Yes, Ben, the FOOD, Come ON.
A lady can enjoy her avocado ice cream and roast shoat, okay?
Sheesh.
Seriously though, yeah, the 1920s were an interesting time for food. Not just in the haute cuisine sense, either. The 20s practically gave birth to modern junk food. Birdseye frozen food came out around then (imagine that, frozen vegetables! YOU LIVE IN THE FUTURE), but so did Mike & Ikes, Twizzlers, Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Velveeta.
And naturally, with Prohibition, the 20s saw a pretty significant proliferation in cocktail recipes, usually meant to cover the taste of cheap, adulterated, nasty alcohol. Most people who think of the twenties and Prohibition probably imagine opulent speakeasies with floor shows and fancy clientele, but speaks were mostly crappy dives. They were illegal, remember? Not much sense in investing in gin mill beautification when you could be raided any moment. Photogenic, movie-style speaks that put on airs were pretty much for-sure under the protection of someone or something that guaranteed its protection from authorities.
Anyway, if you of you guys feel like checking out what all the hip 1920s nightspots were serving (and what Flannery here is probably talking about), the Los Angeles Public Library has a really nice online database of restaurant menus. You can search by year; enter “192*” to see that Roarin’ 20s stuff.
She’s clearly a De Nile Revivalist.
do ho ho ho. =D well played.
See I get that she’s being silly, but I kind of say the same thing about every damn sub-culture I get lumped into except being a hippi (long uninteresting story)
Do you Hulk out like that? Panel one’s a little scary.
no not hulk… just insist that no I’m not whatever they are saying and in the process of explaining almost convince myself I’m wrong. “I’m not part of this group, I just do every thing they are known for doing and agree with some of their beliefs”
…Avocado Ice Cream sounds pretty good, actually.
It’s so good. If you even end up in New Jersey, find the Bent Spoon. They make it once or twice a year.
Check out Asian food stores for Avocado Ice cream, it’s still being made in some parts of the world and imported. Can’t remember the company name but it comes in a round container.
Heck, it is fairly easy to get avocado milkshakes (and corn, and durian, and purple yam) in any part of California that has enough of an Asian population. Oh, durian. Such sweet, rotting garbage that pairs amazingly well with ice cream.
Oh, Mesmer’s expression. Something tells me it would take a lot to get him to pull a face like that.
Yeah – it’s either an exceptionally outrageous copy book, or he’s humbled by Ben’s life story all of a sudden. Or maybe it’s just that great? I dunno.
Would it be too much to ask to have what he’s seeing break him just a little….or maybe more than a little?
I just want to have him huddle in a ball in a corner wanting to claw his eyes out and pour bleach on his brain to get away from what he saw. Would that be wrong? Really?
Yes. Shame on you, expecting something mind breaking to come out of poor innocent and short Ben.
Oh, I suspect Ben of having some depths yet unplumbed. There is also the small concern that Mesmer deserves a bit of a thwack on the mind.
But that’s what makes it so brill! Think about it: inside that lovably meek, timid mind lurks that which puts the illythid to shame. Rather than finding his copy book, Mes has located his personal diary.
There’s REASONS crazy little boy ran away from home and hides pills in his cereal box.
CRAZY REASONS.
EXPECTING, no.
HOPING, YES.
Whatever he just stumbled upon in that laptop, I’m thinking it was probably written in an unmedicated state. Perhaps something even more psychotic than that piece of snuff erotica we were treated to a while back?
I wanna know why Ben doesn’t have have his laptop password locked or at least take it with him.
Struck dog and all that, eh…?
LOL I love how she freaked the heck out. Reminds me so much of myself sometimes. Speaking of speakeasies, there’s a little hearsay that the bowels of Marshall Field’s in Downtown Chicago (specifically that part with the underground railway) was used to cart the naughty alchy to and fro. I might be wrong, though. My source is a little old lady with a ton of stories about the olden days under her belt. I trust her ’cause she’s got that good hard-to-find candy with the swirlies on it.
Do people actually have sex at the Cuddle Parlor, or is it exclusively cuddling ?
Exclusively cuddling. Nothing to see, here – move along.
Psst – wanna screw a teddy bear? ;-)
In the read world, cuddle party intimacy is strictly platonic. What people do after the sleepover is their own business.
Yeah, “real world.” You heard me.
Well it is a licensed brothel…
In Templar, what isn’t? :-P
Aw SHIT, is that Gordon pretending to scope out the poster for Snuggler’s Cove? Because if it is, things are about to get unpleasantly weird, even moreso than whatever the hell’s going down in panel 3.
Er, panel 2. On an unrelated note, it’s only just now really hitting me seeing him in relation to our new flapper friend, but Ben is one tiny little guy. Like, elfin.
…and googling ‘roast shoat’ TAZ is already the fifth highest listing. Interestingly there seem to be some big personalities in the shoat world who’s names come up repeatedly in that first page.
PS love all the expressions in this one, especially the teddy bear
You could also check out lackadaisycats for a fun 20’s perspective…
For some reason, Snuggler’s Cove seems like it’d have much creepier clientele than a regular ol’ brothel.
It can’t be any creepier than wherever Number 7 works from this page http://templaraz.com/?p=1497
Or the nearly albino David Ducovny look alike from the cover of this story arc.
Odd, I just realized that the Blond Chick on the cover is also wearing a Number 7.
Are the Numbers just valid within whatever Brothel they work at?
I can’t believe I completely forgot about corset-Zeus.
I would hope the numbering system of each brothel is independent, because the alternative is worse. What sort of commonalities exist between corset-Zeus and a Nordic ice goddess? Today’s provider of the #7 special from the list of services? Common customer profile #7?
Yeah, Gordon WOULD need to go to a place like that.
Templar AZ is AWESOME.
I love the Details of the City’s Culture like the Snuggler’s Cove poster and the different restaurant logos.
Thanks for the Link to the LA PL menu collection. That’s an very nice reference to have.
That is possibly the creepiest, creepiest poster I’ve ever laid my eyes on. .____.
Doesn’t make even top ten of my list. Many a dozen anime poster is far more creepier in a perverted way.
I think Mesmer prides himself on having seen EVERYTHING, DUDE so I can’t wait to find out what it is that has shocked him so. :D
I’m going to guess it involves Pastimes.
Maybe it’s a slashfic of everyone Ben knows, including Mes.
aww man that cuddle brothel is awesome, “softest girls in town” reminds me of this article I read a while back by a guy who went to the bunny ranch or something like that and played pictionary, talked, and cuddled with a whore.
Oh gosh, Flannery looks like she could rip little Ben’s head off in panel one.
Oooh, twenties food :D
I’m going to leave this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLC_amJ7uSc
I think it’s caused, based on previous mentions of Pastimes via Spike’s forum posts and livestreams, calling someone a Pastime is basically like calling them a cultist.
People who are retrophiles, like Flannery, are *seriously* annoyed by being lumped in with them.
And based on some of the book notes, Pastime as a fashion choice seems like Sincerism, something lots of teenagers adopt in ready rushes of teenage rebellion.
So Flannery is like a guy who has always wore 3-piece suits going “NO I DON’T LOVE MAD MEN I ALWAYS DRESSED THIS WAY FOR LIKE YEARS BEFORE THAT SHOW!”
Wow and here I was thinking Ben couldn’t piss off anyone. Or maybe he only irritates people who don’t have problems.
I have no idea why Snuggler’s Cove creeps me out so much. Gordon has nothing to do with it. I just get super weirded out around fetishes, and I think the whole “Awww, it’s so cute and innocent and intimate and panders directly to your objectifying fetish!” vibe the picture is going for combined with what I know the Oarlock is just… eugh.
I really like this chapter, though, by the way. Lot of great characterisation going on. I love meandering, slice-of-life narratives, and Templar probably does it better than anyone.
The expressions on Flannery and Mesmer made me crack up. Especially Mesmer. Seeing him get thrown is very satisfying.
I cannot WAIT to see what Mes is reacting to!!! 0.0
The expressions in this page are absolutely stellar. Ben looks as startled as I am by the aptly described hulking out by Flannery, and possibly as concerned for his life as I would be in his shoes, and Mesmer, well, we NEVER get to see him shocked so this is both unprecedented and curiosity inducing!
Relentless is a friggin awesome coffee shop name.
If I open a coffee shop, THAT’S the name I’m gonna use. I’ll pay you for the rights, Spike.
Oh Mesmer, what have you gotten into?
Also, maybe this is just because I’m too innocent to read all the creepy subtext, but I think a cuddle parlour actually sounds kind of awesome. I mean, if it’s actual hugs and stuff, not a euphemism for something I don’t get.
I just realized Mesmer looks like Sam from Opie and Anthony.