#( ft: carrie pope )

[thecreaturecodex]

Friedrich the Profane

"Gluttonous" © Lennart Verhoeff, accessed at his ArtStation here

[The basic concept of this NPC--a demodand who writes to discredit the gods--has been kicking around in my head for at least a decade. But the name, and the title of his most notorious tome, are recent innovations. I just read a book about the Treatise of the Three Imposters, a book that existed for centuries as a rumor and slander before actually being written. It was originally used as a rhetorical weapon by Pope Gregory IX against Emperor Fredrick II, hence the name of our villain for today. ]

Friedrich the Profane CR 20 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This humanoid creature has sharp teeth and bat-like wings. Its skin appears to be bleached and fits poorly on its obese frame—it has torn away in some places, and hangs in flaps in others. It wears a set of simple robes and carries a long iron rod, which it uses like a walking stick.

Friedrich the Profane is a powerful demodand who has taken an intellectual approach to the demodand’s quixotic quest to overthrow the gods. He is an author of great skill, and has written many tracts and discourses designed to convince their readers that the gods are not worthy of worship, being frauds and exploiters of the highest order. His masterpiece is the Treatise of the Three Imposters, which argues that the Test of the Starstone is a trap designed to kill anyone powerful enough to challenge the gods. Iomedae, Cayden Cailean and Norgober are the titular three imposters, who were granted divine power directly by Aroden to maintain the Starstone ruse, and then murdered him in order to cover up their secret origins. Friedrich poured some of his own quintessence into the creation of seven special copies of this book, which warped his body and left him a broken soul. He has seeded six of these copies in Golarion in order to spread mayhem and maltheism, but keeps the seventh copy for himself.

Friedrich now lives in seclusion and semi-retirement. His joints have locked up and his pallid hide is perpetually rent with seeping wounds; he treats his ailments with baths in warm acid and by sewing his skin in place. His manor is an imposing, gothic structure carved into the cavern walls of Sekatar-Seraktis in the Abyss, trusting to the war-torn nature of that plane to keep away intruders. He maintains a small household staff of lesser demodands, but despises the company of all other creatures. Friedrich the Profane walks with an iron rod to assist his movement, which can unlock into a deadly three-section staff should he need to defend himself (or punish an underling).

Treatise of the Three Imposters Although heavily redacted copies of this book can be found in a dozen or so libraries, and more in the ash piles of censors, the seven magical copies of Treatise of the Three Imposters are all currently extant. Any creature that carries a Treatise of the Three Imposters treats the damage reduction and spell resistance of all extraplanar outsiders as if they were five points lower. A creature that actually reads the entire dense text, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of 6 days, gains the heretical soul special ability of a demodand. The book is cursed. Anyone who carries a copy of Treatise of the Three Imposters cannot cast divine spells. Anyone who reads the entire book to gain its benefits can never cast divine spells again, nor gain levels in a divine spellcasting class, unless they receive an atonement spell, followed by a limited wish, wish or miracle spell. Having the curse lifted in such a way removes the heretical soul ability from the creature. CL 20th; School strong abjuration; Weight 5 lbs.

Friedrich the Profane    CR 20 XP 307,200 Broken soul shaggy demodand CE Medium outsider (chaotic, demodand, evil, extraplanar) Init +11; Senses blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., detect good, detect magic, Perception +28, see invisibility Defense AC 37, touch 14, flat-footed 25 (+4 Dex, +19 natural, +4 armor) hp 362 (25d10+225) Fort +22, Ref +14, Will +17; +4 vs. divine spells DR 15/good and magic, 5/-; Immune acid, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 5, fire 10, sonic 5; SR 29 Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (average) Melee +2 unholy sansetsukon +36/+31/+26/+21 (1d10+15 plus 2d6 unholy), bite +29 (2d6+4) or bite +34 (2d6+9), 2 claws +34 (1d6+9) or tortuous touch +34 (2d6 plus 1d6 Dexterity damage) Special Attacks agonized wail, baleful gaze (DC 27), faith-stealing strike (DC 27), torturous touch (DC 27) Spell-Like Abilities CL 20th; concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) Constant—detect good, detect magic, see invisibility At will—detect thoughts (DC 17), fear (DC 19), gaseous form, greater dispel magic, invisibility (self only), magic circle against good 3/day—empowered cloudkill (DC 20), fog cloud, quickened ray of enfeeblement (DC 16), stinking cloud (DC 18)1/day—blasphemy (DC 22), chaos hammer (DC 19), mass charm monster (DC 23), summon (level 6, 1d6 tarry demodands or 1d4 slimy demodands 60%) Statistics Str 29, Dex 18, Con 27, Int 21, Wis 16, Cha 20 Base Atk +25; CMB +34 (+36 vs. disarm); CMD 48 (50 vs. disarm) Feats Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Diehard (B), Empower Spell-Like Ability (cloudkill), Endurance (B), Great Fortitude (B), Greater Vital Strike, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Intimidating Prowess, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (ray of enfeeblement), Toughness (B), Vital Strike Skills Bluff +27, Craft (writing) +30, Diplomacy +27, Fly +22, Intimidate +46, Knowledge (arcana) +30, Knowledge (planes, religion) +33, Linguistics +10, Perception +28, Sense Motive +28, Spellcraft +27, Use Magic Device +27; Racial Modifiers +8 Intimidate Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Infernal, Necril, Senzar, two regional languages SQ heretical soul Gear +2 unholy sansetsukon, bracers of armor +4, Treatise of the Three Imposters, wand of scorching ray (CL 11th, 50 charges), 200 pp, 500 gp Special Abilities Agonized Wail (Su) As a standard action, Friedrich the Profane can emit an agonized wail that inspires terror in those who hear it. All creatures within 120 feet must succeed at a DC 27 Will save or become shaken for as long as they remain within 120 feet of Friedrich. A successful save renders a creature immune to Friedrich’s agonized wail for 24 hours. This is a sonic mind-affecting fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Baleful Gaze (Su) Any creature within 60 feet of Friedrich the Profane must succeed at a DC 27 Fortitude save or take 1d4 points of Strength, Constitution, and Charisma drain. Whatever the result of the saving throw, the creature cannot be affected by the same broken soul's baleful gaze again for 1 minute. Demodands are immune to this effect. The save DC is Charisma based. Faith-Stealing Strike (Su) When Friedrich the Profane’s natural attack or melee weapon damages a creature capable of casting divine spells, that creature must make a DC 27 Will saving throw or be unable to cast any divine spells for 1 round. Once a creature makes this save, it is immune to further faith-stealing strikes from that particular demodand for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based. Heretical Soul (Ex) All demodands gain a +4 bonus on saving throws against divine spells. In addition, any attempts to scry on a demodand using divine magic automatically fail. The caster can see the scryed area normally, but the demodand simply does not appear. Treatise of the Three Imposters (Su) By carrying a copy of his cursed tome, Freidrich the Profane is able to treat the spell resistance and damage reduction of all extraplanar outsiders as if they were 5 points lower. Torturous Touch (Su) Friedrich the Profane can make a touch attack to cause hideous, painful wounds to rip open in the target's body. This touch deals 2d6 points of slashing damage and 1d6 points of Dexterity damage, and causes the touched creature to fall prone in a fit of convulsions and be dazed for 1d4 rounds. A successful Fortitude save negates the Dexterity damage and the convulsive fit. The save DC is Charisma based.

[intheboneorchard]

Silly Game Time: The Pope has died and the College of Cardinals has just elected *you* as the new head of the Catholic Church. Surprising and weird, I know, but not technically impossible.

What's your first act as the unexpected leader of the largest branch of Christianity on Earth (and Venus, but not Mars)?

Oooooo there’s so many things to do, but I guess as my first act, I will tear out some of the Vatican Gold to pay to have this painted 20 ft high

I will wear simple linen robes and carry a literal ban hammer to swing at anyone who starts spewing bullshit

[blueathens]

Harry’s House

A collection of purely fictional stories based on Harry Styles songs.  

All summaries are subject to change

Music For a Sushi Restaurant - (Pedri González) ↬ Pedri and Y/n decide to go on a date (after not being able to for a little while due to work) and they went back to their favourite restaurant.

Late Night Talking - (Rúben Dias) ↬ Rúben and Y/n could be doing anything, even watching paint dry, but as long as he was with her, he didn’t care what they did.

Grapejuice - (Daniel Ricciardo) ↬ A nervous Daniel is at her door with a bottle a wine that he accidentally calls roses.

As It Was - (Steve Harrington) ↬ Steve never grew up in a loving household, but instead he found a loving family within his girlfriend and the kids they joint ‘babysit.’

Daylight - (Pedri González) ↬ Pedri wants to be back with his girlfriend rather than be on the other side of the world than her, but he feels like he’s the only one feeling that way. (Links with Daylight by Taylor Swift)

Little Freak - (JJ Maybank, ft Pope Heyward) ↬ Y/n was now with Pope, and JJ watches in regret as he was the reason they couldn’t last in their short relationship.

Matilda - (James Potter) ↬ Sirius and his siblings were always mistreated at home, James took two under his wing - his best friend and girlfriend - but Sirius was always able to push those memories away, but Y/n couldn’t and James was going to be there for her to make sure she knew she still had a family.

Matilda - (Charles Leclerc) ↬ Y/n is one of the greatest actors of all time. Along with being one of the greatest actors of all time, she is also Arthur’s best friend, and have been for longer than they could remember. Along with being best friends with the youngest Leclerc, she is also dating the second eldest Leclerc brother, Charles Leclerc. But despite having all those goods, Y/n wished for one more thing, for her family to take an active interest in her, but they never do, they never did. As she carries this unfulfilled wish, a musician decides to write a song for her - a song that it was okay to do it all by herself and that she did, without even realising, have a family already.

OR

↬ In which Charles’ best friend and lover has never had a family to fall back onto, or ever had anyone being her plus one for those award shows, or even had someone to hold her hand whenever a stunt goes wrong, or even had someone tell her they were proud of her. No, she never had that until realising the fans have become her family, and until Charles stumbled into her life. (Links with This Is Me Trying)

Cinema - (Steve Harrington) ↬ After some comments at a party of guys saying that Steve wasn’t ‘good enough’ or ‘bet she always fakes it with him.’ He takes her to the bathroom to prove them all wrong.

Daydreaming - (Jude Bellingham) ↬ Loving Y/n was like a daydream, but she wasn’t his to love no more, but he thinks maybe she did in fact love him still just like he did.

Keep Driving - (Rúben Dias) ↬ After the actress and the footballer had a difficult time of their relationship being too publicised for them, he takes her out in his car to get away for a little bit.

Satellite - (Charles Leclerc) ↬ Charles admits to Y/n that when she is ready, he’ll be there waiting for her.

Boyfriends - (Peter Parker) ↬ Peter likes his best friend, but she was taken by a man who didn’t treat her the way she deserved to be treated.

Love Of My Life - (Peter Parker) ↬ Y/n didn’t remember him, but Peter tells her about the love of his life, not knowing it was her.

Masterlist

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[makorragal-312]

Songs in my music library that remind me of Klance

DISCLAIMER: MY music library. MY opinion. More than allowed to disagree.

A Drop In the Ocean - Ron Pope

All About U - Yugyeom ft. Loco

Blueberry Eyes - MAX ft. Suga of BTS 

Collide - EARTHGANG

Fire On Fire - Sam Smith

I Want U Around - Yugyeom ft. DeVita

If I Can’t Have You - Shawn Mendes

In My Dream - Limzy

I have no idea what the lyrics are but it screams Klance to me.

Kiss The Boy - Keiynan Lonsdale

Life After You - Daughtry

Losing You - Wonho

Love Lies - Khalid ft. Normani

Never Not - Lauv

Next To Me - Emeili Sande

ocean eyes - Billie Eillish

Ocean of Love - Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Don’t ask. I just vibe with it XD

Paris In The Rain - Lauv

Play With Fire - Sam Tinnesz

Tell me they wouldn’t get it on to this song. I’ll wait...

Rewrite the Stars - Zac Efron and Zendaya

Sanctuary - Welshly Arms

Teeth - 5 Seconds of Summer

The Fighter - Keith Urban ft. Carrie Underwood

War of Hearts - Ruelle

Waste It On Me - Steve Aoki ft. BTS

When U Fall - Yugyeom

-----------------------------------------

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Brave Enough - Lindsey Sterling ft. Christina Perri

Highly recommend watching the animatic on YouTube by Aki

Guillotine - Jon Bellion

I mean, isn’t this one of the many official Klance songs?

Hold On - Chord Overstreet

I saw the AMV by grayskyluna on YouTube and haven’t been the same

[j-r-macready]

A-10A 78-0596/FT by Scott Rathbone Via Flickr: Carrying markings for the 23rd FG with tail markings for the 74th FS "Flying Tigers" and 75th FS "Tiger Sharks", this 23rd Wg A-10 from Pope AFB, is seen on approach to Nellis in September 2002.

[sweethomesweethome]

my february playlist for you ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

• Hoizer — in the woods somewhere

• Hoizer — cherry wine

• Haley Klinkhammer — can't help falling in love

• Hoizer — from eden

• Cassadee Pope — easier to lie

• Jules Larson — you know it's true

• James Blunt — carry you home

• Haley Klinkhammer — all time low

• Hoizer — like real people do

• Voxhaul Broadcast — if i run

• Emerson, Lake & Palmer — lucky man

• The Elders — too late to change

• The Box Tops — the letter

• Mike Oldfield — shadow on the wall

• Uriah Heep — lady in black

• Deep Purple — hush

• Supertramp — the logical song

• Ponderosa — hold on you

• The Luka State — 30 minute break

• My Chemical Romance — the sharpest lives

• Young Guns — bulletproof

• Fall Out Boy — centuries

• PVRIS — you and i

• Cilver — i'm america

• Normandie — white flag

• You Me At Six — room to breathe

• My Chemical Romance — famous last words

• My Chemical Romance — welcoming to the black parade

• Fall Out Boy — light em up

• Twin Wild — willow tree

• Stars in Stereo — the broken

• Tonight Alive — world away

• Twin Wild — control

• The Weeknd — secrets

• The Weeknd — save your tears

• Charlotte Lawrence — talk you down

• The Weeknd — love to lay

• Griff — black hole

• Purple disco machine ft. Sophie and the Giants — hypnotized

• Maroon 5 — maps

• B. O.B.ft Hayley Williams — airplanes

• Madcon — beggin

• Madonna — sorry

• Natasha Bedingfield — pocketful of sunshine

• Iggy Azalea — team

♡

and here it is: playlist

what is your february music?

you can find a link to all playlists in my bio. hope you like it!

like or reblog, please. thank you.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.2

44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his Philippicae (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the following months. 31 BC – Final War of the Roman Republic: Battle of Actium: Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra. 1192 – The Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Richard I of England and Saladin, leading to the end of the Third Crusade. 1561 – Entry of Mary, Queen of Scots into Edinburgh, a spectacular civic celebration for the Queen of Scotland, marred by religious controversy. 1649 – The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro. 1666 – The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings, including Old St Paul's Cathedral. 1752 – Great Britain, along with its overseas possessions, adopts the Gregorian calendar. 1789 – The United States Department of the Treasury is founded. 1792 – During what became known as the September Massacres of the French Revolution, rampaging mobs slaughter three Roman Catholic bishops, more than two hundred priests, and prisoners believed to be royalist sympathizers. 1806 – A massive landslide destroys the town of Goldau, Switzerland, killing 457. 1807 – The British Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon. 1856 – The Tianjing incident takes place in Nanjing, China. 1859 – The Carrington Event is the strongest geomagnetic storm on record. 1862 – American Civil War: United States President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run. 1864 – American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city, ending the Atlanta Campaign. 1867 – Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Japan, marries Masako Ichijō, thereafter known as Empress Shōken. 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan: Prussian forces take Napoleon III of France and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner. 1885 – Rock Springs massacre: In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners, who are struggling to unionize so they could strike for better wages and work conditions, attack their Chinese fellow workers killing 28, wounding 15 and forcing several hundred more out of town. 1898 – Battle of Omdurman: British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establish British dominance in Sudan. 1901 – Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair. 1912 – Arthur Rose Eldred is awarded the first Eagle Scout award of the Boy Scouts of America. 1935 – The Labor Day Hurricane, the most intense hurricane to strike the United States, makes landfall at Long Key, Florida, killing at least 400. 1939 – World War II: Following the start of the invasion of Poland the previous day, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed by Nazi Germany. 1944 – The last execution of a Finn in Finland will take place when soldier Olavi Laiho is executed by shooting in Oulu. 1945 – World War II: The Japanese Instrument of Surrender is signed by Japan and the major warring powers aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. 1945 – Communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam after the end of the Nguyễn dynasty. 1946 – The Interim Government of India is formed, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru as vice president with the powers of a Prime Minister. 1957 – President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam becomes the first foreign head of state to make a state visit to Australia. 1958 – A USAF RC-130 is shot down by fighters over Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew members are killed. 1960 – The first election of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. The Tibetan community observes this date as Democracy Day. 1963 – CBS Evening News becomes U.S. network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes. 1968 – Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War. 1970 – NASA announces the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon, Apollo 15 (the designation is re-used by a later mission), and Apollo 19. 1984 – Seven people are shot and killed and 12 wounded in the Milperra massacre, a shootout between the rival motorcycle gangs Bandidos and Comancheros in Sydney, Australia. 1985 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politicians and former MPs M. Alalasundaram and V. Dharmalingam are shot dead. 1987 – In Moscow, the trial begins for 19-year-old pilot Mathias Rust, who flew his Cessna airplane into Red Square in May. 1990 – Transnistria is unilaterally proclaimed a Soviet republic; the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev declares the decision null and void. 1992 – The 7.7 Mw  Nicaragua earthquake affected the west coast of Nicaragua. With a Ms–Mw disparity of half a unit, this tsunami earthquake triggered a tsunami that caused most of the damage and casualties, with at least 116 killed. Typical runup heights were 3–8 meters (9.8–26.2 ft). 1998 – Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia; all 229 people onboard are killed. 1998 – The UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide. 2009 – The Andhra Pradesh, India helicopter crash occurred near Rudrakonda Hill, 40 nautical miles (74 km) from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India. Fatalities included Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. 2010 – Israel-Palestinian conflict: the 2010 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are launched by the United States. 2013 – The Eastern span replacement of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens at 10:15 PM at a cost of $6.4 billion, after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the old span. 2019 – Hurricane Dorian, a category 5 hurricane, devastates the Bahamas, killing at least five.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Millions of hungry Americans turn to food banks for 1st time (AP) Hunger is a harsh reality in the richest country in the world. Even during times of prosperity, schools hand out millions of hot meals a day to children, and desperate elderly Americans are sometimes forced to choose between medicine and food. Now, in the pandemic of 2020, with illness, job loss and business closures, millions more Americans are worried about empty refrigerators and barren cupboards. Food banks are doling out meals at a rapid pace and an Associated Press data analysis found a sharp rise in the amount of food distributed compared with last year. Meanwhile, some folks are skipping meals so their children can eat and others are depending on cheap food that lacks nutrition. Those fighting hunger say they’ve never seen anything like this in America, even during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. The first place many Americans are finding relief is a neighborhood food pantry, most connected to vast networks of nonprofits. Tons of food move each day from grocery store discards and government handouts to warehouse distribution centers, and then to the neighborhood charity. An AP analysis of Feeding America data from 181 food banks in its network found the organization has distributed nearly 57 percent more food in the third quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2019.

Covid Nomads (WSJ) Alan Frei lives the life of a backpacker. That is, all 62 of his belongings fit into a single backpack, which he carries with him as he travels and lives in different cities around the world—a total of 53 countries over the past three years. The 38-year-old Swiss entrepreneur in October got rid of his apartment near Zurich and all his furniture. Items he kept include his watch, a toothbrush, seven pairs of underwear, and sunglasses. Mr. Frei is an extreme version of a digital nomad, a person with no fixed address, who lives and works while traveling the globe. Today, their ranks are small, but they could become more common in the years ahead. “There will definitely be more digital nomads,” says Nicholas Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Before the pandemic, only about 2% of Americans worked from home full-time, Mr. Bloom says, but he expects that will rise to about 8% to 10% of workers. If just 10% of them travel and work remotely, that will still be enormous, he says. Scott Cohen, a professor at the University of Surrey’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, expects more countries will cater visa and tourism programs to digital nomads, as they seek an alternative to the standard business travel market. Chekitan S. Dev, a professor at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business, School of Hotel Administration, says the trend was first driven by millennials; now older millennials are taking their families with them when they move around. By normalizing remote work and school, the pandemic has supercharged a trend. In the future, digital nomads may be middle-aged, rent or own homes for less time, want to go to more exotic destinations and move more quickly between destinations.

California Water Futures Begin Trading Amid Fear of Scarcity (Bloomberg) Water joined gold, oil and other commodities traded on Wall Street, highlighting worries that the life-sustaining natural resource may become scarce across more of the world. Farmers, hedge funds and municipalities alike are now able to hedge against—or bet on—future water availability in California, the biggest U.S. agriculture market and world’s fifth-largest economy. The contracts, a first of their kind in the U.S., were announced in September as heat and wildfires ravaged the U.S. West Coast and as California was emerging from an eight-year drought. They are meant to serve both as a hedge for big water consumers, such as almond farmers and electric utilities, against water prices fluctuations as well a scarcity gauge for investors worldwide. “Climate change, droughts, population growth, and pollution are likely to make water scarcity issues and pricing a hot topic for years to come,” said RBC Capital Markets managing director and analyst Deane Dray.

‘It’s a free-for-all’: how hi-tech spyware ends up in the hands of Mexico’s cartels (The Guardian) Corrupt Mexican officials have helped drug cartels in the country obtain state-of-the-art spyware which can be used to hack mobile phones, according to a senior DEA official. As many as 25 private companies—including the Israeli company NSO Group and the Italian firm Hacking Team—have sold surveillance software to Mexican federal and state police forces, but there is little or no regulation of the sector—and no way to control where the spyware ends up, said the officials. “It’s a free-for-all,” the official told the Cartel Project, an initiative coordinated by Forbidden Stories, a global network of investigative journalists whose mission is to continue the work of reporters who are threatened, censored or killed. “The police who have the technology would just sell it to the cartels.” [And then the cartels would use it against their enemies or those investigating them.] The nexus between state and criminal forces has fuelled a wave of targeted violence which have made Mexico the most dangerous country for journalists in the world, outside a war zone. At least 119 media workers have been killed in Mexico since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the inevitable fear for reporters is that surveillance could lead to more tangible dangers.

Pope makes surprise early morning prayer visit in rainy Rome (AP) Pope Francis on Tuesday made a surprise early morning visit to the Spanish Steps in Rome to pray for people worldwide struggling in the pandemic. With rain falling and dawn breaking, Francis popped up in the square at the foot of the Spanish Steps at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT), two hours after the end of Italy’s overnight curfew. Before heading back to Vatican City, where he resides in a hotel, Francis stopped to pray some more and celebrate Mass in St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome. Early in the pandemic, Francis made a similar pop-up visit to a little-frequented church in the heart of downtown Rome to pray, startling the few Romans who were in the area during exceptionally tight lockdown measures. In separate, written comments, Francis stressed the need for all to have employment when the world emerges from the pandemic. “How can we speak of human dignity without working to ensure that everyone is able to earn a decent living?” the pope wrote. He urged people to “find ways to express our firm conviction that no person, no person at all, no family should be without work.” As he has previously during the pandemic, the pope praised what he called the “ordinary people” who have kept the world functioning as it reels under the strain of the global pandemic. He cited those providing essential services—health care workers and shopkeepers, cleaners and caregivers and “so very many others.”

The Kremlin Is Offering Russians Free Vaccines, but Will They Take Them? (NYT) Aleksei Zakharov, a Moscow economics professor, got the Russian coronavirus vaccine injected into his upper arm over the weekend. Getting the shot was an easy decision, he said—not because the Russian government said it was safe, but because scores of Russians have shared their experience with it on social media. “I trust the grass roots collection of information far more, of course, than what the state says, at least before the testing results are available and published in a medical journal,” Mr. Zakharov, 44, said in a telephone interview Monday, already clear of a mild fever—a side-effect of the vaccine. Russia made its coronavirus vaccine available for free in recent days to teachers, medical workers and social-service employees younger than 61 in Moscow. But even more than in the West, a lack of trust is hobbling Russia’s rollout of a vaccine: the country’s scientists may well have made great strides in battling the pandemic, but many Russians are not ready to believe it. That distrust looms large as Russia races to roll out the vaccine while facing the fiercest onslaught of the pandemic yet, with some 500 deaths per day.

Mt Everest grows by nearly a metre to new height (BBC) The world’s highest mountain Mount Everest is 0.86m higher than had been previously officially calculated, Nepal and China have jointly announced. Until now the countries differed over whether to add the snow cap on top. The new height is 8,848.86m (29,032 ft). Everest stands on the border between China and Nepal and mountaineers climb it from both sides. Officials at Nepal’s foreign ministry and department of survey said surveyors from both countries had co-ordinated to agree on the new height.

China condemns new US Hong Kong sanctions, Taiwan arms sale (AP) China on Tuesday lashed out at the U.S. over new sanctions against Chinese officials and the sale of more military equipment to Taiwan. The U.S. actions are part of what critics see as an effort by the Trump administration to put in place high-pressure tactics toward Beijing that could make it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to steady relations. The Cabinet’s office for Hong Kong affairs expressed “strong outrage and condemnation” over the sanctions leveled against 14 members of the standing committee of China’s legislature, which passed a sweeping Hong Kong National Security Law earlier this year. Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, meanwhile, demanded the U.S. cancel its latest arms sale to Taiwan and said China would make a “proper and necessary response.” President Donald Trump’s administration has incensed Beijing with 11 separate arms sales and closer military and political ties with the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. China has stepped up military flights near the island and pledged to punish U.S. companies involved in the arms deals in response.

Libya’s east-based forces seize Turkish-owned vessel (AP) Forces of a Libyan commander who rules the eastern half of the country and who was behind a year-long military attempt to capture the capital, Tripoli, have seized a Turkish vessel heading to the western town of Misrata. The development by Khalifa Hifter’s forces could escalate tensions in the conflict-stricken Libya, since Turkey is the main foreign backer of Hifter’s rivals, the U.N.-backed administration in Tripoli, in western Libya. Hifter’s forces stopped the Jamaica-flagged cargo vessel, Mabrouka, on Monday off the eastern port town of Derna, said Ahmed al-Mosmari, the spokesman for Hifter’s forces. Al-Mosmari said the vessel entered a “no sail” zone and did not respond to calls from the naval forces. It’s the second Turkish-owned vessel seized by Hifter’s forces this year, according to Ambrey Intelligence, a British private maritime intelligence firm. In 2020, Hifter’s forces have seized at least six ships.

[matthewtkachuk]

“do you think his back hurts from carrying the first season of obx on his back”? and drew’s hands pls 🥺🤲🏻

blaaake i love you so much its insane 

okay so my first impression of you was obviously that you were either super trustworthy or an assassin because literally our first interaction i gave you my home address hehe but like on that first chaotic ft i realized that like damn you were my people 

my favorite memory??? omg there are literally too many, how about you always falling asleep on me during ft?? simping over soft pope with me?? or your infamous rants??? trusting me to pick ur face reveal selfie?? no its gotta be the giggling and reacting to tik toks on ft bc it is the ultimate serotonin boost ily baby

[reaper-royalty]

Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani)

The entrance is in Viale Vaticano near Piazza Risorgimento. There is also a regular free bus service from Piazza S.Pietro (on the left of Bernini's Colonnades as you face the Basilica). 

The Vatican houses one of the world's great art collections. Its 7km of exhibits will daunt even the most energetic tourist. So if you only have limited time plan to take in what interests you most - and hurry past the rest. 

A oneway system operates for security reasons, so work out in advance what you wish to miss - you cannot go back for example to the Stanze di Rafaello after visiting the Capella Sistina (Sistine Chapel). Remember also that the Sistine chapel is a long walk - about 400m from the entrance along many corridors and staircases.

Popes have been collecting antique art for at least 500 years and today the Vatican contains the largest number of Greek and Roman statues, reliefs, mosaics and inscriptions of any museum in the world. 

The Museo Pio Clementino takes its name from two 18th-century Popes who tried to put some order among the large number of pieces of classical statuary littering the Vatican gardens and palaces.

Note the splendid 4th-century porphyry sarcophagi in the Sala a Croce Greca (hall in the shape of a Greek cross), also a sculpted head (no. 567) that is most likely a portrait of Cleopatra.

In the octagonal courtyard of the Belvedere Palace, which was the creation of one of the main founders of the Vatican collection, Pope Julius II, you can see one of the most famous sculptures of ancient Greece, the Laocoon, a marble group of the 2nd century bc dug up on the Esquiline hill in 1506 (from Domus Aurea). Laocoon, a priest of Apollo, and his sons were suffocated by serpents as a punishment by the gods. Opposite is the Apollo del Belvedere a fine Roman copy of a famous 4th-century bc Greek bronze.

Nearby in the Atrio del Torso is the famous Torso del Belvedere a fragment of a naked figure seated on the skin of a wild animal. The hidden power in this much damaged piece of marble is reputed to have impressed even Michelangelo.

The Braccio Nuovo (New Wing) a 19th-century addition, contains a telling portrait of Augustus (No. 14) at about the age of 40, and a colossal statue of the Nile river god surrounded by sphinxes and crocodiles.

You now penetrate into part of the Vatican Library. In the Sala Sistina is a strange wooden device which was used to fix the Papal seal or 'bollo' on important Papal documents or 'Bulls' as they were called in English. The central reading room is laid out with various valuable codices, or handwritten versions of the Bible, some written on papyrus. 

The Library contains over 70,000 codices, manuscripts and early printed books. On display are a set of love letters from King Henry VIII to Ann Boleyn (evidence used against the sovereign in excommunication proceedings), an illustrated book on falconry by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and autograph letters of Michelangelo and Raphael.

The Capella Sistina (now undergoing its first major cleaning and restoration) is perhaps the most famous and overwhelming of all Rome's art treasures. The chapel, built by Pope Sixtus IV at the end of the 15th century, was decorated by some of the greatest artists of the day, including Botticelli, Signorelli, and Pinturicchio. But it was Michelangelo's painting of the huge ceiling between 1508 and 1512 and his masterpiece, the LastJudgement painted on the main altar wall 23 years later that set the seal of greatness on the building. 

Michelangelo was at first reluctant to carry out Pope Julius I’s commission to paint the events of the Creation, and had great difficulty in getting paid for his tour deforce. Refusing all assistance, he locked himself away for years, lying on his back suspended from scaffolding in order to paint over 3000sq m 10,000sq ft of ceiling. It is a feat that still takes away the breath of the visitors who pass through the chapel every day.

If the Creation breathes the very spirit of the Renaissance at its height, the Last Judgement is in very different mood. Terribilitd (terribleness) was the quality in Michelangelo's art that most impressed his contemporaries, and here with Christ standing in final judgement over humanity (including many actual portrait's of the artist's friends and enemies), you feel Michelangelo is making his final statement on life and death, honour and ambition, love and hate. 

The Last Judgement did not meet with universal approval. Prudish Popes ordered trousers or loin cloths to be painted on some of the nudes. (They were later removed.) The Sistine Chapel is today used for the election of a new Pope on the death of the Roman Pontiff, and for solemn assemblies of the College of Cardinals.

While Michelangelo was labouring alone on his great ceiling, his rival and fellow artist Raphael was working (with plenty of assistants) on the decoration of the nearby Stanze di Rafaello. (Raphael Rooms). This was the private apartment of Pope Julius II who did not want to live in the Borgia Apartment below, because of its unpleasant historical associations. Two of the rooms, the Stanza della Segnatura, the Pope's study and library, and the Stanza di Eliodoro, his bedroom, are mostly by Raphael's own hand. 

Truth, beauty and goodness are the subjects of the frescoes in the first room. The Disputation of the Sacrament and the School of Athens represent respectively religious and philosophical truth, while Apollo and the Muses on Mount Parnassus represent beauty. Goodness is portrayed by the cardinal virtues, prudence, temperance and strength. The second room contains three superb frescoes; the Expulsion of Heliodorusfrom the Temple in Jerusalem, Pope Leo Stopping the Invasion of Attila the Hun, and the Miracle of Bolsena.

The Museo Gregoriano Etrusco should not be missed as it -contains the Etruscan treasure discovered in 1837 in a tomb at Cerveteri (then part of the Pope's earthly domain).

 The three occupants of the tomb were buried with gold, silver, jewels, and richly decorated table ware. The Museo Profano and the Museo Cristiano (Profane and Christian Museums) used to be housed in the Lateran Palace and were transferred here into a new building in 1970. 

They contain Roman sculpture, inscriptions and sarcophagi dating from the lst-4th centuries ad. The 4th-century statue of the Good Shepherd is an excellent example of the continuity of Mediterranean art forms - the inspiration is clearly pagan and ancient Greek.

If you are not too exhausted, the Pinacoteca or Vatican Picture Gallery contains further riches. It is particularly well endowed with Primitives and 15th century Italian artists.

 The Giotto polyptych in Room II and the Melozzo da Forli Angels in Room IV are worth more than a passing glance. In Room VIII there is a Raphael feast. The Transfiguration, Raphael's last work (it was hung above his bier as he lay in state) has been cleaned recently, revealing unexpected new details. Also on view is a set of tapestries woven from Raphael's cartoons for the Capella Sistina, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The Coronation of the Virgin was the first work of Raphael's maturity - he was 20 years old when he painted it.

[goodlesson]

the ever wonderful olivia/@mabelmcbae tagged me quite awhile ago to post my top 5 songs from each year of the past decade. i can’t believe i’m even typing out the word decade???? we really about to be in 2020 huh. anyway!! i’m super excited about this but also a little bummed bc i’m no doubt forgetting some songs from before 2014 (aka before i had my spotify account, rip itunes). sorry in advance to all the songs i loved but am now forgetting i loved ✌️

also, i’m definitely about to cheat and list songs in the years i associate them with, not necessarily the year they came out. my memories >>> your discography tbh.

RULES:

Make a list of your 5 favorite songs per year from 2010-2019

No artist repeats within each year

Song year can be the year the single dropped OR the year the album with the song on it came out (just to give you all a small amount of leeway)

Go with your gut otherwise you’re literally gonna lose your mind

2010

Sink or Swim- Tyrone Wells

Center of Attention- Jackson Waters

Say When- The Fray

Everybody Loves Me- OneRepublic

Enchanted- Taylor Swift

2011

Curve of the Earth- Matt Nathanson

Dig- Incubus

Pumped Up Kicks- Foster the People

Everything You Want- Vertical Horizon

Teenage Dream- Glee Cast Version (come the heck @ me)

2012

Talk- Coldplay

Explosions- Ellie Goulding

Give Me Love- Ed Sheeran

All the Pretty Lights- Andrew Belle

Some Nights- Fun.

2013

Through the Dark- One Direction

Sweet Nothing- Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch

1961- The Fray

A Drop in the Ocean- Ron Pope

Pompeii- Bastille

2014

Anna Sun- Walk the Moon

Wings- Birdy

Carry You- Union J

Rather Be- Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne

Get Down- James Arthur

2015

No Interruption- Hoodie Allen

Funny- Tori Kelly

Paralysis- Young the Giant

Paris- Magic Man

Shine- Years & Years

2016

Winter of Our Youth- Bastille

Border- Years & Years

Color- Finish Ticket

7 Years- Lukas Graham

I Took a Pill in Ibiza- Mike Posner

2017

Begging- Dua Lipa

Despacito- Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee

Meet Me in the Hallway- Harry Styles

Perfect Places- Lorde

Por Fin Te Encontré- Cali y el Dandee ft. Juan Magán and Sebastian Yatra

2018

Fine Line- Mabel ft. Not3s

Next in Line- Walk the Moon

Sit Next to Me (Stereotypes Remix)- Foster the People

Unstable- Zak Abel

Howl- Years & Years

2019

The Knife- Maggie Rogers

The Waves- Bastille

Give Me a Try- The Wombats

Outnumbered- Dermot Kennedy

Stayaway- MUNA

only do this if you want to, i know it’s a big undertaking!! also sorry in advance if you’ve already done this. i’ll tag @aslongasitsrealtoyou @gucciadcampaign @softbrobarnes @niallhendes @niallspringsteen @eiqhties @farfromthstars

[justforbooks]

What happened the day I was born?

Sunday June 3, 1973

US date format:  6/3/1973, UK date format: 3/6/1973

June 3, 1973 was a Sunday and it was the 154th day of the year 1973. It was the 22nd Sunday of that year. The next time you can reuse your old 1973 calendar will be in 2029. Both calendars will be exactly the same! The US president was Richard Nixon (Republican). Led Zeppelin - Live in Los Angeles, California (some feel this is Led Zeppelin's best performance of the 1973 North American tour). Famous people born on this day include Sargis Sargsian and Charles Emanuel. In that special week of June people in US were listening to My Love by Paul McCartney. In UK Can The Can by Suzi Quatro was in the top 5 hits. Jeremy, directed by Arthur Barron, was one of the most viewed movies released in 1973 while The Matlock Paper by Robert Ludlum was one of the best selling books. On TV people were watching Praise the Lord. If you liked videogames you were probably playing Gotcha or TREK73.

On June 3, 1973

A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes at the Paris air show. The aircraft had been heavily modified compared to the initial prototype, featuring engine nacelles split on either side of the fuselage, landing gear that retracted into the nacelles, and retractable foreplanes. The crash occurred in front of 250,000 people, including designer Alexei Tupolev, towards the end of the show, following a display by the pre-production Concorde aircraft. The aircraft appears to be making a landing approach, with the landing gear out and the "moustache" foreplanes extended, but then engages all four engines and climbs rapidly. Possibly stalling below 2,000 ft (610 m), the aircraft pitches over and goes into a steep dive. Trying to pull out of the subsequent dive with the engines again at full power, the Tu-144 breaks up in mid-air, destroying 15 houses, and killing all six people on board the Tu-144 and eight more on the ground. Three children are among the dead, and sixty people are severely injured.

Death of Jean Batmale, French footballer and manager (b. 1895).

100th anniversary

Birthdate of Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist and psychobiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961).

50th anniversary

Birthdate of Igor Shafarevich, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 2017).

25th anniversary

Birthdate of Jan Reker, Dutch footballer and manager.

10th anniversary

The Buddhist crisis: Soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam attack protesting Buddhists in Hu, South Vietnam, with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.

Birthdate of Rudy Demotte, Belgian politician, 8th Minister-President of the Walloon Region; and Toshiaki Karasawa, Japanese actor.

Death of Edmond Decottignies, French weightlifter (b. 1893); Pope John XXIII (b. 1881); and Nâzm Hikmet Ran, Turkish poet, author, and playwright (b. 1902).

4th anniversary

Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.

Birthdate of Takako Minekawa, Japanese singer-songwriter; and Dean Pay, Australian rugby league player.

Death of George Edwin Cooke, American soccer player (b. 1883).

3rd anniversary

Death of Hjalmar Schacht, Danish-German economist, banker, and politician (b. 1877).

2nd anniversary

Birthdate of Luigi Di Biagio, Italian footballer and manager.

Death of Heinz Hopf, German-Swiss mathematician and academic (b. 1894).

1st anniversary

Birthdate of Julie Gayet, French actress.

If you were born on June 3, 1973 here is the nature that you posses.

You have a positive attitude towards life and are generous in nature. You are also very trustworthy.

You are most likely to be an introvert and have very few friends. You are very suspicious and do not trust others much.

You are very sensitive and are often too moved by somebody else’s comment and you think over it for too long.

You are a thinker, but sometimes you might get carried away and lose focus from reality. You also have a tendency to procrastinate.

You are very helpful in nature but are also short tempered which might hamper your relationship with others.

You are independent and love to help those in need. You are also stubborn in nature.

Due to your stubborn nature you find it hard to work amicably with others and find difficulty in dealing with situations where some compromise and conformation is required. You ought to change your attitude otherwise you might find it hard to survive in your workplace.

Base on the data published by the United Nations Population Division, an estimated 121,831,979 babies were born throughout the world in the year 1973. The estimated number of babies born on 3rd June 1973 is 333,786. That’s equivalent to 232 babies every minute. Try to imagine if all of them are crying at the same time.

In the United States, the most popular baby name is Jennifer. This name was given to 62,451 baby girls. For the boys it’s Michael. This name was recorded 67,846 times in the year 1973. Any chance you are Jennifer or Michael?

There have been 16,801 days from the day I was born up to today. If I’ve been sleeping 8 hours daily since birth, then I have slept a total of 5,600 days or 15.33 years. I spent 33% of my life sleeping. Since night and day always follow each other, there were precisely 569 full moons after I was born up to this day. How many of them did I see?

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[improbablecarny]

The Best Good Parts of The Scarecrow

As according to me

After The Metal Opera concluded, Avantasia went more-or-less dormant for a while. But the story was far from over: 2008 blessed us with a new album, a new story, and a new direction. With a cleaner sound, a number of pop-aligned ballads, and a somewhat more serious tone, The Scarecrow marks the beginning of a new Avantasia era... the era of putting spooky skeletons on everything. Okay, okay, it’s the start of The Wicked Trilogy, baby!

Storyline: A Faustian tale about a very troubled musician, his desire to be loved, and the terrible lengths he’d go to achieve that.

Quick Notes:

As said before, The Wicked Trilogy sounds VERY different from The Metal Opera, so don’t be too surprised here.

The narrative style also takes an extreme departure from TMO: there are a LOT of characters who are only representations of concepts, thoughts, and emotions, working in vaguery and intuition. The Scarecrow is a little easier to follow than the next two in the trilogy, but you’ll see what I mean.

This is the first Avantasia album featuring both Jorn Lande and Amanda Somerville, who are series regulars in both touring and studio work - for a good reason, as you will soon hear.

This is the first Avantasia album with accompanying music videos, which are present in the below playlist.

As I’ve said before, I’ll say again: The Scarecrow is available on the official Avantasia YouTube channel, so listen up!

Twisted Mind

KHAAAAAAAN

This is the second Avantasia song I’d ever heard. I got really into it because “hey that sounds like the guy from Kamelot”...

The little pre-chorus “aaaaAAAAhhhh”s

Misprizing! Chastising! Subhuman, fragmentizing!

Sensation! Abbheration! Repulsive, TANTALIZING!

The Scarecrow

I haven’t said ICONIC in a while, so here’s one for the title track. Because it is Fucking Iconic.

The intro made me want to learn how to play the violin so I bought one off of eBay for $50 that is definitely a non-functional bootleg/prop. You can call that one a Hotz Fact ™.

WHEN THE LAMB’S BEEN TORN TO PIECES, I’LL BE CRASHING FROM THE SKY

“HE’S GOT TREASURE IN HIS EYES / THAT HE’S GONNA TURN TOOOO CLAAAAAAAY”

I’M A STRANGER, I’M A CHANGER, AND I’M DANGER, MAYBEEEEE

The Tobi/Jorn back-and-forth that continues from there

Jorn just giving ‘er after that

CONTRIIIITE TEAAAAAARS

“One day she’ll wonder why she had to let you disappear... OH DEAR—“

The whole outro

Shelter from the Rain

Kiske’s back!

This song is so clear and refreshing, it always makes me feel some kind of way.

Bob Catley returns for a cool little thing in the middle of the song.

Carry Me Over

Okay, I confess: I don’t have much to say about this one. It’s a good song, but it’s a pretty standard one and doesn’t go anywhere necessarily surprising. Still, give it a listen!

What Kind of Love

Get your tissues, we’ve got ourselves a Celine Dion breakup (er... kind of) ballad!

Featuring Amanda Somerville! Gotta love her!

The strings intro...mwah

Amanda’s like entire thing in the beginning

That Phil Collins-ass drum drop-in before the outro

Another Angel Down

“You’ve got the aura to enchant them in a symphony...and I’VE GOT THE POWAAAAAH”

“I’m breeding winners over theeere”

“IT’S TIME TO TAKE YOUR SHARE”

If you hadn’t already figured it out Jorn kicks ass here

The weird subtle distortions on Tobi’s voice in the second verse

WE ROCK THE BALL

The Toy Master

This is the first in a handful of “Sinister Theatrical Evil Guy” songs that  pop up on Avantasia albums. It is a WEIRDLY specific trope but it’s great

This one is ft. Alice Cooper, of all people

Creepy-ass ominous opening

“If only I had a heart it would break”

NO MORE STRUGGLE OF THE CLASSES

NO MORE STRUGGLE OF THE MASSES

Devil in the Belfry

The noodley guitar intro

CHUG-CHUGGAWUGCHUGCHUGGAWUGCHUG

I like the rhythm

“The curtain has fallen BEHOLD THE MESSIAH”

Guitars getting wild and crazy

Cry Just a Little

Less tragic than the previously mentioned fake violin fiasco, this song may be what gets me to try picking up my guitar again (it is a REAL guitar and not in fact a weird fake)

Great catchy soulful ballad ft. Bob Catley

“Oh cry... a LITTLE FOR MEEEE”

Something about a 6/8 time signature really does it for me

I Don’t Believe in Your Love

Notable for being the only Avantasia song allowed to say “fuck”

Oliver Hartmann, ladies and gents! You knew him as the Pope in TMO, now he is Darkness...or, uh, “Fornication”?... and he kills it

“Don’t give a damn for rooooseeees, oh no no no!”

“Of... AGONY and ECSTASY!”

If you need an angry breakup song, this is a good one

“BUT IT’S ALL EVIL!”

Olli’s additions over the outro... very good.

Lost in Space

This is the first Avantasia song I ever listened to, via the music video. It is straight up a pop song, and I was looking for metal, and yet the Energy managed to ensnare me from the get-go... it was destiny...

And that’s the Scarecrow - but it’s only the first act! Stay tuned for the drama, the heartbreak, the strings and the stings all yet to come!

(Doing the cast list I realized there are apparently two different versions of some character names, so I’m including them both.)

Cast List:

Tobias Sammet as The Scarecrow Jorn Lande as Mephistopheles Michael Kiske as Mentor/Human-Upper Roy Khan as Psychiatrist Amanda Somerville as Unrequited Love Bob Catley as Conscience/Good Spirit Inside Oliver Hartmann as Darkness/Fornication Alice Cooper as Dealer/Tycoon

[dysfunctionalmasonshasmoved]

tagged by: @theimpalpable (i found this in my likes, thank you bby!!!)

Whether it be melodies that give you inspiration for your muse, or songs that get you into the writing mood—pick 10 songs you find give you the urge, the drive, or the creativity to write for your muse—then tag your favourite peeps to get an insight on their musical inspirational feels.

Songs to write KIMBERLY MASON

I Won’t Say I’m In Love - Disney’s Hercules

Because of You - Kelly Clarkson

Shattered - Trading Yesterday

Over You - Daughtry

Wasting All These Tears - Cassadee Pope

Face Down - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus 

Take It Out On Me - Thousand Food Krutch

Worst Part Of Me - I Prevail

What If - Kane Brown ft. Lauren Alaina

Any Man Of Mine - Shania Twain

Songs to write KOLE MASON

Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

It’s My Life - Bon Jovi

I Love This Bar - Toby Keith

The Fighter - Keith Urban ft. Carrie Underwood

Gone Too Soon - Daughtry

Lucy - Skillet

Perfect - Hedley

Thank you for being a Friend - The Golden Girls Theme

Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley

Don’t Stop Believin’ - Journey

TAGGING: whoever wishes to!

[raysofcrosby]

What are songs do you & Subway boy like to listen to in the car? ☺️

oh we’ve got songs for all vibes, so here’s a few per vibe.

happy / jam out:

baby - justin bieber

bartender - tpain ft akon

truth hurts - lizzo

weatherman - eddie benjamin

stay - the kid laroi and justin bieber

buy u a drank (shawty snappin’) - tpain ft young joc

tubthumping - chumbawamba

wildflower - 5sos (he is v much amused w the insinuations of the adult activities mentioned in the chorus 💀

litty titty:

wap - cardi b ft megan the stallion

tie me down - new boyz

thinking with my dick - kevin gates ft juicy j

what’s your fantasy - ludacris

bedrock - young money

low - flo rida

my own worst enemy - lit

don’t trust me - 3oh!3

in the feels:

all too well (10 min version) (taylor’s version) - taylor swift

you are the reason (duet version) - calum scott and leona lewis (which is extra fun)

tequila - dan and shay

happier than ever - billie eilish

stay - mayday parade

neon moon - brooks and dunn ft kacey musgraves

how to love - lil wayne

falling - harry styles

sickeningly adorably in love:

conversations in the dark - john legend

back to life - rascal flatts

beautiful crazy - luke combs

you and me - lifehouse

she will be loved - maroon 5

can’t help falling in love - haley reinhart

from the ground up - dan and shay

one less lonely girl - justin bieber (and 75% of the time he doesn’t let me sing it, only he can 💀)

angsty (and arguably the ones he gets a lil worried look on his face when listening to):

thru your phone - cardi b

ain’t shit - doja cat

10 things i hate about you - leah kate

traitor - olivia rodrigo

josslyn - olivia o’brien

7 things i hate about you - miley cyrus

undo it - carrie underwood

gives you hell - all-american rejects

guilty pleasures:

beautiful soul - jesse mccartney

wannabe - spice girls

boyfriend - big time rush

we’re all in this together - hsm (may or may no also do the dance)

we don’t talk about bruno - encanto

steal my girl - one direction (yes he knows 1D)

mamma mia - abba

i want it that way - backstreet boys

my fav duets

think of you - chris young and cassadee pope

breaking free - hsm

no air- jordin sparks and chris brown

gotta go my own way - hsm2

dilemma- nelly and kelly rowland

it’s your love - tim mcgraw and faith hill

barbie girl - aqua (this one is so much fun i s2g 💀 he first sang it w his sister in the car and it was so funny)

i was made for loving you - tori kelly (a new one he’s still learning but at least he tries 🥰)

[willow-bolton]

my heart is in your teeth || a willow bolton and noah gideon mix (in no particular order, 30 tracks + 1 bonus track)

@noahgideon​

01.  wildfire- syml Darling, please take my hand/Please get up, rise to stand/I can't be the one to sing your song/'Cause I believe it's not your fault/Don't be scared, you are my rock/Nothing's gonna hold you down for long/Sometimes we break so beautiful/And you know you're not the only one/I breathe you in so sweet and powerful/Like a wildfire burning up inside my lungs

02. the fire- ben howard Lie here till your world stops spinning round/Lie near me till the birds start singing out/Come, show me what it is to be warm/Be my shelter and I'll be your storm/Come, lie down till the four winds cease to blow/Lie here full of rivers that you know/And I'll make your bones shake, the sweat we take off hearts still battered and worn/Be my shelter and I'll be your storm/And we'll show the fire/Yeah, we'll show the fire how to burn/Yeah, we'll show the fire/We'll show the fire how to burn

03. someone to stay- vancouver sleep clinic You were alone, left out in the cold/Clinging to the ruin of your broken home/Too lost and hurting to carry your load/We all need someone to hold/You've been fighting the memory, all on your own/Nothing worsens; nothing grows/I know how it feels being by yourself in the rain/We all need someone to stay/We all need someone to stay

04. salvation- gabrielle aplin You are the avalanche/One world away/My make believing/While I'm wide awake/Just a trick of light/To bring me back around again/Those wild eyes/A psychedelic silhouette/I never meant to fall for you but I/Was buried underneath and/All that I could see was white/My salvation/My, my/My salvation/My, my

05. maybe- lily kershaw let me go/gravity gets us all/just thought you should know/in tomorrow's morning light/things will look a lot less frightening than now/than now/than now/maybe just maybe/we could rewrite history/baby i'm fading/oh, i could use a little saving/maybe you could forget what i said/and just hold me instead/so you let me go/i guess i understand/i was the one who told you to/so the morning came just to leave/and nothing was ever the same/the same/the same

06. all the same- sick puppies I don't mind where you come from/As long as you come to me/But I don't like illusions/I can't see them clearly/I don't care/No, I wouldn't dare/To fix the twist in you/You've shown me/Eventually/What you'll do/I don't mind/I don't care/As long as you're here/Go ahead, tell me you'll leave again/You'll just come back running/Holding your scarred heart in hand/It's all the same/And I'll take you for who you are/If you take me for everything/And do it all over again/It's all the same

07. it’s you- michelle branch If tomorrow never comes/I would want just one thing/I would tell it to the stars and the sun/I would write it for the world to see/And it's you/The light changes when you're in the room/Oh it's you/Oh it's you/If tomorrow never comes/I would want just one wish/To kiss your quiet mouth/Trace the steps with my fingertips/And it's you/The light changes when you're in the room

08. your eyes- alexz johnson If I was drowning in the sea/Would you dive right in and save me?/If I was falling like a star/Would you be right there to catch me?/If I was dreaming of your kiss/Would you look right through me?/On the street I'm waiting/In my heart it's raining/Your eyes are holding up the sky/Your eyes make me weak, I don't know why/Your eyes make me scared to tell the truth/I thought my heart was bullet-proof/Now I'm dancing on the roof/And everybody knows I'm into you

09. surrender- natalie taylor We let the waters rise/We drifted to survive/I needed you to stay/But I let you drift away/My love where are you? My love where are you?/Whenever you're ready (Whenever you're ready)/Whenever you're ready (Whenever you're ready)/Can we, can we surrender/Can we, can we surrender/I surrender

10. temple of thought- poets of the fall Chills come racing down my spine/Like a storm on my skin/With shaking hands/I'll guide your sweet soul into mine/Until I feel you within/And I know, I know/That it's all about understanding/Am I hidden inside your beautiful soul/As it's crying for love/To conquer the day slowly dawning/I want you to know you're the heart of my Temple of Thought/So when you're restless/I will calm the ocean for you/In your sorrow, I will dry your tears/When you need me, I will be the love beside you/I'll take away all your fears/I'll take away all of your fears/So you can let go all your fears

11. beautiful with you- halestorm I stare, at the girl in the mirror/T-shirt, torn up jeans, no beauty queen/But the way that you see me/You get underneath me/And all my defenses/Just fall away, fall away/I am beautiful with you/Even in the darkest part of me/I am beautiful with you/You make it feel the way it's supposed to be/You're here with me/Just show me this and I believe/I am beautiful with you  

12. sinners- lauren aquilina Our lives are stories, waiting to be told/In search of silver linings, we discovered gold/And judgement taught us that our hearts were wrong/But they're the ones that we'll look down upon/The rules say our emotions don't comply/But we'll defy the rules until we die/So let's be sinners to be saints/And let's be winners by mistake/The world may disapprove/But my world is only you/And if we're sinners then it feels like heaven to me/You showed me feelings I've never felt before/We're making enemies, knocking on the devil's door/But how can you expect me not to eat/When the forbidden fruit tastes so sweet?/So let's be sinners to be saints/And let's be winners by mistake/The world may disapprove/But my world is only you/And if we're sinners then it feels like heaven to me

13. safe- britt nicole You keep trying to get inside my head/While I keep trying to lose the words you said/Can't you see I'm hanging by a thread/To my life, what I know/Yeah, I'm losing control and/Oh no/My walls are gonna break/So close/It's more than I can take/I'm so tired of turning and running away/when love just isn't safe/You're not safe/ I'm strong enough/I've always told myself/I never wanna need somebody else/But I've already fallen from that hill/So I'm dropping that guard/here's your chance at my heart and/Oh no/My walls are gonna break/So close/It's more than I can take/I'm so tired of turning and running away/when love just isn't ...

14. armor- landon austin I'm not bullet proof when it comes to you/Don't know what to say when you made me the enemy/After the war is won/There's always the next one/I'm not bullet proof when it comes to you/Maybe I'll crash into you/Maybe we would open these wounds/We're only alive if we bruise/So I lay down this armor/I will surrender tonight/Before we both lose this fight/Take my defenses/All my defenses/I lay down this armor.../I lay down this armor.../I lay down this armor

15. heart- the pretty reckless Never wanted to feel/Never wanted you to steal my heart/Never wanted to know/Never wanted to show I'm weak/I'm falling all over myself/Trying to be someone else/I wish you would dare to walk me home/So I wouldn't have to feel alone

16. perfect for me- ron pope You sit in the bathroom and you paint your toes/I sit on the bed right now and I sing you a song/It's not always easy, but somehow our love stays strong/If I can make you happy, then this is where I belong/And I'd just like to say/I thank God that you're here with me/And I know you too well to say you're perfect/But you'll see, oh my sweet love, you're perfect for me/I know all your secrets, and you know all of mine/You're always there to hold me up when I'm losing my mind/I wish that I was stronger so that I had more to give/I'll share everything I have and we'll find a way to live

17. certain things- james arthur ft. chasing grace Something about you/It's like an addiction/Hit me with your best shot honey/I've got no reason to doubt you/'Cause certain things hurt/And you're my only virtue/And I'm virtually yours/And you keep coming back, coming back again/Keep running round, running round, running round my head/And there's certain things that I adore/And there's certain things that I ignore/But I'm certain that I'm yours/Certain that I'm yours/Certain that I'm yours

18. love song- pink I've never written a love song/That didn't end in tears/Maybe you'll rewrite my love song/If you can replace my fears/I need your patience and guidance/And all your lovin' and more/When thunder rolls through my life/Will you be able to weather the storm?/There's so much I would give ya, baby/If I'd only let myself/There's this well of emotions/I feel I must protect/But what's the point of this armor/If it keeps the love away, too?/I'd rather bleed with cuts of love/Than live without any scars/Baby, can I trust this?/Or do all things end?/I need to hear that you'd die for me/Again and again and again/So tell me when you look in my eyes/Can you share all the pain and happy times/'Cause I will love you for the rest of my life/This is my very first love song/That didn't end in tears/I think you re-wrote my love song/For the rest of my years/I will love you for the rest of my Life

19. oceans- seafret I want you/Yeah I want you/And nothing comes close/To the way that I need you/I wish I can feel your skin/And I want you/From somewhere within/It feels like there's oceans/Between me and you once again/We hide our emotions/Under the surface and try to pretend/But it feels like there's oceans/Between you and me/I want you/And I always will/I wish I was worth/But I know what you deserve/You know I'd rather drown/Than to go on without you/But you're pulling me down

20. 2 become 1- jewel I watch you while you're sleeping/Messy hair, chest bare, moonlight on your skin/I wanna breathe you in/In the silence, words come easy/I can tell you now just how simple it's been to let you in/Don't move, this mood is a painting/We'll never find the same thing/Love, do not make a sound/Melt into me now/Two become one/Love is so close to hurting/With a shake we could wake/From our own dreaming/We must make a vow/'Cause I have waited a lifetime/Now is the right time

21. unexpected- hyde Unexpected/Promises woven/Unexpected/Through space and time the path unwinds/Leading me straight to you/Unexpected/Reaching across a moonlit square/We found each other's hands/Unexpected/Under the blessing of the stars/The life poured into us/To meet is so unexpected

22. alive- adelitas way What if I told you that I think you're perfect?/Beautiful sky in your eyes, it's so worth it./I know you make me feel alive./What if I told you that I'm in forever?/Nothing to hide, yeah, I'll go wherever you go./You make me feel alive./And I'll be hanging on every word you say to me./Hanging on a feeling that I get/Cause you make me/Laugh a little louder/Love a little harder./And I feel alive when I'm with you/Every time it's something new./Never knew what love could feel like/Until I walked away the first time./And I feel alive when I'm with you./Deep inside it's something true./You're the only reason I fight/You're the best thing in my life.

23. only you’re the one- lifehouse This is a night/Like none before/I knew it when you opened up the door/With a look to paint the sky/Let me read between the lines in your eyes/Tonight/It’s the event/We dreamed about/Where we whispered all the words they’re shouting out/And now it’s one two three four/Tonight/I’m with you when the lights go down/Take my hand I’m all yours now/I know you’re the only one/That would never lead me on/I’m with you when the lights go down/Cuz you’re the one and/Only you’re the one and..

24. close to you- neon trees Lonely eyes been watching me/I can see what you want me to see/I wanna be close to you/All we need now is the dark/Dancing shadows move on to white walls/I wanna be close to you/Heavy eyes been watching me/Rhythms beats and melodies/They make me get close to you/Other guys will sell you tricks/Tell you lies to get their fix/Don't let them get close to you/Give me fire, give me fire/It'll burn all your fear away

25. pieces- andrew belle You and me/Got ourselves a problem/I can see this/Better than I solve em/I believed/I found a way around it/I will leave/This better than I found it/There’s too much smoke to see it/There’s too much broke to feel this/I love you, I love you/And all of your pieces

26. never stop (wedding version)- safetysuit This is my love song to you/Let every woman know I'm yours/So you can fall asleep each night, babe/And know I'm dreaming of you more/You're always hoping that we make it/You always want to keep my gaze/Well you're the only one I see, love/And that's the one thing that won't change/I will never stop trying/I will never stop watching as you leave/I will never stop losing my breath/Every time I see you looking back at me/And I will never stop holding your hand/I will never stop opening your door/I will never stop choosing you babe/I will never get used to you

27. tell me why- lafee I'm lying wide awake/My head spinning over you/Dark of night, no stars inside/You are dreaming next to me/Afraid to close my eyes/'cause I don't wanna miss a moment of you/Don't want to dream, no/No dream could be as beautiful as you are/Tell me what have I done to deserve something this beautiful/Tell me why/Am I the one your all belongs to- why me?/Tell me why/Am I the one you wanna place in your heart-why me?/Tell me why do you love me/Why is me you want?

28. dust to dust- the civil wars It's not your eyes/It's not what you say/It's not your laughter/That gives you away/You're just lonely/You've been lonely too long/All your acting, your thin disguise/All your perfectly delivered lines/They don't fool me/You've been lonely too long/Let me in the walls/You've built around/We can light a match/And burn them down/Let me hold your hand/And dance 'round and 'round the flames/In front of us/Dust to dust

29. baptized- daugtry It's safe to say I'm lost/Without you in my arms/So I call your name and I pray you might/Come and watch over me like the pale moonlight/Until the sun comes back around./Take me down, take me down by the water, water/Pull me in until I see the light/Let me drown, let me drown, in your honey, honey/In your love I wanna be baptized./Take me down, take me down by the water, water/I wanna be baptized./And the days and nights are cold/Without your body to hold/So I close my eyes hoping you'll appear/Cause it feels like grace every time you're near, yeah/Don't leave, until the sun comes back around.

30. near you always- jewel Please don't say I love you/Those words touch me much too deeply/And they make my core tremble/Don't think you realize the effect you have over me/Please don't look at me like that/It just makes me wanna make you near me always/Please don't kiss me so sweet/It makes me crave a thousand kisses to follow/And please don't touch me like that/Makes every other embrace seem pale and shallow/And please don't come so close/It just makes me wanna make you near me always/Please don't bring me flowers/They only whisper the sweet things you'd say/Don't try to understand me/Your hands already know too much anyway/It makes me wanna make you near me always/And when you look in my eyes/Please know my heart is in your hands/It's nothing that I understand, but when in your arms/You have complete power over me/So be gentle if you please 'cause/Your hands are in my hair, but my heart is in your teeth, babe/And it makes me wanna make you near me always

bonus. wer bin ich- lafee (german/original version of tell me why)