#Jerome fan fiction

[frank1nsaint]

Franklin Part 1.

You look around the crowd of people, slightly overwhelmed by the turn out at the fair today. It was a Saturday night after all anyone who wanted to enjoy an ounce of fun weekend before work/school on Monday was here. Unfortunately for you crowds weren’t your thing since a fight tended to break out and nowadays a gun would be pulled quickly. 

“Damn! he walks like his dick is heavy” you hear 

You start coughing choking on your cola

“What?!!” Wanda comments

“She must be talking about Franklin”  Lashay adds as you all now looked towards where she looked, Franklin’s crew walked towards them mostly because of Leon but still they made their way towards you 

There’s a light laughter between you girls “Girl you crazy!” your best friend who just happens to be your cousin Harmony adds to the discussion 

“Oh shit they coming this way yall straighten up!” Tasha snaps quickly adjusting herself clothes  

You groan internally you didn’t want to deal with Franklin and his men. You were around them from elementary to now, and right now mentioning Franklin and his men was like mentioning the grim reaper and his minions. After Kevin's death and Franklin’s release, it was like they were untouchable, and anyone who crossed them ended up dead. Franklin didn’t have that innocent aura about him anymore, you couldn’t describe it he was different confident

“Ladies!” Mike Mike greets bowing his head

“Hey y'all” Lashay greets

“What y'all doing here?” Leon asks

“We are at the state fair duh we are here to get some drinks food and have fun” Wanda responds

“The questioning is what are y'all doing here?” Harmony asks

“Shit y'all can’t be the only ones having fun!” Jerome comments

You hang back as the group merges and moves through the fair. You would integrate, often joining the discussion, but for the most part you kinda just chilled in the back and watched as the couples (Tasha/Franklin, Wanda/Leon, Harmony/Sean Louie/Jerome) cupcaked while the rest of you walked at a distance from them. 

“Girl Sean talking about making me his girl” Harmony comments as you two finally made it back to your rented out home 

“Oh nice!” you say removing your shoes

“You had fun tonight?” 

“Yea!” you smile 

“Good see it was fun” she says in a “i told you so” mocking tone 

“Yea yea whatever!” you wave her off before retreating to the kitchen. You two spend the night conversing before heading off to sleep. 

Life goes on and not much can be said about trying to survive and make it in a world that wouldn’t allow you to. 

“No,” you look at your cousin with a dead face

“WHYYY GIRL? COMME ONNNN” she begs

“Why do I” you point to your chest, “need to go? Tasha, Lashay, Bri, CiCi they are all going” 

“Because cousin, it's a christmas/new years party, damn you wanna be the only bitch in south central staying home on new years eve??”

“You know i don’t like crowds” you argue “and you know damn well that house is about to be packed” 

“When will you get to experience partying at a drug lords house again?” she counters 

“I would hope never Harmony”

She fake cries “come on girl pleaaassseee” she begs as she hugs you

“Harmony”

“Franklin said bring all your friends you know I cant show up without you” 

“Why not?” 

“Because you are part of the package” 

“Just go with the girls” should 

She turns you to face her “Y/N! why don’t you want to come?”

You sigh “i already told you!” 

She gives you a light push “Fine, be boring, have no social life, have no love life, just  survive, Work, school, home, bills thats it???” She throws her hands up when you give her a blanks stare in return 

You roll your eyes as she walks away. What she said got to you eventually, you didn’t want to only survive, you wanted to live just not around Saint and his men, it's like a body dropped every time he was around. 

You ponder for a few days before approaching her, what could hurt a one time party never to be mentioned again at least you could counter if she ever asked you to leave again. 

“Whats the dress code?” you ask as you stand by the kitchen counter 

“What?” She asks as she mixes the rice on the stove

“For this party” you clarify 

She turns to you with a stunned face, mouth a jar wide grin quickly taking over, “you coming?!!!” she asks softly, when you nod she screams and throws her arms around you “OH MY GOD!!!! AHHHH! YES GIRLLLL YESSSS WHAT MADE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?”

“Okay calm down!”

“Sorry” she takes a deep breath “I’m just soo excited” 

“Yea yea whats the dress code i mean can i show up in jeans or?” 

“Jeans girl really?” you shrug “You can or you can get a nice pretty dress stand out, get your hair done, nails?”

“So dress up is the dress code?” 

She shrugged “he never said just you know dress nice”

“I can dress nice in jeans”

“In a dress!” she stresses

“Fine” you weren’t going to argue your way through this party 

“Ooh girl, I can't wait to go shopping, let me call the girls and then we can plan to go out together!” she comments before returning to the stove.  You groan already regretting agreeing to go to this party.

The night of the party approaches quickly and you feel your stomach doing flips, it was too late to tell Harmony you changed your mind, you two were looking for a parking spot in the neighborhood, it seemed like half of south central had already showed up to the party. 

You don’t even know how time flew by so quickly, one minute you're in the chair getting your hair done, next thing you're putting on your lipstick, perfume, shoes, now walking towards the door. Watching as people poured in and out of the party. 

The chilly LA evening weather was much appreciated as you were not trying to arrive at the house with a thin layer of sweat on your body. Not after you've primped and primed the entire day. 

“HEEEEYYYYY!”  Harmony greets as you two walk in 

“MY BABY IS HERE!” Sean yells on top of his lungs

You stand back as you watch them greet

“Y/N?” you hear your name 

You turn to face one of Franklin's men “I’ll take your coat”  

“Oh you shrug off your trench coat.”

“I missed you baby” you hear harmony whine in a baby voice you can’t help but laugh 

The house was sorta full, you could still see across the room and make faces you knew that wouldn't be the case in the next hour or so. You just know the party was bound to get shut down

You step further in securing the coat check in your clutch. 

“Hey”  you greet Franklin

“Glad you could make it Y/N” he greets giving you a half hug, you quickly inhale his cologne he smelled good you make a quick note to yourself 

“Thanks for the invite, we brought you this” you say handing him a gift bag

“Oh shit you didn’t have to” he smiles at you

You shrug “well my mama said never show up to a person's house empty handed you know” 

He nods “what yall get me?” He asks trying to move the tissue paper around 

“Oh uh really good wine” 

“Expensive wine”  Harmony adds

“And some Bourbon” 

“Expensive bourbon” 

“Okay Harmony!” you look at her incredulously causing Franklin to chuckle

She chuckles “I’m fucking with you girl but”  she turns to face Franklin, “my cousin went around turn looking for the best wine for you”

“Oh word?” he turns to face you a bright smile on his face 

You feel yourself getting flustered “No I just” you feel yourself blushing “It's a gift and I  like to give good gifts” you defend, you don’t even know why you were blushing 

“That's true you ever want a good gift you ask her she’ll find some good shit” 

You smile “I’m gonna say hi to the girls and boys”  you say walking away from them

“Awkward ass” Harmony comments causing Franklin and Sean to burst out laughing. You throw your middle finger at her and keep walking

It wasn’t that you were purposely trying to impress Franklin, it was just a gift. What would it look like showing up with cheap wine and liquor when you kept hearing about the thousands he was moving weekly.He would probably be offended, you heard about his temper. 

1 hour you say to yourself as you made your way around the room, thats it thats how long you were staying 1 hour. You eventually find a small group of girls to talk to, avoiding Harmony and the rest as they were either in the circle with Franklin or right near it, in the center of the house. When you turn to look at that area you catch a glimpse of Tasha on Franklin's lap, with a flash she gets up and other women take a seat on his lap, you shake your head internally before returning to the conversation. 

The next time you look down at your watch you realise 2 hours had passed. It was already past 11pm and you should have been home by now. 

You quickly chug the water you have been drinking, (you weren’t gonna take risks drinking and driving) you slowly push your way through the massive crowd avoiding anyone from that group spotting you. Unbeknownst to you Franklin had his eye on you the entire night. He watched as you stood in the corner and talked to the girls, then back to the kitchen, bathroom, he even saw you spill water on yourself, he smiled slightly before returning to his conversation, no matter where you were tonight he made sure his eyes were on you. 

At one point you two make eye contact but you smile and quickly look away. Plus the comment Harmony made awhile back about him looking at you a certain way had you nervous being around the man, you can’t explain it you just wanted to get out of South Central unscathed and gaining the attention of Franklin wasn’t a plan. 

“Yea I’m leaving,”  you chuckle nervously while handing them the coat check

“Damn before New Years? it's gonna happen in like 40 minutes” 

“I know but I kinda wanna start getting home before traffic you know” you explain 

You already knew Harmony was gonna be with Sean tonight at his place you begged her to go to his instead of ruining your night with their sexcapeds gladly for you she agreed

He nodded in response “Yea that makes sense, LA traffic can get crazy” 

“Yea it can” You open your clutch to pull your keys but find nothing, you frantically push things around to see nothing, your lip gloss, napkins, mints and your wallet

“Shit” you say to yourself as you think back to the night? Did you leave them in the car? Are they with Harmony? Did they drop and you didn’t hear them? Your mind races trying to trace back the night. 

“Here you go” he says handing you your coat 

“Thanks”  

“Leaving so soon?”  you hear close to your ear from behind you, 

You instinctively tilt your head away, “Huh?”  as you continue to check the pockets quickly turning around slowly

You release your breath as you feel the keys in your coat pocket, you look up and see Franklin looking down at you smiling

“FUCK!”  you curse internally  “Heyyy” you smile quickly turning to glance at where he was to see if anyone else noticed. It was so packed now you couldn’t see past the sea of bodies now

“Leaving so soon?” he asks again pulling his hands behind his back 

You giggle nervously “Oh yea I don’t wanna get stuck in LA traffic”

He tilts his head slightly confused “But you just got here” 

“No i got here 2 hours ago” 

“I didn’t even get the chance to talk to you tonight” You make a face, he chuckles in response “I’m saying i wanted to catch up with you” he shrugs “we ain't really talked since highschool” 

“Oh” you shrug “nothing much going on with me” 

He smirks “Nah you more interesting than that, I aint even get the chance to tell you look good tonight yet,” You look down at your semi formal sweetheart dress, you were actually glad you agreed to dress up as many women were and you didn't’ want to be the odd one out actually even Franklin was dressed up suit tie the whole shebang

“Oh” you smile “thank you Franklin, you look good too clean up nice” 

He removes the coat from your hands gently “how about you stay a little longer?” he bargains

You chuckle nervously this could not be happening “Noo” you reach for the jacket but he puts it behind his back. “Franklin!”  you scold 

He smiles looking at you “comeon girl you can’t leave right before new years!” he argues 

“I don’t like driving at night. You know how the cops are? And its new years too!?” You catch his eyes drifting lower to your cleavage before making their way up to yours. You use that to your advantage and reach around but he quickly moves the jacket the opposite way

“Franklin!” you look towards where he was seating in the center of the house and see a very ugly mug on Tasha’s face and the other women seemed to share the same sentiment glaring in your direction 

“Come on its" he looks down at his watch, "only 30 more minutes, that can’t hurt” 

“No! Plus looks like Tasha is gonna kill you” you comment

“Tasha?”  he looks at where you tilted your head

“Oh shit!” he laughs “I don’t care about Tee” 

You cross your arms on your chest “Aren't you two dating?” 

“No!” 

“Mmmm well you might not be but she believes you two are and I need my coat Franklin” you open your hand out for him to give it to you

“I’ll take you home” 

“No how are you gonna get back here plus it's your party don’t be ridiculous!” 

“RIdiculous?” He guffaws  “I'm not the one leaving a new years party 30 minutes before new years that's the point of the party!” 

You huff and look up at the ceiling. You need to find a solution. You would leave the coat but it has your keys! He moves closer smiling at how flustered you were getting (“I just wanna go home”) you think to yourself, this shouldn’t be happening he should be dating Tasha. Why isn’t he? Weren't they over each other at the fair and tonight? What was this some freakyshit they were into or what?

“What is it?” He asks softly bringing your attention back to him, that damn smile, those dimples, nope no Y/N you need to go home

“Franklin I would like to go home please” 

“Y/N I told you I’ll take you home” 

“What about Tee?”

“Tee can get a ride home, why you keep brining her up?”

“Franklin”

“I’ll take you home. I promise”

“When?” 

“Right after the celebration is over!” he smiles slyly 

You frown “No thats like at 6am!” 

He chuckles you caught on quick “No give me till 1am at least” 

You contemplate no way you were getting the coat back that was for sure

“Fine you promise?” 

“I promise ima get Dreads or Mikey to take you”  You scoff “what?”

You  reach around and snatch your coat shocking him in the process

“No you said you were gonna take me home so you needed to take me home not punt me off to your men” you complain as you throw on your coat quickly 

He smiles at your brattiness “okay okay i will” he reaches for you

You move away from him “Nope i’m going home goodnight Franklin!” 

He sighs, “can you at least let me know you made it home safe?” 

“Fine i’ll page Tee” 

He  groans and you chuckle, he bites his bottom lip as he watches you walk away defiantly 

[witheringhouls]

Season 4 isn't Canon I've decided. Have some doodles of my boy <3

Below the cut is a rant about the season in general it's pretty non-specific and mostly about the writing so It only includes minor spoilers.

I'm seriously hoping season 4 has been a bad dream. It felt like a fan fiction (no hate to fan fic i write and read an unhealthy amount of it) the character were all out of character, especially five. The season wasn't funny and it felt like it was written by a whole group of different people who didn't care about the story or the characters and just wanted to get the show over and done with. None of the characters have satisfying arcs that make narrative sense and it seems most decisions were made for shock value and drama purposes rather than trying to create a meaningful story. It we unsatisfying and left us with more questions than answers, they tore massive plot holes into the story and never bothered to explain them or even attempt to badly patch them up. Although I like the idea of the finale it was executed terribly, and the events leading up to it from episode 5 and onwards were even worse. The handler should not be getting a happier ending and character arc than five or any of the hargreeves. If the show was cancelled after season 3 it would have a more satisfying and conclusive ending then the one we got. The best we as a fandom can hope for is a spin off or maybe even a ret con if we're extremely extremely lucky. I don't see it happening and I don't trust them with the characters anymore.

[gothamslostboy]

Jerome Valeska - Silent Treatment

A/N: this was originally made on my old account zsaszercise, but I am deleting that account and reposting my stuff here

WORDS: 478

originally posted December 27, 2022, 12:39pm

gender neutral reader

____________________________________________

1 hour, 27 minutes. 34 seconds.

That’s how long it had been since I woke up tied to this chair. At first I called out, demanding to be let go and that this must be a dream or something. Honestly, who would be sadistic enough to tie someone to a chair, hanging over a pool of piranhas? It’s like a stupid action movie or something.

When I realized this was infact, actually happening, I stopped yelling because, well, why the hell would I give this psychopath the satisfaction of seeing me freak out? After a while, the situation almost became peaceful: I wasn’t moving closer to the pool, I didn’t have to go to work, and the soft music in the background was a nice change of pace from how these situations usually go. Being the younger sibling of Jim Gordon tends to make nut jobs kidnap me pretty often.

I stay sitting up here, counting another 2 minutes and 26 seconds until a large door slams, a man rushing down some stairs to stand next to the piranha pool. I recognize him quickly, it’s kind of hard not to know the face of someone who’s all over the news. Jerome Valeska stands there, tapping his foot and looking up at me his usual sinister smile twisted into a very obviously fake one.

Why ya so quiet? He waves his hand towards me, fist clenching when all he gets in response is an eye roll. Jerome rushes back into the room he appeared from and eventually my chair jolts down, stopping just 5 feet from the surface.

Knowing that all he wants is a reaction, I bite my tongue and force my silence, my racing heart blocking out sounds of splashing fish. The door slams again as Valeska again moves to the pool, this time using the platform at the edge. He grabs some kind of pool net thing to pull my chair towards him, making us face to face in a silent staring contest.

He finally loses, breaking eyecontact to hold a gun to my chest, eagerly awaiting the terror to fill my eyes. Instead Jerome is greeted with a mask of indifference, causing him to drop a small string of swears before he pulls the gun away. His lips quirk up for a second as he launches himself toward my face and captures my lips, breaking away when the bright lights of police cars fill the windows of the room.

Well doll. Yell, scream, say anything at all. He waits until the sounds of the GCPD forcing the door reach us, sighing and walking down the platform stairs. Halfway down I clear my throat, you’re surprisingly not an awful kisser his head spins around, a grin covers his face as he does a bow, rushing off as the officers, led by my brother, enter the room.

——— TAGS ———

@britany1997

[incorrectsibunaquotes]

What Y/A Book Series I Think Each Anubis House Resident Was a Fan Of

This is exactly what it sounds like. All the Y/A (and Y/A adjacent) book series from our childhoods… or at least my childhood.

Nina Martin: Harry Potter. Obviously. She basically tells two minutes into the pilot she’s into Harry Potter. Sweet girl is a Gryffindor and she’s so excited that her tie looks like the Gryffindor tie.

Fabian Rutter: He thinks he’s above Y/A fiction, but he knows everything about Twilight through Joy and Amber, and is secretly very intrigued with the lore.

Amber Millington: Much like with Nina, we find out pretty quickly she’s a Twilight girlie— specifically a Jacob stan. The culture war in that house between her and Joy pre-canon was probably insane, and I wish we could have witnessed it.

Patricia Williamson: Idc what you people say, Patricia was a weird girl™ and it showed. She probably liked Twilight through osmosis, and she definitely ate up The Hunger Games, but I think she was a closet Warrior Cats girl. Liked them enough to read them religiously, but not enough to play Warriors on the playground.

Alfie Lewis: Now, he was a Warrior Cats kid. And he definitely ate up The Maze Runner and Percy Jackson.

Jerome Clarke: He was definitely a Percy Jackson kid. Absent father? Dude definitely imagined himself as a Demigod, and that his dad was secretly Zeus or something.

Mara Jaffray: The Hunger Games, and she detested when anyone made it all about the love triangle, because “its a poignant social commentary about society” (and she’d be right).

Joy Mercer: As we already established, TWILIGHT!! She was an Edward Cullen FANATIC, and she definitely also got super into Harry Potter after finding out Robert Pattinson was in the fourth movie. It would genuinely not surprise me if the beef she and Amber had in S2 had less to do with Nina, and more to do with the Jacob vs Edward discourse.

Eddie Miller: This dude loved Percy Jackson for all the same reasons Jerome did, except he actually did turn out to be a demigod. Bro is a Percy variant, and we love him for it. Also, he definitely likes Harry Potter a lot, and he used to pretend like his dad was off being the headmaster of Hogwarts when he was a kid.

KT Rush: She was not like other girls and was obsessed with The Lunar Chronicles. As she should, these books were based. She also was really into the Divergent series, but HATED the movies.

Willow Jenks: This is THE Warrior Cats girl of all time. She definitely has a fan clan, and has secretly given all her housemates warriorsonas. She would play it on the playground by herself, and would just meow at anyone who made fun of her. She believes ThunderClan and RiverClan should share Sunningrocks.

Mick Campbell: He was not into reading at all, but he does like the Harry Potter movies!!

[pigtailedgirl]

Halloween/Horror Due South Recs

Here's a couple fan-fiction recs to set the mood.

I want it for my own (570 words) by belmanoir Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: due South Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Vecchio Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Fraser POV Summary: Fraser and Vecchio are going to the precinct's Halloween party as each other.

Yes they would absolutely be horny dressing as each other! I live for the idea of the 27th's non-surprise.

Autumn Scene (224 words) by dsa_archivist Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: due South Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Humor, Halloween Summary: Dief goes on a rampage.

Oh Diefenbaker!

Are You Out There Somewhere (16829 words) by dsa_archivist Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: due South Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio Additional Tags: Drama, Romance, Halloween, Slash

incredibly sad and spooky idea for Ray backstory.

Shadow on the Stone (15756 words) by gardnerhill Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: due South Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Benton Fraser & Ray Vecchio Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Vecchio, Francesca Vecchio, Harding Welsh, Jerome, Diefenbaker, Jesse Additional Tags: Horror, Body Horror, Wendigo, Monsters, Id Fic, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies Summary: Wendigo's coming.

Absolutely fantastic fic in every way and creepy as all fuck.

[ericdeggans]

Purple Rain at 40: Speaking with The Revolution on the film which made Prince a pop superstar and changed my life

I sat in a darkened movie theater 40 years ago, transfixed by a story that felt like it was centered on my pop culture life. Only years later, would I wind up living a reality that felt imported straight from the film’s narrative.

The movie was Prince’s introduction to superstardom, Purple Rain.

That film is now celebrating its 40th anniversary – the actual date was Saturday – and to mark the occasion for NPR, I caught up with two of Prince’s bandmates from The Revolution, guitarist Wendy Melvoin and drummer Bobby Z Rivkin -- with Morris Day, lead singer/leader of the Purple One’s funk band offshoot The Time chiming in through email. (read the story here)

Back then, I was a straight up disciple of Prince’s Minneapolis sound – a fan after listening to his 1981 album Controversy, I sifted through albums like 1999, Dirty Mind and For You for the funk bits that made an aspiring drummer sit up and take notice. To be honest, like a lot of Black folks back then, I was little more into the hardankle funk of The Time, with me and my friends growing up in Gary Indiana regularly sporting the Stacy Adams shoes and baggy pants favored by the group.

So imagine my surprise when I saw all that pop culture uniqueness splashed all over a movie screen in July 1984 courtesy of Purple Rain. Prince charged through scenes on a custom-made, lavender colored motorcycle like a guitar playing superhero, thundering through dazzling musical sequences like a new school James Brown, while Day and his onstage foil Jerome Benton provided the kind of comic relief needed to keep the whole scene from taking itself too seriously.

As someone who had just started a funk band in college at Indiana University, I was in awe of the powerful pop tunes and kinetic, sharp performances in the film’s musical moments. And backstage scenes where Wendy fought with Prince – known only as The Kid onscreen – urging him to play a song she and her girlfriend/keyboardist Lisa Coleman had written together, felt like 100 arguments I’d seen in all the band I’d ever played in.

“It was sort of the perfect mix of time, place and people,” Wendy told me a few weeks ago, when I interviewed her by Zoom about the experience of making Purple Rain. “They wanted the dynamic to be as real as possible. So they did, when they were writing the script, come to us and say, okay, what would you say if this situation happened? Or how would you act if that happened? So they were able to capture a kind of authenticity and put in into the script.”

The film turned Prince into a superstar, powered by a simple story: The Revolution is on the verge of failure until The Kid agrees to play Wendy and Lisa’s song – Purple Rain, of course—at the legendary Minneapolis club First Avenue. His emotional performance kicks off a scorching finale that galvanizes the crowd and saves the band.

Just a few years later, I would live that same storyline when the group I co-founded in college, Voyage Band, was on the verge of failure, rescued by a hit single written for a charity record that exploded over local radio in 1986. When we played a show at a local club that we expected to be lightly attended, and the place instead packed with fans who sang along with our song when we played it onstage, I felt like I was living the story of Purple Rain in real time. Eventually, we signed contract with Motown Records, though our record was never released - the song Strange Situation, can be heard here.

Back in the mid-1980s, MTV had only recently begun playing videos by Black artists. And there was nothing like the level of information available to fans now about their favorite performers via social media. So seeing music videos and a film that provided a fictionalized history for Prince – showing him struggling with an abusive father and navigating tensions with his band – felt like a brief window into an artistic world fans had previously only seen through listening to the music and poring over album liner notes.

All of it was shrouded by a mystique in which Prince and his collaborators rarely talked with the press, which helped stoke interest in the work, but also made it tough for some musicians from The Revolution when Prince decided to disband the group in 1986.

“I kind of resented the fact that, you know, people just thought I turned on a machine and went to play and then turned it off,” said Bobby, who began working with Prince in the late 1970s and stayed friends with him until the pop icon’s death in 2016 of an accidental fentanyl overdose. “There was a lack of transparency about how it all went down…But I knew the mystique was cool…definitely didn’t want to blow that. And he trusted us to not give out the secret sauce.”

I actually met Prince months before his death at his home studio in Minneapolis, Paisley Park. He had invited the National Association of Black Journalists, which had a conference in the city, to his facility, sitting down with a small crowd of us to talk passionately about the need for artists to retain control of their work in the face of the streaming revolution (here’s the story I wrote for NPR about it).

Wendy says The Revolution had talked with Prince about year before his death about reuniting; her last conversation with him was about plans to visit him at his home studio Paisley Park with her young son. Bobby recalls hearing local news reports in Minneapolis about an ambulance called to Paisley Park and then later learning of Prince’s death.

“This shy kid that I met…turned into one of the greatest entertainers of all time,” Bobby says. “I got to know him. He was probably my best friend….someone that people just revere and are mystified by and I got to have an intimate relationship musically and personally [with him.] He changed the world. And it’s just incredible to have lived that moment with him.”

All of this explains why Purple Rain was such a landmark for me personally and pop music in general. It’s an achievement worth remembering, at a time when the march of technology and pop culture too often threatens to erase the memory of how we all got here, in the first place.

[the-cu-genswap-au]

hey hey, welcome to the first official post on this blog!

First order of business: updated refs for the cast! Starting with what I've been calling the "Main Quintet," or just the core cast of kid characters. I'll be posting a couple more of these bios to tide everyone over while I plan out the next comic.

Massive dump of information incoming:

- Ben Krupp takes the main character spot for this AU. Like mainverse Krupp, he's kind of grouchy and impatient and likes to stick to the rules, but there's meant to be a feeling of.... performance to it in this AU. He's had to take on a lot of new responsibilities in the family after losing his dad a few months ago and it's resulted in him feeling like he has to give up his childhood and be Mature™ now. The kid's stressed.

- Despite this, though, he still secretly holds on to his love of the Captain Underpants comics. He sees the fictional hero as a role model of sorts, the kind of person he wants to aspire to be. His attempts to be that kind of person, though, usually tend to fall a little flat....

- Design note: Ben's main color motif is green, but the bits of red are there as a nod to Cap's color motif. Ben may not actually be Cap in this AU, but I still wanted there to be a physical link between the two.

- Jasper Krupp is Ben's younger brother, the middle child of the Krupp family, and the glue that holds this whole group together. Unlike his brother, Jasper is a lot more open and friendly, and a lot more trusting and empathetic. He's a sweet kid, but like his brother, there's a hint of performance to his behavior, too.....

- Design note: the majority of Jasper's character in this AU is based off of my personal headcanons for Jasper, since he's pretty much a blank slate of a character otherwise. Canon is but putty in my hands etc. etc.

- Toilette Ree and his younger brother Lavatore are the new kids in town, having moved from Quebec to Piqua over the summer. It's been.... hard adjusting to the move. The other kids at Jerome Horwitz haven't exactly been making it easy for them, either. But hey, that's why they've got each other!

- Toilette is the more rowdy and confrontational of the two, but mostly when it comes to defending his brother. When he cools off he likes to put on this snarky, cooler-than-you attitude to make himself seem more formidable than his tiny frame would suggest. It.... doesn't really work all that well.

- In his spare time, he has a budding interest in engineering

- Lavatore, by contrast, comes off as the more timid, less aggressive brother, but that's only because he has a tendency to fall back on Toilette whenever the two of them are in trouble. When he's not struggling to survive third grade, Lavatore's actually a pretty nice, chill kid, with a surprising rebellious streak to his personality that comes out whenever he's emboldened enough.

- Design note: Toilette and Lavatore have the same color motifs as Ben and Jasper (green/blue). This is only partially accidental on my part.

- Design note: Toilette's hair curl is essential

- Edith (they never caught her last name) rounds out the core cast as Ben and Jasper's closest (and only) friend. A quiet, painfully shy girl, Edith has a hard time fitting in with the other kids at Jerome Horwitz Elementary, not that she isn't trying. Sometimes she can't help but think that the other kids can just tell that she's different, somehow....

- In her free time, Edith has a huge passion for baking. She likes to share whatever she makes at home with Ben and Jasper, her self-proclaimed biggest fans.

- Design note: Edith's color palette is an inversion of her mainverse counterpart's colors—mainly yellow with red highlights instead of mainly red with yellow highlights

[tetsunabouquet]

House Of Anubis: How The OG Dutch/Belgium show was butchered in its adaptation by Nickelodeon Part 2: Nienke (Nina) & Amber

I was inspired to pick these for part 2 because of @evelhak sharing a post regarding Stella and Bloom's friendship in the original Winx Club cartoon, because the friendships do have some similar building blocks in their respective original shows. So today we will go over Exhibit B, why Nienke and Amber had a superior friendship in the original, why Nina leaving after S1 was bad writing and my problems with how they adapted Amber. 1. I think it might be wise to start with my problems with Amber in the English adapration first. For one, they definitely decreased Amber's bimbo factor in the adaptation because in the OG she was THE lovable bimbo. Amber was more naive and ditzy in the OG, sure she had good intuitions, the occasional creative spark and an implied secret love for at the time niche interests like anime, but she was still a bimbo. And as an anime fan, I take offense in removing her being a closet otaku. You see, in the OG Amber adores this fictional show that very much sounds like an anime- her description of the show contains Japanese names and the show is about a ninja who has a talking fish. It's called Nancy Ninja, and she actually busts out cringy attempts at martial arts that has the same energy as the Naruto run after she asked herself, "What would Nancy Ninja do?" That scene is just iconic, including Appie (Alfie) staring at the sky as a response and questioning God why he created blondes. I'll be going over how their ship was butchered in part 3 where I will be adressing Jeroen (Jerome) and Appie (Alfie). 2. This is part of why Amber and Nienke in the OG share some similarities with Stella and Bloom. Amber, like Stella, is both a bimbo and an 'It' girl. Unlike Amber in the English adaptation, OG Amber also never left the show and remained part of the Sibuna gang until graduation where she ended up becoming a model. Nienke on the other hand, is still an attractive girl even though she looks more like a wallflower in comparison to Amber and as the new one arriving so shortly after Joyce's disappearance she has targets on her back immediately. Yet Amber is one of the first to let go of her suspisions and actually becomes the person to support Nienke coming out of her shell like when she develops feelings for Fabian- Amber is the one Nienke can rely on for advice and throughout the series Nienke does become less shy and insecure thanks to the confidence she gains as the Sibuna leader and the emotional support she receives along the way. These characters could have easily been enemies, like the shy underdog taking up against the popular pretty bitch- but no. Amber and Nienke become best friends pretty quickly. Like Stella, Amber is also fiercely loyal and a bit protective which is why she was inititally angry when Nienke was her new roommate without an explanation what happened to Joyce. Amber is one of the likeliest characters to cut a bitch if something happened to her friends, right behind Patricia. 3. As you can see, Amber and Nienke never left the show- together with Fabian they are actually the most reappearing characters. In the OG, Appie (Alfie) actually was played by a different actor at first but he dropped out to go to acting school. He was replaced with another actor and they explained it away through a magical curse that literally altered his identity. Which is why Nina leaving the show after S1 is complete bullshit. The OG literally had a gimmick which they could have used for at least Nina's character considering she is the show's protagonist. The fact Nina is an orphan just like in the OG, actually means she has an easier time in certain ways if her identity was changed as Appie still had a family. Appie being physically a stranger to his loved ones is a small storyline he goes through. Nina's barely would have needed a small storyline like that as she only would have needed to prove herself to the Sibuna gang. This is why Nina leaving the show is nothing more but bad writing, because why remove your protagonist without a reason?

(I'm reliving my sapphic freak outs over Nienke yet again) Please watch the OG! This fanwebsite contains links to Google Drive documents of fan-subbed episodes. And here is also a video about Nienke and Fabian's ship because seriously-its difficult to explain how this ship was revered by so many back in the day.

[talkingpointsusa]

Trump Ally Laura Loomer spins baseless conspiracy theories about Tim Walz having ties to ISIS

Laura Loomer is a person who sucks. She's essentially a self-described "proud Islamophobe" and white nationalist whose whole schtick is calling everybody she doesn't like ISIS. She believes that the Democrats can control the weather and has a bizarre obsession with Kamala Harris’ race.

Despite the fact that this person is clearly extremely fringe and has a belief system not that far out of step with the Neo-Nazi movement, she also has a scary amount of influence on the right having scored interviews with prominent GOP politicians and celebrities like Kari Lake, J,D. Vance, and Nancy Mace. As a result I think it is worth talking about who Loomer is, what she’s all about, and how pretty much everything she says is bullshit. Unfortunately for my sanity, that process involves me watching Laura Loomer. Oh well, lets see what deranged thing she's lying about this time.

TW: Loomer's whole "thing" is basically being an Islamophobe and that carries on in this episode. If you're not comfortable with that, I don't blame you, I'm not either which is why I'm debunking and countering this bullshit while also showing how close it truly is to the modern Republican Party.

21:25, Laura Loomer: "Good evening and welcome to episode 65 of Loomer Unleashed, I'm your host Laura Loomer. If you had any doubts that a Kamala Harris presidency would be anything but a total disaster for the United States of America than the past few days ought to set you free. Yesterday, stock markets all around the world posted one of their worst days ever as investors fear that America is headed for a recession."

On Monday the stock market plummeted after the release of a weaker than expected jobs report coupled with the Federal Reserves decision last week not to lower interest rates, a decision that has been panned by multiple economists who are now suggesting that the Fed make an emergency rate-cut. The current chair of the Federal Reserve is a man by the name of Jerome Powell who was appointed by the Trump Administration. So, while Trump and his sycophants want you to believe that the chaos on Monday was a Kamala crash it was more of a Donald drop.

This crash had nothing to do with Kamala Harris but that didn't stop key figures on the right like Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, and now Laura Loomer from blaming the crash on the vice-president. In Loomer's case this is particularly embarrassing since she posted this episode on August 6th...the day that the stock market rebounded and investors started to regain some of their losses. Oops, bad timing there.

22:12, Laura Loomer: "Lets make one thing perfectly clear, even though Joe Biden is currently 'the president' (her quotes not mine) we all know that he has not really been in control of the government and the decision making if that couldn't be more obvious to all of you."

No proof, just vibes. Isn't it interesting how far-right media never offers up any concrete evidence outside of "Well, I saw this thing through my distorted worldview and here's the vibe I got!"

But she did put forward that absolutely ridiculous statement with a purpose. Here's where she's going with that line of thinking - this is really dumb and gets contradicted by her multiple times over the course of this episode.

22:30, Laura Loomer: "That means that for the past few years Kamala Harris has already been, in a large part, running our nation. That means that all of the problems over the past four years can be hung around her neck."

I love how they basically have to make fan-fiction up because they don't really have anything on Harris and Walz and got blindsided by Harris deciding to run in the first place. It's been absolutely hilarious to watch.

"Wait guys! Ignore everything that I've been saying for the past four years, Kamala Harris was actually the president this whole time which means all that stuff we made up about Biden actually applies to her! Yeah...that's it."

23:38, Laura Loomer: "Even though the market had been doing quite well prior and has now recovered slightly, just a little, well Monday's disaster is a sign of volatility. And what exactly does this volatility indicate? It indicates uncertainty, massive uncertainty, a lack of confidence, and underlying problems."

Interesting way to try and reconcile that. "Oh yeah, the stock market was doing really well before Monday and has recovered now but uh....the Democrats are still responsible for this." It's almost like there's something that caused such a sudden reaction on the market that Laura isn't telling her audience.

In case you're wondering, she never brings up the Fed or the jobs report in this episode because why would she? It goes against her bizarre narrative that Kamala Harris, who isn't even the president yet, was somehow responsible for a global stock market downturn.

25:12, Laura Loomer: "If this is how Harris's economy has been while she's VP imagine how much worse its going to be when she has full control of the reigns as president, god forbid."

Wait, isn't Harris already the president? You know, back during that long since passed wistful period of three minutes ago when Biden had dementia and Kamala was secretly running the country.

There's a certain level of turning your brain off required to uncritically consume shows like Charlie Kirk and Laura Loomer. If you pay attention to them you'll start to notice that these guys contradict themselves constantly. They have a spread of talking points and they just say shit for two hours without actually thinking about what they're saying beyond "This thing can piss off my audience at this exact moment". If you don't notice these direct contradiction when watching this kind of media, you aren't paying attention.

25:50, Laura Loomer: "The same is true of the immigration crisis which has been at all time lows when President Trump left office partly as a result of COVID."

During the pandemic, undocumented immigrants crossing the border dropped significantly because, well there was a pandemic. However, in the last four months of the Trump presidency encounters at the Southern Border were 14.7% higher than the first month he was in office. This pandemic number was also not an all time low, that would be in April 2017 shortly after Trump took office and before another large spike.

The notion that the Biden-Administration has some sort of "shadowy open border policy" is a total myth that's deeply rooted in white nationalism, as we'll see later on in this post when Loomer starts peddling white nationalism. As a matter of fact, the Biden Administration has increased spending on the border from Donald Trump's $20.9 billion to $23.5 billion. Unfortunately, this also means that many of the human rights abuses at the border that were carried out in the Trump years also carried on during the Biden years which is policy that I obviously don't support.

When people like Laura Loomer talk about "the open boarder" they are essentially admitting that they don't want anybody coming in whether illegally or legally. That is because these people want a white nation, something which Loomer has literally admitted out loud in the past. It's a very thinly disguised dog whistle that you see on every spectrum of the right-wing media ecosystem, from more fringe outlets like Laura Loomer and Infowars all the way to more "mainstream" ones like Daily Wire and FOX News.

26:19, Laura Loomer: "Once here, the Biden/Harris Administration has resorting to simply letting these invaders go free or worse, they have been shipping them to small towns across the country."

Fear-mongering against "the other" is a hallmark of fascist propaganda and it's no exception here. This is all just great replacement theory shit that has nothing backing it up. Notice how nobody ever shows a picture or video of these Biden Harris vehicles shipping migrants to small towns.

This isn't just about migrants at the Southern Border, it's about legal immigration too. The Laura Loomers of the world don't want any immigration unless the people immigrating are white and even then only white heterosexual Christians. Don't believe me? Here's Loomer going on a bigoted tirade against Somali immigrants in Minnesota.

26:30, Laura Loomer: "In fact, Minnesota the state where Kamala's VP pick Tim Walz is governor is a perfect example of how this invader resettlement has gone terribly wrong. A lot of people refer to Minnesota as Little Mogadishu, a little spin-off off of Somalia because of the massive population of Somali Muslims who refuse to assimilate in Minnesota."

What she's essentially saying is that Islamic communities that consist of Somali-American's who are here legally, some even second generation immigrants as the Somali immigration into Minnesota began during the beginning of the Somali Civil War in the 1990's that led to thousands of refugees leaving Somalia and immigrating to the United States, are still invaders. This is because in Loomer's eyes anybody who isn't white is inherently an "invader". It's naked racism in its purest form.

You would think that this kind of rhetoric is fringe on the right but one of the reasons that I'm covering Loomer here is that it really isn't. Touch this up a little, put a bit of a mask on it, and it could easily be the opening monologue on something like The Matt Walsh Show or The Charlie Kirk Show.

And you know what? Mainstream Republicans have embraced Loomer despite this clear white-nationalist rhetoric. Before he was vice-president, J.D. Vance appeared on Loomers show to raise campaign funds. Loomer was a white nationalist and extremist back then too, nothings changed. Donald Trump himself has also embraced Loomer, referring to her as "great Laura Loomer" in a speech and Loomer has rode with Trump aboard his private jet in the past. Donald Trump Jr has also floated Loomer for a spot in the Trump administration if Trump gets elected for a second term. So, when I show you this next quote about Somali Muslims let it be known that this is what the Trump Administration explicitly endorses through their continued association and praise of Loomer.

26:55, Laura Loomer: "There, these people leech off the system, they breed like rabbits, they disrupt the natural communities and they commit violent crimes without contributing anything of value to our society."

I hope J.D. Vance and Donald Trump are proud of what they're endorsing when they associate with this woman. Don't get it twisted, this talk of breeding wouldn't be out of place in a Neo-Nazi pamphlet and it's being peddled by a key ally of the current person that the GOP is running for president. This is not fringe anymore, it's what the GOP explicitly endorses and that should be scary as fuck to you!

If you are a more moderate Trump supporter, you know someone who maybe catches FOX News from time to time and is concerned about the economy and whatnot, first of all welcome to the blog! I actively welcome you to read my back catalogue and see how the stuff you've been consuming is total bunk consisting of half-baked lies. But second of all, your candidate endorses this! Take a look at this stuff, compare it to what Nazi's say on a regular basis, look at your candidate embracing this person, and ask yourself; is this the kind of thing that I support?

27:47, Laura Loomer: "Governor Walz has been in office since 2019. While BLM ran rampant in his state burning entire sections of Minneapolis to the ground following the overdose death of career criminal thug George Floyd, Walz didn't just sit idly by, he actively encouraged it."

As we saw when mainstream right-wing commentators like Matt Walsh and Tucker Carlson, more proof that these guys are all peddling the same rhetoric by the way, pushed this exact same lie about George Floyd, it's complete bullshit.

The autopsy report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, while it did show that Floyd hand fentanyl in his system, ruled that Floyd died from “cardiopulmonary arrest from law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."

We literally saw Floyd get murdered on camera and there are mountains of testimonies from the Chauvin trial showing that it was absolutely Chauvin's fault that Floyd was killed. Not that it matters when you're a racist who's overly concerned with breeding that's also actively using racist dog-whistles like calling a black man a "thug".

29:04, Laura Loomer: "This guy is clearly a loony left-wing radical dressed up as an old white grandpa. He wants you to think that he's your typical old-white grandpa and he's very dangerous. He's basically a less senile and more radical Joe Biden."

While it is definitely important to point out how extreme Loomer is, it's also important to point out that she's also a complete dumbass.

Ah yes, famous left-wing radical *checks notes* Joe Biden. We've lived through four years of the Democrats and none of the stuff that Loomer said would happen happened. She's just somebody who's good at drumming up fear and rage in racists without providing actual evidence.

29:47, Laura Loomer: "He certainly isn't going to be driving anybody to go vote. Really, lets just think about this for a second. What young voter or minority is looking at Tim Walz, an old white man, and is saying 'yes, that's our guy. I'm in. He's going to represent me.'"

The polls say that voters like Tim Walz more the J.D. Vance but I guess if you want to live in fantasyland go right ahead.

30:16, Laura Loomer: "And so, as the election approaches President Trump needs to be asking himself 'How would a Kamala Harris presidency be any different from the past four years?' She's been running the White House already."

Kamala Harris: She's more extreme than Biden and will turn America into a communist hellhole....also she's been running the White House already and if she wins it'll just be more of the same. None of this makes any sense, even internally.

Laura does an ad that's basically her playing clips of Alex Jones praising her and some clips of her dumb attention starved PR stunt bullshit like running around in a stereotypical "Mexican" outfit to protest immigration. You know, for someone who is pretending to be a journalist that has this breaking proof that the Democrats have ties to ISIS, Laura is really just stretching to waste time here. She comes back, talks more about the stock market, and contradicts herself again.

33:52, Laura Loomer: "We can look at some of these posts, him calling this crash yesterday the Kamala crash and that's what exactly everybody needs to be referring to it as because this is exactly what we're going to see if Kamala Harris gets into the White House for another four years and she is just as much involved with our policies in this country as he is."

Is Kamala the president right now or isn't she? Make up your mind Laura!

The thing with Laura Loomer's show is that half of it is just the "Riffing About Trump's Truth Social Posts and Twitter Show". She continues down this route of riffing on Trump's Truth Social posts and I decided to open up the stopwatch app on my phone and time it.

Laura's Truth Social commentary clocks in at around a minute and fifty five seconds give or take the few seconds it took me to open up her Rumble page after I hit go on the stopwatch. It's just two whole minutes of reading tweets and "The Kamala crash, Trump called it the Kamala crash!" with absolutely no substance to it.

So, she goes on to talk about the guy from Pakistan who got arrested for plotting to assassinate key government officials and honestly covering this wasn't a smart move on her part at all. I'll explain why in a minute but lets hear her out.

40:46, Laura Loomer: "And just today actually, we saw how grave the national security issue is when the DOJ announced that a Pakistani national has been arrested and charged for plotting to assassinate president Trump."

This story is about a Pakistani man named Asif Merchant with alleged ties to Iran who was arrested last month for plotting to carry out the assassinations of key government figures including potentially Donald Trump. Court documents actually did not specify who this guy was planning to assassinate however a threat on Trump's life from Iran due to the killing of Qassem Soleimani in 2020 led to many people speculating that the person that this guy had in mind was Trump.

First of all, we just don't know a lot about this story. While it is likely that Merchant might have had Trump on his list and many sources have backed that claim up, those same sources are saying that this guy had targets from both sides of the political aisle in mind. There's a lot of unknown here and its all very messy meaning that it's Loomers responsibility as somebody calling herself a journalist to be really careful about what she says while covering this. In that respect she absolutely failed.

Second of all, the fact that Merchant was arrested and charged blows everything that Loomer was saying earlier out of the water. I thought that the Biden Administration was just letting criminals run rampant and not charging anybody. Guess that's no longer something that's happening. I also thought that the Democrats wanted to kill Trump. Dumbasses like Laura Loomer have been speculating that the Democrats intentionally let the Trump shooting in Butler PA happen for weeks. But I guess the evil Biden DOJ that I've been hearing about for months now just arrested and convicted this guy that may have been planning to assassinate Trump, thus foiling their evil plot, for....reasons I guess.

Laura Loomer absolutely should not have covered this story. I get that it's low-hanging fruit in MAGA-world right now but its very existence messes up this narrative that MAGA media has been pushing for what feels like centuries now about Biden just letting people run rampant and the Democrats allowing the Trump assassination attempt to happen.

So, Loomer finds out that Merchant contacted a confidential informant for the FBI and of course gets the story completely wrong. What actually happened was that Merchant landed in the states and contacted a person who he felt would help him carry out his plans. After Merchant contacted this guy, his contact immediately called law enforcement and became a confidential informant for the FBI that helped the authorities eventually bring Merchant in.

The way that Loomer seems to interpret this part of the story is "Oh, the FBI contacted Merchant and was giving him his marching orders" which doesn't even make any sense with the facts that Loomer presented! If the FBI wanted this guy to kill Trump and was giving him his marching orders, why would they then arrest and charge this guy for doing what they wanted him to do in the first place? It makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever.

42:15, Laura Loomer: "Ok, so the FBI was in touch with Iranian hitmen to kill President Trump. Don't tell me for one second to that this attack that we saw in Butler Pennsylvania, probably, what are they going to say? 'Oh, this was just a mentally disturbed kid'. When's it gonna come out that he was also talking to confidential informants in the FBI."

This is just complete nonsense that is completely devoid from reality. This is somebody who calls themself an "investigative journalist" messing up basic details about this big news story to push a political agenda. It's embarrassing behavior and anybody calling themself a "journalist" who acts like this should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

42:38, Laura Loomer: "So, you see how dangerous our intelligence agencies are because they intentionally lead people to these positions. They allow this guy to travel to New York where he was planning on killing president Trump and we just saw that somebody got very close. We know that this Thomas Matthew Crooks individual, they're not saying that there's ties between this guy and Thomas Matthew Crooks but Thomas Matthew Crooks had overseas encrypted bank accounts."

They also arrested him after getting the appropriate evidence needed to convict. This conspiracy theory makes zero sense in the real world.

Thomas Matthew Crooks didn't have overseas bank accounts. That claim was spread by an Instagram post made after the assassination attempt and nobody provided evidence to back this claim up. The FBI has came out and stated that Crooks didn't have overseas bank accounts and until somebody provides actual evidence proving them wrong I'm inclined to believe them.

As any regular listener of Knowledge Fight (hello, fellow wonks) will tell you, guys like Laura Loomer and Alex Jones mainly get their "news" from shitheads on Twitter and Instagram without actually looking into it and this is an excellent example of that.

I figured this out in five seconds and I'm just some university student with a blog. I don't run a massive produced show and hobnob with key government figures, I'm just a guy with a laptop sitting at a desk in my home debunking bullshit. Yeah, I'm majoring in journalism but you don't just magically gain the ability to verify stuff the day you step into a journalism lecture, Google is a thing that exists and it's a really easy tool for journalists to use! The minute that people like Laura Loomer start calling themselves "journalists" becomes the minute that they become responsible to vet the stuff they're saying and whether or not it's accurate. Loomer has failed her audience and on a broader level her basic duties as a journalist.

So, Laura decides that Tim Walz has ties to ISIS because at this point we're openly playing make em' ups. What's her proof of this absolutely damning claim?

45:16, Laura Loomer: "So, Tim Walz of course is the governor of Minnesota and that's who Kamala Harris decided to pick today as her vice-presidential pick. He is openly tied to Ilhan Omar, Keith Ellison, a lot of these very dangerous radical Muslim politicians."

Surprise surprise, it's just more disgusting bigotry. Naturally, Loomer sees two Islamic progressive politicians and thinks "They must be tied to ISIS" without having any evidence tying them to ISIS. There used to be a word for that, I remember that it started with an R and ended with ACISM. Not that this critique matters much when it comes to Laura who doesn't try to deny her racism but it's still absolutely worth pointing out just so that it's on the record.

45:32, Laura Loomer: "But probably the most radical situation of all is the fact that Tim Walz advocated for an ISIS affiliated Islamic centre called the Dar-Al Farooq Islamic Centre which I have personally visited by the way in Minnesota."

There is absolutely no proof that the Dar-Al Farooq Centre is tied to ISIS and what Loomer is doing here is disgusting for a bunch of reasons.

The thing that got the ball rolling about this mosque being "ISIS affiliated" is an incident in 2016 where three youths who attended this mosque tried to flee the country and join ISIS. While this was obviously an extremely bad thing and it's a good thing that these kids got caught, there's no proof that mosque leadership knew about this nor is there proof that anybody else at the mosque knew about what these kids were planning. However, that didn't stop far-right media from starting a targeted smear campaign against this mosque. Congregants reported far-right social media figures showing up to the mosque and filming their children.

This eventually reached its apex when in 2017 three white males traveled eight hours from their home state in Illinois in order to plant a pipe bomb inside the Dar-Al Farooq Centre, thankfully nobody was hurt in the attack. According to the bomber his motive was to scare Muslim's into leaving the US and that he heard that Dar-Al Farooq was "training ISIS members". Now, look at the fact that Laura Loomer is pushing the exact same kind of rhetoric that nearly got innocent people killed....yeah. I cannot stress this enough, fuck! this! shit!

There's absolutely zero reason for Loomer to not know that far-right disinformation like her show played a huge part in children being harassed and actual terrorism and yet here she is spreading this crap about this mosque anyway despite everything that it's caused. It's easy to laugh at how dumb these people are and how they have no idea what they're talking about but I cannot stress this enough, this shit has the potential to get people killed.

On that happy note, Laura starts interviewing a man named John Guandolo and I really don't care. For those who don't know, John Guandolo is a former FBI Agent who runs the SPLC registered extremist group "Understanding The Threat". Guandolo left the FBI in 2008 while he was being investigated by the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility over having an affair with a confidential source and soliciting $75,000 dollars for an "anti-terrorism group" that he was working on creating at the time. Real cool and trustworthy guy. John's "coolness" only continued after he left the FBI and formed Understanding the Threat which basically runs bizarre "counterterrorism training" sessions for law enforcement officials and civilians alike that are basically just seminars devoted to islamophobic conspiracy theories. Guandolo also has a long track record of assaulting people and then promptly getting has ass sued. In 2023, Understanding the Threat shut down in part because John kept doing dumb shit that got his ass sued (although the exact details of why they shut down are kind of murky at best).

Essentially, he's one of these ex-military/FBI "counterterrorism" grifters that were a dime a dozen after 9/11, he's cut from the same cloth as guys like Jack Idema. I don't have enough time to go into all the specific nuances of how much of a loser John Guandolo is but suffice it to say this guy really fucking sucks. We're not going to look at too much of his interview because it's just boring and dumb islamophobic conspiracy theories but there is some stuff in there that we should talk about.

50:03, Laura Loomer: "I was just explaining prior to you coming on that we spent a lot of time together in Minnesota doing counter-terrorism and also investigating on the ground with other counter-Jihad experts. People like Ilhan Omar, Keith Ellison and their radical networks which includes Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and also ISIS."

"And by on the ground doing counterterrorism I mean us running around doing dumb stuff on the internet."

Neither of these guys have presented evidence to back up what they're saying outside of "we don't like Muslims". I couldn't find what kind of "counter-terrorism" these guys were up to in 2018 but given Loomers past track record I'm sure it was just running around being a public nuisance and acting like an absolute drain on society in front of mosques.

50:43, Laura Loomer: "Obviously it's all factual and you can confirm it."

This show is just Islamophobic LARPing at this point.

51:32, John Guandolo: "Number one, Dar-Al Farooq is an -- and it's not a secret. That's a jihadi mosque. The leadership of the mosque, those are jihadi's running it. And you mentioned something a moment ago that I think is important to put a real fine point on for your audience, Shayk Idris at Dar Al-Farooq is the chairman of the Islamic University of Minnesota, the first of its kind in America, and its built to teach sharia to a wide variety of folks but its really to train people that are looking to be scholars and the way it fits into the broader Jihadi movement in the United States is the Brotherhood is very interested in raising up Jihadi's here that are American's so they needed to build the Islamic university here and they chose Minnesota."

The Islamic University of Minnesota is basically the Muslim equivalent of a bible college. They aren't "training Jihadi's" and if they were the FBI would be all over them in eleven seconds. This is just conspiracy theory nonsense from two people who have built their careers around pushing islamophobia and like I said before, this shits dangerous and could very easily lead to violence in the real world.

53:14, John Guandolo: "That entire culture there is in bed with and I mean protecting and defending the Jihadi's in the Twin Cities and it's why when my team came through prior to the 2016 election and I wrote that article, it was entitled 'In This War: The Twin Cities and Minnesota' and I still believe today more than I did then it will take literal military intervention to liberate Minneapolis/St Paul."

Not much to say other than this guys calling for the military to come in and kill civilians because they're immigrants. I hate these two so much. By the way, as stated previously in my last post on the Walz nomination, crime has been down in Minneapolis recently.

The entire interview is like this so we don't have to spend a lot of time on it. Just two bigots lying to each other and potentially inciting violence. We have one last quote, here's Loomer saying that the Democrats want to form an "Islamic Caliphate". Never heard that one before except for when Obama was elected, or during Hillary's campaign, or....

01:39:36, Laura Loomer: "We are literally in the middle of an Islamo-fascist communist takeover of the Western world and the United States of America. Make no mistake, you see these videos right now in the United Kingdom where people are setting fire to cars, they're raping women, they're stabbing people, they're attacking white people in the streets. We're gonna have Muslim gains like that here in the United States of America. We already do, in cities like Dearborn, Michigan and Minneapolis, Minnesota and New York City. We've seen these pro-Hamas riots where we have these people waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags. So I'll tell you right now, if Kamala Harris gets elected as president of the United States, we are, we are going to have an Islamic caliphate in this country."

She said about the UK during a period where the UK is dealing with extremist anti-immigrant rioters setting fire to buildings but that's honestly a topic for its own post. This is just a bizarre slew of Islamophobic talking points that make zero sense, a fitting way to end a post full of Islamophobic talking points that make zero sense.

Conclusion:

That was a particularly gross thing to watch. The thing that freaks me out about Laura Loomer is the fact that this woman has influence. In a reasonable society folks like Laura Loomer and John Guandolo would be guys yelling on street corners with little to no influence but instead here they are spreading hate to a massive audience full of people that unquestionably believe it. The only thing you can really do is call it what it is: hateful bullshit.

Quite frankly, there's very little separating stuff like this and some of the more "mainstream" organizations on the right like The Daily Wire. Just ask Matt Walsh who's very concerned about the white birth-rate or Michael Knowles who believes in the Great Replacement Theory. The difference between them and Laura Loomer is that Loomer doesn't really try to hide her naked bigotry whereas FOX and the Daily Wire try to couch it in double speak and dog-whistles.

On the bright side, it says a lot about Tim Walz' record that they have so little to go with that they have to just up and make shit up about him. While there's very little you can do to win over extremists, Walz' record can do a lot to win over moderates and watching people like Laura Loomer flail around trying to find new ways to smear him gives me some hope for the election.

Original Video:

“EP65: SUMMER of JIHAD: Kamala’s vp Pick EXPOSED for ISIS Ties!” Rumble, 6 Aug. 2024

Sources Cited:

Dorn, Sara. ““Kamala Crash”: Trump Tries to Pin Stock Market Downturn on Harris.” Forbes, 6 Aug. 2024.

Picciotto, Rebecca. “Trump Quiet on Markets after Stock Rebound Robs Him of “Kamala Crash” Attack Line.” CNBC, CNBC, 6 Aug. 2024.

Farley, Robert. “Trump’s Misleading Chart on Illegal Immigration.” FactCheck.org, 4 Apr. 2024

Miller, Todd. “Biden’s Supposed “Open-Border Policy” Does Not Exist.” Www.thenation.com, 22 Nov. 2023

Smith, Allan, et al. “Trump’s Embrace of Far-Right Activist Laura Loomer Worries His Allies.” Nbcnews.com, NBC News, 14 Jan. 2024.

Hananoki, Eric. “Laura Loomer Helped JD Vance Raise Funds While He Appeared on Her Show.” Media Matters for America, 29 July 2024.

TUCKER, ERIC. “Pakistani Man with Ties to Iran Charged in Plot to Carry out Political Assassinations.” AP News, AP News, 6 Aug. 2024.

Thrush, Glenn. “Justice Dept. Charges Pakistani Man in Alleged Plot to Kill U.S. Leaders.” The New York Times, 6 Aug. 2024.

“Understanding the Threat.” Southern Poverty Law Center

Montemayor, Stephen, and Stephen Montemayor. “3 Illinois Men Charged in Bloomington Mosque Bombing.” Startribune.com, 14 Mar. 2018.

Riham Feshir. “Twin Cities Mosque on Edge after Opponents Start Pointing the Cameras at Children.” MPR News, MPR News, 4 Oct. 2019.

[fox124693]

Family Guy

Family Guy is facing big major changes in May 8th 2024 as it will focus more on Family. Fans are really excited for the animated sitcom changing in late spring of 2024.

18 main characters of Family Guy

Stewie Griffin: Stewie is the youngest member of the Griffin family. He is a highly intelligent and diabolical baby with a British accent who constantly devises elaborate schemes and plans for world domination.

Brian Griffin: Brian is the anthropomorphic family dog and the most intelligent member of the Griffin household. He often serves as the voice of reason and offers witty commentary on the events happening around him. Brian is also known for his intellectual pursuits and struggles with his romantic relationships.

Meg Griffin: Meg is the teenage daughter of the Griffin family. She is often portrayed as socially awkward, unpopular, and the target of ridicule both at school and within her own family. Despite her struggles, Meg occasionally displays moments of strength and resilience.

Chris Griffin: Chris is the teenage son of the Griffin family. He is depicted as overweight, not particularly bright, and often the butt of jokes. Chris is known for his simple-mindedness and his love for food.

Peter Griffin: Peter is the bumbling, overweight, and often clueless father of the Griffin family. He frequently gets into outlandish and ridiculous situations and is known for his distinctive laugh. Peter works at a toy factory and has a love for beer, TV, and unhealthy food.

Lois Griffin: Lois is the patient and level-headed mother of the Griffin family. She serves as a voice of reason and tries to keep the family in check. Lois is a stay-at-home mom but occasionally takes on various jobs throughout the series.

Joe Swanson: Joe is one of Peter's best friends and a neighbor. He is a paraplegic police officer who uses a wheelchair. Joe often participates in Peter's misadventures and provides the group with law enforcement knowledge and skills.

Cleveland Brown: Cleveland is another one of Peter's best friends and a neighbor. He is a mild-mannered and good-natured character who often finds himself caught up in Peter's shenanigans. Cleveland later got his own spin-off series called "The Cleveland Show."

Glenn Quagmire: Quagmire is Peter's perverted and sex-obsessed neighbor. He is known for his catchphrase "Giggity giggity goo!" and is constantly on the lookout for sexual opportunities. Quagmire works as an airline pilot.

Patty Patterson: Patty is one of Meg's teenage friends. She is often seen hanging out with Meg and the other girls.

Ruth Rutherford: Ruth is another one of Meg's teenage friends, often seen in the group.

Esther Esthederm: Esther is a teenage friend of Meg's.

Olivia Fuller: Stewie's love interest and a baby. She is often portrayed as sweet and highly intelligent

Jillian Russell: Jillian is a human girl and Brian's love interest. She is portrayed as attractive and somewhat dim-witted but good-hearted

Neil Goldman: Neil is a teenage boy who has a crush on Meg and often appears as a socially awkward character.

Tom Tucker: Tom is a male news anchor in the fictional town of Quahog. He often provides exaggerated and sensationalized news reports. Tom is known for his smooth voice and occasional romantic interests.

Diane Simmons: Diane is a female news anchor and Tom Tucker's love interest. She is often involved in outrageous and scandalous situations.

Connie D'amico: Connie is a popular and manipulative teenage girl who often antagonizes Meg.

16 Recurring Characters of Family Guy

Principal Shepherd

Carter Pewterschmidt

Babs Pewterschmidt

Bonnie Swanson

Loretta Brown

Angela Everwood

Evil Monkey

Ernie the Giant Chicken

Tricia Takanawa

Mayor Wild West

Mort Goldman

Miss Tammy

Jerome Cool J

Pouncy The Talking Cat

Bert and Sheila

Family Guy will have more laughs with the griffin family and their friends. Family Guy is about to be rewritten from Family Guy seasons 1-23 and beyond.

The Main Plot is in a wacky Rhode Island town, a dysfunctional family strives to cope with everyday life as they are thrown from one crazy scenario to another.

Sick, twisted, and politically incorrect, the animated series features the adventures of the Griffin family. Endearingly ignorant Peter hangs with his friends Glenn Quagmire, Cleveland Brown and Joe Swanson, goes on crazy adventures. Homemaker wife Lois reside in Quahog, Rhode Island with their three kids. teenage Chris their eldest, is a social outcast; Meg Griffin a smart teenage girl, cry baby, hangs out with her friends, Patty, Ruth and Esther goes on adventures, Stewie, is a genius baby bent on killing his mother, destroying the world, and in love with Olivia Fuller vows to marry her someday, Their talking dog Brian keeps Stewie in check, book writer, in love with Jillian Russell vows to marry her someday and sipping martinis and sorting through his own life issues. Connie being popular girl at the High School. Tom and Diane work as news anchors at the Quahog 5 News Station.

Stewie, Brian, Meg, Chris, Lois, Peter, Joe, Cleveland, Quagmire, Olivia, Jillian, Patty, Ruth, Esther, Connie, Neil, Tom and Diane are Outcasts, family, hero and main characters of the show.

The 18 main characters go on crazy adventures.

Stewie gives up being evil after season 6 and starts being with his girlfriend Olivia and his family.

Connie gives up being bully after season 9 and begins being nice, taking things seriously being with her friends and the Griffin family.

Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Chris Griffin, Meg Griffin, Peter Griffin, Lois Griffin, Olivia Fuller, Jillian Russell, Cleveland Brown, Glenn Quagmire, Joe Swanson, Connie D’amico, Patty Patterson, Ruth Rutherford, Esther Esthederm, Neil Goldman, Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons will enjoy family dinners in all 23 seasons in the animated sitcom.

Family Guy is a feel good show.

The animated sitcom is about friends and family working together and never giving up, above all they’re family.

Stewie, Brian, Peter, Joe, Cleveland, Quagmire, Olivia, Jillian, Connie and Diane keeps Chris in check to prevent him from causing trouble.

Olivia Fuller lives with her mom and dad Stan and Carol Thomson. Penelope Thomson is Olivia’s real name. Stan looks like Patrick Pewtershmidt Lois’s brother, the only difference is his hair is black. Britney Wilcox is Jillian Russell’s real name.

Meg, Patty, Ruth and Esther keeps Beth in check and preventing her from causing so much trouble.

Meg, Patty, Ruth and Esther working at the Sub-Hub.

Stewie, Brian, Peter, Joe, Cleveland, Quagmire, Olivia, Jillian, Connie and Diane keeps Chris in check to prevent him from causing trouble.

[mayhapsnini]

Can someone PLEASE write some jerome clarke fan fiction now that house of anubis is coming back

[valeskakingdom]

Hi, I wanted to let you know that I am a fan of your story, Wow, you must miss being dead. Yeah, your character isn’t soft and innocent, and that is a big part of the story. Your character does tug different emotions, like you hate what she does but you can have some sort of understanding of where this is coming from.

I am interested in how you write Jerome. Like he isn’t afraid to be brutal with Scarlet. I was also quite surprised.

You inspire me to write a fan fiction - possibly - about my own Gotham character.

Omg wow thank you very much! I feel very honored! I mean sadly due to some certain circumstances i havent got the chance to continue my story, but sure i will!

I would be pleased to see if you wrote a fanfiction about my own gotham character! And im glad i inspired you so much! If you wrote it and needed help you can always ask me :)

[taterturnspages]

THE CLIENT BY JOHN GRISHAM - BOOK REVIEW

Genre(s): Fiction, Legal Thriller, Mystery, & Suspense

No Spoilers

TW: mention of suicide, PTSD/child trauma

SYNOPSIS:

‘The Client’ by John Grisham follows eleven-year-old Mark Sway after he and his little brother, Ricky, witness a suicide of a well-known lawyer, Jerome Clifford, who was defending a high-profile case involving the murder of Senator Boyd Boyette. Mark and Ricky attempt to put a stop to the suicide attempt, but Mr. Clifford had other plans. Mr. Clifford captures Mark and locks him inside of the vehicle. Mr. Clifford spills a major secret to Mark involving the Boyette case. Mark escapes the locked vehicle with the explosive secret and a hefty choice to make. After the media acknowledges Mark as a witness to the suicide and the police investigate the crime scene, the FBI is on Mark’s tail to reveal what he knows about the case.

Mark retains an amateur lawyer, Reggie Love, to guide him through the high-stakes pressure of the FBI hounding him for information, and the possibility of the Mafia tracking him for potentially holding information that could harm their case. Should Mark spill what he knows to the FBI and chance the Mafia finding him? Or, should Mark keep quiet and play the risky legal system game that could result in serious federal charges? Neither Mark or his lawyer knows the answer to this question. Reggie is willing to go to great lengths to protect Mark from the pressures surrounding him, even if that means both of their lives are in danger.

Mark needs to make a decision, but which will he choose?

READ THIS IF YOU:

Are a fan of ‘Law & Order’

Enjoy thriller books with a little more than just ‘true crime’

Need a page-turning suspense novel that you can’t put down, and when you HAVE to put it down to eat or go to work, you think about it 24/7

CHARACTERS:

This novel has an endless stream of characters with a ton of different FBI agents, Mafia men, Mark’s immediate family, court staff, and hospital staff. For that reason, I will only cover the two main characters, Mark and Reggie.

Mark Sway:

Despite Mark being only eleven years old, his wit and intelligence are far beyond his years. He has lucid moments of not being afraid of anyone or anything, but deep down he is just a kid and it’s comforting to see that he lets his childlike coping mechanisms take over at times. The book takes place over six days…SIX DAYS. The amount of things this child has went through in such a short period of time was tough to read, but he handled it like a champ and ALWAYS focused more on the feelings of those he cared about. His character made this book go the extra mile for me, because I was always thinking ‘What is Mark scheming next?’. He singlehandedly kept me on the edge of my seat.

Reggie Love:

Reggie has lived a troubled life, and that surely did not stop when Mark Sway entered her office. Reggie is a new lawyer and has only practiced for four years, but don’t let that fool you. She is a strong female character and an amazing lawyer. She makes sure to let everyone know that she will not tolerate anyone messing with her or Mark. Much like Mark, Reggie is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She is having trouble advising Mark on his decision, but she supports Mark nonetheless with every decision he makes. Again, Reggie also took this book to the extra mile for me. For Mark, he was now walking in a world with no trust and no allies. Reggie did her absolute best to assure Mark that she was by his side no matter what and I know that is exactly what Mark needed during all of this. I strongly believe that Reggie’s character was flawlessly written.

PRAISES, CRITIQUES, AND MY THOUGHTS:

I like to start my reviews with bad news first, and good news second to end on a happy note. So, first and foremost, my only issue with this book is that the ending was not nearly as exhilarating as I would have hoped. I keep all of my reviews free of spoilers, so I really can’t go into more detail there. I was hoping for an ending with more drama and more suspense. Don’t get me wrong, the ending was not predictable (in my opinion); it was just not as extreme as what I was hoping for out of a suspense novel.

Now with that out of the way, I’m going to explain why I loved this book so much. For starters, this book didn’t NEED a child as the main character. The story could have been written with an adult MC, but the fact that Mark paved the way in ‘The Client’ makes it that much more interesting, albeit upsetting because reading about these events happening to such a young child is devastating. But from a strict “fiction novel reviewer” perspective, I think the difference between child and adult MC was everything.

Second, Reggie Love is an ICON. She is unfettered, which after learning her backstory, was inspiring given all that she has been through. If I ever have legal troubles, I will do my best to find a real-life Reggie Love.  

I highly recommend this book, as well as any of John Grisham’s novels, because they always knock it out of the park for me. I’m typically a strict romance reader, but every now and then I need to take romance breaks. During those times, I know that John Grisham will not disappoint. He has yet to prove me wrong there. All of his novels are legal thrillers and follow some sort of legal problem, so if you find interest in the legal system, then John Grisham may be the author you’re missing.

[gothamslostboy]

JEROME VALESKA

FAN FICTIONS

Silent Treatment - gender neutral reader

HEAD CANONS

Killer Male S/O

Transmasc Reader W/ Big Height Difference

———

please read rules on navigation page before requesting

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 2/8

Why do we live somewhere where the air hurts our faces??

A Condition Called Love GN Vol 1 -  Megumi Morino

A sweet new shojo romance manga from the creator of Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty! Hotaru is a 16-year-old high school first year who has always been ambivalent about love, preferring instead to have a lively life with her family and friends. So when she sees her schoolmate, Hananoi-kun, sitting in the snow after a messy, public breakup, she thinks nothing of offering to share her umbrella. But when he asks her out in the middle of her classroom the next day, she can't help but feel that her life is about to change in a big way!

A Home Without GN -  Don Gaddis

Growing up in the Bible Belt of the 1980s as a creative, colorful, and sensitive young boy is hard enough, but it's especially hard for River. His hot-tempered father, Mitch Garrison, fights constantly with his wife Rosemary and resents his son's softer side. As River and his sisters come of age, they'll have no choice but to help their mother (and each other) survive a chaotic household. Searing autobiographical fiction drawn heavily from the childhood of Southern artist and writer Don Gaddis.

Akim Aliu Dreamer GN -  Greg Anderson Elysee & Karen De la Vega

Akim Aliu - also known as "Dreamer" - is a Ukrainian-Nigerian-Canadian professional hockey player whose career took him all around the world and who experienced systemic racism at every turn. Dreamer tells Akim's incredible story, from being the only Black child in his Ukrainian community, to his family struggling to make ends meet while living in Toronto, to confronting the racist violence he often experienced both on and off the ice. This is a gut-wrenching and riveting graphic novel memoir that reminds us to never stop dreaming, and is sure to inspire young readers everywhere.

Clock Striker GN Vol 1 -  Issaka Galadima

Cast dreams of being a SMITH, but no one in her small town ever realizes their dreams. Besides, these legendary warrior engineers haven't been seen in years and were never known for having female members. Fortunately, Cast meets one surviving member named Ms. Philomena Clock, who agrees to take her on as her apprentice, or striker.

The Extraordinary Part Book 1 HC -  Jerome Mulot & Florent Ruppert

Renowned for their great conceptual and graphic originality, acclaimed French cartoonists Florent Ruppert and Jérôme Mulot have masterfully contributed an instant comics classic to the annals of science fiction.

This first book in a two-volume graphic novel series is set in a near-dystopian present, where mysterious creatures called "whols" coexist with humans since their sudden appearance a few years earlier. At first, they aroused curiosity and wonder, then their seemingly harmless presence became commonplace. Nineteen-year-old Orsay leads an uneventful life in the French countryside, until the day he gains extraordinary powers in his hands after an atypically aggressive encounter with a whol. On a trip to Paris in search of a cure, he meets and falls for Basma, a passionate activist for whols' rights. But Orsay isn't convinced that whols should be granted the same status as humans. Especially once Melek, another human with similar powers, embarks on a murderous rampage to avenge those she sees as her kin.

Harrower #1 (of 4) - Justin Jordan & Brahm Revel

There's nothing to fear in the quaint town of Harrow, New York-except, that is, for the Harrower. The children wish this boogeyman was just an urban legend, but this purveyor of puritanical vengeance against the unrighteous is very real, and there's no escape, because the Harrower seems unkillable, and spans generations, always returning... What secrets will Alice Young, a teenage girl obsessed with the Harrower, uncover, and will she be able to escape the pull of her morbid fixation? This deconstruction of the slasher genre is the fresh and terrifyingly grounded take is perfect for fans of Bone Orchard and The Closet!

Marry Me A Little GN -  Robert Kirby

Marriage doesn't define a relationship. Unless you want it to. In Marry Me a Little, Rob Kirby recounts his experience of marrying his longtime partner, John, just after gay marriage was legalized in Minnesota in 2013, and two years before the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges made gay marriage the law of the land. This is a personal story-about Rob's ambivalence (if not antipathy) toward the institution of marriage, his loving relationship with John, and the life that they share together-set against the historical and political backdrop of shifting attitudes toward gay rights and the institution of marriage. With humor and candor, Rob relates how he and John navigated this changing landscape, how they planned and celebrated their wedding, and how they and others in the gay community are now facing the very real possibility of setbacks to marriage equality.

Monarch #1 -  Rodney Barnes & Alex Lins A new tale of terror and high-stakes science fiction hits close to home! Growing up in the city of Compton is tough enough as it is, but as Travon has learned all too well, growing up as an orphan in the city of Compton with gang members hunting you down every day is even tougher. But all of that is about to change, because today is the day that aliens make first contact with Earth-and it only spells doom for life as we know it! Death, devastation, and mayhem-can a single teenage boy rise to the challenge and protect his surrogate family and friends...or will he die trying? From RODNEY BARNES, the star comics writer behind the Eisner-nominated series KILLADELPHIA and the writer/executive producer of HBO's Winning Time, and up-and-coming Marvel artist ALEX LINS comes a new tale of love, triumph, disaster, and defeat!

My Special One GN Vol 1 -  Momoko Koda

After a mortifying rejection, Sahoko Wakaume has sworn off beautiful boys. But a chance meeting at her family's restaurant puts her in the sights of gorgeous J-pop star Kouta Kirigaya of the group Like Legend. Sahoko will need all her cynicism to defend herself against Kouta's tenderhearted and affectionate efforts to win her heart!

Open Bar TP -  Eduardo Medeiros

Lenny and Beardo are two childhood friends with a lot of road behind them. When Beardo's deadbeat dad dies and leaves them his old bar, they make a go of it as business partners. Easy enough, right? Maybe not.   Running a business in a low-traffic area of town isn't all it's cracked up to be, but luckily for the boys, the one-two punch of viral media attention when their neighbor gets crushed by a 747 engine that falls from the sky and a sorta suspect (but very potent) beer recipe they stumble into catch the public's imagination at just the right time. Things get even more complicated when Lenny's ex-girlfriend Amanda shows up again, pregnant. Can our two heroes weather the ravages of success any better than they dealt with being losers? Can Lenny level up and be a good dad? Can Beardo forgive his dead, absentee father? Will the general public run them out of town when they find out what was actually in that beer?

The Secret History Of Black Punk TP -  Raeghan Buchanan

The Secret History of Black Punk is an illustrated roll-call for punk, post-punk, hardcore, no wave, and experimental bands from ground zero until now. A starting point for anyone curious, another reference for those who devour all genre-related things, or a cool artifact for them who already know.

Show-Ha Shoten! GN Vol 1 -  Akinari Asakura & Takeshi Obata

Ever since he failed to make his crush laugh, shy Azemichi Shijima has secretly been studying the art of comedy. Meanwhile, his classmate Taiyo Higashikata has big dreams of being funny but no follow-through. When the two team up, they just might be able to create a wave of laughter that reaches to the heavens and propels them to the top of the comedy world!

Space Job #1 (of 4) -  David Goodman & Alvaro Sarraseca

After five long years of soul-crushing servitude as a chef's assistant, Danny Sheridan is getting his dream job in space as First Officer aboard the SS George H.W. Bush. But on his first day he finds himself crashing back to reality. Nothing seems right, the crew is subpar . . . something's going on, and First Officer Danny Sheridan is going to get to the bottom of it or die trying.

Stranger Things: Tales From Hawkins #1 (of 4) -  Jody Houser, Caio Filipe & Marc Aspinall

On the surface, Hawkins seems like the kind of town where nothing bad could ever happen, but in the fall of '83 it is anything but safe. When two friends head out into the woods with their rifles and a six-pack, the would-be hunters find themselves the prey of a nightmarish beast who has claimed the wilderness around town and everything inside it, including them.

Where I’m Coming From GN -  Barbara Brandon-Croft

From diets to day care to debt to dreaded encounters with everyday racism, no issue is off-limits. This remarkable and unapologetically funny career retrospective holds a mirror up to the ways society has changed and all the ways it hasn't. The magic in Where I'm Coming From is its ability to present an honest image of Black life without sacrificing Black joy, bolstered by unexpected one-liners eliciting much-needed laughter.

Whatcha snagging this week, Fantom Fam? 

[msclaritea]

ANYBODY ELSE TIRED OF HOLLYWOOD AND SILICON VALLEY BULLSHIT Beyonce Gets Publicly Humiliated By Disgusting Publicity Stunt Involving John Schneider and Tyler Perry.

John Schneider is a TOOL. He's worked directly in black film with very black writer/producer Perry. So, while he's pulling a fake ass stunt to garner Perry sympathy, THAT CAT released a false statement about immediately going AI using SORA.

IT'S NOT EVEN READY TO SCALE. Perry, The Billionaire, sitting in the middle of anti-union Atlanta is attempting to squeeze more Tax Breaks out of Georgia. The COS and BLM trolls helping run all of these scams also took another opportunity to show videos of Naked Black Men ALL OVER Elon Musk VERY VERY Queer platform.

Reception

Greg Braxton of the Los Angeles Times cited "Pause" as one of the sharpest public criticisms of [Tyler] Perry" and situated it alongside other critiques of Perry's work from African American filmmakers like Spike Lee.

Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B+, writing that although the episode felt at times "directionless" it nonetheless featured "a bunch of good laugh lines, a dynamite ending, and an increased role for some characters that have been neglected of late".

Tyler Perry was infuriated by "Pause", contacting Turner Broadcasting executives and threatening to re-evaluate his relationship with the company. When "Pause" aired, Perry had two series broadcast on Turner networks, Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet the Browns on TBS. Following an encore airing on June 26, 2010, the episode did not rerun again on Adult Swim until May 29, 2020, as a part of a marathon featuring the previously banned episodes "The Hunger Strike" and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show"..."

"Recently, a Twitter user reminded fans of one of the series’ most controversial episodes. “Pause,” the eighth episode in the third season, aired in June 2010 and parodied Tyler Perry and his style of filmmaking.The episode was ultimately pulled from TV and media reports began to circulate that Perry called Turner Broadcasting furious over it, leading to the episode being banned. However, Perry never admitted to doing so.

During the episode, fictional iterations of Perry and his Madea character show up as Winston Jerome and Ma Dukes, respectively. Jerome is depicted as a cultish entertainment mogul who uses religious rhetoric and his film themes to seduce men behind the scenes and hide that he is gay.

Throughout the episode, Jerome is depicted as invoking Jesus and isolating his cast and crew from family and friends to brainwash them to bend to his will.

At one point, Huey and Riley are so concerned about their Granddad, they go on a rescue mission to save him.

Near the end of the episode, Jerome drops his polished accent and flat-out asks Granddad to have sex with him. “Look man, all bulls**t aside, can I please just have some a**?” the fictional version of Perry says.

Granddad replies, “Do you mean to tell me that this whole cross-dressing Christian cult crap is just so you can sleep with men?” To this, Jerome replies, “Uh, pretty much, yeah.”

Written by Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder and Rodney Barnes, the episode was expected to cause tension by insiders, according to a report the Los Angeles Times reprinted.

There was also speculation that Perry fired some of his staff and planned to sue ‘The Boondocks” over the episode, but he shot those reports down as false at the time.

“Just like the Spike Lee situation, I feel that ‘no response’ is the best response. I’m just gonna leave it at that,” Perry said, referring to separate criticism Lee lodged at him about his work.

“But I will tell you this … there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that I’m suing ‘The Boondocks.’ Those are all lies. I’m not suing anybody over that. And I haven’t fired anyone because of that show, either. I don’t know where all that came from,” Perry continued.

A reboot of ‘The Boondocks’ was announced in 2019, a month before the death of actor John Witherspoon, who played Granddad. In 2021, it was announced that Sony Pictures had “pulled the plug” on restarting the show."

The trolls are always bringing up Boondocks and it's supposedly, to go after Tyler Perry for getting the show cancelled but this has all the earmarks of a publicity stunt from The Hollywood Mafia. Practically all of Perry's promo consists of attacks but it's far too sophisticated. Clips of his new projects are always included and ALWAYS the most graphic scenes.

The episode was on the same channel as Perry's show, House of Payne

The Executive Producer was Reginald Hudlin, a close business friend of Perry's

The other producers were Sony Pictures, both directly and through a subsidiary; another company Perry has gone business with and they are firmly in the Mafia

The Creator, Aaron McGruder has done little else but they're still promoting him

The episode, like the rest of the show has promotional cultural references, such as mentioning Trump supporter, Ice Cube and a cult that sounds an awful lot like Scientology

"..Robert eventually passes the audition and meets Winston himself, who is revealed to be a devout, closeted evangelical Christian who claims Jesus Christ himself personally inspired him to write. Winston offers him the part of Ma Dukes' love interest and invites him to his compound and inner circle, on condition that he accept Jesus as his savior and renounce Ice Cube and all of his works. At the compound, Winston makes a grand entrance a la Rocky Horror Picture Show, descending on a golden elevator while singing "It's All Right to Cross-Dress for Christ"; from there, Robert quickly realizes Winston leads a cult-like organization, forbidding the compound residents from contacting their family..."

It was a publicity stunt and likely gave Tyler Perry a smooth out at TBS.