Not sure if anyone here is familiar with the Wynn casino coming to Everett. It's still a good 3 years off. I was hoping to find confirmation that there will be a poker room, and that there won't be any sort of crazy laws capping the bets (Colorado has this, it pretty much forces you to play limit). Anyone know any relevant details?
The 23rd season of the Big Brother: House of Temptation series is here! This season on BBHOT, 16 brand-new and unique strangers entered the game looking to either win the money, make a name for themselves, or get some publicity. Using the BB21 template, this season was full of twists and turns that rocked the player's games. What will go down in the BBHOT books, find out now! Also, I apologize to all the supporters of this series. I have been very busy with school and a lot of assignments and other things, so my free time is much more limited. I hope you understand and I'll pick up the pace moving forward if I can! My apologies and thank you for making this series so great! View the season down below and give your thoughts! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- View the season here -SEASON 23 LINK View this seasons voting chart -S23 VOTING CHART ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE CAST: Michael Hale, 37, Secondary Teacher - u/Nahuelfire39
Despite being 37 years old, Michael is constantly controlled by his parents because of their overprotection of him since childhood and they think they are doing "the best" for him, which includes his personal life, his job, even his marriage was arranged! Because of this, Michael is often cowardly about his decisions and how others might receive them. He now thinks that only force is understandable and that a person should be judged by his ability and not his gender. This does not prevent Michael from being kind and genuine towards other people and trying to at least make friends. In another part of his life, he is fine, living decently with his husband and siblings.
A 3 AM YouTuber who arrived late to the trend, Alexa has a tendency to flex her belongings when no one really cares. She was recently involved in a scandal where she faked her boyfriend's death, causing endless amounts of controversy. Her sub count is dropping significantly every day, so she joined to help gain her popularity (relevancy) back. Being on BBHOT could help her to do so, and win some money as well.
Michael had dreams of being a musician since he was a kid, and had the drive to learn his craft to the best of his ability.... however, the 80s weren't really the most popular time period for french horn players, so he could never get that big break he always thought he'd have, despite getting a music degree. As a result, he grew old and bitter, resenting modern genres of music like rock and rap, as they are what took his career away from him. He does marching band at a few high schools and basically treats it like it's prison camp due to how bitter he is, and he eventually grew to love his job; torturing kids like him into giving up on their dreams. However, he still hates his life, as he recently had to pick up another school to teach to pay for his ungrateful wife's Netflix, so he needs money somehow.
Sonia enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, and tinkering with her 1972 Cutlass Supreme. She enjoys boxing, sweating, and being with her close friends. Sonia describes herself as self-reliant, bitchy, and big-hearted. She indicates that, although she seems guarded, she is in fact a lover and nurturer underneath the surface. In her spare time, she enjoys singing in her band. She believes her extensive world travel, endurance, ability to somewhat read people, and understanding of the human condition will be skills that will help her on Big Brother.
Even though she may come across as sweet and kind-hearted – and she is – she has a spirit of steel. A mere month after the trauma of losing her twins, she completed a marathon. Mara pours her heart into NGOs to make a difference and says she entered Big Brother: HoT not only to win, "but also to step into the shoes of those who have absolutely nothing; no bed, no food, no warmth, no shelter".
Mac grew up in the Bronx and learned how to not only have thick skin but also how to have some street smarts too. He was a basketball star in High school and was recognized in College as a great player for Basketball too. Now, he teaches others how to play the sport he loves. He's ready to show Big Brother how he does it and to make the black community proud.
Jessa Blanchard, 29, Beauty Salon Owner - u/SilverOwl24
Jessa has been underestimated most of her life. Growing up she was overweight and had low self-esteem. However, once her grandmother inspired her that no matter how you start, it's never too late to start over and make a new change for yourself. Since then, she lost weight, made everlasting friendships, and even opened up her own hair studio/salon. She's going into BB, expecting to be underestimated, but is looking forward to pulling the rug out from under them.
Ever since he was born, Douglas' family taught him how to be a ''gentleman''. Be the kind of person that people are proud to call their friend. Always help others when they need your help, always be there for people. He decided to become a nurse, wanting to help in the medical field as he always had a knack for it. Douglas has dedicated his life to helping others and hopes to come on BB and use this platform in order to shine a light on big and important matters. He doesn't necessarily care about winning, but he'll give it his all. Douglas has overcome a lot of challenges in his life, and he's ready to face this one head-on.
Karl has always loved the outdoors. He's a very outdoorsy kind of guy, loving adventures of all kind. As a kid, Karl was always a bit of an oddball and an off-beat. Despite it, however, he always managed to surround himself with a good, close group of friends. Karl is an only child, and his mom sadly passed away a short while after he was born. Ever since a young age, he had to work in order to help his dad with paying their bills and taking care of their house, which made him quite responsible, surprisingly. Due to his love for adventures, Karl ended up signing up for Big Brother and was accepted as he was seen as an interesting character. How well will he fare?
There’s always that one girl in high school who was the most popular but was also the most mean. This was Gigi in high school. Her parents are millionaires and made sure that she was set for life. Her only worry is what shoes to pick out the next day. She wanted to play Big Brother because she loves to manipulate people. Maybe her insecurities will be shown this season.
Bertha has grown up being made fun of for her looks, which is something she can’t control. This has hardened her and turned her into the strong woman she is today. Now, she serves middle schoolers during lunchtime. She wants to make a name for herself, and this is her chance to do so. She’ll do anything to get this money.
Brett Herman, 28, Professional Poker Player - u/Twig7665
Brett was born into wealth in a mansion in Texas. He lived through most of his childhood in that wealth until his father was caught up in a huge scandal that left him without money, so at age 17, Brett ran away to Las Vegas where he could begin a new life. He started playing poker in the streets, and when he was old enough to gamble, he went to a casino and stunned his opponents by winning the first time he played for money. Soon, people began to realize his talent, and he played in his first professional poker game at the age of 22. Once again, he won, and he became one of the most successful professional poker players in history. This fame caused him to grow arrogant and become a huge jerk, even to his manager. Now rich again, he isn't playing the game for money, he's playing the game to try something new and to gain another title.
Giovanni "Dr. Moreno" Moreno, 52, Doctor - u/Twig7665
Giovanni, better known by his moniker Dr. Moreno, was the son of an Italian immigrant, and he had a mostly normal childhood until his mother fell ill when he was nine. She died not long afterward, and the young Giovanni did not want to watch people die when he could help them, so he spent as much time as he could preparing to be a doctor in his teens, and when he was in his early 20s, he graduated from medical school and became a doctor, a role which he has held for almost thirty years now. He now has a family of his own, with a wife, three sons, and a grandchild. He is playing Big Brother for them.
Leo is a very smart person as he is a teacher but his real strength lies in his outgoing personality. He plans to create a majority alliance and stab them all in the back. This mix of skills is definitely a great thing for this game. The question is will he be able to pull off this strategy?
Sonja comes from a poor family and her life goal is to get rich. She devoted her childhood and teenage years to train like a gymnast. She got better and better over the years and is now very competitive. She plans to dominate the challenges and get to the end with sheer force in BBHOT.
A French-born Vietnamese child, Justine was brought up by a tiger mother and a father that she barely talked to nor cared for. Her mother would always try to push into the route of her choosing, Justine being a free spirit, hated her mother’s ideal future for her so she decided to run away at the age of 16. For the rest of her teen years, she moved from different locations and joined a “gang” where she managed to get money by doing many different things. She then decided to reinvent her image by going full goth and getting tattoos and piercings, something her mother would never approve of. She eventually got a job as a bartender and there she met a coworker with a very similar story to her. They instantly connected and became really close. She doesn’t keep in contact with any of her family members except for her brother from time to time and is completely fine with that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OVERVIEW AND THOUGHTS OF THE GAME AND HOUSEGUESTS (Obvious spoilers!) Opening: 16 brand-new houseguests enter the house of temptation for our 23rd season! This season is not like others, there are an extreme amount of twists ready to shake up this game! The banishment and opening eviction are the first. Camp Director Twist: Evicted: Justine | In this brand-new twist, Douglas, Dr. Moreno, and Michael plead to be the camp director. By a close vote, this power goes to Michael! He chooses to banish Michael H., Justine, Mac, and Sonja. Michael H, then Mac, then Sonja reenter the house. Justine is the first evictee of the season. This is so sad! She may get the chance to come back in! ;) Week 1: Evicted: Mac | After the opening eviction, Michael H. is the new HOH after being banished! He targets Brett and Mac in his nominations, but Brett pulls out the first veto! This forces Michael to put someone up, and he nominates Gigi. The house votes out Mac, but Justine returns and the camp comeback twist is in play! Michael K. has been dominating with power, and now has the nightmare power. He's definitely a big threat. Week 2: Evicted: Douglas | Wow! This was a great and intriguing week. Leo becomes the new HOH! He nominates the 2 players in the medical field, Dr. Moreno and Douglas. Dr. Moreno's veto pick Gigi wins, and he is saved! This causes Leo to make a big move by backdooring Brett. This is where the strategy comes into play. Brett makes a 6-person alliance and secures 4 out of their 5 votes to stay. He also gets Bertha's vote, which sends Douglas out and keeps Brett in for a blindside. This was a huge move and this could really change the season! I'm super sad Douglas left so soon though. Week 3: Evicted: Bertha | Michael is the new HOH, and puts up Alexa and Sonja. When players are picked, Brett activates his power. However, the same 3 houseguests are picked again! This is so funny and the odds of it happening are so low. This is definitely a memorable moment! Sonja saves herself by winning the veto! Michael K puts up Bertha, leaving the final 2 duo on the block. The house almost unanimously decides that Bertha should be evicted. After being eliminated on day 1, Justine returns to the game like nothing happened! I can't wait to see how she plays. Week 4: Evicted: Leo | Alexa wins the HOH! Her HOH was not the best, as she had to nominate 5 people. She first tries to put up Sonja and Michael K, but Michael activates his power, forcing her to then nominate Gigi and Leo. Gigi picks Sonja to play, and Sonja wins the POV. Alexa puts up Brett. In a tie, she evicts Leo. This was not the best move, because the alliance now has the potential to take the full majority. Good move on Michael's part, he's been a big threat in this pre-jury phase. Week 5: Evicted: Michael K | Sonja is able to clutch all of the power for the week! This allows her to be able to take a big threat, Michael, out. She puts Alexa up as a pawn and is able to lock the nominations and unanimously send him home. Michael K really had a big impact on the first part of the game. This leaves room for some people to step up and do the same. Week 6: Evicted: Justine | Sonia wins the HOH, and misses on a move. She nominates the duo of Gigi and Dr. Moreno, and Gigi saves herself. This allows Sonia to potentially nominate someone big, but she nominates Justine and she goes home obviously. This season has such great potential and the fact that an alliance is running it right now annoys me. And now Justine, someone who wasn't a big threat at all, is the first in the jury. Week 7: Evicted: Michael H. | Another outsider heads to the jury this week, as Brett becomes the new HOH. In the field trip twist, Karl stays safe while Gigi goes on the block. There was no way she would've gone home anyway, and Sonja ends up saving her. This leaves Michael to be the next evicted player. I hope there can be a power shift next week to switch up the season. Week 8: Evicted: Sonia | Gigi takes all the power for the week, and gets Sonia evicted. This was a predictable week, as Sonia is probably the biggest threat out of the outsiders left. Gigi and Sonja are doing great with comps, but I'd like to see some new things happen. Hopefully, Jessa can win herself a comp since her power wasn't used. Week 9: Evicted: Jessa | She was one of my favorites going into the season, so I'm really bummed she didn't pull through as an underdog. Brett wins HOH in another predictable scenario. Jessa wins the prankster and puts up her other outsider, Alexa. This is a terrible move. She could've at least tried to put someone in the alliance up. Brett, Gigi, and Sonja are steamrolling through the game right now. Week 10: Evicted: Brett | Karl wins his first comp with the HOH, and goes after Brett instead of trying to get Alexa out. Sonja wins yet another veto and locks the nominations. The vote ties and Karl gets Brett out. This is definitely a big move for his game and sets himself up nicely for the double eviction. Week 10 Double Eviction: Evicted: Dr. Moreno | Dr. Moreno is next out the door after Gigi wins the HOH. I was expecting another person in the alliance to go, but the fact that Gigi got Moreno out after being so close to him the whole game was crazy! Sonja wins the veto (again) and Dr. Moreno is blindsided in a 2-1 vote. Sonja has now won 7 vetoes, which is the record for this series! She's not one of my favorites on the cast, but these comp wins are crazy and I have to give her credit! Sonja and Gigi have won every POV this season except for one. Week 11: Evicted: Mara | This really surprised me! I thought Mara and Karl were a tight duo. I think he really wanted Sonja to leave, but she won her 8th POV and got to the final 4. I'm sad that Mara is out because of her backstory, but all of the final 4 have worked hard to be there. Competitions will probably decide who gets to the end and wins. Week 12: Evicted: Alexa | Sonja wins her 10th competition, and keeps her closest ally safe. Gigi then wins the veto, and make a fake alliance with Alexa before evicting her. I feel like that was unnecessary, but that's just who Gigi is. I like Karl the most out of this final 3, but Sonja really deserves to win. Alexa was a really cool personality to have on this season and I'm surprised she made it so far. Final 3: Evicted: Karl | This is no surprise. I knew this final HOH was going to Sonja, and Karl having a fight with her just sealed his fate even more. Sonja also forms a random alliance with Karl before evicting him, which is really not necessary. They just love to manipulate. Sonjia 100% deserves to win this season. She has the most competitions wins out of any houseguest in BBHOT history, even though the game is not all about comps. Finale: Runner-Up: Sonja | I swear this happens every time someone should win over the other. The jury was very bitter and she only received 3 votes. Sonja won almost every veto this season along with Gigi, and I really think she should have won. Gigi did make more moves, though. Her comp win record will take a lot to be beaten! I wasn't expecting that to happen this season! Winner: Gigi | Gigi was one of my least favorite on the cast. Seeing everyone's backstories compared to her's made me not like her as much and that she didn't deserve to win. She did play this game well, and she really used her manipulation skills to the best. Her and Sonja were one of the strongest duos to play and even though it may have been boring, watching them dominate the season was very cool as well. Fan Favorite: Mara | Yay! She didn't have a big impact on the game, but her backstory was very wholesome and she really deserves this! Possible for an all-star or returnee season: Sonja, Karl, Mara, Brett, Jessa, Justine, Alexa Notable Stats! Most Wins: Sonja, 11 wins (#1 record) Most Times Nominated: Alexa, 6 nominations Most Votes Against: Brett, 13 votes Times Veto Was Used: 7 times Final Thoughts:I really loved this cast! I was super excited to see them all play and was hoping someone deserving would win the money. The move that Brett made to save himself during Week 2 was amazing, but that alliance kind of ruined the season. I wanted to see power shifts and big moves, but it was repetitive. There were still some great moments though, like Brett using his power and getting the same 3 players, and Sonja breaking the comps record. It wasn't a bad season, but it could've gone better! I hope to see some of these players back under better scenarios. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PAST SEASONS: Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7: All-Stars Season 8 Season 9 Season 10: Newbies vs. Veterans Season 11 Season 12: Couples Season 13 Season 14 Season 15: Coaches Season 16 Season 17 Season 18: Generations Season 19 Season 20: Strength vs. Skill Season 21: All-Stars 2 Season 22 Season 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Season 24 is coming! This will be an all-newbie season! Season 25 will not be all newbies ;) Leave thoughts and suggestions down below! ~Brought to you by u/PJCGames~
Winter had sucked all the color out of the world. The prairie in the glory of midsummer had been a surge of green, summer winds sending pulses through the tall grass, causing it to wave like an underwater kelp forest in a strong current. Now, however, it had relinquished its blooming majesty, its former radiance dulled to straw the color of a deerhide. The flowerheads were stripped of their colorful identities, appearing like sepia photographs of themselves; the ghosts of summer past. The sweetclover, which had extended from one horizon to the other back in June, covering the prairie in a blanket of gold, was now skeletonized, its broken-off stems rolling like tumbleweeds in the winter gales. Trevor was over it. Another South Dakota winter, another four months until the snows would cease and the ice would melt in the creek. In March and April, the spring blizzards would bury the world and on the subsequent sunny days, the combination of blue sky and white land would be startling, like finding oneself living in the center of a bicolored flag. But for now, a capricious midwinter thaw had left snowdrifts only in the prairie draws, on the north-facing ridges, in the shadows of the ponderosas that speckled the hills. And around the trailer, mud. In a few nights, a deep freeze would turn the sides of the tire ruts into knife edges, testing the suspension of any vehicle that took the approach too fast. Still, that was better than the loamy mud, which could imprison even a 4x4 until freezing cold or drying winds finally freed it. The view from the front porch could be gorgeous. Back in July, when the church group from Virginia had constructed a wheelchair ramp for the trailer, the evening sun had set the prairie on fire, its light reflected by a thunderstorm hanging in the sky as if by a puppeteer’s strings. “God almighty,” the youth pastor had exclaimed. But now, grays and browns mingled in a decidedly drab palette. Over at the little bird feeder, the goldfinches were no longer yellow-and-black exclamation points, but had acquiesced to dullness, dressed for a time of year when vibrant color seemed to be outlawed by some unseen authority. Trevor stared at the expanse of mud that spooled out from in front of the trailer and unwound into a ribbon that led over the hill toward the old sundance ground and, eventually, the paved road. He wondered if he would get out today. Always a calculation this time of year. Driving on the muddy channel that was his approach was out of the question; he would set a course across the grass, which would provide enough barrier to keep his tires from sinking in again. Two-tracks radiating out onto the prairie showed how many times he and his family had taken this course of action since the last snow. It felt ironic that their approach took them by far the long way around – heading north to go south; harder than it needed to be, like so much of life around here. But the way south was blocked by Roanhorse Creek. This wasn’t all bad; the creek provided nice wading in the summer and water for the horses for most of the year. It also gave rise to the only trees on the property, although the cottonwoods whose leaves whispered in the summer breezes now stood dumb and impassive, and resembled skeletal wraiths at nighttime. A horse would make it, of course. He could saddle up the buckskin, ride cross-country and be in town in twenty minutes. But that would be silly…he snorted at the ludicrousness of this thought. First of all, he had to go way beyond town today. And even if he were just going to his old job at the tribal building, was he supposed to just hitch it up outside for the day? Tie its reins to one of the smokers’ benches by the entrance? What was this, 1895? No, better not to risk TȟatéZi getting stolen or having some gang sign spraypainted on it or some shit. Besides, he needed to pull into his job interview looking halfway decent, not spattered with mud and smelling like horse sweat. Trevor regarded his truck, sitting smack in the middle of the sloppy mess. Fuck, he thought. Still, he didn’t really have a choice today. No job interview, no job. No job, no funds. Another calculation, but this one was straightforward. He went back into the trailer and made his way to his bedroom in the back, passing his brothers in the living room. One was sleeping on the couch and the other was crashed out in the recliner, oblivious to the flickering hearth of the muted TV. Let ‘em sleep today, Trevor thought. In the bedroom, he stepped across piles of clothes – some clean, some dirty – and over the miscellany of his life; a pile of old DVDs, a defunct gaming console, a canister of Bugler and squares of broadcloth for the tobacco ties he was supposed to make for ceremony, a scattering of empty Mountain Dew cans, a 24-pack of ramen, a basketball. He hunted around in his closet for the dressy clothes that he knew were there. He had worn them once, on the day of his high school graduation, three years before. And there they were; a purple button-down shirt, a solid black tie, and black chinos. Further rummaging found him a pair of brown loafers and a tan braided belt. He would look sharp for this interview – couldn’t hurt. Trevor took a quick shower. The hot water always took forever to come and once it did, didn’t last long. He got dressed hurriedly, glad the tie that had come as a set with the shirt was a clip-on, and ran a comb through his hair. It wasn’t long enough to do much with other than backcomb it a little with some hair gel, but he figured that looked better than not. He considered putting in big stud earrings to look extra fly, but decided again it; might not be the right look for the occasion. Now fully dressed and ready, Trevor took stock of his appearance. His summer tan was long gone and his skin was as pale as the white kids he had met during his one semester of college. The same change of season that had desaturated the prairie and garbed the birds in dull colors had undone all those days spent out in the badlands sun – working with the horses, swimming at the dam, helping keep fire at sundance. Too many French fur traders in his lineage. He recalled the book that his eighth grade teacher had assigned them – Part-time Indian or something – and thought, Yup, that’s me. Indian in the summer and wašiču in the winter, like changing plumage. Trevor envied his brothers their melanin. He had learned that word in one of his college classes and now thought of it nearly every day. Travis was a rich brown complexion even in the dark days of midwinter. Trenton was in between the two but had jet-black Lakota hair and definitely looked “ethnic,” enough to be followed around stores in the border towns. Trevor knew it was his privilege to be exempt from such treatment, but it bugged him nonetheless. He hadn’t asked to be light-skinned. His brothers called him žiží – a reference to his tawny hair. They had gotten into scraps over this, and Trevor even bloodied Travis’ nose in one such altercation. Once one of them had even called Trevor a “half-breed” but Trevor retorted with “Fuck you, boy, you got the same blood as me. Fuckin’ dumbass.” This seemed to put the issue to rest. Trevor’s brief stint at college had been at an out-of-state school, which now struck him as an ill-advised decision. At least South Dakotans had some experience with Natives. Even the East River kids had at least crossed paths with one at some point, and didn’t think of Indians as something from the pages of a dime novel. Trevor was the first Native in many years – maybe ever – to attend the small-town liberal arts college in a neighboring state. He thought the fact that the college was reasonably selective would mean that the students were smart enough not to ask dumb questions. He was wrong. The queries were predictable enough, clichéd even; Are you really Indian? (Yes) Do you speak your language? (No) Did you get in because you’re Indian? (Who knows? I’m pretty smart and got good grades.) Does the college have admissions quotas for Indians? (If it did, you’d think more would go here.) What’s it like on the reservation? (I don’t know; different.) Do you prefer “Native American”? (I find the question annoying, to be honest.) Do you like Leslie Marmon Silko? (Who?) Have you seen Dances with Wolves? (Some of it.) Do you know a guy from Pine Ridge named Verdell? He used to work with my dad. (Maybe) His last name was something Horse. Running Horse? (No) Fielding these questions was exhausting and added another layer of weariness and alienation to his college experience. He found himself having to answer such inquiries from his roommate, classmates, professors, his R.A…Sometimes they were cloaked in well-meaning concern (I bet you get tired of all these questions, huh?) but they were always there. Most evenings, Trevor would retreat to his room and call his mom. His roommate, Skyler, a cross-country runner who was handsome in an unspectacular way and who monitored his water intake religiously, was hardly ever around. He seemed to have no trouble making friends in college and reveled in the social opportunities around him. In his phone calls back home, Trevor found himself experiencing a homesickness that inhabited the pit of his stomach like a hunger pang. He had never been gone from home for that long. Really, his only trip away had been the summer before his senior year, to a weeklong STEM camp for Native kids that one of the state colleges had put on. But that had been with a half dozen other students from his high school. Here he was alone. The subjects of their conversations would leave Trevor feeling a gravitational pull toward home: Trenton got into a fight at school and got suspended. Travis is drinking again. We had sweat for your auntie because they have to amputate her leg after all. Those dogs were back again. Everett hit $200 at the casino on Tuesday night but of course he put it all back in. They’re having a basketball tournament for that boy who got paralyzed in that wreck. Our hot water heater went out but uncle came and fixed it. They still haven’t found that Two Arrows girl that went missing. Travis wants to go up on the hill this spring – maybe that will get him to quit drinking. Good news, bad news, mundane news…The latter tugged at him the most. Like many who grew up on Pine Ridge, he had a love-hate relationship with the reservation. It was the home of his people after all, and could be so beautiful (“God’s country,” as it was called by even those who had no time for the white man’s God). But the hardships, the tragedies, the death…it all wore away at your spirit, hardened you. Still, the news of day-to-day life going on in his absence; a school powwow, a bingo tournament, tribal council drama, rumors of a Dairy Queen opening. It made him miss home in an ineffable way. The last vestige of his indecision evaporated after a particular conversation in the lounge of his dorm. He had been sitting on a beanbag chair, discussing random topics with two friends (at least, he considered them friends, in some ill-defined adolescent way). They had all left a dull party that hadn’t livened up even after a couple of drinks, but still felt heady and obligated to prolong the night a little longer. So, they were shooting the shit, in a garishly-lit common space that smelled of burnt popcorn, and Trevor was feeling rather collegiate. An off-campus party, late-night conversation; weren’t these the trappings of university life that he had seen in teen movies, if a much more prosaic version? Kayleigh, tipsy off Jäger bombs, started the chain of events that would unravel his college experience with a simple, but pointed question: “How Indian are you, anyway?” Colton snorted at this comment. “Kay, you can’t just ask that!” But he was clearly more amused than disapproving. “You mean like my blood quantum or what?” Trevor asked. “Is that what you guys call it?” said Kay, now playing the innocent party. “I just mean, like, you say you’re Indian, I mean like I know you are, like, I know you are on paper…” The alcohol was causing her to trip over her words but she plowed on. “I mean like, okay, if I were to like, run into you on the street…” Kay was now gesturing expansively, as if the meaning of what she was saying wasn’t explicit from words alone. “Like, I wouldn’t be like, ‘Damn, look at that Indian,’ right? I’d just assume you were a white guy. I mean you know what I mean? Ugh, I’m not making sense.” She was making perfect sense. Colton looked embarrassed, and for a second, Trevor thought he might shut Kay down. But instead, his inhibition similarly worn down by a few shots of German 70-proof, he followed suit. “I think what Kay’s drunk ass is trying to say is, like, your ancestors are Indians, right, like in the history books. Like Geronimo or whatever. But do you consider yourself one of them? Or are you, like, their descendant?” Trevor could feel the ball of rage growing within him, a sea urchin radiating spikes in his gut. Stop talking, he thought. Just stop talking. Colton continued, heedlessly. “Okay, so like I’m Irish but I’m not like Irish Irish, like a leprechaun or some shit. Like my ancestors…” Trevor stood up, his fists balled. He was now stone-cold sober but his anger was its own intoxicant. “It’s none of your fucking business. It’s none of your business what the fuck I am!” He was shouting; he couldn’t help it. He picked up a half-empty can of PBR and threw it at the wall, slamming the door to the lounge on his way out. The sudsy contents of the can leaked onto the ugly orange dorm carpet, as Kayleigh and Colton sat in stunned silence. “Jesus,” said Colton finally. “Just trying to ask an honest question.” After that, Trevor had holed up in his room for a few days, skipping classes and avoiding other students. When he told his mom he was dropping out, she hardly sounded surprised. He knew she would be glad to have him back home; the prodigal son returning. Trevor, the one who had his shit together, who had gone to a STEM camp and was almost salutatorian. He knew she thought that once he got back, he could do what she couldn’t; get Travis on a better path, bring another income to the household, fix what needed to be fixed around the trailer, shoot at the stray dogs when they came around. It would all fall to him. His failure was their blessing; they would lean on him as long as he could stand. So here we fucking go, he now thought, patting his gel-stiffened hair and giving himself one last hazel-eyed glance in the mirror. Gotta get that bread. His brief stint at the tribal building hadn’t panned out. He was a good worker but wet weather made his road too sloppy to get out easily. Too many latenesses had translated into a pink slip. “Shit man we all got bad roads. Gotta leave earlier,” his boss had said. So, lesson learned, he was giving himself extra time getting ready for this interview. Really, the lady had just told him to come by “around mid-morning,” so he’d probably be okay. The job was off-rez, down at the county livestock auction and sale barn in one of the closest border towns, “white towns,” as Ridgers called it. It was mostly going to be paperwork – inventory and itemizing and that kind of shit – but it was decent pay and Trevor hoped that he could transition over to working with the animals before long. On most days, he preferred their company to dumbass people. Grabbing his bag, Trevor stuck the loafers inside with his other miscellany. He would need to wear his cowboy boots across the muddy expanse between the bottom step of the porch and the door to his Blazer so he jammed his feet into them. Outside, he walked gingerly so as not to stain his black slacks with muck. Once in the driver’s seat, he figured he would leave the boots on for the drive, since they were already smearing mud on the floor liner, and in case he got stuck and needed to get out. Trevor knew that the people who worked at the sale barn were as countrified as he was and wouldn’t judge muddy boots under most circumstances, but he also knew that being from Pine Ridge meant he had to put his best foot forward, literally in this case. Trevor fired up the Blazer, put it in four low, and gunned it. His tires found grip and he jerked along, slimy divots of earth spattering his windows and roof like hail. His windshield wipers left a pasty smear that obscured much of his view, but he practically knew the way by feel. As soon as he could, he bumped up onto the grass, gopher holes and clumps of prairie bluestem jolting his ride, testing what was left of his suspension. When he finally hit the pavement, the smoothness was startling as it always was, like a TV being suddenly muted, like silence after a door slamming. He cruised through town, passing the gas station, the other gas station, the commod building, the quonset hut, the old BIA headquarters…and turned south into Nebraska. He tried to ignore the persistent squeal under the hood that had gotten worse lately. The overcast sky reflected the dullness of the land – as below, so above – and Trevor alternated between zoning out and counting hawks on telephone poles. A handful of miles south of the border, the vehicle gave a jolt and Trevor felt a temporary loss of control. He hit the brakes and steered toward the shoulder, but the Blazer was suddenly steering like an army tank. Fuck, he whispered. Once he wrestled Blazer off the road, Trevor got out and popped the hood. He already knew what he would find under the rising steam. “Fucking serpentine belt,” he hissed to the universe. Trevor was good with cars but he didn’t have the tools for this fix. Luckily, he thought, out here in the country, somebody who did would be by soon. Lots of Natives on this road, maybe even a cousin would happen by who could at least give him a ride to town. Trevor thought of calling his dad’s brother Everett on his cell, but figured he’d give it a bit. He hated the thought of owing Uncle Ev anything. Sure enough, in a few minutes, a gunmetal gray truck passed by slowly, hit a u-turn, and pulled up behind him. Trevor felt a twinge of envy over this late-model Dodge Ram MegaCab with duallies. It had county plates on it, so the cowboy-hatted driver was a local guy, and as he got out, his Carhartt overalls and mud-caked boots identified him as a rancher. “Trouble?” MegaCab asked, giving Trevor an easy smile. “Serpentine belt busted,” said Trevor, unconsciously smoothing out his rez accent in favor of a more neutral affectation. Code-switching – another term he had learned at college (by the professor who asked him if he prefers “Native American”). “No shit, huh?” MegaCab considered this information. “I got nothing for that but I could give you a ride somewhere. You call anyone? Someone coming after you?” “No,” said Trevor. “I’m trying to get down to the sale barn for a job interview.” MegaCab looked at Trevor as if for the first time. “Oh ok so that’s why you’re all fancied up. Well, hop in if you don’t mind leaving it here.” Trevor considered this. He was off the rez so there was less of a chance that the Blazer would end up with busted windows or slashed tires. And he was eager to get his interview over and done with. Before he could answer, MegaCab added “I have to stop in Whiteclay first but then I’ll take you down.” This was only a few miles out of the way so Trevor assented and climbed into the rancher’s idling behemoth. It still retained some new-truck smell, mixed with a tinge of manure and rich earth. Really, it was almost luxurious. MegaCab flipped a u-ey again and headed back north toward Whiteclay. Formerly notorious for copious alcohol sales to people from the dry reservation whose border it sat on, Whiteclay’s package stores had been shuttered after the state had revoked their liquor licenses following years of protests over their depredatory business model. Now, it was just a town of a couple small stores and fewer than a dozen permanent residents, its streets empty of vagrants, its ghosts banished. “So, you from Hot Springs?” Trevor momentarily wondered where this question had come from, and then remembered that he had 27-plates on the Blazer – Fall River County, a relic of when he bought the car from a white lady over there. He had kept the off-county registration because the plates were far less likely to get you pulled over off-rez than the infamous 65s of Oglala Lakota County. MegaCab continued without waiting for an answer. “I used to go up to Hot Springs a lot when my dad was in the V.A. hospital up there. Nice town.” “Yup, it’s pretty nice,” said Trevor, wondering if he would have to sustain this small talk the whole way. Luckily, MegaCab took it from there, reminiscing about his high school football team dealing Hot Springs a particularly lopsided loss, and then they were at Whiteclay. Trevor played around on his phone while his driver of the moment went into the little grocery store. He looked up his old roommate Skyler on Facebook (why, he didn’t know; certainly not to friend him) and then Googled “Pine Ridge South Dakota Dairy Queen” just to see if there was any truth to that rumor. MegaCab returned with some mail – Trevor had forgotten that there was a little post office in there – and they turned south toward Rushville. Two miles and five hawks-on-telephone-poles into their trip, MegaCab got chatty again: “I still can’t believe that the state revoked the liquor licenses. They had no legal right to do that of course, but just like everyone else these days, they bowed to the pressure from liberal special interest groups. Those store owners – my brother was one of them – followed the damn law to a T but still got their rights taken away. They’re the real victims in all of this.” Trevor, whose father was found dead in Whiteclay when Trevor was ten years old, didn’t answer. “You know it’s just going to push the problem down the road. These Indians are gonna get their liquor one way or another. You guys must see that all the time up in Hot Springs.” These Indians. You guys. Trevor suddenly recognized MegaCab’s presumption, and wondered when if he should correct it. “If they wanted to buy millions of cans of beer in Whiteclay every year and drink themselves to death, shit, I say let ‘em. It’s a free country, right? Those AIM types are always going on about Native rights and shit, y’know? Well shit, you have the right to drink and die if you want. Not saying that I want that for those people or anything, but the nanny state can’t be protecting everyone from problems of their own making.” Trevor, whose brother had first gotten jailed for drunk and disorderly at age 14, two years after their father died, said nothing. MegaCab continued to rhapsodize about “the Indians” and their problems, adopting the tone of an expert, one who knew all about them. Trevor felt the blood rise to his face. Some coloration at least, he thought darkly. In the pit of his stomach, the sea urchin had returned to stab at his insides. What must it be like, he wondered, to live a life in which people aren’t constantly telling you who you are, naming your characteristics like symptoms, trying to trap you like a spirit in a photograph? The Blazer came in sight on the shoulder ahead. “Can you let me out at my ride?” Trevor asked, his voice hardly recognizable to his own ear, like hearing himself talk underwater. “Sure, you need to grab something out of it?” said MegaCab, reluctantly pausing his diatribe. “No it’s okay,” replied Trevor, “I’m gonna call someone to come help me fix this after all.” He fiddled with his phone as if to underscore this intention. “Well, if you’re sure,” said MegaCab. “And hey,” he added as Trevor stepped down onto the running board. “You be careful around here. One of these rezzers might see you here all by yourself and try to mess you or your car up. And watch out for drunk drivers. You just never know with these Indians.” MegaCab gave a serious nod to accentuate this show of concern. Then he wished Trevor luck and drove off. Trevor watched the truck recede into the distance until it was merely a gray speck between the monochrome earth and the steely sky. He sat down in the cold front seat of the Blazer and looked into the rearview mirror. Hazel eyes stared back at him under a pale forehead. Fuck it, he thought; people are dumbasses. Let ‘em believe what they want; that he was from Hot Springs, that could be was related to that Apache, Geronimo, that he was only Indian on paper. Trevor saw what they didn’t; the hidden depths beneath the surface, and in their faces, in the spaces between their words, their ignorance displayed like a tattoo. In another minute or two, he would call Uncle Ev for a ride. In another hour or two, he would be offered a job at the sale barn that would bring another income into his household (and buy him a new serpentine belt). In another day or two, he would finally finish the tobacco ties for ceremony, at which he would pray for Travis’ sobriety and his auntie’s diabetes. In another month or two, the lengthening of the days would be unmistakable. Spring would come as it always had, first heralded by a single meadowlark piercing the predawn silence with his song. This would be followed by a green sprig on the prairie, pushing up, perhaps, through snow. Then a cluster of pasqueflowers appearing suddenly on a hillside, a skein of geese overhead, sheet lightning on the horizon. Small miracles, one after another. Finally, color would surge back into the world like paint scintillating on a canvas, causing goldfinches to glow like stars and evening thunderheads to stand like towering fires. The brilliant Dakota sunlight would stoke the melanin in Trevor’s skin, and nobody would mistake who he was. He would go up on the hill for two days and nights with Travis that spring, and Trenton would keep fire for them. He would pray for the coming year, for the survival of his people, for enough blessings to outweigh the hardships. And there, among a sea of undulating green, facing the crimson blaze of sunrise, he would again know himself and find the strength to carry on, in the face of all the peculiar indignities of this world.
[KRIMEWAVE] Conviva Las Vegas <2020-09-18 // 1500 UTC>
<<2020-09-18 15:00 (UTC)>> <> 3-5 <> 4-8 <> Las Vegas, PCC <> Player Scaled/ Casino Heist / High Stakes <> Le Jus Basique, SR5 CRB A new job posting appears above a disused shadowy datahaven, a guest node on an old industrial host attached to a Dim Sum parlor in Everett... <> <<84R84R3114>> Please consider a small donation with your purchase today to your local Knight-Errant Widows & Orphans fund. Tickets to your next Lone Star Security Officer’s Ball are also available from your local Safeway-MixtecaMarketon & participating Kroger-Raley’s franchises, and patrol officers may also have tickets! {{PLEASE DO NOT ACCOST OFFICERS DURING SECURITY PROCEDURES}} Your safety is our service! OOC: [GAMBLING][PROSTITUTION][BODY MODIFICATION][ORGANLEGGING][TRAFFICKING][DRUG USE][SUICIDE][BRAINWASHING][SEXUAL CONTENT][DESCRIPTIVE COMBAT GORE] I cannot rightly disclaim any content from my run. Fading to black will be mandatory for all sexual content beyond social roll calculation. I will do my best to avoid offending players with unnecessary descriptive quality, but the world of Shadowrun that I create is dark, cruel, and brutal. Please detail: Time since last run, your Discord handle if it is different than your Reddit, and the character sheets/info regarding runner pertinent to running(special interest groups, vendettas). IC responses are not necessary, but should be in the form of a calling card or referral memo from your Fixer to the Johnson. [Disclaimer] ANYBODY CAN DIE AT ANY MOMENT: Consequences exist in all runs, and criminal activity carries the potential to be lethal for all participants. The dice tell a story, and they are often the most brutal storytellers of them all. Shadowrun is a dark setting in a world with a complex moral structure, but please keep me aware of your personal tolerance for violence, sexuality and filth. [Disclaimer 2] YOU ARE CRIMINALLY COMPETENT: I assume your character has certain core ‘criminal competencies,’ including a loose knowledge of the laws they are about to be breaking, and certain world physics without codified systems attached, and I will check with you before you cross these thresholds if players appear unaware or about to take an action against their better judgement of the situation or that might put them at risk of an adverse interaction with security, law enforcement, ‘the authority,’ or possibly suicide themselves/the team unwittingly. [Disclaimer 3] SHAKE IT! THE COPS ARE COMING: Apprehension by law enforcement, border patrol, military, corporate authorities, radical groups, syndicates, or other sufficiently-equipped remonstrating parties may have additional consequences to players depending on the circumstances around arrest, casualties/crimes committed, and what characters may be in possession of at the time of detention. Law Enforcement responsiveness & aggressiveness is the sliding scale of overall threat for the run.
This season deserves a special award for inspiring flat-line boredom, with each storyline offering at least one awful person dripping poison over anyone kind or thoughtful. Natalie: Mike wants for me to be the bad one. What is this farce? Mike: I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the I DON’T LOVE YOU. When we last saw Mike, Natalie was spring cleaning his self-esteem the Marie Kondo way, except she torched everything that sparked joy to make room for more misery. Now he’s outside wondering why science hasn’t granted him the ability to beam onto an airplane to spare him the insult of standing in a Ukraine alleyway, waiting for his maybe-fiancée to flounce down the stairs and demand an apology for…something. Natalie, Our Lady of 1,000 Bluffs, somehow finds the strength and courage to amble down the stairs and sit in the backseat of an Uber for a melancholy airport adventure. Natalie: Mike, everything is good. You must calm down and stop being so dramatic. This is gaslight like in movies. Now I must cure you of hysteria with vibrators and Valium. Mike: I mean, do we have to keep filming? What if I jump out while the car is moving? Can that be your final scene? Natalie thinks that in a perfect world Mike would apologize just for sport and then sweep her off her feet, which should be easy since they’re never on the ground. After several awkward airport moments Mike tells Natalie that he’ll call her later, but he needs time for detox and an exorcism. Natalie remains confused that Mike thought she loved him, based on the 30,000 times she said “I love you,” when he should have been able to read her rapidly changing narrative and anticipate ongoing rewrites. She approaches Mike to pretend she doesn’t know what’s going on, but Mike isn’t falling for that shit. He asks for a goodbye hug, she says no, and Mike bounces. Natalie sulks off to find her people in the Land of Bad Decisions, where Tania is waiting for her upon a throne of skulls. Back home and no longer engaged, Mike is making pancakes for himself and Uncle Beau. Beau comes rushing in the door to ask Mike how the trip was, and to announce that he lost $25 at the casino last night and needs to borrow from the bank of Mike. So um…Mike’s entire life is apparently like this. Can Mike and Syngin get a beer together please? Blake: I have friends. Jasmin: I don’t care if Blake’s friends like me. I also don’t care if Blake likes me. Blake is getting ready for his friend Everett’s birthday party, while Jasmin warms up her excuses for dodging it. Jasmin knows this party was the plan from the start, but decides against being a good introvert who tells him to go without her and to just enjoy himself. Instead, she attempts to smash Blake’s social butterfly in favor of a sober conversation about yoga and tea. She asks Blake if they can skip the pre-party dinner and just eat together, which Blake agrees to with the caveat that he will continue to express his dismay. Blake orders a drink, and Jasmin reminds him that you can’t talk to Jesus when you’re drunk. Jasmin latches on to Blake drinking as her excuse for avoiding phase 2 of the evening’s pseudo-social interaction. She says she’s going to call her sister instead and pretend to be mad at him while being secretly relieved to enjoy blissful time away from his flock. What remains of Blake’s sense of humor about this situation gets lost trying to escape his hair. Jasmin tells the cameras that it’s selfish to ask her to go to a party, and totally forgets the part where it’s selfish to derail his plans because that plan is something she doesn’t want to do. Blake says that he’s tired of explaining her behavior to his friends. Neither one of these two is capable of having an adult argument, and are likely on a relationship subreddit as I type, posting a totally balanced report of their latest immature interaction. Jasmin arrives at Janette’s clinical apartment, and declares that Blake refuses to do anything that interests her, because “everything is always about Blake.” She says that Finnish folks are calmer, while Janette tells her that she needs to keep trying to adapt, and by “keep trying” she means try at all. Tania: Okay guys, I get it, I’m like, the villain here. Did anyone else just feel a weird rush of glee? That must be Mercury in douchebag and Mars going direct into asshole. Totally grounded and focused financial wizard Fucking Tania has put her trusty pink shirt in time-out, for a responsible and goal-oriented phone call to an astrologer with a predictable funny name. But not before Syngin fetches precise room temperature water for her to swallow with her lizard tongue to maintain the skin suit that presents some approximation of humanity. Syngin calls his mother to gather the data necessary for someone to cold-read Tania over Skype, and his mom clarifies that he was born at “twenty to three.” Resident expert Tania mansplains that this means 2:40, and this is apparently how she will feel superior today. “We are energy beings,” Tania tanias. “And I was born at a certain time for a certain reason, and that reason is to vampire every shred of joy from Syngin’s twinkling soul.” “Marie Kondo,” Natalia pipes in. “Clean out all of the joy.” Astrologist Daizy October picked that name on purpose, and tells Tania something about “blueprints of the soul” which makes the first shelf of the New Age section of the bookstore start vibrating. She declares that Sagittarius is the archetype of travel, which is what one would say to someone who can afford Costa Rica but not a shed of one’s own. Daizy: Now Mars in Scorpio, and Tania is in existence, which means there’s going to be some fighting, and sex is important. Syngin, blink if you need help. Syngin: Oh yes. Fucking Tania: Is that blood in the water? No wonder I’m hungry. Syngin: By “oh yes” I meant yes, I need help. Ms. October says that their souls bring them together, which would make sense if Tania had one, and asks if they’re soulmates. Syngin says their connection is so vivid he feels like he’s met her before, and then he died to escape her. Tania looks drunk on hurting Syngin, and pushes it further by insisting her first love was her soulmate, and he still is, even though she hasn’t been with that dude for like 8 years or so, and the restraining order keeps getting renewed over and over again. Syngin points out that they met in a star-crossed way, foolishly failing to note that hurting him is Tania’s entire objective. “I feel like I don’t know what to say, because anything I say will hurt you, which is why I can’t stop laughing. I’m fine,” Tania reports. Then Syngin tells the cameras he needs a break to restore his essence, and Tania hovers in the doorway, eagerly anticipating the chance to harvest from him all over again. So to recap: Tania, who trusts in the universe, does not trust that the universe gifted her Syngin, but instead believes that eventually she’ll be regifted the tattered remains of her original bottom, who has likely moved on to other astral alignments, and a thousand mile away zip code. Yep, this is pretty on brand for Tania. Angela: I’m not the bad guy, I’m a tax payer! Michael: I have a shopping list. Angela’s chest is newly covered in an ancient pirate treasure map, guiding strangers to the booty in her bra. Her plan is to storm the American embassy and assert her tax payer status as a means of pushing this K-1 process forward. After ambling through the gates and harassing multiple members of security, she emerges and bellows to Michael. She says they wouldn’t let her into the embassy since she doesn’t have an appointment, and strangely, they don’t consider a white lady demanding a K-1 an emergency. Maybe she needed to explain that she’s working with the alternative reality where she can carry a child, and they wouldn’t give her Botox in her uterus. The next day they go to Michael’s uncle’s house for dinner, but first they have to stop and pick up a microwave for Michael’s mother. Angela is worried that the material expectations increase with every dinner, and says that the gifts can’t keep growing in value. “Please Angela. We need to present a love and respect microwave,” Michael persuades. The man working at the store states a price far more than the microwave is worth, and then Michael says he should price it less because they’re going to get something else, too. This is his way of surprising Angela with a required gift for his uncle. She tells the shopkeeper that she’s got 15,000 stored under her best titty, and he should take it and call it good now that she’s his African sister. Okay then. The guy takes it, and she walks away with a microwave and kettle. Angela is happy to visit his family, especially Michael’s mother, whom she loves so much. As the most junior, or newest, wife, Angela is expected to help cook and serve as a sign of humility. She awkwardly works on plantains while Michael insists he’s not expecting much in terms of domesticity once they are stateside, but he will expect her to cook, in addition to being the only breadwinner and caretaker for a bushel basket of people. Even the producer laughs, because the only thing Angela will be cooking in Georgia is Michael if he maintains that ridiculous idea. Michael’s family starts asking about their wedding plans, and Angela explains that the K-1 is her family’s only opportunity to see her get hitched. They are eager for Michael to have a child with Angela’s ashy uterus, and his whole family starts weighing in on the matter, which nudges Angela right to the edge. She somehow keeps her mouth shut and remains respectful, even after Uncle says that if it doesn’t work Michael should move on to the next baby basket, which is a regional woman unlikely to arrive with household appliances. Are they trying to get on Maury? If you listen closely you can hear Angela’s internal kettle whistling away, and her microwave chiming ding-ding-ding. Emily: You don’t have to be a Debbie Downer! Betsy: I will be one ASAP! Emily has freed Sasha from the clutches of Indiana in favor of her fake hometown Portland, where she takes him to Washington Park’s Rose Garden to show him how shitty west coast cities are, amirite Trump? Emily says that it’s going to be expensive to go from two-for-one Indiana to Portland’s most expensive suburb, confirming my suspicion that she’s from Lake Oswego, where Real Housewives ferment until their first divorce and rehab stint. This is good news for Sasha, who is very likely to find a wealth of personal training clients and his fourth wife there. Emily says they should get married ASAP, and Sasha agrees without knowing what ASAP means. “After two weddings, third not so much,” Sasha shrugs. “Fourth will be court house. Fifth, maybe commitment ceremony.” Emily heads back to scenic South Bend to save hundreds of dollars on a wedding dress. She says she’s leaning towards the Oregon coast as a wedding location, which makes sense if you don’t know that every venue from Brookings to Astoria is booked ages in advance, but she wouldn’t be the first or last person to turn that AirBnB into Plan A and Plan B. Emily’s sister is there to remind her that every idea she has about her impending nuptials is wrong, which is not fair to Emily, who knows every lace dress is better with piercing wind and sand. The salesperson hides in the dressing room from their endless passive-aggressive sparring, before coming out to place a veil and headpiece on Emily and make Betsy cry. Robert: I’m terrible. Why are you always complaining? Anny: I would like to go out with Robin or Mike now please. Hey guys, you know how 90DF always has one trashy, delusional family that believes the fiancé is there to steal their no-money? Well, this round it’s fucking Robert, father of five who appears to be largely free from the burdens of child support...or who perhaps opts for tax-free employment for those very reasons. He’s dragging Anny and the other person who is nice to her (his sister Robin) to a restaurant to meet up with his equally-awful brother Kenny. Robin says that Bryson loves Anny and that she really likes her too, while Kenny gets busy disrespecting and humiliating her before she can work a “hello” out of her mouth. Kenny wants to know how she’ll be in the future, and Anny suspects he doesn’t know what year it is, so she reminds him that they live in the present, and what matters is how they treat each other now. In response, Kenny says he’s not sure if he’s going to their wedding at all, carrying on the 9DF tradition of families that fail to notice it isn’t all about them. Now fully defensive and uneasy, Anny asks if Kenny is cheap too, and Robin assures Anny that she wouldn’t be a fan of a thrift store shopping spree, either. This gets in the way of Robert and Kenny’s plan to disrespect women in public places, so Kenny asks if she always complains a lot. Anny corrects him that her issue is that Robert lies, and told her he had three kids instead of five, in addition to making endless empty promises of clothing, an apartment, and any expression of affection whatsoever. Kenny says that he has seven kids, which isn’t normally something you play as clap-back, but okay Kenny. Yes, seven is greater than five. Anny has had it with them and their apparent plan to overpopulate the planet, and leaves and says that she feels alone. “That’s not the way you talk when you love somebody,” she says, speaking truth. “Well, my fiancé only loves me on Thursdays. Do you want to get a beer with me and Syngin?” Mike is there for her. Juliana: In this story, my family appears to be the villains, and this makes me sad. Michael: I’m rich but my tux doesn’t fit. On the day of the wedding, Max and CeCe are in conference about the gravity of the forthcoming nuptials, in between mugs of stiff black coffee and plates of almond biscotti. CeCe: I’m feeling moderately uneasy, due to rigid societal expectations of appropriate age disparity. Surely if this were the era of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” this wouldn’t even muddy my mind, but given the unfortunate modern conviction that a second spouse serves as an accessory and not a person, we have some educating to do. Max: This seems a prudent way to address the offensive tongue of your friend Dakota, who has lived a sheltered life free from parental relationship development and sexual exploration. For now, I’ll simply relish the opportunity to wax poetic on their enduring love once mother has concluded her oratory. CeCe: I have some concerns about you being assigned this important role, while I am relegated to the background. Is this sibling rivalry? Not very becoming of me, I’m sure. Max: I validate your feelings of envy, but as the elder sibling I am allotted a generous portion of gloating which will carry all the way into the late stages of my adulthood. CeCe: Is that when you argue with your wife about 401K distribution while I go to Burning Man in a modified school bus? Max: Do you bite your thumb at me? CeCe: I do bite my thumb at you, sir! Meanwhile, Juliana’s friend Pao is there (no, not that Pao, who is only friends with Juan) along with her friend Cousy, who Juliana describes as like a second mom. Cousy lives in Milan, where Juliana met her during a modeling gig, and she sprung for the ticket to ease Juliana’s loneliness on her special day. In Michael’s wedding prep, we learn that he bought two tuxedos, and decides to wear the one that fits. Juliana wishes her mother could see her in her wedding dress, or was capable of acknowledging her existence when she’s not buying a car for her sister. A gorgeous clear tent is set up to welcome wedding guests, all but two of which are friends or family of Michael. CeCe is on deck to tell Juliana she looks so pretty, while Max gives Michael a pep talk about toxic masculinity and exploring romantic relationships with an open heart. Cousy then hands her phone to Juliana to share a video she made of messages from Juliana’s friends who want to wish her well. Juliana keeps waiting for a relative to appear in this video, but it doesn’t happen, because apparently Juliana’s family has plenty of narcissists. Or maybe they’re hiding in the wings until the next episode? Either way, the family doesn’t so much as text her, and in the face of this intentional cruelty Juliana starts crying and struggles to stop, thawing the thickest layer of our cold black hearts. Next time, Jasmin says she doesn’t want to work or smile or breathe, Sasha promises to love his third wife until he doesn’t, Juliana braces to be married by her future husband’s ex-wife, while Syngin finds a friend to mouth “help me” to when Tania is sleeping safely in her coffin. 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Click here to see rankings for 2018 films Click here to see rankings for every poll done Summary: King T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakanadan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war. Director: Ryan Coogler Writers: screenplay by Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby Cast:
Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther
Ashton Tyler as Young T'Challa
Michael B. Jordan as N'Jadaka / Erik "Killmonger" Stevens
George Tony Sandoval | Henderson, Nevada (episode 42) George Tony Sandoval, 31, vanished on June 21st 2015 from the M Resort in Henderson, Nevada. He didn't tell his family where he was going when he left the hotel, and calls have gone unanswered since that day. He was an openly gay, Hispanic man, and in a relationship with Treigh Imsand at the time of his disappearance. On January 20th 2020, it was announced that his remains had been located. No further information was given. An update was posted on the podcast episode page (linked above), and a social media post from his boyfriend confirming the news was shared on the podcast's facebook page. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/henderson-police-ask-for-help-finding-man-missing-nearly-a-yea Jacob Hilkin | Everett, Washington (episode 137) Jacob Hilkin, 24, had recently moved out of his mother's house and in with some friends. After losing his job, he asked her if he could spend some time with her to organise his next steps, as he didn't have internet access at the place he was living. It was Monday, January 22nd 2018, and he was in good spirits. His mother went to bed at around 9pm, and when she woke up the following morning, Jacob had gone, and both the front and back doors had been left unlocked. She assumed he'd gone out and forgotten to lock up, and tried unsuccessfully to contact him before leaving to work, believing she would see him when she returned. She found out later that he had been picked up by friends a couple of hours after she had gone to bed. One of them later told her that a friend named Robbi had driven them to the Tulalip Resort Casino to gamble. He claimed that they stayed there until the early hours, Robbi inside the casino, and Jacob and the other friend, Tyesean, waiting in the car outside as they had no more money. Between 6 and 7 in the morning, their phones were dead when casino security asked the two friends to leave, refusing to let them go inside the casino to find Robbi or make a call. At that point, Jacob said he wanted to go home, and claimed he was going to take a bus to his mother's house. He left the parking lot, heading towards a bus stop. It was the last time Tyesean saw Jacob. At around 10.20am on Tuesday, January 23rd, police had contact with Jacob at a camp located behind Quil Ceda Village. When they spoke to him, they had no reason to believe he was in danger, so did not contact anyone on his behalf. They witnessed him leave the camp, walking south on 27th Avenue NE. That evening, when his mother returned home, Jacob had not returned. His Xbox had been left behind and was on, he had left $90 in cash, and his blankets remained untouched. After calling his friends and hearing about the previous evening, she called the police and reported him missing. On Sunday, February 9th 2020, human skeleton remains were found in Marysville. These have since been identified as Jacob Hilkin. The death is not believed to be suspicious, but is being investigated. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/missing-in-america/washington-man-jacob-hilkin-disappears-after-night-casino-friends-n860241 https://q13fox.com/2020/02/11/skeletal-remains-found-in-marysville-identified-as-everett-man-missing-since-2018/ Sad news for both families, but maybe real answers will come from this. It's saddening to see how few articles there are about George's disappearance. I would definitely recommend listening to the podcast to get his full story.
The next generation of bus lanes is coming to Greater Boston - The Boston Globe
The next generation of bus lanes is coming to Greater Boston - The Boston Globe Shirley Leung 5-6 minutes Neither concept is exactly novel. Many cities around the world and even in the United States already feature center-running bus lanes, a key facet of systems known as “bus rapid transit.” One was once even considered in Boston, on Blue Hill Avenue, back in 2009, long before the current bus lane renaissance. And on the highways, Massachusetts is decades behind other states that allow buses to operate apart from traffic. Get Metro Headlines in your inboxThe 10 top local news stories from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. But better late than never for Greater Boston to make bus travel more attractive as part of the fight against pollution and congestion, advocates say. “It’s prioritizing transit,” said Julia Wallerce of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, whose Boston office has been pushing for more bus-only lanes in the region. “And anywhere we can do that, we should.” The center-running lanes may first appear in Boston, straddling the Roxbury-Jamaica Plain border on Columbus Avenue between Egleston and Jackson squares. It’s only a half-mile stretch, but it’s ideal for the configuration because of its width — it already features four lanes, plus space for parking, and a median strip — and because a high number of bus riders use it, said Boston transportation planning director Vineet Gupta. About a third of all people traveling along that busy stretch are in buses, but traffic jams can triple the length of their commute. “It’s a very important bus corridor for us, and we’d like to see the best possible bus priority on this corridor,” Gupta said. It will take about six months to design the Columbus Avenue project, and longer still to implement it, Gupta said. But the city has shared preliminary ideas of possible center-lane configurations. One version has bus stops in between the two bus lanes, essentially on a median. However, that would require buses with doors that open on the left, rather than the right, unlike almost all of the MBTA’s current bus fleet. So another option may be to stagger bus stops on the opposite side, on platforms with shelters, lighting, and other amenities. This section of Columbus Avenue in Boston between Egleston and Jackson squares may soon have a dedicated bus lane running down the center of the road, with new concrete islands for passenger boarding and unboarding. This section of Columbus Avenue in Boston between Egleston and Jackson squares may soon have a dedicated bus lane running down the center of the road, with new concrete islands for passenger boarding and unboarding.Lane TurneGlobe Staff/The Boston Globe Meanwhile, in Everett, Mayor Carlo DeMaria pledges to eventually set up a similar system for MBTA buses running along Broadway, extending the current dedicated bus lanes farther south, past the Encore Boston Harbor casino to the city line with Boston, where he hopes to see it continue to North Station. Center lanes are also under consideration on the North Shore — on the busy six-lane Lynnway. As part of a review of possible transit improvements in Lynn, MBTA and city officials say these types of bus lanes on the Lynnway could make it easier for mass transit riders to go between the city’s downtown and the Wonderland Blue Line stop in Revere. The Lynnway, which is owned by the state, is a major regional connection into Boston for much of the North Shore, with more than 40,000 cars a day. But Mayor Thomas McGee of Lynn thinks the current configuration could accommodate bus lanes without affecting other traffic too much. Moreover, a bus system with stops on center islands would make it easier for pedestrians to cross the Lynnway. That’s crucial for Lynn’s long-range plan to better link downtown to the now-desolate waterfront, which are both slated for significant development, McGee said. “The Lynnway is a real barrier to connecting our community back to the waterfront. . . . So adding a bus lane in there is a reasonable discussion to have,” he said. A lot of issues would need to be sorted out first, McGee noted. A recent MBTA presentation, for example, noted that center bus lanes would require some way for other motorists to make left turns at some intersections. Buses may also get a leg up soon in the undisputed realm of the automobile: the major Massachusetts interstates. The state Department of Transportation is studying whether some highway shoulders could be turned over to buses during peak periods. It’s a common practice in more than a dozen metro areas across the country, but Massachusetts went the other way back in the 1980s, when it allowed most vehicles to drive on some highways’ shoulders during rush hour. But as soon as this year, officials hope to allow MBTA and other buses to ride on the shoulders of a section of Interstate 93 north of downtown Boston, freeing those commuters from some of the worst gridlock in the country. It will require approval from the Federal Highway Administration, but could be a “good learning experience” as a pilot program before being implemented on other highways as well, said Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack. Adam Vaccaro can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @adamtvaccaro.
Encore Boston Harbor, Plainridge Park Casino and MGM Springfield temporarily closed
https://turnto10.com/news/coronavirus/encore-boston-harbor-casino-plainridge-park-and-mgn-temporarily-closed Several casinos across Massachusetts have temporarily been closed amid coronavirus concerns. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission made the announcement on Saturday, noting that they unanimously voted to “a temporary suspension of operations” at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, and MGM Springfield. “An expeditious and orderly shutdown process is underway,” according to a statement from the MGC. “This decision will be re-evaluated in two weeks.” The MGC previously announced that a patron at Encore Boston Harbor has subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. The MGC said the person visited the casino on March 5, with the Commission becoming aware of the positive test on Thursday. Health officials have been notified and are assessing the situation, according to the MGC. "Encore has reported that this individual was present at the casino for one hour and had contact while there with a small number of individuals, currently determined to be seven," a statement noted. "Encore has reported that all of these individuals have been identified and alerted. DPH recommends that Encore continue its enhanced sanitation practices. Additionally, Encore has reported that, out of an abundance of caution, all identified individuals have agreed to self-quarantine measures." The Boston Globe reported that the individual is Utah Jazz player Donovan Mitchell.
It had been awhile since I took mushrooms - about a year exactly. In fact, it was a year. Damn. There may be truth to the idea that mushrooms are actually sentient beings trying to communicate with us...but I digress. It was a gathering of old high school chums. One had driven up from...shit. I forget the name. That...you know, down there. Fuck. OREGON! Yes, that place. He had driven up for something for his kid or something. Point is - he was in town and it was an excuse to get the old gang together before we all die of dick cancer. The idea was to meet up at the H and H in Issaquah and go bar hopping from there. But then we took shrooms and never left the place. The H and H is a dive bar that turns into a gay bar after ten. I don't really think it's a gay bar, but I think there's a group of people that are all gay that happen to hang out there after 10 on Saturdays. Because the bar is so small, that makes it a gay bar after 10. It's very involved. Well, we started at my place first. It was me and Dick Burger and Vaginal Cramp (Christian names). Vaginal Cramp was coming down from Everett and was late as usual. However, he promised us micro doses of mushrooms or LSD or Mad Cow Disease. We really couldn't be sure as he was probably high when he was explaining all of this. I had my reservations: I had just watched the movie Mandy about motorcycle gangs that turn into Centobites after taking bad acid, and Vaginal Cramp is a huge Trump supporter and Roger Stone had just been arrested and Trump lost his wall and I happened to be a liberal on Saturday and he could very well try to poison me. I didn't want to be poisoned. So, I let Dick Burger take a dose and watched the results. After an hour of Dick Burger and Vaginal Cramp talking about how great Teslas were and how there's really no difference between Democrats and Republicans I decided the drugs were going to work in the way you want drugs to work: make you retarded. I took a pinch of the moldy shrooms that had been in Vaginal Cramp's freezer for a good two years. The results were outstanding - I suddenly wanted to become a Scientologist. And explain the meaning of the album The Wall. And, yes, I wanted to subscribe to seattle or even seattlewa. I was on my way to becoming fully retarded. Even more so. We walked down to the bar, as we are adults and would never drive under the influence of mushrooms, AK47 sativa, Bitburgers, and a caramel fudge edible I found under my stove. Plus Vaginal Cramp got into my Makers. The walk down went well. I saw no alien bikers or Tom Cruise auditors. At the bar, Gila Asshole (guy from Oregon) had been waiting for over an hour and no one had shown up. Apparently, Vaginal Cramp, Dick Burger and I had lost track of time or lost time completely. I remember thinking "How did we fit five beers into an hour" at one point and maybe this answered my question. Gila Asshole was doing well. I talked to him for a couple of minutes and then Tramp Monkey texted and let me know that he was coming down. About that time Ferret Fucker and Captain Long Johns arrived. Followed by Herpes Threat and Windbag. I drank a beer and walked out of the bar to get a smoke. As I did, I realized I could barely feel my legs and began worrying that they would quickly flop out from under me leaving me in a pool of my own stomach. But I pushed the thought away and got a Makers and soda. The next thing I knew I was trying to convince people to join my Sport Coat of the Month club. It was an ingenious new company I created in my head while out smoking. A sport coat a month at only 10 dollars a month. I would have a seminar and bilk investors out of their money as they pyramided my money up and up and up to me. But no one was buying in. In fact, they thought I was joking. Even though I was wearing a sport coat. I couldn't win with these guys and gave up the pursuit. Then I went and talked to Tramp Monkey. He was a fervent Trump supporter and I was greased up the brain enough to bait him. His answer to every question was "THE WALL!" his eyes got big and wide as he talked about it and he began shaking. This scared the CRAP out of me, but I kept on going. I wanted to see if he would drop his flesh suit and slither out onto the table and try to mate with Vaginal Cramp. But he didn't. He just got more and more forceful. He began dodging questions. Pretty soon I was on the table shouting at him WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR NEWS FROM! BREITBART? FOX!? TELL ME! I MUST KNOW! But he wouldn't tell me. I went out to smoke and began wondering if there was a secret cabal of Trump supporters that meet and feed off some vine of knowledge unknown to us. Some Burroughslike vein of thick black semen that feeds their minds and turns them into intellectual yogurt. Or was I wrong? Was I the one hooked to a mainline of CNN and Hillary Clinton? Could I be viewing the world from a mirror? Was Black Panther really that good? Of course not. I returned to find Tramp Monkey flipping through Bagels and Coffee girls absently, like he didn't just almost jump out of his own skin and try to strangle me with his own intestines. It was odd. I went out for another cigarette with Vaginal Cramps and Dick Burger. We ate some more mushrooms and smoked some more AK47. Then, this hellish creature arrived from the butcher next door and told us that we were smoking dope too close to the bar and that we should move away. We thanked him for being an absolutely solid soldier for the H and H bar. What a guy! Back inside, the same man approached Dick Burger and explained that he just wanted to protect the bar so that they wouldn't get into trouble. Dick Burger thanked him. Then the guy said "No problem. You want some blow?" Dick Burger did not want some blow. None of us wanted blow. We are over 40 and cherish sleep like the desert cherishes the rain. Back outside, this same guy (let's call him Trouser Beard) began telling me that I looked like this one guy from a movie. Pretty soon he fell on Brent Spiner when he was an old man in this one Star Trek movie. Then Trouser Beard wanted to know if I was a Trekkie. When I asked why Brent Spiner, he replied "Because you have gray hair". Then he went on to tell me I looked like another old man in the movie Hook. Then a dude in Princess Bride. I asked, was he an old man? Why, yes. Apparently, I just look fucking old. This is nothing you want to be told while using drugs that only 19 year olds use. Back in the bar, Dick Burger and Gila Asshole were fighting about global warming. Gila Asshole had enough and left. Then everyone went to the casino. Or maybe nobody. I was out in the back smoking and being told I looked like Ben Kenobi in the first Star Wars where he was, you guessed it - old. We walked home and took more mushrooms and watched Mandy. Vaginal Cramp, a devout Christian but for the mushrooms, alcohol, lsd, became scared by the pagan idolatry and that whole thing fell apart. We made enchiladas and everyone Uber'd home. Let this be a lesson: The entire night was retarded.
I have to admit - I'm biased because I've lived on Casino Road for ~3 months now. I moved there sight-unseen from out of state and clearly didn't consult this subreddit for advice! But honestly.. it's not that bad. My rent is NOT cheap. My building is quiet, and filled with families and I have a nice place. I live minutes away from a golf course, for god's sake! Sometimes during the day I go for walks from about 8th to the end of Casino Rd by Boeing. I've not seen a single questionable thing. Other people on the sidewalks seem totally normal to me. There are plenty of nice apartments (gated, even!), a park, golf course, and then it turns into an industrial area. There's probably some drug activity, but let's not pretend that isn't common in 'nice' neighborhoods too. I feel like a lot of the Casino Road hate is perhaps rooted in prejudice, as it's a racially diverse area. Or perhaps it used to be a much worse area than it is now. But seriously guys.. it's not that bad. If nothing else, I'm thrilled to have amazing Indian, Mexican, Middle-Eastern, and Asian food at my fingertips :)
Enter any casino, and the biggest bets are always on the baccarat tables. With online casinos, players can Everett Ma Casino News enjoy the same level of excitement on live dealer baccarat games. Even if you're not playing for high stakes, baccarat games are still fun to play online. Latest Gambling & Casino News. Discover the important stories from around the world. Casino.org - The world's Gaming Authority Since 1995. Everett Casino Latest News This means the casino will match your first deposit with 100% up to a maximum of £100. So, if you deposit £100 you will receive £100 Everett Casino Latest News extra in bonus money. Even as the state tries to decide whether Wynn Resorts can keep its $2.6 billion casino, the building itself Perhaps because the Everett casino’s very existence News in Education. I-Team: Person Found Dead In Snow Bank Near Encore Boston Harbor Casino By CBSBoston.com Staff December 22, 2020 at 10:09 am Filed Under: Encore Boston Harbor , Everett News , I-Team Snohomish PUD working on power outage reported about 2:18 PM Sunday afternoon in area of Casino Road and Evergreen Way in south Everett, Washington. No word on the cause but power was restored by My Everett News is an independently owned news website featuring breaking news and events in Everett, WA. We also cover City of Everett information for those who live and work in Everett. "It has been falsely reported that Encore Boston Harbor is for sale," begins the message released Saturday by Brian Gullbrants, president of the 2.6 billion casino and resort in Everett, Massachusetts.. Gullbrants was refuting an article published Friday by the Everett Leader-Herald, which reported that the casino was for sale, and cited an unnamed source. Wynn Everett Casino News, bar poker gatineau, blackjack 21 games, pokerstars sweater. Read our full review. 200%. Desert Nights Casino No deposit Bonus $10 Bonus 250% up to $2,550. 5. Viking Fire. Country Restrictions-Start Playing on All Spins Win Casino read review. Read our full review. Live Casinos. And the city of Everett is joining Bluebikes, the bike-share system, with the casino getting a new station. The casino will also offer a water taxi from the Seaport and the Financial District
KOMO News provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Seattle, Bellingham, Tacoma ... Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. We visited Encore Boston Harbor on August 10, 2019. Encore Boston Harbor is a luxury resort and casino located in Everett, Massachusetts and owned by Wynn Resorts. The $2.6 billion hotel and ... Mayor Carlo DeMaria talks about transportation plans ahead of the casino's opening day. Skip navigation Sign ... Everett casino officials request 4 a.m. last call ... NBC News Recommended for ... Everett casino officials address traffic concerns - Duration: 1:47. ... Fox News Recommended for you. 4:49. Pitch Perfect Riff-Off with Anna Kendrick & The Filharmonics - Duration: 9:35. Trainers hope to get 1,000 people certified to work at the new Encore Casino, which is scheduled to open in Everett in June.Subscribe to WCVB on YouTube now ... WBZ TV's Anna Meiler reports. Everett casino officials request 4 a.m. last call WCVB Channel 5 Boston. Loading ... CBC News Recommended for you. 21:09. Language: English Location: United States Restricted Mode: Off MassLive took a look at construction at the Wynn Boston Harbor casino site in Everett, Massachusetts on Sept. 21, 2017. The casino is scheduled to open in th... A First Look Inside Everett's Encore Casino - Duration: 2:37. CBS Boston 1,377 views. 2:37. Encore Boston Harbor opens for business - Duration: 1:46. ... CBC News Recommended for you.
