who and when

lips or eyes: Eyes. First thing I notice

shorter or taller: At 5′3 I don’t think I can even pretend to say i’m tall

older or younger: I probably fall more on the younger spectrum

nice arms or stomach: Yes

hookup or relationships: I am a committed relationship kinda person all the way. Never really understood the whole hookup thing but to each their own

troublemaker or hesitant: A hesitant troublemaker is probably more me. I say I try to stay out of trouble, but it just kinda finds me

HAVE I EVER?

kissed a stranger: No

drunk hard liquor: Yes

lost glasses: Ugh, all the time, worst is when I lose my contacts AND glasses

turned someone down: Yes

sex on the first date: Not my style

broken someone’s heart: Yes

had your heart broken: In love and life

been arrested: Nope, and i’d like to keep it that way!

cried when someone died: Yes

fallen for a friend: Yes

DO I BELIEVE IN?

yourself: Well someone has to, so might as well be me!

miracles: I do. And if they aren’t true, at least the belief of their existence helps make their outcome possible

love at first sight: In some fairytale world maybe, but for me, nah

kiss on the first date: Possibly

angels: Yes. Of what way and form I think that’s for you to decide

OTHER

best friend’s name: I have a couple because there is too much life to only need one person in it! Lexi+Brittany+Mauricio+Imaya from all the way back to middle school and Ronan (a recent addition)

And even if we don’t talk every day of our lives I know they’ll always be there for me when I need them. Good or bad. And they know I would do the same. That’s all that really matters in the end. They’re my little chosen family

(oh that got a bit sappy, okay moving on)

eye color: Light blue? Blue? I dunno, people say it’s pretty so I go with it

fave movie: Don’t really have one...

favorite actor: Yeah... same with movies, don’t have one of those either

extrovert or introvert: I like to call myself an introverted extrovert

favorite flower: white peonies 

favorite hello kitty character? I wasn’t aware there were characters aside from hello kitty....

oof this is a long post, but very fun to do! Hopefully y’all haven’t done this yet but if so well I’m gonna tag you anyways @i-h8-u-no-u-dont @pansexualpandion @rvmengf @egglorru @it-has-the-gay-fanfiction and really @ anyone who wants to do this! I’d love to see your versions!!

[plotbunnyshipper]

Book Recommendations

Instead of writing I’ve been spending my time re-reading so many of my favorites in my free snippets of time. I figure I’ll list a few in case anyone might feel the need for picking up a new book that may become one of their favorites.

Fantasy is always a favorite of mine in its many sub-genres, also first person storytelling is not a requirement but helps for immersion in the story when done well. And listing these out and going over them again it just reinforces my love of snark and sarcasm and antiheros.

I also have zero hesitation about starting a series a few books in, or in the middle and then going through everything else. (Did this with Black Jewels Series, Chronicles of the Shadow War, The Hollows). Tend to have a lot of YA in here because I grabbed lots of random when I was younger, and nowadays don’t get to read as much brand new other than new authors on Ao3.

List here (not in any sort of order), details below the cut. When the whole/most of series is fantastic I try to list the series rather than the individual book. If you see some in here that you also love and want to suggest a few not listed back at me, please feel free. Even if these aren’t ones you know or love, feel free to recommend, here or in an ask, even an anon one. I love reading, I’m not grabbing as much random published as I used to but published or online, it’s all good. I still remember the first fanfic author that I adored. To this day I’ll still go back and reread the Sailor Moon fic she wrote because it was just that good, so really. This list is by no means complete, they’re just the ones I have on my Kindle and closest bookshelf.

Chronicles of the Shadow War by Chris Claremont and George Lucas

Uprooted by Naomi Novik 

Queen’s Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner

Various throughout the designations below by Neil Gaiman

Neverveil series by Amy McNulty  

The Sleeping Prince Series by Melinda Salisbury

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

Fairy Keeper by Amy Bearce

The Enchanted Forest series by Patricia C Wrede

The Raven Ring by Patricia C. Wrede

Anne McCaffery - Harper Hall/Pern series, Tower and Hive series, Acorna series

The Black Jewels Series by Anne Bishop

Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake

Necromancer/Firebug Series by Lish McBride

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

The Hollows by Kim Harrison

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card

The Others Series by Anne Bishop

Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Wicked Saga by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Antigoddess series by Kendare Blake

Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost 

Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton

Hunter: Thieves series by Lexi Blake

Dissonance series by Erica O’Rourke 

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Last Girl by Joe Hart

Secondborn series by Amy A. Bartol

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

A Madness So Discrete by Mindy McGinnis

VIP series by Kristen Callihan

Lonely Kings series by Ava Lore

High Fantasy

Chronicles of the Shadow War by Chris Claremont and George Lucas (Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn, Shadow Star). Picked it up what ended up being the second book randomly at the library, not reading anything about it and was like that name, Elora sounds really familiar, and then hmmm this Thorn Drumheller seems an awful lot like Willow from the movie. Had loved the movie and was very happy to figure out that this was a ~15 years later sequel. 

Uprooted by Naomi Novik - Pulled me in at the start and was a wonderful read. First Person, which I love, pulled in familiar myth and fairytale elements as well as great original elements. Same world but different characters sequel is Spinning Silver - also very good but not as good as the first. If you need additional reasons to read the author is one of the ones helping with Ao3 - “Her own adventures include pillaging degrees in English literature and computer science from various ivory towers, designing computer games, and helping to build the Archive of Our Own for fanfiction and other fanworks. Novik is a co-founder of the Organization for Transformative Works.“

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Queen’s Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner - Good god do I love an antihero. And a first person thief? It takes me back to my love of the Raven Ring. The worldbuilding, the (as much as I find the term obnoxious due to overuse in almost any story that incorporates BDSM to describe someone baiting or attempting to top from the bottom) sass, the antagonizing by the main character. It is a YA so when things happen that are ‘reveals’ later on you’ll notice them, they’re not “OMG I’m so surprised!” but it’s very, very well done. First book - Aces, second book also fantastic, third....hmmmmm would like the POV’s from the first and second books rather than this new one, but has a great scene I’ll quote below.

The Thief (Book 1)

“Are you really named after the god of thieves?” “I am.”

“Well, how could they tell what you were going to be when you were just a baby?”

“How did they know what you were going to be when you were a baby?”

“My father was a duke.”

“So my mother was a thief.”

“So you would have to grow up to be one, too?”

“Most of the people in my family thought so. My father wanted me to be a soldier, but he’s been disappointed.”

Behind us I heard Pol grunt. He no doubt thought my father’s disappointment was justified.

“Your father? He did?”

Sophos sounded so surprised that I looked over at him and asked, “Why shouldn’t he?”

“Oh, well, I mean…” Sophos turned red, and I wondered about the circulation of his blood; maybe his body kept an extra supply of it in his head, ready for blushing.

“What surprises you?” I asked. “That my father was a soldier? Or that I knew him? Did you think that I was illegitimate?”

Sophos opened and closed his mouth without saying anything.

I told him that no, I wasn’t illegitimate. “I even have brothers and sisters,” I told him, “with the same father.” Poor Sophos looked as if he wanted the ground to swallow him.

The King of Attolia (Book 3) condensing down a tiny bit with the [...]’s

The king couldn’t lie on a deathbed with a sense of dignity. The attendants were all on the verge of breaking into laughter, and the king, far from minding, was enjoying every minute of it.

The queen’s lips thinned.

“I am very sorry,” the physician said helplessly.

“Stop apologizing and hurry.”

“Your Majesty, I…” Petrus looked as if he was about to cry.

Ornon spoke firmly from behind the doctor. “Your Majesty is upsetting his physician.” […] The doctor bent over the wound again. The king made a face, but was silent. The doctor looked up momentarily in astonishment but returned to his work, eager to finish before this reprieve passed.

The king lay still and made no sound. As Petrus pulled his first stitches tight, the king took a deeper breath and didn’t let it go. After a long count of ten, he softly released the breath and took another.

There were three people between Costis and the queen. Costis knocked all three of them aside like pegs in a counting game and dropped to his knees in time to catch the queen as she collapsed into his outspread arms.

He’d seen her, white as wax, from the corner of his eye and, seeing her waver, had known she was fainting, but too late to do anything but catch her.

“The queen!” someone shouted in alarm, and the king erupted like a wild animal caught in a snare. […] “My stitches, my stitches!” the physician yelled.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

“Damn your stitches!” he snarled. “Let me up.” […] He splayed his hand across the king’s face and slammed his head back hard against the pillow. Keeping his hand planted on the king’s face, he leaned over and roared into his ear, “The queen is fine!”

Eugenides was still. The men around the bed froze as well.

“Irene?” the king called.

“She fainted. That’s all,” Ornon said more quietly. “There is a great deal of blood. She is a woman and she was upset. It is not a surprising reaction.” […] On the bed, Eugenides stirred restlessly. “Upset at the sight of blood?” he said. “Not my wife, Ornon.”

“Your blood,” the ambassador pointed out.

Eugenides glanced at the hook on his arm and conceded the point. “Yes,” he said. […] “Get on with it,” said the king. He hardly seemed to notice when the stitching began. He looked toward the doorway, toward the queen, but spoke to the Eddisian Ambassador. “I think, in future, Ornon, I will stick to upsetting my physician.”

Stardust by Neil Gaiman - Lost too many copies, including my first edition of this by lending it out and never getting it back. I’m having trouble trying to say why you need to give these Neil Gaiman books a chance but goodness, all of them, all of them! I’ve never read a bad one. He’s got a beautiful and enticing way of writing - Favorites in order American Gods, Good Omens, Smoke and Mirrors (short stories), Stardust, Ocean at the End of the Lane, Coraline, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish.

American Gods

“You working for our man then?” asked the bearded man. He was not sober, although he was not yet drunk.

“It looks that way,” said Shadow. “What do you do?”

The bearded man lit his cigarette. “I’m a leprechaun,” he said, with a grin.

Shadow did not smile. “Really?” he said. “Shouldn’t you be drinking Guinness?”

“Stereotypes. You have to learn to think outside the box,” said the bearded man. “There’s a lot more to Ireland than Guinness.”

“You don’t have an Irish accent.”

“I’ve been over here too fucken long.”

“So you are originally from Ireland?”

“I told you. I’m a leprechaun. We don’t come from fucken Moscow.”

Neverveil series by Amy McNulty - First person, great worldbuilding. Also representation of POC for the majority of characters if you’re looking for a book with that particular feature. Cyclical, fallible main characters, overall a fast and enjoyable read.

The Sleeping Prince Series by Melinda Salisbury

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard - YA

Fairy Keeper by Amy Bearce - Loved the first of this series, not as much the following books, first one, Fairy Keeper, is definately worth the read. YA

The Enchanted Forest series by Patricia C Wrede Classic, some of my first favorites.It is a youth series but I will never ever stop loving it. Also the Magic & Malice books.

The Raven Ring by Patricia C. Wrede - the first time I remember falling in love with the antihero as a young reader. It is fantastic.

Anne McCaffery - Read Dragon Drums in 5th grade by random pickup at the library and was hooked. From there went through the other Harper Hall/Pern series, then the Tower and Hive series, then the Acorna series. A great mix of both fantasy and sci fi, and fantasy with sci fi history.

Dark Fantasy

The Black Jewels Series by Anne Bishop - it was difficult to get into this at first, for me, I owned the series for a couple years could not get into it no matter how many times I read the first chapter. Then I picked up and read one of the “short stories” more of a novella, “The Prince of Ebon Rih,” in Dreams Made Flesh. One note - ignore the names of the three main male characters. Just... I love *LOVE* this series but ‘Daemon,” “Lucivar,” and “Saetan SaDiablo” are...just ignore that and you’re good. Strong women and men, family and friends, who have a fierce love for each other, tremendous amount of snark that I adore, if only there were more books on Surreal, and Saetan, and Tersa, and Rainer, and Chaosti, and the First Circle of the Dark Court, and anyone, I would read any additional stories in this series. There are so very many passages I’d use to try and draw interest so I’ll just grab a few

Karla let out a screech that raised the hairs on Saetan's neck.

"You've got tits!" Karla pulled open the blue jacket, revealing a silver, just as skimpy top. "So do I, if you call these lovely little bee stings tits." Smiling the wickedest smile Saetan had ever seen, she turned back to him. "What do you think?"

He didn't stop to think. "Are you asking if I think they're lovely or if I think they're bee strings?"

Karla closed the jacket, crossed her arms, and narrowed those ice-blue eyes. "Sassy, isn't he?"

"Well, he is a Warlord Prince," Jaenelle replied.

Ice-blue eyes met sapphire eyes. Both girls smiled.

Karla shrugged. "Oh, all right. I'll be a polite guest." She stepped up to Saetan, and that wicked smile bloomed. "Kiss kiss."

He refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing him wince.

Yet another

"Are you lost?" 

Daemon glanced over to where Lucivar leaned against a doorway. "I'm not lost," he snapped. Then he stopped pacing and sighed. "But I am very confused." 

"Of course you are. You're male." Grinning at Daemon's snarl, Lucivar stepped into the courtyard. "So if one of the darlings in the coven offers to explain things to you, don't take her up on it. She'll sincerely be trying to help, but by the time she's done 'unconfusing' you, you'll be banging your head against a wall and whimpering."

"Why?" 

"Because for every five rules you'd learned in Terreille about a male's proper behavior in a court, the Kaeleer Blood know only one of them—and they interpret it very differently." 

Daemon shrugged "Obedience is obedience." 

"No, it's not. For Blood males, the First Law is to honor, cherish, and protect. The second is to serve. The third is to obey." 

"And if obedience interferes with the first two laws?" 

"Toss it out the window." 

Daemon blinked. "You actually get away with that?" 

Lucivar scratched the back of his head and looked thoughtful. "It's not so much a question of getting away with it. For Warlord Princes, it's almost a requirement of court service. However, if you ignore an order from the Steward or the Master of the Guard, you'd better be sure you can justify your action and be willing to accept the consequences if they won't accept it, which is rare. I got into more trouble with the High Lord as my father than as the Steward."

And another

In lieu of a knock, she walloped the study door once and then stomped up to the blackwood desk where Saetan sat watching her, a glass of brandy raised halfway to his lips. 

Daemon and Lucivar, comfortably slouched in two chairs in front of the desk, just stared at her. 

Now that she was there, she wasn't quite as willing to address the High Lord directly, so she half turned toward Daemon and Lucivar and tossed out the question, "Don't I have the right to decide if I want a male in my bed?" 

The air behind the desk instantly chilled, but Lucivar said blandly, "Graysfang?" and the air returned to normal. 

The smirk in Lucivar's voice had her turning toward him fully. "I don't know about you, but I'm not used to sleeping with a wolf." 

"What's wrong with Graysfang staying with you?" Daemon asked. 

The soothing tone he was putting into his voice only infuriated her. "He farts," she snapped, then waved her hand dismissively. "Well, so do the rest of you." 

Someone made a choking sound. She thought it was Daemon. 

"Do you resent his being there because he's a wolf or because he's interfering with another kind of male warming your bed?" Lucivar asked. 

Maybe it hadn't been meant as a slur that she used to be a whore, but she took it as such because then she could vent her temper on him. "Well, sugar, from where I'm standing, there's not much to choose between you. He takes up more than his share of the bed, he snores, and he gives slobbery kisses. But if I had to choose, I'd pick him. At least he can lick his own balls!" 

A glass hit the desk with an ominous thunk.

Surreal closed her eyes and bit her lip. 

Shit. She'd been so focused on being mad at Lucivar, she'd forgotten about the High Lord.

Different book in the series, Queen of the Darkness

“I could have handled that bastard.”

Falonar looked insulted. “It’s a male’s right to defend and protect.”

Surreal bared her teeth. “I’ve heard that song before, and-”

“Then you should heed that song, Lady - and respect it.”

“Why? Because poor little me isn’t capable of handling myself in a fight?” she said with venom-laced sweetness.

“Because you’re deadlier,” he snarled. He paced a few steps away from her, swore, paced back. “That’s why males defend, Lady Surreal. Because you females are deadlier when you’re roused-and you’re merciless when you’re riding the killing edge. At least if I go down first in a fight, I don’t have to deal with you afterward.

”Not sure if she’d just been complimented or insulted, Surreal said nothing.

Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas - First person, great worldbuilding, very very similar elements to Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series in everything from the mannerisms, to the Illyrians vs Eryins, to the need of draining power descriptions and customs (I was 100% convinced it was Anne Bishop venturing into first person and ghostwriting an alternate version of the Black Jewels world for a long time). Didn’t care for the romantic lead in the first book, thankfully the hinting of book 1 transitioned into book 2 and <3 oh I love it. Supposedly a sort of inspired by classic fairy tales (like beauty and the beast) but it’s not like you’re sitting there reading a progression of that story like other books do. The Throne of Glass series is also very good, more original but again very Anne Bishop in it’s feel/wording (the purred words, midnight voices, the level of protectiveness bowels turned to water when terrified) 

Really enjoy the series but since I posted so much of Anne Bishop I figure I’ll just do a quasi related suggestion of threesomes that I found fun and funny. Court of Wings and Ruin... for now editing to avoid spoilers

“You never know until you try,” Helion purred.

The three of them in bed...with him? I must have been blinking like a fool because [<3] said to me, Helion favors both males and females. Usually together in his bed. And has been hounding that trio for centuries.

I considered--Helion’s beauty and the others...Why the hell haven’t they said yes?

[<3] barked a laugh that had all of them looking at him with raised brows.

[<3] just came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist, pressing a kiss to my neck. Would you like someone to join us in bed, Feyre [...]?

My skin stretched tight over my bones at the tone, the suggestion. You’re incorrigible.

I’d think you’d like two males worshipping you.

My toes curled.

Mor cleared her throat. “Whatever you’re saying mind to mind, either share it or go to another room so we don’t have to sit here, stewing in your scents.” 

I stuck out my tongue. [<3] laughed again, kissing my neck once more before saying, “Apologies for offending your delicate sensibilities, cousin.”

A Court of Frost and Starlight

If both of us went in there, I knew my sister would see it as an attack.

So it would be me. Alone

[<3] kissed my brow. “If someone propositions you, tell them we’ll both be free in an hour.”

“Och.” I waved him off, banking my powers to a near-whisper within me.

He blew me a kiss.

I waved that away, too, and slipped through the tavern door.

Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake -

Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance

Necromancer/Firebug Series by Lish McBride - first person, hilarious, and fantastic

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Oh, good, he was crazy and scary. What an awesome combination. I let  go of his wrists with one hand and leverages myself back enough so I could pull my T-shirt out of his grip. I dropped to the floor, knowing full well that he let me do it.

Freaks & Other Family

I tried to walk on my own to Mrs. W’s car, but Ramon got tired of watching me wobble like a baby deer and scooped me up and carried me.

I grinned at him. “Take me to bed or lose me forever.”

“I can’t believe you’re Top Gun-ing me right now. We almost died.”

“I’m going to blame the head injury,” I said, patting his chest. “You’re supposed to say, ‘show me the way home, honey.’“

“I will do no such thing, and you can’t blame it on the head injury, because you say those kinds of things to me all the time.”

“This is true. Let’s go on a crime spree then, and we’ll blame that on the head injury.”

“You can’t even walk. We need to get you home so you can rest,” Ramon said firmly.

“Yeah, so we can then explain to James how we both managed to completely rune the top-of-the-line tuxedo rentals we’re wearing.” Top-of-the-line to me. James had sneered openly at them before throwing up his hands in despair, which wouldn’t stop him from berating us. If anything, I think he’d find it more insulting somehow, and the fact that we’d ruined only semi-decent tuxes instead of really nice tuxes would just be salt in the wound.

Ramon paused as we both thought that over. Mrs. W pulled ahead of us, fishing her keys out of her clutch.

“Shit,” Ramon said. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

We both stared out into the night, silent as we contemplated our impending dooms.

“Head injury,” we both said at the same time.

“We can definitely blame the suits on that.”

“And if he doesn’t buy it,” Ramon added, “then you can just pass out again.”

“Deal.”

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

American Gods by Neil Gaiman as someone who was always a fan of Gaiman, and have been pleased with how the miniseries is doing with it’s adaptation because this has been a love since I got my my hands on it. It doesn’t hurt that Mad Sweeny’s chaotic love of fighting is personified so well by OitNB’s Pornstashe. The only thing I was dissapointed in was due to my prior knowledge of Norse Mythology and the whole “You can call me Wednesday” thing was shouting out what appeared to try and be a “reveal” towards the end. Fantastic incorporation of mythology and characterization. Just...love. Ocean at the End of the Lane is also

The Hollows by Kim Harrison - Again, couldn’t start at the start but jumping in mid series and I was in love. First Person, amazing worldbuilding

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card - very well done. Hate the male vocal reader he uses for his audio books (something about his voice grates on my nerves) but I’d suffer through to listen to this. A great twisting of various fairy tale elements into this, clever things that I wouldn’t have considered at the time of reading this. Very well done. Very. 

The Others Series by Anne Bishop - Not as loved as the Black Jewels but it has some characters I’m invested in now so I’m reading any and all of the series.

Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead - Main character is a succubus by contract, having to corrupt souls to fulfill her contract with Hell and none too pleased about it. I was agonizing waiting for these to be released.

Succubus Blues (Book 1)

Statistics show that most mortals sell their souls for five reasons: sex, money, power, revenge, and love. In that order. 

I suppose I should have been reassured, then, that I was out here assisting with numero uno, but the whole situation just made me feel.. . well, sleazy. And coming from me, that was something. 

Maybe I just can't empathize anymore, I mused. It's been too long. When I was a virgin, people still believed swans could impregnate girls. 

Nearby, Hugh waited patiently for me to overcome my reticence. He stuffed his hands into well-pressed khakis, leaning his large frame against his Lexus. "I don't see what the big deal is. You do this all the time.” 

That wasn't exactly true, but we both knew what he meant. Ignoring him, I instead made a great show of studying my surroundings, not that that improved my mood. The suburbs always dragged me down. Identical houses. Perfect lawns. Far too many SUVs. Somewhere in the night, a dog refused to stop yapping. 

"I don't do this," I said finally. "Even I have standards.” 

Hugh snorted, expressing his opinion of my standards. 

"Okay, if it makes you feel better, don't think of this in terms of damnation. Think of it as a charity case.”

Wicked Saga by Jennifer L. Armentrout - First person, apparently I have a thing for snarky, territorial, hand sized coworkers in UF books.

Wicked

“Tink.” I sighed.

“Whatever. I think you should just get some action from him and kick his ass to the curb.”

My mouth dropped open. “Okay. That is the most bizarre string of advice I have ever heard. You don’t like him, but you think I should have sex with him and then get rid of him? And obviously I can’t because he’s a member of the Order.” That was the one thing I didn’t tell Tink --what Ren truly was. “You make no sense.”

“I make perfect sense. In my world, you don’t even have to like another to have sex with them. It’s all about the natural urges to get it on and...”

As Tink ranted on about the peculiars of his species’ particular mating preferences, I picked up the sugar canister and dumped a small pile of sugar on the counter.

“You just need to let those animalistic--holy brownie balls!” Tink dropped to his knees in front of the pile of sugar. He started moving the tiny granules to another pile, counting softly. “One, two, three, four, five, six...” Pausing, he glanced up with a frown. “Where did you learn that?”

I shrugged as I bit down on my lower lip. “Saw it on an episode of Supernatural.”

and

“Okay.” I placed the stake on the bistro table then reached up, tucking my hair back. “I can explain, Ren, but I need you to let him go.”

“You heard the woman,” Tink said. “Let me go.”

Ren’s gaze flew from the brownie to me. “You want me to let this thing go?”

“He’s my thing--I mean, he’s not a ‘thing.’ He’s a brownie, and he’s okay. He’s not going to hurt anything. I swear.” Walking over to where Ren stood, I ignored the way Tink Glared at us. “Please.”

“He’s a brownie, Ivy. What in the hell is he doing here?” He turned his gaze back to Tink, and the brownie paled since the edge of the knife was still near his throat. “And what do you mean he’s yours? I come into the kitchen and he’s sitting in a bowl of Frosted Flakes like a walking, talking rat.”

“I am not a rat, sir! I am a brownie and damn proud of it, you overgrown--”

“Tink,” I warned, then wrapped my hand around Ren’s wrist. His emerald gaze flicked to mine. My heart was slamming against my ribs. As upset with Tink as I was, if something happened to him...

“His name is Tink?”

I nodded, “Well, that’s what I call him.”

“Am I high? I’ve got to be high.” He glanced back down at Tink and scowled. “Is he wearing doll pants?”

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - Another random library snag. Greek gods in a modern setting, full of apathy from a millennia of existence

Antigoddess series by Kendare Blake

Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost - first person, great world building, fallible characters, lots of character investment over the series, sexy.

Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton - surprised myself by pretty consistently thinking - ‘While I like the varied and inventive sex, I really like the characters so I wish there was less sex and more story” when usually I don’t have complaints about the amount of sex in any given story, I’m cool with PWP works but I was hoping for some magic fix for Andais, like making her mortal and giving her another child then cutting out a good amount of the crazy due to those actions. Didn’t happen. Merry and her harem of men get it on for significant portions of especially the second onwards books, and again I can appreciate lots of magical explicit sexytimes I also wanted more progress on the characters. Also pet peeve of disliking men with long hair was constantly reinforced with a majority of the fae having waist/ankle length hair. The movie that played in my mind gave them haircuts really fast.

Hunter: Thieves series by Lexi Blake

Dissonance series by Erica O’Rourke - always enjoy when there is a new idea/twist and the reality bending in this was quite nice. YA, but I could not put it down.

Sci Fi & Dystopian

The Host by Stephenie Meyer - Was drawn to this one by the cover, it’s a gorgeous eye with a pupil ringed in (according to the story silver, but the cover makes it look icy) brightness. I walked past it a hundred times going “Ohh Pretty!” before finally springing for the audio book from the library - was exceptionally well read. Did not pay attention to the author or read any info about it and enjoyed it very much. Had I realized it was by the lady who wrote Twilight I wouldn’t have read it, I’m glad I didn’t realize and did listen to it. Very well done dichotomy of the main character(s) as two distinct personalities and thought processes. YA verging on New Adult about the aftermath of a relatively peaceful alien invasion. According to the things I’ve heard/memes I’ve seen of Twilight this author has a thing for a team whoever and team whoever2 triangles.

The Last Girl by Joe Hart

Secondborn series by Amy A. Bartol

General Fantasy or More YA

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton - fantasy western

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

A Madness So Discrete by Mindy McGinnis - 

New Adult

VIP series by Kristen Callihan - fun, fast read, first person, Bands

Lonely Kings series by Ava Lore - again, fun, fast reads, first person, bands

[winter20intensive]

week 2 // day 1

Today was a jam-packed day! It started at 8am with a producer meeting with around 20 people from the executive producers to a production assistant which is an entry-level job. 

The meeting started by the executive producers opening up the floor for anyone to mentions news stories to be told either that same day or that could be used at any time during the week. While I was a fly on the wall, I wrote down all of the news that was mentioned: 

The most interesting parts of the meeting were the small quotes that I wrote down because they showed me what the producers really look for when crafting the news.

For the rest of the day, I shadowed an associate producer, Katie Greene––or as she’s lovingly known around the office, Kate the Great. There were two stories that she focused on producing that day

1. An updated interview with Jahkil Jackson, an 12-year-old kid from Chicago helping the homeless (This video is the interview from 9 months ago, the new one hasn’t come out on YouTube)

2. Anita Scipio, a receptionist for iHeart Radio got surprised by Will Smith

^This is the final piece after Katie’s day of work today

For the receptionist piece, she had do find the pictures and videos, so she went to Instagram, but she had to clear all of that media with Access’ legal team. She also had to set up a Facetime interview with Anita so she contacted iHeart Radio’s PR team. If she had not been going through a PR agent, she could also use a program that NBC subscribes to called Accurint - Lexis Nexis where if you have a name and location you can find anyone’s contact information. For all videos and photos, the producers have to make the legal team (referred to as clearance) check with the primary source on whether they can use it and whether the source is charging for its use. If the producer or legal team gets verbal confirmation of use, clearance will send the source a form and it must be signed before any use on TV. 80% of the emails she sent were to the legal team to grant clearance to the media she proposed using.

Once she had the media cleared, she communicated with “post” which is the video editing team. All she had to do was email them a link to the video and the timestamps of video snippets that she wanted them to cut.

The program seen on the computer below is called iNews and it is used by all news networks to run their shows. The producer must input the video and picture descriptions so that the editors now which picture and video goes where. This program holds the scripts too. Everything on iNews is called the “Rundown.”

For the script introducing the story, the producer would debrief the writer on an email and then the writer would be in charge of the catchy, interesting intro. However, the producers write the interview questions, not the writers. 

This is what the interview questions are printed on and I took one of them home! The interview questions were for an interview with Jahkil on Access Daily that same day. I asked Katie what she thought of when crafting the questions and she said, depending on the interview topic, she will either think of what will get emotional reactions or a heartfelt message OR a beginning story, future plans, or the greatest: WHY?

An important part of her day was interviewing people via Skype and Facetime because most people they’re interviewing either come from outside of LA or might not be able to come in and give more than 20 minutes of their time.

Today, I sat in on interviews with Anita, Will Smith’s favorite receptionist, and P!nk and her husband as they talked about their charity for veterans. (and saw the set up for an interview with this woman below who started a luxury cat hotel––very funny)

^ The setup process was also a bit complicated because they had to make sure the people were within the frame of the white rectangle and that there were no glaring lights behind them. It was especially hard with not so savvy technology users.

After that, Katie had to go down to the host’s room and brief them about Jahkil and his story that they were about to interview him about.

After she briefed the hosts, she went to greet Jahkil, bring him to get makeup touchups, and brief him on what kinds of questions the hosts would be asking him.

Then we brought Jahkil out to the studio for his interview. While we waited, I got to see Rob Lowe be interviewed which was VERY exciting!

What I learned today was really invaluable. I got a better grasp of journalism as a business and career. Here are the aspects of journalism that I love most:

- Fast-paced

- Collaborative

- All about stories––which I love

- Working with video and images––which is creative

- All about your curiosity––which I am full of

- Writing and reading is the main part––which, of all the subjects, I am best at

Until tomorrow,

Colette

[twistednuns]

August 2019

India // It’s incredibly hard to sum up my feelings about India and Nepal. It was a truly incredible trip. And so exhausting. It was enriching, interesting, hard, disgusting, educational, everything. This is not the place to talk about my experience at length so I’ll just write down some nice moments I collected along the way //   

on the go // the huge corner toilet at MUC airport departures / Rischart coffee / the smell of the Emirates airline NOIR lotion they offer in their bathrooms / cherry-flavoured Skittles //    Delhi // brightly painted buses and tuk-tuks / eating at AB veg restaurant in Hauz Khas, inredibly delicious and cheap / being lucky enough to choose the hostel in Hauz Khas village; meeting Dominique, Christie, Ayush, Samar and Julia / all those talks we had about linguistics, education systems, the future, politics, travelling, home, friends, experiences with magic mushrooms, Hannah Arendt, travelling (…); talking to Christy about her past, family, criminal record / Mosambi juice / Nici constantly flirting with me, trying to seduce me. She told me I’m posh, assertive, regal and I know myself very well. Making out with her was fun but honestly… not worth the drama. / Mosambi juice / a consultation with a renowned Ayurveda doctor - I loved talking to her even though she wasn’t able to tell me anything I hadn’t known already; sometimes it’s nice to get the confirmation that what you found out on your own is exactly the right thing / eating momos and Kathi rolls, the best Thalis / parties on the rooftop until the sunrise interrupted us; grilling whole fish, saying goodbye to Julia, singing along to Louise Attaque and Cher songs / riding rickshaws through Delhi; extra fun: squeezing 5 people in and listening to club music / the sheets smelling chalky with a hint of grape sugar / dancing at Raasta / petting cute street doggies / a cooking class with Mansi and her family in North Delhi - delicious food and really nice people, I fell in love with the mum / eating at Social (that building is just amazing) and strolling through the little alleys and stores at Hauz Khas village with Christie; she showed me the place where she got her linnen dresses and we talked to a jewellery store owner for quite a while / the spice market, climbing up a building and watching the men flying their kites, tasting some street food and spices, realiszing that there is a market street dedicated to a single group of things like the shoe market, the jewellery market etc. / the Brit Brats sharing their joints; tripping to Bayonne / the hidden merchant streets with colourful wall art around the entrances / PANEER (!) / stand-up comedy with a female comedian / elevator selfies / learning about the development of Indian scripts and letters/characters in Sanskrit in the National Museum; erotic sculptures, very detailed paintings depicting badass, tiger-hunting ladies / I saw a peacock. Cows, chipmunks, pigs, horses, monkeys, goats, guinea pigs, bunnies, cats and dogs, bats, herons, boars, caterpillars, centipedes, horses, donkeys (…) / finding the perfect triangular earrings with gemstones at the Dilli Haat market; getting some nice dresses, too / living on water and mango juice, feeling very light and clean, having an empty stomach all the time / Gandhi Smriti, retracing Mahatma’s last steps before his assassination / feeling human again after a few days in bed - I love the power of make-up, bananas, fresh clothes and those pink little Pepto-Bismol pills the Canadian lady gave me / Delhi central station; just WOW. It’s places like that which make you realise just how many people there are in India. //   

Rishikesh // the man helping me with the bus to Rishikesh; the kindness of strangers / “I thank the Lord for the people I have found” (Elton John - Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters) / emotional bus rides: crying for no reason, letting go, for the first time in a very long time; emotional turmoil, softening up; leaving people and whole countries behind / seeing the huge Shiva ceremony at the Ganges from the bus / my yoga teacher training, getting to know the other students / learning about a magic trick against bad posture / instant karma / the view from the rooftop, watching the sunrise over the lower Himalaya mountains / the simple, vega, ayurvedic food they offered at the ashram / visiting the temples with the apprentice yogi and his scooter; walking up 13 stories in the blazing sun, receiving a blessing and some red string around my wrist; taking part in the Ganga ceremony at sunset / the Beatles Ashram; it’s just this amazing place with incredible street art, and those ruins, the meditation caves and eggs on the rooftop… climbing up there was one of my highlights in Rishikesh / close second: visiting a meditation cave at the Ganges, a bit further up in the mountains; a monk had spent 15 years in that cave practising meditation / all the beautiful shops around town focussing on yoga accessoires / putting my feet in the Ganges #blessed #moksha / learning about my aggression during silent yoga / all the animals around town: horses, donkeys, cows, monkeys and whatnot //   

Varanasi // taking the night train for the first time; I shared my little compartment with a family and three little children but they were surprisingly dramafree and actually quite cute / a sunset boat trip on the Ganges, seeing the ghats, the ceremonies, the moon rise / the little alleys behind the ghats; the stores, the surprises / Marnikarnika Ghat was really impressive; it’s the cremation place and I saw dead bodies for the first time / accidentally discovering the Dirty Chai Cafe (chocolate peanut butter shakes and fresh, cold mint lemonade), finding a Kamala Das poetry book on the shelf / spending an afternoon with the German journalist (so weird how the atmosphere shifts when you’re accompanied by a man there; also our dynamic made me feel so glad to be travelling alone, to only be responsible for myself, to be independent); sharing a banana and water surrounded by goats in Hanuman Ghat; the view over the river from his room; him gently stroking my cheekbone / buying two saris in a little corner shop / my jewellery quest (unsuccessful) / eating fresh fruit salad after hardly eating solid food for days / checking out that little park on my last day, the air buzzing with dragonflies / watching the sunset from the hostel’s rooftop, filming a slow motion video / India brings out trauma and deep emotions; the people kept staring at me for whatever reason; I kept having disturbing dreams about my dead father and grandmother; and the mob-video Christy showed me didn’t help either (the whole village carried a man through the streets, eventually beating him up because he couldn’t pay off his debts) //   

Nepal // the first view of Nepal from the bus windows - how much greener, how much emptier it is than India / meeting some nice people on the bus - an American, a Brit and two Frenchies; grabbing dinner in Kathmandu with the latter / watching the sunrise at the border between India and Nepal / sitting next to the mayor of small town council on the bus ride; communicating with hand and feet / the Kathmandu valley is such a gorgeous sight / I got lucky with my hostel; Yakety Yak was a really nice and quiet place to stay; they even had laundry service and a shelf with free books - I read two or three of them because I behaved like a good (home)sick German abroad: bed, Haribo, carbonated water, trashy literature / visiting Bhaktapur, a gorgeous small town in the Kathmandu valley / watching the latest Tarantino movie at the cinema; the tickets were incredibly cheap / walking up the hill to the temple and the monastery, enjoying the incredible view over the surrounding hills; meeting two ladies from Austria, they live close to my old university town; walking to the centre through back alleys, stopping at a rooftop cafe, ordering three drinks at once (liquid diet) / that one jewellery store near the Pokhara bus station - I found some gorgeous brass rings with precious stones for little money / the busy square, the markets / hanging out in the hammock in my hostel in Pokhara, overlooking the lake / watching the skydivers land / the ayurvedic cafe and the other place serving smoothie bowls by the lake - it’s such a fantastic moment when you finally feel hungry again and eat a little solid food after fasting/suffering for a few days / two incredibly weird guys from Latvia and Berlin who provided a nice, mellow ending for my shitty day and even made me survive the mosquito attacks / meeting my travel agent who actually took me out dancing and gave me a ride on his motorcycle to the bus stop; he even gave me some fruit for the ride / By the Way starting to play while waiting for Vietnamese food / hunting down a place that sells semi-precious stone columns in Kathmandu; negotiating with the old lady selling them; getting some brass souvenirs for my friends and family / the view from the airplane - seeing the Himalaya for the first time; I pity people who’ve stopped looking out of windows //   

Coming home. I’ve NEVER felt happier entering my apartment after a trip. Being alone. Truly alone. Silence. Three rooms just for me. My bed. Having all my stuff back. Toiletries! Nice body lotion. My favourite perfume. Going to the supermarket. Unpacking all the jewellery, clothes and knick-knacks I bought. Taking care of my plants.   

Making a huge batch of my favourite ratatouille / pasta sauce.   

Visiting Manu in hospital. Cheering him up a little bit.   

Finally receiving my black and white analogue photos. I loved the shot of Andre looking like he’s being kissed by a dementor. And Lexi looking dead cool at ADBK.   

Pizza party at Grano with Lena. Eating sorbet out of a lemon.   

Riding my bike through the forest on a sunny morning. Stopping to take pictures of the beautiful light, the yellow flowers. Spending too much money at the garden center. Driving home, IKEA bags full of plants.  

 Inventing my signature manicure: a little black dot just above the nailbed.   

Having an evening beer outside at Sofa So Good with Andre.   

Stumbling upon Konsti. The one who ghosted me years ago after a beautiful summer spent kissing in lakes because his therapist had told him so. Well, we talked for a few days, but guess what - he just ghosted me for a second time. Fool me one - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me.

[213hiphopworldnews]

Doja Cat’s Continued Live Success Shows That Cancel Culture Has Its Limits

Ken Franklin

Amala Zandile Dlamini has gone from cat, to cow, to duck all in the space of a month, illuminating the dangers of viral success and the limits of so-called “cancel culture” in the process.

The 22-year-old Los Angeles native had spent the last several years making a name for herself as the colorful internet rapper and singer known as Doja Cat, garnering a small, but loyal, following of fans with the quirky, internet culture-influenced tracks found on her 2014 independent EP Purrr! and on her eclectic Soundcloud page. That following was enough to land her a label deal with RCA Records which spawned her debut album Amala earlier this year. Amala came and went without much fanfare, but Doja Cat experienced an explosion in fame when her jokey video for loose track “Mooo!” went viral on social media five months later in the middle of August.

“Mooo!” was almost guaranteed to become a viral sensation from the jump, with its lo-fi aesthetic, created by Doja herself using iMovie, a green blanket, and a few hilarious props to declare, “B*tch, I’m a cow.” In the video, she twerks and primps in front a series of blog and pop culture-culled background images, including the old Windows XP default wallpaper and a bouncing pair of anime boobs, while she rhymes Mother Goose-ish flexes full of subtly clever wordplay and old school hip-hop references that belie the frivolous concept. As a loose goof, the video is a gift; as an introduction to her expansive back catalog of more polished, artistically focused material, it was a savvy bait-and-switch, disarming the dubious doubts of knee-jerk skepticism endemic to internet natives for whom detached snark is a default reaction to practically any new artist who arrives petitioning their serious consideration.

But then, just as the wave of both critical acclaim and social media approval began to crest, it all came crashing down. Doja Cat “milkshake duck-ed” — aka when a suddenly viral entity reveals itself to be racist/homophobic/otherwise problematic after content mills start doing background research on the newly famous meme subject — in world record time. Years-old tweets wherein the young(er) Doja Cat freely used homophobic terms and expressed disgust for the idea of queer sex (as many unworldly teens — especially the ones raised mostly on hip-hop — are wont to do) resurfaced, and nearly instantly, the breakout star was denounced as canceled, the dreaded state of internet-enforced exile whereby mass denizens of social apps like Twitter declare an entity persona non grata. Her feel-good story of overnight celebrity was at its end — or was it?

It certainly didn’t appear that way from my experience at the Los Angeles stop of her Amala Tour last Friday night (September 21) at the Echoplex. From the line extending down the block even further than it usually has at other hip-hop shows I’ve attended there, to the enthusiasm on display from the wide-ranging, diverse crowd of starry-eyed teens and LA hipsters, it didn’t seem like the online backlash had extended to dampen Doja’s fans’ spirits in the least. Energetic but shy preteens crowded into the all-ages venue alongside teens and young adults and even a few middle-aged concertgoers, with their cat ears and cow horns on headbands all to take in the live spectacle that is a Doja Cat show.

Even more intriguing, there were plenty of fans taking in the concert at home as well, courtesy of live streaming app .WAV, which gained a slew of new subscribers with its previous partnership with Kanye West for his Wyoming campfire Ye release party. As a sponsor for the show, the app provided yet another avenue for the digital and physical worlds to cross over, even as the concert itself highlighted the ways in which both diverge in practice.

For one thing, it quickly became obvious that nary a fan in attendance was there because of the virulent success of “Mooo!” despite the bovine accessories adorning many of their hairdos and wardrobes. Their certified appreciation was evident as they sang along word-for-word to older, more obscure material from across Doja’s discography. Over the years, I’ve observed how cell phone cameras make appearances at concerts at the start of specific, meaningful songs such as hit singles and emotional deep cuts, but this night, those phones continued to pop up at the beginnings of nearly every song Doja performed.

Tracks like “No Police” and “So High” from Purrr! were given equal import with “Cookie Jar” and “Candy” and “Go To Town” from Amala and both received similar reception to Soundcloud staples such as “Nintendhoe.” When she performed the ’90s sitcom-inspired ode to her “twins,” “Tia Tamera,” complete with the screen behind her alternating images of the titular fraternal duo and even more anime clips of the metaphorical variety, the crowd reacted like the song — which currently only exists online as a snippet captured from an Instagram live stream — was a top ten Hot 100 single.

Far from being “canceled,” Doja Cat’s star power and charisma shone from the simple stage setup of a cow print tablecloth over her DJ’s table and the aforementioned screen. By the time she did perform “Mooo!” at the end of her set — with LA underground rap vet Verbs in a literal cow mask prancing across the stage for good measure — her assembled fans were more than willing to participate in the onstage antics, as she pulled three bold souls up to dance with her as she writhed and bounced her way through the novelty track. One was male, with a full face of Youtube-tutorial quality makeup, one was a bashful ten-year-old girl who practically shrank into her shirt under the spotlight, and the last was a full-figured Black woman in her twenties who Doja complimented on her top. They couldn’t have been more different, yet here they all were, united by the love of this “problematic” artist, having the time of their lives.

In trying to learn more, I talked to a number of attendees to find out why, with the tide of public sentiment seemingly turning on her, so many of them turned out in such force to support Doja Cat in spite of the backlash. What I gleaned from those short chats is that Twitter’s reach is a lot more limited than it looks from the other side of the screen. Sharra, 28, and Lexi, 27, told me that they didn’t even have Twitter accounts — news of the outrage against Amala hadn’t even reached them. Sharra told me she first found out about Doja Cat with “So High” while Lexi said she’s followed the singer online for years through Instagram instead, joking that Twitter had “too many words. I don’t like to pay attention to what people talking about.”

The ten-year-old from the stage turned out to be Jaden, along for her second concert ever with her mom, Megan, and her sister, Layla, 11. Megan had been a longtime follower from Instagram as well and roped her girls onto the bandwagon. Her daughters told me they loved Doja Cat’s voice and her style. Jaden, despite her bout of stage fright, has her own aspirations to become a singer, a dream fully supported by her mother, who said that she uses the content in the lyrics to talk to her girls about things she knows “they’ll hear anyway” and was peripherally aware of the controversy of the old tweets.

“I feel like it’s really hard because we’re picked apart and judged for every single thing that we’ve done in the past,” Megan explained. “Now we have our past documented online, but we grow and evolve so much over the years that it’s not fair to throw something we’ve said years ago in our face today. I think that we still have to be held accountable, but a lot of us talk certain ways in private that, once it’s thrown online, can be misconstrued or blown out of proportion.” Megan’s view is one that has been reflected online as well; many outlets have covered the respective dangers of “cancel culture,” while Uproxx’s own Caitlin White is currently publishing a series of essays on Medium about the causes and effects of online trauma, such as the bullying that can occur when “woke shaming” Twitter users pile onto a celebrity or even a regular person for out-of-context or old tweets that speak more to who we were or what those users project onto those tweets.

However, while the echo chamber of online social networks can lead to a false sense of increased cultural homogeneity, where we begin to think everyone in our sphere believes all the same things as us — or should — in reality, the old axiom “different strokes for different folks” holds as true as it ever has. People still learn things at their own pace, and what seems obvious to Aaron or Megan may not seem so much so to Amala. Cancel culture is ugly, but it’s only the dark shadow of the necessary process of online accountability and the sometimes painful learning process online.

With that said, it’s intriguing to note that those “different strokes” can also include opinions that haven’t been touched by the ostensible ubiquity of social media. It would appear that much of the online hand-wringing about “canceling” entertainers for screwing up can only go so far. In the case of someone like Doja Cat, she may have learned a much-needed lesson about how her public comments can be received, but if the real goal truly is to hold everyone accountable for their words and actions, canceling them on Twitter will probably never be the most effective tool. As for Doja, let’s hope she’s learned her lesson, because whether she’s a cat, a cow, or a duck, her clear talent deserves a second chance.

Amala is out now via RCA Records. Get it here.

source https://uproxx.com/hiphop/doja-cat-cancel-culture-live-show-echoplex/

[tonyduncanbb73]

New Haven’s Frank Pepe Opens Its First Rhode Island Pizzeria

And other regional food and beverage updates from New England, beyond the borders of Massachusetts

Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Massachusetts; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout the rest of New England. This piece is updated on a weekly basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere. (Find the archive of winter 2017-2018 news here.)

Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email boston@eater.com with any tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond the borders of Massachusetts.

Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.

May 15, 2018

PORTLAND, MAINE — Thursday, May 17, is opening day for a new food truck in Portland: the Truffle Truck, serving Italian dishes that feature truffles, fresh pasta, and more. Catch it in various parts of Portland and beyond — the schedule is on the truck’s website. The team is hoping to franchise it out to other cities as well, so fill out this form if you want to operate a Truffle Truck of your own.

Also in Portland, Otto Pizza recently renovated its 225 Congress St. (Munjoy Hill) location, adding more beer taps and some special menu items not available at other locations, including Detroit-style pizza. Never had Detroit-style pizza before? Here’s the definitive guide.

SACO, MAINE — In other Otto Pizza news, the chain plans to open a new location on Rt. 1 in Saco (779 Portland Rd.) on June 1; find it next to the Imax theater and across from Funtown and Splashtown. This is number seven for Maine Otto locations — and the largest of the bunch — and it’s number 13 for the chain overall. It’ll have a quick-service counter as well as a full-service dining room, plus a full bar, featuring 12-20 local beers on tap, and there will be a seasonal patio. Takeout and delivery will be available.

WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — Iconic New Haven pizza destination Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana has continued its beyond-Connecticut expansion with a new location in Warwick that opened earlier this week. It’s the first Rhode Island location for the growing chain, which mostly remains concentrated in Connecticut but also has a New York location (Yonkers) and a Massachusetts one (Chestnut Hill). Frank Pepe Warwick is at 21 Universal Blvd. and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, serving the usual assortment of pizzas, salads, and of course, Foxon Park sodas, along with a small selection of beer and wine. Pepe purists will tell you to get the white clam pizza, but non-clam enthusiasts will be plenty happy with the original tomato pie or any of the other options.

WATERVILLE, MAINE — This summer or fall, watch for the debut of Money Cat Fried Chicken and Donuts at 173 Main St., from longtime friends Kevin Sandes (Eighty 8 Donut Cafe) and David Gilbert (a 2013 Beard semifinalist in the Best Chef: Southwest category). The 40-seat restaurant, located in a building owned by Colby College, will combine Gilbert’s Thai street food-style fried chicken with Sandes’ doughnuts.

May 8, 2018

The Buffalo Jump/Facebook

Lamb stew from the Buffalo Jump

EAST FALMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS — The Buffalo Jump(277 Hatchville Rd.) has reopened for the season on the Cape, with Brandon Baltzley and Laura Higgins-Baltzley at the helm. The restaurant is open for walk-ins for breakfast and lunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with dinner reservations available starting at 5 p.m. The menus change daily depending on ingredient availability, but sample dishes include braised collard greens with pork shoulder or tofu, aged turkey, salt cod, and flatbread.

MASHANTUCKET, CONNECTICUT — Caputo Trattoria is now open at Foxwoods Resort Casino (350 Trolley Line Blvd.) with a menu of Italian dishes, including lobster fra diavolo, “tableside” cacio e pepe, baked clams, and a hybrid chicken parm pizza. There’s also a full bar with cocktails, wine, and limoncello flights.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Sagamore Hill(150 Park St.) will be ready to open in June, bringing with it plenty of nods to Teddy Roosevelt. It aims to be a neighborhood bar, with local beer and wine on the menu, in addition to presidential-themed cocktails, including one to recognize the sitting president. Owner Ryan Deskins described it in a release: “Basically, we’ve got a beautiful gold martini glass, full of nothing but hot air, with an elaborate orange twist garnish (emphasis on orange). This lovely assemblage will set you back $2,500, but you can keep the glass! The drink should — appropriately — leave you feeling regretful and unsatisfied, with hints of existential horror.” (The release adds: “The current plan is to have all proceeds from the sale of the drink go to charity, but that might just be an alternative fact.”)

In other Portland news, a Lewiston-based bagel shop, Forage, will add a second location in Portland’s East End by June, featuring a custom-built Spanish bread oven for baking the bagels. Stay tuned for an address and official opening date.

PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Raleigh Wine Bar + Market(67 State St.) is now open and has a special brunch planned for Mother’s Day, with lunch service debuting later on in May. The restaurant has a full liquor license and a menu that includes items like white asparagus, charcuterie, gnocchi, and more.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Knead Doughnuts (135 Elmgrove St.) now has a new location. The shop opened in April with a wide array of old fashioned, brioche, cake, and filled doughnuts, including vegan and flourless varieties. Flavors range from Boston cream to vanilla glazed and passion fruit.

Also in Providence, Mercer’s Delicatessen has opened (485 Angell St.) with a full lineup of meats that have been cured, brined, smoked, and cooked in-house. The menu includes sandwiches on a variety of breads, plus pickles and chips.

April 17, 2018

Rachel Leah Blumenthal/Eater

Cheeseburger and fries at Lexie’s Joint in Portsmouth, NH

HAMPTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Shane’s Texas Pit (61 High St.) is now open, serving barbecue. Brisket, pork spare ribs, sausage, turkey, and more are available with assorted sauces, including a blackberry barbecue sauce. There are also sandwiches, sides (cole slaw, beans, etc.), and sheet cake and peach cobbler for dessert.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Blue Lobster Wine Company (219 Anderson St.) held a test run of its tasting rooms over the weekend, ahead of an official opening on April 20. Self-described as “not your typical winery,” Blue Lobster offers wine in cans and kegs, calling it a “convenient, sustainable, economical” way of delivering wine with little waste. The winery will offer several varieties, including chardonnay, zinfandel, rose, and other red wines. In four separate tasting rooms, customers can also buy wine by the glass and by the flight.

Maine Lobster Shack(425 Fore St.) is now open in Portland, serving items like lobster rolls and fish and chips. There’s also wine on tap and oysters available. The restaurant debuted on Friday, April 13.

RYE, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The Carriage House(2263 Ocean Blvd.) debuts today in its newest form from owners James Woodhouse, RJ Joyce, and executive chef Brett Cavanna. The partners were forced to close their Portsmouth restaurant, Louie’s, due to a fire in April 2017, but they have taken on the task of rebooting this historic restaurant, which opened in 1931. They’ll serve a mix of New England fare, operating Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Lunch service will arrive for the summer, and the Carriage House will serve Sunday brunch starting April 29.

STRATHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lexie’s Burgers in Portsmouth (212 Islington St.) has three additional locations in New Hampshire (one is seasonal) and one in Massachusetts, plus a couple food trucks, or “burger buses,” as they’re known. Now, the business has signed a lease for the former Eastern Burger Co. space at 157 Portsmouth Ave. in Stratham, where it will operate a commissary kitchen and food truck catering site. Eventually, there will be a restaurant at the Stratham space, though it may not be under the Lexie’s name. In other Lexie’s news, the Exeter location (56 Lincoln St.) will relocate to the former 3 Brothers Marketplace space (82 Lincoln St.), where it will have 42 seats. And in other Lexie’s news, it will also open at Seacoast United’s Epping complex — possibly by June 2018 — with an eye towards a partnership that could ultimately put it in another Seacoast United locations as well.

April 10, 2018

Two Fat Cats Bakery/Facebook

Pies at Two Fat Cats Bakery

AUGUSTA, MAINE — This week, the Boston Globe tells the story of the Red Barn in Augusta, which bounced back from financial struggles by offering free food and donating proceeds to charity. Through the process of giving away money, owner Laura Benedict began to make it back and has been able to keep the restaurant running — and it’s become an institution.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Two Fat Cats Bakery(47 India St.) opens its second location on April 14 at 740 Broadway in South Portland, featuring the same menu of pies, pastries, and more sweet treats as at the India Street location, but this one will have ample seating for patrons. On opening day, the bakery will be offering free slices of cake while supplies last and will donate a portion of its proceeds from the day’s pie sales to the South Portland Food Cupboard.

The long-planned Lio (3 Spring St.)— from chef Cara Stadler and her mother, Cecile, who are also behind BaoBao Dumpling House (Portland) and Tao Yuan (Brunswick) — is under construction. When it opens, the restaurant will have a heavy focus on wine, and its menu will change daily based on available ingredients.

Paciarino (470 Fore St.)will open a new location in the former Zapoteca space down the street at 505 Fore St. Owners Enrico Barbiero and Fabiana de Savino plan to serve the restaurant’s pasta, brick oven pizza, and other Italian classics at the new space, while converting the original location into a retail space. The new Paciarino is slated for a May opening.

April 3, 2018

Bob’s Clam Hut/Facebook

Food at Bob’s Clam Hut

DANBURY, CONNECTICUT — Barrister’s Coffee Co.(1 West St.) opened earlier this year, and it serves coffee and tea, plus pastries, bagels, and baked goods brought in from New York. The shop is spacious with seating at tables, in leather chairs, and in cubicle nooks.

GORHAM, MAINE — Portland’s Bier Cellar, which has been around since 2012, now has a second location in the works for 593 Main St. in Gorham. “We are incredibly excited to bring our love of beer, wine, cider and mead to the rapidly growing community of Gorham,” the owners wrote in a blog post on the website. “We want to be a part of making Gorham a craft beer mecca just like we have watched the City Of Portland became one of the best craft beer destinations in the United States since we opened in 2012.”

PORTLAND, MAINE — Kittery’s famous Bob’s Clam Hut is in the process of expanding to Portland, at 109 Cumberland Ave. The restaurant has been in business since 1956, and owner Michael Landgarten hopes to open the new location in time for summer. Bob’s is known for its fried seafood baskets, fish sandwiches, burgers, and sides.

Union Bagel Co. opened a second location in the East Deering neighborhood of Portland (46 Veranda St.), serving its familiar variety of bagels, spreads, and breakfast sandwiches. The restaurant also offers vegan spreads.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — “It’s time to meet the waffle of your dreams,” and Providence’s Waffle(45 Weybosset St.) is ready for introductions. The restaurant, which opened about two months ago, serves a variety of waffles, including liege-style, gluten-free, and in the form of ice cream sandwiches. There’s also a pizza waffle topped with marinara sauce, cheese, crushed red pepper, and basil.

The Lotus Garden (223 Atwells Ave.) is open in Federal Hill with a selection of Southeast Asian dishes, including pho, sushi, stir fry noodles, rice bowls, and more. The restaurant also offers cocktails, beer, and wine.

SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound(407 State Rd. 286) at long last has reopened following a fire in August 2017. This week, the restaurant will operate Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (April 6, 7, and 8), and then starting April 13, Brown’s will be open for the summer season, per a post on Facebook. Brown’s first opened in 1950 and serves a menu of fried seafood boxes and platters, sandwiches, and more.

WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT — Kaliubon Ramenis now open at 1323 Silas Deane Hwy., serving a menu of shoyu, tonkotsu, and miso ramen, along with assorted bao filled with pork, lamb, or tofu. There are also wings, dumplings, lettuce wraps, and salad.

March 27, 2018

Big J’s Chicken Shack/Facebook

Hot chicken from Big J’s Chicken Shack in Portland

HOPKINTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lakehouse Tavern (157 Main St.) has opened with some sustainable practices in place. In addition to serving a broad selection of dishes ranging from wings and lobster fritters to wraps, sandwiches, burgers, and steaks, the restaurant roasts its own turkey, ham, and prime rib and recycles its cooking oil with Newport Biodiesel.

PORTLAND, MAINE — A restaurant and bar at the Danforth Inn (163 Danforth St.) will close at the end of the month, as the business prepares to file for bankruptcy, per the Portland Press Herald. Tempo Dulu and Opium — the restaurant and bar, respectively — shut down for good on March 31. Co-owner Raymond Brunyanszki cited the niche of the Southeast Asian restaurant as a contributing factor to the closure, along with profitability. Opium also drew ire for its name upon opening. When the business makes it through the bankruptcy filing, the bar will resume operation, perhaps under a new name.

Big J’s Chicken Shack (4 Thompsons Pt.), perhaps best known for providing sustenance in the form of Nashville hot chicken and waffles to visitors at the neighboring Bissell Brothers Brewing Company, will close down at the end of the month. It will be replaced by Locally Sauced, which has six years under its belt as a food cart. It serves burritos, tacos, and barbecue, and it will arrive this May.

Ice It Bakery (502 Stevens Ave.) now has a new location up and running to go along with its original location in Yarmouth, Maine. The bakery serves specialty cupcakes, cookies, pastries, coffee cakes, and gluten-free concoctions, and it offers decorating parties for kids.

Sagamore Hill(150 Park St.) is coming to Portland with the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. The restaurant takes its name from an area of New York the president called home. The space is currently under construction, and when it opens it will accommodate 100 people inside with 40 on a patio outdoors.

SEBAGO, MAINE — Sportsman’s Kitchen & Keg (46 Sebago Rd.) is on the way to Sebago Lake, courtesy of father-and-son team Paul and Rocco Severino, slated for a summer 2018 opening. The restaurant labels itself an “homage to Portland’s old Sportsman’s Grill,” which previously operated at 905-911 Congress St., according to the Portland Food Map.

March 20, 2018

Eventide Oyster Co./Instagram

Little Spruce Baking Co. baked goods

BIDDEFORD, MAINE — A new arm of the Big Tree Hospitality group — which runs the acclaimed Eventide restaurants, Hugo’s, and The Honey Paw — has made its official debut. Little Spruce Baking Co.has taken croissants to a new level, appearing at Elements: Books, Coffee, Beer (265 Main St.) in Biddeford on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, along with the Saco River Farmers Market on Saturdays. There are several types of croissants available, most notably a pizza version made with tomato jam, ricotta, and pepperoni. There’s also a Moonstruck version with egg, mushroom, and mustard greens, a PB&J version, and more.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Black Cow(83 Exchange St.) is now open in the former Sonny’s space in Old Port, from the same team, featuring burgers and shakes.

PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Cup of Joe (31 Market St.) has opened in Portsmouth with a lengthy lineup of beverages, pastries, and other snacks. The shop serves all kinds of coffees and espresso beverages, plus kombucha on tap, chai lattes, and more.

SACO, MAINE — The Lady and the Mensch (172 Main St.) has a selection of cocktails, craft beer, and more on the menu in Saco. The recent opening is pegged as a community hangout spot, with a lounge area and a central location in the neighborhood.

YORK, MAINE — First Hill Restaurant (369 US Rte 1.) is now open in York and serving a varied menu including brunch. Dishes range from avocado toast and a Greek yogurt waffle to salmon burgers, sticky Thai fried chicken, and steamed mussels.

Further Reading

Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater

Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar

New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.

The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.

Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.

Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.

A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.

Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.

Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.

[inhandnetworks-blog]

Screenwriter Max Landis Says He’s 'Sick' of Feminist Media Calling Him Sexist

www.inhandnetworks.com

Hollywood screenwriter Max Landis (Victor Frankenstein, American Ultra, and most recently, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) has read the recent (and ongoing) criticism of him, and he's not happy about it.

"I’m sick of being a controversial figure," Landis told Newsweek at New York Comic Con on Friday. "If Pajiba, or The Mary Sue, or any of these sites want to interview me, I’m here."

"I’m not a sexist guy," Landis says.

Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now

Landis has long been known for his inflammatory comments on Twitter—perhaps most famous is his tweet accusing the lead character of Star Wars: The Forces Awakens of being a "Mary Sue," a term used mainly to describe female characters who are deemed "too competent."

Landis also penned a controversial Twitter response to director Lexi Alexander's comment that Landis's continued success in Hollywood was a product of white male privilege. After Alexander blocked Landis on Twitter, he sent her a personalized video asking why, saying, “Hi Lexi, I’m sorry you don’t like me, I like you.”

A Vulture profile published Tuesday that painted Landis in a favorable light prompted renewed criticism on Twitter and female-centric media sites, including The Mary Sue writer Teresa Jusino's essay "Hollywood’s Insistence on Making Max Landis “A Thing” Is a Symptom of Its Endemic Sexism." Pajiba has posted similar essays in response to Landis profiles in the past.

"It’s very easy to take dumb and horrible shit I said six years ago, and trot it out every time there’s a new article about me," Landis tells Newsweek." They never engage with me about it. If you want to talk to me about the Force Awakens stuff, I’m here to talk about it."

When pressed to do just that, Landis admitted he did regret the now-infamous Force Awakens tweet, but stands by his original sentiment. "I regret framing it that way. I didn’t understand that the term 'Mary Sue' had been co-opted," he said.

He went on to say that on his BBC America Show Dirk Gently, he tries to create equally complex characters, regardless of gender. "But I’m sorry, I’m talking about female characters," he said, interrupting himself. "I don’t want to be Joss Whedon. I’m not interested in saying, 'I’m a feminist!' and all this stuff."

"I deserve the scrutiny I’m getting," Landis concluded, "but engage me. Don’t make me a figure. I’m not a cartoon."

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[nuzblog]

Sunday, October 22nd, 2017

Hello there. My name is Sterling, which you may very well know already. I could bore you with details about me but I'd really prefer not to.

On this day (which is yesterday at the time of writing), I began my third consecutive attempt to do a Nuzlocke Run of Pokemon Blue. I intend to play through every generation of Pokemon in chronological order, using original versions (so no remakes; for the original two generations I will be using the virtual console, and for the latter five I will be playing the original cartridges.) I further intend to begin documenting this quest using this site as a sort of diary, which will be updated whenever the game I am nuzlocking is played, which will probably be daily for a while, but then I might get a Switch, or Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon might come out, and it might become less than daily.

To start out with, let's quickly go over a few things in terms of background.

The Pokemon series started with the release of Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green in Japan, on February 27, 1996, 19 months before I was born. The games were RPGs based on the childhood play of creator Satoshi Tajiri, who as a young boy in Machida, Japan, would collect beetles and have them fight other kids' captured insects. With 151 unique creatures to collect, trade, battle and love, from typical adorable cats and dogs to awe inspiring kaiju, to creepy-cute moths and bees and strange animated plant monsters, and things even weirder than that, the franchise had something for everyone. It made a huge splash in Japan, and when it was rereleased in the United States, it was accompanied by an animated show aimed at children and a trading card game, all of which connected like a plug into the outlets in the minds of children all over the world. It became a global phenomenon practically overnight, with scores of magical monsters becoming household names, and the concepts becoming core for game design. The series is still going, and while nothing since the first generation has become quite so culturally pervasive, the franchise is a well known and renowned one all the same. Every few years new games come along, with a new setting, a new story, and a set of new Pokemon hovering around 100. In seven "generations" (Red/Green/Blue/Yellow, Gold/Silver/Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, Black/White/Black 2/White 2, X/Y, Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon), the number 151 has become 804 (and counting, since Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon aren't out yet and may very well have a few new Pokemon.)

You probably know most of that already, but it is important to lay this kind of groundwork so that nobody is confused.

A Nuzlocke Challenge is a specific sort of self-imposed challenge that some players of Pokemon games use to combat the game's otherwise relatively low difficulty outside of PvP. It gets its name from a webcomic that originally simply called the challenge "Pokemon Hard Mode", but featured a Nuzleaf who was named after John Locke from LOST, who became a memetic character inside and outside of the comic, and the challenge is now named for that Nuzleaf. (If you're unfamiliar, Nuzleaf is a grass type Pokemon from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, that looks kind of like Pinocchio and evolves from an acorn and into a tengu. LOST was a bad show by the guy who for some reason got put in charge of both Star Trek AND Star Wars afterwards.)

The original Nuzlocke Challenge used the following rules:

1. You may only capture the first Pokemeon you see in each area. 2. Any Pokemon that faints is permanently dead, and can never be used again.

Later players of Nuzlockes have modified and expanded those rules, and today, many rulesets exist. Some mitigate the difficulty of these two rules, some make it harder, and some merely add a new spin to things. But in order to be a Nuzlocke Challenge, these two rules are the bare minimum.

Now that I've given you that background, I'd like to go ahead and list out my own ruleset, which I will be using not just for my playthrough of Blue, but also for all consecutive playthroughs, with the potential for minor tweaks and edits inbetween games and also early on into this first playthrough.

1. I may only capture the first Pokemon I see in each area. 1a. No Ball Clause - No wild encounters count until I have access to Pokeballs. 1b. Duplicate Clause - If the first encounter in an area is a Pokemon I have already caught, and they have not died (even if they have evolved), that encounter can be ignored in favor of the next one. This can be repeated until a unique Pokemon is found. 1c. Shiny Clause - A shiny Pokemon can be caught at any time, if one is encountered in the wild, unless the encounter is scripted. 2. A Pokemon that faints in battle is permanently dead, and can never be used again. A Pokemon that faints outside of battle, such as by poisoning, can be restored to life at a Pokemon Center. 2a. If I ever white out, and my whole team is fainted, it does not matter if I have living Pokemon in the box; my player character is considered dead, and the run has failed. 3. When an important trainer battle occurs, such as one with the rival, a gym leader battle, a battle against an admin of the villainous team, or another battle against an important NPC such as an elite four member or the champion, my party must have exactly as many Pokemon in it as theirs does. 3a. 6 Pokemon team for the Elite Four and Champion challenge at the end. 4. Each Pokemon Center provides only one opportunity for me to heal my Pokemon. When I finish an important battle, I have another chance to heal at the nearest Pokemon Center. I can hold onto this second heal, but I cannot accumulate a third. 4a. Healing outside of Pokemon Centers is infinite, including at home or in strangers' beds. 4b. Struggle Clause - If I run out of PP on all damaging attacks, I am allowed to heal at the nearest Pokemon Center if, and only if, all of my Pokemon are already at full HP.

Those are the major, overarching rules. Other notes include that I will be determining starter randomly when my character has the option unless I have tried and failed with two of them and have not yet tried the third, and that every Pokemon will be nicknamed. A Pokemon nickname cannot be reused for the same species if that Pokemon dies, and a trainer nickname cannot be reused if that trainer dies. (If, on the other hand, I complete Blue with a Pidgey on my team, and I am named John and my Pidgey is named Butts, I can use the name John for my player and the name Butts for a Pidgey I catch in future games, until they die.)

Got all that? Good. Now we can begin.

Well. Actually, first I'm gonna run through what happened on my first two attempts lightning fast.

First attempt - Player name was Red. Bulbasaur, named Metreedon, was my starter. Caught a Rattata, named it Mickey; it died. Caught a Nidoran (Female), named her Lexi. Caught a second Rattata, named it Minnie, it also died. Reached Level 8 with Metreedon and Lexi, and then fought the second rival battle. Was sorely beaten by Blue's Pidgey.

Second attempt - Player name was Satoshi. Charmander, named Sally, was my starter. Caught a Rattata, named it Remy. Caught a Pidgey, named it... I can't actually recall. Progressed all the way to Mt. Moon, beating Brock along the way. Was done in by the first encounter with a Team Rocket Grunt in Mt. Moon, and his illegally evolved Level 16 Raticate.

NOW we can begin!!

(A note: between that writing above and this writing below, I slept and then woke up and then went to work and then worked and then went home. I did not play any Pokemon Blue on the 23rd, but I will today, the 24th. Probably.)

I began my Pokemon journey, naming my character "Gary" and my rival "Ash", at the suggestion of the game. I can't help but feel as though Red being the far and above more popular version was an intentional move on Game Freak's part, given that these names are reversed both in Pokemon Red, and in the English translation of the anime. (I have not played the Japanese versions, but it is my understanding that a similar switch happens with the names Satoshi and Shigeru.) The Blue/Red suggestion switch is a little less notable, since that's a simple matter of the game you're playing. That said, while some of the names have turned out a little cringey ("Hilbert" and "Hilda" in particular), I think the "canon names" changing from depending on your game version to depending on your character's gender starting in the third generation was a good move.

Moving on, I go through the typical motions; I grab my Potion from the PC, I walk into the left-hand square of grass north of Pallet Town, get stopped by Oak and brought to the lab. There, I pick my starter, who, given that I've already rolled a Bulbasaur (using a random number generator) and a Charmander (using a physical six-sided die), I decide to be Squirtle. I name my Squirtle "Shelley", since gender doesn't exist yet and I can do whatever I like. (Not that gender ever really exists.) Squirtle is my favorite of the three starters in this generation, with Wartortle being my preference of the family, so I'm excited to use Shelley. This, of course, counts as my Pokemon for Pallet Town.

My rival battle in the lab is the most clutch it's been, for some reason, which is odd given that I'm now armed with the most useful statistic-affecting move alloted to the starting movesets of the three starters in this game, Tail Whip. I am reduced to one health, very nearly a game-ender, so I use my potion on the chance that my foe will use Tackle instead of Growl (Bulbasaur is faster than Squirtle here.) I win the battle with full health, but one less Potion, which are at a dreadful premium until Pewter City.

I journey north to Viridian, taking the opportunity to grind in the grass a bit. I get the potion from the advertiser, the parcel from the mart, and then head back south, delivering it to Oak. I now have a PokeDex, but more importantly, since I'm definitely not filling that out, the PokeMart in Viridian will now sell me some PokeBalls.  I head North yet again, purchase five, and head south, catching a Rattata in Route 1 along the way. I name my Rattata Lemmy. I could talk about what made me use that name, but I think I will leave that a mystery. The first person to correctly guess what my name scheme is for this run through (before it ends) will get... a Pokemon from the run traded to them in Sun or Moon? Hidden Abilities, yo.

I left off the game grinding back and forth in Route 1, taking maximum advantage of the unlimited healing that my mother provides. This is not a privilege I'll have forever (although I will probably have it back when I get Fly?), especially since, as I recall, there is a temporary point of no return on the other side of Mt. Moon, which, even if Mt. Moon weren't inhospitable to those who are already desperately in need of healing, would make it impossible to take advantage of my mother's generosity.

Current team is Shelley the Squirtle, Level 8, from Pallet Town; and Lemmy the Rattata, Level 6, from Route 1.

Riveting, I know.

See y'all for the next entry.

[whitneypierce717]

Dana and Lexy – 7 month old female Ibizan Hounds (Podenco)

Dana and Lexy are 7 month old female Ibizan Hound (Podenco). Stunning sibling Podenco puppy girls who are so friendly and very eager to please. These girls are medium size and love other dogs, one is tan and dappled white, the other is tan. Lexy is the girl behind the mesh fencing and lovely Dana is the one in the run. These girls are as pretty as Pointers! More assessments will be done for lead work, cats and general character, but so far these are two very very nice puppy girls. Both can be homed independently. They like other dogs and we think they will be good with children over 8 years.

Denise’s report from PAWS in May: These 2 girls are adorable and very pretty and affectionate and love people and cuddles. I met Dana who was in general circulation but lovely Lexy was only just admitted to the shelter and in quarantine area waiting for her first vaccinations, so I was unable to enter and had to take photos through the fencing.

Dana had been abandoned at the Shelter gates weeks ago and whilst I was at the shelter last week we saw Lexy come to the gate crying to be let in! She followed all the dog walkers and wanted to play with the dogs being walked then sat at the gate crying and tried to jump into one of the volunteers cars as they left. Poor girl must have tracked down her sister and wouldnt go away so she was admitted to the shelter and is now also safe.

Current location is in Spain can travel to the UK once they have a home to go to. Vaccinated, wormed, flea treated, Spayed, Microchipped, Pet Passport. Any known health issues NONE YET FOUND.

Adoption Fee: £ 195 – to be paid direct to the Spanish rescue to cover travel costs via UK bank account.

via WordPress https://whitneypierce123.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/dana-and-lexy-7-month-old-female-ibizan-hounds-podenco/

[tonyduncanbb73]

New Haven’s Frank Pepe Opens Its First Rhode Island Pizzeria

And other regional food and beverage updates from New England, beyond the borders of Massachusetts

Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Massachusetts; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout the rest of New England. This piece is updated on a weekly basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere. (Find the archive of winter 2017-2018 news here.)

Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email boston@eater.com with any tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond the borders of Massachusetts.

Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.

May 15, 2018

PORTLAND, MAINE — Thursday, May 17, is opening day for a new food truck in Portland: the Truffle Truck, serving Italian dishes that feature truffles, fresh pasta, and more. Catch it in various parts of Portland and beyond — the schedule is on the truck’s website. The team is hoping to franchise it out to other cities as well, so fill out this form if you want to operate a Truffle Truck of your own.

Also in Portland, Otto Pizza recently renovated its 225 Congress St. (Munjoy Hill) location, adding more beer taps and some special menu items not available at other locations, including Detroit-style pizza. Never had Detroit-style pizza before? Here’s the definitive guide.

SACO, MAINE — In other Otto Pizza news, the chain plans to open a new location on Rt. 1 in Saco (779 Portland Rd.) on June 1; find it next to the Imax theater and across from Funtown and Splashtown. This is number seven for Maine Otto locations — and the largest of the bunch — and it’s number 13 for the chain overall. It’ll have a quick-service counter as well as a full-service dining room, plus a full bar, featuring 12-20 local beers on tap, and there will be a seasonal patio. Takeout and delivery will be available.

WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — Iconic New Haven pizza destination Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana has continued its beyond-Connecticut expansion with a new location in Warwick that opened earlier this week. It’s the first Rhode Island location for the growing chain, which mostly remains concentrated in Connecticut but also has a New York location (Yonkers) and a Massachusetts one (Chestnut Hill). Frank Pepe Warwick is at 21 Universal Blvd. and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, serving the usual assortment of pizzas, salads, and of course, Foxon Park sodas, along with a small selection of beer and wine. Pepe purists will tell you to get the white clam pizza, but non-clam enthusiasts will be plenty happy with the original tomato pie or any of the other options.

WATERVILLE, MAINE — This summer or fall, watch for the debut of Money Cat Fried Chicken and Donuts at 173 Main St., from longtime friends Kevin Sandes (Eighty 8 Donut Cafe) and David Gilbert (a 2013 Beard semifinalist in the Best Chef: Southwest category). The 40-seat restaurant, located in a building owned by Colby College, will combine Gilbert’s Thai street food-style fried chicken with Sandes’ doughnuts.

May 8, 2018

The Buffalo Jump/Facebook

Lamb stew from the Buffalo Jump

EAST FALMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS — The Buffalo Jump(277 Hatchville Rd.) has reopened for the season on the Cape, with Brandon Baltzley and Laura Higgins-Baltzley at the helm. The restaurant is open for walk-ins for breakfast and lunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with dinner reservations available starting at 5 p.m. The menus change daily depending on ingredient availability, but sample dishes include braised collard greens with pork shoulder or tofu, aged turkey, salt cod, and flatbread.

MASHANTUCKET, CONNECTICUT — Caputo Trattoria is now open at Foxwoods Resort Casino (350 Trolley Line Blvd.) with a menu of Italian dishes, including lobster fra diavolo, “tableside” cacio e pepe, baked clams, and a hybrid chicken parm pizza. There’s also a full bar with cocktails, wine, and limoncello flights.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Sagamore Hill(150 Park St.) will be ready to open in June, bringing with it plenty of nods to Teddy Roosevelt. It aims to be a neighborhood bar, with local beer and wine on the menu, in addition to presidential-themed cocktails, including one to recognize the sitting president. Owner Ryan Deskins described it in a release: “Basically, we’ve got a beautiful gold martini glass, full of nothing but hot air, with an elaborate orange twist garnish (emphasis on orange). This lovely assemblage will set you back $2,500, but you can keep the glass! The drink should — appropriately — leave you feeling regretful and unsatisfied, with hints of existential horror.” (The release adds: “The current plan is to have all proceeds from the sale of the drink go to charity, but that might just be an alternative fact.”)

In other Portland news, a Lewiston-based bagel shop, Forage, will add a second location in Portland’s East End by June, featuring a custom-built Spanish bread oven for baking the bagels. Stay tuned for an address and official opening date.

PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Raleigh Wine Bar + Market(67 State St.) is now open and has a special brunch planned for Mother’s Day, with lunch service debuting later on in May. The restaurant has a full liquor license and a menu that includes items like white asparagus, charcuterie, gnocchi, and more.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Knead Doughnuts (135 Elmgrove St.) now has a new location. The shop opened in April with a wide array of old fashioned, brioche, cake, and filled doughnuts, including vegan and flourless varieties. Flavors range from Boston cream to vanilla glazed and passion fruit.

Also in Providence, Mercer’s Delicatessen has opened (485 Angell St.) with a full lineup of meats that have been cured, brined, smoked, and cooked in-house. The menu includes sandwiches on a variety of breads, plus pickles and chips.

April 17, 2018

Rachel Leah Blumenthal/Eater

Cheeseburger and fries at Lexie’s Joint in Portsmouth, NH

HAMPTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Shane’s Texas Pit (61 High St.) is now open, serving barbecue. Brisket, pork spare ribs, sausage, turkey, and more are available with assorted sauces, including a blackberry barbecue sauce. There are also sandwiches, sides (cole slaw, beans, etc.), and sheet cake and peach cobbler for dessert.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Blue Lobster Wine Company (219 Anderson St.) held a test run of its tasting rooms over the weekend, ahead of an official opening on April 20. Self-described as “not your typical winery,” Blue Lobster offers wine in cans and kegs, calling it a “convenient, sustainable, economical” way of delivering wine with little waste. The winery will offer several varieties, including chardonnay, zinfandel, rose, and other red wines. In four separate tasting rooms, customers can also buy wine by the glass and by the flight.

Maine Lobster Shack(425 Fore St.) is now open in Portland, serving items like lobster rolls and fish and chips. There’s also wine on tap and oysters available. The restaurant debuted on Friday, April 13.

RYE, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The Carriage House(2263 Ocean Blvd.) debuts today in its newest form from owners James Woodhouse, RJ Joyce, and executive chef Brett Cavanna. The partners were forced to close their Portsmouth restaurant, Louie’s, due to a fire in April 2017, but they have taken on the task of rebooting this historic restaurant, which opened in 1931. They’ll serve a mix of New England fare, operating Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Lunch service will arrive for the summer, and the Carriage House will serve Sunday brunch starting April 29.

STRATHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lexie’s Burgers in Portsmouth (212 Islington St.) has three additional locations in New Hampshire (one is seasonal) and one in Massachusetts, plus a couple food trucks, or “burger buses,” as they’re known. Now, the business has signed a lease for the former Eastern Burger Co. space at 157 Portsmouth Ave. in Stratham, where it will operate a commissary kitchen and food truck catering site. Eventually, there will be a restaurant at the Stratham space, though it may not be under the Lexie’s name. In other Lexie’s news, the Exeter location (56 Lincoln St.) will relocate to the former 3 Brothers Marketplace space (82 Lincoln St.), where it will have 42 seats. And in other Lexie’s news, it will also open at Seacoast United’s Epping complex — possibly by June 2018 — with an eye towards a partnership that could ultimately put it in another Seacoast United locations as well.

April 10, 2018

Two Fat Cats Bakery/Facebook

Pies at Two Fat Cats Bakery

AUGUSTA, MAINE — This week, the Boston Globe tells the story of the Red Barn in Augusta, which bounced back from financial struggles by offering free food and donating proceeds to charity. Through the process of giving away money, owner Laura Benedict began to make it back and has been able to keep the restaurant running — and it’s become an institution.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Two Fat Cats Bakery(47 India St.) opens its second location on April 14 at 740 Broadway in South Portland, featuring the same menu of pies, pastries, and more sweet treats as at the India Street location, but this one will have ample seating for patrons. On opening day, the bakery will be offering free slices of cake while supplies last and will donate a portion of its proceeds from the day’s pie sales to the South Portland Food Cupboard.

The long-planned Lio (3 Spring St.)— from chef Cara Stadler and her mother, Cecile, who are also behind BaoBao Dumpling House (Portland) and Tao Yuan (Brunswick) — is under construction. When it opens, the restaurant will have a heavy focus on wine, and its menu will change daily based on available ingredients.

Paciarino (470 Fore St.)will open a new location in the former Zapoteca space down the street at 505 Fore St. Owners Enrico Barbiero and Fabiana de Savino plan to serve the restaurant’s pasta, brick oven pizza, and other Italian classics at the new space, while converting the original location into a retail space. The new Paciarino is slated for a May opening.

April 3, 2018

Bob’s Clam Hut/Facebook

Food at Bob’s Clam Hut

DANBURY, CONNECTICUT — Barrister’s Coffee Co.(1 West St.) opened earlier this year, and it serves coffee and tea, plus pastries, bagels, and baked goods brought in from New York. The shop is spacious with seating at tables, in leather chairs, and in cubicle nooks.

GORHAM, MAINE — Portland’s Bier Cellar, which has been around since 2012, now has a second location in the works for 593 Main St. in Gorham. “We are incredibly excited to bring our love of beer, wine, cider and mead to the rapidly growing community of Gorham,” the owners wrote in a blog post on the website. “We want to be a part of making Gorham a craft beer mecca just like we have watched the City Of Portland became one of the best craft beer destinations in the United States since we opened in 2012.”

PORTLAND, MAINE — Kittery’s famous Bob’s Clam Hut is in the process of expanding to Portland, at 109 Cumberland Ave. The restaurant has been in business since 1956, and owner Michael Landgarten hopes to open the new location in time for summer. Bob’s is known for its fried seafood baskets, fish sandwiches, burgers, and sides.

Union Bagel Co. opened a second location in the East Deering neighborhood of Portland (46 Veranda St.), serving its familiar variety of bagels, spreads, and breakfast sandwiches. The restaurant also offers vegan spreads.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — “It’s time to meet the waffle of your dreams,” and Providence’s Waffle(45 Weybosset St.) is ready for introductions. The restaurant, which opened about two months ago, serves a variety of waffles, including liege-style, gluten-free, and in the form of ice cream sandwiches. There’s also a pizza waffle topped with marinara sauce, cheese, crushed red pepper, and basil.

The Lotus Garden (223 Atwells Ave.) is open in Federal Hill with a selection of Southeast Asian dishes, including pho, sushi, stir fry noodles, rice bowls, and more. The restaurant also offers cocktails, beer, and wine.

SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound(407 State Rd. 286) at long last has reopened following a fire in August 2017. This week, the restaurant will operate Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (April 6, 7, and 8), and then starting April 13, Brown’s will be open for the summer season, per a post on Facebook. Brown’s first opened in 1950 and serves a menu of fried seafood boxes and platters, sandwiches, and more.

WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT — Kaliubon Ramenis now open at 1323 Silas Deane Hwy., serving a menu of shoyu, tonkotsu, and miso ramen, along with assorted bao filled with pork, lamb, or tofu. There are also wings, dumplings, lettuce wraps, and salad.

March 27, 2018

Big J’s Chicken Shack/Facebook

Hot chicken from Big J’s Chicken Shack in Portland

HOPKINTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lakehouse Tavern (157 Main St.) has opened with some sustainable practices in place. In addition to serving a broad selection of dishes ranging from wings and lobster fritters to wraps, sandwiches, burgers, and steaks, the restaurant roasts its own turkey, ham, and prime rib and recycles its cooking oil with Newport Biodiesel.

PORTLAND, MAINE — A restaurant and bar at the Danforth Inn (163 Danforth St.) will close at the end of the month, as the business prepares to file for bankruptcy, per the Portland Press Herald. Tempo Dulu and Opium — the restaurant and bar, respectively — shut down for good on March 31. Co-owner Raymond Brunyanszki cited the niche of the Southeast Asian restaurant as a contributing factor to the closure, along with profitability. Opium also drew ire for its name upon opening. When the business makes it through the bankruptcy filing, the bar will resume operation, perhaps under a new name.

Big J’s Chicken Shack (4 Thompsons Pt.), perhaps best known for providing sustenance in the form of Nashville hot chicken and waffles to visitors at the neighboring Bissell Brothers Brewing Company, will close down at the end of the month. It will be replaced by Locally Sauced, which has six years under its belt as a food cart. It serves burritos, tacos, and barbecue, and it will arrive this May.

Ice It Bakery (502 Stevens Ave.) now has a new location up and running to go along with its original location in Yarmouth, Maine. The bakery serves specialty cupcakes, cookies, pastries, coffee cakes, and gluten-free concoctions, and it offers decorating parties for kids.

Sagamore Hill(150 Park St.) is coming to Portland with the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. The restaurant takes its name from an area of New York the president called home. The space is currently under construction, and when it opens it will accommodate 100 people inside with 40 on a patio outdoors.

SEBAGO, MAINE — Sportsman’s Kitchen & Keg (46 Sebago Rd.) is on the way to Sebago Lake, courtesy of father-and-son team Paul and Rocco Severino, slated for a summer 2018 opening. The restaurant labels itself an “homage to Portland’s old Sportsman’s Grill,” which previously operated at 905-911 Congress St., according to the Portland Food Map.

March 20, 2018

Eventide Oyster Co./Instagram

Little Spruce Baking Co. baked goods

BIDDEFORD, MAINE — A new arm of the Big Tree Hospitality group — which runs the acclaimed Eventide restaurants, Hugo’s, and The Honey Paw — has made its official debut. Little Spruce Baking Co.has taken croissants to a new level, appearing at Elements: Books, Coffee, Beer (265 Main St.) in Biddeford on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, along with the Saco River Farmers Market on Saturdays. There are several types of croissants available, most notably a pizza version made with tomato jam, ricotta, and pepperoni. There’s also a Moonstruck version with egg, mushroom, and mustard greens, a PB&J version, and more.

PORTLAND, MAINE — Black Cow(83 Exchange St.) is now open in the former Sonny’s space in Old Port, from the same team, featuring burgers and shakes.

PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Cup of Joe (31 Market St.) has opened in Portsmouth with a lengthy lineup of beverages, pastries, and other snacks. The shop serves all kinds of coffees and espresso beverages, plus kombucha on tap, chai lattes, and more.

SACO, MAINE — The Lady and the Mensch (172 Main St.) has a selection of cocktails, craft beer, and more on the menu in Saco. The recent opening is pegged as a community hangout spot, with a lounge area and a central location in the neighborhood.

YORK, MAINE — First Hill Restaurant (369 US Rte 1.) is now open in York and serving a varied menu including brunch. Dishes range from avocado toast and a Greek yogurt waffle to salmon burgers, sticky Thai fried chicken, and steamed mussels.

Further Reading

Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater

Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar

New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.

The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.

Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.

Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.

A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.

Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.

Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.