#obeah man come back

[roadside-enshrined]

if mr peele makes a nope sequel he BETTER use this song in the soundtrack s'all

[aceissomunster]

Clearing up misconceptions and such about Tim Drake for all you non-comic reading fic-writers and people that just don’t know. Mostly chronologically

Under the cut, cause this is gonna get long ,,

While Tim isn’t my favorite batfamily member, or even robin in particular, he is the one whose comics i’ve read the most of and know the most about.

If i’m wrong about any of this, please let me know!

- Tim’s parents weren’t especially abusive. they were neglectful, as in leaving him with the nannies and sending him off to boarding schools when they were out of the country, which was frequently. also, they did love him. i don’t even know where people got the idea that they didn’t.

- Tim did not stalk the bats, until he noticed Batman’s grief-driven violence and decided to follow, photograph, and gather evidence

- he also didn’t just go up to Bruce and ask to be Robin, he actually tracked down Dick Grayson to the circus and tried to convince him to come back to being Robin. Dick drove him to the manor, and then found out Tim’s whole story.

then Alfred let him down into the cave, Batman and Nightwing got captured by Two-Face, and Alfred practically threw the Robin costume at him and they went to save Batman and Nightwing. THEN Tim told Bruce that he was Robin. (— A Lonely Place of Dying, Tim’s 13)

- Before even becoming Robin fully, Tim’s parents were kidnapped and held for ransom in Haiti by a man called the “Obeah Man” (“Obeah” translates roughly to black magic, I’m pretty sure). Batman finds them by following the people that were going to pay the ransom, and they were being kept in some underground place? I’m not sure, but it was really really hot. There’s a pitcher of water, and Janet drinks it, and Jack starts drinking it, and Janet dies near-instantly, and Batman smacks the water out of Jack’s hands but Jack still ends up completely paralyzed and put into a coma. (— Rite of Passage)

- Fun fact: Janet’s funeral was Christmas eve

- it’s only after his mother’s death and father’s hospitalization that he goes to Paris (keep in mind, Batman did not force him to go, Tim wanted to!) to train under Rahul Lama, and then with Lady Shiva. (Robin mini 1)

- he doesn’t actually get trained by Shiva in the run, but it’s vaguely implied

- Fun fact: Tim actually kills Lady Shiva once (i forget what the storyline’s called, but it’s somewhere in Robin 52-55 ish)

- OH YEAH, Jason Todd was NOT Tim’s Robin. Tim Drake has been Dick Grayson’s #1 fanboy since the circus. He could not care less about Jason

- Fun fact: early in his Robin career, he hallucinated Dick and Jason as Robin (even though Dick was very alive) giving him advice

- He had friends outside of YJ. Like his best friend Sebastian Ives, his friend Callie, his (ex) girlfriend Ariana Dzerchenko, and a good bit more.

- he started dating Steph as Robin while dating Ariana as Tim, but Ari and Tim broke up like the day after Steph and Tim got together (not because of Steph, Ari didn’t know Tim was Robin, but because of other stuff that happened. go read Robin.)

- fun fact: Tim actually didn’t have contingency plans for Young Justice/the Titans, because he actually trusts them, unlike his mentor. (this is mentioned sometime in Young Justice 1998, but I don’t remember the issue)

- Tim’s 16 (not 14 or whatever THOSE tim stans try to say) and on the Teen Titans, when the fabled and constantly over-exaggerated “Titan’s Tower incident” occurs. Tim is fully suited up in the Robin suit, he puts up a good fight with Jason (who is in an adult-sized Robin costume, by the way) until he gets knocked out. This fight leaves no lasting injuries on Tim. (Teen Titans (2003) #29)

- the whole Jason slitting his throat thing happens in a different comic. (Batman: Hush, i’m pretty sure, correct me if i’m wrong)

- Tim also kicks Jason in the nuts the next time he sees him, so there’s not really any hard feelings there.

- Tim’s dad finds out he’s Robin and makes him quit, and Steph becomes Robin. Then Steph dies and Tim’s school gets shot up and he becomes Robin again.

- Tim leaves Jack alone at their home to go find the man sent to kill him. While he’s gone, the man (Captain Boomerang) kills Jack. (— Identity Crisis #5)

- after Jack dies, Bruce offers to adopt Tim and Tim turns him down and creates a fake uncle. Batman finds out the uncle is fake, commends him on his good job of making a fake uncle, and helps him make it better. Bruce later offers again to adopt Tim and he accepts. Damian literally shows up like the very issue after this in Batman

- Kon dies, then Bart dies a bit after. And, not to hate on yall TimKon shippers out there, but he also planned to clone Bart, and also in TT03 like 50-53ish, when him and the other Titans run into their future evil selves again, their Superman (Kon) and Flash (Bart) are clones.

- All those deaths happen relatively close together and in that order, I think, when Tim’s 16-17. But comic timelines are weird, like how Tim was 15 when the Quake hit and for the year-long duration of No Man’s Land (from New Year’s to New Year’s), he stays 15.

- When Bruce “dies” and Dick (Batman) makes Damian Robin. Damian needs guidance, and Dick wants him and Tim to be equals. Dick had good intentions and did the right thing! He just didn’t have the best execution.

- When Tim finds the painting and tells Dick about it, Dick DOES NOT THREATEN TO SEND HIM TO ARKHAM. He, reasonably (considering all the losses Tim has just faced) assumes Tim needs mental help and grief counseling, and recommends him a therapist in Metropolis.

- Tim decides to just go find evidence that Bruce isn’t dead by himself, and steals the Red Robin suit and runs off without even telling Alfred (Red Robin)

- Ra’s al Ghul sends people to kill Tim at first, but Tim obviously doesn’t die and breaks Pru’s nose twice. Eventually and reluctantly, Tim accepts the League’s help and resources.

- Tim finds his best piece of evidence in a cave in the desert with Pru, Z, and Owens. right after leaving the cave, an assassin attacks them, killing Z and Owens, slitting Pru’s throat, and stabbing Tim. Tim, ACTIVELY BLEEDING OUT, brings himself and Pru to the car they used to get there, drives to a hotel, CLIMBS UP THE BUILDING TO ONE OF THE TOP FLOORS WITH PRU WHILE THEY ARE BOTH BLEEDING OUT, and passes out on the bed, where Tam Fox (sent by Lucius to go find Tim) finds them. and so do a bunch of ninjas.

- Tim had to have his spleen removed because it was kebabed with a sword and was going to rupture. Ra’s also does NOT keep it in a jar.

- during the whole LOA part of RR, Ra’s is NOT preying on Tim. there is NO ROMANCE THERE. (no offense if you see it or think it’s implied, but to me it’s just really not?) its just RESPECT.

- with the whole bases exploding thing, its because the Council of Spiders was there and also he just doesn’t like the LOA. he gave them like 15 seconds to get out, obviously all the assassins managed to get out of the massive, complex bases in 15 seconds. (comic logic: if it’s not specified that it did kill them, then it didn’t.)

- the whole “Damian cutting Tim’s line” is also very exaggerated. Damian did it because of Tim’s “Hit List” and because Damian was on it. and Tim fell a few feet, caught himself, then fought Damian (neither won because Dick broke it up because they were literally right in front of THE alley.)

- not really a timeline thing, but in general, tim is VERY against murder. Part of the reason for this is Batman’s morals, which he built his own around, sure. But I think an even BIGGER part of his moral code is just to not become evil future gun Batman. And evil future gun Batman has no qualms against murder, he even killed Damian.

that’s pretty much the main stuff i wanted to touch on. LMK if i should add anything else or if i got anything wrong, thanks!!

No hate if u use the fanon stuff btw, i just know that a lot of people don’t read the comics and don’t know the actual information.

If you want pictures of some of these events from the comics, just lmk and I’ll provide

[lacrimosathedark]

PSA for Tim Drake Fanfic Writers

There's this thing I see in a lot of Tim fics that always has me immediately closing the fic. And I think it may be that people just aren't as obsessive about info as me and don't know, so I thought I'd make a little informational post.

Tim's mother was dead before he was officially accepted as Robin.

I see so many fics with Tim being around people like Conner and Stephanie and his mom is alive, when he wouldn't have been anywhere near meeting them. It drives me insane. So let me give you the rundown on Tim's start.

So, we all know A Lonely Place of Dying, right? Where Tim tracks Dick down to Haly's Circus, attempts to demand he return as Robin, gets taken to Wayne Manor, and when Batman and Nightwing get tangled up with Two-Face he becomes Robin to save them.

You may also know that Bruce refused to have another child in the field with him without intensive training over the course of several months.

During this training, an arc known as Rite of Passage, Jack and Janet Drake are kidnapped in Haiti by a...probably problematic villain called Obeah Man. He nearly kills them both, but Batman does get there to save them...only for Janet to accidentally drink poison and die and Jack to suffer severe nerve damage and drop into a coma.

This is why Tim could get away with a whole overseas training arc after that. His dad was comatose and his mom was dead. Bruce became his temporary legal guardian.

He also meets and ends up teaming up with Lady Shiva during this overseas training adventure. She's also the one who gave him his collapsible bo staff. And just for the record, she continually goaded Tim into killing her, as she is wont to do. Tim clearly didn't kill her, but he did defeat her in combat. So give my boy some respect for his skills please.

Hell, he knew Jean-Paul Valley before he knew Stephanie. Knightfall, when Bane famously broke Bruce's back, came before the introduction of Spoiler and Cluemaster.

And then Jack Drake is awake from his coma by the time Tim has met Bart, which was also before he met Kon.

Just...if Tim's Robin, his mom is dead, okay? Totally fair to make an AU because canon is wackadoo already but please label it cuz AUs are cool so long as I know that's what it is and if it's not labelled my brain decides the writer doesn't know what they're talking about and I can't read it even if it's one of the highest rated fics in my search and it causes me great pain because I NEED CONTENT 😭

Thank you for coming to my Tim Talk.

[timdrakequotes]

“He’s coming back to Gotham. I have six extradition lawyers ready to put him away for life. Part of me wanted something more, but this is enough. It’s not vengeance…but it is justice.”

--Tim Drake on the Obeah Man (Robin #183 – Origins & Omens)

[connanro]

i’m sure someone has made this list before. but i’ve recently reread the robin (1993-2009) comics and realised how Batshit Crazy tim’s time as robin was. here’s a list of major events that happened during his tenure:

obeah man???: still not clear on exactly what happened here, but his parents are both poisoned, resulting in his mom’s death and his dad’s long-term coma.

knightfall/knightquest/knightsend: the iconic arc when bane breaks bruce’s back and azrael (derogatory) temporarily becomes batman then quickly goes off the rails and tries to kill tim, forcing him to go solo and work with huntress (hashtag girlboss) before bruce returns and handles azrael

contagion: the incurable Apocalypse Virus™ threatens to wipe out gotham city and tim naturally catches it and nearly dies before bruce returns with The Cure

the final night: a sun-eater tries to Eat The Sun. tim meets impulse! robin and spoiler defend gotham city on their own during the crisis! tim’s girlfriend’s crazy mafia uncle tries to kill him after finding them in bed together (not doing the sexy. but it looked like they were gonna do it.)

cataclysm: a massive earthquake levels half of gotham, throwing the city into crisis and causing some problems in tim’s personal life as his father relocates them to keystone briefly before tim’s misery convinces him to move them back to gotham

no man’s land (a personal favourite): gotham’s post-earthquake crisis worsens and the government decides that the best solution is to declare it no man’s land. shockingly, this causes Even More Problems. there’s a whole thing where tim’s dad realises tim snuck off into the city, and the news about it makes people sympathetic enough to gotham’s (cough a rich white family’s) plight that the government decides to actually help. cass becomes batgirl!

young justice/teen titans drama!: so much went on here. i don’t even know where to begin. the whole imperiex/our worlds at war apocalyptic crisis. tim quits young justice after the thing where the justice league discovers batman’s Super Paranoid Contingency Plans™ causes the team to distrust him. he returns to the team, which is disbanded after a team-up with the titans goes badly. the teen titans is formed. general fuckery involving tim’s civilian life!

unmasked: tim’s dad finds out he’s robin, confronts batman in the batcave with a gun and forces tim to quit. steph becomes robin and cuts off contact with tim. superboy tries to convince tim to come back to teen titans, but tim insists that he’s Totally Happy Just Being A Civilian, Kon. Really. He’s Less Stressed Now That He’s Not Dealing With Constant Crises! (lying)

war games: oh god. we all know this one. gang war! gotham in peril! steph dies! tim meets evil!future batman!tim who murdered the entire rogue gallery with the gun that killed bruce’s parents. tim seriously considers killing himself to prevent this future.

identity crisis: a Mysterious Villain begins targeting families of the justice league. because tim is not allowed to have anything remotely nice, his dad is murdered (by captain boomerang, which is frankly adding insult to injury). tim invents an uncle to avoid getting adopted by bruce (really, kid? really?). bruce finds out and helps him solidify the fake uncle's identity (bruce no)

robin: to kill a bird: jason todd returns all crazy and nearly kills tim at titans’ tower (dressed in a version of his robin costume) and signs his name in tim’s blood. theatre kid much, jason?

infinite crisis: c’mon dc, you’ve done like four world-ending crises in the last decade. chill your goddamn tits. the teen titans, doom patrol, and justice society of america team up to take down superboy prime. normal superboy dies due to the fight, despite tim’s desperate attempt to find a cure. also bludhaven got nuked and tim’s stepmother gets a traumatic brain injury and is permanently hospitalised. then bruce, tim, and dick go on vacation and tim accepts bruce’s offer to adopt him! yay!

one year later: cass is briefly evil! the league of assassins tries to recruit tim, who barely escapes with his life after turning them down. then he goes a little crazy with grief, tries to clone kon, and has a brief relationship with extreme violence before deciding to break it off.

the resurrection of ra’s al ghul: damian arrives in gotham! and tries to kill tim multiple times! ra’s tries to seduce tim to the Dark Side with the promise of resurrecting his parents! tim refuses! ra’s tries to force bruce to sacrifice either tim or damian to become his new host body! tim tries to sacrifice himself but is convinced by dick to Not Do That at the last minute!

batman r.i.p.: bruce dies, but not really! fun times!

battle for the cowl: i like to pretend this doesn’t exist, because it is Stupid As Fuck. jason nearly kills tim again, but damian (!) rescues him.

red robin: dick makes damian robin. the end!

but not really

and then of course the whole red robin series (which i love) is just like. tim is passively suicidal! tim loses an entire important organ while working with the loa! tim becomes ceo of wayne enterprises then blows up the loa and ra’s almost kills him! tim is nearly raped by one of ra’s’ daughters because ra’s really wants tim’s babies! this is not dealt with at all!!! love that for him

[obeah-rituals]

Why should you get in touch with an experienced Obeah man in Trinidad?

Obeah is a form of religious practice comprising different rituals, even magical spells, originating among the Afro-Caribbean population, hailing from Western Africa, and currently residing in the West Indies. Obeah is comparable to Voodoo, Haitian Vodou, Palo, and Santería, as well as similar other practices where the practitioners establish communication with their ancestors and spirits. 

 Many of the rituals of Obeah have to do with healing, and as a result, this practice is deeply connected with the spiritual beliefs of the people, coming from Africa and now living in the West Indies. Even though Obeah was declared illegal in Jamaica back in 1760 and most people practice it openly, many men and women in West Indies practice this religion in their day-to-day lives. Most people outside the Afro-Caribbean diaspora community are not even aware of the existence of Obeah and its practice. 

     One of the things that make Obeah or Obecyahism different from Voodoo is it lacks any organized creed or method of worship. While a lot of people consult with an Obeah practitioner because they want to receive healing, it is essentially associated with magic, sorcery, invocation of spirits, and fetishism. A lot of people in the past used to work with Obeah when they needed to make love potions that could be used to attract another person with whom he or she shares an interest. An Obeah man in Trinidad can consider the individual requirements or problems of his client and come up with spells and potions to resolve them. 

 For people with a strong faith in Obeah, it works as a powerful method to remedy all kinds of problems in life. Obeah has also been actively used for managing career problems, health issues, competition among business owners, mental anxiety, and other problems that people may face in their daily lives. 

 Over the years, Obeah has evolved into a process of cursing others and controlling and manipulating their lives. It is a reason many people consult with Obeah practitioners, as they can have the peace of mind they need knowing that they are safe from someone using Obeah to control their lives. 

 As with any other magical practice, there are positive and negative aspects of Obeah that can impact its users in different ways. If you are troubled in your life for some reason, and you need to have the support of an Obeah practitioner who can consider your issues and recommend the best measures, you should reach out to an Obeah expert in Trinidad who can get you the best solutions. These professionals have many years of experience with Obeah. Hence, this makes it possible for them to bring peace to their clients. 

 Through the practice of Obeah, it is possible to invoke the spiritual forces that surround a human being and impact that person’s life in myriad ways. The unique thing about Obeah is that it is not a one-track system of belief but encompasses many different ideas and beliefs. 

 People within the African and West Indian communities strongly believe that an Obeah man is the ultimate spiritual counselor they need when trying to manage the difficulties in their lives. It is no wonder that an Obeah man is well-regarded with great respect in the community. So once you have decided that you are going to consult with an Obeah man who can help you to remedy the issues that you have been facing for some time, make sure that you get in touch with a Trinidad-based Obeah man for the best results.    

[kaelio]

When I was working as a graphic designer for PAWS Inc. (SE Asian Market) in Muncie, Indiana, I got stuck in what I can only describe as a triplex apartment between a group of BSU students and an elderly, mentally handicapped man who would tell us all about how he was the last person in his assistance program to still have a helper monkey. Apparently they've mostly been phased out or something?

Anyway, the kids who lived next to me in the triplex were obsessed with seeing this grandfathered capuchin and seemed to be split 50-50 on believing it even existed. I'd been there six months, the students almost a year, and none of us had seen or heard this thing in person. Kenneth - the old man - would stand on his end of the house and "water the grass", which really just amounted to chain smoking and hosing his corner of the lawn down. Anytime any of us went outside while he was doing this, he'd yell conversation to us. "Esquire (the monkey) turned off the TV during Final Jeopardy last night. I got so mad..." and "I caught Esquire eating out of the trash again. Such a pain in my ass." It was nonstop during the summer months.

So at the end of August, I was helping Kenneth with some legitimate yard work. He asked me if I wanted to come over for dinner, and even though Esquire did not come up in the invitation at all, he was my first thought. A chance to confirm this creature's existence. I jumped at the opportunity.

So that night, I have the worst meal of my life. Reheated spaghetti eaten out of Tupperware. No conversation. Just the sounds of us eating. Feeling weirdly nauseous and wanting to go home, I asked Kenneth where Esquire was.

"In my bedroom. He was acting up earlier. and I didn't want him bothering you during supper."

I should have accepted this, but I pressed on, saying I was full and just wanted to meet him before going home. At this point, Kenneth stood up, walked to his bedroom, slammed the door shut, and was in there for maybe five minutes or so. I was about to leave when he came out.

"He's about to bedtime out, but you can see him before you leave."

Here's my memory of that encounter, as filtered through my PTSD (semi-serious here - I could get diagnosed for sure):

Sock monkey sitting in a wicker chair next to a bed. Withered Cracker Barrel price tag still hanging off. White areas of the monkey stained with nicotine. A hole cut in between the legs. Kenneth behind me. I forget the exact words, but he did ask me to touch Esquire, so I half heartedly petted it and he slapped the back of my head. Whispered to me "F-fingerblast this little turd." That part I remember perfectly. And I did.

I won't dwell on the rest of the encounter. Suffice to say that it was a bad night for me, and finishing out that lease was hell. I don't regret anything but accepting the dinner invitation. Had I not become finger intimate with Esquire, he very well could have stabbed me. He'd been collecting knives since Vietnam. I noticed several pocket knives on a drawer in the bedroom alone. This was a scary dude, and it's hard to blame myself for it. But anyway, I ended up getting let go from my dream job right before the end of the lease, so obviously I didn't stick around for long.

All of this is just a roundabout way of saying that you should really, really be careful around this neighbor of yours. What seems and reads as funny online or to your friends can be a life threatening, terrifying experience irl.

--obeah (short story)

[kudosmyhero]

Batman (vol. 1) #457: Master of Fear

Read Date: September 29, 2022 Cover Date: December 1990 ● Writer: Alan Grant ● Penciler: Norm Breyfogle ● Inker: Steve Mitchell ● Colorist: Adrienne Roy ● Letterer: Todd Klein ● Editor: Dennis O'Neil ◦ Kelley Puckett ●

Synopsis: Scarecrow has Batman and Vicki Vale captured and reveals his plan. He had Christmas cards and skeleton masks sent to 50 people chosen at random. The cards were coated with one of his new hypno-toxins that removed a person's fear. After the toxin had time to take effect, Scarecrow called them all and suggested they try killing, which removed of their inhibitions and they did. While a city in fear was pleasing to him, it was all just an elaborate trap to bring Batman to him so he could use his various fear toxins on him and slowly "unwrap" his mind…the ultimate Christmas present to himself.

While beginning Batman's fear sessions, Rico Marcuse and his henchmen drive away with the bonus money Scarecrow had given them. When Rico opens the envelope he is doused with Scarecrow's gas and, in a fit of rage, attacks the driver. The car, now out of control, crashes into a storage pile of toxic waste.

Tim Drake has taken a cab to the Scarecrow's hideout and searches for the Batmobile to see if Batman fell into the trap. He sees it and decides he must attempt a rescue. Tim traps two henchmen and knocks out a third before coming upon Scarecrow and Batman. Donning a ski mask to avoid being recognized, Tim orders Scarecrow to free Batman. However, he forgot to survey the scene and he is attacked by the henchman who was holding Vicki out of Tim's sight. As Tim disables him, Scarecrow grabs the latest fear gas he was using on Batman, called "Essence De Trauma", and throws it at Vicki and Tim.

While Vicki suffers from reliving having her puppy run over by a car, Tim is tormented by the Obeah Man. Tim is paralyzed with fear when images of the two previous Robins appear telling him not to fight the fear but to live with it. They remind him that feeling fear doesn't mean you can't still act. Taking their advice, Tim manages to get to his feet and slam Scarecrow into the shelves holding all his other fear toxins which douse and effectively disable him.

Tim takes off his mask in front of Batman who, still somewhat delirious, calls him Robin. Tim frees Batman then goes back to the Batmobile to avoid being seen. Some policemen arrive having been called by Tim's taxi driver who was concerned leaving a kid alone near a deserted factory. They take the Scarecrow into custody and Vicki to the hospital.

Batman finds Tim. Tim fears he will never be Robin now for disobeying Batman's orders but had deduced it was a trap set by Scarecrow. Batman asks Tim why he didn't don the Robin suit and Tim says he was afraid that, if he failed, he would disgrace it. Batman tells him that sometimes, when justified, heroes get to break the rules and calls him Robin. Back at the Batcave Tim admits his apprehension of wearing the previous Robins' suit due to the history it carries. Batman acknowledges the weight the symbol carries and presents Tim with a new, upgraded suit which he dons for the first time.

(https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_Vol_1_457)

Fan Art: Scarecrow by RoqueRobinArt

Accompanying Podcast: ● Everyone Loves the Drake - episode 12

[madchild-dennis]

So, I'm going to start this with the fact that I know it's going to look like an obsession. However those who know, KNOW, this is NOT me and I have moved on. I barely even utter his name, whether it's the mean name I gave him or his real one. I have MOVED ON, currently texting the NEW option.

Now let's go into 1st what I did, then what God did.

So valentines day I posted this:

Actually before that I was on a sort of desperation for a husband. It was out of frustration with my parent's FUCKERY. I was SERIOUS. Once a guy with the ability to help, liked me and helped me and I saw a future, I would have started with him. BUT NO ONE CAME.

So then I got a lawyer myself, instead of with a guy's help, and was back to my old NOT DESPERATE FOR A MAN self. Caring less about anyone specific. Even a crush I had from someone I worked with that I still remembered. The last time I was that desperate I was in grade 8/9 praying and crying for a boyfriend.

Anyway, I was living my life to then see the same account I had a conversation with on Sept 4 2021 about the fucking man-child in question followed my instagram account on my birthday. I made these post about it:

So I thought she'd get over it and unfollow or I just ignore it. However God said NO. Then I posted this:

PLEASE REMEMBER THE ACCOUNT I TOLD YOU FOLLOWED MY TUMBLR.

Funny story. After I posted this Saturday early morning. God woke me like 4 am to post it:

They unfollowed:

Then the Saturday night I saw this:

Anyway, those following often KNOW I am focused on how FREE I feel as that boy choose the path he kept choosing publicly and my posts about OTHER people. Mainly on whoever the potential future bae will be, reminiscing on an ex and my 4 beauties:

So I have been focused on my new life. a Moved on life.

In fact right before I got the information that is the reason behind this post, I was moving on. I gave me a number to a guy I am currently texting. Technically he's difficult. But I was excited about that journey even if it leads nowhere.

I mean I post it EXCITEDLY post it READY.

To then hear the person come with same bullshit GOD is back with. This time showing me that HE can do whatever without me.

What I am talking about?

In this, I said I know Ms. Samantha's Grandmother (or such) Obeah me and that she tied him:

How I came to that was a spiritual thing God revealed to me over time the Obeah attempts. The knowledge of her tying him, came straight to me last week Friday when the owner of the Nursing home brought me back to the nursing home from her house (hiding us from the Ministry Of Health). Someone was saying loudly that she know someone got TIED, very loudly to someone else as I pass.

God to me right as I heard it: THAT Me to God: What, Raheem got tied. God: YES Me: 😂 him damn lucky.

I left it be because he made his bed and so he has to lie in it. Hence, the post on Saturday morning. Then I refocus back on my life. (I have to mention that, from about Saturday night God has been waking me up to tell me that the guy loves me, but that's not new and I do NOT CARE. He can't be wanting others in the day and crying for me at night and I am to CARE about that shit at ANY POINT.)

Anyways, I did NOT KNOW is God already had the tying dealt with by the same person who I overheard talking about they know someone got tied.

Do you know what that person told me yesterday?

That on that same Friday, before I arrived and heard the tied attempt, she told me that she was lead by the Holy Spirit and started to speak in tongues. Directing her, who in a similar relational problem as me, to release someone who is TIED. She wasn't sure who. Then after she finished speaking in tongues and breaking the demonic bonds being made. She told me a name came to her.

She said the person the Holy Spirit led her to say is doing it is SAMANTHA.

She said she asked others if they know of a Samantha and didn't mentioned or asked me about it until yesterday. And I did not tell her that name until yesterday, after she said the name.

You don't even KNOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW how broken I was when I heard. Not because she did whatever, but because God wont FUCKING LET UP. The fucking dude made his bed, he chose his path. Even if she is the reason. I warned him and I am sure so many others. NO.

HIS FATHER AND MOTHER WARNED HIM FOR YEARS.

Because of his and his mother stubborn personality and he was raised hella spoilt. He has to have shit his way, comfortable and EASY. So, he chose his FUCKING PATH AND HE MADE HIS FUCKING BED, so he LAY IN THAT SHIT.

Now God using someone else to break him out of it and I know God is NOT going to leave it there.

I am FUCKING TIRED OF THIS SHIT.

Plus this person who told me all this told me how God uses her FOR YEARS spiritually breaking and doing strong spiritual battles. I think she was who broke the obeah attempt on my life the night I came here. Plus God keep putting a special approval on her. I ALWAYS wondered why. What God is going to use her to do in my life. So when she told me I KNEW....SIGH

I am NOT HAPPY because that weak bitch-ass could be free RIGHT NOW and he'd run right back to that bitch, just because of his bruised ego, pride or for ease.

I DO NOT FEEL SORRY FOR HIM

Nor do I care. Why should I? He's a scared little bitch that will just try some other thing to hurt me, prove some point or fill his fucking pride.

I have HAD ENOUGH OF HIM AND ALL OF THIS with him and HIS MOTHER. I am FUCKING TIRED OF HIS SHIT!!!!

You don't even know how much I cried last night.

[kneworder]

there's a gotham that's a little less kind, if you can believe it. one where bruce wayne witnesses the tragic deaths of the world-reknowned flying graysons but batman never comes back for their son. shaking with grief and a deep, festering rage strong enough to last a lifetime, little dickie grayson isn't so careful when he listens in on tony zucco's plans to extort the circus. all that rage, all that grief, all that goodness gets wasted when a low-level thug catches him eavesdropping.

richard grayson is murdered when he's nine years old. a bullet wound to the chest, dead before he hits the ground.

no one is there to stop it.

(his last thoughts, shamefully, aren't of his parents, or his murderers. his last thought is of the black shape vaguely resembling a man that swooped in and ushered him away from the big top, checking him over for injuries before melting back into the night. dick wishes the monster-man would come back for him -- not to save him, just so he isn't alone when he dies. he's already learned that batman only shows up when it's too late.)

jason todd has been living on his own for months when he spots the fancy black car parked in crime alley. anyone smart would know not to leave their vehicle there, so jason reasons that he's doing the world a favor and teaching an idiot a lesson by jacking their tires.

that idiot is batman and batman, who looks at jason and sees a tragedy before he sees a child, is not amused. that idiot doesn't know what to do with a kid who talks back to him. that idiot leaves jason in more capable hands at ma gunn's school for boys.

jason todd is stabbed through the stomach with a switchblade at the old woman's orders, by kid who's a little faster than he could have been. his body isn't found until a week later, when the gcpd busts faye gunn for teaching without a license and finds way more than they bargained for.

(jason dies thinking of that idiot and he hates it. jason dies cursing batman's name, because for a second, he really thought that the guy would help him out of the nightmare he's been living since his dad slipped off to god only knows where and his mom slipped away on the floor of their apartment with a needle in her arm. jason dies thinking he should have known by now not to trust an adult who says they're here to help, because they've never once meant it. jason is twelve years old. the newspapers call him another tragedy of park row. jason hates it.)

tim drake doesn't learn that his parents are dead until hours after it's happened. it's for his own good, they say, that he didn't see the footage of them screaming while the obeah man slit their friend's throat in front of them, that he didn't hear of the ransom until it had been paid and ignored. ritual sacrifice, they say, stuttering and avoiding his eyes as if to lessen the blow of telling him his parents were burned at the stake in haiti while he peacefully did problem sets in his gotham academy dorm.

tim can't be alone with his grief but he is so, so alone, so he does what he can to stay afloat. his parents died because of their company and its supposed corporate greed, and tim, ever the detective even when there's no one to hone that skill, throws himself into refuting the obeah man's complaints. his findings are less than satisfactory, because phil marin, current ceo of drake industries and former chief financial officer, is dirty -- stealing products with small time gangs and pocketing the insurance money.

and tim isn't exactly quiet about it. he's always been good at keeping secrets, but subtlety is a learned skill, and tim never had time to pick it up. when marin learns that the kid set to become majority shareholder as soon as he's of age is onto to him, well. he can't let it stand.

tim drake is a contract killing, because contract killers are a dime a dozen in gotham and phil marin has quite a lot more than a dozen of dimes. he makes an investment, and marin, for all that he's crooked, is a good businessman. no one ever questions that poor little timmy drake, fresh off losing both parents -- and so violently, too! --, with no remaining family and an uncertain future ahead, would take his own life.

(tim dies furious and terrified and exhausted and consumed with thoughts of the flying graysons. he remembers little dickie grayson, who seemed so much larger than life when he posed with tim and their parents, whose grin seemed so full of life in the last photo he would ever take. dick died because he stuck his nose where it didn't belong, and the irony of his own murder echoing the one that tormented him for years is not lost on tim -- he might have died laughing if the noose allowed for it. at least he got an extra five years.)

talia tells damian that he's his father's only heir. he should be honored, and he is! but father is not what he expects. it takes time before damian is able to convince him to take him out on the streets, because father has odd ideas about children and what they are ready for. as if damian would let himself be killed by some common gothamite.

damian can prove himself by night at his father's side, but by day he is at a loss for what to do with himself. the league had structure. his days were firmly regimented, and any deviation was met with punishment. father does not seem to know what to do with him when he isn't wearing a mask. no structure. so damian takes to wandering the manor the summer of his arrival.

talia told damian that he's the only child his father ever had, and damian knows it's true because father had confirmed as much. damian is his heir, and he must act in a way that honors that role. paranoia is not becoming of the heir to the bat.

it's just that -- the manor is drafty, and that’s why the chandeliers swing whenever it's sunny outside. ace could do with more training, and that's why there are always books strewn about the library floor. he’s just sleep deprived, and that's why he doesn't remember leaving his computer open to stock prices.

paranoia.

(thomas wayne, after overindulging at the annual elliot gala, once confided in his son that he hated being a doctor because he was haunted by the people he couldn't save. he did not disclose how literal his words were.)

sometimes damian wakes up to the sound of a child laughing. he tried to help a boy lost on the property to find his way off only to turn around and find himself alone. one time he blinked and went from the parlor to a crumbling apartment complex in park row. paranoid, paranoid, paranoid.

(the manor is full of ghosts. not all of them are figurative.)

[ectonurites]

oh my god...was the person who killed tim's mom and dad called the obeah man because that's very racist. the fact that you care so much about who helped tim get over his fear or whatever and not everything wrong with that story. obeah is a part of african spirituality that was villianized by white slave owners and colonizers to stop slaves from gaining freedom (and by having the obeah man be a criminal who murders tims parents dc just...completely plays into that)

Oh trust me I think Rite of Passage is a very racist story for exactly the things you’re saying, DC in that era did… a ton of racist shit! (If you’ve ever actually read all of Death in the Family past the part of Jason’s death… there’s a whole thing where the Joker becomes an ambassador for Iran to get diplomatic immunity after the killing… that era was full of racist stuff) It 100% wasn’t okay then and it’s not okay now.

I haven’t given that angle of this situation the focus I probably should have in the handful of posts I’ve made about Robins today, so absolutely sorry about that, but I thought/felt like in most places Rite of Passage gets discussed the complaints about the premise being racist were already established and understood. I guess that goes for general comics-reading communities more than on tumblr where people are less aware of the original comic though, so my bad on that.

But yeah, to discuss it in the context here it’s particularly nuts because Seeley extremely easily could have avoided needing to approach that situation again. The events of Rite of Passage did not NEED to be brought up again like this! He did not need to bring Obeah Man back up at all considering he really wasn’t Tim’s ‘gauntlet’ the way Seeley’s talking about the concept, Tim was not even actually present for the situation with him.

Like. In the exact story that Seeley is directly referencing in Robins #2 (from Batman #455-457), Tim is fighting Scarecrow. He has a vision of the Obeah Man during that in the original story yeah, but it’s not the driving force, the thing that drives Tim in the situation is him hallucinating Dick and Jason encouraging him! Seeley could have absolutely avoided referencing the old racist story by following canon and instead actively chose to slightly deviate from canon to re-center it. (Like, it took more active effort from him to come up with an excuse to bring this up and use Obeah Man than it would have to just… not, and use Scarecrow)

However it’s worth mentioning that while Seeley chose to bring this stuff back up when he didn’t need to, he also wasn’t the writer that came up with the idea (That was Alan Grant, like 30 years ago). So while there’s blame that goes on him for how he handled it, not all of it goes directly to Seeley in the situation. It’s a bigger problem than just him, and most of what I was focusing on today were specific things that were Seeley’s fault.

[georgexarmourer]

CHAPTER 1 Trinidad and Tobago lie at the northeastern corner of Venezuela from which it is separated by the Gulf of Pariah. It is the most southerly link of that beautiful chain of islands, which form a curved line starting at the top of the Florida Peninsula to the mouth of the Orinoco River called the West Indies. The island of Trinidad is rectangular in shape. It is 50 miles long and 37 miles wide, with a surface area of 1,863 square miles. The highest range of mountains, in the north, crosses the width of the island from Galena Point to Dragon’s Mouth. The only two clearly marked breaks in the hills are Tucker Valley and Diego Martin Valley. It is in Diego Martin Valley that Mother Dora, The Obeah Woman, lives. She is like a mother to all the people in Simian Village, for she brought 99% of them into this world. She cares for them with her healing herbs and she is there for them in times of trouble. No one knows how old Mother Dora is. To look at her, one would say she is in her late fifties. She stands about five foot six inches and weighs one hundred and sixty pounds. Her head is tied up in a bright red and white floral head wrap which is the same pattern as her dress. She pulls her black shawl about her shoulders, and takes her medicine basket in her hand. It is the dry season, and the Trade Winds are blowing through the trees as she steps out of her house. The smell of her garden always brings a smile to her face. She walks around to the back of her house, quickly picking a few fresh herbs for her basket. Now she is ready and it is time. She places her basket on her head and walks briskly along the path that leads to Simian Village. As she walks, the wind swirls about her kissing her cheeks and tugging at her skirts like an impatient lover. She smiles and sang a love song to the Great Spirit in the wind. The dirt road turns sharply to the right. She walked quickly as she approached the house of Shanka, a Portuguese man whose wife was in her eighth month of pregnancy. It was after midnight, and all the lights in the house were on. She could hear the cries of Shanka’s wife, Gloria, in pain. She heard Shanka’s mother-in-law saying, “Shanka, you’ve got to get Mother Dora! She will know what to do! It’s all too soon!” “You have four more weeks yet!” Mother Dora stood outside the door. It swung open and the tall man stared into her smiling face with deep astonishment. She walked forward and touched his shoulder. “It will be alright.” She said, as she walked past him into the house. 5 “Hot coals!” she commanded to Shanka’s mother-in-law, Edna, who leaped to her feet and ran outside to the still shouldering fire pit. She put some of the coals into a flat pan and brought them to Mother Dora. The house had two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. Mother Dora put incense on the hot coals. Soon, the whole house was full of smoke. Then she started to sing as she opened all the windows and doors of the house. She then took a white bottle from her basket and poured its contents in a wooden bowl. Finally, she sprinkled the house and everyone in it, with a bundle of fresh herbs. Shanka sat on his living room sofa, holding his two sons. Jessie the oldest, was six. Martin was two. Edna sat on the bed, trying to comfort her daughter. “It’s alright girl. Mother Dora is here.” Somehow, she knew to come just now.” She wet her daughter’s forehead with a damp cloth. Dora took a small black bottle from her basket. She held it firmly as she walked over to the southwest corner of the bedroom. She stood facing the corner as though standing in front of a person. “You get out from here right now!” she commanded in a low, hard voice, as cold as water in a cellar. “I know Cocoka sent you and I know why, but you ain’t going to succeed here tonight. So get out! Get out now!! I say GO!!! She walked around the room sprinkling the content of the bottle on some invisible person. Then she closed all the windows and doors and started singing again as she put the contents of the black bottle on the doors and windows. Next, she anointed the foreheads of every person in the house with blessed oil. “Now, we must stop these labor pains, “she poured the content of a blue bottle into a clay mug and handed it to Edna. “She got to drink all this.” Edna took the mug and fed the drink to Gloria, who was still crying out from her pains. Dora placed two lighted white candles on the floor on each side of the bed, and then she placed one lighted blue candle at the foot of the bed. Then she placed the pan of hot coals next to the candle, and burned the fresh herbs on them. The smoke perfumed the air as Dora sat up in front of the candle, singing, with her medicine basket next to her on the floor. She looked at Gloria on the bed, whose cries became a low moan, showing that the pain was subsiding. Edna was wiping her daughter’s forehead when a loud bang from someone, or something, hit the roof of the house. 6 Shanka ran into the bedroom, a look of horror on his face. Edna and Gloria clung to each other in terror. The sounds of scraping and scratching as if something with long claws was trying to scratch a hole through the galvanized roof. Gloria screamed again. Dora stood to her feet and intercepted Shanka as he rushed towards his wife. “You broke your contract with Cocoka, didn’t you? “Now she wants revenge!” Shanka looked with astonishment into the gray, piercing eyes of Mother Dora. He opened his mouth to confirm her statements, but no sound came from his lips. He only nodded his head as tears fell from his eyes. Gloria was now howling in pain. Dora rushed to her, took a necklace of multicolored stones from around her neck and placed them on Gloria. They stopped her screams instantly. Panting heavily and placing her hands on her belly, Gloria cried between breaths, “The child…., the child is coming!” Dora rushed to her basket and took out a red root. “Eat this!” Gloria ate the gnarled plant with haste. Dora placed her hands on the woman’s belly and said, “STOP!” “Stop Now! It is not yet time! Wait a little bit longer.” With these words, the pains stopped. Gloria looked at the woman whose hands had brought her and her two children into this world. “Thank you, Mother,” she whispered. The gentle woman smiled at her and wiped away her tears. “This child will not come before her time, nor will she die.” She smiled at Gloria reassuringly. Suddenly, screams came from the living room. “Stay here with her.” Dora said to Edna, as she and Shanka ran to find the two boys doubled in pain. “Go bring my basket.” Shanka rushed back to the bedroom as Dora Scooped his sons into her arms and held them to her. Shanka brought the basket and placed it before the woman on the floor. “You are a damn fool, Shanka!” He glared at her, not knowing how to respond. Her eyes blazed with anger. “You were a fool first of all to go to Cocoka, and even a bigger fool to sell her you’re first born, and for what?” “I was desperate,” he shouted. “She gave me the money I needed for my shop! I had to make a life for my family!” “Money, money! It’s always money!” she howled at him. “Give me that little black bag,” she pointed with her head and eyes to the basket. Shanka handed her the little black bag. 7 She set the boys on the floor in front of her. Then she made a circle around the man and his sons. “You stay here in this circle and do not move until I come back inside.” The boys stopped crying as they held onto their father. The scratching on the roof became louder and more intensified. Dora reached into her basket and took out three small black stones and spoke some words to them in pattwa. After this, she left the house, locking the door behind her. All around was still and heavy. She could feel the evil presence of Cocoka the Sukkunya, the witch of black magical arts. She held her body erect and walked a little way from the house. Standing straight and still, she turned and looked at the rooftop. In the light of the moon she saw her. It was Lilith! A horrible winged demon with sharp claws on her feet. She was scratching at the tin plates of the roof, moving in a circle, in a horrible rage. Dora opened her hand. One of the stones rose out of her hand and flew towards the demon. The stone turned into a blaze of fire as it flew through the dark. The horrible form was struck under her right wing and she let out a great screech. She turned and looked at Dora, only to see another fireball coming. The ball hit the demon square on the back as it tried to avoid the attack, it ripped off a piece of roofing, howling in agony. “You tell Cocoka that I have put my seal on this house and she must deal with me now.” The Last fireball struck the demon on the butt as it flew into the night, screaming. Shanka sat on the floor, sobbing over his sons. He looked up with a start as Mother Dora re-entered the house. “You are right, Mother,” he said, weeping and rocking his sons back and forth in his arms. “I am a fool I can’t believe I have done this horrible thing. What was I thinking of?” “Money!!! Snarled Dora. “You were so blinded by the idea of having your own shop and all the money it could bring you, that all Cocoka had to do was put the idea of what she wanted into your head and you were willing to give it. But, the witch didn’t count on me getting involved in all of this.” Mother Dora walked past him and went into the bedroom. Gloria just went off to sleep, just like that, once the screaming stopped outside. “What was that sound?” Edna asked, as she pulled the cover over her daughter’s still body. Dora did not answer. “I will go and put the boys to bed, if it is safe now.” Said Edna knowing not to push the issue. “Send Shanka in here,” Dora said sternly. 8 When the man stumbled into the room, Dora was gathering her things. “Look at her,” Dora said to him, as she pulled him to the bed. “She is a beautiful black woman and she loves you very much. Now you are basically a good man, Shanka, and you have a beautiful family. Now, because of your stupidity, you almost lost them all tonight. Just remember this, young man. If you ever do something his asinine ever again, believe me, you’re going to deal with it yourself.” Dora then sat with Gloria for a few hours to make sure she was alright. She then left Shanka’s house. She took four small stones from her basket, spoke to them and buried them in the ground at the four corners of the house. Then placing her basket on her head she set out down the path for home. The sky was purple in the east, and a few of the stars could still be seen in the west, as the dawn of a new day greeted the Valley. The air was cold and chill, and she pulled her black shawl around her as she walked briskly along the dirt road. She knew that her lifelong enemy, Cocoka, now had one more reason to hate her. Mother Dora would have to battle the evil Sukkunya again, and soon. The fragrant smell of her garden greeted her and the dew on the rose bushes lining the path to her house look like diamonds in the first dawn light. She smiles as she walks by them into her house. She will turn in now and rest in the beauty of her home, for in her heart, she knows, that soon she must face Cocoka and pay the reckoning for the broken contract. (WANT MORE OF THE STORY? WANT MORE OF “THE OBEAH WOMAN” BY ANASTASIA ARMOURER? BUY YOUR COPY NOW AT AMAZON! HARD COPY OR KINDLE!!) JUST CLICK THIS LINK: https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp...

[murfeelee]

Yoru no Machi Pt2 - The Trade

CAPTIONS AS TEXT

- (Sakura) Are you suuuure we have the right address, Ryuu? This place looks deserted!

- (Ryuu) That's Pacifica for you. Our friend Mr. Lucky assured us that the Voodoo Boys have a hideout here. Let's see who's home.

- (Fantom) What business does a dragon and a fe have in Voodoo Boy territory? (Ryuu) We're here to see Papa Loi and Maman Caterina. That business is ours. (Fantom) I'm watching you, bèt.

- (Sakura) We'll meet up outside once we're done with the deal, Ryuu. (Ryuu) Remember what we're here for, Sakura. Don't get carried away. (Sakura) Back atcha!

- (Ryuu) Hello! Papa Loi, I presume? (Papa Loi) Ah, the lonbraj dragon. We get to analyze you, you get some of our secrets, correct? (Ryuu) Indeed.  

- (Papa Loi) First, we want a recording of your Dragon Shouts. Something strong enough to bend others to one's will. (Ryuu) Ah, voodoo boys and their zombie toys. Here’s an easy one: Gol hah!

- (Fantom) Now for the brainwave scan. (Ryuu) Will having draconian wards really protect your mainframe from cyber attacks? (Fantom) It will make it very difficult for NetWatch to hack. (Ryuu) Genius!

- (Ryuu) Now I want something of yours! (Papa Loi) As I am a necromancer, I can guess what.

- (Ryuu) That's right; I want cyberpsycho souls! (Papa Loi) I have plenty. Bon appetit!

- (Maman Caterina) Welcome. (Sakura) Hello, Caterina Loss, I'm Sakura! (Cat) I look forward to doing business with a fellow Downworlder. Now, how shall we hack Arasaka?...

MY THOUGHTS & CC CREDITS

MY THOUGHTS

Yes, Papa Loi is the Obeah Man from last year’s voodoo gameplay, and yes, Caterina Loss is the warlock from my Shadowhunters gameplay. (The fae (Seelie and Unseelie) are Downworlders, just like warlocks, vampires & werewolves. Sakura's one of the Unseelie.)

My world saves are colliding!

According to Google Translate,

Fantom: Haitian Creole for “ghost��

Dragon: Haitian Creole for “dragon”

Fe: Haitian Creole for “fairy”

Bèt: Haitian Creole for “beast”

Lonbraj dragon: Haitian Creole for “shadow dragon”

CC CREDITS

- Ryuu shades, pants from ITF

- Sakura hair by Paintstroke/IrKatty, outfit from SHT EP IIRC, leggings by JS-Sims3, boots by Artsims I think

- The rest of the CAS CC listed here

- A lot of CC coming soon!

[stereostevie]

‘Exuma’ at 50: How a Bahamian Artist Channeled Island Culture Into a Strange Sonic Ritual by Brenna Ehrlich

The performer known as Exuma channeled his Bahamian heritage into a captivating 1970 debut. Fans and participants look back.

Chances are, you’ve never heard a boast track quite like “Exuma, the Obeah Man,” the opening song off Exuma’s self-titled 1970 album.

A wolf howls, frogs count off a ramshackle symphony, bells jingle, drums palpitate, a zombie exhales, all by way of introducing the one-of-a-kind Bahamian performer, born Tony Mackey: “I came down on a lightning bolt/Nine months in my mama’s belly,” he proclaims. “When I was born, the midwife/Screamed and shout/I had fire and brimstone/Coming out of my mouth/I’m Exuma, the Obeah Man.”

“[Obeah] was with my grandfather, with my father, with my mother, with my uncles who taught me,” Mackey said in a 1970 interview, referring to the spiritual practice he grew up with in the Bahamas. “It has been my religion in the vein that everyone has grown up with some sort of religion, a cult that was taught. Christianity is like good and evil. God is both. He unlocked the secrets to Moses, good and evil, so Moses could help the children of Israel. It’s the same thing, the whole completeness — the Obeah Man, spirits of air.”

The music world is hardly devoid of gimmicks, alter egos, and adopted personas. But Mackey’s Exuma moniker, borrowed from the name of an island district in the Bahamas, was never just that — he lived and breathed his culture, channeling it into a debut album so singularly weird, wonderful, and enchanted that it’s not surprising it’s remembered only by the most industrious of crate-diggers. A cuddly Dr. John dabbling in voodoo Mackey was not; Exuma is a parade, a séance, a condemnation of racist evils.

“The eccentricity of [Dr. John’s 1968 debut] Gris-Gris is, like, ‘Let’s roll a fat joint,'” says Okkervil River frontman and devout Exuma fan Will Sheff. “The eccentricity of Exuma is more like PCP.” Sheff became hip to Exuma when his former bandmate Jonathan Meiburg (singer-guitarist of Shearwater) happened to hear “Obeah Woman,” Nina Simone’s 1974 spin on “Obeah Man.” Sheff was entranced by Exuma’s debut, especially the sincerity of its lyrics and Mackey’s whole-hearted earnestness. “There’s something about when somebody is very devoutly religious, where you trust them not to sell you something,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I mean, they may be trying to sell you their religious beliefs, but their religious beliefs are so vitally important to them that they kind of stop trying to sell themselves.”

“He was unique. He was good,” says Quint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where Exuma became a mainstay later in his career. “He was like a voodoo Richie Havens or something.”

Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey grew up in Nassau, Bahamas, steeped in both Bahamian history and American culture. Each Boxing Day, he witnessed Junkanoo parades — a tradition dating back hundreds of years and commemorating days when slaves finally had time off — replete with music, masks, and folklore. At the movies, accessed with pocket money earned from selling fish on weekends, he saw performances by Sam Cooke and Fats Domino.

“Saying the word ‘Junkanoo’ to most Bahamians gets their hearts beating faster and their breathing gets shorter and faster,” Langston Longley, leader of Bahamas Junkanoo Revue, has said. “It’s hard to express in words because it’s a feeling, a spirit that’s evoked within from the sound of a goatskin drum, a cowbell, or a bugle.”

“I grew up a roots person, someone knowing about the bush and the herbs and the spiritual realm,” Mackey told Wavelength in 1981 of his life back home. “It was inbred into all of us. Just like for people growing up in the lowlands of Delta Country or places like Africa.”

In 1961, when he was 17, Mackey moved to New York’s Greenwich Village to become an architect, according to a 1970 interview, but he abandoned that dream when he ran out of money. He then acquired a junked-up guitar on which he practiced Bahamian calypsos and penned songs about his home. “I started playing around when Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Richard Pryor, Hendrix, and Streisand were all down there, too, hanging out and performing at the Cafe Bizarre,” Mackey recalled in 1994. “I’d been singing down there, and we’d all been exchanging ideas and stuff. Then one time a producer came up to me and said he was very interested in recording some of my original songs, but he said that I needed a vehicle. I remembered the Obeah Man from my childhood — he’s the one with the colorful robes who would deal with the elements and the moonrise, the clouds, and the vibrations of the earth. So, I decided to call myself Exuma, the Obeah Man.”

Mackey’s manager, Bob Wyld, helped him form a band to record his debut album, including Wyld’s client Peppy Castro of the Blues Magoos. “It was like acting. Like, ‘OK, I’ll take a little alias, I’ll be Spy Boy,’ and all this kind of stuff,” Castro tells Rolling Stone. All the members of Mackey’s band adopted stage names, which wasn’t that strange to Castro, who originated the role of Berger in the Broadway show Hair.

“Then I met Tony and then I got into the folklore and I started to see what he was about — this history of coming from the [Bahamas],” he adds. “It was great. It was inventive. We would do a little Junkanoo parade from out of the dressing room, right up to the stage. It was about the show of it all. Coming from somebody who wanted to learn music in a more traditional form, that was kind of cool.”

The band recorded Exuma at Bob Liftin’s Regent Sound Studios in New York City — where the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Elton John also laid down tracks — giving the bizarre record a slick sheen. Mackey once said that the music came to him in a dream, and he set the mood in the studio accordingly. “It was so free form. We turned the lights out, we’d put up candles, he’d get on a mic and he’d just start going off and singing crazy stuff and we followed it,” Castro says. “You would go into trances. In those days, I was a little hippie, so yeah, we’d be smoking weed there and getting high. It became a séance almost. It was like, ‘We’re going into this mode and we’re going to see where it takes us.’”

“There were no boundaries with Tony,” he adds. “It was free for him. It’s kind of like what people felt like when they played with Chuck Berry. If you talk to any of the musicians who played with Chuck Berry, you just had to be on your toes because he would change keys in the middle of the song. But there was also the spiritual stuff, you know, just the crazy voodoo-ish stuff. It was just so free for him.”

Everyone Rolling Stone talked with for this story compared Mackey to Richie Havens, but the similarities only really extend to, perhaps, Havens’ role in the Greenwich Village scene and the rich quality of his voice. “You can put on Dr. John and Richie Havens and water the plants. It’s good background music,” Will Sheff says. “But if [Exuma’s] ‘Séance in the Sixth Fret’ comes on shuffle, you’re going to skip it. It’s active listening; it sends a chill down your spine.”

Exuma is a kind of aural movie — fitting, as Mackey went on to write plays — that starts off boastful and proud with “Obeah Man” then descends into darker territory. The second track, “Dambala,” is a melodic damnation of slave owners: “You slavers will know/What it’s like to be a slave,” Mackey wails, “You’ll remain in your graves/With the stench and the smell.”

“It reminds me of Jordan Peele movies — movies that deal with sort of the black experience, a collective trauma,” Sheff says of the song. “He’s cursing a slaver and there’s something so intensely powerful about that.”

Then there’s zombie ode “Mama Loi, Papa Loi,” a frankly terrifying story of men rising from the dead, featuring guttural yelps and groans. “Jingo, Jingo he ain’t dead/He can see from the back of his head,” Mackey sings. That leads into the comparatively peppy “Junkanoo,” an instrumental that recalls the parades of the musician’s youth. Things get dark again with “Séance in the Sixth Fret,” which is just that — a yearning ritual in which the band calls to a litany of spirits. “Hand on quill/Hand on pencil/Hand on pen/Tell me spirit/Tell me when,” Mackey intones. The more accessible “You Don’t Know What’s Going On,” follows, leading into epic prophecy “The Vision,” which foretells the end of the world: “And all the dead walking throughout the land/Whispering, Whispering, it was judgment day.”

The strange, gorgeous record was released on Mercury Records, and at the time, the label had high hopes for its success, as it was apparently getting solid radio play. “The reaction is that of a heavy, big-numbers contemporary album,” Mercury exec Lou Simon said at the time. “As a result, we’re going to give it all the merchandising support we can muster.” But the album apparently failed to break through, and Mackey left Mercury in 1971 after releasing Exuma II. His legacy lived on in the corners of popular culture: Nina Simone covered “Dambala” as well as “Obeah Man,” with both tracks appearing on It Is Finished, a 1974 LP that failed to take off. Mackey himself went on to drop still more albums but mostly operated in a quiet kind of obscurity.

“What he didn’t have was the commercial base, you know, the formula,” Castro says by way of explanation. “Let’s face it, the music business is very fickle and it boxes you in. And if you’re going to join that world, it’s in your best interest to commercialize yourself and to come up with a formula that works. He didn’t have that formula.”

Mackey did find a home, though, at the newly minted New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1978, an atmosphere that seemed more in keeping with his spiritual aesthetic than mainstream radio. “New Orleans is the most receptive place in the world to the artist, this music spirit that flies around in the air all the time waiting to be reborn and reborn,” he told Wavelength in 1981.

“He was a Caribbean Dr. John, so to speak,” festival producer Davis says. “When I heard [his album], I said, ‘Well, that’s us.’ This guy with feathers on his head, his big hat. Everybody loved him and he became part of the festival family.”

“I think he was the first Caribbean act that we had,” Davis adds. “I hesitate to say that he was a trailblazer because there weren’t a lot of people following in his footsteps.”

[meara-eldestofthemall]

                            Too Many Tims :

   A plea for DC to fix Tim Drake’s continuity

It’s so nice to see Tim Drake as Robin again in the new Young Justice series. For the first time since the end of the Red Robin series in 2011, Tim is being written correctly. 

He’s a nice kid, a slightly shy and awkward 16-year-old. Despite the fact that he has the skills to kick major bad-guy butt, Tim has the common touch that makes him eminently relatable. He says “ouch” when he falls and worries about passing his up-coming chemistry test. Best of all, the person in charge of the new Young Justice series, Brian Bendis, has made absolutely clear that Tim Drake being Robin once again is in continuity/cannon with the rest of the current DC universe.

Since DC has an ever-shifting idea of what the word means I have to wonder what cannon would that be, exactly?

DC torpedoed its original continuity back in 2011. The Powers-That-Be deciding that there was simply too much back story to make sense of after over 70 years. They introduced the New-52 in an attempt at a clean slate of sorts. It was so awful that they scrapped the New-52 within 5 years and did a do-over with the Re-Birth universe in 2016. That left DC with some choices as to what continuity they would use for their characters. For Tim Drake they could:

     A - Use the original cannon dating back to Tim’s introduction in 1989.      B - Use the New-52 cannon.      C - Give Tim yet another new back story and cannon.      D - None of the above

DC, helpful as always, chose “D - None of the above.”

Tim was now Red Robin who was, then wasn’t previously Robin. He was 17. Then he was 16. He had no idea who Conner Kent was…

… until suddenly Kon is Superboy again in the DC universe. 

For a very long time Dick behaved as if he and Tim barely knew each other, then train-surfing and all that implied was cannon again.

Just when you think that they’re going back to Tim’s original back-story they casually drop a New-52 reference:

The constant changes on Tim’s back story so chaotic that it gives me a migraine trying to follow it all. The above panel makes me wonder, did he go through all of the Robin suit changes?

The traditional-Robin-in-the-pixie boots Robin:

The classic Tim-was-the-first-Robin-to-wear-tights Robin:

The pre-Red Robin super-duper-really-red Robin:

The Alex-Ross-suit-with-the-cowl Red Robin:

The New-52-vegas-showgirl Red Robin:

The ReBirth oh-look-it’s-Tim’s-original-suit Red Robin:

Let me try and make sense of what DC is, as of today, saying is cannon. Tim is now 16 and Damian is now 13. Is it still cannon that Damian became Robin about 3 years ago? If so, then that means that Tim was 13 when Dick replaced him with Damian because that storyline is apparently cannon again in the Re-Birth continuity:

DC really expects us to think that Richard Grayson, big-brother extraordinaire, would have decided that stripping 13-year-old Tim Drake of Robin in order to give it to Damian was a good idea? They want us to believe that Dick was okay with letting a 13-year-old Tim travel the world looking for clues that Bruce wasn’t dead? If that was cannon again then logic dictates that Red Robin took down both the Council of Spiders and the League of Assassins while he was in middle school. Geez, no wonder Ra’s al Ghul is so hot to have Tim Drake become his heir.

Wow! Think what the kid will be able to do once he reaches an age when he has to start shaving regularly!

There are so many questions that need answers. What happened to Tim’s parents? Was Janet killed by (and this name makes me cringe) the Obeah Man? Was Jack murdered by Captain Boomerang? Did he still turn into a little ball of angst as everyone died around him? Is the New-52 still in effect where Tim’s folks are living under an assumed name somewhere in Ohio?

My hope is that what DC is doing in the “Doomsday Clock” series will help to straighten this mess out. They made a really big deal out of Tim figuring out that something was not kosher about how everyone was remembering the past. When last we saw him in Detective Comic, he was off to investigate the timelines. Tim does show up as Red Robin in the next issue when Doctor Manhattan seems to do a Thanos and turns everyone to dust:

You know what? If this would stop DC from changing what they consider cannon on a monthly basis, then starting over from scratch just might be a blessing. The bottom line is that DC needs to stop constantly retconning Tim Drake. Tim was immensely popular with readers when he was the Robin in the 90’s Young Justice series. Happily, Brian Bendis sees that. I just hope the editorial board at DC will too.

[secondbestdetective]

Angsty plotted starter for @jp-todd-rp​

When Tim learned that Obeah Man had been released from prison, he was a little more than upset. This man was a drug kingpin, he not only harmed his parents, but other kid’s parents as well. All in the name of religion? No. This man wasn’t walking free. Tim was prepared to take him back to Gotham to have him sent to prison for the rest of his miserable life. 

The trip took him to Haiti and he thought he had him. Obeah man was unconscious at his feet. He tried to use the recent memories of his parent’s deaths against him with some hallucinogen but it didn’t work. What Tim wasn’t prepared for was for him to get followers so fast. One managed to sneak up behind him and knock him out. 

That’s how he ended up in his current position. Securely tied to a pole, his hands tied together so he couldn’t use them, and -fuck- without his cowl on.

“Well look who finally woke up. Tim Drake. You thought you could come here and drag me back to prison? Well think again!” He said the flames behind him dramatically growing at his words.  

“You killed my parents! You took their money and the money of your followers and betrayed them all. You don’t deserve freedom. You deserve to live the rest of your miserable days in prison and I will see to it that you do.” Tim spat out. 

“Didn’t your parent’s ever give you lessons on being respectful?” Obeah punctuated his words with a few slices and a stab in the abdomen when he said respectful. “No wonder they left you at home during their travels.” He said, pulling the knife out of Tim. 

Tim grunted with every slice, but when the knife stabbed him, the shock and pain took the wind out of him. He doubled over as much as he could and grit his teeth, looking down to see the blood flowing out of him. 

“Oh, don’t worry. We won’t let you bleed out. Not yet. You’re our important sacrifice.” Obeah man 

The last thing Tim remembered was Obeah holding a red hot coal with some tongs and a searing white-hot pain over the stab wound. He screamed and struggled to get away soon before everything blacked out.