#haitian voudo

[spiritualityloves247]

https://www.readersandrootworkers.org/wiki/Nsasi

[foreficfandom]

Alastor - Historical Trivia And Headcanons

Alastor was a mixed-race Creole man living in New Orleans, and was in his 30's/40's when he died in 1933. We don't know much else about him, but historical context can provide us with possible additional details:

The population of New Orleans in 1930 was 458,762, more than it is now. 27.2% of the people were black, 3.1% were foreign-born, and roughly half of America's bipoc population was unemployed thanks to the Great Depression. New Orleans' original Francophonication was still strong, and it was common to run into locals who only spoke French dialects (Cajun French, Louisiana Creole). The city has had a huge Chinatown, a small Little Italy, and multiple other districts known for their immigrant African/colonized French cultures.

The Jim Crow laws were heavily enforced, as was the 'One Drop' rule. If Alastor was a mixed race black man, he would not have been able to attend a white school, use the same public transport, and would have shopped at black-local stores and restaurants under threat of violence. If he was mixed with any other race, some Jim Crow laws didn't apply, but state or city laws might specify differently.

Just because Alastor wears a suit, it doesn't mean he was rich in life. Radio personalities often didn't earn a fortune. Unless he owned his own broadcast, he was paid by a private company for long shifts of hosting music, news, and radio plays. In 1930, 40% of households owned at least one radio, which means that a popular radio host would have been easily recognized.

If he was in his late 30's in 1933, he might have fought in WW1, so long as he was over the age of 21. Some cities gave veterans small benefits, or encouraged the community to give them jobs. This often did not include veterans of color.

New Orleans was famous for being one of the least Christian cities in America, thanks to its unique immigrant and slave population. Haitian-based faiths and practices (such as voudo), indigenous cultures, Asian Buddhism, and atheism were common. But Christianity was still the official, law-enforced religion. Schooling involved reading the Bible, laws were sworn to Jesus, etc.

Alastor's outfit in Hazbin Hotel isn't very accurate to real-life American men's fashions of the time. Back then, deviating from the norm with the smallest detail would have stuck out like a sore thumb - like his white-lined lapels. Men always wore a hat. They were allowed to go without a waistcoat, but not a jacket. Belts were becoming more popular than suspenders. The silhouette was bulkier than the slimmer, Italian cuts of our modern times, especially the pants. Hair was kept short, and oiled down in a side part. Americans preferred the clean shaven look. Ties were essential unless you were a blue-collar laborer. Colors were almost universally muted neutral tones for everyday wear. The most colorful textiles for men were sporting outfits, like a tennis jacket.

If Alastor was a middle-class single man, he likely would have lived in an inner-city apartment, in an ethnic neighborhood. He probably didn't own a car, and took public transit like the streetcars. If he owned a house, it would likely have been an inheritance, and even the more opulent houses of the time would have looked small and plain to our eyes.

Because of the Great Depression, unmarried men were becoming the norm, rather than the exception. Men of the community who were sought after but remained single were suspect to gossip, but less ire than you might think; in the '30s, American queer culture was going through a very sharp revival, escaping the rigid Victorian era and before the puritan 40's/50's. But as a mixed-race man, it may have been illegal for a white woman to marry him, as the Jim Crow laws forbade the marriage of white people and Black/Asian people.

A middle class city household would have had electricity, gas heating, indoor plumbing, but may not have had running taps or a gas stove. Even with decent means, Alastor might have been using a potbelly woodburning stove, a dry sink/washbasin, wooden bathtub, and did his own laundry instead of sending it to the neighborhood laundresses. He may or may not have bothered with an icebox. Fresh groceries needed to be cooked and eaten soon, as things like pasteurized milk or store refrigeration wasn't a thing.

If he had enough money, then he almost certainly hired maids or other servants. Whether the maid came over just once a week, or did the shopping and laundry every other day, hired help was much more common back then, especially if he had no wife.

The most popular musicians in 1933 were Bing Crosby, George Olsen, and Leo Reisman. As you might have noticed, it was trendy for the lead singer to be backed by an orchestra, not a 'band' of just four other people like today. The most popular radio shows were Dick Tracy, Sherlock Holmes, and Doc Savage. They were recordings the radio station would buy and then broadcast, or sometimes the actors were live on the air. The radio host was usually not the journalist - the production team was responsible for writing his script.

[millenniumfae]

Alastor's Whitewashing And Appropriation (Hazbin Hotel Discourse)

Now that Hazbin Hotel is entering mainstream consciousness, it's a good opportunity to bring attention towards some issues that need addressing.

Indie queer productions have an unfortunate trend of propagating racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, etc. That's nothing new, and we all have to come to terms with it. A good way to do that? Just get the conversation going. Put the word out there that, 'hey, I have sincere complaints about ___.'

Alastor is, without a doubt, one of the most popular characters of the main cast. We can celebrate the victory of Alastor being a beloved canonical aroace character, while also criticizing his flaws.

Mainly - his race, his cultural appropriation, and his strong link towards racialized violence.

(1) Alastor is canonically mixed race Creole. His skin is medium-toned, but fanartists are sometimes drawing him as light-toned.

Although we don't know his full ethnic makeup, Alastor is canonically portrayed with a darker skintone than some fanartists choose to depict him as, whether in his current demon form, or a fanon-popularized mortal form.

'Creole' isn't a race, it's an ethnicity, and Creole people can have any array of complexions. But that doesn't excuse the trend of literally bleaching his canonical skin hue.

As many people have pointed out, it'd make a lot of sense if Alastor was specifically mixed black, thanks to his association with voodoo, and also according to Depression-era racial census of New Orleans. We know that mixed race black people can look like Pete Wentz, Vin Diesel, and Wentworth Miller. Him being relatively pale, with a pointy nose and straight hair, it wouldn't contradict a black identity.

In the show proper, there's been a wild array of lighting effects, and they also put a shallow gradient burn over the bottom half of the screen at most times, which can complicate accurate skintone shade picking. But you can clearly see that Alastor is darker than many other characters, and is more similar to characters voiced by people of color - Niffty, Vaggie, Carmilla. In fact, his skincolor value is on par with Vaggie's, just with more saturation, giving it the illusion that it's brighter.

(2) Haitian Voudo/Louisiana Voodoo is a closed and heavily marginalized practice. Cannibalism and violence have been long-standing smear campaigns made against it.

A 'closed practice' means that you need to be initiated into it, not just choose to practice it. New Orleans Voodoo has been couched in political prosecution since its inception, and continues to be marginalized. According to the historian Carolyn Morrow Long, "Voodoo, as an organized religion, had been thoroughly suppressed by the legal system, public opinion, and Christianity." Because of its association with free black people (and the country of Haiti), you can imagine the hate crimes it's faced for decades.

Some of its most infamous fearmongering included reports of human sacrifices, cannibalism, and animalistic orgies. "{...} the Westerns’ view on Vodou was proof that the “black republic ‘’ cannot claim to be civilized."

So of course, a mixed-race cannibalistic serial killer using 'evil' magic couched in floating vevè symbols can leave a bad taste in the mouth. Just because the symbols are accurate ones doesn't mean the misappropriation isn't there.

It has never been blatantly stated that Alastor is a Voodoo practitioner, or has any real history in Louisiana Voodoo, aside from in the pilot where Charlie briefly says the word 'voodoo' in reference to Alastor's magic. But the inclusion of actual vevè symbols is a solid enough connection. And it's an unfortunate one.

Compare with Disney's Princess And The Frog, where the directors made an effort to include Mama Odie as a more accurate depiction of a manbo, while the antagonist Dr. Facilier is hinted as not being able to practice real voodoo at all. There are more delicate and considerate ways to approach Alastor's association with Hollywood 'voodoo', and hopefully, we will get to see them as the show goes on.

(3) Wendigos are specifically from Algonquin folklore. Many pop culture interpretations of Wendigos are inappropriately abstracted from its cultural context.

Canonically, Alastor's demon form resembles a deer because he was mistaken for a deer by a hunter, and shot square in the forehead. We've seen him let out elk bugle sounds, and also his antlers growing in conjunction with his power. When he puts his game face on, his entire body gets spindly, his teeth grow sharper and longer, his hands turn into huge claws, and he sometimes eats his victims alive.

This, of course, is making some viewers ring comparisons to 'wendios', thanks to Alastor's large appetite and preference for human flesh.

Similar to his 'voodoo' connection, the show has never gone on record to say Alastor is supposed to be a Wendigo, or that his history and appearance was meant to invoke a Wendigo. The connection here is a bit weaker than his Hollywood voodoo, and it's mostly an audience reaction that I find questionable.

For those who don't know, a Wendigo is specifically from Algonquian folklore. a malevolent spirit who eats people and is never sated. English-speaking audiences owe their awareness of Wendigos to Stephen King, The X-Files, Supernatural, Until Dawn, and more. Very few of these depictions were respectful towards indigenous culture. Most of the time, 'wendigos' have been almost entirely divorced from its indigenous American contexts.

It's a classic example of appropriation. They take some cultural facet from a marginalized people, do minimal research, and depict it with little owe towards its creators. That's insulting no matter who you are. It's a form of violence when the culture is a persecuted one.

A character can be a skinny deer demon that eats people without trying to cash in on the whole 'wendigo' thing. This might be what Alastor is supposed to be, but the audience is using the word 'wendigo' inappropriately.

So. In one single character, we've got the whitewashing, the Voodoo and Wendigo appropriation, the anti-Blackness, and an overall racism.

It's no surprise that Alastor remains one of the most divisive characters of the show.

This would be like, if Niffty (voiced by Japanese-American Kimiko Glenn) kept being drawn as a pale woman with bulbous blue eyes, had weird radioactive atomic powers thanks to her method of death back in the '40's, and was obsessed with spearing people through their stomach with long blades. It's not super great.

So far, Hazbin Hotel's canon material has avoided many of the overtly bigoted humor and hijinks so common in adult TV, and that's something of a victory. But what's not problematic doesn't cancel out what is.

The more a reasonable criticism is circulated amongst its audience, the more driven the creative team is to pay attention.

[thecajungator]

Nico headcanons part 3

Nico practices Haitian Voudo (voodoo) and is a believer, but will also run side hustles to make an easy buck for those mystified by the craft. Palm readings, tarot cards, bone readings, he'll do any of it if it makes him some money. Plus, people give him attention, and occasionally they'll join the Savoy's congregation.

Nico is ambidextrous but his stronger arm is his left, honed in hix boxing matches. Most men are right handed, and thus they're able to put more force and confidence behind punches with their dominant hand. Nothing on their right side to block means having a strong left side hook can be devastating.

Nico is a master at shuffling and stacking cards in a deck. He does it to help Asa win money at the hotel, and he can use it when he does tarot readings.

[papa-boko]

Religion As Revolutionary

Let me be honest, this is not an easy topic for me to discuss. Religion has been used against me in the past for a long time and it’s been difficult to reconcile the reality of the Spirit World; the Land of the Invisible; Beyond the Veil. Somehow I’ve always been interested in magical things and concepts, but it wasn’t until I was in college, free to explore beyond my conditioning that I stumbled upon divination. Even then, it was easy to hide behind Tarot as my spiritual identity, but the truth is I was looking for something deeper. Something to make sense of the world in a concrete way. Tarot could help me understand things conceptually but access to spiritual power? Tarot cannot do that; it cannot actually perform magic. It’s a tool. But a Spirit? It is real. A Deity is a grand Spirit. So, although I poured all of myself into Tarot and astrology (tropical then sidereal) it did not answer all the questions of my life.

My trip to Cuba in 2019 enlightened me to the ways in which religion can function within a socialist society and thrive. As we see with La Regla de Ocha (Luckumí), it can quickly become a popular movement. I met a wonderful person who took me on a tour of a museum where the folks who practiced the major Afro-Cubans religions donated the paraphernalia to be put on display, the proceeds going to support the town. I enjoyed the stories of why and how these people formed these religious cults; it was to save themselves from their unbearable conditions. Those very religions are still alive today across the diaspora. 

As I’ve come to experience myself the power of Spirits and the importance of connecting to them, I assert that we turn our sights to religion as a useful tool to be taken back into the hands of the people. Regla de Ocha, 21 Divisiones, and Haitian Voudo are some of the many religions shaped in response to European enslavement. How do we bridge that into the present fight against white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy? 

It can never be expressed enough how much was stolen from the cultures around the world, but specifically my original mother country Africa. It has disrupted the spiritual world. The intent of the enemy was to purchase/sell the individual to the harshest enslavement. Our ancestors were taken by the thousands from their homeland completely unaware of what was in store for them and though many died, many more lived and survived. The only certain binding was their origin, and that seemed to be enough to sustain a set of Spirits in the New World, the Caribbean first, but across the Americas, including Brazil and Afro-America. 

Even when forced to convert to the oppressor’s religion, which was designed only to appease the conscience of evil men and their kingdoms, our African ancestors developed entire religious systems that survive to this day. Is that not the most incredible thing? Born out of the necessity to survive and maintain their identities - the story of sidereal Fixed signs - these people, of all different shades and cultural backgrounds, merged. How can that inform us in the present? As an oracle, you always look for patterns. In Tarot, you look to when you last pulled  the card to give you clues for the current context. In astrology, you look to previous events under similar planetary configurations. So why not look at the past to inform and shape our future?

Religion is an institutional system of beliefs and practices that shape worldview. These beliefs and practices also shape the culture of a society. It’s one of the main mechanisms used in the colonization of the African and otherwise Indigenous people throughout the diaspora. Do not be fooled, the oppressor knows the power of religion, magic, and Spirits. Religious imperialism is one of the complex ways European colonizers dismantled the power of the enslaved. A majority of the Atlantic Slave Trade victims were from the West Coast of Africa (today’s Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, though certainly not limited to those areas) underscored by the fact that the whole of the Carribbean share similar deities. The religion of the enslaved and oppressed peoples was formed as the means by which they secured their survival. Haitian Vodou was not simply a “spiritual practice”, it was an integral part of the culture of the enslaved. 

Spirituality is your personal practice of attuning to your Spirit, which is connected to the grand Source or Spirit, commonly known as “God”. Religion and Spirituality are essentially one in the same, although modern times have made it necessary to make a distinction from oppressive spiritual & religious practices, which exist. Africans on the continent had concepts (albeit varying in detail) of God that made sense for their environment, gave meaning to disasters and triumphs, and most importantly created a relationship between human beings and the Universe as a whole. Whether folks believe it or not, we live in a religious universe. We’re not always aware of the rituals and beliefs we engage in.

White folks, however you want to define that, follow one major religion: white supremacy, which encompasses capitalism & patriarchy. They force us to revere their Spirits (i.e., saints who supported colonization, murder, etc) and violently oppress and erase any other Deity or Spirit that does not fit into their worldview. If there was no power in religion, in the magic that occurs, then the Catholic Church, and the Anglo Christian Church, would not violently murder those who followed any other practice. As we see today, white supremacy as a religion sets the foundation that white people are the supreme beings and that even God’s will (in this case, their patriarchal god) supports all the destruction and chaos they continue to impose. They believe and practice that because that is truly how they view the world. Their spiritual practice, contained in the cult of individualism, is one of detachment. It’s about escaping reality, avoiding the personal accountability that is present in all other non-European spiritual systems. Funny how that works.

As the world has evolved, it may seem that Spirituality and Religion cannot go hand-in-hand. A misconception that comes from colonization is that you must adhere and believe in every aspect and detail of a religion in order to follow it. This is not true. Remember, religion comes out of humanity’s encounter with the Earth and its need to make sense of our encounter with it, shaping culture. So, it’s meant to evolve with time as the enslaved Haitians demonstrated when they performed magic rituals for their liberation and beyond; and even Octavia Butler in Parable of the Sower shows how religion is bred out of need, shaped by experience. 

Religion can be revolutionary. How? I suppose that’s the answer we must shape.

[alyssaperdue-blog1]

Essay 2: Zombies and their Historical Misrepresentation

Zombies have been around in our culture for decades now. They have been used in horror films to create a scare and around Halloween. How much do we really know about Zombies and why are they stigmatized in our society to be scary? There are many different beliefs about how Zombies came to be, with each one having its own take. For one they are represented as “cannibalistic ghouls who replicate themselves through infection.” (Moreman and Rushton, 1). Although the true story comes out in New South, New Immigrants, New Women, New Zombies. 

In 1791 there was a slave rebellion that grew and lasted until 1804. Where the enslaved demanded to be free and that is where the term Voudo comes from. It is nothing dangerous or scary as it is portrayed. This was a spiritual movement that was based on the rituals of Western Africa. When they were brought back to the United States, these beliefs meshed and became American Voudou.

This is where the misconceptions start to cloud the minds of the people who know nothing but what they are told, and instead of looking for themselves they just keep these beliefs. “However, almost as soon as the Haitian Zombie entered the American imagination, American popular culture, especially Hollywood films, transformed the Haitian zombie into a creature that revealed more about the hopes and fears lurking in the American psyche than in the Haitian one.” (Kordas, 15). This seems to be the theme in most of these topics we have gone over in class. 

Whether its ghosts, witches, zombies or vampires, there is always a different story than the one that is folklore into the American culture. Americans are obsessed with trying to uncover the truths behind what these unknown things are, but the ideas get misconstrued with Hollywood and everything has to be scary and dark to create a story and make a profit.   In the reading Guess Who is Going to be Dinner by Barbara Spruce, she talks about the movie Night of the Living Dead. This movie was made low-budget. This film featured an African American actor in it, which was the first time it has happened in a horror movie. Even though he was not a Zombie, at the end of the film when the police come to try to get everything back in order after the zombie attack, the unfortunate happens. He is shot in his head and disregarded and picked up just like the rest of the zombies. 

At the beginning of the film, the woman is running frantically from the attack, she finds the male black character and instead of seeming like she was relieved she seemed scared, more than likely because of his skin color. This brings me back to thinking of the Haitian belief Voudo and how they just wanted to have their own beliefs and they were taken and made into something scary. 

I feel like the anxieties behind this are due to what happened to the slaves all over the world and how badly they were treated. Putting something scary over top can create a barrier that will keep the real story hidden and put a little jump scare to create fear of this, even though the truth behind it is far from flesh-eating zombies who intend to devour you and turn you into one of them.

In the reading Putting the Undead to Work by David Inglis, he talks about the misrepresentation zombies have and why. He states, “Most representations of zombies occur in the realms of popular fiction. But what happens when the undead escape from the confines of popular culture and enter into realms where their presence is regarded as the unwanted intrusion and uncanny intervention?” (Inglis, 42). This shows how zombies are misrepresented to be used in fictional stories… because they sell. When someone is unsure of something and it is shown to them a specific way, fear seems to generate faster when we do not know the facts of the matter. This was a religious practice turned into something uncanny to make people afraid of it and push it away. 

The societal culture and norms would not be able to handle something they can’t control or understand. If something cannot be understood or something is being hidden, the story will always change, and the truth will be locked away only for a certain few to uncover it and know what really happened. Anytime a story is changed, it usually means something tragic happened and they must have a different story to cover it up.

In conclusion, I have learned a lot. These stories piece together the anxieties of the unknown about zombies. These have a lot to do with our history and trying to mask horrible occurrences that happened long before we even heard about these stories. Someone’s beliefs can be turned into something almost demonic to make society feel a certain way about these people and outcast them such as witches. In Salem, they did nothing wrong but believe a different way than the “normal” crowd and they were outcasted and punished for it. 

I wonder why it is still like this today, although it has gotten better, society should be more open to what could be than what we are told. A little research can go a long way, but when someone was brought up to believe a certain way how can anyone tell them otherwise. Zombies have been in the American culture since about 1930 and the beliefs still have not changed. I did not know the truth behind zombies and I felt it enlightening to be able to see how they are portrayed. No matter what there will always be different beliefs about everything and it is up to the individual person to decide how they will believe themselves.

 Works Cited

Moreman, Christopher M., and Cory James Rushton. Race, Oppression and the Zombie: Essays on Cross-Cultural Appropriations of the Caribbean Tradition. McFarland & Co., 2011.

Kordas, Ann., New South, New Immigrants, New Zombies: The Historical Development of the Zombie in American Popular Culture

 Guess Who’s Going to be Dinner - Barbara Bruce

 Putting the Undead to Work - David Inglis

[tannerblawson-blog]

Notebook 4 Partner Assessment

Tanner Lawson ETHN 2 Maria Celleri Fri 11 AM

Summary This zine’s emphasis is on study of West African and Haitian Vodou (pronounced the same as voodoo). The religion has traveled from West Africa to Haiti is considered a “Circulation of Blackness”. This West African Voudo has since been developed into being known as Haitian Vodou. For religious purposes, Vodou is mainly based on connecting with the premise of Bon Dieu. The main area where Haitian and West African Voudo differ comes from Haitian Voodoo’s clear connection with Christianity as many of the well-known spirits in the Vodoun religion became well-known Christian saints. In addition, the Bible was also added to the list of sacred Vodoun talismans.

B) Compelling Quotes 1. “Many West African peoples have sought us out since the beginning of time. They look to us for wisdom and blessings. We are not gods. We are just powerful spirits. Because the one God, Bondye, is always busy with matters that are incomprehensible to humans, the people turn to us when they are in need. We are the children of Bondye. We are loa.” —I felt as thought this was a very powerful and informative expert that basically depicts the religion in a way that is easily understood. For readers like me (who had no prior knowledge about this religion) I would make this quote a centerpiece to your summary/informational section of your zine if you choose to have one. It’s a fantastic find and really lays out the basic of what you are exploring.

2. “I am Ayida Wedo. I am the cool kiss of raindrops on your cheek during the storm. I am also the dazzling rainbow the follows, a reminder of forgiveness. My husband, Dumballah is the sky. We are the heavens. Our followers are known as Vodouists.” — This is also a great flow to it and is really easy to read. I feel like when you are exploring a topic that is lesser known, it’s great to have these small, easy-to-read portions that the reader can easily follow. These two quotes would go great anywhere in your zine. Great choice.

C) Compelling anecdotes, stories, facts and content “The French first established themselves in Haiti in 1625, however, it wasn’t until 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick (between France and Spain) that France officially owned the western part of what was at the time referred to as “Hispaniola.” The French began importing slaves right away to work the fields of cash crops such as tobacco and cotton. Many imported slaves came from West Africa and thus they brought their belief system (West African Vodun) with them. French missionaries saw the enslavement of Africans as the perfect chance to convert them to Christianity, although this was not entirely successful. One of the reasons why this largely failed was because slave-owners took such awful care of their slaves that many slaves died extremely quickly. Since slaves were constantly dying, new ones continuously had to be shipped in. And since most slaves were imported from the same region, it became nearly impossible to wipe out their religion and culture and thus Vodou persisted (because the religion kept being inadvertently imported over and over again). The only real effect that conversion attempts had was that saints became associated with the loa. Traditional beliefs continued to hold strong.” — While I did take out a large quote, I think this summarization does a great job in explaining the history of the religion and the failure of the eradication of it as well. The information about slaves and analysis on why the attempt to convert the slaves to Christianity could be a very productive centerpiece for a page of your zine.

D) Compelling Images With these snakes being the most important Ioa, I would recommend definitely putting this in your zine. The “National Geographic” video was very informative, it’s a shame theres not a way to incorporate that on the final copy. Absolutely include this picture though (I like the idea of it being the cover of your zine).

E) Reword Analysis I am going to reword the text listed below: i) “The Haitian Revolution would last from 1791 to 1804. It was an uprising of slaves that led to the formation of a state free of slavery, now ruled by former slaves. This revolution actually ties back in with Haitian Vodou and the loa because it was Vodou that lent great deals of courage to the slaves fighting for their freedom. Supposedly it was a Vodou ritual that actually started the revolution in the first place. Vodou also united different factions of rebel slave fighters. With the unity of the slaves came greater strength and victory.”

ii)  The above quote is powerful in a way that it depicts the struggle that these slaves went through and how the Vodou religion was actually a driving force in their revolutions and rebellion against being forced to practice Christianity.

iii)  The only suggestions I can think to give would be to p

[spiritualityloves247]

[thecajungator]

Nico nodded along. "I know the feeling, sort of. Sis and I were left withou' parents or a home at an early age. We were....helped," He said, opting not to go into detail about his Haitian Voudo beliefs, "out to a rickety old home in the bayou outside of New Orleans and that's where we lived for quite a while. By the time I was ten I was runnin' messages for low level gangsters. By twelve, I was movin' product. Had to learn how to scrap. By fifteen I'd stolen my first car."

He shrugged with a small sigh.

"My sis? She's....firey. Unique. Not always the most ladylike, but I ain't the biggest gentleman, eitha'. She's good wit' guns, and a few otha' things." He replied about his sister, then paused trying to think of another question for Rocky.

"Got a....significant otha'? And regardless, what would be your perfect date?"

"I hear that. I like summa' but fall's nice, too. As for your question, I think my favorite hobby is either a tie between fightin' or fishin'. Secret hobbies? Well...Sometimes I sew. Growin' up it was just me and my sista', Serafine. We took care of each otha', and I'm the big brotha' so I did most of the work. I learned alot just tryin' to keep us afloat, growin' up in New Orleans as kids. Hence the sewin'."

He cleared his throat and adjusted how he was sitting. "My turn. How long you been in this life? Why are you in it?"