#Clap Cotten

[sinceileftyoublog]

Mr. Greg & Cass McCombs: The Kids Are Alright

Photo by Sarah Trott

BY JORDAN MAINZER

The first albums that Greg Gardner made, cassettes and CDs with friends when he was a child, had a pretty small audience: his mom. Decades later, Gardner's prediction for the size of the audience for his first album made in a professional recording studio? "A few moms." He's joking, but even with the name recognition of his main collaborator--none other than Bay Area psychedelic folk luminary Cass McCombs--the intended audience for this album is not your usual indie rock or folk crowd. Gardner's a preschool teacher in San Francisco, McCombs his lifelong friend, and the two have come together to put to music Gardner's already penned children's tunes. Mr. Greg & Cass McCombs - Sing and Play New Folk Songs for Children is out now on none other than Smithsonian Folkways, a full circle moment for Gardner, and a fitting home for these tunes that are simple but infinitely wonderful.

Gardner and McCombs grew up hanging out and making music together, influenced by Bob Dylan and Dylan's heroes, Folkways recording artists like Woody Guthrie and Elizabeth Cotten. Gardner's applied his love of music to his career, not only introducing his students to these same artists but writing songs for his students about what they're studying at the time, from the life of Harvey Milk to the human body and the animal life cycle. And in the past, Gardner ran Secret Seven Records, releasing music from other Folkways artists like Michael Hurley. Simply put, Smithsonian Folkways is Gardner's favorite label, which he told me without pause during our phone conversation earlier this month. When the opportunity came, through some mutual connections (including McCombs' former manager Kirby Lee) to apply for a grant from the label to record his children's songs, Gardner didn't pass it up. He was in the middle of recording some other songs for fun with McCombs and casually asked whether McCombs would want to put to tape the likes of "Little Wilma Wiggly Worm" and "Things that Go in the Recycling Bin", too. McCombs obliged, and the rest is, now, quite literally, folk history.

The songs on Mr. Greg & Cass McCombs were written for children but exist in multiple realms. McCombs has stated that he doesn't see much of a difference between the direct simplicity of folk music and children's music, and during our conversation, Gardner cited how much certain folk classics, written in totally different contexts, have been sung by and for children, both his students and throughout history. You can hear the flipside in their record: how songs written for children are ultimately universal. "Requiem for Ruth Bader Ginsburg" and "Wave a Flag for Harvey Milk" offer biographies of fierce activists of their time. "Each One of Us" revolves around the ideal that "each one of us is different but we're friends just the same," a song that rejects the feigning of similarity that well-meaning but misguided (and often white liberal) educators practice, the antidote to "I don't see color." And "Friends from All Around the World", with a "Hello Version" and "Goodbye Version", consists of people giving salutations in their respective languages, guests including everyone from Hurley and Peggy Seeger to Gardner's own former coworkers and grandmother and grandfather. Full circle, indeed.

Not to mention, the instrumentation on Mr. Greg & Cass McCombs is not of the grating, maximalist type of usual music marketed towards children that parents are used to. For one, a lot of the songs sound like they could be on a McCombs record, as he rips a guitar solo during "Little Wilma Wiggly Worm" and playfully harmonizes with the vocals on "What's Your Favorite Kind?" "My Skull Is Made Out of Bone" is a gorgeous and wistful concoction of guitar, cello, and keyboards. Hand percussion and claps pervade "J-O-B" and "A Builder's Got a Hammer and Nails", a drum machine the blues stomp of "Roll Around Downtown" that, no matter your religious affiliation, delightfully invites you "to the church of 8 wheels." And when I first listened to the scratchy cello, echoing percussion, and light singing of "The Sounds that the Letters Make", I had to make sure I hadn't accidentally triggered the music I was using to prepare for my recent Arthur Russell review.

Mr. Greg & Cass McCombs is also, in the grand tradition of Folkways, instructional, not just in lyrics. The LP got the full treatment. "Something that I love about Folkways is the packaging and the aesthetic of their old records, how they're really thick carboard with the pasted over sleeves and minimalist artwork that's striking and clean and beautiful looking," Gardner said. "All the records come with booklets and liner notes and photographs...This record is issued like an old Folkways record, with the paste-on cover and booklet with liner notes and suggested activities that go with each song. The LP version is meant to be colored in by kids if they're so inclined." Best, in tribute to a Cotten record Gardner and McCombs loved as kids, Folkways was able to release a few copies on yellow vinyl. The record, like the best folk music, is now a living, timeless document, one that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of age.

Below, read my conversation with Gardner, edited for length and clarity. We talk about his experience in the studio, the politics of children's music, and approaching difficult subjects with kids.

Since I Left You: How did you decide to do this project with Cass?

Greg Gardner: Since we were teenagers, we've made music together. I'm not really a musician, but I like to write songs and sing. I would go to my friends and say, "What about this?" and they'd make it sound better. I've been making strange and silly songs with Cass that weren't meant for the general public. We made a lot of cassettes in our youth. Since I became a teacher, I've been writing songs to amuse myself while I take the BART train to and from work, and also with the hopes the kids would appreciate them as well. The songs are always about stuff the kids have been talking about in class or studying. "Little Wilma Wiggly Worm" is about a worm we found in our classroom garden, and all the kids were so excited about holding this worm, and we all named it together. I wrote the song about it, and it became a way to connect and create community over a fun shared experience. I usually create some visuals that go with the song. I made a book of Wilma Wiggly Worm, and Cameron Burr animated that book into a music video.

So I had been writing songs for many years, and Cass and I recorded some non-kids songs, not for the public, just for fun, and I asked him, "Would you like to record some kids songs with me?" He said, "Yeah!" I had demos of most of them--some of them a capella, some demos with instruments. For the record, we used some of those demos, the skeletons of them, and added instruments and backing stuff. A lot of those songs were rerecorded specifically for the record. There are a lot more that didn't go on. We may have put too many on this record, too, but there they are.

SILY: I was fascinated by Cass saying, "A lot of what’s called children's music is just folk music...I don't see a big difference between children's music and adult music." What's the history of your relationship with traditional or contemporary folk music?

GG: Around when I was a teenager, hanging out with Cass and other friends, we'd listen to Bob Dylan, and then into the people that influenced Bob Dylan, blues artists like Jesse Fuller and Lead Belly, or Woody Guthrie. Cass then introduced me to Elizabeth Cotten, who is on Folkways. Her records were not intended for children, but the songs are definitely beloved by children and adults alike. "Freight Train" and "Shake Sugaree", on which her granddaughter sings. Those are so beautiful. And there are so many folk songs about animals that, even if not written for children, sure work for the child and the adult. Children go through the same gamut of emotions that adults do, so folk music is for all. While these songs were intended for the 3-5-year-old children in my class, I enjoy singing them and hope people older than 5 enjoy singing them as well.

SILY: You sing about "kids' stuff," but "Requiem for Ruth Bader Ginsburg" and "Wave a Flag for Harvey Milk" are relevant to everybody, and sadly so, considering the climate. Do you view any of these songs as political in the same way folk music might be?

GG: My intention wasn't to be political when I made them, but to hold up people that were brave and good role models for the students in my class and school. I'm lucky to work at a school that has similar values to my own. My preschool class has led the Harvey Milk assembly we have every year on his birthday week. At the time I wrote ["Wave a Flag for Harvey Milk"], there wasn't an age appropriate book about Harvey Milk--now there is--but at the time, I thought it would be an easy way to introduce 3-5-year-old kids to what Harvey Milk did for the local community and community beyond. I ended up turning it into a singalong coloring book, so the kids could see images of Harvey and what he had done and so the kids could break down the song verse by verse or line by line. After a while, the kids got into the melody and learned the words themselves, and they became interested in the song. It's kind of a political thing, but more so about holding up the voices of people that are advocates for others. That's what we try to instill in the preschool classroom anyway: Be kind to one another, accept one another, advocate for one another, and be brave. Harvey Milk and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are really great examples of that.

Of course, Folkways has so many protest and topical songs in their catalog. Whenever I make a song, I have all of those songs mushed into my brain, and I'm making up songs that are unintentional rip-offs of what I've heard.

SILY: I was thinking about "If I Had A Hammer" when I heard "A Builder's Got a Hammer and Nails". The former was sung at Communist rallies, which isn't exactly the case with your song, but it still speaks to the connection between seemingly divergent genres of music that are one and the same. In this day and age, the school is such a contentious place in many parts of the country, whether that's school board curriculum fights or repressive laws. It almost does seem like a similar fight, children's music and folk music, a la "This machine kills fascists."

GG: It's true. I live in a little bubble at my school. I don't know if I'm lucky because of that, but the kinds of things we're talking about in songs and that the other teachers at my school believe, are what I believe and I think Cass believes. I know if you walk outside the bubble of San Francisco, it's different. I'm glad that these songs [exist], and that there are other groups of people writing songs and books and having rallies and marches that are in line.

SILY: Had you listened to a lot of other music made for children before writing these songs?

GG: Not really. Mostly just older music, and a lot of that was on Folkways. Not when I was a kid. I remember listening to Woody Guthrie songs and learning "This Land Is Your Land". Maybe "Riding In My Car" when I was a young kid. As a teacher and as a parent, I've collected the old Folkways records and have a collection in the classroom that we often play. It's become the oral landscape of the classroom. As far as contemporary kids music, I don't really know it. I'm sure there would be a lot that I like. I do know that Elizabeth Mitchell has some beautiful records out. I only know a little bit of Raffi, but every time I hear him, I think, "That guy's good."

When we were getting ready to release this record, Folkways asked whether Cass and I could make a playlist of Folkways songs from their back catalog that they could put online and that I could write about. I said, "How about we choose the songs, but instead of me reviewing them, the kids in my class can say some words about them?" A lot of the songs I chose were ones we already listened to in class. Whatever the kids would say would be more interesting than what I would say, and they have a lot more non-sequiturs that are more fun to read. The kids reviewed all the songs and ended up re-drawing classic Folkways album covers, so we took pictures of that, too. That's how we bring other children's music into the classroom. We learn about Elizabeth Cotten and Woody Guthrie and Ella Jenkins, who is one of our very favorites.

SILY: The record has recordings of your students throughout the years. How far back are some of those?

GG: The majority are not very far back. All of the students on there are from the first COVID year. I recorded those in the classroom on my phone, and we snuck them into the record when in the studio later. I would have used kids from previous years on the record and had so many recordings of them singing, but you have to get the rights from all the parents, which was too hard, so I figured I'd just find all the parents from one year.

SILY: A song like "Each One Of Us" is consistent with the spirit of many songs on the album in that it's essentially about diversity and equality. When I grew up, equality was taught very blindly, in an, "I don't see color" type of way. The idea behind this song is more, "Everyone is different, which we should embrace." Can you talk about that idea as it pertains to writing songs?

GG: I think that was one of the first songs I wrote for the class. At the beginning of the year, with preschoolers, we learn about the classroom and each other. We invite families into the classroom to share things they like to do, holidays they celebrate, food they enjoy. That song was building off of that creation of a classroom community and learning that we have so many similarities but also a lot of differences that we can learn from. We become stronger and safer when we get to know each other better. That was a songbook as well. It had some illustrations that kids could color in, and they got to say, "I have brown eyes, too, just like my grandma," or, "I have two moms as well, and Chelsea, she has two dads, and Brian only has one mom and nobody else, and this person lives with their grandma, and I live in an apartment, too." They were able to make so many connections with the verses in the songs.

SILY: The song "I'm A Nocturnal Animal" is very funny, with rhyme schemes involving regurgitation and owl pellets, but it's also about the cycle of life and death. How do you approach a subject like that with young kids?

GG: Through books and songs, and they understand it themselves. When we're learning about Harvey Milk or Martin Luther King, Jr., there are always one or two kids who have already heard about them, and one of the first things they know is that they died or were killed. Death comes up a lot. Kids' grandparents pass away, or their animals pass away, so there's a lot of talk in the class. Some books are helpful to read with the students. It sounds kind of silly, but we do have puppets just like Mr. Rogers did. The puppets sometimes come out and talk about these things that are more difficult to talk about. We'll act out a scenario where the puppet has a pet that passed away recently and the other puppet will show compassion and ask them how they're feeling. The kids will watch it and talk about how they'd feel in such a situation, or talk about people in their lives who passed away, and open up an organic conversation that may not have happened if it was just me talking about the subject as an adult. When you introduce puppets or a song, there's some sort of layer that's removed, and the kids are sometimes more willing to be vulnerable in that kind of situation.

In our classroom, we also celebrate The Day of the Dead, let by another teacher whose family celebrates it, and that opens up a lot of discussions.

And a song like "Deciduous Tree" is about the seasonal cycle of a tree but also about butterflies and caterpillars. We talk about animal and human life cycles in the class, and there's inevitably death. We talk about it as a scientific thing.

SILY: It's unique to hear death in a song that's primarily meant for children.

GG: I've also noticed that when we're learning about these specific historical figures or discussing the death of an animal in the family, in the playground, I'll find a child lying down, and when I ask what's going on, they say, "I'm just playing dead." They work it into their pretend play, which helps them work through their feelings and emotions about subjects that are difficult. It's like a rehearsal for what could happen as an adult.

SILY: "My Skull Is Made Out of Bone" is a fascinating self-reflexive exercise. By the end of it, you're breaking the fourth wall, asking, "How did this song start? Well, it's because of my brain, which is protected by my skull, which is made out of bone." It's pretty layered!

GG: I like how it's a loop. It begins as it starts as it begins. The kids in my class will sing the last part, "My skull is made out of bone," and then start the song all over again. [laughs] We made that song because we were learning about the human body. The kids chose that study themselves.

SILY: Have you done live performances of these songs for parents?

GG: We do it for parents every year. We do the Harvey Milk song for assembly. My school goes up to 8th grade, so there are a lot of people in the assemblies, and a different group leads them each Friday. We usually have another assembly where we sing about something we've been learning about. This year, I made up a song about rocket ships, because the kids were learning about space and built mini rocket ships out of cardboard. We learned about the planets and talked about what we would do if we were visiting each planet and what we would find. Other times, throughout the year, we invite the parents in to come hear their kids sing. We had one performance outside of school, at an opening for the children's magazine Illustoria. We performed "My Skull Is Made Out of Bone".

I don't really like performing myself. It's the scariest thing for me. But I love singing the songs with the kids in the classroom every day.

SILY: Do you think Cass will work any of these songs into his setlists?

GG: [laughs] Probably not, though he told me he's done "Wave a Flag for Harvey Milk" before with Phil Lesh at Lesh's [now closed] restaurant Terrapin Crossroads. They did it during Pride Week. I wish I was there. Maybe he'll work something in. It's kind of its own separate thing.

I was also a little bit afraid that his fans would see this record and say, "Oh no, a kid's record, it doesn't sound like Cass's music."

SILY: It kind of does though! You can immediately tell it's him, and he has the perfect voice for these songs. It's gentle and expressive at the same time.

GG: He does have a very gentle voice.

SILY: And a lot of the instrumentation on here has that same folk background, a little rougher around the edges in terms of arrangements, especially with the strings and percussion.

GG: I like that we were able to put some strange things in there, some discordant sounds. I like that we got to play actual tools on "Hammer and Nails". Folkways has the tradition of releasing sound effects records, like Sounds of the Junk Yard. At the end of "Hammer and Nails", you hear these smashing sounds. There was construction going on upstairs, so initially, we had to keep stopping our recording, but we decided to just record them banging away and use that in the song.

SILY: There are sound effects at the end of "What's Your Favorite Kind?" and "Paper Airplane" too.

GG: I got to do a "whoop" with some tool I found in the classroom. I went in to look for woodworking tools but found the slide whistle. And "What's Your Favorite Kind?" has Tommy [McMahon], who I've been friends with since I was 10, playing Moog on there. He made it sound like a 1970s Sesame Street song, which is what I'd been hoping for. He goes by Controller 7.

SILY: How did you find the overall process of making the album? Are you planning on recording more songs?

GG: I think we'd like to do more. I'm going to keep making them myself. Cass said he'd be interested. He lives in New York now.

This was my first time going to a real studio, though it was during COVID, so a lot of it was piecemeal, where I'd have some demo stuff, and we wanted guests on there but couldn't get them into the studio, so we did a lot of cutting and pasting. It was cool how it all came together in the end. It would be fun to go in there now and lay it all down in a more live way. That's also hard to do with kids. I'm glad I got to use the voices of the kids in my class on this record. They're the biggest part of these songs. They're why they exist.

[helmar-weiss]

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Ab3KKezobEkZFN2Xa2j1d?si=QDDI_F4KS6_nZFKTjSSAZg)

ATLAS CUBE @ The Local Scene 2 Ghost Town Radio #progrock #metal #atlascube #ghosttownradio #regensburg #thelocalscene #fortressofrain #artrock

[kkeidawrites]

That Night

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Loki x African!goddess reader

I see that there is not a lot of Loki x reader stories which I think is weird, so I decided to write a couple of my own. And nobody is gone stop me either. So enjoy this first chapter to an upcoming mini series!

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A party was perhaps always being held in Asgard. Whether it was Thor returning home, another battle won, or Hell they had a party just because. It was quite a bore with the constant partying and the people that would attend made things even more boring.

The dancers would shake their hips the same way and the dishes the servants would serve were always be the same. Nothing was new. Nothing peaked my interest.

The whispers about me never ceased, being the adopted son of Odin, the infamous Loki, God of Mischief, still chasing his father’s tailcoats for the throne. Loki, the forgotten son. The son with no legacy. Bah, it was all the same. I should turn everyone here in the hall into gremlins.

I sat on a plush sofa, pretty much on my own, since nobody would want to sit by the trickster Loki. It’s fine, not like I had that many friends anyway.

A jester preformed a trick making the crowds express gasps of excitement and claps rang out in the hall. I rolled my eyes, I will never understand how people can be so interested in this.

I did not want to attend this worthless banquet in the first place, but my mother bless her soul, is a very persuasive woman and I unfortunately fall for it every time. Now, here I was, dressed in green almost black robes and armor that had some pieces of gold imbedded into it.

Swirling the wine in my cup, the familiar sound of heels clacking against the polished marbled floor made my eyes look up.

The black dress reminded me of the stars in the galaxy, it caressed her dark skin and hugged all the curves on her figure. Her hair coily and I bet if I had the chance to touch it it would be as soft as a lamb’s wool. It covered the side of her face and I didn’t have the chance to get a good look at her, but, just from how she carried herself, I knew she had to be beautiful. Probably for the best I didn’t see what she looked like, who would turn their interests on the God of Mischief? She held her head up high as if she were the queen of Asgard herself.

As she walked into the banquet hall, her pace was quick as she approached my mother who was standing with her normal group of nobles and who in turn brought the beauty in a warm embrace. She smiled in greeting to the woman as she spoke to my mother. The way they spoke made it seem like they have known each other for years.

Taking a swig of my wine, I averted my eyes elsewhere. She was probably another noble that was only here to attend the banquet then return to wherever she had came from to brag about her time on Asgard. There were many of Gods and Goddesses who took advantage of our kingdom to try and take over. I scoffed at the thought, every time that someone would try and take Asgard would only return to their realm in pieces, how others think so little of Asgard when we indeed are the best.

The clacking of heels broke me from my thoughts and my mother calling my name made me look up to see both my mother and the mysterious woman. Damnit, I hated being right, she wasn’t just beautiful, she was gorgeous. A vision. I gulped at how beautiful she was and I saw my mother flick her wrist up to tell me to stand up and present myself. I stood up from the couch fixing the front of my robes.

I looked her over, shamelessly and my eyes lingered on her chest until my mother cleared her throat to avert my eyes to hers. She tilted her head towards the woman and I cleared my throat, placing a hand on my chest to bow my head in greeting.

“Good evening mother, as always you are the most beautiful in all of Asgard.” I say. My mother waves away my compliment, bashful of my words and puts a hand on the woman’s arm.

“This is Mawu, she is the Goddess of the night, of joy, and of motherhood as well as the ruler of Midgard’s wisdom and knowledge. You have met her mother, Nana Buluku a couple of times.” Frigga says.

I roll my eyes at that. I had met that woman thousands of years ago, I cannot remember what she looked like. The beauty, Mawu, looks me over then raises an eyebrow at me.

“He is your son?” She turns to mother.

“Yes, my youngest,” Frigga says with pride in her voice and I can’t help but, give a small smile.

“Mm, he is tiny.” She looks me over one more time.

“Need to eat something, these fruits and cheeses are not enough to help him grow.” She states and I became baffled at her declaration making my mother laugh and I frowned in annoyance. What is it with women and wanting their men big and muscled? I am plenty strong with my lean figure.

“Allow me to take him back to my realm and he will return with a stronger body,” Mawu tells mother. Frigga waves her hand in my direction.

“I tell him to eat more but, he only nibbles on the food we offer him.” She sighs and I roll my eyes once more, taking a large sip of my wine then using my magic to make my cup disappear.

“Mother, did you bring your friend over here just to spite me?” I asked her, putting my hands behind my back and a clench in my jaw.

“No, of course not, my love,” she smiles and then moved Mawu closer to my person. The woman took a few steps away from me.

“I wanted you two,” Frigga points between us as she continues, “to get to know each other better.” She says making both of our heads turn to look at one another in shock then back to Frigga’s grinning face.

“You cannot be serious.” I say as Mawu crosses her arms.

“Quite serious my son, Mawu will be staying here for a couple of weeks as her mother has asked me to oh, how do the midgardians phrase it? Ah, yes “get her ass out of the house”. And so, she will be staying in the royal quarters for the time being and I want the two of you,” she points between us again. “To get to know each other better. Have a pleasant evening.” Frigga finishes and turns to return back to her group of allies. Mawu scoffs in disbelief and leaves my side to leave through where she came in.

Subconsciously, I followed after her, her heels clicking quickly against the floor, she was clearly upset. She wasn’t the only one upset. Get to know me better? Just what is mother planning? And why was I following her?

Mawu’s POV

I had stopped in the middle of the long hallways of Odin’s castle and turned my head to an open door where a balcony was located. I laid my hands on the balustrade and looked at the cotten candy skyline, as it slowly turned to night. Here on Asgard was hard to tell if it was night or not, they had no moon to go off of and the stars that were apparent determined different coordinates.

I sighed and leaned my arms against the balustrade leaning my head on my wrists. A couple weeks of being in this realm will be challenging. I’m not used to taking such long breaks like this, I just hoped that the Earth will still be there for me when I return.

I was set up. Mother told me that it had been a while since I last been to Asgard, to see Lady Frigga especially and she thought that a visit would be nice. How easily I was tricked by her and Lady Frigga. Don’t get me wrong I loved Lady Frigga as a second mother, but, the thought of having to trick me into staying here for a long duration of time really unsettled me.

Sighing once more, I closed my eyes as I felt the wind blow into my face. The breeze blowing against my hair that resembled a cloud. Using my powers, I conjured up a small ball of light that allowed me to see the children of Earth. It was a particular group of children that I had been watching over for a while. Perhaps from their great grandparents up until the new generation, I think I’ve lost count.

I watched as all the children played and the adults that I once looked after when they were children tended to their own brood. I smiled sadly. These children were my children. Even if I didn’t birth them, they were mine. A child, a little boy named Abioye, smiled and I felt my bottom lip quiver.

Swiping away the image, I felt a few tears rush down my cheeks. Quickly wiping them away, I took a deep breath and then looked down at my shoes. They were beautiful but, so constricting, I pulled them off my feet and stretched my toes, sighing in bliss.

“Lady Mawu,” I looked up to see a male guard bowing before me. I straightened my back to address him.

“Yes,”

“Your quarters are ready for you.” He says. Nodding, I allowed him to lead me to my room. Peaking a look over my shoulder, I noticed a familiar pair of green eyes watching me. With a ‘hmph’ I turned my eyes forward and continued to follow the guard.

With Loki

That insufferable woman dare turn her nose up at me?! I scoffed in disbelief and used my powers to return to my mother in the banquet hall. Kissing her goodnight, I walked out another exit to my chambers.

Once I arrived at my room, I noticed the guard that guided the Goddess to her quarters and stretched my neck to see that he was leaving from the room right next to mine.

“You there!” I halt the guard as he immediately stopped and bowed to me.

“Did you just lead that moon Goddess into the room next to mines?” I ask.

“Yes, your majesty, it was specific instructions that your mother gave.” He says and I groan out in annoyance.

“Your majesty?”

“Begone. I have no more use of you.” I spat and the guard bows again, quickly leaving my sight.

Looking towards the closed door, I put my hands on my hips and nodded my head then entered my room with a slam to the doors.

Plopping down onto my bed, I placed my hands behind my head and sighed deeply. Mother was making things so difficult. What purpose did she need to give me someone to...bond with? I have managed to be on my own before what’s different now?

Sniff, sniff

Sob, whimper

I heard soft crying from the wall behind me and I got up from my bed and moved to the nearest wall, placing an ear towards it, to hear indeed crying on the other side.

I don’t know what it was but, her crying made my heart break a bit. Sighing, I removed myself from the wall and plopped back down onto my bed. Her sobs were slowly growing louder and I gritted my teeth.

Waving my hand, I allowed a small bunny to appear in my palm and allowed it to phase through the wall, I waited in anticipation of the small...I guess I will call it a gift.

With Mawu

She had changed into her silk nightgown and immediately her tears returned.

The sobs continued to fall from her lips as she laid across the large bed. Why she was crying? Unfortunately, Mawu has separation anxiety and the thought that she can’t be close to her ‘children’ broke her heart. Sniffling, she raised her head from the cradle of her arms and jumped when she saw a black lump sitting in front of her.

The large floppy ears twitched slightly as the pink nose sniffed. Sitting up, she got a closer look at the small being and she realized that it was indeed a black rabbit.

“Hello, there,” she coos as she reached a hand out to the rabbit. The cotton tailed furry snuggled into her awaiting hand and Mawu giggled at the feel of it’s nose.

“Where did you come from?” She asks as she picks up the rabbit and holds it in her lap. She scratched under its chin and felt the thump of the rabbits right foot popping her thigh in delight.

“I think I’ll call you, Irawo.” She tells the rabbit who thumps its right foot again in delight.

Giggling again, Mawu allowed the rabbit to play around on her bed and then caressed its head, liking the soft fur.

With Loki

The God of Mischief allowed a small grin to appear on his lips as he listened to the Moon Goddess’s giggles.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

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End of Ch.1

Ch. 2⬅️

Ch. 3⬅️

What is up with tumblr and other places where Loki doesn’t have a lot of fanfics? I don’t understand he just as fine as Thor. But, anyway, I hope you guys like this first chapter to this mini story I’m hooking y’all up with! I love me some Loki so be sure to expect more of him and a black reader as well! Thank you all for reading and be sure to like, comment and reblog!

[enhypenwriters]

I decided to participate in Be My Love. Me isn’t writer....please go easy on me...don’t expect greatness🙂

The Trip

☆Pairing: Heeseung X Reader

☆Genre: Fluff, Angst

☆Warning: Language, Cheating, Little Violence

☆Synopsis: How will a vacation go with a stranger?

By Admin Anna🦦

—————

Valentine’s Day sucked. Here you were at a beautiful resort by the beach and you were depressed. Your ex had dumped you two days earlier. He had told he had fallen for someone else, which really stung. The two of you had had been together for three years. You were gonna surprise him with this trip, but that went down the drain. By the time you broke up it was too late to cancel the reservation and you had paid good for money for this. You thought why not go and enjoy and forget him.

You sat in the lobby of the resort after being being told you have to be part of couple to stay. So you had two choices try and find a single person or go home. Suddenly you felt someone sit next to you on the couch. You looked over and saw a sad looking guy about your age.

“What’s up with you?” You asked.

“I can’t stay here....I’m not part of a couple.” He sighed. That gave you an idea. “Hey, not to be weird or anything...I know we just met and you don’t know my name....but I wanna stay and I need someone to be a couple with?”

The boy thought for a second, “Uhh...sure why not. We can friends.” You clapped with joy and held out your hand to shake, “Hi, I’m Y/N. I’m here alone because my boyfriend dumped me two days ago.”

He shook your hand and said, “I am Heeseung. I got dumped four hours ago.” That took you for loop. You thought no one could be in worse situation than you but you were wrong. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. If you don’t mind me asking...what happened?”

“Well....I was getting ready to leave with my ex, Irene and she suddenly told me that she had been cheating on me.” You covered your mouth to hide your gasp. “That bitch.” You said. “I’m sorry Heeseung, but we shouldn’t be sad anymore. Let’s have some fun!” You and Heeseung headed to your room.

When you opened the door, you were wowed. The walls were a light easy on the eyes yellow. The room had a sweet tropical theme. There was one big king size bed. The bathroom was to your left. On the far side in the room there were two doors leaving to the balcony. You ran over and opened the doors, you were greeted by a breathtaking ocean view. You jumped on the bed. Heeseung followed along. “Let’s try and have the best time this week.” You said looking at him.

“What should we do first?” Heesung reached for some brochures on the night stand. “Ohhh, look they have swimming with dolphins!” You exclaimed. “Let’s gooo!!!” He yelled. You changed in your bathing suits and headed out.

When you got to the water, the instructor guided you both in. The moment you got in a dolphin came up to you and started swimming around you. You giggled and looked over at Heeseung. He had two snuggled around him. He smiled at you. The whole experience was so fun. The dolphins were soft and so sweet. One particular one kept following you so you named her Summer.

After a long day you and Heeseung headed back to your room. You flopped on the bed, “Wow...what a day.” Heeseung chuckled, “I know. You know what we should do....” “Order room service!” You both said in sync. “And...” you continued. “A MOVIE!!!!” You both yelled! While Heeseung ordered you went to take a shower. You had actually had fun today. Which a was first since your breakup. Before you had stayed in the room doing nothing but wonder what the other person had that you didn’t. But today you didn’t think about him or that at all.

The food arrived when Heeseung was still in the shower. You thanked room service. You went over to knock on the bathroom door to tell Heeseung the food was here. When all of a sudden the door opened and you faced with a wet haired and half naked Heeseung. You froze. “Uhh....foods here.” You whispered and slowly backed away. You hoped he didn’t see your growing red cheeks. The two of you enjoyed a delicious pizza while watching Ratatouille. At night fall you both got ready for bed. You crawled in trying not to take up a lot of space. Slowly you felt yourself fall into dreamland.

You woke up to a bright sunshine peaking through the curtains. You felt a heavy weight on your torso and saw a sound asleep Heeseung wrapped around you. You smiled. He was kinda cute when you look at him closely. Heeseung started stirring and woke up. He looked up at you and saw that he was cuddling you. His eyes widened and he got up and turned away red faced. “Sorry....I have the habit of hugging things is my sleep...” Heeseung scratched the back of his neck.

Today, You and Heeseung decided to spend the day at the beach. Just full relaxation. You grabbed a quick bite of breakfast at in resort restaurant. You packed up your things and headed out. Since you guys had the couple package, you got to lounge in the VIP area with a padded beach bed and an umbrella. It was early in the day so, there weren’t many people.

You laid down and padded the next to you to signal Heeseung to lay next to you. You looked at him, “Heeseung let’s get to know each other more.” “What do you wanna know?” “Anything.”

“Let’s see....My full name is Lee Heeseung. My birthday is October 15th, I have an older brother, ummm.....I love music. Back home I live with six idiots.....that’s about it. What about you?”

“My name is L/N Y/N, I currently go to college...I have younger annoying brother....my birthday is (Month/date)...I love animals...I want to become a vet.”

Heeseung looked at you with his big beautiful eyes as you talked. You could feel his gaze on you, but you were too shy to look back at him so you just looked at the water. “Y/N?” Heeseung whispered.

“Yeah?” You looked over.

“Can I ask you about your ex?”

You smiled, “Sure, only if you tell me about yours after?”

He nodded. You thought about where to start. “So my ex’s name is Leo. We were together for three years. We knew each other in high school and dated into college. I really loved him. I got this vacation for us as a Valentine’s Day gift. But we were at dinner two days before we were supposed to go and he said he was in love with someone else...and yeah” You felt you voice getting weaker. A tear rolled down your cheek. It hadn’t really hit how much you missed him. Heeseung reached over and wiped you tear.

You turned full to face him, “I just wonder you know...why did they other girl have that I don’t...? Am I ugly....am I not good enough....” Heeseung brought his finger to your lips, “Y/N, don’t talk like that. It’s not true. None of it is. I know how you feel though. I thought the whole way here after Irene said she cheated on me. But I realized that on her. I did nothing wrong. The same goes for you.”

You smiled as you wiped your tears. Heeseung opened his arms, “Come here.” You scootered closer and he wrapped his arms around you. You laid your head in his bare chests. You could feel his heart beating. You also felt like your heart was gonna beat out of your chest.

For the rest of the day you just hung out by the beach and cuddled. You talked about this and that. You felt like you knew Heeseung a lot more.

Over the next few days you two got much closer and you developed a crush. Heeseung was so different from Leo. With Heeseung it was easy to be happy and to be with him. With Leo you felt forced to be happy because he could constantly tell you that no one else would love you but him and that he was the best. Leo always tried to lower yourself confidence to make himself feel better. You didn’t realize this until you met Heeseung. Heeseung uplifted you and made you feel good.

Heeseung took you to an amusement park one day off the resort. You went on so many rides. Heeseung made the mistake of eating Cotten Candy and an ice cream cone before getting on a roller coaster and ended up throwing after. You won him a cute deer stuffed animal.

Heeseung didn’t realize it at first but he was falling for you too. You were so sweet and innocent. You made him feel loved. Irene ignored him constantly and only came to him when she needed him. He always felt like he didn’t fully have her love.

On the second to last day Heeseung wanted to plan a romantic dinner and confess to you officially. You guys were watching TV in the room, when you heard a knock at the door. You got up and opened it and saw a girl. “Uh...Hi? How can I help you?” You said. The girl was glaring at you. Heeseung looked over, “Irene..?” Your eyes widened. You turned to Heeseung and mouthed, “Irene?!?” As you turned back to her she slapped you straight in the face.

“IRENE, WHAT THE HELL?!?” Heeseung ran over to you to help you up. “I’m gonna leave you two alone.” You said quietly as you held you cheek.

Heeseung watched you leave. He turned to Irene, “What the hell?” Irene smiled at him “Seungie! I’ve missed you baby!” She grabbed his face. Heeseung backed away, “What are you doing here?” “Seungie, I made a big mistake. I let you go.” She pouted. “No, you cheated on me.” Heeseung glared. “Well now you can have me back and it looks like I saved you just in time. That tramp is ugly.” “Don’t you dare talk about Y/N that way! Now go, I don’t want you here.”

“I’ll go...to my room.” Irene sang. “How do you have a room? This is a couples only resort?” Heeseung asked confused. “I have my ways.” Irene smirked as she left.

You sat in the lobby with a ice pack on your face curtesy of the front desk. You saw Heeseung walking towards you. He gave you an I’m so sorry look. “Heeseung, I’m fine. I promise.” You said. “No you’re not, you have a red cheek. I don’t what to say. I have no idea why she’s here. But I wanna enjoy the rest on the week just the two of us.” He brought you into a hug.

As much as you tried to have a good rest of the day, it was difficult. Irene kept tagging along and clinging onto Heeseung and giving you death glares. Heeseung was also acting strange. He kept looking at the time and talking to the front desk.

That evening you got out of the shower and the room was empty. “Heeseung?” You called. You looked around and made your way to the balcony. When you opened the doors you gasped. You saw a candle lit dinner with a rose for two. Was this for you? You blushed and looked up to see the sunset. You look over on the beach and saw two figures. You squinted and saw it was Heeseung and Irene.

Her hands were in his face and his hands holding hers. You felt your heartbreak into a thousand pieces. You didn’t wanna see anymore. You went back in the room and started packing your things. You wiped tears after tears. Why were you even crying you thought. He wasn’t yours. He never was. You checked out from the resort and took the next bus home.

*

Heeseung was so nervous. Tonight was the night he was gonna confess and ask you to be his girlfriend. He had the hotel set up a beautiful dinner on the balcony. He was waiting for you to finish your shower. His phone beeped. It was a message from Irene telling him to meet her on the beach. Heeseung didn’t want to go but he knew she would keep bugging him until he went and he didn’t want her ruining this night.

“What do you want Irene?” He crossed his arms.

“What?” Irene smiled innocently. “I can’t just wanna see my man?” She took a step towards him but he stepped back.

“I’m not your man. You cheated on me and now you expect me to take you back..?”

“I just made a little mistake. I dumped the other guy once I realized how amazing you are.”

“No. You never truly love me. You used as your little puppy dog.”

Irene put her hands on his face and leaning for a kiss, but Heeseung grabbed her hands and yanked them off and walked away. When he got back he knocked on the bathroom door to see if you were done. When he didn’t get any reply, he opened the door to see an empty shower. Heeseung was so confused. Then he noticed your suitcase was gone. He ran to the reception desk.

“Excuse me, where is my girlfriend?” He asked frantically. The man look at him and said, “She checked out.”

Heeseung was so confused. Why would you leave him? What did he do? He thought you liked him back?

The manager called him, “Sir, your girlfriend left in tears.”

It took a moment for Heeseung to understand why you left upset. Then it hit him, you saw him and Irene together and thought it was all for her. He slumped down on the lobby couch and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He let the girl of dreams slip through his fingers.

*

When you arrived back at your apartment, your room mate Suzy greeted you with a hug. The whole bus ride home you had talked to her. “It’s gonna be okay.” She said as she rubbed your back. You stayed in your room for the rest of your trip time. You didn’t want to hear or remember Heeseung, so you blocked him.

You stayed in bed, you could barely handle one heartbreak. Now you were dealing with two. Suzy’s voice interrupted your thoughts, “Y/N, I made ramen. Do you want some?”

“No.” You replied.

“Y/N, I know you’re upset, but you need to eat something. I’m worried. You have classes and work tomorrow.”

She had a point, so you trudge out of your room.

*

Heeseung went home just as heartbroken. He tried texting and calling you but never got through. When he got back to his house, he saw his six friends giving him sympathy looks. Jungwon brought him in for a hug.

A few days later Heeseung walked over to the boys playing games in the living room.

“Hey guys, I need your help.” He sat down on the couch. Four out of the six boys looked at him. “NIKI STOP! PAUSE THE GAME!” Sunoo yelled. “HEHEHE.....never...” Niki cackled. Sunoo pushed him over.

Heeseung rolled his eyes. “What do you need help with?” Sunghoon looked at him.

“Well, I’ve been moping in room for the past three days and I realized that isn’t gonna help me. I want to find the girl and try and explain things to her.”

“Are you finally ready to us about her?” Jay asked. “All you've done so far is lock yourself in your room and refuse to talk to any of us." 

Heeseung nodded. He showed a picture of the two of you on his computer. “Her name is L/N Y/N.”

Jake gasped, “I know her, she’s in my animal science class!”

Heeseung took Jake’s shoulders shook him, “Do you have her number?!?”

“N-nOoO, but stoOoOp shhakking meEE.”

“Oh sorry, what do you know about her?”

Jake thought, “Oh, she told me she works at the café across from campus.”

That was all Heeseung needed to hear to send him sprinting out the door.

*

You were back at work as usual. Working at least help you get your mind off of Heeseung for a little bit. “Hi, what can I get for you?” You asked logging into the system. “Can we talk?” You froze. That was the voice on him. You didn’t want to face him. So you kept looking at screen, “What can I get you?” “Y/N, I know you know it’s me, please talk to me.” Heeseung pleaded. Suzy nudged you from behind and whispered, “Let him explain.”

You sighed and took off you apron and walked around from behind the counter. “Let’s go outside.” You said.

The two of you sat on the grass in the park next to the café. You look at Heeseung, “What?”

“Y/N....why did you leave?”

“Because the whole thing was big mistake. We should have just gone home in the first place.” You avoided his eyes. He put his hand under your chin and lifted your head so he could see your eyes. “Y/N, I know you felt something. So did I.” He took your hands in his, “What you think you saw wasn’t true. That night where you saw the dinner, that was for you. I was gonna confess.” You looked at Heeseung confused, “Then why were you at the beach with Irene?” “She had texted me earlier and I wanted her to get off my back so I could have a perfect night with you.” You groaned of embarrassment and pulled your hands away to cover your face, “Oh my gosh.....”

“Hey, hey” Heeseung pulled closer, he was so close you could feel his breath on your nose. You closed your eyes and felt his soft gentle lips on yours.

Who knew one Valentine’s Day could everything turn around.

[jungleindierock]

Arcade Fire - Joy To The Polls Playlist

Indie band Arcade Fire yesterday posted this 11 track playlist for the US presidential election, so as it’s on spotify i thought i would share it with you all. The playlist is titled Joy To The Polls - Election Defenders.

Tracklist

Ella fitzgerald and Paul Weston Orchestra - Get Thee Behind Me Satan

Harry Nilsson - I'd Rather Be Dead

Richard Hawley - Tonight The Streets Are Ours

Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train

The Meters - Hand Clapping Song

Robert Palmer - Woke Up Laughing

Sandie Shaw - (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me

Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers)

Chris Spedding - Video Life

Art Garfunkel - Waters Of March

The Mamas & The Papas - Snowqueen Of Texas

[jinxofthedesert]

Jerome: Bruceyyyy watcha' think of little ol' me? Hmmm?

Bruce: *stops writing on his paperwork* I think you're an arrogant, narcisistic, lunatic, who obsesses a bit too much over certain things.

Jerome: Certain things? Would you be referring to yourself, darlin'~?

Bruce: *ignores him with a roll of his eyes, though his lips do twitch* You also don't know what personal space means.

Jerome: *currently sprawled over Bruce's legs, gapes at the other* Oh, I do know, Brucey, I just don't care~ *runs a finger up and down the side of Bruce's leg with a lick to his lips* Admit it, you like having me soooo close.

Bruce: Only because I can keep an eye on you here. I'd rather have you close by then outside doing God-knows-what to random citizens, just like the last time with that guy who owned the pink poodle.

Jerome: Hey, I just wanted to know if the poodle was made out of cotten candy! No crime in bein' curious, dollface.

Bruce: But there is a crime in mutilating said dog after realizing it wasn't somewhat eadible, and then going to the store and force feeding actual cotten candy to the man who eventually had a heart attack.

Jerome: I know!! He wasn't suppose to die that early!

Bruce: *glances up at him with a piercing look*

Jerome: I was simply but a curious soul as to whether or not one could choke on cotten candy. And then he had to make it boring by dying early of a natural death *wrinkles his nose in disgust* How dull must someone be to kick the bucket that way?

Bruce: I don't know, maybe someone who was being force fed by an odd lunatic in a fancy suit, would be my guess.

Jerome: *shifts on his legs, leaning one hand in the other to smile up at Bruce* I do think that's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me, Brucey~ I must be growing on you, hehehe

Bruce: Uh-huh. That'll be the day.

Jerome: Nah, Bruce, it already happened. You just can't admit it yet. But you willlllll, cause we're stuck together!

Bruce: Is it too late to cart you back to Arkham?

Jerome: Oh, you'd miss me, darlin'. You also admitted to wanting me in your sight. *Claps a hand against Bruce's leg* And even if you did, I'd just come right back!

Bruce: *shaking his head* Guess I'm stuck with you.

Jerome: *knocking aside the paperwork and pushing himself up, he straddles Bruce's thighs with a wicked grin* In-deed. You. Are. Bruce. And it'll be worth your while~ *catches his face with a rough and wet and wonderfully hot kiss*

[tooinlovewithfictionalpeople]

Popular - Harry Potter

Summery: Lydia Balver, most popular girl in hogwarts, joins the order, much to their surprise.

Half of the order were at the table, and Ron, Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Remus were all discussing one very important matter.

Sirius was very confused who this Lydia girl was so Ron filled him in on who she was.

" Fittest girl in the school I'd say. She's quite tall, with red hair and green eyes. Crazy smart too. Not very kind though. Bit of a bloody bitch if I'm honest"

Hermione and Ginny shook their heads. " She's really nice actually. "

Ron scoffed. " She hates Harry and she's best friend's with Draco bloody Malfoy!"

Harry shrugged. " She's different " he said. Ron snorted.

" That's because you're bloody in love with her mate,"

This time it was Remus who laughed. " Now who does that sound like Sirius?" Sirius laughed and shook his head.

Dumbledoor walked into the room, and everyone silenced.

" We have a new member of the order. Most of you already know her. This is Lydia"

The cloaked figue removed her cloak, and Lydia stood in all her glory.

Her hair was straitend, and strawberry blonde. Her green eyes were perfectly lined with winged eyeliner, her lips painted cherry red. Her cheekbones were highlighted with rainbow highlight. She was in a blue crop top which had complicated crisscross straps. In small letters it read " Wanderlust and City dust". Her jeans were tight, blue and ripped all the way to the top of her thigh. Blue heals matched her top, making her seem taller.

She removed the red lollipop from her mouth, and matched over to where Hermione and Ginny were sitting.

" And how are my two best friends,?" she drawled hugging them both.

" Hi Lydia." Harry tried. Lydia glanced at him

" Potter." she acknowledged. She turned to address the entire group.

" I'd love to talk hun, but I'm the hostess of the best party of the year!"

Harry leant over to Sirius. " Her parties are legendary. Vodka, loud music. Best muggle parties! " he whispered.

" Can I come? " begged Ginny. Hermione nodded in agreement.

Lydia laughed. " Not dressed like that!" Hermione and Ginny frowned in disappointment. Lydia smirked, linking her arm with her two best friends. " Luckily I brought extra clothes."

Hermione and Ginny clapped their hands in excitment. Lydia flung her small brown briefcase upon the table and opened it up. She stepped inside, disappearing completely

Clothes were flung at the two girls, abd a single hand beckoned them into the suitcase. The two girls complied disappearing as well.

All the boys had sat in shock.

When the girls emerged, jaws were hung open.

Hermione was in a mid thigh length white dress, with fluffy wings at the back. Her hair was tamed to natural ringlets, her face make up free except from eyebrows and mascara.

Ginny was in a leather skin tight suit, complete with knee high shiny heels and cat ears. Her hair was down, lips black and eyes smokey.

Lydia was the devil. Skin tight red leather skirt clung to her legs, matching the leather crop top she had on. Her boots were thigh high and heeled very high. She had put her hair in a high ponytail, her red horns on show. She was holding a red trident and a bottle of Vodka.

She smiled at them all " see you all later!" she sang before walking out the door, hips swaying.

They heard the door slam. Sirius turned to Harry.

"Good luck mate" he said. " Shes a fighter,"

In the early hours of the morning, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Sirius, and Remus were sat chatting in the living room. The fire was on and they were all in Pajamas waiting for the Girls to arrive.

As if on cue, the door to the living room opened to reveal a giggling Ginny, Shattered Hermione and smirking Lydia.

At some point they had gotten into her pyjamas. Ginny was wearing leggins,( that looked suspiciously like Lydia's) and a vest. Hermione was in cotten trousers and thin t-shirt. Lydia had pink velvet booty shorts and

" Is that my quidditch hoodie?" Harry asked eyeing what she was wearing. Lydia shrugged bouncing down next to him, resting her head on his shoulders.

" Mine now." she said drifting asleep. " You can have it back later"

She drifted off to sleep, her head on Harry's shoulder, his arm wrapped around her waist.

Ginny and Hermione curled up next to her.

Sirius turned to Harry. " Well done mate. She likes you."

Everything was perfect.

Until Lydia started screaming.

~~~~~~~~~

Whoa, took ages to get that finished.

I'm posting part two within the next two days so comment if you want to be tagged.

[krispyweiss]

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Dom Flemons and JD Wilkes at Woodlands Tavern, Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 23, 2019

When Dom Flemons and JD Wilkes joined the Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band - a trio - at the end of a three-plus-hour night of music, the resulting jam session was a smoker as Flemons added stage presence and bones and Wilkes blew a harp that wafted right out of the 1930s over the Damn Band's combo of grimy guitar, washboard and drums.

The 30-minute show-capper consolidated the music that influenced all three acts, comprising of early-20th-century numbers like "Old Jim Canaan," sung by Flemons, and "Rounding' up Girls All Day," with Peyton on lead vocals, as each frontman took solos on his respective instrument. It was a raucous, celebratory conclusion to the Nov. 23 show that flowed like a bell curve from Wilkes' opening set to Flemons' mid-show showcase and Peyton's headlining slot as original material was co-mingled with songs by Elizabeth Cotten, Sonny Boy Williamson II, the Carter Family, Charley Patton and others.

It was almost perfectly paced as Wilkes took the stage just after 8 p.m. for a 30-minute set, followed 10 minutes later by Flemons' three-quarters-of-an-hour performance. In nothing flat, Peyton and company took the stage for their hourlong concert, which melted into the aforementioned conglomeration. And although the sold-out Woodlands Tavern, judging by T-shirts in the crowd, was full of Peyton partisans, it was Flemons who received the loudest ovations.

Touring behind his Black Cowboys LP, the bespectacled Flemons looked as if he’d just walked off the ranch with a hat, suspenders holding up his blue work pants and a pocket watch on a gold chain. The former Carolina Chocolate Drop, known as "the American Songster," was the consummate entertainer and played in the style of De Ole Folks at Home-era Taj Mahal.

Playing banjo, guitar, quills, bones and harmonica and singing “Black Woman Blues” a cappella in a voice that drifted effortlessly from baritone to falsetto, Flemons held the full house in a pin-drop spell until they erupted between numbers. Whether he was soloing on harmonica on "Ol' Cindy Gal," doing exaggerated Elvis-with-guitar moves on “Hot Chicken” or spinning his harmonica 360 degrees in the middle of “There’s a Brown-skinned Girl Down the Road Somewhere,” Flemons silenced the loud bar with his stage presence and sheer talent.

His instrumental medley of “Freight Train,” “Railroad Bill” and “Cannonball” revealed a deft acoustic-guitar picker who just happened to excel at myriad other instruments; his 45-minute set stole the show.

Wilkes opened with harmonica instrumentals played through a bullet mic that made him sound more like an old 78 than a live performer. His cigar-box banjo was similarly distorted and dirt-caked; only his synthesized foot percussion - which occasionally overwhelmed the real music he made - gave away the year as he sang an original murder ballad, "Blood on the Old Bluegrass." "Dump Road Yodel" was preceded by a story that could be described as a spoken-word version of "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," which made it sound untrue and reminded concertgoers Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

Accompanied by wife, "Breezy" Peyton, on washboard and Max Senteney on a drum kit outfitted with a five-gallon bucket, Peyton brings serious musicianship with a playful stage presence akin to Southern Culture on the Skids, but cheesier and not as funny. Fingerpicking and playing slide on resonator, National and three-string cigar-box guitars, Peyton led the tiny Big Damn Band through mediocre originals such as "Pot Roast and Kisses," "Clap Your Hands" and "You Can't Steal My Shine."

"Poor Until Payday," a grinding blues-rocker, was far and away the band's best self-penned track and Peyton's solo cover of "Banty Rooster" made clear the band's weakness stems more from material and presentation - the planned moves, incessant between-song banter and weird facial expressions quickly grew stale - than talent. If the Big Damn Band played a Big Damn Set of pre-1950s material, it might be unstoppable.

Grade card: The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Dom Flemons and JD Wilkes at Woodlands Tavern - 11/23/19 - B-/A/B

See more photos from the show here.

11/24/19

[dungeonsanddying]

Bargain Box Wands

below is my homebrew list of humorous but possibly useful wands, with some magical effects taken from wild magic lists. In the game I'm GMing, these can be found in the clearance bin of a wand shop, with only the price and physical description of the wand, and the players have to buy them and use them to see their effects. Anything that effects another person gets the chance to roll a will save. You are more than welcome to use these in your game, but please think carefully before including them, as there is a chance your players can find a loophole and tear apart your game. These should be primarily for fun, and probably aren't for serious game. ---------------- Blueish green iridescent peacock wand - gave a third eye that allowed caster to see auras (alignments) for 6 seconds. Might be false. Peach colored wand - gives the target permentant horns / antlers of GMs choosing Guacamole colored wand - makes the taste of drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth. The higher the caster rolls on a 1d20 the worse the taste is Twisted wood in a braided wand- gives the target a random hairstyle, the less they want it the sooner it will disappear a opal wand that has a toothy grin carved into it- gives the target cat fangs, giving them a bite attack of 1d4. Fades in 1d6 hours Crystal frosted wand- make a 10ft sq area snow and little baby snowmen come out to help you, they also call you dada Black grey ombré wand- creates a 20x20 ft fog cloud in a random direction Obsidian wand- takes a photo of what the caster is pointing at and prints it out Cotten candy pink fading into pastel blue- target turns into a baby for 1d10 rounds. Pink, black writing "RATZ"- summons 1d100 rats around you. They are not controlled by you Black, grey writing "BATZ"- turns the target into a bat for 1d6 rounds. 10% chance of also turning you into a bat for same amount of time A maroon knotted wood wand with three orange feathers tied to it- summons a random god, they may or may not respond A light colored wood with metal coiled around it- the target becomes illiterate for 3d4 days Pitch black wand with a glowing red crystal at the end: target is suddenly aware the next person they tell their name to will instantly attack them Navy blue wand with little pink elephants painted on the side- target hallucinates for 1d12 weeks A partially leather bound wand with a small hilt, with a flat sharp metal rod for 2/3 of the wand, and you know what it's a knife, its a fucking knife wand- summons a random knife object. (Object with a knife taped to it, E.G. a knife fish, which is a fish with a knife taped to it, or a knife gun) Silvery grey dragon hatching horn, with small grooves in it- Everyone in the party hears an announcer voice in their head, announcing what they are doing and critiqueing it. Lasts until combat is over or 1 hour, which ever comes first. It then gives a synopsis of what happened Radio antenna that you have to stretch out before you can use it- caster's arm stretches out (up to 50 feet) to bitch slap the target. Deals 1 dmg Olive green branch- random person polymorphs into something that rhymes with their name, or is a pun of their name Copper wand with a hollow copper hand at the end- Target becomes mute for 1d20 hours. Purple wand with three eyes, the two outer closed and the center eye open- The dm gives you three pieces of information (dm chooses what it is about), two are lies and one is the truth A gradient dark brown to pale flesh tone wand, with black markings scrawled across it- target gains one tattoo, of dm's choice. The target experiences all the pain of getting a tattoo at once, but the pain is completely gone by their next turn A blue wand with childish yellow stars on it, like a cartoony wizard hat- caster swaps all their spells with the target. If you do not have spells, you swap your feats for their spells or feats instead Black wand with completely transparent crystal for the center 1/3- random body part of target becomes invisible, permanently. Only works on each person twice This wand has the aesthetic of an angsty 2003 teenage garage band- freaky Friday !!!1!!! Caster switches bodies with a random creature nearby, DM can choose or leave it to the dice. Is reversed in 1d8 rounds An uncomfortable shade of beige wand- Target's face turns into that of Nicholas cage's for 1d20 minutes A charred husk of wood- a random object within 40 feet of the caster shrinks Slightly translucent brown wand, with the tip a creamy color, and little lighter brown spots throughout- changes what ever the person is holding into a mug of beer. The person gets a will save to resist it A dark green wand with small runes that is slightly sticky: reverses your alignment for 1d6 days (e.g. Lawful good would be chaotic evil). The person can then choose to keep it or revert back. Cannot be used on an unwilling person more than once A white wand with blue horizontal stripes, and three holes cut out- you turn into paper for 1d6 rounds. From head on you are nearly invisible (seeing as you are paper thin) but you are highly vulnerable to fire and your weapons do no damage, except to rock Light yellow wand with brown ends, and brown spots- one random person around you (including yourself) falls over Two rusty orange wooden wands, bound together by a chain- creates a doppelgänger of the caster, who can communicate telepathically with the caster. I roll to see the doppelgänger's alignment and if they will help your group or cause you trouble. HP of 2 A wand completely covered in soft creamy down feathers- random item in target's possessions sprouts wings and flies away. If the item is grabbed the wings disappear Ten twenty sided dice, all glued together- target suddenly has a vision of the players sitting around the table. They hear who ever controls them saying the action they just took, and starts describing them hearing the controller describing them hearing what the controller is describing them hearing what the controller is describing them hearing... then their sight flares red, and the vision ends. Roll a will save for how they take this info Slightly transparent white wand, with golden glitter in it- Caster can see ghosts for 1d4 hours. Ghosts may be friendly, neutral, or aggressive. Orange wand with darker orange stripes and a white underside- Target smells of catnip, and nearby cats will casually swarm around them for 1d6 hours A sky blue wand with a internet explorer symbol carved into it- After using it, the sound of an action preformed by someone in the next round will be delayed for 1d4 rounds. The caster chooses which sound, and it has to be something they know is coming (e.g. A teammate telling them they will clap next round) A oak wand with a carved sad dog head at one end, and has the words "god damn it Sarah McLachlan" painted on the side- Target begins crying for 1d4 rounds. Roll 1d20 to see how badly they are weeping. A fucking rad lookin glow stick-for 1d20 days the target becomes a living glowstick. Any time they get injured the area around it begins to glow a neon color, like cracking a glowstick. A shimmering black twisted wood wand with a quartz crystal at the tip- Random person in area can now only speak in rhymes for 1d4 hours. A wand made of malachite carvings of spiders, snakes, and wasps all intricately layered-Target gains 1 phobia of GMs choice (players wishes can be considered). Can only be used on the same person twice. A rubber chicken on a stick- the wand spews out 1d10 x 30 feathers up to 30 feet. Doesn't cause any damage. A vial filled with clear liquid, with a button on the side of it- The liquid becomes a random magical potion, good or bad. GM can choose or leave it up to fate. A boring ass black wand- User has X-ray vision for 6 seconds. GM can decide when an object is too thick to see through. A soft grey wand with buttons 0-9, with each of the buttons also having 3 letters, like a flip phone- player can take a few moments to type a message to send to anyone they know who has a blank piece of paper available (journal, scroll, etc all work). The message then appears on the paper, and the sender can decide if it makes a notification sound or not. Depending on the length of the message, it takes a different amount of time. For 3 characters or under it is a swift action, for 10 characters or under it is a standard action, and for 20 characters or under it is a full round action. There is a maximum of 100 characters available per each use. An extremely old yellowed wand, with a wine colored leather hilt. There is a ominous feeling to this wand- the target/s (can target up to 5 people) and the caster are transported to a different world, that of a common story book of the GMs choosing. They must try to make it to the end of the story alive to escape. The people may change species / gender, but they will be able to communicate to the others. (Some story ideas: Charlotte's web, the tale of peter rabbit, Charlie and the chocolate factory, green eggs and ham) A sea foam green wand with little fishes painted on the sides- Target grows gills for 1d6 minutes. Can breathe underwater and in air. Roll 1d20, if 20 you also grow a little dorsal fin, shark tail, and connective tissue between fingers and toes to allow you to double your speed underwater. These modifications are now permenant. This wand appears to be a bone from a human ribcage. Curious.- Target forgets their name and profession for 1d6 hours. Player to the right decides what they think their name and profession is. If the wand is used on a NPC, they still know what they are currently doing (trying to kill the players for example). With NPCS the gm can choose which player to pick the new info, so it isn't always the same person. A carmine pink metal wand with a large crystal ball at one end- tells you one thing you missed in a situation 24 hours or more before.

[freakurodani]

so I have a birthday story. The year I turned 15 my brother made it to the state wrestling championship. The tournament took place on my birthday. I wore a shirt with my brother's face on it. It was wild. After the tournament though, it was a tradition for the wrestling team to go out and eat at Hooters. that was fine. The food wasn't bad and the company was fine. Until they started telling the wait staff that it was my birthday. I don't like being the center of attention. It makes me kinda ill. It probably would have been fine if they just sang at me. They didn't just sing at me. In fact, after dancing to cotten eye Joe, a lovely waitress took me to the center of the restaurant where there was a chair. She told me to stand on it. I politely refused. The wrestling team and coaches were having none of it. They were chanting. I got on the chair. They handed my two menus. "Hoot when we tell you, okay hun?" Absolutely not okay. I nodded. More waitress came and stood on either side of me and started singing. I was told to flap the menus like wings. I did. I hooted. My heart was in my throat. I wanted to cry. The song was over everyone was clapping and cheering and wishing me a happy birthday. Looking back, the whole thing was so ridiculous and there may be a time I would like to go back and have a birthday there. 15 year old me, however sat down and bawled their eyes out.

[pen-masta]

Kiss Cam

His gut had told him going to the game was a bad idea. Yes he loved baseball and so did his brothers, but he shouldn’t have invited Joy. It should have just been a guy’s day out. When Mikey said he wasn’t able to buy just three tickets and ended up with four tickets Castel had assumed Angie would be going with them, or maybe Eliza. But Angie couldn’t get off of work and Eliza wasn’t a big fan of baseball. But when Mikey asked if Castel wanted to give the extra ticket to Joy he should have said no. But he didn’t. He knew how much she loved the Yankees, he wanted her there. But he should have listened to that little voice in his head, telling him it was a bad idea.

Everything had been fine in the beginning. The day was bright and beautiful, not too cool and just enough clouds to provide a little shade from the sun’s harsh rays. They had scored some really awesome seats and had a great view of the game. Joy was enjoying herself with her Yankee’s cap backwards on her head as she shouted out for Masahiro Tanaka to strike out the batter. She had impressed the people seated around them when she told the hot dog vendor to throw the foiled food to her--from about eight seats away. She had caught it with one hand with ease bringing up some laughter and applause from the people around them; to which Joy dramatically bowed making the three brothers laugh. Zack had caught a foul ball in the third inning causing everyone to cheer and shout as his face came up onto the screen, holding the ball high into the air. The four had walked around during the fifth inning to stretch their legs. They walked around the stadium and when the Cotten Eyed Joe song came on, Joy had grabbed his arm jumping excitedly before she started the simple line dance. Castel had laughed and joined in with her, not realizing Mikey and Zack off to the side recording the teenagers. It was really turning out to be a great day.

Yeah a great day. That is until Castel saw himself on the big screen next to Joy with a heart around them. They had been caught in the Kiss Cam. Zack and Mikey had laughed and Zack nudged him teasingly as Castel’s heart leaped in his chest. The people around him started to encourage the two to kiss, and some guy behind him slapped him on his back. The eighteen-year-old was caught in a panicked state. He stared back at their picture for a moment both teens displaying a look of shock. His eyes were as wide as Joy’s, his mouth hanging agape slightly, and Joy’s clasped around the straw of her slurpee--caught mid-sip. His heart pounded in his ears as the panic and pressure started to set it. He wanted to stand up and shout that they were not going to be pressured. That this was a stupid little game that was just utterly ridiculous, finding a random couple and assuming they’re together. Forcing them to kiss in front of thousands of people. He would stand up and announcing that they were not together and they were not going to peer pressured by adults that didn’t even know them. He was prepared to end this.

But what he hadn’t been prepared for was Joy. While his mind had been running through everything he was about to say, and preparing to make a fool of himself on the big screen Joy had set her drink back in its holder. She had smiled and shrugged deciding to take the whole thing in stride.

She grabbed his flannel shirt turning him towards her, and yanked him towards her until her lips smashed into his. Although their eyes were both shut and they couldn’t see the reaction from the crowd, they could hear it. The people around them roared cheering them on. His gut had exploded into butterflies his mind going blank not understanding this new sensation. Joy had broke the kiss with a loud smacking mwah sound smiling brightly at him. She had giggled and looked back at the screen before waving at herself. He blinked staring at his shocked expression that displayed on the big screen, his mouth hanging open as the crowd around him laughed, cheered, and clapped.

Soon the Kiss Cam had moved along to another unsuspecting couple. Joy acted like what just happened was nothing, cheering on the next couple and screaming when the batter hit a double--he didn’t really know where he was for the next few minutes, his brain trying to comprehend what happened.

But after the next few batter’s his brain came back online and he remembered where he was, and how much fun he was having. He smiled and cheered along with Joy and his brothers, everything had gone back to normal the rest of the day just as fun as it was before. But he couldn’t shake the tingly feeling that electrified his skin, nor the butterflies that spun in his stomach, nor the goofy grin that was plastered to his face for the rest of the game and the rest of the day.